[…] He was an old soldier, who had seen service and risen to the rank of commandant; and he retained some of the brisk decisive manners of the
camp p.55.
This novel describes the priest as a religious people, but he does not have good manner because he does not care other’s trouble and does laugh at other’s trouble.
The quotation above also describes the soldier who becomes a guest that observes and learns about life in the monastery.
3. The Time or Period in which the Action Takes Place
In the novel Travel with a Donkey in the Cevennes, the setting of time is presented through direct statement at the beginning of the story.
It was already hard upon October before I was ready to set forth, and at the high altitudes over which my road lay there was no Indian summer to be
looked for p.2.
The month of the year describes the setting of time in this novel. The month in the above quotation presents the condition at that time namely the cold weather. In the
next part of the novel, the presentation of time happens in the morning. “I was up in the morning Monday, September 23
rd
, and hastened my toilette guiltily, so as to leave a clear field for madam, the cooper’s wife.” p.20 The time in which the
action takes place is in the morning. The time includes the day and the date as the setting of the novel. It happens in the inn of Bouchet St. Nicolas when the
Scotsman character spends the night in his journey. This novel employs setting of time as evocative function. Description of
the setting of time in this novel evokes a certain image, for example: a full, colorful description may be designed as an appropriate setting for a happy action.
34 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
It was perishing cold, a grey, windy, wintry morning; misty clouds flew fast and low; the wind piped over the naked platform; and the eastern hills,
where the sky still wore the orange of the dawn p.20.
The setting of time in the quotation above uses the description of morning as grey, cold, windy, and wintry with foggy cloud. This condition of setting is found in the
area around the inn in Bouchet. It brings an image of pathetic feeling. Moreover, the description of the setting is intensified by the description of naked platform
that gives the image of hard life. Thus, the setting of time in the novel has evocative function. Most of the setting of time in the novel is presented indirectly.
Already the sun had gone down into a windy looking mist; and although there were still a few streaks of gold far off to the east on the hills and the
black firwoods, all was cold and grey about our onward path p.14.
The setting of time in the quotation indicates that it is morning by giving the description of few lights far away in the east. The evocative function gives a bad
image of living. Most parts of setting of time in the morning are described by giving few amounts of light and by showing that it is cold and grey condition. The
setting of time in this novel is always described continually from morning until night. “When I awoke for the third time Wednesday, September 25
th
, the world was flooded with a blue light, the mother of dawn.”p.34
The setting is also presented by the changes of the day. “When I awoke Thursday, October 3
rd
and…”p.111 The setting uses the description of day, date, month and the indication about the amount of sunlight. The setting of time is
not described directly in the novel. It is explained by the description of the hat and dress worn by a woman in Scotsman’s journey. As stated in the website that “the
drapery-parted opening of the skirt open robe to reveal underskirt, petticoat, or a 35
dress which would always be a measurement of the eighteenth-century theatricality and sensuality http: www.metmuseum.org toah hd eudr
hd_eudr.htm. […] with an elegantly embroidered ribbon to her cap, and a new felt hat
atop, and proffering, as she strode along with kilted petticoats, a string of obscene and blasphemous oaths p. 15.
The type of dress worn by the woman is described as the eighteenth century dress type. It shows that the setting of time happens in the eighteenth
century. Moreover, the quotation above also describes the type of woman’s hat which also indicates the eighteenth century as the setting of time. As stated in the
website that flowers, birds, and bows became dominant motifs in a style that highlighted a kind of idealized femininity http: www.costumes.org Classes
fashiondress18thCent.htm.”
4. General Environment of the Characters
