The Bone People

Kerewin Holmes, the main character of The Bone People, is an earthy, independent woman. She lives alone in a world of her own making. Sans the influence of family or male companionship, Kerewin's life exhibits a degree of liberation that few women, even in modern societies like America, enjoy.

Kerewin's independence came about partially as the result of sudden wealth, i.e., winning a lottery. The financial stability allowed her the freedom to own her own home on a remote stretch of beach. Even before winning the lottery, however, Kerewin had abandoned society's expectations for women by quitting her day jobs and eking out an existence as a struggling artist. Pursuing her artistic career was the lifestyle that Kerewin would have preferred, but the burden of wealth extinguished her creative ability: "While I was busy blessing the god of munificence, the lightning came. It blasted my family, and it blasted my painting talent" (Hulme, 1983, p. 28). As Hulme (1983) further describes it, Kerewin's separation from her family was an event fraught with "violence and tears" (p. 24).

Although Kerewin often expressed regret regarding her estrangement from her family, she never made an overture to repair the breach in their relationship. Kerewin's liberated lifestyle is too important to her. She is only one-eighth Maori, but when she was among her family she felt all Maori (Hulme, 1983, p. 62). This cultural clash may have also accounted for the distance between Kerewin an

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toward women's rights: "When my proposal came [my father] received it himself, because he did not want me to follow customs where you hid yourself and where women don't see other women and don't see men" (Mirza and Strobel, 1989, p. 98). After divorcing her first husband, Shamsa lived a self-proclaimed life of "hooliganism" in which she enjoyed her freedom. But typical of women in African society, Shamsa continued to be dependent upon men for her self-identity: "To be a complete person, I should find a husband to marry me" (Mirza and Strobel, 1989, p. 100). Because her second husband was a political activist, he allowed Shamsa the freedom to engage in political activities as well. Consequently, Shamsa formed an organization called the Muslim Women's Institute. The life histories of Kaje, Mishi, and Shamsa reveal that the male patriarchal society still exists in Africa. The degree of freedom that each of these women enjoyed was dictated by the attitudes of their husbands or fathers toward gender equality. Fortunately, new social and cultural practices are slowly beginning to bring about greater freedom for the women of Africa. References Mirza, S. and Strobel, M. (1989). Three Swahili women: Life histories fr

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