5 into a living word; in some respects resembling in the world we live in, but with
an individuality of its own” p.163. The novel, Ugly, is an autobiography written by Constance Briscoe,
revealing her own childhood experience with child abuses. It is given the title Ugly as a reflection of the great suffering in author’s childhood, and especially
due to her mother calling her ‘ugly’, despite of having a nicer nick name ‘ClareClarie’. The unfairness and abuse indeed began with this epithet naming.
What was her mother’s motive in calling Clare ‘ugly’, while Clare’s siblings were given better epithet? Clare’s mother seemed to really hate her and felt sorry to
have ever delivered her to earth. The motives of this abuse prompted the writer to further analyze and write a thesis on the novel.
Clare – nickname of Constance Briscoe, the main character as well as the writer of the novel – experienced an extremely hard childhood. She is a victim of
several types of child abuses. It is given to her not only by one person, but also by several other people who are close to her. She is abused and abandoned by her
only mother, and sexually and physically abused by her stepfather and a close friend of her family – and the many kinds of abuses strangles her childhood.
Among her siblings, she is the only one who experienced the abuses. The question is why is she the only child who is abused by these three people?
The perpetrators must have had certain reasons to make her their object of abuse. This question greatly disturbs the writer. Therefore, by analyzing the novel
Ugly, the writer wishes to learn the motivations behind the people who abused
6 Clare in her childhood. This is a very sad and harrowing novel, but it would tell
the sour truth of life.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to study the novel thoroughly – and based on the preceding orientation - three problems are formulated as follows:
1. How are Carmen, Eastman, and Georgie Porgie described in Briscoe’s Ugly?
2. What kinds of abuses have Carmen, Eastman, and Georgie Porgie done to
Clare? 3.
What motivates Carmen, Eastman, and Georgie Porgie to abuse Clare?
C. Objectives of the Study
The goal of this study is to understand the motivations behind child abuse in the novel Ugly. This can be done by answering the three problems formulated
above. The first will describe the characters of the perpetrators. The second will uncover the kinds of abuses done by the described perpetrators. The first and
second problems will lead to the answers to the third problem, the reasons behind the abusive acts done by the perpetrators.
D. Benefits of the Study
This study is done to find out the motivations behind child abuse. The study is aimed to generally benefit all readers, teachers and teacher trainees, and
people who are working on child-abuse-related projects.
7 Personally, by analyzing and discussing this topic, the writer hopes to
understand better the motivations of people doing abusive acts towards children. In the future, when the writer becomes a parent and a teacher, the writer can then
be more careful in taking any actions towards her pupils and children, and the writer can also better reflect and evaluate her own actions as to avoid unaware
andor unintentional child abuse. For English Education teacher trainees specifically, and all teachers
generally, the writer hopes this study will help them to be more sensitive and wise to differentiate a teaching method from an abusive method. By understanding the
motivations behind the abuse, a teacher could give appropriate positive help to students if any abusive actions happened to them. If possible, the teacher can act
as a bridge between abusive parents and their children, as showed in this novel. Since many child abuses take place every day, the writer do hope more
people who are working on projects to help child abuse can benefit from this study. By further understanding the motivations behind an abuse, they can better
understand the perpetrators and find better approaches convince perpetrators to minimize the child abuse.
The writer hopes this study can convey knowledge and information to readers, especially people who are concerned with the child abuse issues.
Understanding the many kinds of abuses can also help people to analyze their own action, to evaluate themselves and their environment, and to find solutions.
Understanding the motivations behind abusive acts will help people to be more vigilant in preventing and minimizing the child abuse.
8
E. Definition of Terms 1. Motivation
According to Murray 1964, motivation is a desire p.7. Motivation in Huffman, Vernoy and Vernoy’s Psychology in Action 1997 refers to “factors
within an individual such as needs, desires, and interests that activate, maintain, and direct behavior toward a goal” p.364.
In this study, the term “motivation” means reasons or causes that drive Carmen, Eastman, and Georgie Porgie to abuse Clare.
2. Child Abuse
Wilson et al 1996 mention child abuse as physical abuse, sexual abuse,
emotional abuse, andor neglect directed against a child p.551. The term is explained further by The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act CAPTA,
1959-2012, describing abuse to mean any recent acts or failures to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional
harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm http:www.childhelp.orgpagesstatistics
.
In additional, The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, as cited from a learning specialist, C. J. Newton, in Mental Health Journal 2001,
describes abuse as the physical injury or maltreatment of a child under the age of eighteen by a person who is responsible for the child’s welfare under
circumstances which indicate that the child’s health or welfare is harmed or threatened.
9 In this study the concept of child abuse is the combination of all those
explanations given above. Child abuse means any abusive treatments, both physically and mentally, for whatever any reasons, done towards Clare during her
childhood.
3. Perpetrator
Based on Wests Encyclopedia of American Law 2008, perpetrator is a term commonly used by law enforcement officers to designate a person who
actually commits a crime. So, in this study, which is focused on child abuse, the word perpetrator is used specifically to refer to a person who performs any
abusive acts toward Clare as described in the novel.
4. Character
Abrams 1981 described character as an imagined person who inhabits a story and it shows a distinctive type of person p.20. In addition, Rohberger and
Woods Jr. 1971 define character as a person who involves and acts out in a story in a particular time and place p.20 – p.21.
In this study, the term character refers to both the person in the story, and the physical characteristics and personality traits of the person in the story. Kalish
1973 explains that personality traits refer to the total individual, including but is not limited to needs, motives, methods of adjusting temperament qualities, self-
concepts, role behaviors, attitudes, values, and abilities p.134 When the term character is used in describing physical appearances and trait of the person in the
story, it is sometimes changed into the word ‘trait’ or ‘characteristic’.
10
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The foundations for answering the research questions, amassed from books and journals, researches and theories, are reviewed in this chapter. This
chapter is divided into three sections: review of related theories, review of related studies, and theoretical framework. Review of related theories consists of four
parts: critical approach, character and characterization, child abuse and theory of motivation. Review of related studies describes some researchers conducted on
the same topic or on the same novel. Meanwhile, the theoretical framework explains the contributions that the reviewed theories make in solving the problems
of this study.
A. Review of Related Studies
In relation to child abuse in Ugly, a prior researcher, Isti’anah 2009 in her thesis entitled The Influences of Childhood Abuse on Clare’s Achievement as
The First Black Female Judge in The United Kingdom in Briscoe’s Ugly analyzes the effects of child abuse on Clare’s future life. She discusses Clare’s personality
and the influences that Clare’s childhood abuses had on her life p.21 – p.44. It is explained there that Clare experienced certain damages in her adult life as a result
of her being abused as a child, for example: the feeling of being unwanted and unhappy in general. The effects of her psychological damages have indeed shaped
Clare’s future.
