2.1.1. The Symbol of the Garden in the “Garden of Evening Mist “by Tan Twan Eng
(1) Gardens were created to approximate the idea of a paradise, the call to prayer unwound from the minarets of the Jamek Mosque across the river to echo through the city “(p14).
Garden portrayed as an image of paradise through two perspectives: Firstly, Islamic perspective, here Eng uses the image of the garden as paradise exactly as [Ahmed, 2014] suggests when he makes the idea of a garden image like paradise with “flowing of the river from beneath” for good people and those who obey Allah as mentioned in Quran verse: Whoso obeys Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow, where such will dwell forever (Al-Qur‘an 4: 13). Yun Ling, a Chinese judge, listen to the call of prayer from the Mosque near the garden; for her, it was like a moment of wake up to leave her job and fulfill her dreams of building her own garden. On the other hand, Yun Ling, as a Chinese character, had crossed the border of her culture and religion when she assimilated with the alien text (listening to prayer from the Islamic garden).
However, the culturally structured environment (Islamic garden) and the character’s personal world are distant through prayer linked between the personal cultural domain, and the socially organized environment became established.
Secondly, the Buddha perspective. It is somehow similar to Islamic and Christian perspectives from garden-paradise for those who make good in life. Eng reinforces this view by mentioning Buddha’s story of walking in paradise’s garden; then, he happened to see a killer suffering in hell from the lotus pond. He decided to help the murder when he remembered once he abstained from killing the spider. For his good attitude to the spider, Buddha decides to pull him out from hell to the garden of paradise.
(2) Buddha was walking in a Paradise garden, he happened to glance into a lotus pond. And deep in the pond, he saw this murderer, suffering the agonies of Hell. ‘The Buddha was about to resume his walk when he saw a spider spinning its web, and he remembered how the murderer had once refrained from killing a spider crawling up his leg. With the spider’s permission, the Buddha took a strand from the web and dangled it into the lotus pond (p192). Besides, Buddha looking from the lotus pond, which symbolized divine virtues to humans, where the murder was given another chance due to his action of helping a spider.
However, in (3), Eng portraits the garden as having harmony with people. The garden’s interpretation is supported by the idea made by Buerglet and Paton [2014]as they explain the importance of environmental participation in increasing the desire to live in harmony with nature and work together. Moreover, the interpretation used in the text when Ming told Fredrick that she is leaving her work finally in a loud voice and make her dreams come true through building her garden :
The living creature inside the garden creates a link between the personal cultural domain (Ming Ling) and the socially organized environment. As a result, the garden becomes happy with Ming’s decision. The” light” of the garden is used as a symbol of Ming’s renaissance when she decided to leave her old life at work and starts a new life to make her dreams come true :
After all, (5) indicates that the wrong pruning of the garden would reduce the harmony as well as the beauty of the garden(5)
.This was a clear indication that people who share a similar linguistic background were supposed to be united and live with harmony since everyone is dependent on the existence and well-being of the other person as the beauty of the garden depending on the nature of the plants growing. Thus, this is a clear indication that Ming Ling depends on Artimo in building her garden. For that, a Malaysian prisoner in a Japanese camp should accept Artimo as a Japanese gardener and work with him since the garden is associated with people. Eng uses the garden symbol exactly as Balbuena and Leopoldo [2017] suggest that the garden offers freedom from the destruction of life.
In (6), Eng shows the garden offering freedom to Ming Ling from the destruction of
People believe that the garden is the best place to observe their energy and think of solving their problems in life; it is a quiet place where every sound in the world would disappear.
Unlike (6) in (7), the garden is linked to Ming spiritually by transmitting the news of her arrival among trees. The semiosphere of Malaysian nature adopted new alien text represented by”Yugiri,” a Japanese garden build by Artimo, a previous Japanese emperor gardener, as a part of Malaysian nature. “The Japanese garden element was mentioned in many texts through this novel.
The garden is the best example of reflecting intercultural elements among nations. In the following text: (9) Through the windows, mists thicken, wiping away the mountains borrowed by the garden. Are the mists, too, an element of shakkei incorporated by Aritomo? To use not only the mountains but the wind, the clouds, the ever-changing light? Did he borrow from heaven itself? (P29) , the writer mentions “Shakkie” means ” borrow scene” It is the main element of building a garden to make it looks more real. Kuitert (2015) suggests that borrow scene” symbolizes memory, the same idea used in the following text by Eng When he associates ” Borrow Scene” or ” shakkie” with Artimo’s memory as mentioned in the text : (10)Outside, the mountains have been drawn into the garden, becoming a part of it. Aritomo had been a master of shakkei, Borrowed Scenery’s art, taking elements and views from outside a garden and making them integral to his creation. A memory drifts by (p27). Artimo borrows from the earth, the sky, and everything around into his garden. He brings his old memories to the garden for not feeling empty, like the mountains and clouds over his garden, he can look at it, but it’s too far to get. While (11) shows that the “borrow scene” is related to Ming’s memories : (11)”Your memories are a form of shakkei too. You bring them in to make your life here feel less empty You are here, borrowing from your sister’s dreams, searching for what you have lost”(p116). The writer shows the connection between the borrowing scene of the garden with people’s memory. Sometimes they need to borrow things to survive.
Secondly –shakkie is related to man’s reality as stated in (12) :
The way he has done it, playing with perspective. I should have seen it immediately ‘Shakkei,’
Ling noticed Artimo’s taking element as part of his creation, like playing with perspective, it symbolizes Artimo’s true inner feeling that he could take something in a tricky way. Since “Yugiri” considers as a Japanese garden was built to suit the Japanese culture in Malaysia, the writer uses the view “meteors ” above the garden to stand for “kamikaze ” as stated in the sentence
kamikaze” is a Japanese word that means “spirit wind ” special attack unit” who initiated suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan. The writer linked kamikaze’s bad luck with the meteors that appear in the sky above the garden, where young people visit the garden to see the illumination of meteors above the garden. The kamikaze was a good soldier, but they were unlucky, being Scapegoat for the emperor. On another occasion, the writer proofs that the garden represents a symbol of beauty by indicating that Aritomo spent most of the time preparing the garden as it was supposed to show the emotions and also real aesthetic, Artimo indicates that the garden was not showing real beauty since it has been maintained with unprofessionalism Fredrick told him that (14)We both know my boys don’t have the skills to maintain it. And besides – as I keep telling you – I honestly don’t know – or the interest, or the time – to make sure they do their work properly”(18).
To conclude, Yugiri (Japanese garden) can serve as symbols of ethnic and social groups distinguished from other Malaysia gardens by its shape and borrowing scenes from Japanese cultures.
In general, Our semiosphere is structured, and the structure division, border, zones, and other separated advice actually unify the separated parts. Semiospher is not equal to the environment, but the latter is the support system for the semiosphere, which is a result of human meaning-making effort .people encode environment with meaning, they transform the environment so that it becomes meaningful, the simplest act of such meaning infusion is the making of part of nature, some rivers to a place that is turned meaningful and equal special meaning for people. For example, Ming looking at the garden and listening to the call of prayer from the Jamek Mosque across the city. The cultural, structural environment of the picture of Jamek beside the river inside the garden is linked to the character’s personal world through prayer. The prayer with the picture of the river inside linked the garden to the Islamic culture of the picture of paradise.
