The Characterization of Main Character

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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the writer analyzes the problems stated in the first chapter. The first part is the discussion on the main character of Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Then, the second part is the discussion on the motivation of the main characters in Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and Coelho’s Eleven Minutes in becoming a prostitute.

4.1 The Characterization of Main Character

Abrams defines characters as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say, the dialogue, and by what they do, the action 20. Firdaus is the person presented in a novel, and so does Maria. Firdaus is presented in Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, whereas Maria is presented in Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. In revealing the characteristics of Firdaus and Maria better, the writer uses a theory proposed by Murphy. He proposes nine ways in presenting the characters in a novel. They are personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversations others, reaction, direct comment, thought, and mannerism. 4.1.1 The Characterization of Firdaus 4.1.1.1 Smart Firdaus is a clever student. She loves to go to school to study. She likes to learn something new especially learn new books and subject at school. She also becomes one of the best students in class. Even, she has already awarded two certificates. They are primary and secondary school certificates. I liked classes and I enjoyed studying, despite the unfailing vigilance of the superintendent, and other things. When the results of the final examination were announced, I was told that I have out in the school and seventh countryside 32. Moreover, reading newspapers and magazines become her habit since then. It is because she always goes to the library to read them. This can be seen on page 27. “Newspapers and magazines were delivered to the library regularly. I got into the habit of reading what was written in them and looking at the picture.” Firdaus also loves to read in a library although it is a bad room in her school and she has to sit in a broken chair. She does not only read newspapers and magazines there, but she also reads a lot of books. Reading a lot of books make her able to find and learn many things. I developed a love of books, for with every book I learned something new. I got to know about Persians, the Turks and the Arabs. I read about the crimes committed by kings and rulers, about wars, people, revolutions, and the lives of revolutionaries 26. As a woman who lives in a patriarchal country where a man has more power than a woman, Firdaus imagines of being a great head of state. Firdaus keeps imagining herself like that, in contrast, other women share each other about PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI love and men. Actually, beyond this condition, Firdaus only wants to do as men can do. I know that woman did not become heads of state, but I felt that I was nor like other women, nor like other girls around me who kept talking about love, or about men. For these were subjects I never mentioned, somehow I was not interested in the things that occupied their minds, and what seemed of importance to them stuck me as being trivial 25. All of the Firdaus’s speech above shows that she is a smart woman. It can be seen when she wants to learn many things and has two certificates.

4.1.1.2 Brave

Firdaus is a brave woman. She is able to fight against men, especially a pimp. She refuses him to protect herself as a prostitute. She also shows her bad behavior to that man. It can be seen from Firdaus’s reaction to a pimp below. One day he saw me entering my house and followed me. I tried to shut the door in his face, but he took out a knife, threatened me with it, and forced his way in. “Firdaus What do you want of me?” I asked. “The Pimp I want to protect you from other men,” he replied. “Firdaus But no one else besides you is menacing me” 92. As a prostitute, Firdaus can do bad things to a pimp. She can fight against him harshly. She slaps him and it becomes worst when she kills him with her own hands. It is shown from Firdaus’s reaction to a pimp. She does those bad things to a pimp because she does not like him. I raised my hand even higher than he had done, and brought it down violently on his face. The whites of his eyes went red. His hand started to reach for the knife he carried in his pocket, but my hand was quicker than his. I raised the knife and buried it deep in his neck, pulled it out his neck and then thrust it deep into his chest, pulled it out his chest and plunged it deep into his belly. I stuck the knife into almost every part of his body 95. At the end of the story in the novel, Firdaus shows her bravery through her speech. She does not want to ask the President to pardon her as a woman who will get a death sentence. She prefers to accept the death penalty. “There is hope for you to release if you send an appeal to the president asking him to pardon you for the crime you committed”. … “Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed” 101. The analysis above shows Firdaus’s bravery. It can be seen from Firdaus’s speech and reaction that she is able to kill a pimp and face her death sentence.

