Looking for a Rain God by Bessie Head
"Looking for a Rain God" is a poignant short story by Bessie Head, featured in her collection "The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales" (1977). Set in the Botswana village of Serowe during a protracted seven-year drought, the narrative unfolds through the perspective of a villager, depicting the desperate measures taken by a family to ensure the survival of their crops. As the drought devastates the land and the community's morale wanes, the story explores themes of despair, tradition, and the struggle between ancient customs and modern beliefs.
The family's dire situation leads them to revive an ancient ritual of child sacrifice to a rain god, a decision that further complicates their familial bonds and ethical considerations. The innocence of the two young girls, Neo and Boseyong, starkly contrasts with the adults' desperation, illustrating the tragic consequences of their actions. Despite the family's hope, the ritual fails to bring rain, ultimately culminating in a horrifying outcome that provokes a moral reckoning within the village. This narrative provides a critical lens on human desperation, cultural practices, and the complexities of communal responsibility in the face of environmental calamity.
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Looking for a Rain God by Bessie Head
First published: 1977
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: 1958-1964
Locale: A village in British Bechuanaland (now Botswana, Africa)
Principal Characters:
Mokgobja , the head of the familyRamadi , the father and supporter of the familyTiro , the mother of the familyNesta , an unmarried sisterNeo , andBoseyong , the children of Ramadi and Tiro
The Story
"Looking for a Rain God" is part of a larger collection of stories, The Collector of Treasures, and Other Botswana Village Tales (1977), an account of the history and people of Serowe, a large village in southern Africa. It is told in the third person by a member of the village. The main action takes place on the lands surrounding the village, where a family resorts to ritual murder to ensure rainfall for their crops.
The story begins in the lonely yet tranquil lands outside the village of Serowe, where people journey to grow crops each year. The edenic setting suggests mythic lushness and abundance. In 1958, however, a seven-year drought begins, and the once-idyllic land grows dry and barren. Initially, the people respond with humor, but during the seventh year, after two years of starvation, many succumb to despair. Some of the men hang themselves. The only people who prosper are those "charlatans, incanters, and witch-doctors" who make their fortunes off of others' misery and desperation.
The seventh year brings an early meager rain that promises an end to the drought, and the season for plowing and preparing the land to grow crops is officially announced at the kglota, or village center. In earnest anticipation, the family of the old man, Mokgobja, which includes a father, mother, unmarried sister, and two small girls, journey to the lands outside the village and clear the field of thornbush, create hedges around it, dig their well, and plow the field with oxen.
The earth comes alive and sings with insects. Without warning, the rain clouds depart, leaving the sun to soak up the last bits of moisture in the air. The earth dries, and the only remaining goat stops giving milk; the family waits in despair, unable to plant the seeds that will nourish them. Only the two small girls, Neo and Boseyong, are content as they play together with dolls, imitating their mother's chastisements and hitting their dolls as she might them.
Mindful only of their plight, the adults take no notice of the girls' activities. At their breaking point, Tiro, the girls' mother, and Nesta, the unmarried sister, commence a nightly wailing that begins as a "low, mournful note" and ends as a "frenzy," while stamping their feet and shouting. As a result, the men find it impossible to maintain their own equilibrium. The old man, Mokgobja, remembers an ancient tribal ritual, buried beneath years of Christian training, of sacrificing children to a rain god to ensure that crops will grow, and he consults Ramadi, the father of the girls, about it. Gradually, Mokgobja becomes more and more convinced of the authenticity of his recollection, and the idea is communicated to the women, then executed by the men.
Soon the bodies of the two small girls are spread on the fields. The act, however, is ineffective in bringing about rain, instead bringing terror to the remaining family members, who flee back to the village. The villagers notice the two girls are gone and ask the family questions, which they fail to answer satisfactorily. The police are brought in, and when asked to show the girls' graves, the mother confesses and tells what has happened. Mokgobja and Ramadi are sentenced to death for ritual murder, even though their actions are well understood by the villagers, who might have done the same in their place.