Second Conflict Family conflicts experienced by Pari

Mrs. Nila Wahdati. Realizing that she is not attractive as her mother affects Pari’s confidence. It makes her so inferior in having a conversation with a man. The cause of that problem is clear, because she compares herself with her stepmother, Nila Wahdati. The quote below clearly shows that Pari compares her look with her Maman’s look. Sometimes when Maman and Julien were out, Pari would undress in the hallway and look at herself in the long mirror. She would find faults with her body. It was too tall, she would think, too unshapely, too… utilitarian. She had inherited none of her mother’s bewitching curves. Sometimes she walked like this, undressed, to her mother’s room and lay on the bed where she knew Maman and Julien made love 2013:218. The fact about her beauty and her ability is inescapable fact. Pari knows it and accept it willingly. However, through watching her stepmother’s performance in attracting a man in front of her emphasizes her that she is not as attractive as her stepmother’s look. Her stepmother says, on the second quote, that she is beautiful and attractive, but Pari assumes that compliment as a “Trojan horse” of compliments. It becomes a factor that triggers the obsession within Pari to be as attractive as her stepmother so she can get a man’s attention. This obsession drives Pari to express signs that she suffers from Female Oedipus Complex later. The conflict becomes clearer by reconnecting those quotes which are provided by the author in the novel. Pari feels a hesitation which affects her confidence. That feeling is a desire to be as attractive as her mother, in contrary her physical and her ability to attract a man is not as good as her mother. Therefore, that is why it affects her confidence when she has a conversation with a man. Her weakness affects her confidence. The theory of conflict from Isenhart and Spangle’s book that is applied says that the way someone talks is one of important factor in the process the conflict happens 2000:2, and in this case the writer sees what Pari’s stepmother, Mrs. Nila Wahdati, says as the utterance that emphasizes the fact that Pari is not as beautiful as her stepmother. The way Mrs. Nila Wahdati praises Pari hurts Pari’s feeling, because Pari knows that it is just an allusion about her look. That compliment also affects Pari’s way in having relation with men. Pari’s stepmother who always shows her beauty to Pari triggers an obsession within Pari. Pari wants to be as attractive as her mother in attracting a man. Pari starts experiencing the conflict after the obsession appears. What Pari feels cannot be fulfilled except by having a man as her own. So, she will get the recognition that she is able to get a man. By applying Stanton’s theory about conflict, the writer can say that Pari is experiencing the inner conflict. The conflict is between the desire or obsession to be as attractive as her mother which is triggered by her stepmother’s statement, against the fact that physically she is not as attractive as her mother. She wants to bring her obsession into reality but her physical look does not let her to do it. It becomes a flaming within Pari herself. According to Patricia Noller and Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, the disagreement about situation in life which experienced Pari can be categorized as a family conflict. Family members may disagree about certain behavior in certain situation 1993:99. Pari does not like her mother’s habit that praise her to remind that she has enough ability in attracting man, because she knows that her stepmother’s compliment is not a honest compliment. That compliment just triggers the flaming within Pari herself which leads her into an obsession that is impossible to achieved and cause a conflict within Pari.

C. The development of Pari’s personality

After knowing the characteristics of the main character and identifying the conflicts that are experienced by her, the writer decides to complete this analysis by revealing the development of the main character’s personality affected by family conflicts. In other words, this part is provided to answer the third problem formulation. Based on the analysis about the role of three mental stages held in part A, Pari’s characteristics are spoiled and lacking confidence. In this part of analysis, the writer provides the personality change of Pari that is affected by the conflict which happens in her past. The conflicts are in the scope of her family. In addition, considering the focus of this analysis is about the role of Id, Ego and Superego in the main character’s mind, the writer decides to apply Freudian psychoanalytic theory in order to help which part of her mind that involves the most in her development of her personality. The writer provides the changes of her three mental stages, especially the role of her Id, which are shown in the novel after Pari experiences the family conflicts. In this part the writer provides the characteristics of Pari that really shows Pari’s Id has changed. The role of Pari’s Id makes her become a person that has different personality than before. It is described through the reaction and decision that she shows in this part.

1. Jealous

Jealous is her characteristic which is clearly shown by the author after the main character experiencing the conflict. In this case, the writer refers to the inner conflict that she experiences between the main character’s desire to be as perfect as her mother against the fact that physically she is not as attractive as her mother. Like the quotation provided before on the part B, Pari keeps the desire to attract man like what her stepmother does to Julien. Based on the novel, Julien is the first and the only one man that Pari meets since she moves to France. The author of the novel does not provide any man figure when Pari in France. Pari envies her mother having such a good looks and good skill in attracting a man. The other way, Pari has neither confidence nor beauty to attract a man. Pari’s sense of inferiority becomes something worse caused by her stepmother “compliment”. Her stepmother’s compliment just triggers the obsession within Pari herself and it makes Pari sees her stepmother as a rival. Her stepmother is a rival to get Julien affection. Pari wants to prove it to her stepmother. She wants to her stepmother knows that even she has no good looking she can have Julien’s affection. At a moment, Pari has a chance to have a conversation with Julien in a café. At that café Pari shows the jealousy for the first time. The jealousy is shown when she knows that Julien still keeps the interest to her stepmother makes Pari jealous. The author of the novel clearly shows this part in the dialogue that happens between Pari and Julien. They spoke until the sky darkened. They drank coffe, and then beer, which led to wine. And then, when it could not be delayed any longer, Julien leaned in a bit and said in a polite, dutiful tone, “And, tell me, how is Nila?” Pari puffed her cheeks and let the air out slowly. Julien nodded knowingly. “She may lose the bookstore,” Pari said. “I’m sorry to hear that.” “Business has been declining for years. She may have to shut I down. She wouldn’t admit to it, but that would be a blow. It would hit her hard.” “Is she writing?” “She hasn’t been.” He soon changed the subject. Pari was relieved. 2013:233 In the quote above Pari is really shown as the jealous person and it is caused by the question given by Julien about Pari’s stepmother. The quote above really shows that Pari’s personality is so different with the personality that she has in her early life, which is so spoiled to her parents. The difference is about the role of her Id. In this part, Pari’s Id leads her to be more negative or bad person. The quote above shows how long Pari involves in a conversation with a man and it proves that the sense of inferiority that Pari has while having conversation and interaction with a man is also gone. Pari was a spoiled child, a bad behavior of Pari that always says her wish and everything she asks is given by her family, in this case is her parents and her brother.