A GENETIC STRUCTURALISM ANALYSIS OF

SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY KHIN MYO CHIT

D D NAING OO

2 MAHA- ENG- 9

This Thesis is Submitted to the Board of Examiners in English

Literature, University of Mandalay in Partial Fulfilment for the Degree of
Master of Arts.

APPROVED

EXTERNAL EXAMINER SUPERVISOR

SECRETARY VICE- CHAIRPERSON

CHAIRPERSON

Dr. Thanda Soe

Professor of Head

Department of English

University of Mandalay
A GENETIC STRUCTURALISM ANALYSIS
OF SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY KHIN
MYO CHIT

MA THESIS

D D NAING OO

2 Maha-Eng-9

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

UNIVERSITY OF MANDALAY

MYANMAR

FEBRUARY 2021
 i

ABSTRACT
This thesis explores the worldview of Khin Myo Chit, embedded in her short stories entitled Of
Mice and Men and The Egg and I with the use of genetic structuralism theory proposed by Lucien
Goldmann (1975). In conducting this research, descriptive qualitative method is applied. This thesis has
three objectives: to explore the structures of the short stories, to investigate social facts and circumstances
taken place in Myanmar society under the Japanese regime, and to study the worldview of the author in
the stories. It is noted that human activities led by Mynmar people and the Japanese fascists were
significantly portrayed in both stories from the standpoint of the author. All human facts portrayed in
both stories are found as representation of prominent social issues within Myanmar society during 1942-
45. All feelings and ideas on sufferings of troubles depicted throughout the stories are revealed as the
worldview of the author towards Myanmar conditions during epidemics. They are expressed in the story
Of Mice and Men; deeming rats as the money-making commodity in spite of contagious diseases they
spread, reckoning the Japanese fascists as enthusiastic and vigilant fighters concerning epidemics, and
considering Myanmar citizens as poor people who endured painful and terrible moments with strong
tolerance and obeyed every rule enforced by the Japanese without a single word of refusing. Additionally,
believing deceitful acts of the Japanese fascists in manipulating business as the core root of shortage of
food and considering that scarcity as the central problem which got the housewife into trouble and forced
her to struggle for daily responsibility are the worldview of the author embedded in the story The Egg
and I.

Keywords: Genetic structuralism theory, human facts, social facts, worldview

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to
Professor Dr. Thanda Soe, Head of the Department of English, University of Mandalay
for sharing pearls of wisdom throughout my university years and giving permission to
conduct this research. Without her excellent guidance, invaluable advice and persistent
help, this thesis would not have been possible.

My sincere appreciation also goes to Professor Dr. Soe Soe Win, Department of
English, University of Mandalay for her continuous guidance, constant encouragement
and motivation throughout the process of this research.

Moreover, I would like to show my greatest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Soe

Soe Nwe, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Mandalay for her
unlimited patience, careful supervision, constant guidance and encouragement, and also
for her precious detailed suggestions throughout the process of conducting this
research.

In addition, I am deeply grateful to all my teachers who help and guide me by

providing valuable supports and continuous encouragement throughout the research
process.

Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my friends and my family for their
unconditional love, encouragement and motivation. Their continuous supports and
positive words assist me going through the most difficult times.
 Contents
ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1. Theoretical Background 5

2.1.1. Genetic Structuralism Theory 6
2.2. Conditions of Myanmar under the Japanese Occupation between 1942-19459
2.3. Khin Myo Chit’s Biography 12
2.4. Overview of the Selected Short Stories 14
2.4.1. Synopsis of Of Mice and Men 14
2.4.2. Synopsis of The Egg and I 15
2.5. Related Research 16
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19

3.1. Data Collection 19

3.2. Data Analysis and Data Interpretation 19
3.2.1. Analysis of the Structures of the Stories: Of Mice and Men and The Egg
and I 20
3.2.2. Analysis of Human Facts in Of Mice and Men 22
3.2.3. Analysis of Human Facts in The Egg and I 27
3.2.4. Human Facts and Worldview of the Author 30
4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

5. CONCLUSION 42

5.1. Limitation and Suggestion 43

References 45

Internet Sources 47

Appendix
 1

1. INTRODUCTION
A wide variety of researches have been carried out on each and every aspect of
areas in this progressing educational field which is keeping up with the modern world.
Likewise, in the academic area, specifically, in literature, many researchers have paid
much attention to the study of literary text, such as novels, short stories and poems, by
focusing on its structural elements, such as theme, character, plot and setting, or its
social and historical background or the connection between the author and the text. In
emphasizing the relationship of the author and the text or of the social background and
the text, the term ‘sociology of literature’ had been developed and it became the need
for the researchers in order to link the study of individuals or social group in the
particular society with the social issues portrayed in the literary text. Wilson (1964)
believes that literature is the medium for looking at the real phenomena of the world as
the author of the literary text is influenced by the social circumstances in the reality in
one way or another. The prominent issues dealing with human and society are inserted
in literature explicitly or sometimes covertly by the author. Hence, it is impracticable
and ineffectual to take notice only on the literary work, regardless of the social
circumstances behind the text. Lucien Goldmann (1975) proposed genetic structuralism
theory with the purpose of correlating the literary work with its social and historical
conditions. Genetic structuralism theory has been prevalent among researchers since it
has been one of the most suitable theories to explore the relationship of literature and
its sociological aspects. From the perspective of genetic structuralism, investigating the
worldview of the authors in terms of human facts in the literary text and socio-historical
circumstances behind the text has reached to a dramatic point for the reason that the
authors cannot be able to separate their literary work from the social issues and matters
in the society of the real world.

Literary work is regarded as a historical document which concerns on the

individuals’ life in a society and a reflection or representation of the social conditions
in the real world and it involves ideas, beliefs, feelings and experiences of the
individuals or the particular social group in the society which all are portrayed by the
author who is also the one in that society. In other words, the author uses literary work
as the medium in order to throw light on the phenomena and happenings in the society.
Therefore, through literary work, the readers can get an awareness of aspects of life
such as economic, social, cultural, religious and political conditions of a particular
 2

society, and also the author’s worldview and ideas on these aspects. Wellek and Warren
(1956), as cited in MohImawanHelmi (2018), say that a literary work cannot be
separated from society, for the author himself is a part of the society. The author’s
experiences and feelings on a particular social event or matter can certainly be seen in
his literary work. For that reason, analyzing social and historical background of the
author or of his text becomes the crucial concern in literary field to obtain the in-depth
comprehension of the literary work.

In the process of linking literary text with its sociological background, genetic
structuralism theory proposed by Lucien Goldmann (1975) becomes the appropriate
approach since this theory is a branch of literary research which emphasizes not only
structure of a text but also social structure behind a literary text in order to achieve a
clear picture of the author’s depiction. It is doubtless to say that genetic structuralism
has been broadly applied by the researchers in the attempt to trace the connection of
social context and its influence upon the author and literary work. It is a must for the
researchers to take full notice of three concepts, which are human fact, collective
subject and worldview, in applying this theory as Goldmann (1975) set them as the vital
concepts of his genetic structuralism.

This research is conducted to explore the worldview of Khin Myo Chit,

Myanmar author, embedded in her stories named Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I.
Since this thesis focuses on the worldview of the author portrayed in her stories by
correlating human facts depicted in two short stories with the social and historical issues
happened in the real society, genetic structuralism theory by Lucien Goldmann (1975)
has been applied in doing this research.

Without a shadow of a single doubt, it can be said that discovering the social
and historical background of a literary text plays a significant role in order to obtain a
profound understanding of the author’s ideas in creating the text. Since human facts
and activities expressed in the text have probably the same relation with the social facts
in the society, investigating the worldview of the author, which is influenced by her
social group, embedded in the literary work can be the great support for the reader to
find out the prominent social issues of a particular society. On the other hand, it can be
stated that the profound taste of reading literature will not be achieved if the reader
reads the text only superficially, ignorant of the author’s worldview embedded in the
 3

text and fails to take its social background into account. Therefore, in order to analyze
the literary work deeply and thoughtfully, it is necessary to take both structural analysis
of text and social facts of the real world into consideration. With the anticipation of
leaving a valuable contribution in academic field, this research, focusing on two short
stories written by Khin Myo Chit, is carried out on investigation the author’s worldview
by applying genetic structuralism theory. Moreover, this study is practically expected
to be a helpful material to further studies about structural analysis of a literary text
correlating with its socio-historical background within Myanmar society under the
Japanese administration in Myanmar.

In studying literature, taking an interest in the worldview of the author who is

the creator of literary text has been the need for the readers in order to get the in-depth
comprehension of the text. It is crucial to literature students to have understanding of
genetic structuralism theory which aims to reveal the worldview of the author
influenced by a particular social group by focusing on the analysis of structure of the
text and social or historical background of the text. This research is conducted with the
intention of tracing the worldview of Khin Myo Chit which is embedded in her two
short stories.

Genetic structuralism theory proposed by Lucien Goldmann (1975) is applied

in the process of exploring the author’s worldview. This research mainly puts stress on
human facts presented in the selected stories and consequently, only socio-historical
facts and circumstances associated with human facts in the stories are taken into
consideration with the purpose of tracing the correlation of the society and the stories.
Since the selected short stories were written mainly focusing on the social
circumstances that happened within Myanmar society under the Japanese occupation,
the worldview of the author is discussed only through the lens of human activities and
sentiment of Myanmar society at that period, regardless of ideas and feelings of other
social groups.

Apart from the structure of a literary text, analyzing the social structure outside
the text helps the reader to get the detailed insights of the ideas portrayed by the author
in the text and to obtain the deeper level of understanding to literature. According to
Lucien Goldmann (1975), genetic structuralism theory has introduced the necessary
concepts in correlating the ideas in the text with the real happenings in the world. The
 4

role of the author and the social facts behind the text are the essential components to be
considered in studying literature since it is unworkable to separate a literary text from
the social network of the author. In acknowledging these facts in mind, this current
research aims to investigate the worldview of Khin Myo Chit in two short stories which
were written, focusing on Myanmar life, in war-time. The objectives of the study are:

(1) To explore the structures of the short stories

(2) To investigate social facts and circumstances taken place in Myanmar
society under the Japanese regime
(3) To study the worldview of the author in the stories

Based on the objectives of the research mentioned above, the following research
questions have been attempted to be answered:

(1) What kinds of human facts are portrayed in the stories?

(2) How do these human facts reflect on the social issues in the society and what
is the worldview of the author?

This research is composed of five chapters; introduction, literature review,

methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusion. In First Chapter, introduction to
the study is presented. Second Chapter, literature review section, includes theoretical
background, conditions of Myanmar under the Japanese occupation, Khin Myo Chit’s
biography, synopsis of the selected short stories, and related research. Moreover, the
procedures and method used to conduct the research, data analysis and data
interpretation are elucidated in Third Chapter, methodology section. Consecutively,
Chapter Four presents findings of the analyzed data and discussion. Finally, Chapter
Five concludes the study by summarizing the work of the thesis.
 5

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, theoretical background including genetic structuralism theory,
conditions of Myanmar under the Japanese occupation, Khin Myo Chit’s biography,
synopsis of the selected short stories and the previous researches that are related to this
study are presented.

2.1. Theoretical Background

Since ancient times, philosophers and theorists have been fascinated by the term
of sociology and it was developed as a study to comprehend and realize the changes in
society. Sociologists and philosophers have tried to emphasize the relationship between
the individuals and their societies, and also correlation between the literary text and the
society to which the text belong. Sociology of literature is the study upon the
relationship between literary works and social issues. In other words, sociology of
literature focuses on the study of life of individuals in a society related to social
circumstances around their environment. “Sociology of literature is not much different
from the study of extrinsic elements of literary works, the existence of literary works,
and the role of literary works with social reality” (Retno, 2009). Sociology mainly
centers upon the real happenings and events in the real world. Meanwhile, literary work
transfers the real phenomena of the world to imaginative words which spark off the
sense to figure the reality out. Wilson (1964), (as cited in MohImawanHelmi, 2018)
states that “Arts and literary works are reflections of human behavior in social
circumstances”. The problems and difficulties dealing with human and society are
mainly focused and described inside literary works as the prominent issues and ideas
by the author since the author is one of the characters who lives inside the society and
encounters the ups and downs of the life. Therefore, it is unworkable to split the
literature work away from social circumstances as literature is the portrayal of the social
issues itself. For that reason, through reading literary text, human needs to explore the
meaning of idea depicted in the literary text beyond its visible words to be fully aware
of social issues in the real world.

