In this excerpt from Gordimer's essay, the author discusses the consequences of apartheid. This excerpt is used to reflect on how some things are admired by the white and powerful population for their rarity but are the everyday objects for the poor South because it's all they have. She concludes that image by saying "The penny whistle is a charming piece of musical ingenuity; but it should not always be necessary for a man to make his music out of nothing.".
Through this she says that the poor <em>South</em> uses candles because that's all they've got. She says that it's not thatbad to live in Sophiatown (predominantly black region, destroyed during the apartheid) but that it's <em>tragic</em> when you don't have the possibilities of living anywhere else.
