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Official Identity vs. Personal Identity
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sizwe Bansi Is Dead suggests that there are two kinds of acting. The first kind of acting tries to deceive its audience into believing it isn’t acting, just reality. The second kind of acting, however, draws attention to its own artificiality and thus reminds its audience what reality is. At various points in the play, all the major characters act to deceive some audience. When Styles, an ambitious Black South African man, works in an automobile factory, his white boss Bradley demands that Styles and the other Black workers act happy during the factory owner’s visit, even though the factory is dirty and dangerous. Bradley orders Styles to translate his orders to the other workers, and Styles uses this opportunity to mock Bradley while pretending to translate faithfully. In the same vein, when unemployed Black father Sizwe Bansi steals a dead man’s passbook, an identity document that will give him the right to work and thus help him support his family, he and his acquaintance Buntu rehearse different scenarios in which Sizwe will have to pretend to be the dead man; this acting prepares Sizwe to deceive people, especially police officers.
While the play’s characters use acting to deceive each other, they also use acting as a tool to draw the audience’s attention to the artificiality and fictionality of the play. Styles, Sizwe, and Buntu all talk directly to the audience, “breaking the fourth wall.” At one point, frustrated by the apartheid laws that prevent him from supporting his wife and children, Sizwe even asks a woman in the audience how many children the man beside her has and whether he’s a real man. At other points, Sizwe and Buntu mention the names of the actors who portrayed them in the original performance (Winston Ntshona and John Kani) and the first name of the playwright (Athol). By constantly pointing out that the characters are actually actors who occupy the same reality as the audience, the play reminds the audience that the apartheid laws and racial injustice the play represents are real too. Thus, the play uses the artificiality of acting to highlight the reality of oppressive white supremacy in apartheid South Africa.
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Acting and Truth ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Acting and Truth appears in each chapter of Sizwe Bansi Is Dead. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Sizwe Bansi Is Dead
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Acting and Truth Quotes in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead
Below you will find the important quotes in Sizwe Bansi Is Dead related to the theme of Acting and Truth.
Sizwe Bansi Is Dead Quotes
STYLES: I worked at Ford one time. We used to read in the newspaper . . . big headlines! . . . ‘So and so from America made a big speech: “. . . going to see to it that the conditions of their non-white workers in Southern Africa were substantially improved.”’ The talk ended in the bloody newspaper. Never in the pay packet.
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While reading the newspaper, the young photographer Styles has come upon a headline announcing a new automobile factory opening in South Africa. Talking directly to the audience, Styles explains why the news annoys him: money invested in South African factories never trickles down to “non-white” South African workers. This quotation establishes three things about Styles. First, although Styles lives in apartheid South Africa where Black people are legally discriminated against, he sees “improv[ing]” the “conditions” in which Black South Africans work and live not only as a matter of changing laws or media attitudes, subjects for “the bloody newspaper,” but Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusa
STYLES: ‘Gentlemen, he says that when the door opens and his grandmother walks in you must see to it that you are wearing a mask of smiles. Hide your true feelings, brothers. You must sing. The joyous songs of the days of old before we had fools like this one next to me to worry about.’ [To Bradley.] ‘Yes, sir!’
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Styles is recounting how Bradley, his racist white boss at the Ford factory, demanded Styles translate a speech for the Black workers into an indigenous African language. When Bradley demanded that the Black workers sing and look happy during the company owner Henry Ford the Second’s visit, Styles informed the workers they had to conceal their “true feelings” in a language Bradley didn’t understand and pretended to Bradley he was translating his words exactly. This passage illustrates how economic inequality between white and Black South Africans under apartheid infringed on Black workers’ personal identities and forced them to play-act for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis.
STYLES: This is a strong-room of dreams. The dreamers? My people. The simple people, who you never find mentioned in the history books, who never get statutes erected to them, or monuments commemorating their great deeds. People who would be forgotten, and their dreams with them, if it wasn’t for Styles. That’s what I do, friends. Put down, in my way, on paper the dreams and hopes of my people so that even their children’s children will remember a man . . .
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Speaking directly to the audience, whom he calls “friends,” Styles explains his vision for the photography studio he opened after he quit the Ford factory. A “strong-room” is a safe place, usually fireproof, used to store valuable items. When Styles says that his studio is a “strong-room of dreams,” then, he’s claiming both that his studio protects people’s dreams and that dreams are inherently valuable. Styles contrasts the “simple people” he photographs with people who get “statues” and “monuments” dedicated to them; thus Styles is implicitly also contrasting the photographs he takes with official memorials and documents like the newspapers Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum
STYLES: You must understand one thing. We own nothing except ourselves. This world and its laws, allows us nothing, except ourselves. There is nothing we can leave behind when we die, except the memory of ourselves.
