Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams: Summary and Marxist Analysis of Chapters 1–4

Peter Abraham’s “Mine Boy” is a bold fusion of marxism, racial, and colour segregation, set against the backdrop of the Apartheid South Africa. Written in 1946, the era when the situation in South Africa is deplorable, as racial segregation dominates the entire country, leaving no breathing room for the coloured and the blacks. Peter Abraham portrays the situation, using a vivid imagery of the Apartheid South Africa, through the protagonist (Xuma), who serves as the link at which the depressing story of the blacks unfolds. Beneath it being the first modern Novel of Black South Africa, the novel also addresses deep concerns about the racial, class and colour segragation through the usage of different sceneries of oppression and tyranny over the coloured and blacks. These acts by Peter Abraham earns this novel the title of a “Marxist Novel”. This Project, shall try to give a clear summary of Chapter one to four, highlighting the forms of marxism and racial segregation that exists in those chapters, and later drawing a conclusion at the end to sum up those chapters and their darksides.

The opening chapter of “Mine Boy” shows the innocence and the optimistic scenery of Xuma, who is from the north (The place of mass economic depression and grim). Xuma arrives at Johannesburg at night, the place he expects to be full with economic upliftment and where he plans to work at the gold mine. He arrives at Malay Camp, the slum area of Johannesburg, where he meets Leah, an illicit beer seller, and he asks her. ”Do you know a place where a man can rest and maybe have a drink?” stating clearly he has no money.

Leah shines a torch to assess him, and the contents she finds on him portrays him as a wretched and improverished man who left the north with nothing but his “Old Tennis shoes, kept together by the string and wire, with his toes peeping out in spite of the strings and wire. The dusty and colourless old trousers, that are ripped at both knees and also tight. The tight and tattered shirt seeming to cling fearfully to his broad chest.”

In spite of him looking homeless, Leah invites him in. Where he meets four other persons (Ma Plank, an old woman and Leah’s helper at the shop, Daddy, Dladla and Joseph). Ma Plank offered him food as Leah introduced the other persons or rather drunkards. Dladla is said to be a young man, who fantasises himself as a strong man and he swings a knife, he is also referred to as Leah’s Plaything, as said by Leah “A woman gets lonely for a plaything”. Daddy is a full time drunkard who Xuma has always met sleeping. While Joseph is the brother of Leah’s convicted partner, convicted for killing a man who tried to kiss Leah. Joseph sees Xuma as a threat, suggesting that he might be a police, but Leah denies him the thought with a creasing smile.

Xuma says he came to Johannesburg intending to work in the mines. Leah warns him against it, accrediting his strength, but the mines needs more than strength. If he works in the mines as a strong man that he is, later he will cough up blood, grow thin and ready to die. She told him to work for her instead, he could use his strength to help with some manpower and he can pay up the debt of her giving him shelter and food, saving him from the harsh street of Malay Camp. She added that the job pays but if he tries to cheat her, she will cut him up with no regard.

Xuma, not understanding Leah’s kindness, envisioned that she wants something, perhaps use him also as a plaything just like “Dladla”. And he calls them a “strange group of people”. Night encroaches on his weary mind and body and he sleeps in the room Leah gives him.

The Second chapter, opens with Xuma unknowingly alone in the entire house but he is later occupied by a bee that plans to sting him, he escapes the bee shutting it in. Later did he realise that he is all alone and all he could hear was the ticking and tocking of the clock. He exits the house, then voices starts flowing through the air. He sees Daddy dancing the war dance and chanting ancient battle cries. He soared through the crowd and found two coloured woman(Lena and Fat Liz) on the ground battling each other.

The fight was a rather abrupt one as Lena hits Fat Liz on the head with her shoe, and blood gushes out and the crowd goes on a loud roar. Daddy enjoys the red (blood) scenery from the gutter where he was rolling. Leah comes in to separate the fight and it was a successful separation, as she challenges everyone saying ”If anyone, man or woman, wants to fight or see a fight in front of my house, I am here, come and fight me ”. The crowd clears hearing her charge of challenge.

After the fight and the crowd breaks up, Leah tended to the wounds of Lena, who is called the “thin one” in the book, she also urged the fat one which is Fat Liz to wash the blood off her head.

Xuma starts to reminice the good that Leah shows him and the idea that she likes him crosses his mind, because like he says, “she is hard and people fear her and for me she cooks for me“. He mistakes sympathy for love or affection. Leah clarifies that she does not like him to take him to bed but she likes him because his people and her people are the same. She states that she is from the south but the people from the North and South are all the same, for they have the same tribal laws and customs.