The authors have been recognized as the markers who construct a bridge for
linking the structure of a literary text with the social structure or issues of the particular
time or epoch, and they put curiosity on the readers to walk on that bridge with the
intention to sense the broader and deeper background of the literary text. Social
circumstances in the real world are probably implicated in the literary text which the
 6

author, a human being in the social network, creates somehow. Therefore, the readers
need to take responsibility for exploring the social background of the text to get access
to the comprehensive understanding of the author’s work. Genetic structuralism theory
was proposed by Lucien Goldmann(1975) in order to reveal the correlation between the
structure of literary text and socio-historical background of the author and of the time
in which the text is set.

In analyzing a literary work to observe the broader phenomena of society in

which it is created, the researcher in this study applies genetic structuralism theory
which focuses on the analysis of literary work based on the relation between the
worldview of the author and his/her social group and the social-historical condition
which lies behind the creation of a literary work.

2.1.1. Genetic Structuralism Theory

Laurenson and Swingewood (1972) stated that Taine, a France literary critic, is
believed as the source of the basic theory of genetic structuralism. He argues that “a
literary work is not merely an individual imaginative work, but it records the actual
events on its own era which manifests the author’s worldview”. The notion signifies
the connection between literary works (coming out of author’s imagination and his
understanding towards society) and society’s norms and collective consciousness
(Wiyatmi, 2013, as cited in MohImawanHelmi, 2018).

Lucien Goldmann (1913-1970), a France philosopher and sociologist of Jewish-

Romanian origin, is the one who developed genetic structuralism and this structuralism
was emerged as a reaction from classis structuralism that only analyzes the intrinsic
elements of literary and takes no notice of the author’s background and socio-historical
background. “Lucien Goldmann, a Romanian theorist based in France rejected the idea
that texts are creations of individual genius and argued that they are based upon trans-
individual mental structures belonging to particular groups or classes” (Raman Shelden,
1986). According to Goldmann (1975), “The base of genetic structuralism is the
hypotheses that all human behaviors are an attempt to give a meaningful response to a
particular situation”.

According to Laurenson and Swingewood (1972), “genetic structuralism seeks

firstly to identify certain structures within particular texts, and secondly, to relate them
to concrete historical and social conditions, to a social group or social class associated
 7

with the writer and to the world vision of that class”. It means genetic structuralism is
a branch of literary research which analyzes certain structure of a literary work
presented by the author and its relation towards the socio-historical issues in the real
world further than the structure inside the text.

Goldmann (1975) defines “structure as something thematic, which the relation

between the hero and the characters as well as the hero and his or her surroundings is
the center”. Furthermore, genetic structuralism is an approach to investigate the
relationship of literature and worldview of the author expressed in a literary work.
Therefore, the social and historical background of the author becomes the necessary
concern to take into account in order to achieve an in-depth analysis of the literature
work since historical background, era and social environment of the author have a
strong influence on his literary work. The author is responsible for portrayal of the real
happenings and circumstances of a society through his literary work. The three concepts
under genetic structuralism according to Goldmann (1975) are:

(1) Human Fact

“Human fact can be in the form of specific social or individual activities,

including cultural works, such as art, musical compositions, and also literary works”
(Muniroch, 2011). Goldmann (1975) postulates the concept of literary work as the
product of human fact. Human fact is the result of human efforts in his relation with the
world around him. Therefore, literary text is considered as the social institution which
involves social conflicts and circumstances in the real world. According to Faruk (in
Kurniawan, 2012), “Literature is the product of activity or human behavior, physically
or verbally, that science seeks to understand”. Goldmann (1975) takes individual fact
and social fact into account as human fact; the former one relates to someone’s manners
and behaviors which have no effect on the society and the latter is connected with the
history and social life of society (Kurniawan, 2012). From that point of view, literary
work is the product of social fact since literature itself is the product of human activity
which has strong influence on the society.

(2) Collective Subject

Collective subject is a social group or class whose ideas and activities are
considered to create a completed and united view of their social life. Goldmann (1975)
 8

specifies “collective subject as social class because that social class is the collectivity
that create a complete and coherent structure of a society”. In genetic structuralism,
“the author is regarded as the collective subject that transcends individual boundaries,
in which the individual is only a part” (Goldmann, 1981). As the collective subject, the
author focuses in the unity collection, not only independent individuals. Therefore, the
literary work that is the creation of the author is the product of the collective subject as
it is based on the relation of the author and society and it relates the author’s relationship
with others and the existing system in a society.

(3) Worldview

According to Goldmann (1975), “Worldview or world vision is a term used to

identify the complex ideas, aspirations and feelings that become a social group identify
which held together by each member of a social group”. Likewise, “Worldview is a
united ideas and aspiration that develop in the collective subject that has been created
social reaction in certain community” (Faruk, 1994).

Literary works are the results of dialectics between collective subject and the
social fact in which they stand. The accuracy of the structure contained in literary work
is coherence with the combination of consciousness found in the social environment. It
means that through literary works created by an individual who is directly related to his
social group, we can see the world view of that social group. Goldmann (1981) states
that “as collective consciousness, the world view development as a result of social and
economic situation face by collective subject holds”. Goldmann (1975) believes that
“there is homology between literary structures with the society structure, because both
are product of the same structure activity”.

“The structure of literary work in genetic structuralism is seen as the expression

of a worldview of the author’s social group and in an attempt to express his perception;
the author creates imaginary characters, objects and relations” (Goldmann, 1981). It
indicates that through analysis of the literature, the author’s worldview towards the
existing society can be investigated since the worldview correlates and mediates the
homology of the structure of literature with the realities of society.
 9

2.2. Conditions of Myanmar under the Japanese Occupation between 1942-1945

Myanmar was colonized by British Colonialists since 1885 till the World War
2 and to fight back the British for the independence of Myanmar, the Japanese
authorities offered Thakin Aung San to support Burmese uprising against the British
Colonialists in order to be an independent country. Therefore, “Aung San agreed to
cooperate with the Japanese military in exchange for their backing of the independence
movement” (Donald M. Seekin, 2006). With the support of Colonel Suzuki who was
head of the clandestine Minami Kikan, Thakin Aung San and twenty-nine young men,
known as thirty comrades, went to Japan to receive military training on Hainan Island
in China in 1941. After training very hard, Japan declared war on the British and Burma
Independence Army (BIA), that thirty comrades led, was formed in December 1941 in
Bangkok (Thakin Lwin, 2012) (Trs.).

BIA, with the Japanese Allied forces, successfully drove the British out of
Myanmar in 1942; however, everything did not turn out well as expected. Japanese
Fascist authorities broke their promise to declare Myanmar as the independent country
and actually their intention of supporting Myanmar in rebellion against the British was
to occupy Myanmar from the hand of the British. According to Donald M. Seekin, “The
principal Japanese objective in occupying Myanmar was to cut off the Myanmar road,
which was the sole route by means of which the British and Americans provided
material support for Chiang Kai-shek at his wartime capital of Chungking; they hoped
the cut-off would force Chiang to accept a resolution of the ‘China Incident’ (the Sino-
Japanese war) favorable to themselves”. Moreover, Japan wanted the raw materials and
natural resources from Myanmar, especially rice and petroleum since Myanmar was
famous for its resources. “Myanmar is richly endowed with natural resources. Apart
from rice (Myanmar was the world’s largest exporter of rice before World War 2), they
include petroleum, natural gas, tin, silver, lead, gold and some of the world’s largest,
though rapidly diminishing, tropical forests, from which teak and other hardwoods are
extracted” (Donald M. Seekins, 2006).

Therefore, although Myanmar escaped from the dark influences of the British,
the darker days came together with the terrible deception of the Japan in 1942. The
Japanese authorities had no intention of keeping their words and granting Myanmar
independence, and established a military administration that would administer all
occupied areas in Myanmar. However, to control the Thakins’ dissatisfaction and
 10

frustration, on 1 August 1943, Japan announced Myanmar as the independent country

and Dr. Ba Maw was appointed as head of state. However, Myanmar people realized
that it was not the real independence they wanted and the Japan deceived them by giving
the fake liberty (Maung Htin, 1965) (Trs.).

“The BIA was dissolved in July 1942 and replaced by a smaller but more
rationally structured Burma Defence Army (BDA), whose commadar was Aung San.
Following independence in 1943, the BDA was transformed into the Burma National
Army (BNA). Aung San became a member of Ba Maw’s cabinet as war minister, and
Ne Win was appointed BNA commadar” (Donald M. Seekin, 2006).

“Different parts of Myanmar have been battle zones since the first Japanese
forces crossed over form Thailand in the opening weeks of the war. The ongoing civil
war has turned what was once a prosperous and cosmopolitan country into one of Asia’s
poorest and most isolated” (Donald M. Seekins, 2007). Under the Japanese occupation,
Myanmar people faced a lot of miseries and awful conditions as they were witness to
terrible scenes of death and destruction since Myanmar had been a battlefield.
Moreover, Myanmar people encountered the terrible conditions that had the strong
effect on their mind and body such as recessionary conditions, scarcity of clothing and
essential goods, collapse of agricultural project.

According to Thankin Lwin, the regular prices of clothing rose from seven to
twelve times their prices in January 1942 and the liberal distribution of the Japanese
banknotes made economic conditions worse and aggravate since their banknotes were
only used in commerce and trading by their military forces and orders.

The shortage of cloth reached at the awful level in Myanmar and it became the
worst problem. Only about one-third of the expected acre of cotton was cultivated, and
the Japanese company and Japanese capitalists exchanged all cotton cultivated in local
for their Japanese banknotes. Moreover, they set up a business to collect and buy the
used clothes all over the country for getting the necessary clothes for their soldiers.
Therefore, Myanmar citizens extremely suffered the scarcity of clothing under the
Japanese regime. The news of unprecedented tragedy, such as one couple had only one
cloth to wear and whenever one went out, the other had to stay behind the closed door,
and a lot of girls committed suicide because they did not have clothes to cover their
bodies, were mentioned in the newspapers of that time (Thakin Lwin, 2012) (Trs.).
 11

“Myanmar suffered an economic dislocation since the Japanese invasion

virtually halted its foreign trade which had been predominantly oriented toward India
and the West. With the exception of strictly military traffic, Myanmar’s foreign trade
shrank to less than 5 percent of its prewar volume. The virtual cessation of foreign and
domestic trade made stocks of many types of consumer goods irreplaceably. The
shortage of cloth, thread, matches, cooking oils, soap, salt, kerosene and leather goods
became particularly acute.” (Frank Mclynn, 2011).

Before the Japan occupied the country, Myanmar people dreamt of buying the
Japanese clothes and accessories with the low prices. However, they realized that there
was a widening gap between their expectation and reality and they despaired of their
awful conditions under the Japanese occupation since they witnessed the dissolution of
all political, economic and social conditions. During the days of war-time, although
Myanmar people did not receive any imports from Japan, Myanmar resources, raw
materials, rice, cotton, beans, corn, teak, petroleum and other necessary goods, which
were not only confiscated by military forces but also looted, and bought with the
Japanese notes, were exported to the Japan (Thakin Lwin, 2012) (Trs.).

After announcing Myanmar independence in 1943, commodity prices had risen

alarmingly in Yangon, petroleum cost twenty-seven times, onions twenty-two times
and cooking oil thirteen times their original prices in pre-war days. Moreover, some
regions in Myanmar faced the inadequacy of rice and lived on the edge of starvation
since the Japanese military forces commandeered large amounts of rice for their rations.
Although rice from the Lower Myanmar could be exchanged for cotton, beans, cooking
oils, petroleum from the Upper Myanmar, transport facilities such as hundreds of
railway and highway bridges were destructed by the Japanese and the Allied during the
war and Myanmar people only had to use the boats and cart transportation. The chief
factors behind disrupting rice cultivation were excessive slaughtering of cattle by the
Japanese military for their rations, confiscation of cattle for transportation and death of
many oxen and cattle due to disease. In some regions where rice was scarce, people had
to eat corns, sweet potatoes, pulses instead of rice, and for some regions, animal fat,
grease and lard were used instead of cooking oils and sesamum oil (Thakin Lwin, 2012)
(Trs.).
 12

On the one hand, public health conditions were also dreadful and there had been
lots of deaths under the Japanese regime. There was shortage of medicine and necessary
equipment, and only one-third of the original hospitals were reopened at that time.
Epidemics such as plague and cholera spread during that time, therefore, the Japanese
health officer and personnel inspected and inoculated the travellers on steamers and
trains and also the citizens, and they issued the orders to catch rats all around the
country. However, thousands of people died of these contagious diseases within one
year (Taung Khoe, 2003) (Trs.).

