42 school at the beginning. They say it is foolish to send girls to school because for
them, girls cannot do many things to improve their family‟s life, while boys are believed to bring a better life to the family. It is also considered as wasteful
because they think that they will waste more money if they have to send Dawan to school too, and Dawan will not give anything to them as a feedback.
As a result, Dawan also thinks the same way about her chance to go to school. It can be seen from her statement to Bao when Bao gives her compliment
about her scholarship. “It‟s not that people are born smarter or dumber than one another. It‟s the
way different chances have been given or denied people that makes them so different after a while. I can read now only because I was given a
chance to, when my brother helped to talk to our father into letting me
study years ago and...” p. 63. When Bao praises Dawan after she knows that Dawan gets the scholarship,
Dawan responses wisely. She gives her opinion towards her luck to get education at school. Similar to her parents‟ opinion, she also believes that she is just lucky
because she has a brother who can ask their parents to give her chance to go to school and study many things there. For her, getting the scholarship does not
mean that she is smart. She improves her capability at school to the fullest, so that she can get the first rank at school. Dawan believes that her chance to be sent to
school in the village leads her to the chance to get the scholarship to study in the city.
b. Convictions
Conviction is one of belief that can be found in the novel. This kind of belief is different from opinions because conviction is more strict than opinions
43 and it is also harder to be changed.
Dawan‟s conviction is influenced by the old monk‟s statement. It can be seen in the old monk‟s quote:
“Well then, once you realize that things of this world don‟t last, then you also see that they are not really important. So you learn to stop wanting
ordinary things, and are able to concent rate on the higher truths...” p.73.
The old monk gives the understanding from Buddha‟s life to Dawan when she tells him about
how she concerns on her village‟s condition which full of unfairness and poverty. She tells the old monk that she wants to study in the city
so that she can improve the village when she finishes her study in the city. The old monk keeps talking that nothing lasts forever to Dawan because he actually does
not think that Dawan can go to the city. He thinks that Dawan should be grateful of her life in the village and not go to the city to get a better education.
Moreover, the old monk has also stated: Like a tired breeze through dry weeds, the old monk sighed softly. “How
can I help you do something that I don‟t believe in? You‟re still young, child, but I don‟t think you should waste any more time dreaming such
futile dreams. What can a mere schoolgirl hope to achieve anyway? Be satisfied with that...” p. 75.
The old monk states that he does not believe that a girl should get a better education. He convinces Dawan that she should not go to the city to achieve
something useless there because she is just a girl. Once again, the old monk tells Dawan that she has to be satisfied with her condition in the village. These
statements from t he old monk influence Dawan‟s mind development, especially
her conviction towards her chance to go to the city. What, after all, was the sense of trying so hard, of hoping and arguing, if in
the end the only result would be more frustration? If Kwai were the one going to study in the City, things would never be this difficult for him:
should she just graciously give in to him now then? p. 77. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
44 Dawan starts to lose her hope to get supports, so she talks to her father and
gets his permission. She thinks ab out the old monk‟s statement about how she
should let her dreams go because it is just a futile dream for him. Dawan almost gives up on her dream to get a better life after studying in the city. She takes into
consideration the old monk words that encourage her to be satisfied with her condition in the village. She is frustrated because even the old monk does not
want to help her to talk to her father.
c. Hunches
The hunches cannot be found explicitly from the novel. The writer can find some gender schemas tha
t trigger Dawan‟s mind development in the field of her belief. Most of those gender schemas are from Noi‟s statement about her
experience in the City. “I could tell you some things about the young girls in the City that would
make your teeth fall out, my Aunt,” she said bitterly p. 41.
Noi once lives in the village and she experiences tough and bitter life there.
She warns her aunt, Dawan‟s mother, that Dawan should not go to the city to
study because the city is a dangerous place for her. Noi keeps saying that city is not a place for a young girl like Dawan. A girl is not treated well and appropriate
in the c ity, according to Noi. This statement influences Dawan‟s mind in a
positive way. Stirring uneasily, Dawan asked, “If things are so unfair in the City, how
will remaining in our little village ever change anything?” p. 42. From Dawan‟s statement above, the writer infers that Dawan becomes
more curious about the city and it creates the new belief about the city. She makes PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
