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
The filicium tree in Indonesian is known as kerai payung takes an important role in the novel. It appears in the first page of the novel ”...the branch
of an old filicium tree shaded me” p. 1 and emerges oftenly throughout the novel. Referring to Robert Stanton 1964, the fillicium tree is considered as a
symbol because its repeated emergence in the novel forms certain pattern which is not fully explained by the story itself.
Tree, according to Chevalier and Cheerbrant 1996 in The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols
, is “one of the richest and most widespread symbolic motifs” p. 1026. Here, by referring to the novel, the most suitable meaning for
this is the connection among the “three levels of the cosmos – the Underworld through their roots; the Earth’s surface with their trunk and lower branches; and
the Heavens with their upper branches and top” Chevalier and Cheerbrant, 1996, p. 1026. They also state “the trees is universally regarded as a symbol of the
relationships established between Heaven and Earth” p. 1027. Through the
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appearance of filicium tree, Hirata wants to emphasize the relation among human, nature, and God in every moment in life.
The relation among human, nature, and God is like unbroken chain. They are connected one another. In the novel, the relation among those three levels of
the cosmos exists. First, it appears through the habit of Ikal and his friends to climb the filicium tree and sit on their own branches while watching the rainbow:
We soon invaded the filicium tree, climbing up and claiming our own separate branches. After every rain we climbed up the tree to watch the
rainbows. Because of this habit, Bu Mus nicknamed us Laskar Pelangi. Laskar
means warriors, pelangi means rainbow, so literally, Rainbow Troops p. 125.
If Ikal and his friends represent humans while the rainbow stands for both natural phenomenon and Heaven due to its position in the sky, then the branches of the
tree symbolize the connection among Heaven or God, human, and nature. On the branches of the tree, human and nature get together. On the branches of the tree
also, human sees God’s creation and is reminded that everything in life happens as God’s will.
Another moment that shows the existence of the filicium tree is when Ikal is in a great suffer because of Lintang’s disappearance:
I stared longingly at the empty seat beside me. I gazed sadly at the filicium’s
branch where he had perched to watch rainbows. He wasn’t there. We felt lost and fretful. While we were studying, I stared at the first
place Academic Challenge trophy, the greatest achievement the poor coastal boy gave to our school. I missed Lintang p. 409.
Soon after that, another sadness comes. Lintang comes back to say goodbye. Again, this tearful moment occurs under the filicium tree. Hirata does not mention
why the place is chosen, but it surely refers to their connection with the tree itself
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“...on its trunk we carved our promise to forever friends” p. 52. All sadness and suffer are God’s power. Ikal’s watching the filicium tree is an expression of his
longing but at the same time symbolizes his faith that only God knows what is the best to happen. Meanwhile, The Rainbow Troops’s saying goodbyes under the
filicium tree shows their resignation to God. Based on the position of the tree and
The Rainbow Troops The Rainbow Troops is under the tree, it is reasonable to describe it as God’s protection for humans. The shade of the tree symbolizes
God’s shade while the action of saying goodbyes under the tree means willingness to believe in God and to rely everything on Him.
The filicium tree also witnesses when Ikal is in a deep sadness looking at the plane that brings A Ling, his first love, is gone:
We arrived at the school. Syahdan returned to class. I ran across the yard toward the filicium tree. I climbed into the tree and sat on my branch, my
usual position for watching rainbows. My eyes didn’t blink staring at the empty blue sky, as empty as my heart p. 258.
It is also a comfortable place for him to express his longing to his first love: Those day, I felt lonely in the midst of festivity. I often drew away from
my friends, sitting by myself under the filicium, not wanting to talk to anyone and not wanting company. My thoughts emerged out of the
filicium ’s foliage, floating up and mixing with the clouds as if they had
lost their way p. 201. Once again, the old tree is chosen as the only place to shed all sadness and pain. It
shows Ikal’s deepest heart, his greatest sorrow. His eyes are blurry and his heart is empty. Sitting on the branch of the tree symbolizes how much he believes in the
power of God. He asks for strength to Him and gives all confussion and emptiness to God the Almighty.
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Hirata’s description about filicium tree in certain part of the novel reinforces the fact that the old tree brings special meaning. The filicium tree is the
center of life for all living things around. The gorgeous parkeets, the jalak kerbau birds, the ashy tailorbirds birds eat the small fruits of the filicium or peck at
caterpillars on the tree. Like the birds, The Rainbow Troops also enjoy being around the old filicium tree:
That tree was a witness to the dramas of our childhood. In its branches we constructed tree houses. Behind its leaves we played hide-and-seek. On its
trunk we carved our promise to be forever friends. On its protruding roots, we sat around listening to Bu Mus tell the story of Robin Hood. And under
the shade of its leaves, we played leapfrog, rehearsed plays, laughed, cried, sang, studied, and quarelled p. 52.
Here, the tree symbolizes the relation between human and nature. Harmonious life of the birds and the members of The Rainbow Troops shows a harmonious
relation between human and the nature. Both the birds and The Rainbow Troops’ members love being around the tree without disturbing each other. They are
blended together. This shows how they naturally respect each other. In short, the appearance of filicium tree in the novel symbolizes the
relation among God or Heaven, nature, and human. In this novel, it is shown how close the connection between all the characters with God is and how harmonius
their relation with the nature is.
4. The Ferris wheel
