Summary Of The Bench By Richard Rive
Literary analysis of “The Bench” by Richard Rive
Each race has their own place to be. The only problem is; they do not get to decide where to be or not to be. Each race is not placed equally in the society. This is how apartheid is explained. Your whole life revolves around your race and there is literally nothing you can do to improve your situation. The story “The Bench” follows significant themes such as racial segregation, racism in general, discrimination and an average day during apartheid in South Africa.
The story “The Bench” by Richard Rive follows Karlie, who is a colored male listening to a speech that changes his life. Karlie is standing in a crowd and listening to a black speaker who is proclaiming the rights of the black people. A white woman also holds a speech. Karlie is, impressed by what the speakers are saying because he has never considered the possibility of having any rights. Based on what he hears in the speech, he decides to sit on a bench for Europeans only. The people around Karlie have different perspectives on whether he has the
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The story takes place in Johannesburg in South Africa. We start out at the meeting where we meet the main character, Karlie, who is surprised by the treatment he receives at the meeting. Afterward, when Karlie is on his way home the setting changes one more time, as Karlie decides to fight against the system and apartheid by sitting on a bench for Europeans only. Karlie is then arrested by the police officer. Given the time when the story was published, we can assume that the author, Richard Rive, does not agree with the apartheid system. Apartheid was the segregation between the black and white people in South Africa. Apartheid began in 1948 and ended in 1994. Based on the fact, that the story is written in 1963, we can conclude that the story is taking place in the middle of
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