Pramudya's top novel.

Title : Bumi manusia (This earth of mandkind) Author : Pramudya Ananta Tour. This novel is the first of the famous Buru Quartet. In this novel Pramoedya told nicely the sorrow of native people under Dutch colonialism in late 19th century and early 20th century Java, Indonesia. The setting is Wonokromo, a small town close to Surabaya, East Java. The main character is Minke a student of HBS, a prestigious Dutch highschool at the time. I believe Minke is the metaphor for young educataed Indonesian native people in the early 20th century. They will become the spearhead in the struggle for independence. His life represents the struggle for independence. He fought against discrimination, injustice and exploitation. Hermann Mellema represents the cruel colonialist. Herman Mellema once was the boss of a sugar factory in Tulangan. Later he ran a ranch in Wonokromo. He married Sanikem. Although she was born in a village, Sanikem was so smart that she could manage her husband's ranch, Boerderij Buitenzorg, to become a prosperous company. I am sure Sanikem is also a symbol of Indonesian nationalist movement. Maybe Pramoedya wanted to describe that there were elements from the Netherlands that helped Indonesian movement. This part is the metaphor. After graduating from HBS, Minke married with Annelies Mellema, the daughter of Hermann Mellema and Sanikem. The injustices is described by Pram when Maurits Mellema came to Java. Maurits is the son of Hermann with his first wife in the Netherlands. He was angry and claimed his rights. He sued Nyai Ontosoroh aka Sanikem. The Amsterdam trial did not admit Nyai Ontosoroh as as Herman Mellema's legal wife and decided to take over Herman Mellema's asset. They also did not admit Minke's marriage to Annelies and ordered Annelies in Maurits Mellema's custody. Annelies Mellema must move to the Netherlands. Those cruelty, injustices, exploitation are evil of colonialism. The consequence is riot. In reality there was a revolution in Indonesia following waorld war II. Pramoedya succesfully described in this novel the evil of colonialism like racial discrimination, injustice and ferocious law, which is blind to social reality, selfish and immoral. Monogamy is not always better than polygamy. Monogamy make Nyai Ontosoroh's rights are oppressed. If they were polygamist, their rights would have been protected. At least Nyai Ontosoroh would be admitted as a wife.