America as symbol of freedom
Mark views the nation of America as a place where blacks have a degree freedom that they could not have in South Africa. Knowing this, Mark makes it his life goal to make it to the United States, yearning to experience what it is like to live as a black man free from the fear of persecution and free to pursue upward social mobility. America becomes not just an objective but a symbol, ultimately, of freedom.
Hunger and poverty as a symbol of human failure
The experience of near-constant hunger and poverty haunt a young Mark are symbolic of enemies he must overcome in order to become successful. Moreover, hunger and poverty are also symbolic of human failure as they are the direct result of an unfair, unethical, downright evil social system intended to keep a people weak and docile to perpetuate a slave mindset.
Western Education as symbol of hope
Despite his father’s constant putdowns of western education Mark continues to persevere through his studies. Mark sees the inherent value of the education that he receives, moreover he understands that it will, over time, open up opportunities that would otherwise remain inaccessible to him if he remained illiterate. Education therefore, is more than just something to do to pass the time, it is symbolic of hope and symbolic of the possibility of self betterment.
Tribal Traditions as another symbol of oppression
Mark’s father is man deeply rooted in the past and has deluded himself into thinking that their current oppressed condition will somehow end and that they will somehow return to their old, tribal ways. This twisted form of wishful thinking causes Mark’s father to belittle Mark’s western education, calling it useless as he firmly believes that they will all return to their tribal way of life. These tribal traditions that the author-protagonist’s father puts such great faith on becomes a form of slavery that prevents him from functioning as a proper leader of his family. This blind adherence to tradition is, ironically, just another symbol, another face of oppression; one that keeps native black South Africans from moving forward.
Sports as symbol of Mark’s identity
Tennis becomes more than just a sport to entertain himself with or a means to improve his standard of living; for Mark it becomes an integral part of his identity. As a young man there were only two things that was tied to his identity, his ethnicity as a black South African and the poverty that made life difficult for him. Tennis allowed him to become more than his ethnicity and more than his financial status, it gave him an entirely new identity and with that, opportunities that were previously inaccessible to him as a poor, black, South African young man.
