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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter contains some theories which are relevant to the analysis of the poems. There are four main sections in this chapter that can provide us with
relevant information. They are theoretical review, the biography of Emily Dickinson, Criticism and theoretical framework. Theoretical review covers the
theories that are relevant to the study. The biography of the poet talks about the life of the poet and the relation with the art-works. Criticism contains experts’
critics and commentary on the poems of Emily Dickinson. Theoretical framework presents how the relevant theories are applied to the analysis.
A. Theoretical Review
This part presents some theories that are relevant to the study including approaches in analyzing the poems, intrinsic elements of the poems, theory of
death and some beliefs of death.
1 . Literature
This study deals with literature, therefore, I believe that it is important to have some theoretical ground of poetry as part of literature. These theories are
relevant to this study. a.
Approaches in Literary Analysis There are some theories about the approaches in interpreting the poems. I
used some theories of literature that are proposed by Rohberger and Woods. There
are five approaches that can be used to judge a literary work. They are Formalist approach, Biographical approach, Sociocultural-historical approach, Mythopoeic
approach, and Psychological appr oach Rohberger and Woods 6. The first approach is the “Formalist Approach.” This approach analyzes the
work of art only. In other words, this approach does not need any reference from other resources, like the author’s life, the social condition at the time the author’s
live, etc. In short, the approach is mainly focusing on the work only. The second approach is the “Biographical Approach.” This approach
proposes the idea that the only way to understand literature is by asserting the necessity and appreciation of ideas and personality of the author.
The next approach is an approach that examines the work of art in reference to the civilization. Then the attitude and the actions of specific group of
people become the subject matter. This approach is called “Sociocultural- Historical Approach.”
“Mythopoeic Approach” is the fourth approach. This approach tries to discover certain universality and recurrent patterns of human thoughts in the works
of art which are believed to have expression in the works. The last approach is “Psychological Approach.” Critics that involve the
effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns of human psychology in the works of art.
This study will apply the Biographical approach in the analysis. Biographical approach is the most appropriate approach to apply in analyzing the
life of Emily Dickinson and its reflection in her poems. Based on the Biographical approach, a literary work is a reflection of a personality. Therefore, the readers
should learn as much as possible about the life and development of the author in order to understand his or her writings Rohberger and Woods 8.
b. Intrinsic Elements of the Poem
Guth and Rico say that poetry can be enjoyed and appreciated by everyone. Sometimes with poetry we even can have communication. Poems demand our
attention. They use a language richer in meaning than ordinary talk. As we read and study poems, we become more sensitive to the poet’s language 472.
Poem has some meanings that are usually different from the literal mea ning of the words. Abcarian and Klotz says, “Words have dictionary or denotative
meaning as well as associative or connotative meanings; they also have histories and relationship with other words” 1099.
Poems must first be read for their literal meaning. Then after we grasped the literal meaning of a poem, we can proceed to its figurative language. “The
implicit, often hidden, reality that the poem is trying to suggest” Parini, 9. To give the poem a close reading, take as much as you can be open to whatever the
poem has to offer” Guth and Rico 482 It is important to understand the use of figurative language in this study. In
order to have one relevant information for the discussion, I believe it is necessary to present a brief discussion on figurative language. Barnet, Bermon, and Bruto
state, “Words have their literal meaning, but they can also be used so that something other than literal meaning is implied” 768.
In analyzing the poems I used the intrinsic elements of the poems that are included in the figurative language. Since Emily Dickinson uses a lot of figurative
languages in her poems, therefore, here I limited the intrinsic elements into irony,
simile, metaphor, personification, and symbol. The following is explication of some intrinsic elements of the poems discussed in this thesis.
Simile is a comparison of two things, indicated by some connectives, usually like, as, than or a verb such as resembles. A simile usually compares two
things that initially seem unlike but are shown to have a significant resemblance. “Cool as cucumber” and “My love is like a red, red rose” are examples of similes.
