Verisimilitude Most commonly, when reading short stories and novels, readers are expected to treat the material as though it were factual, to pretend—even with stories involving space travel or vampires—that the events described in the story actually happened. Readers sometimes describe this experience as being ‘‘caught up’’ in a story. They come to trust a…
Tag: South Africa
Once Upon A Time by Nadine Gordimer – Themes – Apartheid
Apartheid Underlying everything that happens in ‘‘Once Upon a Time’’ is the specter of apartheid, or the government-directed racial segregation that was the law in South Africa from about 1949 to about 1990. Gordimer does not name the suburb where the story is set, nor the country where the suburb lies, just as she does…
Once Upon A Time by Nadine Gordimer – Characters
The Boy The boy, like all of the characters in the story-within-the-story, is never named, is not described, and does not speak. He is anonymous, faceless, silent, meant to allow the reader to see him as a representative of countless boys in his situation, rather than focusing on him as a unique individual. Little is…
Once Upon A Time by Nadine Gordimer – Summary
‘‘Once Upon a Time’’ is a short story in two parts; the first part is a first-person account by the narrator, who may or may not be read as Gordimer herself, explaining how she came to write the story that follows. She explains that she has been asked to write a story for children to…
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Analysis – Essay
If you have come away from “Mrs. Bathurst” more than a little confused and frustrated by its complexity, then rest assured that you are neither the first nor the last to do so. Since its growing popularity as one of Kipling’s most complex stories, “Mrs. Bathurst” has received a barrage of critical response, most of…
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Setting
Science and Technology The end of the nineteenth century brought many developments in science and technology that had a direct impact on the everyday lives of millions of people in Europe and America. The telegraph, photograph, and cinema were all products of the time. These inventions and others changed in fundamental ways how people communicated…
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Literary Devices
Setting “Mrs. Bathurst” is set in an isolated railway car on a beach in Glengariff Bay, South Africa, where the narrator has gone after missing his ship. It is somewhat surprising, then, that Mr. Pyecroft and Sergeant Pritchard stumble onto the brake-car by accident and proceed to tell the story of Mrs. Bathurst and Mr….
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Themes
Art and Experience “Mrs. Bathurst” explores, among other things, the relationship between experience and its artistic representation through language. The central story of the tale is told second-hand, by Mr. Pyecroft, with help from Sergeant Pritchard. Readers must evaluate the relative positions of all of the narrators in the story in order to understand that…
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Characters
Mrs. Bathurst Mrs. Bathurst is one of the central characters in the story. She is the subject of a story told by Mr. Pyecroft and Sergeant Pritchard to Mr. Hooper and the narrator. Her name does not appear until almost midway through the story. She is the manager of a hotel and restaurant in Auckland,…
Mrs. Bathurst by Rudyard Kipling – Summary
“Mrs. Bathurst” takes place in Glengariff, South Africa, in the years following the Boer War (1899- 1902). The main story is told through a conversation between three men and the narrator; the four men discuss the tragic tale of Mrs. Bathurst, a hotel owner in New Zealand, and her lover, Mr. Vickery (also known as…