IDEOLOGY AND HEGEMONY IN MA YAN AND ORANG MISKIN DILARANG SEKOLAH
Rieka Ayunidya Suci
ABSTRACT
Education is considered an important element that determines one’s social status, although there
are uneducated people who are successful. Such an idea about the importance of education is
also reflected in Ma Yan and Orang Miskin Dilarang Sekolah. This is interesting because the main characters were still in elementary school. They even believed that education was the only
way to help them get out of the trap of poverty. Therefore this study tried to find out what
ideologies and hegemony were behind the characters’ attitude toward education in both novels.
The analysis revealed that their strong belief about education was rooted in culture, religious
belief, parents’ belief about education as reflected in family upbringing as well as their dream to
get out of the trap of poverty. The findings are expected to make the readers understand why
people may think that education is important and how ideologies are calculated.
