Racism against love

Racism against love

This essay is an interpretation of “City Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer. It illustrates a story of a geologist by the name Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf.  Franz Josef was born in Austria, had different occupations positions before he moved to South Africa. He loves “occasional skiing trip, listening to music and also reading of poetry” (p. 40). Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf moves to South Africa, and he meets a South African mixed-race lady whom he starts a relationship with. He is not married, and he lives alone in a flat in South Africa. He usually goes to supermarkets to do occasional shopping. The link goes own until the police discover it. The story gives us an insight into the level of racism that existed in the country. It was intense to the degree where it was a crime to have a relationship with somebody for another race. From my point of view, there is a need to avoid racism at all costs, and people should be allowed to be in a relationship with any person they fall in love with.

Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf is a person who loves his works, hence emphasizing it. The author describes him as “geologist absorbed in his work-wrapped up in it” (p. 40). He is a man that is dedicated and result oriented in everything he does. According to the article, “his work was his greatest interest; it taxed his mental capacities to their limit, exercised all his concentration, and rewarded him constantly” (p. 44). The author also brings out the social character of Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf, and he comes out as a person who is indifferent towards the social differences that existed in the country. He states, “has no interest in the politics of the countries he works in” (p. 40). It also displays that he is a man that has the interest of everybody at heart.

The woman that Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf gets into the relationship is working as a cashier at a supermarket (p.40), but before she was working in a clothing factory as a machinist (p. 44). The woman is described as being colored since that is the language that was being used in that country to distinguish people who had mixed blood from the real Africans. The author identifies her as “not black; her family was very light-skinned” (p. 42). The level of racism in that country was so high that they used the skin tone to distinguish people. The lady is beautiful basing on the description the author gives us. Her “very small face was quite delicately hollowed” (p. 41), and the author further says she is “small and finely made” (p. 41).

The story focuses on the apartheid system in South Africa. The period in which people were segregated because of their color. The interpretation of the articles shows that it is likely that the relationship between Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf and the woman lasted for three months. The authors illustrate that the first encounter of the two was “one evening in winter” (p.40), and they got arrested “on a summer night near Christmas” (p. 44). It shows how it was hard for people of a different color to last in a relationship. The relationship only lasts as long as the authorities are not aware of it.

The story “City Lovers” takes an in-depth analysis of the state of racism during that period in South Africa. It portrays racism as it is seen through the segregation method that is used in the separation of the white people from the people of color. It shows the state of living between the poor and the rich in that country. The white people in the country we’re living in luxurious areas. It can be seen when the author says, “in the entrance of the building called Atlantis there was a pool with real ferns, not plastic, and even a little waterfall pumping over rocks” (p. 41). It gives us the outlook on the kind of life the white people were living in the developed areas. However, the black and mixed-race Africans were living at the periphery of the city, “black township” (p. 41). It clearly shows the boundaries that existed in the countries on the living status. Hence the mixed races were only supposed to live in the filthy areas while the whites in the leafy suburbs. The article further indicates racism when it describes the place where Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf’s woman was living. She lived in a “township reserved for people her tint” (p. 41).

Nadine Gordimer explores themes that deal with racial conflict and the misuse of authority among the mighty. The article has outlined the troubles that befell Dr. Franz Josef von Leinsdorf and her lover. The struggles of knowing that you are in love, but the law doesn’t allow you to have a free relationship because of race. The article gives an insight into why there is a need to avoid racism at all costs, and people should be allowed to be in a relationship with any person they fall in love with.