Women and Place in Peter Abrahams's Mine Boy (1946)

At the heart of Peter Abrahams's 1946 novel Mine Boy is Xuma. He travels from the north (as we are often reminded) to Johannesburg in search of work after his farm has become infertile. It is an anxious transition for Xuma, who is quick to recognise the meaninglessness of his labour, and must adjust to a loud and alienating city. This article concerns the gendering of Xuma's attitudes to both his work and his new surroundings. The women Xuma meets in Johannesburg (Leah, Eliza, Maisy), women he comes to rely on, are in some instances seen as instantiations of their place, where Xuma often reads their femininity into the places they inhabit. Abrahams, through Xuma, offers a portrayal of the city that is limited in its framing, and, as such, limited in how Johannesburg may be narrated.