What is a short summary for Sarafina essay?

It was heard in their heated discussions in the classroom and around school about ways that they can gain their freedom. The children’s unity was also seen when they decided to take on the South African government themselves by fighting back with the same tactics that the South African used—violence. Collectivity is also seen at the end of the movie when the children performed the song and dance of Nelson Mandela’s return and him leading South Africa once again. Sarafina! also changed the traditional role of women. In the film, the young girl, Sarafina, was the main character. She was outspoken, rebellious, and determined to stop the oppressive South African government at any cost. Sarafina was the one who always came up with all the ideas and did all the planning. She was the one who took matters into her own hands even when no one stood behind her. She was goal-oriented and the strong link of all the children of South Africa. There was the scene in which Sarafina anxiously requests to play Nelson Mandela in the play. When one of her male classmates states that she is a girl and that girls cannot play Nelson Mandela, Sarafina quickly proves him wrong. Then, low and behold, at the end of the movie, Sarafina played the part of Nelson Mandela. In Sarafina!, Mrs. Masambuca (played by Whoopi Goldberg), is a role

Sarafina! is the story of the struggle for freedom of non-European school children in Soweto, South Africa. The story takes place during the time of the Apartheid just before Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 and the Apartheid ended. The Apartheid was a policy of strict racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-whites in the Republic of South Africa (WWWebster Dictionary). Segregation and discrimination against non-whites was imposed in housing, employment, education, and public services. It was enforced with a cruelly oppressive regime that used intimidation, torture, and murder to maintain order. Sarafina! was thus an open window to what went on during the Apartheid tied into the story of one rebellious young girl who tried her best to gain freedom for all non-white South Africans.

Sarafina! was helpful in presenting and illustrating the struggle for freedom in South Africa during the Apartheid and also in understanding the brutality of the repression and the children’s response. The movie clearly, visibly, and graphically showed the violence of a civil war between the South African government and the non-whites. People were beaten, whipped, kicked, shot at, shocked with electricity, and tortured. There were riots and destruction of property. There was even the scene where the children set fire to the constable who beat and tortured their friends. This particular action of the children, in my opinion, was morally wrong; two wrongs do not make a right. It seemed as though they simply did it as revenge rather than as a solution to their problem.

Sarafina! showed that children can have an effect on their world and that once united they can make a difference. The ch…

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…eeded Mrs. Masambuca as their role model and their guide, or they would have never thought of gaining back their freedom.

Before I saw the movie, Sarafina!, I was not really aware of what went on during the Apartheid. I knew that it was a system of segregation and discrimination. However, I did not know that over 750 people were killed and over 10,000 were arrested, tortured, and assaulted. The film took me by surprise because it was so graphic and visual of what occurred during the Apartheid. What also took me by surprise was the fact that it was children challenging the South African government. I would have never thought, or even pictured, that children would fight against an entire government. Sarafina! really opened my eyes as to the struggle that men, women, as well as children, went through and their ways of dealing with the fight against Apartheid.