Background of the Study
overcome their problems. For example, since the economic crisis in 1998, people cannot maintain their incomes and expenses. Many people, especially women
have worked as labors in factories to support financial problems. However, their salary as labors is still less than the standard money for living. Nowadays, the
condition is getting worse. Because of the increasing price of fuel, many factories are closed and most of the workers are laid off. Lia, one of the labors who has
been laid off decided to be a prostitute. She said that she has dilemma in her choice. However, she realizes that being a prostitute is the best solution she can
find to
cope with
the financial
burdens. http:www.hartford-
hwp.com54212.html We cannot avoid our destiny. However, once we have problems in our life,
we still must continue our path. We cannot stay in the same place. People need to struggle and survive their own life. Sometimes, people can survive in their life
because they have dreams. They want to make their dream come true. Therefore, dream can help them to survive. In Lia’s case, one of the causes for her choice
was because she wants to feed her children at home and be able to send them to school.
Such a condition can also be found in a work of literature such as a novel. According to Hudson, literature is the expression of life through the medium of
language. It can be regarded as something essential since it portrays real life, experiences, people, thoughts and people’s feeling about life 10. A novel can
arouse our feelings and emotions since what exists in a novel are portrayal of human’s real experiences. This is why the most often used word to describe the
2 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
novel is “realistic” Rohrberger and Woods Jr. 29. Therefore, it is clear that characters and struggle of life in a novel are realistic and can exist in our daily
life. One of the authors who has tried to portray human’s life experiences in a
novel as described above is Paulo Coelho. His novel entitled Eleven Minutes tells us a taboo, shocking and difficult subject, namely sex. The story tells about Maria,
a young girl from the interior Brazil whose dream is to find a charming prince in her life to help her overcome all her problems. In the beginning of the story, it is
described that Maria comes from a low class family whose father is only a traveling salesman and her mother is a seamstress. Then, she falls in love with
several men. However, her adolescence gives her bad experiences towards love relationship and sex relationship. Therefore, she tends to see love as the most
painful thing in the world which only brings sadness. Then, her struggle of life begins. She works in a draper’s shop to help her
parents’ financial condition. Then she goes to Switzerland to search for her fortune by chance. She tries all she can do to prove that she can have a better life.
During her journey of life, she works as a prostitute. Furthermore, she finds some crucial things that should be achieved in order to get a better life. Therefore, in her
journey she struggles to find her better life in dealing with her needs. The story is interesting to me because I can see Maria’s problems in life.
From the excerpt of her diary, I can understand Maria’s struggle for her survival. The way she reacts to each problem makes me interested in analyzing Maria’s
struggle for a better life. 3
Secondly, the way Paulo Coelho, the author, creates some problems which are usually faced by people is interesting to discuss. He describes the story in such
a way that Maria, the major character, should deal with her social condition, herself and surroundings. He puts forward some essences of each problem in
Maria’s life. In general, by reading and analyzing this novel, one can learn and
understand how to view the world and behave to oneself. Moreover, Maria, the major character says whether she wants to be the victim of life or become an
adventurer who is searching for treasure. Her choice proves that she wants to struggle for a better life.