Minke's Interview with TrunodongsoEdit
One major book changing event is Minke's interview and brief stay with Trunodongso. Trunodongso is a poor sugar cane farmer and he explains his grievances to Minke and expresses how natives all over the country are being taken advantage of. This helps Minke realize that his own people are being slaved and mistreated everyday. Minke than realizes that it is up to him to help his native people, so his whole perspective on his life changes. He begins to acknowledge that he has the education and wealth to do good to his country. He begins to know it is up to him to help these people and use his writings in a different way. Rather than just write about European topics, he will focus on the well-being of his people in his country. This tiny stay with this peasant farmers family shapes Minke into a new driven individual. It forces him to leave Surabaya and continue his education with one main focus, his people. "Good-bye to you all. I will never return to see any of you again. I am on my way to become my own person, to become what I was meant to be. Good bye. ( Child of all Nations, p. 249)" This however would not be true, he would be taken back to Surabaya only a few days later for yet another trial.