example, always late for an interview, or something serious like always involved with abusive partners. A problem is considered as a core issue only
if responsible for most or all of the emotional difficulties we have as adults. Core issues include, Low Self Esteem, Insecure or Unstable Sense of
Self, Fear of Intimacy, Fear of Abandonment, and Fear of Betrayal. Low Self Esteem is the believe that someone less worthy than the o
thers and don’t deserve attention, love, or any other form of life’s rewards 2006:16.
Insecure or Unstable sense of self is the feeling of vulnerable and when we may have a tendency to repeatedly change the way we look or behave as we
become involved with different individuals or groups 2006:16. Fear of Abandonment is the unshakeable belief that our friends and loved ones are
going to desert us physical abandonment or don’t really care about us emotional abandonment 2006:16. Fear of Intimacy is the chronic and
overpowering feeling that emotional closeness will seriously hurt or destroy us and that we can remain emotionally safe only by remaining at an
emotional distance from others at all times 2006:16. Besides as a core issue, fear of intimacy also can function as a defense
mechanism. But if this particular defense mechanism occurs continually, then it is probably a core issue.
C. Theoretical Framework
All the theories above will be used to find the answer all of the problems. In this study, the writer will emphasize to analyze the three main characters.
The theory of character and characterization by M.J Murphy is needed to analyze their characteristics. This theory will be used to answer the first
problem formulation. It is really needed in order to get a clear insight about how the main characters are characterized.
In finding main character’ core issues it is important to understand their characters, to understand their characters the writer will analyze it from the
way the character as seen by another, through their speech, their past life, their reactions, personal description, and from the conversation of others. For
example, by analyzing it from the way the character as seen by another, it means the writer will describe Maggie through the eyes and opinion
of Mama
or Dee, instead of describing Maggie directly. By analyzing it through their speech means the writer will give us insight into the characteristic of Maggie
in the short story through what Mama or Dee says. By learning about the character
s’ life, the writer also can give the readers a clue that has helped to shape a character’s characteristic as she is now at present. Through personal
description, we can know a character’s physical appearance. Through the conversation of other characters about a character and the things they say
about her also will give more clues to her character. Also by seeing the character’ reactions to various situations and events, she can show her
characters. The second theory will help the writer to answer the second problem
formulation. By using the Lois Tyson’s psychoanalysis theory the writer can analyze the core issues in each character, and how they cope with it by
analyzing their self - defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character of the three main characters in the story according to the theory. This theory is
taken from Tyson’s book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide Second Edition which has been published in 2006.
According to Tyson the goal of psychoanalysis is to help us resolve psychological problems, often called disorders and none of us is completely
free of psychological problems 2006:12. That is why this theory is needed to answer the second problem formulation. After the writer analyze and
understand the characterization of each character, the writer will be able to analyze the core issues that the characters have, and analyze the defense
mechanisms that are reflected on each character to cope with their core issues by using Tyson’s theory of psychoanalysis.
18
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
“Everyday Use” is a short story by Alice Walker. The story is set in the late 1960s or early 1970s when black American life and identity were
undergoing a radical transformation. In 1960s during the African-American Civil Rights Movement while analyzing the worlds of three black women
spirit worlds and symbols of significance in terms of Feminine Consciousness to project the literature topic of the novel Stacy, 2012. This was a time when
African-Americans were struggling to define their personal identities in cultural terms.
This story was first published in 1973 as part of Walker’s short story collection, In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women.
In 1994, the story was honored by a critical edition published in the Rutgers University Press series “Women Writers: Texts and Contexts.” The
work was reviewed enthusiastically upon publication, and “Everyday Use” has
since been called by some critics the best of Walkers short stories. A film version was released in 2003. The stories in this collection take place in
settings ranging from Walker’s home territory in the American South to the multicultural world of New York City to the east African nation of Uganda.
Walker’s protagonists are portrayed as victims. According to the information that the writer found in Sparknotes,
“Everyday Use” has been seen as standing out from the other stories in the collection, partly because of
the protagonist’s confidence in defending her family’s legacy” SparkNotes Editors, 2007.
According to West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, African Americans struggled to gain equal treatment. In the South, African Americans
had been treated like second-class citizens since the time of slavery Encyclopedia Editors, 2005
. Finally, southern African Americans’ lives were changing. Their expectations were also changing.
According to Katherine Raz’s paper,
the story involves characters from both sides of the entire African American culture. DeeWangero represents the
“new black,” with her natural hairdo and brightly colored clothing. Mama and Maggie remains traditional people, unchanged and unaffected. The characters
never directly mention their feelings about the Americanization of African tradition. By telling the story from the mothers point of view, Walkers
representation of Wangero is seeped in irony. The way Wangero loved her African heritage becomes an exploitation of it Raz, 2005.
B. Approach of the Study
To answer the problem formulation in this study, the writer applies psychoanalytic criticism by Lois Tyson. Psychoanalytic criticism is a literary
approach which useful to understand human behavior. It is the most suitable approach to analyze this short story because according to Tyson in his book
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide second edition, “psychoanalysis concepts have become part of our everyday lives” 2006:11.
Peter Barry in his book Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory,
states that psychoanalytic criticism uses some of the
