Politics of Irony in Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist

Abstract

This present dissertation on The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer attempts to show the vivid picture of the South-African industrialist, Mehring, the protagonist of the novel, who is presented as the conservationist of the farm but in the end he is ironically shown as an exploiter. He has all the privileges and possessions that South Africa has to offer but his possessions refuse to remain as assets. The farm is his heaven for seduction and than he constructs his own truth and values which depend upon random and unsuitable sexual encounters, unlimited mediation upon death and alienation from his family. Though, he has all sorts of possessions and facilities , he can not entertain himself and finally becomes unbearable that leads to his own destruction resulting into politics of irony