Born a Crime by Trevor Noah is a touching book thoroughly illustrating the hardships of growing up the Apartheid. In contribution, he describes his rough upbringing and the struggle of society, abuse, and maturing. He is born into a world where racial segregation was built into the society and government. This system kept all the racial groups at each other's necks, loathing the other. Trevor Noah however was born illegally, his mother was black, and his father was white. The punishment if caught was five years in prison. So they had to hide Trevor inside their house, whenever they left his mom would have to look and dress like the family maid to avoid suspicion. However, as the Apartheid lifted, he began to talk about the struggle of social normalities where he grew up. He describes how he grew up in a nicer part of Soweto, however, his friends brought him into their home and it became his home, the “Hood”. He talks about how being exposed to this he couldn't tell what was legal and what was not. Everyone around him broke the law, in big and small ways. An example of this was how he copied and sold pirated CDs, and how his mom (a very religious person) bought stolen food. Another key point he goes over in this book is how his stepfather Able (His mother remarried after his first father) was very abusive when he got drunk. Trevor writes about the struggles of loving someone you hate. He despises the way he treats his mother and him however he still loves him in a way. As he got older he began to understand that his mom couldn't walk away like many other women in Africa, because Able would come after her.
I thought this was a very touching book. It affected me in a very big way, giving me insight into other people's lives and what it can be like growing up with racism, abuse, and other societal struggles. I think that everyone in their mid to late teens should read this book. It just shows you the world in a new light that is so hard to even describe.
I think this book covers some very mature serious topics and is for an older audience. Future readers should know that this isn't a light-hearted book but it is very captivating, and do not be fooled by the fact that it is a biography.
Comments