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Mrs. Plum | Introduction

First published in Mphahlele’s 1967 short story collection In Corner B, ‘‘Mrs. Plum’’ was written during the early 1960s while the author was living in Paris. The collection, which includes stories about life in Nigeria and South Africa, was published by the East African Publishing House in Nairobi, Kenya, though the author had taken a teaching position in Denver, Colorado, by that time. Such was the life of this homeless writer. Mphahlele’s work had been banned in his own country of South Africa, and In Corner B was not available there until the banning order was lifted in 1979.

‘‘Mrs. Plum,’’ makes up four chapters, by far the longest story in the collection, and is sometimes considered a novella rather than a short story. It depicts the changing relationship between Karabo, a black South African cook from the village of Phokeng, and her employer Mrs. Plum, a white liberal living in the suburbs of Johannesburg during the years of apartheid. As Karabo observes Mrs. Plum’s conduct over three years, she comes to realize that Mrs. Plum’s attitude toward blacks is hypocritical, and that her belief in the equality of blacks and whites is shallow.

‘‘Mrs. Plum’’ was heralded upon publication as an indictment of white liberal South Africans who claimed that they could bring about political change in the country by working within the system. This is a theme that the author had explored in other stories, including ‘‘The Living and the Dead’’ (1958) and ‘‘We’ll Have Dinner at Eight’’ (1961). It is still considered one of Mphahlele’s best and most important stories and has been included in several widely distributed anthologies of African and world fiction. Mphahlele himself included it in a later short story collection, Renewal Time, (1981) and called it ‘‘the best thing I ever pulled off.’’

Mrs. Plum Summary

The story opens with Karabo, a young woman from the black South African township of Phokeng, describing her white ‘‘madam,’’ Mrs. Plum. In the suburbs of Johannesburg where Karabo works for Mrs. Plum, all of the homeowners are wealthy and white, and all of the servants are black and poor. This is South Africa under apartheid, the system of laws that kept whites, blacks, Indians, and mixedrace people or ‘‘coloreds’’ in separate places (‘‘apart’’) to protect the power of the white minority.

Mrs. Plum is not like any employer Karabo has ever heard of. She uses Karabo’s African name, instead of giving her a ‘‘white’’ name like Jane. She encourages Karabo to improve herself by giving her books and newspapers to read, teaching her to follow recipes, and paying for dance lessons. She praises Karabo when she does well. She even makes Karabo join her for meals at the table, which makes Karabo uncomfortable. No other whites invite blacks to sit at their table, and the food Mrs. Plum eats is not what Karabo is used to.

Mrs. Plum has a daughter, Kate, just Karabo’s age. Kate confides in Karabo about her mother, her love life, her dreams, telling Karabo ‘‘many things a white woman does not tell a black servant.’’ Karabo gets used to hearing Kate’s confidences, but never shares her own. Although Mrs. Plum and Kate ignore Karabo’s place in the social order, Karabo never forgets. Mrs. Plum is an author, who writes books and articles calling for the end of apartheid, and who participates in public demonstrations at government buildings. Karabo, who knows nothing of national politics, does not understand what Mrs. Plum is trying to accomplish, or why Mrs. Plum thinks she can speak for black people. But as she reads the newspapers, Karabo learns more about the position of blacks in South Africa and comes to see that beatings, arrests, and other mistreatment are part of a national pattern.... » Complete Mrs. Plum Summary