The Hajji Short Story

In this essay, I will discuss how the private affairs relate to the public experiences in the short stories The Hajji, by Ahmed Essop, as well as The Awakening of Katie Fortuin, written by Finuala Dowling. In these two stories, the personal encounters can relate to the public experience in many ways, such as political, social, emotional and even the mentality of the people. In this essay I will express how these personal feelings and currents are indivisible, as what the one character feels or experience is often inextricable to those felt by the rest of society during this era.

In Essops’ short story, The Hajji, the Indian Muslim individuality is explored thought the representing character, Hassen. Much of the acts prominent during the apartheid

(p.72) Hassen. Many of the oppressed felt this, as when things are said enough times, they start believing this. Thus the emotion that Hassen felt is directly proportional to the emotions felt by the oppressed public during the Apartheid era.

In the Hajji, we can sense that the title is simply a title, as when one goes on a pilgrimage it is to result in change, kindles and tolerance is to be prominent, however in Hassen none of this is seen, in fact he seems more judgmental. This may show how social life in apartheid can discourage religious growth or moral growth as too much oppression has occurred to be optimistic.

The second short story is read was The Awakening of Katie Fortuin, by Finuala Dowling. This story, same as The hajji, addresses the Mixed Marriages act, Immoratlity Act and Group separation act. In this short story, Katie is a coloured woman who falls into an unexplainable deep sleep coincidentally at the same time as things where getting worse for the oppressed during apartheid, however she regains consciousness approximately twenty four years later on the day her nephew Ricky marries a white woman Sander. During Katie’s slumber, Ricky’s mum is forced to move her during the Group Separation act. Thus this family’s actions (the marriage and movement) show what

(p.184) After reading the story, I believe that Katie’s sleep represent the temporary oppression of the blacks and coloureds, Katie’s sister believes that Katie’s black side of her mind had been damaged, therefore pushed Katie into an vulnerable and oppressed state, as where the oppressed during this time. This would also explain why she awakens when the oppression is