Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/p9KBwPnZ38GCetjW9
Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck (red-in) is one of the best-selling books by an Indonesian scholar, "Hamka".
Roman was published in 1939. This romance tells about the differences in customs and social backgrounds that occur in Minangkabau.
This novel examines the bitterness of a very interesting love story. This novel has been reprinted several times, and interestingly, this novel has also been filmed for a long time.
Beginning of the story
In this novel the story begins with a young man named Zainuddin who wanders to his uncle's place "Minangkabau".
Minangkabau is an area in Indonesia which is still very thick with the customs of its ancestors. And Zainuddin is a poor young man whose family tree is not clear, he is an orphan. he is considered a despicable man, although he had very good manners, he was looked down upon by people simply because of his poor status.
In Minangkabau, Zainuddin fell in love with a village girl who was very beautiful and from a respectable and respected family. She was the only girl that the whole population flattered, the woman's name is Hayati. And Zainuddin has really fallen in love with hes.
Because Zainuddin was a kind and friendly man, of course Hayati also fell in love with him. They loved each other, with a very extraordinary love.
The start of the conflict
The news of closeness began to spread and the villagers knew that Hayati, who was known as a respectable and beautiful girl, would certainly be looked down upon by society if she had a relationship with men whose origins are unclear. The village elders began to whisper about them, and out of honor of the Minang Kabau area, Zainuddin and Hayati were forced to separate.
The village elders expelled Zainuddin from their place which was considered sacred and held tight to the customs and culture. He was forced to leave that place, also his idol girl. Before parting, Hayati escorted Zainuddin to the clever side before leaving on a wooden boat. Out of deep love, Hayati gave Zainuddin one of his head scarves as a memory. The separation was accompanied by very sad sobs. Not only that, they also swore to each other in the name of god to be loyal to each other and wait to be together again although current circumstances forced them to separate. And both promised to send letters to each other to find out the news and let go of longing.
Zainuddin also left Minangkabau to his brother's place which was quite far from there. Time passed, Zainuddin continued to send his love letters to Hayati. But unfortunately there was not a single reply.
After so many letters without a reply, Hayati finally replied to a letter with a very suffocating content. In the letter Hayati made love that their love was not worth fighting for. "You are poor I am poor, love cannot be happy without money", Those were Hayati's words which made Zainuddin very disappointed. besides that, Hayati also told that he was going to be proposed by a young man respected and wealthy, from a family with clear and honorable descent. Hayati said that the marriage was not forced by other people, but on her own accord.
The disappointment that Zainuddin felt was no joke, he was half crazy and sick half to death when he heard this. In fact, he has more or less the inheritance from his father that he wants to use to apply for Hayati. Not playing, for two months Zainuddin lay in bed. Unconsciously his mouth continued to mention the name of his idol girl. People close to him began to worry, if not crazy, it could be that he died because of this situation. His cousins kept on encouraging but Zainuddin still didn't change from its circumstances. Until finally they invited Hayati for the last time, who knows that it could be an antidote for Zainuddin's illness.
Hayati came to that place accompanied by her rich husband. He enters Zainuddin's room who keeps chanting his name in an unconscious state. Her cousin tells her that Hayati is here. Zainuddin swiftly grabbed Hayati's hand and said;
"Did you come here for me? Are we getting married? Is everything prepared?. Oh no, your hand has an ink, your finger has a wedding ring, you're someone's wife, get out of here".
Sobs began to break out in the narrow room, Zainuddin cried hysterically again. Hayati's husband, who saw the incident, immediately pulled his wife out and took her home. Continue day passed, Zainuddin's cousin and aunt kept trying to encourage. Zainuddin started to get better, he got used to writing to be entertained. He is a very literary man.
His work began to be published in newspapers. He has good writing skills. Zainuddin thought of moving to Batavia to change his fate for the better. Hope the overseas world will give them good luck. Batavi is the capital city of Jakarta today. They both agreed to migrate to Batavia.