THIS EARTH OF

MANKIND
By
Pramoedya Ananta Toer
 Discuss the social issues that exist in
the pre-colonial Indonesian society in
the novel -- This Earth of Mankind.
Link it with the author’s personal
aspirations and ideology
_______________________________________________________________________________________

NANTHINI (GS51393)
AIN FATIHAH (GS49467)
PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER a.k.a Pram
(6 February 1925, Blora Dutch East Indies – 30 April
2006, Jakarta)
 “The best of times in one’s life is the time
when one gets to use the freedom that was
fought by one’s own self”
A Brief Author’s Introduction & The Buru
Quartet Series:
■ Pramoedya is regarded as one of Indonesia’s greatest authors, who
long fought for freedom of speech
■ Began writing in prison, at age 24 after being captured and jailed by
the Dutch in 1947
■ A hero of Indonesia’s anti-colonial movement and a champion of
human’s rights
■ He learned typing and stenography which enabled him to get a clerk's
job for the Japanese imperial news agency, Domei, based in Jakarta.
■ Despite only having a primary school education, he wrote more than
30 books, both fiction & non-fiction
 After he was released from jail in 1949, disappointed by post-
revolutionary Indonesia, he started gravitating towards leftist politics.
He joined Lekra, a body of artists and writers that was loosely
affiliated with Indonesia's communist party, PKI

 He was jailed in 1960 for highlighting the discrimination and

oppression of the Chinese minority in the country.

 Pramoedya was arrested in 1965 during the military coup that led to
Suharto's rise. Pramoedya was later sent to the remote island of Buru
in 1969 because of suspected links to communists.
As a Writer & Activist,
■ Spent most of his adult life in jail
■ Imprisoned first by colonial powers
■ And later, by Indonesian governments:
- Suharto’s New Order
- Pramoedya's position as the head of People's Cultural
Organisation, a literary group with connections to the
Indonesian Communist Party, caused him to be considered a
communist and enemy of the "New Order" regime.
Awards & Recognitions:
■ Pramoedya was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature, several
times
■ Bestowed the PEN Freedom to Write Award in 1988
■ Received the Fukuoka Prize for outstanding contributions by Asians in
2000 (to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in
preserving or creating Asian culture)
■ His essays and letters written during the period of his imprisonment
between 1969 -1978, were published as a memoir The Mute’s Soliloquy
"A haunting record of a great writer's attempt to keep his
imagination and his humanity alive," wrote The New York Times
Book Review about the memoir.
Aspirations & Ideology
■ Long fought for freedom of speech
■ Champions Human’s Rights
■ Once held the position as the Head of People’s Culture
■ Highlights issues revolving discrimination & oppression

 When imprisoned, he was not provided pen & paper, so he narrated

his stories to fellow prisoners
 He only had primary school education and self-taught himself by
learning to type & stenography
 Spent most of his adult life in jail
 Writes in Bahasa Indonesia
Google Doodle 2017 Tribute to Pram
https://www.google.com/doodles/pramoedya-ananta-toers-92nd-birthday

■ The novelist is best known for the Buru Quartet, which

traces the birth of nationalism in Indonesia. A Javanese boy
named Minke, who rejected the country's hierarchical
society, is the protagonist in the series.
■ "In fact the books were smuggled out of Indonesia by Pram's
friend, a German priest, to avoid being taken or destroyed,
and have now been translated into more than 20 languages
worldwide," Google Doodle wrote.
 Courage is not a gift; it is not awarded. It is the
gaining of daily practice. Courage is similar to
human muscles, if untrained it will become weak.
In this life, we face many obstacles. The first
training is to not run! Face all of it, that’s the way
to practice courage.
Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind

discrimination
MAIN ISSUES oppression

Education Cultural Collide Gender Social Class

Demographic
Unemployment Poverty Cruelty
Monopoly
Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Education:
Education plays a central role in this novel. Therefore, one of the foremost social
issues that is captured in this novel is the affairs of education in shaping young minds.
Fundamentally, education is a structure that is built upon clarity and is essentially,
systematic. This is because, with such a structure, one will be enabled to develop their
potentials and consecutively, attain the independence to grow spiritual well-being, self-
identity, self-endurance, moral values, as well as a brimming personality for not only one’s
self, but also the society at large, the community and the nation as a whole. During the pre-
colonial Indonesian society, being educated in a premier school as portrayed in the novel is
considered a great privilege because such an opportunity is regarded to be exclusively
reserved for only the descendants of the European colonisers.
Education: textual evidence
■ Since education is a great privilege during that time, not many were able to pursue
an education. As a Native, Minke only gained access to H.B.S due to his father’s
status as a Bupati.
■ Textual evidence:
– “It didn’t feel right to distrust my teachers. My parents had entrusted me to
them” (Toer, 16).
– “If Sinyo is an H.B.S student, Sinyo is no doubt the son of a bupati…” (Toer, 29)
■ Minke is also respected by others as an H.B.S student, showing how privileged he is
to receive education.
■ Textual evidence:
– “It looks like my brother is really proud to have him as a friend, an H.B.S
student. Now I too have a friend who is an H.B.S student. You!” (Toer, 28)
– “We would be very proud if you would work here; you are an H.B.S student,
yes?” (Toer, 136).
Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Cultural collide:
As an Indonesian himself, Pramoedya is renowned to have advocated the
importance of freeing his people from a colonised milieu. Having been nominated for the
Nobel Prize for literature several times, and bestowed the PEN Freedom to Write Award in
1988, it is obvious that he was a prominent writer who stirred the nation towards liberation
without losing touch with the cultural and communal values of predominant Indonesia.

