Character and identity in selected works by Bessie Head
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Date
1998
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Abstract
A central concern in the works of Bessie Head has been the relations between writer and character. One of her novels has indeed been described as an 'autobiography' rather than a novel. Although theoretical interest in the subject of character has 'old fashioned' overtones the existence of character is a textual fact which depends on the constructive role of writers and readers. The connections between Head's characters and aspects of her own biography are obvious. Recurrent themes and situations in her fiction and her other writings can be read as narrative explorations of the nature of the self. It is in the process of discovering the self and carving out an identity that Head creates characters as a means of exploring her own nature and potential. My study focuses on identifying and acknowledging her perceptions on ideal identity and attempts to demonstrate the need for readers of her work to recognise the complementarity of social and subjective existence; to relate Head's subjective trauma to the external reality in which she was located. Head's characters are frequently shown working out ways of setting up balanced human relationships which are characterised by egality, power-sharing, mutual support and human respect. A definite link exists between the inner and outer domains, and so the state of wholeness or completeness is also recognised and monitored in my analysis of character relationships. The interrelatedness of the private and public marks the route her textual quest takes. The implications of complementarity can be measured in the successes and failures of relationships which are examined in my case studies. The novels When Rain Clouds Gather, Maru and A Question of Power reveal the writer's self-examination of an inner world troubled by alienation and mental disturbances. Gradually, though, she comes to terms with these problems and becomes more socially conscious and integrated. Thus social interest characterises her later work: The Collector of Treasures and Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind. The journey of self¬discovery reaches its fulfilment in the historical saga A Bewitched
Crossroad, which serves to acknowledge Head's official settlement in
Botswana, and her concomitant commitment to historical and cultural
preservation. Emerging from her explorations of character is the fact that
though the writer is responsible for the existence of characters, she cannot
manipulate them all the time but frequently allows them sufficient
detachment to decide their own fates. Thus she is able to both project her
aspirations and to find solutions to her own problems through her
characters' development. Such a relationship between writer and character
exemplifies the notion of complementarity by which, in Head's notion of
things, an ideal society must exist. y/f
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1998.