Innocence in It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime Essay Example

Innocence is a trait that all people have, but very few understand. It is something that children unknowingly take advantage of. The words innocence and children go hand in hand, an “innocent” child can get away with anything they want, because of their chubby cheeks and jolly smile, people tend to look away from the fact that the child is the one who stuffed the sink drain with slime. Innocence serves as an excuse for eating the last cookie in the jar, even if others wanted it. This is shown in Trevor Noah’s autobiography, It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime “Chapter 3: Trevor, Pray”. Being innocent leads to immaturity, it causes others to suffer on another’s behalf, and shields people from taking disciplinary actions on others. Innocence is a human’s greatest weakness.

Innocence causes immaturity, it causes people to make decisions that they will almost always regret later on. It is shown in the book when Trevor decided to poop inside his home in the living area, instead of in the fly-infested outhouse. At the time, it was a dream come for Trevor, “There are no flies. There’s no stress. This is really great. [He is] really enjoying this” (Noah 42). He did not have to resort to going to the filthy outhouse after all. However, when his mother and aunt came back home, they found the poop hidden within the trash in the bin and questioned Trevor about it. It was obviously him, but because of his mother’s immaturity as a single parent, she did not think it was him, but instead a demon that had been summoned to their house. They then proceeded to perform a formal ritual in the house, in order to exorcise the demon. This process was tedious and took hours. After everything was completed, and the alleged demon was exorcised, Trevor lay in his bed, thinking, and realising that what he did was immature, even for him, stating, “That night he felt terrible”. He then asked for forgiveness from God, as he prayed “God, I am so sorry for this. I know this was not cool” (Noah 47). In conclusion, Trevor’s weakness as a child was his innocence, which led him to make many unwise choices. He enjoyed pooping indoors at first, but as time passed, he realised the problem that he caused for everyone. 

It is easy to be blinded by one’s innocence, and a person who has an innocent mindset causes others to suffer in their place, and pay for the actions they have done. In this case, it was when Trevor “subjected God to two hours of old grannies praying” (Noah 47). Once Trevor finished the deed, he had only then realised what an avoidable and selfish problem he created. Because of Trevor’s innocent thinking in this situation, old “grannies” from across Soweto were urged to gather around for hours to get rid of the demon that Trevor had made. In Trevor's eyes, as a result of his innocent thinking, he had wasted God’s precious time, when he knew in the back of his mind that He had “more important things to deal with than [his] turd” (Noah 47). Although he did feel guilty in the end, Trevor still made others worry because of him and his innocent thinking. In addition, while he was pooping, his blind great-grandmother, Koko, was there, frightened as she was listening to what she thought was an intruder breaking into the house. In summary, because of Trevor’s weakness to innocent thinking, he caused his, and many others’ families to waste the time in their days performing continuous rituals to save their cursed home when it was Trevor’s doing all along. 

When a parent’s child is being wild, ravaging through the furniture, the majority of times they let it be, giving minimal consequences and when someone disciplines the child, the parents often say “Leave them alone, they are just a child”. Innocence is a shield, a free excuse for younger ones to act a fool and not have the appropriate consequences. When the news broke out that there was something in the bottom of the trash bin, everyone went wild, Trevor’s whole family was panicking and they were all trying to figure out what was happening, meanwhile, Trevor was in his bed, as if he was asleep during this chaos. Then, his mother went to wake him up, “Trevor! Trevor! Wake up!”, she said, but Trevor, being the cunning boy that he was, “played dumb and replied, “What’s going on?!” (Noah 45). Thanks to Trevor’s innocent look and great acting skills, he was able to escape the situation unscathed. Trevor was still a child, after all, there is no way he could “manifest… a demon’s presence”. This is shown once again later on in the book when Trevor was able to escape consequences from not only his mother but the law as well. During his rebellious phase, Trevor and his friend would go to the mall and shoplift alcohol-filled candy, eating dozens at a time. When he was eventually caught, he was able to safely escape the situation because of his innocence as a child. Trevor was young, he made many mistakes, yet he was able to get away with almost everything, only because he took advantage of one of the peoples’ biggest weaknesses, their innocence. 

It has been proven time and time again what a hindrance innocence truly is. It is the main reason why people make inexperienced choices, it causes loved ones to pay the price, and justifies peoples’ wrongdoings. Innocence is similar to making a deal with the Devil, though it does come in handy at first, it always comes back to haunt one in the future. Now that it has been made clear how much innocence impacts our lives negatively, the next time a baby vomits in the car, or a younger sibling steals a prized possession, teach them how to behave properly.