Heroism The Narrations of Male Domination

An important narration which strengthens Werner’s heroism can be seen from the time when Von Rumpel finally found Marie Laure after his long wait. This passage below is the detail of the narration. The brick claps onto the floor. The voices stop. She can hear a scuffle and then the shot comes like a breach of crimson light: the eruption of Krakatoa. The house briefly riven in two. Marie-Laure half slides, half falls down the ladder and presses her ear against the false back of the wardrobe. Footsteps hurry across the landing and enter Henri’s room. There is a splash and a hiss, and she smells smoke and steam. Doerr, 2014: 466 It is narrated that Werner finally killed Von Rumpel to save Marie Laure because Von Rumpel pointed his gun to her. This narration is also the only scene which depicts Werner as a soldier killing a person. Werner is continuously narrated as a boy who is less likely to harm others. However, in this moment, he put his courage to kill Von Rumpel. His shot is narrated as so loud that even it is like the eruption of Krakatoa. This figure of speech adds the perfection of Werner’s heroism. Moreover, this act is done after Werner struggles to free himself from the cellar. When Volkheimer goes away to find food since they have not eaten for days, Werner is narrated contrastively as coming to his lady, Marie Laure. From this point, Werner is seen as an incomparable hero among others males. His heroic action is so vivid that he is depicted as the guy who saves his girl from the villain. The success of Marie Laure to be a doctoral student is also narrated as inseparable from the help of a powerful male figure. It is stated that after the war Marie Laure plans to study at school. This narration below appears even before Marie Laure says she wants to go to the school. She goes into the museum on Etienne’s arm to talk with various officials, many of whom remember her. The director himself explains that they are searching as hard as they can for her father, that they will continue to help with her housing, her education. There is no mention of the Sea of Flames. Doerr, 2014: 493 The paragraph tells the condition of Marie Laure and Etienne in Paris. She comes back to her house near the museum. The museum director is narrated as already searching for her father as hard as he can. Yet, later on, it is narrated that there is still no result or signal of her father presence. Consequently, Marie Laure will have no parents. She is narrated as only having Etienne, her great uncle. Then, the director is narrated as willing to support Marie Laure’s housing and education. This says that Marie Laure’s education will be covered with the help of the director. It means she does not need to struggle for her education since the director has already guaranteed it. This narration only concludes that Marie Laure’s education is narrated as dependent to the director. Although, eventually she becomes the only female character who gets the highest education in the novel, it is uncertain that she will gain this title or not if there is no help from the director. There is no strong narration in the novel which portrays the struggle of the females to attain their education. The struggle for education is only narrated in Werner aside from the numerous male figures with higher educational degree narrated in the novel. The females are narrated as having a little willingness and interest in pursuing education. The summary of Werner’s heroism is also can be seen through this narration below. Werner is narrated as saving the life of Marie Laure three times in the novel. The woman, Jutta, must be watching her very closely. She says, as though apologizing, “Did he take it from you?” Over time, thinks Marie-Laure, events that seem jumbled either become more confusing or gradually settle into place. The boy saved her life three times over. Once by not exposing Etienne when he should have. Twice by taking that sergeant man out of the way. Three times by helping her out of the city. “No,” she says. Doerr, 2014: 515 The passage above tells the time when Jutta visits Marie Laure in her laboratory years after the war ended. It is narrated clearly that Werner is a very significant figure for Marie Laure even though he only comes for a while in her life. Werner is narrated as Marie Laure hero for saving her three times. The first is when Werner saved the entire people involved in the resistance by not exposing Etienne’s radio. The second is when he killed Sergeant Von Rumpel a soldier of his country for Marie Laure. The last is when he helped Marie Laure outs of the city during ceasefire though later on he ends up himself getting caught by the local resistance. Werner is narrated as sacrificing so many things for Marie. Those sacrifices are abandoning his mission as a soldier, killing his own people, and gambling his life for not leaving the city as soon as possible because of helping Marie Laure out of the city. Those efforts even put Werner as comparable to a traitor for his own country. He has betrayed his own nation who builds him into a person of dignity by abandoning his mission. Werner, who eventually died in the camp after being caught, is narrated as an unrivalled hero in the novel for Marie Laure.

