T1 112007065 Full text

Status Class Exploitation in the Short Story of The Short Happy Life

of Conat

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Janti Swastyastu Ristiyono Putri 112007065

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2013

ffi

PBRPUSTAKAAN UNIvERSITAS UNIYERSTTAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA !. Diporegm 52 _- 6O Salatiga 50711

JamTmgah, tndresa Telp, 0298 _- 3?1212" Fax. O?98 321433

Emil: librry(@drn.ukw,edu ; htq://librry.ulsuedu

PERNYATAAN TIDAK PLITGIAT DAN PERSETUJUAN AKSES Sehgai sivitas akademik Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:

JANX SWASTYA5T\9 BTSTTTONO PqTRI Nama

NIM Fakultas

:

tl

aool a6s

:

Bqhuq

doo

Sqstra

Email Jqrrh' . S.^,asbqgfu

g9 _{@ gttalf ' corr,}

Program Studi : Perctidilcon

gqh$q

IngTcit Judul tugas akhir : Sttfus Oass Erplortq+,bn

I"

'the

Shmt

Ctorg

0g The Short

ttqfln

_liP

of

Gm+

Dengan ini menyerahkan karya tersebut di atas untuk disimpan dalam Koleksi Digital Perpustakaan Universitas dengan ketentuan akes tugas akhir elektronik sebagai berikut (beri tanda pada kotak yang sesuai):

d

a.Saya rnengijinkan karya tersebut diunggah ke dalam aptikasi Koleksi Digkal Perpustakaan Universitas,

r-r

_{dan/atau portal GARUDA.}

I

b.Saya tidak mengijinkan karya tersebut diunggah ke dalam aplikasi Koleksi Digital Perpustakaan Universitas, dan/atau portsl GARUDA. *

--\p_ry&OttitgmpllW@lL8/*anylifu _!:-g@s'

Dengan ini saya juga menyatakan bahwa:

r.

Hasil karya yang saya serahkan ini adalah asli dan belum pernah diajukan untuk mendapatkan gelar kesarjanaan baik di Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana maupun di institusi pendidikan lainnya.

:.

Hasil karya saya ini bukan saduran/ terjemahan melainkan merupakan gagasan, rumusan, dan hasil pelaksanaan

penelitian/ implementasi saya sendiri, tanpa bantuan pihak lain, kecuali arahan pembimbing akademik dan

narasumber penelitian.

3. Hasil karya saya ini merupakan hasil revisi terakhir setelah diujikan yang telah diketahui dan disetujui oleh pembimbing.

a. Dalam karya saya ini tidak terdapat karya atau pendapat yang telah ditulis atau dipublikasikan orang lain, kecuali yang

digunakan sebagai acuan dalam naskah dengan menyebutkan nama pengarang dan dicantumkan dalam daftar

pustaka.

s. Saya menyerahkan hak non-eksklusif kepada Perpustakaan Universitas

-

Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana untuk

menyimpan, mengatur akses serta melakukan pengelolaan terhadap karya saya ini dengan mengacu pada ketentuan

akes tugas akhir elektronik di atas.dan norma hukum yang berlaku.

Pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sesungguhnya. Apabila di kemudian hari terbukti ada penyimpangan dan ketidakbenaran

dalam pernyataan ini maka saya bersedia menerima sanki akademik herupa pencabutan gelar yang telah diperoleh karena karya saya ini, serta sanksi lain yang sesuai dengan ketentuan yang berlaku di Universitas Satya Wacana.

ffi

tg

Jt^i

?rlt\

Tatdo totlgon & namd Emng pemwmbiw ll

i

Status Class Exploitation in the Short Story of The Short Happy Life

of Conat

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Janti Swastyastu Ristiyono Putri 112007065

ii

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.

Copyright@ 2013. Janti Swastyastu Ristiyono Putri and Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A

All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.

iii

PUBLICATION AGREEMENT DECLARATION

As a member of the Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) academic community, I verify that:

Name : Janti Swastyastu Ristiyono Putri

Student ID Number : 112007065

Study Program : English Education

Faculty : Faculty of Language and Literature

Kind of Work : Undergraduate Thesis

In developing my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive royalty free right for my intellectual property and the contents therein entitled:

Status Class Exploitation In The Short Story Of The Short Happy Life Of

Conat

along with any pertinent equipment.

With this non-exclusive royalty free right, SWCU maintains the right to copy, reproduce, print, publish, post, display, incorporate, store in or scan into a retrieval system or database, transmit, broadcast, barter or sell my intellectual property, in whole or in part without my express written permission, as long as my name is still included as the writer.

This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge.

Made in : Salatiga

Date : 19 Juni 2013

Verified by signee,

Janti Swastyastu Ristiyono Putri

1

Status Class Exploitation in the Short Story of The Short Happy

Life of Conat

Janti Swastyastu R. Putri

Abstract

Many people believe that class division is a natural thing which they do not need to be concerned about. Whereas actually class division can cause problems which lead to exploitation within society itself, because class division draws a big distinction between the majority and the minority. This study analyses a short story, written by Indonesian author Mocthar Lubis, entitled The Short Happy Life Of Conat. The analysis uses Marxist theory, particularly the aspects of ideology, hegemony, and reification, to determine the ways in which The Short Happy Life Of Conat shows how attitudes of superiority are expressed against minorities. According to Marxist theory, society makes judgements about minority people

based on people‘s identities stemming from their class and treatment. This short story gives examples of how lower class people are pictured as powerless and unimportant creatures with this study concentrating on status and class exploitations recorded. This study also shows how government and society should be mindful of how they treat minorities; lower class people are not objects, inferiors, or voiceless creatures.

