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CHAPTER 23:
Victor visits Grahamstown for a day yet his short time with Frances is uneasy, especially when he
discovers she has pawned the engagement ring.
The story then takes us through his brief period of military action till he is laid low with a fever. In the
meantime, Crispin searches for Tom and Reuben and eventually finds them.
CHAPTER 24:
Walter's work at Mbokothwe is successful but he cannot get Frances out of his mind. On a trip to
Stutterheim to buy fresh provisions, he meets Klaus Otto who informs him that Frances is not yet married
but that the marriage will take place in but a few weeks.
Walter decides to write to Frances to wish her well in her marriage but also to tell her that he can no longer
remain a missionary with the memory to haunt him of the magical times he and she had shared.
CHAPTER 25:
Benedict receives news about Tom and Reuben, and about Sonwabo's imprisonment and probable death.
He learns that it was Victor who was responsible for their conscription.
In the meantime, Frances in Grahamstown confronts her mother, pointing out that she does not wish to
marry Victor. Then she receives Walter's letter and realises for the first time that he is in love with her,
but it is now too late!
The classical love letter is used in a novel for a specific purpose.
We are used to thinking that a love letter must be filled with sweet nothings: "How beautiful your feet,
your graceful legs the work of a craftsman's hands, your breasts like twins of a gazelle."
If one contrasts this to the classic letter that appears in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, one
is presented with a remarkable contrast.
That letter was written because Fitzwilliam Darcy had been rudely rebuffed by Elizabeth Bennet upon his
asking for her hand in marriage. He wrote for no other purpose than to rebut Elizabeth's accusations.
The letter, however, proved a turning point in their relationship. Elizabeth saw the error of her judgements
while Darcy realised he had been an arrogant prig.
From then on, Elizabeth and Darcy became friends -- and eventually married.
It is in this sense that we must view Walter Brownley's letter to Frances. He writes solely to wish her well
in her marriage to Victor. He also tells her of his decision to return to England.
In doing so, however, he speaks of the magical times that he had shared with Frances at Nolovini.
Frances, on the other hand, never realised that Walter had these strong feelings of affection for her. His
letter therefore makes her examine her own feelings towards both Walter and Victor.
Ultimately it causes her to break off her engagement with Victor.
Reference is sometimes made in Shades to a "letter book". This was a book with
detachable pages upon which the letters were written.
Between each page was a thin sheet of translucent paper which blotted up the excess ink. Once the letter
had been posted, therefore, a copy was automatically retained in the letter book.
It was much like an old-fashioned carbon copy that we used not so long ago before the advent of
computers.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
It is clear that Frances does not love Victor, but rather that she loves her memory of Victor.
[Need help?]
One has to remember that Frances was only about four years old when Victor arrived at the mission. She
therefore grew up with him as a big brother
Such memories of an older brother were dear to her but she could not love him as a fiancé.
She was happy to kiss him as a sister would kiss a brother but found his demand that she kiss him as a
lover was something which unsettled her
The idea of being married to him and having him use her body sexually was therefore completely
abhorrent.
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Is Frances merely playing another game with Victor by her offensive attitude?
- In answering this, you must explore the emotional pressures which surround her during Victor's stay
in Grahamstown. (6)
[Need help?]
It would seem that Frances is not playing a game. She has indeed at last matured and sees Victor for
what he is -- and she doesn't like what she sees.
She is already nettled by her overlong sojourn in Grahamstown. She finds her Aunt Alice oppressive,
dislikes the constant tea parties and having to dress up in her finery.
She finds the house a mausoleum for Victor's dead father, and knows very well that these baubles of
death will become her home in Johannesburg.
She also knows that Aunt Alice will probably follow them to Johannesburg once the wedding has taken
place.
When Victor arrives in Grahamstown, all these niggles come to a head and her irritation with him reaches
crisis proportions.
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The death of Charlie Fraser is Victor's first realisation of his own failure. Explain. (5)
[Need help?]
Victor had never been forced to face his own failures. He wished to be an empire builder and a hero. The
war, therefore, was his perfect opportunity to show his true mettle.
