49
b. Accepting Love
Paulo goes on the journey in the Mojave Desert with Chris his wife. Chris insists to go with Paulo on the journey. She loves Paulo and she tries to save their
marriage, their love p. 75. On the journey, Paulo and Chris are trying to make it up to each other. However, during their journey, their loves are tested.
As seen in the novel, during Paulo and Chris‘ journey in the Mojave Desert, they meet the Valkyries. They go on the journey following the Valkyries.
Valhalla is the leader of the Valkyries. Valhalla is also the one who taught Paulo how to converse with his angel.
Here, Paulo and Chris‘ loves are tested. Paulo falls for Valhalla. Chris has
to fight for her love and Paulo has to learn to realise his true love. However, according to Sternberg
‘s 1986,
A Triangular Theory of Love
, love can be dissected into three main parts; intimacy, passion and decisioncommitment.
Commitment in short term encompasses the decision to remain with another, and commitment is the most volitional of the three, the decision to take steps to
maintain the love and relationship. Paulo and Chris have the commitment but they lack of intimacy, intimacy encompasses feelings of closeness, connectedness, and
boundedness. It involves a high level of trust between two individuals, which Paulo and Chris are lacking of.
Paulo falls for Valhalla p. 129. During their journey, Paulo has done what he is told by Valhalla. Until at some point, Paulo feels something towards
Valhalla. He falls in love. Paulo‘s feelings towards Valhalla can be categorized as
50 infatuated love. Infatuated love is pure passion. It does not include commitment,
which is important to sustain a relationship. That was when he had learned the difference between infatuation and love.
Like conversing with the angels, it was really very simple. Valhalla was a fantasy. The warrior woman, the huntress. For her, Paulo
was the man who wore the ring of the Tradition of the Moon, the magus who knew about the occult mysteries. Each would always be fascinated by
the other
—so long as each remained exactly what the other imagined. pp. 192-193
That is what infatuation is; the creation of an image of a person, without advising that person as to what the image is. It is pure passion p. 193.
Chris fights for her love. Chris realises what is happening to Paulo. The fact that Paulo falls for Valhalla makes Chris has to fight for her love. Chris
challenges Valhalla on a ritual. Between the moon and the desert floor, two women confronted each other.
―He is my man. Don‘t covet him merely out of capriciousness. You don‘t love him,
‖ Chris said. Valhalla didn‘t respond.
―I‘m going to take one more step,‖ Chris continued. ―I‘ll survive. I‘m a courageous woman.
‖ ―I‘ll do it with you,‖ answered Valhalla.
―Don‘t. You know about love now. It‘s a huge world, and you will have to spend the rest of your life trying to understand it.
‖ p. 165 According to passage above, it can be seen how much Chris‘ love towards
Paulo, her husband. Chris is fighting for her love, she even endangers her own life by walking to the edge of the cliff on the ritual of her fight against Valhalla. In the
end of the ritual, Chris wins the battle, a battle for her love. During Paulo and Chris‘ journey in the Mojave Desert, Paulo learns about
his true love. He falls for Valhalla but he realises that was merely an infatuation
51 whereas with Chris, he has Consummate Love. Consummate love is the complete
form of love. Consummate love is theorizes to be that love associated with ―perfect couple‖. Paulo‘s realization for his true love can be seen in the novel.
He found love on a cliff where two women had tried to stare each other down, with full moon as a backdrop. And love meant dividing the world
with someone. He knew one of the women well, and had shared his universe with her. They had seen the same mountains, and the same trees,
although each had seen them differently. She knew his weaknesses, his moments of hatred, of despair. Yet she was there at his side.
They shared the same universe. He was still thinking about Chris and Valhalla as he made his way to the
ravine.
I think I’ll probably be infatuated many more times, he said to himself. He felt no guilt about it. Infatuation was a good thing. It gave
spice to life, and added to its enjoyment. But it
was different from love. Love was worth everything and couldn‘t be exchanged for everything. Pp. 193-194
As seen in the paragraphs above, Paulo realises that Chris, his wife, is his true love that their love can be categorized as a consummate love, which is the
complete form of love. However, Paulo‘s feeling towards Valhalla is merely an infatuation.
Angels are the other form of love, which is accepted by Paulo. In the process of searching for his angel, Paulo feels very sad and desperate in the end of
his forty-day journey for he has not met his angel face-to-face, yet. This statement is supported by Taylor that Paulo as a half complete creature, who has a
passionate longing to unite with the lost half of his self, cannot contain happiness because he has not find his angel.
Gene says that angels are love and they are also made of love and at the same time becomes the messenger of love.
52 ―Angels are love in motion. They never rest, they struggle to grow, and
they are beyond good and evil. Love that consumes all, that destroys all, that forgives all. Angels are made of that love, and are the same time its
messengers.‖ ―The love of exterminating angel, who one day will take away our soul,
and of the guardian angel, who brings our soul back. Love in motion .‖ p.
