Fools and Other Stories

by Njabulo S. Ndebele

Fools, the title story in this collection, is a tale of generations in the struggle against oppression. Zamani is a middle-aged teacher who was once respected by the community as a leader of the future. Then he disgraced himself, and now he’s haunted by the impotence of his present life. A chance meeting brings him up against Zani, a young student activist whos attempts to kindle the flames of resistance in Charterston Location are ludicrously impratical. Both affection and hostility bind Zamani and Zani together in an intens and unpredictable relationship. Finding each other means finding the common ground of their struggle. It also means re-examining their lives – and, notably, their relationships with women.

The Test, The Prophetess, and The Music of the Violin all deal with formative experiences in a township childhood: an act of courage and endurance; a close encounter with an awe-inspiring old woman; a choice which must be made between the narrow ambitions of middle-class parents and the challenge of the township streets, at once more inviting and more dangerous.

Uncle celebrates the gift of one generation to another: a gift that mingles with other adventures of the spirit, recklessness with resourcefulness, and laughter with wisdom.

Genres: South Africa, Africa, Short Stories, Fiction, African Literature

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

About the author

Professor Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele an academic, a literary and a writer of fiction, is the former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Cape Town.

Ndebele's father was Nimrod Njabulo Ndebele and his mother was Makhosazana Regina Tshabangu. He married Mpho Kathleen Malebo on 30 July 1971. They have one son and two daughters. Ndebele was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy by the University of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland in 1973; a Master of Arts in English Literature by the University of Cambridge in 1975; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing by the University of Denver in 1983. He also studied at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, where he was the first recipient of the South African Bursary.

Njabulo Ndebele was Vice-Chancellor and Principal at the University of Cape Town from July 2000 to June 2008, following tenure as a scholar in residence at the Ford Foundation’s headquarters in New York. He joined the Foundation in September 1998, immediately after a five-year term of office as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Limpopo in Sovenga, in the then Northern Province. Previously he served as Vice-Rector of the University of the Western Cape. Earlier positions include Chair of the Department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand; and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dean, and Head of the English Department at the National University of Lesotho.

An established author, Njabulo Ndebele recently published a novel The Cry of Winnie Mandela to critical acclaim. An earlier publication Fools and Other Stories won the Noma Award, Africa’s highest literary award for the best book published in Africa in 1984. His highly influential essays on South African literature and culture were published in a collection Rediscovery of the Ordinary.

Njabulo Ndebele served as President of the Congress of South African Writers for many years. As a public figure he is known for his incisive insights in commentaries on a range of public issues in South Africa. He holds honorary doctorates from universities in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan, South Africa and the United States of America. He is also a Fellow of UCT.

Njabulo Ndebele is also a key figure in South African higher education. He has served as Chair of the South African Universities Vice-Chancellor’s Association from 2002-2005, and served on the Executive Board of the Association of African Universities since 2001. He has done public service in South Africa in the areas of broadcasting policy, school curriculum in history, and more recently as chair of a government commission on the development and use of African languages as media of instruction in South African higher education. He recently became President of the AAU and Chair of the Southern African Regional Universities Association.

The University of Cambridge awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Law in 2006, and he was made an honorary fellow of Churchill College in 2007.

Reviews

[Puleng Hopper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Njabulo S Ndebele wrote in a difficult era when the Apartheid racist regime was in a habit of banning literature by Black authors, especially protest literature that portrayed Whiteness in a bad light. Some of the ways around avoiding being banned was via concealment and mainly through fiction. ANdebele's collection of essays is therefore, a politically nuanced book that did not dare upset the current rulers, but was nevertheless clear in politics of separate development, apartheid reserves, and white arrogance. I loved that the stories were also about love, family, career and self-discovery.

My favorite story was the longest titled FOOLS, with its flawed characters. It was all summed up on page 227. " The sound of victims laughing at victims. Feeding on their victimness, until it becomes an obscene virtue. Is there ever an excuse for ignorance? And when victims spit upon victims, should they not be called fools. Fools of darkness? "

A book of high artistic quality, then and now.

