Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

In order to illustrate what the study is about, this chapter is divided into five parts: background of the study, the problem formulation, the objectives of the study, the benefits of the study and the definition of terms. The first part, the background of the study is related to the focus of the study itself, including the need of analyzing the topic and the writer’s personal reasons in choosing the topic of the study. The second part, the problem formulation presents the description of the problems that will be analyzed in this thesis. The third part, the objectives of the study present the aims of conducting the research itself. The fourth part, the benefits of the study give the description about the advantages of the study for future researchers and teaching implementation. The last is the definition of terms that provides some particular terms related to the topic of the study itself.

A. Background of the Study

Japan is known for its people’s way of life. In Japan, others will find that Japanese behave differently since they live in a country that has a unique culture. Taylor 28 then similarly stated the same thing that he wrote, “A Westerner has been charmed, mystified, or infuriated by unexpected behavior that he or she later learned was typically Japanese”. Unlike other Asian people, 1 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 Japanese not only preserve its culture and values, but also use them as life guidance. Some of Japanese values that are preserved and used as life guidance are the concept of on and gimu . There are no literal translations in English for the concept of on and gimu because those concepts are strange for many Westerners. Even though there are no clear definitions about on and gimu, Reischauer tries to define the concept of on and gimu. Reischauer 152-153 stated that on is a heavy burden that passively incurred from the benevolence of parents, rulers, lords and close associates in somebody’s life. Then, in its implementation on has to be carried on as good as possible. Next, Reischauer stated that gimu, which is called giri in pre-modern times, is defined as a sense of duty that is caused by the existence of on and has to be done by doing unlimited devotion. In her book, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Ruth Benedict stated the same idea like Reischauer has stated about the concept of on and gimu. Benedict 99 stated that “on is a load, an indebtedness, a burden, which one carries as best one may.” On is a burden that is passively received from all contacts, no matter their status and class origin in the society, which gives one an uncomfortable sense of inferiority. Next, Benedict 115 stated that “gimu is the limitless repayments on on, both in amount and in duration of repayments.” As it is mentioned in the previous section that for Japanese, on is a burden and a debt that has to be carried on as good as possible. Then, people have to do gimu in repaying their on that is not getting smaller but getting bigger each time. The repayment of on or gimu takes the highest place over human feelings or 3 ninjo and ethical considerations. Those who break the rules of doing gimu will be considered as rebels. Next, those people may not only lose others’ trust in expecting reciprocity, but also their supports in the society. The existence of on and gimu cannot be separated from Japanese life. Those values can also be found in many fictions that take Japan as their setting. One of those fictions is Memoirs of a Geisha written by Arthur Golden. It was first printed in the United States of America and published by the Vintage Books in 1997. The Memoirs of a Geisha is the first novel of Arthur Golden. In the novel, it is told that Sayuri ran a miserable life in the okiya geisha’s house. During her journey of becoming a geisha, Sayuri received lots of on from many people around her. Sayuri has received lots of on from Mother, Mameha and Nobu which later have to be repaid by doing gimu. It is mentioned in the previous section that in doing gimu, one has to ignore his or her own feeling. Hence, it can be said that one’s character traits have important role in doing gimu related to one’s ability in taking the responsibility of doing gimu as best as he or she could and managing his or her own ninjo . In the novel, Sayuri’s character traits as a geisha influence the implementation of doing her gimu to Mother, Mameha and Nobu that will contribute to the complexity of the story itself. The writer chose this novel for some reasons. The first reason is that it is a best-seller novel, which is rich of Japanese culture. Since this novel is a best-seller novel, many people have already read it and put many criticisms about it. Besides, a famous Hollywood’s director, Rob Marshall, filmed this novel with Stephen Spielberg as the producer. Moreover, it is chosen because this novel is full of 4 controversy. After the novel was published, Arthur Golden was sued by the geisha with whom he worked for defamation and breach of contract. According to the plaintiff, the agreement was supposed to be total anonymity for the main character of his story because there is a silence code shared among the geisha community. Thus, breaking the code can be considered as a serious offense. Once the plaintiffs name was printed in the book, she received numerous death threats and requests to commit seppuku commit suicide by stabbing her own stomach in front of others because she made a fatal mistake and dishonoured her profession. However, she opted to sue Golden for putting her name in the novel. The case is currently under litigation http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiMemoirs_of_a_Geisha accessed on September 3, 2007. For the writer herself, the existence of on and its repayment called gimu is considered as a part of the uniqueness of Japanese culture. Even though in several aspects they tied others’ life into unlimited devotion, their existence should be preserved and respected.

B. Problem Formulation