Man is Born to Live

Man is born to live, not to prepare for life and that was said by Boris Pasternak, a Russian author who was born in 1890 till his death in 1960.

"Senafas Takbir Akhir" directed by Zulkifli Ali, a Malay drama aired over TV3 last Saturday had my family and I glued to the television even during the commercial break. Throughout the drama all ten of us (my husband, our six children, my two nieces and me myself) responded in various emotional condition as we watched with great interest to the fate that befallen the hero, a tragic hero, Zamarol.

Zamarol, who otherwise lives a very normal family life, faces a series of misfortune the day his wife was raped and murdered in their house. Interestingly, the murder was never the main plot or even the sub plot of the drama. There was only a brief mentioning pertaining to the murderer but again the focus was on the effect of the death of his wife to Zamarol and his two sons, Abang and Adik rather than the murderer per say. The death of his wife leads to a series of misfortune that befalls Zamarol to the day he himself was murdered.

Zamarol unable to cope with taking care of the daily needs of his sons and his demanding work had them both living with his mother in the village. The separation break ups the father and sons bonding, effecting the three especially the sons who now not only lost their mother but the loving care of their own father. Misfortune befalls Zamarol the third time when his mother and his youngest son, Adik died in an accident on their way back, cycling from school. At this point of the drama, the whole family of mine was already emotionally involved and was saddened by the death of both grandmother and grandson.

As for Zamarol his fate never recovers when his superior was very angry of a miscalculation of his action over a huge amount of transaction than ends him in a very threatening situation. It is threatening because Zamarol, after the death of his mother and younger son, had made a solemn promise to his living son, Abang his only surviving family that he will never leave him again, ever. The thought that he will end up in prison of breach of trust should he not able to recover the mistaken RM350 000 transaction makes Zamarol a runaway. They both live a very hardship life to the day Zamarol runs out of money and have no means of surviving.

His decision on leaving Abang all by himself to "earn" some money is a fatal one as he "vanished" from Abang's life. The devastated Abang has no one but cried to himself, feeling so alienated and cheated by his father. Zulkifli has successfully maintained his audience throughout "Senafas Takbir Akhir" as we all became very critical, actively involving ourselves, and voicing out our opinions while watching the remaining part of the drama.

I enthusiastically became very engrossed observing the audience of this drama sitting in the comfort of our living room responding to the twist and turn of Zamarol's fate. During the commercial break nobody moved for they were very busy discussing among themselves about Zamarol and Abang, giving opinions and sympathizing on the fate that kept befalling Zamarol and Abang. Suddenly I found myself explaining to my family the literary elements of drama, telling them Zamarol is a tragic hero because of the inevitable fate that keep befalling him.

Remembering Oedipus the King that I studied last semester, it's helpful to know that Aristotle believes that art should be an "imitation" of life. It should hold a mirror up to life. It should be "truthful," or "true to life." Aristotle in elaborating what he considers the essential qualities of the tragic hero explains that "with regard to the characters there are four things to aim at":

Goodness.
They should reveal through speech and action what their moral choices are, and a "good character will be one whose choices are good." Any "class of person" may be portrayed as "good"-even women and slaves, though on the whole women are "inferior" and slaves are "utterly base."

Appropriateness.
Men can be domineering or "manly" (what does he really mean here, I wonder?), but for a woman to appear formidable would be inappropriate.

Lifelike.
He never explains this one. What do you think he means? How is "lifelike" slightly different from "appropriate" and "good"? I think he might mean "believable" or "true to life." Maybe he means the tragic hero should not be godlike, not like the mythical heroes of legend, but like real human beings.

Consistency.
Once a character is established as having certain traits, these shouldn't suddenly change.

The best tragic plot, he concludes, moves the hero from prosperity to misfortune, occasioned not by depravity, but by some great mistake he makes. Zamarol the protagonist in "Senafas Takbir Akhir" definitely always making the same mistake, the trait he carries throughout the drama, thus succumbing to the fate that befalls him.

Well, I can keep writing on and on about this experience of mine. There is so much to say about writing literature that is really to my understanding now in compared to before I made the first step to the theatre. I should have done that during that first semester but anyway it is never too late for learning as learning is life long. So much for consolation, I must say.

After skimming and scanning articles on Thesis Statements, Rhinoceros, and Research Papers last weekend, I guess I am practising one already.

All life is experiment- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)

Life is easier to take than you'd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable- Kathleen Norris, American author (1880-1960)

Little Violet and Big Rhino

Yesterday I went to another play, Little Violet and the Angel (LVATA) written by Philip Osment at the Actors Studio, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur. As advertised, it is really meant for children age six and above. As I entered the studio, the seats were full of children especially the "mat salleh". The play is about a baby being left in front of a couple's house by a woman one winter day. Though the baby was very welcome by the husband, unfortunately the wife does not share the same enthusiasm of taking care of the baby as their own. Throughout the play, the eagerness of the children audience was clearly visible as they laugh, "ooos" and "aaas". Surprisingly they did not make much noise but merely absorbed into the world of the actors and actresses on stage.

