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Conger, Human Motivation by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, and The Lifespan by Guy R. Lefrancois.
Besides those four books, there are many other books and also internet sources that much support the analysis likewise. The complete information about
all the books and internet sites which are used can be found in the references of the thesis.
Furthermore, there are several steps followed to conduct the thesis as well. As stated in the previous paragraph, the research that was conducted was a
library study. That is to say, the main procedure that I used to gain the data was by reading and taking important notes which would be helpful in analyzing the
novel. Besides reading and taking notes, there are other steps that I also used during the process of the study.
In finding the primary source, first I tried to read several novels to look for the one which was felt to be the more appropriate to my interest. Getting
several novels lend by my relative, I started to read one by one until finding the most favorable one.
After I got the novel, I read it in general and decided to use Clarke’s Night Train as my primary source. Then, I reread the whole content of the novel
thoroughly to get the essence of the story. After having several times consultation with the lecturer, I determined
the subject to discuss in the thesis, which is adolescent’s psychological aspect of
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life. Next, I formulated the problems of the study and gathered the supporting data from various sources.
Afterwards, I reread the novel one more time and highlighted several important points of the text that support my analysis. I made such critical analysis
by using theory of literature, theory of psychology, and psychoanalysis approach as well. Lastly, I drew conclusion of the study based on the result of the analysis.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter covers the analysis of the two questions which are stated in the problem formulation. The first analysis deals with the description of Luke,
the main character of this work, viewed as the representative of adolescents in general. The second analysis thus explains the influence of social pressures
among adolescents towards Luke’s psychological life, either in the way of acting or thinking.
A. The Characteristics of Luke
Referring to the theory of character proposed by Rohrberger and Woods, Luke can be categorized as the major character or the protagonist of the
story 20. As the central character who dominates the story, major character is absolutely important since heshe is the one to whom all the events in the story
have relevance, and that the events in the story usually cause some changes either in the central character itself or in the reader’s attitude toward it Rohrberger and
Woods 20, Stanton 17, Van de Laar and Schoonderwoerd 164. In finding out Luke’s characteristics, I apply Murphy’s theory, which
mainly states nine ways of characterization used to reveal the character’s
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personality and traits as follows: personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment,
thoughts, and mannerism 161-173. However, in this analysis I only use some of those methods which seem to be mostly appropriate to trace out the prominent
characteristics of Luke, the figure of a young boy in Judith Clarke’s Night Train.
1. Indifferent
Being started by the flashback scene which portrays Luke’s funeral, the narrator meant to give the reader such slight insight about the personal image
of Luke as an adolescent throughout the story. As an eighteen-year old boy, Luke shows his indifference through his outward appearance, the way he usually looks.
Physically, Luke is tall and skinny, with his long darkened hair which looks straggly and all over the place 5, 11.
Due to his simple ways of look, Luke seems to be unconcerned towards his self-appearance as well. Whenever and wherever he is, neither does
he care about the way he looked nor dressed. Luke is always being as the way he is. Even Molly, Luke’s younger sister, has been fed up in criticizing him all the
times. She could picture the scene exactly; he’d come shuffling down the
stairs and though it was Sunday, he’d be wearing his filthy old school uniform because he never seemed to change his clothes these days. His
long greasy hair would be sticking out all over the place, making him like a mad professor who had something nasty growing in the cellar
96.
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Beyond his sloppy appearance, however, Luke does really care about his surrounding. He is concerned with the tidiness and cleanliness of his room. It
is quite surprising for such a boy who does not even pay attention to his own look.
Lukie’s room was tidy, like a room where no one lived. Everything was put away so it looked as if he didn’t have anything except for the
books and papers on the desk and the screwed-up pages in the wastebasket 31.
Having looked at the character’s personal description and the thought of other characters, therefore, I can say that Luke is an indifferent person.
2. Innocent
In general, the characteristics of a person cannot only be seen from a matter of appearance but also his personality traits inside. At some of the times,
Luke acts like a little kid, which is occasionally portrayed through his unconscious habit as he is walking or wandering around with no destination to go;
hands in his pocket, head down, bobbing along with one foot on the kerb and one in the gutter, stepping carefully from one railway sleeper to another like a child
playing skip the cracks, avoiding the craggy blue metal in between 147, 167. Another thing which also shows Luke’s childish behavior is the way
he used to call Molly at home. Though he knows she is really not fond of it, Luke does not seem to get bored bugging her that way, like a child who feels glad and
satisfied bothering his friend till he gets angry and crying. That kind of simple
