Farm

The narrator and Lerice's farm symbolizes moral superiority. The narrator believes that because he and his wife have moved outside the city and now live in the country, they are no longer affected by the racial tensions that define their societal moment. When he wants to wield something over Lerice, he blames the farm for the way she has changed. However, when he wants to feel superior to his peers, he insists that the farm has allowed him to escape the dangerous tensions of life in Johannesburg. His duplicitous relationship to the farm exposes his hypocrisy.

Petrus's Brother's Body

Petrus's brother's body symbolizes inhumanity. After the authorities collect the dead boy, they soon dispose of him without regard for his identity or life. Even after agreeing to exhume the body, they do not take care to return the appropriate body to the family. Both the narrator...