Bara Reflected in Psychology

The Psychology Behind ‘Bara: Surat Terakhir Seorang Pengelana’

Have you ever felt that life is unbearably cruel—full of loss, yet you must keep moving forward? That is exactly what happens to Bara, the main character in the novel Bara: Surat Terakhir Seorang Pengelana by Febrialdi R.

At first glance, the story looks like the tale of a mountain climber. But if we dive deeper, it is not only about physical climbing—it is about an inner journey of a young man whose life is filled with wounds, losses, and a search for identity. Beneath the storyline lies a psychological portrait that can be read through two major perspectives: behaviorism and psychoanalysis.

Emotions through the Behaviorism Perspective

Behaviorism, pioneered by B. F. Skinner, views humans through observable behavior. In Bara’s character, we can see how life’s stimuli—losing loved ones—generate intense emotional responses.

Positive Emotions: Despite his wounds, he is still able to feel love, friendship, and fleeting happiness. His love for Kirana, his companionship with his friend Inoy, or the act of writing as an emotional escape are glimpses of what remains positive in his life.
Negative Emotions: Yet, his life is also flooded with anger, grief, anxiety, and despair. The loss of his grandmother, his mother’s departure, his father’s imprisonment, and the death of his best friend and lover drive him repeatedly into hopelessness.

From a behaviorist standpoint, Bara reflects how powerfully environmental stimuli shape behavior. He cannot choose what happens to him, but every loss leaves a mark: from being gloomy and restless to acting impulsively by continuing to climb despite the risks.

The Inner Struggle: Freud’s Psychoanalysis

While behaviorism highlights what is visible, Freud’s psychoanalysis reveals the hidden layers: the id, ego, super-ego, along with the life drive (eros) and death drive (thanatos).

Id (instincts, primal drives): Bara is often ruled by emotions—his longing for affection, his anger, and his need to be loved.
Ego (rational mediator): The ego is the most dominant. Bara frequently pauses, reflects, regrets, and contemplates his life. His constant self-reproach shows how hard he works to balance desire and reality.
Superego (morality, conscience): Despite being overwhelmed by pain, Bara keeps writing, volunteering, and trying to give back. This superego makes him remain human.
Eros (life drive): Willingness to love others, to climb mountains, to write, and to survive. Bara still has energy to fight the pain.
Thanatos (death drive): Yet this force always lingers. The climax is Bara’s death cause of hypothermia on Mount Ciremai—not merely a physical tragedy, but a symbol of thanatos finally prevailing after eros fought so long.

A Portrait of Wounded Youth

Bara is not just a fictional character; he is a symbol of many young people today. Many of them grew up in dysfunctional families, causing them to lose their direction, seek love, and struggle to deal with the trauma.

He is fragile, yet resilient. Surrounded by loss, yet still trying to give. Bara is the image of youth endlessly negotiating with pain.

Psychological Lessons from Bara

This novel leaves us with valuable insights into psychology:

Loss is life’s greatest stimulus. Responses differ—some may collapse, but yet, others grow stronger.
Ego and self-awareness are the keys. Amid the clash between id and super-ego, self-reflection helps us survive.
Life and death drives coexist. Sometimes we want to move on and, yet sometimes, just want to let it go. Both are normal part of human being .
Young Age is not always about freedom. For some of them, it’s a burdened phase with heavy wounds to be carried alone.

Conclusion

‘Bara: Surat Terakhir Seorang Pengelana’ is a novel that touches through tragedy and rich psychological meaning. Based on behaviorism perspective, we see how loss become the stimulus that shapes Bara’s emotions. Through psychoanalysis, we find the battle of id, ego, super-ego, eros, and thanatos that make him profoundly human.

In the end, Bara reminds us that behind every journey, there is always a soul searching for its true home, and every wound has its own story.