Reviews in Indonesian
Reading this latest book from Okky Madasari is like tracing the life stories of people trapped within themselves. The man hates the macho world that has formed around him, while the woman refuses to always accept. Pasung Soul then like a mirror that reflects our own face. There are four main characters in this novel; Sasana, Jaka Wani, Elis, and Kalina. The four have ties and common threads that bring each other together.
Story opened with Sasana from his childhood, youth, to adulthood. How he was formed into a figure who already felt trapped because he was born a man. Forced to play piano and classical music, while he fell love with dangdut music. Extorted and beaten when he was still in elementary school. “My whole life was a trap. The body is my first trap. Then parents, and everyone I know. Then all that I know and all that I do.” Gym (p.9).
Jumping into college, Sasana found herself by giving birth to the figure of Sasa. Wearing a negligee, powder, and lipstick, free to sing any dangdut song he likes. But it didn't last long until he and Jaka Wani, who was his friend busking, were arrested by the police. Jaka Wani, another figure trapped in poverty. Being a factory worker who lives regularly from Monday to Friday, works from morning to evening with a wage of only Rp 90,000 a week. Live like a robot, while his deepest desire as an artist is buried deep.
The journey with Sasa ends, and brings him together with Elis, then Kalina. Elis is a prostitute who serves low-paid factory workers. Being a prostitute is not said to be forced, but a choice, rather than living with a rogue husband. If smart people work with their brains, and workers work with their energy, then they choose to work with the female organs they have. Meanwhile, Kalina was found by Jaka Wani when she was struggling and struggling in front of factory workers. She protested that she was fired because she was pregnant, while it was the foreman himself who impregnated her. Her fate is almost the same as other female workers who are forced to fulfill the requests of the foreman without being able to dodge.
Questioning courage
Between the problems of inner and personal conflicts that are carried by each character, Okky slips a little about the fate of the female worker Marsinah, who because of her courage then disappeared without knowing what was going on her fate. The figures of Sasana, Jaka Wani, Elis, and Kalina were then also faced with traps outside of themselves such as religion, rules, and people's views. The gym can't be itself, because a man must be a man, it can't be no. Jaka Wani as a laborer must just stick to whatever has been outlined, even if he is oppressed. Elis has to accept her fate as a woman who has no rights over her body, then Kalina can't fight for her fate because of her limitations.
This novel, like Okky's three previous novels, is very thick with shades of protest and gives voice to those who have never been heard of. Protests against the police are clearly depicted as perpetrators of violence and at the same time the mastermind behind the violence. Through his four characters, Okky implies the courage to reveal fear. Against, that's the word-word right. But as far as they fight from themselves and also what is around them, they are trapped again. They are not completely free. Or is there really no absolute freedom?
If brought to real life, then these four figures actually exist. That's why this novel feels close without fantasy and without spice fiction thick. Everything feels close. No need to go far, they are all around us, in fact we are in it. If we are not them, then we are the people who are silent witnessing their fate. Okky seems to open the eyes and hearts of the readers wide. Trying to understand the fate of people who have been there but not heard. Try to understand that the leader or those acting on behalf of the apparatus are not necessarily right. Each of us should have the courage to express our fears. That's roughly what the novel Pasung Jiwa means.