Maru

In Maru (1971), author Bessie Head, also known for When Rain Clouds Gather (1968) and A Question of Power (1973), confronts deeply held prejudice toward the Masarwa people of Botswana. Considered sub-human by most citizens of Botswana, the Masarwa people pursue an untenable and desperate existence within Botswana society. Living off the land, the Masarwa wander from place to place in the bush, scavenging food and water in a subsistence lifestyle. The name “Masarwa” itself is an insult, being roughly equivalent to the n-word in English (6).

Margaret’s Masarwa mother dies in childbirth; her body and her newborn are left on the side of the road. Margaret Cadmore, a Scottish missionary, takes in the baby and names her after herself. Young Margaret is raised within the mission environment where she receives fair treatment, kindness, and in particular, an education. An excellent scholar, she eventually attains a teaching degree. The novel’s events begin when Margaret receives her first teaching assignment in the small village Dilepe.

Margaret, who could have passed as a “colored,” bearing a half-white, half-African ethnicity, instead bravely announces to anyone who asks that she is a Masarwa, who are considered inhuman by most people in Botswana.