Analysis Report of the Characters in This Earth of Mankind

by Melissa Halim Darmawan – 2440014616 – LB61

This Earth of Mankind is Pramoedya Ananta Toer's first book in epic quartet called Buru
Quartet which was published in 1980. The story is set during the colonial era in the late 19 th
century. It is about a Native Javanese young man, Minke, who attends an elite Dutch school,
named Dutch High School (H.B.S) in Surabaya. He can attend that school because of his
Javanese royalty. One day, he meets Annelies Mellema who is an Indo and gorgeous, the
daughter of Nyai Ontosoroh. Then, he falls in love with Annelies and faces many difficulties
after he meets the Mellema family. In this analysis report, will be shown the analysis of some of
the characters in This Earth of Mankind.
The characterization of every character that was written by Toer is very interesting. Every
character in this story has their own uniqueness. Also, their characterization, such as personality
traits, can be spotted easily in the story. It can be found easily because it is either already written
or between the conversations of the characters. The characterization of each character is not all
shown together, but it is developing as the story is going which makes this novel is more and
more interesting.
After reading the novel, these questions seem like interesting to be answered because in
the story, it does not state the exact answer. First, how can Minke be so open-minded and has a
mindset like a European? He even said that he wanted to become a free human being, not given
orders, and not giving orders. Another question is, why Annelies is suffering psychologically
until she does not even trust her mother’s love will last forever? The last question is why did
Annelies decide to go to Netherland by herself and not want to go back? Annelies, who is
spoiled, has a fragile heart, and cannot deal with hurt, decided to leave her beloved husband and
mother. Also, she is often sick because Minke is not there with her. She needs Minke. However,
how come she could come into the decision to not come back again?
First, Minke, who was an eighteen-year-old Javanese youth, studied at H.B.S, which was
an elite Dutch school in Surabaya. Minke is intelligent, and his love for literature has brought
him to make a writing in Dutch. With his ability in writing in Dutch, he uses it to make articles to
help Nyai and Annelies. He is also a brave young man. He is brave enough to write critics
against the Dutch. The first time he did it was because of Nyai and he, himself, was accused as
Herman Mellema’s murder suspects. The writing that he made was a big success. “I used my
week’s leave from school to write, to repudiate all the false and tendentious reports.” “The result
of my article was that the police questioned S.N.v/d D. about Fatso.” (Toer, pg. 276) The next
one was when Maurits Mellema wanted to take Annelies as her legal guardian. It impressed me
how Minke really tried so hard so that Annelies did not get taken. Minke wrote an article in
Dutch, and it was translated into Malay to get public’s attention. Although in the end all things
did not go as planned, Minke and Nyai had tried their best to hold on Annelies.
Other than his intelligence, and love for literature, other personalities of Minke is
outstanding. When Nyai asked Minke, “Will you run from us, child?” Minke answered, “No,
Mama. We’ll face it together.” (Toer, pg. 278) It shows how much Minke respects and loves
Annelies and her family. He is responsible with the decision that he has made that he will not
leave Annelies’ side. Other than that, we can see Minke’s trait which is know what is wrong and
what is right no matter what or who is in front of him. Minke once said to his older brother,
“What’s the use of being Javanese only to have one’s rights violated?” (Toer, pg. 129) He can
stand for himself if his rights are violated even though the one who do it is his own family. He
believes that everyone’s rights must be respected, no matter if you are a Dutch, Indo, or Native.
Furthermore, Minke does not want to be a bupati which is in Javanese royalty, the son has to
inherit the seat. He once said to his mother, “I only want to become a free human being, not
given orders, not giving orders, Mother.” (Toer, pg. 128) He does not want to be a bupati who
giving orders, and just a lowly person who is given orders. He wants to be free. He wants to be
himself without anyone intervening. It is believed that Minke’s mindset is built from the society
that he gets from his school. He has been learning in a Dutch school since he was young, and it
makes him more open-minded than the other Native. He is educated. Also, it might be because of
his eagerness to learn. He likes to read book, newspaper, etc., which could extend his knowledge,
and turn him into what he is now.
