book’s action is imposed upon characters by the ideas of the writer. Her operative word for many of its situations is improbable. She echoes what
various critics of Pramoedya, often those hostile to his political views, have said before: politics stifles artistic beauty and insight. The “desire to
communicate and the urgency of his message,” she says, “have overwhelmed his art.” The girl herself displays the “banner of oppressed Indonesian
womanhood.” In my opinion, what is probable in fictional characters comes, first of
all, from the sociologically truthful. It may appear in spite of the writer’s conscious political beliefs, if he or she is an honest artist. In a successful
work of art, a character can be both individualized and universal, both a shy teenager exposed to abuse and the “banner of oppressed Indonesian
womanhood.” What Freudenberger and many other critics miss is the fact that Pramoedya’s theme is rooted in a century- long social process in
Indonesia, the struggle against imperialism and the mass striving, despite betrayals and setbacks, for an alternative to capitalism. On the whole, the
manner in which this novel portrays the emergence of a dissenting consciousness in an oppressed person feels authentic.
2.4 Theoretical Framework
I use some of the theories stated above to understand more about Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority, and to help me to answers the problem
formulation. The first theory is the theory of character and characterization. I use PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
the theory to understand Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s character, and find out what actually happens to them. The second theory is the feminist literary criticism. It is
used to analyze the position of women in the two novels. This criticism not only brings better understanding on how women are positioned in the novel, but also
brings realization on the role of women. There are ways that I can use to employ the feminist literary criticism in analyzing the two novels. One of
them is by criticising the language which is used by the author to describe women in the two novels. An author lives during certain period of time
among the society, so what he or she writes on the novel represents the society. The background of the author may influence his or her work. The
language of the novel also plays big role in portraying the message of the story in the novel. Language represents meaning, and it explains and also
shows the whole situation of the society. By criticising the language, I can find the culture and its influence toward women’s inferiority during the
period of time. I also employ the sociocultural- historical approach to analyze the influence of culture in Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. By using the theory
of character and characterization, theory of feminist literary criticism, and the sociocultural- historical approach, I can answer the problems formulated in this
thesis. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three parts; namely subject matter, approach, and procedure. The first part, subject matter, is explaining the
focus of this study. The second part, approach, discusses the approaches being used in this study. The third part, procedure, contains the phases that
I used in analyzing the problem formulation.
3.1 Subject Matter
