Tsotsi Childhood Theory
Tsotsi Childhood
Tsotsi's Childhood
Tsotsi Childhood Definition

The Lost Child Tsotsi’s decision to steal the baby has momentous consequences for him. It is a highly irrational action and yet his story pivots on the moment he decides to go back to Pumla Dube’s car and take the child. Not only does the kidnapping have ‘storyline’ implications but it is also a highly symbolic action, with the baby taking. In the flashback of his childhood of when he was ten years old -a time when David Madondo was all that existed-Tsotsi reveals his innocence. As a child, Tsotsi was very energetic, obedient and happy. He didn’t have anything to fear at this point, he was full of life and appreciating everything there was to offer. Tsotsi inflicts pain on his victims, notably Boston, but also suffers it himself as a street child and as a gangster. The beggar, Morris, angered and resentful because of his history of suffering and rejection, discovers finally that despite all the pain he experiences, he wants to live.

He has to become independent when he is young. The most important scene in the movie is the robbery case. A cold-blooded person, Tsotsi tries to steal a rich woman’s car and money. While he is stealing her car, he discovers that there is a baby in the back seat of the car. When he hears the baby cry, he is reminded of his childhood. Fugard also wrote the novel Tsotsi (1980; film 2005). Notebooks, 1960–1977 (1983) collects selections from Fugard’s journals, and Karoo, and Other Stories (2005) is a compilation of short stories and journal extracts.

Tsotsi Childhood Theory

Tsotsi

Primary Category:Performing Arts / Film, TV, Video

Genre: Film

Summary

The story centers on Tsotsi (meaning thug), an adolescent in Soweto, the shantytown slum of modern Johannesburg, South Africa. There Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagai) leads a loose-knit gang of menacing thugs. When gang members are first encountered, Butcher reveals his disturbing and sinister nature; Boston (Mothusi Magano), except for his alcoholism, represents a potentially thoughtful but ineffective source of goodness and decency; Aap (Kenneth Nkosi), a simpleton, is devoted to Tsotsi; and Tsotsi seethes with, as yet, inexplicable rage.
As the story unfolds, a petty crime leads to senseless murder and an old wheelchair-bound man is threatened and cruelly abused. Finally, Tsotsi, without gang participation, shoots a woman during an auto theft. When he drives recklessly away, he discovers an infant in the stolen car's backseat. Rather than killing the baby, his first inclination, he puts it into a paper bag and takes the baby home. This new relationship--and responsibility becomes the harrowing twist in the story.
Throughout, short and disturbing flash backs of Tsotsi's childhood reveal unimagined beginnings that have led to the boy's simmering rage and the string of unforgiving actions. While concerns about vulnerable children within a context of social injustices are foremost in the minds of film viewers, the overwhelming circumstances and complexities frustrate thoughts about realistic interventions.

Commentary

Tsotsi Childhood

This powerful and well-cast film may be difficult for viewers to watch. As with City of God, pre-screening information and preparation is advised.

Miscellaneous

Academy Award 2005, Best Foreign Film. Based on the novel by Athol Fugard.

Tsotsi's Childhood

Primary Source

Tsotsi Childhood Definition

Level 2 English: Visual Text essay for Tsotsi Describe important visual or aural symbol(s) in a visual text you have studied and analyse how the symbol(s) helped develop ideas in the text.In the film Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood there were many important symbols. The film is about a young man, Tsotsi (a nickname which means thug) who lives a life of crime in Johannesburg, South Africa. The film is set in post-apartheid South Africa and shows a few days which change the life of the main character. The film helps us to understand the struggles that blacks face today years after their mistreatment under apartheid. Symbols such as dice, light and journeys are used in this film to develop the ideas of luck and chance, hope and the…show more content…
The physical journeys Tsotsi makes in the film develop the idea of an internal , symbolic journey. We are shown many long shots of Tsotsi walking alone or running. The shot of him walking on the train tracks at night, with slow haunting instrumental music is used several times to symbolise his inner journey. Tsotsi seems to be considering what he has done. Slowly we see him change from a violent, angry young man who only thinks of himself to a man who begins to have empathy for others. His love for the baby and realisation of the pain his parents must feel at their loss leads him to decide to return it. His final physical journey is through his township, the wasteland, the train station and finally out to the wealthy suburbs to give the child back. It is reversal of his original journey to steal the car. In giving away something that has become precious to him, he gains his soul. The audience also makes the journey with Tsotsi. At the beginning we see him as a cold, hard criminal and feel horrified by his actions. However as the film progresses, the director makes him more likeable by introducing some comic scenes and using flashbacks so we understand his difficult childhood and we begin to sympathise with him. By the end he has become a decent human being.In addition to all the visual symbols, aural symbols such as aggressive Kwaito (gangsta