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novel, especially in terms of learning the history and culture underlying the novel. For future researchers who are interested in studying discrimination depicted in
literary works, this study might be a useful reference to enable further researchers to conduct their study.
E. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid ambiguous interpretation on this thesis, the writer attempts to define two main terms, namely, discrimination and African American.
1. Discrimination
Light, Keller, and Calhoun 1989 define discrimination as “the exclusion or the exploitation on the basis of group of a membership” p. 216. The statement
means, discrimination is an act of mistreating and blacklisting a particular group of people due to differences which this group has. In this study, all of the African
American women working as maids in the novel are excluded and exploited to receive equal treatments and facilities with their white employers on the grounds
of race. Moreover, this study also shows that African American women are also exploited on the grounds of gender.
2. African American
Babbie 1982 defines African American or Black American as “a group of people brought from Afr
ica to North America” p. 220. This is supported by
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Hraba 1979 who mentions that these African American people were brought in the era of Agrarian Society around 16
th
century to work as slaves in plantations operated by white Americans. However, as the time went on, African American
people did not only work as plantation slaves but also worked as servants or maids. Hraba 1979 supports the statement by stating, “For longer than nearly
any other ethnic groups in the country, black Americans have been a class of agrarian laborers and domestic servants.”
Regarding the existence of African American people, Hraba 1979 mentions that African American people were not only once traded as slaves but in
fact they had also been oppressed p. 253. He says: “Black people were once
treated as the property of others, and they have historically been dispossessed of their own property.” This statement implies that African Americans have
encountered discrimination practiced by their white employers for a long time. In this study, the main characters of the novel are mostly African American people
who work as workers for cotton plantations and domestic servants or maids. The novel describes how they are discriminated against by their white employers.
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CHAPTER II REVIEWS OF RELATED LITERATURE
