The Bone People

While conversing one day, Joe tells Kerewin that his cousin, Piri Tainui, is married with four children, but that his wife has left him, taking three of the kids with her. The conversation shifts to Simon, and Joe reveals that the boy does not have friends or play well with others, even the Tainui kids. In fact, he often gets into fights with other children. Kerewin is surprised that despite his professions of love for the boy, Joe does not seem to be interested in understanding the motivations behind such behavior.

The three go out on Kerewin’s family’s boat and fish all day. Simon is terrified at first but conquers his fear and even manages to catch a very large fish. However, in the process of reeling it in, he injures his thumb. They immediately turn back to shore, but Simon is terrified of doctors, and Joe decides it is better if he takes care of the injury himself. Kerewin stays out of the way, and Simon is hurt by her perceived indifference. Later, she tells him that she is unable to watch others suffer and would not have been able to help Joe tend to Simon’s injury.

After a shopping trip to the nearby town, Joe brings back a dartboard. He is extremely good at throwing darts, and when questioned about it, he tells Kerewin that he had polio as a child and had to spend several years on bedrest, during which he amused himself by playing darts from his bed. At that time, a vaccine or an effective treatment did not exist, and his recovery is considered miraculous. His strong-willed Maori grandmother used traditional medicine to cure him.

It seems that Joe’s childhood was unhappy as he believes that his grandmother took him in after his father’s death more as a symbolic gesture, rather than for sentimental reasons. While sick with polio, he was often made to feel useless. Additionally, his minister grandfather often punished Joe, purportedly for the boy’s own good. Joe’s closest relative, his mother, ended up in prison for some time. After serving her sentence, she remarried and tried forgetting about her past life, including her first child. After finishing school, Joe went to university, but after meeting Hana, he wanted to give her a secure life and decided to quit his studies in favor of taking a factory job. After hearing about his troubled childhood and adolescence, Kerewin feels sympathy for Joe and realizes he is not simply a villain, but a victim in his own right.

Simon goes out to play on the beach while Joe stays inside, sick. While walking along the surf, the boy sees an injured bird on the ground. He is faced with a dilemma: He wants to save the animal, but going back to bring the adults would take too long. The bird is clearly suffering and slowly dying. Simon decides to be merciful and kills it quickly, even though the act upsets him deeply.

His grief finds expression in singing, and that is how Kerewin finds him. After not being punished for using his voice, Simon is overjoyed at the newfound ability to express himself through song.