A Book Review Essay sample: Child of All Nations

A Book Review Essay sample: Child of All Nations

Background information

Pramoedya Ananta Toer is an Indonesian author who is
renowned for his quartet novels. The novels are Child of All Nations, This
Earth of Mankind, House of Glass, and Footsteps. This paper will look into his
second book Child of All Nations in which he offers insights about the
imperialism of the European world in Asia at the start of the 20th century. The
book examines in depth the Dutch chokehold on economics, politics, the culture
of the Java islanders, and the social infrastructure. The book portrays the policies
of the Dutch colonialism (superiorism and domination) in a way that shows the
practices and attitudes of European colonialists and that of the Americans.

In his novel Child of All Nations, Pramoedya brings
up a story that a reader may perceive as anti-colonialist and feminist. He
takes the readers into a world that is in vividness. This he does by portrayal
of the cultural whirlpool as was in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) in the 1980s.
The story follows Minke, who is the main character of his first novel This
Earth of Mankind, in his struggle to overcome injustices surrounding him
(Hartadi 145).
The literary genius as Promoedya is renowned to be is evident in the way he
portrays characters as we experience them in the modern world. There is Minke`s
mixed-race wife, an embattled Javanese peasant and his impoverished family, the
French painter Marais, and also the young Chinese revolutionary that all
portray how the Dutch were mindful of changes particularly in Japan which was a
naval threat to the Dutch colony though they live together in the same island
(Evans and Pierce).
The aim of this paper is to look into how the global immigrations and
imperialism in the end of the 19th Century to the beginning of the 20th Century
has brought together human culture and enhanced the formation of a diverse
culture.
Imperialism as Portrayed in the Novel
Pramoedya wrote the four novels, commonly known as The Buru Quartet, when
imprisoned in the Buru Island where he had no access to pen and paper. The
novels have acclaimed international interest and have therefore been of great
assistance to academics in universities. In his first book Child of All
Nations, Pramoedya has brought about the issue of imperialism, as we will
discuss below (Evans and Pierce).
Imperialism is the seizure of a country or territory by another more powerful
nation. According to Glencoe`s American Vision 2010, imperialism is the actions
one nation uses to exercise economic or political control over a weaker or
smaller nation. There are various causes of imperialism, which include
nationalism, the industrial revolution, racism, and the urge to civilize the
uncivilized states. In Pramoedya`s book, racism is the most outstanding reason
for imperialism (Schultz and Felter 145).
R.M Minke, the main character in the quartet is Western-Educated. He
acknowledges the superiority of the Western culture, their science, and
technology. He acquires his education in Dutch and turns to journalism. It is
in the field of journalism that he calls for Indonesian nationalism. Pramoedya
writes his quartet in the spirit of anti-colonialism since from his childhood
he has socialized to be an anti-colonialist. Imperialism and colonialism are
two themes that are of the same essence. This is because a stronger state gains
an advantage over a weaker state for it`s own benefits as in imperialism. Minke
goes about a double irony in the colonial period. He asks for self-rule from
the European nation who denies him access to the freedom it cherishes for
itself. It is clear that Minke learns to politicize resistance to imperialism
and hence colonialism (Hartadi 145).
Minke therefore doubles as a person of Western colonial education and tries to
make the natives to be loyal to the colonialists. This leads to Minke being
criticized by his fellow natives. Imperialism is therefore evident in the novel
since Minke realizes that the European colonialists have oppressed the natives
for a long time and that he should do something about the situation. The novel
shows that the Dutch have oppressed the natives, since in every situation, the
Dutch would state how to tackle the situation and it would be so (Hartadi 147).
Another issue that portrays imperialism is that there are direct references
towards individuals` race in the novel. The race of a person would command
their social status in Indonesia (Dutch East Indies). The `mixed bloods`, and
the `pure bloods` are taken to be superior to the natives in the novel.
Accusations are according to the difference in social rankings as per the
accused people`s race. When two people of different races are accused of a
crime, the native is guilty and the `pure blood` or the `mixed blood` is
innocent (Evans and Pierce). Imperialism has however brought about culture
diversification and brought about people of different races and cultural
backgrounds to leave together especially in the early 20th century as this
paper explains below.
Immigration and Multiculturalism
The population of people has increased at an uncontrollable rate. There has
been a drastic advance in technology, especially in transportation in the early
20th century that has made people to move from their society to one that is of
a lower density in order to live comfortably. This has brought about
multiculturalism in the modern society. Imperialism can be one of the major
causes since the colonialists move into the state and some of them chose to
stay (Evans and Pierce). This is evident in Child of All Nations.
Minke develops due to how he sees the Chinese Young Generation struggling. He
remembers an article that Maarten wrote on how Japan exploits China. Minke then
juxtaposes this with the letter from de la Croix and therefore finds the
parallels between the relationships of the Dutch with the Native Indonesians
with that of the Japanese and the Chinese. Darsam, a native, is also racist
towards the Chinese in Indies while his own race is inferior to the `Pure
Bloods` (Schultz and Felter 150).
Considering the Japanese, Minke speaks of them as amazing. This is because they
achieve an equal status as the Dutch in Indies. This is in reference to the
Meiji Restoration, whence the Japanese underwent a great improvement in their
political, social, and economic status. The fact that Asians can be treated as
the Europeans amazed Minke. This is because the Japanese brought new
technologies to the Dutch and to Indies (Hartadi 151).
Soe discusses the activities of the Americans and the Spanish in the
Philippines with Minke. Soe says that the Philippines have learnt a lot from
the Westerners than from their fellow Asians. However, the knowledge that they
were colonized hindered them from making any advances as the Chinese and the
Japanese (Hartadi 151).
In conclusion, the instances above show how people of different races immigrate
to settle in other states. The initial factor is the urge of conquer and rule
(imperialism). Nowadays, the Western countries move to the weaker countries due
to how hard it is to live in their states. It is therefore possible for
different races to live together as is evident nowadays as long as they shun
racism, superiorism, and imperialism.

Works Cited

Hartadi, Yohanes. “The Colonial Doubling, or
the Challenge for Colonial Authority.” Kritika Kultura  (2009):
145-158.
Schultz, Daniel F. and Maryanne Felter. “Education, History, and Nationalism
In Pramoedya Toer`s `Buru  Quartet`.” An Indisciplinary Journal of
Southeast Asian Studies (2002): 143-175.

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