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commitment to their custom, but also starts to replace their traditional custom. This novel presents Okonkwo as the main character who faces a lot of problems that
trigger the conflict between he and himself, he and his surroundings, and also between he and the British imperial culture. Therefore, finally he commits suicide to
end his distress in life. Problems that Okonkwo faces until he comes to the final decision, to commit suicide, motivate me to analyze the reasons behind his decision
to commit suicide.
1. 2. Problem Formulation
The writer formulates the problem into two questions: 1. How is Okonkwo characterized in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart?
2. What are the reasons of Okonkwo to commit suicide?
1. 3. Objective of the Study
In order to focus on the major topic deeper, the writer divides the general objective into two specific objectives.
First, the writer discusses the action, attitude, and behavior of Okonkwo, the main character, to know what kind of person Okonkwo is in the novel. Second, this
thesis discusses Okonkwo’s life experiences and also the reasons that lead him to decide committing suicide.
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1. 4. Benefits of the Study
The writer hopes the readers can recognize Chinua Achebes greatness as a novelist. He is considered as one of the best novelist. The readers can also recognize
the greatness of Chinua Achebes novel which none of others has attained the richness and success like Things Fall Apart through the award of Margaret Wong Memorial
Prize in 1959. Besides, the writer hopes that this study can give better understanding about
the reasons that can lead people to do disorder behavior. Thus, the writer hopes this thesis will be useful in our daily life. We can recognize the positive and negative
motivations that lead to good or bad behaviors.
1. 5. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding of the content of this thesis, there are three terms that must be clearly defined. That terms that must be clearly defined are
1. Reason According to Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary 1995:344, reason
is fact or situation that explain why something happens.. In this study, the writer specify the term of reasoon. Thus, the reason
here refers to the Okonkwo’s reasons to commit suicide. 2. Suicide
Smith 1982:129 states that suicide is the act of intentionally destroying oneself, a violent self-inflicted destructive action resulting in
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death, and the act of killing oneself. Thus, in this study, the term of suicide refers to Okonkwo’s action to kill himself by hanging in the tree.
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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter includes theories and reviews on related literature that support the analysis of the novel. It consists of the theoretical review, review of related
studies and the theoretical framework. Theoretical review will explain and discuss further the basic theories needed for the analysis. As the basis of problem solving,
some theories are required to analyze the problem formulation established in Chapter 1. Review of related studies will review other previously done studies on
similar topics. It will show how this study is different from them. The theoretical framework will explain how the theories mentioned answer the problem.
2. 1. Theoretical Review 2. 1. 1 Theory of Critical Approach
This analysis used an approach based on Rohberger and Woods. Rohrberger and Woods Jr. 1971: 3 define in Reading and Writing about Literature, there are
five approaches that can be applied to analyze a work of literature. They are the formalist approach, the biographical approach, the sociocultural-historical approach,
the mythopoeic approach and the psychological approach. The writer will not use all of the approaches mentioned by Rohrberger and
Woods. The writer will only use the psychological approach since it is closely relate to the study. As stated before, psychological approach is used to discover and
