Petah is a member of the homeless child gang that David joins after his mother’s arrest. Petah invites David to sleep in the same pipe as him, discourages David from leaving the gang when David remembers his mother told him to stay at home and wait for her, and encourages David’s plan to pick a new name. Much later, after David has chosen the name Tsotsi and lost his childhood memories due to trauma, he sees Petah, beaten up, being dragged along by a policeman. Petah calls out to him, but Tsotsi no longer remembers who Petah is and, determined to repress his lost past, refuses to respond.
Petah Quotes in Tsotsi
The Tsotsi quotes below are all either spoken by Petah or refer to Petah. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
Petah turned to David. ‘Willie no good. You not Willie. What is your name? Talk! Trust me, man. I help you.’
David’s eyes grew round and vacant, stared at the darkness. A tiny sound, a thin squeaking voice, struggled out: ‘David…’ it said, ‘David! But no more! He dead! He dead too, like Willie, like Joji.’
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Petah Quotes in Tsotsi
The Tsotsi quotes below are all either spoken by Petah or refer to Petah. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
Petah turned to David. ‘Willie no good. You not Willie. What is your name? Talk! Trust me, man. I help you.’
David’s eyes grew round and vacant, stared at the darkness. A tiny sound, a thin squeaking voice, struggled out: ‘David…’ it said, ‘David! But no more! He dead! He dead too, like Willie, like Joji.’
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
