Max Havelaar

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Max Havelaar

• A Foray into Colonial Criticism of the
  Netherlands in Regard to the Dutch East Indies

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Overview of Max Havelaar
This book is only the beginning (Multatuli pg
320)

• Novel set in modern day Indonesia as well as the
  Netherlands
• Multiple narrators provide different world views
  throughout the novel
• Written under a pseudonym Multatuli
• He who has endured much
• Was written by an individual called Dekker and is
  a biased highly autobiographical story
• Novel deals extensively with morality and how it
  relates to economic reality

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Overview Continued

• Batavus Droogstopple
• Narrow minded, hypocritical, Dutch Coffee Broker,
  who lives in Holland with his wife and children.
• Decides to write a book about the coffee
  industry in Java, based on Scarfmans
  manuscripts.
• Owns Last Co.

Its a firm principal of mine not to meddle in
things that dont concern me (Multatuli pg 29)
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Overview Continued

• Ernest Stern
• Young German-born apprentice of Droogstopple
• Writes the parts of Droogstopple's novel that
  need to be translated from German (or what
  Droogstopple deems irrelevant)
• Tells the story of Max Havelaar

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Rule of the Dutch East Indies
Rule by Native Chiefs
King of the Netherlands
Governor General (Assisted by a Council
Directors (heads of departments
Residents of Provinces (Slymering)
Assistant Residents (Havelaar)
Regent
Controlleurs, Inspectors, other officers,
Supervisors et cetera
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• Max Havelaar
• Virtuous and idealistic at the financial expense
  of his family
• Appointed Assistant Resident of Lebak in the
  province of Bantam, Java.
• Shortly after his arrival he uncovers the blatant
  exploitation of the people by the Regent
• Appeals to the Resident
• Appeals to the Governor General
• As a result, Havelaar is transferred but he steps
  down

I should do this even without God
Almighty (Multatuli pg105)
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Dekkers Style

• Use of colloquial language uncharacteristic for
  time
• Multiple narrators provide multiple world views
• Each narrator has a strictly different voice

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Dekkers Style
Last CO COFFEE BROKERS 17 Lauriergracht

• Batavus Droogstopple
• Foil for Havelaar

• Represents the ignorance of the Dutch populace

• Hypocritical, questionable morality

• Is the only narrator who interrupts his colleagues

• Forces the reader to question their own
  responsibility for the Javanese reality

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Full of love for truth and justice Havelaar
frequently neglected his nearest, most obvious
duty, in order to redress a wrong that lay
higher, further, or deeper, and that drew him by
the probable need for greater effort in the
struggle (Multatulti pg 89)

• Max Havelaar (Stern)
• Multatulis own experience
• Passionate morality
• Work in Translation

• Saijah and Adinda Lyrical Story
• Firsthand representation of Javanese
• Monotonous
• Noble Savage
• Resistance

See how the butterfly flits hither and
thither. His tiny wings gleam like a many tinted
flower. His little heart loves the blossom of the
kenari Surely he is seeking his fragrant
beloved. (Multatuli pg 271)
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Dekkers Style
Multatuli Great and Powerful Oz Focus on
substance rather than style
I am no fly-rescuing poet, no half-baked dreamer,
like the downtrodden Havelaar, who did his duty
with the courage of a lion and now starves with
the patience of a marmot in winter. This book
is only the beginning I shall wax in power and
keenness of weapons, in porportion as shall be
necessary (Multatuli pg 320)
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RELIGIOUS CRITIQUE Truth and common sense
thats what I always say. Naturally I make an
exception for the Holy Scriptures (Multatuli, pg
20)

• Satirical representation of holy figures of
  authority.
• A link in the novel between economic wealth and
  perceived moral goodness. Highly satirical of the
  elite and upwardly mobile.
• The moral compass (Havelaar) does his selfless
  work without invoking religion.
• Havelaars representation as a modern Hero-Savior
  figure.

Read the scriptures and mark that Scarfman! He
left the ways of the Lord now he is poor He
wrote unseemly articles in the Independence
(Multatuli pg 127)
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It is decidedly not flattering for Western
Civilization that the ambition to create great
work has seldom persisted long enough for the
work to be completed (Multatuli 64)
Multatulis Colonialism

• Class distinctions based primarily on ethnic
  distinctions and a persons connection with the
  motherland. Those born abroad are called native
  as are many of the higher ranking Javenese.

Class distinctions remain important in Holland,
but only in terms of relation to titled royalty
The policy of forced farming of coffee and other
highly lucrative crops decimate the population
The Dutch take on patronizing roles and treat
the native officer who assists him as his younger
brother (71)
Famine is often the outcome. which makes
Holland rich (Multatuli 74)
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Reception of the Novel
Immediate Poor sales, low impact for a few
years Afterwards, massive public
readership Holland abolishes practice of
jdsklfjsdlfjs Today Max Havelaar society
conglomerate of aid groups with a focus on
fair trade. http//www.maxhavelaarfrance.org/
Still widely read and considered important
especially in the Netherlands
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Questions on Max Havelaar
Dekker was a member of the oppressive Dutch
presence in Java. Yet despite this, his novel
spurred agricultural reforms which helped reduce
the suffering of the Javanese. How does this
challenge the perception that only the oppressed
can free themselves? From the excerpt and the
presentation, do you think that the novel was
written primarily as a self-glorifying vendetta
against the Dutch elite, or to be provide a voice
for the suffering of the Javanese? Women are
rarely portrayed in the novel and when they do
appear they are subservient and obliging without
any substance of their own, how does this
interact with the rest of the story? The pen is
mightier than the sword.. Dekkers novel brought
the plight of the Javanese to the attention of
the European reader however even after reforms
were instated the Indonesian populace continued
to blame their Dutch conquerors for much of their
lack of infrastructure and social handicapping.
Do novels have a role to play in wider social
activism or are they only useful to deal with
very specific issues?
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Literature Cited Multatuli. Max Havelaar or the
Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company.
Amherst University of Massachusetts 1982.