Age of Iron Themes

Age of Iron takes place during Apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid was South Africa’s government-enforced system of racial segregation, which systemically oppressed Black South Africans. The Apartheid regime disgusts the novel’s white protagonist Mrs. Curren, though she does not realize the extent of its depravity until she witnesses the violence it brings firsthand. Because Mrs. Curren lives away from Guguletu—which turns into a warzone over the course of the novel—she manages to distance herself…

Mrs. Curren, the central character in Age of Iron, has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer when the novel begins. She knows she does not have much time left to live, and that she will be in increasing amounts of unbearable pain for the rest of her life. In addition to her physical pain, Mrs. Curren also suffers from the mental and emotional pain of feeling as though her daughter and country have…

Age of Iron is made up of a series of letters that Mrs. Curren writes to her daughter in America. As such, the entire novel is filtered through Mrs. Curren’s perspective. Although her letters are open and honest, it’s also important to keep in mind that she’s an unreliable narrator; that is, as her letters come from her perspective, they are naturally biased and reflect how she thinks about things more than they reflect the…