Kopano Matlwa Analysis

Simon Sinek (2017) said that “the most basic human desire is to feel like you belong. Fitting in is important.” We live in a society where it is almost imperative to fit in. A society where knowing that you are part of something, even if it is not culturally or traditionally part of you, something that you might never truly have. In the everyday life males and females, from a very young age, are taught what it is to be a man and how he should conduct himself. This is the same with females. Both genders are taught what masculinity looks like and what femininity looks like. We grew up believing in the white standard of beauty and not how to be a true African woman. Males are taught that power is associated with being a real man. The Apartheid era created images into the minds of our forefathers, fathers and mothers. Survival was linked to being white and so was acceptance, whether in different areas in the city or the privilege to walk into a public space. In the two novels Sozaboy by Ken Saro-Wiwa and Coconut by Kopano Matlwa we find that the everyday

“Chief Birabee is a thief and he is a lier. He is selfish and a gold digger. They saw the food that he and the Pastor stored in their hut. There was rice and a lot of fish. The people of the village are living poverty and they are keeping all the riches to themselves. People are even will to receive money in exchange for their children, just to have something to eat. They are exploiting the community. In Coconut Miss Becky’s daughter and Miss Becky abuse the power they have and treat the staff at Silverspoon as slaves. “Fifi 's uncle is also exploited by the firm he works for. He is also humiliated by his them and he does nothing about it. At big meetings for the company, the employers pretend as if Fifi’s Uncle is a Black Empowerment partner . When the meetings are done he has to go back to being a security guard”(Goodman, 2012). His employers abuse their