The Music of the Violin

The Music of the ViolinGroup 4: Joshua Huang

Vanessa Huang Charlotte Huang

Jackson Fong

Outline

● Argument

● Plot Analysis

● Characters Analysis

● Symbolic Meanings

● Conclusion

● Question

Argument

Argument

In “The Music of the Violin”, the violin indicates the

constrained training and high expectation from Vukani’s

parents which are affected by the superiority of western

culture they believe.

Plot Analysis

Flashbacks (Turning Points)

● Kids hiding Vukani’s violin

● Humiliated by peers

● Bullied by street boys

● Parents’ high expectation: constant demand of performing in

front of the guests, disapproval of his friends

Causes of rebellion at the end of the story

Kids hiding Vukani’s violin

p. 103

● Peers messing with Vukani by stoling his violin● Vukani’s mother blamed him for his UNGRATEFULNESS.

She even claimed that she has been insulted rather than listening to his son’s explanation of the incident

Humiliated by peers

p. 103

● Topsana tried to flirt with Vukani by saying she wanted to kiss him because he’s the son of the inspector.

● The other girls kept laughing at Vukani.

Bullied by the gang of boys

p. 104

● They called Vukani “music man”● They claimed that they wanted to do something with

Vukani’s sister and demanded him to play Thoko Ujola Nobani

● One of the boys gave Vukani a shove at his chest

Parents’ high expectation: constantly demand of

performing in front of the guests, disapproval of

his friendsp. 107-111

● “Vukani should have friends of his own station in life.”---implying they’re in high social status and people like Doksi should not be Vukani’s friend

Ending

● Vukani’s mother’s reaction ---

1. she was furious when Vukani refused to play violin

2. she was angry about Vukani got influenced by uneducated people,

such as “those dogs of the street,” “animals”

3. calling Vukani and Teboho “disgraceful children” again

● Mother sobbing --- the wail of the bereaved (p. 112)

-she kind of gave up her persistence of forcing Vukani to do things he didn’t want (play violin)

Characters Analysis

Vukani’s Parents (pp.95-98)

➔ interaction with guests ➔ interaction with daughter and son➔ thoughts on Jews➔ thoughts on relatives (pp.110 last paragraph)



● gender● race / class


● “hey men, more tea?”● “You women are on again the housewives’ league”● “Ei, women and food”● “‘Teboho!’ called Vukani’s mother. ‘Please come and clear up here’”/

“Have you heard my son play? He plays the violin.”● “We had Lauretta started on ballet recently,”


● “fellow africans” / “women of Africa”● “boers”● “Sometimes thes South African Jews sicken me,...,helping the Boers to sit

on us.”/ “How can you say such a thing? People like Mrs. Kaplinsky are very good friends of ours.”

● “We just can’t get it into these teacher’s head that we have to uplift the Black nation...not teaching the students gardening, and that is dead against government policy.”



● gender● race / class


Mother

-nuclear family

-violin

Father

-“whites are whites, Africans are Africans”

- “Dorcas! That’s enough now,”

➔ Occupation: father, school inspector /mother, nurse➔ Rich (Mid-class~Upper-class)

Vukani

● Coming from high-level family

father/ school inspector; mother/ nurse

● Playing violin

well-educated, western culture

Vukani

● Feeble personality

- afraid of resisting his parents at first (P.107)

“What is it Vuka? Is there something wrong?” “Nothing wrong, ma”

- being bullied by street boys

Instead of standing up against them, he went home and complaint to his mother

- concealing his love from Gwendoline (P.102)

“ With you it’s talk talk all the time. Why don’t you just go to this girl and tell her you love her?”

Teboho (Vukani’s Sister)

● Close relationship with Vukani

“They were very lonely. Their parents disapproved many of their friends. Even Doksi.”(P.110)

● Stronger Personality

“If she came she would fight for him” (P.106)

“Teboho and their mother were having too many heated exchanges these days.” (P.97)

● Catalyst

be on Vukani’s side, giving him strength and courage

“Vukani wished he could go and talk to Teboho. They had grown very close together.” (P.97)

Vukani v.s Teboho

● Sexisim:

Household chores for Teboho: cleaning; washing dishes

High expectation on Vukani: violin

“Vuka, can you heal our broken spirits?” (P.109)

Gang of Boys

● Uneducated people

“Dogs of the street!” (P.105)

● Having prides of themselves

similar with The prophetness: masculanity

● Asking Vukani to play the song “Thoko Uhola Nobani” (P.106)

Bantu language: African Consciousness

Symbolic Meanings

Music

In Etymology . . .

Comes from Greek, mousikē (tekhnē), ‘art of the Muses’

The Muses, nine goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology.

Symbol of thoughts, inspirations and creations

Comes from Italian, Viola, ‘stringed musical instrument,’ from Medieval Latin, Vitula.

Vitula, Roman goddess of joy and victory, and perhaps ‘vita’ (life).

Symbol of joy and vitality

Violin

Vukani’s Music and Violin

● A tool for his parents to show off in front of visitors.○ Socializing○ Not doing it for pleasure○ “Or you please your home, which is going to give you something to be

proud of for the rest of your useless life” (p.112).

● A wish not made by Vukani himself but his parents.○ Excessively high expectation

Vukani’s Music and Violin

A strange thing to others (i.e his schoolmates, a gang of boys in the street,) that often got Vukani in trouble.

→ In p.101, Vukani was bullied at school. His violin was stolen by someone, perhaps because of jealousy, called it “a strange guitar.”

→ In p.104, Vukani was humiliated and harassed by a gang of boys in the street who kept calling Vukani “music man.”

In p.100, “he looked at the violin with dread; as something that could bring both pain and pleasure all at once.”

Burning Hair

In p.99-100,

Doksi, Vakuni’s friend, liked to burn hair every saturday afternoon. After the burning, he would make the sign of the cross over the smoking fire and said, “when God had finished burning hair, he thought that it was good.”

→ A parody of the Book of Genesis (the creation of the world) in the Bible.→ “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the

light was good . . .” (Genesis 1)

Contrast between creation and destruction

FireIn p.100,

“Dead things catch fire,” said Doksi.→ Fire is a symbol of life and energy, meanwhile, death and destruction.→ Things without vitality should be destroyed by fire.

Vukani wanted to burn his books and homework by the lamp but it didn’t work, then he looked at his violin again.

→ In Vukani’s eyes, all his knowledge and music were dead things. Things that were supposed to bring him thoughts and joy were now bringing only painand fear.

Supposed Meaning

Symbolic Meaning in the Story

Music Thoughts and Creations

Excessive Expectation and Constraint by Parents

Violin Joy and Vitality Pain and Dread

Book of Genesis Creation of Lives End of Lives

Fire Life and Energy Death and Destruction

Vukani’s Dream

In p.108,

“He remembered one of his dreams which came very frequently . . . naked in the streets and people were laughing . . . his mother scold him for bringing shame to the family.”

→ Vukani was being put on the spot by his parents.

“He did not know how he became naked.”→ Vukani was unwilling. He was controlled as a puppet.

“But the dream would always end with his leaving home and flying out into the sky with his hands as wings.”

→ Vukani wanted to break free.

Conclusion

Conclusion

The high expectation put on Vukani could be attributed to a sense of

accomplishment of his parents. The ability of playing violin becomes a

symbol of well-educated man in the African society, regarding the

superiority of western culture.

Question

Have you ever been put on high expectation by parents, which are similar with Vukani’s? Or, have you found any other connection between you and Vukani?

The Music of the Violin

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Transcript of The Music of the Violin