Mother to mother

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white girl and god for forgiveness for her son's crime. Task: Outline Mandisa's criticism of the white girls behaviour and comment on it. Mandisa criticize the white girls behaviour for staying in the without any sense of danger. area of the blacks that is far away In my opinion, I agree with Mandisa, because the girl has no sense danger. However, from justifying that she had to die. That the time of Apartheid were terrible and that murder was nothing unusual is clear. But even in such emergency situations, murder is not an option Additionally, it only causes more horror and terror instead of working towards peace. ● Life in Guguleti . white girl's life in South Africa -everyone likes her, have lovely people around her -study, hard for her to say good bye. -dangerous in the late time in the townships (p. 13, 1.20) ..... Mandisa works full time as a housemaid and still hardly gets by. The white girl is about to fly back home to the USA after 10 months of studying in South Africa.. 'strike'. Children in Guguletu refuse to go to school and go ... A white girl takes her black friends home in her car. ... When a car enters Guguletu to deliver drugs to a black tuberculosis clinic, it is burned as the rioters do not accept any help sent by whites. Young black lifes in South Africa - tiny space for big family's - parents work 6 days a week for white employers. - left their own devices to figure out how to survive. high rate of criminality & vandalism - don't go to school, because of the strikes. Guguletu in 1968: -ugly, impersonal, dangerous, people living in fear, crowded, chaotic, peddlers, stray dogs, miserable About Guguletu, Mandisa feels... resigneel, exhausted and miserable, because there's always trouble. About her children, Mandisa feels... ·resentful, because Mxolisi is different. .. exhausted: fears for their well-being ... caring for her children, but is afraid that she could love Mecolisi more than the others. ·Stoical in love and support for her children. ·resentful: towards Mxolisi. .. desperate · fear of getting to know that something has happen to her children. • The township of Guguletu is described as poor and dirty with littered streets and congested shacks. ● In 1968, people are forced to move to Guguletu where they live among strangers, with their communities being ripped apart. Ethnic diversity → comprehension Chapter 3&4: On Wednesday, Mrs. Nelson lakes her 'day off' although she hardly works at all. Guguletu means 'oure pride', which is odd as no one can be proud of a place like this. According to Mandisa, the police are criminals themselves. Arriving in Guguletu, they don't have enough houses and many people must build shacks out of any material they can find. Being displaced by the government, students often cannot be admitted to school, or refuse to до there as they don't leam anything useful away. Mandisa learns from her neighbour that a white girl has been stabbed in her district of Guguletu. Rapes, murders and assaults are common in Gugulet. That is why Mandisa fears for her daughters safety. Mrs. Nelson drives Mandisa to the station because she has heard about trouble in Guguletu. Mandisa fears that her children could be involved in the riots. MANDISA AND MRS. NELSON - COMPARING Name Living conditions Daily routines obligations worries & feelings • Mandisa (black servant) · Lives in the township of Guguletu • difficult and dangerous • struggling to make ends meet • working as a servant in Mrs Nelsons house. • looking after her own children • working for Mrs Nelson • making sure her own children are well-fed, safe and go school. to • worried about her children, especially Mxolisi, her oldest son. • Mrs. Nelson (white employer) FAMILY ISSUES : - Mandisa prefers Mxolisi, but still cares for her other children •comfortable • clean and safe • living in a gated community to the -going gym meeting her friend for breakfast • not very many she takes the children to school and picks them up again after school. -worried about getting fat and old. Imagine you're Mandisa walking home from work. You hear that something terrible has happened to a white girl. Find three adjectives that describe your feelings: shocked worried ashamed ->Siziwe & Lunga feel jealousy, feel worthless compared to Mxolisi. Mandisa has to work a lot > kids are left alone at home (lack of 'control'). · Mxolisi's father left the family when Mxolisi was still young → Mxolisi might be traumatized by his father's leaving. Siziwe feels indifferent towards Mxolisi →Siziwe & Lunga have a seeperficial relationship with their mother. - special bond between Mxolisi and Mandisa. - family is not living together as one! - Mxclisi doesn't accept Siziwe's and Lunga's father and his role model. COMPREHENSION CHAPTER 5&6 Where does Mandisa live at the age of 9? • Blouvlei What does the leaflet dropped by the plane tell people to do? • All Africans 1.1. Cape Town area are going to move to Nyanga on 1st July. Where does Mandisa's father work? • Cape town docks Who do the desperate people appeal to for help? •Mrs. Ballinger, Mr. Stempford When are they going to be relocated by the government? • 1st September, instead of July. What is Siziwe's father's name? • Dwadwa How are people forced out of their houses? • houses were burned down, bulldozers, military vehicles surround the township According to Mandisa, • for no reasons What jobs do most black women do once they have arrived in the townships? • white womens house servant , why • was the white girl killed? What sound do you often hear in Gugulety at night? •gun fire How old is Mxolisi and in which year is he at school? 20 y/o, standard 6 - dis belief, thought it was a rumour, unbelievable - first all laught about the rumour > reassured them "bleak" soolness, frustrated, anger. →showed it What terrible crime is described: • burning a man alive, necklassing The communities reaction to the leaflet - search for help: Native Representatives in Parliament (Mr Stanford, Mrs. Ballinger): two months postponement. Who saves a girl from being raped? •Mxolisi Describe the forced removal of black people from their homes. Who does Mandisa fear the most? the police What do the rioting youths call themselves and who supports them? • The young lions, supported by their parents. -with violent, bulldozers & military vehicles -men destroying homes /burned them down -forcing the residents to relocate. - in their desperation people burnt their own houses. - felt like an invasion to the citizens. - people were herded onto trucks and brought to Guguletu. - they could only gather very few of their belongings Who is beaten up at 4a.m.? • The family, Lunga by the police. ● THE FIRST RUMOUR: INTERIOR MONOLOGUE r Don't make me laugh. A forced relocation? Who thought up this bad, really absolutely bad joke? Where does this actually came from? There can be no truth to ist.... Or is there? No! If that should be really seriously meant, then that would mean that one would send all of us away. From our homeland, where our jobs, residences and family are. Here is nether theless our place. Oh no matter, that cannot be implemented anyway.... How then also? We're so many. Besides, that's just a rumour. The government wouldn't allow this, after all, they have compassion, don't they? After all, our parents also work for the whites, so why should we be sent away?! r L CHAPTER 8 GROWING UP IN GUGULETU I. Mandi sa's & China's child is born on 4th January, 1973. I. At their clans insistence, Mandisa and China get married without a proper celebration I China's family decides to name the baby Mxolist, 'He who brings peace. II. Mandisa has to care for her baby and her unwelcoming in-laws who do not let her g back to school. I. China works at a meat storage facility to provide for his young family. He blames Mandisa for not hoving had an abortion. II. After Mxolisi's second birthday, China leaves the family. II. At the age of 4, Molisi witnesses the police shooting his teenage friends, Mzama & Zazi. As a result he stops talking. VII Mandisa meets Lungile and has her second child, Lunga. TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN POOR / DEVELOPING COUNTRIES -no sex education in school - lack of knowledge -low standards of education L II. When Mxolisi wets his bed, his stepfather, Lungile, makes him eat a mouse, which shocks him out of his mudeness. I Mxolisi quils school and joins the angry gongs on the street. XI. Mandisa marries Dwadwa and has her third child, Siziwe. XIII. Mxolisi saves a girl from being raped and becomes an community hero. -society/parents don't talk about sexuality (= a tabos) - barriers to access to contraceptives - low educational expectations lead women to become prostitutes (poverty) - higher crime rates possibly more rapes leading to unwanted pregnancy. - problem of seeing the value of men and women alike. -having a lot of kids can give parents a sense of security:children looking after older generation /support families. - low self-esteem. -parents didn't support her • pregnancy is seen as something they are ashamed of. - pregnancy is called a