2.1.2.The Symbol of Mist in “Green is the Colour” by Lloyd Fernando
The mist was mentioned in Green is the Colour to indicate the racial tension that Malaysia encounters. Mist uses to indicate Malaysia’s events at that time after 13 0f May 1969, where all races in Malaysia had longed to be before other races in Malaysia. Lloyd Fernando writes :(35)
Lloyd Fernando covers the racial tension wartime, where broken houses everywhere, and the sound of bombs that the characters from different races hear through their waking on the street like “waking on a sound of clouds of smoke.” Signified wartime. It was the worst time Malaysia had witnessed. Nor Azlan said it was one of the gravest days for new Malaysia; people nowadays neither deny nor speak of it. Like some sort of taboo(p5). The mist was used to indicate Omar and Sara, a Malay couple fleeing to another city that is more saver to Malay. They left Kuala Lumpur and went to Jerangau. Jerangau is a village that is saver to Malay since the majority who live there are Malay. The writer uses the following sentence to indicate that mist is the trouble or danger, and Omar driving through the darkness was driving away from the troubles (36)
When Omar was driving on the dark road, the symbol of mist is employed. When the danger is over, the mist on the windscreen is wiped as in (37):
Again, the writer indicates Omar and Sara’s arrival to the town safely by wiping the windscreen from the mist. As they arrived at the town, he talks to the man that they will live in jerangue. Mist also indicates Saras’s fear from the writer’s point of view. He uses mist as a prophecy of what had to be fallen, he uses mist to indicate Sara’s divorce from Omar, and she ripped from Panglima:(38) Through the gauze-like mist, I see Sara’s fear”(p90). Eventually, Lloyd Fernando has used the mist symbol to foretell that trouble is over in Malaysia by using the same symbol is reversed:(39). That vision had somehow quickly dispersed like mist with the coming of a bright day(p96).
- 1.3.The Symbol of Mist in “The Garden of Evening Mist” by Tan Twan Eng
During and after the Japanese occupation, (40) states: (p209). Eng uses the mist to indicate Yung Ming’s freedom from the Japanese occupation. She was a prisoner with her sister in the Japanese camp. Eventually, Yung Ming survived but without her sister. When mist disappeared in the morning, Yung Ming decided to move on her way and lived to build the garden as an honor to her dead sister; through building the garden, Yung Ming’s sister’s soul would be free. Eng uses mist to indicate the obstacles that Yung Ming has, and when the mist disappears, it shows her overcoming these difficulties or obstacles of life.
(41) I enjoyed living on my own again, in these mountains where the breath of trees turned to mists, where the mists entered the clouds and fell to earth again as rain, where the rain was absorbed by the roots deep in the earth and drawn out as vapor again by leaves a hundred feet above the ground(p82). (41) This indicates that Yung Ming is released after achieving the promise that she had to her sister for building the garden. Eng describes Yung Ming’s happiness when looking at a tree turning into a mist. Eng uses the mist symbol to foretell the happiness after the character achieves her goals. Eng uses the borrowing scene of building a garden by adding a mist as an” element of Shakkie or “borrowing sense “according to traditional Chinese garden to make it more real: (42) Through the windows; I watch the mists thicken, wiping away the mountains borrowed by the garden (p29).
Eng uses mist as a borrowed scene to indicate aesthetic features to the context. Eng uses the symbol of mist as Hawkins (1991:p544) when he indicates loss of vision from the character’s side. Mist leads to loss of vision as it covers Yung Ming’s eyes, hence brings of opaqueness. It indicates obstacles that Yung Ming faced while achieving her goals since mist shows ambiguity and loss of vision:(43) It is while I am practicing my shooting in the shajo that the mist comes into my eyes the first time. With no signs, no warning at all, my vision turns opaque, as though words are being murmured into an empty glass bottle. Locking my fingers on the bow, I fight off the fear spreading in my limbs”(258).In the same context, Eng uses the mist symbol as Gultepe et al. [2007] suggest when he remarks about the future.
Mist is a symbol of a prophecy of what will happen to Artimo, a Japanese gardener, who decides to help Yung Ming build her garden. Eng effectively uses the mist symbol in (44): Aritomo scooped it into the water and drank from it. The water was icy, tasting of moss and minerals, of rain and mist(P47). Arimo’s drink of the water is a sign to indicate that something bad will happen. So the writer uses mist effectively to indicate death. Finally, the writer uses the mist symbol to indicate the ambiguity of Artimo’s death as it shows in the following text : (45) Over the decades, the story of his disappearance had obscured him, like mists blurring the outlines of a mountain range, transforming it into whatever shapes people wanted to see”(p136). The mist has a poetic or symbolic expressive meaning; in this text, mists create obscure images; he didn’t know anything about it.
To sum up: Although mist is a natural symbol that is not influenced by human ability, Malaysian people associated the mist with a sign of a bad day ahead.
- 1.4. The Symbol of Bird in Malaysian Novels in English
The selected novels have interrupted the symbol of a bird to have diverse meanings. It could have both positive and negative meanings. Birds always symbolize something free, chirping, and associated with bad and good news for Malaysian culture. Eng uses the bird to symbolize life. The bird is sounded like a sign of life. In the text, it is used twice –during Patti’s death as stated in (15):
‘When I couldn’t see the sunlight and the birds. Before that, I was alive’ (5,p17). Patti, an Indian woman after her death, claims that the absence of the bird and sunlight left her understands that she is not alive.
Secondly – during the Malaysian immigration to search for a new life at the time of war: (16)
Birds go wherever they please. At the time of war, Malaysians suffered from the racist war, which led them to leave the country to search for a new life like the birds who settle near any tree. The writer uses the’ tree ‘as a picture of ‘country,’ and the’ birds’ are ‘Malaysian people.’
On the other hand, the bird is associated with freedom. It is used as a symbol of freedom three times in the text. Firstly – with Uma’s longing to be free from her house. Thus Uma is” like a bird that had flown in “(5, P111). However, (17) Uma, an Indian girl who felt locked in her house, was always getting offended by her grandmother Patti, pushing her grandmother from the chair and caused her death. Uma wanted to be free like a bird who doesn’t like to be locked in a cut. Eventually, she managed to leave her house and travel to study abroad.
Secondly – birds symbolized freedom in the text during the coming of Chellam, an Indian girl from a low-income family who came to work in Uma’s family big house as a servant:(18) To believe in fairy-tale endings or fresh starts. Yet, the day is so unremittingly bright, and the Big House such an absurdly happy peacock color, that she can’t help but feel something leap in her parched throat, sweeter than mere relief to have arrived at last”(5, P224). Chellum suffered from starvation, scabies, ringworm, prostitution, beating, and spitting in the face, which ends with her coming to the big house. The analogy of the big house with the peacock is a free beautiful life like the beauty of ‘peacock.’
Thirdly – Ming Ling’s survival as a prisoner from the Japanese camp during Malaysia’s Japanese occupation (19). The sun was breaking free of the mountains. Over the distant treetops, a flock of birds unspooled into a black wavering thread, pulling across the sky. This is how we will survive. This is how we walk out of this camp”(1, P45). Ming Ling and her sister Hou Young as Chinese prisoners in Japanese camps, looked at the bird from the window as a sign of ‘ hope ‘and ‘freedom.’ In another way, Ming Ling inside the prison of the Japanese camp looking at the bird from the window, the personal world of Ming Ling inside the prison is linked to the symbol of freedom and hope by the act of flying bird.
