The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
"The Conservationist" is a novel by South African author Nadine Gordimer, published in 1974. The narrative centers on Mehring, a wealthy industrialist who returns to his farm in Transvaal, only to be confronted with the disturbing discovery of a dead body on his property. The story unfolds against the backdrop of apartheid-era South Africa, exploring themes of race, class, and the complexities of personal and social responsibility.
As Mehring grapples with the implications of the death and reflects on his relationships, particularly with his former lover Antonia, the contrast between his privileged lifestyle and the harsh realities faced by the black farmworkers becomes increasingly apparent. This tension is amplified by the interactions with his Afrikaner neighbors and the challenges posed by natural disasters, such as floods, that disrupt life on the farm.
The novel delves into Mehring’s internal conflicts, including his moral indifference, sexual escapades, and ultimate alienation from both his son and the land he owns. Through vivid imagery and poignant social commentary, Gordimer crafts a narrative that confronts the reader with the stark realities of a deeply divided society, where personal actions resonate within broader socio-political contexts. This complex interplay invites readers to reflect on issues of identity, belonging, and the human condition in a time of systemic oppression.
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The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
First published: 1974
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: 1970’s
Locale: South Africa
Principal characters
Mehring , a white pig-iron magnate and owner of a farmTerry Mehring , his sonJacobus , the black foreman of the farmThe DeBeers , Mehring’s Afrikaner neighborsAntonia , Mehring’s liberal lover
The Story:
South African pig-iron industrialist Mehring returns for a weekend visit to his farm on the Transvaal to find, to his dismay, a group of children playing with a clutch of guinea eggs. Suddenly, his foreman, Jacobus, rushes up to tell him that the body of a black man has been discovered on the farm.
Mehring bought his farm because owning land is something a person of his race and class should do; the farm would be an investment, and it also could be a place for amorous escapades. Mehring would rather not be bothered with the problem of a dead body, which is simply covered and placed in a shallow, unmarked grave by white police. The police tell Mehring they will deal with the matter later.
With an image of the dead body always in the back of his mind, Mehring begins to reflect on his relationship with his former lover, Antonia, the leftist he had to spirit out of the country when her life had become endangered. He is haughty about the misdirected energies of her liberalism, yet he continues to ruminate about her. Though he dismisses her honest evaluations of his society—for whom money and industrial development are the only gods—his recalling her evaluations so vividly seems to imply a growing inability to obliterate the truth.
Mehring encounters his Afrikaner neighbors, the DeBeers, who borrow his truck for a trip into town. During their visit, he grudgingly contrasts their solidity and good-naturedness with his own solitude.
Mehring begins to reflect on the farmworkers’ homes and the “illegal” Indian shanty store. The store is illegal because it is on land set aside for whites. In one of these stores a farmworker named Solomon is attacked by two men and left for dead in Mehring’s third pasture, the same place the dead body lies buried, thus establishing a frightening mythology for the third pasture. Then a fire erupts on the farm, devastating everything from the store to the DeBeers’s land. Mehring returns to the farm after the fire and finds himself morbidly curious about what happened to the dead body in the fire. He tries to accept the idea that his surviving possessions are sufficient for him.
William, an African who has been patiently saving his money in a Christmas club, confronts the South African Indians who employ his wife, Dorcas, because they have taken money from her paycheck, presumably to pay for her purchases. William’s frustration bursts forth when he says that all “Indias” must leave the country, that they will be tossed away with the whites. Juxtaposed with William’s righteous indignation is Mehring’s molestation of a Portuguese girl aboard an airliner in flight between Europe and South Africa. Though he occasionally expresses fear that his degenerate act will be revealed, he never expresses guilt or remorse.
Mehring’s sixteen-year-old son, Terry, visits the farm. Clearly liked by the farmworkers, and not his father’s son in terms of his sexuality or his feelings about required military service, Terry’s stay is something of a failure for Mehring. In fact, the only communion Mehring seems to experience is a delusory oneness with the ancestors and the land, after Terry leaves.
