The "Table Friends"
The group of friends that Julie spends much of her free time with symbolizes the new generation of South Africa – the generation of post-apartheid South Africa. These friends include both blacks and whites, of different occupations, interests, and religions. By choosing this group of mixed people in place of abandoning her wealthy, upper-class family, Julie is symbolically rejecting the old ways of the apartheid days. Those of her father’s kind of people are clearly still very much bias against other races and the lower classes, with the exception of the extremely wealthy and successful blacks. Because of this, Nigel Summers – Julie’s father – and his associates represent the older generation that grew and gained much from the laws of apartheid, and so Julie’s rejection of him and her embracing of the Table Friends symbolizes the new generation repelling the apartheid values of old.
On top of that, a table can be regarded as a symbol of unity as it is a gathering place for individuals and is an object that encourages communication between those that are made to connect by it. Moreover, it is interesting that these friends do not really share much in common except for their youth. This can be interpreted as a national allegory of the new South Africa – made up of the new, young generation – in which Nelson Mandela’s vision of a “rainbow nation,” a multicultural nation that welcomes all colous, is being brought to life here, around this table. The entire group of friends can essentially be considered to be rejecting the racist ideologies of the older generation, to be turning their backs on the past, and forming a new society that embraces all races. This is evidenced in their warm welcome and acceptance of Abdu into their circle.
EL-AY Café
This café is in a part of the city that is far from The Suburbs where Julie had come from – a neighborhood for the very wealthy, upper class, predominantly white – and is instead within an area that is far more modest in comparison, where people of all colors mingle and interact. The name of the café bears striking resemblance to the city of L.A, Los Angeles, in America: a city that is well known for its multiracial inhabitants as people from all over the world have migrated to L.A over the course of history, making it a largely diasporic city. The café’s name therefore symbolizes this city of mixed peoples who have had to leave their homelands for one reason or another; generally for better economic opportunities or living conditions. EL-AY Café, like the city of L.A, is a place where different races, classes, and religions merge together, as personified by Julie, Abdu, and her Table Friends.
Visa
In both of the settings in the novel (South Africa and Ibrahim’s native country) Ibrahim is desperately and consistently trying to get a visa for any other country with better oppurtunities and that will allow him entry. The visa is an object of such immense value and importance to Ibrahim because it is not something he can procure easily without connections, unlike that of Nigel Summer’s friend and Julie’s mother who are welcome into other countries due to their whiteness, high social ranking, and wealth. To Ibrahim, the visa is not merely a means of access into another country but it is his ticket to better chances and better opportunities. Without a visa, Ibrahim is trapped in his own country which he cannot see any hope for a good, successful future in. The visa is thus also, according to him, a gate to a better life, one where he is free to soar if he works hard enough. It will also grant him the ability to change his identity, to become like Julie’s kind of people: a global citizen, one who can also “pick up” another identity if he wished.
Naming Strategy: Abdu
In Arabic, the name Abd or Abdu translates to “servant.” It is interesting that Ibrahim chooses to call himself this while living as an illegal immigrant in South Africa. The name suits that of his marginalized position in South African society: he has been made into a servant for the whites. This aspect of his character does not change until the very end of the novel, where he leaves his home country in order to work as a janitor in America. Julie thinks rather despondently of how Ibrahim is made to do the dirty work that white people would not do for themselves in these developed countries – just as how he was a mechanic in South Africa, he will be a janitor in America. Ibrahim will truly live as a servant for the whites in his determination to succeed and achieve material prosperity, thereby embodying his name. It symbolizes the harsh reality of the so-called globalized era: old divisions like the social hierarchy still prevail, and there is very little equality in the world.
The Unnamed Arab Country
Nadine Gordimer left the Arabic country unnamed. There are numerous possibilities for the identity of the country, ranging from Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait, as some of the local women are described as wearing the “chador” and Julie herself was never made to wear an outer garment over her everyday western clothing, thereby proving that the country could not be Saudi Arabia. It could also be a fictional setting and not based on any real country. Nevertheless, the fact that Gordimer left the country unnamed allows for the second setting to act as a representative of all Middle-Eastern nations. Moreover, its namelessness may reflect the insignificance of the country for Ibrahim who has never felt a sense of rootedness towards his homeland and who strives to escape from it as soon as possible.
