Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Humans are all the same; men and women were born equally before society differentiates them based on their political position, physical and biological matter, and characteristics differences as what have been explained by Toril Moi Barry, 1995: 85. Women, who are assumed as weak, emotional, and passive creatures, are treated differently by society that follows patriarchal system since a long time ago. In patriarchal system, women are positioned by society under men authority. The patriarch, has legitimate power over others in the social unit Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 93. Women do not have the same chance to get in to the world which men have. Everything in this world is seen through men’s eyes. The position that society has constructed which is felt to be unfair leads to the term feminism. Feminism is the belief that women subjugated because of their sex and that they deserve equality Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 48. Many feminists deliver their idea about feminism through literary works. Literary works have become a media to deliver what they think related to feminism. There are many ideas about women or men that are delivered or reflected through literature showing the readers about both women and men’s position in society. The representation of women in literature, then, was felt to be one of the most important forms of “socialization”, since it provided the role models which indicated to women, and men, what constituted acceptable versions of the “feminine” and legitimate feminine goals and aspirations. Barry, 1995: 85 Literature has many forms such as poem, short story, drama, novel, etc. Novel has become one of the most well known literary works as its high access among people. Through novel, the reader can imagine and feel the atmosphere delivered. Everyone who read novel, even though the reader is not a literary critic, can enjoy it. However, some basic knowledge is also needed in order to understand a literary work deeply such as novel. Analyzing novel can provide better understanding for the readers about the novel they read. Therefore the writer is encouraged to analyze one feminist literary work, The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve. Feminism has become one movement which develops rapidly Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 48. It develops as feminism represents the major change in social thinking and politics where it questions society’s understanding about men and women and the social structures which maintain their differences Humm, 1992: xi. The influences of feminism can be seen in a range of society, politic and also cultural life. Feminism is likely to occur as a social force in this world which holds patriarchal system Humm, 1992: 1. Literary, patriarchy means rule by the male head of a social unit such as in family or tribes Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 93. According to Walby, patriarchy is a system of social structures and practices, in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women Walby, 1990: 20. In patriarchal system, society believes women become everything which men are not, where men are assumed as strong, rational and active creatures while women are considered as weak, emotional and passive creatures. There is a general statement saying that feminism is the belief that women, purely and simply because they are women, are considered as a weak creature and a second played in a family while the man is the head Gamble, 2004: 7 Weedon states that The term patriarchal refers to power relations in which womens interests are subordinated to the interests of men. These power relations take on many forms, from the sexual divisions of labor and the social organization of procreation to the internalized norms of femininity by which we live. Patriarchal power rests on social meaning given to biological sexual difference. Weedon, 1987: 2 It has been known that a woman is often treated differently under man’s authority. “ Patriarchal society gives absolute priority to men and to some extent limits women’s human rights also. Patriarchy refers to the male domination both in public and private spheres ” Sultana, 2011. It has been constructed and has become a general opinion in the society like what Beavoir says that one is not born as a woman, rather, one becomes a woman Barry, 1995: 85. Related to Beavoir’s statement, Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan state De Beavoir’s discussion makes clear the ways in which gender differences are set in hierarchal opposition, where the masculine principle is always the favoured ‘norm’ and the feminine one becomes positioned as ‘Other’. For de Beavoir femininity can only be defined as lack Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 57. The word “becomes” in Beavoir’s statement implies that women’s position in society is constructed, meaning to say that women are positioned under masculine principles. This happens continously and has become a culture in society. Society, including women and men as its part, consciously or unconsciously has accepted and agreed that women are created lower than men Gamble, 2004: ix. Beavoir also states that society sets up the male as a positive norm and ‘woman’ as the negative, second sex, or ‘Other’. Beavoir claims that society sets up oppositions such as culture or nature, production or reproduction all of which combine to place woman in an inferior position Humm, 1992: 57. To see these facts, feminists come with the belief that women should have the equality as men have. The writer wants to analyze a novel titled The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve, which is a feminist writer. The writer wants to know how the symbol through an action, known as symbolic act, that the main female character does in the novel reflects the idea of social castration, signifying women’s lack of power. The Pilot’s Wife is a novel written by Anita Shreve that is considered as a work of feminist literature. The Pilot’s Wife’s main character is Kathryn Lyons. As a pilot’s wife, she realizes the consequences that might happen to her husband, Jack Lyons. Kathryn is shocked by a man whose name is Robert Hart telling that her husband has died in a crash over the coast of Ireland. Robert is sent to console, protect and keep Kathryn from media who come out with the idea that Jack has committed suicide and has dragged all the people inside the plane with him as what is heard on the CVR recording at just the moment before the explosion. Her life goes fine until suddenly she finds out the truths revealing into the surface in stages about her husband ’s lies after his death. She finds out that sixteen years of their marriage is covered with lies. Her husband, Jack Lyons, has secrets that Kathryn has never known. As a pilot who has a set route, Jack Lyons lives back and forth between two different countries, America and Ireland. This novel tells Kathryn’s journey to find the secrets that her husband has another family, a wife and two children in England. “Do I really know who my husband, the one that I share my life with, is?” begins her journey to find out who her husband really is. The question come up in Kathryn’s mind short after Mattie, her daughter, asks “How do we ever know that we really know a person?” Shreve, 1998: 82. As a wife, Kathryn thinks she knows everything about her husband that she actually never knows. She wants to find out the secrets that her husband has kept from her for sixteen years of their marriage. Through the journey, Kathryn is depicted to struggle with the truth and her realizing of being lack of power. She wants to fight against and defend herself, but what she can do is nothing as she realizes that she has no power under Jack’s authority. Kathryn and Jack’s second wife live under Jack’s power as a husband. The novel shows that women are subordinated under men’s power. In a glance, the title itself has shown feminism, where it relegates to women’s second position in a family instead of relegating to women status as a woman. Through this study, the writer firstly finds the symbols in the story showing that women do not have power. The truth about women’s lacking of power , in this story reffers to Jack’s wives, shows social castration. The lack of power shows the idea of social castration strengthened by penis envy and castration complex theories as penis symbolizes man’s power.

B. Problem Formulation