Keywords: Mocthar Lubis, Exploitation, Conat, Marxism

1. Introduction

When I first read the short story of The Short Happy Life of Conat, written by Mocthar Lubis, as part of my Prose class, I did not think that I was going to

use the story in the future so I just read it without thinking of what happened

behind the story and wrote personal opinions about the story for the weekly

journal. I never questioned the reason why the author wrote such a story or what

2

discussion following our reading of the story, I received a lot of information about

the story and, when the teacher explained more about the story, I found myself

more interested in studying The Short Happy Life of Conat more deeply. The

teacher‘s explanation about the message is that society often treats marginalized

people unfairly because they are powerless, voiceless and they will always be

followers of the majority. This is clearly shown at the end of the short story, when

the ruler decided to save the minister and let the trishaw driver die because the

ruler assumed that the minister‘s life was more important than the life of the trishaw driver.

The separation of the marginalized and dominant ones portrayed in The Short Happy Life of Conat when understood through Marxist criticism, is an example that the mistreatment of the poor is important; class struggle is

happening and will still be a big subject of concern in the future as well.

Regarding class struggle, we can see that the present state of Indonesia is evidence

that we are living in a country where the dominant people in the government live

in comfort, but the streets are filled with homeless people and people barely

surviving without enough money for them to eat. As seen from the history of

Indonesia, the poor have always struggled to live while the rich live in comfort.

From my perspective the subject of the distinct differences between the dominant

and the oppressed have been obvious in the past, present and are likely to continue

into the future. However, this analysis is important to help readers be more aware

of how important it is to treat others without looking at their class status or where

3

money, power and royalty or family connections and they rarely look at the

character and heart of others. If people only care about wealthy people, they will

only see objects or possessions, they will not see a person they can love.

The story of The Short Happy Life of Conat is a very engrossing story because the author could have written about Soekarno or the other heros of the

revolution, but instead he chose the figure of Conat who is only a messenger and a

trishaw driver. Furthermore, the story of The Short Happy Life of Conat examines social stratification which leads to exploitation. I will analyze how characters treat

Conat because of his class status. This analysis will make use of Marxist theory to

analyze the exploitation of class status. The classes are identified as two different

groups of people, the ruling class and the masses in the terms of power within the

society. I have made particular use the Marxist ideas of Ideology, Hegemony and

Reification to analyze the differing status of classes that led to the exploitation in

the story.

2. Summary of the Text

The Short Happy Life of Conat by Mochtar Lubis is a story of a 26 year old - man named Conat who works as a messenger in the government civil service in

Jakarta and honestly earns 325 rupiah a month. Conat is happily married with two

children and his wife is expecting another baby. He realizes his current wages

would not be enough to fulfill his family needs, so he decides to work as a trishaw

driver in the afternoons. He works extremely hard, day and night, for three years

but no one bothers to ask him why he works very hard. Yet what would happen if

4

be blamed for his situation. He completely trusts his nation‘s leaders and believes

that whatever they say is true.

One day, he goes to a mass rally with tens of thousands of other people. As

he listens to the speeches, he forgets about his life situation. Even after returning

to work and going home he is still stirred by the speeches. Then suddenly he feels

unwell. That evening he rides his trishaw and late at night he is hit by a car and

taken to the hospital. His wife is told to come back in the morning, but when she

comes back she finds out he had died. The blood that was to be used for Conat

had been used by a major dignitary instead who suffered an accident about the

same time as Conat.

3. Theory

Marxist Theory

A school of thought arising from the teachings of Karl Marx and Friedrich

Engels, Marxist theory, proclaimed that different socioeconomic classes have

more powerful effects in classifying people compared to differences in religious

beliefs, race, ethnicity, or gender (Tyson 54). As they perceive it, Marxist

theorists believe that economic power is the cause of all social and political

activities in a society. Money and the value of things become a motivation to what

a society regards as acceptable or valuable in all aspects of life. Marxist criticism

investigates how those in power within a society uses their governmental system

to hide unfairness in their socioeconomic arrangement. Therefore, another aim of

Marxism is to bring to surface the ideologies that hinder us from seeing the reality

5

to its relevance with the class struggle‖ (―History Marxist Criticism‖).

Furthermore, Marxist theorists have created a model of society that consists of ―a base (the material means of production, distribution, and exchange) and a

superstructure (the ‗cultural‘ world of ideas, art, religion, law, and so on)‖ (Barry

157). It means that everything exists in a society is because of an important thing

called ‗money‘ as the ‗base‘. As a result, every part of society - from its social, political, and ideological standpoint - exists or remains standing only because of

money.

Moreover, Marxism classifies two kinds of social classes: ―the

bourgeoisie—those who control the world‘s natural, economic, and human

resources—and the proletariat, the majority of the global population who live in

substandard conditions and who have always performed the manual labor‖

(Tyson, 54). The bourgeoisie are the rich and powerful controllers of a society,

whereas, the proletariat are the subordinate - poor citizens who live in oppressed

situations under the rule of their powerful government. Because of the presence of

two differing socioeconomic classes, there are bound to be conflicts between the

rich and the poor.

The system by which a society works is heavily influenced by ideologies.

As for all Marxists, ideology is a key term which, according to Althusser,

―represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of

existence‖ (Althusser 18). It also means that without having any ideology in a

society, the society would not be able to keep the governance systems focused on

6

line between whether or not society acts on their own will or whether their actions

are caused by the system (86). In this case, ideology is a tool for the governments to control the systems and the people. Furthermore, ideology also reflects on what the society thinks is normal or valuable. It is imperative to not overlook the

ideologies within a text that show the ―absences – the ‗not-said‘ of the work and

certain ‗definite forms of social consciousness‘‖ (Eagleton 555).

While Karl Marx made different statements about ideology at different

points in his career, his most straightforward statement about ideology appears in

The German Ideology, which he wrote with Frederick Engels. Here he states that ideology itself represents the "production of ideas, of conceptions, of

consciousness," all that "men say, imagine, conceive," and include such things as

"politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc." (47).

However, in this study, Althusser‘s and Bertens‘ definition of ideology will be used to identify the ideologies that take place in the The Short Happy Life Of Conat because both definitions cover most of the other experts definitions of ideology and so serve as a good base to see beyond the story and reflect on why

The Short Happy Life Of Conat is a great presentation of class struggle in Indonesia.