This novel deals with how the traditional culture of the Javanese collided with the Dutch
lifestyle, customs and beliefs.
Cultural collide: textual evidence
■ Minke, educated in the Dutch way found fault in the way Javanese must offer
respect towards the bupati.
■ Textual evidence:
– “And must I, an H.B.S student, cringe in front of him at the end of every one of
my sentences, make obeisance to someone I don’t even know?” (Toer, 121).
– “You, my ancestors, you: What is the reason you created customs that would so
humiliate your own descendants?” (Toer, 122).
■ And yet, he still have a sense of pride being a Javanese, although he found it difficult
to accept that the Javanese were unadvanced in their thinking.
■ Textual evidence:
– “Yes, every time the essence of Java was insulted, offended by outsiders, my
feelings were also hurt. I felt so totally Javanese. But when the ignorance and
stupidity of Java was mentioned, I felt European” (Toer, 148).
 Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Gender (Marginalised women) :
At its core, gender is a term associated with the co-operative nature that exist in a
community, to exhibit the differences of role and unique functionality of man and woman.
Bias herein, means the differences of rights for a man and woman in society, which places
the status of a woman, lower than a man. This illusion of idea, makes up to a sort of
“special” right for men, causing the symptom of objectifying a woman which subsequently
entitles the man to treat her as he whims and fancies.
- The way Herman Mellama treats Nyai after acquiring her, as if a doll
- The reason why, and the manner in which Nyai is determined to raise Annelis -- to
become independent
Marginalised women: textual evidence
■ Nyai Ontosoroh told the story of how she is being sold by her father and how a girl during
her time can never decide for herself.
■ Textual evidence:
– “My father and my father alone determined everything” (Toer, 82).
– “The girl never knew beforehand whether the man would be young or old. And once
married, the girl had to serve this man, whom she had never met before, with all
her body and soul, and her life, until she died or until he became bored and got rid
of her” (Toer, 82).
– “There was no other way, no other choice” (Toer, 82).
■ Other than that, she also explained how she was treated like an object by the one who
bought her, her master and the shame she felt.
■ Textual evidence:
– “I felt I had no soul anymore, like a shadow puppet in the hands of the puppet
master” (Toer,86).
– “I never went out, was never taken anywhere or met any guests” (Toer, 88).
– “There were to be no reports about me: a degraded woman, without value, no real
will of her own” (Toer, 88).
 Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Social class:
The fourth key issue we have observed is the social conflict that happens
between the natives and colonisers, due to differences and hierarchal ordinance.
Conflict is the result of social processes that occurs to an individual or certain groups
when determined to achieve an objective. Subsequently, this creates a rift that will
eventually pave way to dangerous outcomes, in the form of threats, violence and
atrocity, as well as an uprising.
- The court order to send Annelis to Netherlands
- The denial of a traditional marriage in accordance to local customs by the court
- The violence that takes place because of Minke’s writing to fight for justice on
behalf of his wife
Social class: textual evidence

