Arriving by: K.S. Maniam
The Story
• Focused on the Malaysian Indian male named Krishnan.
• Always spend time at a Chinese coffee shop with 3 of his Chinese friends and a Malay friend named Mat.
• Got accused by Mat as a “ pendatang”.
• Became confused and lost after wondering about the notion of “ pendatang “
• Nearly surrendered to this notion.
• Came back to his senses after remembering an experience of him with Mat and Mr. Cuthbert.
• Accepted the fact that he is a “pendatang” like Mat has said but he also thought that he is a local like Mat too.
The Theme : Self-Identity
• Conflict of self-identity ; the search for the meaning of “ pendatang “
• Related to the effect of Diaspora ; Unhomeliness.
• A person who was affected by this effect will be in a state of in-between-ness, not a part of a something, not whole.
• This is the experience that Krishnan went through.
• Had to find the meaning of “ pendatang “ in the in-between-ness
2 comments:
could someone explain me about the short story 'Ratnamuni' by KS maniam??huhu..
I love this story. It's very well written. I can empathize with Krishnan frustration & his sense of alienation. At home and yet not home!
His Chinese friends are more realistic. Chinese are practical people. Krishnan struggles to understand. He tries to see things from all position. Finally, I sense that he comes to term with himself by rising above the common folks. He accepts his fate. He resigns by saying, sadly that there is "Only arriving.Never getting there. Arriving."
I like the ending,it's very telling.He escape the trap by his transcendent philosophy. This is my KopiO'talk, my two cents.
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