Can someone give examples of cultural hybridity or cultural clashes in the novel. What consequences does the aspect/event have on the characters and/or the cultures involved?
The story features the individual’s struggle to choose what identity to live by. This choice is best exemplified by Rawiri’s story. He comes very close to leaving behind the Maori way of life when he travels to Australia. There, he has an opportunity to become a city man, far away from the small town of his youth, and also distant from the rules and norms of his Maori culture. He could settle in the city and become a new person with a new cultural identity. Other relatives of his have already done so, changing their names, appearances, and lifestyles. Eventually, though, he decides his heart belongs to the Maori people and he cannot give that identity up. He further understands this in Papua New Guinea, where he encounters racism full in the face.