Furthermore, hegemony, as one aspect of Marx‘s ideology, serves as a

good theory to support how ideology occurs in the story. Gramsci (1971) used the

term hegemony to denote the predominance of one social class over others (e.g.

bourgeois hegemony). This represents not only political and economic control,

7

world so that those who are subordinated by it accept it as ‗common sense‘ and

‗natural‘. (cited in Alvrado & Boyd-Barrett 1992:51). In other words, hegemony is talking about how governments control citizens and makes the citizens believe

that their position is their own choice.

The exploitation of one social class by another is seen, especially in

capitalism since the industrial revolution, particularly in its unrestricted

nineteenth-century form. The result of this exploitation is alienation, which is the state that comes about when the worker is 'deskilled' and made to perform

fragmented, repetitive tasks in a sequence the nature and purpose of which he or

she has no overall grasp (Marx, 106). By contrast, in the older 'pre-industrial' or

'cottage industry' systems of manufacture, home and workplace were one - the

worker completed the whole production process in all its variety and was in direct

contact with those who might buy the product (Marx, 106).

These alienated workers had undergone the process of reification, which is a term used in Marx's major work, Das Kapital (Marx, 106), but not developed there. Reification concerns the way, when capitalist goals and questions of profit

and loss are paramount, workers are bereft of their full humanity and are thought

of as 'hands' or 'the labour force', so that, for instance, the effects of industrial

closures are calculated in purely economic terms. People, in a word, become

things.

Marxism can be used to analyze The Short Happy Life Of Conat, because the aim of Marxist criticism is to bring about a classless society by getting rid of

8

example of how class struggle happens in Inodnesia. It is also a great reflection of

the situation of Indonesian class divisions in the past which have continued into

the present.

Three concepts of Marxism: ideology, hegemony and reification will be

used to analyse the exploitation of status and class which happens in the story.

Ideology will help the reader to see how the government controls the lower

classes, including Conat. Hegemony helps the reader to understand why Conat

accepts his position. Reification helps the reader to recognise the injustice

executed upon Conat as he is just regarded as an object to be used by those in

power.

4. Discussion

4.1 Ideology

As mention earlier, ideology is a key term for all Marxists. It is a broad

concept variously defined within Marxism. Althusser's definition (quoted by

Goldstein) is as follows:

Ideology is a system (possessing its logic and proper rigour) of representations (images, myths, ideas or concepts according to the case) endowed with an existence and an historical role at the heart of a given society.

In other words, ideology has a greater influence than economic determinism and it controls what is covert and what is overt. It means that

ideology determines what should be kept ‗in secret‘ in opposition to what should

be ‗clear‘ for people to see. If we look underneath the surface, we will find class

9

Conat is a form of protest against the class divisions in Indonesian society. It shows from the beginning of the story how people of lower class become

followers very easily without doubting what the leaders ask them to do. In the

story, Conat will be the perfect representative of lower class people which are

often classified as uneducated people. As we can see from this quotation: ―…. He

trusted his nation‘s leader and believed that whatever they said was true. There

was no need to argue…‖

The words ―trusted‖, ―believed‖ and ―true‖ show evidence of ideology.

Because the words explain how Conat easily receives whatever the leaders have

said as true without thinking of the meaning behind it. This also indicates how

Conat is a true follower. Furthermore, the following statement ―There was no

need to argue…‖ describe how lower class people, especially Conat, respect their leaders more than anything by not arguing with the leaders about what the leaders

had told them is right. The fact that no one spoke against the leaders, shows how

lower class people can be easily manipulated by the government. Another

evidence of ideology will be seen in the segments below:

…. [government leaders] wouldn‘t be leaders if they didn‘t know more than us, would they? Would they, if they were stupid? If they tell you to do something,

do it. They know best. They wouldn‘t be leaders if they didn‘t…

The pieces above tell us how lower class people like Conat are willing to

do anything the leaders asked them to do. Moreover, the way they accept what the

leaders have decided without refusing it is regarded as the best demonstration that

10

would not be leaders if they do not know more than the people. The worst thing is

they do not usually realize that the government is using the lower class people for

the sake of the government‘s will. They do not even realize that they are living in

a constricting fish bowl. They think they live in the right place and position

though it is not comfortable at all. In fact they are living in the world which the

government has created for them without letting them choose for themselves or

move out from their place. Thus, they will not be able to uncover that the

government has hidden the enforced nature of their position because they think

there is no need to question.

According to Bertens, ideology blurs the line as to whether a society acts on its own will or its actions are caused by the system (86). It is also inferred that

ideology can be a perfect tool for the governments to control their people. In fact, people like Conat are often being used by the upper class people, in this case the

government, because they are considered as unimportant. The example of Conat

demonstrates that such people have no power to defend themselves, they are

voiceless, they are not counted. The lower class people will be exploited by the

more powerful ones, because they have more money and power than the poor

people. Thus, the dominant people can do whatever they want, yet, they can have

better treatment from the government and the society will appreciate them more

than the lower class people.

If only Conat is willing to speak for himself, he might have the chance to

get better facilities and he does not have to be a trishaw driver to earn more

11

average poverty though they work very hard, still cannot make enough money to

pay for their living. Whereas the ruling people, like those who sit in government,

believe themselves to deserve all the comfort and best treatment from the

government as well as the society because they have more money, they have the

power to decide what is good for the society. It means the rulers become the

leaders of the masses and count people like Conat as their followers.

4.2 Hegemony

Gramsci (1971) used the term hegemony to denote the predominance of

one social class over others (e.g. bourgeois hegemony). It means that superiority

occurs within the society between the upper class and the lower class. Besides,

hegemony not only stands for political and economic control, but also for the

capability of the dominant class to undertake its own way of seeing the world. So

that those who are subordinated will receive it as ‗common sense‘ and ‗natural‘.

