 Siregar wrote that Rusli "in many things acts as a "dalang"", or puppet master, occasionally removing the characters in order to speak directly to the reader, making the message too one-sided.He considered the plot to be forced in places, as if the author were preventing the story from flowing naturally.He considered Rusli a mouthpiece of the Dutch colonial government, who had controlled Indonesia since the early 17th century, for making Samsul, "the most sympathetic character", a member of the Dutch forces and Datuk Meringgih, "the most antipathetic character", the leader of Indonesian revolutionary forces, as well as for Rusli's antipathy to Islam in the novel.