Richard III is seen as not relevant but can be true for present day, in terms of the act of political manipulation. It is just that the method used in order to manipulate the political rule will be or might be different and can be said as more cunning in these days. Political manipulation can happen in any throne and at any time regardless which era. Power-hunger people are everywhere and they will use their tricky and wicked way to fulfill their own needs, grudge and satisfaction.
Why is that it is said as more cunning is due to the existence of strict law that forbid people to kill people without valid reason nowadays. Compared to the Elizabethan era in the play, the present day’s law enforced is stricter. In the play we can see that there are so many murders done by Richard in order for him to fulfill his mission to be the king. However, further and detailed investigation has not been done in order to catch the real culprit of the murder. For example, when Richard put the guilt of the murder of Clarence on King Edward, no further investigation was done to find the real murderer.
The relevance of Richard III to the present day is in several ways. The primary and crucial way used by Richard in order to achieve the political power is through language. Language is his crucial weapon to manipulate other characters in that play. Observation throughout the whole play reveals that Richard has extraordinary skill with words that enable him to manipulate, confuse, and control those around him. For example, Richard uses his skill with language and argument to woo Lady Anne, have Clarence thrown in prison, keep the Woodvilles off his track, blame the king for Clarence’s death, and achieve Hastings’s execution, all at very little risk to himself. Similar to the present day ruling, cunning ruler or political people will use their language skill to persuade, manipulate, claim, disclaim and control people around them especially to those who are weaker than them in order to achieve their personal needs. They can be very sweet in talk but are cunning inside. They can make people trust them by giving false hopes, provoke the people to make them lose trust to the current ruling, and they can blame others for their guilt.
In term of ruling, Richard used secret conspiracy to take over the throne, which is still happened these days. He worked with his right-hand man, Lord Buckingham to campaign for the throne, execute Clarence and burden the guilt onto his sick King Edward to accelerate the king’s illness and death, murdered Lord Hastings, let Elizabeth and the princess unprotected and so on just for the sake that he wants to be the king. In present day, for example, westerners cunningly creating conspiracies by acting as if they are very concern for the life of middle-east people and want to help to control the crime there. They then send their soldier there and create wars. They claim that they want to have a good relationship with Muslims but behind these things they are actually having their own agenda for the sake of their interest. If in the play Richard works with Buckingham, in present day, the conspiracy is done by several countries that work together to accomplish the mission.
Other than that, Richard the third and present day ruling especially westerner use terror to make people fear and follow their order. Richard’s reign of terror has caused the common people of England to fear and loathe him. He has alienated nearly all the noblemen of the court even the power-hungry Buckingham. Meanwhile, nowadays, western countries for example America, uses terror to control the world. Those countries which are seen as having possibilities to go against them will be set into war, for example Afghanistan and Palestine. This makes other countries to fear them and avoid creating problem with them because other countries do not want to let their people to live in suffer.
As shown in Richard the Third, Richard used the monarchy system in terms of ruling. Monarchy can be defined as a form of government in which all political power is absolutely or nominally lodged with an individual. As a political entity, the monarch is the head of state, generally until their death or abdication, and is wholly set apart from all other members of the state. The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. It was a common form of government in the world during ancient and medieval times.
Unlike democracy, it is a political government carried out either directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (Representative democracy). Even though there is no specific, universally accepted definition of ‘democracy’, there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes: equality and freedom. These principles are reflected in all citizens being equal before the law and having equal access to power and legitimized rights and liberties, which are generally protected by a constitution, secure the freedom of its citizens.
There are several varieties of democracy, some of which provide better representation and more freedoms for their citizens than others. However, if any democracy is not carefully legislated through the use of balances to avoid an uneven distribution of political power, such as the separation of powers, then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and become harmful to the democracy itself.
The “majority rule” is often described as a characteristic feature of democracy, but without responsible government or constitutional protections of individual liberties from democratic power, it is possible for dissenting individuals to be oppressed by the “tyranny of the majority”. An essential process in representative democracies is competitive elections, that are fair both substantively and procedurally. Furthermore, freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential so that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal interests.
Democracy may and may not be applicable in the present time. For this reason, people around the world may see monarchy negatively because it gives absolute power for the ruler to rule the country. People’s opinion and voice will not be put into consideration. The ruler will be highly valued and all of the people must obey to his order. Unlike democracy, people’s opinion and voices will be put into consideration and the ruler rule the country based on the law that has been enforced according to the majority. However, one must note that having democracy as their ruling system, and if the laws are not effective enough to be implemented, chaotic would most probably takes place. When everyone wants to speak up on behalf of them, contradiction of ideas occurs. Democracy also is not a good option when you have ruler that is not ruling for the sake of the country, but for his personal gains.
In Malaysia, the federal king, called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (“Paramount Ruler”) is elected for a five-year term from and by the hereditary rulers (mostly sultans) of nine of the federation’s constitutive states, all on the Malay peninsula. However, the King only has power over the religious part but not the ruling system as a whole.
Though ‘monarchy’ always bring negative connotation towards people, however, for the certain degrees, monarchy will be more effective than democracy. Having monarchy as the ruling system will standardise and stablelise the country. The election of the ruler must be carefully done and chosen because he will have an absolute power later on. As in Richard the third, Richard is having an absolute power over his people but he is not a good ruler. That is the reason why the country is later on corrupted and he lost to the battle at the end of the story.
In addition, monarchy is still relevant to the current time because there are developed countries around the world that are still practicing it. For examples, Japan and Brunei. Their Kings still have power over the ruling system. Brunei is a good example of monarchy for Islamic countries. The King is not just involved in the ruling system, but as well as the religious part. The country successfully implements the Islamic laws and all of their citizens are abiding it.
Hence, it is agreed that Richard the Third ruling system may seen as not relevant to the current time but can be true for the present day.
RICHARD III
Filed under plays
Taming Of The Shrew
Femininity and masculinity or one’s gender identity (Burke, Stets and Pirog-Good 1988; Spence 1985) refers to the degree to which persons see themselves as masculine or feminine given what it means to be a man or woman in society. Femininity and masculinity are rooted in the social (one’s gender) rather than the biological (one’s sex). Societal members decide what being male or female means (e.g., dominant or passive, brave or emotional), and males will generally respond by defining themselves as masculine while females will generally define themselves as feminine. Because these are social definitions, however, it is possible for one to be female, see herself as masculine or male, and see himself as feminine.
The women who were active and self-reliant in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century England are reflected in the female main characters in Shakespeare’s plays who freely speak out, behave as they like, and pursue their fortunes. It can be found in the play that Katherine was being an intransigent. The patriarchal society in those days imposed on women the three virtues, which are, obedience, silence, and chastity in order to preserve the social order. The basis of this idea was that because of their inferiority women should be governed by men.
The theme of the play is a farcical comedy but the question is did Shakespeare really believe that a woman was in no way equal to a man or was this play tongue in cheek and was he portraying how men would simply like things to be. However, to say that Shakespeare is trying to uphold the status of women in that particular time, it is contradict with the way Katherine behave at last. Katherine who is believed by the society to be successfully tamed by her husband, was being obedience, and represent how the typical women of Elizabethan era should be.
The major argument against this theory of feminism lies in the words of Katherine’s final speech. In her speech, Katherine proceeds to scold the other wives for their improper behaviour in their wifely roles. The speech seems to defy everything that her earlier character embodied. By paying particular attention to the exaggerated performances of Katherine earlier on in the play and at the closing of the play, it can be suggested that this reversal of thought is all part of Shakespeare’s ploy to demonstrate the strong presence of female intellect going unnoticed in the sixteenth-century. She has gone from argumentative to overly accepting, from aggressive to submissive, and from controlling to controlled in a very short time.
Filed under plays
Othello
Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro” (“A Moorish Captain”) by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign Iago. Because of its varied themes — racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal. (Wikipedia, 2010).
