Lemigao's Virility

Albert Wendt’s novel, Pouliuli, depicts the consequences that cultural norms and stereotypes have upon their people. Subtly marking a fine line between quests for self-fulfillment and selfish obsessions, Wendt’s provocative novel portrays Lemigao, an outcast cripple, and his fight against cultural prejudice and preconceptions. As a youth dismissed as a lowly handicap because of his club-foot, Lemigao constantly battled societal belittlement for his acceptance. Unable to ignore his culture’s norms, Lemigao and, more evidently, his actions were undeniably defined by this struggle. Being stripped of his dignity by virtue of his “burden”, Lemigao constantly strove to prove his virility. As a young boy determined to challenge his cultural fate, Lemigao would fearlessly claim that he could, “outrun, outswim, outfish, outfight, outwork, and outeverything all the boys in Malaelua”. Despite his claims, “most Malaeluans [chuckled] whenever they saw his club-foot” and it was only years later when Lemigao’s numerous sexual conquests began to come to light that “everyone had to reassess” his status: “until then Malaeluans had been intolerant of any type of deformity.” However, while “gradually through the years he had earned” their respect, “his lone battle for survival in a hostile Malaelua had
Unable to explain his sickness, many conject that Mose’s passing was due to a mental unwillingness to bear the burdens present in his own life. Heartbroken, Lemigao’s vanity and self-deception culminates in his actions towards Mua when he beats her and sends her away. Lemigao does not seem to fully blame Mua’s “curse” as, rather than beating her out of anger, “he was simply committing an act he had to commit” perhaps suggesting that Mua would only serve as a constant reminder of his ultimate failure. Lemigao finally and painfully recognized his role in his son’s death and was unable to undo his