Outside Reading Post- Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

How is the novel similar to other pieces of literature that we have studied in class?

The novel Kaffir Boy is very similar to the novel Black Boy in several ways. First of all, both the books are memoirs, written by black men growing up in a world where being black is almost a crime. The only real difference in plot between the two books is the author of Black Boy, Richard Wright, grew up in the American south and Mark Mathabane grew up in Africa. Both of the boys experienced major struggles while growing up having to do with the extreme racism they were forced to endure since birth. They both had to realize that during their childhood, they were not considered as good as white people.
In the midst of these major similarities between the novels, the men both had struggles with their family members specifically. Similar to Richard Wright in Black Boy, Mathabane develops a hatred towards his father figure. After Mathabane is punished by his father, he explains, "I told to my mother that I hated him and promised her I would kill him when I grew up"(33). In Black Boy, Wright hates his father for how he treated his family, and Mathabane too hated his father in his youth for treating him poorly. Secondly, both Wright and Mathabane rejected and disagreed with the beliefs and religion that were strongly supported by their family's. Wright rejects Christianity until he reaches a point where he can no longer refuse it without disgracing his family. Mathabane's family strongly believes in doing rituals of the tribal reserve that Mathabane's father grew up on, but he finds them pointless, and stupid. He still is forced to do them or suffer being severely punished by his father for not doing them (32). The rejection of these beliefes only stirred continuous problems in the midst of their families.
Both the men dealt with problems inside their own families, but those problems did not mount to the troubles both the men would suffer in the outside world, where they were seen as nothing. Whether they were called a "nigger" or a "kaffir" both men lived in an unfair society that did not see them as people, which motivated them to overcome these obstacles and make something of their lives.