ONE (introduction)
1.1. PATRICIA
Richard to Patricia: "Are we dead yet?"
Richard seems to be speaking nonsense: "The ambulance. I said I have two
dead children for you to pick up." but it makes sense later on.
1.2. BEAUTY
Narrator about Beauty: "Even now she is frightened of uBaas. Her fear has
always been there."
Beauty about Richard: “These days there is little left of the man he was."
Beauty about Richard: "It has always been a joke amongst the workers: uBaas
is the one who can never keep his zip up."
1.3. PATRICIA
Narrator about Patricia and John: “They have been lovers for over thirty
years."
Patricia about John: “Patricia likes to think she fell in love with him because he
was everything Richard was not."
Patricia's answer to John about why she wants Looksmart educated: "Because
he's clever and I want him to use his cleverness for the general good."
Narrator about John: "John has always enjoyed belittling Richard..."
Narrator about Patricia: “It takes a long time to die, she thinks, thinking as
much about Anna as herself..." *Anna is John's late wife.
Patricia wonders why John called her over: “To try to explain why he never
loved her as much as he loved his wife?"
, 1.4. BEAUTY
Beauty's thoughts about all the items that need to be packed and/or disposed
of with regards to the move: “The problem of what to do with the past would
have to carry on in the future”
The narrator about Beauty: "All Beauty wants is a roof over her head that she
can call her own."
Beauty's love for Bheki: "She has kept her love for him a secret from
everyone."; "She has spent many of her waking hours watching him, thinking
about him, looking out for him. And yet there are still parts of the older man
that remain a mystery to her."
Beauty's view on John and Patricia's relationship: "He is from a time that is
long past, and Mesis always comes away from him with that empty lost look
on her face, like one over-burdened with bad news."
1.5. PATRICIA
Patricia about Rachel's grave: "Her grave is marked by a simple stone, with
only her name - Rachel - and a single date marked on it: the date of her birth
and her death."
Patricia recalling her romantic trip to Sheffield Beach with Richard many years
ago: "It was paradise, Richard was paradise, and they have never spoken in
quite the same way since."
Patricia's attitude to Richard: “It has been her technique, perfected over the
years, to survive her husband by noticing him as rarely as possible."
Patricia watching Richard walk away: “Had there been a gun at hand, she might
have taken a shot at him."
1.6. LOOKSMART
Narrator about the effect that apartheid has had on Looksmart: "He has a
shameful secret: even today, he's unaccustomed to the freedom he's been
given to drive around the country and go wherever he likes"; "Whenever he sits
down in a restaurant or cinema, surrounded by white people, a part of him still
expects someone to ask him politely to leave."; "Yet it is a thing he feels: he is
an intruder in his own land, condemned to arriving at places where he will
never quite belong."
Looksmart's reaction upon seeing the construction on the farm : "It is the
apparent disorder of the place that disturbs him: the project he has been
managing for more than a year already appears to have failed and been
discarded."
Looksmart's reason for returning: "He told himself that he would be coming
here out of hate."
Looksmart's hatred: “For a period his hatred was his most reliable companion";
"At times he thought his success would not have been possible were it not for
his stamina for hate."
Looksmart wonders if he has really returned because of Grace: "Even in death
she is still more powerful than he will ever be."
1.1. PATRICIA
Richard to Patricia: "Are we dead yet?"
Richard seems to be speaking nonsense: "The ambulance. I said I have two
dead children for you to pick up." but it makes sense later on.
1.2. BEAUTY
Narrator about Beauty: "Even now she is frightened of uBaas. Her fear has
always been there."
Beauty about Richard: “These days there is little left of the man he was."
Beauty about Richard: "It has always been a joke amongst the workers: uBaas
is the one who can never keep his zip up."
1.3. PATRICIA
Narrator about Patricia and John: “They have been lovers for over thirty
years."
Patricia about John: “Patricia likes to think she fell in love with him because he
was everything Richard was not."
Patricia's answer to John about why she wants Looksmart educated: "Because
he's clever and I want him to use his cleverness for the general good."
Narrator about John: "John has always enjoyed belittling Richard..."
Narrator about Patricia: “It takes a long time to die, she thinks, thinking as
much about Anna as herself..." *Anna is John's late wife.
Patricia wonders why John called her over: “To try to explain why he never
loved her as much as he loved his wife?"
, 1.4. BEAUTY
Beauty's thoughts about all the items that need to be packed and/or disposed
of with regards to the move: “The problem of what to do with the past would
have to carry on in the future”
The narrator about Beauty: "All Beauty wants is a roof over her head that she
can call her own."
Beauty's love for Bheki: "She has kept her love for him a secret from
everyone."; "She has spent many of her waking hours watching him, thinking
about him, looking out for him. And yet there are still parts of the older man
that remain a mystery to her."
Beauty's view on John and Patricia's relationship: "He is from a time that is
long past, and Mesis always comes away from him with that empty lost look
on her face, like one over-burdened with bad news."
1.5. PATRICIA
Patricia about Rachel's grave: "Her grave is marked by a simple stone, with
only her name - Rachel - and a single date marked on it: the date of her birth
and her death."
Patricia recalling her romantic trip to Sheffield Beach with Richard many years
ago: "It was paradise, Richard was paradise, and they have never spoken in
quite the same way since."
Patricia's attitude to Richard: “It has been her technique, perfected over the
years, to survive her husband by noticing him as rarely as possible."
Patricia watching Richard walk away: “Had there been a gun at hand, she might
have taken a shot at him."
1.6. LOOKSMART
Narrator about the effect that apartheid has had on Looksmart: "He has a
shameful secret: even today, he's unaccustomed to the freedom he's been
given to drive around the country and go wherever he likes"; "Whenever he sits
down in a restaurant or cinema, surrounded by white people, a part of him still
expects someone to ask him politely to leave."; "Yet it is a thing he feels: he is
an intruder in his own land, condemned to arriving at places where he will
never quite belong."
Looksmart's reaction upon seeing the construction on the farm : "It is the
apparent disorder of the place that disturbs him: the project he has been
managing for more than a year already appears to have failed and been
discarded."
Looksmart's reason for returning: "He told himself that he would be coming
here out of hate."
Looksmart's hatred: “For a period his hatred was his most reliable companion";
"At times he thought his success would not have been possible were it not for
his stamina for hate."
Looksmart wonders if he has really returned because of Grace: "Even in death
she is still more powerful than he will ever be."
