Regarding racism, this line stood out:
Quote:
Old Batani hovered about, counting no more than a dog might have done.
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Although, given the rest of the book, this might not be racism so much as classism. There must have been servants hovering about for most of our upper class characters but they get even less mention than the "Kafirs". I assume that in the 1920s "Kafir" was still slang for "native" rather than a deliberate racial slur.
As for sexism. It's the acceptance that his is the position of dominance. We imagine he might have met his match with Anne, we imagine that Anne will maintain some level of independence, especially since they have chosen to live in the wilds of Africa (and have natives for servants that they ignore in the same way they'd ignore English servants). But despite all that, even our independent Anne accepts that women submit to men - even worse, they enjoy doing so! This statement is repeated by Anne on a few occasions:
Quote:
And of course there is really nothing a woman enjoys so much as doing all the things she doesn’t like for the sake of someone she does like. And the more self-willed she is, the more she likes it.
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Was I the only one that found this idea rather unsettling?