THE BEQUEST OF LOVE BY MARIE GERRINA LOUIS

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERISTICS Characters are fictional representation of a person while characteristics can be defined as depiction of portrait of a character and includes personality, personal qualities, appearance, actions and ideas. Four different kinds of character can be found in this short story. They are round, flat, dynamic and static. A round character is welldeveloped in the story and is closely involved in and is responsive to the action in the story. This is a character that the reader can clearly identify as a main character. While a flat character is one that is barely developed or is stereotypical. Its harder for the reader to get involved with this characters or to care what happens to them in the story. For dynamic characters, they grow and changes in a significant way throughout the course of the story as they reacts to events and other characters, for example in relation to self-awareness, maturity and others. A static character will remain unchanged by events or other characters. In this The Bequest of Love story, we can identify these characters according to their types of characters as stated above.

Karim ( main character @ round character)

He is the main character in this story, this story is all about him and his life with his lovely family. He has a funny face, with its far-apart eyes and button nose, with his hair standing in springy tufts, he looks exactly like a golliwog. He dies at an early age of eleven. He is born handicapped, a disability that make him impossible to use and move his lower half of his body without help.

He is hardworking and not just doing nothing because of his disability and he is not giving up his life to the fate He was always either on his back, sitting up against a chair or leaning forward, ape-like, with his extra long arms making up for his skinny, useless legs

We can find the spiritual and intelligent in Karims personality But no one in the house had expected Karim to outrun us in spirit or intelligence

He is very curious to know everything around him and loves to ask unanswerable questions Mak, what makes the world go round one way and not the other? This was one of his many unanswerable questions But dont you want to know? I do. I want to know everything there is to know in this world. Is it possible, Mak?

He enjoys his life with his parents happiness Karim enjoyed himself when his father and I teased each other this way. Our remarks would have him shaking and at times crying with uncontrollable laughter

He is thinking rationally Mak, youre poking fun too. You dont hear tomatoes grow, you cant..when his mother jokes and says she is trying to hear her tomato plants grow and she cant make that infernal racket.

He is very sporting and accept the fact and reality that he is a disable person Still amidst the gaiety in my sons life, the sporting way in which he accepted his disability and coped with it, there was an underlying feeling of dread.

He realizes that he will facing death soon Am I going to die soon, Mak? Wont I grow up first? He hopes to live longer Will I live to be a hundred, too?

Mischievous and determination Yesterday morning it was that cockroach, neatly reposing on my pillow. Today, look what hes done. Did you put chewing gum in Faroqs shoes? Yes, I thought it would be fun to watch him jump and it was!

Emotionally and mentally strong of Karim No whining at the extra medication given by Dr. Tan to reduce the pain nor were there any grumbles at having to take extra rest.

He also feels sad about his life. but all his face ever showed was a deep sadness for what was never to be for him.

He is proud of himself . as nothing could have made Karim more proud than to see his name in print. It made him more than proud. He now seemed confident and happy as well.

Puan Haryati (round character)

She is plump and middle-aged woman She is a full housewife Difficult to accept her son condition I could not understand why my youngest son Karim had to be born handicapped.

She is a loving person but his father and I loved him intensely. She is a good mother and wife .and certainly not to me who had carried, fed and washed him for more than eleven years.

Always response to Karim when he asks the questions even she cant answer them. I dont know, Karim, was my usual response, prompting a dissatisfied grunt from my son.

She always teasing each other with her husband. Zul! I screamed, throwing a rotten potato at him but he neatly avoided it and slipped out of the kitchen, laughing.

Happy looking after Karim. Looking at him laugh was like looking at a well of happiness- you fervently hoped it would never dry up.

Always spend times with his husband and Karim. We often sat on the wicker chairs in the verandah of our house in the evening when the weather was fine. We would play childishly,

A good observer. I watched Karim very closely after that and realized that Fariqs observations were true.

Very concern about Karim and willing to share problems with her son. Rim, you arent worried about anything, are you? I dont know, Karim, I cant read your mind. If there is something bothering you, you will tell me, wont you?.

Always trying to console his family members and Karim even she also feels depressed when thinking of Karims condition. Of course not, I lied glibly, knowing very well that he was not expected to live very long.

Willing to do anything for Karim and fulfill his dreams. If he did, I would find some way to take him around the world, even if it made us bankrupt in the process.

