Conclusion CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

44 which finally leads her to a condition where her father does not acknowledge her as his daughter. However, as a tough person, Maryam keeps continuing her hard life. Maryam is also an independent woman, since she does not want to be influenced or controlled by someone or something. This leads her to a decision not to follow the tradition, because she assumes that the tradition is only good for men. She assumes that women should have freedom as men, especially in deciding their own future. There are two groups of women in Iran, the first was the group that follow the tradition and the second group was the group that tried to raise their position in the society. Maryam’s characteristic represented some Iranian women who tried to raise their position in the society. These women were tend to be tough, independent and combined with determined personality. The women’s position in Iran is shown through two aspects which are reflected by the major character in the story. Those aspects are women’s position in the family and in the society. The status of women in the family in Iran has to a great extent been influenced by Islamic culture, but similarities in patterns of behavior are not always associated with similarity of religious belief. Iranian women’s position in the family is divided into 4 points, being subordinate, having authority, having minimal right, and being protected from outside influences. The first is being subordinate, Iranian people perceives women as weak and do not have power. Iranian women should obey what the leader of the family says and orders, especially in finding their husband. However, Maryam really disagrees 45 with this tradition. She refuses to follow her father’s will to marry a chosen man. Maryam’s father keeps holding the tradition and disowned Maryam as a daughter. Second, Iranian women do not have authority. Iranian believes in patriliny. Men take control of the family, even for the simplest decision for women. Third, women have minimal right, the only role for women in the family is only choosing the right man for their daughter. Fourth, women are protected from outside influences, Maryam’s relationship with Ali, her father servant, is denied because her father assumes that they have done something embarrassing. Iranian women’s position in the society is equivalent to the condition in the family. There are two aspects to discuss, education and laws. In education field, girls also have to sit behind boys to show that they are in the subordinate position. In Laws, Iranian perceives women as half life as men, thus women should stand behind men. Women do not get the protection from the abusive husband, it is proved when Maryam helps an Iranian pregnant mother who is left by her husband. Iranian also believes in superstition, Iranian believes that by hanging some cradles in the cave inside the sacred mountain, they can have a baby. They do this because they do not want people assume them as useless and worthless. Some of the Iranian women in the latest 20 th century have tried to raise their position in the society. They made some movements which purpose was to get their position in a line with Iranian men. Maryam is representative of these women because she has contradictory personalities with women who followed the 46 tradition. Even though, it suffered her a lot because she had to move away from her beloved country.

5.2. Suggestions

This part discusses two parts. The first is the suggestion for future researchers in analyzing literary works, especially for those who are interested in Yasmin Crowther’s literary works. The second part is the suggestion for the teachers in relation to the implementation of the novel in teaching English.

5.2.1. Suggestions for Future Researchers

The Saffron Kitchen 2006 is an interesting novel. It tells us about true love and how to deal with our past. There are many things that can be explored from this novel. However, in this thesis, I particularly concern on the major character, Maryam Mazar and the Iranian women’s position reflected through the major character in the late 20 th century. There are still many interesting topics to be analyzed in the Saffron Kitchen novel. The future researchers can do further researches on the relationship between characters in the novel, as some of them are Aglo-Iranian family, which means they married from different culture. By using socio-historical approach, future researchers can do their observation on marriage in different culture. 47

5.2.2. Suggestions for English Teachers