Civil Rights
In South Africa, black Africans are the majority, yet they lack the personal freedoms that the white minority enjoys. They are required to carry an identification document known as a "pass," which limits where they can work and travel. Dick is eager to please his employers, aware that they could sign his pass at any time, forcing him to leave the area. When searching for black servants without valid passes, the police can enter Dick's and Karabo's homes without a warrant or reasonable cause.
At the Black Crow Club, Karabo listens to speeches by Lilian Ngoyi, who points out the injustices of South Africa's minority rule. Ngoyi urges her audience to imagine a future where the government represents all races and social classes, providing equal rights to everyone. Karabo is inspired by Ngoyi’s vision of a united and equal South Africa. However, since black people are not even allowed to vote during this time, the idea of them sharing political power seems out of reach.
Public versus Private Life
As Karabo delves deeper into understanding Mrs. Plum, she becomes more like "a dark forest which one fears to enter, and which one will never know." Mrs. Plum remains a mystery due to the sharp divide between her public persona and private life. In public, she champions equal rights for black people, authoring books, articles, and letters to the editor, and wearing a black armband while demonstrating outside government buildings. She hosts inclusive gatherings at her home for both whites and blacks and even chooses imprisonment over obeying an unjust law. Mrs. Plum sees herself as a fair and just advocate for equality.
Privately, however, Mrs. Plum is not entirely free from the biases of her privileged background. Despite making an effort to address Karabo by her real name, she continues to call Dick and other adult male servants "boy." She invites black men into her home but forbids her daughter from marrying one. While she encourages Karabo to learn and grow, she does not accept challenges to her authority from Karabo. Although she appears to love Africans collectively, she finds it difficult to embrace them as individuals.
Most troubling is Mrs. Plum’s hidden perversion involving her dogs. Mphahlele intends for this secret to be both shocking and terrifying. A woman with such a concealed nature cannot be trusted and cannot be genuinely good.
Growth and Development
Between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two, Karabo experiences significant personal development and learning. Mrs. Plum plays a role in her education by teaching her how to follow recipes and entertain guests. Karabo also improves her skills in reading, writing, and speaking English. Moreover, Mrs. Plum pays for her dance lessons at the Black Crow Club.
However, Karabo gains insights beyond what Mrs. Plum knows and likely wouldn't approve of. At the Black Crow Club, she begins to see her circumstances within a larger, more political context. Through discussions between Mrs. Plum and Kate about politics, Karabo understands that white people do not have all the answers to major issues. Throughout the story, Karabo frequently says, "I was learning. I was growing up." Eventually, she becomes self-assured enough to make demands of Mrs. Plum. When her demands are not met, she stands up for herself and quits her job. When Mrs. Plum asks her to return, Karabo negotiates new terms. As they drive back to Mrs. Plum’s house, Karabo reflects, "I felt sure of myself, more than I had ever done."
Oppression under Apartheid
Ezekiel Mphahlele’s poignant narrative, "Mrs. Plum," illuminates the harsh realities of apartheid in South Africa during the 1960s—a time when global awareness of such oppressive systems was...
(This entire section contains 276 words.)
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limited. Through vivid storytelling, Mphahlele exposes the systemic injustices faced by the black populace, who were largely relegated to roles as servants in affluent areas like Greenside. This setting symbolizes the broader socio-political landscape where, despite their essential contributions to society, black individuals were disenfranchised, devoid of voting rights, and silenced from voicing dissent against the government.
The narrative underscores a stark absence of legal protection for black individuals, particularly in scenarios where they faced exploitation and harassment. A significant moment involves Karabo, who experiences sexual harassment from her employer, yet finds herself utterly unprotected by the law. Similarly, Dick is portrayed as defenseless when the police invade his quarters without any need for justification or resistance on his part. These instances are compounded by the oppressive mandate for blacks to carry identification passes dictating their permissible movement within the country.
Karabo’s awakening to her own suppression is an integral part of the story. It is through reading newspapers and attending lectures by notable figures like Lilian Ngoyi of the African National Congress that she starts to comprehend the depth of her oppression. This narrative serves not only as a record of institutionalized racism but also as a call to awareness for readers, particularly those in Europe and the United States, who were shielded from these harsh realities due to the banning of Mphahlele’s writings in his native South Africa. Only in 1979 did South African audiences gain access to his insightful depictions of their struggles.
Critique of White Liberalism
"Mrs. Plum" offers a scathing critique of white liberalism in apartheid-era South Africa, exposing the paradox of attempting societal reform without relinquishing personal privilege. Mphahlele deftly weaves this theme throughout his career, notably revisiting it in his short stories "The Living and the Dead" (1958) and "We’ll Have Dinner at Eight" (1961). Mrs. Plum epitomizes the white liberal archetype; she is an author and activist, vocal in her opposition to apartheid and in advocating for improved conditions for black South Africans. Yet, despite her seemingly progressive stance, her actions raise complex questions.
Through the eyes of Karabo, who struggles to reconcile Mrs. Plum's rhetoric with her authority, readers are invited to scrutinize the motives and effectiveness of such liberal figures. Mrs. Plum's tendency to speak on behalf of blacks, rather than with them, underscores the paternalistic undertones inherent in her activism. Her willingness to entertain educated black individuals in her home, defying societal and legal norms, serves as a bold gesture of defiance, yet also highlights her insulated position within the social hierarchy.
Her dramatic acts of resistance, such as confronting police officers by turning a hose on them and choosing jail over a fine, demonstrate a commitment to her ideals. Yet, these actions also reveal the limits of her understanding, as they do not necessarily translate into meaningful change for those she seeks to support. Mphahlele's narrative invites readers to question the efficacy of liberal activism that does not fully engage with the voices it claims to represent, challenging the notion of change from within a system that inherently resists transformation.
Superficiality of White Liberal Support
Mrs. Plum represents a certain kind of superficial white liberal who espouses love for black people in abstract terms, yet fails to respect them as individuals with their own distinct identities and needs. She extends gestures of equality—such as inviting Karabo, her black domestic worker, to dine with her—but these actions are laden with insensitivity. Mrs. Plum offers foods unfamiliar to Karabo, served with utensils that further alienate her from the experience, indicating a lack of genuine effort to understand or accommodate Karabo’s cultural background.
The disconnect between Mrs. Plum's proclaimed values and her actions becomes starkly apparent when Karabo expresses her desire to attend a relative's funeral. Mrs. Plum dismisses the significance of this cultural ritual, underscoring her inability to see beyond her own worldview. This pattern of shallow engagement extends to her personal life as well. When her daughter wishes to marry a black man, Mrs. Plum's liberal façade crumbles into outright opposition. Hosting a black doctor as a dinner guest is acceptable, but the idea of a black son-in-law crosses an unspoken boundary.
Through Mrs. Plum's incongruous relationship with her dogs, the narrative sharpens its critique of the moral corruption underlying her brand of liberalism. The story illustrates that reliance on such superficial allies is futile. Instead, as Karabo learns, the path to genuine equality and respect lies in self-advocacy and demanding the treatment they deserve, unmasking the hollow support offered by individuals like Mrs. Plum.