During 1942-1954, Myanmar people stayed together with tears, blood and
sweat. They seriously suffered not only the terrible oppression and bullying of the
Japanese fascists but also the Allied air-raids, and loss of citizens’ lives and destruction
of various buildings were countless. Starvation, epidemics, innumerable deaths and
immeasurable loss were the symbols of the war (Thakin Lwin, 2012) (Trs.).

After enduring the terrible and outrageous conditions for about three years under
the Japanese fascists, Burma National Army (BNA) led by Aung San successfully
planned for Myanmar revolution against the Japanese fascists in 1945. “On March 27
in 1945, Aung San ordered the BNA to rise up against the Japanese- a pivotal event in
official historiography that is now commemorated as Armed Forces Day (or Resistance
Day). For the Tatmadaw, it is a matter of great pride that its earliest recruits fought not
only the British colonialists but also the Japanese fascists. By May 1945, the Allies had
recaptured Yangon and Japanese forces were in full retreat toward the Thai border”
(Donald M. Seekin, 2006).

2.3. Khin Myo Chit’s Biography

Khin Myo Chit, a Myanmar author and journalist, was born on May 1, 1915 in
Sagaing and died on Februray 2, 1999 in Yangon. She was the eldest daughter of five
children and her birth name was Khin Mya. She had been interested in stories and
folktales since she was young as she was acquainted with legends and tales retold by
her grandparents. She noticed her passion for writing during her high school days.
However, she got no support from her family and faced problems to be a writer because
of her father’s obstructiveness and her mother’s disapproval. Although her parents did
not allow her to do any writing, she secretly did her writing when everyone was in bed.
Later, no one could prohibit her enthusiasm and passion for writing. She went to the
 13

university in 1932, but, left after one academic year. She started her writing career in
the 1932 with short stories for Dagon Magazine and weekly journals, and later worked
on the editorial staff of a weekly. In 1932, she translated a poem of Sir Walter Scott
about patriotism and sent it to Yangon University magazine. However, she did not put
her name and the editor put the pen-name, Khin Myo Chit (meaning a lady who loves
her country or Miss Patriot) when her translated poem was published.

She participated actively in local politics, in the struggle for independence

against the British, 1300 Revolution and also in University Student’s Boycott in 1938.
She got married to Khin Maung Latt in 1939. After the 1300 Revolution, she started
writing in many patriotic Myanmar papers, including the Deedoke Journal. During war-
time, she took part enthusiastically in partisan movements. After the war, she carried
on her formal education and got B.A. degree specializing in English at the Yangon
University in 1952. She then served as an editor for The Guardian Daily when she began
writing short stories and articles in English.

Her story The 13 Carat Diamond, which appeared first in The Guardian Daily
in 1956, was featured in Fifty Great Oriented Stories, published by Bantam Classics in
U.S.A and Canada, March 1965. It was translated into Italian, German, Yugolsav and
Gujarati languages. During her career, Khin Myo Chit wrote many English publications
including a historical novel, Anawrahta of Burma based on the title of King Anawrahta
who was the 11th century founder of first Myanmar Kingdom with its capital called
Bagan. She also wrote many books on Myanmar culture such as the Wonderland of
Burmese Legends, published in Bangkok by the Tamarind Press, received high acclaim
in the foreign press, in which she documented famous myths, legends and folktales of
Myanmar, and the Colorful Myanmar, which Bronwen Hammet called in UNESCO
Features ‘a practical and poetic guide for the visitor who wants something better than a
tourist view of Myanmar’. Her infinite Variety was first published in Horizon as the
prize-winning story of a contest open to South East Asian writers. In the collection of
stories and articles called Burmese Scenes and Sketches, she presented Myanmar
(Burma) from various perspectives such as festivals in Myanmar, tastes of Myanmar
cuisine, fruits and vegetables, Myanmar people’s lives in War-time and religion of
Myanmar people.
 14

Khin Myo Chit’s works depict a part of her life, in one way or another, since
she created her works based on her own experiences or her recollections on a certain
event or her feelings and views on a subject. Since she had lived through the stormy
times of the British Regime, the Japanese Regime and the Struggle for Independence,
she could utilize her experiences during war-time days in Myanmar to good effect in
putting pen to paper. As her literary work gives an account of her own feelings and
experiences, the reader is able to explore the cultural background, the social and
historical conditions of her time in Myanmar through her literary works both in
Myanmar and English.

2.4. Overview of the Selected Short Stories

Two short stories named Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I, written by Khin
Myo Chit are selected as the materials for this research. They are from the collections
of stories entitled The 13 Carat Diamond and other stories which first published in
1969 and all stories in the collection were written in English. The chosen two stories
offer a glimpse at the social conditions of Myanmar under the Japanese regime from
1942-1945 since the author herself witnessed these conditions and she depicted her own
experiences and recollections during that time in these two stories.

2.4.1. Synopsis of Of Mice and Men

This story is about the painful memories of the narrator concerned with the
epidemics, plague and cholera during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese were very
enthusiastic and hard-working to fight against the epidemic. Rat-catching was a must
for Myanmar people because the Japanese ordered the local Myanmar people to catch
at least one rat in a week because rats were the main cause of the contagious disease. If
a person brought the rat or rats to the health centre on the appointed day, he would
receive a ticket certifying that he had accomplished the duty, so he did not need to worry
about the punishment. If a person failed to catch the rat, he would be slapped on the
face by the Japanese health officer. During that time, rat-catching became one of the
ways to earn money since some people earned their living by selling rats to those who
could not catch the rat.

Apart from issuing order to catch rats, the Japanese gave rat-catching lectures
at street corners and people were forced to listen to them by the armed Japanese soldiers.
Moreover, Myanmar people were inoculated by the ill-trained medical men at the street
corners and after that, they got the inoculation certificate which was the essential paper
 15

to be taken whenever and wherever they went out. Another profession came out again
that some strong people got inoculated as often as they could and sold the certificates
to those who were afraid of being inoculated.

One of the strange ways of controlling the disease by the Japanese was that the
whole area was quarantined which lasted for at least three months if a person died of
suspected contagious disease in that area. During the quarantine period, no one was
allowed to go out or get in and people had to rely on the rations that the Japanese masters
gave. The travellers on steamers and trains were also inspected and if someone was
suspected of the disease, he would absolutely be taken to be quarantined without
questioning. Myanmar people really endured these terrible events under the Japanese
occupation.

2.4.2. Synopsis of The Egg and I

This story describes the trouble of being a housewife during war-time. The
narrator had learnt how to cook properly but it was not the right time for her to show
off her culinary arts since Myanmar people faced the shortage of rations and the scarcity
of essentials for cooking such as onions, garlic, cooking oil under the Japanese
occupation.

The narrator once tried to get the fish from the licensed shops with her ration
ticket. However, everything did not turn out well as the narrator expected. Although
she left home in the morning with the hope of making a nice dish for lunch, she had to
wait for her turn till the afternoon as the mile-long queue was before her and finally,
she got only the poor fish instead of the delicious dish. From that time, the narrator
decided to exist only on vegetables.

Later, she had got the surprise news that she could buy eggs, which were
illegally sold at that time, from the vegetable seller at the market. She took a risk to buy
eggs since both the buyer and seller would be punished if they were caught by the
Japanese. The narrator tried her best to get eggs and hurriedly went back home after
getting them. On the way, she was scared of being searched by the Japanese soldiers
and her heart was full of horror when she heard the thump of hob-nailed boots of the
soldier. Fortunately, she escaped from the inspection and was glad when she saw her
husband and son waving at her. However, she was dogged by misfortune that when she
jumped over the ditch which was two or three feet wide, she slipped and all the eggs
 16

she bought hard were broken. Finally, she sobbed out her risky story of buying the eggs
by pointing at the crows which were feasting on her broken precious eggs.

2.5. Related Research

Although many studies have been done, focusing on genetic structuralism
theory by Lucien Goldmann (1975), the researcher presents only five researches that
have been carried out by using genetic structuralism in this section.

WitriNuraini (2009) submits a thesis, “Genetic Structuralism Analysis On

‘Lucky Jim’ By Kingsley Amis” to Letters and Humanities Faculty in Jakarta. The two
objectives of this thesis paper are to describe the characteristics of the three main
characters in the novel and investigate the relation between these characteristics with
the social conditions of England after World War 2. The researcher applies genetic
structuralism theory to achieve the two objectives of the research. In this thesis, the
researcher has only focused on the characters in the novel which is one of the intrinsic
elements and concentrates on the background of social life in England after the World
War II as the extrinsic element. The researcher addresses the connection of social
conditions with the characteristics of the novel’s major characters by describing how
the effects of the society reflect on the characters.

Dewi Natalia (2012), Department of English, Hasanuddin Universtiy in

Indonesia, does a thesis under the title, “Social Realities In Hyper Lee’s Novel To Kill
A Mockingbird”. In this research, Goldmann’s theory of genetic structuralism has been
applied to demonstrate the reflection of social issues of the time the novel was set on
the structure of the novel. The researcher has two objectives; to investigate the social
realities in the novel and to explain the relationship between the historical backgrounds
of African-American’s life and story of the novel. Through genetic structuralism
approach by Goldmann, the researcher first starts analyzing the intrinsic elements of
the novel; characters, plot, setting and theme to explore and figure out the social
realities depicted in the novel by the author, after that, the researcher investigates
historical background of the time in which the novel was made to get access to broader
comprehension of the social issues of that time and to relate the story to the social
conditions of the time. The researcher points out that the social happenings of the time
has played the significant role in making the novel and presents the social realities in
the novel.
 17

SaifulGhozi (2020) presents the thesis “Harper Lee’s Worldview Towards

White Supremacy In Her Go Set A Watchman”, to Department of English Literature,
University in Malang, Indonesia. The researcher employs genetic structuralism theory
in analyzing data for the research as the objectives are to explore Harper Lee’s
worldview towards white supremacy in her novel and to examine the presentation of
the phenomena by the author through the structural elements of the novel. In analyzing
data, the researcher emphasizes structural elements of the novel to present the author’s
worldview on white supremacy and demonstrates the results that white supremacy is
represented through four categories in the novel; economic life, political and legal
process, family patterns and intermarriage, and the last one is education. After that, the
researcher discusses the way the author uses literary elements in the novel to represent
her worldview through the detailed analysis of intrinsic elements.

Nurlinda (2018), Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Sciences

Hasanuddin University, conducts the thesis titled “The Impact Of Great Depression In
Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men”. The researcher analyzes the novella Of Mice and Men,
employing genetic structuralism theory by Goldmann (1975) with the goal of linking
the structure of literary work with the effects of Great Depression in America. The
objectives of the study are to investigate the reflection of Great Depression in American
on the characters and to identify the social impact of the characters in the novel. The
researcher pays full attention to intrinsic elements, which are characterization, plot,
setting and theme, for the structural analysis of the novel as the first step of analyzing
data. After that, social background concerned with Great Depression is examined to
figure out the influences of Great Depression on the characters in the novel and as the
result, the researcher points out increase rate of unemployment and poverty as the
impacts of Great Depression.

Finally, MohImawanHelmi (2018), Department of English, Yogyakarta State

University, carries out the thesis named “Steinbeck’s Worldview Towards The Effects
Of Materialism In The Mexican Colonial Era As Reflected In The Pearl”, applying
Goldmann’s genetic structuralism theory. Expressing worldview of Steinbeck on the
effects of materialism in Mexican era and exploring the way the author depicted the
events through the literary elements are the two objectives of the study. In data analysis,
through genetic structuralism theory, the researcher first focuses on the structural
elements of the novel in order to explore the effects of materialism depicted by the
 18

author and also takes history of colonialism and pearling in Mexico into consideration
in order to relate the literary text with the social background of the time.

