No Witchcraft for Sale

“No Witchcraft for Sale” illustrates a complicated relationship between a white family and their native African cook during the Apartheid period in South Africa. At times, the Farquars love Gideon as a family member, but at other times, the Social Hierarchy During Apartheid presents too big a barrier to wholly overcome. While entrenched in his lower caste, Gideon exerts his autonomy by using and protecting his indigenous healing traditions.

Gideon loves the Farquar’s son, Teddy, from the time he is a baby, but he knows time will eventually drive a wedge between them. They start on even footing when Teddy is young and has no social awareness, but Gideon knows that social structures such as apartheid, caused by racism and classism, will assign a position to Teddy that will soon surpass Gideon. He remarks several times throughout the story that soon Teddy will be grown and that, as a Christian, he believes it is God’s will that white people assert dominion over Black people. The third-person narrator explains that Gideon is a “mission boy,” meaning his religious beliefs were imposed upon him by white missionaries. This allows him to accept his social position as if it were inevitable, but the narrator does not necessarily hold that same belief.