(cited in Alvrado & Boyd-Barrett 1992:51).

Hegemony is one aspect of Marx‘s ideology which is a useful theory to

identify how ideology occurs in The Short Happy Life Of Conat. Furthermore, hegemony focuses on how government exercises control the citizens and makes

the citizens believe that the position they are in is their own choice. In the story,

Conat is a great example of the effect of hegemony throughout the story. Firstly, it

can be seen early in the story: ―… Conat - age 26, citizen of the Republic of Indonesia, messenger in the goverment civil service, Jakarta, wages 325

12

The words ―honestly-earned‖ in the quote above shows that Conat is a good citizen and demonstrates one of the ways Conat respects his nation by being

honest. As a messanger Conat holds an important position in the governance

administration because he is connected to most of the goverment functionaries

through the messages he carries. If hegemony is concerned with how lower class

people think that the position is their choice, then hegemony occurs at this stage

when Conat does not realize that the government was not concerned about him as

evidenced by it paying him only 325 rupiahs, yet Conat should expect more than

that. 325 rupiahs that time will be 325.000 rupiahs in today‘s money and the recommended minimum wage today for a government employee is 1.2 million

rupiahs. It is thus obvious how poorly he is being treated by the government of the

time. They are taking advantage of his loyalty and hard work. But, Conat belived

that this is his choice to work for the government and so he is ignorant of how he

is being exploited.

Further evidence of hegemony can be identified in this section when we read:

…Conat stood in the full heat of the dry season sun, with tens of thousands of others at the mass rally…

waiting for the leaders to arrive in their limousines. He could not see how stupid it all was. Waiting, hungry, for the leaders to arrive late to give their stirring speeches...

The first sentence describes how standing under the heat of the sun is a

fine thing to do for the mass rally. People seem to forget how hot the sun can be

13

for Conat standing in the middle of the day is a fair sacrifice to show how much

he respects the leaders of the nation. Even though in the following sentence, the

word ―waiting‖ shows how the leaders do not value any sacrifice made for them by leaving them to wait longer. The leaders were late while traveling in their

limousines and so the leaders did not feel how hot the sun was, all they could feel

was the comfort and cool inside the limousines.

It is true that the government provided Conat and other civil servant with

the transportation to go to the mass rally and listen to the leaders‘ stirring

speeches. But there is an explicit distinction in the treatment given to the civil

servants and the treatment given to the leaders.

Moreover, Conat‘s unawareness is portrayed in this sentence, ―...he could

not see how stupid it all was…‖ It shows a great evidence of hegemony because Conat is not able to figure out that he is being used in such a way by the

government. Conat believes that to be subordinate as a follower is his own choice,

so it feels alright if he needs to make a sacrifice for the leaders elite. Conat has to

ignore his hunger only for the importance of the leaders because they want to give

their stirring speeches of what they think is good for the nation. Whereas, the

leaders, by keeping the people waiting, do not actually think of what is the best

for the majority of the people - for the lower classes.

Perhaps the clearest example of hegemony is seen in the way Conat

describes his satisfaction in being able to attend the mass rallies despite the

physical discomfort he endured:

And when the speeches began, Conat forgot about the heat, forgot about his hunger, forgot about his

14

trishaw …. Every time the god-like leader threw out at new, more suspicious slogan, Conat opened his mouth and shouted his full support...

...here was happiness, here was what he stood for, here was everything he had ever believed in.

The term hegemony is used to distinguish the superiority which occurs

within a society between the upper class and the lower classes (Gramsci

1891-1937) and hegemonyoccurs in The Short Happy Life Of Conat. Where people like Conat thought that they were given power to make changes in their life and

actually do something to support the nation while it actually was not the case.

Although they think whatever they have decided for their life is their choices, yet

the truth is they are being dominated by the more powerful in the government.

4.3 Reification

Based on the study of Marxism, reification concerns the way in which

workers are treated by those in authority (Marx, 106). In other words, the elite

often dehumanize the masses because the ruling class sees them as a machine not

as human beings. While this may be regarded as the worst form of exploitation, it

occurs in the story, where the government treats the lower class people as a thing

because they are poor and powerless. Whereas, the lower class becomes the

victim of the elite‘s dominance because the ruling class does not even care that the minority is human.

Presuming that The Short Happy Life Of Conat is a reflection of Indonesian class divisions in the past and present time, Conat is seen as a great

representative of the masses. The first reason for this is Conat works as a

15

office to office or building to building. Conat‘s job represents him as a follower of

what the dominant people ask him to do. It is tragic that Conat holds an important

position in the government civil service, but no one in the office recognizes his

existences nor even cares how hard he has been working to earn money honestly

day and night. We can see clearly how the superiors ignore him in this sentence,

―No one bothered to ask him why he worked so hard, nor what would happen if he fell sick.‖, they do not care about his health condition. Reification is also recognised in this part as we see that the government do not count Conat as a part

of the government administration but rather regard him as only a communication

tool.

Reification also is observed when Conat has to go to the hospital because

of a teribble accident he has been in. The following quote describes the

seriousness of his condition.

…He needed blood. Where was his wife? Examination showed she was anaemic. Some also

had other diseases… Where were they to get the blood from? His wife‘s wouldn‘t do. Nor would his family‘s or friends‘...

The first sentence, ―…he needed blood…‖ shows how bad Conat‘s condition is.

Then the following senctence describes how small is the hope for Conat to live,

since none of his family or friends are able to give him a blood donation nor even

his wife because she is anaemic. In fact there is blood in the Red Cross Blood

Bank, but Conat will not be able to receive any from the Blood Bank because any

blood used should be replaced immediately. Yet, the following sentence ―Some

16

blood. The reification is recognised when we read that the government does not

even care about the lower class people‘s health condition, because they are not

valuable enough to be concerned about. As seen in previous section, none of

Conat‘s family and friends are able to help him because they had other diseases and they have no enough money to use for their health problems.

