IndexIntroduction"Rock" by Lindiwe Nkutha: AnalysisNarrativeSocial and political concernsConclusionIntroductionThe story ''Rock'', written by Lindiwe Nkutha, is about Zibusiso, a girl who lives and grows up in poverty. Zibusiso lives in a shack in Soweto with his family. Zibusiso is called "rock" by the kids in the neighborhood, because she is in a wheelchair, due to a dog so hungry, that he mistook her legs for a lamb shank, causing her to lose both legs and find herself in a wheelchair wheels. The story is also about Ncedi (Zibusiso's mother) who no longer plays the guitar that belonged to her lover (Danisile) because she believed that Danisile had died in exile. Later in the story, it appears that Danisile did not die in exile, but was wandering the streets of different countries looking for Ncedi. Eventually Ncedi and Danisile found each other again, which led to playing the guitar again and brought joy and laughter into the house, and made Zibusiso accept and make peace with his nickname "rock". Huggan stated: “A short story is an ideal vehicle for social and political criticism” (Huggan, 1994: 63). Lindiwe Nkutha uses this tale as a vehicle to express today's social and political concerns, as the story is loaded with today's social and political issues such as poverty, discrimination against disabled people, statues and social rank, racism and l 'heteronormativity. These issues are enhanced through the typical characteristics of a short story such as media res, narrative arc, dense setting, brevity, characterization and unresolved ending. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "Rock" by Lindiwe Nkutha: Narrative AnalysisThe story begins in medias res, which means it begins without a proper introduction, this is where it begins : ''Now as far as music goes I've always preferred rock and roll and nothing else''. The reader is not given any background information about Zibusiso, and is therefore effective in revealing the nature of Zibusiso's circumstances and showing how the situation in which he lost his legs, indirectly caused by poverty, was very sudden, and thus highlighting this particular circumstance as well as the social issue of poverty in South Africa. The story is narrated by Zibusiso, and he is a first-person narrator. The story is thus told from Zibusiso's point of view, thus making it more personal, the reader is immersed in consciousness, which is evident when Zibusiso says: ''I too was so hungry that I had fantasized about eating the same dog'' . This is effective as the reader experiences Zibusiso's poverty-stricken circumstances firsthand, and therefore makes today's social and political issues more immediate and urgent. This particular narrative style is used because it is more intimate, and because it is intimate the reader can relate more to Zibusiso and experience the struggle of having to live in poverty and being discriminated against. The narrative therefore helps to express the social and political concerns that South Africa faces today. Social and Political Concerns In the story, poverty is a major social and political concern that is addressed, as the reader is told that Zibusiso lives in a shack in Soweto and Zibusiso states that: “there were church mice who had reached a level of well-being higher than that of his mother" (Nkutha, [2006] 2017:219). Brevity, which is a central feature of a short story, is used here and throughout the story to express this particular concern. The story uses brevity by using dense language such as the words "church mice",.