INTRODUCTION Child Perspective Of The World Reflected In Emma Donoghue's Room (2010) Novel: A Sociological Approach.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
A child is part of the society and he or she is a young human that cannot
live alone in the society, and children need adult’s attention and protection to
know everything around them. Related to children, every child has a high
curiosity with things that are new and they have different characteristics in how
they construct their own world. Hornby (1995:192) state that child is a young
person who is under the legal age and it can be a boy or a girl. Based on the
definition above, child can be defining as childish in the age range of young
categories. Young age will affect how they view things and the world from their
perspective and it is like a world full of imagination, it makes them fantasize
something concrete thins and non-concrete and they are still looking for their own
identity in society. Related to development of children, children also have
characteristics the way of thinking. The way they interact with others is also a
social relationship that will help them get to know about something that they have
never heard, and something they have not seen in the world. It is associated with
social interaction in society, how the social condition of every individual around
children has relation with the way children think about the world of life itself and
every individual social interaction will describe how they are actually looks like.
Related to early childhood, children also have characteristics the way of
thinking. It related to child's perspective and child perspective. A Child
perspective is “direct adult’s attention towards an understanding of children’s
perceptions, experiences, and actions in the world” (Sommer et al., 2010:22).
Differently, child’s perspective is “the representation of children’s experiences,
perceptions, and understanding in their life world” (Sommer et al., 2010:23). It
can be concluded that child perspective is created by adults who are looking for,
intentionally, create child perspectives and as realistically as possible, to
reconstruct children’s perspective. In this context, child perspective becomes issue
1
2
to know how children have perception on something around them because they
are still young and easy to receive new thing that they want to know. It related to
identity of children in how they construct the phenomena about something from
what they touch, see, and hear about objects, other people opinion, culture, and
tradition from others and they learn with their animistic and imaginative life. The
role of the people around children is very important to teach many things that
understood by children. In this case, role of parents in educating their children is
something very important. Environment and socialization process is close relation
to children. It will affect the child's perspective on his world and the world within
the community itself. One of important roles is terms of knowing the development
of children. In this context, adult has different perspective to know how child is
one of the members in the community. They are individuals who cannot live alone
without help from others and they are still difficult to understand which one is real
and which one is not real in the world.
In this context, adult has a role to know how children’s world through
child perspective. Child perspective is one of issue in different studies. Child
perspective also can be known in teaching subject, sociology aspect, and
psychology aspect. Related to this research, the researcher in this study tries to
know children’s world using Piaget children development theory and other theory
of children characteristics. It is rarely to analyze how children actually look like
through literary study. A child perspective in this research becomes one of new
issue in literary study. Related to sociological approach, child perspective
becomes one of way to know how children’s experience until they grew up
becomes adult because they will be successor of generation in the future. Related
to child perspective, it is clearly important that adult try to understand and
describe how children’s world actually happens in different age of children
development through child perspective. Piaget (1929:91) state that children not
only confuse fantasy and reality but mental and physical, dreams and reality, and
appearance and reality are still confusing for them. Related to child perspective
about their world, child influences by factors related to belief and tradition in
3
different culture. In this case, Adult has an important role in their children's
development. How they know something, they would have to ask the matter to the
nearest person in a social interaction between individuals and other individuals.
The immature characteristics in early childhood also have relation in how they
know the reality and the unreality things because children in different age also
have different way of thinking. They are also has a lot of imagination because
they are still has different perception about all things around them.
Related to the issue above, literary work such as a novel also contains the
description of children view their world. One of the novel that tell the issue
written by Emma Donoghue and she is Irish-Canadian writer. She was born in
Dublin 1969. Emma Donoghue is fiction contemporary and history writer. Emma
also writes historical literature and drama for stage, radio, and television. Now,
she lives in London, Ontario with her husband, her son, and her daughter. Emma
becomes famous because of the bestseller Slammerkin book. Besides that, Emma
has the other novel that published in 2010. The title is Room and It published by
Little, Brown and Company. Her novel is very popular, translated into 35
languages, sold out more than two thousand copy all around the world, and has
146 editions. Including Indonesia is one of country that has Indonesian translation
version in 2016. Based on the official website of Emma Donoghue, the novel won
Hughes and Hughes Iris novel of the year, Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize for
best Canadian Booksellers’ Association Libras Awards, Forest of Reading
Evergreen Award, W.H Smith Paperback of Year Award and her novel “Room” is
one of New York Times best fiction titles in 2010 (Donoghue, 2016:3). Her
famous Room novel makes the play director transforms the novel into a movie.
