I was first introduced to Kampung Boy in a Graphic Novel course I
took Spring quarter of 2013. It was not an assigned text that we read; however,
I had a classmate who did one of their presentations on it. From that presentation,
I was provided with some of the central themes of the graphic novel: rural life
in Malaysia, culture, coming of age, family, and the outside world. I kept
these themes in mind while reading this graphic novel and each was very
apparent. The religious aspect was the thing I noticed most because of the
research I did on Malaysia.
Before reading this text, I had the
idea that religion would play a large role in this story and in the life of the
main character. The reason why I suspected this was because of the research I
had previously done on Malaysia. In my research, I discovered that the state
religion of Malaysia is Islam and that the majority of the population practices it as
their religion. As I read the story, it was confirmed that the main character,
as well as the other occupants of Kampung, practiced Islam as their religion.
This also confirmed my suspicion that the Islamic religion would play a large role
in this story and the character’s life. I first saw that my conception was confirmed
within the first few pages of the book. For example, a few days after the main character is
born, his family and friends of the family hold a “hair-shaving ceremony” for
him and then afterwards, they sing a religious song about the prophet as he
swings in a hammock. I looked up “hair-shaving ceremony” because I have very
little background knowledge of Malaysia and the Islamic religion. I discovered
that the “hair-shaving ceremony” is actually a part of the Malayan culture, not
particularly of the Islamic religion. It is believed that shaving and bathing
the newborn purifies the child. This was interesting to me because, to my
knowledge, in American, we don’t really have a similar tradition. That is, unless you count baptism, but either
way, we don’t typically shave an infant’s head to purify them.
Another theme that I paid close
attention to while reading this graphic novel was coming of age. This story is
very much about the main character's coming of age. In the beginning, the main character is young and naïve to
the world around him. As he grows older he is given responsibilities and becomes aware that there are expectations placed upon him. For example, when he turns
six, he is enrolled in school where he is expected to learn the Koran. His
father also expects him to thrive in school and graduate so that he may attend a
boarding school in Ipoh for higher education. It is also revealed that after he completes his higher education, he will inherit and run his father’s rubber
plantation. These expectations prove to
be a heavy burden on the main character because it dictates his whole life. In addition, it's obvious that the main character respects his parents and does not want to disappoint his father. In turn, he does focus in school, he passes his test, graduates, and in the end, he leaves Kampung to attend the boarding school
his father had planned for him to go to. As he leaves, he comes to the
realization that he may never return to Kampung, and even if he does, it may
never be the same as it was when he left it. I believe this to be the moment that the main character truly becomes an adult.
This book was enjoyable to read and
it taught me a lot about growing up in Malaysia, the Malaysian culture, and the
Islamic religion. It opened my eyes to the importance of religion and education within the Kampung community. It also allowed me to see some similarities between our
culture and the Malaysian culture. For example, respect for your elders is a
huge similarity that I noticed between the Malaysian culture and my own. Another
similarity was the coming of age aspect, because everyone, no matter where they
are from, eventually has expectations thrust upon them and has to fulfill their
responsibilities. I didn’t expect to find so many similarities between the
Malaysian culture and my own, but I’m glad I did. Doing so opened my eyes to the knowledge that we are not so different and it also allowed me to
relate to and sympathize with the main character as I read the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment