• Tsotsi Character Analysis Theory
• Tsotsi Character Analysis Graphic Organizer

Tsotsi is a film that features a number of characters that one way or another represent aspects of THE MOTHER figure. As you watch the film consider the ways in which Motherhood is represented. A supportive character who lives near Tsotsi in the slum. Tsotsi's real name. The police investigator within the film. Gumboot Dlamini. The rich man who got attacked by Tsotsi's gang on the train.; Subjects. Arts and Humanities. How strange, a movie where a bad man becomes better, instead of the other way around. 'Tsotsi,' a film of deep emotional power, considers a young killer whose cold eyes show no emotion, who kills unthinkingly, and who is transformed by the helplessness of a baby. He didn't mean to kidnap the baby, but now that he has it, it looks at him with trust and need, and he is powerless before eyes more. Tsotsi wonʼt let Butcher kill the father - Aap asks if all the wines are different – tries one and then says he prefers beer - Tsotsi sees the home that David will grow up in - shoots Butcher before he can kill the father, John Dude - Must choose between keeping the baby for himself or returning it to his parents.

Symbols

City- represents the labyrinth of his mind. He is confused about what he is feeling. His feeling of being lost in the literal sense is relatable to the metaphorical idea he is lost physiologically.

Miriam- represents Mary, Tsotsi seeking forgiveness. He comes to Miriam who is portray as Mary, she is a character who can forgive him for his actions.

Isaiah- represents a link to God, and his way of speaking to him about redeeming himself. He is yet another character with an aspect of Christianity.

Garden- rebirth or change in Tsotsi. A new beginning, this is an archetype in much literature for a birth. In this case this means his birth as the new Tsotsi-David.

River- symbolizes his gaining of knowledge or cleansing, the way he changes as a character.

Motif

Light represents truth purity and innocence. This is why Tsotsi chooses to act in the dark. It suits him as he can mask his feelings behind the darkness and he doesn’t have to deal with the truth. Darkness represents sin and fear.

10 quotations

Pg. 202 “There were light in those eyes. Where there had been darkness there was something like light.” His change as a character

PG. 105 “And from the darkness of a doorway he watched the cripple enter the Bantu Eating house” always acts in darkness

Tsotsi Character Analysis Theory

Pg. 188 He had lit a candle on first entering the room and by its willowy light and perspective of a few feet he now saw all there was of Boston” exposes the truth

Pg 213 “[Tsotsi] leaning against the lamp post” finally comes to terms with his feelings

Pg. 106 “What is sympathy? If you had asked Tsotsi this, telling him that it was his new experience, he would have answered: like light, meaning that it revealed. He might have thought of darkness and lighting a candle and holding it up to find Morris Tshabalala within the halo of its radiance.”

Pg 107 “where the light ended things weren’t so clear anymore”

Pg 31 “ Tsotsi left the lamp-post and slipped into the darkness.” He is more comfortable in the dark, unable to be detected

Pg 34 “When he thought of himself inwardly, Tsotsi thought of darkness. Something like the midnight hour, only more obscure.” He is more comfortable in dark as he views himself as a dark entity relates himself to it. Avoids feeling and emotion.

Pg 88 “Where there is light and people I am safe.”

Pg. 95 “To reach the next light Morris Tshabalala had to crawl through a stretch of darkness. It seemed endless.” Darkness brings fear

Pg. 36 “His second rule which operated from then on through every other moment of the day was never to disturb his inward darkness with the light of a thought about himself or an attempt at a memory.”

The light symbolizes purity and all that is true. The dark symbolizes exactly the opposite. The evil and bad things in life.

The film Tsotsi, directed by simply Gavin Bonnet, portrays just how an individual’s childhood and experiences effect the individual’s psychological development in his struggle for payoff. The narrative centers in Tsotsi, whose name when translated, virtually means “thug”- a moniker he offers accumulated through his atrocity as team leader. The opening picture of the film establishes a very good sense of direction for the story – a glimpse of a person rolling dice is shown, drawing attention to the archetype of the cube representing chance and having no control over what will happen. This reveals the context that Tsotsi’s life is more clearly influenced by outside makes, rather than his own cost-free will.

