What is the movie Tsotsi about?
It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and is a South African/UK co-production. Set in the Alexandra slum in Johannesburg, South Africa, it stars Presley Chweneyagae as David/Tsotsi ( Tsotsitaal name for "criminal"), a young street thug who steals a car only to discover a baby in the back seat.
Who is the author of Tsotsi?
1 Grade 11: Novel “Tsotsi” by Athol Fugard ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ATHOL FUGARD • Born 11 June 1932 • South African (born in Middleburg, Eastern Cape) play writer, novelist, actor and director who writes about South Africa. • He is best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid.
What is the setting of the book Tsotsi?
Set in. Sophiatown (could also be Soweto) in South Africa, the novel revolves around the main character Tsotsi (sot-see). The word tsotsi means "thug", and that is exactly what Tsotsi is. He is a thug and a leader of a gang who nightly prowl looking for victims, enjoying the kill as much as the money they steal.
What is the meaning of Tsotsi?
“Tsotsi” is the Afrikaans word for young thugs who rule the township streets of South Africa. This is the “name” of Athol Fugard’s young protagonist. He is mysterious, shadowy, has no name; has no past, family, or friends, or at least no recollections of every belonging anywhere or to anyone.
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What is the plot of the novel Tsotsi?
Six days in the violent life of a young Johannesburg gang leader. In Johannesburg, a small time criminal, Tsotsi, is a teenager without feelings, hardened by his tough life. After a series of violent gang hits, Tsotsi hijacks a car. However, whilst driving, Tsotsi finds that there is a baby on the back seat.
What is the message in the novel Tsotsi?
Tsotsi is a positive movie, with a message of redemption, and has a decent faith that the shanty towns of South Africa are not simply places of despair, but communities where poverty does not rule out the possibility of doing the right thing.
What happens at the end of the novel Tsotsi?
Tsotsi ends up killing his friend Butcher and being abandoned by another friend Aap before deciding to make amends and giving money to Miriam for looking after the baby. Tsotsi then returns the baby to the parents, battling his desire to keep the baby and give it back to his parents, whilst the police close in on him.
What are tsotsis 3 rules?
He creates three rules: rule of the working moment (always be able to see his knife), never disturb his inward darkness, tolerate questions from no others. These rules are what allow him to survive as Tsotsi and have no need to become David again.
How did the baby change Tsotsi's life?
The baby catalyzes Tsotsi remembrance of his past, and his shift in character by being the first thing he has to take responsibility for. Tsotsi goes to find milk for the baby, and cleans the baby; this shows he becomes compassionate, responsible, and merciful.
How does Tsotsi change throughout the novel?
Tsotsi's instincts change from violence to humanity, to saving humanity. He sacrifices his own safety for that of the baby, redeeming himself and becoming David again.
Why did Tsotsi hide the baby?
Though initially the dirty, sickly baby repulses Miriam, she begins to care for him and offers to adopt him. Tsotsi, who has given the baby his childhood name—David—and come to associate him with his childhood self, refuses and hides the baby in the demolished ruins of a Black township.
How does Tsotsi past affect his life?
Through the process of coming to terms with his past, he is able to face his childhood trauma and redeem himself of his crimes. By remembering his past, Tsotsi is able to find redemption. He turns his back on the gang, makes his peace with Boston. He visits a church in seek of god.
How did Tsotsi find the baby?
She shows Tsotsi that we mustn't live in the past and need to move on in life and never give up. The baby is introduced relatively early through Tsotsi receiving it in the bluegumtrees by a frightened woman who he intended to rape.
What is the importance of Tsotsi's knife?
Tsotsi has three rules that he follows in his life and the first one is to always make sure he has his knife on him before he does anything. The knife was very important to Tsotsi; it symbolizes his want for a safe place to live where nothing can hurt him, and where he does not need a weapon to feel protected.
Why is Tsotsi afraid of Boston?
Tsotsi is annoyed by their presence because unlike Boston, they add no real value to his life. Now that there is a conscious change in Tsotsi as he begins to embrace decency, he is in need of Boston's guidance. This explains why he asks for Boston.
Why does Miriam find feeding the baby satisfying?
Miriam cleans the baby and dresses him in Tsotsi's rags. Once cleaned, the baby no longer disgusts her. She shuts her eyes and feeds him, which triggers “a sudden wave of erotic feeling in her.” She would not have resisted much if Tsotsi had raped her then.
What does Tsotsi symbolize?
The Dog: represents his past, Tsotsi is the dog. It also represents the crippled apartheid system that South Africa is faced with.
What is the concept of identity in Tsotsi?
In Tsotsi, characters have three kinds of identity, one false and two true: the false identity of stereotype, and the true identities of individual history and of universal human belonging. Memory is necessary to reject a false, stereotyped identity in favor of true individual and group identities.
What are the social issues in Tsotsi?
In Tsotsi, ethnicity plays a secondary role to the more complex issues of class and social disparities, power vs. powerlessness. Although the shantytown dwellers are all black or part-black, so are the wealthy couple whose baby is kidnapped, and the businessman who gets killed for his valuables while riding the subway.
How do the rules reflect Tsotsi's personality?
He creates three rules: rule of the working moment (always be able to see his knife), never disturb his inward darkness, tolerate questions from no others. These rules are what allow him to survive as Tsotsi and have no need to become David again. He becomes the leader of a gang who commit crimes in order to survive.
What is the story of steps Tsotsi?
