The Lemon Orchard

The Lemon Orchard
“The Lemon Orchard” is a story written by Alex La Guma, a South African writer in
the 1960s, the story is set during the period of apartheids to show the cruelty and harshness
of racism. Throughout the story, Alex la Guma portrays the white kidnappers as uneducated,
harsh and acts like a savage, yet they will receive no punishment for the horrible treatments
they push on the black man. This is done through the use of characterization, dialogues,
setting and the plot.
In the beginning of the story, the narrator describes the setting in the night with “the
moon was hidden behind long, high parallels of cloud which hung like suspended streamers
of dirty cotton wool in the sky.” It is as if the moon does not wish to witness what happens
next as it hides behind a cloud which foreshadows the brutal actions the kidnappers are
going to do to the black man. The moon also symbolizes the society at the time, just like the
moon hiding behind the clouds and turning a blind eye, the society refuses to acknowledge
the utter racist nature and appalling impacts of apartheids. Then, the writer states that the
events happening is set in a lemon orchard, where it is described to have a scent of “sharp,
bitter-sweet citrus smell hung gently on the night air” The lemon scent reminds the readers
of the presence of lemons; which is symbolic in terms of although lemons are pretty on the
outside, in the inside it is sour and bitter, which reflects the nature of the white kidnappers.
The unpleasant scent also foreshadows the bitterness of the activities that the kidnappers
are about to do to the black man. The writer’s intention of the use of symbolism in the story
is to signal the reader that the society does not acknowledge the terrifying treatments the
black people receives and that the white people does not have to be responsible for the
things they have done. The setting also reflects the nature of the white kidnappers. This
evokes a sense of injustice for the readers since they know that there will be no one or
system to punish the kidnappers.
As the events of the story progresses, Alex la Guma portrays the kidnappers as being
uneducated through dialogues and characterization. The face of the leader of the
kidnappers has “deep creases which covered the red clay complexion of his face like the
myriad lines which indicate rivers, streams, roads and railways on a map.” This hints the
readers that the kidnappers work in basic jobs that requires manual labor that does not
require any level of education to be have the ability to do this job. Then, the leader says,
“We don’t want any educated hottenots in our town” His use of the Afrikann slang
‘hottenots’ and the crudeness of his language reflects how uneducated and rough he is,
which once again emphasizes that the white kidnappers are uneducated to the readers.
Then, through the conversations between the kidnappers, the readers acknowledge that the
‘colored man’ is a teacher in the local community. However, despite the fact that the black
man is a teacher, the kidnappers think of him as being “dumb”. Which is ironic since even
though the kidnappers are the ones who has a lower-class job than the black man, they
think that the black man as the stupid and uncivilized one. Another ironic part is that the
story is set during the apartheid, where the whites believed that the black people should
not be educated yet in this story the white men are the ones who are uneducated, and the
black man is the one who actually received education and works as a teacher. This creates a
sense of irony for the readers and they may mock the kidnappers for being arrogant and
thinking they are better and smarter.
At last, to portray the kidnappers as being savages, the use of characterization is
used to portray this. For example, the leader of the kidnappers is described as having eyes
that “were as hard and blue like two frozen lakes” where simile and visual imagery is used.
The phrase ‘frozen lakes’ has connotations of unyielding, merciless and cold which highlights
and reflects the brutality and unforgiving nature of the white leader. Then later on in the
story, the white leader “jabbed the muzzle suddenly into the colored man’s back” The
shotgun symbolizes the position of power and dominance the white leader has over the
colored man, and also has connotations of violence. The fact that the word ‘shotgun’
appears over and over again throughout the story highlights the violent nature of the white
leader and the other kidnappers. This evokes a sense of revulsion for the readers as they are
disgusted by the barbaric actions of the group of kidnappers.
To conclude, Alex la Guma portrays the kidnappers as unpleasant character
throughout the story to evoke the reader’s emotions to spread awareness of the racial
issues happening in the story at the time to the readers. The whole story is not an isolated
event, but rather an allegory of the vast world of mistreated black people out there.

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