A straight to the point person. I came straight to the point. She feels tense and fear about what is going to Karim. I was growing more tense with each passing day. My blood pressure went up and I had frequent migraines.

She feels hopeless and helpless because she cant do anything to save Karims life. The anger that flooded through me stopped the tears that threatened to fall with the frustration of not being able to do anything against the monster who was going to take my baby away from me.

She feels that she is being unreasonable and unfair towards her husband. I yelled at him, knowing I was being unreasonable and unfair, knowing that Zul hurt as much as I did.

She panicked and has feeling of hatred to doctors and nurses. I panicked and couldnt get my limbs to move in any direction. I hated doctors and nurses for that very reason-they were so impersonal and unaffected by impending death.

At last, she feels grateful and still feels a link with her deceased son. All I could be grateful for was that serene look on his baby face that assured me that he had felt no pain towards the end. If I ever feel in need of loving now, all I have to do is look at the creased little piece of paper on which my son left his bequest of love and I feel all right again.

 En. Zulkifly (static character) He is Karims father who loves him so much. He has the sense of humour and loves to make jokes with Karim and his wife But dont, for heavens sake, ask your mother for answers. Answering everyday questions about the bills and her budget is already beyond her limited mental abilities. He has self confidence to answer his sons questions Ill be glad to answer any of them if I can and theres always the encyclopedia in my room that you could refer to. Treat Karim kindly and follow his childish behavior Oh yeah? And what is my punishment, O Wise One? He is very patience compared to his wife and always being reasonable and rational. I think that you should learn to accept the fact that our son wont be with us very much longer and spend every available moment with him. Learn to let him go, Yati, please, for all our sakes. He is very quick in action but Zul and the boys knew exactly what to do. He is able to control himself facing the very difficult moment. .I could see, was holding back his tears with great effort for my sake. He was afraid, I think, that if his self-control gave way, mine would too.

Fariq and Faroq (dynamic character)

They are twins and six years older than Karim. They are perfectly healthy, good- looking and intelligent and talented in playing football.

They feel uncomfortable and look down to Karim. .until my older sons came out and gave us disdainful looks which they had been cultivating just for us.

Fariq is an observant and responsible person. Fariq did his part by getting his girlfriends father to publish cartoons in his childrens magazines It was Fariq who first noticed Karims preoccupation with death.

Faroq is goofing around with Karim ..was beginning to make allowances for Karim. They feel regret for treating Karim coldly in the beginning. I thought they were trying to make up for their previous indifference towards him.

They are emotional when thing happens to Karim. Fariq and Faroq broke down.They had always been very close to each other but now they sat apart, each wallowing in his own separate world of guilt and regret.

They found Karims last will and testament. Going through his things, Fariq and Faroq found Karims Last Will and Testament.

Dr. Tan, Dr. Manogari and the nurses ( flat character) Dr. Tan has less hope for Karims illness to recover. but even he was negative about Karims chances of recovery. He is doing all his best to save Karim. Dr. Tan is doing the best he can. He can only delay death, he cant stop it.

Dr. Manogari is quick and efficient doctor. There, she instructed the nurses to put Karim on the. She had the hospital staff running about in all directions.

She is impersonal and unaffected by impending death. Nothing penetrated their wall of professional detachment. Still, this lady was looking at me with compassionate eyes.

Try to calm everybody. It would be better for everyone if you relaxed for a while. Go and sit down in the lounge, please...

The nurses follow the instructions and obey the leader. They began to protest but on receiving silent signals from Dr. Mano, who was right behind me, they left us alone.

PLOT

Plot can be defined as a series of events in a story. It has a beginning, middle and end. Its the pattern of actions, events and situations, used expressively by the writer to create suspense, sadness, humor, excitement, etc. It can be simple or complex and emphasizes the relationships between the characters, events and situations. This story is all about a handicapped person. Karim, who is born with a disability to move his lower part of the body. His mother, Pn. Haryati and his father, En. Zulkifly are very patience and try very hard to help their son. But unfortunately, they cant do anything unless spend the most precious moment with Karim until his last day. The conflict starts when Fariq notices that Karim reads books on death and horrible things about death. And he thinks that Karim is getting morbid. After that, Pn. Haryati keeps an eye to him and realizes that her son worries about his death. From time to time, Karims condition is getting worse. In the moment, Pn. Haryati is advised by her husband to learn the fact that Karim will die and she has to let him go one day.

