Review of Related Theories

As the relationship between literature and psychology is closely established, it can be said that the analysis of literary works may reflect certain psychological factors. This undergraduate thesis explores one of psychological subjects. That is the self-actualization. 3. Theory on Self-Actualization Theory on self-actualization is related with hierarchy of needs that is stated by Abraham Maslow in Duane Schultz’s Growth Psychology: Models of the Health Personality Schultz, 1977: 60-63. These are the hierarchy of needs: a. Physiological needs: these needs such as hunger, thirst, and shelter. This is the first level of the hierarchy. When these needs are met, the next need of the hierarchy emerges as a dominant force in controlling and directing behavior. b. Safety needs: these needs can be seen in people’s preference for familiar surroundings, secure jobs, saving accounts, and insurance. c. Love needs: these needs are the most common basis for behavioral problems in our society. These needs involve a hunger for affectionate relationships with others, a need to feel part of a group, or a feeling that one belongs. d. Esteem needs: the need for self-esteem motivates the individual to strive for achievement, strength, confidence, independence, and freedom. The related need of esteem from others involve a desire for reputation, status, recognition, appreciation by others of one’s abilities, and a feeling of importance. e. Self-actualization: when one has satisfied the first four levels of need, the final development, it is self-actualization, can be reached. At the self-actualization PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI level, the person’s behavior is motivated by different conditions than at the lower levels. Abraham Maslow in Duane Schultz’s Growth Psychology: Models of the Health Personality states that Self-actualization can be defined as the supreme development and the use of all our abilities, the fulfillment of all our qualities and capacities. We must become what we have the potential to become. Even though the lower-order needs are satisfied-we feel secure physically and emotionally, have a sense of belonging and love and feel ourselves to be worthy individuals-we will feel frustrated, restless, and discontent if we fail to attempt to satisfy the need for self-actualization. If that happens, we will not be at peace with ourselves and cannot be described as psychologically health 1977:64. Maslow in Duane Schultz’s Growth Psychology: Models of the Healthy Personality Schultz, 1977: 69-78 illustrates a number of specific characteristics that describe self-actualizing persons: i. Self-actualizing persons perceive objects and persons in the world around them objectively. They have an efficient perception of reality that enables them to perceive reality as it is. ii. Self-actualizing persons acquire a general acceptance of nature, others, and oneself. It is a matter of accepting one self, their shortcoming, and their strength; without complain or worry. iii. Self-actualizing persons are those who attain spontaneity, simplicity, and naturalness in behaving. They do not have to hide their emotion but can display them honestly. iv. Self-actualizing persons have a focus on problems outsides themselves. They give concerns on the works they are doing. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI v. Self-actualizing persons have need for privacy and independence. They have a strong need for detachment and solitude. Their behaviors and feelings are strongly self-centered and self-directed. It means that they have the ability to make up their own minds, reach their own decisions, and exercise their own motivation and discipline. vi. Self-actualizing persons are autonomous functioning. This is a simple first step toward self-actualization. If a person is an autonomous functioning, she or he has realized that satisfaction of the growth motives comes from within. vii. Self-actualizing persons have a continued freshness of appreciation. The self- actualizing persons continually appreciate certain experiences, no matter how often they are repeated, with a fresh sense of pleasure, awe, and wonder. They take little for granted but continue to be thankful for what they possess and can experience. viii.Self-actualizing persons experience mystical, or “peak” experiences. It is when the self is transcendenced and the person is gripped by a feeling of power, confidence, and decisiveness, a profound sense that there is nothing he or she could not accomplish to become. ix. Self-actualizing persons concern in social interest. They possess strong and deep feelings of empathy and affection for all human beings, as well as a desire to help humanity. x. Self-actualizing persons acquire the interpersonal relations. They are capable of stronger relationship with others than are persons of average mental health. