Ways of Dying

Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda is a work of magical realism set in an unnamed town five years after the first elections post-Apartheid in South Africa. The book is a love story, following Toloki, a professional mourner, and his new girlfriend Noria, whom he meets at her son, Vutha's funeral. The book symbolizes the pain and struggle of post-Apartheid South Africa, speaking to the complexity of life during this period when intra-Black violence was not reported for fear of retaliation from white police and leaders looking for any excuse to reinstate old systems of power.

Toloki, who has faced an extreme amount of hardship throughout the decades of Apartheid and in the years afterward, has found a way to channel his grief into a professional career, one that pays his bills if he lives frugally. He is a professional mourner, working in small black communities and shantytowns like the one where he was raised. As a mourner, Toloki wanders the South African countryside, looking for work at what seems like an endless number of black funerals.

At one of these funerals, Toloki reconnects with Noria, an old childhood acquaintance. In their younger days, Noria was a wild child. She and Toloki were not friends, however, Noria has grown into a beautiful young mother in the decades since Toloki has seen her. Noria is grieving the loss of her son, Vultha. When Toloki spots her and pays his respects for her lost child, Noria reveals that this is the second child she has had to bury in her young life.



Toloki and Noria quickly fall in love with each other, and Toloki sets about filling Noria's life with more happiness than grief. Just before Vultha's funeral, Noria's shack burned to the ground, leaving her homeless. Toloki decides they will build a house together; he begins the work, gathering rusty steel for the frame. All the neighbors gather to help them build a mud floor, and many offer furniture and other bits and pieces to help Noria get her life back together. Inspired by this assistance, Toloki comments on it to Noria, who explains that life in this village is a communal effort toward survival.

Noria's house, however, is unlike the others around it. Toloki collages the house with magazine photos and paint, turning it into a bright and Technicolor world for them to share. Inside the house, Toloki finds images of beautiful kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and more, from houses in America and Europe. He plasters the walls with these images for Noria; when the house is done, the lovers take a tour of their “dream home.” In a play of imagination and magic, Noria and Toloki rest on king-sized feather beds and admire their professional kitchen. They watch American sitcoms in their home theatre. Their house is fit for royalty.

As the novel goes on, Noria and Toloki cultivate a life together. Noria struggles to keep babies and for her children to grow old – this becomes a symbol of the inability of the damaged nation to grow without healing. Eventually, Toloki learns of the horrible incident that led to the death of young Vultha, and he and Noria attempt to heal from their past tragedies.



The novel has many undertones, both political and emotional, about grief, community, love, and hope. It also shares more explicit political messages, such as Toloki's wondering why women lead all the grassroots movements in South Africa but hold no power in the capitol. The story is ultimately a hopeful one about healing, and the power of community to get through hardship.

South African playwright and novelist Zakes Mda (Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda) was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1948. He completed his education both in his home country and abroad, receiving degrees from Ohio University and the International Academy of Arts and Literature in Zurich. The son of politician A.P. Mda, he has won a number of awards for his plays and novels. Some of his titles include When People Play People, Little Sons, and most recently, The Zulus of New York. Published in 1995, Ways of Dying won the M-Net Book Prize.