The

Ultimate

SafariWRITTEN BY: NADINE GORDIMER

LITERARY

BACKGROUNDThe Communist Frelimo government of

Mozambique and the guerilla forces of the

National Resistance Movement cause the

devastating civil war in the country. In 1988,

about 600,000 people died, in addition to

the deplorable 494,000 children who died

from malnutrition as horrible casualties of

war.

ABOUT THE AUTHORNadine Gordimer, a South African author, was

the daughter of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants.

Born in Springs, a mining town near

Johannesburg, Nadine wrote ten novels and

nine short story collections which reflect

politics like an unforgiving mirror held up to the

South African government. Her written works

gave her the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.

Under apartheid, the official government

policy of racial separation, she was raised in a

segregated society and attended private

schools. As a child, she question the

segregation policies, why black children

could not enjoy the things that the white

children do.

ELEMENTS

OF THE

SHORT STORY

I. SETTINGMozambique

The Kruger Park

During dusk

The ambiance is saddening and

frightening

II. CHARACTERSMAJOR CHARACTERS:

The little girl (PROTAGONIST) – the

narrator of the story who has an

extreme naïve idea of what the future

will hold

The grandmother, Gogo (PROTAGONIST)

– the one who became the point of strength for the children and gave them

all the help they needed to continue

their journey

The bandits (ANTAGONIST) – the group of people who threaten the lives of

many

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:

The little girl’s father

The little girl’s mother

The little girl’s elder brother

The little girl’s baby brother

The grandfather

The man who led the people all

throughout the journey

III. PLOTEXPOSITION

It was a night in a middle of chaos when the

children’s mother left but never came back. They

were waiting for her since that night. Because of

the idea that the bandits might come and kill

them anytime, they managed to stay home and

hide.

III. PLOTRISING ACTION

The bandits came to their village several times and took

everything away but the last time they came back, there was

nothing left to take so they burned the thatch and the roofs of the

houses fell in. At that point, the children lost everything but

themselves. Until, their grandparents came to take them to their

house. In their grandparents’ house, they were safe but they were

starving for a month. So, their grandmother decided that they

should go away, hoping that they could find a new home with

food and no bandits.

III. PLOTCRISIS

Along the way, the grandmother traded her church clothes

and shoes to someone for food and water container. Then,

they met a group of people who were also going away

and they joined them. They all had to go through the

Kruger Park wherein they moved like animals among the

animals, away from the roads, the electrified fences and

the white people’s camps. They fed on mealies, wild fruits

and flesh of dead animals. They walked by day and night.

III. PLOTCRISIS

Tired beyond endurance, they slept the nights huddled

together, afraid to be dragged away by the lions.

Fortunately, the man who led them all the way managed to

jump off and scared away the beasts. The next day, the

grandmother was moving on unflinchingly, her feet

bleeding, without brushing off flies from her face and

holding the little girl's younger brother in her arms. On the

way, the grandfather is lost when he went into the grass to

ease himself. They waited and searched for him for a day.

III. PLOTCLIMAX

The grandmother stoically made the

decision to give up the search and

move on with the group.

III. PLOTFALLING ACTION

They reached the refugee camp where they

are well taken care of. They have a small

place for themselves in a huge tent. They

were given free food and medicine. Soon, the

grandmother was able to find a job.

III. PLOTDENOUEMENT

The grandmother dauntlessly strived to secure

the futures of her grandchildren; her needs come

last, and though not able to buy herself a pair of

shoes, she sent the two children to a nearby

school, bought them school shoes, and ensured

that they always do their homework.

III. PLOTCONCLUSION

In the end, the grandmother’s bitter feelings

surfaced when a journalist asked her if she would

ever go back to Mozambique. Her answer is a

categorical 'no', because everything is gone. This

left the young girl perplexed as she still hopes to

return to her homeland and find her parents and

grandfather there.

IV. CONFLICTThe type of conflict presented in the story is

“Man VS. Society.” The main character, the

little girl, doesn’t try to oppose the

government or its rules and laws but is

suffering from a dilemma caused by the

civil war in their society wherein their lives

were threaten.

