Sympathetic Eliot’s Character Characterized Based on His View on Humanity
27 something Webster, 2006:1390. In the novel, the researcher knows that Eliot is a
sympathetic person because there are some people that in bad situations such as lack of money, he regards them with giving money. It can be seen when Eliot
receives a phone call from a man who is about to commit suicide, Sherman Wesley.
“Sherman Wesley Little,” wrote Eliot. “Indy, Su-TDM-LO-V2-W3K3- K2CP-
RF 300.” Decoded, this meant that Little was from Indianapolis, was a suicidal-tool and-die maker who had been laid off, a veteran of the
Second World War with a wife and three children, the second child suffering from cerebral palsy. Eliot had awarded him a Rosewater
Fellowship of 300 Vonnegut, 1965: 93.
From the explanation above, it can be identified that Eliot is a sympathetic person because he feels sympathy for Sherman Wesley for trying to kill himself as
he has three children, one of which suffers a brain disease. So, Eliot credits him a check with a 300 value to prevent from suicide and Eliot thinks that with the
300 check, it could help him to do a surgery for his child. There is also another part of the story which shows that characteristic of Eliot is a sympathetic person
as follows. The old man wasn’t a drunk or a pervert or anything. He was simply old,
and a widower, and shot full of cancer, and his son in the Strategic Air Command never wrote, and his personality wasn’t much. Booze upset
him. The Rosewater Foundation had given him a grant for morphine, which his doctor prescribed Vonnegut, 1965: 191-192.
From the quotation above, the researcher can identify Eliot ’s characteristic
from his reaction. The author gives a clue by describing how a person reacts to various situations. The narration above gives the researcher a clue how Eliot
reacts when he feels sympathy for what happens to that old man. So, Eliot helps him by giving morphine to reduce the pain from his cancer disease.
28 Eliot’s sympathetic is because he feels sympathy for the condition that
afflicts in the Rosewater Country. He is sympathy because of the condition that almost the factory is run automatically by machines, not only the factory but also
the farms and the mines. Within that condition, it presumes that most of all the people in the Rosewater Country lose their job and it affects their economic
conditions. Therefore, becoming a chief of a foundation, ELiot is willing to help the little people.
“In time, almost all men and women will become worthless as producers of goods, food, services, and more machines, as sources of practical ideas
in the areas of economics, engineering, and probably medicine, too. So —if
we can’t find reasons and methods for treasuring human beings because they are human beings, then we might as well, as has so often been
suggested, rub them out.” Vonnegut, 1965: 210. He started talking to some idlers there about how the government ought to
divide up the wealth of the country equally, instead of some people having more than they could ever use, and others having nothing. Vonnegut,
1965: 43.
From the explanation above, the researcher can conclude that Eliot is a sympathetic person. He feels sympathy, however, he thinks that the government
should be equally divided up the wealth of the people, and he thinks that it is unfair in the way how could be someone born as a rich and some other are born as
a poor. To support how sympathetic Eliot is with the people in Rosewater
Country, it can be seen from the conversation between Eliot and his father. Through that conversation, Eliot tells that if a government divides things up fairly
or if rich person like Eliot shares more about his earnings, at least it gives the
29 people a little hope not to worry about money or anything else because life is
already hard enough. “I think it’s terrible the way people don’t share things in this country. I
think it ’s a heartless government that will let one baby be born owning a
big piece of the country, the way I was born, and let another baby be born without owning anything. The least a government could do, it seems to
me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. Life is hard enough, without people having to worry themselves sick about money, too. There’s
a plenty for everybody in this country, if we’ll only share more.” “And just what do you think that would do to incentive?”
