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others, then both ‘permits and demands a struggle for order and justice’ in the world (Geertz,
273). James Brandon writes that the wayang kulit puppets are not necessarily enacting a drama
of Pandava versus Kurava at all.
They and their actions are merely the external, symbolic representation of the
conflict which takes place within every man’s spirit, with the puppets standing
for different aspects of a single personality: Judistira is selflessness; Ardjuna,
introspection; Bima, pure will. (Brandon, 16)
Billy sees the decision to act as a moral one based on the teachings of the wayang kulit
and on the Bhagavad Gita, which warns in the couplet immediately following that cited by
Cookie, ‘But to forgo this fight for righteousness is to forgo thy duty and honour: is to fall into
transgression’ (BG, 2:33). Accepting this duty, like Semar and the three Pandava brothers,
selflessly, with premeditation, and of free will, to act in the name of righteousness, Billy writes
in his dossier: ‘This is enough. Ibu and Udin will be revenged. There must always be an
instrument to end tyranny's folly’ (YLD, 240). At the same time, Billy draws on the prophecy
of the book of Revelation for justification. He had always had doubts, and early wondered
about the ominous numbers of Sukarno’s birthdate: ‘The 6th of June: the double six! Dread
possibility: is this the mark of the Beast? Is this the source of his charismatic power?’ (YLD,
130). Now he is seeing such signs everywhere:
You do, after all, bear the mark of the Beast, I believe. The Satanists say their
new age begins next year, in 1966: the double six again! Is it possible you
were marked to precipitate this new era, whipping the people to frenzy with
your lies of glory—yourself in a secret frenzy fed by violence and by lust.
Terrible violence is simmering, simmering. Your country is sick with the fever
of evil: is it possible that the Beast has chosen Java as a crucible? Is it possible
that here is where those marked by the Beast and those still struggling for the
light must confront each other? Is this your Konfrontasi? (YLD, 242-43)
Finding further symbolic reference in Revelation xiii, 4 to the Chinese communist (the dragon)
support of Sukarno’s konfrontasi, Billy writes with growing conviction:
‘And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they
worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make
war with him?’ (YLD, 243)
Billy’s last hope for Indonesia lies in the Muslims, and yet he sees that they cannot act
against Sukarno, who is rapidly falling under the control of the Communists. Billy writes in
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