self-confidence and courage to be emotionally independent without feeling abandoned. However, obsessors come from an unhealthy family in which
the parents are unable to bring the sense of love, respect, approval, and protection. As a result, the child is timid about being emotionally
independent while at the same time tries to gain the unfulfilled love and connection with the parents. To sum up, a person who is deprived of
family love may end up growing up as an emotionally dependent adult with low self-esteem, an excessive hunger for love, and a tremendous
fear of abandonment and separation, thus being the root of obsessive love Forward, 2002: 172-175.
Aside from the actual physical or emotional abandonment and rejection, there is another issue which left a person to feel unloved which
is the characteristic of the parents themselves as is stated below
“There is another form of rejection that can hamper a child’ s self
- esteem, sometimes overt sometimes not, that I find in the family
background of a surprising number of obsessive lovers. This rejection results from parents who withhold approval, who have
such unrealistic expectations that their children never stand a chance to measure up. These parents are invariably domineering,
highly critical, and highly perf
ectionist” Forward, 2002: 180.
iii. Chemical Imbalance
Chemical imbalance in the body is gained as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol, especially, is thought to have
effects on mood and temperament, while distort one’s a
bility to think logically. Depression and feeling overly moody are also common effects
on heavy drinking. Many obsessors have underlying addictive behavior that can worsen their obsessive love, as stated below.
“In addition, many obsessors tend to be c
ompulsive in areas of their lives outside of their love relationships. They often use drugs
or alcohol to deaden their feelings. Alcohol and drugs impair judgement and perception, which seriously undermines the ability
to deal effectively with obsessiv
e behavior and thoughts”
Forward, 2002:196.
iv. Inadequate Role Models
Parents are the role model of their children. Children will likely
follow their parents’ behavior and define themselves by what they see,
much like mirror reflection. Obsessors usually come from homes where at least one parent has addictive behavior and is emotionally unhealthy. Such
parents will unconsciously project poor self image and set a poor example to follow, hence becoming an inadequate role model that plays a part in
the development of the child’ s obsessive love Peabody, 2005: 34, 94.
3. The Relationship between Literature and Psychology
Literature and psychology are two disciplines influencing one another. Some similarities are also found in the two fields as both examining human
experience as individual and as group. Literature can be regarded as an imitation of real life presented in a story. It is because in literature, readers are presented
with characters in certain place and time setting reflecting particular part of life experience.
Psychology has long been used as one of the many tools to analyze literary
works. This is possible since both literature and psychology center on humans’
life experiences, albeit in literature the subject and experience are fictional. Fathali Moghadam in a journal titled
From ‘ Psychology in Literature’ to ‘ Psychology is Literature’ : An Exploration of Boundaries and Relationship
stated that “Freud’ s
particular interpretation of the unconscious, and his psychosexual model of development more broadly, seem especially well suited to analysis intended to
uncover the ‘ real’ motives behind literary text”
http:fathalimoghaddam.com wp-contentuploads2013101256623233.pdf
. The quotation shows an example of how psychological theory can be applied to analyze literary works. By using
suitable theory of the unconscious mind, readers are able to get the real motive of characters as to why they behave in certain ways in a story.
Writing literary work in itself is a psychological process. To be able to write fictional story, authors must use their creativity and therefore elaborate their
cognitive abilities. Louis Dudek in a journal titled The Psychology of Literature stated as follows
“A work of literature is a wonderful, complex, psychological entity. It has
relation, first, to the private biography of the author. It is translated readily, usually by the author himself, into a statement about the problems of his
own age, and of the worlds he lives in. It will be applied, later, to other times and other ages. It is never merely a literal statement or
representation; it is always literary, that is an object of contemplation and
communication”
http:canlit.capdfsarticlescanlit72- Psychology28Dudek29.pdf.
The above quotation suggests that literature and psychology are closely related and influence each other. Not only is literature a product of psychological
process of the authors, but also it provides cultural and historical data that later can be analyzed by using psychological approach to reveal why and how it
happened.
C. Theoretical Framework
The first problem in this study is an understanding about the characteristics of Kemal Basmaci. To get his characteristics, the writer uses theory
of characterization by M.J. Murphy. In his book, M.J. Murphy stated nine ways
which need to be examined closely to get an understanding on a character’ s
characteristics. By applying those nine ways of characterization, the writer is able to answer the first problem formulation.
After the writer finding out the characteristics of Kemal Basmaci, the writer deals with the topic of this study, which is obsessive love. To answer the
second problem related to the symptoms of obsessive love reflected through
Kemal Basmaci’ s attitude and behavior, the writer uses theory of obsessive love
symptoms written by Susan Peabody and Susan Forward. There are nine well- known symptoms of obsessive love that can be seen and analyzed from Kemal
Basmaci’ s daily life. Those symptoms serve as a proof that Kemal Basmaci
actually suffers from obsessive love.
After the symptoms of Kemal Basmaci’ s obsessive love are explained, the
writer uses theory of the causes of obsessive love stated by Susan Forward and Susan Peabody, with additional theory on low self-esteem from Melanie J. V.
Fennell. There are four possible causes of obsessive love presented in the theory books. Those four causes are then used to closely examine the family background
an
d other aspects in Kemal Basmaci’ s life in order to determine the cause of his
obsessive love. Thus, the third problem formulation is answered. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