In general, the writer used Ming Ling, a Chinese character, to show what the bird symbolizes for Malaysia’s Chinese culture.
The bird called again, and out of habit, I began to count off its cries against the number I had in my head; it was something I had done in the camp, when I lay in my bed, trying to distract myself”(4, P147).
Birds were giving hope to Ming Ling that there is a whole life waiting for her outside the camp. On the other hand, birds were used to bring old memories, including Ming’s sad memories of her old life in the camp: (23) An owl glided past the verandah, like a fragment of lost memory. ‘I left her,’ I said. I left Yun Hong there(4, P224). Ming survived the Japanese camp; She blamed herself for leaving her sister dead in the Japanese camp. She thinks that her soul would never be free unless she implements her promise, as mentioned before in this chapter.
Using an ‘owl’ as ‘lost memory’ by the writer indicates this culture’s aesthetic feature by his Chinese character.
However, the bird is associated with good luck in Malaysian culture. In-text (20) is used in marriage as a sign of good luck: Her accessories are laid out on her dressing table—the gold mother-of-pearl peacock pin for her shoulder(4, P131). Amma, an Indian bride, hugged a peacock pin on her shoulder during her wedding ceremonies. The peacock pin stands for good luck and gives Amma hopes to be successful in her marriage life. It’s believed that the bird is significant within this culture as it helps the married couple live a happy life together for a long period. Gradually, the writer uses the significant bird in Indian culture during the marriage ceremonies in his novel; he uses the image of the peacock as a wedding present, the bird’s artistic representation is used to call off joy in the family or to show that the couple is willing to have the long-lasting relationship in their marriage. The bird’s image is usually used when a couple is willing to call for children’s blessings; hence hanging it in the homestead symbolizes expecting to bless with children.
Unlike (21), the image of a smashed picture of peacock stands for Lakshmi and Ayya’s marriage life after losing their daughter to the Japanese soldiers :(21) picture of a peacock that belongs to her mother and father wedding’s gift. The picture, a wedding present, used to hang in a glass frame upon the wall until Mother smashed it during a ferocious quarrel and, with bleeding fingers and blazing hatred in her face (4, P266). Lakshmi, an Indian woman, married to Ayah, a Malay husband, who happened to lie about his statues for being rich, which is the opposite, and his cold attitude for being a careless father to his wife and children that led to a miserable marriage life that is full of quarrels.
The image of Ayah as a Malay husband with the smashed picture of a peacock that represents the cultural code of Indian marriage put Ayah in assimilation.
On the one hand, it is argued that when a peacock is spotted somewhere, it is usually a symbol of good fruit ahead. The bird’s nesting is a symbol figure to predict great celebration and feasting in the homestead when this bird decides to make a nest. The writer uses the sentence :(24) A bird flies across the sky, returning to the mountains. A memory comes to me of the cave. I wonder if the aborigines are still harvesting the nests there (1,p261). ‘bird’s nesting ‘is associated with the “aborigines’ which shows the cultural features of birds to Malaysia significance of birds to bring prosperity and fruitful to the land.
On the other hand, the peacock is used as a symbol of beauty. In (25) Bella, an Indian girl who considered herself ugly, as a result, she decided to put her soul inside the peacock picture, she linked herself to the peacock through the act of serving her soul inside the portrayal: I had cast my soul into the bird. Believing my soul thus entrusted, I was convinced, truly convinced that if the peacock was in any way harmed, I too would fall dangerously ill or die. It was a serious business, but I resolved not to retrieve my soul until the power of my chosen animal had turned me beautiful. In my child’s mind, I was certain the transformation would not take too long. As in the best tales of the shamans, I would only have to wait until the snow melted on the mountain. How long does snow take to melt? Surely not that long(4,p261). Peacock stands for the art of reincarnation in Indian culture; since the peacock is a symbol of beauty, Bella puts her soul inside the picture to become beautiful. Peacock represents the symbolic beauty and goodness since their presence can be a representation or an image of an awesome occurrence that might happen in the people who believe in this culture. Other than these magnificent features attributed to birds, their characters have enabled them to use artists as an element of art and storytellers over time in various tales. Some of the highly loved tales of the Indian culture in Malaysia include Buddha reincarnation in peacock:(26) For the peacock is a holy, powerful creature. Even Buddha had passed one of his reincarnations as a peacock(4,p266).
The symbolic representation of bird mythical beliefs shows that this bird is considered an element of life to the people as they are the element that promotes the continuity of life.
(27) The peacock adorns itself so heavily it attracts the attention of the tiger,’ she warns, not knowing that the peacock is my animal. It was to him that I once entrusted my soul(4,p272).
Considering the unlimited beauty of the peacock, it is believed that it resembles the trait of arrogance. The writer associates ‘peacock’ with “Bella’ since peacock adorns itself. It attracts tiger attention. Bella’s showing off like a ‘peacock’ that brings the men’s attention.
Thus, in Malaysian novels, birds are used to ridicule bad behavior and promote individuals’ good behavior. From the above discussion, it is possible to conclude that birds’ symbolic use to the Malaysian people bears a deeper meaning other than just the normal mare understanding of birds. Birds can be an integral part of the community as they connect physical and spiritual beings (Keshavarz et Al., 68). It can also be depicted that birds are beautiful elements of flight and magical and life-giving creatures in people’s lives. Malay community holds a strong belief in the symbolism of birds. Hence, this novel’s use of a bird gives wide interpretation depending on the ethical group reading and analyzing the message delivered through this novel.
- 1.5.The Symbolic use of Bamboo in “The Rice Mother” by Rani Manicka
Manicka used the bamboo as a symbol of friendship with humans, as mentioned in (28): The wind rustling in the bamboo reeds. The lonely melody reminded me of Mother. It made me think of her all alone in her small hut. Tomorrow I would write to her. I would tell her everything, except perhaps that her daughter had married a poor man (p29). Bamboo indicated Lakshmi’s feeling homesick. She left India to marry Ayah, a Malay man and discovered that Ayah had deceived, who told her that he is rich while working as a servant in Malaysia. Lakshmi decided to accept her destiny and live with Ayah in Malaysia with six children of her own. Thus, the writer uses bamboo to indicate Lakshmi’s yearning for her mother and homeland. Manicka uses bamboo as a symbol of people’s identity. Bamboo is connected to Lakshmi’s life; it yearned for Lakshmi’s grief. Bamboo serves as a symbol of ethnic and social groups distinguished from other types of tree in Malaysia; it is considered a marked member.
Generally, Malaysian believes that bamboo is connected to them. It sings when they are happy: Inside me, I heard the sound of deep sighing. Ah, (29) The bamboo in my heart For a long while, I must have stood in front of the stove just listening to it. ‘When will you sing for me? When will I hear your song? (P151) Lakshmi longed to be happy again; that’s why she asked the bamboo to sing for her again since bamboo represents Lakshmi’s states; it is connected to her spiritually. The writer wanted to show the audience that bamboo is connected to people spiritually through her character from Indian origin.
Manicka used bamboo as a symbol of love and harmony. The roots of this iconic symbol in the Chinese culture are said to represent harmony since they grow profound in the soil and ensures that this plant is strongly anchored in the soil. Thus in (30), Rani Manicka depicted the relationship between the bamboo and people” only friends are the bamboo poles that support their weight”(p6). They climb the bamboo to get to the caves, as stated in (31). They bravely climb up, swaying bamboo poles hundreds of feet high to get to the mountain caves’ roofs (p6). Thus, there is a strong harmony between the people and the bamboo; they treat her carefully and gently as if living person; before their climbing, they would tap the bamboo gently (32)“Before the men take their first step, they tap the bamboo gently, and if it sighs sadly the men abandon it immediately ” (p6). The writer uses (32) to show the relationship between all her characters with the bamboo. Bamboo is like a human being to Malaysian people.
