Category 1: Trevor’s Childhood & Family
Q: Who are Trevor’s parents, and why was their relationship illegal?
A: Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah (Black Xhosa) and Robert (White Swiss); interracial relationships were illegal under apartheid.
Q: What makes Patricia different from most women of her time and culture?
A: She’s independent, questions authority, and refuses to accept traditional gender roles
Q: What was apartheid?
A: A system of racial segregation and control in South Africa from 1948–1994.
Q: What languages does Trevor learn to speak growing up?
A: English, Xhosa, Zulu, and a few others depending on who he’s with.
Q: What theme is introduced through Trevor’s birth story?
A: Defiance — existing as an act of rebellion against unjust laws.
Q: How does Patricia protect Trevor from being taken by the police when he’s a baby?
A: She pretends she doesn’t know him in public so they aren’t seen as a mixed-race family.
Q: Why does Patricia decide to have a child with a white man despite the risks?
A: She wants a child for herself — as an act of faith, defiance, and love.
Q: How did apartheid laws affect where people could live and work?
A: They were divided by race — Black, White, Coloured, Indian — with separate neighborhoods and schools.
Q: Why is speaking multiple languages so important in South Africa?
A: It connects you to different groups and builds trust across racial lines.
Q: What role does humor play in Trevor’s early life?
A: It helps him cope with fear, poverty, and being an outsider.
Q: How does Trevor describe being mixed in a society divided by race?
A: He doesn’t fit anywhere — not white enough for whites, not black enough for blacks.
Q: How does Patricia use religion in her life?
A: She relies on faith to guide her decisions, even when they’re dangerous or rebellious.
Q: Why does Trevor say he “didn’t belong anywhere”?
A: Because he wasn’t accepted as fully part of any racial group.
Q: How does Trevor use language to “belong” to different groups? What is this called when you have to change identities around certain people to fit in or be accepted?
A: He changes how he speaks to match the people around him — code-switching.
Q: What does Trevor learn about love from his mother?
A: That love can be tough, sacrificial, and deeply protective.
Q: What does Trevor’s relationship with his mother teach him about independence?
A: She raises him to think for himself, question authority, and find humor in hardship.
Q: What lesson does she teach Trevor about questioning the world around him?
A: To think critically — to believe in God but also to ask “why” and “how.”
Q: How does Trevor’s family break apartheid’s rules even in small ways?
A: By living in mixed neighborhoods, hiding Trevor’s identity, and refusing to be defined by race.
Q: What lesson does Trevor learn when people treat him better after he speaks their language?
A: That language can break down prejudice more effectively than looks or status.
Q: What lesson does Trevor learn from being kept indoors as a child?
A: That freedom is something you have to earn and protect — it’s never guaranteed.
Q: How does Trevor describe his connection to his father?
A: They’re close when he’s little, but apartheid and later separation make their relationship distant.
Q: How does Patricia balance discipline and freedom in raising Trevor?
A: She’s strict about values but gives him space to explore and make mistakes, showing trust.
Q: What contradiction about apartheid does Trevor begin to notice as a child?
A: That race is treated as a strict category, but it’s really just a social invention people made up.
Q: How does Trevor’s ability to speak many languages represent survival and identity?
A: It shows how he adapts, connects, and creates belonging in a divided world.
Q: What does the story of Trevor’s birth and early life reveal about resilience?
A: Even under oppression, people can find strength, laughter, and meaning.