SHORT STORY OF THE MONTH: The lingering shadows of grief in ‘The Faraway Things’

Collage: MAISHA SYEDA

Lesedi is not "right in the head". He avoids talking and discards words that do not make sense to him like garbage. Things he does not quite understand, he ignores—like his mother, Mokgadi, has taught him. His day revolves around his mother and herding the village's 84 cows in exchange for payment.

Shortlisted for the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, "The Faraway Things" by South African writer, Alboricah Tokologo Rathupetsane, might seem at the onset like an ordinary story of an outcast with nothing special to offer. But like all good short stories—think Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar'' and Anita Desai's "Diamond Dust"—this one is no exception in catching the reader off guard and sitting on their shoulder for as long as memory allows.

Aside from his mother's affection, Lesedi's friendship with five-year-old Noni anchors him to happiness. However, when an unknown corporation from the city encroaches their village territory and dumps harmful chemicals into the river, Lesedi's world comes undone as the cows around him grow weak and the harvests reduce. And unlike what readers may anticipate of most stories with a similar trope at this point, neither do the characters die of harmful chemical infestation nor does the author resort to plaguing the unnamed village with extreme poverty.

"Sometimes, your heart doesn't allow your head to be right," Mokgadi tells Lesedi when the story reaches its pinnacle and in a fated turn of events, Lesedi is faced with a reality he never thought was real. Through Mokgadi, the writer aptly alludes to what it might feel like to float in the winds of grief. It also serves as a reassurance to those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones—that it is okay to be anchored to the pain of absence, to cobwebbed memories, when others around you are moving on just fine. Rathupetsane does a crafty job in her portrayal of grief, specifically, the phase of denial. By giving it a strongly physical dimension through the characters of Lesedi and Noni, she shows that grief is not a plume of smoke but a boulder rolling along wherever you go. Lesedi's mental condition plays a pivotal role in this regard. His condition makes readers sympathise not only through the teary lens of compassion but also by providing a panoramic view of Noni's existence in his life.

"The Faraway Things" is written in simple, clear, and concise prose. It could be a great starting point for those who struggle with holding focus while reading short stories. Although the story does not contain a lot of action (which can annoy some readers), the tension creeping up the reader's legs around the climax makes the wait to the finish line worthwhile.

The short story appeared in the online magazine, Adda, on December 2, 2020.

Shah Tazrian Ashrafi is a contributor.