[Themba Bhekizulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five stories taking place in the townships of apartheid, but there is no in-your-face political commentary here. Which is good. This all springs from the characters and the situations and the overhanging mood of the political landscape, but with no drum-beating. We've had enough of that, surely?

I found it really pleasing to just read about real people in painful situations and to see the perspectives of young people. There is a political landscape out there, but it remains distant. Very interesting approach from the wise Ndebele.

[David McDannald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming collection of stories. "Uncle" was particularly good, as the visiting uncle of the young protagonist teaches the boy about life in a series of funny situations. When Uncle faces a man in the street who's armed with a club and shield, he starts throwing rocks. Later, he tells the boy that if there hadn't been rocks, he would have thrown sand. He says, "when one does fight one must do it very well.” Poignant and recommended.

[Nhlanhla Dube · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice to read this and find its not all politics in your face. Njabulo Ndebele writes beautifully. It's so lacking in pompous posturing. He's really truthful and faithful to his characters and the subject matter. His language is so erudite and real and there are passages that are very moving. There's too much obsessive discussion about obvious things in SA literature - politics, etc. - which of course is understandable. But here we see real people in real situations and the politics takes care of itself. How nice.

[Phumlani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book evoked memories of growing up in dusty streets,playing football, first crushes, streetwise uncles, street fights,township burgeoise and generally brought me tons and tons of nostalgia. Ilove this book, i love the stories it tells, i love the raw real feel f all the stories, i wished they would go on and on..

[Sibo Majola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, Njabulo. Life as it is. A clear lens, and no sentimentality. You really are one of the sharp observers of the southern half of the continent. Lovely writing, clear philosophy. Beautiful words.

[april ☔]

thought it was a bit of a slog tbh. and it feels like the male protagonists’ objectification of women is always portrayed as adding some sort of artistic merit or depth to the writing (it doesn’t).

[Del · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fools and Other Stories is a collection of five short stories set in black townships created by the apartheid goverment of South Africa. Unlike some of the more explicitly political literature of its time and place, these stories focus deeply on individual characters, relationships, and daily experiences, both ordinary and extraordinary. Despite the absence of overt political content, the stories reflect the limitations and sufferings caused by the governing and social structure.

The first four stories are from the perspective of children, revealing fears and desires both universal and unique to their situation. The fourth story is strikingly more mature in perspective and content.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

