This painting was done on a window, to represent the knowledge that Tengo acquires through the old schoolbooks, and the questions he asks. This knowledge gives Tengo a new way to look at the world, the same way you do when you look through a window. One can see how vastly the blacks outnumbered the whites, but the whites still came out on "higher ground." The whites are praying for rain, and the blacks are praying for rights, while Tengo tries to decide which one is right. If you look in each frame of the window, you see a different picture. In the bottom right Tengo sits roughly in the position of "The Thinker," by Rodin. Also, most of the blacks are below the bottom crosspiece; this crosspiece represents the laws of apartheid that held them back. Each crosspiece represents the four racial categories; White, Coloured, Asian, and Black. When one looks closely at this painting, one can see the symbolism of each object. And so, below we have Waiting for the Rain.
Waiting for the Rain
by: Joelle
You
are the th
person here!
Home Book Review Historical Context Essay Artistic Interpretation Sources
Joelle, Cary Academy, 2000