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The Nigerian Man
In South Africa, bone throwers are mystics who operate mostly in rural villages. When things go wrong (someone gets ill, someone is struck by lightning), the people of Tiragalong often consult a bone thrower to tell them who is to blame. That person is then accused of being a witch and murdered (usually burned to death). Bone throwers are not always genuine, though—in particular, the one who Molori (Piet’s cousin) hires frames Piet for Molori’s mother’s illness, even though he knew Piet had nothing to do with it. Many times, people in the villages do find out that a bone thrower’s pronouncement is wrong, but only after the innocent party has been killed.
Bone Throwers Quotes in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
The Welcome to Our Hillbrow quotes below are all either spoken by Bone Throwers or refer to Bone Throwers. 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
It did not occur to Molori and his uncle to doubt the bone thrower’s insights. His accurate knowledge of their family affairs was too impressive; where else could such knowledge have come from, they reasoned, other than from his reading of the bones? The uncle reminded Molori about the Tiragalong saying: witches have no distinct kin colour through which other people can recognize and identify them. Piet and his mother might put on the act of being good people. But who was to say that that was not the art of witches?
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Bone Throwers Quotes in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
The Welcome to Our Hillbrow quotes below are all either spoken by Bone Throwers or refer to Bone Throwers. 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
It did not occur to Molori and his uncle to doubt the bone thrower’s insights. His accurate knowledge of their family affairs was too impressive; where else could such knowledge have come from, they reasoned, other than from his reading of the bones? The uncle reminded Molori about the Tiragalong saying: witches have no distinct kin colour through which other people can recognize and identify them. Piet and his mother might put on the act of being good people. But who was to say that that was not the art of witches?
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
