Tsotsi Summary, Notes, Essays, character Analysis and extra
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English Home Language
Institution
11
The document consists of a detailed summary of the Novel Tsotsi (12 chapters), Has a character Analysis, literature essays on Tsotsi, Key themes in Tsotsi and extra information related to Tsotsi
the document consists of a detailed summary of the novel tsotsi 12 chapters
literature essays on tsotsi
key themes in tsotsi and extra information related to tsotsi
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11
English Home Language
11
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Page 1
TSOTSI Summary
• Connotation – implication
• Denotation – dictionary meaning
• Oxymoron-two words next to each other but are opposite in meaning.
• Premonition-Strong feeling that something bad is about to happen.
Chapter 1 [9 pages]
• We introduced to the characters Boston, Die Aap, Butcher and Tsotsi.
• Tsotsi-Leader
• Boston-Brains as he seems to be educated
• Die Aap-Long arms [Good for stealing]. He could be illiterate. He is
included in the story because the author wants to show what a birthdate is
done to the black people.
• Butcher-his purpose can be seen as the protector of the group as he is
strong and a killer.
• The gang is sitting in Tsotsi room drinking beer in silence, waiting for him
to specify what job they will do that night. Tsotsi decided they will head to
the train station where the unsuspecting victim, Gumboot Ghalimini,
begins to head home to his wife. Tsotsi targeted Gumboot for three
reasons: he smiled, he wore a aming red tie, and he bought his ticket
with money from his pay-packet. After everyone does their part in the
murder and robbery they leave gumboots lifeless body on the train to be
discovered by the other passengers.
• The rst paragraph is very slow in direct and the author does this to show
us that these people didn't really care in comparison to white people that
wouldn't have done this and so it shows how di erent these people's lives
are.
• The chapter is in the vivid detail and this is done by the author to show
what their lives are like during apartheid.
• When they are given the indication and told one they are going to do,
Boston smiled-This was done out of fear of Tsotsi.
• Butcher hates Tsotsi but he doesn't kill him because he needs him.
• Die Aap is impassive as he doesn't really care.
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, Page 2
Chapter 2 [11 pages]
• Boston can't deal with the fact that they killed Gumboot.[has guilt]….
Boston shows a sign of weakness is he cries after what they have done.
This shows a form of decency that he possesses.
• In sokies place[ shebeen] . Rosie is really drunk and butcher and Die Aap
take advantage of her and this is put in the novel to show that they have no
morality for people.
• Boston is a heavy drinker because he wants to forget about what has
happened or what they have done.
• Tsotsi is very observant, he doesn't speak much but he's always aware of
certain things.
• Boston asks questions to Tsotsi which making feel angry because he
doesn't want people to ask questions as he doesn't know the answer to
them. These questions start lling a sense of decency in him as well as the
sense that he is missing something inside of him.
• “Mirthless-glee” : oxymoron [mirthless-smile or laugh that lacks any
amusement, glee-joy] Doing the opposite.
• When Boston that him self on the on do you sure physical pain it was a
matter for to show how he felt inside when they killed Gumboot. This is
used to show explain to Tsotsi what emotional pain is.
• Page 23: open "you feel something one day. Ja Tsotsi. One day it's going
to happen. And God help you that day, because when it comes you won't
know what to do. You won't know what to do with that feeling." These are
the words that bringing uprising in shorties motion of life, the changes
whole perspective on life and a setting on set of events for him.
• Tsotsi then beat Boston so badly that when Die Aap and Butcher saw him
the whistled threw their teeth which is an implication of how badly he was
beaten till the blink of death.
• Tsotsi, Butcher, Boston, and Die Aap head to Soekie’s house after the
murder to have a few drinks. As they start drinking they begin to talk about
Boston getting sick and throwing up during the murder of Gumboot.
Boston claims that the only reason he got sick and the others didn’t was
because he has decency unlike the rest of them. As the conversation
advances Die Aap and butcher take Rosie, a girl who was also in Soekie’s
house, outside to rape her. When the others leave Boston begins to
question Tsotsi about what he feels. This breaks one of Tsotsi’s rules: never
ask questions. Tsotsi begins to get irritated by all the questions about
Tsotsi’s personal life. Tsotsi eventually has enough and brutally beats
Boston leaving him in Soekie’s place beaten half to death.
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, Page 3
Chapter 3 [10 pages]
• After he left the shebeen he started to run as far as he could. He ran into a
nearby suburb outside the township. He did this because he still angry
with Boston but he knows that what he did was wrong but he also ran
because he wants to get away from the words that Boston said.
• The imagery created of the suburb is a sense of luxury because of the
description given after the rain and how clean the area is, the gates
guarded with dogs. The walls of the house extremely clean and the
lampposts sparkling.
• Tsotsi runs into a piece of land called “no mans land”- which separates
white suburbs from townships.
• Bostons is smart but posses a sense of fear, which made him aware of
mistakes, that would get him caught and in trouble.
• The three rules of Tsotsi’s life:
1- He has to see his knife when he wakes up. The knife provide him with a
sense of security.
2-The rule of darkness. He lives for the present not thinking of the future and
the past.
3-Do not ask questions. His biggest fear is that he has no purpose in life and
he is meaningless because he has no identity and so questions end up
reading this thought out.
• Boston disturbs the rule of darkness which leads to a premonition.
• Tsotsi’s name is David which is made by assumption, when the man with
the policeman recognises him and calls him David.
• This was the closest Tsotsi was to remembering something in the past.
• His meaning in life is to take other life, comes form pain and fear which he
instils in others.
• After beating Boston, Tsotsi leaves the she been and takes a walk through
the street. As he walks he begins to have a ashback, he sees a boy
named Petah being taken away by the police, as he is being taken away
he looks down the street and recognises Tsotsi as David, his name before
he changed it to Tsotsi. Tsotsi does not acknowledge the fact that Petah
recognised him and just continues his game of dice. As Tsotsi lay under a
tree he begins to hear what he recognises as footsteps, as he hears them
come closer and closer he moves to get a better vantage point and sees a
young woman as. As he studied her more he began to recognise the
symptoms of fear and sees that she was carrying a small parcel and kept
checking over her shoulder. Tsotsi grabs her by one arm and swings her
into the darkness of the trees, as he pins her against the tree she takes the
parcel and thrusts it into the hands of Tsotsi and runs o . The lid slips o
and Tsotsi nds himself looking at the face of a young baby boy.
• How he describes a baby: “Old and wrinkly” and this implies that it's a
very new born baby, fresh and rm.
• A symbolises the beginning of new life and its symbolic as its the
beginning of his life.
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