of European culture and modernity. After expressing interest in choosing a Sundanese woman to become his wife, which "caused an uproar among his family", Rusli was told by his parents to return to his hometown and marry a Minangkabau woman chosen by them; this caused conflict between Rusli and his family. Plot In Padang in the early 20th century Dutch East Indies, Samsulbahri and Sitti Nurbaya–children of rich noblemen Sutan Mahmud Syah and Baginda Sulaiman–are teenage neighbours, classmates, and childhood friends. They begin to fall in love, but they are only able to admit it after Samsu tells Nurbaya that he will be going to Batavia (Jakarta) to study. After spending the afternoon at a nearby hillside, Samsu and Nurbaya kiss on her front porch. When they are caught by Nurbaya's father and the neighbours, Samsu is chased out of Padang and goes to Batavia. Meanwhile, Datuk Meringgih, jealous of Sulaiman's wealth and worried about the business competition, plans to bankrupt him. Meringgih's men destroy Sulaiman's holdings, driving him to bankruptcy and forcing him to borrow money from Meringgih. When Meringgih tries to collect, Nurbaya offers to become his wife if he will forgive her father's debt; Datuk Meringgih accepts. Writing to Samsu, Nurbaya tells him that they can never be together. However, after surviving Meringgih's increasingly violent outbursts, she runs away to Batavia to be with Samsu. They fall in love again. Upon receiving a letter regarding her father's death, Nurbaya hurries back to Padang, where she dies after unwittingly eating a lemang rice cake poisoned by Meringgih's men on his orders. Receiving news of her death by letter, Samsu seemingly commits suicide. Ten years later, Meringgih leads an uprising against the Dutch colonial government to protest a recent tax increase. During the uprising, Samsu (now a soldier for the Dutch) meets Meringgih and kills him, but is mortally wounded himself. After meeting with his father and asking for forgiveness, he dies and is buried next to Nurbaya. Characters Sitti Nurbaya Sitti Nurbaya (sometimes spelled Siti Nurbaya; abbreviated Nurbaya) is the title character and one of the main protagonists. Indonesian short-story writer and literary critic Muhammad Balfas describes her as a character who is capable of making her own decisions, indicated by her decision to marry Datuk Meringgih when he threatens her father, willingness to take control with Samsulbahri, and dismissal of Datuk Meringgih after the death of her