Chanting (Motif)
Chanting is an important motif in the novel, as it drives the reader towards the climax and is one of the elements that inspires the mob into rioting and killing Amy. The children are taught chants by village elders as a way of uniting them through a shared history and common goal. Some key chants from the novel include: a song about the killing of white women in the East London district "Hoyi, ilishwa, eMonti!; “Bamtshis’ uSista! EMonti!” (Oh, what abominable misfortune—in East London! They burnt a nun— in East London!”); "AmaBhulu, azizinja!" ("Whites are dogs!"), and "One settler, one bullet," the chant at the moment of Amy's death. Mandisa spends a long time describing how chants have shaped her community's psyche and contribute to violence. Mandisa was taught the East London chant, for example, in school: "But, in our school, we sang the song of the nun who was killed by black people, Africans, in far-away East London. Sang the song when not one of the teachers had taken the trouble of explaining to us that people of East London should not have done that" (55).
Children (Motif)
Children are a central motif of the novel, as Mandisa examines the line between childhood and adulthood in order to make sense of her and her son's life. Mandisa's childhood ends when Mxolisi is born and she is forced to move in with the family of the father. This is a loss she never truly forgives her son for. Although she is significantly younger at the time of Mxolisi's birth than Mxolisi is when he murders Amy, she consistently uses the language of childhood in order to refer to her son. This is an interesting literary device. One hand, it hints at how Mandisa is coping with her son's actions, as she insists that he is a boy who did not know better. We see her address this denial in the following passage, describing a form of lynching used against blacks seen as collaborators with the apartheid regime: "Just as we kept on calling, insisting on calling, the people who did the necklacing 'children', 'students', 'comrades', we called a barbaric act the necklace, protecting our ears from a reality too gruesome to hear" (57). On the other, it shows how much a lack of school has upended societal order in Guguletu, so that the children have few culturally-sanctioned ways of achieving adulthood.
Virginity (Symbol)
Childhood pregnancy is rampant in Mandisa's community. As a consequence, she was taught from a young age to protect her virginity. Her mother, who had gotten pregnant at a young age herself, was determined to ensure that Mandisa didn't become pregnant herself. Despite her best efforts, Mandisa still becomes pregnant with China's baby at a young age. Notably, however, Mandisa always refused to have vaginal intercourse with China, and so her hymen is still attached throughout her pregnancy. It is her son who finally breaks her hymen: "My virginity was rent not by a lover or husband, even. No, but by my son" (110). Therefore, virginity takes on a larger meaning in her mind. The fact of her virginity until Mxolisi's birth has always set her apart from others: "I, unlike the lies of Nono or even Ribba, had not been a loose young woman" (110).
The Jacket (Allegory)
The incident in Mxolisi's childhood in which his friends are murdered in front of his eyes is an important moment of the novel. It helps us understand Mxolisi's desensitization to violence, as well as shows us the ruthless tyranny of the police in townships like Guguletu. Right before the children are found and killed, the police are made to believe that they have run away to safety. As they search for the children in the yard one of the policemen comes across a jacket on the ground.
"One policeman viciously kicked at the lifeless jacket on the ground. Kicked it till it jumped into the air, which filled it up, momentarily ballooning the sleeves. Then, slowly exhaling, the jacket danced its way back down. Slowly came down. Till, finally, it fell limply back onto the ground. And lost all its airy life-likeness. At which, one of the uniformed men viciously stamped on it and, with both feet, ground it to the dirt-strewn earth; battering it although it offered no fight, no resistance at all" (104).
This scene with the jacket can be interpreted as an allegory of the oppression of black Africans by the government, as we see from the powerlessness of the jacket to endure the policeman's unnecessary abuse.
Hatred (Motif)
Hatred is an important component of this novel. A deep hatred for the oppressors passed on through generations to Mandisa and Mxolisi. Mandisa learns this during the history lessons she gets from her grandfather: "'Yes, Mzukulwana,' he sighed, 'the biggest storm is still here. It is in our hearts—the hearts of the people of this land. For, let me tell you something, deep run the roots of hatred here. Deep. Deep. Deep" (122). This hatred is so deep that, in a cattle-worshipping nation, they killed all of their cows: "No sacrifice too great, to wash away the curse" (123). This hatred has contributed to the violent situation in Guguletu at the time of the murder. It leads Mxolisi and his contemporaries to hate all white people, even the ones with the best intentions.