C. The Framework of Binary Gender Construction Attained from the Gender

Narratives in Anthony Doerr‟ All the Lights We Cannot See. Females

1. Vulnerability

a. Fragility b. Tenderness c. Domestic Works

2. Fear

a. Fear of Death b. Fear of Conflict c. Fear of Loss d. Fear of Pain e. Fear of Stranger f. Fear of Threat g. Fear of Uncertainty 3. Irrationality and Emotional Instability 4. Submission Males

1. Power

a. Strength b. Toughness c. Durability

2. Bravery

a. Bravery to Die b. Bravery to Fight c. Bravery from Loss d. Bravery from Pain e. Bravery to Resist f. Bravery from Threat g. Bravery from Uncertainty

3. Rationality and Intellectuality

4. Heroism

Figure 2. The Framework of Binary Gender Construction from the Gender Narratives in Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See The framework above is the synthesis of the findings in this research. It sums up the narratives of gender found in the novel. It was found out that the constructed gender exist in the text is in binary. Those narratives regarding males and females above were found as the components which construct the binary gender. The discovery of this binary gender is the proof of a patriarchal gender ’s manifestation in society. It reflects patriarchy because the male’s gender is superior compared to the female’s gender. The superiority is indicated through the construction of superior qualit ies that constitute the male’s gender. This, in turn, makes males dominate because they are recognized as beings that embody those superior qualities. On the other hand, this gesture also subordinates females by constructing their gender having the opposite qualities of male’s gender. Lerner 1993:238 suggests that gender is behaviors culturally attached to the sexes. Meanwhile, Butler 1990: 34 claims that gender is performatively expressed. The findings show that the performances of the characters are narrated culturally in the sense of gender. It shows that females are genderly subordinated, while males are genderly ordained. This unequal gender establishment, then, sets up the domination and subordination of females. In patriarchal society, this domination is nurtured through the continuous narration of those patriarchal gender narratives from generation to generation. Females are also continually told and kept into this patriarchal gender construction directly and indirectly . This idea strengthens Lerner’s claim that gender is, then, cultured. Lerner 1993: 212 emphasizes that gender has become part of cultural system. This construction of cultural gender is rigid. It does not allow males or females to adopt or embrace each other qualities by putting them in the mentioned gender boxes. In effect, stereotyping about male and female’s gender arises. This stereotyping becomes a part of the prominent constructors of this patriarchal gender establishment. It preserves the established ideas. It is practiced through the appropriation of characteristics subjected to males and females. People use the term “men” and “women” to address the mentioned gender boxes above. This terms’ making is also intended to normalize and legalize the gender construction. Therefore, men and women are the result of cultural construction of male and female human. Doerr narrates this construction consciously or unconsciously through his characters in a vivid way . The embodiment of the characters’ gender reflects the common or established presumption or stereotype of binary gender in society. This idea is shown through the narration of his characters in the context and setting of war. War shapes how people behave and response to it. Goldstein 2005: 403 extends that war impacts on people’s everyday life, not to mention gender, in significant ways. It means the construction of gender is affected by the initiation of war. The conceptual meaning of war constructs the people’ thought. Thus, the meaning of war is needed to be addressed. The concluding remark from this research is, then, the embodiment of binary gender in Doerr’ All the Light We Cannot See is a result of a patriarchal society which is influenced by the conventional values about war.

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS

A nalyzing Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, the researcher found that the constructed gender in the novel is patriarchal based. This is proved by the narratives of gender embedded in it. Through those gender narr atives, female’s and male’s gender are constructed. Females are found to be subordinated through the construction of binary gender in the novel. Meanwhile, males are found to be top rated through it. This dualism of gender reflects the construction of opposite of qualities between those males and females in the novel. The narratives of the gender can be identified from how characters are built. These characters embody domination and subordination to female viewed from feminist narratology. The narrations of female subordination are depicted by the creation of female figures as figures which embody vulnerability, fear, irrationality and emotional instability as well as submissive behavior. On the contrary, the narrations of male domination are depicted by the creation of male figures as figures which embody power, bravery, rationality and intellectuality as well as heroic behavior. These attached qualities are the pattern which constructs the notion of men and women in Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. This pattern may also possibly be found in society. Men and women are not biological distinguishers rather both of them are the cultural constructs of gender. This creation of binary gender which is