Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: Identity, Belonging, and Perseverance

Introduction

In Trevor Noah’s ‘Born a Crime’, Trevor Noah describes his early life during the apartheid era of South Africa. In his life, he describes being a mixed boy of African and Swiss/German heritage under a government that strictly forbade racial mixing. His mother, a very religious Christian woman, played an important role in his life. When he was born his mother did everything she could to protect him from the world he was brought into, which was one based on clear racial divisions. 

Trevor Noah's Identity in Born a Crime

As a young child, he was sheltered from the outside world because his mother feared that he would be taken away from her. This is one of the main themes throughout the book. He talks about how these racial divisions made him feel like he never fully belonged anywhere for being a half-black/half-white person. For example, his mother had to pretend she was his nanny and would take him to school, then go off to work. He also goes into detail about how he could never have the family he wanted because of these racial divisions. He was not able to have a real relationship with his father because of apartheid. Trevor also talks about the abusive relationship he had with his step-father. He explains that his step-father hated him for being a mixed-blood child. So again, Trevor Noah lived with his very identity being threatened from all angles of life. But he also shows that through the power of humour and comedy, he was able to persevere in life.

Conclusion

In Trevor’s middle life, he goes into detail about how life for a poor mixed South African is immediately hard as soon as they graduate from school, how jobs don’t hire really hire people like him, so he did the only thing he knew how to do, he pirated music to make some money. He talks about this in more detail about how his mother’s boyfriend would become his stepfather and one of the worst human being’s that Trevor would ever meet. Later, Trevor would hang out with some shady people who would help him get some quick cash by letting him become a cd pirater thus turning him towards an adolescence of crime. Near the end of his book he goes into detail of his life after becoming a comedian and goes into detail of his life becoming a star and a great tragedy caused by the man he hates the most