After analyzing the main character, it is evident that her imagination serves as a safe harbour away from her real life. As mentioned before, Aniline is idealistic and she is trapped in a ‘hand-me-down’ type of school and a dysfunctional family setting (her stepfather is abusive and is having an affair with her aunt). She tries to escape this reality by relying on unrelated factors to determine whether her wishes will come true or not. Aniline hopes to become a school prefect. The author mentions that it is possible for her to buy a prefect badge at a local store, but this is not her intention. She wants to earn a scholarship from a private school that she views in an idealistic light with help of being selected as a prefect. By playing a lunch-swapping game called the “Test” with her friends, she wishes to predict her fate. This is the first “what if” or superstition that the author introduces to the reader. The concept is defined on page 211 in Bananafish Braai, “She prefered the ‘what-ifs?’ in algebra to geometry. If x would equal y and a could equal b, what if all the letters equaled real things, what would happen to her?” (Emaneul 139).
Due to Aniline’s dissatisfaction about her current environment, she is constantly hoping for small omens that has no relevance to the actual thing she wants. For instance, the “Test” was to see who would be elected as prefect by swapping their lunch and judging the contents. Aniline clarifies the stakes, “ ‘Brown bread means you haven’t got a chance... White bread with spread means you’re on the list, but they’re not sure yet. White bread and meat or cheese means you’re in – you’re definitely a prefect’ ” (Emanuel 139). Aniline ends up with Lindi’s white bun that indicated that she is considered, but there’s no definite conclusion. Even though the “Test” connects two completely unrelated categories, it foreshadows what really happens in the end.
Lindi and Neo, Aniline’s only friends, seem to be the source of her public confidence during school. Since she has joined their circle of friendship, she has been able to walk proudly and act with confidence. This is evident in the following quote, “Her inclusion in their friendship was recent and her stride since was different, more assured. Before she became their friend, she had to go off to the library every break-time to avoid the shame of being alone” (Emanuel 139). To introduce them, Lindi is kind to Aniline and supports her superstitious behaviour by participating in the “Test” without complaint. This is unlike Neo who is unwilling to parttake in the “Test” at first, but gives in with a sigh. The fact that she is unwilling to do the “Test”at first and asks to keep the lunch they have swapped might imply that she might be a tad too logical to see the point in or to understand Aniline’s superstitions.
Another voice of reason is Mrs Coetzee who might be a leading influence in Aniline’s character development, because she discourages her “fanciful”behaviour and actually (eventually) succeeds. Mrs Coetzee speaks with Aniline out of consideration to prepare her for the disappointment that she will not become a prefect. She says to her, “You’re too... fanciful, Aniline. You need to get a better take on reality, that’s what it is. You need to think things through logically” (Emanuels 149). Her intentions are kind, but Aniline does not take it entirely as intended due to the insensitive way the message is carried over, “Then, more brusquely, ‘So I recommended that you shouldn’t be on the prefect body. I hope you take this in the spirit it’s intended’” (149). Mrs Coetzee told Aniline the truth – she recommended against Aniline’s election of a prefect – which makes her an honest character. Even though Aniline had seemed to only listen with half an ear, she ends up noting a logical relationship in her observation at the end of the short story, “Some clouds were gathering. With any luck, Aniline thought, it might rain later” (149). Mrs Coetzee convinces Aniline to start living in reality and to think more logically about matters.This stands in stark contrast to Aniline’s mother.
Aniline’s mother, nicknamed Ma, seems to be the source of Aniline’s illogical naïvety and hopefulness. She also tends to rely on superstitions. She searches for water using a stick as her sister, Debbie, tells Aniline when they fetch her from school, “She’s got her stick and her mission and she says today’s the day she’s gonna find water” (141). For Aniline’s class speech, she teaches her “if you rub egg-white on a baby’s legs, the baby will walk early” (143). Ma tells her daughter, “Well, if the ants still come after you’ve cleaned up that sugar, it’ll mean you’re getting it (elected as prefect)...” (142). With her request, “If there’s a ring around the moon, it’s going to rain in as many days as there are stars in that ring. Count them for me, Annie?” (146) Ma encourages Aniline to put forth her superstitious tendencies. These are only a few examples. Eventhough supperstitions are irrational, they form the basis of both these characters’ hopefulness towards the possible future.
