An abandoned bundle

AN ABANDONED BUNDLE

MBUYISENI OSWALD MTSHALI

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: POET

• Mtshali was born on 17 January 1940 in Vryheid, South Africa. He has written in both Zulu and English.

• Mtshali’s poetry reflects his harsh experiences under the apartheid regime.

• He observes bitterly the crowded trains, the slum housing, and the harsh working conditions that make up the lives of black Africans in South Africa.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: LOCATION

• Soweto came to the world's attention on June 16, 1976 with the Soweto Riots, when protests erupted over the government's policy to enforce education in Afrikaans.

• Police opened fire in Orlando West on 10,000 students

marching from Naledi High School to Orlando Stadium, and in the events that unfolded, 566 people died.

• White City Jabavu is a suburb of SOWETO in Johannesburg. It was created in 1948 and named after Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu (1885-1959). He was an educator and author.

SOWETO:South Western Township

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE POEM:

• The poet describes the horrific conditions of living in White City Jabavu.

• Almost as a metaphor of what life is like there, he sees a group of dogs ripping apart the body of a baby who had been abandoned by its mother.

• In the meantime, the baby’s mother continues with her life with no regrets or sadness…

STANZA 1: LINES 1 -6

The morning mist and chimney smokeof White City Jabavuflowed thick yellowas pus oozingfrom a gigantic sore.

GRAPHIC IMAGERY: METAPHORSmoke = thick, yellow pus.Graphic Imagery: Simile

•The suburb is compared to a sore on a diseased person’s body.•The sore is infected and oozing pus – as the neighbourhood oozes smoke.

•The ‘body’ can be either Soweto or South Africa and the ‘sore’ is Jabavu.•The purpose of the image is to create the image of Jabavu being run-down, there is rubbish lying everywhere and everything is polluted and unsanitary.

* The neighbourhood is polluted.

Also could be a metaphor for the people living there – their lives are also ‘infected’ by the realities of apartheid.

TYPICAL TOWNSHIP SCENARIO

STANZA 2: LINES 7 – 8

It smothered our little houseslike fish caught in a net.

The image used here is PERSONIFICATION.

IT = the smog.

Given the human quality of consciously smothering another living being.

SIMILE:Emphasising the number of houses squashed together like many fish in a net.

Also, the idea of smothering links to the oppression these people were under and the fact they were trapped (caught in a net).

HOUSES IN SOWETO

STANZA 3: LINES 9 - 12

Scavenging dogsdraped in red bandanas of bloodfought fiercelyfor a squirming bundle.

Scavenging: indicates a situation of hunger, homelessness and extreme poverty

Also could serve as a metaphor of the savage lives the people are living in Jabavu.

The dogs have been tearing the baby apart and their heads covered with its blood – they are ‘wearing’ the baby’s blood.

Bandanas – large coloured handkerchief.

ALLITERATION

‘f’ sound creates the impression of fierceness, determination and resolution.

Indicates that the baby IS STILL ALIVE.

STANZA 4: LINES 13 - 18

I threw a brick;they bared fangsflicked velvet tongues of scarlet and scurried away,leaving a mutilated corpse-an infant dumped on a rubbish heap-

FANGS: Indicates savagery and horror – emphasising the repulsive behaviour of the dogs.The dogs are extremely aggressive.

METAPHOR: The dogs tongues are compared to velvet - a very rich, smooth material… direct contrast with the horror of the situation. Scarlet = (red) their tongues are stained with blood.

MUTILATED: The baby’s body has been virtually torn apart and is now certainly dead (CORPSE)

Parenthesis: indicates an afterthought.

The baby is meaningless in the greater struggle for life

STANZA 4: LINES 19 - 21

‘Oh! Baby in the Mangersleep wellon human dung.’

A reference to the baby Jesus, who was also born in a manger. However, this baby’s manger is a rubbish heap consisting of human excrement.

The dump serves to emphasise the horrific physical and emotional conditions the people live under and the fact that SA was no place for the innocent.

This link to Christianity could be an ironic comment: the Apartheid government was extremely firm in their religious beliefs – how then could they allow such terrible things to occur in their country?

STANZA 5: LINES 22 - 25

Its motherhad melted into the rays of the rising sun,her face glittering with innocenceher heart as pure as untrampled dew.

This baby is so ‘insignificant’ that we do not even know its gender.

Disappeared without a trace

The sun’s light is normally associated with truth/ openness/ joy.Unexpected in this situation.

This woman carries on as normal – her life will not change.

THE PARADOX IN STANZA 5• This situation is so horrendous and most people will

feel shock and disgust after such an occurrence – yet the mother’s reaction is unexpected…

• HER BABY has just been TORN APART by dogs because SHE LEFT HER CHILD on a RUBBISH HEAP to face the elements alone…. BUT she feels no shame or guilt at what she has done.

• She does not want the child and having abandoned it – she proceeds into the sunlight with a clear conscience – her life will be unaffected.

PARADOXICAL REACTION:HORRIFIC EVENT INVOLVING THE DOGS

ATTACKING A BABYA CALM, RELAXED AND ‘INNOCENT’ MOTHER

AN OVERVIEW OF IMAGERY

• While it is possible to see the poem as a graphic description of an actual event, one can also consider it to be a metaphor of the social condition in South Africa.

• The woman can be considered a metaphor of South Africa; she gave birth to an unwanted child who she abandoned.

• This could refer metaphorically to the Black people who were also abandoned to face a terrible future.

• The savage dogs could then be interpreted as the police – often looking for a reason to attack the non-white population.

Scavenging dogs fought fiercelyfor a squirming bundle…