Eventually, Manicka used bamboo to indicate women’s virtues: (33) As I watched a young girl, charming, in a long black cheongsam embroidered with gold bamboo shoots (p297).
The writer indicates traditional Chinese dress “cheongsam” used by a Chinese young girl stitches in bamboo indicates her virtue. The writer uses bamboo as a symbol of women’s chastity. Rani Manicka mentions the existence of many bamboo groves in Malaysia (34) A bamboo grove, a rather splendid rambutan tree, and served the five dwellings built around it”(p26), which shows that bamboo is part of Malaysian culture. It is found that bamboo is used as a material for practical use and a symbol in human cultural life. It considers one of the most favorite plants in Malaysia. To the Malaysian people, bamboo reflects their soul and emotion.
2.2.1 . The Symbol of Red color
The red color is the traditional color of Malaysian culture. It stands for courage, property, love, and joy. Red is one of Malaysia’s flag colors, which represents courage. It is the favorite color for Malaysians. At the opening of the text, red is associated with sun: “red in the sun” red heat,” “sky redness”(5,p4,60), painted with red and glistened in the sun”, “red sky” (1,p24). Since the sun is the source of life, Malaysian consider red as a color of life. The sun gives a pleasant and warm effect on people, which makes Malaysia urban full of hope, for that the writer waste no time infusing red as a source of life and hope to Malaysia; as a result, red is the color of hope. Since red stands for hope, it is used in the text when the murder was looking at the sky: (51) Down in the depths of Hell, the murderer saw something gleaming in the blood-red sky, dropping closer and closer to him. When it was just above his head, he reached out and pulled it. To his surprise, it bore his weight. He began to climb out of Hell, to climb up to paradise (1, P192). He hoped for an end to his suffering from hell, then was rescued by Buddha. The writer connects the “ blood-red sky” with the murderer’s hope.
The analysis showed that red color is associated with fire, e.g.,” red fire,” “red earth hell” since fire stands for warmth and heat, Malay connects it with red as a source of life.
The word “red” and “blood” share the same meaning in the Tamil language. Thus ‘blood’ consider as the ‘kiss of life in the body, for example: ‘red blood,’ ‘blood flew out like a red rain,’ ‘blood-red sky’ (1,p61,90,192). The word ‘red blood,’ according to Indian culture, doesn’t refer to violence, but it refers to life.
Lakshmi calls her son Lakshmnan “Mera lal,” which means literally” my red.” It refers to “my son” or ‘my dear son’ in the Indian language.
Red stands for power; it is used in the text to show Patti’s power : (59) In the morning, she was still there in her rattan chair, covered in red bites the size of grapes(p24).
The evening is the whole day covered the typical Indian family stereotype, where the grandmother has a significant role above the family members; for that, the writer depicts her sitting on the red chair as a sign of power for Malaysian families. Secondly, red symbolizes Penaung ‘s role of power in Malaysia (60). My Penaung walked in without looking at me, accompanied by two persons. He wore a shining white shirt with a yellow bow tie, and he wore a red hibiscus in his buttonhole(2, P119). Penaung means “protector” or” patron” in the Malay language. The image of the red color on his shoulder shows his higher position in Malaysian society. Thirdly, red stands for Arab merchants’ power position and richness for Malaysians as stated in the text:(61) Arab merchants and their fat fingers, crammed with huge rings, glittered red (4, P22). Eng described Arab merchants in long flowing robes and headdresses of white and black and their fat fingers with a huge red ring; they are described as rich people who came to trade with spices, ivory, and gold. Through this cultural exchange, the red ring as a sign of power entered the Malaysian semiosphere. Malay admired luxury life because they consider Arab as their typical ideal for richness and prosperity; thus, red is associated with power and richness for Malay.
Red stands for “purity.”It is used in the text to indicate children’s purity (62), “baby’s little red ears”(4, P83) baby red face (4,p64). In (63), Lakshmi’s son Seventies was born: “Sevenese came into the world at the stroke of midnight. The midwife packed him, dark red in a clean towel, and presented him to me”(4,p58). He was covered with a red towel, which signifies red as a color of purity and life for Malaysians.
On the other hand, the texts mentioned certain emotions related to Malaysian culture: First, the expression “ red hot” uses in the text twice. First, it is used to refer to Rajo’s passion for Mohini(65), ” the hard shell of his body a red hot passion”(4,p122). The text shows Rajo’s lust, which Mohini rejected, Lakshmi’s daughter; she was so beautiful with a round white face and long black hair. Her mother named her Mohini according to the (66) celestial temptress of ancient legends who was incredibly beautiful that one accidental sip from the liquid depths of her eyes was all it took to cast even a god forgetful(4,p122). Mohini refused Rajo because he was uneducated, and his family deals with black magic. Rajo, who has a bronze eyebrow with dark eyes, couldn’t read or write, but he has a passion for Mohini. The writer uses Rajo ‘s red hot passion as a sign of the lust of sin. Secondly, it is used to indicate Lakshimi’s anger from Mu Tsai: (67) The red-hot resentment made me forget that I had suckled at my mother’s breast until the age of almost eight. Ugly, cruel words gathered in my throat (4,p58). When she knew that her Chinese neighbor Mu Tsai was breastfeeding her children, she becomes mad at her. She decides to build a wall between them, then she felt sad and sympathy for building that wall since she has her children and her husband while Mu Tsai has only her master’s visit, even her children were taking from her and raised by the master’s wives. But even though that doesn’t prevent Lakshmi from tearing the wall of “red bricks of selfishness.”The writer uses red brick to indicate Lakshimi’s selfishness and pride.
The second expression is ” red eyes.”It is used in the text twice: first, it symbolizes an angry Malay man from Sara :(69) his eyes were red as if with anger, dress probably. Don’t disgrace your father and mother “(3,p32). Sara as a Malay girl, lived in America before she comes to Malaysia for that she adopted the American style of life, which is criticized by Malaysians.
Secondly, red rat eyes are used in Chinese culture as a sign of health : (70) Do you want her to be cured of this terrible disease?’ It is a specially bred, red-eyed rat. And when it is newly born, it has no fur. Many people in China have done it (4,p57). Lakshmi’s daughter Mohini was ill, her Chinese neighbor Mu Tsai advised her to give her daughter red rat eyes to eat to be recovered. Chinese has another belief in the text and related to red: (71) In the tradition of good Chinese omens, a small red mouth flowered in her pale round face. The Chinese favored brides with small mouths, believing that women with big mouths were harbingers of ill-fortune. A woman with a large mouth spiritually swallowed her husband and caused his early death (4,p39). According to the Chinese belief, the word “small red mouth” refers to happiness; if the woman’s mouth is a small red, she brings happiness and luck to her husband, but if it is big, that means she brings death to her husband.
It is believed that white dress is the color of a wedding in many cultures around the world, but according to Indian and Chinese, red is the color that should be used by the bride.