4.1.1.3 Determined

Starting from her childhood until adulthood, Firdaus hates men. It is because all men treat her badly. They think that they are better than Firdaus. That is why in her mind, she hates men. Therefore, Firdaus has a strong determination to find justice for her. Then, this condition brings her to the prostitution world. It can be seen from Firdaus’s speech below. I became aware of the fact that I hated men, but for long years had hidden this secret carefully. The men I hated most of all were those who tried to give me advice, or told me that they wanted to rescue me from the life I was leading. I used to hate them more than the others because they thought they were better than I was and could help me change my life. … Yet not for a single moment did I have any doubts about my own integrity and honor as a woman. I knew that my profession had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds. The one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell her bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body is that of a wife. Or women are prostitutes of one kind of another 88-91. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Her strong determination to find justice makes her to have a firm behavior too. It happens when she does not want to be a female employee anymore in a company. She feels that she is more valued as a prostitute rather than as a female employee. It is shown from her thought that being a prostitute is better than a female employee. After I had spent three years in the company, I realized that as a prostitute I had been looked upon with more respect, and been valued more highly than all the female employees, myself included. … An employee is scared of losing her job and becoming a prostitute because she does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers 75-76. Her firm behavior makes her think that being a prostitute is the right choice. She realizes that only by being a prostitute she can have the same level as men. Even, she can be respected by great men. Furthermore, by being a prostitute she can enjoy her life. It is clearly seen from her thought below. I became a very successful prostitute. I was paid the highest price and even men of great importance competed for my favors. … Because I was intelligent, I prefer to be a free prostitute, rather than an enslaved wife. Every time I gave my body, I charged the highest price. I could employ any number of servants to wash my clothes and clean my shoes, hire a lawyer no matter how expensive to defend my honor, pay a doctor for an abortion, buy a journalist to publish a picture and write something about me in the newspapers 89-91. Firdaus’s belief and hatred toward men have made her become a determined woman. This can be seen from Firdaus’s speech and thought in the sentences above. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4.1.2. The Characterization of Maria 4.1.2.1 Smart Maria is a smart girl. She is able to use her attraction to reach her dream. It is seen from Maria’s mannerism. She uses her attraction to get what she wants, especially to men who can give her money. She realizes that her beauty is her commodity to make men easily attracted to her. She knows that many men fall in love with her because of her physical beauty. She also knows that her beauty can be used as a power to get money, so that she knows how to take advantages from men who fall in love with her. These happen when she works in a shop where her boss falls in love with her. This condition makes Maria able to get some money from him. She turned nineteen, having finished secondary school, and found a job in a draper’s shop, where her boss promptly feels in love with her. By then, however, Maria knew how to use a man, without being used by him. She never let him touch her, although she was very coquettish, conscious of her beauty. … With this in mind, she continued to keep her boss at arm’s length, though without putting him off completely, and this brought her a considerable increase in salary… 17. Maria’s smartness is also seen from her other mannerism when she wants to learn French. She uses her spare time to learn and practice French in order to improve her French. Therefore, she buys some magazines to improve her French. Moreover, Maria’s smartness is shown when she often goes to library to read some books. There, she also can share about the contents of those books with the librarian. To distract herself during this empty hours, and in order to practice her French, she began buying magazines about celebrities, but realizes at once that she was spending too much money, and so she looked for the nearest lending library. The woman in charge told her that they didn’t lend out magazines, but that she could suggest a few books that would help improve her French. … Maria became a regular visitor to the library, where she would chat to the woman, who seemed as lonely as she was, ask her to suggest more books and discuss life and authors until her money had nearly run out 49-50. Maria’s mannerisms above show that she is a smart girl. It is proved by the way she uses her power of attraction to reach her dream and also she wants to improve her French.

4.1.2.2 Brave

Maria is brave enough to build a new relationship with a man although she often feels upset with her love. She falls in love many times but she also feels suffer of her love. This condition does not make her afraid to find another love. Therefore, she never gives up building relationship with a man. This is seen from her mannerism on page 15; “…she went out with one boy and with another, and she dreamed and suffered despite her promise to herself never to fall in love again.” Maria’s bravery is also seen from the way she makes a decision toward her life. It is shown from her mannerism when she decides to look for a job in Copacabama, one of the most expensive bars in Geneva. At the very beginning, she does not know what she is going to do in that place but then, she is able to decide to work as a prostitute in a very short time. It proves that Maria is brave to make hasty decision in being a prostitute although she does not know at all about it. “I’m looking for work, “she told the owner, who was washing glasses behind the bar.” … “Brazilian girl What made you choose this place?” … “Maria To be perfectly honest, I don’t know where to start or if I want to start.” She found herself confronted by the feeling that so often pushing people into making hasty decisions. … “Maria All right, I’ll start tonight.” “Milan Tomorrow, wear black panties, bra and stocking. Taking off your clothes is all part of the ritual.” Without more ado, and on the assumption now that he was talking to someone who was about to start work, … 64-67. The analysis above describes Maria as a brave person. This characterization can be seen from her mannerism.

