The Art of Satire– Herman Charles Bosman's Irony
Humour and Social Commentary in “Willem Prinsloo’s Peac
May 22, 2009
Despite common misconception, Bosman only lived in the Groot Marico district, the area in which his famous Oom Schalk short stories are set, for a year in 1926 as a teacher. This brief sojourn gave him material upon which to base his satirical stories, which mock the Afrikaner community in this rural farming area.
Separating the Author from Narrator
Bosman is able to direct his irony and satire through the use of the narrator, Oom Schalk Lourens. Each story begins with some variant of the phrase “Oom Schalk Lourens says”, marking a distinction between the author’s and narrator’s voices. This allows Bosman to ridicule the community of which Lourens is a part, through what the narrator says or, more to the point, doesn’t say. This criticism is hidden under the veneer of humour, which renders the stories not only entertaining, but also a pointed social commentary of the narrow-mindedness and egocentricity of the inhabitants of the Groot Marico.
“Willem Prinsloo’s Peach Brandy”: An Exercise in Irony
In this story, Willem Prinsloo’s daughter, Grieta, has returned from finishing school in Zeerust, the “big” town close to the Groot Marico, and he is throwing a party to celebrate her return. Although this town is as rural as the Groot Marico, this event causes trepidation amongst the eligible men of the community, as they do not want to look stupid in front of Grieta. In order to prepare for the meeting, Fritz Pretorius, one of Schalk’s friends, brushes up on his multiplication tables; Schalk goes to the party with addition crib notes in his pocket. Whilst told with complete sincerity from Schalk’s perspective, this distance allows the reader to recognise how rustic and absurd Bosman’s characters actually are.
Superstition Hides Behind the Manly Boer (Farmer)
Through his irony, Bosman is able to illustrate the incongruence of his characters self-perceptions. The party is in Abjaerskop, which Schalk says “was once the home of witches”. The sun is setting as Schalk makes his way to Abjaterskop and “all over the place were queer, heavy shadows”. Consequently, he encourages his horse into a gallop, “after all, a horse is sensitive about things like ghosts and witches, and it was [his] duty to [his] horse was not unnecessarily frightened”. He maintains that he was not frightened – it was his horse.
Even when he encounters Fritz on the road, he claims that the reason he was galloping with his arms around his horse’s neck was to sooth the horse. This is rather incongruous with the perception that Schalk has of himself and the self-importance and bravery he accords himself. So, although the story is told from his perspective, this enables Bosman to illustrate the delusions of his characters, leaving room for the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Man of the Moment
When Schalk finally meets Grieta, the self-titled casanova of the Marico spends his time with her talking either about how superior he is to Fritz, or “the way [his] new brown boots tended to take the skin off [his] toe if [he] walked too quickly”. Schalk lacks the self-reflexivity to recognise how boring and absurd he is actually being. These delusions of grandeur continue when Grieta gives him a flower and when he returns to the party, he “was a hero” and extols the “impudence for a fellow like [Fritz] to set up as Schalk Lourens’s rival”.
But in the last paragraph of “Willem Prinsloo’s Peach Brandy”, Fritz is sitting by the side of the road, sporting not only a hangover as bad as Schalk but a similar flower in his hat. Bosman ends the story here, but the reader fills in the gaps – Grieta had given them both flowers and played them both. This shows how misplaced Schalk’s arrogance and self-importance were.
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