Mother to Mother

by

Sindiwe Magona

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Mother to Mother makes teaching easy.

Tata Character Analysis

Mandisa and Khaya’s father and Mama’s husband. Tata is a more hands-off parent than Mama, going to work during the day to support his family and interacting with his children mostly in the evenings. When Mandisa first becomes pregnant—despite not having penetrative sex with China—Tata refuses to even acknowledge her, but eventually comes to understand her surprise pregnancy is not her fault, and accepts both her and her new son, Mxolisi, back into the family.

Tata Quotes in Mother to Mother

The Mother to Mother quotes below are all either spoken by Tata or refer to Tata. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Legacy of Colonialism and Apartheid Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

Standard Six and, come year’s end, would sit for external examinations. A not insignificant step, as Mama reminded me daily: Gone is the time for playing.

Mama had high hopes for me ... for both of us, my brother and me. Our parents believed that education would free us from the slavery that was their lot as uneducated labourers.

Yes, we had our plans. But the year had its plans too; unbeknown to us, of course.

Related Characters: Mandisa (speaker), Mama, Khaya, Tata
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

There is knowledge with which I was born — or which I acquired at such an early age it is as though it was there the moment I came to know myself ... to know that I was. We sucked it from our mothers’ breasts, at the very least; inhaled it from the very air, for most.

Long before I went to school I knew when Tata had had a hard day at work. He would grumble, “Those dogs I work for!” and fuss about, and take long swigs from the bottle.

Mama’s own quarrel with bosses often came on the day when Tata got paid. For some reason, her dissatisfaction with Tata’s conditions of employment seemed to deepen on Fridays.

I remember when, one Friday, she exploded:

Sesilamba nje, beb’ umhlaba wethu abelungu! We have come thus to hunger, for white people stole our land.” […] Later, I was to hear those words with growing frequency. “White people stole our land. They stole our herds. We have no cattle today, and the people who came here without any have worlds of farms, overflowing with fattest cattle”

Related Characters: Mandisa (speaker), Mama (speaker), Tata (speaker), Makhulu
Related Symbols: The Story of Nongqawuse
Page Number: 173
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mother to Mother PDF

Tata Quotes in Mother to Mother

The Mother to Mother quotes below are all either spoken by Tata or refer to Tata. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Legacy of Colonialism and Apartheid Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

Standard Six and, come year’s end, would sit for external examinations. A not insignificant step, as Mama reminded me daily: Gone is the time for playing.

Mama had high hopes for me ... for both of us, my brother and me. Our parents believed that education would free us from the slavery that was their lot as uneducated labourers.

Yes, we had our plans. But the year had its plans too; unbeknown to us, of course.

Related Characters: Mandisa (speaker), Mama, Khaya, Tata
Page Number: 88
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

There is knowledge with which I was born — or which I acquired at such an early age it is as though it was there the moment I came to know myself ... to know that I was. We sucked it from our mothers’ breasts, at the very least; inhaled it from the very air, for most.

Long before I went to school I knew when Tata had had a hard day at work. He would grumble, “Those dogs I work for!” and fuss about, and take long swigs from the bottle.

Mama’s own quarrel with bosses often came on the day when Tata got paid. For some reason, her dissatisfaction with Tata’s conditions of employment seemed to deepen on Fridays.

I remember when, one Friday, she exploded:

Sesilamba nje, beb’ umhlaba wethu abelungu! We have come thus to hunger, for white people stole our land.” […] Later, I was to hear those words with growing frequency. “White people stole our land. They stole our herds. We have no cattle today, and the people who came here without any have worlds of farms, overflowing with fattest cattle”

Related Characters: Mandisa (speaker), Mama (speaker), Tata (speaker), Makhulu
Related Symbols: The Story of Nongqawuse
Page Number: 173
Explanation and Analysis: