Heaven is not Closed

1. Heaven is not Closed By Bessie Head

2. Setting (Where the story takes place) • A rural village in Botswana

3. Bessie Head • She was born in Botswana • She uses Botswana in her stories

4. Characters • Galethebege • Ralokae • Ralokae’s brother: Modise • The Missionary

5. Galethebege • She is a devoted Christian • She goes to church every day to pray • She falls passionately in love with Ralokae • She wants to get married according to Christian custom • She goes to the missionary for advice • Galethebege loves the church and the rituals surrounding the services. • She was never absent from church.

6. Galethebege • She was shocked about the way the missionary treated her. • When she could not go to church she continued praying at home every day. • Throughout her married life she prayed every day.

7. Ralokae • He is a widower • He courts Galethebege because he recognizes the goodness in her. • He is not a Christian • He wants to get married according to Setswana custom • He does not trust missionaries • He blames missionaries for destroying their customs and tribal lives.

8. The Missionary • Short, anonymous looking man, wearing glasses. • He was the resident missionary for some time. • He did not like the Africans that he worked with. • He thought the Africans were beggars and rather stupid.

9. The Missionary • He liked marriages because he got paid doing them. • He got angry when Galethebege said she wanted to marry a non-Christian in Setswana custom. • He said the marriage could not be allowed. • The missionary said that heaven is closed to the unbeliever. • The missionary excommunicated Galthebege from church. She could no longer enter the village church.

10. Modise • He is Ralokae’s brother • He is the narrator of the story • He tells the story of the marriage to make the village think about Christianity versus customs. • He is not an unbeliever.

11. The Plot • Modise tells the story of his brother’s wife. • His brother is Ralokae and he was married to GalethebegeThe story begins with a description of Galethebege’s death. • When Galethebege was young she embraced the gospel.

12. Plot (continues) • Galethebege was a good person, whether she adhered to Setswana custom or Christian customs. • She always went to church. • Ralokae was married for almost a year when his wife died in childbirth. • Ralokae went through the Setswana custom’s boswagadi or mourning period.

13. Plot (continues) • A year later Ralokae finished the cleansing ceremony demanded by Setswana custom. • Ralokae took note of Galethebege because she was also devoted, although not to the customs but to religion. • He began courting Galethebege

14. Plot (continues) • Galethebege was hesitant to marry because Ralokae was not a Christian. • Galethebege placed God before Ralokae. • Galethebege was passionately in love with Ralokae. • Ralokae wanted to get married according to the old customs.

15. Plot (continues) • Galethebege wanted to get married according to Christian customs • Ralokae explained that missionaries were not to be trusted. They destroyed Setswana customs and treated the Setswana people like servants. They were full of tricks. • Galethebege wanted to get advice from the missionary

16. Plot (continues) • The missionary forbid the marriage with Ralokae. • The missionary excommunicated Galethebege from church. • Galethebege married Ralokae in the traditional way. • Galethebege never stopped praying although she could not go to church.

17. Plot (continues) • Ralokae never became a Christian. • Many people left the church because of the way the missionary treated Galethebege.

18. Setswana Custom (Marriage) • The cow was holy to the Setswana because they got their food and clothes from it. • At the wedding a cow was slaughtered. • The intestinal bag of the cow was draped around the neck of Galethebege and Ralokae to symbolize wealth and the good luck they would have in married life.

19. Setswana Custom (Marriage) • The porridge and meat were served in ogopo bowls which had been used since old times. • There was a lot of dancing (capering) and ululating on the day.

20. Intention (Why the story was written?) • The writer wants to comment on missionary work done universally. • She wants to show that missionaries destroyed Setswana custom by not allowing it. They enforced Christian (Western) customs on the people • Ralokae represents the traditional customs of the Setswana people.

21. Intention (Why the story was written?) • Missionaries misused their message to destroy traditional communities. • Missionaries should have been more considerate towards strange customs. • All missionaries were not good, the one in the story is a bad missionary. • The missionary used the word of God to control the people, not help them.

22. Intention (Why the story was written?) • In this story the missionary decides who will go to heaven and who not. • The writer wants to say that if there had been more tolerance from missionaries, the Setswana people would not have been divided. • Missionaries did not understand the Setswana people and their customs.

23. Intention (Why the story was written?) • Even without a church Galethebege remained a good Christian and succeeded in making Ralokae a good husband although he was not a Christian. • The Bible says that a Christian who married a non-believer sanctifies the non-believer. • 1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. • The missionary was wrong when he said heaven is closed to the unbeliever. Heaven will always be open to everybody