Extremeist

Hau’ofa’s absurdist point of view has a slight incline to homelands, and the ideas of family. The coming and going of the characters in and out of home for whatever reason is a done in a way so that home is still defined (even though there is ridiculousness to it).
The main character has a daughter that have left and abusive husband. In typical Hau’ofa fashion this is done in an extremist way that is almost annoying to read. She has left him because SHE was abusing him. This is not the conventional norm for this country, usual it’s the other way around. He is a major elected official that has a status that people within the village respect. With this, Hau’ofa shows us the typical female struggle to be heard, but it’s done backwards. But it is also clever. In making her the abuser that comes home, it shows what is also known as the true role for a daughter to play. Without taking it to this extreme, to the point that I felt like tearing my hair out, it would not have highlighted the stereotypes, thus, highlighting the impotence that we all tend to forget when we are somewhere else; the idea that you can always go home.
Through his writing of ridiculous characters Hau’ofa enlightens the reader into themes that are already known in the classics, but his way puts a more unconventional twist on them. He uses the twistedness to make characters that are both humorous and engaging for the reader. In his many bodily function jokes, which also highlight the extreme and outrageous he asks the reader to step out of their comfort zone while identifying motifs that are present in all literature. It is also through this unconventional way, that these themes are even more visible, because of their outrageousness.