■ Nyai Ontosoroh was bewildered when her daughter Annelies was to be sent to
Netherlands.
■ Textual evidence:
– “How can a court, and a European court too, manned by very educated people,
experienced in matters of justice, with the degree of Bachelors of Laws, carry
out the law this way, so opposed to our sense of law? Our sense of justice?”
(Toer, 329).
– ”…the issue is always the same: European against Native, against me.
Remember this well: it is Europe that swallows up Natives while torturing us
sadistically…” (Toer, 329).
Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Unemployment:
Following the fourth key issue, unemployment expectedly becomes another
issue due to the social strata created by the colonisers and the underlying problems
that it imparts on the natives, both on an individual level and collectively as a society.
This is because, only with proper schooling that is in accordance to the Dutch syllabus
and premier education which can be obtained from a school such as HBS, that a native
can be employed into a high status position.
Unemployment: textual evidence
■ Minke’s strive to graduate, is largely due to the expectation that surrounds him to
become a high-ranking officer. His privilege to obtain an education is also particularly
because of his aristocratic background.
■ His friend, Robert Suuhorf believed that Minke will become a bupati after he graduated.
■ Textual evidence:
– “One day, Minke, you’ll become a bupati. Perhaps you’ll get a regency where the
land is arid. I’ll pray that you get a fertile one” (Toer, 23).
■ Nyai’s capability to handle businesses despite being a concubine is highlighted in the
novel. This in return, gives her the upper-hand to employ natives, providing them a job.
■ Textual evidence:
– “At that time Darsam arrived, an unemployed vagrant. But he loved to work… I’ve
made him my right-hand man” (Toer, 90).
Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Demographic monopoly:
The sixth social issue is largely observed to be demographic in nature. However,
this is also due to the colonisers activities that capsizes not only the day to day lives of
the pre-colonial Indonesian society but also the acquisition of a vast amount of land in
order to run their businesses. This demographic monopoly causes social segregation,
which in turn creates bigger gaps between the Europeans and natives. During an era
when the natives were trying to make ends meet, the lavish lifestyle that the colonisers
were able to gain created not only social plagues but also disorientation of daily lives for
the women, specifically.
- Refer minke’s monologue on pag119
Demographic monopoly: textual
evidence
■ The monopoly by the Dutch can be seen through the lens of Minke, when he brings
us on a tour to observe the materialistic luxuries of Herman Mellema’s bungalow.
■ Textual evidence:
– “Everyone thought of that house as Mellema’s private palace, even if it was
only made of teak. Its grey, wooden-shingle roof was already visible from quite
a distance away. Its doors and windows stood wide open… In its place there
was a broad, expansive awning overhanging the wooden stairs, which were
also wide, wider than the front door” (Toer, 24).
■ As Nyai describes her younger days in the novel, she also significantly describes
Mellema as someone who holds a lot of power.
■ Textual evidence:
– “I was in the hands of someone powerful, more powerful than Father, than all
the Natives in Tulangan” (Toer, 86-87).
 Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Poverty:
Poverty, in the pre-colonised Indonesian society becomes our seventh observed
social issue. Poverty is measured when one is unable to sustain a certain standard of living
and has no capacity to benefit from neither mental nor physical attributes. According to
historical recordings, the situation of the rich and poor was not a problem when it was
parallel but only became one when the business of trading rapidly grew, creating newer
social values. The rapid growth of business and trading globally, formed current social
standards as a lifestyle norm which then magnified poverty as a social issue.
- We can observe this issue through the symbolic roles played by characters such as
Darsam, who works as Nyai bodyguard.
- Darsam is depicted to be physically well-endowed but is also inclined to act irrationally, in
the absence of thought. But, the author also highlights Darsam’s unquestionable loyalty
towards Nyai and also the values of gratitude he upholds, by specifically using a native’s
character.
 Social issues in the pre-colonial Indonesian
Society in the novel,
This Earth of Mankind
■ Cruelty:
Cruelty is one of the most blatant aspect of social issue that the author centers as
a point of interest in this novel, although subtly but without a doubt, crucially. As early as the
pre-colonial Indonesian society, the author has already delved into issues that is relevant to
date, which includes, violence towards girls and women, and what we now know as, white-
collar crime. In the novel, it is portrayed that Minke has a special and sentimental bond with
his mother and in the author’s personal life, it is reported that his own mother comes from a
pious Muslim family whilst his father was a school teacher and nationalist who inspired him
to join Indonesia’s struggle against colonialism.
- This explains to us, Minke’s righteous and compassionate nature throughout the novel
even as a youngster
- The author also highlights the troubles of victimised girls and women through the
portrayal of Nyai and Annelis
Cruelty: textual evidence
■ Ann suffered cruelty at the hands of her own brother.
■ Textual evidence:
– “His dirty hand grabbed my shoulder and I spoke angrily to him. He attacked
me like a mad buffalo” (Toer, 243).
■ Nyai suffered cruelty when she is denied the rights to her own children and property.
When she protested, she is simply dismissed due to being a native.
■ Textual evidence:
– “He said: Annelies Mellema is under European law, Nyai is not. Nyai is a Native.
Had Miss Annelies Mellema not been legally acknowledged by Mr. Mellema she
too would be a Native and this court would have had nothing to do with her”
(Toer, 328).
References

Fachrullah, Rivaldi. Equality Reflected At This Earth Of Mankind Novel By Pramoedya

Ananta Toer (1975): A Marxist Approach. Muhammadiah University of
Surakarta. 2015.
Scherer, Savitri, P. From Culture to Politics: The Writings of Pramoedya Ananta Toer:
1950-1965. Australian National University. July, 1981.
Wellek, Rene & Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. New York. Brace & Co. 1949.