Other traits that Aniline and her mother share is determination, hope and perseverance. Aniline’s mother could have sold the farm as Debbie says, “Then the quatters moved in next door. Now not even God could sell the place for my sister” (142), but she did not. She chose not to give up on it. Aniline has the same determination and hopefulness. After each disappointment caused by the omens she sets out for certain things, she installs even more of them (these omens) in hope for a better outcome the next time. This is noticable even in the end. The short story builds up on this event, as the situation of being elected as a prefect is introduced on the first page, and it might be her biggest disappointment. Immediately after Mrs Coetzee tells her she will not be elected as prefect, she is still hopeful as the author sugests in the words, “With any luck, Aniline thought, it might rain later” (149).
Despite the characteristics they share, there is a sense of disconnection between Aniline and her mother. Her mother slightly averts from the conventional idea of what a mother should be like – over-protective and involved in their children’s lives, among other attributes. Aniline’s mother does express concern for her well-being when she tells her “Don’t you take a step, Annie. Don’t you move, you’re also barefoot” (145) when the glass bottel shattered on the floor, but she does not confront Theo about his aggressive and abusive behaviour. She does, to some extent, come up for Aniline when she says, after Theo ordered her to fetch ice for his friend’s foot, “Only one I’m getting ice for is my daughter” (146). However, that is the only time she protects Aniline from him. She does not object when Theo “...made Aniline climb up his work ladder, into the ceiling” (144) to poison the rats. Aniline could have been spared plenty of unfortunate events if it wes not for her mother’s neglectful, passive and affliction towards the social aspects of life.
Debbie, Aniline’s aunt, does not have a paticularly potent influence on her. However, she could be seen as another obstacle in Aniline’s life. Eventhough she is portrayed as a generally good-natured woman, this is especially evident where she “fixes” Aniline’s bruise with makeup (14 cool , Aniline views her as a betrayer where the author states, “But then Aniline imagined coming home, Theo seething at the kitchen table, waiting for her. Debbie would be behind him, saying, ‘But it was Annie, she made the lunch, it was Annie...’” (147). She also has an affair with Theo, her sister’s husband, as confirmed the night Theo had hit her, “Theo shifted enough for Aniline to see his fingers clutch at Debbie’s naked breast...” (147). Aniline does not openly admit that she dislikes her aunt, but she does poison Fritzie, Debbie’s dog, with the rat poison she wanted to give to Theo (147-17 cool .
Both Aniline and her mother show endurance regarding other characters and factors that influence them, such as Theo. Theo, Aniline’s step-father, orders them around to do things for him (things such as packing his lunch, fetching things for him and poisoning the rats on page 144). He treats them foully, yet they do not complain. His disposition towards Aniline affects her physically as he dealt a “slap across the side of her head” (145). He is very disrespectful towards Aniline’s mother. Not only does he have the tenacity to wack Aniline, a child that does not belong to him, across the face, he also mocks her mother behind her back. “He’d made the braai prong open like giant scissors, so they looked like Ma’s divining stick. He held onto the handles and took a few steps, narrowing his eyes and rocking to complete the picture of her ma” (146). They silently endure Theo’s aggressive and disrespectful behaviour along with the other factors such as poverty, and escape all this through their system of superstitions and “what if’s”.
In conclusion, Aniline is an easily influenced character, yet she does not lose hope despite the disappointments that are indirectly caused by whom she is influenced by (especially her mother and Mrs Coetzee).
Bibliography
Emanuel, Lesley. "Dreams, Miracles ans Jazz: New Adventures in African Fiction." Ed. Helon Habila and Kadija Sesay. Picador Africa, 2008. 139-149.
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