Examination
October/November 2020
ENG1501
M Malan 65427068
Question 2
1. The short story’s title “Rock” is, directly and indirectly, connected to the narrator. It is directly connected
because the narrator is called “Rock” by the kids in the neighbourhood ever since she’s been in a wheelchair,
as a result of a dog that he had mistaken her legs for a lamb shank, causing her to loose both her legs. This is also
supported by the sentence in which she said : “I had to make peace with the children in my neighbourhood
whispering ‘Rock and Roll’ every time I rocked and wheeled myself from my house to the shops, and from school
back to my house again.” (185). Her name is then indirectly connected to the title which is also connected to the
theme of diversity. The theme of diversity can be viewed in many ways and one of them draws attention to the
different types of social concerns of society, for example poverty and people’s disabilities. The title “ROCK”, which is
a uniquely formed stone, has an immediate connotation with dirt. This draws the reader’s attention to a poverty-
stricken environment that the narrator experiences. “To them I was in every sense as good as everything Ncedi
owned: there but not fully functional and thus not worthy of any severe attention” (189). This sentence shows us
that the name “Rock” also suits her, because people do not view her as useful, because of her disability, and assume
that they can walk over her just as they would do to a rock on the ground. All these characteristics of her are linked
to the title and the theme of the story.
2. The setting of this story is in Soweto in a lower income neighbourhood with multiple social concerns that the
author wishes to bring to light. The story’s theme is also diversity which refers to the different types of social
concerns such as poverty and hunger in impoverished communities, people’s disabilities, and the questioning of
gender roles. A lower income neighbourhood is always accompanied by hunger and poverty. This statement is
substantiated by the narrator’s way of thinking when she thought back to the reason for her legs being eaten by the
neighbourhoods dog: “There had been moments in my life when I, too, had been so hungry I had fantasised about
eating the same dog.” (185). We also know that the neighbourhood experiences poverty and not just the narrator
and her family, because her neighbour’s dog, that had eaten her legs, had not eaten in more than seven days which
tells us that her neighbours couldn’t afford dog food. Another reason we know that the neighbours (Phandi and
Ntokozo) were poor is because the narrator spoke about when Phandi’s workplace “the Unharmonious gold mine
closed down and lost his job.” These examples show us that poverty and hunger, two of the social concerns, are
linked to the setting of the story.
3. Bra Phandi is an example of the theme diversity (the diversity of social concerns) where he is discriminated
against because of gender roles. Bra Phandi had lost his job about six years ago and hasn’t found a job since.
His wife Sis’ Ntokozo who was the “sole breadwinner for the same period, had over the years developed a case of
arthritis…”(187). Because of her condition Phandi had to take over her role as washerwoman or starve to death. He
was the first male washerwoman in the neighbourhood which caused people to discriminate and humiliate him by
calling ‘Auntie Phandi’. The author wrote about Phandi’s history to bring the reader’s attention towards closed
gender roles. Phandi then broke the rules of gender roles by embracing it and he “decided to be entrepreneurial
about his new vocation.” (187) by advertising his new business: ‘BRA PHANDI WASHERWOMAN ENTERPRISES’ with
October/November 2020
ENG1501
M Malan 65427068
Question 2
1. The short story’s title “Rock” is, directly and indirectly, connected to the narrator. It is directly connected
because the narrator is called “Rock” by the kids in the neighbourhood ever since she’s been in a wheelchair,
as a result of a dog that he had mistaken her legs for a lamb shank, causing her to loose both her legs. This is also
supported by the sentence in which she said : “I had to make peace with the children in my neighbourhood
whispering ‘Rock and Roll’ every time I rocked and wheeled myself from my house to the shops, and from school
back to my house again.” (185). Her name is then indirectly connected to the title which is also connected to the
theme of diversity. The theme of diversity can be viewed in many ways and one of them draws attention to the
different types of social concerns of society, for example poverty and people’s disabilities. The title “ROCK”, which is
a uniquely formed stone, has an immediate connotation with dirt. This draws the reader’s attention to a poverty-
stricken environment that the narrator experiences. “To them I was in every sense as good as everything Ncedi
owned: there but not fully functional and thus not worthy of any severe attention” (189). This sentence shows us
that the name “Rock” also suits her, because people do not view her as useful, because of her disability, and assume
that they can walk over her just as they would do to a rock on the ground. All these characteristics of her are linked
to the title and the theme of the story.
2. The setting of this story is in Soweto in a lower income neighbourhood with multiple social concerns that the
author wishes to bring to light. The story’s theme is also diversity which refers to the different types of social
concerns such as poverty and hunger in impoverished communities, people’s disabilities, and the questioning of
gender roles. A lower income neighbourhood is always accompanied by hunger and poverty. This statement is
substantiated by the narrator’s way of thinking when she thought back to the reason for her legs being eaten by the
neighbourhoods dog: “There had been moments in my life when I, too, had been so hungry I had fantasised about
eating the same dog.” (185). We also know that the neighbourhood experiences poverty and not just the narrator
and her family, because her neighbour’s dog, that had eaten her legs, had not eaten in more than seven days which
tells us that her neighbours couldn’t afford dog food. Another reason we know that the neighbours (Phandi and
Ntokozo) were poor is because the narrator spoke about when Phandi’s workplace “the Unharmonious gold mine
closed down and lost his job.” These examples show us that poverty and hunger, two of the social concerns, are
linked to the setting of the story.
3. Bra Phandi is an example of the theme diversity (the diversity of social concerns) where he is discriminated
against because of gender roles. Bra Phandi had lost his job about six years ago and hasn’t found a job since.
His wife Sis’ Ntokozo who was the “sole breadwinner for the same period, had over the years developed a case of
arthritis…”(187). Because of her condition Phandi had to take over her role as washerwoman or starve to death. He
was the first male washerwoman in the neighbourhood which caused people to discriminate and humiliate him by
calling ‘Auntie Phandi’. The author wrote about Phandi’s history to bring the reader’s attention towards closed
gender roles. Phandi then broke the rules of gender roles by embracing it and he “decided to be entrepreneurial
about his new vocation.” (187) by advertising his new business: ‘BRA PHANDI WASHERWOMAN ENTERPRISES’ with
