28 pages • 56 minutes read
Dalene MattheeFiela's Child (Fiela se Kind)
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1985A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Pollie and Kicker
Early on, the ostriches are a symbol of the prosperity that has eluded Fiela and her family. They are potentially valuable possessions that cannot be dominated or coaxed. They will do what they must do in their own time, no matter how much, or how angrily, Fiela chides and coaxes them. Their reluctance to breed seems like a minor inconvenience once Fiela finds herself at the mercy of governmental forces that will not obey her.
The Five Shillings
Benjamin’s five shilling are a link between his past and present. They are originally a symbol that the Komoeties are not poor. Later, they bind him to Nina, to his former home with Fiela, and are one of the few things that stay the same in his life.
Ships
The two regions in the book are insular and constricting. The ships in the lagoon are Benjamin’s first glimpse of how much bigger the world could be, and that there are places that do not follow the rules that have been forced upon him. The ships serve as both a tantalizing option for escape, but also as a realization that he does not have to pursue the work that his two sets of parents have always followed.
