Connection vs. Isolation Theme Analysis

Boesman and Lena’s circumstances have left them with very little connection and intimacy, as they constantly argue over their present circumstances. As a result, both of them, but Lena in particular, search for a sense of connection in order to remedy their feelings of isolation. Fugard demonstrates that connection is vital to the characters because it is a way of being witnessed, and a means of acknowledging that they have lived—a concept that is crucial for people who are often transient and rendered nearly invisible by the world.

Early on in the play, Lena discusses her frustration with Boesman’s lack of connection to her. Boesman treats her so poorly and ignores her so much that she often feels like she lives alone. At the beginning of the play, Boesman demonstrates how disconnected he is from Lena as he refuses to respond to anything she says. She goes on a long monologue about the difficulty of their journey and Boesman’s current anger, but he ignores her. This disheartens Lena; she longs to go to a place like Veeplaas because “there’s other people there” who she can talk to. Lena confesses to Boesman, as he makes the shelter, how his neglect affects her. She tells him, “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.” Thus, the relationship between them is even worse than if she were alone, because she expects some kind of connection and receives none. He deliberately treats her like she isn’t there. Lena becomes so desperate that she begins to rely on a stray dog that had followed her in Korsten, the town in which they lived before being forced to walk to Swartkops. She describes how the dog “came and watched [her]” every night while Boesman was asleep. She admits that she misses the dog, which did not follow them to Swartkops, because it was “another pair of eyes. Something to see [her].” The dog was a witness to her life, giving her a sense of being understood and even loved.

When the old man arrives, he fills this same gap for Lena. He serves as a human connection that she feels has been lacking with Boesman, even though they do not speak the same language. When the old man first wanders into Boesman and Lena’s camp, she immediately calls him over. When Boesman tries to argue with her, she protests: “Sit in the dark and talk to myself because you don’t hear me anymore? No, Boesman! I want him!” Despite the fact that he is of lower status, the old man provides her with the attention and connection that she is not getting from Boesman. Later, when Boesman is about to beat Lena, she tells the old man to watch and “be witness” for her. This recurring desire, for someone to watch her and be a witness to her life, makes her feel like someone cares enough to look at her. It also provides her with a degree of security, as Boesman chooses not to beat Lena as she cowers behind the old man. Over the course of the night, Lena even starts to choose the old man over Boesman. When Boesman gives her the choice, to sleep inside the pondok with Boesman or to keep the old man company by the fire, she chooses the old man. His presence provides her with comfort and protection—what she feels she should be getting from Boesman.

After Lena chooses to stay with the old man rather than sleeping with Boesman, her choice drives Boesman’s own fear of isolation. Boesman taunts Lena for staying outside with the old man, asking if they’re “up to something under that blanket?” and if they’re doing “Vuilgoed [dirty things]?” Boesman understands that this is preposterous, but he says these things out of jealousy because he, like Lena, fears being left alone. Yet Boesman refuses to reach out to Lena for connection. Instead, he aims to cut off the connection between the old man and Lena instead, in the hopes that she will return to him. He says, “He must close his eyes. That’s what I’ll say for you in the kaffertaal [“kaffer” language]. Musa khangela! Don’t look! That’s what you must tell him. Musa khangela!” He tells the old man not to look at Lena, thus cutting her off from the connection she so desperately needs.

Towards the end of the play, Boesman speaks about how he and Lena had once had a child, but it was still-born. The very thing that was supposed to be their legacy, then—a way to continue their lives—becomes a reason that their connection with each other dissipates. Without that connection and the desire to live for each other, the feeling that their lives have become meaningless only deepens and grows, despite the fact that the play ends ambiguously with Boesman and Lena walking together into the darkness.