apply a kind of literature in language teaching. There are a lot of things to learn. It enriches our knowledge about other culture. It also makes us realize the equality
of human being; that we should maintain and keep others’ dignity without despising and underestimating them. Finally, the writer chose the struggle of
Ammu for equality as the topic of the study.
B. Problem Formulations
There are three problems to discuss in this research. There are: 1.
How is Ammu described in The God of the Small Things novel? 2.
How is Ammu’s struggle described in The God of the Small Things novel? 3.
Why does she struggle for equality?
C. Objectives of the Study
There are three objectives in this research. First, it is aimed at finding the description of the observed character, Ammu. Second, it is aimed at finding the
description of Ammu’s struggle in this novel. Third, it is aimed at finding the reason why Ammu struggles for equality.
D. Benefits of the Study
This study will give benefits both to the reader and the students of the English Education Study Program. The reader will understand more about
Arundhati Roy’s work through this study. It is also expected that by this study the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
reader can enrich the literary skill in interpreting a work of literature through the characters.
From the study, it is expected that the reader will have a better view on equality between men and women. The society opinions on women existence and
women class are only a stigma that grows in the society. It is written in the Bible that God made men and women with equal right Genesis 2: 18.
This novel helps us to understand that women and men have the same right in every part of life. Each person’s rights and opportunities do not depend on
the gender. Everyone is born equal. For the student of English Education Study Program, the study may
inspire those who are interested in analyzing this novel from other different view. They may also use the novel as a source for teaching. Besides giving a lot of
values, this novel also helps the student enrich their vocabulary.
E. Definition of Terms
To avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations, the definitions of the key words that are used in this study are discussed below.
1. Real Struggle
In this study, real struggle is the struggle to conquer ignorance in a person’s life and in the world around him. It can be a struggle to fight to get
something or struggle to survive in an inconvenient condition. In this study, the struggle means that the main character undergoes to fight for equality in India
where the caste system remains Chinmoy 79. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2. Equality
There are three main kinds of equality used in this study. According to Becker 323 they are: equal treatment for equals, which specifies that those who
are equal in some relevant respect should be treated equally, fundamental equality, which concerns that all human beings are have equal worth, have equal
fundamental rights to be treated equally, social equality, which is related to political equality, economic equality, and equality status among the members of a
society.
3. Character
In this study, the word character means the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who is interpreted by readers as a living person with moral and
qualities that are showed by what he says in the dialogues, and by what he does from their actions Abram 20.
4. Caste System
In this study, “caste system is a social system Hindu social classes characterized by endogamy, hereditary membership and a specific style of life
which sometimes includes the pursuit by tradition of a particular occupation and is usually associated with a more or less distinct ritual status in hierarchical system,
based on the concept of purity and pollution Andre Beteille 274.”
5. The Paravan
The Paravan is the low caste in India. They usually work as fishermen. Like the other caste, being a Paravan is hereditary.
6. The Untouchables
The Untouchables class is the lowest caste. They usually work as toddy taper and live apart from the upper caste. They are considered as the pollutant for
the upper caste. In the novel, Velutha and his family are considered the Untouchables.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the review of related theories. It consists of the theory of critical approach and theory of
character and characterization. The second part is the overview on women struggle. It consists of the theory of struggle, equality, caste and the position of
women in India. The last part is the theoretical framework.
A. Review of Related Theories 1. Critical Approach
In this part there will be some theories in examining this piece of literature. Rohrberger and Woods Jr. state that there are five theories of critical
approach 6-15. They are: the formalist approach, the biographical approach, the socio cultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach and the psychological
approach. a.
The Socio Cultural – Historical Approach This approach sees the importance of place and situation where a work of
literature was produced. The basis reference of this approach is the socio cultural aspect combined with the interest in the biographical and literary history. This
approach tries to find the validity of the text and tries to examine not only the work itself but also some other aspects that influence the writer in producing
hisher work. The first job for historical criticism is establishing the validity of the
9 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
text, and then examines the work itself. The historical criticisms not only examine the work itself but also examine the work in relation to others work from the same
author or different authors from the same periods. Two important factors in this approach are: first, accuracy in the historical presentation is important for the
historian, but not necessarily to the author and second, work of literature might have historical significance but not necessarily literary significance.
b. The Psychological Approach
This approach sees a work of literature from a different knowledge. This approach is offered by Sigmund Freud and his followers. This approach tries to
locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns by analyzing the structure and dreams. The dreams can be the symbols that can be interpreted in individual’s
experience. The individual’s experience related to individual’s behavioral patterns. To find the behavioral patterns, the reader should not take part for the
whole and reduce a piece of literature. The reader should avoid reading a piece of literature as a case study because it will be used to analyze the psychoanalysis of
the author. In this study, the writer used the socio-cultural historical approach and
psychological approach. These approaches are suitable in this study, since this study analyzes how Ammu struggles to get her equality in the caste society.
