Indonesia’s The Crow published by Zen Hae is depicted from a perspective of a Crow fuelled with hatred, vindictively seeking malice to those who harmed him. The saying “An eye for an eye” is evident in this case as “Cangkriman cried out, with his eye bleeding”, clearly illustrating the lust of vengeance from the crow. One of the central themes in The Crow would be the search for identity as the story regularly refers to traits of certain characters alongside revenge. Referring back to “an eye for an eye”, we can see that the protagonist fulfils the saying as once he has sought revenge, he decided to end his own life. The journey of The Crow is a unique piece which cohesively emits an impactful ending. However, despite having the object of a very interesting plot and resolution, it does not give much of an insight into the Indonesian culture. Scoreline remains 0–0 at half time.
Libya’s Run George is written by Najwa bin Shatwan consisting of George, a man who’s already dead but viewed as a “white eggplant” to others. Through the progression of the story, it is evident that George’s daily life contains struggles and hardship due to him being treated abusively. For me, I found the plot extremely interesting at the climax due to the suspense and pacing of the sentences. Shatwan cleverly utilises quotation and since the piece is written through an omniscient perspective, we’re able to visualise the scene thoroughly. As the story comes to a halt, despite the anti-climactic words of “happily ever after”, it was fascinating as it explored the theme of death and reincarnation almost optimistically since George died to “the hands of a wedding bullet”. Overall, Shatwan has done an immaculate job of conveying Libya’s culture despite having morbid themes and overpower Indonesia.
Hence, Indonesia falters to Libya 2–0.
