The narrative illustrates the profound influence language has on one's identity and the way they are perceived by others. Through personal anecdotes, the author reflects on his childhood in South Africa, highlighting how speaking multiple languages allowed him to navigate various social groups.
"It's the Tower of Babel in South Africa. Every single day. Every day you see people completely lost, trying to have conversations and having no idea what the other person is saying" (61).
Exasperated and annoyed
Purpose
"Language brings with it an identity and a culture,
or at least the perception of it" (49).
To demonstrate how language can drastically
change the way one perceives another’s identity
Audience
"The general thrust of it should be easy enough for any American to understand" (20).
Americans (or others not exposed to South African culture).
Evidence
How language impacts South Africa:
Apartheid purposefully created “language barriers” to further separate ethnic groups, causing them to “fight among” themselves by making them believe they “were different” from each other (49).
How language impacts him personally:
When coloured or white people heard Noah “speaking Xhosa or Zulu,” they would accuse him of “trying to be black,” and when black or other coloured people heard him speaking “perfect English,” they thought he was trying to be “better than them” (121).
Strategy: memoirs of childhood stories
Subject
Context: Story about Noah almost being jumped, but the men stopped themselves when they heard Noah speak their language.
"That, and so many other smaller instances in my life, made me realize that language, even more so than color, defines who you are to people" (56).
The role language played in a South African childhood.
Occasion
"She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. She gave me the tools to do it as well. She taught me English as my first language" (67).
To express his gratitude toward his mother for how all she taught him.
Noah was reflecting on his childhood now
that he is grown and accomplished.
Speaker
"I learned several languages because I grew up in a house where there was no option but to learn them" (54).
Trevor Noah
Coloured comedian from South Africa who
can speak many languages.
