The title refers to the basic human desire for a burial—a final, sacred space that affirms a person's existence. The authorities not only fail to provide this but actively thwart the family's efforts. The "six feet of the country" symbolizes the fundamental dignity of having a place in the world, both in life and in death. The state's refusal to grant even this minimal claim is the ultimate expression of its contempt for Black humanity.
The story's first-person narrator is its most complex and crucial character. He is not an overt villain; he does not beat his staff or use racial slurs. Instead, he represents a liberal white South African who believes his personal decency and geographical distance from the city absolve him of complicity in the apartheid system. However, his "feudal" view of the farm exposes his paternalism: he sees the Black employees as a comfortable, fixed part of the landscape, not as equals. Throughout the crisis, his primary emotions are annoyance at the inconvenience and a deep-seated belief that his efforts to help are an exceptional act of charity. His journey is one of failed awakening. Confronted with the system's brutality, he does not become an activist; he merely becomes disillusioned, retreating into cynical apathy. He is the ultimate emblem of the liberal paradox—benevolent in intention but structurally powerless to effect real change.
The central horror of the story is that the dead man becomes a "case number." The white officials see no difference between one black body and another. The line, “They are all natives,” is the story’s damning indictment of the system.
The couple lives in a small cottage attached to the store. They are outsiders: white, English-speaking, and Jewish in a predominantly Afrikaner rural district. They feel a sense of superiority over their Afrikaner neighbors, whom they consider crude, and a sense of frustrated benevolence toward the black people, whom they see as childlike and in need of firm management. six feet of the country by nadine gordimer summary
The narrator realizes with a jolt that the government has charged the family for the "six feet of the country"—the patch of earth needed for the grave. Even in death, the Black body is a commodity; the state extracts rent for the very ground in which the poor are laid to rest.
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This comprehensive summary and analysis explores the narrative arc, major themes, and symbolic elements of Gordimer’s classic work. Plot Summary
Petrus approaches the narrator with a request: he wants to reclaim his brother's body to give him a proper funeral on the farm. However, the authorities demand a fee of £20 to release the body. To the narrator, this is a fortune for a laborer and an absurd waste of money.
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The climax reveals the devastating bureaucracy and callousness of the regime. After paying the money and receiving the coffin, the family holds a solemn funeral procession. However, during the burial, the narrator notices that the coffin seems too heavy. Suspicious, the authorities later exhume the grave, only to discover that the government municipal workers mixed up the bodies. Petrus's brother was buried elsewhere in a pauper's grave, and the family has spent their life savings to bury a stranger. Despite the narrator’s attempts to demand a refund or locate the correct body, the authorities offer no help, leaving the family with nothing but an empty grave and lost savings. Character Analysis The Narrator
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Moved by the family's grief, Lerice insists that they help. Petrus manages to collect the twenty pounds from his family, savings, and fellow workers, and the narrator pays the authorities. A funeral is arranged on the farm. The laborers dress in their finest clothes, and a somber, respectful procession takes place.
For the narrator, the incident is a bureaucratic nuisance. For Petrus and the other workers, however, it is a profound tragedy compounded by cultural displacement. Petrus approaches the narrator with a deeply emotional request: he wants his brother’s body returned to the farm so they can give him a traditional, dignified burial.
Gordimer masterfully illustrates multiple layers of disconnection. There is a marital disconnect between the narrator and Lerice, a racial disconnect between the white owners and Black workers, and a bureaucratic disconnect between the citizens and the state. The narrator never truly understands the depth of Petrus’s grief, viewing the entire ordeal mostly as an inconvenience. Symbolic Elements