Detail Book

First published in 1969, The Pilgrim has been hailed as Indonesia’s

first modern novel. The main characters are an artist and a

graveyard overseer. The former representing emotion and the latter

signifying reason and conflicting aspects of human nature. Despite

the characters’ antagonistic nature and their cruelty, they both

operate outside conventional society to represent forms of

creativity, philosophy, and art. Most importantly, they both are

searching for genuine human values as they struggle with their own

shortcomings. In The Pilgrim, the chaos of thoughts and feelings

represents the chaos of life’s randomness.