What are the struggles of Karlie?

In “The Bench,” Karlie’s struggles are both internal and external. As a “colored” person under South African apartheid, many limitations were placed on him, including where he could go, the education he would receive, and the kinds of jobs he could get. The cumulative negative effect of those restrictions plays a destructive role in the formulation of his self-image. Richard Rive writes movingly of this kind of internalization of repression, which contributes to people’s hesitation to take actions to improve their situation.
Within the action of the story, after Karlie attends a political rally, he identifies a single symbol of repression: a bench marked “Europeans only.” An internal struggle takes place at the moment he contemplates disregarding that sign and sitting on the bench. Understanding that his decision is connected to his self-identification as a man and a human being, he sits there.