Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde

Gert de Jager

Een ongewone beweging. Thematiek en structuur in Max Havelaar

Abstract -- In the final pages of the nineteenth-century novel Max Havelaar of de koffiveilingen der Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappy, the author (Multatuli) directly addresses his readers. His eloquent plea for justice in the Dutch East Indies has, understandably, strongly influenced the interpretation of the novel as a whole. The novel, however, shows an abundance of antitheses that are better explained by reference to another basic conflict: the desire of the individual to live without constraints. In the novel, Multatuli creates an autobiographical character who clashes with the institutions of colonialism because of this absolutist desire. The same factor explains Multatuli's persistent dissatisfaction with his readers, despite the success of his book.

TNTL 122-1 (maart 2006), 2-16