This Earth of Mankind

One of Toer’s subtle but recurrent motifs involves weighing education and ignorance, or as Minke frames it, science and superstition. Minke points out that his favorite teacher, Miss Magda Peters, tells her students that astronomy is nonsense. Minke himself is living proof of this mentality, as he and the new Dutch Queen Wilhelmina share the same birthday and horoscope, yet their lives turn out quite different. When Minke is forced to kneel before his father, fulfilling an ancient Javanese tradition, he feels he is abandoning his education to give homage to ignorant, outdated customs.

Minke sees the transition from ignorance and superstition toward education and science as part of a newly developing world. He only knows about the larger world—something most Natives do not—because of his Dutch education. This reinforces the question of Allegiance for him, as without the Dutch, he would not understand the benefits of education—even though Cultural Divisions prevent him from fully utilizing what he has learned.

When Minke learns that conservative Dutch leaders have forced Magda to return to the Netherlands, he is surprised that the Pure-Bloods would turn on each other. Readers may find Minke’s feelings surprising, as his story is full of struggles between the traditional Dutch and the progressive Dutch. To Minke, this conflict reads as the “bad” Dutch versus the “good” Dutch. There are individuals who wish to preserve the centuries-old relationship in which the Javanese serve the Dutch. Most of Minke’s teachers fall into this group, as does Nyai’s personal lawyer and the prosecutors who embarrass Annelies and Minke in the courtroom with questions that have no bearing on Herman’s murder case. A callous judge later rules that Annelies must go to Amsterdam as per her half-brother Maurits’s order.

Magda believes the Indies should be equal to the Netherlands; she is considered progressive, along with Herbert, Miriam, and Sarah de la Croix, who want Minke to become a Native spokesman. Dr. Martinet is always honest with Indos and Natives, thus falling into the good group. Toer distinguishes between bad and good Dutch characters to frame compassionate characters as on the side of equality, and vice versa—a stark contrast against those who use Cultural Divisions to marginalize others.