The boy experiences
two cultures and two lifestyles. He both suffers and survives the
misunderstandings and discriminations which recur between white and brown,
among Maoris and Samoans and other Islanders. He is neither assimilated nor
integrated into NZ society. Nor is he content in the reality of Samoa. He is a
man forever divided.”
Do you agree with
this critic? What do you think is the best hope for a Pacific person in NZ
society today?
\I believe that this critic is indeed correct. Throughout the
story we see that he is stuck between the NZ (Palangi) way of life and the New
Zealand way of life. Although he is in New Zealand he is forced by his mother
to adhere to the Samoan way of life. Her attempts to keep her cultures values
of faith and family alive in her son stop him from being able to integrate into
New Zealand society. When he finally does return to Samoa he finds he is unable
to accept the Samoan way of life anymore and craves New Zealand society.
However, I do believe that he may be able to find peace in himself. During the
end of the story when he is dealing with the loss of his unborn son and
grandfather he does acknowledge a feeling of freedom. This suggests that he may
be able to move on from this and find himself once and for all.
I believe the best hope for a pacific person living in NZ
society today is for them to firstly accept that they can be a Polynesian and a
New Zealander rather than it being one or the other. I think the major problem
many Polynesian people have when living in New Zealand is that they believe if
they do not keep a firm hold on their Polynesian way of life they will no
longer be Polynesian. This is commonly seen in Polynesian parents and
grandparents who attempt to shelter their kids from the outside world and try
to force them to grow up and behave just like they would in their respective
islands. This however usually causes their children to grow resentful over
their Polynesian background and eventually act out against it. I think the best
choice is for Polynesian people to know their traditional values and try to incorporate
it into their lives in New Zealand.
Do you think the issues involved
in the novel – migration to NZ, culture clash, the dilemma of growing up Samoan
in NZ – are relevant today?
I do believe that the issues involved in the Novel are
indeed relevant today. Being half Samoan I have been able to witness first hand
different clashes in culture. My mother being Samoan married a Palangi man.
While their marriage is a relatively happy one sometimes their cultures would
clash on numerous issues.
Fa’alavelave
This is the main cause of my parent’s debates. A Fa’alavelave
is the giving of money for a funeral in a family. Since Islander families tend
to be very large in size and Fa’alavelaves include extended family the giving
of Fa’alavelaves can be quite frequent. My dad finds this to be quite annoying
as some of the family members neither he nor mum has even met before.
The dilemma of growing up Samoan in New Zealand is still
very much relevant today. Samoans have a high illiteracy rate and still often
looked down upon. When attending a school with a relatively small number of
islanders they were often made fun of for not being “smart” and for “only being
good at sports”. I also found that when my Samoan heritage was found out people
started to tease me when I would not do so well in class.
In conclusion I believe that the issues raised in sons for
the return home are still relevant today and although things may have improved
over time I still think they will always remain an issue to some extent.
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