2. Lintang
Lintang Samudera Basara or usually known as Lintang, is one of main characters in the novel The Rainbow Troops. Lintang’s appearance in the novel
has drawn readers’ symphaty because of his extraordinary struggle for education. He inspires people to be dare to dream and to struggle. Readers must be curious to
see who Lintang is in fact. They must want to know what he looks like or where he lives.
However, it is not really important to investigate Lintang’s existence but rather to see the purpose of the writer to put his character in the novel. Lintang’s
name is a symbol. It is supported by the writer because he himself writes the following:
Lintang was like a star that exploded at dawn while people were still in bed. The light of the explosion lit up the sky without anyone knowing,
without anyone caring. Like a shooting star, Lintang explored the planets of knowledge alone, then faded away, and today went out p. 412.
The statement above implicitly explains the reason of using the name “Lintang”. It deals with the meaning of the name Lintang which means star. Star is a massive
celestial body which emits light and becomes the source of energy for other celestial body, for example, Sun, the nearest star to the Earth which becomes the
source of most of the energy on Earth. Stars shine in the dark night sky together with the moon and other celestial body. Its existence never threaten the other
celestial body but appears together and gives a beautiful scenery for the people on Earth.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Hirata builds the character that fulfills the characteristics of the star. Firstly, he shines and brightens the dark night sky. The dark night sky is none
other than his chronic poor living, unjust-treated society, and nearly-collapsed school. He is the one that makes the dark night beautiful. He lifts the prestige of
Muhammadiyah Elementary School up by winning the prestigious Academic Challenge.
Before, everyone believed that our mentality, our system, and even our school would collapse within weeks. No one ever expected us to win these
amazingly prestigious awards. But look at us, with our two glorious trophies. Look at how proudly we stood in front of our glass display case.
We were stronger and sturdier than ever. Bu Mus’ and Pak Harfan’s perseverance and persistance in educating us were starting to show
promising results. Those two fought hard to hold back tears as they gazed at the trophies because they knew that from this moment on, no one would
never insult our school again p. 320.
Secondly, just like a star which never threatens the existence of other celestial body, Lintang with his beautiful personality never causes jealousy.
When we had trouble with subjects, he helped us patiently and always encouraged us. His superiority didn’t threaten those around him, his
brilliance didn’t cause jealousy, and his greatness didn’t give off even the slightest hint of arrogance. We were proud of him and fell for him both as
a humble friend and an extraordinarily intelligent student p. 107.
Also, he defends his school from being insulted by those who want to humiliate their intellectual.
Drs. Zulfikar slumped weakly, his face pallid. He sunk his flat bottom onto a chair, as if his skeletal structure was gone. He was all out of clever
words. His glasses slid feebly down the curved bridge of his nose. He realized that blindly engaging in polemics about something he hadn’t
mastered would make his own stupidity known in the eyes of bright people like Lintang. So he waved his white handkerchief; Lintang had knocked
him out. Lintang forced him to swallow the bitter APC pill without water, and the efficacious pill was now stuck in his throat p. 317.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Lintang posseses the same characteristic as the star that is the source of most of the energy of other celestial body. Lintang is blessed with a generous beautiful
personality. God didn’t just bless Lintang with brains. He also blessed him with a
beautiful personality. When we had trouble with subjects, he helped us patiently and always encouraged us. His superiority didn’t threaten those
around him, his brilliance didn’t cause jealousy, and his greatness didn’t give off even the slightlest hint of arrogance. We were proud of him and
fell for him both as a humble friend and an extraordinarily intelligent student p. 107.
More than everything, Lintang spreads positive energy to his friends. He gives them “courage to dream” p. 319. He changes their way of thinking and makes
them dare to have their own aspirations, But Lintang and his extraordinary abilities gave us confidence. He opened
our eyes to the posibility that we could become more than we had ever dreamed. He gave us encouragement, even though we were full of
limitations p. 292. In short, “Lintang” as a name symbolism means spirit or energy that
guides and encourages people to be dare to dream, to have higher aspirations for the future, to lift their lives up and of course to leave the ‘dark’ side of their lives
with their own struggle. Lintang’s appearance in the novel brings more than just name symbolism.
