12 of this study showed unfair treatment which is practiced by white people towards
African American people in Miss Skeeter’s society that became her intention in writing the book. Therefore, Miss Skeeter could help the African Americans by
facilitating them to tell the truth about their experiences as colored maids who were working for white families in order to make Jackson a better place to live.
This study, which is entitled The Meanings of Racism Issues Faced by the Three Main Characters of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, is different from the
studies that had been conducted before. This study is aimed to reveal the meanings of racism as seen through the life events of the three main characters.
The writer decided to analyze the three main characters’ life events by using psychological approach to prove that racism issues are not merely a matter of
history, but beyond that, racism issues are a matter of people’s paradigm.
B. Review of Related Theories
Theory is a sample of facts that help us understand realities. According to Kimball Young 1945, a theory consists of a set of concepts that makes us able to
classify, describe, and interpret events or data in an objective, systematic, logical and consistent way. It implies a certain preconception and meaning of the data p.
231. The function of theory is to become the key in order to understand language, social behaviour, literature, popular culture, societies and the structure of human
psyche Jonathan Culler in Butler, Guilorry and Thomas, 2000: 273. This section provides five theories used in order to help the researcher answers the research
13 questions which are psychological approach, theory of characterization, theory of
personality, theory of motivation, and theory of needs.
1. Psychological Approach
According to Stangor 2011: 10, psychology comes from Greek words “psyche” which means life and “logos” means explanation. Psychology means
scientific study of mind and behaviour. Psychology is a branch of science and a popular topic in the public media which also becomes a part of our everyday lives.
As a science, psychology uses systematic methods to observe, describe, predict and explain behaviour. Behaviour is a part of every organism that control their
action and it can be observed. Human’s behaviour also shows their personalities. In psychology, someone’s personality can be analyzed through their reaction
toward experiences and events happened in their lives. This study conducts psychological approach. It is employed because it has
much to contribute to the understanding of literature and that it permits a conceptual clarity that cannot be derived from the literature alone Paris, 1997.
The use of theory of personality, theory of needs, and theory of motivation in this study is to look and analyze the personalities of the three main characters of the
novel, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan and how they face the problems and situations in their lives. In this part, Aibileen, Minny,
and Skeeter are facing the same problem, fighting against the racism issue, but in different cases. Moreover, this approach is chosen to help the researcher
understands the characters easier. The basis of this approach is the idea of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14 existence of human consciousness, impulses, desires, and feeling which a person
is unaware but which influence emotions or behavior.
2. Theory of Characterization
Character is a person presented in narration Abrams, 1981. Meanwhile, characterization is the process of making a character. According to Gill 1995,
characterization is the way in which a character is created p.127. Characters are created by the author of the story which portray people in real life. There are two
ways of portraying the character Abrams, 1985, by telling and showing. By telling, the author describes the characters directly through the sentences in order
to be criticized and “often to evaluate the motives and dispositional qualities”. By showing, the author only “presents the characters talking and acting” and lets the
readers to see the motives and dispositional beyond words and acts p. 24. Presenting a character cannot be separated from the setting of the story.
The setting covers the place where the characters appear, the social context such as family background, friends, class, characters’ manners, tradition and rules, and
also some particular scenes and atmosphere created along with previous elements Gill, 1995, p. 148. Therefore, setting and social context are important elements
to analyze characters. Stanton 1965 adds that the dialogue and the behavior are the most important evidences to understand the characters. According to Murphy
1972, there are nine ways used by the author to make the characters understandable for the readers, as follow:
a. Personal Description
The author directly describes a person’s appearance and clothes. The PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
