Nevertheless it is a girl, who Emma decides to name Bethe. This name reveals quite a lot about Emma and her fixation of wanting to belong to a social class above hers. Emma had heard the name at the Marquis’ ball, a highlight of her middle-class lige. The taste of an upper-class event had brought her to desire their lifestyle even more. Hence as it became clear that she would never experience it again, she hoped, by naming her daughter a name of an upper-class lady, that she would one day grow to be like her.
However, the reader feels contempt towards Emma when she fails to fulfil her maternal roles in nurturing Berthe. Emma is constantly absorbed in her boredom and disappointment that life throws at her, she neglects Berthe. She is annoyed at her constant crying and demand for attention which the reader perceives as egoistic on Emma’s part. This emphasizes Emma’s desire for an ideal life which she has formed from reading frivolous novels of romance.
While Emma struggles to take care of her daughter, Maureen finds difficulty in caring for her children. Since they have been living with July, Maureen gradually loses her place as a mother. The children adapt much faster to their new environment, especially the youngest Gina who has already found a friend she proclaims: “He’s mine!” Maureen, on the other hand, is shunned by the other women in July’s village. She is told not to work like the other women, making it impossible for her to interact with them. To make matters worse, her children have adapted to the ways of the extended family instead of sticking with the nuclear family structure Maureen knows. This strips her of her motherly role and is left confused in trying to find herself.
Moreover, Maureen’s relationship with her husband Bam is not stable as it used to be. Back home they were defined by their marriage to each other and the structure of society allowed them to do so. But in the village with a confusing social structure to both Bam and Maureen, their relationship soon deter and amount to nothingness.
“July’s People” is written in third person narrative, though it is presented in mainly Maureen’s viewpoint. From the narrative we are able to understand her imprisonment of being a woman who is not respected. Bam, as a man with the ability to drive and the possession of a gun, is able to establish himself as a respected man in the community. However Maureen has nothing. This incorporated with her pride of being white and a woman who had been able to live her life as she wished, she struggles to keep the power balance between herself and all those around her. It also seems as though Bam and Maureen switched roles as it is her that confronts July of the missing gun, the keys to the bakkie, which Bam does not seem to care about.
Emma, on the other hand, can only dream of switching roles with her husband. Therefore she commits adultery, as it is the only thing in her power to do and deceives Charles about it. She does this to follow her dreams and materialistic desires, none of which Charles can provide for her. Charles never suspects any deception and trusts her completely even giving her his power of attorney to fuel her shopping addiction. This continuous deception reveals Emma’s dissatisfaction with her life and marriage which she tries to escape. However there are times when Emma tries to repent and become a faithful housewife to Charles, even trying to become religious. This shows the internal conflict on going within herself of being moral or immoral. Nevertheless, she becomes extremely unhappy living as such driving her to pursue her old lifestyle of adultery and deception once more.
The two protagonists’ journey throughout the novels is hardened by the fact that they are both women and are not accepted by society as they are. They both face internal conflicts on how they should behave. Emma, in the end, commits suicide as she can no longer face the responsibilities of the debt she has created while Maureen crosses the river towards the helicopter, which symbolizes her rebirth of an independent woman no longer bound to her family.