stories about young men coming of age in a culture of masculinity, families rising to middle-class in a colonized country, and finally two fools, a young-revolutionary and a middle-aged amoral loser. a totally pleasurable read written by an sensitive insightful author.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Njabulo Ndebele writes an essay in “Turkish Tales and Some Thoughts on South African Fiction” that proposes an approach to literature that challenges conventions. In his short story “Fools”, he incorporates the dynamic Zamani, an example of a character comprised of many social processes. Ndebele also shows how his criticisms of superficial characters can be creatively broken; he includes stock characters that act as surface symbols and sets his story in an implicitly political climate. However, Ndebele relies on the complex force of Zamani’s character and the “narratively engaging plot line” to transcend these elements. “Fools” is not just a schematic for the practical application of the theory in “Turkish Tales”. “Fools” is an addendum; it expounds upon the guidelines laid out in “Turkish Tales” through Zamani’s complexity.
First, we will look at how Ndebele adheres to his theory in “Turkish Tales”. Ndebele provides a textbook example of a character that transforms rather than informs. “[I:]nvolving readers in a transforming experience” requires an effective narrative point-of-view (Turkish 29). “Fools” starts with Zamani’s view of Zani. Zamani provides us with biased, connotative diction: “He wore an overcoat…with useless buttons on the sides” (Fools 152). The reader by default empathizes with Zamani: He has been troubled by bad dreams, is on his way to “school assembly” (153), and he has “had so much abuse heaped on [him:] in the last few years” (156).
Not until halfway through the story does Zamani explicitly name his crime: “they fired me for rape” (219). The reader has become too emotionally invested in Zamani’s perspective by the time the truth is stated plainly. Rather than backtrack and refuse to identify with a rapist, Ndebele compels us instead to press on. The reader can only now search for enlightenment in a place deemed unenlightened by society: the mind of a rapist. If Ndebele tells “Fools” from a different character’s perspective, “[t:]he result is not knowledge but indictment” (Turkish 28). Ndebele uses this phrase to discuss when a reader is told how to feel, rather than when he or she learns how to feel. Zamani would have been indicted as a rapist early on in the story by most characters, but hearing his side of the story strips the reader’s power of moral dismissive judgment.
Zamani is a model for other theories explored in “Turkish Tales”. If Zamani is a complex character rather than a “finished [form:] of good or evil” (Turkish 28), then, logically, he leads “us towards important necessary insights into…social processes…involving readers in a truly transforming experience” (Turkish 28-9). Zamani is not a static character, but a series of processes. Was the rape a lapse in judgement, or an accurate reflection of his character? Is he properly atoning for his past? Can he ever be forgiven, and if so, does he deserve forgiveness? The reader can’t categorize Zamani’s actions and behaviors into strictly black and white terms. He or she must attempt to understand Zamani rather than define him, to arrive at knowledge of his humanity rather than a verdict of his morality. Ndebele succeeds in creating a fluid character.
Now, we will discuss how Ndebele triumphantly portrays a teacher as his main character, despite admitting a common pitfall of South African writers: “teachers…have been condescendingly promoted as symbols of African progress…these figures were perceived as caricatures of sophisticated white men” (Turkish 30). Ndebele accuses teachers in other South African fiction of being only black on the outside, but modeling and projecting the academic behavior deemed suitable by white oppressors (Ndebele doesn’t specify what this caricature entails, I imagine a teacher promoting growth but within the confines of a society structured by whites).
Ndebele depicts a teacher in Zamani. Zamani thinks, “[Mimi:] is the very reward of a teacher: her growth” (193). Then later, “The final, priceless gift of teaching! The gratitude of parents! […:] The final recognition of the worth of the teacher” (194). Zamani displays characteristics present in any great teacher, white or black – a selfless commitment to the growth of his students. Zamani puts aside his feelings for Mimi and regards her strictly as a student. She even greets him as “Teacher” (192). Has society overreacted to Zamani’s crime, if those involved are able to set aside tension so easily? The reader cannot so easily label Zamani when exposed to his benevolent inner thought processes.
Zamani is further distanced from his white colleagues with a black consciousness message to his impressionable young students:
‘You have just had your first real lesson since you came to school. And from today onwards, know that when you come in here to open your books … the real school is outside there, and that today, that school was brought into this classroom for a very brief moment. And one day when that school out there is finally brought into this classroom forever, you will know that … it is time to go on with your journey. (220)

Zamani refers to the “real lesson”, the “real school”. Zamani implies the school is run by supporters of “Dingane’s Day”, a holiday glorifying injustice to black Africans. Ndebele shows how teachers can be portrayed in South African literature not as caricatures of white men, but as strong black role models with great power in the classroom.
In the final phase of this essay, we will discuss how Ndebele breaks his own rules with Zamani’s duality as both antagonist and protagonist. Ndebele in “Turkish Tales” talks about the anonymity of villains, and how their status as mere symbols prevents a transformation in the reader to take place: “as far as [symbols of evil:] are concerned, we will find an array of ‘sell-outs’, ‘baases’ … policemen, cruel farmers and their overseers … township superintendents and their subordinate functionaries” (28). Ndebele in “Fools” has three of these undeveloped villains: the policemen, the principal, and the white man with the whip. All are depicted as impersonal oppressors, and they only appear once (except the principal, who appears twice). They stifle the freedom of other characters, and exit with no light shed on the process of how they became this oppressor. Through this lack of development, the reader regards them as the very same stock characters Ndebele denounces in “Turkish Tales”.
Ndebele makes these exceptions to his own manifesto because Zamani fulfills the dual role of both protagonist and antagonist. Ndebele writes “rtistic compassion only situates the villain within the domain of tragic acceptance, which in practice, translates itself into moral or political rejection” (Turkish 35). The reader knows that rape is wrong and morally rejects it. But, as mentioned earlier in this essay, the first-person narrative sympathetically aligns the reader with Zamani. The reader cannot simply morally reject Zamani as he or she does with the policemen, the principal, and the white man – he or she is persuaded to accept Zamani as tragically villainous.
When the reader relates to Zamani, they inherently relate to this tragic villainy also. Ndebele writes “almost all of us are, or were, or will be lovers. Thus, we feel with [Zamani and Nosipho/Candu/Mimi:], we can identify with their problem. What [I have:] done is build into [my:] characters ‘the emotions of the reader’�� (Turkish 36, replacement mine). The reader identifies with Zamani’s emotions, and he is protagonistic. But, his actions are admittedly immoral, and he is consequently antagonistic. Zamani therefore fits Ndebele’s description of “the villain”, yet functions as a tragic protagonist.
Ndebele’s formula laid out in “Turkish Tales” can be found mangled in parts of “Fools”. Setting his tale in South Africa in the politically turbulent mid-sixties roots “[Fools:] firmly in time and space” (Turkish 27). Ndebele reluctantly observes in “Turkish Tales”:
[A:]rtistic merit…is determined…by the work’s displaying of a high level of explicit political preoccupation which may not necessarily be critically aware of the demands of the artistic medium chosen…If the average South African writer has chosen this kind of preoccupation, what effect has it had on his or her writing? One major effect is that the writing’s probing into the South African experience has been largely superficial. (28)

