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| Tasaro GK's Kinanthi - Terlahir Kembali |
Written by Ari Julianto
I. Preface
The first time I saw the cover of Kinanthi - Terlahir Kembali novel written by Tasaro GK, I had no idea what the interesting side I could find in it since the illustration of the cover which is dominated in red colour, is just like a novel for kids.
There are a boy on the left and a girl on the right with different backgrounds beside them. Both are looking at the sky. My interest came after I read the moment when Kinanthi's parents exchanged or I can say it 'sold' Kinanthi to one of her father's friends just for 50 kg of rice because of their poverty. Then, I tried to finish reading this novel which is written by a successful writer that (honestly) none of his works I have read before.
When I finish reading this novel, I thought to myself that this is a potrait of an Indonesia woman whose childhood grabbed by the poverty of the family. Indeed, Tasaro GK is a successful writer. This I could see from the beautiful words he chose in expressing certain situation and condition.
I tried to analyze the content of this novel and finally I could draw that Kinanthi's social vulnerability can be used as the topic of a literature research. In analyzing this novel I tried to reveal the causes and the indicators of Kinanthi's social vulnerability. I did not analyze the sadness aspect because since the beginning until the end of this novel, I found the sadness aspect covers Kinanthi's life.Here are the findings that I could draw from this novel.
II. The Causes of Kinanthi’s Social Vulnerability
Aysan (1993: 10) describes that the causes of social vulnerability include rapid population growth, poverty and hunger, poor health, low levels of education, fragile and hazardous location, and lack of access to resources and services, including knowledge and technological means, disintegration of social patterns (social vulnerability). Other causes include; stress, depressions, hazards and loss.
1.Poverty
Adger (1998: 7) and Blaikie et al. (1994: 48) describe that poverty is an important aspect of vulnerability because of its direct association with access to resources which affects both baseline vulnerability and coping from the impacts of extreme events. It is argued here that the incidence of poverty, as observed through the quantifiable indicator of income, is a relevant proxy for access to resources, in its multi-faceted forms.
a. Kinanthi is sold for 50 Kg of rice
Having a father who is a jobless and only likes gambling, the life of Kinanthi’s family is difficult to fight against the poverty. Kinanthi has only one sibling, a younger brother to take care of whose name is Hasto. Although there are only two of them, fighting against poverty is very difficult for her parents. The difficult life in a village where Kinanthis’ family live in and supported by the unemployment of her father brings to a poverty life. The poverty itself made her parents to sell her only for fifty kilogram of rice.
The decision to sell Kinanthi to Mas Edi, a friend of Kinanthi’s father in Bandung is the main reason for this family as the form of social vulnerability. Kinanthi realizes and still remembers how her parents sold her to her father’s friend just for fifty kilogram of rice because of their poverty. She told about her poverty when she is in American Court.
b. Kinanthi becomes a maid for Arabian families
After the accident of Gesit suicide (Kinanthi’s senior in school), Mr. Edi and his wife judged her that she cannot be relied on for their difficult life. Mr. Edi and his wife had a difficult life where they cannot support Kinanthi for her daily needs. For that reason, they have a plan to sell Kinanthi to be a maid in Saudi Arabia.
Selling Kiannthi to other side of her life happens again. This time because of the difficult life or poverty in Mr. Edi's family, he and his wife sold her to an illegal agent for maids who recruit women working as maids in Saudi Arabia. For this reason, the writer concludes that sending Kinanthi to Arab Saudi as a maid is another trigger from poverty.
2. Stress
Luthar and Zigler (1991: 20) state that socioeconomic factors have also been implicated in stress, in those variables such as low maternal educational status or membership in an ethnic minority group may reflect stressful living circumstances.
a. Stressed after nearly raped
Gesit is Kinanthi’s senior friend in school. Kinanthi never thinks that this young boy has a desire to rape her one day. Kinanthi is very young to understand anything that adults usually do. Gesit’s effort to rape her makes Kinanthi in a very stress condition. She has been silent for many weeks.
Kinanthi tries to express her stressful feeling by writing a letter to Ajuj, her boyfriend in Gunung Kidul. Kinanthi always sent letters to express her feeeling after being sold by her parents. Although she never get any reply from Ajuz, Kinanthi keeps on writing and sending letters to Ajuz every time she feels in trouble and stress.
b. Stressed after being tortured
Having some bad Arabian employers has made Kinanthi becomes vulnerable. A lady employer even tortured her badly. This woman even has an evil wish to make Kinanthi’s life worse and stress by having taking a revenge for her.
Torture by torture and even being abused and raped by evil Arabian employers many times is very difficult for Kinanthi to remember those stressful events. In American court, Kinanthi tried hard to retell what has happened to her to the people who attend in the court.
3. Depression
Roecklenein (2006: 154) describes that in general, depression is a mood state characterized by a sense of inadequacy, feelings of despondency, sadness, pessimism, and decrease in activity or reactivity. Depressive disorders involve a spectrum of psychological dysfunctions that vary in frequency, duration, and severity. At one end of the continuum is the experience of normal depression (a transient period, usually lasting no longer than two weeks), consisting of fatigue and sadness, and precipitated by identifiable stressors.
a. Depressed after being abused
After being tortured and abused by her evil Arabian employers either in Saudi, Kuwait or in America, Kinanthi has a very deep depression. It is hard for her to face the real life living abroad. The city where she lives in even can open her old bad memory.
4.Hazard
Blaikie et al. (1994: 61) states that vulnerability is a relative and specific term, always implying vulnerability to a particular hazard. A person may be vulnerable to loss of property or life from floods but not to drought. The first research theme examines the source (or potential exposure or risk) of biophysical or technological hazards.
a.Earthquake in Bantul
Gunung Kidul is located near Bantul in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta province. When Kinanthi is in Gunung Kidul after being a successful woman, Bantul hits a hazrd in the form of a big earthquake. The earthquake affects the place where Kinanthis’ parents and even her boyfriend Ajuj’s live.
The hazard occurs in Gunung Kidul affects the life of Kinanthi’s boyfriend, Ajuj. Ajuj’s life is in danger. He is one of the several victims in that hazard or earthquake. Kiannthi feels worries so much after knowing that her boyfriend has become one of the victims in the hazard or earthquake.
5. Loss
Based on Editorial Team (1992: 4280) in The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language, the word of Loss is defined as ‘the act or an instance of losing, the condition of being deprived or bereaved of something or someone, the amount of something lost, the harm or suffering and caused by losing or being lost’.
a. Losing her best friend, Euis
After being sold by her parents to Mr. Edi, Kinanthi lives peacefully in Bandung. But the terrible thing happens after her only best friend in school, Euis found died because of robbery. Her dead body was found near a merket in Bandung. Losing her only best friend surely has made Kinanthi becomes vulnerable.
b. Losing her boyfriend for 20 years
Ajuz is the only person who always in Kinanthi’s mind. She will never forget him. Ajuz has becomes a soul mate for her. But since she was sold by her parents and moved to Bandung, she lost contact with Ajuz. Twenty years losing her boyfriend has made Kinanthi vulnerable. This feeling is shown when Kinanthi meets Ajuz for the first time after twenty years.
to be continued
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