Tsotsi Athol Fugard Chapter 1 ANSWERS 1. The novel is about the main character Tsotsi. His name is the title of the novel and the cover has a photograph of the actor who played the role of Tsotsi in the film. Chapter Summaries Chapter 1 Boston,the clever one, Die Aap, the strong one and Butcher, the accurate killer, are looking at Tsotsi, the youngest of them all, sitting there and watching in his room; the boys are having a general talk and drinkingin Tsotsi’s room. CHAPTER ANALYSIS Chapter 1 There are four members of the gang: Tsotsi, Die Aap, Butcher and Boston. Boston, the clever one, Die Aap, the strong one, and Butcher, the accurate killer. The boys are having a general talk and drinking in Tsotsi’s room. Tsotsi clasps his hands as if in prayer and decides that they should take a train.

Chapter 1
Boston,the clever one, Die Aap, the strong one and Butcher, the accurate killer, are looking at Tsotsi, the youngest of them all, sitting there and watching in his room; the boys are having a general talk and drinkingin Tsotsi’s room. Tsotsi clasps his hands as if in prayer and decides that they should take a train. they walked down the street looking for a victim to strike. When they got to the trains they saw their victim, Gumboot Dhlamini, by the smile on his face, his flaming red tie, and hispay pack; when they entered the train the decided it was time to murder Gumboot.

Tsotsi Chapter 1 Summary 1

Chapter 2
The gang of teenage boys are at Soekie’s house drinking, laughing, and having a great time. Butcher was drinking the fastest and getting drunk the fastest because he kept asking Soekie;for more; she kept telling him to slow down; also a woman, a friend of Soekie, was sitting in the corner passed out and her name was Rosie. She was seducing the boys, mostly Butcher, and then Butcher and Die Aap were playing around with her. Tsotsi found it fine but Boston found it to be sickening because he has decency. Then later Butcher and Die Aap went outside and raped Rosie. Boston’s question about his family, his dog, inclines Tsotsi to beat the crap out of Boston.

Chapter 3 Tsotsi reflects on beating up Boston, and his hatred for him. He reveals he picked Boston because, like everyone else, he had a virtue; he was clever. But he had to ask questions, which Tsotsi didn’t like because he couldn’t answer them. Tsotsi reveals he lives by three rules: the rule of the waking moment – he had to have his knife; never to disturb the inward darkness – do not attempt to remember; and to ask questions – from himself or others ( the rule Boston broke). At the end of the chapter, Tsotsi goes to rape and kill a woman in the bluegum trees, but doesn’t because of the cry of a baby.

Chapter 4
Tsotsi goes to Cassim’s shop to get milk for the baby, but cannot come to ask him for it. He enters and leaves the store repeatedly before mustering the courage to interact with Cassim. Tsotsi returns to his room to clean and feed the baby before hiding it in the ruins. Tsotsi remembers the “yellow bitch” and starts to ask questions about his past.

Chapter 5
We see the burial of Gumboot Dhlamini and how the pastor is losing his faith because he is burying another nameless man. Boston awakes from his unconcious state and manages his first movements in a long time. Butcher and Die Aap discuss Bostons beating and what it means for the future of the gang. Tsotsi arrives and they begin the ritual again but without Boston’s stories conversation quickly runs dry and Tsotsi is forced to make a decision on where the next job will be. They determine that they will go to the city for the job.

Chapter 6
Tsotsi steps on a cripple by the name of Morris Tshabalala and decides that he is a suitable target. We learn about Morris’s past how his injury occured and why he feels like a “half-man” he realizes he is being followed but continues on his way hoping to lose him before he gets to the dark section of his journey home. He stops in the Bantu House. He arrives at the dark section and drops his money within a pool of light but Tsotsi kicks it away and continues after Morris. Morris turns and and starts throwing insults at Tsotsi as he approaches.

Chapter 7
Tsotsi sees Morris as his dog and because he feels sympathy for him he must be killed. He confronts Morris and tells him that he feels for him, Morris asks him why and Tsotsi realizes he doesn’t have to kill him and he has choices. He decides he is going to find out his name and remember his past.

Chapter 8
Boston hears the church bell and the reverend contemplates his faith in god… Tsotsi finds ants on the baby, and instead of running away because of the emergency, he stays and rescues the baby. Fugard then talks about Waterworks Square, the townships only water tap, and Miriam Ngidi, how her husband left her and now she is left to raise 6 month old Simon by herself. Tsotsi forces Miriam to feed and clean the baby and he trys to remember his past.