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Next scene, Tsotsi is presented on display screen wearing a leather jacket – the same 1 he is viewed wearing intended for the entirety of the film with the exception of the ending, credit reporting that what viewers find during that time is only a great exterior, securely hiding his true identity that was created by his childhood and experiences. Increasing awareness about the major exterior forces that influence the development of Tsotsi’s persona in the past as well as the present are crucial in understanding the reason for his seemingly cold-hearted outdoor. Tsotsi’s persona is tremendously developed by his interactions with his friends and family.

His childhood devoid of his parents has a significant effect on him, allowing him to be trained neither proper morals, nor how to react with others. After their brutal killing of a gentleman, Boston preaches Tsotsi, including him declaring, “Jesus, Tsotsi. A dog?

Think about a dog” (Hood, 2005). The didactic tirade sets off a stream of muffled emotions in Tsotsi, whom beats up Boston. After this incident, Tsotsi runs via his good friends, and more notably, himself.

The frenzied appearance revealed inside the close up taken of his face not only expresses his id that caused the incident, but also clearly expresses his disappointment in himself acting the same way towards Boston, as his dad needed to their dog when Tsotsi was youthful. “Get out I stated! Out darn it! Out you fucking dog” (Hood, 2005). This metaphorical portrayal of Boston as a doggie reveals Tsotsi’s lack values throughout his childhood.

Bonnet uses meaningful pathetic argument to represent the view that viewers really should have on Tsotsi. The extended shot focuses on his insignificant effect in the controlling outside the house forces, and lighting lights up the skies, while Tsotsi is still remaining in darkness; symbolizing his darker exterior. In addition to being strong affects that have brought on Tsotsi to become who he is, his close friends also help him in his path to atonement.

Tsotsi searches for redemption against such poverty-induced inhumanity in a place that seems to provide no chance of doing so. Nevertheless , such substitute, namely “decency” makes a great appearance within an instructive way, digging right through to Tsotsi’s superego, as Sigmund Freud would suggest. Boston or “Teacher Youngster, ” who, true to his nickname, is a only gang member nonetheless possessing notion, castigates Tsotsi for his wrongdoings, “Decency Tsotsi – Decency – Do you know the word” (Hood, 2005). Viewers find glimpses of decency as described simply by Boston – making a living in a manner that makes you highly regarded – in Tsotsi as the film progresses, together with his character.

This can be seen when ever Tsotsi compensates a final visit to Boston and leaves his gun with him – a symbolism of him finally disclosing his authentic identity without armor. In addition , Tsotsi locations Butcher, a personality with which he had a large number of similarities with at the start with the narrative, revealing that he no longer shares those commonalities with him. Therefore , Bonnets use of outside forces additional develops Tsotsi’s character.

Furthermore, Tsotsi shop lifts a baby in his attempt to rob a car coming from Pumla. At this moment, the crucial question stands: Can a tiny baby get a cold-hearted thug? Evidently, the baby performs a major part in Tsotsi’s development like a dynamic persona in his path to redemption. Tsotsi becomes entertained with taking care of the baby because his path out of his odious life.

To implement a psychological relationship to Tsotsi’s repressed mankind, Hood uses sentimental flashbacks. Tsotsi’s participation with bande is explained by Tsotsi’s harsh father who have restricts him from viewing his sick mother. “You…stay away from your mother” (Hood, 2005). The infant serves as a representation of what Tsotsi has dropped; revealed when he visits the baby’s room, and realizes what he has stripped from the baby.

As the film advances, Tsotsi builds up a strong love towards Miriam, a female physique that he associates together with his own mother, and therefore explains to Miriam the baby’s name is ‘David, ‘ the name he himself was handed by his own mom. This is also revealed when Boston says, “Everyone has a identity. A real be derived from him mother” (Hood, 2005).

Miriam reveals the Oedipal Complex at work in the film as Tsotsi revives memories of his mother’s estime. The ‘decency, ‘ that Boston consistently mentions, is definitely finally showed be seen in Tsotsi when he finally hands the baby to its father and mother. However , his reluctance to leave the baby get symbolizes his fear in forgetting his past experiences and starting over, evidently emphasized by depressing music, meant to pull at the viewer’s heart-strings, in contrast to the hopeful music played out throughout the remaining portion of the film.

At the end from the film, Tsotsi’s surrendering to the police verifies that he can no longer seen as a ruthless great, but as a male with decency. In doing therefore , Hood offers readers a connection with Tsotsi, along with a clear insight of his fight to redeem him self in a inappropriate world with little direction from his childhood and past encounters.

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