Old pictures
At the beginning of the book, the narrator describes a picture from a book he saw when he was a child. In that picture, the men who were in control of the South African government were portrayed, all dressed in white uniforms and carrying guns. The reason why this picture is important is that it only shows white men. As such, this image is used to transmit the idea that inequality was the norm from the beginning of the colonization period.
Children running in the fields
The narrator tries to reconstruct the moment when the colonizers stepped on South African soil and had a first encounter with the African tribes. In this scene, the narrator portrays a group of children, running around on a field and being carefree. This image is juxtaposed with the description of the scene given by the white soldiers who instead of seeing this image as something pure, portray the children as being little animals, running free in a disorganized manner. This description is important because it transmits the idea that the British soldiers already had an idea in their minds when it came to the indigenous people.
Europeans as harsh conquerors
Towards the middle of the book, the narrator started to discuss the subject of European colonization. The soldiers are portrayed in a not-so-flattering image and are portrayed as running over the South African fields and killing countless innocent people in their paths. As such, we see that the South African people saw the British colonizers as being extremely dangerous and as posing a direct danger to their lives and well-being.
In need of saving
The reign of each British governor is analyzed in the book and the narrator also includes a few quotes that can be attributed directly to those men. From those quotes, it is clear that the British saw the South Africans as inferior and in need of saving. The Africans are also portrayed as incapable of taking care of themselves and being less intelligent when compared with the European population. This image is important because it was used by the British governors to argue that their actions were justified even if it resulted in the death and enslavement of the African people.