Mehring encounters the daughter of one of his friends in a coffee bar, beginning his downturn. His weak attempt to seduce her is followed by his discovery that her father has just committed suicide. To avoid the funeral, Mehring escapes to his farm for the holidays. There, he manufactures an illusory New Year’s Eve meeting in the veld with the farm foreman, Jacobus, a meeting in which the two share a moment of closeness, albeit one in which Mehring is undoubtedly the superior.
A cyclone hits while Mehring is in Johannesburg. The flooding is widespread, killing a couple who float away in their car on the same road Mehring frequents. The farm has been isolated from everyone for some time, but Mehring, upon his return, finds that Jacobus and his crew have handled everything well. Mehring believes the farmhands should be able to manipulate the water somehow so it will drain more quickly, but Jacobus knows this to be impossible. In their survey of the damage, they discover that the body in the third pasture had risen from its grave because of the floodwaters.
The image of the body takes hold of Mehring’s imagination once again as he drives back to town. He reluctantly picks up a young hitchhiker. Eventually, they arrive at an old mine dump and begin to have sex. A man encounters them, frightening Mehring. Suddenly, lost in his fear, he runs, abandoning the hitchhiker to save himself. While running, he thinks to himself, “they can have it, the whole four hundred acres.”
Mehring, flying off to some foreign country, abandons Jacobus and the farmworkers, leaving them to deal with the body. The farmworkers find a coffin and a cloth covering, conduct a beautiful ritual with dance and hymns, and shed tears for a man they did not even know.
Bibliography
Clingman, Stephen. The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History from the Inside. 2d ed. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1992. Considered one of the most important book-length studies of Gordimer’s work, this book examines Gordimer’s novels in light of her earlier South African works. Focuses on the historical consciousness that characterizes her novels.
Cooke, John. The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: Private Lives/Public Landscapes. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985. Cooke claims that Gordimer moved from a Eurocentric writing style to one in which the African landscape takes on a life of its own. This represents a psychological movement in Gordimer, which Cooke believes had its beginnings in her mother’s possessiveness.
Ettin, Andre Vogel. Betrayals of the Body Politic: The Literary Commitments of Nadine Gordimer. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995. Examines all of Gordimer’s genres of writing and addresses the recurring themes: betrayal, politics of the family, the concept of homeland, ethnicity, and feminism. Also discusses her belief that the personal and the political are inseparable.
Head, Dominic. Nadine Gordimer. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Contextualizes Gordimer’s body of work historically and politically. Finds in her work an increasing literary quality and an emphasis on the politicization of the body and the geopolitical ramifications of apartheid.
Newman, Judie. Nadine Gordimer. 2d ed. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1990. The first book-length study of Gordimer by a woman. Addresses the theme of gender in Gordimer’s works in light of her insistence that she is not a “feminist” writer. Newman also examines the significant themes and motifs that link Gordimer’s novels, including racism, the abuse of political power, and sex.
Smith, Rowland. Critical Essays on Nadine Gordimer. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990. Smith’s introduction examines early reviews of Gordimer’s work. The sixteen essays here trace the history of Gordimer as a writer and discuss how her work addresses the topics of women and women’s roles.
Temple-Thurston, Barbara. Nadine Gordimer Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1999. Good introductory study of the author and her works. The Conservationist is among the novels discussed. Includes a chronology, a bibliography, and an index.
Uledi-Kamanga, Brighton J. Cracks in the Wall: Nadine Gordimer’s Fiction and the Irony of Apartheid. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2002. Presents a generally chronological discussion of Gordimer’s works, with emphasis on the novels. Focuses on Gordimer’s use of irony and her work in the context of South African politics.
Uraizee, Joya. This Is No Place for a Woman: Nadine Gordimer, Nayantara Saghal, Buchi Emecheta, and the Politics of Gender. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 2000. Places Gordimer within the context of postcolonial writing. Thematically organized chapters address the works, including The Conservationist.