The novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard, is a story of redemption and reconciliation, facing the past, and confronts the core elements of human nature. The character going through this journey, who the novel is named after, is a young man who is part of the lowest level of society in a poor shanty town in South Africa. Tsotsi is a thug, someone who kills for money and suffers no remorse. But he starts changing when circumstance finds him in possession of a baby, which acts as a catalyst in his life. A chain of events leads him to regain memories of his childhood and discover why he is the way he is. The novel sets parameters of being “human” and brings these to the consideration of the reader. The reader’s limits of redemption are challenged as Tsotsi comes from a life lacking what the novel suggests are base human emotions.
The word Tsotsi means “thug”, which is what the character is portrayed as at the start of the novel. He kills for the money to survive, but the manner in which he does suggests it is not out of necessity but rather choice. When killing a man in public for his money, he “smiled at the growing bewilderment on the big bastard’s face... Even as that was happening, Tsotsi bent close to the dying man and in his ear whispered an obscene reference to his mother” (12). The novel suggests that he kills not from desperation, but as a way of life. His reasons are psychological. “The big men, the brave ones, stood down because of him, the fear was of him, the hate was for him. It was all there because of him. He knew he was.” (7). Tsotsi kills not only for survival, but as a way of justifying his existence, a way of confirming that he does exist. This makes more sense when his fear is explained, a fear of nothingness. He kill...
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...ell of the church of Christ the Redeemer is tolling” (122). Its position in the storyline, the fact that it is the church of Christ the Redeemer and the present tense are a technique used to suggest that at that point Tsotsi is redeeming himself. The novel ends with Tsotsi sacrificing himself for a baby, which is the final act committed in redemption.
Tsotsi begins as a thug, suffering no remorse. But he changes and his last deed is committing a great act of love; sacrificing himself for a baby. He regains memories of his childhood and discovers why he is the way he is. The novel sets the parameters of being “human” as feeling empathy, having a mother, having morals, having an identity, having a spirituality and feeling love. Tsotsi learns these and is redeemed. It is a very moving story about the beauty of human nature and hope for redemption no matter what.
Life is a complicated process. It’s filled with many things that keep it interesting but at the same time, very dull. Life’s what you make it and for many, it’s something we all strive for. In the story, The Space Between, the author takes full advantage of the premise as there’s rarely a dull moment- as in life. The book is filled with many literary devices that work nicely with the plot and dialogue. These include; metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and many more. We follow a young man who is finding his way in the world. He has only a week to change his life for the better. But he will face many obstacles on the way that brings the readers into a startling and fun journey.
Human nature has many elements that reveal the growth and personality of a person. In Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief”, the author successfully portrays various aspects of human nature through Hans’ conflicts that originate from the tough reality that he lives in. Elements of human nature can be seen as a result of Hans’ constant struggles with guilt, kindness, and love.
Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture. As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.
The theme of this book is that the human capacity to adapt to and find happiness in the most difficult circumstances. Each character in the novel shows this in their way. For instance, their family is randomly taken from their home and forced to work but they still remain a close nit family. In addition, they even manage to stick together after being separated for one of their own. These show how even in the darkest time they still manage to find a glimmer of hope and they pursued on.
Chinese Cinderella is a compelling autobiography by Adeline Yen Mah, a struggling child, yearning for acceptance and love in her dysfunctional family. In this novel of “a ‘secret story of an unwanted daughter”, Adeline presents her stepmother Niang, as a violent, impatient, biased, domineering and manipulative demon. Analysing the language used by the author, we can discover how effectively she does this.
Whether a warning to or a reflection on society, the book stimulates thought and forces the reader to look inward at his or her own...
