My Son’s Story (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Nadine Gordimer
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1980’s
- Setting: South Africa
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Political fiction
- Subjects: Social action, Teaching or teachers, Family or family life, Politics, Prisoners, Prisons, Racism, Revolutionaries, Blacks, Interracial relationships, Human rights, 1980’s, Adultery, South Africa or South Africans, Apartheid
- Locales: Johannesburg, South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, Rustenburg, South Africa
Characters Discussed
Sonny, a colored man who admires William Shakespeare. He is a schoolteacher turned social activist. Fighting to end apartheid in South Africa, he is arrested, tried, and jailed for two years. While in jail, he is visited by Hannah, a representative from a human rights organization. Although he has a nearly flawless family with a wife and two children, he begins a prolonged and passionate affair with Hannah. The affair has a profound impact on his family and eventually on his credibility in the freedom movement.
Aila, Sonny’s wife, a beautiful and...
[The entire page is 652 words long]
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