Red is used as the color of marriage in the text many times in different fields: Firstly, it is used in the text as a Chinese traditional wedding dress by Mui Tsai, who was happy with the marriage of her both sons, looking at them proudly wearing red Chinese traditional custom (72) ‘they were dressed in identical flam red Chinese custom'(4,p176), and waiting for the brides to come with a red Chinese ‘Qi pao’ wedding dress(Guimei,p160)‘ Qi pao’ is also known as ‘Cheongsam’ is a traditional Chinese dress. It includes one piece along the body with a special Chinese characteristic of Manchu origin. Chinese culture shows that ‘red’ use with ‘Cheongsam’ at a wedding as a sign of happiness and prosperity. Secondly, it is used in Patti’s marriage: (73) Paati stands with her twenty-five-year-old groom in the front row, feet and hands red with henna(5,p33). The evening is the Whole Day covered the Indian cultural wedding successfully, with the significance of red color in their wedding, like using red powder and henna. Henna is a paste of herbal. Also known as Mehndi is a dye prepared from the plant Lawsonia inermis, it is used in Indian wedding as well for Arabic wedding and middle east with the same name “henna” (Garg et al.,2017 ) thus “henna” word adopts to the English language as referring to a henna tattoo. Regarding Indian wedding culture, henna ceremony night or mehndi calls before the wedding day to wishing the bride a good life for her journey on to the marriage (Garg et al.,2017). Although “mehndi” or” henna night” is for females, male relatives can join and celebrate the ceremony. The core significance of henna is using this natural herbal to cool the body and relieve the bride from any stress before the wedding. Henna applies on the bride’s foot and hand “feet and hands red with henna”(p33). In this sentence, the red color uses henna to indicate happiness and luck in Patti’s marriage life. As a sign of happiness and good luck in marriage, Henna entered the Malay semiosphere and became part of its cultural marriage. On the one hand, Indians left a great influence on Malay culture. On the other hand, Malaysia also didn’t stop its inspiration on the Indian cultural marriage when changing the name from Mehindi as an Indian word into Henna as a global word used in Malaysia. Along with the wedding ceremonies, Indians throw red powder to the bride and groom as a symbol of happiness. (74) red powder rising like a red mist before it plunged to the ground, rolling noisily, scattering fine powder all over the floor (4,p232). In Sevense’s marriage, all relatives and families were throwing red powder. The text indicates how Indian bless the red color and feel happy when looking at the red color everywhere. Many color words in the text indicate marriage, like bindi,kum kum, and ang pow. The color word “kum kum ” is a powder made from turmeric (75)” her forehead was not the red kum kum dot for customary married women”(4,p15). Lakshimi knows that her visitor is not married for not putting red “kum kum” on her hair, as stated in the sentence. In general, Kum Kum is worn by a married woman along with the hair. Hindu women universally follow it as a traditional symbol. This tradition is more followed in south India, especially by married women( Babu,2016).
Another color word used in the text is “Bindi,” which means point: (76) I rushed into the prayer room. At the altar, I dipped a shaking finger in the silver bowl of red kumkum and drew such a large, uneven red dot that it nearly covered my entire forehead. ‘Look, look,’ I cried to the picture of Ganesha. ‘I still have a husband(4,p62). When Lakshimi husband was ill and unconscious, Lakshimi, in a weak moment, put a red dot on her forehead and went to the picture of Ganesh, a popular god in Hinduism, and one of the most worshipped (77) “Look, look, I cried to the picture of Ganesha. I still have a husband”(4,p62) she puts a red dot as a way to prove that she is still married and her husband is still alive. Red dot called “Bindi,” originally from Hindus means “point” in English, but now the English language speakers use “Bindi” rather than “point” when referring to the Indian dot. It is worn by the married woman on the center of the forehead, for that married woman can be distinguished from the single one by wearing a red dot on the forehead. The third red color word is ang pow refers to “red envelope,” which is used in the text twice. First, it is used as a present for Chinese marriage :(78) Ah, Cheong’s getting married tomorrow ‘Some girl in Tanah Rata. His mother arranged it. He invited us; You must give him money. Put it in a red envelope”(1,p183).
The word ‘angpow’ uses among Chinese people in Malaysia, while in China, it addresses ‘Hong Bao’ in the Mandarin language. An example of ‘red envelope’ uses in the text when Yun Ling, a Chinese woman, tells Artimo to put money inside a red envelope for their Malay friend’s wedding. For them, ‘red’ color can bring happiness and make the bride and groom’s life better. Intercultural communication occurred when a Malay groom invites his Chinese friends and accepting the gift according to Chinese cultural marriage.
. Secondly, it is used as a present for children as a sign of luck: (79) Finally, she had something to call her own All that was left for her to do was accept the customary red and pow packet with the crisp, folded, fifty ringgit note inside in exchange(4,p52).
The color word ‘angpow’ is used as a gift for the newborn in Chinese culture, as in Mui Tsai, who received an amount of money inside an ‘angpow’ for her child as a sign of good luck.
However, red is not used only as a wedding dress but used in the decoration of houses during marriage : (80) The whole house had been decorated with red banners painted with special writing for even more prosperity (4,p175). House decoration in red is attached to Chinese culture through centuries. The Garden of Evening Mist covered the Chinese decoration of red on the eve of the Chinese new year “where children travel from all over the world for a family reunion in Chinese new year (81)”Majuba House was decked out in red: red banners, red paper lanterns and red squares of paper with the Chinese character Fook in black calligraphy to entice more wealth into the home”(1,p127). A family gathering is so important in this day to the extent “To ignore it is to be deemed unfilial”(1,p127 ).To sum up: Red color symbolizes hope and power in Malay culture, while it symbolizes marriage and a sign of good luck in Indian and Chinese culture.
Eventually, in the semiosphere border, the Chinese wedding dress (red Qi Pao) can stand as a symbol of Chinese ethnicity and social group; it can be distinguished from other national dresses in Malaysia by the resemblance of Chinese ethnic group in Malaysia. The same situation for the other cultural dresses saree as an Indian dress wedding and sarong as Malay dress is a marked member who can stand against the non-marked member’s border.
To conclude, the analysis of the cultural symbols revealed the priority cultural-semiotic mechanisms of the construction of the ethnic identity of Malaysian. Besides, the analysis results showed that there are customs among some people who consider a feature of their culture transferred to other countries. Considering that people who immigrated, they have transferred their habit from their homeland to Malaysia like Indian and Chinese. For example, the henna night( the night before the wedding day) in Malay is changed into Mehindi night by Indian. Those people interact with each other from one nation to another nation; it might be some changes to this phenomenon. They might have the same name or may change a little bit. As a result, new cultures were introduced from different ethnic groups due to the integration of these ethnic groups with each other.
2.5.2. The Symbol of Black Colour
At the opening of the text (61), “I watched her move away in a suitably funereal black and, She wore her grief with tragic splendor, from head to toe in shades of black” (4,p337). Nisha, a Hindu Indian woman who saw a woman wearing black at her father’s funeral while everyone was wearing white. Primary, white stands for a funeral in Indian culture. Nisha understands that this woman is Malay due to the black color as the color of mourning in Islam and Christianity. More precisely, black is the color of death for Malay, unlike Indian, who considers “white” as the color of “death.”
Next, Ming Ling’s mother, a Chinese woman, religious and ambitious person who never gives up on her hope for winning the lottery, begging the god Kwan Kung (62)” Kwan Kung was dressed by black armor, the god of war was clad in black armor” (1, P192). Kwan Kung, the god of war, is a Chinese god dressed in black armor .”black” symbolizes God’s “power of God.” As a Chinese woman, Ming Ling’s mother used to go every week to the temple, begging God to win the lottery ” Beg the God for her weekly lottery “(1, P192). Although she never wins, that doesn’t stop her from seeing God every week ” she never won any money, but it never stops her from going back ” (1, P192).
