position‖ 2006: 280. 2.
―The meaning of literary symbol must be established and supported by the context of the story. A symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside of
it‖ 2006: 280. 3.
―To be called a symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning, or in other words, a symbol is something more
than a representative of a class or type 2006: 280. 4.
A symbol may have more than one meaning. It may suggest a cluster of meaning that is controlled by the context of the story 2006: 281.
Thus, in order to identify a symbol within a literary work, it is necessary for the reader to observe the detail of the work, especially repeated, emphasized,
and strategically positioned detail that may pertain clues that an object may be a symbol of importance in the story. The context of the story itself must also support
the idea that an object is a symbol, as the use of an object as a symbol must be established within the story and the symbol cannot be referred to as one without it.
Lastly, a symbolic meaning of an object is not connected to the object in a literal sense, but it represents something more beyond the object itself, such as an idea or
an emotion that are often linked connotatively to the object, and that an object may have a cluster of meaning, each of which is supported by the relevant context
of the story. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2. Theory of Plot
Plot is an essential part of any story. Without a plot, there will be no story at all. Thus, plot is a base for a story to develop from the beginning until it ends.
Roberts and Jacobs defined plot as follows: A plot is a plan or groundwork for a story, based in conflicting human
motivations, with the actions resulting from believable and realistic human response. In a well-plotted story, nothing is irrelevant; everything is
related. In a story, it is response, interaction, opposition, and causation that make a plot out of simple series of actions 1987: 87.
Therefore, in accordance to definition above, a plot as a groundwork of a story is realistic and believable as it is based on the characters‘ motivation which
conflicted against each other. It is also important to note that according to the definition above,
everything is related in a good plot. This means that every single event that happens in a story contributes something to the story, whether it is developing the
protagonist into a wiser figure, giving hints of future conflict, or showing a friendly character who turns out to be the antagonist. Abrams called this relation
of events as ―unity of action,‖ which all the events in a story is viewed as a complete and orderly structure and is directed intentionally to cause a certain
effect Abrams, 1999: 225-226. A particularly important part of a plot in most stories is conflict. Abrams
defined conflict as ―the relation between the chief character of the plot, the protagonist, and the important opponent he is pitted against, the antagonist‖
1999: 224- 225. Hence, a conflict is, by Abram‘s definition, is how the
protagonist is related to the antagonist. The interest of an antagonist in the story is PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
always directly against the protagonist‘s. Thus, since they have conflicting interest in the plot, the protagonist clashed against the antagonist until the conflict is
resolved, whether through violence or peaceful resolution, or perhaps by having the antagonist fled the town, never to be seen again.
The place of conflict in the plot of a story can be seen in Freytag‘s Pyramid structure.
The pyramid structure is a model of plot analysis for five-act play introduced by Gustav Freytag Guerin et al, 2011: 8, albeit it can be used to
analyse novel‘s plot as well. Freytag Pyramid is divided into five different parts: the exposition, rising
action, climax of the plot, the falling action, and the denouement. The exposition provides background information of the story, such as the characters, setting, and
basic conflict before the rest of the story is set in motion with an inciting incident PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
