Mariah Analysis Essay Example
Mariah Analysis Essay Example

Mariah Analysis Essay Example

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  • Pages: 7 (1729 words)
  • Published: May 25, 2018
  • Type: Analysis
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In the beginning of the story, Mariah is appeared. She is a beautiful widow who is always wears kebaya. She is a nasi seller in Molo. She sells nasi which are nasi dagang, nasi kerabu and nasi berlauk. ( page 1,) Mariah is a punctual person. Every morning at seven sharp she will walk past the market entrance into the village square to sell her nasi. As a bonus, she also has a sensuous movement as the men will mesmerize when she swaying her hips. page 1, paragraph 2) Besides that, she is an independent woman. Mariah is living alone as her husband already passed away soon after their marriage. She earns money to support his life by selling nasi. (page 2, paragraph 6). However, she is not a religious person as sh

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e is untutored in religion sine she was a child. Because of this, she agreed to marry the Imam as he can teach her about religion. ( page 13, ) Cik Yam is a wife of the Imam, she is characterized as a perfect wife based on the sentence “The Imam looked at his wife with obvious pride.

There was not a living man in Molo who did not envy him for having such a devoted wife”. Sadly, she has childless problem. But, it doesn’t mean that she cannot be a good wife. Cik Yam is a good cook and becomes a model for other womenfolk. Her culinary skill was excellent and her housekeeping was a model to be followed by other womenfolk in the village. One could always call at the Imam’s house at any time of the day,

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guaranteed to be greeted by a well-turned-out wife, hot tepung and fragrant surrounding. Plus, she is defensive an unbiased. This can be seen from the way she disregards the gossips about Mariah.

Cik Yam defends Mariah when Cik Gu Nab accuses Mariah enticing the men in the village including the Imam. Cik Gu Nab also claimed that Mariah put ‘something’ in her nasi to make the men hell-bent on eating breakfast at her place but Cik Yam doesn’t believe it. (page 4,) The main character in this story is the Imam. The Imam is a pious man and a friend of Cik Gu Leh. He was conducting kulliyahs, performing prayers and even paying courtesy calls on the Sheikh’s behalf. Besides, he is also being respected by all people in the village. The quarrelsome couple will listen ttentively to Imam’s sermon an exhortation to peace. ( page 3, ). He fell in love with Mariah who reminds him to his long lost love, Sheik’s daughter. Cik Gu Nab is a hopeless cook. She cannot cook well like Cik Yam. It can be seen when Cik yam questioning herself why is the most feared thing by women which is polygamy must happen to her but not to the lazy Cik Gu Nab. She couldn’t even fry the egg properly. ( page 11) A malicious characteristic is also portrayed by her when she accused Mariah was enticing the men in the village to eat breakfast at her place.

Even worst, she claimed that Mariah had put ‘something’ into her nasi to make the men enticed. (page4). (page 5) Cik Gu Leh is a husband of Cik

Gu Nab. He is Imam’s good friend. It is proven when he is the one who became the Imam’s emissary and helped him to propose Mariah. (page 13). On the other side, he is the most persistent to eat nasi berlauk at Mariah’s place and urged Imam to follow him too. ( page 6) Sheikh’s daughter is just a supportive character who is exists in the Imam’s past. She is the Imam’s first sight love. Imam fell in love with her at a very first time he saw her at the well.

The last character presents in this story is the Sheikh. The Sheikh is a person who was responsible for tutelage of the Imam. ( page 9) PLOT Exposition The story begins with the exposition of Mariah as the beautiful Nasi Berlauk seller. It describes how Mariah’s beautiful figure appears as she walks as in “ all eyes were transfixed on a figure coming through the entrance. It was the figure of a woman”. Her attitudes seemed to mesmerize the men and glue them. It also describes how Mariah ws admired by men in the village. Rising action The rising action starts when Cik Gu Nab report about Mariah to Cik Yam.

She accused Mariah had put something into her Nasi Berlauk to enchant all the men in the village including Pak Imam. It follows with the flash back of the Imam’s past about his unforgettable secret long lost love with the daughter of his master, the Sheikh. Climax The climax of this story is when the Imam asks permission from his wife to marry Mariah. He then told Cik Yam of

Mariah how he had fought his emotions and how he had lost. He begged Cik Yam’s forgiveness, kissed the hern of Cik Yam’s sarong and asked for her permission to take Mariah as his second wife.

Cik Yam is conflicted whether to agree the Imam’s request to take Mariah as the second wife or not to allow. Falling action The falling action of this story is when Cik Yam finally agree to let the Imam to marry Mariah under the condition of equality. Resolution The Imam got married to Mariah and they had a wedding ceremony which was attended by most of the villagers. CONFLICTS There are some conflicts exist in this story which are person vs society, person vs self and Nasi belauk. Person vs society Mariah is a beautiful widower. Because of that, she needs to face all the gossips about her that has been by the womenfolk.

She had been accused of enticing all the men in that village to abandon their home and eat breakfast at her Kedai Merpati. She also seen by the women in that village as being a source of problem. Person vs self This conflict is shown when the Imam faced the internal conflicts particularly in his feelings towards his first love and Mariah. Imam felt guilty and could not control his desire to take Mariah as his second wife. Imam vs Che Yam The conflict that was happen in this story is between Cik Yam and her husband, Imam. Che Yam was upset with the Imam after Cik Nab went to report about Mariah.

Actually, Cik Gu Nab trying to put the matter

across as delicately as possible. Imam didn’t eat Cik Yam’s nasi berlauk. Then, Cik Yam threw the tudung saji on the floor. TECHNIQUE OF PLOT Flash back This technique is implied in Mariah where the Imam became transported to another time, his youth when he further his study in Pattani. It is the place where he the Imam studied to be an Imam. “The Imam became transported to another time, his youth…” (Page 8) “When the Imam was a young man of fifteen his father had voiced his wish for his son to be sent to Pattani to learn under tutelage of a well-known Sheikh”

SETTING The story takes place in the small village town of Molo. The first setting of place is, the Town square. Town square is a place where the men waited for Mariah to appear. Every morning at seven sharp she would walk past the market entrance into the village square the men will be mesmerized with her swaying hips as well as her nasi. The second place is the Mosque. The mosque is the place where the prayers are held. The Imam also went to the mosque to find the refuge. He also dallied in the mosque and fell asleep in it. Another setting of place is the Imam’s house.

The Imam’s house becomes the place for the quarrelsome couples to find peace. They will gape enviously at the surroundings and forget to quarrel. Besides that, it also where Cik Gu Nab complains to Cik Yam about Mariah. Kedai Merpati is the place where the men eat their breakfast. Social Environment For the social environment, it is related

to a religious community steeped in traditions, very closely knitted, as seen by the women’s protective attitudes towards the fellow sisters. This is shown when Cik Gu Nab an the womenfolk went to Cik Yam’s house and reported about Mariah who was enticing the Imam, Cik Yam’s husband.

Time It is indefinite though it seems to focus on what the community commonly does in the earlier half of the day. ( morning to early noon) Mood In tense This can be seen when Imam ask permission from Cik Yam to marry Mariah. The Imam has tried to convince Cik Yam that he will be fair to Cik Yam and Mariah. Peaceful The Imam’s house is the place where the quarrelsome couple finds peace. Happy The happy moment occurred when the Imam got married to Mariah. They were having a resplendent wedding. THEME The theme is about sacrificial love and polygamy.

Cik yam agreed to the second marriage of her husband because she loved him and did not want him to be sad. She did not prevent Pak Imam to marry Mariah, the Nasi Berlauk seller. At first, when Pak Imam tells Cik Yam that he wants to get married another one, she just get sad. But then, after Pak Imam persuaded her, she gave her permission to Pak Imam to marry Mariah. In this story, the issue of polygamy is not a big issue. However, this issue becomes important in this story when it is about Cik Yam’s decision, whether she wants to give permission or not let the polygamy between herself and Mariah.

In addition, this story brings forward the theme

of treatment of women and polygamy. The treatment of women is criticized trough the character of the Imam, Cik Yam and Mariah. The author criticized on the men and their attitudes and on how a man easily marries another. Another theme being applied in this short story is the greed for long lost love. This is shown when the Imam still cannot forget his long lost love, Sheikh’s daughter. When he looked at Mariah, his feeling becomes stronger. Because of that, he decided to take Mariah as his second wife .

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