Roar Notes Kaffir Boy

Karl Clement                                                                                                          11/14/11

 Kaffir Boy                                       by: Mark Mathabane

The Auto Biography Kaffir Boy is about the childhood Mark Mathabane. He lives in small almost hut-like house with his mother, father and his younger brother and sister. The story takes place in Alexandria, Africa around the time of apartheid. In the first couple chapters of the book Mark describes the conditions he, his family, and also the way most of the families living in Alexandria are faced with. The author gives in-depth details about the way he lives. He mentions that into his family lives in a metal shack filled with rodents and insects, no heating, no bed, and no protection from the common police raids that check wether or not a family has their legal documents.  He goes on to explain how growing up his family was never financially secured. His mother and father both worked but their salary was not enough to support and provide for their large family. The small amount of money that his parents made were usually taken and used to gamble by his alcoholic and irresponsible father eventually causing the family to search in dumpsters for food.

Eventually Mark realized getting an education was the only way he could help his family, he got his mother enrolled him in school. He attended an over crowded school in his neighborhood. It was his time in school that he began to learn how intelligent he was. He was always placed at the top of his class every year he attended the school which gave him many opportunities to represent the school at large events. Because of his grandmother Mark became friends with many decent white people. Going against his fathers wishes he became very interactive with white people. He would play tennis them, eat with them, compete in tournaments with them and even considered them his friends. As a teenager Mark had the opportunity to assist one of Arthur Ashe's tennis tournaments. He was surprised by the sight of white South Africans adoring and praising a black man. This event sparked his interest in coming to America. He was shocked to find out that in America whites and blacks attended the same universities and interacted with each other on a daily basis. Because of his high educational scores and activeness in his community American universities sent him many applications. He got a high paying job at a bank before his departure. In this auto-biography we see how Mark Mathabane overcame many hardships and traumatizing events in his life. He is a great example of how hard work pays off.

Quote: “The face he had and the anger I felt as he called me kaffir."

 This quote symbolizes the hatred he felt towards being called kaffir, the equivalent of the n word.