V. POINT OF VIEWThe short story “The Ultimate

Safari” was told in First Person

Perspective as the narrator

contextually used the pronoun

“I” in expressing her views.

VI. THEMEThe central insight of the story is

“apartheid, sacrifice, courage, and

hope. ” Because even though there’s

a war taking place in their country,

they never lose hope and they strive

to go out and work toward peace.

VII. MORALOne should never lose hope for

the future; that one day, better

things will come our way because

without hope, there is nothing left

for us to look forward to.

VIII. SYMBOLISMS The title itself is one of the biggest uses of symbolism in the

story. “The Ultimate Safari,” if we are going to dissect each

word, it can be rephrased as “The Extreme Journey.”

The little girl symbolizes hope and childish optimism.

The grandmother symbolizes strength, courage, and

sacrifice.

The grandfather symbolizes weakness and frailty, and

sacrifice

The Kruger Park symbolizes their homeland, Mozambique.

The white people symbolizes racial discrimination.

VIII. SYMBOLISMS The huge electric fence surrounding the park symbolizes

apartheid.

The bandits symbolize death much like “the lions in the city.”

The elephants and their babies symbolize family.

The lions symbolize danger much like “the bandits in the jungle.”

The birds circling overhead were much like the bandits, too.

Also, they represent the death of the grandfather.

The big tent symbolizes the huge success of the refugees as they

reached the camp.

The polished shoes symbolizes the bright future that awaits for

the children.

IX. IRONYI expect the little girl would want to stay in the camp with her

grandmother and two brothers where they were all safe, but the

ending of the story wherein she told her hopes, it was said there

that she still would want to go back home because her parents

and grandfather might be able to find their way back, too. The

story, being told in the perspective of a child, I never thought she’d

think more of the future rather than to focus on what she’s in right

at the moment. Moreover, I expect that she’ll think in more

complex ways because of the kind of situation they were in by

that time but she didn’t. She held her childish optimism up until the

end of the story.

X. LITERARY DEVICEFlashback:

Our mother went to the shop because someone said you could

get some oil for cooking. We were happy because we hadn’t

tasted oil for a long time, perhaps she got the oil and someone

knock her down in the dark and took that oil from her.

Our grandfather used to have three sheep and cow and a

vegetable garden but the bandits had long ago taken the

sheep and cow, because they were hungry, too, and when

planting time came, our grandfather had no seed to plant.

X. LITERARY DEVICE We had some of them in our country, before the war, but the

bandits killed all the buck. There was a man in our village

without legs – a crocodile took them off, in our river, but all the

same our country is a country of people not animals. We knew

about the Kruger Park because some of our men used to leave

home to work there where white people came to stay and look

at the animals.

The warthogs stopped dead, when they heard us, and swerved

off the way a body in our village used zigzag on the bicycle

hisfather had brought him from the mines.

XI. SUMMARYWhen the civil war began, they lost everything: their parents and

their home. The bandits raided their village repeatedly and took

everything away. Until the day came that their grandparents

found and take them away. The grandmother, with the hope of

finding a better place for her and her grandchildren, decided to

move to the neighboring country. They met a group of people

along the way who were also going away and they joined

them. Along their journey, they all have to go through the

Kruger Park wherein they moved and lived stealthily like the

animals there, keeping themselves safe and away from the

white people and the wild animals.

XI. SUMMARYOne time, the grandfather went away to ease himself and never

came back again. They waited and searched for him for a day but

he never return. So, they decided to leave him behind with the

thought that he might be dead. Few days have passed, they reached

a big tent for refugees. There, they were well taken care of. They

were never hungry and they were safe. The grandmother has found a

job. She sent her two older grandchildren to school and bought them

school shoes. In the end, the grandmother’s bitter feelings surfaced

when a journalist asked her if she would ever go back to

Mozambique. Her answer is a categorical 'no', because everything is

gone. This left the young girl perplexed as she still hopes to return to

her homeland and find her parents and grandfather there.