Freedom

Freedom is a theme that appears throughout the novel. First of all there is Beryl who constantly fights for her own freedom and then there is the theme of Africa's freedom.

When Beryl's father sets her on her own two feet, he sets her up for a life in which she has to learn how to survive on her own. She sputters at first, but then learns how to stand on her own two feet with the help of the local Kip families. They, and her father, allow her to be trained by the side of the boys, not with the women who were basically the property of the male population. She runs free, loves her life and flourishes. Yet, once she becomes an adolescent, everyone expects her to suddenly follow the rules, if not that of a perfect English woman, at least that of the...