Regarding to the element of the main character of most of the Shakespearean plays were flawed and easily manipulated, Othello was not an exceptional. During the time this play was written, black people or “moors” were banned from Britain unless they were slaves. This is because before the 1950’s there were no equal rights for human beings. People of any other colour than white were seen as inferior and as barbaric, (which when translated from Latin means someone who cannot speak a language). This is the stereotypical view most people had of black people at the time, however discrimination was accepted in society and was not questioned, and so because it was not a crime to be prejudice against black people, because at the time black people had no rights. In addition, a number of ethnic groups were subjected to racism and suffered as a result. These include racism against towards the presence of Moorish, Black and Asian immigrants coming into England. These ethnic groups were disadvantaged as they were given limited employment opportunities/entitlements and forced to take some form of domestic service. They were paid below the minimum wage which did not give them an adequate income to support themselves and their families. They were seen as second-class citizens, often treated with little respect and value and were perceived and treated as lesser beings and brutally persecuted for minor offences. Because black people are associated with peasant, ironically we can see that in this play, Othello is being honest, clever, and naive
There are three major points will be discussed further in this review.
First, the reason of Shakespeare using black people in this play is to make fun of the black people community as a whole. Since Shakespeare live in Elizabethan period, it is widely known that in this era, racism is the major concern. During the Elizabethan era, there were two primary types of racism. First, racism that discriminates (cultural, institutional). This form of racism was common in the workplace as well as in public places all over England. Second, racism that kills mainly as a result of extreme poverty. This type of racism is generally referred to as paternalistic racism. Paternalistic racism implies that white people have the right to interfere in the lives of blacks for their own good and the power to define that good. This, implied in this play. We can see that Iago is using everyone for the sake of letting Othello down. For this reason, Shakespeare make Iago as an antagonist character and Othello as the protagonist. However, the protagonist is so weak that he was able to be manipulated by the antagonist. Thus, the audience those days will have the idea of how weak black people could be and how easy of them being manipulated and influenced by the white people (represented by Iago) . The main input here was to make fun of the presence of the black people in England. Which mean, Shakespeare, suit with the living in Elizabethan era, was trying to pour the idea of the weaknesses of the black people. However, this point will be seen vague if the manipulation of Othello being compared to Cassio and Roderigo. Because, both of the characters are of white people. Therefore, second thought of the reason on why the main character was flawed in Shakespearean plays has been drawn.
Second, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defined ‘Moor’ as one of the Muslim people from North Africa who entered Spain in the 8th century and ruled the southern part of the country until 1492. Hence, Muslim is being referred here. Therefore, the reason of using flawed character in Othello is that, Shakespeare is trying to invade the idea of Muslims, being easily manipulated and influenced by others. Even for now, there are a lot of manipulation of Islam takes place. Sadly, there is no one to turn up for Islam. Islam community is seen defeated slowly by the others. We are easily influenced and manipulated. Our lifestyle changed and becoming more westernise. Othello is a Moor and therefore, he is easily defeated by the evil Iago. The characteristic of Othello being good, kind, and honourable man may represent Islam’s faith, but the characteristic of easily manipulated and influenced is the way, weak believers of Muslim carry themselves.
Third, contradict with the first idea, the reason why Othello is a flawed character is that Shakespeare was trying to be cynical towards those people who discriminate the black people at that time. Thus, this third idea is drawn from the conclusion of Shakespeare is not racist. And Othello is not a racist play. Because Shakespeare wrote a play about a black and white union, which was later destroyed, It is found that he is not racist. Shakespeare feels that the union between the two is right, but the relationship would never survive in a racist community at that time. He portrayed the union between Othello and Desdemona as a good thing, and the people who destroyed it, mainly Iago and Roderigo as evil. This shows once again that he approves of a black and white relationship and therefore was not a racist himself. This reason is the fine tuning of the first reason and therefore, answer the doubt of ‘if Othello is manipulated because of its skin colour, then why Cassio and Roderigo were manipulated as well’. The main idea here is, Shakespeare was trying to be cynical towards people in his era that discriminated the black people by giving a black man to act as the main character and represented as the protagonist, honourable, and kind. Evidence shown from this play is when The Duke of Venice whispered to Brabantio, father of Desdemona saying that, “If virtue no delighted beauty lack, your son- in- law is far more fair than black”. Hence, Shakespeare is trying to invade to the people and audience those days that, black people are not a bad people as they always think of.