The researchers in previous theses explore the prominent and dominant

historical circumstances of particular time or epoch, such as social conditions in
England after World War II, social issues and differences in African-American
community, white supremacy in American, impacts of Great Depression on the workers
and the effects of materialism in Mexico, in analyzing data and they intentionally select
the materials, which include the impacts of such happenings in one way or another in
order to get hold of in-depth description of relationship between the literary text and its
background. Under the perspective of genetic structuralism theory, the researchers in
above related researches achieve their particular aims and objectives of their studies.

After presenting the previous studies which have been done by employing
genetic structuralism proposed by Lucien Goldmann (1975), the researcher aims to
highlight about the noteworthy information of this present research. To the best of the
researcher’s knowledge, there are no evidences that short stories named Of Mice and
Men and The Egg and I have been done from the perspective of genetic structuralism,
except for this thesis. Like the previous studies, this theory is applied in this present
research to explore the author’s worldview embedded in her short stories. However,
unlike the related researches, each and every sentence in both stories is put into
identification with the purpose of exploring human facts depicted in the stories, and
structures of two stories are analyzed in order to trace the relation between the author
and her surrounding environment from the lens of genetic structuralism theory. The
researcher believes that this research is the first one which investigates the social and
historical conditions of Myanmar during Japanese occupation through the study of
literary texts, and demonstrates the author’s worldview embedded in her literary texts
by means of human facts portrayed in the stories and social facts in the society
associated with these human facts.
 19

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research is conducted on the analysis of genetic structuralism theory
proposed by Lucien Goldmann (1975). Genetic structuralism theory is chosen on
account of the fact that it certainly focuses on the process to reveal the author’s
worldview by taking both structural analysis of short stories and social conditions
behind the stories into account. The design of this research is based on the descriptive
qualitative method since this study focuses on identifying each and every sentence of
the selected short stories and relating this structural analysis of each story with the
social and historical background of the time in which the stories were written in order
to investigate the worldview of the author.

3.1. Data Collection

The data source of this research is Khin Myo Chit’s short stories; Of Mice and
Men and The Egg and I which are chosen from the collection of short stories named
The 13 Carat Diamond and Other Stories. These two short stories are used as the
primary data source to identify human fact through structural analysis. On the other
hand, the secondary data are taken from the books, journals and articles that are relevant
to the social and historical conditions of Myanmar under Japanese occupation since the
chosen stories were written mostly focusing on the events and circumstances of that
time. These secondary data are applied to enrich the researcher’s knowledge to identify
human facts portrayed in the stories and connect them with the background of that era.

As the first step of data collection, the first concept of genetic structuralism
theory proposed by Lucien Goldmann (1975), ‘human fact’ is applied which refers to
human efforts and activities related to society and history. Sentences which reflect
human fact are categorized under the same activities or efforts of the particular social
group. Furthermore, social and historical conditions of Myanmar society under the
Japanese occupation are investigated to relate with human fact explored from the
structural analysis of the stories.

3.2. Data Analysis and Data Interpretation

In data analysis and data interpretation section, structures of two stories are
analyzed first to detect human interactions portrayed and the author’s relation with the
social groups of that particular period. Each sentence in the story Of Mice and Men is
identified in order to explore human facts, however, only sentences which portray
human facts are expressed with interpretation of those human facts. Likewise, analysis
 20

of human facts in the story The Egg and I is presented together with the sentences which
show human facts and interpretation of them. Finally, human facts and worldview of
the author follow.

3.2.1. Analysis of the Structures of the Stories: Of Mice and Men and The Egg
and I
Lucien Goldmann (1975) defines structure of a literary text as something
thematic which emphasizes the relation between the author and her social group in
surrounding environment through the study of interactions between characters in the
text. The structure of the literary text is constructed mainly based on the author’s point
of view and it is presented in the form of portraying circumstances and facts which are
the results of the author’s relationship with the society. From the lens of genetic
structuralism theory, the author is somehow influenced by the social conditions of the
environment and through the text that she creates, the social facts and circumstances
can partly be explored since human activities in the society around the author influence
the structure of the text. Genetic structuralism focuses on how the information and ideas
are presented to highlight human interactions in the text, in other words, it emphasizes
the study of human facts depicted in the text.

Remarkably, short stories Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I were written
from the first person point of view. Shmoop (2017) says “A first person narrative is a
mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view
using the first person such as ‘I’”. First person narration makes the reader see all ideas,
feelings and knowledge of the author and first person point of view also represents the
views of all people of those days. This kind of narration allows the reader to see the
events and circumstances through the eyes of the narrator and explore deeply about the
story, putting themselves in the narrator’s shoes (Stuart Evers, 2008). The author wrote
both stories with the narrative structure and she involved in both stories as the narrator
who retold reminiscences of her life living through harsh times under the Japanese
regime. The ideas and information were presented only from the standpoint of Khin
Myo Chit in both stories and the ideas she expressed certainly shed light on her relation
with the society. As one of Myanmar citizens who severely suffered terrible conditions
under the Japanese occupation, the author was certainly influenced by those social facts
and also by the united ideas and feelings of her social group. As the result, the
relationship between the author and the Japanese group can undeniably be observed
 21

since the Japanese behaviors were the root of Myanmar people’s sufferings. One
necessary point to be noted is that from the perspective of genetic structuralism, the
ideas depicted in the stories from the point of view of the author meant the united ideas
of Myanmar people, and likewise, the author’s relationship with the Japanese fascists
denoted human relations between Myanmar and the Japanese groups.

She wrote the story Of Mice and Men as the way of retelling the happenings she
encountered during epidemics in Myanmar and all social circumstances were presented
only from the standpoint of the author. It is noted that there was no specific character
but two social groups which were Myanmar people and the Japanese fascists can be
seen throughout the story. Interestingly, the story highlights the oppressive structure of
the Japanese group which had negative effects on Myanmar people. Therefore, the
relations of these two groups were rather strained and tense. Since the author
demonstrated how Myanmar people were oppressed and how they endured the terrible
conditions through human facts in the story, the author’s perspective on interactions of
both social groups can definitely be expressed like that Myanmar people as the
oppressed group and the Japanese as the oppressors.

Likewise, in the story The Egg and I, the author depicted human relations
between Myanmar and Japanese groups through human activities with narrative style
of writing. The author created herself as the main character who was a housewife and
she mainly portrayed the relationship between shortage of rations and the struggle of
the housewife in the story. The ideas and feelings were presented only from the point
of view of the author. Interestingly, the author’s perspective on interactions between
two groups in this story was the same with the idea in the story Of Mice and Men, the
Japanese as the influential and dominant group and Myanmar people as the oppressed.

The portrayal of these socio-historical circumstances and facts in these two

stories, which highlights the author’s point of view, and her feelings influenced by
Myanmar social group reflect the text that she created. Moreover, her depiction of
events in the stories reflects human relations between Myanmar and the Japanese
groups. This point is in line with the fact in Goldmann (1975) that the structure of a
literary text is something thematic which emphasizes the relation between the author
and her social group in surrounding environment through the study of interactions
between characters in the text.
 22

With an attempt to comprehend the author’s ideas more profoundly in creating

these two stories, each sentence in the particular story is identified and human facts are
explored since genetic structuralism focuses on human facts depicted in the stories.
Through analysis of human facts, the social circumstances and activities can be
investigated and the author’s worldview on those circumstances and social groups in
the society can also be explored.

3.2.2. Analysis of Human Facts in Of Mice and Men

The story Of Mice and Men was written focusing on the events and
circumstances which were concerned with epidemics such as plague and cholera during
the Japanese occupation. Throughout the story, the Japanese campaign against
epidemics was mainly highlighted and based on that campaign, Myanmar citizens’
struggle and the rigid control of the Japanese were significantly stressed. Remarkably,
five ways of the Japanese prevention of contagious diseases were mentioned in details.
First and foremost, rat-catching process was expressed since the rats were the main
source of spreading the diseases. Secondly, giving public lectures how to catch the rats
by the Japanese officer at street corners was portrayed. Furthermore, inoculation was
described as one of the strategies of anti-epidemic campaign and quarantine restriction
for the area where the suspected infectious person died was mentioned as the peculiar
way in controlling the spread of diseases. The last way of the campaign mentioned in
the story was inspection of stool taken from the travellers on steamers and trains. Apart
from expressing mostly the Japanese anti-epidemic campaign, the author partly
mentioned Myanmar citizens’ actions to adapt for the rules of the Japanese and also the
influence of the Japanese in this story.

After identifying all sentences in the story Of Mice and Men, the sentences
which reflect human facts are grouped into three categories: human fact which
demonstrates the Japanese strategies of fighting against epidemics; that represents
Myanmar citizens’ means of earning living during epidemics; that reflects the Japanese
ways of punishing for disobedience of Myanmar people.

First and foremost, human fact which depicts the Japanese ways of fighting
against epidemics is explored through the following sentences:
 23

(1) “It was not enough that people were warned and instructed to do away with rats.
They saw to it that everyone joined in their campaign.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005:
79)
(2) “Every household was supplied with a mouse-trap with instructions to catch at
least one rat every week and bring the rat or rats to the health centre.” (Khin
Myo Chit, 2005: 79)
(3) “Then the officer handed the rats to another officer whose sacred duty was to
throw the rats into a vat of boiling water kept ready for the purpose.” (Khin Myo
Chit, 2005: 80)
(4) “The Japanese health officer would come on his inspection rounds and ask the
house-holder to produce the ticket which certified that he had not failed in this
duty.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(5) “Many public lectures were given at street corners and woe be tide those who
passed by the vicinity.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(6) “They were stopped and forced to listen to the lectures regardless of the hurry
they might be in.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(7) “He was stopped by armed Japanese soldiers on duty at the rat-catching lecture.”
(Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 81)
(8) “The Japanese officer delivered the lecture in Japanese. The interpreter
translated it into Myanmar and this was followed by a Hindustani version given
by the Indian interpreter.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 81)
(9) “People were inoculated as part of the anti-epidemic campaign.” (Khin Myo
Chit, 2005: 81)
(10) “A batch of hastily trained medical men were placed at the street corners,
with instructions to stop anyone and inoculate him. After that he got a ticket
which was valid for the whole month.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 81)
(11) “The Japanese had peculiar ways of doing things. When a person died,
and contagious disease was suspected, the whole area was quarantined. It was
fenced off with thick steel plates, barbed wire and put under guard.” (Khin Myo
Chit, 2005: 82)
(12) “The people had to exist on the victuals which the Japanese masters
supplied in their great concern for the poor quarantined people.” (Khin Myo
Chit, 2005: 82)
 24

(13) “Everyday they would go round and inspect the travellers.” (Khin Myo
Chit, 2005: 83)
(14) “The Japanese health officers were even more vigilant on steamers and
trains.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 83)
(15) “Stool tests were made everyday. Each traveller had to give them the
specimen which must be ready at hand when they came on inspection.” (Khin
Myo Chit, 2005: 83)
(16) “If the officials found a hint of contagious disease in the stool the person
concerned would be taken away to be quarantined. It meant being torn away
from fellow travellers and breaking the journey.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 83)

In this story, the Japanese rigid rules and orders concerning with contagious
diseases such as plague and cholera were significantly highlighted since the story was
written focusing on epidemics happened at that time. During the first months of the
Japanese occupation in Myanmar, thousands of people died of epidemics and therefore,
the Japanese had a horror of diseases and they were very enthusiastic in their fight
against contagious plague and cholera. For bring epidemics to a halt, they actively
conducted the anti-epidemic campaign by setting rigid rules and ordered people to fully
participate in their campaign.

The first basic regulation of their campaign was catching rats which were
regarded as the main source of contagious diseases. The Japanese health officers
provided every house a mouse-trap with the order of catching at least a single rat for a
week and surrendering the rats they caught to the health centre. If people finished doing
that process, they were given the certificate which was evidence of accomplishing their
duty of catching rats. That certificate was one of the needs that people must hold under
the Japanese regime for that reason if they could not show that certificate, they would
inevitably be punished.

