Andrea Hirata: A Possibility In Writing Literature

Andrea Hirata: A Possibility in Writing Literature M. Yoesoef University of Indonesia Book Title: Laskar Pelangi dan Sang Pemimpi Author: Andrea Hirata Publisher: Bentang Year: 2005 and 2006 A thetralogy will surely show the thin red line that binds all of its parts, as we found in Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s thetralogy that tells the four periods of its main character, Minke (Raden Mas Tirto Adhisuryo). What about Andrea Hirata? Laskar Pelangi tells the story of ten kids, since the first moment they arrive at school until one by one they finally find their existence there. Their teacher, Ms. Mus, plays an important role as a binding tie among the kids. The ten kids are I (narrator), A Kiong, Borek, Harun, Kucai, Lintang, Mahar, Sahara (the only girl), Syahdan, Trapani, and they become eleven with Flo. Like in other fictions, the author introduces all the characters in the story. To do this, Andrea took an unusual, interesting description by reconstructing the characteristics and physical appearances of the nine kids, Ms. Mus and Mr. Harfan. The description of the narrator is not specifically done as those of his nine best friends. Andrea Hirata presents his characters by bringing to the readers’ memory references they probably have known like Nebukadnezzar, Babylon, Pearl Harbour, the tale of the piper and the rats, etc. The same applies to the description of the school environment, by mentioning the Latin names of the plants and animals, even a number of terms of various subjects like physics, chemistry, biology, anthropology, astronomy, and social sciences to give concrete pictures of events or actions of the characters. The rich reference used by Andrea at least shows that he has a broad knowledge, ranging from the scientific to the popular things in everyday life. Considering the various target readers, he also completed the book with a glossary of terms. Taking Subagio Sastrowardoyo’s statement about the relationship between the author and the work, it is true that talent will not be enough if it is not equipped with intellectuality. In my opinion, Andrea has shown a bright combination of talent and intellectuality in this novel. The novel begins with the two teachers, Mr. Harfan and Ms. Mus, worrying about whether their elementary school, SD Muhammadiyah, can open a new class with at least 10 new students. This interestingly gets the readers attention to continue reading the following chapters and creates a suspense that rises up to the point when at the scheduled time—eleven o’clock—only nine students have registered. Only in the last minute the tenth student comes to save the day. The conflict is solved happily, although in this part Andrea also plants a sad image that comes out from a paradoxical situation as quoted below:

Para orangtua mungkin menganggap kekurangan satu murid sebagai pertanda bagi anak-anaknya bahwa mereka memang sebaiknya didaftarkan pada para juragan saja. Sedangkan aku dan agaknya juga anak-anak yang lain merasa amat pedih: pedih pada orangtua kami yang tak mampu, pedih menyaksikan detik-detik terakhir sebuah sekolah tua yang tutup justru pada hari pertama kami ingin sekolah, dan pedih pada niat kuat kami untuk belajar tapi tinggal selangkah lagi harus terhenti hanya karena kekurangan satu murid.... (hlm.5) (The parents might think that lacking one student was a sign that their children should be registered to the masters as workers. On the other hand, me and the other kids felt so sad: sad because our parents were poor, sad to see the last minutes of an old school that was closed on the first day we really wanted to go to school, and sad to think about our dream to study that should be stopped on the last step only because the school was lacking one more student…. (p.5))

A bigger paradox can be seen from the difficult and hard life of the Belitong natives, who live on their ancestors’ island which is rich with tin mine. The benefits from the natural resources can not be enjoyed by the natives, only by outsiders who came and built a social fortress that separate them from the natives. Tak disangsikan lagi, jika di-zoom out, kampung kami adalah kampung terkaya di Indonesia. Inilah kampung tambang yang menghasilkan timah dengan harga segenggam lebih mahal puluhan kali lipat dibandingkan segantang padi. Triliunan rupiah set tertanam di sana, miliaran rupiah uang berputar sangat cepat seperti putaran mesin parut, dan miliaran dolar devisa mengalir deras seperti kawanan tikus terpanggil pemain seruling ajaib der Rattenfanger von Hameln. Namun jika di-zoom in, kekayaan itu terperangkap di satu tempat, ia tertimbun di dalam batas tembok-tembok tinggi Gedong. (hlm. 49) (Undoubtedly, if zoomed out, our kampong is one of the richest kampongs in Indonesia. Our kampong produces tin, a handful of which is a dozen times much more expensive than a bowl of paddy. Thrillions of rupiahs are hidden beneath the soil, billions of rupiahs are rolling rapidly like the rolling of a grating machine, and billions of dollars income run in quickly like the mice called by the magic flute of der Rattenfanger von Hameln. Unfortunately, if zoomed in, all the richness is trapped in one place, it is piled up inside the tall walls of Gedong. (p. 49))

