5 their literature knowledge. By introducing literature through education, the writer
hopes that literature can give a meaningful contribution for students’ life.
E. Definition of Terms
There are three terms that will be used in this study. Below, the writer provides the definition of the terms to prevent misunderstandings in delivering the
discussions.
1. Conflict
In this study, a conflict is the presence of different objectives, understanding, or aims, between one character to another. According to Wheeler
1998, conflict is a problem of different ideas of life, values, and things in the world between one people and another, one people and a group, or two groups of
people. In this study, there are some conflicts that are experienced by the main character Buck.
2. Motivation
In this study, a motivation is a thing that encourages a character to do something to achieve his goal. According to Petri 1981, motivation is the
concept which is used to express the direction of a particular behavior.
3. Character
Character is the essential thing that builds a literature work. In this study, a character is the subject inside of the story. According to Abrams 1999, a
character is someone with his nature who exists in literature who can be interpreted from his dialogue and his actions. However, a character in literature is
6 not always in a form of human being. This study will analyze the main character
of London’s The Call of the Wild named Buck, which is a dog. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter contains the theories that will be used in this study, namely the theory of psychological approach, the theory of conflict, and the theory of
motivation. These theories will help the writer to guide her in analyzing the novel and answer the two formulated problems.
A. Review of Related Theories
This chapter will discuss the theories which are used by the writer in this study. According to Kennedy and Gioia 1995, there are nine common critical
approaches to the literature, namely the formalist, the biographical, the historical, the gender, the psychological, the sociological, the mythological, the reader-
response, and the deconstructionist. In this study, the writer chooses the psychological one as the approach of the study. Therefore, this chapter will
discuss the three theories, namely the theory of psychological approach, the theory of conflict, and the theory of motivation.
1. Psychological Approach
According to Guerin, Labor, Morgan, Reesman, and Willingham 2005, the psychological approach in literature seeks the psychological condition and
conflicts of the character by looking at literature’s aspects, such as, dialogues, conflicts, setting, motivations, and symbol. The psychological approach for
8 literature seeks to analyze and understand human’s psychological life, character,
behavior, and events that are written in literature. As mentioned before, literature is a work of an author which represents the author himself. By analyzing a work
of literature with the psychological approach, the author’s physical condition can also be known, namely the author’s life, the conflicts, and the motivation that the
author endured in his life. Therefore, through literature work, human’s psychological condition can be understood and learned.
2. Theory of Conflict
According to Hammond 2010, a conflict is a centre issue of a literature work, it makes the story. He also states that while a short story can have one
conflict, a novel can have more than one conflict. Furthermore, he states that there are two types of conflicts, namely
a. Internal Conflict
According to Hammond 2010, an internal conflict is a conflict which exists inside of a character. The conflict itself, for example, is in a form of
morality, fate, desire, and belief. Hammond also states that the only one who can resolve this kind of conflict is the character himself. An internal conflict can
possibly be triggered by someone or something from outside of a character, for example, another character makes a character to question things in his mind.
However, as long as the conflict stays inside of a character, it still called as an internal conflict. Therefore, the meaning of the internal conflict is the struggle and
the opposition which exist inside of a character. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
