Jenna Stauch
Professor Liebler
English 2120
7 October 2013
The Collector of Treasures
Throughout history there has been a constant struggle for women to be treated fairly and equally. It was the normal for men to be superior over women. In Africa, this was even more prevalent. It was typical for the men to sleep around with multiple women and disregard their family. “The Collector of Treasures” is a short story written by Bessie Head that takes place in a village of Africa. Head describes the life of a woman living in the village named Dikeledi Mokopi. Dikeledi was mistreated and left to be a single mother by her husband Garesego. As the story goes on it is revealed that Dikeledi murders her husband. Her act of murder was a crime driven by the disgust of her husband and her own self-pride, confirming that she is guilty of preplanning the murder of Garesego with cruel intent. Right from the beginning of the story Dikeledi’s disgust for her husband is evident and is a leading factor in her decision to murder him. A source of this disgust stems from the fact that Garesego was not a faithful husband. Head explains, “ he had a taste for womanizing and drink…he was not seen at home again and lived and slept around the village, from woman to woman” (60). This shows that he was more focused on sleeping around with other women in the village then tending to his own wife and family, which easily contributed to the rage toward her husband. Dikeledi also explains that there are two types of men in the world. Garesego is described as the kind of man who accepted no responsibility for his kids and made females have miscarriages (Head 58). Being married to such a man was unpleasing to Dikeledi. She was sickened by the type of man Garesego was. She was happier with him gone. Another factor that kindled her disgust toward her husband was the fact that he started to live with another women and was taking care of her and her children. While Dikeledi was struggling to be a single mom, he was off supporting another family. Head explains that after Dikeledi’s son passes primary school “she decided to remind Garesego Mokopi that he was the father of the children” (67). By going to remind him that he still had a financial responsibility for the kids this revealed that the issue irritated her. Garesego was a man who thought that women could only offer sex as an exchange for a man doing something for her. His mind set alone was enough for Dikeledi to see him as a degusting person. Garesego has a conversation with Dikeledi’s neighbor Paul and makes the comment, “ women do that for men who bed them” (Head 69). By saying that to Paul it clearly displayed how Garesego thought of women as something only good for sex. Dikeledi surely seen this trait as nauseating. From all of the evidence observed in the story Dikeledi murdered her husband out of disgust, which supports the argument that she is guilty of murdering in cold blood. Disgust was not the only cause of Dikeledi’s rash decision to kill Garesego; her own self-pride was a significant component in the prearranged murder. After Garesego left her and the children, Dikeledi became good at finding ways to make ends meet. She was doing well enough on her own to be able to send her children to school. She explains, “ I was always busy and employed because it was with these hands that I fed a reared my children” (Head 57). Dikeledi was proud of her self and proud of the fact that she did not need to rely on a man to take care of her family. Realizing that it was possible to live without help from Garesego, Dikeledi planned out how she would kill her husband. Another example of Dikeledi being