The Lemon Orchard

Theme: Ignorance

Alex La Guma was a South African novelist who was best known for his work to overthrow the apartheid regime
as the leader of the SACPO (South African coloured people’s organization). One of his many astounding literally
works ‘The Lemon Orchard’ is a short story which talks about the terror and ferocity of racism that took place in
Africa and although the ethnicity and colour of the characters are given away due to carefully chosen descriptive
language, La Guma shows how anyone can fall into becoming a victim or/ and a criminal of racial discrimination.
In addition to this La Guma uses imagery and Pathetic Fallacy throughout this story to depict how ignorance is a
crime and poison against society as it breeds and disciplines a habit of brutality and bigotry.

La Guma begins the story with a detailed illustration of the moon, saying it was ‘hidden behind long, high parallels
of cloud’. This suggests how the moon has no interest in witnessing what will occur to that man as he is of colour,
and nobody who is white will stand up for him. Similarly, near the end of the story, it was said: ‘the moon came
from behind the banks of cloud and its white light touched the leaves with wet silver’. This shows how at the ending
of the story when the man of colour was to receive his punishment the moon reappeared with its beams so strong
it seemed ‘wet silver’. This shows the eagerness of the moon (human nature) and how it turns a blind eye to when
a black man is in danger but only returns when he, who is innocent, is inflicted torture and pain for something he
is born with.

The writer continued on with this same message of ignorance later in the story when he talked about the crickets
in the orchard saying: ‘The night close around was quiet not that the crickets had stopped their small noises, but far
out others that did not feel the presence of the men continued their small monotonous creek-creek-creek.’ The
crickets, similarly to the moon, show the same action of ignorance and attention. The crickets who are closer to
the men ‘had stopped their small noises’ while the crickets further away from them continued their ‘creek-creek-
group of men pay no disregard, but those that are close to the men give their full undivided attention to await
what happens to the coloured man. Not only are the crickets representing human nature but society itself. La
Guma is trying to suggest how, if one stays put and does not stand against an action that is wrong, even if it does
no harm to them, they are committing a crime so great since it nurtures the habit of violence against the innocent.
This is because if no sees they are doing something unjust, they will continue to do since there would be one to
stop them and as time would progress their actions would continue to advance, leading to a problem that would
be very hard to diminish.

The story ends in somewhat of an ironic twist, this is because in the beginning, we see nature condemning the
unruly behaviour of the men saying it was ‘cold, damp, chilled and dark’. This shows nature provides no warmth
reassurance and approval to the white tormentors, but in the end, it is said that ‘The moonlight clung for a while to
the leaves and the angled branches, so that along their tips and edges the moisture gleamed with the quivering shine
of scattered quicksilver.’ This shows how the lemon trees had transformed into something dangerous. With their
‘angled branches’, ‘tips and edges’ as well as the ‘gleaming moisture’ which supposedly illustrates something shiny
and metallic, like weapons, arrows and knives, referring to death and adding to the violence and oppressed rights
of the story. It is as if nature has betrayed its original opinions and has lost its ground. Showing how is someone
pays no regard to the things that happen around him/her, their opinions can be manipulated without their
knowledge.
In the end ‘The Lemon Orchard’ is a subtle yet vivid reminder of the horrific Apartheid movement and how it
treated innocent people of colour. Alex la Guma has accomplished in creating an unpleasant and repulsive
violence in the story by showing just how easy it is to accept, approve and follow a movement, just by overlooking
it and through the use of ambiguity he proves that anyone can be a victim to social and racial violence.