![]() While Jake portrays himself as an easygoing man out for a good time, he has a vicious temper when drinking. He often invites huge crowds of friends back to his home for wild parties. There he is in his element, buying drinks, singing songs and savagely beating any other patron whom he considers to have stepped out of line (hence his nickname 'The Muss'). Jake is unemployed and spends most of the day getting drunk at the local pub with his friends. (This disconnection from books and education is a major concern of Duff's, for which reason he founded the charity Duffy Books in Homes, which gives free books to children from poor backgrounds and generally encourages reading.) Beth reflects that neither she nor anyone else she knows has any books at home, and her daughter, Grace, is the only character with a real interest in school and learning. ![]() The family is also shown to be disconnected from Western culture and ways of learning. However, she finds it easy to lapse back into a pattern of drinking and irresponsibility. Beth sometimes tries to reform herself and her family-for example, by giving up drinking and saving the money that she would have spent on alcohol. ![]() Beth is from a more traditional background and in saying so, relates to the old ways Jake is an interpretation of what some Māori have become. Their interpretations of life and being Māori are tested. After eighteen years, they live in a slum and have six children. Beth Heke left her small town and, despite her parents' disapproval, married Jake "the Muss" Heke. ![]()
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