In steps 'Tsotsi' by Athol Fugard, a raw and deeply moving narrative about a young gangster who burried his dark and troubled childhood, only to be forced to revisit it and find himself when he is left with an abandoned baby. The bac.
What does Fugard reveal about Tsotsi?
Fugard digs deep into the psyches of both his major and supporting characters, revealing the pathos and struggle of their lives, but also their courage, compassion and strength.
Where is the book "Shelves" set?
A novel of redemption, written by Athol Fugard, one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. Set in. Sophiatown (could also be Soweto) in South Africa, the novel revolves around the main character Tsotsi (sot-see). The word tsotsi means "thug", and that is exactly what Tsotsi is.
What is the name of Athol Fugard's protagonist?
THUG. Hoodlum. Lowlife. Murderer. Robber. “Tsotsi” is the Afrikaans word for young thugs who rule the township streets of South Africa. This is the “name” of Athol Fugard’s young protagonist. He is mysterious, shadowy, has no name; has no past, family, or friends, or at least no recollections of every belonging anywhere or to anyone. So he chooses to rename himself “Tsotsi” and he embodies all the qualities of the worst.
What is the name of the robber in Athol Fugard?
Robber. “Tso tsi” is the Afrikaans word for young thugs who rule the township streets of South Africa. This is the “name” of Athol Fugard’s young protagonist. He is mysterious, shadowy, has no name; has no past, family, or friends, or at least no recollections of every belonging anywhere or to anyone.
Where is Tsotsi set?
Set amid the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto, where survival is the primary objective, Tsotsi traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader. When we meet Tsotsi, he is a man without a name ( tsotsi is Afrikaans for hoodlum ) who has repressed his past and now exists only to stage and execute vicious crimes. When he inadvertently kidnaps a baby, Tsotsi is confronted with memories of his own painful childhood, and this angry young man begins to rediscover his own humanity, dignity, and capacity to love.
What did the young men do in apartheid?
In apartheid-era South Africa, where Blacks are forced to live in poverty and under oppressive laws, young men morph into ruthless gangs, emulating the 1940s period “gangstas” of American film, even adopting their style of dress. These cold-hearted young men prey on their people by night; robbing and murdering innocents for the little money that they work hard to earn.
What does Tsotsi tell Aap about Boston?
Tsotsi tells him that the gang will raise the money so that Boston can take the exam, which means that they will have to commit another robbery. Tsotsi and Aap go to Pumla's house. When Pumla's husband John (Rapulana Seiphemo) returns from the hospital, they follow him into the house and tie him up.
What happens when AAP goes to raid the fridge?
When Aap goes to raid the fridge, John activates the alarm. In a panic, Butcher attempts to kill John with John's pistol that he found. Tsotsi shoots and kills Butcher with his pistol. He and Aap escape in John's car moments before the security company arrives.
What does Tsotsi tell John about the baby?
Tsotsi sets off to return the baby. He reaches John's house and tells John over the intercom that he will leave the child outside the gate.
How much did Tsotsi cost?
Budget. $3 million . Box office. $11.5 million. Tsotsi is a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski. It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and is a South African/UK co-production.
What is the name of the movie Tsotsi?
This article is about the film Tsotsi. For the language, see Tsotsitaal. Tsotsi is a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski. It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and is a South African/UK co-production.
Why does John want to lower his weapons?
However, John urges them to lower their weapons so that he can retrieve the baby himself. As Tsotsi holds the baby in his arms, John convinces him to give up the baby. Tsotsi emotionally hands the baby to John, then is told to put up his hands and turns himself in as the film ends.
When did Tsotsi win the Academy Award?
Tsotsi won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.
What makes Boston decency?
His descent into crime, cruelty and murder makes Boston physically and psychologically sick. This is why he suffers an attack of guilt and nausea after Gumboot’s murder. It seems that some of the gang members, notably the cold-blooded Butcher who mocks Boston’s attack of nausea, can never achieve decency as they have no capacity for feeling sympathy for others or any inkling of what decency involves. However, for Tsotsi there is some hope of finding decency. The arrival of the baby in his life and the memories and lifestyle changes that it begins to spark off indicate that he has the potential to achieve decency and to escape the state of inhumanity that rule his present existence.
What does Boston say about Tsotsi?
His career as a criminal is “finished” and he has rejected his gang. He has discovered that he has options and that he can choose not to kill. After being rescued from the shebeen, Boston acknowledges that Tsotsi has changed: “You are different …. You are changing …. You are asking me about God”. Pain.
What does Boston say to Tsotsi after being rescued?
After being rescued from the shebeen, Boston acknowledges that Tsotsi has changed: “You are different …. You are changing …. You are asking me about God”. Pain. Most of the characters in the novel experience both physical and psychological pain.
What are the themes of Tsotsi?
A number of the themes in Tsotsi involve a tug-of-war between opposites where we are called upon to consider and weigh up both viewpoint s and make up our own minds.
How to summarise the key themes?
A good way to summarise the key themes is to draw a mind map. Here are some of the key themes in Tsotsi. Try to complete the mind map by thinking of events, scenarios and characters from the novel to support the themes. When answering a question in your literature paper, it is a good idea to reference a short extract from the text ...
Is Tsotsi an eBook?
Tsotsi is also avialable in eBook format.
Does Tsotsi have decency?
It seems that some of the gang members, notably the cold-blooded Butcher who mocks Boston’s attack of nausea, can never achieve decency as they have no capacity for feeling sympathy for others or any inkling of what decency involves. However, for Tsotsi there is some hope of finding decency. The arrival of the baby in his life and ...