“You mean fright about not getting enough to eat, about not being able to pay the doctor, about not being able to give your family nice clothes, a
safe, cheerful, comfortable place to live, a decent education, and a few good times
” Vonnegut, 1965: 104. From what he says, it can be identified that he feels sympathy about the
poor people which do not have enough for living, such as not having enough money to eat when they are hungry, being unable to pay the doctor when they are
sick, or even being unable to pay for the education. Also, in that conversation, there is a tension between Eliot and his father. Eliot does not like the way the
government or the rich people treat the little people that are less fortune. Moreover, the the factory, farms, or mines in Rosewater Country are mostly being
done automatically by machines so that it makes the people that used to work in that factories, farms, or mines are lose their job and useless. It affects their
economic condition. Now they are difficult to find their earnings and worry to not having any money. Because of his sympathetic feelings, he wants to concern with
the way that the rich people are not willing to share some of their earnings with those people who are in need. Also, because of his feeling of sympathy and the
big sum of money of the foundation so that he wants to help the little people who are way less fortune than him.
30 All the explanation above also supports the idea of how Eliot views
humanity. He feels that if he share a little more of his fortune, it would give them a little hope. So, that those people do not have to worry themselves about money,
especially not to worry about being able to get enough to eat, to pay the doctor, to pay the education, and so on. It is appropriate with the De
an’s and Vanier’s statements, which is in the principle of humanity vision all human beings who
suffer must be helped, wherever they are. In this case, Eliot seems to concern with the societal condition in the Rosewater Country in which some of the people are
born rich and some others are born poor. It makes him feel sympathy with that condition. In addition, most people lose their job because almost all of the
factories, farms, or mines use machines to finish their work. So, his nature is moved to help sharing more of the foundation earnings with those people who are
in need. It is also can be seen when Eliot is trying to help the people, whoever he
sees and whenever they need help. His characteristic is being sympathetic not out of his feeling guilty in the past life by killing unarmed men, but he is trying to
atone his own guilt by being kind and helping each other people. It is accordance with the Vanier’s second principle of humanity, which is our world and our
individual lives are in the process of evolving, how we think about the way we looked at things in the past, and learning about how those things in the past live in
the future. Things like peace, love, unity, and especially the necessity of forgiveness.
It can be concluded that Eliot’s feeling guilty in the past gives him a
31 learning that as a human being people should bringing peace and love, instead of
making a war. Furthermore, Debbarma states that such humanity can be driven home
only by recognizing human values such as truth, kindness, benevolence, peace, love, dignity, respect, forgiveness, etc. 2014:2. In this case, there is such as a
person who is being ungrateful gets helped by Eliot, for example Noyes Finnerty. Eliot shows him forgiveness for being ungrateful by not take it personally. Also,
he still has the desire to help other people, and people as human beings are supposed to help each others, which is considered as human nature.
Eliot’s sympathic also can be seen from the way he becomes attentive. Eliot
’s attentive is being a good listener by listening to those people’s problem tirelessly. From his office in Rosewater, Eliot answers phone calls and accepts
visitors that need his help, it could be financial or merely his listening ear. The office has signs in the windows and in the door proclaiming ROSEWATER
FOUNDATION HOW CAN WE HELP YOU? Vonnegut, 1965: 62. Besides that, there is also a sticker with the sign ‘Don’t Kill Yourself. Call the Rosewater
Foundation’ in every phone booth and in the back windows of the cars and trucks of firemen including
the foundation’s number in it Vonnegut, 1965: 90. “There’s this big black and yellow sticker in the phone booth. Says, ‘Don’t
Kill Yourself. Call the Rosewater Foundation,’ and it got your number.” Such stickers were in every phone booth in the country, and in the back
windows of the cars and trucks of most of the volunteer firemen, too Vonnegut, 1965: 90.
In other words, Eliot focuses on the needs of the poor with more private, personal, and intimate character than the very public and an impersonal act of
32 donating large sums of money to various causes. The example is when Eliot
receives a phone call from a fretful man, Sherman Wesley. “Mr. Rosewater—“ said a fretful man, “you don’t know me.”
“Did someone tell you that mattered?” “I’m nothing, Mr. Rosewater. I’m worse than nothing.”
“Then God made a pretty bad mistake, didn’t he?” “Maybe you brought your complaint to the right place.” Vonnegut, 1965:
90. The conversation above shows that Wesley has brought his complaint to
the right place. It shows that Eliot is ready to be the ear to Wesley’s problems.
