Mother to Mother: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Mandisa briefly address the Mother, explaining that Mxolisi has caused her so much trouble in her life, but he can no longer surprise her, given his surprise conception. She then begins to tell the story of her first pregnancy. Mandisa was only fifteen—still a child—in 1973 when her son was born.

The story begins: in 1972, Mandisa is a star student, and Mama hopes that both Mandisa and Khaya can use “education to free [themselves] from the slavery” that she and Tata experience as “uneducated labourers.”

Mandisa’s bad luck begins when she gets her period for the first time in 1971, which brings with it Mama’s constant fear that she will get pregnant. Then, Mandisa’s best friend, Nono, begins dating Mandisa’s brother, Khaya. Mandisa cuts off their friendship, upset that Nono initially kept this romance a secret, as she would pretend to visit Mandisa while really visiting her boyfriend.

Soon after cutting things off with Nono, Mandisa runs into an old school friend, Stella, while getting groceries for Mama. Stella has grown since Mandisa last saw her—she wears a bra now and smokes cigarettes. Stella shares gossip with Mandisa, telling her that a girl they knew from Blouvlei is pregnant, and another has been married off to an old man. Mandisa decides to try and strike up a friendship with Stella, but ironically it helps her rekindle her relationship with Nono, as she can’t help but share Stella’s gossip with Nono.

A new boy begins at Mandisa’s school. His name is China, and he and Mandisa begin to date. Mandisa keeps it secret from Mama, who has warned her to never let a boy touch her, lest she get pregnant.  Mandisa heeds Mama’s warnings, and for months doesn’t touch any boys, including Khaya. Finally, Nono explains what Mama means, and what kind of touching can realistically lead to pregnancy.

Mama is obsessed with Mandisa’s virginity. She lengthens Mandisa’s skirts and dresses to make her more modest, and begins doing vaginal examinations to make sure Mandisa is still a virgin, or, in her terms, “whole” and “unspoilt.” Mama also knows if Mandisa became pregnant it would embarrass the whole extended family, and bring shame on Mama, who is active in the local church. Mama insists it is the duty of mothers to “ensure the health of their daughters.”

That March, Ribba, a girl only a few years older than Mandisa, dies during a botched abortion. Mama increases her examinations of Mandisa, more afraid for her daughter than ever.

Mandisa and China begin to become physically intimate, but they never have penetrative sex, and therefore hope to avoid the risk of pregnancy. Mandisa fears Mama, and China fears his father and respects Mandisa’s wishes.

Mama begins to suspect Khaya and Nono are dating, and begins to verbally abuse Nono, and pick on her for her appearance and her perceived promiscuity. She becomes even more upset when, that June, Nono’s mother comes over to inform Mama that Nono is pregnant, and Khaya is the father. Mama blames Nono, arguing “it is the girl’s responsibility […] to see that boundaries are not crossed,” and forbids Mandisa from speaking to her friend.

Mandisa is careful never to lay with China “in the manner of a wife with her husband” because her mother says “good girl[s]” don’t behave that way, and Mandisa desperately wants to be a “good girl.”

Eventually, Mandisa begins to refuse Mama’s physical virginity checks. They have a stand off that lasts a week, at the end of which Mama tells Mandisa to pack her things, because she is moving to Gungululu to live with her grandmother. Mandisa begs her mother not to send her away to the far off desert village, but it’s too late, and soon her mother delivers her to Makhulu, a woman whom Mandisa has never even met.

In September of 1972, Mandisa lays in bed in the early morning darkness. She misses China, who is back is Cape Town, while Mandisa now lives in Gungululu. She’s lived here for the past three months, and genuinely believes that, if not for her love for China, she would’ve died. However, her grandmother, Makhulu should also be given credit: Makhulu cooks Mandisa’s favorite foods to make sure she eats, and is kind and gentle. Still, Mandisa feels abandoned and banished, her relationship with Mama forever changed.

Mandisa has three months left in Gungululu. After, she’ll either go to high school in Cape Town or boarding school. She hopes she’ll get to go to boarding school, although it is more expensive, and worries that God will not answer her prayers.

One afternoon after school, Mandisa picks up the mail. She hopes to hear from China, but finds a letter for Makhulu instead. Mandisa’s grandmother cannot read, and so Mandisa reads the note to her. It is from Auntie Funiwe, Mama’s sister, and Makhulu’s daughter. Funiwe writes that she is going to come visit after the schools close in the fall. She says she is coming to deliver a baby. Makhulu is confused, as her daughter is not a teacher, and therefore uninterested in school holidays, and has never expressed interest in motherhood. Still, Mandisa rereads the letter and eventually Makhulu seems content that she understands what it says.

At the end of the school term, Mandisa attends a school ceremony in which students are called out according to their class rank. She is not first, and worries for a moment that she will be last, but then is rewarded with second place. She’s happy for herself, but also that she can bring the good news back to Makhulu and China.

Funiwe arrives late one night and Mandisa doesn’t meet her until the morning. Mandisa is nervous and makes little direct eye contact with her aunt as she brings her coffee, but she can sense Funiwe staring at her. Funiwe, with fresh eyes, can see what Makhulu had failed to notice, and Mandisa eavesdrops from outside as Funiwe asks Makhulu if Mandisa is pregnant. Mandisa realizes she hasn’t had her period in the three months she’s been in Gungululu.

Funiwe and Makhulu call Mandisa inside and begin to question her. She explains she had a boyfriend, China, back in Cape Town, but never had penetrative sex with him—he had “always played outside, between the thighs. Makhulu verifies that Mandisa has not had a boyfriend in Gungululu, and that when she arrived she was, according to Mama’s inspections, still a virgin. The two women send for a midwife from the village. She examines Mandisa, and confirms that she’s technically still a virgin, but she is definitely pregnant, exclaiming, “She has been jumped into!”

Makhulu and Funiwe call Mama, who arrives two days later. Sobbing, she wonders “what will the church people [will] say” and complains about the shame Mandisa brought to the family. Funiwe tries to explain that Mandisa has brought no shame, and that the whole situation is an unfortunate accident. She also urges Mama to “support and protect” Mandisa.

Mandisa, meanwhile, is totally numb. Mama’s reaction has “drained the last ounce of feeling” from her. “Fear. Shame. [and] Anger” all canceled each other out. Like Mama, Mandisa feels her technical virginity doesn’t matter. She wants to die. Meanwhile, despite Funiwe and Makhulu’s urging, Mama refuses to see her daughter as “an innocent victim and therefore someone worthy of her sympathy.” Mandisa feels her life is over, the future she’d planned “bulldozed, extinguished, pulverized.”