Moreover, there is another statement as the continuance of the previous statement. The statement strengthens the proof that Dawson finally gives Amanda
the best of himself. It is described as follows. Dawson, she knew, had saved Alan’s life, but in the end, he’d saved
Jared’s as well. And for her that meant… everything. I gave you the best of me,
he’d told her once, and with every beat of her son’s heart, she knew he’d done exactly that p. 333.
Therefore, Dawson’s kindness is the representative of a person who does devote the feelings of love, care, and even life itself to the beloved one and others.
Moreover, it is the part of Dawson’s portrayal as being a loving person.
B. The Development of Dawson’s Love
In the story, the author talks about love’s life of the main character,
Dawson Cole. There are parts that tell about how Dawson falls in love with Amanda for the first time, how Dawson manages his relationship with Amanda when they
finally become lovers, and how Dawson devotes his love to Amanda when he is separated with Amanda.
In other words, Dawson’s love gives some influences on himself. Therefore, before the writer analyzes the influences of Dawson’s first love
on his life, the writer elaborates the development of Dawson’s love through the time
in the story . There are three kinds of love regarding to Sternberg’s 1986: pp. 123-
124 theory of love as the representation of the development of Dawson’s love as he manages his relationship with Amanda. They are infatuated love, romantic love,
and consummate love. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
a. Infatuated Love
The first kind of love that influences Dawson for the first time he falls in love with Amanda is infatuated love. According to Sternberg 1986, infatuated
love is defined as love at first sight. Infatuated love mostly concerns on the feeling of sexual love that appears for the first time.
Dawson falls in love to Amanda at first sight when he was in high school. Sternberg 1986 concludes that the first phase of Dawson’s love, which is love at
first sight, i s considered as infatuated love. He states that, “infatuated love or love
at first sight is the result of the experiencing of passionate arousal in the absence of the intimacy and decision or commitment components of love” p. 124. Dawson
begins to be attracted to Amanda as almost instantaneously as he starts to adore her. At first the time Dawson adores Amanda, it is because he simply considers
Amanda as a pretty girl. Moreover, she is a popular girl who always be surrounded by friends. However, Dawson does not have a real conversation with Amanda until
he is paired with Amanda as lab partners in chemistry class; it changes the perspective of Dawson that he finally falls in love with Amanda.
Though he’d known of Amanda for years — there was only one high s
chool in Pamlico County and he’d gone to school with her most of his life — it wasn’t until the spring of his junior year that they exchanged more
than a few words for the first time. He always thought she was pretty, but he wasn’t alone in that. She was popular, the kind of girl who sat
surrounded by friends at a table in the cafeteria while boys vied for her attention, and she was not only class president but a cheerleader as well.
Throw in the fact that she was rich, and she was as inaccessible to him as an actress on television. He never said a word to her until they were finally
paired as lab partners in chemistry p. 16.
The moments, which Dawson spends with Amanda has actually changed his perspective about her. First, Amanda does not matter whether Dawson is a Cole
and she is a collier because it does not make any different for her. It really surprises him for Dawson is a Cole. For Dawson, Amanda is the only girl he can think about
even when she is not around. He often finds himself thinking about Amanda as he works in the garage. It takes a while until Dawson has courage to confess his feeling
to Amanda. Starting from that day, Dawson and Amanda find themselves become closer to each other and they begin to spend more time together.
By the time Dawson turns into seventeen years old, he realizes that he is in love with Amanda because recently all he can think about is Amanda and mostly
for the moments they have spent together have made him that being with Amanda is the most important part in his life. Besides, he finally makes a decision to spend
the rest of his life with Amanda. It is clear that Dawson’s love, which is described by Sternberg 1986 as infatuated love or a feeling that appears because of a strong
attraction to someone at first sight. It leads Dawson to have a relationship with Amanda. Luckily, Dawson’s love does not dissipate by the time goes by because
infatuated love is also defined as a temporary love and it does not last long.
b. Romantic Love
Dawson’s love does not dissipate as cause that it is considered as infatuated love. Instead of fading away, Dawson’s love grows more intense and intimate. It
happens when Dawson commit to be together with Amanda. Moreover, Dawson wants to spend most of his time with Amanda. The feeling of physical attraction
which appears at the first time Dawson falls in love with Amanda is eventually combined with the presence of intimacy and passion which means that Dawson’s
love is not only drawn physically to each other but is also bonded emotionally. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Accordin g to Sternberg 1986, “the combination between three
components which are physical attraction, intimacy, and passion is defined as romantic love” p. 124. Romantic love is a kind of love where the three components
are combined, so that romantic lovers are bounded emotionally and drawn physically to each other. Romantic love is also a kind of love that occurs when there
is a commitment held in a relationship. In other words, the presence of physical attraction, intimacy, and passion is influenced of the committed relationship.
Dawson has made a commitment to love Amanda after he realizes that he falls in love with her as same as Amanda herself. It makes Dawson and Amanda
begin to maintain a relationship from the commitment they have made. The statement that shows the relationship between Dawson and Amanda is stated as
follows. They stayed together the following year, growing even closer and spending
every possible moment together. With Amanda, it was easy for him to be himself; with Amanda, he was content for the first time in his life. Even
now, that final year together was sometimes all he could think about p. 17.
