Describe the role of gender in the novel My Son's Story.

Nadine Gordimer’s novel intertwined gender and race in presenting the relationships among Sonny, his wife, Aila, and his friend and later lover, Hannah. Sonny and Aila are black South Africans; Hannah is white. Sonny had thought himself happily married, but after becoming involved in anti-government resistance, he is drawn to Hannah by their shared politics. They are allies and friends before they become lovers. Aila is initially apolitical, but she also becomes involved in the movement. Gender gradually comes to assume a larger role in the novel, however, when Baby (Sonny’s and Aila’s daughter) becomes politically active. She is actually the one who draws her mother into resistance activities.
The situation grows complicated after Sonny and Hannah become lovers as he must face the contradictions inherent in having a white lover. In addition, when his son, Will, finds out, he finds it nearly impossible to forgive his father. Although Aila’s disenchantment with her husband plays a role in her activism, her role as Baby’s mother seems even more crucial. As the novel ends, the gendered division is accentuated: Aila and Baby have left, possibly even moved abroad, and Sonny and Will live together. The fact that the women leave and the men stay home is a reversal of traditional gender stereotypes.