Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the background of the study, problem formulation, the objectives of the study, the benefits of the study, and the definition of terms used in this study. The background of the study describes the reason why the writer chooses the topic of the study and literary work as the study. The objective of the study includes the writer’s aims of finding the answers to the questions stated in the problem formulation. The writer formulates two questions that become the focus discussed in this study. The next part, which is benefits of the study, contains some advantages from this study. The last part of this chapter gives the description of some terms in order to avoid misconception in analyzing this study.

1.1 Background of the Study

Over two-thirds of Thailands populations are rice farmers. Most of them grow rice in the regions of the central plains, the north, and the northeast. The land in the central plains is very fertile. However, the land in the northeast is very mountainous and there are often droughts. The people in the northeast are a lot poorer than those in other areas of the country. Rice has an important place in Thai history and culture. The decades of the 1960s and 1970s were turbulent times for people in many countries. The end result was that by the 1960s close to 30 of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 households were landless. In the early 1970s university students helped to bring some of the local protests out on to the national stage. The protests focused on land loss, high rents, the heavy handed role of the police, corruption among the bureaucracy and the local elite, poor infrastructure, and overwhelming poverty. It was the same in Thailand. From 1973-1976, students in Thailand tried to gain more rights for the poor farmers. The students in the cities were moved by the poverty they saw around them as well as by the poverty of the rice farmers in rural areas. They wanted to build a new Thailand which was fairer for its entire people. Rice Without Rain is a novel written by Minfong Ho, which focuses on the life of Thailand people where at that time there was a system of land-rent. At that time, Thailand farmers were suffering. They could hardly get their rights because they had to obey the rule of the Land-rent system. The rule was really adverse for women. There are three main characters in this story. They are Jinda, Inthorn, and Ned. The first part of the book tells us about the story of Jinda’s life with her father and her family. They lived in a poor condition. Two years of drought have brought deprivations to the village in which Jindas sister has no milk and her baby starves to death. Still, the villagers greet these outsiders with suspicion, especially when they encourage the men to form a rent resistance movement. So, it makes Jinda want to end this kind of poverty condition and with her motivation, she hopes that she can struggle against the land-rent system. The second major character is Inthorn. It is told in the book that Inthorn was Jinda’s father and also the headman of the village. He knew that there was a PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 way to save his village from the government rules. He realized that he had to do something, and he tried to break the rule and made it better for all the citizen. The third is Ned. From the book, we knew that Ned was a university student from Bangkok and he became the group leader of volunteer student radicals to help people in Thailand who faced difficult problems. He, together with Jinda, lead a organization that might help Thailand people from suffering. They also joined with the community of guerrilas fighting the government to let the village develop for the better. The Thailand efforts in this story are well-developed. Jinda’s effort really makes this novel great. She wants to have a better life. Although she was angry at that kind of unjust situation, she still wanted to change the condition by breaking the government rule and she hopes that someday there will be a miracle, a better future, both for herself and Thailand. That is why I analyze Jinda’s motivation to struggle against the land-rent system.

1.2 Problem Formulation