The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

A central theme of the novel is the role that religion—both the Christian religion and pre-colonial belief systems and practices—has in Botswanan society, and the novel explores the amalgamation of cultures and religions that constitute modern Botswana. Growing ambivalence toward Christianity in modern Botswana is reflected by the novel’s characters, particularly with regard to Christianity’s role as a result of, and tool for, the creation of colonial structures. Neither the protagonist Precious Ramotswe nor her father Obed are fully accepting of Christianity, as an imposed religion. Like her father, Ramotswe is suspicious of the “lies” (35) propagated by missionaries who believed that the Tswana “needed clear guidelines” (36) in order to behave. The image of a Sunday School teacher hitting a student with a Bible “with a resounding thud” is perhaps symbolic of the Christianity as a tool of oppression. That the “resounding thud” is the teacher hitting a boy, Josiah, after he repeatedly exposed himself to 11-year-old Precious also gives this episode a sense of relish. This is just one of the numerous experiences recounted by the women in the book about male disrespect toward women, especially of a sexual nature. That the book shows these behaviors predominating reflects an ambivalence about the value and effect of Christianity as a moral force in Botswana, as Precious says “ministers of religion and headteachers” (139) are the only men who don’t cheat on their wives, the implication being that this is partly because they would lose their jobs, rather than from piety.