ENG1501
Assignment 3
DUE 17 JULY 2026
, The Narrator's Relationships with Bra Todd and Gabriel Sanchez in Small Things
Nthikeng Mohlele's Small Things traces its narrator's life through a constellation of
relationships, each of which offers him a different model of manhood, purpose, and
companionship. Among these, his bond with Bra Todd and his friendship with Gabriel
Sanchez stand out as two of the most formative. Rather than reading these
relationships as simply similar or different, this essay argues that Mohlele uses them to
represent two distinct stages of the narrator's emotional and intellectual development:
Bra Todd embodies a local, apprenticeship-based introduction to journalism rooted in
the narrator's youth and his silent longing for Desiree, while Gabriel Sanchez represents
a more expansive, worldly kinship that allows the narrator to see his own life reflected in
a wider, international history. The essay considers first the nature of the Bra Todd
relationship, then Gabriel Sanchez, before drawing out what this progression suggests
about the narrator's growth.
Bra Todd functions in the narrator's life as an early figure of guidance, but one bound up
with domestic labour and emotional restraint. The narrator's self-description as "a stray
dog. In search of not food, but meaning" (Mohlele, 2013: 11) suggests a young man
adrift, attaching himself to an older figure less for companionship than for direction and
belonging. The tasks he performs for Bra Todd polishing shoes, washing dishes,
listening to records are the tasks of an apprentice, not an equal, and this power
imbalance is echoed in what the narrator withholds. He confesses that he never told Bra
Todd about his feelings for Desiree, despite Bra Todd being her uncle, out of fear and
"envy" (Mohlele, 2013: 12). This detail is important: it shows that the relationship,
however affectionate, does not permit the narrator full emotional honesty. Bra Todd is a
teacher of "sophisticated ways to woo a lady," yet the narrator cannot bring his own
romantic despair to him. The relationship is thus defined by proximity without full
intimacy.
Gabriel Sanchez offers a markedly different model of connection, one built on shared
vocation and mutual storytelling rather than domestic service. Where the narrator learns
Assignment 3
DUE 17 JULY 2026
, The Narrator's Relationships with Bra Todd and Gabriel Sanchez in Small Things
Nthikeng Mohlele's Small Things traces its narrator's life through a constellation of
relationships, each of which offers him a different model of manhood, purpose, and
companionship. Among these, his bond with Bra Todd and his friendship with Gabriel
Sanchez stand out as two of the most formative. Rather than reading these
relationships as simply similar or different, this essay argues that Mohlele uses them to
represent two distinct stages of the narrator's emotional and intellectual development:
Bra Todd embodies a local, apprenticeship-based introduction to journalism rooted in
the narrator's youth and his silent longing for Desiree, while Gabriel Sanchez represents
a more expansive, worldly kinship that allows the narrator to see his own life reflected in
a wider, international history. The essay considers first the nature of the Bra Todd
relationship, then Gabriel Sanchez, before drawing out what this progression suggests
about the narrator's growth.
Bra Todd functions in the narrator's life as an early figure of guidance, but one bound up
with domestic labour and emotional restraint. The narrator's self-description as "a stray
dog. In search of not food, but meaning" (Mohlele, 2013: 11) suggests a young man
adrift, attaching himself to an older figure less for companionship than for direction and
belonging. The tasks he performs for Bra Todd polishing shoes, washing dishes,
listening to records are the tasks of an apprentice, not an equal, and this power
imbalance is echoed in what the narrator withholds. He confesses that he never told Bra
Todd about his feelings for Desiree, despite Bra Todd being her uncle, out of fear and
"envy" (Mohlele, 2013: 12). This detail is important: it shows that the relationship,
however affectionate, does not permit the narrator full emotional honesty. Bra Todd is a
teacher of "sophisticated ways to woo a lady," yet the narrator cannot bring his own
romantic despair to him. The relationship is thus defined by proximity without full
intimacy.
Gabriel Sanchez offers a markedly different model of connection, one built on shared
vocation and mutual storytelling rather than domestic service. Where the narrator learns