It is hard to tell the story of a “typical” youth and it is hard to write a story that
Throughout the novel, Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the narrator- 15 year old Kambili- suffers from the restrictions that her devout father has implemented on every aspect of her life. Her every action revolves around the idea of religion and completing God’s purpose- due to her father’s piousness; however, when she visits her Aunty Ifeoma in Nssuka, she is liberated, as a clear change in Kambili is evident, brought by her time with her aunt and cousins. As a result, Kambili begins to become stronger, expressing herself and going against her father’s restrictive ways in order to form her own life. Through this, it can be seen that Kambili transforms into a stronger character througout The Purple Hibiscus, as a result of her exposure to her Aunty and cousins in Nssuka that sparked her change, shaping her to become a more independent character.
This book is full of extraordinary courage, determination and will. Kien was subjected to many injustices, most of which were inflicted by the males in his life and community. Kien’s mother’s boyfriend, Lam, was a cruel man who took advantage of people around him. He raped the family maid, Loan, and he raped Kien as he slept alone at night. Lam was a sociopath and very manipulative, he took advantage of Kien’s family. Kien’s cousins were also cruel to him and his brother. They were poor, and took great joy in tormenting Kien and Jimmy. His cousins were glad to have others around who were considered “lower” then they were. Tormenting Kien’s family made the cousins feel better about themselves. When the boys were given a dog, the cousins kicked it to death while laughing. It was mostly males, but there were also female figures who took part in the violence surrounding him. His aunt was a person who had the power to stop the violence, but she only encouraged it. She got a sense of power by having Kien’s family being so destitute and dependant on her.
In the novel “Hunger” by Knut Hamsun, the novel’s narrator is unfortunate enough to go through delusions and pains that are caused by what many people cannot experience in the modern days; state of being hungry. As the novel progresses narrator becomes more intoxicated into state of delusion as the hunger deepens. In many scenes of the novel, narrator relates to God many times. Narrator blames, thanks, and even to talk one-sided dialogues with his imaginary God. While many can think that God doesn’t take key parts in novel and let it slip as just another symptom of narrator’s delusion, the scenes with God being a part reveals that God plays both scapegoat and a person of gratitude for narrator’s outcome for every action he takes. From the passages it can be deducted that both narrator and Hamsun have attitude that God is ominous and act as catalyst in everyday life.
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
In this text Mohanty argues that contemporary western feminist writing on Third World women contributes to the reproduction of colonial discourses where women in the South are represented as an undifferentiated “other”. Mohanty examines how liberal and socialist feminist scholarship use analytics strategies that creates an essentialist construction of the category woman, universalist assumptions of sexist oppression and how this contributes to the perpetuation of colonialist relations between the north and south(Mohanty 1991:55). She criticises Western feminist discourse for constructing “the third world woman” as a homogeneous “powerless” and vulnerable group, while women in the North still represent the modern and liberated woman (Mohanty 1991:56).
The young man’s predicaments all revolve around his need to satisfy those that will judge him and he becomes trapped between the apartheid rule and humanity’s desire for equality and respect towards others. This is purely a personal issue that can be resolved solely by him, but should take into the consideration of those involved. We see glimpses of this coming through the young man, but being raised in an era of apartheid it overpowers his common understanding of respect.
This man is the absolute opposite of everything society holds to be acceptable. Here is a man, with intelligent insight, lucid perception, who is self-admitted to being sick, depraved, and hateful. A man who at every turn is determined to thwart every chance fate offers him to be happy and content. A man who actively seeks to punish and humiliate himself. Dostoyevsky is showing the reader that man is not governed by values which society holds to be all important.
Raskolnikov kills the pawnbroker ,Alena Ivanovna, not for the money or the valuables she had in her apartment.The reasoning behind Raskolnikov wanting to kill Alena is because she is immoral, who cheats the poor and considers her as a creature. She would brutally beat and abuse her step-sister, and pressure her do all the dirty work for her. After killing Alyona Ivanovna, Raskolnikov steals her possessions. Instead of selling the items , Raskolnikov hides the objects under a rock. Raskolnikov reasons this murder was for the greater good for the people, because Alyona’s money could go to help the people of the town. Raskolnikov knew no one would have the strength or means to get rid of “this creature” referring to Alyona Ivanovna. Raskolnikov thoug...