When his friend Charlie was hit by a bullet, Victor was confronted with an option of being a hero or
comforting his best friend.
He chose the former and only afterwards did he realise that, in the greater tapestry, he had failed because
he had deserted a friend in need.
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To what would you ascribe Pusey's very changed character now that Walter has taken charge of
Mbokothwe Mission? (4)
[Need help?]
Walter is more accepting than Hubert Brompton had been.
Whereas Brompton had seen evil in all Xhosa customs and therefore rejected Pusey's divination, Walter
is willing to accept the diviner for what he is.
Walter is prepared to recognise that local religious tradition is not necessarily evil. As a result, Pusey is
able to work with him on the mission and not undermine all Walter's actions.
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When Walter meets up with Klaus Otto, what is the purpose of his long discourse with him? (3)
[Need help?]
Walter has been isolated at Mbokhothwe. He has received little news from St Matthias, and knows
nothing about what is currently happening with Frances.
Indeed, she has been in Grahamstown for some eighteen months now, and so it is understandable that
Walter should think she is already married.
It is Klaus Otto who fills him in with all the news -- and more importantly, he finds that Frances is not yet
married but soon will be.
Since she is not yet married, however, it does provide Walter with the opportunity to write just one last
letter to her, a letter which he would certainly not have contemplated had he heard that she was already
married.
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Walter has written many letters to Frances but none have actually been posted.
- Why does he now write yet another letter, and why does he decide to post this one. (5)
[Need help?]
Walter has discovered from Klaus Otto that Frances is not yet married but that she soon will be.
He makes the decision at that moment that his life on the mission is too intricately entwined with memories
of Frances for him to be able to exist without her. He decides therefore that he must leave South Africa
and go into voluntary exile in England.
He wishes, however, to write one last letter -- a note of farewell. He will explain to Frances exactly how
much she affected him, his attachment to her, his wonderful memories of her, and his reasons for leaving.
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"Walter's letter to Frances is ostensibly a letter of farewell. In reality, however, it is a classical love
letter."
- Comment carefully and at length. (10)
[Need help?]
It is certainly not a straight forward love-letter, is it?
Walter writes this letter purely to inform Frances of his decision to give up the priesthood and return to
England. In doing so, he admits that Frances is so precious to him than he can think of little else.
Once Frances receives the letter, she finds out for the first time how very much Walter loves her.
That realisation will in turn reinforce the idea that she loves him and does not love Victor -- and that
marriage to Victor would be a travesty.
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"Was it a terrible sin?" Frances asked.
"It was a binding commitment," her mother replied.
- Comment on the logic of Emily's argument in which she attempts to persuade Frances that marriage
to Victor was the only moral solution. (5)
[Need help?]
Emily's argument centres on true Victorian morality. Sexual intercourse was a commitment, a
consummation of marriage.
Although the sin itself could be forgiven, the commitment could not be undone.
Furthermore, Frances is more responsible for the sin than Victor. It is acceptable for men to give in to
their passions but women may never do so.
She also argues that it is natural for Frances to have second thoughts because all girls have such
apprehensions just before their marriage.
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Why does Frances insist on not being married from St Matthias and that her parents were not wanted at
the wedding? (5)
[Need help?]
Frances will not be married from St Matthias nor will she allow her father to conduct the ceremony
because, she says, her vows will be untruthful.
She cannot accept to love Victor for the rest of her life. She believes that to pronounce such vows in the
presence of her father would be a lie and would be insulting to him.
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Explain Frances's reaction upon reading Walter's letter to her. (5)
[Need help?]
Walter's letter arrived at the same time as one from Victor.
It should be noted that she gave Victor's one to Mrs Drake to read while she kept the origin of Walter's
letter a secret, something precious that only she must know about.
Only when the guests were gone, did she read it and re-read it -- absorbing each and every word, then
re-read certain phrases. And she cried for the first time since she had been in Grahamstown.
The letter had been written six weeks earlier and she assumed that Walter was probably already in
England. She had missed him. She wept bitterly for what she had lost.
It was at this point that it became clear that she had no right to marry Victor. She reached the decision
that she must end this farcical engagement and set Victor -- and herself -- free.
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