In the story “Circumcision” by Pramoedya Ananta Toer the narrator is a young boy who struggles to prove himself to his faith. The story shows many conflicts that concern being circumcised. The story shows the fears the narrator feels towards the pressures of being circumcised. Lastly, there is a major disillusionment that leads from the events of the story that greatly affect the views of the narrator. The story shows the conflicts, fears, and disillusionment of the narrator and how he overcomes them as he learns from the events that occur.
The major conflicts in the story are internal and external conflicts. The internal conflict is that the narrator feels that he will not be a true Muslim unless he is circumcised. In the story it says, “I began to think , if I hadn’t been circumcised was I really a muslim?” In the narrator’s religion getting circumcised is a way to show devotion to their faith. The external conflict is man vs. society. The conflict is that getting circumcised requires a grand ceremony and celebration. Many poor families are unable to afford the ceremony and their boys are left uncircumcised. So, basically they are saying that the rich people will be able to reach Paradise and the poor people will not. The narrator is not from a wealthy family but is able to get circumcised through a group ceremony his father organized at the school. The narrator’s father thought that this could help solve the narrator’s problem about not feeling like a true Muslim but many families did not sign up for this because they fear that a group ceremony will show that they are not able to provide for their families. In the story it says, “Many parents with sons of circumcision age were apparently embarrassed to have someone else pay fo...
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...ing his five pillars, and his family doesn’t have enough money to provide an individual circumcision ceremony for him. The narrator over comes these conflicts by realising that to be a true Muslim all you have to is believe and that money has nothing to do with it. His fears also have the same solution. He feared that he was going to disappoint God and be ashamed in his society. He feared the pain but at the moment of truth he was able to conquer his fears and move past them. The narrator experiences disillusionment. He stopped believing that he couldn't be a true muslim unless he did all those materialistic things that didn’t even make a difference in his life. The narrator evolves from his conflicts and fears.
Works Cited
Toer, Pramoedya Ananta. Circumcision. N.p.: Hyperion, 1969. Print.
"Disillusionment." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
In Althaus’ article, she provides in-depth information about female circumcision; a highly controversial cultural ritual that is practiced in at least 28 countries
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