The Bone People

The epilogue offers the quintessential happy ending. The three protagonists are finally reunited and form a new, nontraditional family unit, with Kerewin holding all the legal power, while Joe, presumably, serves as a spiritual guide and guardian to the wider community. Simon is finally officially adopted, becoming a fully-fledged member of the community.

Symbolically, the end suggests that acceptance of others can overcome New Zealand’s violent and traumatic past. Family does not need to be biologically related as long as its members love and respect each other’s desires, beliefs, and differences.

Despite its hopeful imagery and language, the ending remains somewhat problematic. While Joe and Kerewin are redeemed and resolve their inner problems, Simon’s abuse and experiences in foster care remain largely ignored. He is willing to forgive everyone, and it does not seem that any effort is being made in addressing his suffering, insecurities, and trauma. Furthermore, Joe’s elderly relative Marama, when questioned, says repeatedly, “‘But Joe loves his boy, this was just an accident’” (399), referring to Simon’s hospitalization. She is more upset that the two have been separated than that the boy almost died. Such an attitude absolves Joe of wrongdoing and makes light of Simon’s suffering. While it is true that the boy is deeply unhappy at being taken away from Joe and losing the only home he knows, there can be no guarantee that Joe would not simply have continued abusing him if the authorities had not stepped in. After all, the Tainuis already knew about the beatings, if not about their full extent, and still did nothing.

Additionally, in the Epilogue, the person who alerted the authorities, Luce, the same one who provoked Joe’s first violent outburst, is cast as a family traitor and troublemaker. The fact that Joe almost kills Simon and that his abuse would have continued unchecked without Luce’s intervention remains unacknowledged. To a contemporary reader, a few months in prison seems a somewhat light sentence, especially in light of Joe acknowledging the wrongness of his actions but consciously refusing to seek help and stop the abuse.