4.1.2.3 Ambitious

In the beginning of the story, the narrator describes Maria as an ambitious girl through her reaction. It is proved from her desire to increase her life economically. Since she comes from moderate family, Maria wants to improve her life economically. The fact that her father is a traveling salesman and her mother is a seamstress have pushed her to find a rich man in order to get better life. Those conditions become the factor that makes her to be an ambitious girl. Like all prostitutes, she was born both innocent and a virgin, and, as an adolescent, she dreamed of meeting the man of her life rich, handsome, intelligent, of getting married in a wedding dress, having two children who would grow up to be famous and living in a lovely house with a sea view. Her father was traveling salesman, her mother a seamstress, and her hometown, in the interior Brazil, had only one cinema, one night club and one bank, which was why Maria was always hoping that one day, without warning, her Prince Charming would arrive, sweep her off her feet and take her away with him so that they could conquer the world together 1. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Maria’s ambition is also shown from her point of view that money is everything. It can be seen from her mannerism when she does not care about her own feeling because her ambition is to earn money. Her desire is to be a successful girl who has a lot of money, therefore, she is willing to do anything to reach it. It can be clarified that Maria is an ambitious girl who can do everything to make her dreams come true. Maria chose to be an adventurer in search of treasure, she put aside her feelings, she stopped crying every night, and she forgot all about the person she used to be; she discovered that she had enough willpower to pretend that she had just been born and so had no reason to miss anyone. Feelings could wait, now what she needed to do was to earn some money, get to know the country and return home victorious 39. Those sentences show that Maria is an ambitious girl. She becomes ambitious girl because of economical reason. It can be seen from Maria’s reaction and mannerism above. 4.2. Motivation of the Main Character in Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and Coelho’s Eleven Minutes in Becoming A Prostitute Most people believe that prostitution is bad. Prostitution is considered as immoral, sinful and dirty. On the other side, there are several people who decide to be prostitutes as their profession. Yet, Maria and Firdaus decide to be a prostitute. They have some reasons beyond their decision in becoming a prostitute. Therefore, the writer would like to discuss the similarities and differences between decisions made by Firdaus in Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero and Maria in Eleven Minutes in choosing prostitution as their profession. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4.2.1. The Similarity between Firdaus and Maria Decision in Choosing Prostitution as Their Profession: The Family Background Both Firdaus and Maria come from an economically low family. Firdaus’s father is a poor peasant farmer and her mother is a house wife. “My father, a poor peasant farmer, who could neither read, not write, knew very view things in life” 12. As a poor family, they cannot fulfill their basic needs. Sometimes they cannot have their supper. They are very hungry but they cannot eat because there is no food in their home. Even, they can go to bed with empty stomach. It is difficult for Firdaus’s family to fulfill their basic needs. As a result, Firdaus’s family lacks of physiological needs. “Sometimes when there was no food at home, we would all go to bed with empty stomachs” 18. All of these conditions push her to change her life. She wants to be an economically successful girl. Freud points out that id operates based on hedonism doctrine principle that pleasure and happiness are the goal of life 11. Meanwhile ego serves the id to obtain pleasure. Therefore, her id and ego lead her in deciding to be a prostitute. Firdaus assumes that being a prostitute is the only way to reach success as a woman. Firdaus realizes that she can get a lot of money in order to change her life. Money is a means of making a better life for a woman. This profession enables her to be able to rent a good apartment. She can also have a cook to serve her meal. She has an employee to arrange all of her appointments. Amazingly, she is capable of building a private library for herself. There she usually spends her time. In addition, her bank account keeps increasing all the time. Here, Firdaus is able to fulfill the first level of hierarchy of needs stated by PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Maslow, that is physiological needs. Later, Firdaus can also fulfill her next needs. They are safety needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. She will try to achieve the higher needs after she can achieve the lower one. It is because Maslow states that if a person can satisfy hisher basic need, heshe moves toward higher level of needs and becomes motivated by them 47. ...I first started to have a clean apartment of my own, overlooking the main street, engage a cook who prepared the food I ordered, and employ someone to arrange for my appointments at the hours which suited me, and in accordance with the terms which I considered acceptable. My bank account kept mounting all the time. ... I had a large library in my apartment, and it was here I spent most of my free time 69. Realizing that money can buy everything, Firdaus uses it to accumulate some facilities for her. She begins to have her own servants, hire a lawyer, and pay a doctor to do abortion. She can also pay a journalist to make news about her. It proves that Firdaus understands the power of money well. Furthermore, Firdaus uses her money to make herself a woman with honor of fame. She makes herself an honorable and famous woman through donating her money for charity, so she can be recognized as an honorable citizen. I could employ any number of servants to wash my clothes and clean shoes, hire a lawyer no matter how expensive to defend my honor, pay a doctor for an abortion, buy a journalist to publish my picture and write something about me in the newspaper. ... One day, when I donated some money to charitable association, the newspapers published pictures of me and sang praises as the model of a citizen with a sense of civic responsibility 91. Maria also has the same problem with Firdaus. Maria comes from an economically low family. They are poor since her father is a traveling salesman and her mother is a seamstress. Her parents cannot give her facilities and pleasure. As a result, they fail to meet their physiological needs. Therefore, Maria has to work in a draper’s shop. She works in a draper’s shop when she is 19 years old and has finished her secondary school. Working in a shop, she can help her family to fulfill