How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Because the white man has power, we too want power, [Msimangu] said. But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor, he can speak to thousands and hear them clap their hands. […] But there is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. (1.7.82-3)
Msimangu's point that power corrupts and that sometimes, black leaders with power lose all self-control, doesn't seem to us to be limited according to race. Lots of white politicians who get a taste of power really go nuts. We've seen plenty of examples in recent history. People with power do crazy things sometimes, regardless of race, gender, or any other factor—it's human nature… or is it?
Quote #5
Who knows if [Absalom] weeps for another self, that would work for a woman, pay his taxes, save his money, keep the laws, love his children, another self that has always been defeated? Or does he weep for himself alone, to be let be, to be let alone, to be free of the merciless rain of questions, why, why, why, when he knows not why. They do not sit and let him be, but they ask, ask, ask, why, why, why,—his father, the white man, the prison officers, the police, the magistrates,—why, why, why. (1.14.100)
Why does it matter that Absalom has no idea why he has done the things that he has done? Can Absalom take any kind of responsibility for his life when he is so ignorant of the reasons for his own actions? Is Absalom anything more than a symptom of larger social problems? Does he truly have a character of his own?
Quote #6
The Judge does not make the Law. It is the People that make the Law. Therefore if a Law is unjust, and if the Judge judges according to the Law, that is justice, even if it is not just.
It is the duty of a Judge to do justice, but it is only the People that can be just. Therefore if justice be not just, that is not to be laid at the door of the Judge, but at the door of the People, which means at the door of the White People, for it is the White People that make the Law. (2.22.4-5)
Paton's use of this strategic capitalization, where it is "the People that make the Law," makes this passage seem to echo the Bible or a sacred text. Why do you think Paton chooses to emphasize these terms "Law," "People," and "Judge" in this manner? What do you think of the narrator's final statement that it is for "White People" to reform the "Law" because they are the ones who make it?
In fact, here is a cool historical fact: F.W. de Klerk, the last president of the old South African regime, was actually essential to the process of destroying apartheid, organizing elections for all of South Africa's citizens, white and black, and smoothing the transition to the first truly democratically elected president in South African history, Nelson Mandela. So Paton's vision that it would require cooperation among people of different races to end apartheid peacefully turned out to be totally true.