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI They are capable of greater love, deeper friendship, and more complete identification with other individuals. xi. Self-actualizing persons have democratic character structure. There is no certain limitation on building relationship with people, such as social class, level of education, political or religious affiliation, race or colour. They hold the essence of equality that every person has the same opportunity to know others. xii. Self-actualizing persons are capable to recognize discrimination between means and ends, between good and evil. The self-actualizing persons hold that they are enjoying the process of achieving something as well as the goal they achieve. Therefore, they give consent both on the means and the ends. In additional, they have well-defined understanding on good and evil so that they cannot easily be influenced by the confusing situation that enables them to make decisions. xiii.Self-actualizing persons acquire unhostile sense of humor. This characteristic deals with the ability of persons in making fun of humanity in general, not in specific individuals. xiv. Self-actualizing persons can present his or her creativeness. This means that they are original, inventive, and innovative, although not always in terms of producing an artistic creation. It is more of an attitude, an expression of psychological health, and is concerned more with the way people perceive and react to the world than with finished products of an artistic nature. xv. Self-actualizing persons have resistance to enculturation. They are able to resist social pressures to think or act in certain ways. They maintain an inner detachment, an aloofness from their culture, guided by themselves rather than by others. Maslow in Petri’s Motivation: Theory and Research comes to conclusion that there are actually two types of self-actualizing people, differentiated in regard to peak experiences. Some self-actualizing persons rarely have peaks experiences, while others experience peaks so much more often. Those self-actualizing individuals that experience peaks are called trancenders or peakers, and those who do not are called nontrancenders or nonpeakers. Both peakers and nonpeakers share all of the characteristics of self-actualization with the exception of the frequency of peak experiences. Peakers think and talk in language concern with honesty, truth, beauty, perfection, and soon 1981: 310. Self-actualizing person live in a way that they believe is best for their own growth and fulfillment regardless of what others may think. Maslow does not consider self-actualizing person as a perfect individual Morris, 1990: 515. It tends to say that self-actualizing people is those who is capable to discover, maintain, and develop themselves. Carl Roger raises another theory of self-actualization. He shows that self- actualization is a process of becoming oneself, of developing one’s unique psychological characteristics and potentialities. He believes that humans have an innate urge to create and that the most important creative product is one’s own self. The tendency to actualize, as a motivating force is much stronger than the pain and struggle and any accompanying urge to cease the effort to develop Shultz, 1977: 27. S.I Hayakana also implies in his book Symbol, Status, and Personality that a self-actualizing person never allows convention to obstruct him or restrain him from doing anything that he assumes very important and basic 1950: 56. According to the three theories raised by Maslow, Rogers, and Hayakana, Self-actualization is the process in which a person tries in recognizing his or her own self, developing the abilities, personal uniqueness, and actualizing his or her potentials as a human being that is capable of becoming what he or she wants to achieve. Those theories mainly emphasize that each person has their own uniqueness, abilities, talents, skills, potentials that are different one another. Self- actualization is not the final destination of a perfect personality. Maslow shows that it is one of the characteristic of a healthy personality’s person. The self-actualization is revealed when a person has his or her own uniqueness, abilities, and potentials which are very different from other people and he or she is capable in doing or becoming something by using all his or her capabilities. The writer applies the theory on self-actualization by Abraham Maslow to show the characteristics of the self-actualizing person as the continuation of the analysis of the characteristics of the character, Morrie Schwartz, and how Morrie Schwartz’s self-actualization can be revealed by looking at his characteristics.