Lintang is described as “a small, dirty boy with the curly, red hair who smelled like burnt rubber” p. 9. He lives in a small “hut” on the edge of the sea with
thirteen other people who rely their live on Lintang’ father. From generation to generation, the family has been living in poverty. As the eldest son, he is destined
to go to sea and make a living instead of going to school. But life will not go that
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
way. His father dares to break the trap of poverty and backwardness by sending his eldest son to school.
Without a doubt, all previous generations of men from the pine tree man’s family were unable to lift themselves from the endemic cycle of poverty,
inevitably becoming fishermen in the Malay community. These fishermen were unable to work for themselves—not for lack of sea, but lack of boats.
This year, Lintang’s father wanted to break that cycle. His eldest son, Lintang would sit beside the other small boy with curly
hair—me—and would ride a bike to and from school every day p. 11.
Lintang shows a great desire for a change. He also shows a great struggle to break the fate. Lintang is a strong-willed boy who loves school whole-
heartedly. He rides his bicycle for 80 kilometers every day and risks his life for education when he faces crocodile on his way to school. Obstacles, however, will
never make him stop going to school. Another time, his bicycle chain broke. It couldn’t be fixed again because it
has already broken one too many times and was now too short to be reconnected. But he wasn’t willing to give up. He pushed the bike about a
dozen kilometers by hand. By the time, he got to school, we were getting ready to head home. The last lesson that day was music class. Lintang was
happy because he got to sing the song Padamu Negeri “For You Our Country”
in front of the class p. 78. Lintang is an astonishing small, dirty boy who is “obsessed to learn new
things” p. 105. Throughout the story, it is concluded that Lintang is excellent in
almost all subjects especially science. He is smart or more than that, he is genius. Our entire class was enchanted with Lintang. My God, that seashell-
collecting boy was sharp. His index finger incessantly pointed upward as a sign that he knew the answer. His bright eyes radiated intelligence and his
forehead lit up like a light bulb. Curiosity possessed him, and compelled him to constantly ask questions. p. 101
Unfortunately, fate has shattered his dream and burried it along with his
father’s body. After his father’s death, Lintang leaves the school to make a living
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
and support his mother, siblings, grandparents and uncles. Their lifes are now on his shoulders. Concerning on the fact above, it is reasonable to say that Lintang’s
character is a symbol of an irony of life. How life can be so cruel to such an innocent boy whose intelligence is the same or maybe higher than those sitting
behind luxurious desks in favorite school. Lintang is a representation of victim of unjust society. Being smart is not a guarantee for someone to get either a proper
life or education. ...Just three months before the final examinations. I felt incredibly sad
because a super genius boy, a native of the richest island in Indonesia, had to leave school because of poverty. Today a little mouse died of starvation
in a barn full of rice p. 412.
For the first time after twelve years of being apart, Ikal meets his ex- deskmate, Lintang. Everybody including Ikal would expect to see him succeed:
...My thoughts flew away as I imagined him wearing long white pants...as he took the stage to present a paper at an honorable scientific forum.
... Perhaps he was more deserving of coming from and going to foreign
countries, being awarded a prestigious scholarship, than those who claim they are intellectuals but are no more than phony scientists who haven’t
made any contributions to society other than their final projects and their marks p. 443.
Unfortunately, it does not happen to him. Lintang is neither a scientist nor a mathematician:
But today, Lintang was only a thin man sitting on his heels waiting for his shift of hard labor to begin. Work day and night, bitterly surrendering his
noble aspiration to become a mathematician to the sand glass bosses for a petty weekly wage...now he was sitting in the corner of the barracks,
looking unsure of his own future p. 443–444
He is still an irony of life. His brilliance does not bring him to his aspiration. But destiny has brought him to a coolie shack. He is just a small driver
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
living in a coolie shack that “stretched along the shore” p. 440. He still lives in poverty, drops out of school and never comes back again.
In short, by using this character, Hirata has succeeded to convey his great concern on discrimination, unfairness, and poverty in his beloved island, Belitong.
He shows that life and fate can be so unfair even to someone who is very brilliant and has given his extraordinary struggle in life.
3. The Filicium Tree
Kategori