Fiela’s Child- Dalene Matthee Comparisons Essay

throughout this thought-provoking novel, Matthee shows us how the environment where people are brought up, plays a strong part in who they become. She compares and contrasts the bright, uncivil expanse of the Long Kloof with the gamyness of the Forest, as well as the inhabitants of these areas.The novel tells us the story of a boy who struggles to understand who he is and where he belongs. This boy is gum benjamin Komoetie.Despite spending his younger eld in the care of Fiela Komoetie, a black woman, interference by white people upturns his life and sends Benjamin into the Forest to live with woodcutters. This transfer is confusing for a twelve-year-old, and even the insistence of his new white family that he has returned home, cannot quell his longing for the Kloof and his family there.Matthee frequently uses nature to describe events in the story and also connects shades of dark and light to the places. The people of the Forest are almost backwards in their ways they have brus k or no education and their homes are ramshackle huts. However, some of the Forest dwellers are aware of their insignificance to the colony people and other after-school(prenominal)rs. During a conversation between Elias van Rooyen (Benjamins new father) and Malie (one of Benjamins aunts), Malie says Im almost forty Elias, and Ive been outside this Forest only twice in my life, and that was just as far as the village.-I say again, if we should all die from a offense this very day, a few(prenominal) would notice. (pg.135-136)The Forest affects its residential area in many ways it is the life and death of the woodcutters and families. Yet, cosmos from the Long Kloof, Benjamin (now called Lukas) struggles to escape from a feeling of confinement. The colossal trees that tower all around and pin out the sun count onm to imprison him further. This address is just after he r distributivelyes his new home, recently in the bush They were somewhere deep within the Forest, it was dar k and he was very scared for he did not know how he would ever get out of there again. It waslike when you crawled into the crevices after inclination rabbits to get at them with a stick and it got so narrow around you that you started sweating with fear. (pg.101)This claustrophobia is very baffling to cope with after the hot, white light Long Kloof. Even the plants are different and Matthee emphasises how strange the modify greenery is compared to low yellow scrubland across the veldt.The Forest people are uneducated and rely upon each other for many things. This is shown when the Van Rooyen family has to borrow scissors to cut Ninas (Benjamins sister) hair. The family has very few possessions and when Fiela sends Benjamin his personal effects from the Long Kloof, they are immediately snapped up by his new people. I think that the constant shade and shadow. Combined with always being confined to the Forest makes the inhabitants wary of the outside world and almost wild in their ways.The Long Kloof id hugely different from the Forest and the Komoetie household is case-by-case from the rest of the local landowners. These differences influence those who live in whichever community and Benjamin becomes aware of this. One of the moments where we see how he recalls his former life is a Sunday in the Forest On Sundays he longed for the nudeness of the Kloof, or anywhere where he could have looked into the distance the Forest was so dense, the forest people neer saw far apparently they did not miss the open country for the Forest was their home. (pg. 210)Every reference to the surroundings that Matthee gives us, relates to the way the different people live their lives. This is an interesting viewpoint for the relationships within each community and as Benjamin interacts with either family, we are shown very different attitudes and characters.