At the beginning of the novel, the reader knows only knows that Maru, a king among his people, has made a serious misjudgment that makes his people question his morals and his respected position. By marrying a Masarwa woman, he has lost the esteem of his people. He muses on the walk home:

Maybe life had presented him with too many, destinies, but he knew that he would accept them all and fulfill them. Who else had been born with such clear, sharp eyes that cut through all pretense and sham? Who else was a born leader of men, yet at the same time acted out his own, strange inner perceptions, independent of the praise or blame of men? (1)

Maru has complete control over the world he inhabits: only his best friend, Moleka, and his sister, Dikeledi, have enough authority to advise him. No one in the village has the power to change his mind or to influence his decisions. He stands alone—the king of his village and the next paramount chief. This isolation emphasizes his loneliness, though he rarely acknowledges it.

Similarly, Maru believes that he can change his peoples’ views on the Masarwa, and he marries Margaret Cadmore, a Masarwa, to prove that point.