2. Character and Characterization
Character is one important element in a story. Character makes the story become interesting to the reader. Characters are often defined as the individuals
who appear in a story Stanton, 17. Every character brings some mixture of interest, desires, emotions and moral principal that build them in a story to be the
believable person. Rohrberger and Woods Jr. state another opinion. He states that character
must be credible, which means a character must be believed as a believable person by the reader 20. Every character has different personalities and appearances
that differentiate every character in a story. According to Murphy 161-173 there are nine ways to understand a
character. There are: a. Personal Description
The character can be understood from their appearances and clothes. The reader can understand the character from the author’s description.
b. Character as seen by another The author describes the character from others character opinion. The author
helps the reader to understand the character by revealing other character opinion about the character being observed.
c. Speech The readers are able to know the character more deeply from what the
character says. When the character speaks, gets involved in a conversation, or gives opinion, the character gives some clues about his character.
d. Past life When the author reveals some past memories, the author guides the reader to
find what circumstances or tragedies that shaped a person’s character. This PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
can be done from the direct comment of the author, through the person’s thought, conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others From the other characters’ conversation, the author tries to help the reader to
know about a character more deeply. What the other character talks guide the reader to find the clue of the character.
f. Reactions The reaction of a character in facing some events and situation can be the
other way to find a person’s character. How he faces the situation and events can reveal his real character.
g. Direct comments The author’s direct comments on a character can describe the character.
h. Thought The author gives the reader insight of a character by letting the reader knows
what the character is thinking about. i. Mannerism
The author description of a character mannerism and habits also tells the readers about the character.
A story will be nothing without characters. To help the reader understand a story better, the author creates the character. They create the character that will
appear in the story. The process of making the character is called characterization. As states by Rohrberger and Woods, characterization is a process by which an
author creates a character 20. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Through a character, a reader can experience what character does. According to Henkle 86, characterization is central to the fictional experience. It
means that characterization is the principle objectives of characters in novel that enables the reader to understand and experience the people.
3. Struggle
According to Chinmoy 79-80, real struggle is the struggle to conquer ignorance in one’s own life and in the world around him. It can be a struggle to
fight to get something or struggle to survive in an inconvenient condition. If one struggles for something, then he can get a joy. If one struggles to fight for
falsehood, inertia, darkness, imperfection, limitation and bondage, then one will get his joy.
The word “struggle” is very difficult to define. When we see the word “struggle”, we have to realize the highest point that we should achieve. We realize
the inner power in us that makes us keep struggling and realize that there is one person who inspires us in doing the same things like us.
People usually have their own adjustment when they face problems in their life. Adjustment to the problem of life is a continuous process to face the
events, problems, and interaction with other people that occurs in our life. There are three kinds of adjustment. The first type is problem solving. Problem solving
allows a person to solve the problems and finds the solution of the problem. From the problems heshe faces their ability in solving the problem will develop from
time to time. The second type is acceptance of the problem. A person will just PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
accept the situation that occurs since there is no other solution for it. A person must be able to distinguish between the situation that needs problem solving and
the other that needs acceptance. The third is defense mechanism. Defense mechanism is related to how a person copes with the desires that often do not
permit to be fulfilled by the social rules. The most common defense mechanism are repression and denial. Since defense mechanism is another kind of adjustment,
overuse of defense mechanism will emerge severe disturbance Braun, Linder, and Asimov 478.
4. Hierarchy of Needs
According to Maslow in Goble’s The Third Force, there are five basic needs. The five basic needs are physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness
and love needs, esteem needs, and self actualization needs. A person will fulfill their needs step by step. Maslow 38 argues that when the lowest needs are
fulfilled then the next needs will emerge. It will be different in the degree of satisfaction for each person. It depends on how heshe fulfills their needs. The
explanation of each need is explained as follows: a.
Physiological Needs Physiological needs are the most important and the most basic of all needs.
