Sibling relationships would be valued and not taken for granted.

With
close reference to the text describe how the siblings in the novel
portray this statement .
The story,Sing to the Dawn,tells of the frustrations and prejudice a young Thai
village girl,Dawan faces when she wants to further her education in the City.She
has her early education in the village school and then wins a scholarship and has
a chance for further schooling in the City school.
The story portrays two pairsof siblings-Dawan and her brother,Kwai and Bao
andher brother,Vichai.These two pairs of siblings have different approaches of
siblings relationship.Dawan and Kwai enjoys doing things together and are in the
same school.The enjoy getting up earlybefore break of dawn and also go to the
oldwooden bridge to watch the sunrise.They sit in easy companionship and
talkabout their ideas,aspirations on how to improve the lives of the villagers.Both
are interested infurthering their education in the city but need to get the
scholarship to be able to do that.There seem to be a silent agreement that each
will support the other irrespective of who wins the scholarship.
Dawan and Kwai show that they value their relationship as shown by a few
incidents.Kwai encourages Dawan to speak out during his meetings with the
teacher and class discussions.When Dawan wins the scholarship,Kwai feels a
deep disappointment but in his own silent brotherly way,he is happy about
it.Confident that he acted well as a brother,Kwai is confused and upset when Bao
the flower girl accuses him ofbullying Dawan over the scholarship.He is touched
that Dawan does not blame him for the incident of her hurt ankle although he is
directly responsible for it.She leaves the umbrella to him and walks on her hurt
foot in the heavy rain.Sure of her convictions that he should not stand in the way
of his sisters future,he convinces father that he should permit Dawan to take up
the scholarship.This is the essence of their sibling relationship-trust and faith in
each other.
On the last morning before she leaves for the city,Dawan and Kwai realise things
will not be the same for them after this.They know they will miss being together
on the bridge on misty mornings and both feels teary.However,when the bus
Dawan travels in passes the rice fields,Kwai waves goodbye to her from the old
bridge.
On the other hand,Bao and her brother,Vichai have a rather strained sibling
relationship.The brother is not sensitive to the sisters need and
emotions.WhileVichai attends school,Bao does not.He makes no attempt to tell
her about school and his school mates.Bao sells flowers and pigeons at the
market and Vichai checks of money she collects to make sure she has the correct
amount.This is all he is concerned about showing that he takes for granted that
she must always follow his orders.When there is discrepancy in the money
collected with the number of empty cages,he lashes out at Bao physically giving
her stinging slaps and kicks.This bullying bothers Kwai and Dawan as they

attempt to protect Bao.Vichai does not even see the agony Bao feels whem one
of the sparrows is crushed to death.
The story does portray that sibling relationships should be valued and not taken
for granted.There should be mutual support and love between and among
siblings.

Character that you like

My favourite character in the novel Sing to the Dawn is Dawan.Dawan a young
Thai village girl,wins a scholarship to study in the city school.Her
brother,Kwai,places second and is at first jealous of his sisters success.It causes
a rift between the two previously-close siblings.This hostility is made worse by
Dawans father,who feels that the city is noplace for a female.Dawan faces
obstacles at every turn but she bravely overcomes them,and proves to herself,as
well as to others,that she deserves the scholarship offered to her and is wellaware of the heavy responsibility it entails.
I greatly admire Dawans determination and courage in standing up for her
rights.After she achieves first place in a government exam and wins a
scholarship to study in a city school,she finds herself in a difficult situation.He
was hoping that his son Kwai would be the one to further his studies in the
city,not his daughter,a mere girl.
Even though she faces the disapproval of her father,Dawan is determined not to
let this golden opportunity slip away.She tries to enlist the help of Noi and an old
monk,to convince her father otherwise.Neither one supports her decision but she
does not give up nor does it deter her.Despite Noi telling her that the city is a
cruel and ugly place,Dawan still wants to see it for herself.She realises that life
may not necessarily be better for her in the city but she refuses to be

discouraged by the horrors of the city.She puts up a brave front when her father
refuses to allow her to study in the city.She challenges and reasons with her
father and finally he gives her his blessing.