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Cousin
Refentše’s mother lives in Tiragalong, where Refentše was born. She, like most of the people from the village, is fiercely prejudiced against “Makwerekwere” (a slur for immigrants from other African countries) and against South Africans who live in the city. She’s never set foot in Johannesburg herself. She is disgusted that her son is living with a “Hillbrow woman” and she considers Lerato a “Lekwerekwere,” even though Lerato having a Nigerian father is just a rumor. Refentše ’s mother is convinced that Lerato poisoned Refentše’s food to make him fall in love with her. She essentially disowns her son for being with Lerato, which is why Refentše feels like he can’t go to her for comfort after he finds Lerato and Sammy together. However, after Refentše ’s death, Refentše’s mother stumbles during his funeral and falls into his grave. The other villagers of Tiragalong take this as a sign that she is a witch and had cursed her son, and they murder her by placing tires around her neck and setting them on fire (an act called “necklacing”). When Refentše, Lerato, and Refentše’s mother all meet in heaven, Refentše’s mother changes her tune and smiles at Lerato, telling her that she looks like her true father, Piet.
Refentše’s Mother Quotes in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
The Welcome to Our Hillbrow quotes below are all either spoken by Refentše’s Mother or refer to Refentše’s Mother. 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 2
Quotes
Your mother had never been to Hillbrow, nor any part of Johannesburg. But your mother was not interested in such details. She hated the Hillbrow women with unmatchable venom—a human venom so fatal it would have put the black mamba’s to shame.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Refilwe rewrote large chunks of the story that Tiragalong had constructed about you, which was that you committed suicide because your mother had bewitched you. In an attempt to drive your heart from the Johannesburg woman, Tiragalong had said, your mother had used medicines that were too strong. They destroyed your brain.
[…]
Refilwe […] rewrote the version of your suicide. In this version of things, you had been bewitched indeed—but not by your mother; by a loose-thighed Hillbrowan called Lerato.
Get the entire Welcome to Our Hillbrow LitChart as a printable PDF.
Refentše’s Mother Quotes in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
The Welcome to Our Hillbrow quotes below are all either spoken by Refentše’s Mother or refer to Refentše’s Mother. 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 2
Quotes
Your mother had never been to Hillbrow, nor any part of Johannesburg. But your mother was not interested in such details. She hated the Hillbrow women with unmatchable venom—a human venom so fatal it would have put the black mamba’s to shame.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Refilwe rewrote large chunks of the story that Tiragalong had constructed about you, which was that you committed suicide because your mother had bewitched you. In an attempt to drive your heart from the Johannesburg woman, Tiragalong had said, your mother had used medicines that were too strong. They destroyed your brain.
[…]
Refilwe […] rewrote the version of your suicide. In this version of things, you had been bewitched indeed—but not by your mother; by a loose-thighed Hillbrowan called Lerato.
