Summary

The second chapter opens with Sissie—“Our Sister” in the previous chapter—and a young German mother pushing her baby in a pram. The woman tells Sissie about a castle that used to stand in the middle of the town. It is now a youth hostel. The woman asks Sissie if she is Indian and recalls an Indian couple that used to live in town before ending up in Canada where the husband died. Sissie reflects that “IT CANNOT BE NORMAL/ For a young/ Hausfrau to/ Like/ Two Indians” (23). Sissie tries to explain to the woman where she is from, and the woman says her name is Marija. Sissie explains that her name is Mary in Ghana, and Marija protests that Mary is a German name. Sissie thinks about the missionary doctrine that for a child to become a “heaven-worthy individual” he or...