Waiting for the Rain
By: Sheila Gordon
THE SETTING:
Most of the action of the book Waiting for the Rain, by Sheila Gordon, takes place in South Africa, outside and inside Johannesburg, in the late 80's, during apartheid.
THE PLOT:
Tengo, a black boy, and Frikkie, a white boy, have been friends since they were three. Now, as they get older, the injustices of apartheid begin to split them apart. Tengo begins to notice that he is being treated as an inferior, and that there is a wide world of knowledge out there that he hasn't discovered. This prompts him to move to the city so he can go to school, where he excels. Frikkie still doesn't notice the unfairness of apartheid, and enlists in the army where he excels. The black protesters interrupt both their lives. They interrupt Tengo's vigorous studies, and Frikkie's plans to be a farmer. When the two friends finally meet again, it is under very different circumstances, but they find that their friendship is still strong, even during the tribulations of apartheid.
THE CHARACTERS:
Tengo: Tengo is a black boy who thirsts for knowledge. He is sensitive to the inequitable treatment of blacks on the farm. He tends to look at the big picture, and tries to understand why people behave the way they do. He feels that through education, he can comprehend the reasons for apartheid.
Frikkie: Frikkie is a white boy who hates change. He believes that he will grow up to inherit the farm, and that Tengo, his friend, will be his boss boy. To him that's the way it's always been, and always will be. He is oblivious to apartheid, and has been brought up to believe that white people are superior to blacks, but doesn't really dwell on that fact.
THE CONFLICTS:
One of the conflicts in this book is person vs. society. Tengo is against the common belief that blacks are inferior to whites, and wants this belief to change. He is not like many of the blacks, because he doesn't want to accept the way he is being treated. He constantly wonders why blacks are treated they way they are. It is also person vs. self, because he wants to fight with the blacks against apartheid, but that would get in the way of his studies. It would also mean that he might be fighting against Frikkie. The third conflict is person vs. person. Tengo is against Frikkie, because he won't open his eyes and see how horribly the blacks are being treated. Tengo can't see how Frikkie can possibly not see that he is a large part of the problem of apartheid.
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-Joelle, Cary Academy, 2000