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The Borrowed Boy, Key events, Writer's craft, Themes, Characters,…
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Key events
- Collecting Mydeen from the orpahnage
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family interactions
ironically, hari raya exposes the cracks in her family.
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'She was not going to pretend that this boy was her son, neither would she believe that this family set up was anything more than temporary.' - there is conflict within J, between the possessiveness of the boy, yet she doesnt want him foreveer.
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interaction with children/ rest of the family shows that M is still an outsider, not entirely wlecomed by the children
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- Choosing of the Baju Kurung
Gives him siome sense of individualitity in calling the baju kurung his very own 'They did not know the boy's name yet, but the orange baju kurung had been reserved for him' - wants the boy to have something that belongs to him, just like how Junaidah wants to have the boy belong to her for just a day
in the spririt of generossity- 'decided to purchase a baju kurung for the boy, as a present.'
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First introduction to Junaidah - petty, judgemental, superficial lady
Importance of image to J is shown here 'the colours were chosen , wanting to set her family apart from others ' she wants to look different and cares deeply about appearances when they should not be her forts priority. Shows that se does not actually care about the boy. she also judges others for not having 'good taste' and says that pastel colours were a sign f good tatse and that it was 'unnecessary for the children to be dressed like warning flares' judging poeple. It shows that she has selfish intentions about the baju kurung and that it was about her image not about him.
Dehumanisation of the boy. He is not named and they just refer to him as the boy. his identity is not important to them, and they really dont care. He is treated like a commodity or a library book in that he is to be borrowed for a specific amount of time then returned.
'the boy might not like the colourbut what was important was that it was the same colour as the buju kurung for the other two children.' The Baju Kurung chosen for the boy is chosen not out of consideration for the boy but to ensure he looks the same as the other two children- there is no consideration for what mydeen wants at all, but rather what they think is appropriante. Thier motives for dressing the children is questionable, do they want him to feel like a part of the family and not othered? It works for this family as Mydeen chooses them again, or is it that they do this for appearances? --Marginalisation in that Mydeen has no choice.
suggestion that the boroowing of the boy has happened before , and that it is not an uncommon occurance. If this is common, why don't they choose Mydeen again? --> sincerity of the action questioned. Do they do this because of habit? . also implies that the boy would be experienced and familiar with the experience and being passed around by differnt families.
Suggests that she does this to feel good about herself and because she pities them not having the celebration.
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Forgiveness?
J feels sorry, yet she would not repeat the experience again. 'What was his place in thier lives, and ... his? '
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Overcompensation after
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'The grandmother patted his head.. no wrong, child...must come back next year'
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- Haikel's rebellion in the morning
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Junaidah's reaction
scolding H. 'I asked you to take care of him... wrong with you, Haikel?'
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Writer's craft
Altruism and Charity
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Borrowing the boy- is it really for him or do they they think its for him? Does he want to attend at all?
Charity 'generous actions aiding the poor, ill, or in need' , 'benevolent feeling' and 'giving'
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to what extent are Junaidah's actions and feelings truly altruistic in the story? what are her true intentions?
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Setting
Celebration of Hari Raya, Hari Raya Puasa is a time of forgiveness and strengthening of bonds amongst family members and relatives
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Prologue
not mentioned who the boy is. he is treated like an object almost, and suggests to us that the intentions Junaidah has are not as altruistic as they seem. Sets the stage.
Themes
Altruism/ Charity
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Why do orphans get more? they feel guilty or because they feel pity for them. - leads to more generosity in but is not for the right reasons
- Prologue, where the 'boy' is dehumanised and given the same colour baju kurung. They dont actually care about him as an individual, they just want to do as they like. Suggests that they do this often in order to feel good about themselves and that is the reason for borrowing the boy
- Spirit of generosity shown in Junaidah wanting to gift the baju kurung
because they want to spread thier happiness? the other family seems to truly enjoy Mydeen's company when they are with him, yet made the decision not to do it again. -- sugesstion that charity is only done when the cause is immediately infront of you? Or people only help when they feel directly involved / obliged to? Generosity only for the sake of appearances or because they feel they have to, but it isn't something they actively want to do.
Identity
2, individuallity of the boy- they reserve a baju Kurung for him
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lac of identity the marginalised in society face. they don't really belong. in the case of J she seeks out others to belong to her, they seeks out a sense of possession and control, and they try to choose, although usually their choice is not respected. Junaidah over her parenting, or which family Mydeen wants to go with.
partially made up of appearances, according to junaidah at leats. She is so concerned about the putside appearances and superficial things like heirachy in the family because she doesn't really have concrete sense of identity/ direction
Marginalisation
Mydeen
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doesn't have things we take for granted, doesn't get the same experiences - lifts, celebration of hari raya, parents to spoil him or relatives to fight and play with.
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Family
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Issues families face- indulgement of the child, competition between siblings, which could lead to a sense of inferriority or superioirity in Junaidah's husband's family, or nudges kids to do better.. like Haikel and mydeen. Haikel seems to have grown a bit from the experience. he learns to share. Unbalanced roles in families create fractures and other problems.
Beliefs and traditions
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lack of respect fro tradition or meaning of the tradition lost when J doesnt believe in it. Sometimes she only does things thinking about appearances and because it is tradition, not because she truly believes in it.
Characters
Mydeen
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knows how to behave, well brought-up
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Junaidah
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negative
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superficial
importance of image to her in 2. 'the colours were chosen , wanting to set her family apart from others ' she wants to look different and cares deeply about appearances when they should not be her forts priority. Shows that se does not actually care about the boy
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Relationships
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Junaidah and her family
conflicts
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imbalence, feels like they are ganging up on her
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