Personal Reading Study :: English Literature

Personal Reading Study Personal Reading Study – â€Å"Cry Freedom† by John Briley Q: Choose a novel in which a relationship between two different characters is developed. Show how the developing relationship between Steve Biko and Donald Woods explores the theme of racism and how the novel portrays the effects of racism in South African society. In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to the themes explored, characterisation and Key incidents. â€Å"And towards that day, when the isolation that creates hostility becomes the closeness that permits friendship, let us join in the song of South Africa†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As the above quotation suggests ‘Cry Freedom’ by John Briley, is a fascinating study of the real life relationship between Donald Woods and Steve Biko. The author employs a variety of literary techniques to demonstrate how two very different men with disparate lifestyles become close, and how their relationship develops under complex circumstances. In my essay I will show how the relationship between Steve Biko and Donald Woods develops and I will also explore the portrayal of the theme of racism and the effects it has on the society in which it exists. Briley portrays this through his characterisation, the themes explored and the key incidents throughout the novel. John Briley has successfully engaged my interest in the developing relationship between the two protagonists. Before their first meeting I believe that Donald Woods was not very sure of what he thought of blacks in South Africa and how much freedom they should be allowed to have. It seems to me that Donald Woods, as a white liberal and an editor contradicted himself many times. An example of this is, â€Å"He did not believe blacks should be given the full right to vote.† But a few sentences later there is a quotation saying, â€Å"When he caught the Government violating those basic ethical premises, he struck at them with a pen so sharp and so precise that his paper was quoted from one end of South Africa to the other.† I believe that in these quotations Woods contradicts himself as he believes blacks should not be given the full right to vote yet when he caught the Government violating those ‘basic’ ethical premises he would argue with them. It seems to me that Woods is not too sure what he believes is acceptable for blacks, and how far they should be allowed to go in the justice system. Furthermore, before their first meeting Woods did not approve of Biko’s black consciousness principles. He believed that Biko’s principles were all about black prejudice and that he did not want everything to be fair in South Africa but instead to be the way the