The movie becomes nomination in Golden Globe Award 2016 including the
category of the best movie and as the winner in Academy Award 2016 for the best
actor. It makes Emma more popular around the fanatic novel readers all around
the world.
Based on the appreciation for the novel, it means the novel has traction
power to be analyzed by literary researcher. It is interesting story and has different
4
theme than others. If it relate to the issue of children, a novel in this study tells
about child who lives in the small room as a son from woman’s abduction victim.
The story begin with the teenage girl was initially abducted when she was young.
They are equipped with a door that can only be opened with a password of
kidnapper. The kidnappers had planned everything. The rooms have designed as
"home" for a long time. In the second year, the women got birth a child in small
room. The boy named Jack. Five years later through the eyes of Jack's story is
narrated. In the world, there are only Jack and Ma and Jack did not know anything
outside world except the looked room itself.
Although Room equipped with a TV, but Ma said to Jack that everything
they see on TV is just an image and not real in the outside room and it make Jack
confused to the reality because he is 5-year-old. Ma tried to raise Jack in the
limitation area in the room. Ma taught him to read, write, physical exercise,
reading stories to him and creating exciting games to fill their daily activities.
When the night arrived Jack sleeping in the closet because it was then that the
man they call "Old Nick" comes. Over the past 5 years, Ma has created the world
for Jack. One time Jack began to realize that the image he sees on the TV is real,
but Jack as young child who difficult to understand the fact and finally Ma
revealed that there is a world outside Room and acknowledges that during this
time Ma was lying. This fact is confusing for Jack because for him the worlds are
only Room, Ma and himself.
In this context, Jack as a 5-year-old boy illustrate the characteristic of
being animistic and imaginative life because he spend much time living in the
room without interact to other people except Ma. The special thing about this
book is how Emma Donoghue told from the perspective of a five year olds child.
The narrative is so real and typical little boy. It makes carpet, Desk, Wardrobe,
Wall, all are friends since birth and Jack did not want to leave them. In addition,
Ma tried hard to make Jack understand that they have to flee and finally they get
their freedom live in better world that refer to the world that bigger than “Room”
and Jack finally aware that he is not only a child in the world, and Jack try to
5
adapt to others human outside the world. In this context, the novel also describes
condition the condition of child as abduction victim. The child as the first narrator
that tells about the story based on his perspective as a child. He tells his own
world with his mom. His mom tries to explain every question from her son but
sometimes it still confusing for a child to understand because a child is still young
in early childhood in a life. Living in difficult situation influenced a that has own
perception and own opinion about something real and not real. The child in this
novel tries to search his own identity. This novel is a novel that written by a
woman and as a mother too, but the author tells the story based on the child
perspective in five years old that make this novel becomes best sellers
Based on the simple synopsis of the story above, this novel has interesting
story for readers and entertain the reader about how Jack’s life in the confinement
“Room”. The novel “Room” novel by Emma Donoghue has grown many
comments from readers and most of them give positive response about the story.
For example, a response comes from Aime Bender in The New York Times
website below:
“…Donoghue navigates beautifully around these limitations. Jack’s voice is
one of the pure triumphs of the novel: in him, she has invented a child
narrator who is one of the most engaging in years — his voice so pervasive
I could hear him chatting away during the day when I wasn’t reading the
book. Donoghue rearranges language to evoke the sweetness of a child’s
learning without making him coy or overly darling; Jack is lovable simply
because he is lovable. Through dialogue and smartly crafted hints of
eavesdropping, Donoghue fills us in on Jack’s world without heavy hands
or clunky exposition” (Bender, 2010:2)
Based on the quotation above, it can be concluded that the novel is not
only popular because of the real story behind it, but also because of the theme and
5-year-old child as the main characters tell the story with the innocence thinking.
