Analysis: 'Long Enough In Jo Burg'

“Shipmates” by Mere Collins and “Long enough in Jo’burg” by Zenga Longmore were written at the same time period and they focus on the issue of racial discrimination. Both of the texts have a common theme. Persona mentioned in the poem faces quandary while travels on public transport and experiences social alienation. Zenga Longmore travels with her brother and encounters a terrible case of racial discrimination. Although these texts were written at the same time period and have the same theme, they have different format: one is a poem and the other one is a magazine article, hence they have disparity in target audience. Even the extent of analysis of the racial discrimination is different because in the poem, author doesn 't talk about the issue as explicitly as the author of the magazine article who decries apartheid.

Authors use their companions as a way to explore and present the issue. In the poem, persona sees how a black man feels uncomfortable and guilty travelling on a train just because of his race. Black man who entered the train is a complete stranger, yet persona scrupulously describes the “travveler.” She fully understands that traveller and feels empathy towards him. However, in the “ Long enough in Jo’burg” traveller’s companion is her own step-brother. By using “travel companions,” writers are trying not only to acquaint the the reader with racial issues but to show HOW these issues affect others in society. The extent and of the problem and the contexts of the encountered problems are different. In the poem, while narrator doesn 't explicitly discuss the issue of racial discrimination, she describes this problem as " life long practice.” On the other hand, author of the second text, explicitly detests what she has seen in the Johannesburg, but it 's her “first time