Secondly, the Japanese health officers delivered public lecture which pointed
out the ways how to catch rats at street corners with the purpose of making a lot of
people hear that. The ones who passed by were stopped and forced by the Japanese
soldiers to listen to the lecture and people had no choice but paid attention to it. People
could not give any excuse for passing a lecture time no matter how crucial situation
they were in.
 25

Apart from orders to catch rats, other way of controlling the disease was
inoculation. Inevitably, each and every person was inoculated and the Japanese health
personnel were placed at the street corners to perform their duty of vaccination. After
getting vaccinated, people were given a certificate valid for the whole month. During
that period, people dared not go without that certificate since the Japanese health
officers were always ready to inoculate if a person could not prove he had been
vaccinated. Additionally, the peculiar regulation of the Japanese anti-epidemic
campaign for a particular area in which a person died of suspected contagious disease
was announcing that area as quarantine. During quarantine period lasted for three or
four months, no one was allowed to go out or get in and the Japanese fascists provided
rations for those who were in that area.

The last rule of the campaign mentioned in the story was testing stools from the
travellers on steamers and trains. The Japanese health officers took the specimen from
the travellers and tested them. If they found a hint of disease in the stool tests, the owner
of that specimen was taken to be quarantined without questioning. Concerning this
event, the author described the troubles of old people who could not produce the
required stool that the officers asked. Old people had to beg sufficient portion from
others in order to give the necessary specimen.

Secondly, the sentences which show human fact highlighting Myanmar

citizens’ ways of earning living during war-time are found as follows:

(17) “They were a money-making commodity.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 78)
(18) “Rat-catching was one of the means by which people earned their living
in war-time.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 78)
(19) “This was how rat-catching became an honourable profession under the
Japanese regime.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(20) “For the benefit of those who could not catch rats for themselves, there
were the enterprising people who earned their living by catching and selling
rats.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(21) “So another profession was born. Many sturdy people got themselves
inoculated as often as they could and sold the tickets.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005:
80-81)
 26

In this story, rats and inoculation certificates were mentioned as the money-
making commodities by which people earned money under the Japanese regime.
Through Sentences (17), (18), (19) and (20), rat-catching was expressed as the
temporary career of people in war-time. Since people were punished if they failed in
their duty to catch rats, some people got a good idea which was helpful not only to the
sellers but also to the buyers. They utilized the rats as the goods for their profession
and sold them to those who could not afford to catch the rats. In this way, the sale of
the rats assisted some people to escape from the punishment and some to earn a living.
On the other hand, concerning inoculation certificates, another profession appeared.
Some people dared not get vaccinated by the Japanese medical men because of the fact
that they were not given good training and because some people were scared of side-
effects of the vaccine. Regarding that problem, people who were not afraid of being
vaccinated thought of other profession that they sold the inoculation certificates after
getting immunized very often.

Additionally, the sentences which show human fact related to the Japanese ways
of inflicting punishment on those who fail to obey their orders are identified as follows:

(22) “If he could not produce the ticket, he would be taken to the health centre
and cross-examined, ‘Why don’t you catch rats? Do you want the Nippon
soldiers to die of plague? So you don’t want to cooperate with the Nippons? Are
you a British spy?’ They often punctuated these questions with vigorous slaps
on the face.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 80)
(23) “When their tempers were particularly sweet, they might take him for a
ride to some god-forsaken suburb and leave him to walk back home.” (Khin
Myo Chit, 2005: 80)

Since the Japanese were very enthusiastic and hard-working for bringing
epidemics to a halt, they made sure that everyone obeyed the rules they issued and
joined in their campaign. While carrying out regular inspections, the punishment was
always ready for the disobedient people. If a person could not show the ticket that
proved he had caught the rat or rats for the week, he was doubtless cross-examined
together with strong slaps on the face by the Japanese fascists and left in suburb which
was remote from his home to walk back.
 27

3.2.3. Analysis of Human Facts in The Egg and I

The story The Egg and I puts stress on the struggle and trouble of a housewife
during war-time, especially from 1942-45 under the Japanese regime in Myanmar. The
shortage of rations was mainly concerned as the root of difficulties of a housewife in
this story. Regarding this, the author highlighted three incidents that she encountered
as the housewife while living through war-time. Firstly, the housewife’s trouble of
cooking with almost non-existent rations for the family was depicted. Furthermore,
long-awaited process of getting the rations especially fish from the licensed shops was
mentioned, and the last incident was a challenging procedure to buy eggs from black
market. Interestingly, the author put her ideas and feelings associated with shortage of
rations and price control of the Japanese fascists, and in addition, partly demonstrated
the frightful figure of the Japanese soldiers in this story.

Every sentence in the story is identified with an attempt to expose human facts.
After tracing all sentences, three dominant human activities are found which represent
the real events happened in Myanmar society under the Japanese administration. From
the identification of sentences in the story The Egg and I, human facts that reflect the
same circumstances are categorized into three groups: human fact which depicts the
struggle of a housewife in war-time, which mentions the Japanese manipulation in
business and which highlights Myanmar people’s horror of the Japanese soldiers.

First and foremost, human fact which focuses on the struggle of a housewife in
war-time is found through the following sentences:

(1) “Now I could no more show off my culinary arts on those almost non-existent
rations.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 67)
(2) “I learnt to make the most of a teaspoonful of cooking oil, half a wrinkled onion,
a stale yellow garlic clove, three or four pale limp shrimps which must have
died in the concentration camp and a heap of freshly picked water cress leaves.”
(Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68)
(3) “It was, therefore, a bit of flop to see a mile-long queue at the shop. I braced
myself.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68)
(4) “I stood in the queue with my chin in the air and soon there was another mile of
shoppers after me.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 69)
 28

(5) “By that time my knees were giving way so I had to sit down as many of the
shoppers had done.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 69)
(6) “To cut the long queue short, my turn came late in the afternoon. When I finally
got home, the only thing I could do about the poor fish was to give him a decent
burial.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 69)
(7) “It was a great risk to buy things from the black market, because both the buyer
and seller would be punished.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 70)
(8) “I bent over the vegetables trying to catch his watery eyes. I tried all sorts of
winks and grimaces with no effort.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 71)

In the story The Egg and I, the author described her own difficulties of being a
housewife during the days under the Japanese occupation through the sentences
mentioned above. As the dutiful housewife, she learnt how to cook properly from
women’s magazines and kept scrap books of recipes before the war broke out.
Unfortunately, the country faced scarcity of rations and other raw materials after the
Japanese invasion and consequently, the citizens had to endure the terrible conditions
and they relied on almost non-existence rations and food for their lives. The first
difficulty the narrator mentioned was a daily responsibility of making dishes for her
family by using very few ingredients and spices which were not enough for cooking.
Through Sentences (1) and (2), the narrator’s troublesome moment for making dishes
can partly be seen. Her effort to make a dish with poor supply of rations and poor quality
ingredients for cooking such as a wrinkled onion and a stale yellow garlic clove in the
story somehow reflected the struggle of housewives in Myanmar society at that time.

Furthermore, the other incident which can be regarded as the struggle of the
narrator during those days was described through Sentences (3), (4), (5) and (6). It was
the episode of getting fish from the licensed shops with ration tickets. Regarding this
incident, the trouble of the narrator was that it took a long time to get fish and the
narrator had to wait for her turn from the morning till the afternoon. When she left home
in the morning, she promised her family to make a nice dish for lunch. However, the
process did not go on as she expected since a lot of people were queuing up for fish
before her. Although she waited for her turn impatiently and irritably till the afternoon,
the only thing she had got was the poor fish which was not suitable for cooking and she
failed to keep her promise of a delicious dish. From that time, she decided to survive
only on vegetables since she could not endure that long-awaited process of getting
 29

rations from the licensed shops. Through this human fact, the author lets the reader take
in how people needed to develop a tolerance to get the rations from the licensed shops
and how its procedure was beyond endurance for Myanmar people during the Japanese
occupation.

The last incident that supported the narrator’s struggle was the process of buying
eggs illegally from the black market. The scarcity of food was highlighted through this
fact that even an egg became a rarity and the sale of eggs was regarded as the smuggling
during that time. It was a very challenging risk for people to buy the eggs on account
of this fact that if the Japanese policemen knew about that news, both the buyer and
seller would be inevitably punished. However, for the narrator who survived only on
vegetables and had lost her appetite, she risked buying eggs from black market in spite
of the punishment. She struggled for obtaining the eggs and practised a lot in order to
give a meaningful signal since she was prohibited from saying about the eggs and the
only thing she had to do in buying the eggs was to give a look which could show her
desire for the eggs to the seller. Regarding these human facts, the struggle of the
housewife was entirely linked up with the shortage of rations.

Secondly, the sentences which mention human fact demonstrating the Japanese
manipulation in market are found as follows:

(9) “Prices were exorbitant. Then the ruling gods hit upon the idea of price control.”
(Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68)
(10) “They issued orders that such and such a commodity must be sold at a
controlled price.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68)
(11) “The ruling gods went on relentlessly with their acts of legerdemain.”
(Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68)

In the story The Egg and I, the author partly depicted the economic system in
Myanmar which was totally manipulated by the Japanese fascists. During their
occupation, they controlled the country’s all aspects such as economy, public health,
politics and education, and Myanmar people had to live obeying a set of rules the
Japanese issued without questioning. However, in this story, the author focused on
business which was run under the control of the Japanese fascists and through Sentences
(9), (10) and (11), their manipulation of the market can be found. After their invasion,
the citizens all around the country faced the scarcity of rations and other basic
 30

necessities, and at the same time, the essentials and spices for cooking such as cooking
oil, onions, garlic, chillies, fish-paste and other ingredients which were sold at the high
price but available at the market had gone. Regarding this economic aspect, the author
put her finger on the Japanese fascists’ deceitful and tricky acts in the story. When the
prices of commodities were extremely high, the Japanese authorities issued an order
not to sell the products and raw materials more than the price they were set.
Surprisingly, after that order, the commodities which they told to be sold at a controlled
price were not available at the market any more. Consequently, Myanmar people
severely suffered the inadequacy of food and housewives relied on vegetables and
leaves available near their environment and almost decaying ingredients such as onions
and garlic which were not fresh at all.

The last human fact which highlights Myanmar people’s horror of the Japanese
soldiers is explored through these sentences:

(12) “Then I remembered the police might search my basket on the way
home. In that case, I prayed that the man had given me no eggs at all.” (Khin
Myo Chit, 2005: 71)
(13) “I trudged on, with my head bowed, ‘like one that on a lonesome road,
doth walk in fear and dread,’ I felt the frightful fiend of a Japanese policeman
might close upon me trend.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 71)
(14) “At the same time I heard the thump of hob-hailed boots behind me.
Terror clutched my heart. The Japs were after me!” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 72)

In the story The Egg and I, the narrator’s fear of the Japanese soldiers was
overtly mentioned through Sentences (12), (13) and (14). On the way home after buying
the eggs illegally, the narrator was frightened a lot only with the thought of being
checked by the Japanese soldiers. She had broken the rule set by the Japanese fascists
and bought the eggs which were forbidden from selling in the market. Therefore, she
would certainly be penalized for her disobedience. When she heard the footsteps of the
Japanese soldiers behind her, she was extremely scared and fear spread through her
body. Fortunately, she escaped from being inspected and from the penalty.

3.2.4. Human Facts and Worldview of the Author

In terms of analysis of human facts in the story Of Mice and Men, three
prominent human facts are found and they are human fact that puts stress on the
 31

Japanese strategies of fighting against epidemics; human fact that demonstrates

Myanmar people’s ways of earning living during epidemics; and human fact that
reflects the Japanese ways of inflicting punishment on those who fail to obey their
orders. In relating these human facts portrayed in the story with the activities of two
social groups, Myanmar and the Japanese groups, during 1942-45, the reflection of
human facts in the story upon the social groups in the real world can certainly be seen.
Expectedly, prominent social facts and human activities concerning epidemics occurred
on the land of Myanmar during the Japanese administration were significantly stressed
in this story.

In the story The Egg and I, human fact which expresses the struggle of a
housewife in war-time, human fact which depicts the Japanese manipulation in business
and human fact which demonstrates Myanmar people’s fear of the Japanese fascists are
explored. Surprisingly, trouble and difficulties of the housewife in the story were based
only on the shortage of rations. It is an interesting fact that human facts depicted in the
story are entirely representation of the main concerns of Myanmar people, especially
housewives in the society under the Japanese occupation.

