A Chain of Voices (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: André Brink
- First Published: 1982
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Historical
- Time of Work: The 1780’s to 1826
- Setting: Near Cape Town, South Africa
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Race, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Revolutions, Social issues, Farms, farmers, or farming, Eighteenth century, South Africa or South Africans, Apartheid, Insurgency
- Locales: South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
Characters Discussed
Piet van der Merwe (peet fahn derh MEHR-vah), an Afrikaaner farmer and patriarch. Once a strong and forceful man, the aged Piet has become helpless from a stroke. Because the novel is composed solely of monologues by the characters, Piet himself records his part in the events that surround the slave uprising, traces the course of his life to the uprising and his stroke, and reveals his relationships with the other characters. He emerges as a God-fearing, British-hating, racist, self-righteous, and often cruel man who unintentionally destroys his family as...
[The entire page is 691 words long]
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