From early on in Land’s End, Malia was shown to be a strong and work-focused individual. One of the more interesting decisions she made, was to keep a firm separation between the profits of herself and her husband’s work–paying her husband for his job as porter of her shallot corps. While not uncommon in Lauje culture, their relationship was an obvious example of how to separate and balance crops between a husband and wife. Malia’s decision to separate her personal and work life like this can been traced to multitude of cultural, economic, and social relations. This system seemed natural in relation to the institutions common to her culture, and there are examples of failed relationships that prove this. Malia and Tabang’s natal economic system played a role, as well as the societal expectations placed on Malia. Socially, the separation provided Malia a means with which to equalize power in her relationship.
Paying your spouse for their work was not discouraged by Lauje culture. In
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Malia paid several of her neighbours to work over her crops in addition to her husband. By choosing to grow shallots, Malia would have found it difficult to maintain a reliable income. And yet, both Malia and Tabang were both happy to grow shallots as opposed to tobacco plants; both husband and wife came from families who grew tobacco and their families were in debt as a result of it. Coastal people would gain money from highland tobacco farmers by keeping them in a perpetual state of debt, as Tabang explained at one point. They ultimately had little control over their means of production and relied on merchants to provide them enough money to survive. For this reason, preserving proprietary rights over their own work, even between each other, was very important to
Malia paid several of her neighbours to work over her crops in addition to her husband. By choosing to grow shallots, Malia would have found it difficult to maintain a reliable income. And yet, both Malia and Tabang were both happy to grow shallots as opposed to tobacco plants; both husband and wife came from families who grew tobacco and their families were in debt as a result of it. Coastal people would gain money from highland tobacco farmers by keeping them in a perpetual state of debt, as Tabang explained at one point. They ultimately had little control over their means of production and relied on merchants to provide them enough money to survive. For this reason, preserving proprietary rights over their own work, even between each other, was very important to