Loot” is a short story with a close reading of the society attitude written by Nadine Gordimer, focusing on the people’s reflection in difficult situations, Here a natural disaster like an earthquake which is totally different to all the other earthquakes, which was regarded unique during the history. Of course, their history with considering the quotation once upon our time”. This earthquake was regarded different because of the very different and exploitative demeanor of the sea toward greedy and miserable people who forget about their precious life and are besotted with the desire for high-priced objects, it was expected to cause a flood but the sea drew back and revealed the treasures buried deep in the water.
There are three main characters in the story; the people, the old man, and the sea.
The people
People are described as the most unfortunate creatures’ possible, as they have, in a way, lost everything and now they’ve got nothing but their breath. However, in a perilous situation like this, they lose themselves and cannot really decide between the bad and the worse, because of the desire for high-priced objects revealed in seabed which is now filled with all the things the sea already possessed. The writer has illustrated the hoarding character of people in the best way possible by showing their reaction after the drawing back.
The old man
The old man, once well-known and reputed for his role in the former regime, is now forgotten and no more respected by the people but he has kept his life decent and remained important in his own perspective. So he is another looter like the other people but in a more decent way, cause he’s looking for something special, known deeply inside him but not found till now, and revealed to him just as it caught his eye, A mirror?”. The question mark makes it more complicated because it indicates unreliability. But however, he has this difference and named the hoarder of hoarders”.
The sea
The sea has got her own treasures buried down in her belly but as the earthquake happened she got her chance to possess the most precious thing, the life of the humankind. So she used her treasures as the best bait she could and took the people’s attention and greed in order to trap them. The sea has an exploitative character because she takes whatever she wants and acts very selfishly.
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