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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tsotsi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Apartheid and Racism
Parents and Children
Identity and Memory
Hatred, Sympathy, and God
Habit vs. Choice
Summary
Analysis
Four people are sitting in silence as they drink, listen to an old woman speak in the backyard, and examine the shadows outside in the street to check their growth. Then, “as always happened at about the same time,” the youngest of the four, Tsotsi, sits forward and clasps his hands “in the manner of prayer.”
By implying that these four people do the same thing “at about the same time” every day, the novel suggests they are stuck in habits or patterns of behavior. Meanwhile, “tsotsi” is a South African slang term meaning “gangster” or “thug.” That Tsotsi uses this slang term as his name suggests he has embraced a stereotype—the stereotype of a violent criminal—as his identity. Finally, it may be ironic that the novel describes Tsotsi, who identifies with violent criminality, clasping his hands “in the manner of prayer”—yet, at the same time, this detail may be foreshadowing the importance of religion in the novel.
Themes
Before the silence, another of the four, Boston, was telling a story. Boston habitually tells stories to the other four when they gather in Tsotsi’s room, drink, and wait for nightfall and for Tsotsi to inform them of the night’s plan. The other two—Die Aap, nicknamed for his “long arms,” and Butcher—listen to Boston. Whereas Die Aap listens hard, Butcher finds Boston’s stories too long and only listens to pass the time.
This passage confirms that the four men always gather in Tsotsi’s room in the same way and wait for him to tell them what to do, which suggests that they act out of habit, not exercising their full capacity for choice. None of the characters seems to go by his given name. As already mentioned, “tsotsi” is a slang term meaning “gangster.” “Die Aap” means “monkey” in Afrikaans, a white minority language in South Africa—a racist nickname for a Black man in a white supremacist society. Although the novel does not explicitly state here that “Boston” and “Butcher” are nicknames, they do not sound like real, given names. The use of such nicknames suggests that as Black men in apartheid South Africa, they aren’t able to express their full, non-stereotyped individual identities.
Themes
Die Aap interrupts Boston’s story to ask “why.” Boston laughs, says it was because of a woman, and finishes the story. Silence falls. Tsotsi clasps his hands, and Boston, Die Aap, and Butcher look at him—Boston smiling, Die Aap emotionless, and Butcher full of “impatience and hate.” Tsotsi notes their reactions. He thinks that while he can trust Die Aap, he cannot trust Butcher. He also thinks that Boston is afraid of him.
This passage suggests that the characters spend time together out of habit, not because they are genuine friends—although Die Aap is loyal to Tsotsi, Butcher and Boston may not be. The passage thus foreshadows conflict within the group.
Themes
Boston asks Tsotsi what’s going on. He meets Tsotsi’s eyes but then drops his own. Tsotsi states that it’s Friday and suggests they “take one on the trains.” Butcher agrees. Boston, sweating and not looking at Tsotsi, asks why. Tsotsi asks why not. Boston tries to fake a yawn, can’t pull it off, and points out that sometimes the ones Tsotsi picks don’t have anything. Tsotsi denies he ever makes mistakes. Die Aap agrees with Tsotsi, and Butcher demands they leave. Tsotsi continues to stare at Boston, who eventually agrees. Butcher retrieves a bicycle spoke from a box, which is “the reason for his name. He had never missed.” The four men leave.
Although the novel does not clarify what “take one on the trains” means, it sounds ominous. Boston’s fearful reaction, sweating and refusing to look at Tsotsi, strengthens the reader’s sense of foreboding. That Tsotsi, Butcher, and Die Aap all agree to “take one on the trains” implies that this activity is in line with the group’s usual habits—Boston is the only one who suggests a change. Toward the passage’s end, the novel reveals that “Butcher” is indeed a stereotyping nickname, one that implies Butcher is going to butcher—that is, kill—someone with his bicycle spoke.
Themes
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Tsotsi leads the other men down an unkempt street. It’s dusk. As the four men walk through the township, they end a moment of “reckoning” in which various people in the township note new demolitions, inadequate money, and other hardships. When the men pass, the township population fears them and hides inside. Tsotsi is aware of this phenomenon and accepts it as natural.
This passage gestures toward the racial and political context in which Tsotsi finds himself. First, he lives in a township, that is, a segregated non-white neighborhood or suburb in apartheid South Africa. Most of the township population is poor and worried that the government may demolish their homes and relocate them as part of a larger apartheid policy of enforcing strict racial segregation. By giving this racial and political context, the novel hints that while Tsotsi habitually accepts his stereotyped criminal identity and others’ fear or hatred of him as natural, these phenomena may in fact derive from his political context: apartheid, which is not natural but man-made.
Themes
At the train station, the four men select a man named Gumboot Dhlamini as their target. Gumboot is a hopeful man with a sense of humor. He left his pregnant wife and walked a thousand miles to the “Golden City” to find work. When he arrived, he lived in a township and worked in a mine for a year. In a week, he plans to return home to his wife with the money he has made.
Under apartheid, non-white people’s travel was restricted. They were forbidden from entering “white” areas unless they had a pass showing they were employed in those areas. Gumboot has to leave his wife and unborn child behind while he works in the “Golden City”—that is, Johannesburg—due to these white supremacist apartheid laws, which illustrates how apartheid broke up non-white families.
Themes
After work, Gumboot is at the train station planning to take the train back to the township, but he makes “three mistakes.” First, he smiles because he’s anticipating the weekend, having written to his wife that he is coming home—and Tsotsi notices his bright smile. Second, he is wearing a red and silver tie, which he bought to impress his wife. The tie helps Tsotsi track him in the crowd. Third, Gumboot opens his pay packet to buy his ticket—showing people he has money—and rushes to the platform.
As a criminal in a Black township, Tsotsi illustrates how the economic oppression and deprivation of Black people under apartheid’s white supremacist legal system has forced some young Black men into crime—at which point they harm other young Black men like Gumboot Dhlamini, whose very joy at the thought of his family makes him a target. Thus this passage shows how apartheid destroys Black families and Black people’s joy.
Themes
Tsotsi follows Gumboot onto the train. Gumboot notices that his tie got messed up amid the crowd and tries to fix it, but he can’t use his arms because Die Aap has grabbed hold of them. As Butcher stabs Gumboot with the bicycle spoke, Tsotsi murmurs something offensive about Gumboot’s mother into Gumboot’s ear—Tsotsi has realized he can fix a hateful expression on his victims’ faces by insulting them as they die. The four men keep Gumboot upright, and Boston, though sickened, steals his money. At the next station, embarking passengers find Gumboot’s corpse.
This passage reveals what the ominous phrase “take one on the trains” means—it means to rob and kill a passenger, using the commuter crowd as cover. That Tsotsi insults Gumboot’s mother while Gumboot is dying suggests that Tsotsi’s motives for the murder aren’t merely economic. For some reason, Tsotsi wants to elicit hatred from his victim.
Themes
