Many forms of bigotry, injustice, and prejudice can be observed in Bessie Head's Maru. One of the most egregious examples concerns the appalling treatment dished out to Bushmen, or Masarwa, in the remote African village of Dilepe.

Margaret, herself a Masarwa, is looked upon as sub-human by the villagers simply because she happens to be of a different ethnicity to them. It is only when she is saved by a white missionary as a baby that she's able to escape this terrible, prejudiced environment.

But in a classic example of jumping from the frying pan into the fire, Margaret discovers that she's not accepted in her new environment either. Her classmates in the missionary school that she attends treat her like garbage; some of them even spit on her. Wherever she goes, it seems that Margaret will never be truly accepted, either on account of her skin, or because of her ethnicity as a Masarwa.

From this, it's possible to draw the depressing conclusion that racial prejudice and ethnic segregation of some sort are universal features of the human condition. Far from living together in harmony, most people are at odds with those who don't like them or differ from them in any significant way.

Even so, it's encouraging to learn that Margaret, despite the bigotry to which she's been subjected by so many different people, is able to remain strong in the face of adversity by asserting her identity as a Masarwa.