Theory of the Unconscious

b. Effects of Unconscious

According to Brooks’s theory 2001 written in Jonassen’s article, “the primary drive for all of these naturalistic approaches to decision making is the unconscious. Decisions are value-based, where values drive from our emotions and guide our choices” Brooks, 2001: xi. He states that reason and emotion are not separated and against each other, but they are related and inseparable. They are related because “emotion assigns value to things, and reason makes decisions based on those values”. The mind, or the unconscious, of a person affects the conscious value judgements that are involved in decision making Jonassen, 2012: 349.

5. The Relation between Psychology and Literature

This thesis acknowledges that there is a close relation between literature and p sychology because psychology is a way to develop someone’s characterization in the literary work. In other ways, through literature, readers are able to learn about human’s conditions and their psychological values through psychology Wellek and Warren, 1962: 91-93. Literary works are as the representation of human being’s real life. By relating them to psychology, the characters’ traits are able to be seen clearly, and the readers can also learn about the conditions and psychological values of human in the real life. Psychology and literature have a bilateral relation where human’s soul creates literature, and literature is able to capture the life’s truth to provide the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI perspectives of human’s soul Dastmard, 2012: 9420. Psychology learns about human mind, and human like to create some works to express what is in their mind. By seeing this relationship, the bilateral relation that Dastmard means can be understood that literature is created based on what human feel in their souls, and it can portray the tr uth of life that describes the perspectives of human’s soul. Because psychology and literature are closely related to one another, it can be said that the analysis of literary works may include certain psychological factors in it. There are some subjects which are usually analyzed using the studies of psychology and literature, such as dreams that a character gets, anxiety felt by a character, or reasons behind the actions done by a character. This undergraduate thesis studies two of the psychological elements, which are the unconscious and decision making process.

C. Theoretical Framework

The title of thi s thesis is Mia Hall’s Decision Making Process in Her Comatose State in Gayle Forman’s If I Stay: a Psychoanalytical Study. The focus of this thesis is formulated into two objectives. The first one is how the main character is described in the plot development in the novel, and the second is how the decision making process of the main character is seen in the novel. To answer those problems, there are five theories applied in this undergraduate thesis. Those are the theory of character and characterization, theory of plot, theory of unconsciousness, theory of decision making, and the theory of the relationship between literature and psychology. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI The first theory is the theory of character and characterization, which is the basic theory to show the characteristics of Mia Hall, the main character in the novel If I Stay. The definitions of a character that are used are the definitions by M.H. Abrams, Edgar V. Roberts, and Henry E. Jacobs. The theory of characterization used is by Richard Gill about two ways how an author presents characters, which are by telling and showing. Second, the theory of plot is used to identify how the characteristics of Mia Hall are seen in the story. It is also used to see the cause and effect of her characteristics and her decision making process. Because the plot plays an important role in showing the traits of the main character, the theory of plot is used and applied in this thesis. The third theory is the theory of the unconscious. It is used to show the state of Mia Hall. Although she is in the unconsciousness or the physically unconscious state, her soul is still described to be conscious, which represents her characteristics having been formed in herself. The theories used are the unconsc ious theory explained in Peter Barry’s book, the theory by Michael Ryan, and Jungian’s personal unconscious. By providing those theories, this thesis reveals the way how the author of the novel If I Stay applies the personal unconscious theory in the main character. Her characteristics are described to be unique and formed by her individual experiences, and later, her traits are able to trigger and motivate herself. Fourth, the theory of decision making is used to share how the decision making process is do ne. The main theory used in this explanation is Jonassen’s PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI