Bessy Head A Question Of Power Analysis

The novel A Question of Power was written by African writer Bessy Head and was published in three volumes, the first being in 1973.The novel explores the idea of the strong patriarchal society exploiting the other submissive groups and people. Head has very clearly shown examples of women being exploited by the hands of men to the extent of being driven to madness. By taking the protagonist Elizabeth example, Bessy Head shows how Sello and Dan, who used to have intercourse with her were the ones who were sexually deviant and they used to take out all the frustrations of their life on her, so her experiences with Sello and Dan left her physically and mentally abused and traumatised. The novel, being written from a women’s point of view very …show more content…
Since they had no way of taking out the frustration, if these women had outbursts or when they spoke for themselves and against the oppression and the oppressors, they were considered mad. Bessy Head is also pointing to the definition of ‘madness’ during that time which is very different from the definition of mad during the contemporary times.Bessy Head has traced the suffering of Elizabeth right from her birth in her novel. Since Elizabeth was a multi racial and an illegitimate girl child and so her maternal family put her up for adoption and the family which adopted her harassed her, so she was sent to an orphanage, right from the childhood she had faced rejection. In orphanage and school, Elizabeth got to know that her mother was a white woman who was insane and that she killed …show more content…
Even though Elizabeth’s horrible experience is at the level of her nightmares(unconcious); Head conveys its significance by linking it with consciousness. The reality of Elizabeth’s struggle is conveyed through the fact that she wakes up from her haunted sleep gasping for breath. Bessy Head has used madness to describe the reality of women in Africa where in Elizabeth’s nightmare, she sees Dan as the evil and Sello as the monk who she talks to and gets peace of mind. Her nightmares, in a way reflects on her personality where she sees men as the oppressors,evil,brutal creatures where she sees herself as a violent woman but there’s also the spiritual side to her when she sits down and speaks to Sello, the monk in her dream-the unconscious state. Bessy Head ends the novel on a hopeful, optimistic note where she talks about Elizabeth enjoying the motherhood which brought the sense of calm, stability back to her life, she embraced her origin and her identity, also pointing to the context that when one is comfortable in one’s skin and when one is aware of their weakness, nobody can make them feel inferior and take advantage of that. Bessy Head has questioned the notion of madness and power in the society why is it that women are the ones being exploited no matter what the situation