1. The Lemon Orchard by Alex la Guma
Yong Cheng Low

2. Plot
The black man was being dragged in the cold out of his bed by five white man, one who is carrying a gun. The black person being beaten up by white people because of being cheeky to the minister of a church. The man was dragged all the way to the lemon orchard and was eventually beaten up and killed.

3. Genre
The Genre of the Story is about realism of the events happening in South Africa where the white use their power to abuse the black where they are unjustly shot.
Events on Apartheid which happens in South Africa where the white have power over the blacks
The story depicts …

4. Themes Violence Hatred Racism Bitterness & Oppression Abuse of Power
Fear and Dignity
Hatred dislike, Bitterness and oppression: sense of unjust treatment, Dignity :being worthy of honor or respect

5. Characters
The Black men – He his a school teacher, well educated person who has been cheeky to the minister church. He is scared of what is going to happen but he still keeps his head up for pride.
The White men – They hated the blacks so they use their power to bully the black people, make them fear of the white and making treating the blacks without any dignity.

6. Language The story is in a 3rd person narration.
 The author has used lots of symbolic images to tell the reader what the narrator what he feels about the situation. 
Alex la Guma has used different economical language to convey callous and hatred in the story.
It is a very short story, it includes nothing about the attack and what actually happened.
“The men were walking through an orchard of lemon and the sharp bittersweet citrus smell hung gently on the night air.”
“Are you cold,hotnot” Hotnot: A person of color from Cape area in South Africa. Not white and not black. Brown skin color.
“The amazing thing about it is that this bliksem should have taken the principal…” blikesem: roughly the same meaning as bastard

7. How Tension is Created
Alex la Guma builds up tension by using symbolic images:
“The moon was hidden behind long high parallels of cloud.”
“The men were walking through an orchard of lemon and the sharp bittersweet citrus smell hung gently on the night air.”
“In the dark this man’s face was invisible except for a blur of shadowed hollows and lighter crags.”
“The moonlight clung for awhile to the leaves and the angled branches.”
“The Lemon Orchard”
The use of the oxymoron, bittersweet enhances the contrast La Guma is trying to create.
When it is dark, there are no differences between the skin colours of the men. No one has the right to abuse his or her power in the name of colour
Personification has been used as the moonlight is given human characteristics as it clungs to the trees.
The contrast in this story is that the Lemon Orchard is such a beautiful place and it is ironic because the whites are going to beat up the black
Moon hidden behind cloud: This suggests that what the white men are doing to the black men cannot be justified, as the moon does not want to participate in the event. The moon did not want to be witness the unfairness between the human races.

8. How it links to other stories
The lemon orchard links with the other short story The Yellow Wall Paper as most of the themes are the same. They both included used imagery and symbolism in their writing. They both include oppressions in their story, and both talk about some of the political and social issues such as racism and women empowerment.