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The pondok serves as a symbol of Boesman and Lena’s inability to have a home, and consequently, a meaningful life. The pondok, literally, is a type of shanty that Boesman is often forced to build out of whatever materials he can find: a piece of iron, scraps of wood, an old sack. Even though this is very resourceful, the makeshift nature of the pondok only makes Boesman and Lena more vulnerable. The morning before the play begins, the pondok they built in Korsten is easily destroyed by a “whiteman” with a bulldozer, forcing them off of the land. Lena realizes during the play that the pondok is actually a “coffin” for her, because she wastes her life trying to build homes in every new town they are forced to walk to. Boesman, too, recognizes how the pondok really makes his life feel devoid of meaning, because he surrounds himself and lives inside the trash of white people, making him feel worthless. Thus, the thing that is supposed to serve as a home for them—a source of protection and comfort, and a sense of ownership and personhood—becomes the very source of their oppression.
Pondok Quotes in Boesman and Lena
The Boesman and Lena quotes below all refer to the symbol of Pondok. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act One
Quotes
LENA: […] You’re the hell-in. Don’t look at me, ou ding. Blame the whiteman. Bulldozer!
[Another laugh.]
Ja! You were happy this morning. ‘Push it over, my baas! ‘Dankie, baas!’ ‘Weg is ons!’
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BOESMAN: Forget it. Now is the only time in your life.
LENA: No! ‘Now.’ What’s that? I wasn’t born today. I want my life. Where’s it?
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LENA: […] Even when you’re also awake. You make it worse. When I call you, and I know you hear me, but you say nothing. Sometimes loneliness is two . . . you and the other person who doesn’t want to know you’re there.
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Act Two
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BOESMAN: […] I could stand there! There was room for me to stand straight. You know what that is? Listen now. I’m going to use a word. Freedom! Ja, I’ve heard them talk it. Freedom! That’s what the whiteman gave us. I’ve got my feelings too, sister. It was a big one I had when I stood there. That’s why I laughed, why I was happy. When we picked up our things and started to walk I wanted to sing. It was Freedom!
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BOESMAN: […] One push. That’s all we need. Into gaol, out of your job . . . one push and it’s pieces.
Must I tell you why? Listen! I’m thinking deep tonight. We’re whiteman’s rubbish. That’s why he’s so beneukt with us. He can’t get rid of his rubbish. He throws it away, we pick it up. Wear it. Sleep in it. Eat it. We’re made of it now. His rubbish is people.
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LENA: […] That’s not a pondok, Boesman. [Pointing to the shelter.] It’s a coffin. All of them. You bury my life in your pondoks. Not tonight. Crawl into darkness and silence before I’m dead. No! I’m on this earth, not in it.
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BOESMAN [equally desperate, looking around dumbly]: Show it to me! Where is it? This thing that happens to me. Where? Is it the pondok? Whiteman pushed it over this morning. Wind will do it to this one. The road I walked today? Behind us! Swartkops? Next week it’s somewhere else. The wine? Bottles are empty. Where is it?!!
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Get the entire Boesman and Lena LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pondok Symbol Timeline in Boesman and Lena
The timeline below shows where the symbol Pondok appears in Boesman and Lena. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One
...She recalls how happy Boesman was in the morning, asking the whiteman to destroy the pondok (shanty) and thanking him when he had done so. At the same time, the Coloured...
(full context)
...her why she was crying this morning, because “the whiteman pushed over a rotten old pondok?” He says that the whiteman did them a favor by pushing it over, and so...
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Boesman finishes the pondok and looks at it, calling it “useless” and “another vrot ou huisie vir die vrot...
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...life is in the mud. Lena is disgusted by the prospect of sleeping in the pondok, especially with Boesman, because he never speaks to her. She says, “sometimes loneliness is two,”...
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Boesman returns with a few more pieces of firewood and another piece for the pondok. Lena makes herself busy at the fire. Boesman sees the old man is still there...
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...leave, but Lena restrains him, telling him that they can all lie together in the pondok for warmth. Boesman, overhearing this, is furious, and says that he won’t allow the old...
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Boesman gives Lena a choice: sleep inside the pondok with him, or sit by the fire with the old man. Lena doesn’t answer, but...
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...fire and passes him the tea and bread. Boesman watches and drinks wine in the pondok, his bread and tea “untouched.”
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Act Two
...then helped the white men build a bonfire to burn what was left of the pondoks. Boesman tells Lena that she should have helped as well: they were burning their sad...
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...days are too short.” He shouts violently, saying that it’s no use to build another pondok—the baas will simply push this one over tomorrow.
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...he can’t leave them alone. She surmises that he’s jealous that she turned down his pondok and the bottle of wine. She explains that the pondok really represents a coffin: her...
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...tea onto the ground and hurls the bread into the darkness. He disappears into the pondok with his bottle of wine, saying that he’s kicking her out, and even if she...
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...hit his own. Boesman asks Lena to show him any indication of his life. The pondok has been pushed over, the road has no trace of them, the wine bottles are...
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...and then let go of it. Boesman gets nervous, sitting down in front of the pondok and away from the body. Lena sets the body down on the ground, upset that...
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...again, saying that she’s done running, and that when he leaves she’ll crawl into the pondok and sleep. He smashes the pondok in response. Lena starts to laugh, and passes him...
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