Slumdog Millionaire : The Review
Slumdog Millionaire follows Jamal Malik, a teenage orphan from the ghettos of Mumbai who is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of the trivia game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. As a “slumdog,” though, there are those who believe that Jamal must have cheated to have come so far on the show, namely the police.
As a no-nonsense police inspector and his brutal, porcine subordinate relentlessly grill Jamal, the young man relates how he knew the answer to each question. Proving that life experiences count for as much if not more than learned knowledge, Jamal recounts how he and his older brother lost their mother when they were children to an anti-Muslim mob. Left to fend for themselves on the streets of Mumbai, Jamal and Salim turn to hustling and petty crimes to survive. Along the way, they meet another young orphan, the fetching Latika, whom Jamal falls in love with and will spend the next several years chasing.
Jamal and Salim encounter a benefactor who turns out to be a ruthless criminal and they soon make a desperate escape from his clutches. Latika, however, is not as lucky and, as he matures, Jamal makes it his mission in life to locate and save her. His brother Salim, meanwhile, grows more brutal with age, eventually becoming an outright gangster while Jamal gets a legitimate job as a tea boy at a call center. It is while working there that Jamal lands a spot on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
It becomes clear As Jamal relates his story to the inspector that the youth has no real interest in the fortune that he stands to win. So what’s driving him? As Jamal gets closer and closer to the jackpot, he becomes an overnight celebrity and a beacon of hope for the millions of viewers who live the same hardscrabble life he has thus far led. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Therefore, the game show really reflects Jamal’s life simultaneously. Still, Boyle succeeds in leaving these creepy beginnings behind to create a film that’s full of warmth and humanity and forever looks on the bright side of tragedy.
Jamal mentioned in the film “You don’t have to be genius” several times. For this reason, Jamal did not study anything in order to answer all of the questions given to him in the game show. Instead, the answers are all gained from his own experiences.
Jamal and his brother have been gambling about their life since they were kids. It is shown in the film when the police officer chased Jamal and his brother. In addition, there was a scene where people were chasing over Muslims community in Juhu. Jamal’s mother was killed and fortunately, Jamal and Salim managed to escaped. Unluckily, their escape brought them to the worst. There was a syndicate searching over Indians orphanage kids, and make them a beggar.
Their life was based on luck. Even in the game show, Jamal’s answers were determined by his luck. Surprisingly, all of the questions are parallel with what Jamal’s has gone through before. None of the questions asked, contradict with Jamal’s experiences. Even the police officers have doubt on him how he managed to answered all questions correctly because he is a ‘chaiwalla’. Jamal has the gut to play with his own life, destiny and fate. There are questions that he felt unsure, but still, luck has sparked on behalf of Jamal.
Another important element in this film is religion—explicit religion. It has only a cameo with Jamal, Salim, and Latika’s Muslim identities being only incidental to the story but brings great impact to the audience Earlier, when a gang of Hindu thugs overruns a group of women washing clothes, a young boy appears dressed as the Hindu god Rama. How one in a desperate situation, have will to convert or pretend to be other religion’s believer for the sake of his life. It is a game of his life, whether he want it that way (in terms of safety), or remain Muslim but being beaten and labeled as a terrorist. Only once, late in the film, do we see Salim in prayer asking divine forgiveness for a sin he is about to commit.
There does seem to be a theology to the film, however. Embedded in the opening question, as noted above regarding the slum-dog’s success, is the question: “How did he do it?” Throughout the movie we are left wondering whether Jamal is a cheat—the police assume that initially; lucky—seems plausible; a genius, probably not; or whether “it is written.”
As we work our way to the fade-to-white-light finish and the final answer, we become less and less persuaded that randomness, cheating, or even his personal brilliance drives Jamal’s story. Dev Patel plays Jamal as a fairly modest, ordinary guy: street smart and resilient, but not a genius.
Despite the presence of primarily Muslim main characters, there does not appear to be a particularly Islamic vision of divine mercy and inscrutability amid the squalor, terror, and glitz of Jamal’s life in global Mumbai. Rather, the film evokes the Hindu idea of divine play (Lila); Hindu literature is filled with stories of the devotee who triumphs over adversity through unwavering devotion to his or her deity, while the notion of one’s life being written or in the hands of destiny is a broadly shared Indian cultural perspective.
