Object of the Study

15

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the description of the methodology used in this study. It consists of four parts, subject matter, approach, sources, and procedure. Subject Matter deals with the major subject of the study, while Approach concerns with the literary approach applied in analyzing the novel. Sources are the compilation of all the reference books used in this study and Procedure gives the information on the steps taken in doing this study.

3.1 Object of the Study

The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a novel written by Amy Tan. This is Tan’s fourth novel published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 2001. It consists of 403 pages and is divided into three main parts. Part One has seven chapters One – Seven, part Two is divided into six chapters Heart, Change, Ghost, Destiny, Effortless, and Fragrance, and part Three consists of two chapters One – Three. It also has a prologue entitled “Truth” and an Epilogue. Part One is about Ruth’s story. It is set in New York. As the novel begins, Ruth is already 46 years old. Part One describes the relationship between Ruth and her mother, LuLing. Ruth is embarrassed with her mother in her childhood because of her mother’s poor English. During her adolescence, she thinks her mother is a very difficult person and she never understands her mother well. Now, Ruth is facing the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 16 fact that her mother is suffering from Dementia, a kind of Alzheimer’s disease. In the midst of her confusion, Ruth finds the pages which was written by her mother. In the midst of her confusion, Ruth finds the pages which were written by her mother. The pages are about her mother’s past life in China. Later Ruth has it translated because they are written in Chinese. The finding of the pages leads the reader to move on to Part Two, which is set in China. It shows about LuLing’s childhood and her real personality back in her youth and how she can finally go to America. LuLing has misunderstood her nursemaid, Precious Auntie, who is actually her mother. When she finds out that Precious Auntie is her real mother, it is already too late for both of them. She thinks that Precious Auntie’s suicide is her biggest fault and LuLing lives with the thought of feeling guilty for all her life. The last part, Part Three, tells about the reconciliation of mother and daughter while the setting is back again to New York. Ruth tries to learn about her mother’s past life and seeks her own origin through the pages that LuLing wrote to her. LuLing’s memory begins to fade but since she keeps all her memories in her writing, LuLing’s effort to write her own history to pass it down to her daughter makes Ruth believe that she and her mother can weave their relationship again with the new spirit and forgive each other. Now, Ruth and LuLing can recognize their bad experience in the past as part of their own histories. 17

3.2 Approach