As one of the citizens who lived through hard and harsh times under the
Japanese regime, Khin Myo Chit encountered many awful conditions and
circumstances concerned with every aspect on the land of Myanmar such as
recessionary period, social dislocation, starvation of the citizens, grinding poverty of
people, terrible health conditions, collapse of education and agricultural project. From
the perspective of genetic structuralism theory by Lucien Goldmann (1975), she
became the collective subject of the group of Myanmar people and was profoundly
influenced by the ideas and feelings of that group on these various dreadful conditions.
Therefore, it was unrealistic for her to omit these social problems and terrible
circumstances that she and her social group encountered during war-time in Myanmar.
As the collective subject, she mostly and mainly depicted human facts related to the
real issues and circumstances of that particular period in her stories. However, by taking
all human facts in two stories into consideration, it is obvious that the author threw light
on only two dominant occasions within Myanmar society during 1942-45: which were
events related to epidemics in the story Of Mice and Men and happenings associated
with shortage of food in the story The Egg and I. Consequently, only through human
facts she portrayed, the worldview of Khin Myo Chit is revealed focusing on the matters
 32

of pandemics and scarcity of rations, regardless of other social issues taken place in the
group of Myanmar people.

Regarding worldview, Faruk (1994) states that it is a united ideas and aspiration
that develop in the collective subject that has been created social reaction in certain
community. Moreover, Goldmann (1975) assumes that literary work is the expression
of the worldview of the author. Therefore, by means of structural analysis of the stories
Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I, it is an undeniable fact that the worldview of the
author was influenced only by the group of Myanmar people who lived under the
Japanese occupation since all human facts and ideas were presented only from the
standpoint of the author. Moreover, the structures of the stories highlight human
relations in the way that Myanmar people as the oppressed and the Japanese as the
oppressors. In addition, strained and terrible situations between Myanmar and the
Japanese groups are mentioned through analysis of human facts in two stories. It can
obviously be seen that Khin Myo Chit’s worldview is revealed as terrible, bitter
sufferings of the oppressed Myanmar people under the Japanese occupation, focusing
on the process of socio-historical circumstances of the country.
 33

4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter discusses human facts portrayed in two short stories as well as
socio-historical facts and circumstances which are related to human facts in the stories
in order to reveal the correlation between the structure of stories and socio-historical
background of the time in which the stories were written as this research emphasizes
genetic structuralism analysis of two stories. Additionally, the worldview of the author
embedded in her two stories is also discussed.

Lucien Goldmann (1975) states, “there is homology between literary structures

with the social structure because both are product of the same structure activity”.
Moreover, genetic structuralism theory sees the structure of literary text as the
expression of a worldview of the author, however, this worldview is not the personal
view of the author and it represents the united ideas and feelings of the society in which
the author is one of the members. The author is selected as the representative of the
particular social group, which is also called the collective subject, to convey the social
issues and facts from their society to other society or to another culture through the
literary text. From the human fact that the collective subject portrays, the author’s
worldview, which is absolutely influenced by the ideas of her society, is accurately
exposed. In terms of this perspective of Goldmann’s theory, the worldview of Khin
Myo Chit embedded in her stories Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I is revealed
through human facts found in the stories.

From the analysis of the structures of two stories, the way the author presented
circumstances and issues is found that all events were written only from the first person
point of view and the author used narrative style of writing by involving in the stories
as the narrator who retold her experiences and reminiscences during war-time.
Remarkably, the social groups portrayed in both stories were definitely the same and
these groups represented Myanmar social group and the Japanese fascists. It is noted
that the strained relationship between these two groups was partly mentioned, however,
interactions in both stories were come out only from the standpoint of the author. The
structures of both stories were formed by laying stress on human activities in which two
social groups mainly performed as the oppressors and the oppressed. Since the structure
of the text is assumed as the depiction of the worldview of the author from the lens of
genetic structuralism theory, the author’s feelings and ideas in creating these stories
generally came out from the bitterness of the terrible sufferings of Myanmar social
 34

group under the Japanese fascists. To be more specific, each sentence in both stories is
put into identification with the purpose of exploring human interactions and facts which
were significantly portrayed into structuring the stories. Consequently, the author’s
worldview towards circumstances and facts in the stories is exposed with detailed
discussion.

In the story Of Mice and Men, human facts which highlight human activities of
the particular social group are found by means of three categories: the Japanese
strategies of fighting against epidemics, Myanmar particular ways of earning money
during epidemics and the Japanese ways of punishing for disobedience of Myanmar
people. Remarkably, all human facts come out from identification of each sentence in
the story underline mostly social efforts and activities within Myanmar society during
the Japanese occupation. According to historical facts stated in the book Tales by
Japanese Soldiers by Taung Khoe (2003) (Trs.), public health conditions were dreadful
and there had been lots of deaths under the Japanese regime. There was shortage of
medicine and necessary equipment, and only one-third of the original hospitals were
reopened at that time. Epidemics such as plague and cholera were nightmarish
pandemic spreading around the country after the Japanese invasion. Since the Japanese
had a horror of epidemics, they enthusiastically conducted the anti-epidemic campaign,
issued strict orders to catch rats, provided every household a mouse-trap, inoculated the
citizens and inspected the travellers on steamers and trains.

Moreover, the rats were bought at the health centre and the Japanese conducted
a well-planned campaign in which people who caught the rats were given lucky draw
coupons and twice a month, the Japanese fascists awarded the prize money. In addition,
according to the plan of controlling the spread of diseases, ration tickets were given to
people only if they could show the certificate of catching the rats. In these ways, the
Japanese fascists endeavored energetically and rigidly to control pandemic.
Nevertheless, around six thousands of people died of these contagious diseases within
one year under the Japanese regime.

From the lens of genetic structuralism theory, the structure of the text is
regarded as the expression of the author’s worldview since the author is influenced by
the social facts and issues among her social group. In this research, by taking human
facts which played a vital role in forming the structure of the story into account, the
 35

worldview of Khin Myo Chit in the story Of Mice and Men is discussed by means of
three categories based on human facts she depicted; the author’s worldview towards the
rats, towards the Japanese fight against epidemics, and the last one is worldview
towards Myanmar lives during pandemic.

The story Of Mice and Men was written as the way of retelling painful memories
of the author related to epidemics occurred under the Japanese administration in
Myanmar. The author stated that the recollections about epidemics came to her when
she heard discussion of some students about Robert Browning’s poem named The Pied
Piper of Hamelin. In this poem, rats were described as the vermin which overran and
destroyed the town of Hamelin. However, in this story, how the author deemed rats is
clearly seen through these sentences, “Rats! The rats I knew did not kill cats or stop
women’s gossip. They were a money-making commodity.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 78).
Interestingly, the rats were reckoned money-making products in this story since people
caught and sold the rats as their profession during pandemic. At that period, the rats
became the most wanted rodents for the Japanese health officers.

The worldview of the author towards the rats becomes more obvious with the
support of the historical facts found in Japan Khit Burma Pye by Thakin Lwin (2012)
(Trs.) that stated the Japanese health officers bought the rats and gave lucky draw
coupons to people who surrendered the rats to the health centre. In addition, ration
tickets for cooking oil and sugar were given to people only if they could prove their rat-
catching. Taken together human facts in the story and historical facts behind the story,
the worldview of the author towards the rats is revealed in this way that the rats were
the money-maker which helped somehow Myanmar people to get earnings through
living in the nightmarish pandemic, regardless of contagious diseases they spread.
During that time, besides epidemics, the citizens severely suffered the dreadful
oppression of the Japanese which caused extremely terrible conditions such as scarcity
of food and cloth, grinding poverty. Therefore, the citizens who were in abject misery
could not pessimistic about the rats for the diseases they brought since people could
earn money by catching them and the rats also helped them to get ration tickets. Based
on that worldview influenced by Myanmar social group, the author did not mention the
rats as the troublesome vermin but demonstrated how the Japanese fascists got the
citizens into trouble concerning the pandemic.
 36

Regarding the worldview of the author towards the Japanese’s fight against
epidemics, the author’s ideas on the Japanese actions are investigated through these
sentences, “The Japanese had a horror of epidemics, plague and cholera having taken
many away during the first months of their occupation in Myanmar.” and “The Japanese
were very diligent and enthusiastic in their fight against epidemics.” (Khin Myo Chit,
2005: 78-79). Significantly, through human fact focusing on the Japanese strategies of
fighting against epidemics, the author mostly highlighted how much the Japanese
fascists were eager and meticulous about controlling the spread of contagious diseases.
The Japanese health officers conducted the anti-epidemic campaign and set regulations
which were especially to catch rats and to get inoculated with the attempt to bring
pandemic to an end. Their activities and strategies were not superficial and not for
show, actually they put real effort to fight against epidemics. They supplied each and
every household with a mouse-trap with the order to catch rats, and never failed to
check whether people obeyed or not.

In addition, they carefully and cautiously recorded every catch of rats

surrendered by people to make sure that everyone joined in their campaign. Moreover,
the Japanese health officers prepared lectures about rat-catching to deliver at street
corners and with their authority, they forced everyone who passed along the street to
listen to the lectures. Furthermore, the Japanese health officers actively participated in
inoculation process and likewise on inspection the travellers on steamers and trains
every day with the purpose of bring epidemics to a standstill. More interestingly, human
fact showing anti-epidemic campaign conducted by the Japanese fascists found in the
story is entirely the representation of the activities performed by the Japanese health
officers within Myanmar society under their administration.

Thakin Lwin (2012) (Trs.) in his book named Japan Khit Burma Pye stated that
the Japanese health officers and personnel inspected and inoculated the citizens and the
travellers on steamers and trains. During that time, people were inoculated whenever
they could not show the inoculation certificate. Moreover, people were warned to keep
houses and grounds clean, and at the same time, orders to catch rats were issued all
around the country. Through demonstrating these diligent and cautious processes used
in anti-epidemic campaign, a hint of her worldview towards their fight against
pandemic is given and the author’s worldview is that the Japanese fascists had extreme
 37

enthusiasm and vigilance in regard to contagious diseases such as plague and cholera
since they had a terror of epidemics.

Most interestingly, in the story Of Mice and Men, troubles of Myanmar people
can be seen to the accompaniment of the anti-epidemic campaign and punishments of
the Japanese. The author’s worldview towards Myanmar condition during pandemic
can be revealed through the opening sentences of the story, “When I look back on all
the years I have lived through I find it really amazing how human life endures.”, “Time
the greater healer has cleansed away many of the painful memories and some diverting
incidents stand out clearly against what was once all gloom.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005:
78). It is no doubt that all incidents happened during epidemics under the Japanese
occupation were definitely in gloom, and only painful memories and events full of
sorrow came out as the symbol of Myanmar society during that time. The author
recognized the endurance of the citizens for the duration of pandemic as the amazing
matter since people had to struggle to conquer the fatal attacks of contagious diseases
and on the other hand, they tried to be adaptable with the strict rules and regulations of
the Japanese authorities. It was a must for people to obey the orders issued by the
Japanese fascists since they were always ready to punish the disobedient ones.

In this story, the author partly demonstrated the Japanese way of punishing a
person who failed to catch a rat that he was cross-examined, slapped on the face and
left in suburb which was far from his home. Thakin Lwin (2012) (Trs.) said that
slapping on the face was the custom that the Japanese fascists introduced to Myanmar
people. Although it was the routine for the Japanese, Myanmar people considered
slapping the face was very rude. Not only the citizens but also some Myanmar leaders
were slapped if they made the Japanese fascists annoyed. In addition, Thakin Lwin
(2012) (Trs.) mentioned one event in his book that Thakin Lay Maung was once slapped
on his face by a Japanese soldier on account of not catching a rat when inspection
carried out. The discipline enforced by the Japanese fascists were rigid for the citizens
to comply; nevertheless, people could not choose but obey since they had a horror of
being punished. The author depicted the troubles of the citizens which were
accompanied by the orders of the Japanese fascists in the story.

All these sufferings were remarkably depicted throughout the story: troubles
with not catching the rats, the man’s endurance with public lectures which stopped him
 38

from going to the wedding, problem of people related to inoculation process, difficulty
of the citizens within quarantined area and the old people’s trouble with stool tests. It
is obviously seen that Myanmar people struggled against troubles during pandemic only
with their lasting endurance, without a single word of defying the discipline enforced
by the Japanese fascists since the citizens were the poor victims of their oppression.