In terms of love, the point of the story is not whether Jamal will win the money but if he will get the girl. Jamal is playing the game because he wanted to search for his lost love, Latika. This put another shed of Jamal’s life determined by luck and he is merely playing a game out of his life. He is very confident, and brave in doing that.
Other elements in this film that will be discussed are human dignity, values and attitude of upper class, and education. For human dignity, Slumdog Millionaire exposed to the audience the lack of human dignity takes place not only in India, but all over the world. Jamal (Dev Patel) who appears in the Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who wants to be a millionaire) is ridiculed by the anchor Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor). It is shown as selling tea is ‘mean’ job and publicly ridicules him, repeatedly. This, is closely related to the attitude of the upper class society and their values towards their own people (low class society). The attitude of the upper class was represented by Prem Kumar (Anil Kapoor) when he informs the police that Jamal could have cheated because he wanted no body in the show to win. He could not tolerate a socially lower class (caste) boy winning the prize of million rupees. Jamal once, mentioned to the police officer, who could not believe that he managed to win the game show saying that “just because I am a chaiwalla?”. Another evident is when the police officer asked Jamal whether she (Latika) is pretty or not, and the police assistant said “Bitch of slumdog”. Jamal got angry and there was a fight took place. The police officer then said “well, well…slumdog barks” (with referring to Jamal’ anger). Furthermore, children do not have opportunity for education. In fact, they are kidnapped, maimed and sent to beg on the streets. The money that is collected by begging is taken by the gang leader Maman. ‘Missing children’ in India mostly end up as child beggars in big cities.
The starving children steal food in a moving train, roughed up and thrown from the running train. Miraculously they escape. The way the children are treated for this crime is horrific.
This film revealed the true story of India and their poverty in life. Similar to ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, life is a game show for them. The movie important element is the heroic spirit and devotion that Everyman Jamal displays as he confronts the game show of life. At the opening scene, a title card is presented: “Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it?
A) He cheated,
B) He’s lucky,
C) He’s a genius,
D) It is written.
At the end of the film, the answer is given as ‘D’ – written. This promotes the idea of ‘karma’ where everything is predetermined and nothing could be changed. Thus, the film has opened the window to view the ground realities in India. Instead of contesting the portrayal, leaders of India should work to address it.
REFERENCES
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.southasianconnection.com
Filed under Movies
EMBUN by Erma Fatima
Oppression according to Wikipedia is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. It can be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and anxiety. There are five types of oppression: political, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence.
Political oppression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part in the political life of society. Marginalization causes racial oppression. Powerlessness happened when people are oppressed simply by not having the power. Those in power exercise it over the powerless, giving them orders and telling them what they must do. Cultural imperialism is when the dominant group’s experience and culture is established as norms. When the dominant group has the power, they oppress those who do not share their culture. The last oppression is Violence. Violence is used to oppress people through damage, humiliation or physical harm to a person. These five types of oppression are used to discriminate and assure dominance over those who are being oppressed.
Set in Malaya during the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, this film tells the story of a girl, Embun, who was thrown into the forefront of the struggle against the Japanese when the Japanese detain her freedom-fighter brother, Bayu, and father. In the midst of it all, she was caught in a romantic liaison with the Japanese army public relations man, Koishi, who is assigned to explain the Japanese propaganda to the Malays and win their support. Koishi also has a personal mission to fulfil in Malaya which is to find the Malay man who married to his mother (in other words, his father) when she served as a Japanese spy prior to the occupation.
From this film, we can see that the Japanese use oppression to conquer Malaya. Types of oppression that can be clearly identified from this film are oppression through political and violence. Oppression is widely known as an effective tool for political rule. Japanese use political oppression in Embun in order to provoke the Malay community. Thus, riot evolved among people in Tanah Melayu at that time. Japanese mechanism is simple and obvious. By provoking the Malay community, which is the majority of the citizen in Tanah Melayu, it will be resulted in riotness and political instability as a whole. Hence, when political instability happened, it is an effective means for the colonialist to take over the country. When the Malay leaders and the community are not uniting, it is the right time for the colonialist to interfere in the jurisdiction instability ruled by the government. By oppression, colonialist are free to implement any new system simply because the people are in desperation.
Desperate, according to Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English are the ‘willingness of doing anything to change a very bad situation, and not caring about danger’, ‘needing or wanting something very much’, and ‘a desperate action is something that you only do because you are in a very bad situation’. In this film, Malays are trapped in a situation in which the colonialist (Japanese) wanted them to abide the new system implemented by the Japanese and at the same time the Malays have the fear of losing their rights and the most important thing is their own homeland. Therefore, the Malays have to abide those laws implemented by the Japanese in order to secure themselves and their family members. For this reason, the British rulers have brought up Chinese and Indians both from China and India, respectively. The Malays’ fear at that time is that, they will not possess the same rights like they were used to before. The British segregate their rights to other races and oppressed the Malays by keeping them in the village. The Chinese were brought up to work in the tin ore industry whereas the Indians are kept in the rubber estates. The Malays are desperate in keeping their homeland and rights from others to interfere. In this film, we can see that because of desperation, Embun, is willing to sacrifice her pride in order to fight for her brother, Bayu. The Japanese army, who manipulated their promises to Embun in order to fulfil their sexual desire, raped her several times. In addition, her sacrifice is meant for keeping her homeland free from colonialist.
Japanese also try to invade Malay by using slogan of ‘Asia for Asians’. The Japanese try to give fake hope by using this slogan for the citizens to believe that Malaya will gain their own independence with the help of Japanese. This is a type of political oppression. Japanese knows that Malaya people needs their independence, thus, the Japanese uses this opportunity by giving the fake hope. Some of the Malay people trust the Japanese slogan; even the Kings and Sultans are given their right to use their title. They even received monthly allowance and work as Japanese advisor in terms of politics and religion to obscure the real Japanese intention. The hidden agenda of the slogan should be Asia for Japanese, not Asia for Asians.
Apart from that, Japanese also use violence oppression towards the Malaya people. They killed anyone who tried to go against them. This is shown from the film where, Bayu and friends who are the followers of a group named Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) were killed by the Japanese army. KMM was the first national political establishment in British Malaya. Ibrahim Yaacob played a huge role in founding the union in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, then the capital of the Federated Malay States. The main goal of the union was to unite all Malays regardless of their origin and fight for the Malay’s rights. There is a scene where Bayu and his group conduct a street riot to ask the Japanese to stop blocking foods for the citizens. Unfortunately, their good intentions being debarred with guns. They had been forced to step back otherwise they will be shot down on reason that they are trying to interfere with Japanese ruling. Besides that, Japanese also killed Chinese people without mercy. Japanese people hate Chinese because British and Malayan Communist Party (MCP) had agreed to cooperate against the Japanese in Malaya. To threaten the party who consisted of most of Chinese people, Japanese killed Chinese people to warn them. The evidence was clearly shown in the film where there is a scene where a Chinese family being killed and their house burned. Japanese use lots of violence oppression in order to control their influence through damage, humiliation, physical harm, killing and even torturing. All of these violence have been used in Japanese colonization era in order to maintain their influence and power from being harassed by British or even communist.
Embun is an interesting film which has many moral values regarding oppression that we can adapt in our life. For example, in this film there are some Malay people who worked for the Japanese and betrayed their own nation just for the sake of earning a living. They even worked together with Japanese in oppressing Malays. The ration for Malays had been stopped and they did not even have foods to eat. This is considered immoral and as we live in a modern age, we have to be careful and be cooperative among our nation. There are possibilities that this event would be take place, again.
