Characterization of Bill Macneil During and After He Experienced World War II.

Another cause of concern about Ship was that he was becoming more outspoken in his support of the United States in the present conflict. He held an American passport and his brother Bill was extremely anti- Japanese, so that was expected, but after all, they were living in Japan, and Ship-unlike his brother Bill-was half-Japanese. Seward, 2000: 62 From Helma’s point of view, it is clearly seen that Bill is extremely anti-Japanese. At first, Helma does not know the reason between Bill’s hatred towards the Japanese, but after she finds out about the Nanking tragedy, she finally understands the reason why Bill hates the Japanese so much. Helma can not justify that reason, because according to her, every human should love each other and there is not such a thing named hatred. Another example that shows Bill Macneil’s hatred towards Japanese can be seen from David Spencer’s conversation. “Honda looks like a good man, Bill,” Spencer told him later. “He’s tough and he has a good grip of the language and he hates the Japanese as much as you do. I’m going to try to get him appointed to your team. Seward, 2000: 77. The quotation illustrates how Bill Macneil hates the Japanese and he is not alone. There is a Japanese American named Slats Honda who hates the Japanese as much as Bill does. Four months is combat had only increased Macneil’s dislike of the Japanese. Slats Honda seemed to hold even more hatred for the gooks, as he called them, than his superior. They had both witnessed many Japanese atrocities. Seward, 2000: 113. From quotation above shows that Bill’s hatred towards the Japanese is increasing after four months in the war. During his several months in war, Bill hears the news that Sarah becomes the protégée of a high rank Japanese officer. Bill also sees his fellow compatriot is hung in a tree and the body has been used for PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI bayonet practice by the Japanese. Then, he sees his compatriot’s head is separated from the body; his head is placed on the man’s lap with his genitalia is stuffed in his compatriot’s mouth. This kind of cruelty is intolerable and makes Bill’s blood rushes in anger Seward, 2000: 129. Bill’s hatred and vengeance towards the Japanese is enormous so that when he is trying to sleep, he thinks about what he just did, killed many Japanese until he can not count it anymore. He does not regret it but he feels satisfied of what he just did. When Bill Macneil lay down, he fully expected to sleep the slumber of the dead. He had never gone through a day like this one. Here he had been in the line since mid-morning. He had killed men beyond counting. His emotions had run the gamut from battle lust through fear to grim satisfaction. Seward, 2000: 125. Bill Macneil’s hatred towards Japanese can also be seen through his thought. He is dreaming about the Japanese during his sleep. His sleep would be, he thought, no more then blank unconsciousness. But that was not to be. Instead, he dreamed of Helma Graf in disconnected segments. He held open his arms to her, but Helma rejected him, turning away to wrap herself in a Rising Sun flag. Ten he dreamed he had just married her, but when she lifted her wedding veil for nuptial kiss, he found himself face to face with the poster of caricature of a Jap soldier’s features, buck teeth, slanted eyes and all. Next, they were on a dance floor, and he wanted to dance the tango with her, but she kept slipping out his arms to dance with Japanese men. Seward, 2000: 129. From the quotation above, it also shows Bill’s enormous hatred towards the Japanese. In the real life, Bill hates the Japanese and because of the enormous hatred, it is coming also in his dream. Everything that he sees in his dream seems that the Japanese is teasing and playing him, everything that he sees has the connection about the Japanese. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Bill Macneil’s extreme dislike towards the Japanese can also be seen through his thought. Macneil stood at the window of his second-floor bedroom and cheered the oncoming waves. Come on, you bastards he thought. Bomb the shit out of them. Never mind of me. One more good pounding and maybe the whole damn country will call quits. But even as he had the thought, Macneil knew in his heart the Japanese would not quit. He hated them and at the same time admired them for that. Seward, 2000: 129. Based on the quotation above, it can be seen that Bill’s hatred towards Japanese is enormous so that it is not a problem for him that he will lose his life during the bombing by the US as long as the Japanese will quit from the war. Bill Macneil is a loyal and brave man. It can be seen from the conversation between him and Helma Graf. Although he has a bad ankle, he insists to join with the army. “If the wars starts,” Bill went on, “it’s certain I’ll join the army.” “But they won’t take thee with that bad ankle,” she protested. “I won’t tell them.” “No, no Thee must not go to war Oh, no.” “If my country goes to war, I’ll do my duty. You know that, Helma. We’ve been over this often enough. Seward, 2000: 27. The quotation explains that even though Bill is born and spends most of his time in Japan, he still considers United States as his country. He is willing to fight for the United States with his bad ankle. He wants to show that an American who lives in Japan for most of his life is also loyal to his country. Bill’s loyalty towards the United States can not be questioned. His loyalty is also shown when Bill is in Washington to see the president of the United States. He wants to