Traumatic Divisions: the Collective and Interpersonal in Bessie Head’s When Rain Clouds Gather

Abstract

It has perhaps now become accepted practice to read Bessie Head’s novel When Rain Clouds Gather (1969) as a triumph of “good” over “evil” characters. Yet such readings fail to account for certain strange resonances that appear throughout the narrative. This essay suggests that evil is not given a face in the novel but is an ominous presence that can only truly show itself from within its opposite. In particular, I ask whether Makhaya’s understanding of evil has not insidiously formed his possibilities as a leader. Head’s novel warns that the difference in the perception of universal principles between a leadership and its people can lead the two groups to develop differently, out of sync, and perhaps even open the door to the dangerous spectre of dictatorial African regimes.