From the explanation above, the researcher in this study interest to analyses the
novel because of reasons as follows; the first reason is good plot that depicted in
every event that happens in the novel. The first event will be dealing with every
conflict that occurs in the middle of the story as if the event of the beginning of
the story has the answer to every conflict that escalated to completion. This novel
6
also became famous because the plot is clear from the beginning until the end of
the story. The plot as if giving an overview on any conflicts that can occur. The
plot described in detail and neatly arranged on each element of the story. Emma
Donoghue makes the plot looks interesting because the story told according to
child character in the story.
The second reason is the research about “Child perspective” is rare in
literary study. The researcher thinks that It is important to know children actually
look likes through the characterization of Jack as 5-year-old child that used by the
author to describe them and the minor character here is a good mother who try to
understand children’s desire and children’s questions. She has a child in difficult
situation but she still raises her child as a single parenthood. She tried for never
showed directly her depression and her trauma about the bad incident in the past.
How strong Ma survives to life as a victim of abduction that has a child from the
kidnaper. She tried to do anything to make her child happy live in the room and
she tries to teach Jack in the room with lees facility in limited room.
The third reason is the researcher in this study interested with Jack’s
character of the novel. Jack is still young and he as the narrator of the story
describes the detail event in each part that make the story more interesting because
of jack. Jack makes the readers empathy with his small family. Jack also a good
and smart character because he learns everything in the room. He still can read a
book, asking everything to his Mother and he is strong characters of the story
because he describe and tell the reader how life and how feeling live in the narrow
world it means the room itself through the eyes of 5-year-old boy.
The fourth reason of the researcher in this study chooses this novel is the
author of the novel inspired by the real worst criminal history in US. The novel is
like reflection of the high rate criminal in society and how it becomes serious
problem when the victim is children. It also describes the condition of child who
spends 5 years living in confinement. The last reason is moral value that reflected
in the novel. The moral values that make inspiration and motivation for us to be a
7
good mother that raise her child alone, and the story tells us to understand how
smooth Jack understand about the world. The story tells us about child’s curiosity
about his own world and his own identity. The moral message from child
perspective itself becomes a lesson in how adult give attention to know who they
are in the society. The readers are not only to get the moral value from the
explanation and description based on Jack as the main character, but also the
message tells us about how hard a mother tries to raise children in worst situation
but still strong to raise them. Related to the description and the reason above, the
researcher intents to conduct a study entitled “CHILD PERSPECTIVE OF
THE WORLD REFLECTED IN EMMA DONOGHUE’S ROOM (2010)
NOVEL: A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH
B. Problem Statement
1. What are the indicators of child perspective of the world in the novel?
2. How is child perspective of the world depicted in the novel?
3. Why does the author address the child perspective in her novel?
C. Objective of the Study
Dealing with problem statement above, the researcher formulates the objectives of
the study as follows:
1. To identify the indicators of child perspective of world in Room novel.
2. To describe how child perspective of world is depicted in Room novel.
3. To reveal why the author addresses child perspective in Room novel.
D. Limitation of the Study
The researcher focuses this research in analyzing child perspective of the
world in Emma Donoghue’s Room (2010) novel by using Sociological Approach.
The researcher focuses to identify, describe, and reveal related to the objective of
this research.
8
E. Benefits of the Study
1. Theoretical Benefit
The study will enrich all literature researchers and can be a reference for other
researcher that wants to make another research used Room novel. The result of
this study is also to give another knowledge about literary especially in Emma
Donoghue’s novel.
2. Practical Benefit
The researcher expects that this research will give benefits for other literary
students, especially student of English Department in Muhammadiyah University
of Surakarta. This research also gives contribution about the process of analyzing
a novel based on Sociological theory.
F. Research Paper Organization
The research paper of “Child Perspective of World Reflected in Emma
Donoghue’s Room (2010) Novel: A Sociological Approach” is divided in five
chapters. The details of the paper organization as follows; chapter one is
introduction. It consists of background of the study, problem statement, limitation
of the study, objective of the study, benefits of the study, and paper organization.