Their relationship goes smoothly for years and it is filled with memories that they have created together. Dawson used to be at Tuck’s garage working on his
car; meanwhile, Amanda sits there looking at Dawson’s working. There is no other thing that he wants than to see her sitting and waiting for him. They also go to beach
by the time the car is repaired. They share stories, secrets, and dreams for the future. They argue sometimes to each other, but it does not take long. From the argument
that Dawson has experienced with Amanda, he knows that in fact Amanda cares about him than anyone else in his life.
Even though the relationship which Dawson has with Amanda seems to be joyful, Dawson actually realizes that people in his town must have judged them for
him is a Cole, a criminal type of family, meanwhile Amanda is a Collier whose her family is famous in the town. Amanda’s parents are the ones who absolutely do not
agree with the relationship that their daughter has with Dawson. He was a Cole and she was a Collier, and that was more than enough cause
for dismay… Never once was Dawson allowed into their home, and the only time her father ever spoke to
him he called Dawson “a worthless piece of white trash.” Her mother begged Amanda to end it, and by December
her father had stopped speaking to her altogether p. 18.
However, it does not make Dawson afraid of being with Amanda all the time and so does A
manda. Eventually, the hostility from Amanda’s parents and people in town draws Dawson and Amanda closer and unseparated together. Even
though Dawson knows that it is not the way he intends to, but he will always give compassion and love for Amanda. It is
shown by his courage to hold Amanda’s hand in public, which means that he will always be with her no matter what
happens. The hostility surrounding them only drew Amanda and Dawson closer
together, and when Dawson began to take her hand in public, Amanda held tight, daring anyone to tell her to let go. But Dawson wasn’t naive; as much
as she meant to him, he always had the sense that they were on borrowed time. Everything and everyone seemed stacked against them p. 19.
Dawson and Amanda still spend times together without paying attention to what people say about them. Sometimes, Dawson will be waiting for Amanda in
the garage or she will awake him. Then, they will be spending time by telling stories. Mostly, Amanda will rehash the arguments that she has with her parents.
Meanwhile, Dawson listens to all of what Amanda says. He knows that she cares PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
so much about him and he loves her for doing so. From that moment on, Dawson convinces to himself that he will always carry the feeling for
Amanda. “And for the next two decades and beyond, he carried those words and the memories of that night
inside him, knowing that she had been speaking for them both” p. 20.
c. Consummate Love
The feeling of compassion and love felt by Dawson for Amanda survives as the time goes by. Even though Dawson and Amanda are not together anymore
and following the fact that Amanda has married to someone else, however Dawson knows that his true love will always be Amanda herself. Eventually, Dawson meets
Amanda in an accidental meeting, which is when their friend, Tuck, passes away. From that moment, they are being forced to stay together for few weeks that draw
Dawson and Amanda closer one more time. It also results the old feeling to grow back between them both.
Sternberg 1986 states that a kind of love, which the three components of love are combined, will result a consummate or complete love. He describes
consummate love as, “a kind of love toward which many of us strive, especially in romantic relationships p. 124”. Consummate love is a stage where the true
relationship happens. Dawson and Amanda’s love do not fade away even though they are not together for years. However, it is proved that a feeling of love will not
disappear because of the matter of times and distances. Dawson meets Amanda in an unexpected event that happens when Tuck Hostetler, their friend, passes away.
Both of them are asked by Tuck to arrange a special funeral for him. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Dawson does not know that he will meet Amanda and neither does she. They meet for the first time after a long time for not seeing each other at the garage
where they used to meet. They spend times at Tuck’s house and telling stories of their recent and past lives. Dawson himself does not deny that he has not had a date
after he dated Amanda. It is because Amanda is the only reason why Dawson does not ever go on a date with someone else even though he tells that he has been alone
even before he meets Amanda. The conversation goes on for hours later. In fact, after the talking ends, they realize that though they have been apart for years, they
have never lost contact at all. It means that they still have a feeling of love to each other as similar as the feeling of love they ever felt when they were young.
The statement is explained through Amanda’s thought that both Dawson and Amanda have not lost contact even since they are apart for years. It is described
as follows. Every now and then, she’d catch him studying her as he passed her one of
the dishes, and though in many ways a lifetime had elapsed in the years they had been apart, she had the uncanny feeling that they’d never lost
contact at all pp. 74-75.
Dawson always knows for sure that he has once loved Amanda, he has never stopped loving her. Even when he spends time with her now, it still has not changed
that truth. Therefore, Dawson has never been able to change the fact that Amanda will always be his one true love.
Therefore, from the development of Dawson’s love that has been elaborated above, it can be concluded that Dawson falls in love with Amanda
through three stages. The first stage is love at first sight or it is defined as infatuated PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
love, which shows how Dawson falls in love with Amanda for the first time. The second stage is romantic love as the continuation of infatuated love. It is the stage
where Dawson has confessed his feeling to Amanda and how Dawson manages his relationship with Amanda as a lover. The third stage is the final stage of Dawson’s
feeling of love for Amanda that develops through the time, which is consummate love or
complete love. It is a stage where Dawson’s love is in the final development or it is complete, which means that it is everlasting.
C. The Influences of Dawson’s First Love on His Life
