and Coloured (mixed-race)—were kept apart in all aspects of life. Interracial relationships were illegal, and the Group Areas Act of 1950 divided every city and town into racially segregated residential and business areas.

To enforce this segregation, thousands of Coloureds and Indians were forcibly removed from white areas to ensure racial homogeneity in each district. Harsh laws forbade non-whites from sharing trains, buses, taxis, or even hearses with whites. Consequently, in the story, none of the black Africans boarded the train to Rhodesia. While whites thrived in affluent urban centers like Rhodesia, non-whites endured economic and political exploitation in other parts of the country, such as the rural area depicted by Gordimer. Non-whites were only permitted in white districts for work and had to return to their segregated areas immediately afterward. While white children learned to read at an early age, the majority of black South Africans remained illiterate. In 1953, the white South African government even banned missionary schools to control the education of native Africans.

By 1950, opposition to apartheid was intensifying. During this period, the African National Congress (ANC) expanded its membership under the leadership of President Albert Lutuli, along with Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. Despite the white-dominated government’s efforts to suppress these resistance movements through violence, surveillance, and even assassinations, the ANC persisted. Even after being banned and having its leaders, including Mandela, imprisoned, the ANC continued its struggle. The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 empowered the police to detain individuals without granting them the right to a lawyer, a trial, or an appeal. These laws were utilized in 1952 to penalize demonstrators who protested against laws that the South African Supreme Court had deemed racist. Resistance leaders pledged that the political protests, despite being illegal, would go on until the country's prisons were overflowing. In reaction to the escalating protests, the South African Parliament granted Prime Minister Daniel F. Malan expanded dictatorial powers in 1953. This led to the establishment of a police state, which claimed the lives of numerous promising young political leaders and sparked guerrilla warfare. This conflict defined South African politics until the early 1990s, when apartheid was finally dismantled.

Narrative

"The Train from Rhodesia" starts and concludes with the imagery of the train. Gordimer structures her narrative around this metaphor, employing a limited third-person perspective. The narrator exclusively reveals the inner thoughts of the young woman, centering the story on her viewpoint, even though the stationmaster and his family are introduced before the train's arrival. The woman's thoughts emerge through interruptions in Gordimer's detailed narration. These interruptions expose her moral dilemmas regarding her husband's haggling over a carving: "Everything was turning around inside her. One-and-six. One-and-six." The absence of other characters' thoughts further highlights the psychological gap between the woman and the other individuals in the story.

Symbolism and Imagery

In a brief story, images and symbols must be meticulously chosen and used effectively to convey the themes clearly. In "The Train from Rhodesia," the train itself serves as the most prominent symbol. Originating from Rhodesia, a privileged British colony in South Africa, the train symbolizes British colonialism. Gordimer describes it as "Creaking, jerking, jostling, gasping, the train filled the station," portraying British domination as a massive, mechanical, unhealthy, and oppressive force. The train's brief stop, with few passengers getting on or off, symbolizes the indifference and lack of understanding inherent in British imperialism. The train travels along "the single, straight track," underscoring the "tunnel vision" of the dominant power. The old man and his impoverished neighbors are incidental; the train is merely passing through on its way to another British outpost. As it departs, it "cast the station like a skin," suggesting that the village is something to be discarded, unwanted, and unnecessary.

Unlike the mechanical and manufactured symbol of the train representing the whites, the African villagers are associated with natural imagery. They are surrounded by "sand, that lapped all around, from sky to sky, cast little rhythmical cups of shadow," which envelops the barefoot children's feet. Additionally, the stationmaster's wife is linked to a sheep's carcass hanging over the veranda. This too is a natural symbol, despite its negative implication of their societal status as mere pieces of meat. Nevertheless, these images indicate that the villagers are an integral part of their environment. Gordimer evokes this connection when she describes the old man's feet "splaying the sand," reminiscent of a tradition in African art where exaggeratedly large feet symbolize a bond with the land and its generations of cultivators. She juxtaposes this organic relationship with the sterile and compartmentalized existence of the British, who sit "behind glass, drinking beer, two by two, on either side of a uniform railway vase with its pale dead flower." The sand links the old man, the stationmaster, and his children, but the British lack a unifying symbol beyond the loud, lumbering train that "heaved and bumped back against itself." However, when sand is used to describe the young woman, it represents the shame she feels, which "sounded in her ears like the sound of sand, pouring."

1950s: Black South Africans are denied the right to vote, cannot represent themselves in government, and are segregated from white South Africans in housing.

1990s: Black South Africans gain the right to vote, participate in government, and enjoy the same legal rights as white South Africans, although large ghettos like Soweto remain.

1964: Nelson Mandela is arrested by the South African government and imprisoned for treason after nearly twenty years of activism with the African National Congress.

1996: South African President Nelson Mandela, along with the African National Congress-led parliament, approves a new, more equitable constitution for South Africa. Former president Frederick W. de Klerk serves as Mandela's deputy. The new constitution abolishes the death penalty, protects the rights of striking workers, and ensures greater access to public documents.

1953: James Baldwin publishes Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Ralph Ellison releases The Invisible Man, both landmark works addressing racial prejudice.

1997: Oprah Winfrey's book club dramatically boosts the sales of Toni Morrison's books.

Sources

Chingman, Stephen R. The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside, Allen & Unwin, 1988.

Cooke, John. The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: Private Lives/Public Landscapes, Louisiana State University Press, 1985, p. 235.

Ettin, Andrew Vogel. Betrayals of the Body Politic, University Press of Virginia, 1992, p. 150.

Harrison, David. The White Tribe of Africa, University of California Press, 1981.

Trump, Martin. "The Short Fiction of Nadine Gordimer," in Research in African Literatures, Vol. 17, No. 3, Fall 1986, pp. 341-66.

Further Reading

Haugh, Robert F. Nadine Gordimer, Twayne, 1974, p. 174.
Haugh explores Gordimer's body of work and her literary prowess.

Herbert, Michael. "The Train from Rhodesia," in Reference Guide to Short Fiction, edited by Noelle Watson, St James Press, 1994, pp. 937-38.
This piece includes essays on both Gordimer and "The Train from Rhodesia," emphasizing their literary importance.

Huggan, Graham. "Echoes from Elsewhere: Gordimer's Short Fiction as Social Critique," in Research in African Literature, Spring 1994.
Huggan examines Gordimer's self-critical works and her belief in the short story as a powerful and pertinent genre. The essay discusses several stories, including "Six Feet of the Country," "A Company of Old Laughing Faces," "Livingstone's Companions," and "Keeping Fit."

Smith, Rowland. Introduction to Critical Essays on Nadine Gordimer, from the Critical Essays on World Literature Series, G.K. Hall, 1990, pp. 1-22.
Smith offers a comprehensive overview of both South African and international reactions to Gordimer's work, tracking how these responses have evolved over the decades.

Terkel, Studs. "Conversations with Nadine Gordimer," in Perspective on Ideals and the Arts, No. 12, No. 3, May 1963, pp. 42-49.
An interview with Gordimer where she discusses the perspective of the young woman in "The Train From Rhodesia."

Wade, Michael. Nadine Gordimer, Evans, 1976.
Wade provides an in-depth analysis of novels such as The Lying Days, An Occasion for Loving, and The Conservationist, and briefly touches on her short stories.