Tsotsi

by

Athol Fugard

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Tsotsi makes teaching easy.
Marty runs the shebeen where Boston drank when he first began his criminal career with Johnboy Lethetwa. Marty liked that Boston had manners, and they became romantically involved. Their relationship ended, however, after Boston’s first gang job where the gang murdered someone. Boston, horrified at the murder, took out his self-hatred on Marty, and so she ended their romance. After Tsotsi beats Boston unconscious for asking too many personal questions, Boston finds his way to Marty’s shebeen, where—still badly injured—he drinks and sleeps. Marty is on the verge of kicking Boston out of her establishment when Tsotsi comes looking for him to ask about the personal changes he, Tsotsi, is undergoing. Marty at first harshly criticizes Tsotsi for beating Boston but, when Tsotsi says he just wants to talk to Boston, allows Tsotsi to take Boston away.
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Marty Character Timeline in Tsotsi

The timeline below shows where the character Marty appears in Tsotsi. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
Identity and Memory Theme Icon
Boston has been lying unconscious or drinking in a shebeen run by a woman, Marty, since Tsotsi beat him up. When Tsotsi locates Boston there, Marty is trying to rouse... (full context)
Parents and Children Theme Icon
Habit vs. Choice Theme Icon
At Marty’s shebeen, Boston meets another gang. One day, after Johnboy is arrested for the passbook business,... (full context)
Identity and Memory Theme Icon
Hatred, Sympathy, and God Theme Icon
Habit vs. Choice Theme Icon
...person who abuses alcohol “after a rough job.” Yet his good manners endear him to Marty. They strike up a friendship and then a romance, but their romance ends the first... (full context)