IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

BY
LATIFF MOHIDIN
IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP
IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF “IN THE
MIDST OF HARDSHIP”

BIOGRAPHY

Latiff Mohidin was born in

1941. He is a Malaysian
modernist painter, sculptor and
poet. He is known for his body
of paintings, sculptures and
writings which were gathered
under the term “Pago Pago”
produced between 1964 and
1968.
 IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

STANZA 1
The family got home at dawn after the
disaster they encountered the previous day.
With their soaky clothes, they entered the
kitchen without a sign of despair.

STANZA 2
The whole day and night passed
without their albino buffalo. They had
to bravely cross the horrendous flood
and look for their son in the farm but
all they’ve seen are broken branches of
trees and dead animals.
IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

STANZA 3
They do not find the albino buffalo so
they returned home. They walked to
the kitchen and talked to each other
while making jokes. They grew up
facing poverty so instead of
complaining about what happened
they just accepted it.
 IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

The poem is in free verse and it consists of three stanzas. It is written in the
point of view of the third person which is probably the author. He described
how the family handled the situation very well by accepting with what
they’ve lost instead of complaining. The family in the poem grew up facing
the hardship of life wherein they learned on how to see the beauty amidst
the problems in life. The family have optimistic attitude towards life’s
challenges, they focus on the positive part of life and they are strong to
overcome the problems.
 IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

This is truly an inspirational poem. I learned a lot of lessons from this that I
will bring as I grow up. This made me realize that you can’t avoid
challenges in the future but you can handle this well if you not let problems
dominate your life but instead look for the beauty in life. You can overcome
challenges if you have a positive mind set and if you have an optimistic
attitude.