The Other Side of Truth

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I read The Other Side of Truth. I liked that the book was about a poor country with a corrupt government. I also liked how the author gave me a point of view of the refugees. I also liked how the author was so realistic with his descriptions and about the children and the situation they were in. It made me sad knowing that there are so many refugees that go to different countries just like Sade and Femi just to be safe. However, by God’s grace, there is a lady going to London who is prepared to take you as her children. Beverley Naidoo seems to suggest that the authorities are corrupt in The Other Side of Truth. What evidence of this has been presented in the novel so far? Seen through the eyes of two brave, but frightened, children, this is a story of terror, loss, love and humanity.

This quote is essentially the motto of Sade's father in his role as journalist. His being targeted for the violence with which the story commences is related to his journalist pursuit of the truth. Although a family drama at heart, the novel is very much a work that champions the role of honest factual accounting by the press. It is her father's determination to be truthful that motivates the events. The violence, the family conflict, and the movement of the setting from Nigeria to England all stem from this dedication. The novel is a celebration of the power of the press to illuminate the darkness of the world of politics. Update this section! She also holds onto voices. In England, recalling Mama’s favourite proverbs helps Sade survive. The threads of how she remembers her parents’ words are already being woven in to the first chapter. For instance, when Papa is quiet in the face of Uncle Tunde’s exhortations, Sade recalls what he might have said in other circumstances: From the start I knew that my central characters would be refugees and that they would come from Nigeria. When I first arrived in England, one of the few people who understood where I was coming from - and my dislocation - was a Nigerian academic at the University of York, studying for his PhD in Linguistics. His wife later joined him to do her ‘houseman’ year in a British hospital. It was the beginning of an enduring family friendship. I particularly enjoyed how the author drew parallels between bullying in British schools and political repression in opressed countries. As our schools become a melting pot of multiculturalism it is important for the younger generations to become acquainted with the wider world and the issues that come with it. Sade knew how worried Mama had been about his latest article. But Sade had never heard Mama try to stop him, like Uncle Tunde did.

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Even Family House won’t be safe. These people mean business. They know our village and I don’t want them coming near Grandma. Grandma was Mama’s mother. Papa paused after her name. A shot. Two shots at the gate in the early morning and a car screeches away down an avenue of palm trees. A tragedy – and a terrible loss for Sade and her younger brother Femi, children of an outspoken Nigerian journalist. Now terror is all around them and they must flee their country. At once. And alone. Plans for their journey have to be hastily arranged. Everything must be done in secret. But once Sade and Femi reach England, they will be safe – won’t they? The effort was great and her voice was small. But it worked and Sade maneuvered her way out. Papa’s study would be quiet.

year old Sade and her 10 year old brother Femi witness their mother being shot in broad daylight as she throws herself in front of their father when gunmen pull up in a car outside their house in a suburb of Lagos. Their father, Folarin Solaja, is a political journalist who has been openly critical of the military government. It is the time he regularly sets off for work. Their father carries Mama, who is bleeding profusely, into the house. When he lays her on the sofa, they know she is dead. Neighbours rush in to help and call a doctor. When the phone rings shortly afterwards, Sade answers. A man's voice tells her to give Folarin a message: " If we get the family first, what does it matter?" When Uncle Tunde arrives, their father insists that he arrange for the children to be got out of the country immediately, "by any means"…. Beverley Naidoo was born and raised in apartheid South Africa. When she was eighteen, she says her ‘eyes were opened’ to the injustice around her. Many of her books deal with prejudice, racism and the treatment of refugees. This book is set in Nigeria in 1995, when the country was a brutal dictatorship. The story moves to the UK, and focuses on how Sade and Femi, as refugees, are treated by the country and its people. When their mother is killed by government gunmen, their father hires a woman to pose as their mother and smuggle them into London, where they will stay with an uncle. Their father plans to join them as soon as he can get a fake passport. How does Naidoo's use of point of view develop the theme of empowerment in The Other Side of Truth?

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How does The Other Side of Truth explore human dilemmas through Sade and Femi's experiences in London? In 1997 I decided to write a novel that would be largely set in England. It felt the right time to turn my antennae to the country that had given me and my family a home when South Africa had denied us one. I knew that on the streets of London I would find themes that explore our potential for humanity and inhumanity as readily as on the streets of Johannesburg. It was usually their father whose arms, hands, even fingers, danced liked furious gymnasts whenever he argued or talked about things that fired him up. It was usually their uncle who folded his arms as he listened. If you are a lawyer, Uncle Tunde had told Sade, you need to keep cool and listen very carefully. But today their father’s arms hung without life. It was his older brother whose hands pleaded along with his voice. Sade and her brother are ripped from their comfortable, happy life and sent to England for their safety–illegally and against their will. What would you do if you were lost on the streets of London, alone and friendless? When twelve-year-old Sade’s mother is murdered by the corrupt government regime in Nigeria, she and her brother Femi are forced to flee the country. Their father pays a woman to take them to England. Their uncle is supposed to meet them at the airport, but when they arrive, he is missing. Sade and Femi find themselves abandoned and alone in the British foster system.

When Uncle Tunde returned some hours later in the afternoon, he headed straight for the study with their father. A few minutes later, he invited in the children. Beverly Naidoo writes about political and social issues and injustices, showing the reality of what happens in brutal and hostile regimes and creating children who are survivors hoping and fighting for a better future. Mercia is a white girl at the same school where Sade and her brother are enrolled. Mercia is a racist and she mistreats Sade and her brother. Mercia forces Sade to steal small items for her. Update this section!Sadie is the story's protagonist. Sadie is a young Nigerian girl who witnesses the brutal murder of her mother in the Nigerian streets. The killers were targeting her father, who is an anti-government journalist. Sade and her brother are later smuggled to London for their safety. When they arrive in London, they fail to meet their uncle and end up in a foster family. These are the opening words of the novel. The story opens with this scene of horrific violence that no schoolgirl should ever have to see or hear or experience. Nothing is known about this family yet except the daughter's name. Therefore, the scene creates no emotional resonance in particular. What this opening succeeds in doing instantly is establishing a setting and milieu. The only contextual information are the words "Lagos, Nigeria" between the chapter number and the chapter title, "Survivors." Since most readers are unlikely to know much detail about that setting, the effect—and possibly purpose—of this scene is to alert them that they are about to read a story where violence is part of the norm. I’ve told your father that it’s going to take a little time to get him a good passport. It will also be safer if he travels on his own. Uncle Tunde gazed down at his gold-rimmed spectacles dangling from his right thumb and finger. He seemed to be thinking about how to continue. The Other Side of Truth won a UK Arts Council Award for work in progress. [3] After publication it won the British librarians (CILIP) Carnegie Medal in 2000 as the year's best children's book. A retrospective citation by CILIP says that it "skilfully blends fact and fiction to leave a lasting impression of real issues at work" and describes it as: "An important book which challenges the notion of 'truth' itself." It further describes the writing as "gripping, powerful and evocative". [2]