Survivor: The prisoner Who Wore Glasses

Question 1:How does the character search for solace, purpose, and/or redemption?

In "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" the character, Brille, goes to prison for his political beliefs. He is not a criminal but just someone with different beliefs. He knows fully what he did and he does not regret it so I belief he did not need to find redemption. While in prison at first him and the other prisoners are able to do almost whatever they would like but soon they are restricted of this freedom with a new warden named Hannetjie who was a very harsh and did not let anybody slip out of line. Throughout the story Brille gets pushed around by Hannetjie but soon Brille makes Hannetjie get a taste of his own medicine by black mail. After feeling a little guilty of this action Brille says that all he wants is Hannetjie to be on the prisoner's side and Hannetjie agrees. Brille finds solace by creating peace in the prison and equality, this is just a small step to what Brille wants to do with the rest of the world.


Question 2: How does the character's experiences reflect the historical period in which his/her story is told?


In all started in the 1940's when black south Africans were political prisoners for being frequently assertive. Some examples of imprisonment would be simply for speaking out against the government or publicly protesting government policies. Brille went to prison for having political beliefs because he wanted equality and peace between the blacks and the whites. He also thought that blacks and whites should have the same freedom and rules. This story reflects the time period when racism was a big problem in Africa. Many blacks were treated differently because of the color of their skin. When the blacks disagreed with the government they would be sent to jail. Even though Brille went to prison for disagreeing with the government, he still did not give up what he believed in. (100)Even though racism was a big problem it has decreased a lot since then. But racism has not totally disappeared. Maybe one day it will only be a part of the past.


Question 3: How does the experiences in the story symbolize the theme of survival and the human spirit?

Racism is what the story "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" deals with. Racism is how Brille ends up in jail. I believe survival and the human spirit symbolizes the theme because Brille had to survive his long journey in prison. Brille is in prison for believing in equality between the blacks and the whites. He knew from the beginning that he would go to prison for political beliefs but he knew it was the right thing to do.Even after being put in prison, Brille still does not change what he believes in. Also another theme is cooperation for example Brille had his other political prisoners help each other out in the fields but what really helped was the joining of the warden. Brille convinced the warden to help him out by saying "We want you to be on our side. We want a good warder because without a good warder we won't be able to manage the long stretch ahead". Soon after that Hannetjie, the warder, started giving a hand here and there. This proves that with a little help you can achieve a lot. The warder's help goes along with the theme equality because that small help with a white man helping black men shows that blacks and whites can work together and get along later creating friendship between the blacks and whites which soon created equality between the two races.