Overview of “Crackling Day”
Characters
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Lee (the narrator)
Andries
The white boys
Uncle Sam
Aunt Liza
The white man
Setting
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Elsburg
The location (home)
Plot Summary
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On Cracking Day, Lee and Andries travel to Elsburg to buy a square of pig’s rind
(crackling). Lee and Andries make the long trek barefoot in the bitter cold. When
they arrive, they are forced to wait in line. The white man who sells the crackling
humiliates lee by insisting on being called “baas.” As Lee and Andries journey
back home, they are approached by a group of white boys who call them names
and insult Lee’s father, who had passed away. That night, Lee, Uncle Sam, and
Aunt Liza are visited by the boys and a white man who threatens Uncle Sam into
beating Lee “to teach him a lesson.” Aunt Liza later comforts Lee by tending to
his injuries and cuddling him to sleep. Uncle Sam, feeling sorry about being
forced to beat Lee, brings Lee an orange, some boiled sweets, and an old picture
book.
Key Ideas
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Lee was only wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and no shoes because the poverty within
the black community.
“Baas” is the term that black people were forced to call white people by, as a sign
of respect.
Although Uncle Sam does not say “I’m sorry,” his gifts to Lee are a sign of
apology; adults in that time did not usually apologize to youngsters.
Blacks and whites are not equal in South Africa. To be black to be inferior. Being
black in South Africa is to be bound by a different system from the white man.
Blacks must act subserviently and humbly. The author shows us the injustice of
racism through Lee’s eyes.
* Remember to read through the story again. Make sure that you understand the general
plot as well as the meaning behind the story.