Sons for the Return Home
is a novel written by Albert Wendt, a Samoan novelist. The novel was published
in 1973, and is almost regarded as Wendt’ biography.
The
novel begins with a dream of a Samoan family trying to “have good education for
sons…and return back as a healer like the ‘papalagi doctor’”, but it ends with a
big disappointment when they returns back after twenty years, no papalagi
doctor, only their son’s broken heart. The story appears to explain that
reality is sometimes quite unexpected, full of resistances and brutal.
In
order to explain the reason of no return, Wendt digs deep into the social
complex of the time. During the period of the family’s immigration, New Zealand
is facing serious problems of discrimination, feminism, and colonialism. The
discrimination could be found in words like “Dirty coconut Islander”, and also
in the family’s preparation for a papalagi visitor, “mother” has to prepare for
the whole week to prove that they are not “ignorant Islanders who didn’t know
how to live like New Zealanders”. This explains that the white society has a
strong discrimination against the island people. Moreover, with respect to
feminism, the article mentions that women need to “obey him all things, give
him children” or “disappear in the kitchen”, which stresses that women are only
fit for house work and being servants, and may always be inferior to man. The
most important thing in the novel is the colonialism. For example, the sentence
that “We’d defeated them…in a very un-British-gentlemanly sort of way…make them
pay for our war…compensation…we even took large areas form the bribes”
sufficiently illustrates the brutality of the war between the white and the
local, bloody and unfair. But this might lay a solid foundation of the class
division in that society, the white are always higher than the brown, for they are
the winners. Thus, this inequality may result in social problems and sometimes
even cause personal tragedy.
Because
of the above situation, the hero, the youngest son of the family, is
intertwined with numerous contradictions with pakehas. In the school, for Samoans
are normally quite talented in “rugby”, so, the boy becomes a perfect player,
always wins the “the stupid game”. However, to the disappointment of the family,
because pakeha often considers that “the brainless Islanders” are not good at
“physics, chemistry, and biology”, so, the boy finally fails to meet a doctor’s
qualification, which complete destroys the family’s desire of a “papalagi”
doctor.
Apart
from this, the boy suffers huge attack towards his personal affection because
of the stereotypical social influences. The boy has a relationship with a
pakeha girl, while, the class difference and social taboo change this beautiful
love story into a tragedy. The love story between the boy and the pakeha girl
looks like a love romance of their own, but it is actually the relationship
between two classes or races. To explain this, the author also introduce the
concept of “church”, which implies that religious difference might be the very
important factor between them, for the God of pakeha is different from the God
of Samoan, just as his mother explains that Samoan God is much earlier than the
pakeha God.
No
matter how much they love with each other, they may be too weak to overcome the
“mountain” between them. This mountain may be the integration of religious
belief, social taboos, class division and identities. For example, when she
follows him to his Samoan circle, the situation would be that “nearly all people
watch her… seem that they had never seen any other papalagi there”. On the
other hand, when he goes to her circles, he may be questioned for “an islander…are
you invited?”, for pakehas couldn’t imagine an islander being in their party. They
are probably the minority, the “odd” people in each others’ group. They should
be rebels if they choose to love and get marriage, so, the girl gives up at
last, for his mother destroys her final courage. The girl, like an angle, tries
to eliminate social discrimination and draws him towards her society, and his
mother also manages to keep him in her Samoan circle, they all fail eventually.
Her
abortion would definitely happen because of the “mountain”, so, his mother just
acts as the starting fire. Just the son finally recalls in the airplane “he has
nothing to regret”, he may have forgiven his mother’s deed. The physical girl
disappears, but the ideological “girl” rises in his heart. The girl is like a
sigh of “home”, while, his home town, Samoa, may be his parents’ home, his
root, two of them are all places for him to return. He couldn’t choose where to
go, so, he could only be a flying man between two nations.
At
last, the family returns back to Samoa, with their disillusion of dream. Life may
not always develop along with your desire, but sometimes alter your original
desire. They miss the chances of being a “papalagi” doctor, while, they obtain
rich life experiences and money. They build a “most expensive house” in the
village showing their “success”. Ironically, this “crystal house” may not only
express their “achievements” but also hind their sadness and disappointment, because,
their beloved son, their incentive of dream, and their excuse of immigration, refuses
to return back to Samoa. The novel gives a rich imagination for readers at the end,
but I would rather believe that the boy may completely come out of his sadness
and face the future with great courage, for, with time passing on, everything
will become nice memory, but tomorrow is always waiting him to do. Pakeha and
Samoan will become good friends one day.
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