In response to both Jeffrey and kind of Zach on the topic of why Paulus killed his child, I disagree that he killed it to cut ties with Thebedi. If he wanted to cut ties with her he could have done it other ways. I think Paulus just acted on his feelings too quickly. He was obviously upset and shamed of the child, but I'm upset over a lot of things and I don't kill people. This shows what apartheid did to people's emotions. If he had thought about what he wanted to do for a while longer I don't think he would have committed murder.

Initial Response

At first I couldn't believe a man could kill his own child just because of its skin color, but sometimes people kill others just because they want to. Apartheid was the reason that Paulus killed his baby, because he didn't want to ruin his (or Thebedi's) reputation or image, but I also think, as sadistic as it may be, at least he could justify it in his own brain and even to the people of his community as a valid reason. Some humans can't justify their actions at all, and human nature goes beyond laws such as apartheid sometimes. So yes, it's horrible he killed his baby, it's horrible that society told him he should kill his baby, it's horrible society made him want to kill himself, but at this time his thoughts and actions were understandable. No matter how understandable, however, killing your child--or anybody--is still a crime and was treated as such.

INITIAL RESPONSE !

I thought that this book was very sad. I couldn't believe that Paulus would kill his own baby. It really shows how ridiculous the apartheid was in the way Africans and white people interacted with each other. I think that Paulus really didn't love Thebedi because if he truly did, he wouldn't have been afraid of what the other white people think and he wouldn't have felt the need to get rid of his own baby to hid what happened between him and Thebedi. I couldn't believe that Thebedi didn't tell the judge that Paulus killed their baby. I think that she loved Paulus, but Paulus never really loved her back. He went on other dates with white girls, and only spent time with Thebedi on the weekends. I think that pretty much everything that Paulus did to Thebedi was unfair to her. She was loyal to him and only married because she was forced to. Paulus had a choice and he still went out with other girls, even though he said that he loved Thebedi.

In response to Kerstien's post, I agree with her when she brought up that Theibe could have easily been blamed for the baby. In disagreement though, we only see Theibe's side of the story, so we don't truely know how Paulus really feels about her. We can assume that he loves her, but thats mostly from the outside perspective and not his. He could have had different motives behind his relationship with Theibe and when the baby was around he didn't ever think of how she would feel when he said he wanted to die or when he questionably "killed the baby". But I still agree with her when she talked about there difference in color and the seperation it puts between them.

I disagree with Evan's statement that Thebedi killed her baby. The baby was being taken care of. It was accepted by Njabulo and he was trying to take care of the baby however he could. He never asked or accused he just accepted it. Because of this I don't think Thebedi really had any reason to kill her baby. I think Paulus did it because he wanted to fit in with the expectations. He knew that if anyone were to find out about the baby, it would not be accepted. He had the real motive.

I agree with Deanna in the Paulus killed the baby because of what other people were saying about it. I think its sad that he had to do what he did just because of the pressures from other poeple. Having a different race should not have to break up relationships and end in the killing of poeple

Country lovers

I think that this story really shows the impact that apartheid had on both the white and black people of Africa. It is a very sad story about the love that was forbidden between the whites and blacks. I do believe that the boy was guilty of killing the baby, which is one of the most sick things you can possibly do. He did have good reason to hate the baby, but he also made some really stupid mistakes and deserved what he got. In the end the boy was found not guilty, although I wish he would have been found guilty for murder.