Along with the conversation, he asks too many questions. Some of the questions are making-sense and some others are nonsense, but Eliot still answers his
question clearly. Later, Eliot finds out that he is about to commit suicide. “Maybe you think it’s funny to put up signs about people who want to
commit suicide.” “Are you about to?”
“And what if I was?” “I wouldn’t tell you the gorgeous reasons I have discovered for going on
living.” “What would you do?”
“I’d ask you to name the rock-bottom price you’d charger to go on living for just one more week.” Vonnegut, 1965: 91.
From what he says, it shows that Eliot is giving Wesley some money so that he can go on living. Eliot thinks that by giving money to Wesley, it would
give him a hope and prevent him from committing suicide. The description of Eliot as a attentive can be seen from his speech. It is
supported by Murphy, who states that one’s character can be seen when a
character speaks, has conversation with others, and puts forward an opinion 1972:
164. Eliot’s characteristic as a good listener is depicted from his speech in the following quotation:
33 “The electricity is after me again, Mr. Rosewater. I had to call I’m so
scared” “Call anytime you want, dear. That’s what I’m here for.”
“The electricity is really gonna get me this time.” “Oh, darn that electricity.” Eliot’s anger was sincere. “That electricity
makes me so mad, the way it torments you all the time. It isn’t fair.” “I wish it would come ahead and kill me, instead of just talk about it all
the time.” “This would be a mighty sad town, dear, if that ever happened.”
Vonnegut, 1965: 71-72.
The conversation between Eliot and Diana Moon Glampers proves that he is a good listener. It happens when there is a thunderclap. Diana is yelling for
help, and she is scared with a thunderclap because the thunderclap has killed her mother and father at a Rosewater Lumber Company picnic in 1916. Eliot’s good
listener towards Diana is depicted by his willing to listen to all of what Diana says about her problems. Since Eliot is with all of the people, therefore he tries to
comfort her by accompanying her talking all time to distract her trembling of a thunderclap. Also, her kidneys hurt all the time. She is already old and also ugly,
stupid, and boring, too dumb to live. That is why she surely thinks that the thunderclap would kill her.
“My kiddleys hurt me all day, Mr. Rosewater. They feel like a red-hot cannonball full of electricity was going through them real slow, and just
turning round and round, with poisoned razorblades sticking out of it.” “That can’t be very pleasant.”
“It ain’t.” “I do wish you’d go see a doctor about those darn kidneys, dear.”
“I did. I went to Dr. Winters today, just like you told me. He treated me like I was a cow and he was drunk veterinarian. He said my kiddleys
trouble was all in my head. Oh, Mr. Rosewater, from now on you’re the only doctor for me.”
“I’m not a doctor, dear.” “I don’t care. You’ve cured more hopeless disease than all the doctors in
Indiana put together.” Vonnegut, 1965: 73.
34 From the conversation above, it can be seen that Eliot listens carefully to
what she explains about her kidneys ill. Eliot also suggests going to a doctor to check-up her illness. In fact, she has already gone to see a doctor, but not satisfied
with the doctor’s service. She says that she is being treated as a cow and her kidneys ill is not cured. Instead, she says that Eliot is the only doctor for her. Eliot
considers that he is not a doctor, but she insists on it. She thinks that Eliot is giving her and all of those people hope just by listening tirelessly to her problems
or their problems. Eliot’s characteristic as a good listener following his idea about humanity.
It is also supported with the fourth principle of humanity stated by Vanier, which human needs to be encouraged to make choices. In this case, it is shows when
Eliot encouraged Wesley to not commit suicide, and living on life by giving him some money. Far from giving people money, however, the people sometimes not
just only need money but also they need to be loved, cared, and understood. Eliot thinks that with being a good listener and listened tirelessly to their problems, it
would give them love and hope. “Listened tirelessly to… people who… would have been better off dead,
gave them love” Vonnegut, 1965: 53. In can be seen from the ways Eliot encourages Diana to not afraid about the thunderclap, and
also encourages her to go to see a doctor to check her kidneys.