“Simile, items from different classes are explicitly compared by connective such as like, as, or than, or by a verb such as appears or seems” Kennedy and Gioia
678. The second intrinsic element is metaphor. Metaphor is a statement that one
thing is something else, which, in a literal sense, it is not. By asserting that a thing is something else, metaphor creates a close association between the two entities
and usually underscores some important similarity between them. An example of a metaphor is “Richard is a pig”. A metaphor asserts the identity, without a
connective such as like or a verb such appears, of terms that are literally incompatible Kennedy and Gioia 674.
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an animal, or an abstract term is endowed with human characteristics. Personification allows an
author to dramatize the nonhuman world in tangibly human terms. “Personification is a metaphor or simile that treats something non-human as if it were human”
Kennedy and Gioia 676 Symbol can be defined as a person, place, or thing in a narrative that
suggest meanings beyond its literal sense. Symbol is related to allegory, but it works more complexly. In an allegory an object has a single additional
significance. By contrast, a symbol usually contains multiple meanings and association. “A symbol is something that you can see but that taken on a meaning
beyond itself” Guth and Rico 561. Irony is a literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is marked
beneath the surface of the language. Irony is present when a writer says one thing but means something quite the opposite. “Irony is defined as saying one thing and
meaning to another” Parini 50
2 . Death
Most of Emily Dickinson’s poems have death as their main theme. In analyzing her poems it is important to have enough knowledge on death. This
section presents some definition, types and perception about death. a.
Definition and Types of Death As stated in the Definition of Term section, death refers to an end of life, a
state where the being’s organs are not functioned to support the life system. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, death is “the
art of dying; the end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all the vital function of an organism. “This definition is the closest in meaning to biological
death, the irreversible breakdown of respiration in an organism and the consequent loss of the ability to use oxygen Aiken 6.
Many medical authorities came to define death as the cessation of cerebral function brain waves as well as of respiratory and circulatory function. It was
recognized that in some cases, such as when the brain is destroyed as a result of anoxia oxygen deficiency, a person is no longer capable of thought processes,
awareness, or responsive to stimuli and may be considered dead even though the heart continues to function.
There are several types of death. Physiological death occurs when all physical processes that sustain life cease. Brain death is defined as total absence of
brain activity for at least ten minutes. Cerebral death means cessation of activity in the cerebral cortex, and Social death refers to a process through which other
people relinquish their relationships with the deceased Baron 366. b.
Various Views on Death Death might bear meaning beyond the end of life. It can have different
significance upon each person related to his or her cultures and beliefs. Death is viewed by primitive people as involving a separation of breath from the earth, a
separation regarded as a fundamentally reversible process. Among primitive people the death of a human being is generally regarded as an unnatural process
and, if it does not occur as a result of an overt circumstance such as accident, it is usually attributed to hostile magic of enemies or to the activity of demons 533.
People in many primitive cultures appear to be unaware of the naturalness and inevitability of death. Living in culture in which people usually die of
accidents or diseases rather than old age, it is understandable how death could come to be viewed as an unnatural consequence of something gone wrong Aiken,
176. For many centuries death bears dark mystery for all living human beings
and therefore is feared. People are still in big question on what happen to them after they die. The most obvious thing is that death will separate them from the
world they lived on or from people they have loved. Olson elaborates some
reasons of the fear of death. The oldest of it is the beliefs that death is painful and that the soul may survive to experience pain and torture in an afterlife. But then
people know death is fearful because they are unwilling to lose consciousness permanently Edwardsed 308.
On the other hand, there are some beliefs and religions that have some different perception about death. For Hindus, death represents a spiritual
opportunity to attain oneness with God and a component of the natural life cycle – life, death and rebirth-, or we call it reincarnation. According to Buddhism, at
death both the mind and the body disintegrate. Only the character disposition, not a permanent soul, remains to be reborn in another living being. This cycle will
continue until the nirvana is attained. Unlike these beliefs, Christianity underlies the resurrection of the body after death comes. It is when Jesus comes for the
second time to redeem their sins Aiken 182. Death can also be seen in the Holy Bible. We know and understand about
life and afterlife through Bible. The Bible also reveals about death and what happens after death. The Old and New Testaments of Bible do not much to say
about, but the attitude toward death expressed in the books of Job, Proverbs, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes is one of resignation. From the time of Job to that of
Ezekiel and Daniel. The resigned attitude toward death gradually changed to one of hope that the dead are merely sleeping and will awaken someday Aiken 151.