After watching Rhinoceros (R), I found this one is very slow in action, very much suitable for the targeted audience. The languages of both plays are entirely different in which LVATA is really comprehensible even without knowing the synopsis but for R the scripting was more complicated. I recalled the moment when the logician of R was debating about the paws of cats and the horns of rhinoceros as I sat listening to Little Violet debating with her adopted father with just a one word question, "why". A same debating situation but yet a different usage of languages entirely because in R it is between very matured adults while in LVATA, a little girl and an adult.

I have never interest myself into going to a theatre though I remembered very well Dr Rosli's and Dr Edwin's encouragement of going into at least one. After experiencing viewing two plays in two different theatres within one week, I should have taken Dr Rosli's and Dr Edwin's encouragement seriously before. I found out being physically there sitting in a theatre, watching the actors and actresses live on stage is totally a different experience. Reading a text and watching the characters in the text alive is entirely, well, very pleasing indeed, silently communicating with the performers on stage as eyes meet eyes. As I said last week, I am looking forward to view Carmen this weekend but not only Carmen but also Hannah and Hanna and Sound of the Music, to name a few that I am falling in love with. I am really hopefully hoping after these experiences, I will be able to write the position paper as well as the research paper in clearer and better understanding than what I did before.

Being Amateur

Ha, ha, ha, I have never been to a theatre. I mean really buying a ticket to see a life play being performed on stage. There I was, for the next two hours all by myself watching Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros and consciously feeling very awkward of this new beginning. It was a very spontaneous decision that ended me in the theatre. I was reading the day’s paper and my eyes caught interest in the theatre column. Being an amateur I grab upon the opportunity of viewing Rhinoceros as my first hand experience. I have to admit the decision at that point of moment is entirely influenced by the very little price I have to pay, a student’s price of RM11.00 only. The fact that my financial is coming to the end of a critical balance in my saving account due to the festivity of Hari Raya and school holiday, I was not feeling ashamed of showing my student’s card to entitle me a meagre price ticket. Mind you, I am 43 and a student all over again amidst all the young students queuing for the tickets. I was feeling very embarrassed then.

Thank God that I am breathing my air in the information age, somehow or rather I managed to get as much information as possible of Rhinoceros from the Internet. Though it was only the synopsis that I managed to read as well as scanning through notes on play viewing, performer’s guide to theatrical elements, and visual and performing arts content standards and strands of the State of California, at the very least, I was very proud of myself that I did not come unprepared. My 30 minute research of Rhinoceros turned out to be worthwhile after all. There was nothing that I can really make the head and tail off as I ran my eyes through the poster of this performance at Panggung Bandaraya, if I had not done that little research. I really gave myself a pat on the shoulder, never mind a praise to yourself is not a praise at all but its self-esteem, the feeling of grandeur that later gave me superiority in my own context. Never mind the others, I came to watch this play for the reason I came.

As I watch the play understanding the literary elements no longer became my prime concern, mainly because that was not the objective of viewing one. I began to explore the theatrical elements- the costumes, props, sets, acting, lighting even the audience which I mentally jot down. I was so immersed in my critical thinking that I began to enjoy being there. I even gave a hard stare to my neighbouring audience who began chatting noisily for I want to be in total captivity of my performers. I knew I had now conquered my feeling of inferiority of a theatre goer during the 15 minutes break. As I stood among the audience at the foyer of Panggung Bandaraya, veterans’ theatre goer and amateurs like me are easily identified. I was very proud of myself that I no longer have the feeling of an outcast; I overcome my fear of ever understanding a theatre.

It is very natural of me to be very spontaneous and at the same time I am also a procrastinator. Wow! I really am glad there is such a thing, a dateline and that this time around I did not stop to delay my task. Prior arrangements were made with three other friends but their preferences were for the Saturday (11 December 2004) or Sunday (12 December 2004) matinee which shows at 3 in the afternoon. The Rhinoceros ends on Sunday, 12 December 2004 and with the tickets for the last two days fully book I was left with no option to go but all by myself for the night show on the 8 December. Well, I am looking forward for Carmen which will be performed on the 17 until 19 December 2004 at Istana Budaya, very much excited about it. It is okay to be at the RM50 seat; after all I am an amateur, still.

Save for the Future

As I listened to Dr Edwin, my mind raced very fast to the spring cleaning I had done immediately after the previous final semester exam. I was torn between keeping the massive collections of materials pertaining to my studies of literature and giving up the bookshelves space for future usage of my children's reading materials. I have to admit studying literature for the past semesters really give me the butterfly in my stomach. When I chanced upon the materials while browsing the internet, I downloaded them as a matter of interest and knowledge, something extras. The papers in the end conquered the space of the bookshelves. Oh, am I glad that dumping everything into the boxes and stowing them away neatly is really worthwhile after all. When I first read about all those Reader-Response Criticism and all those critical analysis of literal works, it always amazes me this study of literature. How superficial and inadequate my knowledge if i were to b a teacher who is going to teach literature. I was so busy in my thought that I can't even came out with any thesis statement during the lecture. Well, now I have every reason to go through all the piles of papers and really organised them neatly according to Part 1 and Part 2 of the module. At the very least, I have saved half the time getting information for this course.