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This section provides an outline of the main themes that are explored in the novel. There is more specific discussion after each chapter.

Good versus evil

In this novel, good versus evil is explored as an overarching theme in which the attitudes and the actions of the characters are contrasted. For instance, David Madondo’s childhood is totally secure. His mother adores her only child and ensures that he does not face any hardships. This life comes to a traumatic end when the boy’s mother is arrested in a Pass Law raid. He leaves the house, since there is no sign that his mother will return. Tsotsi becomes a heartless criminal whose gang engages in the evil activity of robbery and murder. He has retreated within himself and has forgotten anything about his life with his mother – about loving relationships and trust.

Ugliness of life

The township is an ugly environment in every respect. The houses have distorted shapes because of the scrap materials that are used to build them. Physical and mental growth is stunted in these inadequate dwellings. The trees and plants that survive are stunted. The sounds that are made are harsh like the scolding of the old woman that sounds like stones rattling against a tin, or crude like the belching in shebeens. The sound of wheezing or coughing can also be heard. People’s behaviour and attitudes are also ugly. They are motivated by greed and they act with ruthless indifference to the physical and mental pain they inflict. Their experiences mean that Rosie and Morris Tshabalala’s bodies are physically ugly.

Meaninglessness of life (tragic loss of promise)

It seems as if life has no real purpose. Gumboot Dhlamini is brutally killed a week before he is due to return to his very happy life with his wife Maxulu. A hard worker, Morris Tshabalala becomes a paraplegic and is reduced to begging for a living. Strong communities are destroyed at the whim of the oppressive white authorities.

Search for identity

When David loses his mother, he is traumatised by the loss and attempts to find a new identity, first with a gang of homeless boys round about his own age. His sense of having lost his identity means he abandons his name and renames himself “Tsotsi”. He has become a type – someone who is a hoodlum. He suppresses all memories of his former life and plays a new role – someone without a personal history. Boston’s insistent questions about his identity stir distant troubling memories. When he is “given” a baby, he has a flashback to the yellow bitch whose pups are stillborn when her hindquarters collapse after being viciously kicked by his father. In the process of reconstructing his identity, he changes. He is no longer able to operate as a criminal.

Undermining effects of apartheid

The enforcement of apartheid legislation has far-reaching effects on life in South Africa. This theme is explored in a number of sub-themes: dehumanisation, destruction of family and community life, immorality, and violation of human rights.

Dehumanisation

Those who have to enforce the laws do so in cruel and inhuman ways. Raids are often conducted violently in the middle of the night and the people they arrest are not allowed a fair trial. Bribery and arbitrary fines are common. Those needed to do dangerous manual labour in the gold mines are given passes. They have to work long hours, often at the cost of their health.

For those who choose a life of crime, there is the same dehumanising process. The criminals suppress any sympathy and see their victims only as sources of money or as a means of asserting their power.

White employers often treat their employees in humiliating ways, referring to them as “boy” or “girl” and speaking in patronising or insulting ways.

Destruction of family and community life

Families are separated for a number of reasons. One is that husbands often have to leave home for long periods in order to work in the cities, especially the gold mines and factories. Many of them do not return for a number of reasons. Some of them become the victims of crime; some of them are injured in accidents; some find solace with other women and set up new homes; some contract diseases. Another is that the Pass Law raids lead to jail time. People in the township are arrested and thrust into jail without an opportunity to prove their innocence. Yet another is that even peaceful protest action is not legal and those who engage in it can be summarily arrested.

Immorality

The Immorality Act makes sexual relationships across the colour lines illegal. This means that relationships across the colour lines are seen as shameful, certainly not ones that have any future or that will be acknowledged. Soekie’s despairing search for her birth certificate is a tragic reflection of this.

Violation of human rights

Black people are forced to work long hours, far from their homes, for months at a time. They are not allowed to engage in peaceful protest, and face arbitrary arrest, summary trials without representation, and imprisonment if they do protest. The Pass Laws, a violation of human dignity, require them to have passes in order to work in “white areas”. Police raids can occur at any time to check that they have passes. A favourite time is during the night. People are frequently not allowed time to produce their passes or even to dress decently before they are herded into police vans. Only those who are able to produce the fines escape imprisonment.

The Group Areas Act is another violation of human rights. It privileges the white minority. People are allowed to own land only in the areas that have been assigned to them. This means the destruction of and forcible removal from dwellings in other areas. It severely limits the possibility of economic development. People in the country or the townships are limited to jobs there unless they have passes giving them specific permission to work elsewhere.

Cycle of violence

In this harsh environment, many choose to treat others viciously. The police act without any regard to the effect of their physical treatment on people, or the families or dependents of the people they arrest. They are heartless. Sometimes they vent their frustration in vicious attacks. David Madondo’s mother is dragged half-dressed out of her home, leaving David alone and defenceless. David Madondo’s father kicks the dog to death after he comes home from jail to find that his wife has just been arrested.

Tsotsi and his gang adopt similar behaviour. It is a case of becoming one of the oppressors or being oppressed or defenceless. They are feared by other people because of their violent ways. Tsotsi shows no kindness, even to the members of his gang. Ironically, Tsotsi kicks Boston brutally, just as his father kicked the yellow bitch. He has retreated within himself and has forgotten anything about his life with his mother – about loving relationships and trust. He derives deep pleasure from seeing others suffer pain and from inspiring fear in others.

Innocence and loss of innocence

David’s mother has cosseted him. He is totally unaware of the harsh realities of the world outside the circle of his mother’s protection. When she is arrested, he has a rude awakening. Not only does he have to discover life without his mother’s love to provide security, but he does not have the basics like food and shelter. He has to learn ways of surviving. Gumboot Dhlamini is also an innocent who focuses on the positive aspects of his life. His death brings a horrifying end to his innocence.

When Tsotsi is given the baby, he becomes an innocent in part. He has only a basic idea of how to meet the baby’s needs. The time in the shop when he goes to buy milk reflects his lack of experience and knowledge. He is unable to read the fear that his arrival evokes. He is also unable to read the labels on the milk products. Subsequently, the shopkeeper is able to take advantage of him and pass off condensed milk as ideal milk to feed to a baby.

Redemption

At the start of the novel, Tsotsi is characterised by inward darkness. His actions reinforce his commitment to meeting the requirements of being the stereotyped ruthless gangster. The questions that Boston persists in asking anger him, and Tsotsi brutally attacks him. But Boston’s warning words related to his soul continue to ring in his head. The baby he is given acts as a catalyst, awakening memories that have long been suppressed. His journey of self-discovery is a troubling one, but he finds peace in his true identity and dies a redeemed man.