Summary Of Pramoedya Anata Toer's This Earth Of Mankind

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Recommended: The portrayal of women in literature

In the novel; This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Anata Toer, Toer introduces a character who is a Nyai. The novel is set in Indonesia in the 1900s during the Dutch colonialism. He presents the negative ideas that many characters have towards her and defines the meaning of how a Nyai is represented throughout the novel. Many other writers also tackle the representation of a Nyai and their role in society. In the novel Nyai Ontosoroh breaks away from the stereotypes by resisting what a Nyai is suppose to be by controlling her own freedom and resisting the power that the Dutch want to have over her.
The Nyai is a characterized as a woman who is trying to resist the negative ideas that come with being a concubine. She avoids the negative ideas …show more content…

This is shown in the scene when the Nyai takes control and yells “you have no rights in this house. You know where your room is” to her master (Toer 48). Although, legally Nyai has no rights and cannot disobey any European person. Stoler shows the legal rights of Nyai’s in society as someone that “could be dismissed without reason, notice or severance pay. They might be exchanged among Europeans and passed on” (Stoler 49). There is this representation of a Nyai as a slave and an object, however, Toer presents Nyai Onstosoroh as a character trying to break out of the stereotypical Nyai. Nyai also shows resistance towards the Dutch. Nyai learns that the Europeans have a loop for Nyai’s, which is that legally they are shamed and at the bottom of the hierarchy. However, the Dutch are the ones who force Nyai’s to be concubines. She asks many questions to the courtroom such as “Who turned me into a concubine? Who turned us all into nyais? European gentlemen, made masters. Why in these official forums are we laughed at? Humiliated? Or is it that you gentlemen want my daughter to be a concubine too?” which causes the all white room to drag her away (Toer 228). In legal and economic situations, Nyai is …show more content…

The Nyai is shamed by society but it is the European men who put her in this situation and still blame her for being a concubine. Nyai tries to break away and resist the hierarchies by challenging European law. Throughout the novel we see the Nyai grow intellectually and learn that the Europeans are no better than the Natives. We see the Nyai become more aware that she should be treated equally because it is her country that the Dutch have colonized. The audience grows to be rather sympathetic about Nyai being forced to live her life as a concubine. We connect with her resistance and see that there might be many people resisting like she

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