The character of Philemon in the short story "The Suit" by Can Themba

The character of Philemon in the short story "The Suit" by Can Themba Philemon is dominated by a need to be in direct command of his own environment; in popular terms, he is a "control freak". He is unable to cope with any threat to his version of "the goodness of life." Tilly's affair occurs outside Philemon's self-imposed boundaries and he is not equipped to react to the crisis. Philemon removes chance from even the …showed first 75 words of 553 total…

…showed last 75 words of 553 total…in front of her friends at the party. He continues to use the suit to secretly punish Tilly, while maintaining outward normality. His actions are more to reinforce Philemon's "heaven" that a punishment for adultery. Philemon's cry on discovering Tilly's body is not that of a man who has lost his wife, but that of a man who realises that his control has been taken away. In a very real sense, Philemon's world has collapsed.