condition", family doesn't talk about it. •They decide that Mandisa should live with China's family. How was Mandisa treated by her parents after they learn about her pregnancy? - She feels rejected - her father ignores her completely. - her mother guards her lot of restrictions not allowed to leave the house L> Mandisa feels like a "prisoner". CHINAS REACTION TO THE NEWS ABOUT MANDISAS PREGNANCY (p. 88-89) "stony silence "11.30) - resistence in his granit face - China hissed 1.45). - he reacts badly, rejects the idea of being the father - Believes that he has nothing to do with Mandisa's "condition". - he doesn't trust her: "Explain to your heart, not to me.". - China acts in a very cold / bitter way. MANDISAS CHARACTER PROFILE Young Mandisas background Young Mandisa's pregnancy Mandisa's background : Mandisa's charac ter traits until the age of 10, she lived in Blouvlei, where life was a lot easier and happier. brother named Khaya, bad living conditions • were sent to her grandma Young Mandisa's • bright, hard-working student : traits • her father works at Cope Town Docks. trauma resettlement to Guguletu. : without any support, wheter from her • has to stop her education married China without a proper celebration family or China's. •in Blouvlei, she were happy and after the resettlement unhappy • at first optimistic, after resettlement pessimistic. • Mandisa now lives in a poor black neighbourhood in Cape Town, the Township of Gug . works as a servant for Mrs. Nelson Mandisa's relation Molisi: complicated, last control about him → favourite child Ships to her children making sure her own children are well-fed, safe and to school до . 3 kids from different men: Mxolisi, Lunga, Siziwe. is an Social outcast. . • Mandisa is self-aware. She often reflects on her behaviour. • lovely mom → considerate. . tries to be strong for her family. CHARACTERIZATION MANDISA Mandisa, the protagonist in Sindiwe Magona's work of literary fiction "mother to mother which was published in 1998, is from a poor black neighbourhood in Cape Town, the township of Guguletu. At the age of about ten, Mandisa lived in Blouvlei, where life was a lot easier and happier. Her father is a worker at the clocks and her mother serves food and drinks in a local cafe. They are living an intact family life. However, the government forced the people of Blouvlei to move to Guguletu. . In her younger years, Mandisa was a hard-working, bright student and had plans to continue her education, but became pregnant at about 14 and was not able to continue her education. In the present, Mandisa is in her mid-thirties and very critical of the government and the police. She works all day as a housemaid to provide for her family. Her three children have different fathers. Mxolisi, her first born is 20. Lunga is her second-born and quite a few years younger than Mxolisi. Her daughter Sizine is even younger and has yet another father - Dwadwa. Mandisa is very reliable so she didn't want to become pregnant, which is why she made sure she didn't have penetrative sex with China, her boyfriend whom she is madly in love with in younger years. This also shows her naively, since she wasn't aware that you could become pregnant from Petting. She resents her pregnancy as she did everything to avoid it. She even blames her son Mxolisi for her •pregnancy. She carries this resentment with her for a long time. She feels guilty for this feeling of resentment and tries ир for it by favouring Mxolisi over her other two children. However, she is aware of all this and frequently questions herself about her feelings towards her children. Mandisa is self-aware, she often reflects on her behaviour. to make Mandisa is a strong, proud character. She tells China in no uncertain terms never to "set foot in this house again" (p. 90, 20). She does not beg or plead with him. She does not want to marry him but has no choice as her family decides that this is what she must do. Once China has left her and Mxolisi, she decides to leave his family, find work, and take care of herself and Mxolisi. When she meets Lungile, Lunga's father, she tells him that she does not want get married again. This shows that she has an independent mind. She gets up when she is knocked down. Mandisa feels responsible for her son's actions, which is why she has decided to write to the white girl's mother and explain her son's life to her. There is an ambivalence to Mandisa's character. At times she comes across as bitter, resigned and resentful, at other times she seems prepared to accept responsibility for her part in what