ANALYSIS OF

MULTICULTURAL
LITERATURE IN 2 SHORT
STORIES
PRESENTED BY NORIZZATI ZULKIFLI
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY OF THE 2 ELEMENTS IN

01 SHORT STORIES 03 ‘MARIAH’

ELEMENTS IN
02 ‘THE LANDLADY’ 04 COMPARISONS
 01

SUMMARY
Summary of the 2 short stories which are
‘The Landlady’ and ‘Mariah’
 SUMMARY OF THE LANDLADY

When seventeen-year old Billy Weaver takes the train from London to Bath in search of work, his first
priority is finding lodgings, and after asking the porter at the train station for recommendations, he sets off
towards The Bell and Dragon pub. As he walks through the unfamiliar city, Billy notices how decrepit and
neglected the neighborhood is, however he is stopped in his tracks when—in stark contrast to his gloomy
surroundings—he spots a charming and “brilliantly lit” Bed and Breakfast. After deliberating whether he
should continue his journey to the pub, Billy feels inexplicably drawn toward the Bed and Breakfast. The
roaring fire enchants Billy, and he can’t help but notice the inviting furniture, the “pretty little dachshund”
curled up by the hearth, and the cheerful yellow chrysanthemums in the window. As Billy lingers outside, in
the warm glow from the Bed and Breakfast window, the door swings open and a friendly old woman
welcomes him inside.
 SUMMARY OF THE LANDLADY

The landlady is terribly kind towards Billy, and offers him a cheap price for lodgings. As he hangs up his
coat, Billy notices “there are no other hats or coats in the hall.” It strikes him as a little peculiar that the Bed
and Breakfast is not busier, especially because it is so pleasant. As she leads him upstairs, the landlady
explains that she is a little “choosy and particular” about the guests she accepts into her home. While
showing him around his neat bedroom, the landlady insists that Billy sign the guest book that same night.
Billy is amused by the landlady’s odd behavior, but he is not alarmed. Billy is curious about the two names
in the guest book, and asks the landlady several questions about them. He becomes increasingly certain that
he’s heard the names somewhere, perhaps in the newspaper, but every time he gets close to working out how
or why, the landlady changes the subject.
 SUMMARY OF THE LANDLADY

The landlady makes numerous strange remarks about her previous guests, Mr. Christopher Mulholland and
Mr. Gregory W. Temple, commenting on their bodies, their ages, and speaking about them as if they were
still living upstairs. Billy is unable to ascertain how long they were guests at the Bed and Breakfast, or when
they left. The landlady contradicts herself constantly, but remains insistent that Billy must drink his tea.
During one of the landlady’s long silences, Billy realizes that the caged parrot in the living room is not in
fact alive. The landlady explains enthusiastically, “I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away,” and
points to the dachshund, which is also dead and stuffed. At this exact moment, Billy notices that his “tea
tasted faintly of bitter almonds.” He asks the landlady, “haven't there been any other guests here except them
in the last two or three years?” She replies, with a smile, that there has not.
 SUMMARY OF ‘MARIAH’

This story is about a beautiful, attractive widow named Mariah who stayed in a small village town of Molo,
Kelantan. She sells nasi berlauk everyday. Her nasi belauk was famous among the villagers especially men
because they really love to watch Mariah, instead of enjoying her nasi belauk every time they went to her
stall. This Che Husna Azhari artwork is about polygamy issue within Pak Imam, which can be considered as
a big character besides Mariah. He is the one who the villagers refer to when they faced any problems,
especially problems related to their marriage. This is because his harmony marriage life was an example to
the villagers. His wife, CikYam was a good and obedient wife. One day, when the Imam saw Mariah, he was
transported to his youth time, remembering his past love when he was studying in Pattani. At last, he asked
for her wife permission to marry Mariah.
 SUMMARY OF ‘MARIAH’

After Pak Imam had discussed with her about his intention to have another marriage with Mariah, Cik
Yam felt upset and do not agree at the time. But because she loves his husband so much, she then
agreed to let Pak Imam to get married. As for Pak Imam, even though he is known as Imam and
respected by the whole villagers, but he is still just an ordinary person that cannot being separate by
other human being by behaving like he is (want to get married with Mariah although he already have
a good wife but he was not satisfied because Cik Yam can·t be able to produce heir for him.
 02
ELEMENTS IN THE
LANDLADY
Elements and themes found in the short story
‘The Landlady’.
 1. DECEPTIVE APPEARANCES

● The landlady in the story is the embodiment of a kind, gentle lady. She appears absent-
minded and slightly “off her rocker” as Billy notices from the start, but “harmless”.

● Billy seems so intent in seeing her as a harmless figure, that he deliberately ignores the
clues which would otherwise make him suspect her, such as the guestbook, her taxidermy,
the repeated references to how good-looking her guests were.

● The landlady who pretends to be harmless is actually a murderer. The house is also used
for the purpose of providing a cozy, attractive front, which becomes a trap for the guests.
 DECEPTIVE APPEARANCES

● The landlady openly objectifies and sexualizes young Billy. Had the story been one
about an older man preying on a much younger girl, the reader would likely be
unsurprised when the landlord turned out to be a cruel, evil murderer. Through a simple
role reversal, however, the author draws attention to the misleading nature of societal
prejudices and stereotypes.

● Throughout the story, Dahl demonstrates how easily Billy’s judgment is clouded and
undermined by his positive first impressions of the landlady’s Bed and Breakfast. The
allegorical message at the heart of “The Landlady” urges readers to look beyond the
surface. By contrasting appearance and reality, Dahl illustrates how the truth is often
concealed by superficial outward appearances.
 2. MANIPULATION ON THE YOUNGSTER

● Billy, who is very unsuspecting is impressionable and seduced by the warm and
generous conduct of the nefarious old lady. On the other hand, the old lady is secretive,
cunning and strategic in her choice of words.

