Tsotsi

Hope Set Him Free

Tsotsi’s mother was dying from HIV disease and his father was only family. Tsotsi’s father was abusive and cruel so, he ran away to live in huge abandoned pipes. He was involved in murders and robbing. Tsotis lived on survival base without goal or dreams his only concern was feeding himself. Until one night felt desperate and stole a woman’s car and ran away. As he was driving away he found shocked to find an infant in the backseat. Since that his life has changed forever.

Tsosti and his gangsters were living in Soweto slum on the edge of Johannesburg. The houses were randomly spread most of them were missing the basic utilities such as water and electricity. They look like shacks some of them made of concrete and some made of wood covered by steel board. In contrast, inside the city which is resembled any modern city with contemporary infrastructure and facilities. Johannesburg is an up to date city has big streets and buildings full of lights and mixed ethnics groups. On the other hand, the Soweto slum consists of African ethnic background only. That gives an idea about the living situation of Africans compared to the other ethnics although; apartheid was not depicted in this movie.

Tsosti was surrounded by his three gang members. They were Boston, Die Aap, and Butcher. Boston was supposed to be a teacher, but he did make it to the final test. His talk about decency and education enraged Tsosti. Die Aap was Tsosti’s friend from childhood. He always depended on Tsosti on everything and never did anything on his own. The third member is Butcher who went too far by murdering two people during the film.

The three members of the gang involved in robbing ended with murder. Boston was not happy about how things ended up and started reprimanding and questioning Tsosti about his past. The conversation took violence turns when Tsotsi started attaching Boston and beat him. After that, Tsotsi ran away, but he did not know where to go. Eventually, he sat cross from a big house when he noticed a woman struggling opening the garage. He jumped in the car and shot the woman when she was trying to stop him. As he was driving off he found that there is an infant in the backseat. After spending several minutes of hesitation he decided to take the child with him. This decision made sharp turn in his life.

Tsosti tried to take care of the child, but he couldn't. He asked the help of a single mom which was Miriam. He started to take the child to Miriam to feed him and take care of him. He saw Miriam the opposite of him. She was a responsible single mom working hard to support her child. As days went on he started having feelings for her and she returned these feelings. Moreover, he saw himself through that child and named him after his real name "David". The child refreshes Tsotsi memories and wake up the human inside him. The child was symbolic of hope in desperate days and a light in otherwise dark future.

Having the child is one of three major events that shake Tsotsi's life. The second event that contributes to the sharp turn in Tsotis's life is his conversation with the "Stolen legs man". During their conversation Tsotis asked the paralyzed man" why do you go on? When you live like a dog? The old man replied "I like to feel the sun on the street. Even with these hands I can still feel the heat. That answer brought the tears into Tostis eyes. The third event that happened to Tsotis was the love that has born recently between him and Miriam. Loving someone and knowing that she return the same feeling had great impact on Tsotsi.