Cancer = Shame = Writing

"I have cancer from the accumulation of shame I have endured in my life... from self-loathing the body turns malignant and begins to eat away at itself" (145).
Mrs. Curren battles with the pain that she endured from cancer, and in my opinion, she sees her disease as the punishment for the many attrocities taking place. Beyond this, cancer and the resulting pain acts as the catalyst motivating her writing. The shame and pain that she feels is often times what motivates her to complete the work, without which, the beauty expressed on the pages would not be possible. I find this very interesting in that this coping mechanism of writing is seen throughout much of the recent works. It seems to be a combonation of DuBois and Rich, in that Mrs. Curren not only uses writing to cope with the many emotions she faces, but is also using her writing a sort of call to action. As DuBois used writing to explain and portray the many horrors of a society, I beleive that Mrs. Curren, as motivated by her shame and pain, also depicts the horrors of a society wrought with war and death.

Burning and the Doll

J.M. Coetzee uses burnign as a motif throughout much of his novel. This may be used to detail the emosions that are running through Mrs. Curren and to help relate these emotions back to the reader. The reference that I am speaking of comes on page 124, where Coetzee actually plays two analogies into one reference.
"Do you want to know why I set my mind on burning myself? Because I thought I would burn well. Whereas these people will not burn, Bheki and the other dead. It would be like trying to burn figures of pig iron or lead. They might lose their shapeness of contour, but whne the flames subsided they would still be there, heavy as ever" (124).
In this excerpt, I beleive that the two analogies of burning and the doll come into play. Mrs. Curren believes that she would "burn well", like a doll would burn when placed in the fire, and the reason for this is because she is completely empty inside. She compares herself to the doll in that she has nothing inside of her, no strong feelings for this land. That is why she would burn so drastically different than those like Bheki who are fighting for a cause, and even after the death of burning, their cause would remain. The memory of Bheki would stand the test of time because they are not empty like Mrs. Curren or a doll, rather they, and their message are as strong as iron.

The Social Condition

Du Bois speaks about the social condition of the African Americans, recognizing that although the condition is deplorable, and is due in large to the history of their existence, "the color prejudice is not the sole cause of their social condition" (Du Bois, 152). He notes that in the social condition of the African Americans, they are discouraged in two particular ways. The first he states that "by proscription and prejudice, these same Negroes are classed with and treated like the lowest of their people, simply because they are Negroes, such policy... discourages thrift and intelligence" (Du Bois, 152). Therefore, education is the first means by which the social condition of African Americans were degraded. The second means mentioned by Du Bois is correlated witht he lack of education. Du Bois states that because of this lack of education, "it puts a direct premiumon the very things you complain of, - innefficiency and crime" (Du Bois, 152). Thus ignorance leads to crime, and the only way to alleviate this crime is by educating those performing the deeds. It is interesting to note how related the two issues are, and yet how the means of fixing this problem seem to be so obvious. Du Bois Notices that the white South and African Americans "both act as a reciprocal cause and effect, and a change in neither alone will bring the desired effect. Both must change, or neither can improve to any great extent" (Du Bois, 153).

Double-Consciousness

"It is a peculiar sensastion, this sense of double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others" (Du Bois, 5).
Du Bois is confronted with the dilemma of balancing multiple of aspects of his singular identity. By this notion, Du Bois is forced to confront many of the issues that were presented to Rich. Rich was forced to balance her identity as a woman, feminist, lesbian, and Jew. Du Bois is also pressured by the challenge of truly identifying himself of "an American, a Negro... two warring ideals in one dark body" (Du Bois, 5). Much like Rich, Du Bois see's himself in one fashion, but deals with reactions of the outside world. Rich deals with the reaction of her father whereas DuBois deals with the reactions of the large class of White Southerners. It is interesting to note how similiar the viewspoints are and how they deal with the same impending forces.
Beyond the pressures the two authors deal with, both understand that they have a specific message to convey to the world. Du Bois states that he "would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world" (Du Bois, 5). They both simply wish to be able to balance the many aspects of their identity, without being influenced by the many external forces that wish to impede them.