Call It Courage | Social Sensitivity

Call It Courage Social Sensitivity

Sperry's knowledge of the Polynesian way of life makes Call It Courage an accurate picture of Polynesian culture in primitive times. The customs, work habits, handicrafts, food, weapons, and canoes are carefully detailed. Included in this depiction are certain gender role expectations. The men fish; the women weave and cook. Because Mafatu cannot fish, he is derided for doing "woman's work." Sperry makes no value judgments of this division of labor; he simply presents it as a fact of life in the Polynesia of long ago. Interestingly, the "womanly" skills that Mafatu acquires as an outcast later become essential to his survival. It is doubtful whether some of the other boys, who knew only "manly" skills, could have survived some of Mafatu's ordeals.