Opinion

Written by Ngarto Februana, before it was published, the novel was presented at the 2001 Southeast Asian Literature Assembly. The novel was published as a serial story in Java Pos Java on April - May 2002, then printed and published in September 2002 by Media Pressindo Yogyakarta. Tapol is a novel based on historical facts. And this is processed by the author very well. From there we can read the sketch of human tragedy that occurred in the circle of tragic human history event of Indonesia, namely G30S/ PKI. This novel is prepared by relying on research. The author, Ngarto Februana, seems to keep it true for the data it gets intact, its authenticity feels, as well as to touch the nuances as fiction. Reading this novel is like looking at history but it has depth dimensions. Very few Indonesian novels are fun to read. This is one of them. The author shows how important language is, and especially, how to use it.

The political aspect of power is very dominant in the Tapol novel, so the novel is very attracted the attention of political researchers in the literary work. This can create an appeal to the reader community because of its political insight, especially regarding power. This novel not only reveals the reality alone, but also legitimize the previous literary books that the New Order government forbade as well as the novels of Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Based on the characteristics of the form, content and content, the novel Tapol can provide something of interest to the reader. So the privilege is interesting to be used as study material of this research. Tapol novel is a reflection of social and political situation in the post-G30S. Political conflicts, inner conflicts color the stories in this novel, making the story intriguing. As a historical novel, this novel seems to have a strong pretense to straighten the history of G30S which has been manipulated by the New Order regime. This novel was calculated to be one of many similar novels that seems to be a trend in this reformation era. Tapol novel was written by Ngarto in "golden age". It can be viewed as one of the most recent achievements in literature. As a human child, at the age of entering 36 years (when Ngarto wrote this novel) he may well have been formed.

The title of Tapol novel by Ngarto Februana shows the object of the story. Tapol title reflects the story's content about the life of political prisoners. The themes in the Tapol novel include major themes and minor themes. The major theme of Tapol novel is the life of former political prisoners and his wife's children during the New Order era. The novel theme of Tapol novel is four; the arbitrariness of the authorities to impose the suffering of the people, a wife who is faithful to her husband raises the pride of her family, ideological differences do not affect friendship and Communist teachings are not suitable for the state of Indonesia. The minor theme supports the existence of a major theme, thus becoming a thematic unity.

Figure in the Tapol novel as many as 36 figures, the main character of Tapol novel is Kardjono. He experienced a change of character in this story. Subordinate figures in these novel as many as 35 characters. Four subordinate characters are rounded and nine subordinate characters are flat. A total of 22 subordinate figures cannot be known their characters because there is no data that indicates the character of subordinates. The existence of various characters in the story cause tension of the story, so the novel becomes interesting to read.