The Little Room Liza’s Curiousity

52 Liza’s understanding about marriage is just limited only to what her mother has explained to her. She does not understand that marriage is part of social norms. She does not know what is the difference between what can be done before marriage and what cannot be done. Since her mother employs serial monogamy lifestyle, Liza considers that what her mother has done is just like what others do in their lives. ‘This guy Tobias, he slept with your Mum? I mean, they was in the same bed?’ ‘They were lovers, they were like us.’ ‘That wasn’t right,’ Sean said very seriously, ‘not with you in the house, not with a little kid.’ ‘Why not?’ She didn’t know what he meant and she could tell he found it hard to explain. Well, it’s just not. Everyone knows that. They wasn’t married. Your Mum should have known better, an educated woman like her. It’s one thing just the two of them but not with a little kid in the house. You got to have principles, you know, love. She said no, she didn’t know, but she tok no notice. ‘D’you reckon she thought he’d marry her?’ pp.104-105 As she is growing into a young woman, Liza’s concept of marriage is growing too. She understands that marriage is a bond between a man and a woman who has the intention to live together and raise a family. She knows that to get married needs a lot of things to prepare. That is why she considers Sean’s intention to marry her as an unwise thing to do because they do not have anything yet. … ‘Oh, Sean, don’t look like that, don’t be so silly.’ ‘Silly’ ‘Well, of course it’s silly talking about marrying and having children and one of those things a what-d’you-call-it, a mortgage. We’ve got our lives to live first. I’m not even grown-up really. In the law I can’t sign a contract or make a will or anything.’ p.330 From the description we can see that Liza’s concept of marriage is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 53 influenced mainly by her mother’s choice of lifestyle. Her mother who employs serial monogamy lifesyle in her life causes a lack of understanding about marriage to Liza. It happens because Liza’s observation is restricted only in their limited life. Besides, Liza only has her mother as her model that she fails to build a good undertanding about marriage. Petri 1981:6 writes that social interaction is one factor that motivates one’s actions. Here, Liza who does not have a wide social interaction fails to build a positive concept of marriage because she does not have many people to be her models.

4. Liza’s Concept of Death

As Liza lives with no other people, she knows little about the cause of death. She sees death only when she sees birds dead because Jonathan Tobias shoots them in his hunting at Shrove and when she sees Eve shoots the man who is trying to attack her with a shotgun. She does not have any idea that it is a dreadful thing to do. So when Jonathan Tobias explains to her how Rudi dies, she makes a remark that might be shocking for others. Liza said, ‘Where are Rudi and Heidi?’ ‘I’m afraid Rudi’s dead,’ he said. He looked more awkward than ever and tried to explain it away., as if it wasn’t important., a dog dying. Rudi was old, he lost his appetite, he’s got a thing called a tumour growing inside him, and the kindest thing was for him to die a peaceful death. ‘Did you shoot him with a gun?’ Liza asked. Mrs. Tobias screamed out when she said that. ‘Oh, my God, where does the child get these ideas?’ p.112 It is proper to say that children tend to immitate adults near them. Finnbogason and Guillaume’s theory of imitation 1962 fits to what happens to Liza. Children are learning unconsciously from her environment. Sometimes what PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI