The Seed is Mine, Part II
In his biography of Kas Maine, a black South African sharecropper, Charles van Onselen continuously refers to Kas Maine as "the patriarch." His use of terms like "domestic politics" (425) to describe relationships between members of Kas's household associates Kas with political and economic systems. The detailed exposition of Kas's successes and failures as a father link thematically with a greater South African historical concern - the South African government.
Kas's patriarchy, on a limited scale, symbolizes the relationship of the state with Africans. The connection is far from perfect, but the similarities are embedded deep in the text. The ebb and flow of Kas's relationships with his children and wives are vaguely reminiscent of Afrikaner policy towards blacks. Though it would be unfair to suggest that Kas's relationship with his family was completely negative, his leadership in the family is nevertheless emblematic of the government's leadership over Africans: arbitrary, unjust, restrictive, and controlling. Kas's positive characteristics had to shine through his less than compelling attributes. Like the Nationalist Party's attitude toward Africans, Kas created an economic system designed to benefit himself, without regard to the autonomy or emotions of his children and wives.
The architects of apartheid believed that the world "fit into a pattern and together formed a single constructive plan" - apartheid (403). Similarly, Kas believed that the family unit created an economic structure, with sons as a "foundation" (85) - a belief which left little room for freedom and understanding for his wives and children. The apartheid system set up by the Afrikaner Nationalists demanded an "exploitable pool of cheap black labour" (402), a parallel to how Kas, as "patriarch," needed to exploit the cheap labor of his family.
Van Onselen partly justifies Kas's actions by declaring Kas a "prisoner" of the system of tenant production, which required "patriarchal" control over his family's labor. The system was so engrained within that Kas was blind to his children's need for freedom (379). The apartheid system, in like manner, depended heavily on the restrictions placed on Africans. Kas felt undermined by his children's desire to find their own "social, economic and political space," a situation van Onselen compares to how the Department of Native Affairs perceived the threat of young Africans migrating to the cities (384).
Kas's patriarchal control extended to limiting his wives and children's movement, a control similar to the South African government's control over African movement. Though Kas did not set up a "pass" system, his children felt constrained to the point where they had to run away to gain their freedom. All tried to escape their father's control; all refused to live in their father's "shadow" (457). Even Bodule, Kas's favorite child, married against his father's will and began to make decisions to create psychological space. For example, when they moved to a new location, Bodule built a shack that "turned its back" on the complex of houses where Kas and his wives lived (415).
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