Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

Chapter one consists of the background of the study, objectives of the study, problem formulation, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the study is focused on the study, the needs of analyzing the topic, and the writer’s personal reason of choosing the novel. Objectives of the study explain the goals of the study. The problem formulation gives the general description of the problems that will be analyzed in the study. The last part is definition of terms in which some terms related to the study are defined.

A. Background of the Study

According to Henkle 1997, reading a novel is a private experience where people can really feel the situation in the novel, imagine the characters, and save it in their memory 25. That is the exact feeling when the writer read Kim Edward’s The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. The novel drags her into another world and traps into the story. The novel creates a simple movie contains with images of the character, place, time, plot, etc. Each reader has different perception toward a novel and it may depend on the reader’s experience or background. According to Murphy 1972, just like life which is a mixture of joy, disapointment, hope, sorrow, humor, suffering, and success, so the greatest novels reflect life and contain with many elements p.133. Just like The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, this novel also combines many elements of life. The idea itself came from a true story of 40 years old man who never know that he had a 1 Down Syndrome brother but the brother died before the man know that he was exist. The novel is about an orthopedic surgeon, David Henry, who helps his wife, Norah Henry, giving birth to a twin, boy and girl. The baby boy is perfect and healthy but the girl has Down syndrome. Quickly, he makes a decision not to keep the girl but give her to his nurse, Caroline Gill. He asks her to bring his daughter to an institution. Instead of giving the baby into an institution, the nurse decides to raise the baby by herself without telling Henry first. Meanwhile, Henry tells Norah that their baby girl passed away. Caroline, who keeps the baby girl, names her Phoebe, just as Norah wants if she has a baby girl. Phoebe grows up into a cheerful girl but like other Down syndrome child, she is slow to develop, compare with normal child. In the opposite, her twin, Paul, grow up into a healthy, smart, and charming boy. To be a person who has disability is not an easy thing to deals with. Sometimes, it needs big effort or others’ help to do a simple thing. They have to depend on others to keep a living because they cannot earn money by themselves. For some, the exis t e nce of mentally disabled people only becomes a burden. They often feel unwanted or unloved because of their condition. After realizing that Phoebe has Down syndrome, without hesitation David gets rid of her. He does not need time to consider his action and ignore the fact that she is his own flesh and blood. In this stage, the readers find that David is a cruel and bad person because what kind of father who is capable to get rid of his children. It does not make any sense. His action cannot be tolerated. If we think further, in every decision there must be reason and motivation behind it. There must be motivation which encourages David to take the decision. What exactly is his motivation to get rid of his daughter? Is he scared by the fact that it is hard to raise a disabled child or he hated her because she is imperfect so that, it can humiliate his family and pride? Is it easier for him to just get rid of her instead of love her just the way she is? Does he feel guilty, especially when he has to tell a lie? All of these questions become the background of this study. More specifically, the background of the study is to find David’s true intention in getting rid of his daughter.

B. Objective of the Study