Ways of Dying

Mda's novel titled Ways of Dying is a novel recounting about the the beginnings of post-apartheid transtion in South Africa. The story begins with as funeral where the main character Toloki reconnects with his close childhood friend Noria where he learns that the funeral is that of Noria's son. Similar to Marquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the narrative of Mda's breaks away from the conventional structure of a novel as the story is told through flashbacks of Toloki's and Noria's childhoods.
Toloki and Noria are able to reconcile with their pasts by sharing their stories and no longer denying or resenting where they come from and who they are. This recurring theme of the novel of opposition between races, values, and ideas is also seen within the title as it is about death when in reality Toloki and Noria are struggling to live within the present time. In Toloki's words: "Death lives with us everyday. Indeed our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying." I think this was Mda's way of conveying his message to the people of South Africa and their struggle with their past in apartheid, Nelson Mandela, and present racist notions.