The Pencil

Plot
In this story, all the key events are woven into a pattern. It comprises the following.

Exposition
Zahid fights with Dolah because he believes that Dolah has stolen his special new,
red pencil. Mr. Jamal believes Dolah, and punishes Zahid. Zahid cries privately at the
injustice.

Rising Action
Zahid ambushes Dolah after school and beats him up. He retrieves his pencil from
Dolah's bag, breaks it into pieces and throws the bits into the river. Zahid becomes
ill with fever for three days. He returns to school a changed person; he is now bold,
brazen, disruptive and aggressive. He buys a pocket knife a protect himself from Dolah.

Climax
Zahid cuts Dolah with his pocket knife. Mr. Jamal takes shim to see Mr. Berahim, the
principal.

Falling Action
Zahid responds positively to the principal's fatherly manner and is touched by his
understanding and compassion. Mr. Berahim tells Mr. Jamal about Zahid's background
and the latter realizes how hasty, unwise and unjust he has been to Zahid.

Resolution
Mr. Jamal changes his attitude towards Zahid. Zahid also changes for the better.
Mr. Berahim gives Zahid two pencils similar to the one has had lost. Zahid
generously gives one to Dolah.

Copyright © 2007. Latifah Yusof Embun. Sung Siew Secondary School. All Rights Reserved.
 The Pencil
Characters

Main Character

Character Character Traits Textual Evidence

He comes from a broken home, is short,
Insecure and inferior
a little plump and small sized.
He knows that the pencil will give him
Intelligent attention and a sense of power. After the
theft, he plans his revenge.
He is willing to share his pencil with
Zahid Generous
Dolah in the end.
He wants justice done but he takes the
Righteous
law into his own hands.
He is a hurting child who has received
Lonely little love and attention. He breaks down
when Mr. Berahim shows him kindness.

Minor Characters

Character Character Traits Textual Evidence

He is a thief, a liar and a sneak. He
steals Zahid’s pencil but denies it. He
Dishonest
taunts Zahid when Mr. Jamal canes the
latter.
He steals Zahid’s pencil because he
Envious
wants it.
He keeps the pencil, shaves of the red
colour so that he can pretend that the
Dolah
pencil is his. He lies to Mr. Jamal so that
Conniving and mean he can remain in his teacher’s good
books. He deliberately cries aloud when
Zahid confronts him in class, so that he
will gain Mr. Jamal’s sympathy.
He tries to win Mr. Jamal’s sympathy by
Cowardly crying. He accuses the victim of
committing the crime.
Mr. Jamal Fierce, intolerant and He has little rapport with the students.
 He does not try to find out the real
cruel reasons behind the fight between Zahid
and Dolah.
He cannot recognize the truth from the
Poor judge of character, lies and the victim from the thief. He
lacks wisdom thinks that he has solved the problem
by canning Zahid.
Gullible He easily believes Dolah’s lies.
He is old-fashioned in his treatment of
Traditional
his students.
Kind, gentle and He is kind to Zahid. His sympathy
understanding enables Zahid to tell the truth.
He knows how to solve the children’s
Wise and experienced
problem.
Mr. Berahim Good teacher and He corrects Mr. Jamal’s wrongs attitudes
counsellor and perception of his pupils.
He gives two identical pencils to Zahid,
Generous expecting the boy to give one of the
pencils to Dolah.
She gives Zahid whatever he wants to
Zahid’s Kind, generous and soft-
make up for the meanness of his father.
grandmother hearted
She dotes on her grandson, Zahid.

Copyright © 2007. Latifah Yusof Embun. Sung Siew Secondary School. All Rights Reserved.
 The Pencil
Setting
There are two main settings - the physical setting and the social setting.

The following are some of the physical settings in the story :-

* A Malaysian school
* Zahid's classroom
* The school grounds
* Mr. Berahim's office
* Zahid's home
* A bookshop
* A road junction

The social settings show the following :-

* The 1950's - before sophisticated stationery was invented.

* A rural school where children could easily walk home.

Copyright © 2007. Latifah Yusof Embun. Sung Siew Secondary School. All Rights Reserved.
 The Pencil
Themes

Appearance and Reality / Lies and Truth

* Dolah lies to Mr. Jamal about teh pencil's real thief. Mr. Jamal is too gullible and
fails to see the real culprit.
* Mr. Jamal does not see the hurt in Zahid.

Understanding Children
* Children are delicate, sensitive human beings who deserve care, understanding,
love and patience.
* If children are treated with injustice, they may be damaged emotionally.
Hence, Mr. Jamal's hasty judgement and punishment had negative effects.
* After learning the truth, Mr. Jamal treats Zahid and his students with more kindness
and compassion. This enables Zahid and the other students to change
and develop into happier, more balanced individuals.

Justice versus injustice

* Mr. Jamal punishes Zahid unfairly and lets the real thief, Dolah, escape.
Zahid goes through a lot of anger and emotional damage.
* After the truth is revealed, justice is served and everyone is happy.

Moral Values

Honesty
Truth prevails. In the end, everyone knows that Dolah is the actual thief.

Moderation
Material possessions do not bring happiness. The pencil causes the fight
between the two friends.

Discretion and Wisdom

We should not be hasty in our judgements about people. Mr. Jamal
misjudges Zahid's character.

Generosity
Generosity is a virtue we should have. Zahid generously forgives Dolah
and gives the latter one of the pencils.
Copyright © 2007. Latifah Yusof Embun. Sung Siew Secondary School. All Rights Reserved