On the other hand, in the story The Egg and I, human facts which reflect human
efforts and activities of Myanmar social group during the Japanese regime are
categorized into three facts: the struggle of a housewife during war-time, manipulation
of the Japanese fascists in business and Myanmar citizens’ horror of the Japanese
soldiers. Expectedly, human facts portrayed in the story The Egg and I shed light on
the social issues and circumstances within Myanmar society during 1942-45. However,
these human facts cannot encompass all aspects of conditions, but represent only events
related to scarcity of food happened on the land of Myanmar.

Maung Htin (1965) (Trs.) in Nga Ba expressed that Myanmar citizens witnessed
the dissolution of all political, economic and social conditions under the Japanese
occupation and they were harshly treated under the cruel control of the Japanese
fascists. Thakin Lwin (2012) (Trs.) in Japan Khit Burma Pye stated that during 1942-
1945, resources, raw materials, rice, cotton, beans, corn, teak, petroleum and other
necessary goods in Myanmar, which were not only confiscated by military forces but
also looted, were exported to the Japan.

Additionally, Frank Mclynn (2011) in The Burma Campaign: Disaster into

Triumph 1942-45 stated “Myanmar suffered an economic dislocation since the
Japanese invasion virtually halted its foreign trade which had been predominantly
oriented toward India and the West. With the exception of strictly military traffic,
Myanmar’s foreign trade shrank to less than 5 percent of its prewar volume. The virtual
cessation of foreign and domestic trade made stocks of many types of consumer goods
irreplaceably. The shortage of cloth, thread, matches, cooking oils, soap, salt, kerosene
and leather goods became particularly acute.”

According to the socio-historical facts and circumstances which are taken from
Japan Khit Burma Pye written by Thakin Lwin (2012) (Trs.), after the progress of
Myanmar foreign trade was brought to a halt and almost all raw materials and necessary
goods were confiscated by the Japanese military forces, commodity prices had risen
 39

alarmingly all around the country and petroleum cost twenty-seven times, onions
twenty-two times and cooking oil thirteen times their original prices in pre-war days.
Moreover, in some regions, Myanmar people faced the inadequacy of rice and lived on
the edge of starvation since the Japanese military forces commandeered large amounts
of rice for their rations. Although rice from the Lower Myanmar could be exchanged
for cotton, beans, cooking oils, petroleum from the Upper Myanmar, transport facilities
such as hundreds of railway and highway bridges were destructed by the Japanese and
the Allied during the war and Myanmar people only had to use the boats and cart
transportation. The chief factors behind disrupting rice cultivation were excessive
slaughtering of cattle by the Japanese military for their rations, confiscation of cattle
for transportation and death of many oxen and cattle due to disease. During that period,
the citizens in some regions where rice was scarce had to eat corns, sweet potatoes,
pulses instead of rice, and in some regions, animal fat, grease and lard were used instead
of cooking oils and sesamum oil.

The worldview of the author towards the struggle of the housewife during war-
time which embedded in this story is discussed by means of human facts found in the
story and social facts beyond the story The Egg and I. Her worldview is apparently
revealed that the Japanese manipulation of business was the core root of the shortage
of rations and that scarcity was the central problem which got the housewife into trouble
and forced her to struggle for daily responsibility.

This story lays stress on the life of a housewife which was full of struggle,
adventure and risk during war-time days. The author put her idea of a housewife’s life
through these opening sentences, “The life of a housewife is not so dull as most people
imagine. It is far from being monotonous. It has its own thrills and excitements like any
other job.”, “House-keeping is, indeed, a many splendoured-thing, especially in war-
time.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 67). The life of a housewife was introduced as the
impressive and exciting thing since there was no time for the housewife to be bored
with her daily responsibilities as struggle and difficulties awaited with the purpose of
challenging to the housewife. Interestingly, all struggle of the housewife depicted in the
story attached to only the shortage of rations and food. During the Japanese
administration, the citizens faced the awful condition concerning food and they were
about to live on the edge of starvation. However, on account of the fact that the
housewife was mainly accountable for cooking in Myanmar society and culture, the
 40

narrator tried every trick in the book to save her family from starvation and not to be
malnourished in spite of the scarcity of food.

Concerning shortage of food, the Japanese manipulation of business and price

control were foremost deemed as the main causes in the story. During that period, raw
materials, ingredients and spices for cooking, rice and other rations were
commandeered by the Japanese military forces in order to support their soldiers.
Furthermore, although they issued orders to sell the commodities at the controlled price,
the citizens had very few chance to buy them with the set price since those goods were
not available at the market any more after the orders because the Japanese fascists took
possession of almost those commodities. Prices of commodities were not stable and
changing in every second, and the Japanese authorities were the ones who controlled
the price. On the other hand, food was distributed from the licensed shops to the citizens
by means of ration tickets. However, according to historical facts described in Japan
Khit Burma Pye by Thakin Lwin (2012) (Trs.), the licensed shops faced inadequacy of
rations almost every time and the rations were scarcely available only for once or twice
a month.

As a result, Myanmar people suffered under extremely awful conditions and

severely treated by the cruel acts of the Japanese fascists. According to these sentences,
“The ruling gods went on relentlessly with their acts of legerdemain.”, “I cursed the
moving finger that wrote the price control orders, but it wrote on.”, “I felt the frightful
fiend of a Japanese policeman might close upon me trend.” (Khin Myo Chit, 2005: 68,
71), the author’s feelings towards the Japanese fascists can prominently be observed.
The Japanese fascists were mentioned as the deceitful, cruel, horrible, selfish and
unsympathetic people who only looked their own interests regardless of other trouble
and misery. Taken these human facts from the story and socio-historical facts together,
the author’s feelings on the Japanese brutal acts on Myanmar people and the idea on
the life of the housewife which was full of struggle and adventure are revealed
throughout the story. Consequently, reckoning the evil deeds of the Japanese fascists in
manipulating business as the central factor which caused scarcity of food and
considering the struggle of the housewife as the consequence arising out of the shortage
of rations were definitely the worldview of Khin Myo Chit in the story The Egg and I.
 41

To bring this chapter to a conclusion, the story Of Mice and Men is famous for
depicting social conditions of Myanmar during epidemics under the Japanese regime.
Likewise, the story The Egg and I is well-known for highlighting the trouble of a
housewife based on shortage of food. Remarkably, human facts explored in both stories
are totally the representation of the happenings occurred within Myanmar society of
that period. Since Khin Myo Chit had lived through the stormy times of the Japanese
regime, she witnessed to all terrible conditions happened on the land of Myanmar and
without a doubt, she became the collective subject of the whole society from the
perspective of genetic structuralism and depicted the events and circumstances that she
and her social group encountered as human facts in her story. By taking these human
facts in the stories and historical facts of that particular period into consideration, the
worldview of the author is presented respectively.
 42

5. CONCLUSION
This research is conducted with the aim of investigating the worldview of Khin
Myo Chit, Myanmar author, embedded in the selected short stories named Of Mice and
Men and The Egg and I, which were written focusing on Myanmar conditions during
the Japanese occupation. Genetic structuralism theory proposed by Lucien Goldmann
(1975) is majorly applied to carry out this research. From the lens of this theory, human
facts portrayed inside the stories are explored from identification of sentences and
continuously, socio-historical facts beyond the stories are taken into consideration in
order to relate human facts with the background of the stories.

By means of analysis of the structures of two stories, it is noted that human

activities, led by Myanmar people and the Japanese fascists, were significantly
portrayed in both stories from the point of view of the author. Additionally, in terms of
analysis of human facts, the Japanese strategies of fighting against epidemics, Myanmar
people’s means of earning their living during pandemic and the Japanese ways of
inflicting punishment for people’s disobedience are found as human facts depicted in
the story Of Mice and Men which underline mostly social efforts and activities
concerned with epidemics. Moreover, human facts portrayed in the story The Egg and
I are the trouble of a housewife during war-time, manipulation of the Japanese fascists
in business and Myanmar citizens’ terror of the Japanese fascists. Expectedly, all
human facts in two stories shed light on the social issues and circumstances within
Myanmar society under the Japanese regime during 1942-45.

Another point to be highlighted in the structures of these two stories is the way
the author portrayed the relationship between Myanmar and the Japanese groups. She
revealed relations of these two groups as strained and tense relations, and Myanmar
people were expressed as the oppressed group who endured whatever the Japanese
fascists did and the Japanese as the authorities who had strong power to oppress the
citizens. More interestingly, these relations were displayed in both stories without a
single change although the stories represented different social circumstances. In
comparison with two stories, it is noted that two stories particularly stand for troubles
and miseries concerning two prominent social events happened within Myanmar
society during 1942-45; however, these troubles were differently portrayed in each
story, miseries of people during pandemic in the story Of Mice and Men, and struggle
of a housewife concerned with scarcity of food in the story The Egg and I. The
 43

similarity between two stories is that oppression of the Japanese fascists can clearly be
seen throughout the stories.

As the collective subject of Myanmar society, it was unworkable for the author
to pass over the united ideas of her society and consequently, she portrayed these social
facts and circumstances happened within Myanmar society as human facts in her
stories. Since genetic structuralism sees the structure of a text as the depiction of the
author’s worldview, the worldview of Khin Myo Chit embedded in these two stories is
revealed through human facts she portrayed in forming the structures of her stories. The
worldview of the author in the story Of Mice and Men is discussed in these ways;
deeming rats as the money-maker regardless of contagious diseases they spread,
reckoning the Japanese fascists as vigilant and enthusiastic fighters regarding
epidemics, and considering the lives of Myanmar people as people who endured the
painful moments with strong tolerance and did as they were told without a single word
of refusing to comply discipline enforced by the Japanese fascists. Furthermore,
believing deceitful acts of the Japanese fascists in manipulating business as the central
factor of causing scarcity of food and deeming trouble of the housewife as the
consequence of the shortage of rations are the worldview of the author embedded in the
story The Egg and I.

It can be concluded that the author was influenced by the united ideas and
feelings which came out from the bitter experiences and terrible sufferings of Myanmar
people under the Japanese regime. As the collective subject of that group, she depicted
that strained and dreadful relationship between these two groups in creating human
facts in both stories. Remarkably, the correlation of literary work and historical
background is also reflected in these short stories Of Mice and Men and The Egg and I
and both stories are entirely representation of the social circumstances of Myanmar
society under the Japanese administration during 1942-45.

5.1. Limitation and Suggestion

There are some limitations in this study. Due to time constraints, only two short
stories written by Khin Myo Chit are analyzed from the perspective of genetic
structuralism theory by Lucien Goldmann (1975). Therefore, the findings of this study
cannot be generalized for every aspect of the conditions in Myanmar during the
Japanese occupation. This research encompasses the worldview of the author towards
 44

only social issues and human facts associated with pandemic and shortage of food, and
will not cover other social and historical circumstances of that period. Thus, the
researcher of this present study suggests further researchers to focus on literary texts
which reflect political and economic systems in Myanmar in order to trace the realities
portrayed in the texts from the lens of genetic structuralism theory and to explore the
socio-historical background of Myanmar through the study of literary texts.
 45

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Internet Sources
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/13-Carat-Diamond-and-Other-Stories

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese-occupation-of-Burma

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-campaign

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien-Goldmann

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41035264

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-
954X..1977.tb03236.x?journalCode=sora

https://www.amazon.com/Burma-Japan-since-1940-Co-prosperity/dp/8791114985

https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Dictionary-Myanmar-Dictionaries-
Oceania/dp/0810854767
 48

Appendix

Of Mice and Men

People say ‘a cat has nine lives’, but I often wonder how many lives we humans
have. When I look back on all the years I have lived through I find it really amazing
how human life endures.

Time the great healer has cleansed away many of the painful memories and
some diverting incidents stand out clearly against what was once all gloom. It is strane
how these collections come to me. Just because I heard some students discussing ‘The
Pied Piper of Hamelin’. Of course their discussion was all about rats.

Rats! The rats I knew did not kill cats or stop women’s gossip. They were a
money-making comodity. Rat-catching was one of the means by which people earned
their living in war-time. It is like this.

The Japanese has a horror of epidemics, plagur and cholera having taken away
during the first months of their occupation in Myanmar. The cold season came and rats
began to die of plague and spread the disease. Warnings to keep houses and grounds
clean and free from rats were quite usual. The rodents were caught in traps and done
away with.

The Japanese were very diligent and enthusiastic in their fight against
epidemics. It was not enough that people were warned and instructed to do away with
rats. They saw to it that everyone joined in their campaign.

