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A review by jecoats
It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
4.0
Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime is an autobiography of his life in South Africa, told as a series of vignettes. He begins with a harrowing tale of an attempted kidnapping/robbery which culminates with his mother throwing him out of a moving minibus. Other stories detail the people in his life, such as his father, a Swiss expat that Noah did not know very well due to the fact that it was a crime for whites and blacks to have children under Apartheid. Some stories are quite funny (and tragic), such as chapter 6, where we learn of the chaos Noah seems to sew as a young boy. Other tales are quite heartwarming. Noah goes right for the heartstrings in chapter 7, revealing the love he had for his puppy, Fufi. Ultimately, this is a story about how a young man, the child of a black mother and white father, navigated the world of Apartheid (and post-Apartheid), unaware at times that his existence was, under that horrifying form of government, a crime. His story is, in a way, one of self-discovery. He is seen as black, colored, and even white at times, and Noah has to grapple with and reconcile these ideas to understand who he is, and to understand why the world around him seems both undeniably strange and silly, while simultaneously attempting to contain and control him.
This is a very interesting, thought provoking, and insightful book that at times reads more like a narrative (I’m thinking something akin to The House on Mango Street) than an autobiography. Noah knows not only how to weave a tale, but he also knows how to keep it interesting. The people he discusses in the book all feel well rounded. There aren’t “bad” or “good” people (although there are characters that I think the reader will root for, while hoping that others get their “comeuppance”), just people who have been molded by Apartheid, or by their cultural upbringing, or by other outside forces. For instance, Noah’s stepfather, Abel, is not a character we are really meant to sympathize with, nor are we meant to simply demonize him. We know he is a kind of misogynistic patriarch who has a bad temper and is an alcoholic. But we also know that his view on patriarchy is due to his Tsonga culture and ideas that “women must bow when they greet a man” (p. 243). His alcoholism may be due to the fact that his livelihood was destroyed twice: once by Noah himself (that wonderfully dark story of burning down the white family’s home in chapter 6) and later because of the crushing debt Mighty Mechanics was under. This is all to say that the strongest part of Noah’s book is how he creates a full account of who the people in his story were. He doesn’t simply cherry pick the best or the worst aspects of someone to present us a biased account of that person. He instead gives us layers of information to consider, which allows the reader to make up their own minds about the many people in his story.
Besides character building, Noah uses other more traditional narrative features, such as foreshadowing and repetition, to create an autobiography that unfolds like a piece of fiction. For instance, Noah mentions at the end of chapter 9 that “Abel didn’t have a gun yet” (p. 128, my emphasis added), which plants the seed for the climatic events of chapter 17. Then there is the orange Volkswagen, which appears in several chapters, and acts as a catalyst for some major events in the book. These narrative features help keep the reader engaged. We turn the page wondering how these story elements connect. Why does Noah talk about his love of fire? Oh, because he burns down a house later in the book. Why does he repeatedly bring up his inclination for trouble? Oh, because it all culminates in his arrest and stint in jail. Everything Noah mentions in his book has a purpose, and this keeps us turning the page to see where each narrative thread or idea will end up.
I think this book would be very useful in the classroom, both for what it can teach students about the world and how it can be used for inclusion and diversity purposes. One overall theme I can identify in the book is perseverance in the face of adversity. No matter how hard it was for Noah and his family, he and his mother pressed forward. They didn’t let things like a broken-down car or a week in jail prevent them from engaging the world and going after the things they wanted or needed. Somehow, they found a way to make their lives work despite the adversity they faced. Another thing this book does so well is it gives the reader a window into a world that might be quite unfamiliar to us. This is an effective tool to help our students learn about other people, time periods, cultures, and systems of government and oppression. Ultimately, this can help our students build empathy for others as they become more and more familiar with the plight and circumstances of those that do not share their cultural or ethnic heritage. Similarly, I think this book could also be used as a mirror to create a sense of inclusion in the classroom. Students who have grown up poor (regardless of race), who have faced discrimination, or who are African immigrants might see themselves reflected in these pages. This would not only help them feel more included in the classroom but would also help them engage more thoroughly with the text (and in turn, might drive these students to seek out similar stories). Creating a classroom built on empathy and inclusion is a major goal for any teacher, and this book would be an excellent way to foster that environment.
This is a very interesting, thought provoking, and insightful book that at times reads more like a narrative (I’m thinking something akin to The House on Mango Street) than an autobiography. Noah knows not only how to weave a tale, but he also knows how to keep it interesting. The people he discusses in the book all feel well rounded. There aren’t “bad” or “good” people (although there are characters that I think the reader will root for, while hoping that others get their “comeuppance”), just people who have been molded by Apartheid, or by their cultural upbringing, or by other outside forces. For instance, Noah’s stepfather, Abel, is not a character we are really meant to sympathize with, nor are we meant to simply demonize him. We know he is a kind of misogynistic patriarch who has a bad temper and is an alcoholic. But we also know that his view on patriarchy is due to his Tsonga culture and ideas that “women must bow when they greet a man” (p. 243). His alcoholism may be due to the fact that his livelihood was destroyed twice: once by Noah himself (that wonderfully dark story of burning down the white family’s home in chapter 6) and later because of the crushing debt Mighty Mechanics was under. This is all to say that the strongest part of Noah’s book is how he creates a full account of who the people in his story were. He doesn’t simply cherry pick the best or the worst aspects of someone to present us a biased account of that person. He instead gives us layers of information to consider, which allows the reader to make up their own minds about the many people in his story.
Besides character building, Noah uses other more traditional narrative features, such as foreshadowing and repetition, to create an autobiography that unfolds like a piece of fiction. For instance, Noah mentions at the end of chapter 9 that “Abel didn’t have a gun yet” (p. 128, my emphasis added), which plants the seed for the climatic events of chapter 17. Then there is the orange Volkswagen, which appears in several chapters, and acts as a catalyst for some major events in the book. These narrative features help keep the reader engaged. We turn the page wondering how these story elements connect. Why does Noah talk about his love of fire? Oh, because he burns down a house later in the book. Why does he repeatedly bring up his inclination for trouble? Oh, because it all culminates in his arrest and stint in jail. Everything Noah mentions in his book has a purpose, and this keeps us turning the page to see where each narrative thread or idea will end up.
I think this book would be very useful in the classroom, both for what it can teach students about the world and how it can be used for inclusion and diversity purposes. One overall theme I can identify in the book is perseverance in the face of adversity. No matter how hard it was for Noah and his family, he and his mother pressed forward. They didn’t let things like a broken-down car or a week in jail prevent them from engaging the world and going after the things they wanted or needed. Somehow, they found a way to make their lives work despite the adversity they faced. Another thing this book does so well is it gives the reader a window into a world that might be quite unfamiliar to us. This is an effective tool to help our students learn about other people, time periods, cultures, and systems of government and oppression. Ultimately, this can help our students build empathy for others as they become more and more familiar with the plight and circumstances of those that do not share their cultural or ethnic heritage. Similarly, I think this book could also be used as a mirror to create a sense of inclusion in the classroom. Students who have grown up poor (regardless of race), who have faced discrimination, or who are African immigrants might see themselves reflected in these pages. This would not only help them feel more included in the classroom but would also help them engage more thoroughly with the text (and in turn, might drive these students to seek out similar stories). Creating a classroom built on empathy and inclusion is a major goal for any teacher, and this book would be an excellent way to foster that environment.