Subject 1 : The Moment Before the Gun Went Off is a testimony of the social situation in

South Africa at the end of the 1980’s

“The moment before the gun went off” is a novel written by Nadine Gordimer in which she
criticized the apartheid regime that ruled in South Africa. We will study why this novel is
considered as a testimony of the social situation in South Africa at the end of the 1980’s.
In first, we can notice that “The Moment Before The Gun Went Off” is set in South Africa around
the early 20th century. The date and location of this short story is very crucial to the story as a
whole. The time period in which this short story is set in is important because it helps the reader
understand the views each characters in the story have toward each other, and cultural norms
which the characters take part in; “ in the cities where guns are domestic objects” (l. 5)
Moreover if the story had not been set in the South Africa the Apartheid era at all and had just
taken place in an other place like an organized town in the south of the USA where there is not
racial issues, the tragedy wouldn’t just had been seen as a murder but as an innocent accident.
Furthermore the death of Luca attracts considerable publicity, and Marais soon discovers there
are a lot of people who have their own interpretation of the events. In fact the Luca’s death can
be considered as an act of violence against black people. So, the conflict in the story is between
the farmer and the public that thinks he killed the farm boy of pure cruelty. So, it clearly show
the presence of a division between black named « agitators » ( l 64-65) and white people and an
image of South Africa which is confused, divided and victimized of Apartheid. “It has already
happened that infiltrators from the over the border have mined remote farm roads, killing white
farmers and their families out on their own property for a Sunday Picnic” (l 73-74)
There are also some symbols in the text; one of the symbols is the barbed fences : “ Van der Vyer
has a hight barbed security fence round his farmhouse and garden” ( l 68) and the constant
threat of mines in the farm roads from immigrants. That could symbolize the isolation and
boycotts that threatened South Africa during the apartheid.
According to the novel of Nadine Gordimer the two groups of people (blacks and whites) are
victims of the injustices of apartheid, and together they can contribute to the eradication of the
segregation in the state of mind and to reconciliation between each other’s.
Lucas and Van der Vyver were separated by the Apartheid, because of the relation between his
mother who is a black woman and Van der Vyver his father. This relation must be a secret.
We can also notice that the narrator drops stereotypes carelessly, always commenting on how
blacks raise their children and their life : “look how they will deprive themselves of the little they
have, in their lifetime, keeping up payments to a burial society “ ( l 80-81); “blacks expose small
children to everything” (l 85). The narrator, wide-eyed with disbelief, remarks that “blacks can
sit and drink in white hotels” ( l 65) and that “blacks can sleep with whites ( l 66). Here Nadine
Gordimer shows how apartheid has become more than legislation; it has become a mentality
that segregates and prejudges have an important place in South Africa and the fact that black
and white people must fight against it.
 Apartheid South Africa was a political system that separated whites, and colored people, lasting
over more than 50 years. White men and women had privileges and power over black South Africans,
even if they did not want it. The Apartheid regime in South Africa was a period of power struggles, and
racial tensions. Since the political system was built around segregation, it was a time of unfairness and
favouritism from the police and the government . If a black was found at the wrong place at the wrong
time conclusions would usually be made immediately, and he could land in prison easier than anyone of
the white population. People had deeply-entrenched feelings about the roles of races. Whites were
utterly superior, they were the enemies of the black with no exception. The short story “The Moment
Before the Gun Went Off”, published in 1991, suggests that single stories do not only affect the
oppressed, but can also be harmful to the privileged.

Set in the years prior to the fall of the apartheid, in “The Moment Before the Gun Went Off”
Van de Vyver, a white south african farmer, shoots to death a black “boy” working for him. Nadine
Gordimer touches the issues of stereotypes, racisms, discrimination, and privilege. Van de Vyver feels
that his action is being judged improperly based on pre-determined racial stereotypes. His first concern
seems to be the way this death will be portrayed in the media. People all over the world who will read
about the death of a black man will not think twice about it, because they “don’t want to know” the
specific context of the situation. Outsiders are assured that it is simply another black killed by a white
South African. White people assume that if a black was shot it would always be a racist action.
Vandeviver knows that it is useless to say that Lucas (the black man that was killed) was “his friend”
since no one would not want to believe him, because it would mean that the stereotype does not fit
everyone. This stereotype is that every white South African is racist, interpersonal and personal.
According to the stereotype, Whites are expected to think that all blacks are “big-mouth agitators”,
otherwise they would be known as hybrid. Van de Vyver believes that he is being wrongfully stereotype,
however he doesn’t do anything to deny it, he simply cannot.

This stereotype, is damaging to how Van de VYver sees himself : which is not a typical white racist South
African. He is privileged , therefore he isn’t punished for the death of Lucas, which reinforces the pattern that his
group is privileged and racist. If he tells the truth about the black worker that he “killed” he will be treated as all
the other whites and his power will be taken away. He feels trapped because of a preconceived idea that is
forced on him ever since he was born, simply because he is white. He has not particularly ever denied it or support
it, however him “killing” a black man that also worked for him will give the outsiders a polished idea about what
kind of person he is. From that moment his reputation is not only of a privileged white man, but also a racist. What
people think of him is the opposite of who he is, still he prefers not going to prison, his life isn’t at risk,nor is his
surroundings safety.

Whites have that much power over blacks since they have the privilege of safety, while all blacks have
absolutely no protection. “An accident. There are accidents with guns every day of the week“. This quotation
shows that the murders of any black human being was not a scandal and a usual action that would occur.
Therefore when Van de Vyver himself accidently murdered a black man, nobody thought twice, it was simply a
casualty. In fact, directly after the shooting happened, Van de Vyver clearly confident that no charges would be
pressed against him “arrived at the police station with the dead man in his bakkie.” Still, Van de Vyver was
different then most white South Africans “He sobbed, snot running onto his hands, like a dirty kid.” Clearly he was
feeling remorse.