Manusia Bebas

A novel about the young schoolteacher Soelastri and her husband, who worked in nationalist education in Java during the 1930s. The main characters in the novel are nationalists who prefer the upliftment of their own people over a career within the ranks of the Dutch East Indies government. The book focuses primarily on the people involved in that education, their mutual tensions and conflicts. The struggle of the woman who wants to stand beside the man, with the same rights and responsibilities, is also an important theme.