Background of the Study

3 with after they see the world are their mothers. This mother-children relationship continues for some time. Even busy modern career women have to go through this stage when they have children. In some families, a close relationship continues and is maintained until the children are considered big enough to live independently. Since a mother is the closest person to an individual, her lifestyle will influence her children considerably. Socially, a mother should be the first person for her children. Medinnus and Johnson 1969: 342 write “Society dictates that she provides physical care for the children – feed them, keep them healthy and, if possible, clean. She must comfort and console them when necessary and in general nurture them and provide emotional support”. The above statement shows that society has its own model for the women to be a perfect mother. A mother is considered as a good mother if she can take care of her children, physically or emotionally. Since the society has its own stereotype of a good mother, an unusual mother will be considered bad. Society believes that a good mother gives good treatment to her children, and that good treatment will shape good children. If a mother does not give the treatment that the society expects, then it is feared that the children will becomes bad ones too. Literature as a work of art can portray such life experiences: how a mother’s lifestyle influences her children’s ways of life later, how the children adapt to such a relationship, or how children see the world. Since a novel can portray such life experiences as close to what appears in the actual world, people can learn much about life from reading literary works. The novel entitled The Crocodile Bird by Ruth Rendell portrays how a 4 girl of sixteen years old named Liza lives secluded with her mother in an isolated place in Britain. It seems that Liza’s life is much influenced by her mother’s choice of lifestyle. The way her mother and Liza live is unique. There are not many people who want to live cutting themselves off from others with minimum amenities when in fact they could have them. Since Liza is still considered a child and not independent enough, she has to follow her mother’s choices. Considering those facts we can see that Liza in fact is under the control of her mother. Hence, she is truly influenced by her. Besides, Liza rarely communicates with others. She interacts mainly with her mother and her boyfriend. The story begins when Liza’s mother is taken by the police. Liza, who has never seen the outside world before, is sent by her mother to go to a friend’s house in London. Instead of leaving for London, Liza goes to her boyfriend’s caravan in the wood. There, Liza tells him the murders her mother has done to men who come to their house. Liza’s character is very interesting to discuss since her ideas are very complex. In her childhood, she has to face some events that a child should not see. The bewilderment and dilemmas which she has to cope with are not something easy for someone like her who is just sixteen. She does not know what to say knowing her mother has murdered three men in their own home. Should she protest to her mother, should she runaway from the house, and should she always follow what her Mother says, are some questions that got mixed up in her mind, not to forget how she tries not to be promiscuous on her dillema to kill her boyfriend or not. In this novel, we can also see that Liza’s mother tries hard to educate 5 Liza to be her twin. Liza grows up into a young woman who in some ways becomes cold and independent like her mother. She is not afraid to see blood and dead bodies because her mother never teaches her that blood is a scary thing. She also becomes an independent young woman like her mother who does not want to be dependent on men. It is interesting to see how Liza can direct herself the way she thinks it will be, to learn from what happened in her past, and to realize that she has to make choices to make her life better. Liza has to face many choices in her life which are often difficult. These are the things Liza should overcome by herself. Her struggle to face new things that lead her to her decisions is something interesting to understand. This study will try to know how certain choices of lifestyles can influence other’s view and attitude in life. The aim of this study is to analyze the motivation for choosing her lifestyles by Liza’s mother and how that unique lifestyles influence Liza’s life.

B. Objectives of the Study

There are two objectives in this study of Ruth Rendell’s The Crocodile Bird . The first one is to get a better understanding of how the author illustrates Liza’s mother’s lifestyles. The second one is to identify how that lifestyles influence the way Liza faces the new things in her life and faces her hard life.

C. Problem Formulation

Based on the previous parts, I formulate the problem as follows: 1. What kinds of lifestyles does Eve, Liza’s mother, choose? 2. How do the lifestyles influence Liza’s life? PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 6

D. Benefits of the Study

Hopefully, by doing this study, I will be able to know the factors that force people to do things in their life. The first benefit is for me myself. I expect to make this study as a reflection of life so that I can make improvements in my own life. The second benefit is for the readers. It is hoped that this study can assist the readers to gain their knowledge about literature, motivation, lifestyles, and a mother-daughter relationship because the supporting theories can somewhat facilitate them in improving the knowledge about those mentioned. The novel itself is also an example of how a small girl can survive in a world which is extremely strange and new for her. It may become a lesson for them to review whether they have tried hard enough to struggle for their life or not. The last one is for the future researchers who plan to work on the same topic. Hopefully, this thesis can be helpful as a supporting resource for them in completing their study.

E. Definition of Terms

1. Lifestyle Smith and Pergola 1991:1 define lifestyle as personal behaviours and habits. It includes exercise, eating habits, cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use, safety, stress management, fashion, or relationship. Since it is defined as personal behaviours and habits, lifestyle comes in many forms depended on the personal interest. Taylor 2002:1 writes that at the local level, ‘lifestyle’ is replacing the traditional ‘way of life’. The shifting of ‘way of life’ to ‘lifestyle’ happens because of the rise of media which has brought many new choices to the audience. 7 She also puts an emphasis on television which she considers as the biggest influence on lifestyle choice. 2. Survival In Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary 1974:871 survival is defined as the state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or danger. White in Franken 2002:6 writes that humans interact with their environment in two basic needs; the need to master the environment on one hand, and looking out for their survival on the other. In addressing these needs humans usually put their survival needs first over the mastery. From that explanation, we can see that survival has a higher degree of substance than any other need in most situations. 3. Character Abrams 1981: 20 defines a character as a person who is presented in a dramatic narrative work. The person is interpreted by the readers as being gifted with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what the say – the dialogues- and by what they do – the actions. From this definition we can say that in a literary work, character is a figure that has certain characteristics.