Backbencher

The book Once Were Warriors follows the life of the Heke family who live in the slums of Auckland. The family is made up of Jake and Beth Heke and their five kids. The book takes the reader through Jake's drinking, unemployment and abusive nature, and Beth trying to hold the family together. It also takes the reader into the lives of the children. Nig, the eldest, leaves home and joins a gang of Maori youth, Boggie is sent to a state run home when his parents cannot speak on his behalf at court, and Grace takes care of the younger children, writes stories and spies on her Pakeha neighbors until her life is cut short.
Since I both read the book and watched the movie, it was interesting to see the differences. One difference was the character of Beth. The movie made her appear much less complex than her character was written. The movie also left out most of the development of Nig's gang, the Brown Fists. The biggest difference between the two forms was the ending. In the movie, Grace believed that Uncle Bully raped her, but in the book she dies thinking it was her father. The book also shows that it is the death of her second child that sends Beth over the edge and makes her want to help other children. The movie ended after Grace's death.
This book was a bit difficult to read with the large amount of profanity and slang. It was also confusing because it was hard to tell who was speaking at each point. There were no quotation marks and each line of dialog was right after the last with no explanation of who was talking. Although it wasn't an enjoyable book to read, it did help me to gain an insight into what happens when a group of people loses their cultural identity.

Ashleigh Pust