Every household was supplied with a mouse-trap with instructions to catch at

least one rat every week and bring the rat or rats to the health centre.

On the appointed day, you could see men queueing up at the health centre each
with a mouse-trap in hand. In the mouse-traps were “Great rats, small rats, lean rats,
brawny rats, brown rats, black rat, tawny rats.”

The man had to wait quite a long time to see the health officer, so they usually
spent their time discussing their catch. It was interesting to hear the brag, mock and
argue.

“You ought to see the real one-footer I caught last week.”

 49

“I once bagged one as big as a cat.”

“The one that got away had a tail three feet long.”

“Oh, really, the one that never came near me had a head three feet high three
high.”

One by one they surrendered their catch to the health officer who duly recorded
everything and gave out tickets certifying that such and such a person had caught the
quota of rats for the week. Then the officer handed the rats to another officer whose
sacred duty was to throw the rats into a vat of boiling water kept ready for the purposse.

But suppose a householder could not catch a single rat for the whole week?
Well, he would be in for a bad time. The Japanese health officer would come on his
inspection rounds and ask the house-holder to produce the ticket which certified that he
had not failed in this duty. If he could not produce the ticket, he would be taken to the
health centre and cross-examined. “Why don’t you catch rats? Do you want the Nippon
soldiers to die of plage? So you don’t want to cooperate with the Nippons? Are you a
British spy? They often punctunated these questios with vigorous slaps on the face.
When their tempers were particularly sweet, they might take him for a ride to some
god-saken suburb and leave him to walk back home.

This was how rat-catching became an honourable profession under the Japanese
regime. For the benefit of those who could not catch rats for themselves, there were the
enterprising peopl who earned their living by catchig and sellng rats. Rat-catching was
boosted as if it was part of the plan for the East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. Many public
lectures were given at street corners and woe betide those who passed by the vicinity.
They were stopped and forced to listen to the lectures regardless of the hurry they might
be in.

Once a friend of mine dressed up in his best was on his way to a fashionable
wedding. Clouds hung low and the sky was overcast with threatening rain. As he was
hurrying to save his precious finery, he carelessly rushed in where angles feared to
tread. He was stopped by armed Japanese soldiers on duty at the rat-catching lecture.
The wedding guest, he might beat his breast, yet he could not choose but hear. He was
held by the glittering bayoets. The lecture was unfortunately a long one and no wonder.
The Japanese officer delivered the lecture in Japanese. The interpreter translated it into
 50

Myanmar and this was followed by a Hindustani version given by the Indian interpreter.
Rain fell in torreants but no one could move. Rigid military discipline was enforced.
The poor wedding guest went home bedraggled, a sadder and a wiser man.

In those days life was all papers and credentials. No one could go, breathe
without them. Everyone had to carry papers about – papers testifying who he was, what
he did, where he lived, and many other particulars. One of the most important papers
was the inoculation certificate.

People were inoculated as part of the anti-epidemic campaign. A batch of hastily

trained medical men were placed at the street corners, with instructions to stop anyone
and inoculate him. Afer that he got a ticket which was valid for the whole month. No
one dared go without that ticket because he might be inoculated every time he crossed
the road. Most people were scared of being inoculated by these ill-trained personnel.
So another profession was born. Many sturdy people got themselves inoculated as often
as they could and sold the tickets.

The Japanese had peculiar ways of doing things. When a person died and
contagious diseases was suspected, the whole area was quarantined. It was fenced off
with thick steel plates, barbed wire and put under guard. The period of quarantine lasted
for three or four months during which no one was allowed to get in or go out. The
people had to exist on the victuals which the Japanese masters supplied in their great
concern for the poor quarantined people. Once a cemetery was included in such an area.
Funerals were conducted in the most unusual manner. The procession would go
solemnly by until it reached the barbed wire fence. Then the mouners and friends would
break into groups wondering how they should behave at such a juncture. Some stalwart
youths would scale the fence and bawl out to the people inside. Others would talk to
the guards trying to get a pass-port for the dear departed. There would be a lot of talking,
shouting and bawling. A few urchins would come and examine the hearse, and have
lots of fun picking out the flowers from the wreaths. It was always some time before
the coffin was transported over the fence to the people inside, while the mourners and
friends remained outside. “Few and short were the prayers we said, and we spoke not a
word of sorrow.” But these incidents are nothing when compared to the one I have
almost withheld, out of sheer delicacy. But I feel I shall not be true to myself if I let this
 51

one go unrecorded. “Truth is beauty,” so sings the poet. Here is the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth.

The Japaense health officers were even more vigilant on steamers and trains.
Everyday they would go round and inspect the travellers. Stool tests were made
everyday. Each traveller had to give them the specimen which must be ready at hand
when they came on inspection. Many old people were so frightened that they could not
produce the required stuff. But the official demand was so insistent and severe that they
had to go a begging for the much needed portion. Even them, their troubles were not
over. If the officials found a hint of contagious disease in the stool the person concerned
would be taken away to be quarantined. It meant being torn away from fellow travellers
and breaking the journey. So the old people had to be very careful from whom they
took the stuff or they might be punished for something which was not of their own
making. All this is hard to believe, and blessed are they who cannot believe a word of
it.
 52

The Egg And I

The life of a house-wife is not so dull as most people imagine. It is from being
monotonous. It has its own thrills and excitements likw any other job. It is worthy of a
place of honour in the galaxy of topics for shop-talk. House-keeping is, indeed, a many
splendoured-thing, especially in wartime.

I was only two years married when the war broke out. I had entered the holy
state of matrimony armed with scrap-books of recipes, household hints, and what-not
from women’s magazines. Now all my scrap books are lost and it is better so. What
earthly use is it to know how to remove gravy stains on clothes, when there is no gravy
and much less clothes?

Anyway, there was not much housework to do in those days. There were only a
few clothes to wash and not much to cook. It was rather tragic, because I had just learnt
to cook properly. Now I could no more show off my culinary arts on those almost non-
existent rations. However, creative instinct was strong in me. I learnt to make the most
of a teaspoonful of cooking oil, half a wrinkled onion, a stale yellow garlic clove, three
or four pale limp shrimps which must have died in the concentration camp, and a heap
of freshly picked water cress leaves. Looking at my achievement, I felt as proud as
Lucifer. Gauguin must have felt something like that when he painted the picture of the
brown girls on the lid of the barrel.

It took a mighty genius to bring the people of Myanmar, “where plenty cheered
the labouring swain” to the border of starvation. Prices were exorbitant. Then the ruling
gods hit upon the idea of price contril. They issued orders that such and such a
commodity must be sold at a controlled price. No sooner had they done so, then the
said commodity was no more to be seen. Cooking oil, onions, garlic, chillies, fish-paste,
all the essentials went one by one, as under the wand of a magician. The ruling gods
went on relentlessly with their acts of legerdemain.

I cursed the moving finger that wrote the price control orders, but it wrote on;
nor all my piety nor wit could lure it back to cancel half a line.

Of course, wr were supposed to get the rations from the licensed shops, with our
ration tickets. How it helped us many be seen in the episode of ‘The Poor Fish’.
 53

Fish was a delicacy. It sent my heart fluttering. I got up early in the morning
and left home full of high spirits. I promoised my family a nice dish for lunch. It was,
therefore, a bit of flop to see a mile-long queue at the shop. I braced myself. Nothing
was going to daunt my ‘noble rage’ and ‘freeze the genial current of my soul’. I stood
in the queue with my chin in the air and soon there was another miles of shoppers after
me.

I could have written a book on ‘How to pass your time on a queue’. First I stood
firmly glaring at those who were in front of me. I looked stealthily at the faces of the
shoppers, trying to attach some scandal, secret sorrow, even crime to each of them, I
collected data on each case, filed the documents, indexed them and wrote lengthy
reports. Then I fell to the age-old custom of looking at my own nails. By that time my
knees were giving way so I had to sit down as many of the shoppers had done. I looked
at them with distaste. They must have been there long before dawn. The gluttons! In no
face that the soul was dead, ‘drowned in the lump of flesh’. I gave them the evil eye
hoping they would go home, ashamed, thinking higher thoughrs such as giving up their
place in the queue to some one in need. They could never have heard of Sir Philip
Sydney’s famous ‘Thy need is greater than mine’. May be I was expecting too much.
The trouble with me was that my ideals were too high. Few people could live up to
them.

I had lost the idea of time but not of space, because the space between the
counter and me was getting narrower. To cut the long queue short, my tum came late
in the afternoon. When I finally got home, the only thing I could do about the poor fish
was to give him a decent burial. Poor fish!

From that time on, we existed on vegetables. The most attractive vegetable-
seller at the marker-place was an oid sinister-looking chinaman, with a few strands of
white hair on his otherwise bald head. He sat behind his vegetable basket, with a blank
stare in his small watery eyes. He was not much to look at, but women beamed on him
as if he were Gregroy Peck. His stall was always crowded with jostling shoppers. Then,
I found out his secret. He sold eggs!

Some one whispered to me this secret. I could hardly believe my ears. “Eggs?
What eggs? You mean…eggs?”, I murmured stupidly, “You mean to say the egg things
we make omelettes with?” Yes, indeed, the Chinaman sold eggs. It was a great risk to
 54

buy things from the black market, because both the buyer and seller would be pinushed.
It was easy, my friend told me. She did business by signal. The first step was to buy or
pretend to buy vegetables from him and give him a meaningful look, just a meaningful
look. He would thrust a packet of eggs into my hands. He would then signal the price
with his fingers. It sounded easy except ‘the meaningful look’. How was I to do it?
Should I give him a wink? Should I raise my eyebrows? My friend was rather vague on
this point. “Just a meaningful look,” she kept on saying.

Since my friend did not deign to make this point clear, I had to depend on my
own imagination. Should I give him a soulful glance? Should I look at him the way
damels in distress looked at their knights? Should I just a terrible thought struck me.
What would others think, if they saw me giving strange signals to the old Chinaman? I
played the scence several times, and every time it was some thing short of perfection.

As in the case of all great actresses, the call came when I was not quite ready. I
looked more like a tragic mouse than Melpomene when I wormed my way through the
market-place to reach the old Chinaman’s stall. I bent over the vegetables trying to
catch his watery eyes. I tried all sorts of winks and grimaces with no effect. I was just
going to give up when the old man thrust a packet under the vegetables and gave me
him the money. I hurriedly pushed the packet together with the vegetables into my
basket. They all went in without much ado.

As I trotted home, I dared not look into my basket. The pasket lay snugly, well
hidden among the vegetables. I thought I would never reach home. My feet seemed to
be manacled, I wanted to be home. I wanted to see if the packet contained eggs or not.
The Chinaman might have given me bad eggs or even no eggs at all. No, he could not
do this to me! Then, I remembered the police might search my basket on the way home.
In that case, I prayed that the man had given me no eggs at all. I trudged on, with my
head bowed, ‘like one that on a lonesome road, doth walk in fear and dread,’ I felt the
frightful fiend of a Japanese policeman might close upon me tread.

I was nearing home. I came near a small wooden bridge running across a ditch.
I could see my husband with our little son perched on his shoulders, waiting for me at
the gate. At the same time I heard the thump of hob-nailed boots behind me. Terror
clutched my heart. The Japs were after me! I saw my son wave at me. The sight of my
 55

loved ones gave me courage. My steps became firm and quick. The thump of the hob-
nailed boots faded away. It was only an unsuspecting soldier. I was saved!

My husband waved. My little son gave a squeal of delight. I took a short cut
keeping clear of the bridge. Coming near the ditch which was only two or three feet
wide, I gathered my skirt above my ankles, and with the basket over my arm, I jumped.
All at once I saw the sky and trees above me move like things in a kaieidosscope. I
landed on my back in a muddy puddle.

Ko Latt knelt beside me. “Are you all right? Your spine may be broken; do not
move as yet,” he said anxiously. “No, my spine is all right. It can’t break. Mother Nature
has taken special care with my spince, because she knows what lies ahead,” I told him
grimly. He helped me to sit up and my little son threw himself into my arms. I hugged
the little soft warm body and giggled. It was so good to be home.

Then I remembered the eggs! They were nowhere to be seen. There was a
deafening din of caw-caws and a formation of crows swooped down on the ditch. There
lay my basket, the eggs rolled out, all broken with their sunny sides up. I pointed at the
crows feasting on my precious eggs and sobbed out the story of the egg and I.