Peaking into the Life of Trevor Noah in Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

"On February 20, 1984, my mother checked into Hillbrow Hospital for a scheduled C-section delivery. Estranged from her family, pregnant by a man she could not be seen with in public, she was alone. The doctors took her up to the delivery room, cut open her belly, and reached in and pulled out a half-white, half-black child who violated any number of laws, statutes, and regulations—I was born a crime."

It’s very rare that I find myself crying with the inability to identify the cause. Are the tears from laughter or sadness? Well, while reading Trevor Noah's memoir, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, the source of my tears proved quite difficult to differentiate.

Born a Crime is a book that is equally as painful as it is funny. It’s an enlightening and eye-opening tale that carefully narrates the complex nature of merely existing as a mixed race child in the final days of apartheid – a time where the offspring of a black African woman and white Swiss father was declared illegal by the South African government.

Growing up, Trevor’s mother, Patricia, was rarely fazed by apartheid, a racist system of laws that’s immaculate in its very own unique way. Headstrong since childhood, she always marched to the beat of her own drum, defying the expectations that her family – and society as a whole, imposed on her being. As a reader, it’s evident to see that Patricia passed on this extemporaneous quality to her son Trevor, as he often times throughout the novel finds himself in unique situations due to his own impetus.

Retold against the backdrop of Soweto, Born a Crime divulges many heart wrenching tales of the rampant poverty that Noah and his mother fell victim to – as did many black South Africans in the apartheid-era. In the toughest of times, the mother-son duo found themselves in many dismal situations, such as having to eat marogo (wild spinach) cooked with mopane worms (caterpillars) to survive, and jumping out of moving cars to avoid being kidnapped and murdered.

However, the most morose piece in the novel is the retelling of Patricia Noah’s relationship with her then-boyfriend Abel Shingange – an abusive drunk whose very presence threatens to drive a wedge between the Noah household. Throughout the later chapters, readers follow along as Trevor routinely attempts to reckon with how his mother, someone who he has always regarded as resilient, allowed herself to fall victim to someone who abuses her on the regular basis, and in the end, attempts to take her life.

Though such tales are indeed bleak, the beauty of this memoir lies in Noah’s ability to prudently weave in an equal amount of lighthearted stories, such as instances of him hilariously debating his mother on religion, trying his hand at being a bootlegger and the all too common unlucky tales of dating woes in high school. 

This poignant and enthralling story provides an earnest look into the all of the unique experiences that made Trevor Noah into the man we know and love. He has an innate ability to stimulatingly narrate his life story like only he can, leaving a considerable impact on readers like myself who have a keen interest in discovering the human side to our favorite celebrities and the makings that turn them into the extraordinary figures that are lauded today. 

Happy reading!