The Collector of Treasures (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Bessie Amelia Emery
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Plot: Vignette
- Time of Work: 1966-1975
- Setting: The villages of Puleng and Gaborone, in Botswana
- Principal Characters: Dikeledi Mokopi, Garesego, Banabothe, Paul Thebolo, Kenalepe
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Africa or Africans, Prisons, Abused persons, Murder or homicide, Rural or country life, Poverty or poor people, Polygamy or bigamy
- Locales: Botswana
The Story
Bessie Head's vignette of a village woman abandoned and abused by her husband begins in medias res. In the first of the story's four sections, Dikeledi is on her way to prison in Gaborone, the country's new capital city, from her village, Puleng. She gazes indifferently at the passing landscape of the bush as she rides in the police truck. As a result of the long day's lonely journey and her emotional turmoil, she finally collapses, “oblivious to everything but her pain.” On her arrival at the prison that night, she is stirred to consciousness by the...
[The entire page is 2122 words long]
