Mother to Mother

Chance is a central theme of the novel. Mandisa makes it clear that she believes that if it were not for chance, Amy would have lived and Mxolisi never would have committed murder. There is the chance that they might be born into the families they are born into, in their distinct positions on this planet. There are also smaller chances, such as the chance that Amy would have chosen to drive her friends home from school that day, or that Mxolisi would be standing at the exact street corner Amy's car would idle at long enough for her to get recognized. The idea of chance must bring Mandisa comfort, as it allows her to see her son as much a victim of circumstance as he is a murderer.

Chance affects other things in Mandisa's life, including her relationship with China. She wonders about this: "perhaps that whole sad situation of our finding ourselves about to be parents, when we had taken all necessary precautions, had revealed itself to both of us at the same time and place, things might have turned out differently" (102). Although Mandisa can pinpoint, perhaps, where chance might have played a role in her life, she does not begin to claim that she understands why certain things happen to certain people. "I do not pretend to know why your daughter died..." she writes, "Died when the time and place and hands were all in perfect congruence; cruel confluence of time, place and agent" (145-146).