The Child Who Was Shot Dead by Soldiers at Nyanga by Ingrid Jonker

Context and Background

• Ingrid Jonker
  • Afrikaans poet born in Northern Cape in 1933
  • Began writing poetry at age 6; published regularly by age 16
  • Opponent of apartheid regime
  • Committed suicide in 1965
  • Honored by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural address on May 25, 1994, where he recited this poem
• Historical Context
  • Poem written in response to a child's shooting in Nyanga during a protest against pass laws in 1960
  • Pass laws: Black people required to carry specific identity documents
  • Published in Drum magazine: Jonker saw the child's fate symbolically, imagining her own child in his place

Analysis of the Poem

Title and Initial Impressions

• Title: Direct and poignant, invoking sympathy and highlighting the cruelty and senselessness of the child's death

Text of the Poem

The child is not dead ...

Literary Devices

• Anaphora: Repetition of "the child" throughout the poem for emphasis on innocence and repeated instances of violence against children
• Metaphor: