Synopsis for Simi's class

Mary sits in her room thinking about the events that have turned her into who she is today. She now has a passion for helping others who has gone through the horror of rape and recollects her experience. We find a strong, confident woman here though.1

She goes out with John, a good friend of hers and they go to a cheap student restaurant in Stellenbosch (a college town in South Africa). She has just broken up with her first love and feels vulnerable. She flirts with John as the evening goes along and she drinks more as time goes by. Later she has no defenses left and she is very pliable.2

He is sitting in the restaurant fantasising about her. Her innocent side has always attracted him and that is what he sees when he looks at her. He does not see that tonight though - he sees a flirt with a short skirt and a shamefully exposed cleavage and he decides to teach her a lesson. He sees a whore instead of his Madonna and is angry at her for that.3

They leave the restaurant and he gives in to her flirtatious behaviour. He is actually turned on and she is playing him, not thinking once that he might be seeing her as wanting to have sex. This is the paradox in her - she is innocently believing that she can trust him as he knows her so well.4

They reach the room - the protagonist describes the room and then the following scene. They do get entangled on the bed and the sexual energy is huge. The scene is described in vivid detail as it progresses to the place where Mary no longer feels comfortable and starts to say no. John is much stronger than her and forces her to have sex with him with little physical effort. He does not even realise she feels dirty when he lets her go.5

She goes back to the residence where she stays and showers (like all rape victims) many many times, shouting and belittling herself. Her self-esteem drops and she blames herself for everything. Finally she gets into bed where the first night of nightmares begin. The rape replays in her head over and over again.6

Finally she gets the courage to tell her mother, who wants to storm in and get the man convicted of rape. She stops this as she feels guilty and as if he does not carry any blame. Her mother does not understand this at all and as a result does not believe it really happened. She does not talk about it, but uses it against Mary later when she alleges Mary is mentally unstable. 7

Mary's sister Joan, is in the room just before the opening paragraph. She is accusing Mary of being the whore, the one to blame, the liar. Mary tells her what she has been through emotionally and asks her to leave. As Joan leaves, the room is bathed in the glow of sunset and Mary returns to her reverie of peace - finally free.8