Resilience and survival strategies in Peter Abrahams’ Mine Boy

This paper explores the survival strategies adopted by black South Africans in Peter Abrahams’ Mine Boy. The paper highlights the lived experiences of native South Africans during the Apartheid era, highlighting how these strategies reflect broader themes of identity, race, and resilience. The analysis employs a qualitative methodological approach, drawing on Frantz Fanon’s theories on colonialism and Apartheid, to contextualize the novel’s depiction of survival strategies. A comparative analysis is further used to highlight the disparities between the living conditions of natives and Europeans during apartheid. Fanon’s insights into the psychological and social impacts of colonial rule provide a lens through which the characters’ struggles and survival mechanisms in Mine Boy are interpreted. The analysis reveals that black South Africans, stripped of their property and livelihoods, resorted to various coping strategies such as drunkenness, prostitution, and other vices to endure their harsh realities. The findings emphasize the novel’s portrayal of the resilience of the native population in the face of systemic adversity and highlight the importance of cultural preservation amidst pervasive oppression.