A Question of Power

Another rainy season arrives. The Motabeng women gather their items in a cloth that they carry on their heads, and they bring a hoe with them and start to plow their lands. The atmosphere is “magical,” and Thoko, one of Elizabeth’s friends from the village, tells her about the dangers in the area. There are snakes, wild dogs, and a leopard-like cat that can crack open their skulls, eat a bit of their brains, and then neatly put the skin back. Thoko’s depiction frightens Elizabeth, yet soil and growing food interests her.

During the rainy season, Elizabeth takes long walks with “the small boy” (her son), and she feels peace. However, the harmony doesn’t last. Medusa returns and calls her “fat.” No one stands up to Medusa. Elizabeth thought the inner turmoil was a confrontation between good and evil, but Medusa’s goal is “eliminating” Elizabeth. She hurls thunderbolts at her, and Elizabeth’s personality becomes an “ambiguous mass.”

Medusa sidelines Sello, who says she “means everything” to him. He thinks people should be free to grow and develop, but Medusa wants to take over Africa and expel people she dislikes.