Journey – Patricia Grace

Patricia Grace
 Patricia Grace is the first female Maori writer to have published a novel.
 She writes in English trying to copy the cadences of the Maori language.
 The themes of most of her writing are the lost Maori way of life, the Maori
bond with land and nature and the clashes these produce when they come into contact
with colonists.
 She writes about the changes among the Maoris; the young no longer have any
special feelings for their land.
 She mourns for the loss of pristine land. The ‘pakeha’ think only of providing
affordable housing; those whose land is marked for ‘development’ cannot understand
how the land they have owned and farmed can be taken away from them.

Grace on characterisation
‘I need to explore characters and bend them, find ways for them to be seen in
the way I want them seen.’
‘I want to make them understood and known. The things they do and say might
seem exaggerated sometimes, but through that they become real.’
How does this apply to the old man here?

Glossary
 Pakeha – white New Zealander
 Kehuas – A ghost or evil spirit
 Tamatea (Tamatea a Ngana, Tamatea Aio, Tamatea Whakapau) – Maori
phases of the moon
 Whanaungas – relatives
 Whakairo – traditional Maori carving in wood or bone
 Kupe – (a man) early visitor to Aotearoa/New Zealand who returned to
Hawaiki
 Cenopath - a monument to someone buried elsewhere

Things to think about

 What sense of injustice do you get here?
 What differences are there between Maori + Pakeha in terms of their
relationship with the land?
 What does ‘colonisation’ mean?
 Why do Maori spiritual beliefs favour burial over cremation?

Analysing the opening paragraph

i) Narrative perspective
ii) Setting
iii) Techniques
iv) Characterisation
v) Tone/Mood /Atmosphere
Extension: Why is the story called ‘Journey’?
 Questions and tasks:

 What is the purpose of the old man’s journey? To reclaim the land he has lost
as it has been claimed by the council to be developed on.

 To what extent did the officials listen to the old man? Find a quote that
supports your point of view and suggest what tone the remarks are made in. They did
not listen to him very much at all. Whenever he spoke they kept interrupting him and
not letting him finish what he would have said. This is represented by the continuous
use of the title, “sir” which is in some way patronising.

 ‘And anyway Sir there’s no advantage do you think in you people all living in
the same area.’ Why do the authorities think there isn’t any benefit to the family living
close together? They do not think that there is any benefit- nor do they identify the lack
of benefits. They simply want their houses built and sold, disregarding his emotional
interests or anything that may disrupt them from achieving their goal.

 Why does the old man want to be cremated instead of buried? He doesn’t want
to be buried beneath land that has no meaning to him- should he be buried in traditional
Maori land he would have no problem with it. Therefore, cremation ensures his remains
are kept where he feels they belong: with the Maori

 How do the opening two paragraphs and the closing passage from ‘They were
quiet wondering if he would say anything else,…’ reflect the Uncle’s changing mood?
In the two opening paragraphs the uncle is in a more positive mood where as
contrastingly once he has had the encounter with the landowners he is somewhat
dismissed without a chance and so this leaves him feeling crushed and embarrassed.
Indeed, once he returns home we know that he starts to suffer pain in his legs-
something he said he never had at the beginning of the story

 Why do you think the story concludes with Uncle ‘looking at the palm of his
hands’? At the beginning of the story he was adamant that his body was not ageing, he
could walk forever and not feel pain or aching. However, with his mood dimmed by the
failed attempt to save his land, he has now been struck by reality and so is now
contemplating his ageing life and what he means to everyone else.

 Why do you think Grace employs a motif of blindness / sight throughout the
story? This could be used to represent the landowner’s and the uncles contrasting views.
Throughout the passage the uncle continuously remind us that he is perfectly well-
mentally and physically, and, though this may be true, once it comes to the encounter
with the landowners it seems his mindset is outdated, making him blind to progress and
the modern society.
 Why do you think Grace gave the ‘a’ in admiration a capital letter in this
phrase; ‘..and roadways threading up and round the hills to layer on layer of houses,
even in the highest and steepest places. He was filled with admiration. Filled with
Admiration…but yes he was filled right to the top - it made him tired taking it all in.’
The capitalization of the word admiration is used to give extra emphasis. In the context
of the story, the man is in awe of what they had managed to achieve, such as building
“even in the highest and steepest places”. He may also be in dismay over the fact that
they are building on his Maori land.

 There are also lots of feet and leg images in the short story forming a motif;
why do you think Grace has included them? The title “the journey” allows for a theme
of movement which is then continued by the references to feet and legs, what humans
use to walk around the place

 The narrative shifts perspective in ‘Journey’. ‘At times the old man seems to
watch himself in action, to observe himself objectively before returning to a subjective
expression of his feelings and knowledge.’

(a) Identify the objective and subjective parts in the passage below:
‘He better go to the lavatory because he didn’t trust town lavatories, people spewed
there and wrote rude words. Last time he got something stuck on his shoe. Funny people
those town people.’

(b) How does the shifting narrative affect your view of the old man? It is written as
though it is straight out of his head which allows you to see his constant repetition and
becoming side tracked, perhaps intended to show how he is ageing.

1. De sc rib e the re la tionship b e twe e n the Unc le a nd his ne p he w Ge o rg e .

‘The d o or wo uld slowly op e n a nd the e ye s would c ome round a nd he wo uld sa y I ra n a wa y Unc le …..
Tod a y if he ha d time he would look out for Ge org e .’
‘The re ’s no se nse , no se nse in a nything , b ut wha t use te lling tha t to Ge org e whe n Ge org e a lre a d y kne w
sitting b e sid e him word le ss. Wha t use te lling G e org e you g o e m p ty ha nd e d a nd le a ve nothing b e hind ,
whe n Ge org e ha d a lwa ys wa nte d b e e n e m p ty ha nd e d , ha d ne ve r wa nte d a nything e xc e p t to ha ve
nothing .

2. Wha t is p re ve nting the old m a n from sub d ivid ing the la nd a nd g e tting , ‘nothing more tha n
wha t is ours a lre a d y.’?

‘You would a ll re c e ive ‘The re ’s no se nse in it d on’t you Sir. Ke p t c a lling him Sir, a nd the wa y he
e q uiva le nt site s… se e ? Tha t’s the ir sta mp ing g ro und sa id it d id n’t sound so we ll, b ut it wa s
Re site d … a nd whe n you’ve g ot your tie s d iffic ult to b e sure a t first. Afte r a while
As I sa y on e q uiva le nt la nd .. ‘ the re ’s no e q ua l la nd .’ you kne w, yo u c ould n’t he lp knowing .’
1. Their relationship is very distanced. They only ever seem to meet when
one of them requires something off the other. The uncle believes that
George is somewhat helpless as he doesn’t really have anything to his
name in life.

2. The council officer doesn’t want the Maoris on his land as all he is
worried about is the value of his land so as to sell it- he disregards the
emotional strings that the Maori’s have tied with their land.