Kaffir Boy By Mark Mathabane was published in 1986 by Mark Mathabane Himself.
The Auto Biography/coming of age story Kaffir Boy, Focuses on the rough and violent childhood Mark Mathabane has endured. The story takes place in Alexandria, Africa during a period of apartheid and segregation. From the first few chapters of the novel we get a glimpse of the life style and living conditions the the families living in Alexandria are faced with. The author goes into debt about the fact that his family lives in a metal shack infested with animals and insect, with no heat supply, no form of bedding and no protection from the occasional police raids that check weather a family has their papers or not. growing up Mr. Mathabne's family was never financially secured. Both his parents worked but it was insufficient in helping to provide for their large and annually growing family. The little money that his parents made was usually gambled off by his alcoholic, abusive and unsupportive father therefor leading the family to a life of dumpster diving,begging and no financial stability.
Realizing that education was the only way the family would be saved, Mr. Mathabane's mother enrolled him in school. He forcefully attended an over crowded school in his neighborhood. School was the place where his intelligence began to show. For every year he attended school he was always placed at the top of his class which therefor gave him many opportunities to represent the school at large events. Having lived in fear of white people his whole life, his father was extremely against his interest in tennis calling it " the white mans sport'. Through his grandmother Mr. Mathabane became acquainted with many " nice" white people. Going against his fathers wishes he became very interactive with white people. He would play tennis them, eat with them , compete in tournaments with them and even considered them his friends. Although his activities did stir controversy it didn't seem to bother him. As a teen Mr. Mathabane had the opportunity to assist one of Author Ashe's tennis tournaments. He was bewildered by the fact that white South Africans adored and praised a black man. this event began his interest in coming to America. He was in disbelief that in America whites and blacks attended the same universities and and interacted with each other on a daily basis. Because of his high educational scores and activeness in his community American universities bombarded him with applications. Landing a high paying job at a bank before his departure to his new world his family was for one in their life time stable. Through the novel we are able to see how Mark Mathabane has overcome traumatizing visualizations and critique from everyone around him. He is a true example of how hard work pays off with dedication and ambition.
Quotation: He had become a black messiah sent from the shores to come to liberate us"
This quote describes the reaction of the black South African community in Alexandria upon hearing a black man ( Author Ashe) had defeated a white man in the championships at his own sport (tennis).
Knowing that the white man ( their oppressor) had always been in power the felt the need to celebrate the fact that their kind was able to succeed for once.
This quote shows why I really enjoyed the book because even though most of the book was negativity moments like this in the story showed why the blacks kept fighting for their rights. moment like this in the novel gave the people of Alexandria a sense of hope and a motive for not giving up. It showed them their dreams were possible and all they had to do was try.
