The novel Tsotsi has many different stories in it of life and death, loss and suffering, and the path you must walk down in order to find you’re self. After reading this book I feel that the main idea is about identity and the hardships you have to go through to find you’re identity. For Tsotsi there is a lot of violence and trauma that he deals with as a young boy but in the end it all shapes him into the man he will grow up to be. Fugard puts his characters through many different challenges that will give the reader a different view on the way we usually look at things.
The author gives a very realistic impression of a life some people live. He tells you the story of how these young children had everything taken away and what they had to do to survive after. I believe that Fugard wanted us to learn what it takes for some people to discover who they really are and the importance of knowing your self. Just like Tsotsi people are capable of change, you don’t have to accept a life you don’t want.
As the book goes on you start to see the changes in the characters. You can tell that they want to better them selves, and that they are not happy with the life there leading. Boston sends his mother letters and pictures of this identity he wishes he could be. He wants to make his mother proud, but he knows that if he told her the truth of who he really is that she would not be happy. For Boston this second identity of who he used to be is all he can hold on to.
Fugard wants the reader to learn about what it can take to find your identity and the importance of knowing who you are. He tells us the stories of these young boys and the life they lead. Along the way you discover the people they strive to be. You not only find the true identity of Tsotsi at the end of this story but you may also find some of your identity.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
2. a) The theme of this story is fulfilment or acceptance of one’s destiny. The series of events change the character’s moods from lonely to delight, and then back to depress but with a realization that he should not be living in the ideal world and start facing the real world.…
- 286 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
You feel like you know him as a person by the end of the book. At first you don’t like him at all and as the book progresses you want him to succeed. By the end of the book, you feel like he is your friend. This book is very engaging with its powerful plot and strong messages that are woven into each chapter. Powerful themes of…
- 175 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Ha's family decides to flee from their home because of the fear their mom faces in the war. She is afraid of soldiers bringing danger to her family. Ha’s mother decides to flee and now her family becomes refugees. Now Ha and her brothers must go through the unhappiness and struggles that many refugees face.…
- 645 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
There are times in individual’s lives when sudden realisations may alter their perception of themselves and their place in the world. The place, context and setting in significant moments in time throughout individual’s lives cause such realisations occur. This can be seen in both the novels “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri and “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Remarque, through the experiences of their characters Paul, Gogol and Ashima. Paul is confronted by his experiences on the front line, where his kinship between his fellow comrades have entrenched him from his own family and society. Likewise, those significant moments partaken by Gogol and Ashima, school excursions and getting a job, have both caused social disturbance and an increased recognition of one’s identity.…
- 895 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The relationship of Hans and Liesel blooms into a thriving friendship, and the relationship of Liesel and Max provides the ability to survive in a crisis. Without words, there would be little connection between Max, Liesel, and Hans. The novel ultimately proves the saving power of words and of reading and is the story of friendship, love, survival, grief, and…
- 537 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
D’Aguiar’s central purpose is to make us reflect upon American society during the slavery era and to acknowledge its realities so that we understand the capability for evil that exists in society. D’Aguair has used Whitechapel and his memories to encapsulate the brutality and inhumanity of slavery. The succeeding narratives further our understanding of the society and these are presented in a manner that forces the reader to accept D’Aguiar’s judgements. The characters represent all of the voices of the society including people from different races, social status’s and both genders so that the reader can see the position society imposed upon all citizens. The forms of the individual narratives help us to understand the reality of society because they allow the characters to emerge as individuals, telling their own stories with undisguised honesty. The Longest Memory is told from the oldest to the youngest character showing how society instilled its ideals on each generation in an uncompromising manner and so the stories overlap and intertwine, to illustrate this D’Aguiar has used an overwhelming tone of sadness and despair to emphasise the negative feelings that society created.…
- 795 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Identity is a constantly occurring aspect in this paper. By giving examples of several passages in the book I try to find out in what ways identity is depicted and how it relates to the main characters.…
- 3211 Words
- 13 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Throughout the book, Freidl gives many examples of hardships and triumphant times for women. Obviously everyone in life has many hardships but these women go through so much more. Friedl lets you hear the woman's voice not just her own observations. She shows how women can be strong, but also women who are struggling. Each chapter focuses on a different woman in the village. Blood, marriage, or both relate most of the women so the stories intertwine. The women…
- 522 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
They live in illusions, with the memories of reality in the past, similar to 1984, where history is important to accepting of their reality. This play shows how characters distort truths to accept the fact that they cannot understand each other. Amanda alludes to her past, and is untruthful to herself in order to cope with her reality. She cannot understand her children's’ ways. As a mother, she remembers her youthful experiences, and longs for the same for her children, Tom and Laura. When talking of her past, she has an elated diction, happier than that of when she talks of the present: QUOTE AND EXPLAIN. Her past has become an illusion and is not the truth of her reality, yet it influences her language. Amanda was outgoing in her youth and desired much attention, differing tremendously from Laura. The language when she describes her lifestyle is a zealous tone, showing excitement and eagerness for her daughter to feel the same. She often tries to live vicariously through her daughter, in denial of the…
- 442 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
of the themes is that some of the people aren’t satisfied with the way they live. The motif of…
- 442 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In this book, it explains the distress and grief these slaves had to face in their everyday lives. There is ten slaves and each of them wrote their own story about what they had to face each and everyday. For example, one of the slaves is Frederick Douglass. He was the most famous African American of the nineteenth century. This book, sets back into the eighteen hundreds and kids at eight years old would be taken away from their loved ones and were put to work like cattle by their new possessor. For example, Frederick Douglas at the age of eight was taken from his mother without even saying goodbye. Douglas had to call his new controller Aunt Kathy or he would get a flogging. He explains the misery he had to sustain and how many times he was beaten or punished to starve. For example, he wrote about his new owner Kathy, “The cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; the voice, made all of sweet accord changed to one harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”. (Taylor, 2005, p. 58). Each slave at the end of their story explains their after life. Growing Up In Slavery makes you think of life in other people’s shoes and how it would make you feel if you were them.…
- 454 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Each character in This Boy's Life demonstrates the struggle to find a sense of identity.' Discuss.…
- 473 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Jane grows up and moves on to a new place. She’s given a tutoring job by Mrs.Fairfax. She tutors a young girl, Adele. Mr. Rochester, Adele’s caregiver, has experienced some betrayal too. He was tricked into marrying a mental ill woman. Adele’s mother was very promiscuous and he knows he may not be her father. Jane and Rochester fall in love and get engaged. On the wedding day, she’s informed Rochester is married. This betrayal comes in the form of heartbreak. In throws her in the depth of her despair. Jane was always honest with him but he wasn’t with her. There was an act of betrayal between Rochester and his crazy wife, Bertha. The two were still married, yet he was trying to marry another woman while Bertha is living in the basement. That only contributed to her mental illness.…
- 413 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
If I were to be asked to write about this novel, I would be most interested to explore the theme of identity and acceptance. In the book, there are many plots of the characters attempts to deny who they are, but gradually they learnt to accept the fact that nothing’s more useful than embrace themselves. The hard truth is there are always things permeable to change as well as some preset “as is”. And…
- 597 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In everyday life, there is a constant struggle to create a sense of self within the mind of every person in this world. There is always a conflict present between the importance of self and the influence that others pose on this sense. When this sense is reached in life, there is still constant influence from others to alter this frame of mind. In many works of literature, this struggle can be seen within the characters of the story.…
- 647 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays