The Introduction to This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya

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The Introduction to This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya
The earth of mankind was the first novel written in the pram toer’s Buru quartet. It gives details of the life of an Indonesian called Minke. Mind e understands that the world in which he lives, expands as a result of education and interaction with the characters whose motives are revealed in the BQ novels (Fenster).Ann E. Sherman, 2006 gave an explanation of PT who has the gift of epigeram, says
“pity is the feeling of well intentioned people who are unable to act and that their soul and the psyche are not mentioned in the official letters”.
He adds by asking this question:
” how can human beings are looked upon purely from the point of official documents without considering their essence as human beings?”
Pramoedya was a supporter of Sukarno and especially the great communist party in Indonesia. He was a very strong advocate and he never supported the revolution. He was totally against the group which called for free speech which was advocating for freedom of ideas and basic human rights for all (the manifest kebudayaan). He called for those people who were for the idea of free speech to be pushed aside and get banned. When one member called Lubis was jailed, Pramoedya never spoke any word on how he was treated while in exile on the Bulu Island. On the other hand when Pramoedya got jailed by Suharto, Lubis ensured that he has gotten the paper and typewriter by making frequent visits while in the Bulu Island.
Pramoedya seemed to blame all Indonesia’s problems on foreign influence and ideas. He proposed a solution of adapting the china’s version of communism without thinking hat Marx and Mao were Indonesians.
According to Bro Chan, Pramoedya talks about economic, religious and racial turmoil in the “jewel of the pacific”. The nations are left nowadays in a deep silent and cry for the fate of their land. They are stunned by the political storm around them. They believe that their ancestors did something right for their independence from colonialism despite that something is missing. Through Mr. Toer map, he gives a clue on how the missing era reconnects with children of Indonesia today so that their buried past to relight the fire of genuine nationalism. He drew this map to let them find their root as a nation (Max 28).
A customer who read Pramoedya’s works tells us Pramoedya expands to give the experience of seeing science unravel its power in front of mankind, to be better or worse through the eyes of the main character. In this case people are forced to question themselves on identity, our own deeds, our own laws which govern the land, our suffering and finally on the oppression of other humankind. The customer adds further that Pramoedya has opened her eyes to make her see things surrounding culture, the country in terms of its history in an effort to see come to good terms with colonization closely.
Generally, Pramoedya wrote about his life as a man. He was jailed three times under three different regimes in Indonesia. He focuses his main character; Minke from young adolescence through adulthood (this earth of mankind, 1975, child of all nations, 1975 and house of glass, 1988-1990).Max argues that Minke represented a new form of social being”. While tracing Minke’s development especially on education, the formal and informal readers were brought to awareness of the history of Dutch East Indies. The Pramoedya’s tetra logy gives the myopia of the Dutch colonial policy and also the impact of the trends on the history of Indonesian independence movement.
Although Pramoedya focuses in the Earth of Mankind, Minke shifts from the fascination with the Dutch appreciation and the celebration of their culture. Minke, a young Javanese narrator reveals himself as a student in the European science and technology. He was captivated by the Netherland’s queen Wilhelmina whereby he got fascinated by the new telegraph, new developments, the European manners of the Nyai Ontosoroh and the teacher of Dutch language and literature Magda Peters.
Minke was proud to be a student at the HBS and believed education was his target to succeed in the Dutch government of the Netherlands East Indies. While in school, he found Annelis, the young beauty daughter to Hermann Mellema. They fall in love but again his love for his culture was something that took him time to develop. The study and the copy of how Europeans did their things was what Minke is supported to do by the Dutch in power in Indonesia at the turn of the century. The selected product of an HBS was the only native in that school and was accepted because of his intelligence and his social standing.
The HBS education worked very well for the Dutch in the first volume of Pramoedya’s tetra logy. Minke is convinced by Magda that the education he receives will raise him above other natives, put him in the same level as the Pures. Minke develops and even improves in his writing skills especially in Dutch under the pseudonym of Max Tollenaar. The mother warned him to write in the language that his people cannot understand, but Minke is so much deep in the Dutch culture that he would not write in Javanese or Malay...