Stories of Growth in World Literature
The Music of The Violin2011/11/29
Ann Huang, Natalie Lu, Andrew Wu, Sherlyn Tee, Sally Chen, Tracy Lin,
Claire Tian
Outline• Introduction• Summary• Family Tension: Parents vs. Sister• School Tension: Teachers & Peers(Boys
vs. Girls) vs. Friend• Social Tension: Gang• Motifs, Themes, Imagery• Discussion Questions• Conclusion
Introduction: Characters
• Vukani
• his parents
• two visitors (Dr. Zwane and Mrs. Zwane)
• His sister, Toboho
• His friend, Doksiwhose father is a barber;
• At school—Ms. Yende (red dress)
• Mr. Maseko, the principal
Introduction: Setting
• Njabulo Ndebele
• Johannesburg township of Soweto
• A critical portrait - completely
absorbed Western middle-class
values and attitudes
Summary
• Overhear→ recalling his memory• At school he is forced to “ Bantu
education” , and at home “ Western education”
• Humiliating incident → Pressure → desire to escapeEnding: Vukani doesn’ t want to
play anymore → mother retreats to bedroom in tears
Family Pressure
• Mainly from Vukani’s parents
• Voilin→ parents’ anticipation and showing off
• Vukani’s point of view:
---He looked at the violin with dread; as
something that could bring both pain and
pleasure all at once. (p.100)
---Today he had been humiliated again in public,
…..It was all because of this violin. (p.104)
Parents
• Father: Inspector of schools
• Mother: Nursing sister
→ Sense of superior; better environment for
better future
---His mother never tried of telling him how lucky he
was…..(p.100)
※Compare to the white boy→ couldn’t get rid of the
boundary of different races
---You should never yield to ignorance. (p.106)
Arrogance & Showing off
• Self identity or self hatred?
---”Relatives”, the mother came out, “can be a
real nuisance.” Once you have opened the door,
they come trooping in like ants. (p.110)
---Showing off their son and the violin (p.107-108)
---They are not people: they are animals.
Absolutely raw. They have to respect for that is
better than they. (p.111)
Family Support
• At that moment, there was a dull
explosion seemingly coming from
the kitchen…..(p.109)
Siblings Relationship
• Both of them suffer the pressure from their
parents.
---He wondered where Teboho, his sister,
was…..Their mother tended to make too many
demands on them. (p.97)
---Vukani thought of his sister. He wanted to go
to her. They were very lonely. Their parents
disapproved of many of their friends. (p.110)
School Tension : Teachers & Peers (I)• The Western Education of SchoolP95 & P107: Homework Questions-------
Western Influence• The Representatives-------Most of of
Teachers• P100: Miss Yende------Repression &
Repulsiveness• The Red Dress—Velvety& Flowery Fragrance,
but Dreadful Repulsiveness • The Image of Red Color: Beautiful but Repulsive
• The Rebellious Power-----Teacher Maseko
P99 “Children, I would rather be a hungry dog that runs freely in the streets, than a fat, chained dog burdened with itself and the weight of the chain.”
• The Seed of Rebellion against Authority• Repressed by School Authority
School Tension : Teachers & Peers (II)
• Source of pressure at school: Peers
-Children at school and the whole class as a
pressure group
。 Vukani with violin as the target of kid’s
mocking
“Here’s a fellow with a strange guitar!”
(p.101)
。 No one helps him when he finds out his violin
is gone (p.102)
School Tension : Teachers & Peers (III)
• Source of pressure at school: Peers
-Different genders group in the class
Incident: Vukani’s violin is disappeared.
1. Boys: physical strength
。“ I’m sure it was taken by one of those big
boys whom everybody fears. Big bodies without
minds! They ought to be working in town. Just
at school to avoid paying tax.” (p.102)
2. Girls: take advantages sexually
。 Topsana and the girls (p.103)
School Tension : Teachers & Peers (IV)
• Source of Support: Friend─ Doksi• Doksi as Vukani’s supporter when he
faces with pressure at school (p.102) -Solid, true friendship -Actual supporting actions• Doksi as another seed of rebellion against
Authority -knowing what’s justly right (p.102) -rebellious nature (p.110) -a weekly ritual of hair burning. (p.100)
• Usual harassment – p104
• That Friday…
• Try to play clam when he was being
followed
• Impala, a prey
• A woman stand out for him but can’ t
help him in the end
Motifs, Imagery, and Symbols
• Imagery of fire
• Imagery of animals
– Impala
–Dogs
• Symbolic Significance of The VIolin
• Binary Opposition
Imagery of Fire• Power and emotion
• Energy, destructive, “burning passion”
• Nature (primal) vs. invented (civilized)
• Harnessed to work for men
• Vukani’s imagination of pages catching
flame (99)
• Doksi’s hair burning ritual (100)
Imagery of Dogs
• Dogs: nature vs. civilization
• Teacher Maseko (101; 1st complete para.)
– Contrast: free dog, chained dog, wandering
dog
• Vukani’s experience of a primal urge (105)
– stray dog
– He understands
• Woman’ intervention
– “Dogs of the street!”
Symbolic Significance of the Violin
• Ironic contrast: The devil’s instrument
–Western music
– Countless shades of tone
– Concert master, Violin I & II
• EducationStatus
• Beauty in the arts
• For Vukani, fear and oppression
• Symbol of “difference” (M: status; V:
isolation)
Education and social status
• Irony – examples in speech but
also (109; Devorak)
• Vanity
• Hypocrisy
• Jealousy
Oppression and Power
• Father as authority figure
• Mother as nurse
• Father vs. Mother
• Parents vs. Children (Vukani, Doksi,
Teboho)
• Carnal: primal urges
Discussion Questions
• What are your ideas about the function of
education? What do you think about the
mother’s motivations of making Vukani learn
the violin?
• Were you forced as a child to learn a musical
instrument as a child? Share your
experience.
• Discuss your parents and how you were
raised. Do you think they ever treat you the
way Vukani’s mother treated him?
Conclusion
“The Music of the Violin” is a story
about racial identity and social issues,
but at the heart of the story is a little
boy, Vukani, who is ironically
imprisoned and oppressed by a fear and
hatred of fear and oppression.