The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee Summary

This story is told from the perspective of a man named Jacobus Coetzee, a white man living in South Africa in the year 1760. The story is loosely based on the journal entries of events and encounters during an elephant hunting trip.

Jacobus begins the story by describing the differences between the white settlers in South Africa called Boers and the Hottentots, the race of people descended from the native Africans who procreated with the Dutch immigrants. Another group of people, barely considered human by the Boers, is the Bushman of native Africa.

Although some similarities exist between the Boers and Hottentots, Jacobus defines the biggest difference between the two peoples as Christianity. The Boers are Christians by a long heritage of beliefs, while most Hottentots are not religious. Those that are religious claim their Christianity...