shaping the theme and it also mirrors general mood signals of the existing atmosphere as in their Discovering Literature as the following quotation,
…the setting plays a major role in shaping the characters, the action, or the theme of a story… The setting may mirror a prevailing mood… the setting
of a story often shapes character. It helps make people what they are 1997: 35-36.
In line with Guth and Rico, Rohrberger and Woods have similar statement concerning intrinsic elements, character and setting. They state that there is a
close relationship between character and setting. Commonly, the characteristic of a setting in a story may influence the characters. It can even be inferred that the
characteristic pattern of a person will be formed by the condition of his environment. The setting never exists by itself. It explains the characters and
situation and influences the atmosphere 1971: 22. In addition Cleanth Brooks suggests a principle of organic relationship. He
suggests that each part of the story is related to each other. As intrinsic elements related to each other in the need of a story to be becomes a good story. The
character, the setting and the theme are needed to form a good story as well as other intrinsic elements. The quotation below reflects the earlier principle that
Brooks suggests, But the elements of fiction are related to each other, not as blossoms
juxtaposed in a bouquet, but as the blossoms are related to other parts of a growing plant…the flowering of the whole plant, and needs the stalk, the
leaf, and the hidden roots. Brooks, 1998: 758 For that reason, the relation of character, setting, and theme is important to
be understood in order to catch the central idea of a story. In that case identifying and examining the character and the setting give the researcher a big help via
providing a clear scope. With this in mind the two intrinsic elements are sufficient to contribute in concluding the theme of the story, especially in the story with a
dominant character and a thick of setting’s description.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are several stages taken in this study. Its stages reflect the process of finding the answer to the problem formulations in chapter one. To answer the first
formulated problem the researcher used the theory of character. The theory of character enables the researcher to analyze the major character as depicted in the
story. The theory of characterization is used in analyzing the action and speech of the main character in “A Worn Path”. The purpose is to identify Phoenix’s feature
that lead to the finding of the theme or meaning. This deepens the understanding of the characters within story.
The answer to the other intrinsic element in the formulated problem is in the utilizing the theory of setting to identify the setting describing the story. This
identification filters out the setting in to form that easily to be process. After identification and study, to answer the last formulated problem to find the theme
the researcher analyzes the relation between character and setting. In regard to make the study more focus, theory of theme is applied to conclude the theme
through analyzing the connection of the character and the setting that depicted in the previous analysis.
17
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
“A Worn Path” is an American short story written by Eudora Welty in 1940. It was first published at The Atlantic Monthly, an American literary and
cultural magazine in 1941. At the same year the short story wins the second place of O. Henry Award. In 1994 “A Worn Path” is filmed into short film entitled
Eudora Welty: A Worn Path and is directed by Bruce Schwartz. The film wins several awards such as Silver Apple of National Educational Media Network and
Silver Award of Fort Lauderdale Film Festival WorldFest Houston. The story of “A Worn Path” is about an African-American old woman
who takes on journey. Her purpose is to get the medicine at the city for her sick grandson. She passes the shortest yet, encounters a lot of obstacles. Her journey is
cold, long and hard through woods and fields. The obstacles within her route are the people that she encounters and the nature.
B. Approach of the Study
This undergraduate thesis employs New Criticism as the approach. New Criticism which certainly views the literary work as none other than a different
form of language has the relevance to scientific language or philosophical language is at minimum, as Holman wrote in A Handbook of Literature below,
The whole body of criticism that concentrates on the work of art as an object in itself, finds in it a special kind of language opposed to – or at
least different from – the languages of science or philosophy: and examines it through a process of close analysis 1986, 331.