The black color stands for anger” anger rose from the black mud of my stomach”(1,p58). Lakshmi, an Indian mother of six children, discovers that her neighbor Mu Tsai, a Chinese mother, was breastfeeding her children, making her feel angry. “This secret was like betrayal “(1,p58). She felt that Mu Tsai betrayed their friendship for not telling her the truth which, made her built a wall between them due to that, black stands for Lakshimi ‘s anger from Mu Tsai.
The color word “black spot” has two meanings. The first meaning refers to protection from evil eyes, which indicates putting a black spot on the face as a symbol of protection from evil eyes by Indian culture ” some people eyes were so evil that they could kill with a glance, to absorb the evil eye, people painted a black dot on their babies’ faces to mar their perfect beauty and protect the defenseless child from envious glances” (1, P69). Lakshmi, an Indian mother who puts a black spot on her child Mohini. She thinks that envy leads to death; if someone looks evilly at something beautiful, it dies, for that she puts a black spot on her child’s forehead to absorb the evil eyes. Therefore, the black spot is worn by the child on the forehead’s center to absorb the evil eyes.
Secondly- in (64), black spot refers to a small dot puts on the girl’s forehead as a sign that she is not married ” painted my forehead with a small, perfectly round black dot” (4,p201) Nisha, who is Lakshmi’s daughter put a black spot on her forehead when she was expecting a proposal visit. In this context, the black refers to the virginity of Nisha; thus, when her mother called her to greet the groom and his family, she greets them with head down, ” head bent, the way a proper unmarried girl should do “(4,202). While in (65), the state of awareness appears when Patti saw her visitor not wearing a black spot on her forehead, she was aware that the woman is not married forehead was not the red kumkum dot customary for married women but the black dot signifying her unmarried status”.(4,p15).
Moreover, there are other expression related to a black color and stand for something according to Malaysian cultures, such as the expression black face stands for shame (66) ” If Lakshmanan returned home with a black face, it meant Ramachandran had pulled first place out from under his feet”(4,p194). Lakshmanan, an Indian man, fights a battle with a boy called Ramachandran; his family expected that if he returns with a black face, he lost the battle, as revealed in the context above. Black faces in such contexts refer to Lakshiman’s shame of losing.
Secondly-unlike (66) in (67), the expression black thought stands for one’s evil thought “inside me flowered a black thought that perhaps it was all for the best” (4,p21). Lakshmi, the second wife of a Malay husband, feels relieved when her husband’s ex-wife didn’t bring her stepchildren for their father to see them. Black refers to Lakshmi’s inner feelings; from one side, she thinks that her husband’s wife is not a good person to keep the children with. Still, in her deep feeling, she doesn’t want the children, ” I didn’t like conceding victory to the Pani woman, but my dread of my simple-minded stepchildren was greater “(4, P21). Her fear of taking her husband’s children and raise them is more than giving up to her husband-wife.
It is found that black color symbolizes death and anger in Malay culture; it symbolizes protection and virginity in Indian culture.
2.5.3. The Symbol of White Colour
‘White’ stands for virtue and innocence as stated in a sentence (95) the girl’s eager faces, framed by their white capes, where the room of classes was echoed with the children’s chanting in unison (3,p31). Young Muslim Malay girls wear white capes when they go to the” Madrasah” for religious classes. “Madrassa” is a Malay Muslim word that means” Islamic school.” In general, the word madrassa is an Arabic word that means “school.” Still, Malays adopt the word into their language and refer to “Islamic school ” since Arabs bring Islam to Malay. Many Arabic words are adopted in the Malay language as the same meaning or different one. Malay needs to teach their children about the Islamic religion, where the young girls are pleased and proud of their religion. While in (96), Malay wears a white dress during their prayer “men and women, all in white, They were simply praying in the open air”(3,p56). As an Indian, Sarwan looked at a group of Muslim Malay in open-air wearing a white dress and practicing their religious ritual. The writer shows ‘white’ as a color of purity in Malay culture.
(97) wearing the loose, white, shroud-like prayer costume of her religion. It was not prayer time but a shroud to hide her magnificent curves”(4,p138); the ” white shroud dress” wears by Malay women as a symbol of chastity. Besides, it considers as a marked member that resembles the Malay custom from others.
Secondly, white is used to describe Bella as a young, innocent girl whose beloved by Luke. Bella was feeling shy looking at Luke’s reaction when he saw her wearing a white dress(98) “it was pure white”(4,p283). The white dress shows Bella’s purity and virtues, and that what makes Luke in love with her and decides to continue his life with her. As a result of the analysis, white is used to symbolize Bella’s purity and virginity. White is used by Malay women at the wedding, besides Indian men use it as a traditional white Veshti dress : (99)”On the big day, my brother stood in the hall resplendent in a white veshti and his bridegroom’s headgear. He stood straight and tall in front of the Mother to get her blessing. For once, his square face looked eager and animated. While Mother stood there savoring the pleasure of having secured such a lovely bride for her dull son” (4,p231). The word white Veshti refers to traditional Indian custom wears by Sevenese on his wedding day . White stands for beginning a new life . The author brings the word “white veshti” into his English novel to show the culture of the Indian community in Malaysia to the audience.
However, Chinese women’s white skin indicates her position in society : (100) Mui Tsai began to massage her. She ran her firm brown hands down the soft white skin of her mistress’s back” (4, P42). Text (101) reveals that Mu Tsai, as a servant was so careful when doing her mistress massage. The importance of Chines women’s skin lies in their position in society that they are making a strong effort to maintain their skin whiteness. White indicates the integrity and greatness of Chinese women.
Unlike (101) in (102) reveals that White has a negative meaning in Indian culture. White makes people tend to think of formal mourning, which originated from the antiquity of color myth(102)”my daughter, to wear a widow color on her wedding day “(4,281). Luke wanted Bella to wear a white sari on her wedding day, her mother Lakshmi refused; she didn’t accept her daughter wearing a white color on her wedding day. The widow dresses white color in her mourn; it is the only color the widow is allowed to wear since it is a reflective color, it reflects or blocks all light and other colors, thus when she wears white color, she blocked herself from the pleasure of life.
However, the sari’s cultural meaning is deeper than a simple dress; it is a mixture of tradition and modern style. It is a cultural wedding dress; thus, when Luke, an Indian husband, asked his Indian bride to wear a white sari instead of the red sari, he showed the influence of Malay culture on Indian, since the wedding dress for Malay is white while for Indian is red sari. Thus, whites moved into the semiosphere center due to the cultural exchange between different ethnic groups in Malaysia.
On another occasion, Bella sees her aunt wearing a ‘white sari. ‘ She understands that her grandmother passed away. For that, white color symbolizes death; thus, when people die, their relatives wear white.
To sum up: white color symbolizes purity and chastity in Malay culture; while it represents death in Indian culture.
Eventually, the Malaysian writers have covered the ethnocultural symbol in their literature; they even mentioned some narrative folktale to make their work more realistic and show their wisdom. The first narrative is the story of Buddha reincarnation resembles Bella’s beauty. The second narrative is Buddha and the spider rescue by a killer. This story shows those who do good to any creature will have a second chance even if they are killers. The third narrative is the kamikaze soldiers; it represents the bad omen.
