Rd of Kaffir

8/3/2019 Rd of Kaffir

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Aaron Simpson

Mrs. Turple

Honors International Literature

October 27, 2011

Final Draft

Kaffir Boy: A Lost Childhood

Can a way of life change the way a child thinks? The answer to this question is

illustrated in Kaffir Boy, an autobiography written by Mark Mathabane about his childhood in

apartheid South Africa. This apartheid forced thousands of black South Africans to live in

atrocious conditions, exploiting children to lose their innocence before living a childhood.

Apartheid's effect of Mark Mathabane's development is caused by heinous conditions, and is

shown through his religious questioning and participation in gang activities.

Apartheid's abominable living conditions brought Mathabane's precocious predicament.

The black people of South Africa were forced into townships under the rule of apartheid,

powering these people into ghettos where life was without the simplest of necessities.

Each day we spent without food drove us closer and closer to starvation. Then terror

struck. I began having fainting spells. I would be out playing when suddenly me head

would feel light, my knees would wobble, my vision would dim and blur and down I

would come like a log (37).

Without having enough food, Mark was not able to play games with other children because he

lacked sufficient nourishment. Because of this he had to spend his time searching for food, a

task unsuitable for the young. The horrible conditions of by Apartheid brought Mark

Mathabane's prematurity. One of the effects is his questioning of parental beliefs.



Because Mark Mathabane's childhood was so difficult, he began to question religion at an

early age. As a child, he would ask his mother why she prayed, as it did not seem to help things.

Mark recalls:

Almost every night before we went to bed, whenever my mother happened to have one

of her premonitions, she would pray in earnest to our ancestral spirits that the day never

would come when my father would be sent to Modderbee. 'Will prayers stop the

police from coming, Mama?' I asked one evening. Somehow I had the vague feeling that

all my mother's prayers were useless, that no amount of prayer could stop the police from

violating our lives at will. 'No,' my mother replied. 'Then why do you pray?' 'I don't

know.'(29).

This shows that Mark Mathabane questioned his mother's beliefs, a rare thing at such a young

age. He did this because he has made the connection between his mother's prayers and how few

of the things she prays for occur. Although critical thinking can be good, these living conditions

also led to licentious activities.

Gang related activities, even for children, are part of the township life. Most children,

including Mark, were involved in these groups one way or another. One of the reason that these

children stay in gangs is because of intimidation. Mark experiences this when a gang member

confronts him:

I kept silent, sensing that Jarvas was provoking me into saying something that might give

him an excuse to stab me. I bore the stream of filth he and his cohorts spewed at me, for I

knew that it was better to act a coward and live than to act a hero and end up six feet

under 'What have you to say, wimp?' Jarvas sneered. 'Will you fight, or will you hide

behind your mama's apron like a little girl?' 'I'll fight in the next fight,' I said (195).



Even at a young age, other gang members are using intimidation to keep each other in gangs.

Violence has changed Mark's childhood, starving him of normality.

Because of apartheid's horrible living conditions, Mark Mathabane's childhood included

questioning religion and gang-related activities. The ghetto's that black South African's were

forced to live in had horrible conditions, affecting his childhood. The author wrote Kaffir Boy

not to gain sympathy, but to show that many thousands of children lived in these same

conditions. It's important that the readers realize that many children around the world are forced

to live in similar conditions.

Documents

Rd of Kaffir