The King, The Witch and The Priest

Title: The King, The Witch and The Priest Author: Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 2002. This time Pramoedya wrote a famous folk tale from east Java, Indonesia. This story is widely known in Java, Bali, and Madura. The setting of the story is East Java in the 12th century. It is a story about political conflict in a kingdom named Kediri. The people lived prosperous life under king Erlangga. In the village of Girah there was a widow named Calon Arang. She was a well known and powerful witch so everybody was afraid of her. People believed that she had many victims. She had a beautiful daughter, Ratna Manggali. When Ratna Manggali reached the age of marriage nobody dared to marry her. This fact made Calon Arang angry to the community. So she decided to take revenge by killing as many people as possible. One day she prayed to goddess Batari Durga. She wanted to be granted ability to spread plague to the whole country. Batari Durga agreed on one condition that she might not reach the capital. Before long plague spread all over the country and killed many people. Soon people heard the rumors that the plague was created by the witch. The situation got worse and worse. More and more people died. Finally the news about the plague reached king Erlangga. The king held a meeting with his advisors to discuss the situation and then decided to halt and to punish Calon Arang. Soon a troop was sent to the village of Girah to arrest Calon Arang. Unfortunately the troop was easily defeated, even the commander was killed by her. Meanwhile the plague got more ferocious. One more time the king held a meeting to find a way to defeat the witch. Then King Erlangga assigned a well known priest. His name was Empu Baradah, a kind hearted priest. Empu Baradah was contacted and he agreed to help. Empu Barada suggested Empu Bahula, his student, to marry Ratna Manggali. Empu Bahula then proposed her. Because Calon Arang was a rich witch the wedding ceremony was held extravagantly. Empu Bahula then spied on his mother in law. Ratna Manggali who loved him wholeheartedly did not have any suspicion at all so she revealed to her husband that her mother had a secret book of witchcraft. Empu Bahula asked Ratna to take the book for him and she agreed. One day when Calon Arang slept Ratna took the book. Empu Bahula then gave it to Empu Barada. Empu Barada learned the secret of Calon Arang's witchcraft. Then he went to infected areas and he cured the people with his spell. Eventually Empu Barada met with Calon Arang. They fought with spell and finally Calon Arang died. The people of Kediri were saved from the plague. Literature has power because it can shape public opinion. The Javanese rulers realized it and used it for their advantages. I believe this story is an instrument to shape public opinion. The rebel has been described as evil and the ruler has been described as the good side. Consequently the general public was convinced that the ruling elite has privileged to rule. *

Midah, lovely lady with golden teeth.

Midah, lovely lady with golden teeth. Author : Pramoedya Ananta Toer In this book Pramoedya described woman' sorrow because of bad treatment of man. The main character is Midah, daughter of Haji Abdul, a wealthy entrepreneur from Cibatok village, who lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. Haji Abdul treated Midah improperly. One day he was angry when he heard Midah listened to kroncong music (Indonesian music) because he thought that kroncong was unlawful for moslem. So he beat Midah. Midah was forced to marry Haji Terbus. He was wealthy and good - looking man. When she was pregnant she realized that Haji Terbus had many wives. Midah was very disappointed then she left her husband. She did not dare to see her parents. She met and then joined a group of street musician. Midah was called si manis (the lovely one). Midah gave birth to a baby boy without husband so she was treated badly. When she wanted to leave the hospital they did not give the baby any proper clothing. When she got back to the street musicians they reluctantly received her. One day when she fed her son Riah, her former maid, saw her. Riah asked her to come home but Midah refused. Riah saw her singing in the streets and in restaurants. To win rivalry with other singer Midah had her teeth covered with gold. Consequently conflict escalated so she had to leave the group. The news about Midah finally reached Haji Abdul whose business declined. He was shocked. He searched for her eveywhere but his efforts was in vain. He was so depressed that he was sick. Midah was singing in Jatinegara when she met Ahmad, a young policeman. He could sing so he trained her to sing. Soon Midah fell in love with him and they went too far. One day Midah told Ahmad that she was pregnant but Ahmad refused to take responsibility because he thought that Midah had many boy friends. She had to come home to her parent and admit the situation. After several days in her parent's home she dicided to leave again. She left Rodjali. Her beauty and her voice were her commodity. She broke all the rules her parent had told her. She became a singer, a movie star and more. Midah was a victim of men. His father's attitude was too hard to her. Her husband never really took care of her. Ahmad just wanted comfort from her. The others just wanted her beauty.

Sorrow of Javanese woman under feudalism.

The Girl from the Coast, 2002. Author : Pramoedya Ananta Toer. This story is a portrayal of the poor fate of a village girl under Javanese feudalism for hundreds of years even up to 20th century. The main character is just called Gadis pantai (the girl from the coast), who represents girls from poor and uneducated families in villages. She came from a poor fisherman village in the regency of Rembang in north coast of Java, Indonesia in early 20th century. At the age of fourteen, a local government official that she did not know married her. What she knew was that she had to obey and respect her husband whom she addressed Bendoro (an honorific title for Javanese nobility). She never had any personal relationship with her husband. In her husband's house there were parts that she never set foot. Even there were rooms where she never saw forever. Her husband had married several women before but he had divorced them. She knew it when she saw several babies who had no mother. Their mothers had been divorced so the maid took care of them. Pramoedya described class discrimination. Mardinah, a new maid, came. She was a daughter of a low rank official. She was arrogant. Her attitude to the girl from the coast was very impolite. Eventually when she accompanied the girl from the coast came home to village, people revealed that she had a mission. She was sent by regent's wife of from Demak to persuade bendoro to marry her daughter. If Mardinah succeeded she would be married as the fifth wife. Besides disappointment, the girl from the coast enjoyed financial and social advancement. she became a respected membr of village society. When she came home to see her parents everybody in the village warmly welcomed her. She held a party and gave presents to the elderly people. Until one day she was pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. The gender made bendoro disappointed. When her parents came to see them, Bendoro called her father to get in his house. When he got out from the house he was downhearted. His daughter was divorced ! Bondoro gave him some money but he had to take her daughter home immediately, while the baby must stay. Maids would take care of her. As she got home she did not want to stay. She immediately left because she could not bear the humiliation.

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.