Johannesburg started out as a beacon of hope and wealth to many, and through the years it has grown more sinister and yet many flock towards it every day in hope of a new and better life. However being in a city shapes each person in a different way and by using concepts from Phaswane Mpe’s Welcome To Our Hillbrow, L. Bremner’s Theme Park City and M. Mzamane’s My Cousin Comes To Jo’burg I will try and explain how the city has transformed and changed my views on various aspects in my life.
Crime is one of the major aspects that have affected my view of Johannesburg. Growing up I lived in various quiet and relatively safe suburbs in Pretoria, so when in a space of two months I was almost mugged and watched as a good friend was held down and his …show more content…
I have developed a new fear for the city and its inhabitants. In the short story My Cousin Comes To Jo’burg by M. Mzamane , Jola makes this statement; “ I can’t understand the mentality of a man who takes another’s car, or even a horse that belongs to another, only to dump it elsewhere” (Mzamane, 1981). I can relate to this as the fact that people take from others does not make sense as these people do not understand what each individual, they steal from or harm, is going through. Sometime at night I hear screams and my urge can be explained by the feeling described by Refentše in the book Welcome To Our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe explains “You were tempted to jump out the bed and peep out of the window, but you decided against the idea. Instead, you tried to nurse yourself to sleep.” (Mpe, 2001). When looked at one might describe this action as heartless or unfeeling but this is not the case this action is forced because should I decide to investigate or try and assist I stand a chance of being a recipient of whatever nature of crime taking place. In L. Bremner’s Theme Park City, she points out that “… Main Street is a sanitised lifestyle package which conjures up an emotionally satisfying image of bygone times, while offering the
Crime is one of the major aspects that have affected my view of Johannesburg. Growing up I lived in various quiet and relatively safe suburbs in Pretoria, so when in a space of two months I was almost mugged and watched as a good friend was held down and his …show more content…
I have developed a new fear for the city and its inhabitants. In the short story My Cousin Comes To Jo’burg by M. Mzamane , Jola makes this statement; “ I can’t understand the mentality of a man who takes another’s car, or even a horse that belongs to another, only to dump it elsewhere” (Mzamane, 1981). I can relate to this as the fact that people take from others does not make sense as these people do not understand what each individual, they steal from or harm, is going through. Sometime at night I hear screams and my urge can be explained by the feeling described by Refentše in the book Welcome To Our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe explains “You were tempted to jump out the bed and peep out of the window, but you decided against the idea. Instead, you tried to nurse yourself to sleep.” (Mpe, 2001). When looked at one might describe this action as heartless or unfeeling but this is not the case this action is forced because should I decide to investigate or try and assist I stand a chance of being a recipient of whatever nature of crime taking place. In L. Bremner’s Theme Park City, she points out that “… Main Street is a sanitised lifestyle package which conjures up an emotionally satisfying image of bygone times, while offering the