The child who was shot dead...

• Comment on the reference to "the child" in the title of the poem evokes a sympathetic response. A child is vulnerable and helpless against the armed soldiers. It shows the cruelty and senselessness of this death,this child did not live long enough to realize his potential
• Dead child


  The child is not dead
• The contradiction/dichotomy


  Leaves the reader pondering: how can the child be both dead and "not dead"?
• The child


  • Symbol of innocence/hope/resistance
• None of the lives lost will be forgotten, as they are 'everywhere'</b>
• They will be remembered in history in the struggle for freedom
• The child will always be present to drive the struggle
• The child will ultimately reap the rewards of freedom by traveling 'without a pass'
• the child lifts his fists against his mother/father: 'The altered repetition reveals about the generation gap that is reflected in responding to the laws of apartheid'
• The child is unhappy with the parents' submissive attitude

  They did not fight hard enough
• The child (as a synecdoche of the youth)

  Will now take up the fight, literally
• The child seeks a quick and possibly violent solution to the end of apartheid


  As he 'lifts his fists'
• The protests of his parents would have been more peaceful


  As previous generations who are shouting 'Afrika' campaigned against apartheid in this way
• The youth is filled with rage


  At the apartheid world they are forced to inhabit
• The legacy of previous generations


  Who 'allowed' matters to reach this intolerable point
• Active resistance


  The child lifting his fists
• Passive resistance


  The protests of previous generations shouting 'Afrika'
• Image of the mother


  • Refers to pain and suffering - they "scream" and their screams of anguish are heard far and wide
• Image of the father


  • Refers to warriors and pride, "justice and blood" - the call to arms to regain their lost pride
• Comment on the effect of the denials in the third stanza


  The frequent use of denials and negatives emphasizes just how frequently these events occurred during those brutal years in the fight for freedom. The reader understands that there are innocent victims in all these places,and the denials,indicative of officialdom come across as blatant lies
• Critically comment how the imagery used in lines 20-23 contributes to the mood


  The child playing in the sun creates a carefree mood without the violence of 'bullets' and 'rifles' and 'batons'. 'Treks' and 'travels' suggest freedom and no more restrictions and confinements of 'pass' laws. The image of a 'giant' show that the child is now grown and has embraced his potential. This contributes to a mood of hope, optimism and confidence
• her features; to
• Eng - her voice.
• theme of her imper
• e does not fit the m
• is real)
• ne in lines 1-12 an
• an effective shift ir
• sardonic, sarcastic
• • he states very c
• "PITE her imperfec
• e of "by heaven" ir