However another evidence for reification can be seen when the doctor

decided to save the life of a cabinet minister, who was also in an accident at the

same time as Conat. Even though the doctor knows that the blood was meant to

save Conat‘s life. The doctor‘s actions in over-ruling Conat‘s rights, demonstrates the belief that those who are more powerful have the right to control the lives of

those less fortunate. The injustice is compounded when one reads that ―...the

dignitary had been speeding…‖ indicating that the accident happened due to the

cabinet minister‘s own fault. The fact that the cabinet minister gets his life back

shows how dominant people will often receive better treatment even if that means

needing to sacrifice someone else‘s life. The fate of Conat is sealed, ―...he needed a transfusion and so it happened that his blood was the same type as Conat‘s.‖

The following section of the story also shows the process of reification, of

how the lower class are treated as an object for the sake of the elite‘s satisfaction, can also be identified through the sentence. ―… Neither Conat nor Tinah heard the

angry conversation between the employee of the Blood Bank and the doctor…‖

It clearly stated that neither Conat nor his wife, Tinah, heard the arguement between the doctor and the employee. This situation can be understood as reification because both Conat and Tinah do not have the chance to share their

17

opinions and the doctor does not even bother asking about what best for them

because the doctor has already decided. Even though, the employee tries to speak

up for Conat it does not influence the doctor‘s decision because the employee‘s status is lower than that of the doctor‘s. Although the decision made by the more

powerful one will bring disaster towards the less fortunate one, which in this case

is the taking of Conat‘s life so that the cabinet minister can live. The elite believe

that sacrificing Conat‘s life seems to be the fine thing to do, because that‘s what

true leaders do, make decisions for their followers.

Reification is also found at the end of the story where the doctor says that

―A cabinet minister is a hundred times more useful to this country than a trishaw

driver is…‖. The previous sentence reveals the clearerst example of reification within the story, because it compares how important is the life of the cabinet

minister to that of Conat, the trishaw driver. The words ―hundred times‖ shows how precious, in the eyes of the doctor, is the cabinet minister because he is more

powerful and richer than the trishaw driver and so the cabinet minister deserves

better treatment from the society because he is more useful for the country. Conat,

as a trishaw driver, is just a thing to be used or ignored on the whim of the

powerful. Even though it sounds wrong when put so bluntly, this is how society

values things and the ruling class will mostly be the judges of what characterises a

good society.

Marx stated that reification is concerned with how the workers are treated

by those in authority (Marx, 106), which means that the elite will often control the

18

in the story. Where the leaders use the lower class people like Conat as tools for

their own purposes. As such, they can do whatever they want to do toward the

masses without considering them as people. This is how class division becomes a

major problem in society, because the masses are not willing to defend their right

to have a better life. The government should be thankful for these people; it is for

them that the government exists - its people. It is also the masses who do the

majority of the tasks within a government system. Conat is only trying to survive

to be able to provide for his family‘s daily needs. Conat did not just ask for money

by doing nothing, yet he works hard day and night for three years and still lives in

poverty.

5. Conclusion

This study is concluded with a reflection on Indonesian society and the

class divisions which occurs in the present. It is apparent that we often treat

people differently because of their class and status. Conat helps people to

visualize how lower class people, who are considered followers, are treated and

how the elite treats the masses. The Short Happy life Of Conat challenges the reader in the present to be more objective in treating others without regard to their

status or class background.

Moreover, the aim of Marxism is to get rid of the class divisions which

occur within society (―History Marxist Criticism‖) and The Short Happy life Of Conat is one form of protest against class division. Next, the three Marxist ideas of ideology, hegemony and reification help the reader to recognise how

19

government controls the lower classes, including Conat. Hegemony helps the

readers to understand why Conat accept his position. Reification is concerned

with how workers are treated by the ruling class as tools (Marx, 106). In

Indonesia today people often close their eyes because they do not want to see the

exploitation going on and thus pull themselves away from people of a lower class.

Unconsciously, people often marginalize others whom they regard as having a

lower status than or whom are regarded as not being good enough for to be friends

with.

As what happens in the story of The Short Happy life Of Conat, class division lead to exploitation of the lower class people on the basis that they had

less power and were considered as things because they had less money. This

situation results in them being regarded as less special than the elite who believed

that they had the right to rule everything, to decide what is good and bad for them,

etc. In The Short Happy life Of Conat, Conat is a reflection of lower class people who are trying to survive within the wild world by working hard to earn money

honestly for their families. This is the situation of many poor people today who

struggle to survive. As such, this analysis is important to help readers to open their

minds and be able to see beyond the class status in order to create a better society.

At the end of this study, the readers are encouraged to consider the lower

class people as equal in position with the ruling class. It would be hoped that in a

civil society those in power would treat the marginalized better. After reading the

20

be treated without seeing class status. Readers of a lower class background, in

particular, are expected to be more aware of their value as human beings.

As class division reveals the exploitation which occurs within the society,

especially of lower class people, class division or class struggle can be a good

field for further research so as to determine the extent of class divisions and ways

of overcoming such barriers. One tool for such research, particularly as it relates

to Indonesia, is the theory of post colonialism. It is suggested that The Short Happy life Of Conat could be analysed using post colonialism theory to understand more of the plight of Conat and the history which may have

21 Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Almighty God,

Jesus Christ, for Your unconditional love, blessing, strength, wisdom and being

my best friend through all my ups and downs. I would also like to show my

gratefulness to my thesis supervisor, Danielle Donelson-Sims, M.A. Thank you so

much for your time, help, knowledge and patience in accomplishing my thesis.

