Skinner's_Drift

In the novel “Skinners Drift” by Lisa Fugard, the horrible acts of racism committed during apartheid are exposed through the journal entries of Lorraine van Rensburg. The acts of cruelty documented in her mother’s journal help Eva reflect on her past living on Skinners Drift. Lefu, the farm-worker begins the novel playing the role of Eva’s conscience that she refuses to adhere to, but by the end of the novel, he is the conscience she must apologize to. Haunted by a traumatic tragedy that destroyed both her family and image of her father, Eva van Rensburg is hesitant to return back to Skinners Drift after a decade of living in New York. Ashamed of her past and childhood in South Africa during the period of apartheid, she is reluctant to discuss her upbringing and Africa’s social structure with friends. She even went as far as telling her New Yorker boyfriend that she was originally from New Zealand to escape any questions he may have about her childhood under an apartheid society. After returning back to Skinners Drift when apartheid has ended, her father is terminally ill, and remorse is high, Eva comes to terms with her wrongdoings and pleads forgiveness from Lefu. By the time Eva left Skinners Drift and her childhood behind, she could no longer look at her father nor herself in the eye. The emotional impact he had on her throughout her childhood left an undying pain that she could not over come, even in New York. Witnessing her fathers drunken cruelty on a daily basis, hunting Jaquals each night, murdering Toja (the family dog), and murdering a young black child, Eva could no longer declare her loyalty and love for Martin. She thought that escaping as far away as New York would help her forget her painful childhood and what she witnessed, however, upon returning back and reading her mother’s journal, she reflected on the pain she underwent and the horror of the night she lost her ethics. She recalls the night Lefu found the black child’s skeletons near the dam on Skinners Drift years earlier. How she threatened Lefu not to speak a word of what he found and disrespected him. She refused his claim that the skeletons were those of a child and tried to convince him that they were the skeletons of another one of the Jaquals Martin shot. However, Lefu knew that was a lie and Martin had committed murder. Lefu knew that he had no choice but to listen to Eva and keep the secret between them. After apartheid ended he finally told Mpho of his discovery and how disturbing it was to keep the secret for so long. When Eva returned to Skinners Drift pleading for Lefu’s forgiveness he granted her the satisfaction of explaining that as a child and as an inferior black man, neither of them could have created a nuisance over the crime and made sure Martin got what he deserved. The entire social structure during apartheid was unforgivable, and Eva was just a young girl who witnessed too much. He understood her motives and did not hold a grudge. Lefu plays the role of Eva’s conscience when he first tells her to turn her father in to the police. She battles internally whether or not she should expose Martins cruelty as advised, but finally realizes that her loyalty to her father is more important than the crime he committed. In addition, Eva could not handle knowing she is responsible for getting her father in trouble with the law. Although she questioned whether turning Martin in was the correct thing to do, she refused to do so, and did not listen to her conscience (Lefu). Growing up Eva was different from the other white folks in her society. She did not condemn the servant’s and the men who worked her farmland, but instead treated them as friends. Eva would force Lefu to break the laws of apartheid and go riding with her, giving him no say in the matter. He knew that riding would be risky and could result in heavy punishment; however, Eva’s persuasion helped overcome that fear. It wasn’t until he found the child’s skeletons that she used her authority over him and threatened him to keep her secret. This shows how the situation she was put in emotionally affected her and caused her to change her morals by using social prejudices to her advantage. In Sam Durrant’s narrative, he exposes the present unsettled attitude of the white men and women who lived through apartheid in South Africa. He explains that still today, because of their unsettled attitude, they constantly battle their conscience and question whether the decisions they make are correct. Many are aware and regretful of their previous behavior and attitude towards black men, women, and children during apartheid and feel deep mourning and remorse towards the black race on a daily basis. (Postcolonial Narrative and the Work of Mourning). Throughout the novel Eva struggles internally debating whether her loyalty to her father and their father-daughter relationship takes precedence over the crimes he’s committed such as “mistakenly” shooting a black child. She returns after many years of being angry with him only to say goodbye when he is deathly ill. After years of living with an unsettled attitude and regret, she is ready to face Lefu and apologize to him, her conscience. The remorse she felt for not following her conscience and doing what was right at the time prevented her from letting go of her past. Fugard’s novel is a tale of race, class, and the injustices that took place during an unforgivable time period. Till this day, these injustices still have an impact on the lives of the “superior” whites living in South Africa during apartheid. It seems the only way to let go of their past is to apologize for their previous crimes and listen to the conscience they ignored years ago.