C. Theoretical Framework

In this part, the writer will apply two theories, theory on character and characterization, and theory on self actualization. Then, the writer will use the relation between literature and psychology. Theory on character and characteristics will be used to describe the characteristic of Morrie Schwartz, the character that will be analyzed. By understanding and applying the relationship between literature and psychology, the writer understands that literature has a strong relationship with psychology. Since this study is related with psychology, the writer is going to combine both literature and psychology when analyzing this study. The main theory of this study is theory on self-actualization. The writer focused on theory of self-actualization by Abraham Maslow. Theory on self- actualization shows that self-actualization is the level that can be reached after human needs are satisfied. This theory will show how the characteristics of the main character, Morrie, reveal his self-actualization.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

In this undergraduate thesis, the novel Tuesdays with Morrie is used. It is a biographical novel written by Mitch Albom and published in New York by Doubleday in 1997, first edition. The book is interesting because of the way in telling story. The way is showed when reading the book; there are some items that are like class matters, such as the curriculum, the syllabus, and the student. Those things make the reader feel that he or she will attend a new class and the novel is the book which will be used in the class. In addition, Tuesdays with Morrie is also rewarded as “The New York Times” best-seller list for two years running with the five million copies in print. It has been translated into 30 languages in 34 countries. Besides Tuesdays with Morrie , Mitch Albom also writes Bo, Fab Five, Life Albom I-IV, and The Five People You Meet in Heaven: Tuesday with Morrie continues with making the film of it. As the result, Alboms get Emmy Awards in 2000 including those for “Best Actor” and “Best Supporting Actor”. Then, he makes its theatrical version, which comes closely on the heels of a successful paperback released http:www.albom.comindex.htm accessed on 6 October 2006. Therefore, it shows that this novel has succeeded touching many people’s hearts. This study will focus on the character of Morrie Schwartz. He is in wheelchair; the Lou Gehng’s disease has taken Morrie’s legs. It is in August 22 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 1994; the doctor says that Morrie has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ALS, a brutal, unforgiving illness of neurological system. Morrie is dying because there is no medicine for this dead disease. It is the first Tuesday of their meeting. It is just like when they meet as a student and a professor in class. Mitch brings a tape recorder for the conversation. He thinks the tape recorder will make Morrie uncomfortable, but in the other hands, Morrie wants all the things that they talk about are recorded because he does not want all important things in this life lose and their conversation only becomes useless. They take the place for talking in Morrie’s bedroom, but Morrie is sitting in his wheelchair because Morrie says that we are dead if we are in bed. That is why Morrie is not in bed to show that he still has spirit to live. They talk about the meaning of life, all the things that they cannot pay with wealth, fame, power, and prestige. They talk about death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, perfect day and many more. On the first Tuesday, they talk about the world. “The world” where people live, but they cannot really own what they want. The second Tuesday, they talk about “feeling sorry for yourself”. When they are talking, Morrie suddenly drops his tears on cheeks. It is the second time that Mitch sees his professor crying. The first time Mitch sees him crying is when he graduates from his university. Actually Mitch does not understand why his professor is not shamed to cry in front of him. Mitch himself never cries although he often interviews the victims of disaster, the family of the death man, etc. However, Morrie says to him that it is fine for men to cry if they feel sorry for themselves. Crying is not only for women. Crying is one of the ways to make people feel sorry.

B. Approach of the Study

In order to have a profound analysis on Mitch Albom novel Tuesdays with Morrie , this study applies psychological approach as the appropriate approach to deal with the self-actualization depicted in the character of Morrie Schwartz. Rohrberger and Woods 1971: 31 define psychological approach as follows Psychological approach is the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns, but from a different body of knowledge that is psychology. This approach uses the psychological theories to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior patterns written in literary objects. The definition above about psychological approach will help the writer to explain Morrie Schwartz’s characteristics. The analysis will focus on the characteristics of Morrie Schwartz. The characteristics will show how the character, Morrie Schwartz, is presented in the story. Moreover, analysis will concern with the revelation on the self-actualization of the character, Morrie Schwartz, is showed to present himself as psychologically healthy human being that is capable of developing himself. Therefore, psychological approach is the most appropriate approach in this study.

C. Method of the Study

In this undergraduate thesis, the method that was used was library research. The primary source was the novel itself, Tuesdays with Morrie. The