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John (Bheki’s Friend)
Mr. Thabane is Florence’s cousin who Mrs. Curren meets in Guguletu. He is a former schoolteacher who now dedicates his time and energy to fighting against the Apartheid regime. He and Mrs. Curren debate several times over the course of the novel about the role that young people should play in stopping Apartheid. Mrs. Curren thinks young people should stay away from the conflict as much as possible. Meanwhile, Mr. Thabane thinks they have no choice but to fight.
Mr. Thabane Quotes in Age of Iron
The Age of Iron quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Thabane or refer to Mr. Thabane. 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 3
Quotes
“You want to go home,” he said. “But what of the people who live here? When they want to go home, this is where they must go. What do you think of that?”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He is a teacher, I thought: that is why he speaks so well. What he is doing to me he has practiced in the classroom. It is the trick one uses to make one’s own answer seem to come from the child. Ventriloquism, the legacy of Socrates, as oppressive in Africa as it was in Athens.
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Mr. Thabane Quotes in Age of Iron
The Age of Iron quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Thabane or refer to Mr. Thabane. 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 3
Quotes
“You want to go home,” he said. “But what of the people who live here? When they want to go home, this is where they must go. What do you think of that?”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He is a teacher, I thought: that is why he speaks so well. What he is doing to me he has practiced in the classroom. It is the trick one uses to make one’s own answer seem to come from the child. Ventriloquism, the legacy of Socrates, as oppressive in Africa as it was in Athens.
