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  • This Earth of Mankind

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    Patricia Almera
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    This novel examines the effects of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia during the late 19th/early 20th century. It depicts the lack of basic rights and control over their own lives that natives experienced under colonial rule. The story shows the racial divisions in social class, as the native protagonist Minke is looked down upon for being non-European. It also depicts the Eurocentric views held by some natives. A main theme is the importance of education as a way to change one's life and escape poverty, which Minke and other characters recognize. The author's view is that education can transform situations and it is up to natives themselves to improve their conditions, rather than waiting for outside help.

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    Short reaction paper on "This Earth of Mankind"

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    This novel examines the effects of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia during the late 19th/early 20th century. It depicts the lack of basic rights and control over their own lives that natives experienced under colonial rule. The story shows the racial divisions in social class, as the native protagonist Minke is looked down upon for being non-European. It also depicts the Eurocentric views held by some natives. A main theme is the importance of education as a way to change one's life and escape poverty, which Minke and other characters recognize. The author's view is that education can transform situations and it is up to natives themselves to improve their conditions, rather than waiting for outside help.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    22 views1 page

    This Earth of Mankind

    Uploaded by

    Patricia Almera
    This novel examines the effects of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia during the late 19th/early 20th century. It depicts the lack of basic rights and control over their own lives that natives experienced under colonial rule. The story shows the racial divisions in social class, as the native protagonist Minke is looked down upon for being non-European. It also depicts the Eurocentric views held by some natives. A main theme is the importance of education as a way to change one's life and escape poverty, which Minke and other characters recognize. The author's view is that education can transform situations and it is up to natives themselves to improve their conditions, rather than waiting for outside help.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 1

    This Earth of Mankind

    The novel’s main theme centers around Dutch Colonialism, and examines the differences between

    how these laws affected the natives and the colonizers. The author wrote about the lack of basic human

    rights for the natives, and their lack of control on their lives while under the control of the colonizers. The

    division in social class due to race is evident throughout the whole story, with Minke’s schoolmates looking

    down on him for being the only non-European in his school, and Minke’s shock when Nyai could speak

    perfect Dutch even though she is a Native. The Eurocentric thinking of the natives is also seen in the story,

    especially in the quote that goes: “…Javanese feel as if they are from a race which has no equal on the

    earth, but as soon as they are near a European… they shrivel up, lacking the courage even to lift up their

    eyes”. This story of colonization is not new to me, and I also greatly appreciated that another main theme

    in the story is the importance of education. Throughout the entire novel, Minke and Nyai talk about

    education; Minke talks about how he must always finish his studies, and Nyai talks about how experiences

    can be the greatest teacher if one just allows him/herself to learn. The author’s view on education is very

    clear: that education can change someone’s life, and it is vital in escaping poverty. The main character of

    the novel aspires to finish his education, and people around him tell him to do the same, one even telling

    him: “As an educated person, surely understand that your people have fallen very low, humiliatingly low.

    Europeans can no longer do anything to help. The Natives themselves must begin to do something”. I found

    this quote to be the most memorable in the book, because it shows how if one is in a bad situation, one must

    figure out a way to fix the problem, rather than wait for someone else to help; and education could be a way

    to escape these problems. As for my questions: why does the author censor or conceal certain names in the

    novel, such as names of the towns (B---), or the names of the schools?

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