Welcome to our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe

Destiny Jackson

        From the novel Welcome to our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe, I like how the book was divided into stories from people in South Africa. Its like us readers are getting different situations coming from different people. Different form anything i ever read was when the novel talks about cultural and political context in terms of class, the spreading of HIV/AIDS and drug dealing. I feel this type is important and people all over the world need to be aware of whats going on in the nation. “One of the stories that you remember vivdl was of a young man who died pf strange illness in 1990, when you were matriculating. The migrants said it could only have been AIDS” (pg 2). I think from this quote it states relevant  facts and writers is trying to perspective people about whats going on in Africa. AIDS is defiantly serious and has no cure. I think present when people heard about stories with AIDS because its still spreading about all over the world. When I read the back of the book and saw the word “AIDS” I personally wanted to know about other people stories and facts about the topic. The point of view is third person, the writer is throwing facts to his readers to send out awareness about AIDS.

I like how the writers talk about how AIDS started it gives readers a starting point and the one of the main topics. “But strange illness courted in Hillbrow, as Tiragalong knew only too well, could only translate into AIDS. This ALDS, according to popular understanding was caused by foreign germs that travelled down from the central and western of Africa” (pg 4).  It seems that the illness got really serious fast.

      Migrants (who were Tiragalongs authoritative grapevine on all   important issues) deduced from such media reports that AIDS travel route into Johannesburg was through Mackwerekwere basked.There were other who went further, saying thats AIDS was caused by th bizarre sexual behavior of the Hillbrowans” (Pg 4). I thought this was one of the most important parts of the novels because it talks about the behavior of the Hillbrowans people and the spreading of AIDS. They talks having gay sex also having to do with the spreading of AIDS other the the green monkey.

  Here where they talks about drug dealing, this is trying to show this is not the place to be. This place is crazy the life that people live in Africa is unsafe and dangerous, “Three Nigerians  who evaded arrest at Jan Smuts Airport were finally arrested in Pretoria Street for dug dealing” (Pg 5).