A Trip to the Gifberge
By Zoë Wicomb
Characters
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The daughter
The mother
(Hannah)
Aunt Cissie
The dead father
Eddie Shenton
Oupa Shenton
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Boeta Danie
Shenton
Hetty
Cheryl
Willie Shenton
Clint
Mr Friedland
The daughter (Frieda
Shenton)
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She returns from London
She missed her father’s funeral
She wants to visit her mother
She is a writer
She wrote stories based on her background and family but they
are not true
She used the names of real people and places in her stories
She takes her mother to the Gifberge
She decides that she might stay in Cape Town
She hated South Africa because of Apartheid
She has a Griequa nose and horrible, curly hair that is difficult
to manage.
The mother (Hannah)
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She is a Griequa
She was married to a white man (Shenton)
She rejected the Shenton family after her husband’s
death.
She returned to the location after her husband’s
death.
She is upset with her daughter for writing the stories.
She wants to teach her daughter about Griequa
culture and her South African roots
She is beautiful with an aristocratic nose and
manageable hair.
Aunt Cissie
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She is Hannah’s sister-in-law
She went to fetch Hannah’s daughter at
the airport
She told the daughter how strange her
mother acted and that Hannah did not
want to see the daughter
The dead father
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He married Hannah because she was so
beautiful
He never taught Hannah how to drive
He expected Hannah to become part of
his white family
He ignored the mother’s Griequa
descent.
Eddie, Boeta Danie and Willie
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They were the Shenton brothers
The daughter did not like Eddie
The mother told the brothers she would
have nothing to do with them after the
funeral.
Oupa Shenton
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He called the mother a Griequa meid.
Hetty, Cheryl and Clint
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They are all members of the UDF.
(United Democratic Front)
It is their way of saying they don’t
agree with Apartheid and the
Nationalist Party.
Cheryl sent the daughter’s stories to
Hannah.
Mr Friedland
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He is the store owner in Van
Rhynsdorp.
He still treats Hannah with less respect.
Hannah exchanges sheepskins for food
at his store.
The daughter does not appreciate the
way Mr Friedland treats her mother.
The Plot
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The daughter returns from England
She missed her father’s funeral
She is going to visit her mother
The daughter is from a mixed marriage:
the mother is a Griequa and the father
white.
Her father was a Shenton
The Plot
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The daughter is met at the airport by Cissie
Shenton
Cissie tells the daughter that Hannah does
not want to see her.
Cissie also tells how Hannah rejected the
whole Shenton family at the funeral.
The daughter spends the night with the
Shentons
The Plot
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The daughter visits Hannah at her
house in the location where the mother
moved after the funeral.
The mother is upset with the daughter.
The mother is angry that the daughter
is using the English language to destroy
the mother.
The mother taught the daughter English
The Plot
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The mother is angry about the stories the
daughter writes.
In the stories the daughter lets the mother
die, writes about an abortion and writes
under the mother’s skirt.
The daughter explains the stories are not real
The mother says they are real because
names of real people and places are used.
The Plot
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The mother orders the daughter to take
her to the Gifberge because the father
never did.
They stop at Mr Friedland’s store to
exchange sheepskins for products.
Mr Friedland treats her mother without
the necessary courtesy.
The Plot
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On the mountain they find the proteas
that the daughter said did not grow at
that time of the year.
They could not go to the edge of the
mountain because of a fence.
They had an afternoon nap in an
abandoned hut.
The Plot
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Miraculously this visit to the mountain
changes the daughter’s view of South
Africa
The daughter considers moving to Cape
Town.
Intention
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Although the mother looked white she was
never truly accepted by the Shentons.
They went through as a white couple but
their daughter inherited the Griequa
characteristics and suffered in South Africa
because of her appearance.
That is why the daughter left for England.
Intention
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The daughter returns to a better South
Africa
Despite political changes the mother
rejects the Shentons.
You can not forget your roots or where
you come from.
There are things in South Africa that
can not be claimed by any race.
Intention
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The mother and daughter unite when
they fall asleep in the hut.
The mother finds a new voice and
independence when the father dies.
The daughter re-discovers her
connection with her family and country.