Presentation of "The toilet" by Gcina Mlophe
The Author
Gcina Mlophe was born in 1958 in South Africa
She is a well-known author, storyteller, actor, and director.
She is also a political activist and a freedom fighter.
The toilet is inspired from Mlophe 's own experiences during the apartheid regime.
Genre
The Toilet was published in the late 1970s and is a short story.
Typical features of a short story are few characters, a short time-span and a conflict with a climax
Setting
The story unfolds in Orange Grove in Johannesburg, South Africa, probably in the 1980s
It focuses on Mholo, a young black African girl, coming of age as she discovers what life is like in South Africa during the Apartheid regime.
The main challenges Mholo faces are work,
…show more content…
She is living in abundance, being very decadent and superficial.
In contrast to the white lady, we find Mholo 's mother and sister.
They represent the traditional black female roles.
They do not believe much in education and would like for her to get a real job.
But, Mholo stands out from the crowd.
She is independent, creative and has an artistic mind
She doesn 't want to have a job as a domestic worker.
She wants to get an education and she loves to write.
She chooses to go her own way and defies the norms of society.
She is the protagonist of the story, meaning that her character evolves and learns something from the journey.
The girls in the factory are not planning for the future.
They are concerned about the present and have "Lunch-boys" who buys them lunch in exchange other services.
Mholo would rather use her lunch break to read or write which the other girls don 't see the value