B.

English Literature
Guide
A Guide for the students of degrees in English Literature/Language. The
contents are a compilation of lecture notes taken while studying as a student at
the Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rwp, Pakistan. Note: The contents of the
blog are meant as a guide for those studying relative material, therefore it is
advised against copying, quoting or referring to the blog in official reports,
documents and assignments. Plagiarism is a serious crime in the academic
world. (Moneeza Rafiq)
Saturday, 2 February 2013

Nine: 'The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses' by Bessie

Head
~The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses~
Bessie Head
(1937-1986)
SOUTH AFRICA/BOTSWANA
Bessie Head's career as a writer was played out almost exclusively as an exile in Botswana, her
adopted homeland. Born of a white mother and a black father in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, she
suffered the childhood trauma of being “reclassified”, that is, removed from her mother's world and
brought up as a Coloured. Her mother had suffered the equally devastating humiliation of being
treated as insane, for daring to have a relationship with a black man. The emotional scars of Bessie
Head's childhood and early adulthood were recorded in her masterpiece, A Question of
Power (1973), a fictional study of madness brought about, one might say, by the violence of the
apartheid system. This and her two more memorable works: When Rain Clouds Gather (1968)
and Maru (1971) and the works that followed have earned her the distinction of Africa's major female
writer. She died in Serowe, Botswana, in 1988.
“The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” differs from most of Ms. Head's work due to its South African
setting, an environment she purposely avoided in most of her other stories and novels- no doubt
because it was so painful. Equally unusual in this story is the sex of the characters, all of whom are
men, incarcerated in a South African prison for their political activities. Yet the subtext is clear:
apartheid is tantamount to incarceration.
“Every oppressed man has this suppressed violence, as though silently awaiting the time to set right
the wrongs that afflict him.”- Bessie Head, A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings.
The text of the story is given below:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Blt8lIPCEq0J:staff.hartdistrict.org/jfannon/Humanities
%2520Stuff/Reading/Prisoner%2520Who%2520Wore
%2520Glas.PDF+the+prisoner+who+wore+glasses+scarcely+a+breath+of+wind+disturbed+the+still
ness&hl=en&gl=pk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg9J66liPZPNKFSyWuJ3rxrQHbYa3D1mkrVyEP6JDq
Xl-zNe_2Tti9dgSBeQzo6G_x_OUS5y5nno3xlhE5aSrXDEXDFijbuHtpRfA1y1QDu-
LXysCCZYv0QaBthWHTIihdK6ygS&sig=AHIEtbScUB5nh3ZUxGV6BHR5CpueKylHFA