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Styles has just finished a story about a grandfather who brought his 27-person extended family to Styles’s studio to fulfill a dream of a long-time family portrait but died before Styles developed the photos. He then tells the audience, whom he addresses as “you,” what he believes the moral of this story to be: “We own nothing but ourselves.” How to interpret this quotation depends on what Styles means by “we” and “you.” By “we” he may mean Black South Africans. In that case, when he says that “this world and its laws” prevent “us” from owning anything “except ourselves,” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellend
[Our man is amiably drunk. He addresses the audience.]
MAN: Do you know who I am, friend? Take my hand, friend. Take my hand. I am Mister Bansi, friend. Do you know where I come from? I come from Sky’s place, friend. A most wonderful place. I met everybody there, good people. I’ve been drinking, my friends—brandy, wine, beer . . . Don’t you want to go in there, good people? Let’s all go to Sky’s place.
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Sizwe is drunk outside an illegal township bar serving alcohol without a license to Black South Africans. He addresses the audience directly and invites them to come inside with him. This passage both reveals Sizwe’s unhappiness with his official identity and suggests a different kind of social organization to the audience than the oppressive, racist, hierarchical apartheid culture represented in the play. Sizwe’s passbook contains his hometown (King William’s Town) and his full name. Here, happily drunk, he rejects the hometown that official government documents like the passbook impose on him and adopts a new one, claiming, “I come from Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto volu
MAN: [Turning away from Buntu to the audience.]
What’s happening in this world, good people? Who cares for who in this world? Who wants who?
Who wants me, friend? What’s wrong with me? I’m a man. I’ve got eyes to see. I’ve got ears to listen when people talk. I’ve got a head to think good things. What’s wrong with me?
[Starts to tear off his clothes.]
Look at me! I’m a man. I’ve got legs. I can run with a wheelbarrow full of cement! I’m strong! I’m a man. Look! I’ve got a wife. I’ve got four children. How many has he made, lady? [The man sitting next to her.] Is he a man? What has he got that I haven’t . . . .?
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Buntu has been trying to convince Sizwe to flee the murder scene, abandoning the dead man’s body. Sizwe asks Buntu whether Buntu would abandon Sizwe’s corpse under similar circumstances and then, turning to the audience, demands to know what’s wrong with the world. In this monologue, delivered directly to the audience, Sizwe challenges them to consider their own personal and official identities and whether they are meaningfully different from Sizwe’s. Sizwe tries to be friendly and respectful toward the audience, calling them “good people,” “friend,” and (when addressing a female audience member) “lady.” Yet at the same time he insists Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspi
MAN: [handing it over]. Take it, Buntu. Take this book and read it carefully, friend, and tell me what it says about me. Buntu, does that book tell you I’m a man?
[Buntu studies the two books. Sizwe turns back to the audience.]
That bloody book . . . ! People, do you know? No! Wherever you go . . . it’s that bloody book. You go to school, it goes too. Go to work, it goes too. Go to church and pray and sing lovely hymns, it sits there with you. Go to hospital to die, it lies there too!
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Buntu has recovered the dead man’s passbook and asked to see Sizwe’s passbook too, without, however, explaining why he wants both. After Sizwe hands over the passbook, his subsequent comments to Buntu and to the audience demonstrate how oppressive he finds the passbook, which imposes official identities on Black South Africans that undermine both their human dignity and their individual dreams. When Sizwe hands over the passbook, he asks Buntu, “does that book tell you I’m a man?” Clearly, the question is rhetorical: Sizwe is pointing out that while the passbook contains official identifying information about him, it’s a tool Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesent
BUNTU [angry]. All right! Robert, John, Athol, Winston . . . Shit on names, man! To hell with them if in exchange you can get a piece of bread for your stomach and a blanket in winter.
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After Sizwe has agreed to assume the dead man Robert Zwelinzima’s identity, Buntu calls him “Sizwe” in conversation and Sizwe reminds Buntu to call him Robert. The quotation above, Buntu’s response, once again breaks the fourth wall to confront the play’s audience with questions about personal identity and economic security. The names Buntu lists aren’t random. “Robert” is the first name of the dead man whose passbook Buntu and Sizwe found, while “Athol” is the first name of the white South African playwright who wrote Sizwe Bansi Is Dead (Athol Fugard), and “John” and “Winston” are the first names of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste eni