their basic needs. ”Her father was a traveling salesman, her mother a seamstress, and her hometown, in the interior Brazil, had only one cinema, one night club, and one bank...”1. The condition of Maria’s family pushes her to increase the quality of her life, especially her economical situation. It also happened because of her mother’s advice. Her mother plays an important role in making Maria become an ambitious girl in order to change her life. Her mother gives Maria an advice to find a rich man. Living with a rich man will give Maria a better life. Maria’s mother told her that being unhappy with a rich man is always better for her life compared to being happy with a poor man. She can say that because of her own experience with Maria’s father. She chooses Maria’s father as her husband because of love. She falls in love with him although he is not rich at all. As a consequence, she lives with her husband poorly. Therefore, Maria’s mother does not let her daughter to make the same mistake like her. According to her mother, love is not the most important thing in life, but in contrast, money is the most valuable. It is because money can buy everything she wants even true love. Even, Maria’s mother lets her only daughter to go to Switzerland in order to work as a samba dancer. Her mother believes that Maria can be a rich woman there. “My dear, it’s better to be happy with a rich man than happy with a poor man, and over there you’ll have for more chance of becoming an unhappy rich woman” 32. Maria’s profession as a samba dancer does not make her an economically successful girl. She can only rent a small room there with no special facilities. Therefore, she feels that her life is meaningless with all the routines and mediocrity. It makes her worried because she cannot give a better life for her family. In such condition, Maria comes to a hard decision. She decides to be a prostitute rather than coming back to Brazil as a loser who cannot give her family happiness. Being a prostitute leads her to be a successful woman. Her id and ego push her to make a lot of money through her profession as a prostitute. She can increase her money in bank, so that she can send some money to her mother in Brazil. She can also buy a nice apartment for herself with good facilities. Here, Maria is able to fulfill her physiological needs, the first level of hierarchy of needs stated by Maslow. Later, Maria can also fulfill her next needs just like Firdaus. They are safety needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. She will try to achieve the higher needs after she can fulfill the lower one. Moreover, being a prostitute with a lot of money makes her secure because she does not need to be worry about making her family happy. Here, Maria’s profession as a prostitute proves that she is able to meet her safety needs, the second level of hierarchy of needs. She can fulfill her safety needs after she has fulfilled her physiological needs. But Maria wasn’t there to save humanity, but to increase her bank balance, survive another six months of solitude and another six months of the choice she had made, send a regular monthly sum of money to her mother who was thrilled to learn that the early absence of money had PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI been due to the Swiss post, so much less efficient than the Brazilian postal system, and to buy all the things she had always dreamed of and never had. She moved to a much better apartment, which central heating although the summer had already arrived, and from her window she could see a church, a Japanese restaurant, a supermarket, and a very nice cafe, where she used to sit and read the newspaper 86-87. Furthermore, Maria also has several proposals of marriage from men who fall in love with her after working as a prostitute for two months. They promise Maria to give her a better life. This condition happened because Maria gives her customers advice. Maria gives her customers advice because they ask for it in order to solve their life’s problems. It becomes an important point for Maria to get respect from her customers. Then, she starts to read some books related to her customers’ problem. It makes her become unusual prostitute. She is different from the others prostitute. Even, her colleagues who work as a prostitute admire her. Therefore, many of her customers fall in love and want to get married with her. Maria became a regular reader of newspapers, especially, where possible, the financial pages, because the majority of her clients were business executives. She sought out self-help books, because her clients nearly all asked for her advice. She read studies of the human emotion, because all her clients were in some kind of emotional pain. Maria was a respectable, rather unusual prostitute, and after six months, she had acquired a large, faithful, very select clientele, thus arousing the envy and jealously, but also the admiration, of her colleagues. … Maria had had several proposals of marriage, of which al least three were serious: the director of a firm of accountants, the pilot she went with on the very first night, and the owner of a shop specializing in knives. All three had promised “to take her away from that life” and to give her a nice house a future, perhaps children and grandchildren 81-88. As the conclusion, both Firdaus and Maria are able to meet the fourth level of hierarchy of needs stated by Maslow. It is esteem needs which is consisted of 2 subcategories namely, a need for self-esteem and esteem from others. According PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI to Maslow, a need for self-esteem motivates the individual to strive for achievement, strength, confidence, independence, and freedom. The related need of esteem from others involves a desire for reputation, status, recognition, appreciation by others of one’s abilities, and feeling of importance 42. In addition, there will be explanation that Firdaus and Maria are able to fulfill the lower needs before they can meet their esteem needs later. It will be proved on the next title about the differences between Firdaus and Maria decision in choosing prostitution as their profession. Both Maria and Firdaus have motivation to achieve their dream as a prostitute. They are independent women who are able to earn money by themselves. Each of them has also recognition and appreciation given by their surroundings. Firdaus uses her money to make herself a woman with honor and fame. She makes herself to be an honorable and famous woman by donating her money for charity. As a result, she can be recognized as an honorable citizen. Meanwhile, Maria is able to have respect from her customers. It is because she can give advice to her customers to solve their life’s problems. Therefore, she can have several proposal of marriage from men who fall in love with her. 4.2.2. The Differences between Firdaus and Maria Decision in Choosing Prostitution as Their Profession