Socially, the Gedong area is a symbol of prosperity, while outside the area poverty and hardship become a common milieu for the natives, and this situation is described in the beginning of this novel. ...Aku tahu beliau sedang gugup dan aku maklum bahwa tak mudah bagi seorang pria berusia empat puluh tujuh tahun, seorang buruh tambang yang beranak banyak dan bergaji kecil, untuk menyekolahkan anak laki-lakinya ke sekolah. Lebih mudah menyerahkannya pada tauke pasar pagi untuk jadi tukang parut atau pada juragan untuk menjadi kuli kopra agar dapat membantu ekonomi keluarga. Menyekolahkan anak berarti mengikatkan diri pada biaya selama belasan tahun dan hal itu bukan perkara gampang bagi keluarga kami. (hlm. 3)

(…I know that he is confused and I understand that it is not easy for a forty-seven-year-old man, an underpaid mining labor with a lot of kids, to send his boy to school. It is easier to send the boy to the bosses in the marketplace to grate coconuts or to the masters to work in coconut plantation so that he can help finance the family. Sending a kid to school means binding himself to some expenses for more than ten years and it is not an easy matter for our family. (p. 3))

The reality described above is a classic, almost-impossible-to-solve problem of this country, a problem that has become more complex day by day. The issue raised by the novel is how the people of Belitong get around with the poverty and hardship that have gone deep in their lives, including the way they choose schools. There are a number of reasons why the parents choose the school to educate their children. Kami bertetangga dan kami adalah orang-orang Melayu Belitong dari sebuah komunitas yang paling miskin di pulau itu. Adapun sekolah kami, SD Muhammadiyah, juga sekolah kampung yang paling miskin di Belitong. Ada tiga alasan mengapa para orangtua mendaftarkan anaknya di sini. Pertama, karena sekolah Muhammadiyah tidak menetapkan iuran dalam bentuk apa pun, para orangtua hanya menyumbangkan sukarela semampu mereka. Kedua, karena firasat, anak-anak mereka dianggap memiliki karakter yang mudah disesatkan iblis sehingga sejak usia muda harus mendapat pendadaran Islam yang tangguh. Ketiga, karena anaknya memang tak diterima di sekolah mana pun. (hlm.4) (We are neighbors and we belong to the poorest community of the Belitong Malay in this island. And our school, SD Muhammadiyah, is also the poorest village school in Belitong. There are three possible reasons why parents register their children in this school. First, because the school does not require them to pay any school fee, they can just give whatever they can give. Second, because they think that their children can easily be tempted by the devil so that Islamic teachings should be given since early age. Third, simply because their children are not accepted in any other school. (p.4))

Chapter one up to thirty contain various snapshots of the students’ school adventure in the Muhammadiyah Elementary and Junior High Schools. While chapter thirty one up to thirty four tell what happened twelve years later, after they finished junior high school in Belitong. It is interesting to discuss the pattern of descriptions of the characters and happenings in every chapter of this novel. The writer refers the readers’ minds to various things which are not unknown, especially by readers who have knowledge of certain disciplines. This pattern is very dominant and can be said as Andrea Hirata’s artistic achievement. Below are several quotations that show this pattern. The references which complete the readers’ imagination can be seen in these descriptions of characters and places. (1) Ayahnya, yang seperti orang Bushman itu, sekarang menganggap keputusan menyekolahkan Lintang adalah keputusan yang tepat, paling tidak ia senang melihat semangat anaknya menggelegak. (hlm.95) (His father, who looks like a bushman, now thinks that sending Lintang to school is the right decision, at least he is glad to see the kid’s passion for school. (p. 95))

The description below shows how A Ling, the daughter of Mr. A Miuaw, attracts the narrator: (2) Seperti kebanyakan ras Mongoloid, tulang pipinya tidak menonjol, tapi bidang wajahnya, bangun bahunya, jenjang lehernya, potongan rambutnya, dan jatuh dagunya yang elegan menciptakan keseluruhan kesan dirinya benar-benar mirip Michelle Yeoh, bintang film Malaysia yang cantik itu. (hlm. 211) (Like most Mongoloids, her cheek bones do not show, but her wide face, her well-shaped shoulders, her long neck, her hair style, and her elegant dropping chin create the whole image that she looks like Michelle Yeoh, the beautiful Malaysian movie star. (p. 211))

And here are descriptions of an area: (3) Mereka, kaum borjuis ini, bersemayam di kawasan eksklusif yang disebut Gedong. Mereka seperti orang-orang kulit putih di wilayah selatan Amerika pada tahun 70-an. (hlm. 42) (They, those bourgeois, reside in an exclusive area called the Gedong. They are like the white people in the southern part of America in the 70s. (p. 42)) (4) Sepadan dengan kebun gantung yang memesona di pelataran Babylon, sebuah taman kesayangan Tiran Nebukadnezzar III untuk memuja Dewa Marduk, Gedong adalah land mark Belitong. (As beautiful as the enchanting garden in Babylonia, the garden of the tyrant Nebukadnessar III used to worship the God Marduk, Gedong is the landmark of Belitong.)

