My Son’s Story
By Nadine Gordimer
W.W. Norton
The book My Son’s Story is a white South African’s — Nadine Gordimer’s — description of the life of a black family in South Africa.
Gordimer’s protagonist is Sonny, a schoolteacher from a segregated “coloured” township, who becomes a political activist. Sonny is married to Aila and has both a daughter named Baby and a son named William. Sonny eventually goes to jail because of his subversive affiliations; when he is released, he is regarded as a hero in his community and once again becomes involved, both in the movement and with an activist named Hannah Plowman.
His infidelity affects everyone in the family. Will is the first family member to discover that his father is having an affair with Plowman, a white woman committed to liberating Blacks from apartheid. His knowledge of the affair forces an uncomfortable intimacy with his father. He seems to understand, on a very shallow level, the reasons for his father’s infidelity:
Of course she is blonde. The wet
dreams I have, a schoolboy who’s never
slept with a woman, are blonde. It’s
an infection brought to us by the laws
that have decided what we are, and
what they are — the blonde ones. It
turns out that all of us are carriers,
as people may have in their
bloodstream a disease that may or may
not manifest itself in them but will
be passed on; it has come to him in
spite of all he has emancipated
himself from so admirably — oh yes, I
did, I do admire my father. People
talk of someone “coming down” with a
fever; he’s coming down with this; to
this.
This causes a certain amount of intolerance for his father’s actions. After Aila and Baby become aware of Sonny’s indiscretion, they become involved in the civil rights movement. In the past, Aila refused to be a part of the force against apartheid until she realized how important it was to her husband and their marriage. William is the only immediate family member who does not get involved in the movement. He ends up being a writer who narrates the book.
Nadine Gordimer is a renowned South African writer whose novels are well received internationally. The question is, however, does she have the authority to write about a Black family in which one member has an affair with a white woman? The point is especially important, since it’s a family involved in the struggle against apartheid. Speaking from a North American point of view, white North Americans have always portrayed Blacks in a limited light even though our society has been legally integrated for a number of years. They never seem to understand their special needs or problems. How can Nadine Gordimer accurately write about Blacks’ personal lives, feelings, and needs?
Moreover, a lot of Black females are sensitive to the idea of interracial relationships, especially in the case of Black men and white women. Gordimer does, however, portray the relationship quite tastefully; there is a deep friendship between Sonny and Hannah that simply does not exist between Sonny and his wife. Surprisingly, Hannah seems to have some sort of respect for Sonny’s family, including his wife; she does not say anything derogatory about Aila and even shows remorse when Aila is arrested as a result of her involvement in the struggle. Sonny’s feelings for his wife are evident when he becomes worried after learning about his wife’s involvement in the movement.
There does not seem to be the same type of intimacy that exists between Sonny and Hannah. The bond in this affair seems to transcend any preconceived notions about the relationship between peoples in a country like South Africa.
