MARU. By Bessie Head

Why would TWO obviously very powerful men in one "rustic" society go after a woman supposed to be an 'outcast"? Why would they pull out all the stops to have her? .This is the situation we are confronted with here. Men are almost always attracted to physical attributes of women, but the lady in question, Margaret is not really described as a beauty or very desirable, though she is rather educated. I think the author should have given us strong reasons why two such important men would desire a woman most of society would frown down upon. But it seems the author's main interest is to show the special powers of Maru, the man in particular.  - Madolyn Chukwu