born a crime: stories from a south african childhood...born a crime: stories from a south african...

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Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Written by: Trevor NoahNarrated by: Trevor NoahLength: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Conversation Starters by Audible EditorsWe can’t stop talking about Born A Crime, around the water cooler, the dinner table, and in our book groups and listening clubs.

Introducing Koko

Listeners are fascinated by the way Trevor Noah portrays the characters in Born a Crime. What are some of the techniques and accents he uses to make the people he knows seem real to us?

She’d sit in the kitchen next to the cold stove, bundled up in long skirts and head

scarves, blankets over her shoulders. The coal stove was always on... It was for cooking,

heating the house, heating water for baths. We put her there because it was the warmest

spot in the house. In the morning someone would wake her and bring her to sit in the

kitchen. At night, someone would come take her to bed. That’s all she did, all day, every

day. Sit by the stove. She was fantastic and fully with it. She just couldn’t see and didn’t

move. Koko and my gran would sit and have long conversations, but as a five-year-old I

didn’t know of Koko as a real person. Since her body didn’t move, she was like a brain

with a mouth. Our relationship was nothing but command prompts and replies, like

talking to a computer.

“Good morning, Koko.”

“Good morning, Trevor.” (continued on next page)

Character Portrayal1

Passage from Chapter 5

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Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood Conversation Starters

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Introducing Koko

Character Portrayal continued

“Koko, did you eat?”“Yes, Trevor.”“Koko, I’m going out.”“Ok, be careful.”“Bye, Koko.”

Timestamp 05:52 - 06:54

Trevor interviews his dad

“What is this?” He said.“Why are you interrogating me? What’s going on here?”“I want to get to know you.”“Is this how you normally get to know people…, by interrogating them?”“Well….not really.”“So how do you get to know people?”“I dunno. By spending time with them, I guess.” So we spent the weekend together. We had dinner and talked about politics. We watched F1 racing and talked about sports. We sat quietly in his backyard and listened to old Elvis Presley records. The whole time he said not one word about himself. Then, as I was packing up to leave, he walked over to me and sat down.“So,” he said, “in the time we’ve spent together, what would you say you’ve learned about your dad?”“Nothing. All I know is that you’re extremely secretive.”“You see? You’re getting to know me already.”

Timestamp 16:50 - 17:50



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The Xhosa and the Zulu

Regarding apartheid and the history of South Africa, we learned a lot about a subject we *thought* we knew – what was the most surprising fact you learned from Born a Crime?

When the colonial armies invaded, the Zulu charged into battle with nothing but spears and shields against men with guns. The Zulu were slaughtered…by the thousands, but they never stopped fighting. The Xhosa, on the other hand, pride themselves on being the thinkers. My mother is Xhosa. Nelson Mandela was Xhosa. The Xhosa waged the long war against the white man as well, but after experiencing the futility of battle against a better-armed foe, many Xhosa chiefs took a more nimble approach.“These white people are here whether we like it or not,” they said. “Let’s see what tools they possess that can be useful to us. Instead of being resistant to English, let us learn English. We’ll understand what the white man is saying, and we can force him to negotiate with us.” The Zulu went to war with the white man. The Xhosa played chess with the white man.

Timestamp 01:09 - 02:04

Historical Reference2


“This is my country”

Once Mandela was elected, we could finally live freely. Exiles started to return. I met my first one when I was around 17. He told me his story… and I was like, “Wait, what? You mean, we could have left? That was an option?” Imagine, being thrown out of an airplane. You hit the ground and break all your bones. You go to the hospital and you heal. And you move on. And finally put the whole thing behind you. And then one day, somebody tells you about parachutes. That’s how I felt. I couldn’t understand why we’d stayed. I went straight home and asked my mom, “Why? Why didn’t we just leave. Why didn’t we go to Switzerland.”“Because I’m not Swiss,” she said as stubborn as ever. ”This is my country. Why should I leave?”

Timestamp 21:39 - 22:34



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My mom did what school didn’t

Trevor Noah always knew he was a bit “apart;” Born a Crime is the story of how he also learned he is special, too. Discuss. (Bonus points for credit to his Mom.)

If my mother had one goal, it was to free my mind. My mother spoke to me like an adult,

which was unusual. In South Africa, kids play with kids - adults talk to adults... The adults

supervise you, but they don’t get down on your level and talk to you. My mom did. All the

time. I was like her best friend. She was always telling me stories, giving me lessons,

Bible lessons especially. She was big into Psalms. I had to read Psalms everyday. She

would quiz me on it.

“What does the passage mean? What does it mean to you? How do you apply it to your

life?” That was every day of my life. My mom did what school didn’t. She taught me out

to think.

Timestamp 11:49 - 12:30

Being Different3


Laughing together through pain

“No, Mom! This was not thanks to God! You should have listened to God when he told

us to stay at home when the car wouldn’t start, because clearly the Devil… tricked us

into coming out tonight.”

“No, Trevor! That’s not how the Devil works. This is part of God’s plan, and if He wanted

us here then He had a reason ...” And on and on and there we were, back at it, arguing

about God’s will.

Finally I said, “Look, Mom. I know you love Jesus, but maybe next week you could ask

him to meet us at our house. Because this really wasn’t a fun night.” She broke out in a

huge smile and started laughing. I started laughing, too, and we stood there, this little

boy and his mom, our arms and legs covered in blood and dirt, laughing together

through the pain in the light of a petrol station on the side of the road in the middle of the

night.

Timestamp 27:46 - 28:39



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Trevor Noah spoke to Audible Range about the impetus to write BORN A CRIME, how he structured the narrative, and the gifts of imagination.

Read the full article online: https://audiblerange.com/arts-culture/trevor-noah-a-born-storyteller/

Further Reading5

born a crime: stories from a south african childhood...born a crime: stories from a south african...

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