Dreams
In Valley Song, each character is chasing a dream, and it is the nature of these dreams and the lengths the characters will go to achieve them that truly define their identities within the play.
Abraam Jonkers' dream is the most straightforward among the three. This dream was passed down to him by his father when he was just a young boy. One day, while working in the fields, his father told him that if he became a good man, God would make his days as sweet as the grapes growing in their valley. To be a good man, Abraam's father advised, he must work diligently on the land, love everyone in his home and village, and have faith, worshiping God in the village church. Since then, Abraam has strived to follow his father's guidance. He has committed himself to the same piece of land, his "akkers," that his father cultivated, and is deeply connected to the soil, even though he can never own it. He has cared for everyone in his household—his daughter, Caroline; his wife, Betty; and now his granddaughter, Veronica—even as they have each left him one by one. Despite his unwavering faith in God, his days have not always been as sweet as the grapes of his valley.
While Abraam's dream of a simple and honest life on the land is commendable and not harmful to others, it also presents challenges. It conflicts with the ambitions of his daughter and granddaughter, who do not share his passion for the land. In the context of the "new" South Africa, where people of all races—black, white, and colored—are free to pursue greater dreams, Abraam's simple dream seems narrow and outdated.
Veronica embodies the spirit of this new South Africa. She dreams of leaving the valley village for the big city to become a famous singer and one day appear on television. Having grown up too young to fully experience the harshest aspects of apartheid, she does not share her grandfather's fear that the white world will block the path to her dreams. Her energy, enthusiasm, and passion for her dream are both admirable and exhilarating, but they come with risks. As The Author cautions her repeatedly, dreams that are too grand may not come to fruition, and unfulfilled dreams can lead to disappointment and bitterness.
The Author has experienced both the thrill of achievable dreams and the letdown of unrealistic ones. Throughout his sixty-plus years, he has attained a level of fame and success as an artist, similar to what Veronica aspires to achieve. However, this pursuit has exacted a heavy toll on him. Once filled with ambitions of a "Glorious Future" for his country, he now longs to leave behind the contrived environments of cities and theater for the authenticity of the Karoo farmland. In a conversation with Veronica, he says, "The future belongs to you now," symbolically entrusting her with the torch of hope and the power to continue dreaming, passing it from his generation to the next.
Cycle of Life
Valley Song opens and closes with The Author offering the audience a symbol of fertility: a handful of pumpkin seeds. These seeds embody the cycle of life, a central theme in the play and its characters' journeys. Just as seeds are sown into the earth, nurtured by sunlight and rain, grow into vines and yield “Flat White Boer” pumpkins, and eventually produce new seeds again, the characters and their community undergo birth, growth, death, and renewal.
The three characters featured in the play are all connected to the land, making them directly influenced by...
(This entire section contains 691 words.)
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nature's life cycle. For Abraam Jonkers, the land has been his life and livelihood since childhood. Yearly, he plants seeds, cares for the sprouts and vines, harvests the crops, and then retreats indoors for winter as the land rests. He has witnessed the full life cycle of his daughter, who fled to the city and passed away, and his wife, who aged and died on their farm. Ultimately, when faced with the potential loss of his granddaughter, it is the land that provides solace for Abraam. Instead of leaving him "slumped in defeat and misery," The Author hands him another handful of pumpkin seeds, which become the catalyst for Abraam's renewal. Once more, old Buks steps into the fields to plant, signifying that the cycle of death and rebirth will persist. Like the pumpkin fields, old Buks will be revitalized.
For Veronica, the land feels confining. She has also lived through the cycle of seasons and the routine of planting and harvesting crops, sensing the rhythm of life in their small valley village. However, as part of a new generation, she is unsatisfied with the life her grandparents and parents have led. She needs a different kind of nourishment—a nurturing of the soul—to flourish. At one point, she pleads with old Buks, “I am also a living thing, you know. I also want to grow.” Veronica believes her growth can only happen beyond the valley, where new opportunities beckon young blacks in cities that once rejected them. “My singing is my life,” she tells her grandfather. “I must look after it the way Oupa looks after his vegetables. I know that if I stay here in the Valley it will die.”
For the Author, the land represents his vision for his later years. Like old Abraam, his life is coming to a close, and he wishes to return to the rural area where he was born, much like seeds returning to the earth. He has spent many years hoping for the urban world he lived in to transform. His longing has been for his nation to move beyond its ignorant, entrenched prejudices and become a liberated society. As the change he anticipated for so long finally begins to unfold, he is prepared for others to continue where he is leaving off. He desires to slow down and reside in the valley, which he describes as "the unspoilt, innocent little world it was when I first discovered it."
Throughout Valley Song, there are indications that the Author's dream of a liberated South Africa is becoming a reality. The country, much like its characters, is evolving and transforming. When old Buks worries about losing his "akkers" to the white man intending to purchase all the land, Veronica encourages him to seek assistance from the government, which has been "taking the land and giving it back to the people" in an effort to amend the injustices of the apartheid era. To illustrate her point, Veronica recounts an incident at the post office, where Mrs. Oliphant, a black postal worker, turned away the town's white Brigadier at closing time, telling the outraged man, "This is no longer the old South Africa, Brigadier." When Veronica receives a letter from her friend Priscilla in Johannesburg, she is assured that there are many jobs available and plenty of opportunities, a stark contrast to the situation black South Africans faced just a few years earlier. The playwright seems to suggest that in the cycle of life, his work is concluding, while the task of the new generation, rebuilding the nation, is just beginning.
