Mother to Mother

Why do you think Magona chooses not to name Biehl in the narrative itself? On the flipside, why do you think she chooses to distill all of Biehl's killers into a single, named character? Compare and contrast the way Magona depicts Mxolisi and the student, bearing these questions in mind.

Mandisa generally comes across as a confident and honest narrator, but there are moments when she seems torn or at odds with herself; speaking of Mxolisi, for example, she says at one point, "Did I hate my son? Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! How could you hate him?" (156). What purpose do these moments serve? How do they influence our understanding of Mandisa and/or Mxolisi?

Christianity plays a complex role in the novel; it is the religion Mandisa and her family practice, but it is also a religion that was brought to South Africa alongside colonialism. Thinking about both the novel's Christian characters and its allusions to Christianity, discuss Magona's treatment of religion.