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
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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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…
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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.
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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
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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...
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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:
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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.
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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‘...
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
―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.‖
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!
