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The chief has authority over settlements in July’s region. After word spreads that July is housing a white family in his village, the chief orders the Smales family to see him. He will allow them to remain in July’s village—but only if they ask for permission in person. That the Smaleses must appeal to a Black authority figure to be in a Black-dominated space illustrates how radically the end of apartheid has upended the racial hierarchy. During the Smaleses’ meeting with the chief, the chief asks Bam many questions about the ongoing civil war and expresses interest in learning to shoot Bam’s gun. Bam is shocked to hear the chief claim that he would prefer to shoot Black rebels than cede his land to outside tribes that have joined forces with the South African fighters. The chief condemns Black liberation and the ongoing war. He wants the white apartheid government to take back control of South Africa, since their system protects his land from being invaded by Black people from outside tribes.
The Chief Quotes in July’s People
The July’s People quotes below are all either spoken by The Chief or refer to The Chief. 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 14
Quotes
The chief wanted them to move on; the three children running in and out the hut with their childish sensationalism, their plaints, their brief ecstasies, his wife knocking a nail into her sandal with a stone, and he, shaving outside where there was light. Would tell them to go. What business of the chief’s to tell them where? He had not asked them to come here. A wide arc of the hand: plenty place to go. And this was not their custom, but the civilized one; when a white farmer sold up, or died, the next owner would simply say to the black labourers living and working on the land, born there: go.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
The chief had the sharp, impatient, sceptical voice of a man quicker than the people he keeps around him, but knew no white man’s language. Why should he? It was not for him to work as a servant or go down the mines.
It was she who smiled at July, said what had to be said. —We owe him everything.—
Chapter 16
Quotes
—What do the blacks think? What will the freedom fighters think? Did he join the people from Soweto? He took his whites and ran. You make me laugh. You talk as if we weren’t hiding, we weren’t scared to go farther than the river?—
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The Chief Quotes in July’s People
The July’s People quotes below are all either spoken by The Chief or refer to The Chief. 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 14
Quotes
The chief wanted them to move on; the three children running in and out the hut with their childish sensationalism, their plaints, their brief ecstasies, his wife knocking a nail into her sandal with a stone, and he, shaving outside where there was light. Would tell them to go. What business of the chief’s to tell them where? He had not asked them to come here. A wide arc of the hand: plenty place to go. And this was not their custom, but the civilized one; when a white farmer sold up, or died, the next owner would simply say to the black labourers living and working on the land, born there: go.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
The chief had the sharp, impatient, sceptical voice of a man quicker than the people he keeps around him, but knew no white man’s language. Why should he? It was not for him to work as a servant or go down the mines.
It was she who smiled at July, said what had to be said. —We owe him everything.—
Chapter 16
Quotes
—What do the blacks think? What will the freedom fighters think? Did he join the people from Soweto? He took his whites and ran. You make me laugh. You talk as if we weren’t hiding, we weren’t scared to go farther than the river?—