In conclusion, Japanese oppressed the Malaya people in order to colonise over the country. Because oppression is an effective tool for political rule, the colonialist had manipulated the rulers for their own sake. In Embun, Japanese oppressed the Malays in terms of the necessities. It is mentioned in the film at the ninth 45 minutes (00: 09: 45) that the Japanese hinder the people from having the access to foods, medicine, and education. For this reason, the oppressions are meant for the Malaya people from being over- educated. Japanese are afraid with the tendency of being over ruled by the educated Malays. If the Malays were having their formal education or schooling, they will have the exposure or knowledge and will not be easily fooled and manipulated by them, the Japanese. This film clearly show the oppression that the Japanese implemented in those days. The women, daughters, were all being kidnapped and raped. The Malaya people live in fear, they have no access to their basic necessities, their were depressed, desperate and oppressed by the Japanese. Nevertheless, it seems unfair for us for being judgmental and negative towards the colonialist. Sadly, we have to admit that colonialism had brought us for what we are today. Colonialism sometime works as an eye opener for the people living in that particular country. Looking back those days, without colonialism, Malaya/ Malaysia would not be this develops. Yes, we are not yet reach to be ‘developed country’ but we are a ‘developing country’. There is a glaring distinction between developed country or in Bahasa Malaysia, “Negara Maju” and developing country which is “Negara Membangun”. Colonialism also works as an effective tool for us to be exposed to other developed countries. Nowadays, people know the importance of education and valuing themselves and their identity. Without colonialism, people will live in their ‘comfort zone’ and not worrying about anything. And without exposing them with the bad effects of not valuing their identity, and being aware of people who have the potential to betray their own homeland, they won’t learn. They will not even have the will to improve themselves. Colonialism has its pros and cons for the Malaya, but not for oppression. Generally, this film showed that oppression brings more harm than good (if any) because there are many other options and alternatives to be chosen from.
Filed under Movies
sonnet 145
THE 1609 QUARTO VERSION
THoſe lips that Loues owne hand did make,
Breath’d forth the ſound that ſaid I hate,
To me that languiſht for her ſake:
But when ſhe ſaw my wofull ſtate,
Straight in her heart did mercie come,
Chiding that tongue that euer ſweet,
Was vſde in giuing gentle dome:
And tought it thus a new to greete:
I hate ſhe alterd with an end,
That follow’d it as gentle day,
Doth follow night who like a fiend
From heauen to hell is flowne away.
I hate,from hate away ſhe threw,
And ſau’d my life ſaying not you
MODERN VERSION
Those lips that Love’s own hand did make
Breathed forth the sound that said “I hate“
To me that languished for her sake;
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom,
And taught it thus anew to greet:
“I hate” she altered with an end,
That followed it as gentle day
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away.
“I hate” from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying “not you.”
Sonnet 145 is about a person who is so in love with a woman, that hearing her say that “she hates” especially if it is about him is almost too much for him to bear. But then when she notices how much pain she has caused her lover by saying that she may potentially hate him, she changes the way that she says it to assure him that she hates but does not hate him. This sonnet is unique in the collection- iambic tetrameter, instead of pentameter. This sonnet was expressed in a fairly simple language and syntax, along with the oddity of the meter, have led to suggestions that it was written much earlier than the other, more mature, sonnets.
The speaker reveals that after seeing his sorrowful expression, she suddenly becomes sympathetic toward him. He makes it difficult to accept his claim, “straight in her heart did mercy come.” In early sonnets, he has painted her the epitome of evil will toward him, but now he wants to play a little game with words. The reader has to believe the speaker is deluding himself.
Nevertheless, he claims that she changes her hatred and even chides herself for causing him pain. He would have his listener believe that she is truly sorry for using her tongue “in giving gentle doom.” She accordingly wipes clean her earlier expression of hatred and begins again.
The lady then says, “‘I hate’ from hate away she threw, – means that she throw away the feelings of hatred towards her husband. And sav’d my life, saying—‘Not you.’” She saves his life by saying she hates but not him. She felt sympathy towards her husband because she saw the sorrowful expression in his face when she said ‘I hate’. Therefore she manipulated the sentence
‘I hate, but not you’
“He is easy to please at times. By adding ‘not you’ she had cajoled his sorrow feelings.
‘And saved my life, saying , not you.’
‘hate away’ was believed to be the symbol of his wife, Hathway. (Ann Hathway)
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The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by SUE TOWNSEND
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ written by Sue Townsend is about a diary of a boy teenager in facing predicaments in life and the way he confront towards each challenges. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ is the first book in the Adrian Mole series of comedic fiction, written by Sue Townsend. It focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenager who believes himself to be an intellectual. The book is written in a diary style and set in 1981 and 1982.
Adrian Mole is facing with many predicaments in life. In addition his parent is not setting a good example in front of his eyes. He has witnessed a lot of things that a grown- up teenagers are not supposed to expose to. His parent is arguing with each other each day and his mother is having an affair with his neighbor, Mr. Lucas. He also was witnessing the separation of his parent.
I would say that Adrian Mole is tough boy. Reading through this novel, we can see that Adrian Mole possess a very determined heart. He carries a lot of responsibilities especially within his household. He takes care of his dog and his father when he was ill. Adrian behaves responsibly and with wisdom beyond his years. For example, Adrian takes himself to the doctor, and starts doing a newspaper round to earn some money. Even his father doesn’t bother about looking for a job when he is jobless.
Adrian Mole helps Bert Baxter clean his house. He willingly clean Bert’s house without demanding any payment. He pretends to be Bert’s grandson and phones the Social Services to ask about a home-help for Bert. He is being more mature as compared to his others friends. Not only take care of the house chores, but he also taking care of other people. He calls a doctor when Bert is ill. Furthermore, Adrian’s mother insists that Adrian pay the phone bill himself. Adrian’s mother doesn’t give Adrian a note to get out of sports although he complained of being in pain. She doesn’t bother too much about Adrian’s food and clothes. She leaves Adrian and goes to Sheffield with Mr. Lucas. Hence, Adrian takes care of himself as well as his diet nutrition.
In addition, Adrian Mole painted his own room. Rarely, we can see teenagers around Adrian’s age paint their own room. Adrian was the one who bought the paint. In most cases, reading trough the novel or diary, we can see that Adrian do most of the households chores on his own even some of it are supposed to be shouldered by his parents.
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Living In Sin by ADRIENNE RICH
In Adrienne Rich’s poem, “Living in Sin,” a woman, entering a life full of hope and promises with her lover, assumes that “no dust” will fall upon her home, nor her perfect relationship. Her life, however, does not fit this ideal. Both a deteriorating home and relationship afflict her life; these unexpected results of her efforts in addition to the lack of her lover’s efforts lead to resentful feelings. It is rather about the sin of staying in a marriage that lacks love. The milkman symbolizes the change of emotion that over shadowed both of them. Whereas the studio, is the symbols of home which supposedly consists of love, emotions, and full commitments. Ironically, the man (or the husband) is lack o commitment. He just complains about things in the house that annoyed him but do nothing. He plays a role of irresponsible lover who seeks marriage for the sake of having sex. His wife is the one who did the household chores. At night, we can see that their loves blooms again. However, not last and even rotten in the morning. Because the man lacks commitment, the woman takes the burden for both housecleaning as well as improving the couple’s relationship. The portrait of her miserable life contrasts sharply with that of her lover. While she struggles with the endless monotony of house chores, he loaf around, carefree and relaxed. During her monotonous morning routine, the man flippantly goes “out for cigarettes.” Although he too notices the problems in the house, he satisfies himself with merely complaining. Rather than taking action and tuning the piano, the man merely declares it out of tune, and shrugs indifferently.
On the other hand, because the author of the poem did not state the woman is married to the man or not, maybe it is possible for us to say that the studio apartment is like a still life and she is cleaning it up, part of a passionless routine, but the “minor demon” is something far more than mere dissatisfaction with the marriage. She feels guilty about not being happy, yes, but she “turns back the sheets” only after the husband leaves. She has been unfaithful, and the changing of the sheets, the unveiling of the secret, is what preoccupied her. She has preoccupied enough to let the coffee burn over on the stove; this is a sexual image, the overflowing and the heat. It is brewing in the back of her mind while she does all these routine cleaning chores. The sin is the infidelity and it is in the guilt from not living in the present and not being in love with the husband, who is indifferent.
The woman in ‘Living in Sin’ is thrust upon the reality that happiness and perfection are not always guaranteed, and pursues the adulterous consequences of a mundane marriage and life. As she cannot bear to remove herself from the demeaning and repetitive cycle of marriage, ‘Living in Sin’ is a woman’s revelation that it is a sin to dedicate oneself to a marriage, a life, without love.
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