"The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" by Bessie Head

A detailed Summary of "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" by Bessie Head

Hannetjie is a new warder to the Span One prison group. When introduced in the story, the warder "Hannetjie" is a figure of strong nature and will. He is demanding and controlling. When he gets caught stealing, Brille, a prisoner in the group, sparks a deal with Hannetjie. The prisoners of Span One get to enjoy privileges to help comfort their long stay ahead. In return, they will steal for Hannetjie and cooperate with him to make the group look outstanding. The relationship of the characters takes on change that ends in cooperation on both sides.

The story, "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses" is told in the third person limited omniscient. We are limited to Brille's thoughts and reminiscences. We are never told any thoughts of the other characters introduced in the story. Brille is presented as the protagonist. He plays the role of the central character, becomes the hero amongst his group, and displays empathy to his group and family. Hannetjie plays the role of the antagonist even though Hannetjie takes on the biggest change in behavior.

After Brille catches Hannetjie stealing the fertilizer, he uses Hannetjie's weakness to fill his needs. Brille and the group need someone to make their time in prison easier. He states later in the story "It's not tobacco we want, but you. We want you on our side. We want a good warder because with out a good warder we won't be able to manage the long stretch ahead" (107). Brille betrays Hannetjie after he brides Brille into not telling of the stolen fertilizer. Brille's theory behind this is that Hannetjie is just as his children are. Brille tells one of the other prisoners that, "Hannetjie is just a child and stupidly truthful" (106). Brille has a conversation with Hannetjie the next day and Hannetjie confesses. The narrator doesn't tell us of a conversation, but this would have had to happen for Hannetjie to confess (106). Earlier in the story Brille wanted to send a message to his children "Be good comrades, my children. Cooperate, then life will run smoothly." Brille used these same words to get Hannetjie to cooperate with Span One. In the beginning of the story, the narrator tell us that since Span One acts as

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Approximate Word count = 765
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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