An analysis of cultural proposition as a statement of the cultural term took place in this work; first, Sara Malay lived in America adopt Western culture. She strives to be independent and open-minded in a country like Malaysian society. Second, Lakshmi strives to be free and leaves her husband, but society forces her to stay with her husband for her children’s sake. Third, Rani, an individual who refuses the tradition and wants to be single and independent, but in the end, she married Lakshmanan for her brother’s sake. Fourth, Tata, who strives to have his own right in India’s original country but the end, succeeds in leaving the country and immigrating to Malaysia for a better life.
3.2.1.The Concept of Father
The concept of a father is analyzed according to three mainframes:
1.Father’s caretaking frame
Tata is an Indian father, a self-made man, a clerk at the Cowan & Maugham Steamship Company, who takes responsibility as a high position that provides a source for his family. Tata studied hard and got a good job rank in work when he left school at sixteen, hoping to get a good future in another place in the world. To guarantee a great future for his children, he migrated from India to Malaysia. We’re lucky to live here. It’s the best place on earth, none of India’s problems. Peace and perfect weather. Just work hard, and the world could belong to you here(5,p18). Tata takes the role of an ideal father. After his retirement, he bought a big house for his family to ensure the best future for them by the time Tata retired, in 1956, he owned a shipping company that rivaled his old employer’s. Tata decided to buy himself a house that would declare his family’s stake in the new country. A great house, a grand house, a dynastic seat. He would leave Penang and look for such a house in Ipoh, far away from the dockyards, hilly, verdant, the perfect place to retire.
Tata takes the stance of a caretaking parent frame through Immigrating to Malaysia to find a better life for his family, working hard, and buying a big house to hold all his family members.
The second character is lebai Hanafiah, a Malay father who depicts the family’s caring and protector.
Her father said to her when she returned,
Where have you been?
Why are you back so late?
You know it’s dangerous to go about alone (2,p36).
lebai Hanafiah highpoints the care is taken role; thus, when Sara arrives home late, he discusses the matter with her ‘You know it’s dangerous to go about alone'(2,p36). Sara’s father takes a concerned parent’s attitude by directing his daughter for not coming home late and giving the anesthesia about how unsafe to be out late for a girl. Moreover, Fernando shows how Malay fathers are frightened of letting their girls going out alone, consider the girl as young, weak, and can’t protect herself.
lebai Hanafiah plays perfectly the role of caretaking and protective father ” Lebai Hanafiah instinctively knew he was going to be asked for her hand, and to avoid having to refuse him, hurriedly arranged for her to go to America, for further studies“(2,p36). His role as a porter and a worried parent when he directs his daughter to travel abroad “for further studies” To protect her from Panglima, a political secretary for the minster of home affair in Malaysia, who desires Sara, although “The news of her marriage to Omar didn’t diminish Panglima’s desire for her “(2,p36). Sara’s father takes a protective parent’s attitude by giving his daughter instructions to travel to America for further studies.
2.Father’s cruel frame
An Indian Malaysian father claims to be perfect; he was mentioned in the novel as Emma’s father, who married Tata’s son. Externally he was shown to be a respectable man who brought his family a quiet life, as shown in the text. Among the other neighbors, Amma’s father was known to be the sort of man who kept to himself, who held his family to a life of quiet decorum and high principles. People consider him a respectable man, and one loves to be of help to others. When the business loose he decides to quit the job, giving a chance for youth to work, and this decision make him more respected in people’s eyes when the business had foundered, and his British bosses had talked about retrenching their staff, he’d taken early retirement to allow a younger colleague to keep his job.
Emma’s father is a district man; he never approves that his daughters wear short skirts. He was a decent man, a good man, a man who was vegetarian twice a week and didn’t let his daughters wear above-the-knee skirts. He spent his days listening to the wireless radio he’d bought after his retirement and watching the four angelfish he kept in a small tank. Once a month, he allowed himself a solitary treat of the latest Tamil film at the Grand Theatre in Jubilee Park. Although Emma’s father looks respectful and very classical man, behind this classy man, there is a strict, insincere, and fanatic father who treats his wife like a servant, and he is the principal who put him in the case of mark member. Behind his bland grey doors, he regularly beat his modestly clad daughters with his leather belt and had once held a meat cleaver to his wife’s neck when she’d gone into town to post a letter without his knowledge. None of his neighbors ever discovered his belt-and-cleaver tactics, which was somewhat of a pity, if only because several of them would have admired this ultimate show of mastery from a man they’d pegged as a phlegmatic, fish-feeding teetotaler.
The father takes the stance of a cruel father by beating his daughter and mistreat his wife.
Fernando shows the father’s duality. Outside his home, he is a reputable man who holds his family to a life of quiet decorum and high principles, and internally as a cruel father that is inhuman and an oppressor. Simultaneously, the text clarifies that the conceited father is not welcome in society, for he is not showing his true character.
3.Father’s non-caretaking Frame
Ayah, a Muslim Malay, took a passive role in the family. He is a 33-year-old widow who decides to marry Lakshmi, who is 14 years old. He did not tell the truth to get married to Lakshmi, who is an Indian beautiful girl who dreams of having a rich husband which Ayah did lie to her to accept marry him I was a young man then, and it didn’t seem wrong to gain a bride with a bouquet of lies. He regrets it but feels happy because this lie has brought him such a beautiful woman to marry.
Another Ayah’s passive role at the house when the Japanese occupy Malaysia used to make everything nice. One day, when Ayah was outside chatting with his friend, the Japanese came and took his daughter Mohini. How dare he leave us to fend for ourselves against Japanese soldiers. At the same time, he sat gossiping with that doddering old Sikh security guard outside the Chartered Bank building? As when he gets home, he asks with a calm voice about his children, making Lakshmi, his wife, angrier about this kind of careless father. Where are the children?’ he asked, so quietly that I had to raise my eyes from his collar and look into those small, frightened eyes. ‘They have taken Mohini away,’ I said dully, and as suddenly as my anger had come, it dissipated. I felt lost and longed for a husband who would take my burdens away for one hour. Someone who would make things right again. As for careless father, he gives his son, Lakshman, money to bet with it although he knows it’s wrong, which made his wife always fight with him because of his behavior and her unsatisfaction with him as a father and a husband I had just argued with Ayah because I had seen him slipping money into Lakshmnan’s hands. Making me look like a monster and giving our son the impression that gambling was OK. However, being a passive and careless father is unaccepted by the country, and his wife and his children do not respect him. My mother said that when I was born, she cried to see that I was only a girl, and my disgusted father disappeared to make more pickled lies, returning two years later, still roaring drunk.
3.2.2. The Concept of Mother
In Green is the Colour, Sara’s mother, a Malay woman takes the weak and passive role in the whole novel. Thus when Sara was assaulted and raped by Panglima, her mother’s part was vibrant; she could not do anything to defend or take her daughter’s right; she uses the words only to console her daughter’s sorrow and recaps her about the pain and memorable scene. However, this is the only thing she can do for her daughter. Fernando highlights the mother’s image in a patriarchal society, and her weak role makes her give only love and consolation to her daughter instead of urging her to fight for her right.