The climax is in one cold night in June, where Karim collapses in his bedroom and they bring him to the hospital. There he is put under observation by Dr. Tan and Dr. Manogari, the doctors in charge for Karims case. In the end, Karim is death and his parents stay with him until his last breath. He leaves without saying goodbye and not even regain consciousness. At last, after Karim death,Fariq and Faroq find his Last Will and Testament for his family. Karim has left each one of them a little bequest of love. Thus they go on with their life as Karims will. This story has consistent ending because the author not used to leave clues in the story to lure readers to try to predict the ending. From the beginning, the readers can expect themselves what is the ending of the story.

THEME Theme is the total meaning of the story. It does not have to be tied up in a simple moral. Without a theme, the story lacks meaning or purpose. The theme in this story are love, courageous, considering, responsible, determination, curiosity and hopeful.

Love Pn. Haryati and En. Zulkifly really love Karim. Karim also loves his family members. This can be proof when Pn.Haryati do not feel bores answering many unanswerable questions that Karim asks her. En.Zulkifly will spend his time plays with Karim at the verandah in the evenings oftenly. The twins played football less often and spend a lot of time talking and goofing around with Karim.

Karim leave the Last Will and Testament on a sheet of exercise book paper in a blue envelope as a symbol of his love to his family.

Courageous Karim is very sporting and accept his disability and copes with it as he is well prepare for his death. Considering En. Zulkifly really consider about his wifes feeling, thus he tries to hold back his tears with great effort for his wifes sake.

Responsible The family bring Karim to the hospital when he collapse. Fariq is very responsible when he get his girlfriends father to publish Karims drawings in the magazine in order to make Karim happy and proud of himself. The doctors do their job responsibly.

Determination Karim shows his determination by putting the cockroach on Faroqs pillow and put chewing gum in Faroqs shoes even he does not know any single thing that what he has done really make Faroq feel hesitate. Curiosity Karim is very curious to know everything around him, until he asks his mother whether it is possible for him to know everything in the world.

 Hopeful Karim hopes that he will live longer. He hopes that he will live to be a hundred so that he will be able to walk and run like all the other boys and goes around the world three times in order to able to see all he wants to see and learns all he wants to learn.

POINT OF VIEW It is a presentation of a story. In The Bequest of Love story, it is the first person point of view. The narrator is the mother herself. She narrates the story from the beginning right until the end. She tell the readers what she feels, how she acts and others. A part from that, she also represents to show and explain the readers about the actions of the family members.

STYLE It is the way an author writes. In this story, symbolism is important. For example, Karim wants to show his love by represent the symbol such as the garden for his mother, the rocking chair for his father, and the color TV for his brothers. There is flash backs in this story, this is the moment when the first person point of view uses flash backs style to narrate the story when Karim is still life. No exaggeration is use in this story because the narrator is the mother herself. The ending is consistent because Karim dies to his illness. It is very clear ending to the readers, they are not require to make any assumption for the ending of the story.

The elements that is the most important in the story is the plot of the story. The author use the dialogue very consistently and can be understand easily by the readers. Humor is use in this story, this can be see between the characters of Karim, his mother and his father. The parents love to tease each other until Karim will laugh at their actions and words. There is no unusual character types in this story. Everything is clearly state. The story is written in a good way, this means that the readers are easily to understand the story, and also plays the emotional part, where the readers can feel the sadness, the happiness of the characters.

SYNOPSIS Synopsis is the entire story in the most simplest form. It covers the most important parts of the story. People will get some ideas about the story before they start to read the whole story. The synopsis of The Bequest of Love is about a handicapped eleven years old boy, Karim who has a great family that accept him as the family members with an open heart. Karim has a noble heart, his words and sentences almost like a question to his mother and most of the time, they will be unanswerable questions. He is very curious to know everything around him. And also has the hope to live longer to do many things that he wishes he can do. His brothers at first are ignore him because he is a disable person, but for some time to come they realize their fault and start to feel regret and guilty, in the same moment that Karim will leave them forever. So they try harder to make Karim feel happy and pass through his last time with happiness, and they also spend the precious moment with Karim before his death. In the end, Karim dies peacefully and leave his family forever, but they are still link through the Last Will and Testament paper that symbolizes Karims bequest of love for the family.