Literature Review

Maru

by

Bessie Head

 

Bessie Head delivers a simple, easy to read, yet undoubtedly moving read about friendship; prejudice and racial hatred; acceptance and love.  You will certainly reread the book a few times and each time you will discover the nuanced nature of the characters and the story itself.

Margaret Cadmore, a beautiful unassuming Masarwa – considered to be the lowest form of a human being - is a new teacher in the viallge of Dilepe. Raised by white missionaries, Cadmore on her return to the village becomes the subject of great intrigue, discrimination, schemes, plots and counter plots.

Two best friends, who are like family to each other, Maru and Moleka become fast and sworn enemies over the love of Margaret. What unravels thereafter is an epic story of betrayal, love lost and love regained.

The racial prejudice is very profound and we journey with Margaret as she discovers that her own Masarwa people in this remote Botswana village are treated as outcasts. This makes her determined to stand up proudly and assert her heritage despite the ill treatment she receives, even from the children that she teaches. There is a gentleness, a genuine and modest nature about this outcast that draws not only Dikeledi, Maru and Moleko to her but the whole village. “She is captivating, almost bewitching in nature,” says Ranko.

We see a complicated love story develop between Margaret, Maru -Dikeledi’s best friend- and Moleke, Dikeledi’s boyfriend and this serves as a backdrop against which the more emotional themes of racial hatred, traditional caste systems and the effects of colonialism on the African people are underpinned.

Margaret also serves as catalyst for change in Dilepe in who the characters become, and even in the way the prejudices and racial divisions among the people in Botswana are questioned and ultimately unwoven.

We join the characters and the village in a state of metamorphosis. We transform with Maru as he betrays Moleko. We fall in and out of love with Margaret as the characters do. We are able to connect and allow each of the characters' fears, trials, doubts and triumphs to resonate. We grapple continuously with issues of our own morality and prejudices even after we've closed the book and that’s what makes this novel an incredible read.

About The Author:

Bessie Amelia Head was born in Pietermaritzburg to a White mother (who was disowned by her parents when she became pregnant) and a Black father. Bessie Head because of her mixed race became subject to ridicule in her childhood years. She was raised in an Anglican mission orphanage and granted Botswana citizenship in 1979. It is here that Head started writing extensively. Head died at the age of 49 but has lived on in her work that was published posthumously and received international recognition. Her other works include : 

• When Rain Clouds Gather (1968)
• A Question of Power (1974)
• Looking for a Rain God (1977)
• The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales (1977)
• Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind (1981)

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