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Rhodesian Children and the Lessons of White Supremacy: Doris Lessing's "The Antheap"

University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

This paper builds on Anne Stoler's study of "race and the intimate" and responds to bell hooks' provocative invitation, "One change in direction that would be real cool would be the production of a discourse on race that interrogates whiteness". In Doris Lessing's short story "The Antheap" (1953), Tommy, the son of a white mine manager, has a tumultuous relationship with Dirk, the "half-caste" son of the mine owner. It is understood that Tommy needs to break off this relationship and thus learn the codes which sustain white supremacy in Rhodesia. Rather than accept the central lesson — the prohibition against intimacy between whites and blacks — Tommy recognizes that it is repeatedly violated, even by its adult proponents. Tommy "imperfectly" learns lessons about four kinds of intimacy: heterosexual, maternal, paternal and fraternal. These lessons are important for white boys to digest: otherwise, the white community lacks the appearance of homogeneity. Ultimately, Tommy rejects these lessons and the text points to a future that is uncertain: Tommy may wholly reject or simply defer his white masculine privilege.

Key Words: Doris Lessing • "The Antheap" • childhood • masculinity and "race" • whiteness

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