The next character is Annelies Mellema, a beautiful Indo girl, the daughter of Nyai
Ontosoroh, who is a concubine of a Dutch, Herman Mellema. In the beginning of the story,
Annelies is portrayed as a soft, gentle, affable, and spoiled girl. Cynara Matos (2014) stated that
Annelies’ characterization symbolizes a Javanese who is innocent and unaware of the Dutch’s
grip on their native country. When Minke first visits Annelies’s house, she reaches out first,
unlike her brother, Robert Mellema. She is friendly even to a Native like Minke. It is thought that
Annelies can be so friendly to everyone even to a Native because of her Native mother. Her
friendliness can be seen on the interaction between her and several women that are working on
the family’s firm. “Several women stopped Annelies and wanted to talk with, her, asking for
help. And this extraordinary girl, like a mother, affably attended to them all.” (Toer, pg. 41)
Starting from the middle of the story, it can be seen that Annelies is fragile, in terms of
physically and psychologically. She often gets ill physically when Minke is not by her side. Also,
in terms of psychologically, Annelies has some kind of trauma and make her cannot deal with
hurt, and she has a fragile heart. It is told that Robert Mellema, her own brother, raped her, and it
traumatizes her. Also, Dr. Martinet said that, “She doesn’t fully believe that her mother’s love
will last.” (Toer, pg. 202) She is suffering emotionally. She is afraid that her loved ones will
leave her and turn their backs against her. It is thought that it all happens because of her
experience being left by her own father. Annelies used to love her father and think that he was a
good father. They were happy. However, his father once came home in a mess condition and had
a different behavior. Then, he left their family, and now, he is different from who he used to be.
Furthermore, because of his father’s behavior, in fact, Annelies is afraid or even hate “white
skin” people. Although Annelies is white skinned, she is Native at heart. Annelies is afraid that
her mother would do the same as what his father did. Also, it is believed that Annelies is spoiled
and always wants to be with Minke is because she is frightened that Minke will leave her. “I
don’t want to sleep if Mas won’t study in my room like before.” (Toer, pg. 236) Annelies’ words
prove that she is spoiled and clingy to Minke.
Lastly, in the end of the story, Annelies chooses to leave home and go to Netherlands
where her stepbrother, Maurits Mellema, lives, as Annelies’ custody is given to Maurits. Nyai
and Minke have tried hard to prevent Annelies to get taken, but Annelies decides to leave.
Annelies brings her mother’s suitcase that was used when Sanikem (Nyai Ontosoroh’s maiden
name) left home after being “sold” by her own father. She also brings her wedding clothes which
was made by Minke’s mother to show her respect to Minke’s mother. Annelies said to her
mother, “Like Mama before, Mama, I too will never return home.” (Toer, pg. 357) Nyai was
taken by a Dutch and stated that she would not return home. Thus, Annelies chooses not to return
home too because she wants to do the same as her mother. Moreover, both Nyai and Annelies are
taken by the Dutch. Therefore, she brings her mother’s suitcase to make her mother forgets about
those unhappy memories and makes up her mind by going to Netherlands and never come back.
 This Earth of Mankind has so many interesting things that will be entertaining to be
analyzed, such as the characters of this novel. Starting from the main character of this story,
Minke, who has a European mindset, but still loves his own country. Minke has a mindset like a
European because he has been learning in a Dutch school since young. Last, Annelies, a mixed
Indonesian and Dutch, who is preferred to be said as a Native. She has some problems
psychologically that is occurred because of his own father. Furthermore, Annelies makes an
unexpected decision in the end, which makes the story more interesting. In conclusion, this story
has an interesting characterization for every character that makes this novel more intriguing.
 REFERENCES
Matos, Cynara. (2014). The Road to Awakening.
https://stonybrook.digication.com/cynara_matos/Literary_Analysis
Toer, Pramoedya Ananta. (1996). This Earth of Mankind (M. Lane, Trans.). Penguin Books.
(Original work published 1980)