Deta Maria Sri Darta, S.pd, M.Hum, my thesis examiner, I am very thankful for

your time and help. I would like to express my thanks to my family, especially my

mum, my sister Ayu, my grandma and my father, also my special Australian

family, Duncan and Alison Barlow and my two gorgeous little sisters Evie and

Ella Barlow along with Darryl and Mary Ellwood. Thank you so much for your

love, prayers, patience and advice, I Love You all so much! I would also like to

say my thank you to my boyfriend, Nino for your patience and prayers during the

hard times. I also want to say thank you to my best friends and sisters, Arum, Liz,

Fiona, Magna, Julia, Emily and Diane for your supports and prayers. Last but not

least, I would say my gratitude for my brothers and sisters of my youth group at

GKJ Sidomukti, Salatiga, especially Puput, Inten, Vina and Dimas thank you so

much for your care, support and prayers. You all are amazing blessings from God

in my life.

Here I am now standing and ready to see the world. This thesis is dedicated to you

22 References

Althusser, Louis. Ideology and State Apparatuses. London: Verso, 1984. Print.

Barry, Peter. ―Beginning Theory : An Introduction to literary and cultural theory.‖

Second Edition (1995, 2002) : 156-167. Print.

Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2001. Print.

Chubarov, Igor‘ M. ―Emancipated Thing Versus Reified Consciousness:

Interaction of the Concepts ―Defamiliarization‖ and ―Alienation‖ in the

Russian Communist Futurist and Avant-Garde Movement.‖ Russian Studies in Philosophy, vol. 48, no. 2 (Fall 2009) : 47–62. Print.

Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism. London: Routledge, 1976. Print. Eagleton, Terry. The Ideology of the Aesthetic. USA: Blackwell Publisher, 1990.

Print.

Felluga, Dino. Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

Gramsci, Antonio. Selection from the Prison Notebooks. London, 1971. Print.

Griffin, Roger. ―Ideology and Culture.‖ Journal of Political Ideologies (February 2006), 11(1) : 77–99. Print.

―History Marxist Criticism‖. www.ucm.es/info/siin/siim2/3. HistoryMarxistCriticism.pdf. 5 Nov. 2012.

Leitch, Vincent. B. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism : Karl Marx (1818-1883)‖. (2001) : 759-787. Print.

23

Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels. The German Ideology Part One, with Selections

from Parts Two and Three, together with Marx's "Introduction to a Critique

of Political Economy." New York: International Publishers, 2001. Print.

Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844." Moscow: Progress

Publishers, 1959. Print.

Rehmann, J. ―Ideology Theory.‖ Historical Materialism, 15 (2007) : 211–239. Print.

Tyson. Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Garland, 1999. Print.

Wilson, Edmund. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and criticism‖. 2001.

Marxism and Literature (1895-1972) : 1240-1243. Print.

Williams, Raymond. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and criticism‖. 2001.

24 Appendix

The Short Happy Life Of Conat By: Mochtar Lubis

Conat - age 26, citizen of the Republic of Indonesia, messenger in the goverment civil service, Jakarta, wages 325 honestly-earned rupiah a month, married, two children, another on the way - climbed, with the other junior grade civil servants onto the back of the truck provided by the department. The truck, and several other trucks already full of civil servants, sped off to the giant Banteng arena for the mass rally to support the struggle for the West New Guinea. Over and over he roared the West New Guinea campaign song.

Every time he sang ―My patience is ended …..‖, he felt his patience was well and truly ended. If only someone would give him the order, he would immediately hurl himself onto the coast and drive out the cruel, vicious colonialists.

He could see himself, Conat dressed in army green, with a steel helmet and a red scarf around his neck, rifle in his right hand, bayonet drawn, standing at

the front of the landing craft as it rushed towards the beach ….. then the picture

became a little confused. The images flickered one by one in his mind. He leapt onto the beach, heard the roar of bombs and the cannons and mortar exploding, smelt the ammunitions, heard himself urging the attack on. Then, victory. Then, the return. Being received as a hero. The president pinning a medal on him. His

wife, Tinah gazing at him with admiration, his children embracing his legs …. Then promotion: no longer a messanger. A copyist …. No need to work at night as a trishaw driver, from six until sometimes as late as two in the morning …..

Conat drove a trishaw, as he explained to Tinah, so they could live honestly. His wages were not even enough to buy food with. Twenty rupiah a night allowed them to live decently in poverty.

He had worked day and night for three years. He was thin. His legs bulged with muscles. His eyes were red and hollow from lack of sleep. No one bothered

25

to ask him why he worked so hard, nor what would happen if he fell sick. Had

they, he would calmly have replied: ―Life is short! I know that! Fate decides

everything!‖ He saw everything as being determined by fate. His life had to be as

it was. It was no one‘s fault. No one was to blame. Certainly he blamed nobody.

Not the government. Nor the leaders. Nor even God. He was devout and obedient. He prayed and fasted regularly. He trusted his nation‘s leader and believed that whatever they said was true. There was no need to argue. If someone disagreed

with a leader he simply said: ―Don‘t worry about it. They wouldn‘t be leaders if they didn‘t know more than us, would they? Would they, if they were stupid? If

they tell you to do something, do it. They know best. They wouldn‘t be leaders if the didn‘t‖. Conat stood in the full heat of the dry season sun, with tens of

thousands of others at the mass rally, waiting for the leaders to arrive in their limousines. He could not see how stupid it all was. Waiting, hungry, for the leaders to arrive late to give their stirring speeches. This was the way things were, the way they ought to be. He was greatly awed by the sight of the heroic leaders sitting in their cars.

And when the speeches began, Conat forgot about the heat, forgot about

his hunger, forgot about his trishaw …. Every time the god-like leader threw out at new, more suspicious slogan, Conat opened his mouth and shouted his full support. He re-pledged his allegiance to the Foundation Constitution of 1945. He

believed every Presidential Decree. He trusted in Sukarno‘s Political Manifesto of

1959, Guided Democracy, Socialism a la Indonesia, Guided Economics, the Nation Character. He supported the struggle for West New Guinea. He had never doubted any of these things. Never had missed a mass rally. As he proudly told his friends, he had never missed a missed a chance of participating in the Ongoing Revolution.

In his heart of hearts, he was angry with his parents because he was only eleven when the Revolution for in dependence broke out. He wished he had been born eleven years earlier. But he was glad he could participate now.

