Poor Condition in Maekung

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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

This chapter is intended to answer the research problems. It consists of two parts. The first part is the discussion on Jinda’s ways on struggling against poverty or land-rent system. Then, the second part deals with Jinda’s motivation in struggling against poverty or land-rent system. Before the writer discusses those two research problems, the poor condition in Maekung, where Jinda and her family lived, is discussed first. This part is very crucial to be discussed, first because this is one of the basic reasons that supports both two research problems. We should know the condition in Maekung at that time that brings the effect on Jinda’s motivation. As we know that the government rules of land-rent system bring Maekung into poverty and Jinda has to struggle for it, for better life.

4.1 Poor Condition in Maekung

Maekung is one village in Thailand where most people live as farmers. Jinda and her family lived in Maekung. Her father, Inthorn was a headmaster in that village and was also a farmer. Her sister, Dao, had a little baby named Oi. During that time, Maekung was a poor village. There was no rain for a long time. Therefore, it brought bad impacts to their harvest. As stated in the novel, “It was a silent harvest. Across the valley, yellow rice fields stretched, stopped and dry” p. 8, ch. 1, their rice became dry and could not be harvested anymore. This PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 26 condition also brought bad effects to Jinda’s family. They lived in a poor condition. There was no rice, no food, and no milk that could be eaten. From the novel, we know that Jinda’s sister, Dao, had no milk for her daughter, little Oi. Jinda knew this fact and she tried not to disturb her sister although she cared about it. It is showed in chapter 1, “Jinda held her breath. She tried not to look, knowing that her sister had become shy about brest-feeding ever since her milk had begun to dry up” p. 15. Most people there were having the same conversation everyday. They often talked about the dryness and poverty, even though they had tried to work harder as farmers. Everytime they tried to look forward waiting for rains, but it did not come. Their harvest was getting dry as showed in the conversation among them: “We have no meat, no fish, no milk,” she said kindly. ...............”But what is there now when the fields are cracked and hard, and the mountainsides barren even of leaves? Don’t talk to us of meat and fish, child. We’re hungry, all of us-but the little ones most of all” p. 47. Although Maekung had already been in poverty, there was still a system that brought Maekung into a poor condition. From the novel, the writer knows that there was a governmental system for farmers, that is land-rent system in which the farmers in Thailand had to pay higher price just to rent the land. This system made the condition of farmers’ life more and more difficult. Dusit, the government employee who had the authority to handle the land value taxation or people in Maekung usually called him as a rent-collector, always collected the rice which had been harvested or even money as the land-rent value from the farmers. His arrival in Maekung really made many farmers sad, angry, and confused about PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 27 what should they do to resist on paying the land-rent. They were afraid if Dusit would take all of their rice as stated on the novel: “Inextricably tied to this was the villagers’ anxiety about the rent. It was already early December, and the threshing almost finished. ......and soon Dusit, the rent-collector, would be due to take half of it away. ........ After he had collected his rent, would there, the villagers asked each other, would there be enough rice left to last them for the coming year?” p. 54, ch. 5 It explains that farmers were afraid if Dusit came and took off all of their rice as the rent so that there would not be enough rice left for them to last them for the coming year.

4.2 Jinda’s Ways on Struggling against Poverty or Land-Rent System