Ama and Popo are awaiting the arrival of Di-Gou whom they have not seen for thirty years. As they wait, the women discuss the atrocities of the
Communists that affected their little brother. The family descended from the great Chinese Christian evangelist See-goh-poo and they anticipate hearing Di-Gou
repeat his fervent testimony. However, when Di-Gou arrives, he disavows ever being Christian. He confides to Popo’s grandson, Chester, that to establish a true
American identity, he must believe the stories “written on his face” and these stories reflect many generations.
Ama and Popo organize a family devotional and invite him to witness for Christ, but then the family argument appear. They physically force him to believe
in God again. The scene changes something like the Chinese opera where Di-Gou rises up speaking in tongues, the gas grill bursts into flame, and Chester, Di-Gou’s
nephew, interprets the revelation. From the main characters of the story and its content, the writer chooses
Family Devotions as the object of his thesis because the writer can get and learn something valuable more than the work itself that is, by the possible messages
appear in the story. The second reason for choosing David Henry Hwang’s Family Devotions is the story offers the realities of human beings, the value of a family
such as we have to remember and take a good care our own family. Therefore, this story can open the writer’s mind toward world and life.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background above, the writer formulates three problems presented in this study that lead to the further discussion of the topic. Dealing with
the characters of the story, the problems can be formulated as follows: 1. How are the main characters described?
2. What are the conflicts faced by the main characters? 3. What are the messages revealed through the way the characters face the
conflicts?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study is intended to answer the questions stated in the problems formulation. Related to the questions, the aims must be stated as follows:
First, it is to explain how the main characters are described - Ama, Popo, and Di-Gou. Second, to find and explain the conflicts that faced by the main
characters. And the last, it is to discover the messages revealed through the way the characters face to conflicts.
D. Definition of Terms
To understand the study of revealing the possible messages through the main characters and the way they face their conflicts, it is important to give a
clarification of the terms used in the discussion. The clarification is needed to avoid misunderstanding and ambiguity and to obtain a clear understanding on the
study.
1. Character. According to Abrams, in A Glossary of Literary Term, the character is the
person presented in a dramatic or narrative work that are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed
in what they say – the dialogue and what they do – the actions Abrams, 1981: 20. It means that the character in a story should have moral and natural qualities
of mind and it can be found out in their dialogue and action. The characters will have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from
other characters. 2. Conflict
In A Handbook to Literature, Holman and Harmon define conflict as: “The struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces in
the plot. Conflict may be an argument between opposing forces, like man against man, nature, fate, society or perhaps the internal one between the
two opposing parts of man’s personality” 1986: 107. It can be said that conflict is a state of discomfort cause by someone’s
ideas, desires, wishes, or will that are incompatible between individuals, society, or someone’s external and internal demands. The situation can happen because of
someone’s hope that are incapable of existing together in agreement or harmony with a person or a society.
3. Message
Message is defined as an idea that someone tries to communicate to people. It is also the meaning, thought, or idea that is intended to express
Sinclair, 1956 : 490.
Kenny 1966:89 says that message can be seen as one form of the theme in simple form, but not all themes are considered a message. Message becomes
one of the elements that makes or form a theme. The example of message can be informed of valuable of words, advice, and God’s commandment as guidance to
give advice and the like. Another definition of message comes from Beaty and Hunter in New
World of Literature as they said that message is the real meaning or some easy conclusion that can be simply stated or summarized inside a work of art
1989:889. In this study the author thinks that the second opinion of messages from Beaty and Hunter is more suitable to the analysis.
8
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this chapter the writer focuses on various studies and theories related to the literary work discussed. It includes the reviews from many critics and
theory of character and characterization, theory of conflict, and theory of message.
A. Review of Related Studies
The first study comes from In Marta Nelly’s minor thesis, “Symbols that Reflect the Main Character Named Coco in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby”. In her
thesis, Nelly tries to analyze the symbols that reflect the main character, Coco, in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby. There are three objectives of this study, namely to
describe how Coco is described as the main character in the novel, to describe how a cat, Coco’s novel, and the yin yang are depicted in the novel, and to
identify how the cat, the novel, and the yin yang symbolize Coco. In the analysis, she finds out that Coco is described with five main
characteristics, namely strong, having both good and wild sides, independent, romantically active, and strongly connected to her loved ones. These descriptions
are shown in her life since she was in university until now. As the answer to the last problem formulation, the cat, the novel, and the Yin Yang are depicted as
symbols that reveal Coco as the main character.
