The Effects of Loneliness

20 are lonely would have fewer friends and engage in fewer social activities as cited in Baron and Byrne, 1994, p. 522. Having no one to talk to and no one to share with are painful since the lonely people distance themselves from others. Herbert 1995 also adds that social phobia is mostly likely to develop when lonely young people begin to distance themselves from others in adolescent stage as cited in Baron and Byrne, 1994, p. 284. People with social phobia will avoid others as a way to protect themselves from embarrassments and humiliation. According to Kimnel and Weiner 1985, loneliness also fosters the feeling of alienation and social inadequacy. Those who are lonely usually express low self-esteem and lack of confidence, which make them feel inferior to other people and believe that they are unworthy of attention. Page 1991 mentions that an extremely lonely person with worst feeling of despair considers that life is hopeless and it can sometimes lead to suicide as cited in Baron and Byrne, 1994, p. 284. In conclusion, loneliness is an unpleasant experience since it has negative effects for the person who has loneliness problem.

C. Theoretical Framework

Based on the formulated problems, this study intends to reveal the causes of loneliness as experienced by Toru Watanabe, which is depicted in Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. In order to find the causes of loneliness and help the writer to answer the research problems, psychological approach is used as the approach of this study. Psychological approach enables the writer to explore the major character’s personality. The consideration of using this approach is also 21 based on the fact that this study focuses on a psychological problem which is about loneliness. There are some theories applied to analyze the novel and answer the problem formulation. Theory of character and characterization are used to answer the first question of the problem formulation. It is used as the basis in analyzing the characteristic of Toru Watanabe as the major character in Norwegian Wood novel. Toru’s characteristic can be identified from his past life, personal description, reactions, speech, thoughts, and character as seen by another. Therefore, in order to cope with the analysis of the character, it is important to present theories related to the character. The writer uses review of related study, theory of human needs, and review of loneliness to answer the second question of the problem formulation. The review of related study will be useful in analyzing the leading factors of loneliness experienced by Toru Watanabe. Moreover, understanding the leading factors of Toru Watanabe’s loneliness will also help the writer to determine the causes of loneliness as experienced by Toru. Theory of human needs and review of loneliness are beneficial to analyze the causes of loneliness as experienced by Toru Watanabe in order to answer the second question of this study.