once were warriors
Once Were Warriors:
“Once Were Warriors” by Alan Duff is a harrowing vision of New Zealand’s indigenous people two hundred years after the arrival of Europeans. In prose that is both raw and compelling, it tells the story of Beth Heke, a Maori woman struggling to keep her family intact, despite the filth and violence of her urban neighbourhood in which they live. Conveying rich textures of Maori tradition and the wounds left by its absence, Once Were Warriors is an engrossing novel of unblinking reality, irresistible energy, and heart felt sorrow.
Beth Heke is a strong Maori disciplined woman who is pushed around against her will, by her alcoholic husband with anger management qualities. This is evident when she is beaten to a pulp for not cooking a “man some eggs” but refuses fully aware of the consequences. A more iconic moment is when she bursts into a bar where her husband is drinking soon after their teenage daughter had committed suicide; Beth began to swear at his friend then stood her ground. The husband threatened her to no surprise, but fed up with his violence and careless attitude she turned her head with few words as a goodbye. Beth had left with her head up high, without the slightest sing of fear. These events symbolised her qualities of being a proud and strongly defined human being.
“Once were warriors” text paints a very clear image in the mind of the reader. The story is set in the less fortunate areas of Mangere, Auckland a hundred years ago. A powerful point and turn for the worst was when Grace (daughter) is in the arms of her mother in tears by their backyard swing, at night surrounded by her friends in family in silence. The heart broken event touches the reader, as they feel sympathetic and almost in tears as the picture of a teenage girl gives up on her life is stained into their imagination.
An effective occasion during the text was when the husband “Jake the muss” blew his top over rude behaviour. It represented the pure power of
“Once Were Warriors” by Alan Duff is a harrowing vision of New Zealand’s indigenous people two hundred years after the arrival of Europeans. In prose that is both raw and compelling, it tells the story of Beth Heke, a Maori woman struggling to keep her family intact, despite the filth and violence of her urban neighbourhood in which they live. Conveying rich textures of Maori tradition and the wounds left by its absence, Once Were Warriors is an engrossing novel of unblinking reality, irresistible energy, and heart felt sorrow.
Beth Heke is a strong Maori disciplined woman who is pushed around against her will, by her alcoholic husband with anger management qualities. This is evident when she is beaten to a pulp for not cooking a “man some eggs” but refuses fully aware of the consequences. A more iconic moment is when she bursts into a bar where her husband is drinking soon after their teenage daughter had committed suicide; Beth began to swear at his friend then stood her ground. The husband threatened her to no surprise, but fed up with his violence and careless attitude she turned her head with few words as a goodbye. Beth had left with her head up high, without the slightest sing of fear. These events symbolised her qualities of being a proud and strongly defined human being.
“Once were warriors” text paints a very clear image in the mind of the reader. The story is set in the less fortunate areas of Mangere, Auckland a hundred years ago. A powerful point and turn for the worst was when Grace (daughter) is in the arms of her mother in tears by their backyard swing, at night surrounded by her friends in family in silence. The heart broken event touches the reader, as they feel sympathetic and almost in tears as the picture of a teenage girl gives up on her life is stained into their imagination.
An effective occasion during the text was when the husband “Jake the muss” blew his top over rude behaviour. It represented the pure power of