International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 136

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
make reference to the Christian religious significance of (Ave) Maria, as in the Mother of
Christ.
Again, in this poem, Rendra uses repetition of words and in short sentences:
‘Takadaangin.Taka da mega.
(No wind. No clouds’

(Ibid. p.47)

‘No suitcase
No possessions’

(Ibid.)

‘Her eyes red
Her lips dry
Her gums bleeding’

(Ibid.)

These short simple statements, each beginning with the same word, emphasize the scene
he is creating.
Maria is the whole of the opposing parts of the Indonesian people. She is ailing as they are.
She is penniless, as they are. She is corrupted by disease which perpetrates the offensive
symptoms of ulcers, bleeding gums and her stench. But Maria Zaitun is oblivious to their
judgements,
‘I can feel nothing. Think nothing
Maria Zaitun is my name
An unfortunate and frightened whore’

(Ibid. p.51)

Receiving little assistance from the doctor, Maria walks shoeless on the hot asphalt of the
road to the church. But its doors are locked. Maria is denied help again and again from the
institutions which are meant to assist, to be empathetic, to be supportive. She waits outside
the presbytery for the pastor who is still eating his lunch.
‘She wai ts dazed by the sun’

(Ibid.)

It is as though even nature confounds her.
The pastor eventually comes outside to her,
‘having picked the remains of the meal from his teeth
he lights a cigar’

(Ibid.)

The distinction between these two characters is starkly drawn. The pastor reeks of wealth
and privilege.
‘smell of wine from his mouth
Slippers of crocodile skin’

(Ibid.)
136 | P a g e