Inge is a Kind-hearted Woman.

3. Inge is a Kind-hearted Woman.

In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 1995: 601, the state of being kind means showing concern about the happiness and feelings others in a gentle and friendly way. As a human, her loyalty to her friends and her families is very big. She has a good heart and sensitive feeling. When she lives with David in a shared-house with their friends, the one who takes care of David is Inge. She makes him breakfast, waits for David until he returns from work, does the house work, etc. “I rise with him, make him breakfast, escort him to the tram, walk back down Rathdowne Street, wash the dishes, do whatever housework doesn’t distract from the general mess. I wait for him to return, afraid of the space his absences creates.”p.11 Inge owes to David since he saved her from her past. Although David treats Inge merely as his property, a means to release lust, but Inge always tries to be good to David. The sexual relationship that they have was always cold because there is no love and it is only to satisfy lust. Although inside her heart Inge feels disappointed with the sexual relationship that she has but she feels that she owes so much to David. She has to barter her body to the freedom that she dreamt for and also to get the shelter and protection. For all what David has done to Inge, she prefers to stay with him. In their house, they share the rooms with Fitz, a man, a friend of David and also Jo, a woman. Although they live in the same house, it seems that Fitz and Jo could not get along together well. They never speak the same language. It PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI happens because they have different perspective towards life and different idealism. Although Jo is a woman, but she is very tomboy. She used to ride a bike. It seems that Fitz hate it. According to Fitz a woman should be at home, do the households, fulfill men’s needs and satisfy their sexual pleasure. He praises free sex and he thinks that women are worthless, they are merely means to satisfy sexual desire. Fitz hates Jo’s dignity of being a free woman, therefore he sets to ruin it by raping her. He sets everything and gives Jo poison that makes Jo unconscious so that he could release his lust to her. Fitz rapes Jo successfully. Watching the sexual violence that is done to her friend, Jo, Inge’s sympathy as a woman appears. She could feel what Jo feels. After that, she helps Jo to fix up with her clothes. She feels empathy for Jo, although Jo seems underestimates Inge. Having the same feeling as women, she feels that her hatred to men becomes bigger, she feels that what Fitz has done to Jo seems to underestimate her, does not respect women’s rights and it makes Inge’s eyes open widely. The other friend of Inge, Sue who praises love more than anything has the same tragic fate. Sue is the kind of woman who believes and praises love more than anything. She keeps her virginity until the man who is destined for her is coming. She keeps on waiting ad waiting. At that time if a grown up woman still keeps her virginity until she gets married, people will regard it as something old and awkward. As a woman, Inge respects Sue’s idealism. Sometimes she feels a bit jealous. Inge adores Sue for her belief, her idealism and her faith on love. Until one day, Sue is being raped by three masked-men, but Sue recognizes that one of them is her boy friend. She feels disappointed, lost hope, lost faith and lost everything. Hearing her lovely friend got an accident, Inge searches for Sue, she feels sad for what happened to Sue. “Sue, I heard what happened.” She is still, silent. I sit beside her, my arm around her shoulder, my face amongst her hair. Sue is a statue. She is rigid, like the other statues; the marbe Angel Gabriel, the tiny agonized Jesus. I am the first to sob and then she joins in. Sue’s hair holds our many tears.” p.33 This shows Inge’s kindness towards her friend. Inge feels empathy and disappointed at the same time. She feels disappointed to men. Men always treat women as their stuff, to release lust and they do not respect women. What happened to Sue has somehow, stronger Inge’s hatred to the system. The system which underestimates women, gives unfair treatment and merely regards women as sexual objects. Although Inge has terrible past, she was raped by her step father, it seems that she does not want to take revenge to her step father. Her sister, Monika seems to hate her own father for what he did to Inge and the rest of the family. Monika hates him and wants him to be imprisoned for he is a Nazi. Inside her heart, Inge hates for what Karl did to her, but she does not want to take revenge. As a mature woman and a mother, she feels that to take revenge is not a good thing to be done. It is useless, since it does not solve the problem, and it will not change the condition. Therefore, she rejects Monika’s and Sam’s ideas to imprison Karl. “But, we’re not sure. We don’t know what he did during the war. We’ve PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI got no evidence. I think it’s better to forget about it. He’s your own father, Monika,” I counter, shocked at the suggestion.”p.49 As a sister, Inge gives advice to Monika, but it does not mean that she wants to take side with Karl. Inside, she has forgiven him to what he did to Inge. Inge has erased him from her life, she is trying to live her new life without being interrupted by her past. Therefore, Inge does not want to take revenge. Her maturity as a woman grows up as the time goes by.

4. Inge is a Responsible Woman.