Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Literature is a creative writing which contains imagination and figurative languages. It is not designed for direct or practical communication Wellek and Warren, 1956: 3. Literature is different from any other writing. In reading and understanding a literary work, someone must do an exploration and contemplation toward the contents, while it is different in reading an ordinary writing. Those things are needed in order to get the ideas of the author. Literature has two functions, as a work of art and a science. The difference is based on the way they are treated. As a work of art, literature is a work or activity done by an artist like a novelist, and a playwright. As a science, literature is discussed by one or who is scholar in literature world Wellek and Warren, 1956: 15. As a literary work, a novel is different from the other literary genres, such as poetry and drama. The novel may amuse the readers or even shock the readers by its story. Moreover, the readers may have their imagination in interpreting what they read. A novel has some elements which cannot be separated. There are intrinsic elements, such as characters, setting, plot, theme, symbols, and so on. Through these elements, there will be problems in the novel. One important aspect in the novel is its theme. There are themes, such as failure, moral, comedy, tragedy, and so on. The theme is the central topic of the study. In this undergraduate thesis, the writer picks failure as the theme of his study. In this undergraduate thesis, the writer uses the novel by Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning. In this novel, the writer tries to discuss the failure of Count Olaf. According to Collins, Concise Dictionary and Thesaurus, failure means someone or something that is unsuccessful Gilmour et al, 2003: 334. In other words, it may be lack of success. A person can fail in achieving something in his or her life; for example, someone who fails to pass examination, marriage, gets a job or effort in gaining something. These examples of failures are some examples of human aspect of life. There are some psychological aspects or factors, which cause people to fail in their lives. Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone said in their book, Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, which one of the primary causes of failure is the negative mental attitude, which is shown in the negative characteristics Hill, 1960: 28. In writing this undergraduate thesis, the writer focuses on the Count Olaf’s failure in the story. The writer tries to point out t he character’s characteristics and point out his failures. This novel begins with the killing of Baudelaire’s parents. Then, all the fortune, inheritance, falls to Violet Baudelaire, as the oldest child. The problem begins when the Baudelaire children is sent to Count Olaf, as their legal guardian. Count Olaf, as the legal guardian instead tries to steal Baudelaire’s fortune. In his effort, he fails in stealing Baudelaire’s fortune. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket is a novel that can be read by children and adult. Children novel is a good novel for children; however, adults may read the children novel also. Peter’s Hunt in Literature for Children: Contemporary Criticism stated that Children’s literature, like any literature, bears examining from the viewpoint of adults reader. Even its child-directed projects reflect adult writer’s intentions and satisfy adult readers’ notion about children’s taste and need, as well as fulfilling the needs of the adults’ societies to which the children belong Hunt 1992: 80 The novel A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket is a children novel, but, it is not only for children, adults may read this novel. The children novel sometimes has unique story that arouse adults want to read the novel. Moreover, this children literature is created by an adult, means that the novel contains idea from the author, which he is an adult. Children literature is a good book for children because the story is suitable for their age. Adults may like children novel because it can arouse their old moment when they were children. In this undergraduate thesis, the writer wants to describe the characteristics of Count Olaf and also point out Count Olaf’s failures in the story. The first point, the writer will identify the characteristics of Count Olaf by looking at his dialogues and acts in the novel. Then, the writer analyzes his failures.

B. Problem Formulation