Essay: Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

The discussion which my group and I did was about the novel Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane. Mark Mathabane’s autobiography, depicts the peak of apartheid in a small town in South Africa as he attempts to crawl out from under oppression. Under the Apartheid South African System, he does in fact crawl out of oppression as soon as he starts to listen more closely to his mother’s advice, who convinces him to go to school. His persistence and duties lead him to finish in the top one percent of his class in primary school, which gives him the opportunity of experiencing a secondary school scholarship in which he becomes more involved with tennis. This series of events lead him to have the opportunity of studying at the U.S through a tennis scholarship which is quite fascinating considering he comes from the very bottom of hierarchies. We discussed that there is a slight glimpse of luck throughout his life, but I do believe that the luck he is able to find did not simply come randomly. His persistence and the fact that he is willing to risk his life everyday to go to school, to play tennis, and work at a bank to support his family, shows how he was able to leave his home and pursue his “destiny”. Through the use of events and examples within the novel, we initially explained the Gender, Race, Violence, Religion, Education and Power/Privilege, and later on managed to re-emphasize the overall transition from being hopeless to having hope.
The first theme we talked about is Gender and why Mark’s father establishes the position of ‘Man of the House’. Despite the fact that he provides a strong Toxic Masculinity towards his family, Strong Hostilities towards Christians and towards White people, our group agreed that the reason why he behaves in such way is because of the customs and traditions he has learned in the past with the Venda Community. With Mark’s father beating his wife down at several stages, Mark’s relationship with his father is infuriating, especially when he has to beat his wife down simply to prove to himself that he is the owner of them all. “The next day, as I nursed my wounds, while my father was at work, I told my mother that I hated him and promised her I would kill him when I grew up” (Mathabane 33). In our world, a father wouldn’t act this way. However, the world we currently live in is different to the horrendous conditions in South Africa at the time. Mark ends up realizing that his father is not the man of the house any longer. His mother on the other hand is always there for him, and is the one who actually pressures him to go to school and find a future. During our discussion, we talked about how Marks mother’s relationship with him progresses since the beginning. At the start, we see a young rebelish Mark who hangs out with his gang of street boys. Yet, the turning point which we thought changed Mark’s traditional perspectives is when he is obliged to go to school. His mother is the architect of this decision, and as his perspective of life starts to change, the advice she starts to provide him becomes more useful to him. When his mama for instance says that no matter how hungry Mark is, he shouldn’t eat strangers’ food because it could be poisoned. One day, a stranger gives Mark some food. He brings it home and his mother is aware of this situation. She decides to place the food in a small bowl and leaves it near a rat hole. The next morning, there’s a dead rat near the bowl, and the piece of meat pie is gone. Both Mark and his mother are both fighters, but tend to be negatively perpetuated by Papa simply because he holds onto the role of ‘Man of the House’. Having said this, something that we learned throughout the discussion is that holding such a title is not as significant as those personalities which characters including Mark and Mama develop.
The next thing we discussed with the class is the role of race and how it perpetuated violence. Race is one of the most important themes of the novel since it determined where one would live within the region of South Africa. We were able to back this up through the example when the author describes where all the different ethnic groups live: Indians were living on the First Avenue, which was located in the upper section. Second, Third, and Fourth Avenues were where the Coloreds were living in. And Fifth through Twenty-Third Avenues were left for the blacks, where Mark and his family had to endure many problems with the police. We also discussed how badly violence impacted the Black Society. Mark experiences police violence, violence perpetrated by his father and violence that even comes from the street. He even experiences the murder of a man, when two men are being chased by Six Tsosis. We mentioned how this leads him to suffer from Insomnia to the extent that he almost commits suicide. Racial differences have occasionally proven to cause success and some people in our class referred to this novel as a success story. In reference to the success stories of other black people, famous names like Serena Williams and Nelson Mandela were also mentioned. Although these are just examples of success stories, it was intriguing to understand what perspective each person had on the racial differences each figure experienced.
We were then able to tie how this success is built from traditions and religion. Despite everyone having their own form of religion, it is an essential which provides hope in several helpless occasions throughout the novel. We specifically talked about Mama’s prayers, in case the police raided their home. Almost every night, Mama would pray before going to bed “in earnest to our ancestral spirits that the day would never come when my father would be sent to Modderbee” (Mathabane 29). Having said this, Mama starts to notice how all supporters of Christianity are Whites. In hope of enduring a better life, she focuses on the materialistic benefits they live with and thus converts to Christianity.
One of the last questions which our group asked is why Mathabane decided to name the book “Kaffir Boy”? Most people agreed on the fact that that he names this book as a way of redeeming himself and showing respect towards all those “Kaffirs” who endured a hard time in South Africa. Throughout the novel, Mark is called “Kaffir” by the son of the white woman, whom Grandma starts working for. The fact that he names this book in this way shows the unpleasantness him and his family had to endure and we thought that this is one of the main reasons why he names the book is such way.
Having listened to everyone’s opinion of the novel, the discussion became very interesting. I believe that most of the themes which we went over are based on hope, since they all tend to transition from a somewhat negative perspective to a better one once the move to the U.S is successful. Having said this, I must say it is a novel which really inspires me to use my opportunities in a more effective way. Opportunities such as going to University, studying in the U.S etc. All in all, Mathabane becomes a role model to everyone and this is exactly what I would want to pursue in the future.
2019-4-16-1555438545