The Grass Is Singing Quotes
"People all over the country must have glanced at the paragraph with its sensational heading and felt a little spurt of anger mingled with what was almost satisfaction."
"When natives steal, murder or rape, that is the feeling white people have."
"Normally that murder would have been discussed for months; people would have been positively grateful for something to talk about."
"The most interesting thing about the whole affair was this silent, unconscious agreement."
"They simply 'kept themselves to themselves'; that was all."
"He farmed as if he were turning the handle of a machine which would produce pound notes at the other end."
"It was the way one lived, a question of standards."
"To live with the colour bar in all its nuances and implications means closing one's mind to many things."
"This damned country, he thought, convulsed with anger."
"It is terrible to destroy a person's picture of himself in the interests of truth or some other abstraction."
"Getting close to nature, which was sanctioned, after all, by the pleasant sentimentality of the sort of books she read, was a reassuring abstraction."
"But the mood never lasted long. She was so satisfied with her work, where she felt sufficient and capable."
"The way she plays all those games, her skin is like sandpaper, and she's got so thin."
"Women have an extraordinary ability to withdraw from the sexual relationship, to immunize themselves against it."
"There are innumerable marriages where two people, both twisted and wrong in their depths, are well matched, making each other miserable in the way they need."
"It was a brilliant, cool, cloudless June. This was the time of the year Mary liked best: warm during the day, but with a tang in the air."
"She thought, it will be hot here, closed in as it is."
"He sat heavy and silent through the meal, a nervous tension between his eyes."
"And all this time he treated her like a brother, for he was a sensitive man, and was waiting for her to turn to him of her own accord."
"She cried for hours, till she could walk no more."
"She was determined he should not scamp his work."
"She was struck by that whistle: it was so familiar."
"She had never come into contact with natives before, as an employer on her own account."
"She walked the five miles between their homestead and the Slatters' farm in just over an hour."
"But there was such a gulf between what she now was, and that shy, aloof, yet adaptable girl with the crowds of acquaintances."
"The cold of the night was still in the soil."
"The sunshine dazzled and glittered, but held no menace."
"There was a lift in the air, an exhilaration."
"It was as if this winter had been sent especially for her."
"She tenderly submitted herself to this miraculous three months of winter."
"The house was dangerous as it was, and should be wired for mosquitoes."
"He was gentle and tolerant, curbing his rages."
"He even began to think of putting in ceilings."
"But to us there is nothing more than a white man's smell."
"Their laughter, which was good-humoured, drove her suddenly mad with anger."
"His senses had been sharpened to the noise of the wind, the song of the birds, the feel of the soil, changes in weather."
"She was as impersonal as she knew how to be."
"She cried for some time; then, as she lifted her eyes to dry them, saw the clock."
"She was finding out, too, about every detail of the farm."
"She was too absorbed in the business of controlling the natives without showing weakness."
"She identified herself with her mother, clinging to her most passionately and pityingly after all these years."
"She had earned such a bad name among them as a mistress."
"She surveyed what crops were grown, what animals there were, and analyzed without difficulty the causes of their poverty."
"For some time neither of them moved; then he came round where he could see her face, looking at her curiously, his brows contracted in speculation and wonder."
"The slow deliberation of his movements galled her, because of her own lost control."
"She looked at him pleadingly over the glass, and with renewed fear saw an indulgence for her weakness in his eyes."
"She felt as if she should go at once, but did not move. She was held, helpless, watching his big hands flip those little scones onto the tray."
"She thought of herself weeping helplessly, unable to stop; of drinking at that black man's command; of the way he had pushed her across the two rooms to the bed."
"For a moment she could not remember what had happened; but when she did the fear engulfed her again, a terrible dark fear."
"She realized, daily, that there was something in it that was dangerous, but what it was she was unable to define."
"She was being forced into contact, and she never ceased to be aware of him."
"She felt herself gently propelled across the room towards the bedroom. It was like a nightmare where one is powerless against horror."
"She lay tense on the sofa, every sense alert, her mind quivering like a small hunted animal turned to face its pursuers."
"I don't understand, she said. I understand nothing."
"Her mind was clear, and her body comfortable. Cradled in ease she locked her hands behind her head and stared at the darkness that held the familiar walls and furniture."
"The world was small, shut in a room of heat and haze and light."
"Shuddering, she seemed to wake, looking about her, touching dry lips with her tongue."
"She crouched against the sill, cramped and motionless, clutching on to her last remnants of happiness, her mind as clear as the sky itself."
"With all the windows shut it was unbearable."
"The trees hated her, but she could not stay in the house."
"Such little beetles to make such an intolerable noise!"
"I have been ill for years, inside, somewhere."
"I've always been ill, ever since I can remember."
"This was his final moment of triumph, a moment so perfect and complete."