This needs include the needs of food, liquid, shelter, sex, sleep and oxygen Goble 38. A person may need food and shelter, but he will try to fulfill his need
of food first. He will consider food as the most important thing in his life. After food is fulfilled, then he will pursue the other need higher than food.
b. Safety Needs
Safety needs emerge after physiological needs are fulfilled. These need emerge because of the needs to feel secure, stable, independent, protected, free
from fear, and anxiety. A person will consider the higher needs as unimportant before heshe feels secure in hisher life. A person needs a protection from
anything that is harmful. Heshe also needs peaceful surroundings to make himher feel save Goble 39.
c. Belongingness and Love
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, needs for love, affection, and belongingness emerge. People will seek a friend, a sweetheart, a wife or
husband to find the feeling of “belong” and to feel the affection from them. Maslow in Goble’s The Third Force says love involves a healthy, loving
relationship between two people that includes mutual trust 41. The absence of this need will influence one’s potential growth and development.
d. Esteem Needs
When the belongingness and love need are fulfilled, people will seek the higher need. They will try to fulfill the esteem need. According to Maslow, there
are two categories of esteem needs, self respect and esteem from other people 42. The first category is self respect. It includes desire for confidence,
competence, mastery, adequacy, achievement, independence and freedom. The second category is respect from the others. It includes prestige, recognition,
acceptance, attention, status, reputation, and appreciation. If a person has adequate self esteem he will be more confident and capable so that he will be more
productive. In contrast, if a person has low self esteem, he will be less confident and less productive.
e. Self-actualization Needs
This need is the highest needs among all. Self-actualization is the desire what a person capable to become and more than he is capable of. It is also related
to the identification of the psychological need for growth, development and utilization of potential powering in a person Goble 42.
All the basic needs above are important. It depends on how each person fulfills it and how they feel satisfactory of their achievement. Maybe a person will
feel satisfied if they can fulfill their needs fully but it will be different to other people who have different goals in his life.
5. Equality
The word equality may arise from an understanding on racism, caste and gender. Some people will seek for their right to be equal with others. Some feel
that they have the right to be higher than the others. They usually discriminate others because they feel that they are different from others, because of skin colors,
nationality, language, social background, caste, income or property, religion and health or disability.
Nielsen 15 in Equality and Liberty says that there are six moral claims of equality. They are:
a. All human beings have a right to have the protection of their persons and vital
interest. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
b. All people have a right to be treated as equals, not because they happen to be
equal in some particular respect or other, but simply because they are human. c.
All people are equal morally worth, have a right to be treated equal as they may be in merit, abilities, or even in moral sensitivity.
d. All people have a right to be treated as ends as something intrinsic worth and
never as means. e.
All human beings, capable of such choices, have an equal right to choose how they shall live.
f. All human beings have a right to equality of concern and respect, a right they
posses not in virtue of birth, characteristic, merit, or excellence, but simply as human beings with the capacity to make plans and give justice.
According to Becker 323 there are three main kinds of equality. There are : equal treatment for equals, fundamental equality, and social equality. Equal
treatment for equals means that those who are equal in some relevant respect should be treated equally. It means that those with equal talents should have equal
opportunities, that those who are willing and able to pay should have equal access to restaurant and hotels, and that those who are equally guilty should receive the
same punishment, etc. Secondly, fundamental equality points out that human beings and all
member of this class should be treated equally in a uniform and identical manner. Human beings are created equally and similarly with identical dignity.
Assignation, discrimination, and slavery are the violation of fundamental equality. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Thirdly, social equality relates to political equality, economic equality, and equality of status among the member of the society. Each person as the member of
a society has the same opportunity in politics, economy and achieving the equal status. They have the same opportunity to compete in politic and economy in
order to achieve a better life. In India the caste system remains although many Indians now are
Christians. The caste system system forbids the member of the society to get their right equally. The caste system rules every caste and the member to always stick
on their rule. In India there are five castes, the Brahmans as the head, the Kshatriyas as the Brahman follower, the Vaishyas as the traders, the Shudras as
the servant and laborers and the last is the Untouchables Srinivas 24. In India it is very difficult to get the equality. Since the caste system has
ruled the society to be unequal in every way. In the fields of education, health, place for housing and market, they are already differentiated by the caste they
belong to. People from different caste cannot live together in a same place. The lower caste will be considered as the pollutant by the higher caste.