4.2.2.1 The Society Surroundings

There are some differences between Firdaus’s and Maria’s society which motivate them in becoming a prostitute. In Firdaus’s society, men have more power than women. Men can do all things toward women. It can be seen from Firdaus’s life in a strict society. When Firdaus is a child, she often finds her mother being a slave. Firdaus’s mother has to serve her husband well. She always washes her husband’s leg, keeps her husband warm when the winter comes and prepares her father’s meal. This condition is even worst in Firdaus’s marriage. She also becomes a slave for her husband. She has to fulfill her husband’s needs including his sex desire although Firdaus does not like it. I let him kiss me. I could feel the swelling on my face and lips like a small purse, or a water skin, full of stagnant greasy fluid. But on days when it was not dry, I would turn my lips and face away to avoid the odor of dead dogs which emanated from it. ... When his arms and legs let go of me, I would gently slip my body out from under him, and go on tiptoe to the bathroom. There I would carefully wash my face and lips, my arms and thighs, and every part of my part of my body, taking care not to miss a single inch, going over it several times with soap and water 43-44. A husband is a king who is taking role for his wife. As a wife who is considered to be a servant, Firdaus should work all day in the house. She has to cook, wash and clean all of the rooms of the house. She does all those things within her husband’s supervision. Firdaus’s husband always monitors his wife when doing the housework. He even complains, yells and gets angry if Firdaus makes a mistake. All day long, he remained by my side in the house, or in the kitchen, watching me as I cooked or washed. If I dropped the packet of soap powder and spilled a few grains on the floor, he would jump up from his chair and complain at me of being careless 44. Being an obedient wife is a must. This happened in a society which places men in higher position than women. A husband has rights toward his wife. If his wife does not obey his rule, he can beat his wife as a punishment. It is a duty for a wife to be an obedient wife. Firdaus’s husband often beats her if she does not do his command. Even, he does it with no reason at all. ...he got into the habit of beating me whether he had a reason for it or not bruised. ... A virtuous woman was not supposed to complain about her husband. Her duty was perfect obedience 44. All of Firdaus’s experiences above show that Firdaus lacks of belongingness needs. In addition, she has another experience which proves that her society where she lives is dominated by men. She realizes it when she becomes a female employee in the industrial company. She is aware that a female employee is just the same as a prostitute. A female employee has to give herself to her boss in order to defend her position in the company so that she cannot lose her job. In other words, she should have a sexual intercourse with her boss. Moreover, the boss a man who has higher position, has the right to invite his female employee for a date. Here, a female employee is not more than a prostitute who sells her body to a man. The difference between a female employee and prostitute is, a prostitute can worth more in return for her body. In contrast, a female employee who should have a sexual intercourse with her boss only uses her body to get assurance to secure her position in the company. After I had spent three years in the company. I realized that as a prostitute, I had been looked upon with more respect, and been valued for more highly than all the female employees, myself included. ... I felt sorry for the other girls who were guileless enough to offer their bodies and their physical efforts every night in return for a meal, or a good yearly report, or just to ensure that the would not be treated unfairly, or discriminated against, or transferred 75-76. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Firdaus’s life above proves that she lacks of belongingness need. She cannot receive and give love to her society. It starts happening from her early childhood and her marriage. She cannot meet her love there. In addition, her experience in becoming a female employee makes her realize that there is a safety place for a woman who lives in patriarchal society. Therefore, she cannot fulfill her safety needs as a woman. Women in Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero always become the victim of men’s power. Firdaus is a woman in this novel who always becomes the victim of men’s power. These conditions make her come into the prostitution world. In her opinion, a prostitute is better than all kinds of woman because it is more respectable than a wife and a female employee. A prostitute is willing to sell her body for the highest price while a female employee sells her body at the lowest price to secure her position in the company. She feels that a prostitute is a profession which can make her secure from men’s power. Therefore, Firdaus can also get her safety needs, the second level of hierarchy of needs. She is able to fulfill her safety need after she has fulfilled her physiological needs. She can fulfill her safety needs by being a prostitute without selling herself to get assurance to secure her position in the company. In addition, a prostitute can choose a man she wants to be with, whereas a wife cannot choose her husband. At least, she can accepts and give a kind of love through her profession as a prostitute although it only happens when she serves her customers. Here, Firdaus