In telling the story, in the last part Andrea changes the point of view, from the character Ikal to Syahdan. This change of point of view surely gives a certain touch to the readers. Until the last part of the novel readers only see from Ikal’s point of view, and what about Ikal himself? This last part closes with a question about what happens to Ikal in Java. The only picture given to the readers is his mother’s reaction when seeing a photograph of him wearing punk outfits. This part also shows how one by one those Muhammadiyah Elementary students find their ways of lives. Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer), Andrea Hirata’s second novel, opens with an “escape” from a teacher named Mr. Mustar. Like in action movies, the suspense arouses the reader’s curiosity. This kind of opening, at least, became the right choice for Andrea. In the eyes of the students in the story—Ikal, Arai and Jimbron, at least—Mr. Mustar is like the cruel Westerling. The presence of a state high school in Magai, a small port town in Belitong island, has become a blessing for the people in the area. Kids don’t have to go to Tanjung Pandan, 120 km away from there, to study in high school. It was Mr. Mustar, the cruel teacher in the eyes of the students, who was responsible for the birth of the school. Sang Pemimpi becomes an adventure story of three teenage boys who use all their youthful spirits to satisfy their naughtiness. Andrea presents their backgrounds and how

they build their dreams in a humorous way, besides adding sad and typical teenage love stories. Like Laskar Pelangi, Sang Pemimpi also deals with school environment of the poor children of Belitong island. The cheerfulness of high school life is presented clearly by Andrea, as if there were no hardships that cover most of their days in Magai. The poignant life faced by Arai, for example, does not make him a bitter character; instead, he becomes a young man with an open heart, who cares for others. Meskipun perasaannya telah luluh lantak pada usia sangat muda, tapi ia selalu positif dan berjiwa seluas langit. Mengingat masa lalunya yang pilu, aku kagum pada kepribadian dan daya hidupnya. (hlm. 33) (Even though his heart has been torn to pieces since childhood, he always thinks positively and he has a soul as wide as the sky. Considering his past, that is full of sorrow, I feel amazed by his personality and his life spirit. (p. 33)) Arai menyerahkan karung-karung tadi pada Mak Cik. Beliau terkaget-kaget. Lalu aku tertegun mendengar rencana Arai: dengan bahan-bahan itu dimintanya Mak Cik membuat kue dan kami yang akan menjualnya. “Mulai sekarang, Mak Cik akan punya penghasilan!” seru Arai bersemangat. Mata Mak Cik berkaca-kaca. Seribu terima kasih seolah tak’kan cukup baginya. Tubuhku yang dari tadi kaku karena tegang mengantisipasi rencana Arai kini pelan-pelan merosot sehingga aku terduduk di balik daun pintu. Aku menunduk dan memeluk lututku yang tertekuk. Aku merasa malu pada diriku sendiri. Bibirku bergetar menahan rasa haru pada putihnya hati Arai. Air mataku mengalir pelan. Sungguh tak sedikit pun kuduga Arai merencanakan sesuatu yang sangat mulia untuk Mak Cik. Sebuah rencana yang akan kudukung habis-habisan. (hlm. 51) (Arai gave the sacks to Mak Cik. She was shocked. And I was stunned by his plan: he asked Mak Cik to make cookies and we would help her to sell them. “From now on you will have an income!” Arai said passionately. Mak Cik’s eyes glisten, a thousand thanks may not be enough. My body, that had become stiff wondering about his plan, now slowly slipped off to the floor behind the door. I looked down and held my bended knees. I felt ashamed of myself. My lips trembled, restraining the uproar in my heart to see the whiteness of his heart. My tears dropped. It was beyond my thought that Arai had planned something so noble for Mak Cik. A plan that I would back up completely. (p. 51))

A sad story is also experienced by Jimbron, a story which started with what had happened to his father, as shown in this quotation: Dulu bicaranya normal seperti anak-anak lainnya. Jimbron adalah anak tertua dari tiga bersaudara. Ia memiliki dua adik kembar perempuan. Ibunya wafat ketika Jimbron kelas empat SD. Jimbron sangat dekat dan sangat tergantung pada ayahnya. Ayahnya adalah orientasi hidupnya. Suatu hari, belum empat puluh hari ibunya wafat, Jimbron bepergian naik sepeda dibonceng ayahnya, masih berkendara ayahnya terkena serangan jantung. Konon Jimbron pontang-panting dengan sepeda itu membawa ayahnya ke Puskesmas. Ia berusaha sekuat tenaga, panik, dan jatuh bangun terseok-seok membonceng ayahnya yang sesak napas sambil kesusahan memeganginya. Sampai di Puskesmas Jimbron [...] kehabisan napas dan pucat pasi ketakutan. Ia kalut, tak sanggup menjelaskan situasinya pada orang-orang [...] Beberapa menit di Puskesmas ayahnya meninggal. Sejak itu Jimbron gagap. (hlm. 61)

