Based on the previous information, it can be inferred that Lynette, the main character, was a pretty-twelve-year-old-young girl. Those are the only things
conveyed by the author related to Lynette’s personal description.
2. Lonely
Reader can learn something about a person’s past life. When conveying the past life of a character in the story, author gives us a clue to events that have
helped to shape a person’s character Murphy, 1972, p. 166. Lynette, in Some Other Summer, was an orphan. She had lived with her
uncle’s family for almost six years. Josh was the only family she had. She didn’t have any other family. Her father had disappeared when she
was five. Her mother had drowned when she was seven. p. 32
“The cozy memory returned of snuggling against her mother while her mother read to her from The Little Prince. A few memories like that were
left.” p. 108 Lynet
te had lived with her uncle’s family since she was seven years old. Lynette was a twelve-year-old girl. Based on the quotation above, Lynette had lived with
her uncle’s family for almost six years. The loneliness of Lynette can also be seen from the direct comment written
in the novel. Marie wasn’t comfortable except around horses. Josh was too busy and
careless – and she? She didn’t really belong to anyone except maybe to
Jeremy. p. 11 The fort kept Jeremy away from her during the daytime hours.... p. 78-79
Though Lynette was taken care by Josh family, she did not get any companion from that family. Josh’s family had taken care of Lynette since her
parents passed away. Though it is said so, there were something bothering
Lynette. She could not feel the love of Josh’s family. Josh and Marie were too
busy out there to do something for the living of the family. Debbie was too busy with her boyfriend and Eddie was too hateful to live with. Those are the evidence
that can lead us into the conclusion that Lynette in Some Other Summer was being lonely.
3. Impatient
Murphy 1972 stated that the speech of a character can give reader description on the character himself. It is the way of the author in giving an
insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says. The conversation or any speech given by the character gives us some
clues to the character. para. 164-166 Conversation of others and reaction can also be used by the author to convey the character of a person in the story.
In this story, Lynette was a girl who was always bothered by Josh’s son Eddie.
“Eddie Michael John Barber That was the worst trick you ever played on me.” p. 2
“I found that spider you spider you scared Penny with.” p. 9 Though Lynette tried to stay calm, Eddie did not want to stop disturbing
her. He always did anything to make Lynette angry. “Give me that, Eddie, “Lynette screeched, so furious that she caught up
with him. She grabbed for her blouse. He hung on tightly. “Let go,” she ordered.
He wouldn’t. the ripping sound stunned her. The blouse had torn straight up the back. p.10
At the beginning, Lynette always handled the disturbance she had calmly. She always tried to be patience. Lynette tried to tolerate what Eddie did to her.
She tried to threaten Eddie so that Eddie could leave her. In this level, she showed a conscious mental activity.
“You promise never to do a thing like that to Penny again, or I’ll smack you,” Lynette threatened. p.2
“A little menace is what you are. You’re the one picks on me. Why are you so mean to me, Eddie? You don’t bug Debbi half as much as you do
me.” p. 2 “I’ll tell Uncle Josh what you did.” p. 3
“All right, then,” Lynette said. “I’ll speak to Marie. She won’t let you get away with doing anything to horses.” p. 3
She sighed, and let him up. p. 3
At this level which shows a conscious mental activity, Lynette tried to consider the pleasure principle. Pleasure principle is related to an impulsion to
obtain satisfaction for the instinctual needs Guerin, 2005, p. 156. This principle is associated with law of logic.
By the time goes by, it seemed that Eddie did not want to stop bothering Lynette. It made Lynette lost her patience. It can be shown from the
conversations, thoughts, and the reaction of Lynette. “I hate you, you horrible brat,” she wailed and slapped him as hard as she
could across his face. p. 10
She couldn’t let him get away with hurting Penny. She’d teach him a lesson no matter what Jeremy thought. p. 97
Once Lynette lost her patience, she gave punishment to Eddie. Lynette felt like an executioner waiting for the right time to carry out a
sentence. She didn’t like the feeling, but she was determined to see justice done. p. 104
Methodically, she kept hacking away at the weakest-looking boards,
tossing those that broke out into the clearing. It wasn’t easy. She braced
herself and whacked as hard as she could, then pried the ends of the boards loose from the posts. p. 106
Based on the evidence given previously, Lynette always showed id as her mental process. It shows untamed passion. The objective of this mental process is
a self-pleasure. Lynette thought logically. If she can ask Eddie to leave her, she will feel satisfied. It was her pleasure to stay away from any disturbance that was
made by Eddie. The untamed passion of Lynette shows clear description that Lynette was an impatient teenager.
4. Jealous
