Background of the Study

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of five parts, namely background of the study, problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the study presents the description of the topic and the reason for choosing this topic. The problem formulations state the problem to be solved. The objectives of the study state the purpose of writing this thesis, while the benefits of the study explain the benefits of this thesis for readers. The last, the definition of terms, clarifies the important terms used in this thesis.

1.1 Background of the Study

In our everyday lives any one of us can have many sad experiences. Our past experience itself is made up of events that we have experienced in the past. Some of those experiences can be good or bad. Out of those experiences, there are some which lead us to find ourselves suddenly in danger, anxiety, fear, helplessness, or horror and also leave us terrified and which may become the cause of trauma. Trauma is defined as a severe physical injury or wound to the body caused by an external force or a psychological shock having a lasting effect on mental life Davison G-26. People who have traumatic experiences often have symptoms and problems afterwards. How serious the symptoms and problems are depend on many things including the person’s life experiences before the traumatic PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 experience. During the trauma, sufferers often become overwhelmed by fear. Soon after the traumatic experience, they may re-experience the trauma. Trauma sufferers commonly re-experience their trauma. This means that the sufferers relieve the same mental, emotional, and physical experiences they had during or just after the trauma. These include thinking about the trauma, remembering images of the events, and feeling the anxiety that occurred during the trauma. Because people are anxious and feeling agitated, they may have trouble in concentrating or thinking clearly. They may also have nightmares when they are sleeping. Because these experiences can be uncomfortable and sometimes painful, sufferers tend to avoid reminders of the trauma. These symptoms create a problem that is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder is a form of anxiety disorder whereby the person displays persistent anxiety following exposure to or the witnessing of an overwhelming traumatic event that is outside the range of usual human experience Mash and Wolfe 201. Mummy’s Witness, a novel by Gayle Sanders, is one of those novels that portray all the things above. As we know the novel as a kind of literary genre invites various people to read because it represents the reality of life or it may not be real but captures something in the author’s imagination in which the readers may have a wish to experience. The story is about a little girl named Gayle Sanders who grows up in a middle-class household. The problem arises when her father cruelty abuses her mother. The violence becomes more and more cruel. Gayle is the only witness of the horrifying scenes, for example when her father PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 almost breaks her mother’s back by beating her. Her parents are finally separated after a poignant battle. Gayle is finally safe from her father but her freedom changes to terror because she is the only witness who sees her father brutally murder her mother by hanging her. Afterwards, Gayle is picked up by a foster family and sent to a psychiatric care unit. Sometimes she wants to commit suicide because she is very depressed and feels traumatized. In her fragility, she is attacked and raped by a male nurse in the psychiatric hospital. Yet Gayle survives to make a better life for herself. I chose Mummy’s Witness as the object of my analysis and in particular Gayle’s past traumatic experiences which lead to her post traumatic stress disorder because I find some interesting things related to post traumatic stress disorder. I am eager to know what Gayle has been experienced during her post traumatic stress disorder.

1.2 Problem Formulations