A Quick run through of Shahnon Ahmad's novel

1. No Harvest But a Thorn
By: Shahnon Ahmad

2. Shahnon Ahmad
• 1933- Born in the remote
village of Banggul Derdap, in
Kedah, Malaysia
• 1947 to 1953- attended
English secondary school
• Graduated with an Asian
Studies degree in an Australian
university and M.A. from the
University of Science in
Penang, Malaysia
• Member of the opposition
party PAS (Pan-Malaysian
Islamic Party—a parliament
party) and won in Sik in the
parliamentary election of 1999

3. Shahnon Ahmad
• Writing Career
– Most important
contemporary prose writer
in the Malay language
• novelist, satirist, and short
story writer
– Won the highest literary
awards in his country
• 1976 - Pejuang
Sastera (Champion of
Literature)
• 1982 - Anugerah Sastera
Negara (Writer Laureate
Award)

4. BACKGROUND ON ISLAMIC VIEWS
• Widows carry fewer rights
than other women.
• Older people acts as the
spine and anchor in the
institutions and society.
• Men need to take care of
women because each was
created mutually.
• Mothers are more
important, but fathers
will always be the head of
the family.

5. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan)
• literal translation: Traps
along the Way
• a textbook for
secondary school
children
• made into a movie in
1983 entitled, “Rice
People”

6. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan)
• Setting:
–Time: post
colonial (1960s)
–Banggul Derdap =
a poor village
• rice field
• Lahuma’s house
• Farming – people’s
means of living

7. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan)
• Characters:
– Lahuma
• father of seven
children; husband of
Jeha
• a responsible and
hardworking farmer
and head of the
family
– Jeha
• wife of Lahuma

8. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan)
• Characters:
– The Seven Children
• Sanah- eldest; will be
married soon
• Milah
• Jenab
• Semek
• Liah
• Lebar
• Kiah- youngest

9. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan)
• Other Characters:
– Tok Penghulu
• head of the village;
owns large parcels of
land; has a tractor
– Ali Ketopi and Mat
Diah
• neighbors of Lahuma
and his family

10. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 1
– Introduction of the Characters and Setting;
Beginning of the Planting Season
• Chapter 2
– Lahuma examined his land showing his love for his
work and family
• Chapter 3
– While working, Jeha encountered a snake.

11. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 4
– Jeha kept remembering the incident with the
snake.
– Jeha was still unable to work with Lahuma.
• Chapter 5
– Sanah and Milah began to work on the fields.

12. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 6
– Nibong thorn pierced Lahuma’s foot.
– Lahuma tried to remove the thorn but he failed.
– Lahuma wasn’t able to work.
• Chapter 7
– Lahuma dies because the pus has spread
throughout his body.

13. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 8
– Lahuma was buried.
– Jeha and her children worked the fields.
– Tok Penghulu brought the tractor to Lahuma’s
fields.
• Chapter 9
– Rice was planted in the fields.

14. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 10
– Crabs attacked the rice fields.
– Jeha and the children picked the crabs up and
killed them.
– Jeha kept having dreams and hallucinations of
Lahuma.
• Chapter 11
– Jeha lost her sanity. She went to the Tok Penghulu
and showed him her breasts.

15. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 12
– Jeha ran amok in the middle of the night. She was
then placed in the cage leaving Sanah in charge of
the fields.
• Chapter 13
– Floods came to Banggul Derdap. Sanah, Milah,
and Jenab cleared the rice plots.
– Jeha was taken to a mental asylum.

16. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 14
– Rice has ripened ready for the harvest.
• Chapter 15
– The tiaks has appeared.
– The sisters fought the tiaks.
– Sanah, Milah, Jenab, and Semek harvested the
rice.

17. No Harvest but a Thorn
• Chapter 16
– Rice production turned out to be very poor.
– The sisters waited for Jeha.
– Jeha returned. She ran wild to see the harvested
rice.
– Jeha would be returned the following day to the
mental asylum.

18. No Harvest but a Thorn
(Analysis)
• The Young and the
Old
• The Role of Men
and Women

19. The Young and the Old
• The novel shows that
being young isn’t a
hindrance.
• Sanah and her sisters
eventually came out
triumphant in spite of the
downfall of the supposed
“spine” of their family.

20. The Role of Men and Women
• Farming has always been
known to be a man’s job,
but Ahmad showed that
women can also
contribute to farming.
• Lahuma died in the story,
but the rice fields bore
fruits because of the
women in his family.