● She carefully insists that Billy signs the entry logs (possibly signing away his freedom
and life) and drink the tea which she had intentionally drugged. Even the plethora of
animals inside the building may add a sense of action and bustle but in truth, they are
stuffed carcasses of dead animals.
 2. MANIPULATION ON THE YOUNGSTER

● In his youthful exuberance, Billy disregards is own instincts and chases the warmth of
the bread and breakfast instead of his first choice, the pub. It is his haste that leads him
into the wily trap set by the old lady.

● Thus, he becomes a victim of his impatient youth as well as the lady’s wise and
elaborate deception. She also brainwashes the young man by showering praise about his
youth and looks which is another flaw of the restless days of adolescence.
 ELEMENTS IN
03 ‘MARIAH’
The elements found in the short story
‘Mariah’
 1. GENDER ROLE FULFILLMENT

● In ‘Mariah’, gender role fulfilment, stereotyping and oppression towards women in

polygamy system phonemena can be found easily. Cik Yam was an almost perfect wife
who took good care on her family, had good culinary and housekeeping skills.

● Her skills were a model to be followed by other women in the village too. In Muslim
Society, Muslim women must be dutiful in their roles in a family. So, Cik Yam already
fulfil her responsibilities well and always make sure the house’s cleanliness and tidiness.
 1. GENDER ROLE FULFILLMENT

● We can see this from the evidences from the story:

○ ‘Her culinary skills were not her only attribute, her housekeeping was also a model to
be followed by other womenfolk in the village. One could always call at Imam’s house
at any time of the day, guaranteed to be greeted by a well-turned-out wife.’ (Mariah, pg.
5)

● Furthermore, even Cik Yam was sad and angry whent Imam went to eat breakfast at Mariah’s
Kedai Merpati instead of enjoying her nasi belauk at home, she still did her responsibility and
served her husband. The evidence from the story is:

○ ‘Cik Yam was there to greet him, she took off his kufiyah and gave him a clean sarong
to change into.’ (Mariah, pg. 7)
 2. STEREOTYPING

● For Imam, it is a must for women to bear children. This can be seen from the examples in the story:

○ ‘As far as he was concerned, bearing children was a woman’s job, and if she didn’t, there
was something wrong with her. Fertility had nothing to do with men.’ (Mariah pg. 8)

● Then, when Cik Yam blamed Imam for breakfasting at Mariah’s rather than eating her foods, Imam
blamed other womenfolk who spread the news to Cik Yam. He did not realize that it was actually
his fault. The evidence:

○ ‘Oh women! They are so impossible, why do they have to go around making life difficult
for men? Beats the hell oit of me.’ (Mariah pg. 8)
04 COMPARISON
Comparison of the elements between the two
short stories
 COMPARISON
THE LANDLADY
1. Deceptive appearances
• As explained before, the old lady deceive
Billy with her appearance. She shows the
embodiment of a kind, gentle lady. She
appears absent-minded and slightly “off her
rocker” as Billy notices from the start, but
“harmless”.
2. Manipulation on the youngster
• The old lady manipulate Billy who is very
unsuspecting because he is a very easy
target due to his age. The old lady has been
secretive, cunning and strategic in her
choice of words.
MARIAH
1. Deceptive appearance
• Imam shows a deceptive appearance because
he appears to be a role model because of his
title and he seems to be very happy and
harmonious in his marriage with Cik Yam but
actually he desired to marry Mariah.
2. Manipulation on the youngster
• In this short story, there is no element of
manipulation towards any youngster, but the
Imam did show how he manipulate Cik Yam’s
mind by guilt-tripping her using the absence of
children in their life to marry Mariah.
 COMPARISON
MARIAH
1. Gender fulfillment
• This story shows how women have certain
roles in the society and they need to fulfill
their responsibilities as a wife no matter
what, while men can just get away with it as
a husband.
2. Stereotyping
• This was shown when Imam thought that
his wife, Cik Yam is the reason why they
still didn’t have any children. He said, ‘As
far as he was concerned, bearing children
was a woman’s job, and if she didn’t, there
was something wrong with her. Fertility had
nothing to do with men’, eventhough he
may be the one who has problem with
fertility.
THE LANDLADY
1. Gender fulfillment
• This element is not found in the short story
because the genre is more to horror and
thriller, so there is lack of any gender issues.
2. Stereotyping
• There is no element of stereotyping clearly
shown in The Landlady, but we can say that
Billy, the main character stereotype the old
lady as kind and warm-hearted just because
she is an old lady. Just as we usually think, in
the society, an old lady will be very respected
and appreciated.
I THINK THAT’S ALL FROM ME,
THANK YOU.

THE END.
 REFERENCES
Nur Amni Dabiah. (November, 2019). ‘Mariah’ by Che Husna Azhari - My Readings. Retrieved from:
https://nuramniadabiah.blogspot.com/2019/11/mariah-by-che-husna-azhari.html

Allen, H. (January, 2021). Analysis, Summary and Themes of ‘The Landlady’ by Roald Dahl.
Retrieved from:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Landlady-Roald-Dahl-Meaning-Themes-Summary-Foreshadowin
g

Mortin, L. (October, 2013). The Landlady. Retrieved from:

https://prezi.com/i6w4-l1qvayz/the-land-lady/

Johnson, B. (2020). Feminism in Mariah by Che Husna Azhari. Retrieved from:

https://freebooksummary.com/feminism-in-mariah-by-che-husna-azahari-essay