Performance

Task in
English for
Academic and
Professional
Purposes

Submitted by:
Leanne Christel R. MIjares
Grade 12-Platy

Submitted to:
Ms. Elfie Carmel Pades
 Prayer of the Hungry
Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra

HUNGER is a smooth black crow. O God!

Millions of crows We kneel.
like a black cloud. Our eyes are your eyes.
O God! This is your mouth.
How terrifying crows are. This is your heart.
And hunger is a black crow. And this is your stomach.
Continually terrifying. Your stomach hews alum
Hunger is rebellion. And broken glass.
Is the mysterious force O God!
moving the murderer’s knife How nice plate a plate of rice.
in the hand of the poor. a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee
Hunger is coral rocks would be.
beneath the sleeping face of the sea. O God!
Is the betrayal of honour. Hunger is a crow.
A strong young man crying Millions of black crows
To see his own hands Like a black cloud
Lay honour down Blotting out of my view
Because of hunger. Of your heaven.
Hunger is a devil
Hunger is a devil offering dictatorship
O God!
Hunger is black hands
Putting handfuls of alum
Into the stomach of the poor.
Critical Approach Used: FORMALISM
Real life isn’t a fairytale where magical items appear out of nowhere
whenever you’re in difficulties. Not everyone’s story endshappily ever after. A poetry
written by Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra entitled “doa orang lapar” depicts
how difficult real life can be (in Indonesia). Real life might feel like a battlefield to
certain people, with only two options: kill or to be killed. Some people risk their lives
in order to meet their everyday needs, as well as to survive. This poem illustrates how
poverty can cause people’s consciences to be clouded.
There are numerous ways to describe poverty, but the poet in this poem uses
hunger as one example. Hunger, in my opinion, is the most powerful feeling or motif
that inspires criminal behavior. In the poem, the poet compares hunger to black crows
using metaphor. “HUNGER is a smooth black crow,” for example, is the first line of
the first verse. The crow, like in horror or mystery novels, is an animal of evil and
darkness. I believe the crow is also a symbol of avarice and cunning; they often
congregate around carcasses before snatching food with one hand (just like herrings).
I believe the word “crow” in this passage better accurately describes the sensation of
hunger. Like the black crow, it has the ability to make people greedy. Despite the
poet’s usage of the identical symbol, the second line of the first stanza has a different
meaning . “Millions of crows like a black cloud”. I believe the “crow” in this passage
refers to individuals who are hungry or who do not have enough money to eat. A
single “crow” may express a single emotion, but when the poet says “Million of
crows”, he is referring to a large number of hungers. That’s why I believe the crow in
this scene is referring to those who are hungry.
“How terrifying crows are,” the poet wrote in the second stanza ‘s second
line, implying that individuals who are hungry are terrifying, and hence potentially
dangerous. As I previously stated, some people will do anything to survive if they are
in danger and do not have a true heart. Hunger is a harmful emotion that can drive
people out of their homes such as the poet has mentioned in the second stanza
“Hunger is a rebellion, Is the mysterious force, moving the murderer’s knife in the
hand of the poor.” Not only in the past, but still now, some individuals are willing to
kill each other for money, and the majority of these people are impoverished.
Robbery, for example, frequently results in the victim’s death.
Hunger is compared to coral rocks once more by the poet, as in the first line
of the third verse, “hunger is coral rocks, beneath the sleeping face of the sea.”
Because coral rock is typically jagged and unyielding, even a fisherman’s ship would
shatter if it crushed it. I believe the poet is implying in the sentence that even someone
who appears to be peaceful and harmless might be hazardous. Hunger can also cause
people to perform poorly at work. When the poet talked about “honor,” I believe one
of the most heinous ways to betray one’s honor is to work as a sexual worker worker
(become a whore), as stated in the fourth to seventh lines of the third verse, “is the
betrayal of honor.” a brave young man weeping at the sight of his own hands laying
down honor. Even the young and strong commit crimes only to feed their stomachs,
as the writer stated in the last line of the poem, and it will hurt their pride knowing
that what they did was only to feed their stomachs. People in positions of power can
also be blinded by hunger, as the writer stated in the last line of the poem. The fifth
stanza “hunger is a devil offering dictatorship,” which I can conclude because
dictatorship usually favors people in positions of power. “Hunger is black hands
putting handfuls of alum into the stomach of the poor” denotes that people are willing
to falsify foods by combining components with chemical liquor such as alum, borax,
chemical dye, and etc.
The repetition of “O God” is a form of prayer. In my opinion, this prayer is
not one of thanksgiving or asking for something, but rather one of questioning and
complaining about injustice that they have to face, as in the 6 th stanza of the poem,
“Your stomach, your stomach hungers, O God.” Your stomach hews alum and broken
glass” I believe the people are wondering if they are identical to God, why does he
allow them to be hungry and suffer? The poet remarked in the final line that millions
of black crows are like a black cloud. As the conclusion, hunger which is raised by the
winter in this poetry can drive people crazy. No matter how old are they, young or
old, weak or strong, powerful or not, hunger will push them to their limit and
boundaries. At first I keep looking for the date when this poetry was made to
understand more the story behind this poetry until I realized that the socio-culture
which is raised in this poetry is general. It doesn’t refer to one time moment. It
happened every day, from past until now, and maybe in the future.