can fulfill her belongingness needs, the third level of hierarchy of needs. She can fulfill her belongingness needs after she has fulfilled her physiological needs and safety needs. I came to realize that a female employee is more afraid of losing her job than a prostitute because she does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers. And so she pays the price of her illusory fears with her life, her health, her body, and her mind. She pays the highest price for things of the lowest value. I know knew that all of us were prostitutes who sold themselves at varying prices, and that an expensive prostitute was better than a cheap 76. Maria’s society is different from Firdaus’s. Maria lives in a small town somewhere in the countryside in Brazil. There, she can only have access to restricted facilities. It becomes a point which makes Maria bored with her life. This condition leads her to travel to Rio de Janeiro where she meets a man named Roger who offers her a job as a samba dancer. Roger promises Maria to make her become a Brazilian star. She accepts it with the help of an interpreter named Mailson. Then, it brings her to come back in her hometown with Roger and Mailson. All of her neighborhoods are surprised and feel proud of her because there are foreigners who want to come to in her small town. The lack of experiences to see outside world because of living in a small town with restricted facilities has made them curious about what is happening with Maria. They see such situation in the television shop, a facility which they only have in their home. They are proud if one of their neighbors becomes a successful person. Therefore, they want to know why the foreigners are interested in coming to their town and why the foreigners offer Maria to be a big star in Europe. The conditions of Maria’s society make her proud. She wants to be placed as a highly valuable girl in her town. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI It was a surprise and a source of pride to the small town to see its lovely daughter Maria arrive accompanied by a foreigner who wanted to make her a big star in Europe. ... They wanted to know if such things were always happening in Rio de Janeiro, because they had seen similar scenarios in TV soaps. Maria would not be pinned down, wanting to place a high value on her personal experience and thus convince her friends that she was someone special 31. Maria does all things in Switzerland to convince her society that she has been a successful girl there. She wants her society still to believe in her that she works there to be a Brazilian star who makes the society proud of her. The first thing she can do is by telephoning her mother’s neighbor. She tells her that she has been an economically successful girl. She is also happy with her job there. Then, she even sends some photos to her family including a letter proving that she has been a famous, rich and happy person. The first thing she did was telephone her mother’s neighbor to say that she was happy, had a brilliant career ahead of her and that there was no need for her family to worry. ... She asked for several extra copies and send them of to her family with a letter saying how happy she was in Switzerland. They would all think she was rich and the owner of an enviable wardrobe, and that she had been transformed into town’s most illustrious daughter 45-46. Since Maria’s society believes in her, Maria wants to improve her life. She wants to have a better life in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the reality shows that Maria has not become a successful person. All of her efforts to convince her society that she is capable to be a famous, rich, and happy girl are just a lie. The truth is Maria can only rent a small room with no good facilities. She even has to work for a year if she wants to go back to her hometown. On the contrary, the opinion of the people in her town is important to her too, therefore, she does not PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI want to be a loser. She wants to come back to her town as a successful person. These facts make her realize that she needs to fulfill her esteem needs. She wants to make her dream comes true. She is aware that she has to earn more money to make it real. Then, she looks for another job. A chance brings her to the prostitution world. She decides to be a prostitute to fulfill all of her needs. As a result, she is capable of earning a lot of money. She can increase her saving so that she can send some money to her parents. She is able to do those things without pretending as a successful person anymore. Moreover, she also can buy a nice apartment with complete facilities. Being a prostitute for a several months makes her costumers believe in her. Her customers are accustomed to tell her their personal problems and then Maria will give them some advices. She has been a successful person who can meet her esteem needs now. She moved to a much better apartment, which central heating although the summer had already arrived, and from her window she could see a church, a Japanese restaurant, a supermarket, and a very nice cafe, where she used to sit and read the newspaper. Otherwise, just as she had promised herself, it was a question of putting up with the same of old routine: go to the Copacabana, have a drink and a dance, what do you think of Brazil, then back to his hotel, get the money up front, have a little conversation and know precisely which points to touch on both body and soul, but mainly the soul, give some advice on personal problems, be his friend for half an hour,...87

