HITTING BUDAPEST: Marxist Criticsm

The story “Hitting Budapest” was written by NoViolet Bulawayo, a Zimbabwean

author who was included in one of the most influential Africans by New African Magazine in

2014. Readers usually presume that the title “Hitting Budapest” was talking about a trip to

the capital of Hungary, Budapest. However, as the story transitions, it actually depicts the

setting which is an African continent, specifically the author’s native country, Zimbabwe and

that Budapest is the name of a wealthy neighborhood in the story. The story discusses

societal issues, more specifically about poverty, social inequality, lack of education, the clear

gap between the rich and the poor, and rape crimes that African children are experiencing.

The story started with the six Zimbabwean children named, Bastard, Godknows,

Chipo, Sbho, Stina, and the narrator of the story, Darling, travelled by foot to Budapest, a

wealthy neighborhood, to steal guavas due to their extreme hunger. They left from their

place called Paradise, which is thought to be the run-down neighborhood they live in. On

their way to Budapest, it was revealed that Chipo was raped by a man that caused her to

become pregnant at the age of 11. The children wondered curiously about the process of

pregnancy. As they arrived to Budapest, they met a British, wealthy woman, wearing a

camera and necklaces around her neck. They talked with the lady with the camera — who

expects their attention to be on her technology, missing that they are really focused on the

unnamed piece of food she is eating. She threw the food in the bin in front of them, asked

for their picture. The kids immediately noticed her chains in her neck, her expensive dress,
the food that she could easily throw anywhere, her literacy, and her privilege of having a

comfortable life.

The “Hitting Budapest” story reminds me again how powerful the messages African

Literatures convey. One of the issues that rest heavily on the narrative’s plotline is the

extreme poverty that the African children were experiencing. The weight of their

helplessness and desperation gave the six runaway children courage to travel a long journey,

by foot, just to steal guavas to support themselves. The fact that they were stealing at that

age for survival and they were normalizing it on a daily basis shows what poverty can make

them do. At the very young age, they were supposed to be at school, studying in order to

have a better life just like other kids; however, instead of studying, they have to find ways to

survive in their daily lives. They were deprived of those opportunities and rights which

makes it to the next issue: the lack of education.

The author hinted the obvious lack of education of African children by portraying

their experiences through the dialogues of the characters. In the story, the children were all

oblivious to the process of pregnancy and one of them had to overhear a conversation for

her to acquire information. They also see teenage pregnancy as a normal thing since they

were uneducated about the matter. Talking about teenage pregnancy, the case of Chipo, is a

result of a rape crime. The devastating part of it was this is the cruel normality in African

people who experiences poverty. They are living in their lives where they treat that kind of

traumatic issue as normal thing. They were also ignorant to some of the languages and

words used which shows apparent message that they were uneducated and illiterate
enough to understand and comprehend words and sentences that much. This, for sure, will

hinder them to leave their difficult situation in the future and achieve their dreams.

The story also conveys the clear gap between the rich and the poor. “Budapest is like

a different country. A country where people who are not like us live.” This mere monologue

from the protagonist is enough to prove it. Starting from the place of the children which is

named as “Paradise” which I find ironic and sarcastic from the author since it was a run-

down scrap neighborhood. It is the place where poor families live. While “Budapest” is the

neighborhood where wealthy families reside relating to the capital of Hungary, Budapest,

it’s a place where poor African Children are uncommon. The way she depicts the rich

neighborhood Budapest suggests the protagonist’s frustration with her poverty and her

desires for a better life; “if I lived in Budapest I would wash my whole body every day and

comb my hair nicely to show I was a real person living in a real place.”

Meeting the British woman, wearing fancy clothes, fancy jewelries, expensive

camera, in front of her comfortable house, reminded the children once again of how

underprivileged they are and it boost their desires to have a better life. It’s infuriating also

for the part of the children when they have witnessed the woman throwing food easily in

the bin, while, there they were traveling by foot, just to steal a guava fruit, for them to have

a meal for the day. It shows exactly how people take for granted all the privileges they have

and their ignorance to the state of the African children or underprivileged families in

general.
 The author’s intention was clearly to show the consequences of poverty that are

experienced by African children and to make people especially the privileged ones, who turn

a blind eye on the gap between the rich and the poor, become more aware of these issues.

She was also hinting at the idea that it is Western states and organizations who bare most of

the responsibility for it. The story that she had written was the actual experiences of African

Children in their daily lives.

Summarizing all the points, Hitting Budapest is a good read with various implications

of Marxism. The way how the author formed the characters of were key takeaways of how

Marxism was perceived in the story. Although, they are unanswered questions in the story

especially in the case of Chipo, and the ending was a sort of a cliff hanger, I still liked this

story a lot as it made me reflect and check my privileges, and speak up for those people who

are oppressed. I will certainly include this story to my recommendations.