50 So Gayle tries to end her life by taking sixty pills. It makes her feel sick
physically, but by doing that she feels satisfied and thinks that she is able to forget her bad memories and her guilt about her mother. Gayle often attempts suicide.
She tries to end her life using drugs three times, but the suicide attempts always fail because when she does this action, she always remembers the persons for
whom she cares, for example Chris, the social worker who always helps her to find a foster family, and then Annie, a member of the administration in the
psychiatric unit who always gives Gayle hug. Gayle feels that she will hurt these persons if she does the suicide. According to Ruzek in his article Coping with
PTSD and Recommended Lifestyle Changes for PTSD Patients, the use of alcohol or drugs may help wash away bad memories, increase social confidence, or cause
sleep. However it causes more problems, for example, creating dependence on alcohol, causing problems in relationship with family and friends, and sometimes
placing a sufferer at risk of suicide, violence, or accidents.
4.4.2.2 Isolating from others
Without her awareness, Gayle does a negative thing by isolating herself from others. Here Gayle is totally unable to talk about her mother’s death. She
talks to other kids when she needs to talk. She spends most of her time sitting alone and disconnects from her surroundings Sanders 168. This shows that
Gayle tries to isolate herself from others because she does not want to remember the sad experiences which make her terrified.
After Gayle’s mother has died, Gayle is sent to several foster families who want to take care of her, but for her trying to fit into someone’s home is difficult.
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51 For Gayle, after the loss of her mother, she feels unwanted and unloved. So
becoming a part of a new family is daunting and frightening. In this new home Gayle is not able to manage a lot of contact. She cannot chat about her day
because she is not relaxed and feels unwanted. That is why she spends many hours in her bedroom Sanders 205.
So we can conclude that Gayle tries to isolate herself from others because firstly she does not want to talk about her mother’s death because it makes her re-
collect the traumatic events. Second Gayle feels unwanted, unloved, and unnoticed so she decides not to talk to others and chooses to spend many hours in
her room. According to Ruzek in his article Coping with PTSD and Recommended Lifestyle Changes for PTSD Patients, by reducing contact with the outside world,
a sufferer may avoid many situations that cause him or her feel afraid, irritable, or angry. However, isolation will also cause major problems. It will result in loss of
social friendship, and intimacy. It may produce further depression and fear. From the analysis above, we can see that Gayle is clever in finding some ways even
negative ways to forget her traumatic experiences. From the analysis above we can see that Gayle is brave enough to take risks by doing some negative coping
actions to cure herself from PTSD.
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
The last chapter presents two points. They are conclusions and suggestions. The conclusions concern the characterization of Gayle, Gayle’s past
traumatic experiences and post traumatic stress disorder, and also Gayle’s ways of coping with post traumatic stress disorder analyzed in the previous chapter. The
suggestions firstly are for future researchers of literary works, especially those who study Gayle Sanders’ works and secondly for teaching learning activities.
5.1 Conclusions
There are four main points presented as conclusions. They are the characterization of Gayle, Gayle’s past traumatic experiences, Gayle’s post
traumatic stress disorder, and Gayle’s ways of coping with post traumatic stress disorder.
5.1.1 The characterization of Gayle
Gayle is described as a brave person. Gayle has courage to watch a frightening event. With her courage she watches her father abuse her mother
physically and verbally. Moreover, Gayle is also brave enough to take risks by choosing some negative coping actions to cure herself from PTSD. Through
Gayle’s reaction, speech, and thoughts, she is also characterized as a smart and optimistic girl. She does her best to find some ways to avoid her father cruelty.
Gayle also changes her mind to force herself to study because of her low grade
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