pursuit of personal and artistic freedom. It is their search for answers that give this lyrical, beautifully considered and well-loved book its restive spirit.
The story of Fistful of Colours is mostly about Suwen, one of the major characters of the novel, who faces molestation and betrayal by her companions,
Mark and Nica, who drive her to paint a controversial picture. All the time of her life, Suwen never painted and exposed the other things but historical things even
though she wanted to. The climax of the story of Fistful of Colours was when Suwen painted a controversial painting and was given various comments. However most
of the comment was destructive. The factor that drove her to paint such painting was the memory of betrayal that had been done by her lover and her close friend,
Mark and Nica. At the end of the story, Suwen was on a train heading to another city. At that time, she questioning herself about her behavior and the painful
memory she got.
B. Approach of the Study
In doing the analysis in this undergraduate thesis, the writer uses the psychoanalysis approach. The psychoanalysis approach is chosen to be the core of
the analysis in this undergraduate thesis since the topic of this undergraduate thesis is mainly about the psychological aspects of the character. Psychoanalysis
emphasizes the importance of a character’s experiences and initiates and addresses the importance of the unconscious elements of the character’s mind which cannot
be seen through naked eyes.
Peter Barry 2002: 96 states that psychoanalysis is “…a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation
of literature. Psychoanalysis itself is a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorder by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in
the mind”. Psychoanalysis is originally a therapy which is used by psycho therapists in inspecting and analyzing their patients’ characteristics and background in order
to cure the illness of their mind. They have to go into the patient’s mind. This ideamethod of psychoanalysis has a great contribution in doing the literary study.
The concept of analysis which is done by psychoanalyst is always related to the unconscious of the character. This concept is conducted by Sigmund Freud.
Based on Freud’s idea, Frederick J. Hoffman 1957: 605 states that “from these simple beginnings came the terminology with which we are all now familiar: the
id, ego, super-ego; the unconscious, preconscious, conscious; the pleasure principle and the reality principle; and so on”. The ego represents what is called reasoning,
in contrast to the id which contains the passion. The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world. The three terms in
the concept of the unconscious are related each other. As Hoffman states that “it withdraws libido from the id and transforms the object-cathexes of the id into
object-constructions. With the aid of super-ego, …it draws upon the experiences of past ages stored in the id” Hoffman, 1957: 607.
One of the important aspects in psychoanalysis is the idea of repression which is conducted by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s Barry, 2002: 97 idea of repression
define as “…the ‘forgetting’ or ignoring of unresolved conflicts, unadmitted
desires, or traumatic past events, so that they are forced out of conscious awareness and into the realm of the unconscious”.
Psychoanalysis is a suitable approach to be used in the study of unconscious aspects. Freud’s idea is not only used in psychology field but also in literary field
since literary works have numerous unconscious aspects that can be analyzed. Freudian interpretation, then, has always been of considerable interest in
literary critics. The basic reason, again, is that the unconscious, like the poem, or novel, or play, cannot speak directly and explicitly but does so
through images, symbols, emblems, and metaphors Barry, 2002:102. Related to this undergraduate thesis which focuses on the unconscious
elements of the character and the idea of repression, psychoanalysis approach has a clear and supporting system that the writer needs in analyzing the problems
formulated in this undergraduate thesis. Based on the psychoanalysis approach, the writer analyzes the problems of the undergraduate thesis by seeing on Suwen’s
experiences, memories, or ideas she has that may influence her unconsciousness in order to get the data to solve the problems.
C. Method of the Study
