Child of All Nations

About the book

Child of All Nations is the second book in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's epic quartet called Buru Quartet, first published by Hasta Mitra in 1980. Child of All Nations continues the story of the lives of the main character, Minke, and his mother in law, Nyai Ontosoroh. By describing the lives of these two people who live in the Dutch controlled islands of Java, Pramoedya is able to discuss many aspects of life in a colonized nation. Child of All Nations explores the social hierarchy in a colonized nation by giving glimpses of how the oppressed colonized peoples, such as the Javanese farmers, are required to be submissive to their occupiers, the Dutch. That wealthy, educated Javanese like Minke and Nyai were still considered inferior to the Dutch due to their Native birth status and frequently simply the color of their skin. The main theme of the novel is, as the title suggests, that the world is becoming more integrated as revealed in the life of the main character Minke, the self-proclaimed "child of all nations" 1. Minke speaks French, Dutch, Malay, and both high and low Javanese. He writes for a newspaper published in Dutch and has to come to terms with being a 'native' in a European controlled world. His worldview is jaded by the fact that he is wealthy and educated, and therefore closer to the Dutch than other Javanese; however, Minke comes to realize the ethical implications of the injustices being done to his people. His life is caught between two worlds, which the novel follows as he tries to understand who he really is, his role in the Dutch-occupied society, and his duty to his people.

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