4.2.2.2 Love

Love becomes horrible for Firdaus. This is one of her problem which makes her decide to be a prostitute. Her experience in her family and marriage has made her fail to meet her belongingness needs. She is always tortured by men. Therefore, she cannot receive and give her love. Until one day, she decides to be a prostitute. Being a prostitute leads her to be able to choose a man she wants in order to get her belongingness needs. Since she becomes a prostitute with the highest price, she does not need to feel under pressure in order to satisfy her customers. It is because she chooses her customers herself. She will choose a clean man because she loves it. It makes her willing to serve her customers. One occasion pushes Firdaus to quit her job. It begins when one of her customer says that a prostitute is an unrespectable profession. Thus, she decides to stop working as a prostitute because she cannot stand that humiliation. She starts to look for another job and finally she finds a job as an employee in an industrial company. Here, she meets a revolutionary man. Then, she finds herself falls in love with him. She thinks that he is not like the men she has met before. Therefore, Firdaus gives all her body, soul and mind to get the affection she never felt before. That man struggles in the name of revolutionary for common people. Unfortunately, it is just his camouflage. He stands beyond the term revolutionary to fulfill his ambition, the ambition to gain power, sympathy, and have sexual intercourse with Firdaus. He is able to sacrifice his love for his ambition when Firdaus really feels her true love with him. It destroys her dream to be a human being. She thinks that it is kind of humiliation for her. It is even worse from her last humiliation as a prostitute. Having sexual intercourse with her customers is much better than having to serve a man whom she loves but on the contrary, the man just takes advantages from her. Starting from here, Firdaus comes back to her previous profession before. She becomes a prostitute again. She at least feels less pain to be a prostitute because she never involves her feeling when she does her job. Moreover, being a prostitute she is capable of earning a lot of money. She had never experienced suffering such as this, never felt a deeper pain. And I was selling my body to man the pain had been much less. It was imaginary, rather that real. As a prostitute I was not myself, my feeling did not arise from within me. They were not really mine. Nothing could really hurt me and make me suffer that the way I was suffering now. Never had I felt so humiliated as I felt this time. Perhaps as a prostitute, I had known so deep a humiliation than nothing really counted. ... Revolutionary men with principles were not really difference from the rest. They used their cleverness to get, in return for principles, what other men buy with their money. Revolution for them is like sex for us. Something to be abused. Something to be sold 85-88. Maria also has experience about the horrible love. During her life, Maria falls in love for many times. She is disappointed many times too. At the age of 11, she falls in love with a boy who lives in her neighborhood. They never talk to each other although they walk in the same route. Maria is not brave enough to talk to that boy. She only hides her feeling, until someday, that boy disappears. She, then, tries to fall in love again. She falls in love with a boy whom she met in a Holy week procession. This time, she won’t repeat her childhood mistake. They talk to each other and spend time together. Unfortunately, the boy abandons Maria. He goes with another girl. Then, she continues to fall in love again for the fourth and fifth time. The same things happened. She is disappointed by her love again. It brings her to a conclusion that men always give her suffering, pain and frustration. She promises to herself not to fall in love again. Love only brings suffering. Maria’s experiences about love show that she lacks of belongingness needs. She fails to receive and give a love from the men she loves. “She went out with one boy and with another, and she dreamed and suffered-despite her promise to herself never to falling in love again” 15. One day, Maria decides to go with a Swiss man named Roger in order to work as a Samba dancer in Switzerland. She thinks that she does not need to suffer from love if she can take advantages from Roger. She will use him to achieve her dream as a successful girl. Unfortunately, the fate says differently. She cannot take advantages from Roger, so she is not able to achieve her dream as a successful girl. Moreover, working as a Samba dancer does not result anything. Her love and dream only bring suffering. One occasion, she is brought into the prostitution world. She decides to be a prostitute in Copacabama, the most expensive café in Switzerland. Since she becomes a prostitute, she will not suffer from love. Her profession leads her not to fall in love with men. It is because one of the rules to be a prostitute is never to fall in love with the customers. Maria is happy with her condition like that. Until someday, she meets a young, famous painter named Ralf. Maria is surprised knowing that Ralf is different from the men she has met before. Ralf has different point of view about Maria. He sees Maria’s inner beauty not merely her physical appearance as a prostitute. Then, they start to have conversation to know each other. They often share stories about their life and job. Moreover, Ralf tells Maria that he needs her. In the other side, Maria thinks that Ralf is the only man who can give her happiness. It’s all cause Maria falls in love with him and so does he. Here was her man, who was giving her pleasure and joy, with whom she could be the person she really was, with whom she could talk about her sexual problems, and tell him how much she would like to stay with him for the rest of the night, for the rest of the week, for the rest of her life. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI … “Ralf I love you” “Maria I love you too” 163-164. All of Maria’s experiences prove that being a prostitute has made her able to meet her belongingness needs, the third level of hierarchy of needs. She can fulfill her belongingness needs after she has fulfilled her physiological needs and safety needs. She meets Ralf whom she loves. She can give and receive a love through her relationship with Ralf. Here, she is able to feel love.

