ipl-logo

The Suit Can Themba Analysis

1046 Words5 Pages

How does The Suit relate to humanity? The Suit written by Can Themba, is about adultery. The story takes place during apartheid South Africa in Sophiatown. There are two physical main characters, a husband and wife, and one very present figurative character, the suit. The husband, Philemon, is a little bit of a control freak who loves his daily rituals almost as much as he loves him beautiful wife, Matilda. Upon hearing a rumour, Philemon returns home early and catches his wife sleeping with another man, who accidently leaves his suit behind. Philemon then uses the momento to exact revenge on his wife with the use of mind games and humiliation. The Suit has a deeper meaning to me though. I feel that it is a story that touches on the human self-centeredness and the judgment that comes along with it. Philemon lives in his own world and thinks because he is content with life that everybody else is content with life too. He is quite obsessed with doing little rituals, such as in the opening paragraphs we get a sense of the morning that he has been repeating for years. He would marvel at his sleeping wife, run out to the toilet, make a fire for his bath, lay out the things he needed for the day for work, clean himself and then make breakfast. To quote from the text while he was cleaning himself, “this …show more content…

To quote from the text when he finds out about his wife’s’ affair, “It was not quite like the explosion of a devastating bomb. It was more like the critical breakdown in an infinitely delicate piece of mechanism. From outside the machine just seemed to have gone dead […]. Philemon heard gears grinding and screaming into gears in his head…”. The only real emotion we see from Philemon is at the end of the story when he’s holding his wife’s lifeless

Show More
Related

  • Why Did Paul Write A Letter To Shilemon

    218 Words  | 1 Pages

    We see in our textbook this week that Paul and Philemon were friends, which could lead

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Zoot Suit By Luis Valdez

    562 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both the popular play and film “Zoot Suit” was written and directed by Luis Valdez. Luis Valdez regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States. He directed this film based on a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots, and it was debuted in 1981. Besides that, the movie could not be successful without the actors’ acting, such as Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, and Tyne Daly. Through the film, I clearly feel the discrimination between Whites and Mexican Americans.

    Read More

  • Selfishness In 'The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street'

    1573 Words  | 7 Pages

    This shows the theme of selfishness because he is directing attention away from himself and onto other people so he can clear himself. He is only caring about himself. As already stated the archetype for humans is the Everyman. The book just started and we are getting to see the setting the narrator says “Maple Street USA play Summoner a tree line little world of front porch glider barbecues the laughter of children send the bell of an ice cream vendor” (Serling, 1).

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques Used In The Rattler

    619 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the story reads through it creates a transition that focuses on what action is going on in the story. The most significant part of the story is the way the story ends. The last lines of the story read, “Then for a moment I could see him as I might have let him go, sinuous and self-respecting in

    Read More

  • The Role Of Selfishness In Casino By Alix Ohlin

    906 Words  | 4 Pages

    In two passages we see how selfishness affects people deeply. In a passage “Casino” by Alix Ohlin we see a wounded mother trying to cope with the absence of her daughter due to drug addiction. In “An Oral History of Catalina Hoyos” a young daughter is forced to come to terms with the death of her father in a country where drugs are heavily normalized. Both passages come together to effectively convey that humans are selfish because of the trauma they face and are ultimately forced to come to terms with.

    Read More

  • Book Thief Loss

    703 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story shows how you should always be thankful for what you have because it could be gone within a second. Growing up underprivileged definitely teaches you things that you would not have learned or viewed in that way if you were middle class/upper class. Growing up poor can have a huge effect upon yourself, but you learn, develop and become

    Read More

  • Summary Of Leadership By Plutarch

    1086 Words  | 5 Pages

    Somethings that should have been elaborated on were not, but, things that were necessary to the argument were thoughtfully explained, to me this was the book’s greatest achievement. Apart from explanation, Plutarch very well managed the task of applying his thoughts to the life of the good man, Agis. From this I gained a sense of understanding what a fully good person should be like, according to Plutarch, and it forced me to ask myself how God would see this view of life. I believe that the Bible supports that idea every man is greedy, shown in the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis with money, or accomplishments, or even praise. Humans don’t need glory, but we crave it and the Bible supports that you can ever fully rid of that desire.

    Read More

  • The Man In The Black Suit Analysis

    786 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the Stephen King short story, The Man in The Black Suit, the narrator Gary recounts an experience from his childhood that scared him permanently. When he was nine, Gary was tormented and stalked though the woods by the devil, who manifested himself after Gary wandered into the woods. During their interaction, the Devil lies to Gary and says that his mother just died at home. The Devil claimed that Gary’s mother was killed in a similar way that his brother, Dan, was also killed not too long ago, as she was apparently stung by a bee and is dead in his kitchen. Gary knows the Devil is a liar but finds it difficult to resist believing him.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Zoot Suit

    517 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the plays held in the Center theatre group was Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez. Zoot Suit is inspired by the Zoot Suit Riot taken place in Los Angeles and in some other cities. Zoot Suit is a musical play based by the sleepy Lagoon murder, where a man named José Gallardo Díaz died a mystery. Law enforcement began to arrest Mexican-American without having inadequate evidence that they were involve with the murder of Diaz. The play was also based on the suit suit riots.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Figurative Language In The Birthmark

    590 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story fits well for the time period that it was written, and can even work for today as people will do anything to achieve the idealized version of

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party

    440 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the wife being sensitive to the husband when she “was still crying” about the husband’s smart comment makes the reader think that she is easy to upset (Brush 19). With seeing this reaction the reader might conclude that the couple might have a past of predicaments. As for the husband, he comes across as a harsh man when he says the “punishing thing” to his wife (Brush 17). Just through this one statement the reader can feel a sense of dominance over the wife. The reader understands that the husband has more control in the family.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Wife's Story By Ursula K. Leguin

    740 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wife’s Story Ursula K. Leguin is a short story describing a wife retrospective of her husband who she thought of as a loving and caring father and husband a somewhat perfect person always gentle. Yet he had a fatal flaw that led to his death that the wife failed to recognize until it was too late. Throughout the story, the wife recounts important events that led to his deaths events that should have been clues to aid her to recognize the flaw within her husband. In the story, Leguin shows us how the wife’s perception was deceiving her. She was looking at her husband but couldn’t see him for whom he really was.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Gilded Six-Bits By Zora Neale Hurstons

    1374 Words  | 6 Pages

    Also, one important message implied is that not everything you see or hear about a person is always true. Many people may act differently just to impress others and play a particular part while deep down they feel the total opposite. Just because someone may be walking around with a smile doesn’t actually mean their life is actually picture perfect; everyone has their own inner conflicts. This is a mistake often made by those who think the “grass is greener on the other side,” and to those people who don’t really realize what they have until that one thing is

    Read More

  • Writing Techniques In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    1094 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another ironical scene is whereby Mrs. Mallard’s husband did not actually die as Chopin writes “He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one” (70). Mrs. Mallard felt relieved that her husband had died, but when he walks in and she learns that he was still alive, her heart stops working. The irony used in the story makes it compelling and

    Read More

  • How Does Chaucer Use Satire In The Canterbury Tales

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chaucer, like many others in the medieval society, expected certain traits within church members. Those expectations focused around being devoted to one’s faith, helping the betterment of the society, and staying true to God. After being analyzed, it is clear that the monk crumbles when held to those standards. On the other hand, the parson seemed to be one of the few characters that is genuine and faithful. Chaucer may have used his satirical work to inspire reform in the church, but further peruse may lead readers to believe that such reform may be needed within their own

    Read More

More about The Suit Can Themba Analysis

Open Document