tell about the information that he got. If it were a straightforward question as to whether, say, one hundred thousand Americans should be slaughtered on the invasion beaches or one hundred thousand Japanese should be incinerated, Macneil’s decision would not confront him with any ethical dilemma. After all, he was a loyal American. Seward, 2000: 266. The quotation shows that Bill is in a doubt whether he has to choose which side who is going to be sacrificed, the Japanese or the Americans. But Bill is a loyal American so he chooses to give the report of his job about the development of the Japanese nuclear bomb. Bill is also described as a brave man. This description can be seen through the conversation between him and his commander. “ATIS? What the fuck is that? “Allied Translator and Interpreter Service, sir. As you requested.” “Yeah, right. You came in yesterday with the bunch of Nips.” Here we go again, Macneil thought, taking a deep breath. “Colonel, my men are Americans and I’ll ask you to not to call them Nips-or Japs.” “They look like Japs to me, and I’ll call them whatever I fucking well please.” “You do that, Colonel, and I’ll send a radio today getting me and my team assigned elsewhere.’ Seward, 2000: 107. From the quotation, it can be seen that Bill is a brave person. Bill is threatening his commander to get his team out of Pacific if the commander keeps calling Bill’s teammates with the term Japs. Macneil’s thinks that his team consists of American although may of them are half Japanese and half American but still they consider America as their country. Another Bill’s bravery can be seen from his conversation with his friend Slats Honda before both of them are parachuting. Bill Macneil and Slats Honda stood up to buckle the two groin straps of their chute harnesses, then secured the third strap across their chest. “Jesus, Bill,” Honda complained, addressing him without a title for the first time. “I’m scared shitless. Do I really have to do this?” Macneil slapped his sergeant on the back. “Piece of cake Slats. Don’t sweat it.” Seward, 2000: 135. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI The quotation shows that Bill remains calm before he jumps from the plane while his friend is scared. As a leader Bill shows his bravery by saying to his compatriot that parachuting is very easy and nothing to worry about. Bill Macneil’s bravery can be seen also in his conversation with his compatriot after they are landed in the middle of jungle in the midnight. “Decaying vegetation, Slats. Mount up. We want to be a couple of miles away from here by first light.” “Walk through this shit at night, Captain? Have you lost your mind?” “Stay here if you like,” Macneil said, starting to push through the vegetation toward the center of the island. He heard the sounds of the sergeant coming along, as he knew he would. Seward, 2000: 137. The quotation shows that although his compatriot is scared to walk in the jungle in the middle of the night, Bill remains calm and starts walking through the jungle. Bill Macneil is described as a person who is smart or quick to read the situation. It can be seen on his action when he knows that the interpreter misinterprets the peace treaty. He hurried to find Colonel Mashbir. “They’ve got a problem out there, Colonel.” Mashbir jumped in his feet. “What’s wrong?” “One of our translators must have used watakushi for chin in the phase, “I, Hirohito, Emperor of Japan…” “Jesus H. Christ” Mashbir exploded. Seward, 2000: 290. Bill realizes that someone misinterpret the peace treaty between the Japanese with the American by looking on the expression of Japanese’s delegations which are pale after they read on certain statement. The interpreter uses the term watakushi rather than chin in order to adore the Emperor. In Japan, the Japanese knows that the Emperor has a certain term in order to adore him. The term watakushi is used for ordinary people, for the Emperor, the Japanese adore him with the term chin. Another example of Bill’s good ability in reading the situation is when he is in the plane on the way to Washington to meet with United States president Harry Truman. Bill reads the leaflet about the Postdam Declaration. “Damn” he grated. “look at this, Admiral. The prime minister used the word ‘mokusatsu’ and some idiot translated that as ‘to reject without silent contempt’” “Is that wrong?” “It sure as hell isn’t right, sir. Mokusatsu has a complex meaning, but to me it says the Japanese want more time to ponder their reply to the Postdam terms.” Seward, 2000: 264. Bill recognizes that something wrong with the translation, he knows that the interpreter misinterprets the term mokusatsu. This kind of misunderstanding can create new problem for both countries. The United States thinks that the Japanese rejected the Postdam Declaration and as the consequences, the United States will continue the war with full speed. Bill knows about it, that is the reason why Bill is in hurry to go to Washington to inform president Harry Truman about the mistakes in translating the Postdam Declaration. In general, Bill Macneil’s characteristics after he experienced World War II are quite different with his characteristics before he experienced World War II. His characteristics before he experienced World War II is described as a smart person, has a good sense of humor, caring towards other and a stubborn person. Bill’s characteristics after he experienced World War II can be described as a man who is brave, loyal, and clever in reading the situation. Bill also has negative side which is full of hatred and high tempered person. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