Chapter two is literary review. It consists of previous study and underlying theory
(notion of sociology of literature, major principle of sociology of literature, the
notion of child perspective, and the indicators of child perspective). Third chapter
is research method. It consists of object of the research, type of the data and data
source, method of data collection, and technique of analyzing data. The forth
chapter is sociological analysis of Emma Donoghue’s Room (2010) novel. The
last chapter is conclusion, suggestion, and pedagogical implication.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
A child is part of the society and he or she is a young human that cannot
live alone in the society, and children need adult’s attention and protection to
know everything around them. Related to children, every child has a high
curiosity with things that are new and they have different characteristics in how
they construct their own world. Hornby (1995:192) state that child is a young
person who is under the legal age and it can be a boy or a girl. Based on the
definition above, child can be defining as childish in the age range of young
categories. Young age will affect how they view things and the world from their
perspective and it is like a world full of imagination, it makes them fantasize
something concrete thins and non-concrete and they are still looking for their own
identity in society. Related to development of children, children also have
characteristics the way of thinking. The way they interact with others is also a
social relationship that will help them get to know about something that they have
never heard, and something they have not seen in the world. It is associated with
social interaction in society, how the social condition of every individual around
children has relation with the way children think about the world of life itself and
every individual social interaction will describe how they are actually looks like.
Related to early childhood, children also have characteristics the way of
thinking. It related to child's perspective and child perspective. A Child
perspective is “direct adult’s attention towards an understanding of children’s
perceptions, experiences, and actions in the world” (Sommer et al., 2010:22).
Differently, child’s perspective is “the representation of children’s experiences,
perceptions, and understanding in their life world” (Sommer et al., 2010:23). It
can be concluded that child perspective is created by adults who are looking for,
intentionally, create child perspectives and as realistically as possible, to
reconstruct children’s perspective. In this context, child perspective becomes issue
1
2
to know how children have perception on something around them because they
are still young and easy to receive new thing that they want to know. It related to
identity of children in how they construct the phenomena about something from
what they touch, see, and hear about objects, other people opinion, culture, and
tradition from others and they learn with their animistic and imaginative life. The
role of the people around children is very important to teach many things that
understood by children. In this case, role of parents in educating their children is
something very important. Environment and socialization process is close relation
to children. It will affect the child's perspective on his world and the world within
the community itself. One of important roles is terms of knowing the development
of children. In this context, adult has different perspective to know how child is
one of the members in the community. They are individuals who cannot live alone
without help from others and they are still difficult to understand which one is real
and which one is not real in the world.
In this context, adult has a role to know how children’s world through
child perspective. Child perspective is one of issue in different studies. Child
perspective also can be known in teaching subject, sociology aspect, and
psychology aspect. Related to this research, the researcher in this study tries to
know children’s world using Piaget children development theory and other theory
of children characteristics. It is rarely to analyze how children actually look like
through literary study. A child perspective in this research becomes one of new
issue in literary study. Related to sociological approach, child perspective
becomes one of way to know how children’s experience until they grew up
becomes adult because they will be successor of generation in the future. Related
to child perspective, it is clearly important that adult try to understand and
describe how children’s world actually happens in different age of children
development through child perspective. Piaget (1929:91) state that children not
only confuse fantasy and reality but mental and physical, dreams and reality, and
appearance and reality are still confusing for them. Related to child perspective
about their world, child influences by factors related to belief and tradition in
3
different culture. In this case, Adult has an important role in their children's
development. How they know something, they would have to ask the matter to the
nearest person in a social interaction between individuals and other individuals.
The immature characteristics in early childhood also have relation in how they
know the reality and the unreality things because children in different age also
have different way of thinking. They are also has a lot of imagination because
they are still has different perception about all things around them.
Related to the issue above, literary work such as a novel also contains the
description of children view their world. One of the novel that tell the issue
written by Emma Donoghue and she is Irish-Canadian writer. She was born in
Dublin 1969. Emma Donoghue is fiction contemporary and history writer. Emma
also writes historical literature and drama for stage, radio, and television. Now,
she lives in London, Ontario with her husband, her son, and her daughter. Emma
becomes famous because of the bestseller Slammerkin book. Besides that, Emma
has the other novel that published in 2010. The title is Room and It published by
Little, Brown and Company. Her novel is very popular, translated into 35
languages, sold out more than two thousand copy all around the world, and has
146 editions. Including Indonesia is one of country that has Indonesian translation
version in 2016. Based on the official website of Emma Donoghue, the novel won
Hughes and Hughes Iris novel of the year, Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize for
best Canadian Booksellers’ Association Libras Awards, Forest of Reading
Evergreen Award, W.H Smith Paperback of Year Award and her novel “Room” is
one of New York Times best fiction titles in 2010 (Donoghue, 2016:3). Her
famous Room novel makes the play director transforms the novel into a movie.
