The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer
"The Pickup" by Nadine Gordimer is a novel that explores the complex relationship between Julie, a privileged South African woman, and Abdu, a mechanic working illegally in South Africa. The story begins when Julie initiates a relationship with Abdu, who sees in her a pathway to achieving citizenship and social worth. As their relationship develops, the contrasting values and backgrounds of the two characters become apparent, particularly during a visit to Julie's affluent family, which highlights their differing perspectives on privilege and success.
The narrative primarily focuses on Julie's experiences, revealing her evolving love for Abdu, even as questions about his feelings for her linger. After Abdu is deported, their roles reverse; Abdu feels embarrassed by his impoverished North African village, while Julie finds herself captivated by his large family and the spiritual allure of the desert. The storytelling employs an omniscient voice interspersed with the characters’ thoughts and dialogues, creating a sense of ambiguity that reflects their emotional struggles.
Ultimately, the novel concludes with both characters remaining true to their desires—Abdu seeks a better life in the United States, while Julie embraces her new reality in Abdu's village, showcasing the deep complexities of love, identity, and cultural dislocation.
The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 2001
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Julie Summers picks up a mechanic, who uses the name Abdu while working illegally in South Africa. Although she initiates the relationship, he, too, may be implicated in the pickup. In Julie, Abdu sees someone who has access to what he hopes to achieve: citizenship and a position of worth in a meaningful society.
Ironically, the characters’ contrasting values, needs, and desires sometimes become clear to the reader before they are evident to Abdu and Julie. Abdu insists Julie introduce him to her family; Julie sees no reason for this, as she has separated herself from her divorced parents and their privileged lifestyles. During the visit to her father, Julie is embarrassed by the lavish house and hospitality, but Abdu respects the success of her father and his friends. A reversal happens weeks later, after Abdu has been deported and Julie travels with him to his country. Julie is surprised that Abdu insists upon their marriage before he brings her to his family home; she has no respect for a marriage certificate issued by a government deporting him. Abdu is embarrassed by his dirty, impoverished North African village, but Julie becomes entranced living with his large, extended family on the edge of a desert that she, but not Abdu, sees as spiritual.
Several times the narrator intrudes, addressing the readers directly. In the second and third paragraphs of the novel, the narrator makes clear that the novel mainly investigates Julie’s story. The novel imagines what might happen when a young, privileged South African woman, who is open to experience and wants to reject her privileges gained through a racist society, meets her opposite. The narrator more often gives Julie’s thoughts rather than Abdu’s; the narrator follows her much more often than him. Therefore, Julie’s love for Abdu is clear long before readers can be sure of Abdu’s feelings for her. Despite early suggestions that Julie’s love for Abdu might be met with his use of her—as a person who has access to wealth and power—late in the novel it becomes apparent that Abdu does love Julie and respects her freedom to choose and her independence. He believes his country has curtailed his life choices.
The method of narration is appropriate for the novel, although it may cause readers difficulty. It shifts from an omniscient voice to the characters’ thoughts and dialogue without clear markers. Readers must come to understand the characters in order to know when words signify thoughts or dialogue and to whom they belong. The ambiguity and uncertainty readers experience parallels the feelings the characters have as they continue their unexpected and difficult relationship. The novel ends with both characters holding true to their desires: Ibrahim ibn Musa (Abdu) flying to the United States to find a better life, and Julie staying in his village with the solace of family and the desert and her newfound ability to teach English.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist 97 (July, 2001): 1949.
Library Journal 126 (August, 2001): 161.
The New York Times Book Review 106 (December 16, 2001): 10.
Publishers Weekly 248 (July 16, 2001): 155.
The Washington Post Book World, September 30, 2001, p. 9.