(He used to speak normally like any other kids. Jimbron is the oldest of three. He has two twin sisters. His mother passed away when he was at the fourth grade. He was very close and relied so much on his father. His father was his life orientation. One day, forty days after his mother’s death, He went out with his father, riding a bicycle. While riding, his father had a heart attack. People said Jimbron rode the bicycle in panic, taking his father to the Community Health Center. He tried as hard as he could to paddle the bicycle, going up and down, holding his father who barely could breathe. Arriving at the Health Center, Jimbron […] was loosing his breath and his face was so pale with fear. He was so frightened that he could not explain the situation. […] A few minutes later his father died. Since then Jimbron had a terrible stutter. (p. 61))

The incident which gave him a speech handicap—in addition to his other handicaps—did not make him an introvert, but he grew up to become a caring and cheerful person. He even sympathized to Laksmi for he felt that they both have sorrowful lives, “I only want to make her smile…” he said seriously. About Laksmi’s painful life, Andrea presents the most tragic incident in this novel. The tragedy is produced not only by fate and the painful life experienced by this character, but also by paradoxing two situations (Seine and Manggar Rivers). The quotation below shows that. Namun, tak seindah cerita romansa Sungai Seine, muara [muara Sungai Manggar, MYS] itu adalah muara air mata. Beberapa tahun lalu sebuah keluarga Melayu berkebun di pulau kecil tak jauh dari muara. Dalam perjalanan pulang, perahu mereka terbalik. Dua hari kemudian orang melihat sosok-sosok mengambang pelan, lekat satu sama lain, mengikuti anak Sungai Manggar. Sang Ayah, dengan kedua tangannya, memeluk, merengkuh, menggenggam seluruh anggota keluarganya. Istrinya dan ketiga anaknya semua berada dalam dekapannya. Ia ingin menyelamatkan semuanya. Sebuah upaya yang sia-sia. Tapi anak tertuanya, Laksmi, selamat. Gadis kecil itu tak sadarkan diri, tersangkut di akar-akar bakau. Sejak itu semenanjung tempat keluarga itu ditemukan dinamakan orang Semenanjung Ayah [...] sejak kematian keluarganya, kehidupan seolah terenggut dari Laksmi. Ia dirundung murung setiap hari [...] Dan selama bertahun-tahun itu pula, tak pernah lagi—tak pernah walau hanya sekali—orang melihat Laksmi tersenyum. (hlm. 77-78) (However, not as beautiful as the romantic story of the river Seine, the estuary [of Manggar River, ed] is the estuary of tears. A few years ago, a Malay family worked on a a land on a small island near the estuary. On their way home, their small boat turned upside down. Two days later, some people saw dead bodies floating on the water, holding each other, flowing down the river. The father, with both hands, held, pulled and grasped all his family members. His wife and three children were all in his embrace. He had wanted to save them all. A failing effort. But his oldest girl, Laksmi, survived. The little girl was unconscious, caught on mangrove three roots. Since then the place where the dead family was found has been called Father’s peninsula […] since the death of her family, her life was like taken away. She is always sad everyday […] And for years, nobody has ever—not even once—seen Laksmi smile. (p. 77-78))

From cheerfulness and naughtiness to painfulness. This arrangement is stretched along Sang Pemimpi. The most touching human emotional uproar may happen when, first, someone has to depart from or after a long separation meet again with the closest

acquaintances; second, someone gives away one’s most precious belonging to help a best friend’s plan; third, an impossible dream becomes reality. At least those three kinds of uproar cover the three best friends. An uproar that invites relieving tears. The characters in the two novels are students in poor conditions and with limited possibilities in life, but they all have strong inspirations, their teachers (Ms. Mus, Mr. Harfan, Mr. Baia, Mr. Mustar). The inspiration from the teachers washes away their poverty and limitations, and guides them to become independent characters. The independence becomes a means to reach their goals in life. There are three things, at least, that can be noted down from these two novels. The first is the bankruptcy of PN Timah which gave troubles to the people of Belitong and Sawang, who had been relying on that state-owned company to get income. They had to loose their jobs. Second, both novels reflect the success story of several characters in following their hearts, either in education or in love. Third, both novels show the spirit of young people who love their birth place, Belitong.***