Chun Wai Hung

Professor Arca

English 1B

19 April 2004

A Close Reading of a Passage of Anoma

[1] 愺 Anoma, you are not giving me time to come to terms with the situation.

[2] - By talking to you have roused my conscience.

[3] 愺 This is terrible, I feel betrayed, destroyed. Why can＞t you remain a silent listener?

[4] 愺 Please understand I did not create you willingly.

[5] 愺 Father created you within me.

[6] 愺 You are his grandchild, not my child.

[7] 愺 I need to grow into full womanhood and carry my own child from a man who is not my father.

[8] - There, I have hurt and confused you again.

[9] 愺 You can no longer remain silent within me now. You ask, ¨Will I be born?〔 How can I answer that, Anoma?

[10] 愺 It＞s your life against mine.

[11] 愺 If you are born I will die. In shame.

This passage from Punyakante Wijenaike＞s ¨Anoma〔 appears at the end of the story. The passage provides obvious hints that the narrator is pregnant at her young age and is terrified by the fact that she carries her father＞s child. In beginning of the story, one might think that the girl was naming a pet or an imaginary friend. However, this passage reveals the girl＞s pregnancy to the readers, which in turn explains all the circumstances before this passage, like not going to school and talking to herself. The passage also addresses the narrator＞s reflection as a young girl who is left to care for her family and tragically impregnated by her father*. The reflection of the girl are revealed in the narrator＞s avoidance to talk about her situation directly, sentences written in a casual style that contradicts the girl＞s tragic position, humiliation due to the social pressure, and the fear of the thread that the unborn child would bring to the girl.

The nature of the subject was a serious social taboo that involves ideas like incest and abortion, so the narrator avoids talking about the subject directly. There is nowhere in the story does it mention about the pregnancy of the girl explicitly, but the narrator provides enough obvious hints, like ¨Father created you within me〔 (sentence 5) and ¨Will I be born?〔 (sentence 9), so readers can easily grasp the idea of the underage girl＞s pregnancy. The narrator tells the reader about her strange situation, in which she does not go to school anymore without a deep explanation of her real hidden problem before this passage. Readers are more likely to be shocked when they find out the truth of the girl＞s misfortune as they reach this passage.

The passage is written in an everyday language with a dialogue style, which contradicts the forbidden ideas of incest and teenage pregnancy. The girl is desperate and has no one to confide to, and she derives a special way for her situation. She gives the unborn child a name called Anoma, and she imitates the voice of her unborn child to ask questions like ¨Will I be born?〔 (sentence 9). Obviously the unborn child cannot ask the girl such a question, and the question is more like a confession from the girl. A confession that the girl is considering about an abortion (sentence 11), and she does not know what to do at that moment. The special dialogue style is a very suitable way for depicting such tragic situations. This conversation-like language decreases the sense of seriousness of the topic, and eases the tension of the atmosphere as readers read along. Using this style is better than plainly writing about a teenage pregnant girl, and it makes the whole piece of work much more appreciable.

Apparently, the narrator is troubled, scared, and humiliated by bearing a forbidden child she should never carry with her. Sentence 11 indicates the girl＞s secret relationship with her father is absolutely not acceptable by her and her culture, which reinforces her agony and fear of being pregnant. In sentence 3, the narrator reveals her terrible feeling about her situation. The baby was small like an embryo originally, but as the unborn child becomes larger and begins to move and respond to the girl, the girl feels betrayed and destroyed (sentence3) because her quiet listener becomes a burden to her life. This situation makes the girl unable to ignore her embarrassing secret concealed within her body.

The unborn child represents the girl＞s father as well as a thread to her future life (sentence 10). On the other hand, the unborn baby is the only one the girl can confide to at that difficult time. In sentence 2, the narrator expresses her growing awareness of the presence of her unborn child, and every time she talks to the baby reminds her the trouble that she is carrying with her. The girl considers the unborn child to be the grandchild of her father, but not her own child (sentence 6). This is what she wants the rest of the world to believe in, so that she would be able to marry a man who is not her father and carry his child like a normal woman (sentence 7).

Readers are most likely to feel sorry after reading the powerful story of the young girl, and they are likely to be further saddened that the girl is not being able to seek help. The passage is successfully handled with clever lines of the narrator. If the content of the story is not handled in such a way, it may be less effective to express the eagerness of the girl to talk to someone. The fear and loneliness of the young girl are cleverly illustrated by her casual conversation with her unborn child.

Work Cited

Wijenaike, Punyakante. ¨Anoma〔. Literature Without Borders. Eds. George R. Bozzini and Cynthia A. Leenerts. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2001.