The political parallels of Trump and Shylock in 'The Merchant of Venice'

The second coming of Trump on the political platform of the United States with his arse open for would be wiling lickers reminds me of Shylock, the money lender in the Merchant of Venice.  But the book comes with entertaining memories.

In 1969 at the age of twelve I was in the seventh year of schooling and a year shy away from sitting for the exit exams that would qualify me to enter the five year duration of secondary and high school study.  

In my class were some distinguished veteran scholars who were aged 25 and 26 years respectively.

These veterans had been on it from the day my eldest brother who is thirteen years older than myself set foot in school. 

They had been in class with each of my four siblings subsequently and ultimately myself.  I was the last to share experience of studying with them.  Our set book was The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare the greatest author of literature. 

Those who read the work of Shakespeare will know how complex it is to read it.  It comes deep with Victorian English of thou and shalt and third person expressions and long complex sentences. In the 20th Century Shakesperean writing appear akin to English.  It is not easy to read. 

By way of background Shylock, the Jew was a shrewd money lender and between himself and Antonio, a wealthy merchant, there was no love lost.  Antonio had his dear friend Bassanio, who needed money.

Antonio borrowed money from his worst enemy.  A bond was signed for the money and Antonio offered a pound of flesh that would be cut from his left breast should the money fail to be delivered on the day. Shylock would perform the act of slicing out the pound of flesh.  A sure death sentence to his enemy, Antonio.  

As fate would have it, Antonio’s fleet of ships could not arrive on time and Shylock sought justice.  But even as the ships arrived, but late, Shylock would have none of it but wanted justice - his pound of flesh.  

We had to act play the Merchant of Venice and often the teacher will nominate those who should read.

The veterans were always reluctant to do so given the complexity of the English and the Shakespearean structure.  On this afternoon, we had to act play Chapter 4 from page 88 and surprise, surprise Mrs Mabusa asked for volunteers this time around.  One of the veterans raised his hand and Pinkie Motloha who was seated next to me and I started giggling, so was the rest of the class burst in laughter in anticipation. 

And we raised our hands too.  But the order of selection was by who raised their hands first.  The veteran was first.  You see page 88 starts with two short sentences and subsequent ones are massive paragraphs.

The veteran volunteered himself to be Antonio.  At that the giggles turned into massive laughter because not only does Antonio answer with a short sentence of “I do” when Portia the lawyer asks, “Do you confess this bond?” but that is the only utterance Antonio he makes in the whole section.   

Of course, after regaling the court with sentences that were appealing to Shylock and the Jew was getting ready for his pound of flesh, Portia made the most devastating sentence to Shylock – not a drop of blood should be shed. 

The Duke affirmed the legal standing of that ordering Shylock to cut one and only a pound and no blood shed.  Shylock was about to collapse as he forfeited not only the pound of flesh but the money that was borrowed.  Perhaps when asked about the laws he signed, Ramaphosa should go no further than only saying “I do” to the laws he signed and not give an inch beyond for the 49 Afrikaners who were Trump’s flagship and pound of flesh have a Portia “not a drop of blood” addendum to them as Trump tries to cut his pound of flesh. 

This is the “no drop of blood addendum.”

Whilst South African government has performed very badly on the economy, crime, corruption and everything else.  They have not lied about the facts as these are not only in the reports of the Statistician-General, they are also in our faces. 

What is also in our faces regarding these numbers is the fact that Whites only have a 6.5% unemployment rate, a mere 2 percentage points above the US unemployment of 4.3 %.  This is a far cry from the 43% unemployment rate of the Blacks.  The data of the Statistician-General shows that 73% of Whites are in the  fifth quintile as opposed to only 13.7% amongst Blacks.

Of course, duplicity ridden Trump will turn the tables against Ramaphosa and question his governance over poverty of the Black.

He may well justify the massive inequality gap as one leaving Whites with no option but to fear for the greedy eyes of Blacks over White god given accumulation.  He may well ask for guarantees.  Ramaphosa has to stick to “yes I do” regarding the bills he signed into law.  No more no less.  He should leave Trump’s arse to trump.   

Dr Pali Lehohla is a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa. 

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