His whole life was bound up with Revolution. Here was happiness, here was what he stood for, here was everything he had ever believed in.

26

The speeches that afternoon were briliant. Even after going back to the office, than home, he was still elated. After he had eaten and drunk a glass of cold water, he suddenly felt very weak. His head ached. He asked his wife to massage his head, back, and legs.

―One of the ministers really gave a good speech,‖ he told her. ‖If everyone was commited as he is, we‘d have West Guinea back along time ago‖.

At six o‘clock his friend brought the trishaw around, having finished the day shift. Conat washed and recited the evening prayers, then got in the saddle and peddle off towards the main highway.

Disaster struck at half past seven. His headache had return. Not feeling well, he decided to go home. He had cleared 15 rupiah and had enough to pay for the hire of the trishaw.

Suddenly a car cut in front of him. Its door flew open, hit him on the shoulder and upset the trishaw, sending him sprawling on to the road. The door closed and the car raced away.

People rushed over to him, shouting.

―What a bastard! Hit and run!‖ ―Call the police!‖

―Don‘t move him!‖

―God, what a mess! He‘s really bleeding!‖ ―Don‘t! Don‘t move him!‖

―I‘d kill the bastard if I ever meet him again!‖

―What does he think we are, just because he owns a car? Dogs?‖ ―Did anyone get his number?‖

―Too dark. Couldn‘t see a damn thing.‖

―There‘ll be a second revolution if things keep going like this.‖

As the crowd gathered a number of cars sounded their horn impatient to pass. The police arrived. There was the sound of ambulance siren. Conat went to hospital. Someone told his family. Seven hours later, the doctor came. He needed blood. Where was his wife? Examination showed she was anaemic. Some also had other diseases.

27

Where were they to get the blood from? His wife‘s wouldn‘t do. Nor would his family‘s or friends‘. There were supplies at the Red Cross Blood Bank,

but any blood used had to be immediately replaced. Where was the healthy man who would give blood for Conat?

Conat was lucky. An employee of the Blood Bank was willing to donate

on Conat‘s behalf. They took the blood quickly to the hospital and a nurse took it

straight away to the patient.

Tinah waited hopefully outside. Some time later, the doctor told her to go home. God willing, he would live. She was to come back in the morning to see how he was, Tinah was happy.

The next morning she was told that he had died wothout ever regaining consciousness. She could take his body and ask for the death certificate from the front office. Astonished, Tinah screamed and fainted.

Neither Conat nor Tinah heard the angry conversation between the employee of the Blood Bank and the doctor. The blood he had given had been used for a major dignitary, involved in an accident about the same as Conat. The dignitary had been speeding. He needed a transfusion and so it happened that his

blood was the same type as Conat‘s.

―Why?‘ the employee demanded angrily. ―I wanted to help the trishaw driver, seeing no else could.‖

―Calm down,‖ the doctor replied. ―A cabinet minister is a hundred times more useful to this country than a trishaw driver is, wouldn‘t you agree?‖

The employee was still furious. But had Conat been able to hear, he would have smiled. He had finally been of service to the revolution. He had given his life so that one of the leaders might bring the Revolution to a speedy conclusion. Merdeka! Liberty!

22 References

Althusser, Louis. Ideology and State Apparatuses. London: Verso, 1984. Print. Barry, Peter. ―Beginning Theory : An Introduction to literary and cultural theory.‖

Second Edition (1995, 2002) : 156-167. Print.

Bertens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basics. London: Routledge, 2001. Print. Chubarov, Igor‘ M. ―Emancipated Thing Versus Reified Consciousness:

Interaction of the Concepts ―Defamiliarization‖ and ―Alienation‖ in the Russian Communist Futurist and Avant-Garde Movement.‖ Russian Studies in Philosophy, vol. 48, no. 2 (Fall 2009) : 47–62. Print.

Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary Criticism. London: Routledge, 1976. Print. Eagleton, Terry. The Ideology of the Aesthetic. USA: Blackwell Publisher, 1990.

Print.

Felluga, Dino. Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

Gramsci, Antonio. Selection from the Prison Notebooks. London, 1971. Print. Griffin, Roger. ―Ideology and Culture.‖ Journal of Political Ideologies (February

2006), 11(1) : 77–99. Print.

―History Marxist Criticism‖. www.ucm.es/info/siin/siim2/3. HistoryMarxistCriticism.pdf.

5 Nov. 2012.

Leitch, Vincent. B. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism : Karl Marx (1818-1883)‖. (2001) : 759-787. Print.

23

Marx, Karl and Frederick Engels. The German Ideology Part One, with Selections

from Parts Two and Three, together with Marx's "Introduction to a Critique of Political Economy." New York: International Publishers, 2001. Print.

Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844." Moscow: Progress

Publishers, 1959. Print.

Rehmann, J. ―Ideology Theory.‖ Historical Materialism, 15 (2007) : 211–239. Print.

Tyson. Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Garland, 1999. Print.

Wilson, Edmund. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and criticism‖. 2001. Marxism and Literature (1895-1972) : 1240-1243. Print.

Williams, Raymond. ―The Norton Anthology of Theory and criticism‖. 2001. Marxism and Literature (1921-1988) : 1565-1567. Print.

24 Appendix

The Short Happy Life Of Conat By: Mochtar Lubis

Conat - age 26, citizen of the Republic of Indonesia, messenger in the goverment civil service, Jakarta, wages 325 honestly-earned rupiah a month, married, two children, another on the way - climbed, with the other junior grade civil servants onto the back of the truck provided by the department. The truck, and several other trucks already full of civil servants, sped off to the giant Banteng arena for the mass rally to support the struggle for the West New Guinea. Over and over he roared the West New Guinea campaign song.

Every time he sang ―My patience is ended …..‖, he felt his patience was well and truly ended. If only someone would give him the order, he would immediately hurl himself onto the coast and drive out the cruel, vicious colonialists.

