"This Earth of Mankind"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Pramoedya Ananta Toer, in her book "This Earth of Mankind", tells the story of Minke, a native of Indonesia during the Dutch colonization. The paper looks at how, among many strong characters in the novel, the group of natives tries to attain an identity that is separate from the titles they hold be that Nyai or Native. It also discusses how "This Earth of Mankind" shows the effects of post-colonialism and the confusion of identity based on class distinction and how by the end of the novel, the world is no longer that fantasy of love and equality that Minke and his Annelise try to create, for however brief a moment.

From the Paper:

"Identity is a very common theme because they are left with the confusion that often comes when such an overbearing force is lifted. Annelise introduces an identity based on love and the private mindset loving a person dwells in. She herself is so connected to her mother and so dependent on her approval that she is left with nothing of her own and nothing she can define herself with. However, falling in love with Minke transports her mind into a realm separate from a mother, a place where she can be with Minke and love him in her own way, perfectly and absolutely. Gaining an identity through love is a new concept that is generally not considered in these types of novels. "it is precisely because she has fallen in love with you that she is beginning to be born as a personality in her own right, because she is being confronted with a problem that is totally personal" (Toer, 254). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rice, Philip and Patricia Waugh. Modern Literary Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1989.
• Toer, Pramoedya Ananta. This Earth of Mankind. New York: Penguin Group, 1975.
• ---. A Mute's Soliloquy. New York: Penguin Group, 1999.

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