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The Census-Takers
The magistrate in Knysna (whose name is Mr. Goldsbury, though the book more often refers to him by his title) is an upper-class man who is the most powerful legal figure in the region where the Komoetie family and the van Rooyen family live. With his swift, authoritative judgment, the magistrate decides that Benjamin is not the rightful adopted son of Fiela and Selling. Instead, he claims that Benjamin is Lukas, the long-lost son of Elias and Barta. Despite the magistrate’s supposed commitment to justice, he rigs the trial in several ways, making it so that Fiela can’t attend the trial to plead her case, then afterward refusing to see Fiela in person and even threatening to throw her in jail if she keeps bothering him to get her son back. The magistrate represents how racism infiltrated the legal system of 19th-century South Africa.
The Magistrate Quotes in Fiela’s Child
The Fiela’s Child quotes below are all either spoken by The Magistrate or refer to The Magistrate. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
The day the child disappeared the fog came up early and by midday it seemed as if the Forest was covered in a thick white cloud.
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Chapter 3
Quotes
‘Listen here, woman, you know as well as I do that there’s something very strange going on here. This can’t be your child but you gave out that he was yours. Where did you get the child from?’
‘He’s my hand-child.’
Chapter 7
Quotes
‘Is this a church?’ he asked the tall one.
‘No. It’s a courtroom. Sit there on the bench and sit still.’
Chapter 8
Quotes
‘Will I still know him?’
Chapter 9
Quotes
It was late when they got home. His mother took one look at the egg, took down the strap from behind the door and beat their backsides well for them.
The next day she baked a sugar-cake with the egg.
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Chapter 10
Quotes
‘I’m going to Knysna,’ she announced.
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Chapter 13
Quotes
‘He’s the forest woman’s child.’
Chapter 14
Quotes
‘I’m your pa! That’s who I am! Say it! Say who I am!’ He was as tough as a piece of ironwood. ‘Say who I am!’
‘Pa.’
[…]
For every answer he gave him a lash. ‘And who are you?’
‘Benja— Lukas.’
‘Lukas who?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Lukas van Rooyen. Say it!’
‘Lukas van Rooyen.’
Chapter 15
Quotes
‘The child is back with his rightful parents,’ he said and it seemed as if his jaw had grown stiff. ‘What he had on the day he got lost can make no difference. You can put anything on him now and swear by it in the hope that I will believe you.’
Chapter 16
Quotes
A snare-pit. That was what he had to have, he sat thinking that Sunday. The sheer prospect of it brough a funny feeling to Elias’s stomach for if it worked once, it would work again if you were clever enough
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Chapter 17
Quotes
In fact Petrus did not come riding up the Kloof until late on Thursday. Alone. A sugar-cake was waiting on the kitchen table.
Chapter 21
Quotes
She had to give up Benjamin to the forest people, Dawid to the grave. There was little difference in the bitterness within her. The question she put to God was the same: Why, God, why?
Get the entire Fiela’s Child LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Magistrate Quotes in Fiela’s Child
The Fiela’s Child quotes below are all either spoken by The Magistrate or refer to The Magistrate. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
The day the child disappeared the fog came up early and by midday it seemed as if the Forest was covered in a thick white cloud.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
‘Listen here, woman, you know as well as I do that there’s something very strange going on here. This can’t be your child but you gave out that he was yours. Where did you get the child from?’
‘He’s my hand-child.’
Chapter 7
Quotes
‘Is this a church?’ he asked the tall one.
‘No. It’s a courtroom. Sit there on the bench and sit still.’
Chapter 8
Quotes
‘Will I still know him?’
Chapter 9
Quotes
It was late when they got home. His mother took one look at the egg, took down the strap from behind the door and beat their backsides well for them.
The next day she baked a sugar-cake with the egg.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
‘I’m going to Knysna,’ she announced.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13
Quotes
‘He’s the forest woman’s child.’
Chapter 14
Quotes
‘I’m your pa! That’s who I am! Say it! Say who I am!’ He was as tough as a piece of ironwood. ‘Say who I am!’
‘Pa.’
[…]
For every answer he gave him a lash. ‘And who are you?’
‘Benja— Lukas.’
‘Lukas who?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Lukas van Rooyen. Say it!’
‘Lukas van Rooyen.’
Chapter 15
Quotes
‘The child is back with his rightful parents,’ he said and it seemed as if his jaw had grown stiff. ‘What he had on the day he got lost can make no difference. You can put anything on him now and swear by it in the hope that I will believe you.’
Chapter 16
Quotes
A snare-pit. That was what he had to have, he sat thinking that Sunday. The sheer prospect of it brough a funny feeling to Elias’s stomach for if it worked once, it would work again if you were clever enough
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17
Quotes
In fact Petrus did not come riding up the Kloof until late on Thursday. Alone. A sugar-cake was waiting on the kitchen table.
Chapter 21
Quotes
She had to give up Benjamin to the forest people, Dawid to the grave. There was little difference in the bitterness within her. The question she put to God was the same: Why, God, why?
