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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter aims to answer the formulated problems that have been stated in chapter I. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part describes Eliot
Rosewater’s characteristics as the major character in Kurt Vonnegut’s
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine
based on his view on humanity
.
Meanwhile, the second part analyzes the messages are revealed through the way Eliot views on humanity.
A. Eliot’s Character Characterized Based on His View on Humanity
This section deals with the characteristics of Eliot Rosewater as the main character in Kurt Vonnegut’s
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine.
According to Henkle, major character has fullness of details and becomes the focus of the story 1977: 88. Eliot is the main character since he dominates
the story and he appears from the beginning until the end of the story. The story begins when Eliot inherits the Rosewater Foundation with worth
87,472,033.61. Eliot Rosewater is a member of a rich family and the son of a Republican senator. After serving in the Second World War, Eliot is hospitalized
for war tiredness in Paris, where he meets Sylvia who becomes his wife. Eliot drinks heavily, but he is able to hold his liquor, and for five or six years lives
respectably with Sylvia in a New York townhouse and runs the Foundation from an upscale office. However, his drinking gets out of hand, and his mental health
appears to get worse. He goes to a psychiatrist who treats him for a year in which
22 he remains sober and acts in a normal way, but then the psychiatrist tells Sylvia
that Eliot is too well-defended to be treatable. Soon after, Eliot disappears and goes to his familys home, Rosewater County in Indiana, where he gives small
sums of money to poor people when they ask for help. Sylvia joins him for a while and helps him in his work. However, she leaves afterwards and, for a while,
becomes hard and unfeeling. Eliot is also considered as a round character in the story because he
changes at the end of the story.. In
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine,
Eliot is described as a drunken, fat, and untidy person but loves helping people who cannot help themselves. He is preparing to go to meet Sylvia.
His father visits and is angry with him. After the Senator leaves, Eliot finishes dressing and goes to catch his Greyhound bus. He does not even recognize a
Rosewater Foundation client whom he have been talking to and comforting, almost every day. It is some months later before he comes to himself again.
Eliot’s father is surprised as his son has his athletic body back. His father is there very happy because he believes his son is cured although at first Eliot is does not
want to be treated or to go to a psychiatrist. In order to analyze the characteristics of Eliot Rosewater, the researcher
uses the theory of characterization proposed by Murphy. According to Murphy there are nine ways to find out the description of a certain character in the novel.
Those are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism. In
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