Write a short note on apartheid.

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Write a short note on apartheid NU Apartheid was a system in Southern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe It divided people by race Whites had power Blacks had no rights Doris Lessing s The Grass is Singing reflects this system Through Mary Dick Moses and Charlie Slatter we see its cruel effects Racial Separation Apartheid forced strict colour rules Whites and blacks could not live equal lives In the novel Mary orders workers harshly I will take two and six off the ticket of every one of them that isn t at work in ten minutes Blacks are treated like property Moses though loyal is never seen as human This reflects apartheid s belief that whites must rule and blacks must obey Fear and Control Apartheid was built on fear Whites feared revolt Blacks feared punishment Charlie Slatter once killed a native and paid only thirty pounds This shows how the law

protected whites When Mary is murdered Slatter and Sergeant Denham do not seek the truth They only say A very bad business They care more about protecting white society than justice Human Cost Apartheid destroyed both whites and blacks Mary suffers from loneliness and madness Dick suffers from poverty Moses crushed by years of service kills Mary His act is not just personal It is the cry of the oppressed Lessing writes White civilization which will never never admit that a white person and most particularly a white woman can have a human relationship whether for good or for evil with a black person This shows the heart of apartheid rejection of humanity Apartheid was a cruel system of race and power It broke people s lives In The Grass is Singing Lessing uses Mary Moses Dick and Charlie Slatter to show its violence Apartheid meant fear division and tragedy for all

The Grass Is Singing

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Write a short note on apartheid.

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Doris Lessing

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