Which of the following works is a complex and scathing commentary on the white liberals?

Correct option is C

Explanation

The correct answer is Option 3: July’s People.

July’s People is a sharp and complex critique of white liberalism in apartheid South Africa. Nadine Gordimer examines a white liberal family—the Smaleses—who believe themselves progressive and humane, yet their assumptions of privilege remain deeply embedded. When violent revolution overturns social order, they must depend on their Black servant July for survival.

This reversal exposes the limits of liberal self-image. The family’s former benevolence cannot erase the structural inequalities from which they benefited. Gordimer shows that even well-meaning white liberals often failed to understand the depth of racial power relations. Their ideals collapse when they lose control and security.

The novel is “complex” because it avoids simple moral binaries, and “scathing” because it reveals hidden paternalism, dependence, fear, and hypocrisy.

Information Booster

July’s People was written by Nadine Gordimer and published in 1981. Gordimer, a South African novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (1991), is renowned for her anti-apartheid fiction and moral-political insight.

About the Author

Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) wrote extensively about race, power, violence, and conscience in South Africa. Major works include:

Burger’s Daughter
July’s People
My Son’s Story
The Conservationist
The House Gun
Genre

The novel is:

Political fiction
Anti-apartheid novel
Dystopian/speculative realism
Psychological social novel
Plot Summary

During a future civil uprising, the white Smales family flees Johannesburg and hides in the rural village of their servant, July. In this new setting, old master-servant roles are destabilized. Questions of dependence, authority, language, trust, and ownership emerge.

Themes
Apartheid and privilege
White liberal hypocrisy
Role reversal
Dependency and power
Fear and identity
Political uncertainty