Each portrait is, however, a tale of how exercising this option leads to failure."Because he had a high school certificate and could speak English, Modisane, like other writers and journalists of his time, thought of himself as educated and thus civilized.(217) Modisane's life history is not just his story but the story of the South Africa of his time....six chapters in the book deal with apartheid legislation such as the Group Areas Act, the Population Registration Act and the Separate Amenities Act.(186) Contradictions of liberal individualism The organising principle in Modisane's autobiography seems to be the ideology of individual liberalism associated with the white world from which he is excluded....another important form of translation in Modisane's story of his life is to be found in what seems to have been his deliberate decision not to take part in collective activities aimed at ending apartheid.Throughout his autobiography he is at pains to demonstrate that he is an individual with distinctive personal qualities, interests and talents....in Blame Me on History we are constantly reminded of the conflict between public obligations (which are of a recognisably political nature) and the writer's private interests.