The supports pandemic in context in beauty s gift

South Africa

The Aids pandemic has spurred a whole lot commentary in South Africa that its accurate, startling influence can sometimes be overlooked: is easy to forget that approximately a few, 38 million people are managing HIV and this an average of 1100 people perish of Assists each day (Statistical Release 3) (“AIDS FactFile“2010). Supports too many is a disease that is usually heard about and is also not genuinely understood. Sindiwe Magona’s new, Beauty’s Present, provides life-like situations of problems that Helps causes in South Africa. This essay will discuss Sindiwe Magona’s way of Aids in the novel and how aspects including funerals, polygamy and the Xhosa marriage, and the ignorance of men in the Xhosa lifestyle contributed to the effect of Aids and the Southern region African circumstance described in the novel.

Sindiwe Magona uses a very blunt and forward method to Aids in Beauty’s Gift. The girl hides none facts neither truth and has very little embarrassment in confronting the issues concerning Helps. Margaret vonseiten Klemperer says on Sindiwe Magona’s method of the Helps pandemic, “She obviously seems people must speak out on the Helps issue since if the judgment is removed and the disease can be talked about openly, could it be controlled. inch (“The Witness” Web). The lady does this through her personas and their activities. She the actual reader appreciate the seriousness and fact of the Helps pandemic in South Africa today. Her intentions of being forward are purely educational. Within an interview with Margaret vonseiten Klemperer, Magona says, “It’s a book about our national shame, and it will make me enemies, but I actually wrote it because I actually am very, very irritated. We need to be honest, and admit what is wrong is incorrect. ” (“The Witness” Web). Her book, Beauty’s Gift idea, has an educational purpose for girls and men. She should warn females that they might not be safe within their marriages and they should protect themselves, “Let us react! Don’t let the busy-tongued gossip stop you from screening! Don’t let him stop you from receiving the right remedies you need! “(Magona 85). Her aim for guys is to instruct them how Aids is definitely spread., “Men who usually use condoms kill females! “(Magona 70). She attempts to make them aware of their particular actions and show them that they have to take responsibility for what they actually.

Magona sends the true secret of her message, that ladies must protect themselves, through the novel’s primary character, Magnificence. Before her death Beauty says, “Don’t die a stupid death, like I am performing! Live! inches (74). This kind of message desires her good friends to make sure her wish comes true and so they do this by causing sure their very own relationships are safe. If even more African women could be handled by Magona’s message S. africa would be a less dangerous place on her behalf children and women living in that and less will be affected by this deadly disease. The reader is very aware of Helps and the multitude of people troubled by it at the funerals. The storyline and educational communication would not have impact that were there if the memorial scenes weren’t in the book. The funeral views deal with sensitive topics that could be offensive however they are right now there purely to produce awareness and also to educate someone on the aspects of the Africa culture as well as the disease eliminating it. Mrs Mazwi can be an educational character who will be deliberately placed in the book by Magona to notify the reader and to deliver a concept to the target audience. She is a guest speaker at one of the Sonti brother’s funerals. Her eye-opening yet sincere statement, “Very soon, all of our families may have at least one person afflicted with HIV. One, whenever we are blessed. “(85) The actual reader aware about how many people are influenced by the disease and how many households are split apart due to Aids. The funerals can also be where the majority of gossip is usually spread and where the visitor begins to realise the lack of knowledge of Xhosa men and their obscure concepts of Supports.

