4.1.4 Smart
Living and growing up in a poor family does not make her give up her motivation to study. Although her family belongs to lower class, it does not make
her lose hope. She wants to get the highest level of education. She thinks that by having a good education, guarantees her to have a better life. Therefore, she
studies hard in order to be able to school up to the highest level. In fact, she cannot school up to the highest level of education because she comes from a lower
class p. 10. Firdaus‟ uncle teaches Firdaus to read and write. He teaches her the
alphabet and some verses in the Koran. He is smart and an educated man. He studies at El Azhar. After her parents‟ death, he takes her in his house in Cairo.
There he teaches her many things pp. 13-14. She wants to go to school as her uncle does. She tells him that she wants to school in El Azhar too, but her uncle
says that El Azhar is a school for men and that women cannot school there p. 15. It shows how enthusiastic she is to go to school. Fortunately, when she lives in her
uncle‟s house, she is sent to school. When she is studying at school, she shown as a smart girl. It can be seen when she finds that she loves reading books, while the
other girls are busy talking about their boyfriends p. 26. Firdaus finishes her study very well. It is proven by a secondary school
certificate and certificate of merit that she has when she graduates. It is the second prove that she is a smart woman. It also makes her proud of herself because she
can pass the school very well. Besides, she hopes that in the future she will have a good job. A respectable job, so no one will underestimate her since she comes
from a lower class. “I still had my secondary school certificate, my certificate of merit, and a sharp decisive mind determined to find respectable work” p. 79.
Unfortunately, having the best mark and a secondary certificate is not enough to have a better life. Her smartness seems useless because she cannot apply the
knowledge that she gets from school into the real life.
4.1.5 Brave
Firdaus is a brave woman. What makes her different from others is that she has a different perception about men. She thinks that as a woman she has to be
appreciated no matter how much she has to pay. Firdaus‟ experiences with men support her to be a respectable woman. By being a respectable woman, she will
not be treated badly by men. They are not even able to make their eyes run all over her body p. 79.
Life makes her a brave woman. There are many reasons which show that Firdaus is a brave woman, such as she used to live under men‟s control and she
hates men so much. The best of her act which shows her bravery is that when she chooses the death sentence rather than asking the President to pardon her. She
does not try to ask the pardon to the president. She says that it will be in vain. She adds that giving her freedom is as the same as letting her kill many more men.
„There‟s hope for your release if you send an appeal to the President asking him to pardon you for the crime you committed.‟
„But I don‟t want to be released.‟ I said, „and I want no pardon for my crime. For what you call my crime was no crime.‟
„You killed a man.‟ „If I go out once again to the life which is yours I will never stop killing.
So what is the use of my sending an appeal to the President to be pardoned?‟
„You criminal. You deserve to die.‟
Kategori