g. Dealing Constructively with Frustration One of the major signs of maturity is the increasing ability to delay the
gratification of psychological needs and to control or tolerate considerable amounts of disappointment, deprivation, anxiety, and frustration in general. As the adolescent
becomes better able to cope with and solve his or her conflicts, he or she advances toward the attainment of maturity. From his or her past frustration, a mature person
should be able to examine and draw positive lessons for future activities. He or she learns ways to express his or her drives and emotions without hurting others or
himself. In dealing constructively with frustration or other emotional experiences,
Bukatko in Child and Adolescent: A Chronological Approach adds that a mature person is a person who has developed emotional self-efficacy.
For many children , the various facets of emotional development culminate in a more mature state of emotional self-efficacy, the ability to accept and feel in
control of one’s emotion. Well-adjusted individuals are able to handle challenging emotional encounters with an appropriate emotional tone. They
accept their emotional experiences, both good and bad, and feel they are able to manage them. Emotional challenges are met with a sense of wanting to
move forward in a positive way 2008: 532.
It means a mature person knows how to act properly in certain circumstances by successfully managing the good and bad emotional experiences so that he or she can
be a better person. He or she is also able to perform more proper emotional tone. h. Willingness to Assume Adult Responsibilities
The author points out that a young adult needs to develop his or her abilities and readiness to assume personal responsibilities pertaining to his or her status, duties
and obligations. Frequently willingness to assume responsibilities involves sacrifice and courage on the part of the young person. He or she must learn to overcome fear
of failure, disregard moods and feelings of disgust or apathy, and ignore cutting comments from his or her peers when his or her responsibilities must be solved in a
rational manner. i. Perceive moral character
The author states that when a number of ethical and moral principles are assimilated and start acting as effective behavior organizers, people begin to show
character, which is one of the ultimate indicators of advanced maturation and of adult personality. The morally mature person guides himself in terms of assimilated moral
standards and goals. For instance, a mature person uses self-control by replacing an unacceptable thought or desire with a more acceptable one.
5. The Relation of Literature and Psychology
In a journal New Literary History, Marie-Louise von Franz states about the relation between psychology and literature in her article Analytical Psychology and
Literary Criticism. She states that “it is inevitable that psychology should deal with literature, since both spring from the same womb: the human psyche”
http:www.jstor.org. From Franz’s statement, it can be said that analyzing literature can be done through psychological theory, since literature and psychology come from
the same source, which is human psyche. In addition, Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature also states three different stages in literary work in
applying psychological theory which are the author, the characters and the readers 2011 : 22.
C. Theoretical Framework
The aim of this part is to answer the problems which are presented in the problem formulation. The writer applies some theories and approach in this study.
Theories on character and characterization are used in the analysis of this study to explain how the character is developed throughout the story. Theories on character
and characterization are applied in the analysis of this study in helping the thesis writer attains better understanding of Josephine Alibrandi’s characteristics. Theories
on conflict is applied in this study to understand more about the conflicts experienced by Josephine. Theories on maturity are applied in this study for revealing Josephine’s
changing characteristics and indicate them as being mature.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel titled Looking for Alibrandi which is written by Melina Marchetta, a well-known Australian author who is best known as an author
of young adult literature. Most of her books are centered in the life of a young adult such as Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road, Finnikin of the Rock, The Piper’s
Son and Looking For Alibrandi. The latter is a novel that launched her writing career in Australia and internationally. As a whole, the novel, which was first published in
1992 by Orchard Books, consists of 261 pages and 32 chapters. Some other editions have been published years later after the first edition and the edition that is used in the
study is the one which was published in 2006 by Alfred A. Knopf in New York. Marchetta’s debut novel, Looking for Alibrandi, is known as a modern classic
and was made into a successful feature film. The story takes place in Australia while the main character is a seventeen-year-old girl from an Italian descent who born and
grow up in Australia. Since she comes from Italian descent, she is trapped in confusion between her identity as an Italian or Australian. Moreover, since she was
born out of wedlock and her parents are not married since then, many of her schoolmates talk behind her because of her status of being illegitimate child. Besides
having problems with her family, she also experiences various problems with her school’s friends and her suicidal friend.
Since its release, Looking for Alibrandi had sold more than half a million copies worldwide and had been published in 14 countries. It is also one of Melina
Marchetta’s works that achieved many critical acclaimed and won literary award for young adult fiction which won Book of The Year Award Older Readers from
Childrens Book Council of Australia in 1993 www.puffin.com.au. Looking for Alibrandi is a great success therefore a film was made in 2000 based on the novel and
Melina Marchetta wrote the screenplay for the film. Marchetta also received several awards from this film which won Best Screenplay-Adapted from Film Critics Circle
of Australia in 2000, won Script Writing Award from New South Wales Premiers Literary Awards in 2000 and won Best Adapted Screenplay from Australian Film
Institute Award in 2000 www.puffin.com.au. Looking for Alibrandi covers challenging issues in adolescence’s life in
Australia such as identity, realization, maturity, family, cultural differences, suicide and social pressures. It generally tells about the changes of the main character,
Josephine Alibrandi, who grows and becomes more mature in her way of thinking and seeing things in her life. It is the story of Josephine Alibrandi’s experiences at
school, her relationships with friends and family during her last year at St Martha’s, and Josephine’s struggle with her Italian-Australian identity because she feels she
does not belong to anywhere. Despite all the distress and conflicts that she experiences, this is the year Josephine realizes that she needs to face up to who she is
in order to find where she fits into the lives around her.
B. Approach of the Study
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature offer five types of critical approach that can be used to examine the literary works. They are
formalist, biographical, socio cultural historical, mythopoeia, and psychological approach 1971: 13. The approach which is used in this study is the psychological
approach, an approach to literature that involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent pattern, and which refers to a different body of knowledge, that is
psychology. It involves various theories of psychology to explain the personality of the character in the story and that each character’s behavior could be referred to the
psychology of human being. This approach is applied when the attention is focused on psychological interpretation for enhancing the understanding and appreciation of
literature. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction,
Poetry and Drama state that psychological critics hold the belief that great literature truthfully reflects life and it is a realistic representation of human motivation and
behavior. Psychological critics may choose to focus on the creative process of the artist, the artists motivation or behavior, or analyze fictional characters motivations
and behaviors http:home.olemiss.edu. In this study, the thesis writer focus on the third point which is analyze fictional characters’ motivation and behaviors.
