Particular and General Moral Principles in Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Novel Arus Balik

Abstract

Moral is an individual act that relates to oneself and other people, morality will be always attached to the characters in a novel. Moral is an act that forms the background of the story and characters, linking together the truth of the two elements of individual morality and the social role of the state of society. That morality is the character’s reflection in facing situations and conflicts within him and society. This research aims to identify the moral principles contained in Pramoedya Ananta Toer's novel Arus Balik. The novel is a historical fiction with the theme of the transition of power in Majapahit before the arrival of the colonialists in Indonesia. This study aims to identify the moral principles of the characters in facing a change. This novel was chosen because it tells the story of the changes in social life that exist in the background of Indonesian society due to globalization and colonialism. Arus Balik is always passively studied and to highlight this, moral studies were conducted. The findings explain that in the moral principles used by the character started from the general then during its development was met with another character and the situation eventually developed into a particular morality. The moral principles highlighted are the idea of agent relativity and epistemic filter, that is, moral action on the basis of the public interest, through the motivation of independence for the independence of the homeland, and the individual moral principle of the act of love for the loved ones.