Chapter 9
Tsotsi remembers his past, specifically, the evening before and the day his father returns. That night his mother is taken during a police raid. His father arrives and goes into a rage when he realizes that David’s mother has been taken. He kicks the Dog, breaking it’s back. David runs away after his father leaves and witnesses the dog giving birth to a stillborn litter, he is taken in by the river gang and learns many harsh lessons that turns him into a thug. As he starts his new life, he chooses a new name, Tsotsi.

Chapter 10
Die Aap visits Tsotsi and Tsotsi says the gang has been disbanded. Then Miriam feds the baby and asks to have him, to take care of him. Tsotsi says no because he realizes the baby is letting him remember his past – such as the yellow bitch and the pipes. He goes in search of Boston.

Chapter 11
Tsotsi locates Boston in a bar passed out on the floor, and brings him home to get him to talk. Boston’s life is revealed by Fugard how he was expelled from college, sold passbooks, and became part of the gang. Boston tells him we are all sick of life and to seek for God. Tsotsi gives him sourmilk and bread, but Boston refuses and goes in search of his mother.

Chapter 12
We learn about Isaiah and how he works for God. He sees Tsotsi and he asks him where to find God. Isaiah says if he comes back when the bells toll he can meet God. Tsotsi goes to Miriam to feed the bay and they realize they must let their pasts’ go. Tsotsi also realizes mothers love their children. Tsotsi becomes David Mondondo (himself as a kid). He goes to check on the baby and sees Bulldozers approaching the abandoned ruins, he rushes to save the baby but is crushed with the baby in the rubble.

Chapter 1

Tsotsi, Boston, Butcher and Die Aap sit around the Tsotsi’s room drinking beer in silence, waiting for him to specify what job they will do that night. Tsotsi decides they will head to the train station where their unsuspecting victim, Gumboot Ghalimini, begins to head home to his wife. Tsotsi targeted Gumboot for three reasons: he smiled, he wore a flaming red tie, and he bought his ticket with money from his pay packet. After everyone does their part in the murder and robbery they leave gumboots lifeless body on the train to be discovered by the other passengers.

Chapter 2

Tsotsi, Butcher, Boston, and Die Aap head to Soekie’s house after the murder to have a few drinks. As they start drinking they begin to talk about Boston getting sick and throwing up during the murder of Gumboot. Boston claims that the only reason he got sick and the others didn’t was because he has decency unlike the rest of them. As the conversation advances Die Aap and butcher take Rosie, a girl who was also in Soekie’s house, outside to rape her. When the others leave Boston begins to question Tsotsi about what he feels. This breaks one of Tsotsi’s rules: never ask questions. Tsotsi begins to get irritated by all the questions about Tsotsi’s personal life. Tsotsi eventually has enough and brutally beats Boston leaving him in Soekie’s place beaten half to death.

Chapter 3

After beating Boston, Tsotsi leaves the she been and takes a walk through the street. As he walks he begins to have a flashback, he sees a boy named Petah being taken away by the police, as he is being taken away he looks down the street and recognizes Tsotsi as David, his name before he changed it to Tsotsi. Tsotsi does not acknowledge the fact that Petah recognized him and just continues his game of dice. As Tsotsi lay under a tree he begins to hear what he recognizes as footsteps, as he hears them come closer and closer he moves to get a better vantage point and sees a young woman as. As he studied her more he began to recognize the symptoms of fear and sees that she was carrying a small parcel and kept checking over her shoulder. Tsotsi grabs her by one arm and swings her into the darkness of the trees, as he pins her against the tree she takes the parcel and thrusts it into the hands of Tsotsi and runs off. The lid slips off and Tsotsi finds himself looking at the face of a young baby boy.

Chapter 4

Tsotsi heads straight to Cassim’s shop in search of milk for the baby, before he gets courage to go up and talk to Cassim he exits and renters the store multiple times waiting for it to empty. Nervously Cassim sends his wife into the back room to round up their children in case Tsotsi tries to mug them, Tsotsi goes up to the counter and asked to buy some milk. After buying the condensed milk Tsotsi takes the baby back to his room to clean it and feed it, after the baby is all clean and fed he takes him to the ruins to hide him. After hiding the baby in the ruins Tsotsi begins to remember the “yellow bitch,” the dog that he had when he was a kid. Tsotsi just broke one of his three rules: never ask questions about the past.

Chapter 5

Gumboot Dhlamini is buried and the pastor who is doing his burial is sorely troubled after burying another man whose name no one knows. Boston awakes from his state of unconsciousness and moves for the first time in almost a day. Butcher and Die Aap begin to talk about Tsotsi beating Boston and begin to wonder what the future holds for their gang. Tsotsi, Butcher and Die Aap find each other and begin to do what they do on any other night, sit around and drink waiting for Tsotsi to make the decision of what job they will do. Without Boston’s stories conversation ended rather quickly and Tsotsi decides they will head into the city tonight.

