Book Review: Far From Normal Life

Allison Davis
Dr. Dean/ Prof. Hickman
HON352
22 October 2016
Question Set 5
1 Johannes lived a far from “normal” life since his birth. As a young black boy living in a ghetto during apartheid, he faced many perilous challenges. Obstacles that prevented him from having a normal childhood include the constant threat of police raids, his father’s unemployment, and living in terrible conditions. From the early age of five years old, Johannes already possessed a paralyzing fear of Peri-Urban, the police force in Alexandra. Mathabane describes this on page eight, where he writes, “I gasped and stiffened at the name of the dreaded Alexandra Police Squad. To me nothing, short of a white man, was more terrifying; not even a bogeyman.” He lived under
When his family moved to Thirteenth Avenue, they lived in a dilapidated shack. Bugs and rats plagued them, biting them constantly, and the alleys brimmed with human waste (95-96). Pain and misery filled Johannes’s daily life, preventing him from enjoying his childhood. He lived a far from “normal” life because of the endless filth around him. Obstacles that prevented Johannes from having a “normal” childhood included the threat posed by police, his father’s unemployment, and living in terrible conditions. However, he overcame these challenges and went on to lead a successful life.
2 The conditions in which Johannes and his family lived in differed greatly from the way the Smiths lived. Johannes lived in filthy, unsafe conditions, whereas the Smith family lived a comfortable, affluent life in a nice home.
Johannes lived in a deteriorating shack infested with vermin such as ants, lice, and rats. Many people in the community used the alleys as a bathroom, so a constant stench shrouded the area. They used cardboard as beds and barely had any food, so Johannes often begged (96-97). Also, police often raided the neighborhood, which caused a constant, underlying fear (103). Johannes and his family struggled daily, yet had no choice to accept the conditions in which they
Johannes’s family faced constant poverty, whereas the Smiths had an affluent, easy life as whites.
6 In Kaffir Boy, the reader witnesses Johannes grow up struggling in poverty and go on to become successful due to receiving an education and an opportunity to play tennis. However, had it not been for the support he received from the Smiths early on, his story might not have had the same outcome. The implications of this show that in order to break the cycle of poverty, better educational and co-curricular opportunities hold the utmost importance. Johannes did not get an early start in education, and only began attending school at the age of seven. The tribal school did not have the same resources that white schools did, and children did not see it as useful. Because Johannes began to receive comic books, he had a renewed interest in education and wanted to work harder, which contributed to his success. If people taught children the value of education and how it can help their futures, they would express more interest in it and develop intrinsic motivation to do well in school. If the schools possessed more books and other resources to better teach children, they would have more opportunities, as Johannes did because of the books he received from the Smith family. Educational systems should encourage kids to want to learn, so that they will work hard for themselves. Instilling passion in students would help them become