The Journey by Barrie Hough | Detailed Analysis | Grade 11

The short story is about a romantic relationship between a white boy called
Johan and an African girl named Thembi.
 The two teenagers attended the same school together during the post -
Apartheid era shortly after the first democratic elections in South Africa.
 Their relationship started as a friendship and graduated into a romantic one
after a hard long journey that Johan went through.
 Johan has a stammering problem that jeopardised his chances of winning
Thembi’s love from the beginning as she clearly states to him that a boy who
stutters could not kiss her.
 Thembi instructed him to follow a certain plan that would cure his stammering.
 The two agreed to meet at the rugby field and started moving to each other
from different goal posts. Johan should start shouting and when they are about
to meet in the middle, he should slow down his voice until he whispers and this
will cure his stammering.
 He was initially reluctant to follow her instructions but he ultimately agreed.
The story has a happy ending as the two celebrated their love, hugging each
other and bursting in laughter.
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