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A Chip of Glass Ruby
39
A Chip
of
Glass Ruby
By Nadine Gordimer
- Nadine Gordimer was born in 1923
- She was educated at a convent school
- Many of her books were banned
Author's Background
*convent: a religious school
Influence
- Gordimer was an active voice against racism
- Won the Nobel Prize in 1991
• Late 19 hundreds
• During a period of apartheid
• South Africa
*apartheid: a system of racial segregation and discrimination
Story Background
Plot Diagram
Exposition
Exposition:
"We don't have to carry passes; let the natives protest against passes on their own; there are millions of them. Let them go ahead with it." (Gordimer 630, 5-7)
Rising Action:
“The next morning, as soon as he got to the market, he heard the Dr. Khan had been arrested” (page 633, 95-96)
Rising Action
Climax:
Climax
"He stood there in an old shirt before the two policemen, and the woman was going off to prison because of the natives" (Gordimer 634, 127-129)
Falling Action:
"And as he cooled, the lump of resentment and wrongness stopped his throat again" (Gordimer 637, 221-222) After Mrs. Bamjee's arrest the household was left in pieces.
Falling Action
Resolution:
"'It's because she doesn't want anybody to be left out.'" (Gordimer 640, 296-297)
Resolution
Literary Elements
Theme
Theme:
"Bamjee did not have to ask what the leaflets were. He had read the papers." (Gordimer 632, 42-43) Mrs. Bamjee proved the theme of, sometimes breaking the rules is needed in order to create change. She fought for the natives freedom and was later successful.
Setting:
Setting
"' A Chip of Glass Ruby ' is set in South Africa during the period of apartheid a system of racial segregation and discrimination..." (Background 629)
Antagonist:
Antagonist
The police of South Africa
Protagonists:
Protagonists
Mrs. Bamjee, fighting segregation
Conflict:
"...they were there-- two colored policemen..." (Gordimer 634, 117-118). Mrs. Bamjee was arrested for her support against segregation.
Conflict
Figurative
Language
Simile:
Simile
Gordimer writes, “Their black eyes surrounded by thick lashes like those still, open flowers with hairy tentacles that close on whatever touches them” (page 698, 8-11). The kids were intrigued by the new mysterious duplicating machine
Metaphor:
The metaphor, “Isn’t it enough that you’ve got the Indians’ troubles on your back?” is expressing the feeling Mrs. Bamjee has for the need to help the segregated people of South Africa. (page 696, 1-2)
Metaphor
Hyperbole:
Hyperbole
"It's because she always remembers; remembers everything--" (Gordimer 640, 227) Gordimer writes the hyperbole to over exaggerate the kindness in Mrs. Bamjee's heart.
The tone of the short story is portrayed as gloomy yet hopeful. The author uses a hopeful tone to convey a dark time occurring in history and the start of a revolution. The quote, " ...the duplicating machine was brought into the house..." (Gordimer 630, 1). Provides the evidence that Mrs. Bamjee is prepared to start making a change
Tone
The short story was wrote in a narrative form to thoroughly express the time lived in South Africa for families.
Style
Gordimer wrote this short story to expose the the apartheid era, while gaining support to fight back against the segregation enforced by the government.
Author's
Purpose
Nadine Gordimer writes the short story in encouragement to raise emotion to the people that lived in segregation
Conclusion
Gordimer, Nadine. "A Chip of Glass Ruby". McDougal Littell Literature.
Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2008. Print.
Work
Cited