He could see himself, Conat dressed in army green, with a steel helmet and a red scarf around his neck, rifle in his right hand, bayonet drawn, standing at the front of the landing craft as it rushed towards the beach ….. then the picture became a little confused. The images flickered one by one in his mind. He leapt onto the beach, heard the roar of bombs and the cannons and mortar exploding, smelt the ammunitions, heard himself urging the attack on. Then, victory. Then, the return. Being received as a hero. The president pinning a medal on him. His wife, Tinah gazing at him with admiration, his children embracing his legs …. Then promotion: no longer a messanger. A copyist …. No need to work at night as a trishaw driver, from six until sometimes as late as two in the morning …..

Conat drove a trishaw, as he explained to Tinah, so they could live honestly. His wages were not even enough to buy food with. Twenty rupiah a night allowed them to live decently in poverty.

He had worked day and night for three years. He was thin. His legs bulged with muscles. His eyes were red and hollow from lack of sleep. No one bothered

25

to ask him why he worked so hard, nor what would happen if he fell sick. Had they, he would calmly have replied: ―Life is short! I know that! Fate decides everything!‖ He saw everything as being determined by fate. His life had to be as it was. It was no one‘s fault. No one was to blame. Certainly he blamed nobody. Not the government. Nor the leaders. Nor even God. He was devout and obedient. He prayed and fasted regularly. He trusted his nation‘s leader and believed that whatever they said was true. There was no need to argue. If someone disagreed with a leader he simply said: ―Don‘t worry about it. They wouldn‘t be leaders if they didn‘t know more than us, would they? Would they, if they were stupid? If they tell you to do something, do it. They know best. They wouldn‘t be leaders if the didn‘t‖. Conat stood in the full heat of the dry season sun, with tens of thousands of others at the mass rally, waiting for the leaders to arrive in their limousines. He could not see how stupid it all was. Waiting, hungry, for the leaders to arrive late to give their stirring speeches. This was the way things were, the way they ought to be. He was greatly awed by the sight of the heroic leaders sitting in their cars.

And when the speeches began, Conat forgot about the heat, forgot about his hunger, forgot about his trishaw …. Every time the god-like leader threw out at new, more suspicious slogan, Conat opened his mouth and shouted his full support. He re-pledged his allegiance to the Foundation Constitution of 1945. He believed every Presidential Decree. He trusted in Sukarno‘s Political Manifesto of 1959, Guided Democracy, Socialism a la Indonesia, Guided Economics, the Nation Character. He supported the struggle for West New Guinea. He had never doubted any of these things. Never had missed a mass rally. As he proudly told his friends, he had never missed a missed a chance of participating in the Ongoing Revolution.

In his heart of hearts, he was angry with his parents because he was only eleven when the Revolution for in dependence broke out. He wished he had been born eleven years earlier. But he was glad he could participate now.

His whole life was bound up with Revolution. Here was happiness, here was what he stood for, here was everything he had ever believed in.

26

The speeches that afternoon were briliant. Even after going back to the office, than home, he was still elated. After he had eaten and drunk a glass of cold water, he suddenly felt very weak. His head ached. He asked his wife to massage his head, back, and legs.

―One of the ministers really gave a good speech,‖ he told her. ‖If everyone was commited as he is, we‘d have West Guinea back along time ago‖.

At six o‘clock his friend brought the trishaw around, having finished the day shift. Conat washed and recited the evening prayers, then got in the saddle and peddle off towards the main highway.

Disaster struck at half past seven. His headache had return. Not feeling well, he decided to go home. He had cleared 15 rupiah and had enough to pay for the hire of the trishaw.

Suddenly a car cut in front of him. Its door flew open, hit him on the shoulder and upset the trishaw, sending him sprawling on to the road. The door closed and the car raced away.

People rushed over to him, shouting. ―What a bastard! Hit and run!‖ ―Call the police!‖

―Don‘t move him!‖

―God, what a mess! He‘s really bleeding!‖ ―Don‘t! Don‘t move him!‖

―I‘d kill the bastard if I ever meet him again!‖

―What does he think we are, just because he owns a car? Dogs?‖ ―Did anyone get his number?‖

―Too dark. Couldn‘t see a damn thing.‖

―There‘ll be a second revolution if things keep going like this.‖

As the crowd gathered a number of cars sounded their horn impatient to pass. The police arrived. There was the sound of ambulance siren. Conat went to hospital. Someone told his family. Seven hours later, the doctor came. He needed blood. Where was his wife? Examination showed she was anaemic. Some also had other diseases.

27

Where were they to get the blood from? His wife‘s wouldn‘t do. Nor would his family‘s or friends‘. There were supplies at the Red Cross Blood Bank, but any blood used had to be immediately replaced. Where was the healthy man who would give blood for Conat?

Conat was lucky. An employee of the Blood Bank was willing to donate on Conat‘s behalf. They took the blood quickly to the hospital and a nurse took it straight away to the patient.

Tinah waited hopefully outside. Some time later, the doctor told her to go home. God willing, he would live. She was to come back in the morning to see how he was, Tinah was happy.

The next morning she was told that he had died wothout ever regaining consciousness. She could take his body and ask for the death certificate from the front office. Astonished, Tinah screamed and fainted.

Neither Conat nor Tinah heard the angry conversation between the employee of the Blood Bank and the doctor. The blood he had given had been used for a major dignitary, involved in an accident about the same as Conat. The dignitary had been speeding. He needed a transfusion and so it happened that his blood was the same type as Conat‘s.

―Why?‘ the employee demanded angrily. ―I wanted to help the trishaw driver, seeing no else could.‖

―Calm down,‖ the doctor replied. ―A cabinet minister is a hundred times more useful to this country than a trishaw driver is, wouldn‘t you agree?‖

The employee was still furious. But had Conat been able to hear, he would have smiled. He had finally been of service to the revolution. He had given his life so that one of the leaders might bring the Revolution to a speedy conclusion. Merdeka! Liberty!