The novel Tsotsi has many different stories in it of life and death, loss and suffering, and the path you must walk down in order to find you’re self. After reading this book I feel that the main idea is about identity and the hardships you have to go through to find you’re identity. For Tsotsi there is a lot of violence and trauma that he deals with as a young boy but in the end it all shapes him into the man he will grow up to be. Fugard puts his characters through many different challenges that will give the reader a different view on the way we usually look at things.
The author gives a very realistic impression of a life some people live. He tells you the story of how these young children had everything taken away and what they had to do to survive after. I believe that Fugard wanted us to learn what it takes for some people to discover who they really are and the importance of knowing your self. Just like Tsotsi people are capable of change, you don’t have to accept a life you don’t want.
As the book goes on you start to see the changes in the characters. You can tell that they want to better them selves, and that they are not happy with the life there leading. Boston sends his mother letters and pictures of this identity he wishes he could be. He wants to make his mother proud, but he knows that if he told her the truth of who he really is that she would not be happy. For Boston this second identity of who he used to be is all he can hold on to.
Fugard wants the reader to learn about what it can take to find your identity and the importance of knowing who you are. He tells us the stories of these young boys and the life they lead. Along the way you discover the people they strive to be. You not only find the true identity of Tsotsi at the end of this story but you may also find some of your identity.
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