Theoretical Framework REVIEW OF LITERATURE

One day, a man from the neighboring village of Mbaino have killed a girl from Umuofia. Because of his great esteem in the village, Okonkwo is chosen as emissary. He goes and is treated with respect, and he returns with the young boy and the virgin girl as a peace settlement between two villages. The girl goes to the man whose wife was murdered. As for the boy, Ikemefuna, the village is in no hurry to decide his fate. Then, he lives with Okonkwo and his family until the oracle instructs the elders on what to do with the boy. For three years the boy lives with Okonkwos family and grows fond of Okonkwo, he even considers him as his father. Then the elders decide that the boy must be killed, and the oldest man in the village warns Okonkwo to have nothing to do with the murder because it would be like killing his own child. Rather than seem weak and feminine to the other men of the village, Okonkwo kills the boy despite the warning from the old man. In fact, Okonkwo himself kills Ikemefuna as he begs Okonkwo for protection. After the death of Ikemefuna, everything begin going wrong to Okonkwo. One day, when everyone in the village gathers for the funeral ceremony, he accidentally kills a boy of his own clan when his gun fires the last salute to the dead man. Okonkwos accidental killing is considered as a crime against the earth goddess. As a result, he and his family must leave Umuofia for seven years. During Okonkwos in exile, the British Christian missionaries arrive in Umuofia. When Okonkwo knows they come to his village, he cannot accept it. He believes that it is not good for the villagers.. He works so hard to refuse Christianity. He does not want his culture to be replaced with new belief and practices. In fact, most of the Igbo people finally follow the white people. They accept Christianity because they believe that this religion has ability to fulfill their needs. In the end of the story, when the people of Umuofia gather, Okonkwo kills one of the messengers of the white government who wants to try and stop their meeting. He realizes that the people of Umuofia are not going to fight to protect themselves because they let the other messengers escape. When the local leader of the white government comes to Okonkwos house to take him to court, he finds that Okonkwo has hanged himself. Ironically, although he has been a respectful leader, the people of his village do not want to put his dead body from the tree because his body polluted their sacred land.

3. 2. Approach of the Study

This research analyzes the motivation of the main character, Okonkwo, to commit suicide. Considering that motivation is one of psychological aspects of human being, the writer used psychological approach. As stated in Reading and Writing about Literature Rohrberger and Woods, 1971:13, psychological approach emphasizes on the human psychology, which contains thought, behavior, human personality, motivation, and other aspects, which are related to the human psychology that give influences in literary work. In this case, the writer tries to find the motivation from the psychological aspects of the main character. By using this approach, the writer tries to find out what the reasons of the main character to commit suicide. 3. 3. Method of the Study This thesis uses library study as the gathering data method. There are two main sources that support the writer in conducting this thesis. The first is the novel itself as the primary data. The second is the data that are used to support the analysis, such as theories and the data that the writer takes from the library and the electronic sources. In conducting this research, the writer takes some steps. The first step is the writer read the novel several times to get better understanding. Second, the writer decided the topic that the writer wanted to discuss, that is the reasons of the main character, Okonkwo, to commit suicide. Third, the writer looked for some references and theories that are related to the topic that the writer wanted to discuss. The fourth step was analyzing the novel. The writer analyzed the characterization of Okonkwo as the main character of the novel. Besides discussing Okonkwos characteristic, the analysis also discussed about reasons of the main character, Okonkwo, to commit suicide. The last step was drawing the conclusion of the study based on the result of the analysis.