Waking Up (Motif)
Being "woke" is a term currently used when people are aware of social justice issues in the community and world around them. This current term reflects a common metaphor for critical awareness, and this metaphors occurs in My Children! My Africa! as well. Since the place is largely about both Thami and Isabel becoming aware of their roles in South Africa's struggle with apartheid, the motif of waking up is an important one to track. In a monologue to the audience, Thami says, "It's hard, you see, for us 'bright, young blacks' to dream about wonderful careers as doctors, or lawyers, when we keep waking up in a world which doesn't allow the majority of our people any dreams at all" (p.53). Later, when Mr. M sees that the boycott and the rebellion are really happening, against his wishes as someone who takes a more traditional view of fighting apartheid, he says, "This is too much now. Just stand here and close your eyes and wait until you wake up and find your world the way it was...Suddenly there were children everywhere throwing stones, and tear gas bombs falling all around and I knew that I wasn't dreaming" (p.67). These moments of waking up symbolize awareness of the reality and seriousness of the problem at hand.
The School Bell (Symbol/Motif)
The school bell is a vital prop in My Children! My Africa! Mr. M uses the bell to summon students to class, and continues trying to do so in vain after the boycott has begun. At that point, the bell is seen as a representation of the traditional education system, so his ringing it angers the Comrades and contributes to his death when they burn down the school. The school bell is also of particular significance to Thami, who recalls his childhood when he loved school and the associated sound of the school bell. He says in a monologue, "I remember my school bells like beautiful voices calling to me all through my childhood" (p.52) and sings a song in Bantu and English about the school bell ringing, including lyrics mimicking its sound.
Importance of Word Choice (Motif)
In situations of social tension and change, word choice can become incredibly important. Out-of-date terms from slang to medical jargon can be construed as attacks on those who prefer new or different terminology. This concept shows up as a motif in My Children! My Africa! related to both gender and race politics.
The play begins with a inter-school debate between Thami and Isabel. Specifically, the first lines of a play are Thami and Isabel arguing about Isabel's word choice. Isabel says that she said "women were more intuitive than men" (p.7) while Thami believes that she said women "were more emotional than men" (p.7). This semantic argument is important because describing women as intuitive is more "progressive" than describing them as emotional, and Isabel would likely have been careful to use this particular term in supporting her argument against traditional roles and perceptions of women.
Later, Thami and Isabel fight about the words that should be used to describe what the Comrades are doing. While the white South Africans with whom Isabel's associates follow the government and newspapers in using words like "unrest" (p.79) and "murder" (p.79) to describe the riots and the death of Mr. M, Thami informs her that he and his group saw the latter as "self-defense" against an act putting them in grave danger.
Mr. M himself is perhaps the most vocal supporter of careful word choice, telling Thami that an education in words and rhetoric will be more important in ending apartheid than joining the cause physically.
The Dictionary (Symbol)
Besides the school bell, Mr. M's most prominent prop is his dictionary. When they meet during the riot that ends in Mr. M's death, Mr. M shows Thami how the dictionary has his name and the year 1947 written in it; this means that Mr. M has had the same dictionary for almost 40 years. This shows Mr. M's devotion to the English language, and language in general, but also how he is stubborn in his adherence to tradition. Dictionaries are updated and re-published every few years, but Mr. M stays with the one that he received when he was young and remained comfortable with. Mr. M tries to give the dictionary to Thami, but Thami refuses, showing how Thami does not want to receive Mr. M's knowledge, especially as it relates to English, the language that reflects South Africa's colonial history.
Tea (Symbol)
Not long after they become debate partners, Isabel invites Thami to tea at her house. While this may seem benign to some readers, tea is a symbol of the impact of British colonialism persisting in South Africa even once it became a sovereign state. Isabel has already told Thami that she is from a long line of white, English-speaking South Africans, and he accepted this at the time, but his hesitance to go to her house for tea shows his discomfort with these people who have a role in his and all black South Africans' subjugation.