The ignorance with the African man is yet another aspect in the Southern African framework described that Magona makes the reader aware about. Not only happen to be these men uninformed towards Supports, they also show no understanding in how it is distributed. This is displayed through the conversation between Moses, Cordelia and Gabula. Cordelia says “You are just presuming the twins were infected by way of a girlfriends. inch (Magona 69). Gabula responds with a great uneducated statement, “Everybody sees that is how men acquire Aids. inch (Magona 69). These men will not realise that is certainly it their very own actions that spread the virus too. It is possible for the African man at fault the women or ignore the details. They continuously deny the facts about Helps and this the actual reader issue if the men refuse to transform because how they currently live is purely beneficial for all of them. When Cordelia suggests that girls should guard themselves with condoms that they argue simply by saying, “using a condom is like ingesting a sweet with the wrapper on! ” (Magona 70). These men will not care about other folks safety, aside from their own. As stated earlier these men believe that simply women can pass on Helps, yet they refuse to have on a condom and protect themselves. This kind of assures the reader of the nonsensicality in these mens thoughts. “African men’s resistance from behavioural modify is killing African women” (Shober 87). When will certainly their mentality change? Or is this just how people in South Africa have to live, with constant anxiety about their males? Many of the Photography equipment men will be raised within a typical Xhosa culture where not only polygamy and bogus children are deemed normal although also demanding sex from their wives and being the dominant figure in the marriage. Magona makes it crystal clear that your woman does not rely on polygamy which it is a overall health risk for the husband great wife. She believes that is it polygamy that leads to most a lot of innocent women dying. “African Mothers, Consistently married, happen to be killed by simply men who will not prevent sleeping around! ” (Magona 70).

Another stunning fact is that many men inside the novel, who have Magona uses to indicate the majority of males in S. africa, believe that they own their particular wives. Whether it is one or two wives or girlfriends, if they will pay labola for her then they own her. We see these actions through Edith’s husband Luvo and Cordelia’s spouse Vuyo. Towards the end of the novel Luvo rapes Edith. The novel’s description in the rape, “She lay presently there like a record and let him do whatsoever. It was over in seconds. inches (171) provides an impressive realisation from the harsh lives many hitched, African woman have to withstand. Another example of these ladies constant challenges to protect themselves and their relationships is the moment Cordelia requests Vuyo for taking an Assists test as well as to use security with her. He responds by locating himself “what he telephone calls ‘a one-night thing’. inch (Magona 90). All these ladies are devoted, hard operating and centered on raising their children while their very own men are running amok. This is a truly shocking realisation. In her new, Magona declares, “More generally than not really, these men are definitely the women’s single source of food and lease, not to mention garments and college fees for children. inch (115). However the women in the novel stand up to their lovers and turn away from the typical traditional Xhosa relationship, the reader becomes aware that few women in South Africa will actually have the courage to do this. Many of these males believe that they may father children but they do not need to play the daddy figure in the child’s life. An example of this is Amanda’s hubby, Zakes, that has two bogus children who he does not care for or perhaps bother to see. Amanda says that she’s not upset about the illegitimate children but instead she is irritated at her husband for not taking responsibility for them. “I am upset and disappointed that my hubby has kids he does not put to bed at night or comfort when they have a negative dream. ” (Magona 155). “The like the African gentleman has for youngsters is in making those kids, not bringing up them. inch (Magona 115). She sends a message to African males to adopt fatherhood and not just play a role in making their children.

In these techniques, Magona uses an educational approach in her new focusing on both women and men in South Africa. African ladies are enduring while Photography equipment men contribute largely for the spreading of Aids. In the event that polygamy continues to be and they refuse to change their particular approach to the illness, Aids will eventually affect just about every family. This is certainly unavoidable unless South Africans choose to guard their lives like the ladies in the story do.

Bibliography

“AIDS FactFileinches.Red Ribbon. City Foundation, 04 2010. Internet. 06 Might 2012. &lt, http://www. redribbon. co. za/aids-fact-file. php&gt

Becker, Bonnie. “Themes, symbols and motifs in Beauty’s Gift”. Lecture six, 8, on the lookout for. Dept. of English and Comparative Books. University of Fort What, 29 Mar 2012. Live.

Magona, Sindiwe. Beauty’s Gift. Cape Town: Kwela Books, 08. Print. Oxford School Book. Oxford College or university Press 1996. Print.

Shober, Dianne. “Magona’s Charm for Male or female Transformation”. English Literature ECL110E and ECL120E 2012. East London: University of Fortification Hare, 2012. Print. S. africa.

Statistics Release. Mid-Year Population Quotes. 27 Come july 1st, 2011: P0302. Print. Von Klemperer, Maggie. The See. 2008. Print out.

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