At the start of Bessie Head's novel, the elder Margaret Cadmore tells the younger Margaret Cadmore the quote that’s noted in the question. “One day, you will help your people,” she says. The statement is presented in contrasting ways. On one hand, the older Margaret says this as if it’s not a “big issue.” On the other hand, the sentiment creates a significant “purpose and burden” in the younger Margaret’s mind.

As the narrative unfolds, one might get the feeling that the younger Margaret isn’t helping her people so much as, however inadvertently, sowing strife. Her position in the school creates a commotion. It upsets the principal, his cronies, and the students. Her general presence in the village is the reason why Maru and Moleka, the two top males in the village, spur and try to sabotage one another. Both Maru and Moleka have feelings for the younger Margaret.

Yet the discomfort and the unrest around the younger Margaret doesn’t appear to bother her too badly. At her home in the library with her paintings, she gives off a sense of contentment and tranquility. “I am peaceful because I have nothing and I want nothing,” she tells Dikeledi.

The younger Margaret’s strength might be how she helps her people. She has the fortitude to deal with her impending husband, Maru. In the past, women who had relationships with the kingly Maru “fled” in a “nameless terror.” The younger Margaret has “the soul” that can stand up to Maru and help her people leave their “small, dark airless room” and experience the “wind of freedom.” In other words, Margaret’s spirit appears to help put her people on the path towards a type of liberation.