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life is poignantly developed throughout the book” Raymond Mathiesen.
Apart from those comments, however, there was few negative criticism toward the content of this book as well. As Bookworm, the initial name
of one of the readers implied, the never ending circle of repeated plot an antagonizing conflict that the main character faces actually frustrated the readers.
The sounds of the “mystery train” that only Luke could hear seems bewildering in some senses likewise. It might bring the readers throughout the bias gap
between reality and imagination, though. An essay entitled “Adolescent – Identity and Depression” stated that
adolescents are often confused as to what their parents expect of them and feel like they are always complaining about something. “Depreciation, rejection and
the inability to live up to high parental expectations can cause significant loss of self-esteem and trigger reactive depression in adolescents” McCoy.
Another similar study about adolescent’s psychological aspect was also found in an article, particularly one which was related to social pressure:
Resisting such pressure is more complex than it appears. It requires that adolescents think about the possible consequences of their
behavior, and that they feel emotionally strong enough to risk rejection by a peer or friend. It also requires a sense of empathy for the person
applying the pressure, and the ability and self-confidence to propose different behavior Dr.Kutner.
However, this study develops something new and different from the other studies since those studies mentioned above tend to focus on psychological
subject. It is true that this study also deals with psychological subject but this one
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focuses more on the relation between the title i.e. the influence of social pressure among adolescents on Luke’s psychological aspects of life, either in the way of
acting or thinking as found in Judith Clarke’s Night Train.
C. Theoretical Framework
To conduct this study, some theories are applied. The theory used firstly in this study is the theory of literature, including theory of character,
characterization, and critical approaches. This theory of character and characterization will help me to determine the characterization of the main
character. By using these theories, we can figure out the character’s personality, action, and way of thinking. The next theory deals with several critical
approaches used to analyze any literary studies The second part of this chapter is the theory of psychology. Here I
present several supporting theories, not to mention theory of personality by Sigmund Freud, theory of motivation proposed by Maslow, and also the other
additional explanations about adolescent development, self-esteem, social pressure. These theories are in some senses necessary to answer the second
problem formulation presented in this study. By using theory of adolescent development and social pressure as the main tool, the influence of social pressures
towards adolescent’s psychological life, which in this case is represented by the figure of Luke, can be deeply analyzed and elaborated. The other theories such as
theory of personality, motivation and self esteem are therefore used as a base to
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support the analysis, particularly which is related to the deep character of Luke itself.
Those theories provide me with lots of contribution in such a way that it gives me knowledge and information needed to conduct this study. The
information can be used to elaborate and strengthen the study, and also give me better understanding towards the theory and the study as well.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter includes three sections. The first part deals with the subject of this study. The second part concerns with the literature approaches used
to answer the problem formulation. Next is the method of the study, which deals with the methodology, sources, steps and process in conducting this thesis.
A. Subject of the Study
This thesis studies the novel Night Train. The novel was written by Judith Clarke, a well-known Australian novelist. It was published by Penguin
Books, Australia in 1998. This book consists of 171 pages and 26 chapters. This novel is a fiction. It merely tells about an eighteen-year old boy,
named Luke Leman who seems to be under such pressures of his surroundings such as parents, friends, and school problems. Threatened at school, pressured by
his parents, paralyzed by anxiety about his final exams, Luke begins to doubt himself. His psychological mind is gradually irritated. He begins to suffer from
such hallucination, which leads him to hear the sounds of a train at night. No one else hears it or even believes that the train exists. Tragically, his mental problem