Bermejo says, “the above offers us an inkling into what our own death will be like, for the death of the Christian is necessarily patterned on the death of the
Christ Bermejo 23. The Christian now should have no fear of death, for Jesus in tasting death stood for us all. Therefore, the Christian believes that one day if they
die, there is no need to be afraid of it. Moreover, many philosophers view death not as something that should be
avoided or worried. They see it as something natural. Some examples are the well- known philosophers as follows. Socrates and Epicurus see death as the release of
the soul from the body and is personal extinction. Spinoza adds that a free man meditates on life rather than death. Hegel sees death as the reconciliation of the
spirit with itself and a reuniting of the individual with cosmic matter Aiken 183. c.
Fear of Death Death eventually comes to everyone -poet and peasant, saint and sinner, the
wise and the foolish. It is a fate that human being share not only with each other but also with all living things. The inevitability of death and the shortness of life
have been expressed frequently in literature and art. Sooner or later, each person must face his or her own vulnerability and inevitability of death. Distraction and
denial may postpone the realization and acceptance of the inevitable, but they eliminate it Aiken 3.
The fact that death is terrifying has existed for centuries. Fear of death has become a common thing in human life. All of human being who is still alive has a
fear of death. The only thing that makes them different is the intensity of each person toward it. Whatever the reason may be, elderly people are usually not as
afraid of dying as younger and middle age people Aiken 266. The fear usually is not so much on the fear of death itself but rather a fear
of what death represents or connotes – personal extinction, separation from loved ones and things, the great unknown, the supernatural, uncertainty going to heaven
or hell, or disfigurement and destruction of the body. On the other hand, rather
than being a generalized fear of everything associated with death, the person may be afraid of the process of dying because of the pain associated with it. The fear of
death may also be related to specific situations or objects, such as funerals, chur ches or anything religious, spirits or anything supernatural, stories or dramas
in which someone dies, illness, injuries, hospitals, operations, or disabled, disfigured, or handicapped person Aiken 271.
Fears of death can be particularly intense in the people who are living enjoyable, personally meaningful lives, but then they are suddenly suffering
seriously ill. Fears of death may be quite strong in elderly people who are in poor physical or mental health or who have a disable spouse, dependent children, or
important goals that they still expect to attain. As with any phobia, an extreme fear of death thanaphobia can be treated
to decrease its intensity. A program for treating the fear may then be designed, which may include techniques such as systematic desensitization, self-monitoring,
and modeling. Systematic desensitization combined with progressive relaxation and counterconditioning, has proven effective in the treatment of many phobias.
The patient is exposed to the hierarchically arranged stimuli or situations in order from least feared to most feared. When the patient has learned to tolerate the first
feared stimulus, the next one in the hierarchy is presented, and so on until desensitization hierarchy has occurred. One possible hierarchy for the systematic
desensitization of an extreme fear of death is: 1.
Reading a book in which someone dies. 2.
Looking at a painting of a deathbed or other dying scene. 3.
Viewing a film in which people die.
4. Walking through cemetery and looking at the tombstones.
5. Writing a will and making other plans for my death.
6. Attending the funeral of someone whom I know well.
7. Imagining my funeral and wondering what will happen to me when I’m
dead. 8.
Getting sick and not being able to get well. 9.
Discovering that I have a potentially fatal illness. 10.
Being admitted to the critical ward of a hospital. 11.
Being told that I have only a short time to live. 12.
Hearing that I am expected to die in the next day or so. The result of this systematic desensitization might be various. It
depends on the intens ity of fears of death and a personal history of the patient.
B. The Biography of Emily Dickinson
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