The Great Injustice & The Merry Maid

After discussing and thinking for a long time, we finally agree and came out with our own stand which is society's influence the decision made by both characters. As we know, society is an important element in our life whereby, in every decision that we made, it somehow has been influence by the society and therefore, we sometimes made a decision based on the society's judgement and opinion and both characters in this story were having the same problem like us.

Compare and contrast in both stories:

The Great Injustice The Merry Maid

Society Perception		- Abortion doesn’t come up to be the first choice for Ah Nya. - She gathers her courage to tell her parents about the pregnancy. - She plans to stay with her uncle at farm until the baby is born. - She finally decided to abort the baby for the sake of saving the baby from further humiliation and harsh treatment from the society. “He wouldn’t have been accepted by society as an equal cause he would have been born a bastard!” –Ah Nya.		- Lakshmi ran away from home and her society. Therefore, she doesn’t have to think about negative perception from the society. - She left her baby, Savitri in front of Johan’s doorstep with a hope that there will be a bright future for the baby. “She wanted this child to have a proper home, a temporary refuge.”
Education Other female character’s support Support from the spouse.		- Ah Nya is just a daughter of a mee seller. - She’s well educated, but she fails to make a wise decision due to society’s pressure. - She doesn’t see things from a broader perspective. She can actually go to another place where people don’t know her and start a new life with her baby. - Pessimistic. She lets her emotion take over her rational thinking. - Ah Soh defends Ah Nya despite her big mistake. - She gives emotional supports and confidence to Ah Nya. “Everyone make mistakes. What done is done. You men always say that you should have sexual experience before marriage.” - Unlike the father, her mother is willing to look after the baby. “I’ll look after you and the baby.” - Steven’s irresponsibility deters Ah Nya’s spirit in keeping the baby.		- Lakshmi’s studied until Form 6; she’s good at calculus, and has a good command in English. - She makes a wise decision, where she observed the house before leaving her baby there. “The house doesn’t seem to have any children around and Lakshmi thought the couple would give the abandoned child a wonderful welcome.” - She looks on things optimistically, and hopes for a better future for her baby. - Datin nurtures Sakinah (Savitri) well despite her unknown background; whether she’s born out of wedlock or she’s just being abandoned. - She sees the girl as a blessing; she was pregnant after they adopted Savitri. - She treats her well and not bias. She treats her like she treats her real daughters. - Shanmugam wants to take care of Lakshmi and the baby, but he was arrested. - His support makes Lakshmi keeps the baby, though in the end, Lakshmi is forced to leave her baby under Johan’s care.