4.2.2.3 Economy

Deciding to be a prostitute brings a lot of changes toward Firdaus’s life. She has her own body and mind since she becomes a prostitute. Starting from here, Firdaus uses her body and mind to make some money, through her profession. Thus, this money is used by Firdaus to gain her power. The power of a woman who is able to control all of her own life. Firdaus realizes that money can buy everything. She believes that money has given her everything. It leads her to have a better life. Life which cannot be achieved before. In other words, she is capable to be a successful woman. She is able to rent an apartment which is completed with perfect facilities for her. Facilities which are built with her own money. Since she loves reading many books, she builds a private library in order to fulfill her desire in knowing all matters. She also has her own bathroom where she can spend her time there without queuing every morning just to have the first turn to bathe. Moreover, having a lot of money in bank, she can have employees: an employee to arrange her appointment and also an employee to serve her meal. These prove that Firdaus uses her money as her power to control her own life. Starting from here, Firdaus is able to fulfill her physiological needs. Realizing those facts, Firdaus also uses her money as her power to control men’s life. Being a successful prostitute who can be recognized by a lot of men, she is capable of choosing the man she wants. She refuses some men who are not included in her criteria. This condition takes her to receive advantages as a prostitute. Her rejection gives her higher price for each of her service. Since a man has higher status from woman, this rejection becomes a big problem for that man. Rejection is considered a humiliation for him because he cannot be rejected by a woman. He will also feel being rejected by himself. Therefore, he will increase the price for Firdaus so that she can service him. As the result, she can have the higher price and get a lot of money. A prostitute always say yes, and then names her price. If she says no she ceases to be a prostitute. I was not a prostitute in the full sense of the word, so from time to time I said no. As a result my kept going up. A man cannot stand being rejected of himself. No one can stand this double rejection. And so every time I said no, the man would insist. No matter how high I raised the price he could not stand being refused by a woman 89. Firdaus is capable of making a lot of money because of those conditions above. Then, she begins to control men’s life with her money. She pays a lawyer, the judge, and the police with a lot of money in order to release her from a case in a court. She has a case with the head of state because she has rejected him. Then, after she spends some money to pay the lawyer, police and the judge, she is finally released. The court decides that Firdaus is an honorable citizen. This case makes her aware that honor needs a lot of money. She can defend her honor with the power of money. My refusal made him even more intent on gaining a victory over me. Everyday he would send me a man from the police, and each time this man would try different approach. But I continued to refuse. Once he offered me money. On still a third, he explained to me that refusing a Head of State could be looked upon as an insult to a great man and lead to strained relations between the two countries. He added that if I really loved my country, if I was a patriot, i would go to him at once. ... I refused to go to men of this sort. My body was my property alone, but the land of our country was theirs to own. On one occasion they put me in a prison because I turned d own one of these important men. So I hired a very big lawyer, for a very big sum of money. Shortly after, I was released from goal without charges. The court decided I was an honorable woman. Now, i had learnt that honor required large sums of money to protect it, but that large sums of money could not be obtained without losing one’s honor 90-91. Firdaus’s previous terrible condition has motivated her to achieve a better life. She decides to be a prostitute to achieve a better live. Being a prostitute makes her capable of becoming a successful woman now. As a result, she successfully meets her self-actualization need, the top level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs through her profession as a prostitute. She can fulfill her self- actualization needs after she has fulfilled her lower needs. They are psysiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs and esteem needs. Living as a prostitute makes her able to make a lot of money, so she can fulfill all of her needs including foods and another facility. Her profession as a prostitute also can make her secure from men’s power. Furthermore, she can choose a man she wants to be with as a prostitute. She also becomes an independent woman who is able to achieve a better life. In addition, she can be recognized as an honorable citizen when she uses her money to control men’s life. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Deciding to be a prostitute has also changed Maria’s life. As a woman who has high expectation of life makes her in having desire to reach a better life. Her prior life which doesn’t meet her expectation brings her to go to Switzerland as a samba dancer. There, the life becomes monotonous. She feels that her life is meaningless with all the routines and mediocrity. Her profession as a samba dancer hasn’t resulted in anything toward her life. Therefore, she decides to be a prostitute. Being a prostitute gives her a lot of money. This money is used by Maria only for her pleasure. She uses it to have fun. She lives in a better apartment which is completed by facilities. She can eat in a better restaurant which is expensive for most of the people. She buys a TV although she never watches it. She just buys it because she wants to have it. She also spends her time to sit in a cafe to read newspaper. Furthermore, she can easily buy books to add her knowledge although she also still keeps visiting the library to borrow books. She uses her money to buy everything in order to prove that she is able to fulfill her physiological needs. Unlike Firdaus, Maria still thinks about her future. She does not only think about pleasure, but she also has her own plan for her next life in her hometown. She plans to stop working as a prostitute and having a farm in her hometown, Brazil. She wants to set a business there in order to live happily with her parents. Her plan makes Maria curious about farming. Then, she begins to study about that subject. She reads books about farm and asks people about that matter. She wants to learn the farm administration. It is useful for her in order to make her plan becomes reality. All of Maria’s plans are based on the money she PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI has in the bank. It proves that with her money, she is able to do everything, including buying everything she wants and arranging her future plan. ...all these months living alone with herself her taught her that there is always a right moment to stop something. In ninety days’ time she would return to the interior of Brazil, where she would buy a small farm she had earned rather more than she had expected, a few cows Brazilian, not Swiss, invite her mother and father to come and live with her, take on a couple of workers, and set the business in motion 91. It is simply with Firdaus, Maria’s previous terrible condition has motivated her to achieve a better life. She decides to be a prostitute to achieve a better life. Being a prostitute makes her capable of becoming a successful woman. As a result, she successfully meets her self-actualization need through her profession as a prostitute. She can fulfill her self-actualization needs after she has fulfilled her physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs and esteem needs. Being a prostitute make her able to have savings accounts in bank which is used to buy everything she wants, so she does not need to be worry about making her family happy. Furthermore, through her job as a prostitute she can meet her love named Ralf so that she can fulfill her affection needs. She also becomes an independent girl who can reach her dream. In addition, she can be recognized by a lot of men who offer some proposals of marriage and give her a better life. 53

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS