Mariah

MARIAH

By Che Husna Azhari

“In the case of “Mariah”, it is possible to read the story as both abetting and criticizing polygamy, ...” (Andrew Hock Soon Ng, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature 2009 44: 130).

Actually, I totally agree the statement above. It is possible and unfair to read the story as both abetting and criticizing polygamy. It can be seen in the characters and themes of the story itself. According to the Islamic religion, polygamy is an optional based on a few reasonable conditions such as a man should be married more than a wife (4 wives) if a woman is a widow or an orphan and he also should be able and afford to be fair to his wives. In my personal opinion, polygamy can be happened if opportunity and intention are joined together and vice versa. So, I really agree with the statement.

I also impressed with the attitude shown by Cik Yam. Cik Yam is a very good wife to Tuk Imam. She obeys her husband very much and carries out her responsibility very well. The most major thing that she does is allow her husband to marry with Mariah. She is willing to sacrifices her love for her husband happiness. Tuk Imam also is a very honest people. He told Cik Yam about his old love story. I also learned that we have to be honest in all condition. Then he respects his wife. He ask his wife permission to marry with Mariah. On top of that, the moral value of faithful to the religion also found in this story. Imam was faithful in prayer. He is a pious, obey and punctual in his prayers. As a Muslim, I learned that the responsibility to the religious is the most priorities. Cik Yam also will be rewarded from God for the good deeds. As example, she being obey to her husband and the most important thing, she allow her husband to marry once again. In Islam, the wife that allows her husband to

marry more than one will be given good reward. Finally, for the man who married more than once, he must be fair to his wives.

In the short story Mariah, Che Husna...