MERRY MAID AND A GREAT INJUSTICE.

Do not kill your children for fear of poverty; it is We Who provide for them as well as for you. Killing them is surely a grave sin. (Al Isra’: 31)

The Merry Maid and The Great Injustice are stories that touch about issue of pre marital sex and unwanted pregnancy. The consequence of that, Lakhsmi ( A Merry Maid) and Ah Nya (A Great Injustice) had to deal with the future of the babies which led to their decision making in the story. To abort or to deliver. Sure, unwanted pregnancy was a nightmare to every women especially when we had nobody to give help. Analyzing these two short stories I believe, as society, we should not look skeptical to those who indulge in this sin. Plus, those who ‘accidentally’ involved should not put the blame towards society for the wrong doings they had done. Both sides play important role.

Society is very powerful to influence one’ attitude and this can be seen in the short story A Great Injustice. Although Ah Nya had a well built-family, she unable to bare the society’s stigma on child born out of wedlock. At the end of the story, Ah Nya aborted the baby while Lakhsmi who raised by broken family could think wiser; at least delivered her baby and abandoned her at Johan’s doorstep. I totally disagree with abortion because it was an immoral claim of mother’s love. We don’t kill someone we love. However, it is not easy if we as society do not find ways out to stop the virus. To prevent is better that cure. I believe it starts with family, insertion of religious value, education and community. When children are well-built since they are small, God willing, our future will be bright. God has given us brain and heart to think the best way to save one’s life. Life of the babies could be different if they were given chance to live. It is true; every child is special.

MONALISA SMILE

Do you believe that every smile means happy? Do you believe that smile can be deceiving? That was questions hovered in the movie Monalisa Smile directed by Mike Newell. The movie told us that not all smiles were sincere and it might mean different. The title itself, ‘Monalisa Smile’ was a symbol that reflected life of the students at Wellesley College. Despite their intelligence, joyful life as teenagers, laughs, they kept sadness through their smile especially Betty. Unlike other schoolmates, Betty was very conservative and strictly believed with college’s tradition; women should marry early. She thought she would be happy by continuing the college’s legacy after get married but, it was not happened. Betty suffered with the arranged marriage because she did gain husband’s love and that turned her to be a troublesome student at school.

All problems began because of tradition. When this happened, the presence of Ms. Winston became the spark of change. Lived in the 1950’s it was a challenge for teachers to educate students about the need of education as society perceived women as housewives and domestic workers. For the reason that, this movie tried to tell us the courage of a teacher to transform the perspective of the students by exposing them to human rights, education and importantly tried to instill in them that everyone can change. As a future teacher, I found this movie motivating as it displayed the character of teacher that world needs. Teacher should be an agent of change. Students’ perceptions influenced their decision making in life and teacher played significant role to direct them to a correct path. I liked the scene where Ms. Winston showed slides about women’s exploitation in the advertisement. It was really an open-eye to the students; I believe Betty too. Sometimes a usual advice could not be as efficient as pictures in reality. Yes, teacher should be creative to send the message to the students.

Furthermore, I admired the attitude that Ms. Winston had towards her students. She was not prejudice and treated all of them equally including the annoying Betty. She was very close to them all and kept on encouraging her students to success in academic. Ms. Winston supported Katherine to pursue study at university and she did that on her own to make Katherine achieved her dream. She stood still despite the horrific treatment she got from the school’s administration. What a wonderful teacher she had been! Again, this is a character of teacher everyone should has; AGENT OF CHANGE!

LEAN ON ME

A lot of things can be inspired by a true story.

Yes, there can be miracle when you believe. Mr Joe clark had shown his credibility to turn the school to a dream place where students find shelter there. Sometimes it is good to find example in the movie because we hardly encounter this character in our life. Great teachers are hard to find.

I like the movie very much because the issue played in the story was different. In other movies, the teachers usually become the protagonist and have flat characters; kind all the times. However, in this movie, I think Mr Joe Clark acted as protagonist and antagonist because not all his decisions were right and he did has fights with school teachers which I think real in actual life. From his character, I learned a lot of things. Teacher not always rights though we want the best for all. School system requires us to co-operate with all teachers to make our vision fulfilled.

I like the scene where Mr. Joe asked the students to sing a school song. When the students altered the school rhythm I thought he would get angry but not. Beyond his strictness, he accepted flexibility in order to suit with students’ interest. I agree that teacher should be an understanding to maintain good relationship with students, parents and other people. That was why at the end of the story, when he had been arrested, all his students stood behind him because they believe Mr. Joe was the best teacher to change and help them in life. What make a difference between great and good teacher is;

great teacher provides space to lean!