A Critique of Colonial Legacy in J.M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron

Abstract

This thesis entitled “A Critique of Colonial Legacy in J.M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron” depicts the real picture of South Africa under apartheid system. This project not only examines the mistreatment and hardships of the blacks in South Africa under apartheid but also examines the degraded life and psychological pressures of the whites due to this policy. It shows the long term psychological problem of the whites because of the failure of the system and their injustice to the blacks. They are living with the guilty psyche that is never curable. Mrs. Curren is suffering from ‘cancer’ that symbolizes the problematic life of the whites due to their own cause. They loaded the apartheid system so as to control the rights of black people but later the system ironically turned against them because of the racial awareness of black people. Moreover, the novel explores the miserable lives of black people where they are not able to adopt their own culture, language, religion but rather suffer from police brutality and racial segregation in the postcolonial era.