led to Mxolisi killing the white girl. THE AFRICAN POLICE -shoot people for nothing and use violent citizens don't trust the police, scared - fear of dying from the hand of a » police officer forced disappeareances extrajudical killings • people feel that the police wouldn't protect them. police 'love' beating people. - reports about forced dissapearances of civilans - the violent isn't punished by the law/government -people distrus the police -numbers: more than 100 killings by the police / by year -police unarmed people -reports about torture and rapes - people were arrested without good reason. CHAPTER 10 WHITE PEOPLE STOLE OUR LAND I. Who is talking to whom Tatomkhulu (grandpa) to Mandisa racism in their homeland II. What caused the hatred? III. Who are the "unwanted strangers"? the while settlers South Africa I. Who does "here" refer to? I. Who are the people feeling the hatred? Black Africans COMPREHENSION CHAPTERS 9 & 10 I. The police are looking for Mxolisi. I. Lunga and Dwadwa are badly bruised from the police raid. III. Siziwe tells Mandisa that Mxolisi has been home to hide something. II. Lunga's room is destroyed by the police I. Referend Manganga sends Mandisa out to look for Mxolisi II. Mandisa finds Mxolisi in a deserted house where they hug and cry. III. Mxolisi illustrates how the angry mob and 'a knife' killed the white girl. COMPREHENSION CHAPTERS 11 & 12 I. In her community, Mandisa feels like a subject of hatred. I. Looking at the older generation, Mxolisi has always known that he does not have any job prospects. III When the white girl enters Guguletu in her Mazda and the mob realizes there is a white person inside the angry crowd stops it and people throw stones at the car. II. When the car is immobilized and they get out of the car, the white girl's black friends plead with the crowd to save her. I. In the end, the rioting young people stab the white girl. CREATIVE WRITING : Newspaper article ONE WHITE SHEEP AMONG TOO MANY BLACK The disaster took place on August 25. A young white woman was killed by a crowd of black people. The murder victim is a young while student who was taking her four black classmates home to Guguletu at her last day in South Africa. However, around lote noon, her car was spotted by a group of youths. They then surrounded the car of the young woman with the passengers in the car. Stones were thrown at the car by the crowd. The girl tried to drive away, but a line full of cars blocked her lane, so all the participants left the car to flee, but specifically the white woman had no chance. According to eyewitnesses, after the act, the crowd celebrated a young man named "Mxolisi". After the police investigation, we interviewed the mother of the alleged main perpetrator: "Mxolisi was only an agent of his race. He was only a blind but sharpened arrow and would never had a future, because of the living conditions in the townships!", were her words. The man is in custody and police are investigating further. THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMISSION (TRC) (=Wahrheits- und Versöhnungskommission) GRANT AMNESTY jdm. Straferlass gewähren Question: Granting amnesty to people who have committed potically motivated crimes? PRO CON -people were forced to commit a crime peer pressure, the government expected to police to use brutal methods - not treating crimes as what they are cannot bring about change. -young were raised in a society dealing with discrimination they didn't know better - perpetrators are excluded from society - sometimes people committed crimes to survive. -victims wouldn't understand that their perpetrators were free. (might not find a closure) - perpetrators might commit crimes again. -victims would still live in fear, might revenge - perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing ACCOUNTIBILITY MXOLISI - MURDERER OR VICTIM? Question who is responsible? Mxolisi grows up without his father. → China Mxolisi has to witness his friends' murder at the hands of the police. → the Apartheid government Mxolisi earns early in life that he does not have any job prospects. →> the Apartheid government Mxolisi does not learn anything useful at school. → the Apartheid government - Mxolisi has to care for himself as his mother works all day. → the Apartheid government Mxolisi has to endure the harsh living conditions in the townships with its littered roads, criminals and poor little hokkies (huts). → The Apartheid government. Mxolisi ends up in prison as the murderer of an innocent white girl. → Mxolisi; his friend group; the Apartheid government.