TOW #28 - Born A Crime (Part I)

In Trevor Noah’s autobiography titled Born A Crime, the comedian recalls his childhood and his life having grown up as the son of a white father and black mother during Apartheid in South Africa. This is where the title of the autobiography stems from, as a marriage between blacks and whites was strictly illegal at this time, technically making his birth a crime. In order to convey the struggles growing up in South Africa at this time, in the first half of his book, Noah utilizes personal anecdotes tied with informal diction.

In the opening chapters of the autobiography, Noah begins to explain the relationships and the people living around him during his early childhood. In addition to this, Noah speaks of the conditions within South Africa where he was living. He tells that “everyone in the township bought things in minute quantities because nobody had any money. You couldn’t afford to buy a dozen eggs at a time, but you could buy two eggs because that’s all you needed that morning.” (Noah 41). By including this information about the living conditions of the region where he lived, Noah reveals to the reader how difficult it was for people to survive on a daily basis. For many people living within the US today, we do not even bat an eye when we go to the grocery store to buy what we consider our essentials for the week or longer. Meanwhile, these people living within South Africa during this period could not even afford to buy eggs for more than a day.

Continuing on throughout the biography, Noah speaks to the reader in a way that seems informal. He uses short sentences with language that is not very complex, seen with “I ate like a pig. The way I ate I should have been obese.” (Noah 77). With such simple phrasing, Noah is able to tell his story to a wider array of readers as it easier for more people to read and comprehend. Another result of this informal writing is that it has a sort of friendly tone that allows the reader to connect with Noah better and ultimately be more willing to listen to and consider the struggles that he talks of.

Overall, so far I am very interested in Trevor Noah’s biography! It is ridiculous to think of all of the ways that life in this region differs from what I know and from what I grew up with. As a result, I have become more considerate of the many things that I take for granted in life. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy to read book that is definitely interesting. I cannot wait to complete the second half of this autobiography.