Two texts that are reflective of New Zealand society in the 70’s and 80’s are the short stories ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and ‘Return from Oz’, by Witi Ihimaera. These texts are based on a Maori family that grew up in a rural areas but then moved to the city- Wellington. The main theme these texts are people on the margins of society, trying to make something out of what seems like nothing. During this time period New Zealand was very different to how it is now. Racism was strong, especially against Maoris, and inequality was experienced due to racial discrimination. The idea of dreams and disillusion was vivid in society. There was a lot of social and political change and movements which affected people. Many people of this time found it hard and struggled to make it especially with a collapse in the economy. Most people at this time wanted to succeed and achieve however the times were harsh and many dreams didn’t come true.
What can be seen in these short stories is that they are based on people who weren’t that important which was unusual in this time. Ihimaera is known to purposefully write stories based on his upbringing and his values and this is what makes them easy to relate to. During this time this was known as post-modern literature, the typical stories that were told up until this time were about rich, royal, powerful people had changed to become about people who were low in status, poor and from rural communities. These stories are more inspiring and intriguing to the reader.
These stories were set around the 70’s and 80’s and they are a sequel that reflect New Zealand in the time period they were written by the style. Both texts show intertextuality with there being reference to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ which was a popular film at the time. These two short texts also display post-modern literature- where the main characters are Maori, poor, from a rural community. Ihimaera wrote about these characters that were people who could often be overlooked. In the 70’s and 80’s in New Zealand, times were difficult for many people especially in rural areas. Most of the big jobs were in the city and most people had to move to make a living and support their family. Although many people moved in search of a better life and thought that making money would be good, a question is proposed in Ihimaera’s short texts, was it really worth it? This thought was probably felt by most New Zealanders at the time.
In the first text ‘Yellow Brick Road’ we are introduced to a family that have strong Maori values. The dad is the one that is getting a job in Wellington so therefore the family have to move from their comfortable home town Waituhi to a complete different style of living. The city- Wellington is described as the Emerald City and we as readers know from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that the Emerald City is supposed to be a place where all your dreams come true. However we also know that from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that a major theme is that things don’t work out how they’re supposed to, and not everything is as it appears to be. This theme is somewhat similar to ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and communicates the time of society precisely. In the 70’s and 80’s people thought that if they made money and lived in a big city it would be glamorous, however people’s dreams were quite often short-lived. Most people were disillusioned and what they may have thought to be great soon became less enjoyable because of the sacrifices they had to give up. A sacrifice that the family in ‘Yellow Brick Road’ had to give up was their Maori roots.
The question was it really worth it? Is proposed by Ihimaera through his writing. We see in the second text ‘Return from Oz’ the family’s life and we are able to identify possible negative aspects of them moving to Wellington in the first text ‘Yellow Brick Road’. We read about the grandfather who was previously the dad and as he’s aged we can understand that perhaps he regrets moving to Wellington. The grandfather decides to move back to Waituhi in ‘Return from Oz’ but his motives are inspired by his desire to go back into the past and change his decision to move to Wellington. He wants to regain what his family had once had and believes things will be the same as when they left which is representative of the theme dreams and disillusion. In ‘Return from Oz’ we learn that his wife had died and he is burdened by the fact that his wife never wanted to move to Wellington and all those years they lived in Wellington she never enjoyed it. The grandfather is also burdened by his daughter, Roha, who has lost her value for family and is busy doing her own thing. He wants to move back to restore what he believes he had sacrificed when they made the decision to move to Wellington. He wants to re-connect his family with their culture and Maori roots that they had lost and the only way he can do that is if he moves back, before it’s too late.
Dreams and disillusion was a theme that was strong in the 70’s and 80’s. As life was hard most people never got to enjoy it and the sacrifices were too much, even if there were some rewards there was a high price to sacrifice. Most people would have wondered, was it really worth it? Even nowadays this theme is still around with many people sacrificing something for the good of their family and in doing so losing something of importance, such as culture. This is probably more common for Maori, especially with the colonization that happened many years ago. They have been trying to keep their traditions alive for the younger generation but with a country that is becoming more westernized it is hard.
Mary. 