The movie becomes nomination in Golden Globe Award 2016 including the
category of the best movie and as the winner in Academy Award 2016 for the best
actor. It makes Emma more popular around the fanatic novel readers all around
the world.
Based on the appreciation for the novel, it means the novel has traction
power to be analyzed by literary researcher. It is interesting story and has different
4
theme than others. If it relate to the issue of children, a novel in this study tells
about child who lives in the small room as a son from woman’s abduction victim.
The story begin with the teenage girl was initially abducted when she was young.
They are equipped with a door that can only be opened with a password of
kidnapper. The kidnappers had planned everything. The rooms have designed as
"home" for a long time. In the second year, the women got birth a child in small
room. The boy named Jack. Five years later through the eyes of Jack's story is
narrated. In the world, there are only Jack and Ma and Jack did not know anything
outside world except the looked room itself.
Although Room equipped with a TV, but Ma said to Jack that everything
they see on TV is just an image and not real in the outside room and it make Jack
confused to the reality because he is 5-year-old. Ma tried to raise Jack in the
limitation area in the room. Ma taught him to read, write, physical exercise,
reading stories to him and creating exciting games to fill their daily activities.
When the night arrived Jack sleeping in the closet because it was then that the
man they call "Old Nick" comes. Over the past 5 years, Ma has created the world
for Jack. One time Jack began to realize that the image he sees on the TV is real,
but Jack as young child who difficult to understand the fact and finally Ma
revealed that there is a world outside Room and acknowledges that during this
time Ma was lying. This fact is confusing for Jack because for him the worlds are
only Room, Ma and himself.
In this context, Jack as a 5-year-old boy illustrate the characteristic of
being animistic and imaginative life because he spend much time living in the
room without interact to other people except Ma. The special thing about this
book is how Emma Donoghue told from the perspective of a five year olds child.
The narrative is so real and typical little boy. It makes carpet, Desk, Wardrobe,
Wall, all are friends since birth and Jack did not want to leave them. In addition,
Ma tried hard to make Jack understand that they have to flee and finally they get
their freedom live in better world that refer to the world that bigger than “Room”
and Jack finally aware that he is not only a child in the world, and Jack try to
5
adapt to others human outside the world. In this context, the novel also describes
condition the condition of child as abduction victim. The child as the first narrator
that tells about the story based on his perspective as a child. He tells his own
world with his mom. His mom tries to explain every question from her son but
sometimes it still confusing for a child to understand because a child is still young
in early childhood in a life. Living in difficult situation influenced a that has own
perception and own opinion about something real and not real. The child in this
novel tries to search his own identity. This novel is a novel that written by a
woman and as a mother too, but the author tells the story based on the child
perspective in five years old that make this novel becomes best sellers
Based on the simple synopsis of the story above, this novel has interesting
story for readers and entertain the reader about how Jack’s life in the confinement
“Room”. The novel “Room” novel by Emma Donoghue has grown many
comments from readers and most of them give positive response about the story.
For example, a response comes from Aime Bender in The New York Times
website below:
“…Donoghue navigates beautifully around these limitations. Jack’s voice is
one of the pure triumphs of the novel: in him, she has invented a child
narrator who is one of the most engaging in years — his voice so pervasive
I could hear him chatting away during the day when I wasn’t reading the
book. Donoghue rearranges language to evoke the sweetness of a child’s
learning without making him coy or overly darling; Jack is lovable simply
because he is lovable. Through dialogue and smartly crafted hints of
eavesdropping, Donoghue fills us in on Jack’s world without heavy hands
or clunky exposition” (Bender, 2010:2)
Based on the quotation above, it can be concluded that the novel is not
only popular because of the real story behind it, but also because of the theme and
5-year-old child as the main characters tell the story with the innocence thinking.