NOTES
Meanings of Difficult Words:
1. Knobbly: shaped like a knob.
2. Warder: a prison guard.
3. Kaffir: Usually used disparagingly, kaffir is a term for a black South African.
4. Baas: it is a form of address meaning “master" or “boss”.
5. Assertive: confident, forceful personality.
6. Comrades:
7. Knobkerrie: a short stick with a knobbed head.
8. Perpetrate: to commit.
9. Godhead: divinity, the state of being a god.
10. Bedlam: a scene of uproar and confusion, an asylum.
11. Bogeyman: a terrifying or a dreaded person.
12. Conviction: firmly held belief or opinion, quality of showing that one is firmly
convinced of something.
13. Tirade: long speech of angry criticism or accusation.
Few Important Lines:
1. They were grouped together for convenience as it was one of the prison regulations
that no black warder should be in charge of a political prisoner lest this prisoner convert
him to his views.
2. As political prisoners they were unlike the other prisoners in the sense that they felt
no guilt nor were they outcasts of the society.
3. “Be good comrades, my children. Co-operate, then life will run smoothly.”
4. “I am a father of children and I saw today that Hannetjie is just a child and stupidly
truthful. I'm going to punish him severely because we need a good warder.”
5. “You may not know it but I have a wife and children and you're driving me to
suicide.”
6. “We want you on our side. We want a good warder because without a good warder we
won't be able to manage the long stretch ahead.”
Important Points:
In 1940's black Afrikaans were political prisoners for being frequently assertive, speaking out against
the government or protesting against government policies. Racism is how Brille ended up in jail. The
story focuses on the blacks, whites and the Afrikaans at the time of 'White Man Supremacy'. The
political prisoners are supposed to be very daring, their jail is separate and their treatment is different.
They are always forced into work because you have to channel their energy and keep them busy
during the day otherwise they could rebel or plot against the authorities.
Brille has a very humble family background. He did what he did for his children. He had a control
over his children from the start, he was their head and he could make them into fairly reasonable
human beings while he was around. He knew how to deal with them. Brille's glasses represent his
physical short-sightedness but his mental far-sightedness.
Span One did not let any warder control them. They are powerless yet they are united, they have
strength and they work together. This is a subtle message for the black race.
Hannetjie turned out to be the first warder who dealt with them using his mind, not his strength or his
position of authority over them.
A sort of prison house psychology is shown. The battle between the warders and prisoners was
entirely psychological, it all came down to who intimidated who. The story focuses on one message;
cooperation will lead to a peaceful life.
There was a shift of power among the powerful (Hannetjie) and the powerless (political prisoners). It
is however, somewhat ironic that the warder is the one benefiting the most from his and Brille's
agreement, as he gets the best reputation among warders, he gets fertilizer for his farm, and the
cooperation of the comrades, therefore, he gets to keep his job and sustain his family. The comrades
are simply getting food to survive and everything they wish to do within the boundary of the jail.
Span One ended up controlling the warder. They negotiated a deal for mutual benefit.
People should be united and they should learn to compromise and share in order to survive in this
world. Things are changing rapidly in the world and one must act fast to become united. Racism is
causing the identity of many at stake, it is targetting the ideology of many and brewing cultural
imperialism. Colonization was spreading quickly during that time and the blacks were oppressed. The
story gives an idea of how people react under racism and how they should react. It is motivating the
readers and improving the thinking process to a broad perspective.
Theme is the central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work (Myer 2145). A theme provides a
unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements
of work are organized (Myer 2145). There are several themes to this short story, but the most
important theme is race discrimination. This story took place around the 1940’s when black South
Africans were political prisoners for being frequently assertive. Some examples of imprisonment
would be speaking out in public against the government or protesting government policies. Brille
went to prison for having political beliefs, because he wanted peace and equality between blacks and
whites. This story reflects the time when racism was a big problem in Africa. Even though Brille
went to prison because of his political beliefs, he still did not change what he believed in.
The following are links to further analysis:
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/140246_literary-analysis-of-
http://globalafricanlit.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/bessie-head-the-prisoner-who-wore-glasses/
http://kaitlynroxalot.blogspot.com/2008/03/survivor-prisoner-who-wore-glasses.html
https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:X2Gzo7v2kNYJ:eastnet1.asdk12.org/~Erin_Munro/FOV2-0010B80C/Prisoner
%2520who%2520wore%2520glasses%2520questions.doc%3FFCItemID%3DS002F559A%26Plugin
%3DCosmo+the+prisoner+who+wore+glasses+text&hl=en&gl=pk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiXDBP
GU1P2v0kY0Ug6fOEVRHTPsX9CQY1zXLksy2YXmdZze8Sd3wQS7hjOM9zY8LBmDvUq8PMv
2whnW60dqKZoo0sovBtR-
SjtULhSRGvYKHKrXfd05_zVUfCFzRNA9yjnfnt3&sig=AHIEtbSFuyDyluHb4nHBKnfrePSovaL3
ZA
http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/208600.html

Main Themes:
 Racism
 Discrimination
 Equality
 Cooperation
 Development of Self
Questions:
1. When “The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” was originally published in 1973, critics of
South African apartheid saw little hope for political change within the country. Was Bessie
Head concurring with that perspective or presenting a more hopeful one?
2. What, in fact, does Head suggest are the ways of coping with such an oppressive
system?
 3. What is the significance of Brille's glasses?
4. Why were the warders intimidated by the political prisoners?
5. What incidents early in the story provide clues about Brille's personality?
6. Early in the story, Brille says that Warder Hannetjie is not human. Do you think he
changes his mind by the end of the story? Explain
7. How does Brille's memory of his family give him insight into Warder Hannetjie's
character?

Credit-Muneeza Rafiq
Posted by Unknown at 21:48
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2 comments:
1.

Unknown9 August 2018 at 10:38

"Afrikaans" implies a white person who speaks the language called

Afrikaans which is similar to Dutch. What you mean is "africans"
Reply

2.

Unknown27 February 2019 at 00:18

Well done! Great questions for an exam!!!

Reply
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 ▼ 2013 (21)
o ▼ February (16)
 World of Literature -Literature of the World (part...
 One : 'The Chief Guest' by Akhtar Jamal
 Two: 'Aunty Scorpion' by Ismat Chughtai
 Three: 'Her First Ball' by Katherine Mansfield
 Four: 'The Richer the Poorer' by Dorothy West
 Five: 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant
 Six: 'Eveline' by James Joyce
 Seven: 'And of Clay Are We Created' By Isabel Alle...
 Nine: 'The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses' by Bessie He...
 Eight: 'Karl Katz' by Grimm Brothers
 Ten: 'Half a Day' by Naguib Mahfouz
 Eleven: 'The Street-Sweeping Show' by Feng Jicai
 Twelve: 'The Gold-Legged Frog' by Khamsing Srinawk...
 Thirteen: 'The Revolver' by Emilia Pardo Bazan
 Fourteen: 'The Falling Girl' by Dino Buzzati
 Fifteen: 'Overcoat' by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
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