Power

The author uses Dr. von Leinsdorf's intimacy with the young girl to explore the power dynamics of an interracial relationship during apartheid in South Africa. In the early pages of the short story, the third person narration is limited to Dr. von Leinsdorf's point of view. The author allows this third person narrator to absorb and present Dr. von Leinsdorf's thoughts, feelings, and opinions as overarching facts. As a white man living in Johannesburg during apartheid, Dr. von Leinsdorf considers himself to be superior to the black citizens of a city that is inherently foreign to him. Though the narrator says that he never takes any "interest in the politics of the countries he works in," Dr. von Leinsdorf's way of seeing the world appears deeply entangled with South Africa's enforced segregation of black and white individuals (48). Evidence of Dr. von Leinsdorf's prejudice towards black people...