From the explanation above, the researcher in this study interest to analyses the
novel because of reasons as follows; the first reason is good plot that depicted in
every event that happens in the novel. The first event will be dealing with every
conflict that occurs in the middle of the story as if the event of the beginning of
the story has the answer to every conflict that escalated to completion. This novel
6
also became famous because the plot is clear from the beginning until the end of
the story. The plot as if giving an overview on any conflicts that can occur. The
plot described in detail and neatly arranged on each element of the story. Emma
Donoghue makes the plot looks interesting because the story told according to
child character in the story.
The second reason is the research about “Child perspective” is rare in
literary study. The researcher thinks that It is important to know children actually
look likes through the characterization of Jack as 5-year-old child that used by the
author to describe them and the minor character here is a good mother who try to
understand children’s desire and children’s questions. She has a child in difficult
situation but she still raises her child as a single parenthood. She tried for never
showed directly her depression and her trauma about the bad incident in the past.
How strong Ma survives to life as a victim of abduction that has a child from the
kidnaper. She tried to do anything to make her child happy live in the room and
she tries to teach Jack in the room with lees facility in limited room.
The third reason is the researcher in this study interested with Jack’s
character of the novel. Jack is still young and he as the narrator of the story
describes the detail event in each part that make the story more interesting because
of jack. Jack makes the readers empathy with his small family. Jack also a good
and smart character because he learns everything in the room. He still can read a
book, asking everything to his Mother and he is strong characters of the story
because he describe and tell the reader how life and how feeling live in the narrow
world it means the room itself through the eyes of 5-year-old boy.
The fourth reason of the researcher in this study chooses this novel is the
author of the novel inspired by the real worst criminal history in US. The novel is
like reflection of the high rate criminal in society and how it becomes serious
problem when the victim is children. It also describes the condition of child who
spends 5 years living in confinement. The last reason is moral value that reflected
in the novel. The moral values that make inspiration and motivation for us to be a
7
good mother that raise her child alone, and the story tells us to understand how
smooth Jack understand about the world. The story tells us about child’s curiosity
about his own world and his own identity. The moral message from child
perspective itself becomes a lesson in how adult give attention to know who they
are in the society. The readers are not only to get the moral value from the
explanation and description based on Jack as the main character, but also the
message tells us about how hard a mother tries to raise children in worst situation
but still strong to raise them. Related to the description and the reason above, the
researcher intents to conduct a study entitled “CHILD PERSPECTIVE OF
THE WORLD REFLECTED IN EMMA DONOGHUE’S ROOM (2010)
NOVEL: A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH
B. Problem Statement
1. What are the indicators of child perspective of the world in the novel?
2. How is child perspective of the world depicted in the novel?
3. Why does the author address the child perspective in her novel?
C. Objective of the Study
Dealing with problem statement above, the researcher formulates the objectives of
the study as follows:
1. To identify the indicators of child perspective of world in Room novel.
2. To describe how child perspective of world is depicted in Room novel.
3. To reveal why the author addresses child perspective in Room novel.
D. Limitation of the Study
The researcher focuses this research in analyzing child perspective of the
world in Emma Donoghue’s Room (2010) novel by using Sociological Approach.
The researcher focuses to identify, describe, and reveal related to the objective of
this research.
8
E. Benefits of the Study
1. Theoretical Benefit
The study will enrich all literature researchers and can be a reference for other
researcher that wants to make another research used Room novel. The result of
this study is also to give another knowledge about literary especially in Emma
Donoghue’s novel.
2. Practical Benefit
The researcher expects that this research will give benefits for other literary
students, especially student of English Department in Muhammadiyah University
of Surakarta. This research also gives contribution about the process of analyzing
a novel based on Sociological theory.
F. Research Paper Organization
The research paper of “Child Perspective of World Reflected in Emma
Donoghue’s Room (2010) Novel: A Sociological Approach” is divided in five
chapters. The details of the paper organization as follows; chapter one is
introduction. It consists of background of the study, problem statement, limitation
of the study, objective of the study, benefits of the study, and paper organization.
Chapter two is literary review. It consists of previous study and underlying theory
(notion of sociology of literature, major principle of sociology of literature, the
notion of child perspective, and the indicators of child perspective). Third chapter
is research method. It consists of object of the research, type of the data and data
source, method of data collection, and technique of analyzing data. The forth
chapter is sociological analysis of Emma Donoghue’s Room (2010) novel. The
last chapter is conclusion, suggestion, and pedagogical implication.