Daddy was called to give a brief story about the customs and the city, Unusually, he was serious while giving his story, dropping his whimsical side. Daddy says the customs give beautiful young women to the city and he never said, “No thank you”, neither did it say “thank you”. And the city took beer from the customs and they will be jailed if they drink beer. Then, he went back to sleep.

Joseph arrives, and Leah gives him instructions on a particular job and Xuma accompanies Joseph on the job. It is Saturday, and the streets of Johannesburg is filled with people with money to spend. There are also strong men, who come to the social center to have a show of strength where some fights one another until one is standing, and few dies in the fights. Gambling and watching of the fights happen at the veranda.

Colourfully dressed men and women pick themselves in pairs and they drink and sleep together. These acts are done in Malay Camp, giving the blacks and coloured a break from their normal life of oppression, and a means to spend the money accumulated over the week through intense hardwork and cruel lifestyle, on themselves. The merry goes on until the police shows up to raid everyone on the streets.

People ran in all directions, escaping the claws of the police. Despite Joseph urging Xuma to run, he neglects his call, thinking he has done nothing wrong. Then he waited on the streets, glaring at the policeman, who walks up to him with a stern look. The Policeman closed in on him and he lands his stick, intending to hit his head but missed, hitting his shoulder. “I have done nothing” he said, grabbing the policeman.

Xuma hits the policeman hard and heads down the streets away from the encroaching policemen that pursues him. A coloured man steps in to save him but he follows carefully, for he had fears that the coloured man will hand him over to the police. Another Coloured man or rather “Half- Castes” in Xuma words jumps in, giving Xuma a great scare. Unexpectedly, the second coloured man knocked down the other one, and ran down the street waving to Xuma.

Xuma followed him as they manouvered through different narrow and thin places, till they got to the house of the Coloured man, and he locks the door. His wife comes out, surprising to Xuma she was black. Xuma is called a good fool for knocking down the policeman, and it was apparent that he was new to the city.

Xuma in a hurry to head out, was stopped by the man, telling him it wasn’t safe and they will be looking for him, urging him to “Wait a little longer”.

The Third chapter opens with xuma trying to find Leah’s place at twilight, the streets and the verandas all the same but he still couldn’t locate the house. He tried to ask for directions but he was sent away. Then he ran into Daddy, who was desperate to get away, as he shouts “Help! Help! They are robbing me”. He later got Daddy to his senses, asking where Leah’s place is but Daddy replies negatively. He struggles to get directions from Daddy, then Daddy gives in telling Xuma to buy him a drink and he will give him the directions.

Xuma accepts the offer and Daddy takes him to Leah’s place where he saw Joseph and the usual reeking of alcohol, from the place. Joseph and Leah were pleased to see that Xuma escaped the Police. Leah would like to speak to Xuma but all the rooms are taken. They went on a walk, where a black policeman on a bicycle tells Leah that the Police are coming to raid the place and dig up all the beer(for it was illegal for blacks to sell or drink beer). She bribes him, five one- pound notes. Back home, Leah introduces Xuma to her niece Eliza who happens to be a beautiful young teacher whom Leah has taken in since the death of her sister (Eliza’s Mother) and she sent her to school. Xuma admires her beauty as she rubs ointment on the injury where the policeman hit him with the stick.

The conversation and treatment went on and Xuma continues to admire her beauty. Eliza questions him of how things were in the north and if he has any family, and it is made clear that he has a father, a brother and a sister back at the North. Unfortunately, the conversation was cut short by Leah, who saw right on that Xuma has affections for her niece Eliza. After Eliza tended to his injuries she lit two cigarettes, one for him and the other for her. Xuma in awe, for he has only seen white women smoke cigarettes. This act by Eliza serve as a foreshadow for the encroaching conflict that exists between herself and her nature(Man V Nature conflict), for she always want to be a white and denies her true black nature.

They went on a walk and the sight of a large heap of white sand overwhelms Xuma, and he asks where they were from. Eliza explains that the sand was dug from the gold mine by black miners in search of gold. This sight of the “mountain of white sand” shows the darkside of the Apartheid South Africa in which the black men go through all the work by mining or other strenuous jobs, to serve the easy going white, who does nothing but live a comfortable lifestyle. The black men search for gold that is not yet found, accumulating a great deal of white sand that does not show how far they have worked.

