NATURAL RESOURCE EXPLOITATION AND ITS IMPACTS IN ANDREA HIRATA’S NOVEL RAINBOW TROOPS

Abstract

Abstract This research aimed to reveal how natural resources exploitation and its impacts in Andrea Hirata’s novel entitled Rainbow Troops. This research used a qualitative descriptive method, and applied the ecocriticism approach proposed by Gerrard (2004) to analyse the topics of the research. The research results show that Belitung is an island that is very rich in natural resource, namely tin, which has been exploited since the Dutch era. After independence, the exploitation was taken over by PN Timah which engrossed massive workers in Belitung in order to take full advantage of the company's activities. However, the natural wealth in Belitung Island is not in line with the life of the people in the area who generally live below the poverty line. It is also revealed that the exploitation of tin in Bangka Belitung has been carried out on a massive scale that it is categorized as overexploitation, which has brought negative impacts on the environment and the social environment for the population in the area. This research is expected to be able to develop human awareness as well as understanding, especially people who have the power to determine policies on nature protection and the importance of nature conservation for the sake of sustainable ecosystems for future generations. Keywords: Belitung island; natural resources; tin exploitation; negative effects of exploitation.