We Define Ourselves

How much you hate your own father, will you kill him? How vengeful are you to your biological father, did you kill his life? Our character is steady with his choice. Without hesitation, he stabbed the dagger into his father's chest many times. There was satisfaction in his chest. There was a big smile on his face.

The majority of people would likely not choose that path. However, that is not the case with our character, a young man Perpendicular to the Sky. For our character, his father is the main cause of misery in his life: the death of his father without a word, the adultery and death of his mother, and the life sentences for his two brothers for committing murder.

In this short story by Iwan Simatupang, apart from moral values, we can find our character acting according to his own will, even responsibly, by taking revenge on his father. “Later, after sunrise, he will return home, take a shower, change clothes, have breakfast. After that he will go to the police station,” wrote the Chairil Anwar admirer.

The story still has relevance to Kooong: The Story of a Turtledove. Pak Sastro, the main character in the novel, takes an unusual step. He decided not to heed the advice of the people in his village, left the village he had built, and entrusted his property to the lurah for the use of the villagers. He did all that just to find a turtledove that had escaped from its cage.

The bird is nothing special. Because, he has absolutely no kooong. However, for Mr. Sastro, kneel gule it is a solace after the death of his wife and child. Even though people offered various turtledoves as substitutes, he refused them. He is also reluctant to buy a new stomach. That's why, once again, he swung his footsteps away from the village to look for his bird.

Word spread all around that an old man, a bit fat, was going around looking for his missing knee. During the trip, when asking people, the old man could not describe his knee. He is also called the human turtledove, and not infrequently also called the madman. He was called a turtledove man because he was looking for a turtledove here and there. He was called the madman because he could not explain the characteristics of the turtledove he was looking for.

Even though he received insults from people, Mr. Sastro still looked for his turtledove. The problem is, the departure of the old man turned out to have brought disaster to the village he built. Here, the villagers live extravagantly from Pak Sastro's property, and then they accuse each other, as well as fights, about who should be responsible for the misuse of this property. Because he could not find a bright spot, the village head decided to look for Pak Sastro and planned to bring him back to the village. The departure was apparently followed by the departure of most of the men in the village. Like the Lurah, their goal is to return Pak Sastro to the village.

From there, we know that there is a story of searching for each other, Mr. Sastro looking for his turtledove, and Mr. Luruh and the villagers looking for Mr. Sastro. On the final sheet Kooong: The Story of a Turtledove, the villagers, including the Lurah, finally met Pak Sastro. However, as the story Perpendicular to the Sky, Iwan Simatupang presents a surprising ending: Pak Sastro has no desire to return to the village he built. "I want to continue like this first. Say, wander. Let's say I am enchanted tremendously by the nature of freedom and independence…,” said Mr. Sastro (p. 99).

Like Mr. Sastro, his turtledove also left the cage to seek freedom. Interestingly, Iwan Simatupang told the turtledove's decision guleit left Pak Sastro from the point of view of the bird itself. For this bird, Mr. Sastro's treatment of him was very special, in fact he has been compared by Mr. Sastro like a human. Even though it was hard, he finally decided to leave Pak Sastro. Again, at the end, we find that Mr. Sastro is willing to let the bird live freely. “Also, he may continue to appreciate his freedom and independence…,” said Pak Sastro (p. 99).

Just like our character in Perpendicular to the Sky, Pak Sastro took action based on his own will. We are not our characters who without hesitation killed his father. We are also not Mr. Sastro who left the village he built and the property he owned. However, from Mr. Sastro, we at least learn how we determine our own.