Chapter 8 – Anecdotal Storyboard

Chapter 9 – How does Fuller create unity between this chapter and the previous one as well as in other parts of the memoir so far?

‘Ja? Well at least I’ve never had a tick on my downthere’ calls back to the previous chapter, and the anecdote of the tick. This introduces a rare fluidity to the text, as one chapter leads directly into the next, perhaps to remind the reader that they are experiencing the story of one life, no matter how chaotic it may appear. 

Chapter 9 – Comment on her use of detail – especially on place. 

Fuller recalls exact, specific details during this chapter, such as the ‘shiny African waiter with impeccable hands and careful, clean nails’ and the branding of the Coke she drank: ‘‘Adds life’’, implying that these experiences have left a lasting impression on her, and thus are still vivid. For example, describing the waiter with adjectives such as ‘impeccable’ and ‘shiny’ connotes absolute purity, as well as immense value, perhaps significant because they directly defy the stereotype of an African women that Fuller has been fed by her colonial upbringing: a dirty woman worth nothing. Furthermore, the slogan of the coke bottle might have awakened her to how Western culture had been forcibly injected into the native atmosphere, as even in the text it stands out like a sore thumb, surrounded by parenthesis. 

Chapter 10 – How does Fuller portray the increasing danger of living in Rhodesia and nearby Mozambique in 1974. 

Fuller describes 1974 as ‘the year (she) turned five’, drawing special attention to her young age, connoting vulnerability and the notion of a childhood surrounded by war. This idea is reinforced by referring to the length of the civil war like one would a child, calling it ‘8 years old’. This personifies the war, perhaps reflecting her twisted childhood as a result of its roots in the conflict, and by explaining to us that it was around before her birth, she implies that the war could continue long after. 

Chapter 10 – Identify effective writing techniques in the part about landmines. 

The quote ‘If we were killed in an ambush or blown up on a mine, we will be wearing clean brookies, our best dresses’ hints at the privilege of white colonialists in Rhodesia: even in death they are above others, wearing symbols of their wealth and status. Additionally the decision to use the more definitive future tense instead of the conditional in this statement emphasises the severity of the danger she faces everyday, and the high risk of death. 

Furthermore the italicised chant at the bottom of page 55 speaks to Bobo’s desensitisation to violence and war at such a young age. Unlike many who lose their innocence later in life, Bobo never had innocence to lose, as she was raised as a child of war. 

Chapter 11 – How does Fuller identify her parents?

Chapter 12  – Comment on Fuller’s effective portrayal of her mum shooting the Cobra.

Fuller writes that her ‘Mum screams for milk’. The verb ‘scream’ is highly emotive, connoting extreme distress and pain, and therefore depicts a reaction unparalleled to anything we’ve seen from her mother thus far. This could suggest that she cares more for her pets than she does for Bobo and Van, perhaps because she has lost children before and is therefore desensitised to it, but Fuller also informs the reader that the average lifespan for a dog on the farm is very short, so perhaps not. However, it does reinforce the aspect of her personality that is sympathetic to nature.