OR#5 Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

Who are the main characters of your book? Describe their personality and what seems to motivate them.

Stan Smith-
An American white man who helps Mark find a college in America that will accept him on a tennis scholarship. He befriends Mathabane after meeting him at a tennis tournament. Stan's motivation is to help Mathabane live a better, and more fair life. He wants to help Mark get out of the apartheid in South Africa where he will always be treted like a slave and to some place where his talents would be more appreciated.

Arthur Ashe-
An Black American tennis player, and the first black man to win at Wimbledon. Ashe has huge influence on Mathabane's life when he comes to play tennis in South Africa. His motivation seems to be to break the racial barrier in America and in South Africa by using the game of tennis. He moitivates Johannes to want to become a great tennis player just like him and teaches him that a black man can actually do something more in the world than run from the police. When Mathabane first hears of Arthur Ashe he exclaims," I couldn't even begin to imagine how a black man could become so good in a sport dominated by whites" (208). Before learning about Aurhur Ashe Mathabane didn't think he could ever succeed in tennis simply becuase he wasn't white, but after learning about Arthur Ashe, even though he lost the game in South Africa, Johannes thinks he could too possibly become like Arthur Ashe one day.

Aunt Bushy, Granny and Uncle Piet-
Aunt Bushy is Granny's teenage daughter who lives at home. She tries her hardest to help Johannes with school by giving him money for lunch and paying for his school trips (226). Johannes described Granny as the most beautiful black woman in the world, and she loves Johannes more than anything. She even says to him, "As long as i have you child, I don't need a husband" (226). Granny did her best to help finance Mathabane's schooling even though it was quite expensive. She knew that Johannes needed and education to do well in life in the future and along with his mother forces him to go despite his complaints. The motivation of all three of these characters is to help Johannes get an education and be able to live better than they did. The three of them continuosly supplied him with money for school whenever they could which allowed Johannes more time to focus on tennis and less time on finding a job and working (226).

Wilfred-
Met Johannes while he was working at the tennis ranch, Wilfred is a German tennis player living in South Africa with his South African wife and son. He respects black people and treats Johannes nicely. When Wilfred hears how hard the blacks live in the ghettos he is stunned because in the white world they never hear the truth about anything going on in the black world. Wilfred asks Mark to tell his stories of the harsh apartheid to the whole bar later at night and Mark agrees. His motivation is to help blacks be treated at least as humans. He asked Mark to speak at the bar because he wanted others to know and realize how unfair and shocking it is. Wilfred really likes Mark and was apalled by the way Mark was treated for his entire life.