The Racists
The story of a young man who returns to civilian life after serving two years of conscription. A civilian life haunted by apartheid, where different population groups are forced to live separately. To forget his conscripted past, he tries to reintegrate into society. He is haunted by the decisions he made during his conscription. In a series of literary tableaus, he gets lost somewhere between reality and allegory, dream, and nightmare. The hero, Painter, makes choices that move him to become the anti-hero. He blames the racist system of apartheid.
We, the reader, are left to pick our way through the current events and past metaphors that challenge the reader's morality. Painter chooses illegal and immoral actions to achieve his desired outcomes, often due to naivety. Can he be forgiven? Is he just one of those damned in society by political events? In a final twist, the novel asks the reader to consider who the racists are: those living within the laws of apartheid, those who enact those laws, or those who break those laws?
The hero, Painter, needs to make some tough decisions that the reader is made aware of through a series of voices. This makes the novel multi-dimensional, where the reader gets to partner with one or more character perspectives. Just as some characters surprise Painter, so will they surprise the reader. As will the choices that Painter makes. He is a character indoctrinated by the apartheid system who resists this evil, but due to circumstances, becomes embroiled in that evil. An evil that threatens his future and sanity.
In the end, the reader is left to question who the racists are.
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