Chapter 6

Tsotsi, Butcher, and Die Aap wait for the shadows to become long enough so that when they are they can head to terminal place. When they get to terminal place Tsotsi steps on Morris Tshabalala’s – a crippled man who lost his legs in a work accident – hand and decides that he will be his target tonight. As Morris continues on his way home he realizes that Tsotsi is following him, he hopes that if he continues on his way he will lose Tsotsi before he has to go through the dark part of his journey. He stops for some food at the Bantu house and then continues on his way. As he gets to the dark part of his journey he realizes that even though he feels like a “half-man” he does want to live. He leaves his money in a pile underneath a light hoping Tsotsi would just take the money and leave him alone. When Tsotsi kicks the money and continues walking towards Morris he begins to throw rocks and shout insults in order to defend himself.

Chapter 7

As Tsotsi followed Morris he began to realize that he crawls like the “yellow bitch” used to, dragging his body around since he doesn’t have any legs. Tsotsi confronts Morris in the street and tells him that he feels for him, after he does this Morris tells him why he wants to live. After he tells Tsotsi all the reasons he wants to live he confronts him about why Tsotsi has to kill him. Tsotsi then realizes that he doesn’t have to kill him and that it’s he is able to choose to let him live. Tsotsi then decides he will find out who he is and what happened in his past.

Chapter 8

Boston awakes to the sound of church bells begins to think about his faith in God. Tsotsi returns to the ruins to find the baby covered head to toe in ants and instead of leaving it he cleans the ants off the baby. We then are taken to Waterworks square where a young mother by the name of Miriam Ngidi waits in the long line to get to the tap. Miriam is a single mother because one day her husband, Simon, left and never returned. Tsotsi takes her to his room and forces her to feed the baby. Miriam feeds and cleans off the baby.

Chapter 9

Tsotsi Chapter 1 Summary Chapter 1

Tsotsi begins to remember his past, he begins to see his old home and how happy he was living with his mother. Eventually the flashback leads him to the events that happened on the day that his mother was taken to jail. As he father returns after being away from the family for a long time he becomes furious when he finds out his wife has been taken to prison. During the outrage the father kicks the dog breaking its back, the dog then gives birth to a litter of pups who soon die. David then runs away from home where he is welcomed to the river gang which is lead buy a boy named Petah. He then decides to abandon his identity and start his life under the new name Tsotsi.

Chapter 10

Die Aap visits Tsotsi to ask about the next job, Tsotsi tells him that the gang has been disbanded and that he would no longer be doing the jobs that they used to. Die Aap leaves after him and Tsotsi hear the baby cry. Tsotsi then takes out the baby; staring at it he finally realizes that the baby is helping him remember his past. Miriam comes to Tsotsi’s room to feed the baby and later asked Tsotsi if she can have him because she would be able to take care of him best. Tsotsi won’t let her take the baby because he is Tsotsi’s baby. Tsotsi tells Miriam that the babies name was David and that he was notches father but David belonged to him. Miriam leaves and gives Tsotsi some milk for the baby, Tsotsi takes David back to the ruins and begins to wonder where Boston was and leaves to go and find him.

Chapter 11

Tsotsi eventually finds Boston passed out of the floor of a bar. Tsotsi helps him up and carries him back to his house to take care of him. Fugard begins to reveal to us the life that Boston has lead, how he was mistakenly expelled from college, how he illegally sold fake passbooks to people and then how a guy as smart as he became a part of the gang. As Boston awakes Tsotsi begins to tell him about his experience with Morris and asks him questions about how he is changing. Boston tells him that they are all sick of life and seek God. Boston then leaves in search of his mother.

Chapter 12

Tsotsi Chapter 1 Summary Chapter

Isaiah sits in the church garden planting flowers where Tsotsi, who was on his way to seek redemption from God, finds him he explains how he works for God and that when he rings the church bell it calls to all the other people who believe in god and invites him back next time the bells ring to find God. Tsotsi then finds Miriam again to feed the baby. As she feeds the baby Tsotsi realizes that mothers really do love their children and that in order for you to move into the future you have to let your past go. Miriam then asks him to let her have the baby again but, he does not leave the baby with her because he doesn’t quite trust her yet. After he goes to church Tsotsi then decides that he will go back to his childhood name, David Mondondo. As he heads back to the ruins he hears bulldozers taking down the walls, he runs into the building only focused on one thing, finding the baby. He runs straight to the corner where the baby lay, where he and the baby would be crushed by the ceiling. The workers who recover his body minutes later agree that his smile was beautiful and strange for a Tsotsi.