Best Books Study Work Guide: Tsotsi
for Grade 11 Home Language
Written by Athol Fugard
Compiled by Elaine Ridge
The layout in this digital edition of the Best Books Study Work Guide: Tsotsi for Grade 11 English Home Language may differ from that of the printed version, depending on the settings on your reader. The layout displays optimally if you use the default setting on your reader. Readers can experiment with the settings to enhance display.
The page references in this version refer to the pages in the printed book.
In instances where learners are asked to ‘answer the questions below’ the questions may appear on the next page depending on the device being used.
References to the back cover of the book refer to the About the book section in this version.
Foreword to the Learners
Dear Grade 11 Learner
It is important to interact with the text when you read this novel.
As you read, ask yourself, for instance, what lies behind a character’s actions or words, or reflect on the descriptions used by the author and the insights they provide into the emotions and feelings of the characters. Here is one example:
| His name was Gumboot Dhlamini and he had been chosen. But he never knew until it was too late. They gave him no warning.Gumboot was a man. Measured in hope he stood in his shoes tall amongst men, but even barefoot on a day back with an empty belly and a chesty laugh sounding the vastness of his humour as he walked into the city so that those who heard him looked up at him, even then Gumboot had stood as high as a head in heaven.‘Maxulu,’ he had said a thousand miles away, standing on the side of the road with his wife, ‘Maxulu, I will be back.’ (p. 9)Extract from Tsotsi, Athol Fugard, Cover2Cover Books published by licence from Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2015. |
Questions you could ask are
What has Gumboot been chosen for? A possible answer is that he is to be the victim of ruthless action. The words “too late” and “no warning” (p. 9) suggest his powerlessness and the finality of the action.
How do the descriptions used by the author help us to understand the kind of person Gumboot is? They create a sense of his personal strength and optimism in the face of hardship. There is a contrast between his present good fortune (he is wearing shoes and is confident) and the hard times he has faced when there was little money for food (“empty belly”) and his health suffered (“chesty laugh”), but it is clear that even in the worst of times, Gumboot is a good man (“stood as high as a head in heaven”).
Why does the author remind us of Gumboot’s farewell words to his wife? He wishes to emphasise that Gumboot is a man whose word can be trusted.
The pre-reading questions invite you to predict what will happen in the chapter. To do that, you need to combine what you know about the setting, the events so far, and the characters, with your own experience. This process is sometimes described as informed guessing.
The reading questions are there to help you notice key features. Just jot down your answers in note form. It is important not to interrupt the flow of your reading. Of course, if you find that you are not sure what is happening, you may have to re-read (skim or scan) to find what you missed or did not notice when you read that part.
The post-reading questions will help you to see whether you have understood the characters’ motives and the effect of their actions, and whether you have remembered key incidents. Questions will sometimes ask you to give information that is explicitly given in the text. At other times, you will need to read between the lines (interpret) and apply information or insights to other situations. You may also be asked to respond critically or to give your opinion. Look at the chart on page 45 for some question examples.
There are also opportunities for you to try your hand at answering more formal contextual questions. These will test how well you “know” the book and are able to give close attention to a relatively short section of it.
The information in the first part of the novel is there to help you.
The publisher and compiler
Section A: Helpful information
1. Overview
The novel, Tsotsi, is set in the 1950s in Sophiatown (also known as Saf’town or Kafifi), a location near Johannesburg. Life is very hard for people living there. It is difficult to find work because of the apartheid legislation (by the National Party from 1948 to 1994) that severely restricts the jobs black people are allowed to do and where they are allowed to live. The majority of those who manage to find work do menial jobs. They have to travel long distances to work and are at the mercy of the gangsters, especially in the early evening on Fridays, when people who are paid weekly receive their pay packet. The gangsters do not hesitate to kill their victims.
The chief protagonist in the novel is a ruthless gangster known as Tsotsi. At the age of ten, his life is traumatically disrupted when his mother is arrested and his dog dies a horrible death. He joins a band of homeless boys. From that point, he lives only in the present. He and his gang use violence, sometimes for its own sake, but usually to rob people of their pay packets. Butcher, one of the members of Tsotsi’s gang, is an expert killer with a bicycle spoke.
One night, Boston, one of the members of the gang, asks probing personal questions after the gang’s latest murder, and Tsotsi viciously attacks him, causing severe, near-fatal injuries.
When Tsotsi threatens to sexually assault a young woman, she thrusts a shoebox into his hands. There is a baby inside. It begins to cry, distracting Tsotsi for long enough for the mother to escape. This marks a turning point for Tsotsi. Long-suppressed feelings are awakened by the baby. Instead of killing the child, he starts to care for it. He has absolutely no experience of caring for a baby, and his attempts to feed it are not very successful. He finds himself increasingly confused by the changes in himself. He is no longer able to take ruthless criminal action because he has begun to “feel” for his victims and is dedicated to keeping the baby alive. He finds a woman to suckle the child. He finds himself increasingly able to express his thoughts and to explore the questions that he longs to have answered.
He seeks out Boston, whom he thinks has the education and knowledge to help him understand the changes in him brought on by his returning memory. Boston tells him he is “asking about God”.
The novel explores complex issues. One of the insights is that living a life of crime or not is a choice. The novel also explores the way in which the poor and defenceless are exploited and crushed.
The film, Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood, won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
2. Author
Athol Fugard was born in Middelburg, Cape, but grew up in Port Elizabeth. Although he went on to study at UCT, he did not complete his degree. While working as a clerk in a Native Commissioner’s Court, he became very aware of the pernicious and far-reaching effects of apartheid legislation on the lives of black people.
Fugard enjoys both national and international acclaim for his work as a playwright, particularly for his insight into the characters. Although his work is deeply critical of both apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, it focuses on the way people meet the challenges that confront them.
Fugard’s writing focuses on the dysfunctional lives of the poor and defenceless, and the ways their hopes and dreams are doomed to be crushed in apartheid South Africa. In Tsotsi, the only