55 After accepting love, a spiritual response and the recognition of a soul that
completes, complements, and augments his soul, Paulo is getting closer to his angel. Furthermore, in the end of the story he is finally able to see his guardian
angel which appears in a form of a brilliant ray of morning p. 196 In the discussion above, it is clear that Paulo has learned to accept
forgiveness and love. Accepting forgiveness and love are essential in order to conver
se with one‘s angel. As Paulo is finally able to accept forgiveness and love, he could finally continue the process of conversing with his angel. However,
before he could converse with his angel, he needs to be aware of his angel‘s
presence. During his last days of journey, he almost gives up because he still could not see his angel though he has done what was necessary to converse with
his angel. It is when Paulo is walking alone in the desert, leaving behind his wife
sleeping at the motel. He bet his faith; he believes that only God could help him now p. 196. He surrenders himself into the hands of God and that is when his
eyes are opened. He can see things clearly. He is no longer seeing only the danger of the desert but also the beauty of it, the beautiful scenery that he has missed.
Feeling the sense of peace, love and harmony, Paulo begin to feel the presence of
53 his angel p. 196. That it is there all this time, protecting and guiding him, that he
needs is to believe; need the angel p. 196. Things admit of being used as symbols because nature is a symbol. In this
novel, Paulo considers some things as symbols, such as, the blue butterfly, the name of the city, and the desert itself.
During Paulo‘s last days of journey in the Mojave Desert, Paulo finally learns to converse with his angel. It begins when
Paulo is walking alone in the desert, giving his last effort; he bet his faith and let God decides whatever happens to Paulo. A blue butterfly flies towards him. Paulo
has seen numbers of white butterflies in the desert but this one is blue. Paulo believes that it i
s his angel‘s response. A blue butterfly flutters about him. It is his angel, responding p. 195.
The blue butterfly is a start p. 195. Paulo is encouraged; he believes that he will be able to see his angel, and even to talk to it. What happens next is the
appearance of his angel. The angel is in a form of nature. ―Do you remember what you said? You said: ‗Look around, this is my
face. I am the place where you are. My mantle will cover you with the rays of the sun in d
aytime, and with the glow of the stars at night.‘ I heard your voice clearly
And then you said: ―Always need me.‖ p. 196
Paulo feels the presence of his angel from the light and warmth. Then, he is finally able to see his angel. A streak of light appears on the horizon. The sun is
coming alive. His heart is content. He will wait for the sun to rise, and look for a long time at the face of his angel p. 196.
54 Paulo soon learns
that to see one‘s angel is easier than he thinks. What is important is to believe and need the angel. And they will show themselves, as
brilliant as the rays of morning p. 196. The next stage after seeing one‘s angel is
conversing. Paulo has been able to see his angel; he could feel the presence of his angel and in the end, Paulo finally able to converse with his angel. He hears
voices, the voice of his angel speaking to him. ―
Write something
,‖ he hears a voice within him says p. 197.
Paulo c an hear his angel‘s voice. At the moment, he thinks seeing his
angel is enough for him but then he can converse with his angel. Paulo‘s angel
tells him to write something, a message dictates by his angel. During the moment, Paulo is conscious. He could hear the voice clearly. He takes a pen and a paper to
write down the words that his angel dictates. For Zion‘s sake, I will not hold my peace.
And for Jerusalem‘s sake, I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation, as a lamp that burns. You shall called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,
And royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor your land anymore be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah,
For the Lord delights in you, and you land shall be married. p. 198 From the passage above, it can be seen how clear the voice is that Paulo
heard. Paulo has a conversation with his angel. Paulo then asks his angel to whom should he say this.
It has already been said
, the voice answered.
It is simply being
55
remembered
p. 198. It is clear that according to the theory of symbol nature is a symbol and
in the novel, Paulo‘s angel is symbolized in a form of nature.
56
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter is divided into two parts; they are conclusions and suggestions. Conclusions are the answers of the research question while
suggestions consist of two parts, suggestions for the future researchers and suggestion for English teaching and learning processes.
A. Conclusions
Based on the analysis of the previous chapter, there are two conclusions that can be drawn in this chapter. They are the description of the two main
characters, Chris and Paulo and the true meanings of Paulo and Chris‘s journey in
the Mojave dessert. By using the theories of character and methods of characterization, the theories of psychology and psychological approach the writer
has managed to answer the first research question about the main characters‘
descriptions, Chris and Paulo. While the theory of motivation, theory of love and the theory of symbol are used to answer the second question about the true
meanings of the journey towards Chris and Paulo.
1. Portrayal of Paulo
Paulo was portrayed as a magus. He wa s J.‘s disciple who was given a task to
meet Gene in Mojave Desert in order to meet his guardian angel. He had been dedicating himself to learn magic and he also mentioned that he was a master of
magus. Moreover, Paulo was a careless man. He almost made himself and his wife, Chris, killed in the middle of Mojave Desert by asking Chris to take off their
Kategori