Rather than create an allegory as a symbol for apartheid angst, Ndebele thrusts his characters into the midst of strife. To deem Ndebele hypocritical based on this observation, however, would be rash. He is not “the average South African writer” whom he is warning. “Fools” is catalyzed by “Dingane’s Day”, a surface symbol that holds for the reader pre-packaged implications. But, “Fools” is not about this holiday. “Fools” centers around its characters and their evolution, and “it is this existence of a plot line that makes [Ndebele’s:] novel more narratively engaging than [the average South African writer’s:]” (Turkish 32, substitution mine). The setting grounds the characters, but does not limit the extent to which we may explore the facets of their social, romantic, and professional lives.
To applaud Ndebele as I have done, but not address my status as a critic, would be doing his work in “Turkish Tales” and my audience a disservice. I was born in a white American suburb in 1989. The events in “Fools” take place in 1966, in Charterston South Africa. Ndebele theorizes that “any research of radical interest…has to emanate from…the very current of the African struggle…[but:] has no organic relationship with that struggle” (Turkish 25), which I admittedly do not. He goes on to quote Michael Vaughan in an issue of English in Africa: “’academic criticism of contemporary black literature must be extremely circumscribed…it is deprived of contact with the writers and public of this literature’” (26).
My criticism may be discounted, but I cannot discount the profound effect of Zamani’s character in “Fools”. Ndebele causes the reader to strangely identify with and condemn Zamani, blurring the line of morality they began reading with. Ndebele makes a teacher operate within a white-influenced government and act on behalf of his students rather than become a vehicle for white oppressors. Ndebele defies his own theories with malevolent, symbol characters, but more than compensates when he questions the very relationship between hero and villain through Zamani.
Zamani describes Zani: “He had become his books, and when he moved out of them, he came out without a social language” (217). Ndebele moves out of the books of his fellow writers, and at times out of his own essay, and the result is a social language inclusive of protagonists and antagonists, and those who fall in the middle.









Works Cited

Ndebele, Njabulo. "Fools." Fools and Other Stories. New York: Readers International, 1986. 152-280.

Ndebele, Njabulo S. “Turkish Tales and Some Thoughts on South African Fiction.” South African Literature and Culture: Rediscovery of the Ordinary. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1994. 17-40.

[Sandra Visser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fools, the title story in this collection, is a tale of generations in the struggle against oppression. Zamani is a middle-aged teacher who was once respected by the community as a leader of the future. Then he disgraced himself, and now he’s haunted by the impotence of his present life. A chance meeting brings him up against Zani, a young student activist whose attempts to kindle the flames of resistance in Charterston Location are ludicrously impractical. Both affection and hostility bind Zamani and Zani together in an intens and unpredictable relationship. Finding each other means finding the common ground of their struggle. It also means re-examining their lives – and, notably, their relationships with women.

