This Earth of Mankind

Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s settings are similar to those of a stage play, in which the events in each particular setting are consistent and further the author’s storyline. This is true of some lesser used settings in the narrative. For example, whenever Minke needs advice, he ends up in business partner Jean’s art studio. Whenever Minke rides on a train, he finds himself wrestling with uncertainty. Riding in carriages, however, creates moments of closeness.

Furthermore, Toer portrays Wonokromo, the plantation created and cultivated by Nyai, as a place of refuge and serenity. Minke discovers that all the workers at Wonokromo express an almost beatific joy. Inside the Mellemas’ house, everyone is received with hospitality (at least when Nyai is present). The house is a place for telling stories, healing, and making love. In turn, Wonokromo is a place that ejects troublemakers. When Herman confronts Minke for being a Native, Nyai scolds and banishes him. When Robert M. fails his mother and sister in a moment of need, and Nyai confronts his lying, he walks away and does not return. It is no surprise that the narrative’s greatest moment of joy, Minke and Annelies’s wedding, takes place in the accommodating house, where guests who stay too late are simply told to spend the night.