page_title: Aku (poem)
section_title: Analysis
hierarchical_section_title: Aku (poem) / Analysis
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Chairil Anwar - Aku (Ik). Muurgedicht dat in het kader van het project Gedichten op muren van de Stichting TEGEN-BEELD is aangebracht op een muur in de Nederlandse stad Leiden.English: Wallpoem in de city of Leiden in the Netherlands.
context_page_description: "Aku" is a 1943 Indonesian-language poem by Chairil Anwar. It reflects his individualistic nature and vitality.
context_section_description: According to Timorese scholar of Indonesian literature A. G. Hadzarmawit Netti, the title "Aku" emphasizes Anwar's individualistic nature, while the temporary title "Semangat" reflects his vitality. Netti analyzes the poem itself as reflecting Anwar's need to control his environment and not be shaped by outside forces, emphasizing the first two stanzas. According to Netti, through controlling his environment, Anwar is able to better protect his freedom and individualistic nature. Netti sees the final line as reflecting Anwar's pride in his individualistic nature, finally surmising that Anwar would have agreed with Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism.
  Indonesian literary scholar Arief Budiman notes that "Aku" reflects Anwar's worldview, that others should not care for him as he does not care for others. Budiman also notes that the third and fourth stanzas reflect Friedrich Nietzsche's view that suffering makes one stronger.
caption: Anwar's "Aku", on a wall in the Netherlands
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