Xuma’s sight leaves the white sand and it is now fixated on Eliza. And he keeps on pestering her, reminding her of her beauty, finally he asks if she does not like him, but he is left with no answer. Back home, Xuma was approached by a hard- faced coloured woman saying “Buy me a drink daddy and then we can go to sleep”. Xuma, leaving the coloured woman goes into the yard. He is attacked by Dladla (The man of fantasies), brandishing a knife as he shouts “That’s for stealing my woman”.The knife cuts Xuma in the neck and Lena gives him a club for defense. Leah handles Dladla and Xuma handles the other knife user.

Johannes. P. Williamson fights the other who made a run for the gate. Leah introduces Xuma to Johannes, highlighting that he will help him for he works in the mines. Leah also tells Xuma that Eliza likes him but “she is a fool, for she likes one who can read books and dress like white folks and also speak the language of the whites”. She urges him to take her by force or he will also be a fool.

The fourth chapter opens with Johannes (who is now a different person when sober) taking Xuma to the mines, and Xuma with enthusiasm anticipating the mines, accompanies him. Xuma enjoys how the streets are empty and it is not bustling with people and drunkards like that of Saturday, while Johannes prefers the bustling of the Saturday streets and dreads the peace and quiet of the day. Xuma, still enthusiastic about the mines, asks Johannes how the mines will be, but still he receives no answer. They arrived at the mines, where the miners were marching from the compound, the place that every miner must stay. Johannes was allowed to stay outside the compound, For he was of the city and the others were from farms, Portuguese and Rhodesia. And he serves as a boss boy for a white man, granting him the privilege to stay outside the compound. Johannes also mentions that they do not take many boys from the city, for they do not like them. Xuma fears that he will be rejected since he is also from the city.

There are also mine policemen called “Induna”, whose duty is to keep order among the miners. The Indunas are equipped with knob- berries and assagais- short sticks with a knob at the top. White men on bicycles and cars roll into the gates, and one who is tall and broad as Johannes but younger and stronger(Chris) walks towards them greeting Johannes. Chris walks up to Xuma and his fist shoots at Xuma’s chest. Instinctively, Xuma clenched his fist to hit him back but he was stopped by white men. Christ calls the punching as a way of checking if Xuma truly is a man. Later Chris holds out his hands and Xuma doubtfully shakes it, and he urges Johannes to take Xuma in, handing a packet of cigarettes to him. Xuma is cleared to work in the mines and the white man at the glass urges him to come for his pass after work. Johannes explains how it moves in the mines and he leaves Xuma all alone. Later at work, Xuma was instructed to push a loaded truck by a white man and an Induna, the work of two men and he was told to push with no complaints.

Chris calls him accrediting his strength, asks him if he is hurt, and he calls an Induna to take him to have it bandaged. There was a single routine in the mine, the digging and the loading of sand into the truck at which the sand will be disposed outside and the loop continues as the hour grows old. At some moment, it looks like the pile of sand was never piling up anymore and it was stagnant. This also has a connotative meaning, in which the pile of sand represents the work of the blacks, that no matter the amount of work they do, they will not be fully recognised as part of society and their works will be stagnant.

At mealtime, Nana approaches Xuma, and he shares some of his food with him. Xuma asks if it was like this every day and Nana says that it is hard because he just joined, and the more he comes the more the fear reduces. After the meal, the man stretches and starts humming, Xuma’s body finds it easy as he joins in on the hum. Xuma’s enthusiastic nature drives him to ask how the underground was.

Paddy, the Red One who is said to believe in progressive politics urges Xuma, who is chosen to work in the mines, that he wants no nonsense. Telling Xuma of the tasking nature of the underground, but he appoints him to look after the other boys and he will make them work, advising that he would need his fists to work if the boys are lazy or they try to test him( This is the same man who is said to be an advocate of progressive politics). Paddy gives Xuma some notes and he heads back to Malay camp with Johannes.

In Conclusion, chapter one to four shows the preliminary movement into the full essence of the novel, which is the colour and racial segregation in Apartheid South Africa. These chapters give a glimpse of the backwater Malay camp and the economically depressed North, showing how the inhuman policy affects the standard of living of the blacks. Even from the inception of the book, have the motif of drinking been a great recurrence, for this serves as a means of escape from the harsh realities by the blacks and coloured (Half- Castes). Even Xuma in the beginning of the novel asks for a drink. Further into chapter three is the figurative use of the “mountain of white sand”, which shows the struggles the black undergoes to make life easy not for themselves but for the white, who contributes nothing but harsh treatment to the blacks that holds the economy. Another motif is the spitting by the blacks, the act of spitting is done by the whites on the blacks but this reversal shows Marxist form of the novel. As the roles are switched. Therefore, these chapters draw the link for the further sceneries of inhuman treatment, that is developed in the consequent chapters.