Six Feet of the Country

1. Six Feet of the Country By Nadine Gordimer

2. Characters

3. Lerice • Actress • She runs the farm

4. Husband • Partner in travel agency • He is evenings and weekends on the farm • He hates the farming activities

5. Farmworkers • Albert • Petrus • Franz • Dora • Jacob

6. Albert • Came to call them in the middle of the night to say that someone is ill.

7. Petrus • His brother is the one who died • He continuously asks about his brother’s body • He wants the money back when he couldn’t get the body

8. Franz • Franz is the worker who had a bad cough

9. Dora • She is the cook

10. Jacob • He is the gardener

11. The farmworkers • They are like Lerice’s children • They brew beer • They are not afraid of police raids • They feel safe on the farm

12. The Plot Lerice and her husband move to the farm to have a better life. They want to improve their marriage. Their marriage does not improve. One night Albert knocks on the door Someone is ill Petrus’s brother from Rhodesia died

13. The Plot (continues) • Walked from Rhodesia to Johannesburg • He contracts pneumonia and dies from exposure • Too afraid to tell Lerice and husband • His body must go for an autopsy to determine the cause of death • The body is buried without permission (morgue) • (pathologist) • Petrus wants the body back for a traditional funeral • Lerice’s husband struggles with the authorities to get the body

14. The Plot (continues) • They have to pay 20 pounds to get the body. • Somehow the workers come up with the money • The authorities return a body • Petrus’s father arrives from Rhodesia for the funeral • The father stops the funeral to look into the coffin.

15. The Plot (continues) • They find the wrong body in the coffin • Petrus wants his money back • They tried to get the money back • Everything was just a waste of time • The father returns to Rhodesia with an old suit.

16. Setting • The story takes place on a farm near Johannesburg. • South Africa is called the Union of South Africa. South Africa is still under British rule. • Workers migrated to South Africa to work on the mines. • Workers had to use passes to move around.

17. The Political situation in South Africa • It was before Apartheid. • South Africa was known as the Union of South Africa • Blacks were not allowed to own large pieces of land • Blacks immigrated to Johannesburg to work on the gold mines • The blacks had to carry passes, they were not allowed to move where they wanted • Blacks could only qualify for low paying jobs • Crime was horrible in Johannesburg.

18. Unexpected events • You do not expect Lerice to embrace farm life. • Lerice’s husband did not expect to find the body of a strange African in the hut. • Lerice’s husband did not expect that he would ever have to report the death of an illegal alien • Lerice’s husband did not expect to exhume the body. • Lerice’s husband did not expect the workers to bring him 20 pounds. • Lerice’s husband did not expect Petrus’s father to come to the funeral. • Lerice’s husband did not expect that Petrus wanted the 20 pounds back when they discovered it was the wrong body.