Justice, Retribution, Revenge

Set in post-apartheid South Africa, Bitter Fruit explores how individuals deal with pasts that include violence and abuse. Inherent in this exploration are questions of guilt and innocence. When Silas encounters Du Boise, it forces the Ali family to confront Lydia's rape. In doing so, the characters each choose different paths in their quests to deal with or forget about the past. For years Lydia has wanted to confront what happened to her and talk to Silas about it. When Silas tells her about seeing Du Boise, the emotions that she buried burst to the surface. Yet, Lydia continues to maintain that she doesn't want to bring up her rape to the TRC. Silas spends much of the novel engrossed in his own pain over the event, leaving Lydia and Michael to fend for themselves. Silas tries to forget the rape and the fact that Michael...