Gordimer uses juxtaposition in the story to highlight stark differences between different situations, emphasizing the horrifying effects of war. The grandmother and grandfather represent opposing reactions to the dire situation that the rural population in Mozambique faces as civil war rages around them. Where one character has hope and perseveres, the other is hopeless and perishes.

Gordimer also juxtaposes the refugees with their foil: tourists. The story opens with an advertisement in London for a safari. The story depicts those who answered the ad and have come on safari bordering a war zone. The story concludes with a white film maker asking what will happen when the family goes back home. These characters represent ignorance and apathy. The refugees, on the other hand, are struggling and suffering in full view of the world, their pain apparent and visible in their appearance and situation. The contrast between the two is stark.

The children’s parents are both dead. The father was a fighter, the mother a nurturer, yet both perished. When the father was killed battling the “bandits,” the young girl says only that he never came back. Likewise, the mother disappears one day when she goes to the shop in search of oil.