B. Social Background of India 1. Caste System in India
India is a country that applies caste system in the daily life although many
Indians are Moslem and Christian Syrian. Hutton 47 in Caste in India states that
the word caste comes from the Spanish and Portuguese word “casta” which means “race”, “breed” and “lineage”. In Hinduism terms, caste often called as
varna or ‘colors’. This social status has two characteristics: 1 membership is determined by birth, 2 the members are forbidden to marry outside the group.
There are five castes in India. The member of the caste is determined by birth and occupations. There are: the Brahmans, groups of some priests, the
Kshatriyas consists of rulers, nobles, and fighter, the Vaishyas people in general, ordinary householders, the Sudra are the servile classes drawn from the people of
the country, and the last are the Untouchables. The caste has its own rules. The member of a lower caste will be
considered as the pollutant for the higher caste. For example, if a Sudra walks, he she should walk backward in order that the Brahmans do not see their shadow. A
shadow from a Sudra will be considered as a pollutant for a Brahman. Some of the lower castes are forbidden to show themselves in daylight. They have to work
on midnight and daybreak. They are not allowed to come out during daylight because their existence is polluting the higher caste. This lowest caste should live
far away from the four castes above. The caste system does not only rule the members about the rule of
marriage but it also rules each member in eating, drinking, smoking, how they cook the food, housing and how they should dress. There are some taboo things
for each member. It is tabooed by the higher caste to eat beef. Beef is only eaten by Untouchable members.
2. The Position of Women in India
India also applies patriarchal society. Women in this society have a low position. As stated by Madsen 18, in a patriarchal society women are considered
as others or the ignored, often as invisible and silent. In India as the caste system remains, rules everyone in his or her daily life.
The caste system appears to be an institution of an origin which is very complex indeed that in its very nature it must be limited to a single area Hutton 46. It also
makes the women’s position in India unequal with men’s. It rules the women to have their partners, how they should behave, and how they should wear their
clothes. Women from the Ksatriyas caste cannot love or even marry men from the lower caste. The caste already arranges the women and the society about who
deserve their love and who do not. It is stated by Hutton 74 that women in India eat after their husbands
have finished eating. The caste restricts a woman especially a wife to eat before the husband. If the husband does not touch any food the wife has to do so. If the
husband only drinks a cup of tea, the wife does so. Whatever the husband does the wife has to do so.
Since they are born, women are not really expected to live Mayo 70. After they are born they are ignored for three days and there is no nourishment for
a girl baby. The men think that a boy is better than a girl. The Indians think that a boy is taken care by the parents and a girl is taken care by gods. It can be seen
when a girl is sick, the father does not pay much attention to the girl. It is only the mother who is in charge with this.
Being in a patriarchal society, women in India should accept whatever their husbands do to them. When a husband threatens his wife, abuses her grossly,
or even beats her unjustly, she should answer her husband meekly, should lay hold of his hands, kiss them and beg his pardon, instead of uttering loud cries and
running away from the house Mayo 74. This is the culture in India that makes the women’s position powerless in men’s eyes.
A woman as a wife in India will not be really honored if she cannot give a son to the family. For the society, a son is a prestige. Sometimes a mother’s
position as a wife only becomes a passive object who must be abjectly submissive to her husband’s will and fancy Mayo 75.
Since the attention on women’s education and health are less there are some women who struggle for the equality. Some of Christian women try to
achieve the equality by furnishing the main body of Indian teachers for the girls of all castes, and trained nurses for the hospitals although it get some rejection from
the superior castes Mayo 149.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are some theories used in this study. There are theories of literature, theory of struggle, theory of equality and social background of India. The theory
of struggle is used to analyze and to have a better understanding in how a person struggles to get their rights, or struggle to achieve their targets. It is related to the
novel, how a woman struggles for equality since the caste restricts her to be equal with men.
The theory of equality is used to analyze the standard equality. It is different for everyone to get their equality, but in this study it is related to the
equality by which woman rights are equal with the man. In analyzing the reasons why Ammu struggles in this novel, the writer
uses the theory of socio-cultural background review. To get better analysis on this novel, the social background of India is used. It is important to analyze the socio-
cultural background which relates with the struggle for equality for a woman in India. Meanwhile, the psychological approach is applied to see the relationship
between how society’s treatments influence Ammu to struggle. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology in analyzing Arundhati Roy’s novel. There will be three sections in this chapter. They are object of the study,
approach of the study and method of the study.
A. Object of the Study
