55 pages • 1 hour read
Mark MathabaneKaffir Boy
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Why was Mark Mathabane able to escape to a better life when most black South Africans were not?
Why were white South Africans unaware of the way blacks lived in their country?
Why do you think so many people, including children, in Alexandra decided to support themselves through prostitution or begging?
Why was Jackson Mathabane committed to tribal ways and religion?
Why did Mathabane’s mother increasingly turn to Christianity, and what did it promise her?
Why were figures such as Martin Luther King and Arthur Ashe so inspiring to black South Africans? Why might such figures also anger the struggling black population of South Africa at the time?
What did tennis promise to Mathabane when he was growing up? Was that promise recognized?
What most surprised or saddened you about apartheid in Mathabane’s telling? What literary devices did Mathabane employ in his nonfiction account to convey his often disturbing experiences?
Why was reading Treasure Island and other English-language books so important to the author? How did literacy affect Mathabane’s family?
What do you think white South Africans would think upon reading this book during apartheid? Based on his account, would Mathabane’s people have accepted his story? Why or why not?