The Test, The Prophetess and The Music of the Violin all deal with formative experiences in a township childhood: an act of courage and endurance; a close encounter with an awe-inspiring old woman; a choice which must be made between the narrow ambitions of middle-class parents and the challenge of the township streets, at once more inviting and more dangerous.

Uncle celebrates the gift of one generation to another: a gift that mingles with other adventures of the spirit, recklessness with resourcefulness, and laughter with wisdom.

Enjoyable on the whole but a bit simplistic and not that engaging.

[Zinhle Ngidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fools & other stories by Njabulo Ndebele

About the book
The book consists of 5 short stories, some related to each other and some totally different. The first part has characters of youngsters growing up in locations as they were designed for them by apartheid government while the last ones are written from the perspective of an adult. All the stories share common themes which are struggles and limitations that were caused by apartheid government. The author shares ordinary lives that Blacks lived in townships without focusing too much on hardcore political stories that we know off already. Stories are shared in a very hilarious manner. My highlight was a fight between “uncle” and known gang leader- there you would laugh your lungs out. His (uncle) lessons though will leave you with something to think about.

If you love real life stories you will definitely enjoy this book. This is one book that you would like to read with a group of friends and discuss it over “tea” and laugh as you identify some of the things you went through as well as a black individual in those days. The “BornFrees” will also benefit as they will see where we are coming from without being explicit about politics but to understand the impact politics had on our lives.

[Rha Peace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book and I must say that it is a collection of well told stories, I particularly liked how it gave me 'a feel' of the townships during my mother's times, she is also from the Springs area and reading some of these stories like Fools made me appreciate her upbringing more. My favorite story was Uncle, because I looked forward to Uncles' pieces of advice and the amount of knowledge he has in him. The story of the Violin was rather short and I was agitated by the mother, so I didn't like that one, I was also confused because Mr Ndebele (the writer) used character names from other stories and they weren't the same people🤔Overall, loved the book.

[Dolly Madibane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very important book. I loved the whole range of writing in this. It is beautifully literate and also very relevant to anyone wanting to understand the range and focus of new black writing emanating from South Africa after its terrible political past.

Ndebele is one of the foremost voices in African literature. I recommend this book to any reader.

[Nkosana Zali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so love Prof Ndebele's writing style. His prose is so kasi and touching. I enjoyed the questions his characters kept raising about themselves, their surroundings and about people they were associated with. It is a good book that one can and should return to over and over again

[Lwazi Bangani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This definitely is storytelling of the highest order.

[Absai]

it is awesome

[Daniel Polansky]

Short stories from the waning days of apartheid. The eponymous didn't do much for me but most of the rest of them, dealing with the youthful customs of township adolescents, were excellent.

[Horace Barrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice. From the blurb there is a useful summary, quoting the author where he says that South African writing needs to "move away from an easy preoccupation with demonstrating the obvious existence of oppression. It exists. The task is to explore how and why people can survive under such harsh conditions." That's refreshing. I'm bored with protest literature or continually angry exhortations. I'm interested in the way people react under those conditions. This book does that. Must read more South African literature of this type.

[Svea Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the surface, this book is a view into life in rural South Africa during apartheid written by a man who lived through it. However, it’s writing has a really interesting angle of being about people struggling through very adult problems, but is mostly written through the eyes of kids, which makes for a very interesting examination of what children do not understand and also what they internalize- including the enculturation of gender roles.

[Babalwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good short story collection but this one was not it. It felt a little like the stories were repetitive - it didn’t feel like a new story with each one. It felt like they could have replaced one another.

Stopped reading just over halfway through. Will definitely go back and try again.

[Zaynab · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book. explores human flaws and aspirations in an incredible way.
a must-read if your'e in an intellectual mood

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good about boys and young men growing up in Soweto.

[Brendan E-M · Rating 4 out of 5]

If "Fools" and "Uncle" were the only stories in this compilation, it would be a five-star read.

[Liz Wager]

Heading to South Africa ...