Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter is divided into five parts. The first part is the background of the study. This part contains the explanation about the reasons on deciding the novel to be analyzed. The second part is problem formulation which deals with the problems analyzed in this study. The third part, the objectives of the study, points out the purposes of conducting the study. The fourth part shows the benefits of the study which explain the significance of this study for the readers and me as a thesis writer. The last part discusses the definition of the important terms in the title to avoid misunderstanding or misinterpreting.

A. Background of the Study

In a life of a person, he or she always deals with problems or conflicts. Most of the problems or conflicts may direct him or her to unhappiness or happiness. Conflicts also may cause crisis in someone’s relation with other. In a family, conflicts may cause crisis in the relationship between husband and wife, parent and child, or brother and sister. A conflict, regardless the occasion and how apparently the minor issues, constitutes a crisis in a relationship Denham 1984: 43. The crisis in the relationship without a clear resolution might cause damage. Everything has cause and effect. Similar to that statement before, crisis arises because of conflict. Usually conflict occurs in a family when the family members disagree about the events and situation in their lives Noiler and Fitzpatrict 1999: 99. Each person has his or her own opinion, idea, or thought. 1 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Because of the differences, conflict develops even in the small group like family. People with their ego try to defend their opinions, ideas or thoughts. This ego influences the changes of someone’s behavior towards others. People are considered unconscious when they defend their opinions, ideas or thoughts. According to Isenhart and Spangle, our daily life problems are often caused by an internal-unconscious state such as anxiety, ego, fear, aggressiveness or guilt 2000: 7. Based on the statement, it can be stated that someone’s internal- unconscious indirectly influences his or her behavior or judgment in his or her relationship with others in their life. From the description above, conflict plays a big role in someone’s life. The reason is because a conflict causes a problem that influences the behavior of someone to others. Conflict also affects the human relationship. Conflict appears first in the smallest group of society which is family. Because of that, it is essential to learn about the conflicts and the resolution especially in a family. By knowing more about the conflict and the resolution, people might be familiar in solving the conflict. Conflict can be found not only in the real life but also in the literary work, like a poem or a novel. In this study, the writer chooses a novel to analyze. Hudson states that literature is the expression of life through the medium of language 1960: 10. Agreeing with Hudson statement, novel considers critical to be analyzed since it may describe life, experiences, thought of people, and their feeling about life. A novel with its content enriches the knowledge of people who read it by reflecting the human experience through language. Wellek and Warren say that a literary work of art is not simple object but rather a highly complex organization of stratified characters with multiple meaning and relationship 1977: 27. Wellek and Warren show that a literary work is not just about language but also about the human experiences in a complex situation which is created by the novelist. The novelist tries to create a character in a situation with his or her conflict and way of solving the conflict. In other words, a character of human with his or her responsibility, belief, image, thought, feeling, problems or conflicts can be found in the novel. In this study, the writer will use a novel called The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This novel was published in 1931 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and William Dean Howells Medal in 1935. The Good Earth describes a daily life of a farmer who lately became a landowner name Wang Lung. In this study, the writer chooses to describe the conflict felt by O-lan, Wang Lung’s first wife. O-lan was a slave before she married to Wang Lung. Having an experience from becoming a slave, a farmer’s wife to a landowner’s wife, a mother, a daughter in law and an experience of concubine, O-lan has a personal conflict that is interesting to be analyzed. It seems like O-lan is hiding her conflict secretly. Besides, O-lan also has her own way to solve her conflict. This study tries to analyze the character of O-lan and how the characteristics influence the way of O-lan in resolving her conflict in her life. This study focused on O-lan’s character and her personal conflict and the resolution of O-lan’s personal conflicts.

A. Problem Formulation