Born a Crime
Author: Trevor Noah
Publication: 2016
Number of pages: 304 pages
Author:
Trevor Noah recently made his debut as the new host of the Emmy® and Peabody® Award–
winning The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Noah joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
in 2014 as a contributor. He continues to tour all over the world and has performed in front of
sold out crowds at the Hammersmith Apollo in London and the Sydney Opera House in
Australia as well as many U.S. cities. He is originally from South Africa
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man
as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the
story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious
mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty,
violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
The setting of the story:
The novel is a memoir told by Trevor Noah who, as a child, lived in South Africa under the
Apartheid government (1980 – 1990). He was born in 1984 and in the novel he tells the story
about his youth, what he struggled with and how it was like, living in Apartheid.
Trevor lived in all kinds of neighborhoods in Johannesburg (eg. Soweto).
The title is born a crime, which is called this way because Trevor was born from a light
skinned man and a dark skinned woman, which was not allowed in times of Apartheid. This
is also why the dad, a Swiss, couldn’t be there in Trevor’s life very often. They could not be
seen together (it was a crime).
Narrator and point of view:
First-person narration, from the “I” perspective?
Trevor Noah really writes his story out of his perspective. Like he is writing a diary. He writes
sentences like: “my father isn’t on my birth certificate” or “I was born in Ka Ngwane”
What is the role of the narrator in the story?
The narrator is Trevor Noah and he is telling the reader his life-story. He experienced
everything he writes down, and he is the only one that could tell the story the way he does,
because he is the only one with the experience. He can tell us scenes out of his life extremely
detailed, because he is the only one who knows every single detail.
We only see his side of the story. It creates more compassion because you are only dragged
into his story, the story of a colored boy during Apartheid. We don’t see the life of a black
nor a white person.
We have access to his thoughts + emotions
Characters:
The protagonist is, of course, Trevor Noah. We can live his life by reading his novel. He takes
us with him trough everything he has been through in his life in Apartheid. His first love,
fights with his mom and stephdad, his school life. You can tell that Trevor has struggled with
loads of situations, as he was told that he was different from the other children. He was
Author: Trevor Noah
Publication: 2016
Number of pages: 304 pages
Author:
Trevor Noah recently made his debut as the new host of the Emmy® and Peabody® Award–
winning The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Noah joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
in 2014 as a contributor. He continues to tour all over the world and has performed in front of
sold out crowds at the Hammersmith Apollo in London and the Sydney Opera House in
Australia as well as many U.S. cities. He is originally from South Africa
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man
as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the
story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious
mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty,
violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
The setting of the story:
The novel is a memoir told by Trevor Noah who, as a child, lived in South Africa under the
Apartheid government (1980 – 1990). He was born in 1984 and in the novel he tells the story
about his youth, what he struggled with and how it was like, living in Apartheid.
Trevor lived in all kinds of neighborhoods in Johannesburg (eg. Soweto).
The title is born a crime, which is called this way because Trevor was born from a light
skinned man and a dark skinned woman, which was not allowed in times of Apartheid. This
is also why the dad, a Swiss, couldn’t be there in Trevor’s life very often. They could not be
seen together (it was a crime).
Narrator and point of view:
First-person narration, from the “I” perspective?
Trevor Noah really writes his story out of his perspective. Like he is writing a diary. He writes
sentences like: “my father isn’t on my birth certificate” or “I was born in Ka Ngwane”
What is the role of the narrator in the story?
The narrator is Trevor Noah and he is telling the reader his life-story. He experienced
everything he writes down, and he is the only one that could tell the story the way he does,
because he is the only one with the experience. He can tell us scenes out of his life extremely
detailed, because he is the only one who knows every single detail.
We only see his side of the story. It creates more compassion because you are only dragged
into his story, the story of a colored boy during Apartheid. We don’t see the life of a black
nor a white person.
We have access to his thoughts + emotions
Characters:
The protagonist is, of course, Trevor Noah. We can live his life by reading his novel. He takes
us with him trough everything he has been through in his life in Apartheid. His first love,
fights with his mom and stephdad, his school life. You can tell that Trevor has struggled with
loads of situations, as he was told that he was different from the other children. He was
