Chapter 5

The portrait of Mandisa's character deepens in Chapter Five, as we are able to meet the woman before she has taken on all of the heavy baggage of her adulthood. She is a bright and eager girl, obedient to her parents, and very optimistic. When she runs to get vetkoekies from the store, for example, we see the girl hopeful that she will be able to eat some of the treats: "My mouth watered and I swallowed several times. Swallowed, although there was nothing but good, fat hope in my mouth" (39). Mandisa has a genuine enthusiasm for life. She describes playing with her friends in rich detail: "dress skirts stuffed in bloomers to avoid their getting soiled or tearing, we ran up and down the hill, chasing galloping goats and squealing pigs, chasing stubborn, bleating sheep" (43).