Nowadays, we always hear and see news on abortion and disposal of babies. It is an eyesore to watch this scenario happens in our own country. Looking at the short stories “A Great Injustice” and “The Merry Maid”, our group has decided to stand on the motion “Abortion is not the only solution for having child out of wedlock”.
First and foremost, unmarried couple can get from their own family to help raise the child out of wedlock. As we know, no one knows us better other than our own family. In the story A Great Injustice, we can see that Ah Nya’s mother defend her after she speaks of the truth,”Shut up! ordered Ah Soh, hugging her daughter. Everyone makes mistakes. What’s done is done. You men always say that you should have sexual experience before marriage but who are your mates? They are also someone else’s daughters. It is just unfortunate that Ah Nya has become the victim of a man’s lust.”. Not only that, Ah Nya’s mother is willing to accept and take care of her child. This can be seen by the lines,”I’ll look after you and the baby, said her mother”.
Secondly, unmarried couples can give the child out of wedlock for adoption. In this world, there are many married couples that do not have children of their own. Because of this, many married couples feel lonely. One solution that they take is adopting children for them to take care. This is a good thing for unmarried couples that do not want the child out of wedlock. Just like in the story The Merry Maid, Laksmi gives away her daughter to a Malay family. This can be seen by the lines, “Her thoughts raced to the seventeen years of misery she has had while thinking of the event in her life that tortured her. She had abandoned the child, her ‘love child’, on the doorstep of the big house that she had selected during the later stages of her pregnancy”.
In the nutshell, there are many other ways in dealing with child out of wedlock rather than abortion. Not only abortion is forbid by the religion, it also denies the humanity values of human being.
In this entry, Zahri has come up with a stand that Abortion is not the Only Solution for Child Born Out-of-Wedlock. i strongly agree with his stand. In both story we can see the different actions taken by the women who have been victimized by men’s lust. Ah Nya in A Great Injustice resorts to abortion while Lakshmi in The Merry Maid leaves her baby in front of other’s doorstep. Comparing the two actions they decide on, I would say that Lakshmi has a wiser thought as opposed to Ah Nya. Despite the sin she has committed, Lakshmi still hopes a bright future for her child who born out-of-wedlock. As for Ah Nya, she has desperately aborted the baby even though her mother has offered herself to sort the things out. By right, Ah Nya could have been giving the baby to another couple who is childless, orphanage, welfare house and other relevant actions. Zahri also strengthen his motion by viewing abortion in religion as well as cultural perspective. Personally I think his group manages to come with a strong stand and make us realize the attitudes of the main character in both stories. Bravo!
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