The following texts show how the mother depends on the man in her life; thus, Lakshmi and her mother, as an Indian woman, depends on their father, and later Lakshmi depends on her husband to provide her with a source ( a.My mother and I suffered because my father did not bother to send us money, b) sat on the veranda waiting for Ayah to come home, impatient to feel housekeeping money in my hand for the first time. Just like my mother, I, too, would plan and spread the money wisely).
Lakshmi’s mother portrayed the picture of a close mind to her daughter; thus, when Lakshmi married Ayyah, who is Malay, she didn’t know by her mother what happens between husband and wife and what’s her duty although she was young and needed to be treated as a grown-up woman who is about to be married.
Taking into account the portrayal of a weak mother. It can be argued that mother is the main foundation of transmitting their culture and language from one generation to another, as the mother is responsible for caring for her children at home that’s why Lakshmi teach her children and grandchildren her culture and
Unlike Rani, Laksmi’s daughter in law, who characterizes the opposite, recognizes eastern Indian civilization. She adopts the Western language and culture. She tries to teach her children the same thing, which made her forbidden by the rest of her kinsfolks as a conspirator to her role as a carrier of culture and ancestral language, she considers as a case of mark member. Rani always sees herself above others. she marries Lakshman, a mix of Indian and Malay, the son of Lakshmi and Ayah, she deceives Lakshmanan to marry her by seducing to pay him a good dowry for she was an ugly woman, which made Lakshmana marries her, but the fact she was always against Lakshmnan mother, since she doesn’t want to learn her children a Tamil language and principles while Lakshmi is against, thus when Rani gives birth to her son Nash, Lakshmi give him a gold ring like a traditional custom between Indian grandmother to hand her grandson a gold ring, Rani refuses it and take it off from her baby as shown in the text
One of the mother’s roles depicted in The Rice Mother is that she has the right to decide for her daughter. Lakshmi chooses the study for her daughter Lalita.
Lakshmi tries to find a husband for her daughter, which emphasizes the significance of the active mother role in finding a husband for their daughter and the daughter’s passive role. Thus, when Lalita wanted to become a nurse, her mother refused and sent her to typing school. Although a nursing job considers as one of the good jobs in some countries, it is not desirable by some Malaysian families since it requires mixing and dealing with men; there is something the text shows, which is the importance of work to a woman to guarantee herself a good husband, which led suffers from thinking on the best job to choose.
To conclude mother satisfies the need for love and safety by choosing her daughter’s decision, supporting her son instrumentally, and transmitting her culture and language to other generations.
3.3.The Concept of Inter Marriage
These are some of the related examples of intercultural marriages that are from different cultures. They include Marriage between Malay / Indian and Malay / Chinese.
3.3.1. Marriage between Malay and Indian
Dahlan and Gita
Dahlan, a Malay Muslim, marries Gita, a Hindu woman, without asking her to convert to Islam. The following text shows the husband’s role in Malaysian culture as the pillar of a relationship, and it also shows an integration of multiple identities. In contrast, Gita, an Indo woman, wears Malay Muslim clothes that consist of sarong and blouse; it also a case of mark member since Gita Indian wears Malay custom. Gita had seen the wife of a lawyer grow silent as Dahlan talked, fashionably dressed in a fitting sarong and blouse, with rouge on her cheeks and hair neatly coiffured for the evening out, blurted to her companion that Dahlan had no shame speaking of his race in this way (2,p55).
Although Gitta being married to a Muslim guy, she didn’t convert and still going to the temple. I still go to a temple to pray(2,p83), which shows respect in marriage.
Gita is against tolerance. She gets married to a person who is not from her religion but believes in unity.
We should never accept that we are fated to be victims. If we did, it would be our fault. We cannot blame race, background, the government, history, or the stars’ position for our condition, however bad it may be. We should not wait until the final calamity was upon us. We must rise and attack every encroachment on our freedom.”(2,p92)
Ayah and Lakshmi.
This is another marriage between Aya, a Muslim, Malay, and Lakshmi, an Indian woman. The husband here took the sides of passive. ‘Lakshmi, stop it. I felt lost and longed for a husband who would take my burdens away for one hour. Someone who would make things right again. His nostrils flared like some huge beast in pain(4,p152).
The following text shows the person –society integration of an Indian woman learning Malay; trying to change her mother language to ease communication was hard. Mui Tsai (little sister) was her only true friend she made. She always tried communicating to her in the Malay language, but the language was still unfamiliar, ending with a series of complicated hand gestures.
Lakshmi as an Indian wife, is too shy to show her love and affection to her husband:
Another text shows Aya’s side’s true feelings, whereas Love and emotion are present, but they don’t show their emotions with words. In marriage, differences occur that result in conflicts and misunderstandings. The man should act as the pillar in the family, failure to take responsibility results to hate and disrespect from the wife. She didn’t want my love or me. Both she considered abhorrent(4,p180).
Ratha and Jayan
Jayan, a mixed generation from Malay father and Indian woman with Ratha, an Indian woman, dowry systems are essential in marriage. Marriages meant dowries(p40), Marriage equals dowry(p200), marriage had everything to do with the dowry(P206). From the Malay side, the husband’s family gives dowry to the woman, while from the Indian side, the girl’s family gives the husband dowry the wife’s family should give the dowry. This forces a Malay husband to take the case of a marked member and adopt the culture of the mother’s side to get dowry to take your daughter and come back when you have the full dowry(p226). Besides, it shows that when the girl is more beautiful, dowry does not matter. Ratha was an orphan and brought up by a kindly spinster aunt who managed to set aside a dowry for the girl. It was a paltry sum and negotiable, but Jayan mum was determined to have Ratha even without the dowry.
Item of food is shown in the following text, whereas Ratha, an Indo woman, learned to cook for her family a Mughalian food and reserved it with Indian food types. It shows the flexibility of adopting a new food from other culture and uses as their own
Difficulties facing husband and wife are mentioned in the text: Firstly, an intercultural code such as Kum Kum failed. This means that marriage has failed. It seemed that Ratha hated Jayan with a vengeance. But how to be surprised? The kumkum had spilled before the marriage(p242). The marriage had died then. This was only the stink of decomposition. Secondly, Jayan noticed his wife tears during the marriage ceremonies, but when he saw his mother’s tear, he understands that, normally, a conflict appears here; he should ask the woman about her feeling and why she is crying.
3.3.2. Marriage between Malay and Chinese.
Sarah and Yun Ming
Sarah is Muslim Malay and Yun Ming, Chinese. Yun Ming is a second-generation Chinese-Malaysian who “doggedly maintained loyalty to his country Yun Ming maintains that Malaysians should “understand one another” (p82). Moreover, he believes in the “brotherhood of all” (p170) and approaches issues from a “human point of view” (p170). He considers the second-generation who integrate into the country his father Chinese, but his country was Malaysia. He could speak Malay so fluently. His father came from China; I can trust Yun Ming just like our own people” (p40). When riots break out in the Malay areas, Yun Ming does not hesitate to carry relief goods independently, despite the risks(p40). Conflict in marriage appears because of the racial riot when Yun Ming puts in jail, not knowing when to get out. The loneliness has become worse since they arrested Yun Ming and me. Now he’s gone, will we dare see each other again(p118).
In conclusion, during the analysis of these novels, Malay married Indians more than Malay with Chinese.Integration of multiple identities of an Indian wife trying to learn Malay and wearing Malay clothes. It also shows an interreligious marriage between Indo women and Muslim men without converting their religion.
If the husband takes passive, he will not be respected by his wife, and generally, Malaysians don’t show their love with words.