Link to Thinglink: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1383618781565157379
To make an unlisted Thinglink, you need a premium account. The options for a regular account are to keep your project private or share it within your ‘organization.’ I selected private but posted the link above anyways. Below is a photo of the Bento Box, and the compositions for each object if the link does not work.
South African Flag from 1928-1994
All of Trevor’s life, he has been using language as a way to connect with people. He described being coloured was like being in the middle, between white and black, but not fully belonging to or welcomed on either side. Trevor says that “language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.” (p.43) So, like a chameleon, he learned and was able to move between these groups, connecting to them through language despite their differences in skin colour. He explained that in doing this, his “color didn’t change, but I could change your perception of my colour.” (p.43) Apartheid turned tribe against tribe and colour against colour, using language as a tool. Because the system had been designed so that each skin colour and language was perceived in a different yet specific way, immediate assumptions were made about you. Psychology Today highlights the importance of perception, and explains that “at a societal level, when different individuals or constituencies develop perceptions that are so far apart, one immense problem is that no common ground can be found.” This kept them divided, unable to communicate or come together. Trevor quotes Nelson Mandela, saying “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” (p.167) Trevor says that language still connects us, and it tells others, “we’re the same.” (p.39)
A Free Woman in a Bird’s Cage (Bird Cage)
Trevor’s account reveals very defined gender roles. He could not understand why Abel, coming from a patriarchal culture, would want to marry his mother, who is strong, independent, with a sense of self-worth. As Abel often referred to, a wife must not disrespect her husband. Trevor explains that “as a nation, we recognized the power of women, but in the home they were expected to submit and obey.” (p.31). Trevor’s mother compares Abel to an “exotic bird collector. He only wants a woman who is free because his dream is to put her in a cage.” (p.177) Apart from the family unit, there were also societal expectations, that continue in some cultures today. Societal pressure was one of the reasons why Trevor’s mother couldn’t leave Abel. Trevor can remember as a child his uncle telling him: if you don’t beat your woman, you don’t love your woman. (p.30) It was an expectation that perpetuated the violence. Because men were naturally assumed to have this right, police wouldn’t take her seriously either, as “they were men first, and police second,” (p.180) To be a single mother with children, without a husband, was extremely looked down upon, and as a consequence, she would have had nowhere to go or turn to for help if she had left.
“As a tribute to the legions of women who navigated the path of fighting for justice before us, we ought to imprint in the supreme law of the land, firm principles upholding the rights of women.” – Nelson Mandela
Love, Division & Unity (Broken Heart)
Trevor says that “the genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other.” (p.8) The government did this by giving different groups different privileges and rights, to create animosity between them. They were made to blame each other for the oppression and abuse they were suffering from a common enemy. Trevor explained that “one of the most sinister things about apartheid was that it taught coloured people that it was black people who were holding them back. Apartheid said that the only reason colored people couldn’t have first-class status was because black people might use coloredness to sneak past the gates to enjoy the benefits of whiteness.” (p.85) He also said in an interview with NY Times, “divided people are easier to rule,” and they designed apartheid accordingly. We always focus more on our differences than our similarities, and Trevor, being able to move fluidly between the groups, realized that we are more similar than we are different. When Trevor is pelted with mulberries, he sees his attacker as the enemy and seeks revenge. Once Abel, in a way, fulfilled his wish by badly beating the boy, he realized that he and his attacker were more similar than originally thought after seeing the terror in his eyes. They grew up in the same country, under the same laws, experiencing and being exposed to the same devastation, violence, and poverty. Universally, our world is more divided and hateful than ever before, lines drawn with the expectation that you must pick a side. These tensions are played off of by politicians, social media, etc. Research by Dr. Hanel revealed that “the talk of deep-division in society may be overblown.” While we are hyper-focused on our differences, we need to redirect our focus to our similarities and what unites us. This will ultimately lead to a more peaceful, harmonious, and above all, respectful world.
The CD Writer (CD)
Trevor uses the saying: give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. (p.134) He notes that the fishing rod is missing from the equation. The CD Writer is Trevor’s symbolic fishing rod, because it allowed him to independently pursue business endeavors. This can be related to the novel’s universal theme highlighting the cycle of poverty. No matter how skilled or gifted you are, how much responsibility you take or how hard you work, without the tools to pursue those gifts, which poor and oppressed people often don’t have access to, you are incapable of developing and utilizing them. Trevor explains that “we tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.” (p.55) The Cheese Boys are a good example. They were wealthy enough to be educated about what the world outside of the hood was like, but as Trevor explains, “he has been given more potential, but he has not been given more opportunity. He has been given an awareness of the world that is out there, but he has not been given the means to reach it.” (p.146)
The Tangerine Volkswagen (Volkswagen Logo)
The car is symbolic of two very different things. Having a car meant freedom – to decide where they wanted to go when they wanted to go. Trevor’s mother said that it was her job to feed his body, spirit and mind. She said that “even if he never leaves the ghetto, he will know that the ghetto is not the world. If that is all I accomplish, I’ve done enough.” (p.55) The car gave them the freedom to do that, to explore the world around them and breakthrough racist boundaries. Trevor explained that his mother would take him to places “black people never went. She refused to be bound by ridiculous ideas of what black people couldn’t or shouldn’t do.” (p.55) Despite the freedom the car granted them, they also met Abel through the car, taking it to him for repairs. Once Abel and Trevor’s mother were married, he began to use the car as a form of manipulation and abuse. He wouldn’t fix it when he didn’t want them to go somewhere, restricting them from seeing Trevor’s father and going to church as much as they would have wanted to. Trevor said that after apartheid fell, they went from one form of abuse to “living under another kind of tyranny, that of an abusive, alcoholic man.” (p.79) The car is representative of Abel and the way he deeply hurt their family, and in complete contrast, freedom.
A Family’s Lost Memories (Family Portrait)
Trevor established a very successful piracy business while still in school. After school, he continued to grow that business in Alexandra with his friend Bongani. Trevor describes crime as a way of life in Alexandra, and you were always either trying to sell something or someone was trying to sell something to you. It didn’t occur to him that it was wrong (because like he said, it was a way of life there) until he bought a stolen digital camera. While looking through the photos of a family on vacation, he realized that each thing being stolen and exchanged was connected to a person. A family’s memories have been lost because their camera was stolen. These items belonged to a person, and he realized that theft affects real people. Trevor highlights the significance and universal meaning of his experience with the digital camera, explaining that “in society, we do horrible things to one another because we don’t see the person it affects. We don’t see their face. We don’t see them as people.” (p.156) This is why slavery and racial abuse continue, and why apartheid succeeded. Trevor explains that it is the reason why the hood was built in the first place, “to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable.” (p.156) It is because of the disconnect. The inability to have empathy for one another has become a much more common problem as social media has become apart of us and we have moved into a technological age. Typing something on a keyboard desensitizes us to the consequences of our actions, and as we all know it is a lot easier than saying something to someone’s face.
Sources:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-power-prime/201908/perception-is-not-reality
https://phys.org/news/2019-01-more-unites-us-than-divides.html
“As a tribute to the legions of women who navigated the path of fighting for justice before us, we ought to imprint in the supreme law of the land, firm principles upholding the rights of women.” – Nelson Mandela
Core Competencies Assessment
Great analysis Alexis – and very well written!