B. Aspects of Environmental Determinant in Bill Macneil’s Personality Development.

Bill Macneil’s personality development is influenced mostly by environmental determinant. The environmental determinants consist of culture, social class, family and peers or the experiences outside home including the past experiences.

1. Culture

The first environmental determinant is related to culture. Bill’s experiences in the mixture of Japanese and American cultures will make him have a certain personality characteristic. Bill Macneil is an American who is born and spends most of his time in Japan. Bill is a son from Neil and deceased Valerie Macneil. Neil Macneil marries Japanese woman, Umeko. Neil and Umeko have one daughter and one son or in other word, Bill has one step sister and brother, named Sarah Macneil and Shipton Macneil. It makes Bill lives in a family with the mixture of American and Japanese culture. He and his father were blond, as was Bill’s long-dead mother, Valerie. Neil’s second wife was Japanese, so Sarah and Shipton were Eurasian or, more properly, Amerasian Seward, 2000: 5. As an American who lives in Japan, Bill can speak and write Japanese as well as, maybe even better than English. He also gets his education mostly in Japanese school and Bill thought in Japanese as often as in English and his Japanese friends probably outnumbered American and European ones. Even so, he insists on his identity as an American Seward, 2000: 4. In relation with the Japanese, Bill has a strong relation with the Japanese. He shows his caring attitude towards a Japanese’s boy. Bill is injured while he is trying to save Japanese’s boy. His neighbors who are Japanese help him and hide him from the Japanese secret police. “What I’d like to know is: What are we going to do with him?” “Whether he’s Swiss or American, we should report him to the police, shouldn’t we?”. “Don’t you dare. He’s like a member of my family.” “Then we agreed? We keep him here until he’s better. Then we’ll see what he wants to do.” Seward, 2000: 252. Bill Macneil is considered as the member of Japanese family by his neighbors although Bill is an American or foreign. Bill in his childhood has a strong relationship with his neighbors so he is considered as a member of a Japanese family. That is the reason why Bill is not reported to the Japanese secret police or Kempei-tai. This kind of strong relationship between him and the Japanese, makes Bill is in difficult position when he has to give the report to the United States president about the development of the Japanese Nuclear bomb. If Bill decides to report about the development of Japanese nuclear bomb, the United States will use their nuclear bomb to bomb Japan and Bill will loose many of his friends, his neighbors who have helped him and consider him as their family. …Macneil’s decision would not confront him with any ethical dilemma. After all, he was loyal American. Nevertheless, he could not forget those five pathetic Japanese housewives futilely running back and forth on their little pails of water to fling on the raging firs. Nor he would ever forget those women who nursed him and protected him at enormous risk to themselves….compassionate little women they are, who had known and loved him when he was a child, ignoring his foreign blood. Seward, 2000: 266 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI However, if he does not give the report about the development of the Japanese Nuclear bomb, the Japanese will use their nuclear bomb to bomb the United States and it will make great loss on his beloved country. “And if I use this weapon, it will mean just as many. Maybe more.” “Except the causalities would be all Japanese, wouldn’t they?” “Yes, but I didn’t call you to discuss the ethics of my decision. I want to tell you that we are certain that the Japanese are building a similar weapon. If they have it in time, they’re sure to drop it to our men once they have landed on the Japanese beaches.” Seward, 2000: 206. Bill loves Japan as much as his home country America, but when both countries are involved in war, Bill chooses to join the United States rather than Japanese. “If the wars starts,” Bill went on, “it’s certain I’ll join the army.” “But they won’t take thee with that bad ankle,” she protested. “I won’t tell them.” “No, no Thee must not go to war Oh, no.” “If my country goes to war, I’ll do my duty. You know that, Helma. We’ve been over this often enough. Seward, 2000: 27. The influence of culture in Bill Macneil’s personality development is on his experiences on having the mixture of Japanese and American cultures. His experience in living in two cultures make him in difficult position when he has to choose which country to join since the both countries are in the opposite sides during the World War II. The influence can be seen clearly through Bill’s loyalty. Although he is born, spends most of his time in Japan, he has siblings who are half Japanese and many of his beloved friends and neighbors who loved him, but Bill chooses to join the United States army or in other word, he chooses to fight against a country which he has many memories with it. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

2. Social class

The second aspect which gives the contribution towards Bill Macneil’s personality development is the social class. Bill Macneil is the oldest son of a successful businessman and the owner of Macneil Brothers’ Trading Co., Neil Macneil. In general Bill can be categorized as a rich person or high social status because he is the heir of the Macneils family corporation. As he came from wealthy family, he manages to study in San Francisco Seward, 2000: 3. The Macneils is very rich; they own many real estates and many other assets in Japan. “I intend to shift all our liquid assets out of Japan. In fact, out of Asia entirely. Our main office will move to United States… I’ll sell as much of our real estates as I can as well as our holdings in Japanese corporations.” Seward, 2000: 2. In his family, every one of the members of the family has the ability to run the family business. Every year, they held annual meeting to discuss about the condition of the family business. Her father grinned wryly. “You know we’re not, my dear. I’ve had a summary of our financial condition prepared. Copies will be given to each of you later. As usual, read, digest, and destroy. As you will see, we own les than last year…Seward, 2000: 2. From the quotation above, it can be seen that Neil discusses the financial problem with his children to teach them how to run the company in the future. Bill Macneil’s high social status gives him some privileges. One of them is that he can study in America. Another privilege can be seen through the situation while Bill is in the ship the City of Glasgow. “Excuse me, Mister Macneil. “The stubby, white-haired captain stood beside Bill, touching the enameled visor of his white hat with two fingers.