Analysis of "The Smell of Apples"

Mark Behr’s first novel, “The Smell of Apples” (1995) uses his own experiences of growing up in South Africa in the 1970s, in an Afrikaner family, to describe the social turmoil and racial oppression taking place during the apartheid era. The novel is set in Cape Town in the early seventies where the apartheid regime rules a country where coloured and black people form the majority. This essay aims to analyse an encounter between Marnus Erasmus, the main character and narrator, and Chrisjan, an older coloured man, in order to establish their relationship and how the power dynamic between these two characters affects their relationship. The narrator of the novel is Marnus Erasmus, both as a young man and as a young boy (Perry). Majority of the novel’s narration is done by Marnus as a young boy, however, the reader gets small interruptions from an older Marnus that provide only a glimpse into his life as a young man fighting in the Angolan war, where he is described as being “a formidable and respected leader but a jaded one, tired of being used as a pawn in a game played by governments he has no part in electing” (Perry).

It is clear that Marnus and his father have a very close, strong relationship, “dad and I take our shower together” (Behr 62). Marnus idolises his father and does not want to disappoint his parents, for example when Marnus and Frikkie go fishing and Marnus catches a shark, he is so determined to reel the shark in so that he can impress his dad, “I’m so scared of losing the fish, or of not being strong enough to bring it in” (Behr 95). It is because of this idolisation and strong bond between father and son that causes Marnus to unquestioningly believe everything that his parents tell him. The other main character in the encounter is Chrisjan. Chrisjan is an older coloured man who worked as a gardener for the Erasmus family for many years. When Marnus’ grandparents moved to South Africa from Tanganyika, they hired Chrisjan to help Marnus’ grandmother “with the lawns and the planting” (Behr 22-23).

After his grandparents passed away, Marnus’ family kept Chrisjan as their gardener, however he never returned to work and when some the family’s fishing equipment disappeared he becomes “the victim of one of the novel’s cruellest examples of racial stereotyping” (Barnard 221). The Erasmus family immediately suspect that it was Chrisjan who was the thief, despite working for the family for thirty years, “Mum knew immediately that he must have stolen our stuff. Mum says that’s exactly the way the Coloureds are” (Behr 19). A central theme in the “The Smell of Apples” is racism and therefore Behr creates a power dynamic between two races, namely whites and coloureds. The encounter between Marnus and Chrisjan begins with Marnus and his friend Frikkie sitting on the pavement outside of a café in Kalk Bay eating chocolates and sharing a Crème Soda. An old coloured man is walking towards the two boys searching for bottles to exchange for the deposit. Eventually Marnus recognises that the man is Chrisjan and greets him, but it does not seem as though Chrisjan recognises him. The power dynamic between the two characters is created by the automatic assumption of the roles master and servant.

In this instance Marnus assumes the role of master and Chrisjan as servant. This natural assumption of the roles occurs because of the apartheid era that the book plays out in, where white people are seen as being superior to black people. Even though Marnus is only twelve years old, he automatically sees himself as being superior to Chrisjan, and Chrisjan automatically sees himself as subservient, and there is no consideration given to any other factor such showing respect for one’s elders. Perry explains that the theme of race in “The Smell of Apples” is not only illustrated as a social policy where people are divided by race but also as something that is drilled into future generations, “where children are effectively ‘brainwashed’ into believing what parents … tell them about the differences between races” (Perry). An example of this in the novel is when Marnus says that his father is proud of the Afrikaner history and he wants to make sure that his children teach their own children their ideology, “history of the Afrikaner … is a proud history. We must always remember that make sure one day to teach it our own children” (Behr 38). Behr establishes the power dynamic through various illustrations throughout the passage. The first and most obvious example is through Chrisjan constantly referring to Marnus or calling him “my crown” and “baas” (Behr 164). This is done consistently throughout the interaction between these two characters, even after Marnus gets physically upset and tells Chrisjan who he is, “stop pretending you don’t know who I am … I shout at him, getting all irritated” (Behr 164). Barnard (221) suggests that this interaction indicates that he craves Chrisjan’s recognition, not just as a white person but also as an individual.

Another example of Behr’s establishment of the power dynamic is when Marnus threatens Chrisjan, “dad’s going to send the police to come and lock you up” (Behr 164). This can be seen as Marnus asserting his power over Chrisjan for such a trivial notion, such as not remembering who he is. Another instance when Marnus threatens Chrisjan is when the boys start to walk to away without leaving their empty bottle with Chrisjan forcing him to beg for it, “I start walking as if I’m going to leave without giving him the bottle … he takes my arm and starts begging again” (Behr 165). Marnus is using the idea of financial gain in order to get Chrisjan to do something that he wants. At a point during their encounter Marnus accidently breaks the empty cold drink bottle that Chrisjan had picked up earlier to exchange for the deposit, but it is Chrisjan who is apologetic, “I’m sorry baas, I’m sorry” (Behr 164). Despite Marnus breaking the bottle he does not apologise to Chrisjan or even acknowledge what he has done. This is a clear a demonstration of the power dynamic between master and servant. The encounter between Marnus and Chrisjan is a representation of what life was like in an apartheid South Africa during the early 1970s, and specifically the power dynamic between white and coloured people.

The automatic assumption of roles of master and servant, the threatening actions, and the lack of the respect all point to white people generally being regarded as the superior race and all other races their subordinate. Although that specific power dynamic is less evident in today’s times and we generally live in a more equal and free country, it is something that is still evident in parts of our society with encounters such as those described in the novel still occurring. The passage did make me uncomfortable because in today’s world in South Africa it has become taboo for a person to act in a way that oppresses another person. The way that I was raised is very different to the way children were raised back in the 70s; today racial slurs are offensive and some are even banned; we generally treat everyone with respect regardless of their skin colour, and although privilege is still evident, equal opportunities are available for all to enjoy. “The Smell of Apples” touches on things that were considered normal back in the 1970s but are socially unacceptable today, specifically when the complicated issues of race and racism are such sensitive issues. Behr uses words or descriptives to refer to coloured and black people which were commonplace during apartheid times but would now be considered derogatory and offensive, and possibly even unlawful. It is difficult for the younger generation like myself to read, understand, and identify what living in the apartheid era in South Africa was like, and this makes reading the novel quite difficult and somewhat disturbing.