Apartheid
Down Second Avenue recounts Es’kia Mphahlele’s life under apartheid rule in South Africa. His life unravels as he grows up into an adult in Pretoria, as he is eventually forced to flee South Africa. To this day, he lives with the vivid memories of the harsh and violent life under apartheid. After Es’kia becomes a teacher, he becomes enthusiastically outspoken. He criticizes the Apartheid government and its policies. The watchful eye of apartheid propagandists scares him out of the country, to live in exile.
Poverty
Es’kia and his siblings are sent to live with their grandmother in the rural Maupaneng. Their parents remain in Pretoria to work for low wages. They live under the harsh environment of poverty that plagues most African families. The parents are forced to relieve themselves of their parental responsibility as they work extremely hard to provide the little that they can. Es’kia’s mother eventually comes to retrieve her children, but they are forced to now live under the terror of their abusive and incompetent father.
Racism
Growing up, Es’kia often heard stories of racial discrimination and how black people were inherently meant to serve white people. While growing up in South Africa, he is forced to come to terms with racial discrimination and inequality at a very young age. Es’kia experiences life in policed segregation. Black people are brutalized by the state police who enforce apartheid law to its fullest extent. Pair that with the poverty and subjugation of black people and it's enough to mobilize Es’kia to speak out against their racist oppressors.
