2.1.2 Theory of Critical Approach
There are many approaches to analyze literary works. Rohberger Woods Jr :1971: 1-15 suggest five kinds of critical approaches. They are the formalist
approach, the biographical approach, the socio cultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach.
The formalist approach focuses to apprehend the totality of the literary object. The biographical approach is an approach that asserts the necessity for an
appreciation of the ideas and the personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. The socio cultural-historical approach is the approach that deploys
the social background and the historical background of the literary work. The myhtopoeic approach is critics who make use of the mythopoeic frame
of references seek to discover certain universally recurrent patterns of human thought that they believe find expression in significant works of art. The last
approach is psychological approach, it involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns. The proponents of this approach insist that each
character’s behavior could refer to psychology of human beings. The suitable approach for this study is psychological approach because this
approach can help the writer to analyze Polly’s character. Polly’s characterization can be seen from the dialogue, the third point of view, or from the author’s
description. This approach also helps the writer to find Polly’s personality changes.
2.1.3 Theory of Personality Changes
Considering the title and approaches used in the study, the writer presents some theories related with the personality changes to help us to understand the
changes in Polly’s personality. Hurlock :1976: 6 mentions that personality comes from Latin word
“persona” which refers to mask. Some actors use a mask to hide their identity on their show. This dramatic technique was adopted by Romans as one appears to
others, not as one actually is. While Allport, as cited in Hurlock :1974: 137 defines personality as the
dynamic organization within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought.
Hurlock :1976: 120-122 classifies changes in the personality pattern into three major categories. First, some changes are for the better and some are for the
worse. Second, some are quantitative, and some are qualitative. Third, some occur slowly, and some rapidly.
First, some changes are for the better and some are for the worse. In normal people, personality changes for the worse frequently occur at the puberty and middle
age. When pronounced changes, especially for the worse, the changes should be recognized as dangerous signals
Secondly, soma changes are qualitative and quantitative. In qualitative changes, an already present trait usually a desirable one replaces an undesirable one.
Quantitative changes may create the impression that the person has changed his personality pattern into reinforced, strengthened or weakened. A person, who is shy,
self-conscious, and self-effacing in social situations, may be less so in the presence
of intimate friends than in the presence of strangers or those whom he regards as his superiors, but his behavior is consistent.
The third category is that personality develops slowly and rapidly. Normally, personality changes are slow and gradual. They are slow because every change
involves the breaking of a previously learned habit and the learning of new habit to replace it. Rapid changes at any age are danger signals. Changes of shortly duration
are usually due to some artificial stimulation, which temporarily causes the person to forget his real self-concept and see himself, as he would like to be.
There are several causes of personality changes. According to Hurlock :1976:124-130, there are eight causes of personality changes. They are physical
changes, changes in environment, changes of significant people, changes in social pressure, changes in roles, strong motivation, changes in self-concept, and
psychotherapy. Physical changes may come from maturation and decline or from illness,
organic and glandular disturbance, injuries, or some other condition resulting from the person’s life pattern but unrelated to the normal changes in the body structure.
Changes in environment may produce changes in the person’s self-concept and in his characteristics behavior. A change in environment will not guarantee an
improvement in personality. In fact, the change may and often have the opposite effect.
Changes of significant people are the changes that happen to the closest people of someone’s life. Significant people refer to the people who live around us,
such as parents, children, brother or sister. In this study the change is Amanda’s illness. Changes of significant people lead to an individual’s life change, and when
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