33
her Morrison, 2012: 44-45. Lenore belongs to higher class because she does not need to work. She gets life insurance payment of her first husband death.
B. The Class Repression
In this part, the writer focuses on class repression as the main issue. The writer wants to give the brief explanation about class repression before analyzing the
class repression in Home. Repression is the process of suppressing somebody or the condition of having political, social, or cultural freedom controlled by force Webster,
2006: 1230. Class repression means the different way of treating someone based on their social status. Here, the different way of treating direct to the unequal or negative
treatment. There are parts of class repression. The class repression that happens between the superior and inferior. People who belong to the upper class will
discriminate the people who belong to the lower class. Superior who repress inferior can be classified as the class repression. The repression is not only influenced by the
material that people have but also by the educational background. Educated people see themselves as the superior and the uneducated people as the inferior. They think
that there is a border line which separates them into two different classes. It becomes a reason for the superior to give the unequal treatment toward the inferior.
a. Class Repression toward Frank Money by Lenore
Luther and Ida have two children, their names are Frank and Ycidra. Frank is the oldest one. He is a Korean War veteran who has no job after his retirement. He is
raised in a poor family and he has to help his parents to take care of his sister Ycidra while their parents worked. They have no house to live in after they decide to move
34
from Texas to Lotus, Georgia. They live in Salem Money’s House. Salem is Frank’s grandfather. In this house Frank is repressed by his step grandmother, Lenore, as
mentioned below: Over the years, the discomfort of the crowded house increased, and Lenore ,
who believed herself superior to everybody else in Lotus, chose to focus her resentment on the little girl born “in the street.”.Young Frank slept on the back
porch, on the slanty wooden swing, even when it rained Morrison, 2012: 45
The quotation above shows that Frank is treated in a bad way by Lenore. The repression Frank experience is when Lenore sees herself as the upper class and Frank
and his family as the lower class. Lenore thinks that Frank and his family is poor, they can not rent a house for them to live. Lenore does not give the appropriate place
to frank and his family to sleep. Just because they belong to the different classes Lenore lets her step grandson to sleep at the porch behind her house even though it
rains. Lenore does not even care about Frank’s health because she thinks that it is her generosity to permit Frank to live in her house. She argues that what she does towards
Frank is more than enough that he could get. The Moneys is considered as a lower class, they do not have a house to live. They cannot rent a house in Georgia because
they lack of money. Lenore also shows the repressing treatment about the food that Frank can eat.
In Home, Frank is not really welcomed by his step grandmother though she allows him to live in her house. It can be seen in the way Mrs. Lenore feed him and Ycidra.
The shredded wheat which is served by her for breakfast is poured with water instead of milk Morrison, 2012: 44.
35
Lenore’s perspective on the lower class that Frank’s family belong to, is not without a reason. Frank and his family did not have a house. The did not have money
to buy a house. People who do not have a house belong to the lower class. The American history about black economics mentions the gap between black society
influenced by the job that they work on. There are different categories of job that divide them into different classes. The first is Ida’s job, “Ida picking cotton or
working other crops in the day and sweeping lumber shacks in the evening.” Morrison, 2012: 45. Ida worked as the cotton picker also worked at the other crops
and sweeping lumber shacks. The cotton and tobacco picker became the job of black women especially for them who have no educational background because these jobs
have no requirement of educational limitation. A job without any educational background requirements is classified as lower class job. The writer sees that the
blacks are not treated equally by the different class in black society. The writer considers Lenore’s acts toward the Moneys as class repression
because the social status gap between them. Lenore sees her family as the superior and the Moneys as the inferior due to their economic condition and jobs that they did.
b. Class Repression toward Ycidra Cee by Lenore
Ycidra thinks a cruel grandmother is one of the worst things a girl could have. Living in Lenore’s house is not a big deal for her. Ycidra’s imagination of fond and
caring of grandmother’s figure is out of the box while Ycidra has to live with Mrs. Lenore. Evidence by evidence convinces Ycidra that her step grandmother does not
like her. Lenore dislikes Ycidra because Ycidra does not have a birth certificate and
36
she assumes that Ycidra’s future is not bright that she does not have a legal document stated as follows:
Lenore took it is as a very bad sign for Cee’s future that she was born on the road. Decent women, she said, delivered babies at home, in a bed attended to
by good Christian women who knew what to do. Although only street women, prostitutes, went to hospital when they got pregnant, at the least they had a
roof overhead when their baby came. Being born in street or the gutter, as she usually put it-was prelude to a sinful, worthless life Morrison, 2012: 44.
Ycidra is not treated in the way she should be treated as a granddaughter by her grandmother for the reason that Lenore thinks that Ycidra is a child who does not
have clear origins and are not recognized by the state without having birth certificate. Around the 1950s women who went to hospital to deliver their babies are considered
as bad women while the good women deliver their babies at home. Delivering a baby at the hospital means that the women do not have a house. From the quotation above,
it can be seen that only street women or prostitutes deliver their babies in hospital. Being born with no birth certificate is not common. The child with no birth
certificate belongs to the lower class because it means the parents do not have enough money to pay for the administration. A birth certificate is a legal document that every
single person must have. Lenore makes Ycidra feels so uncomfortable living in her house. Lenore’s
house is big enough but she did not let Ycidra to sleep in the bedroom. During those years living in the discomfort place Ycidra and her parents slept on the floor, on a
thin pallet. Lenore thinks that it is a big favor to let some homeless relatives live in her house. Salem as Lenore’s husband can do nothing because he is scared of his
wife. He is scared that Lenore will leave him as his first two wives did. Lenore is a
37
wealthy woman who collects a five hundred dollar life insurance payment upon her first husband death. The wealth of Lenore becomes a great reason for Salem not to
make any trouble with her Morrison, 2012: 44-45. Lenore belongs to higher class because she does not need to work. She gets life insurance payment of her first
husband death. When Ycidra was a baby, Ida asked Mrs. Lenore to take care of Ycidra but
she refused Ida’s request. Ida could not take the baby girl with her while working anymore because she can not keep an eye on her from a distance to make sure that
nothing is wrong with the baby. Lenore’s rejection of Ycidra makes Ida’s life gets harder because Lenore is the one who stayed at home who can take care of the baby
girl at the house. Lenore never gives her hand to help Ida to look after the baby because she hates the baby. Ida can not leave her daughter alone at home and on the
other hand she has to work to raise the children. Frank as the old brother is the one who takes care of his younger sister. Ida has no choice to let Frank to look after the
baby girl while she works in the fields Morrison, 2012: 87-88. What Lenore did is class repression, she did not like Ida’s family because they were poor and rejected to
help them. Ycidra is also repressed by her friend, Thelma. When Ycidra asked her if
there is a job that she could work on, Thelma said that Ycidra’s family is pathetic. Thelma assumed that Ycidra’s rejection to go back to Lotus because her family is so
mean and Ycidra admitted it. Ycidra only can hide her pleading eyes while Thelma mock at her Morrison, 2012: 57.
38
The writer sees the class repression in the black society by reviewing the history of African American in the 1950s. The repression occurs when there is a gap
between their social status. There is a gap between the middle class and working class in the black society in America around the 1950s that is revealed in the novel. Ycidra
and her family who belong to the working class often get unequal treatments from Lenore who categories as the middle class. Ida and Luther have to work hard from the
morning until late at night to suffice their daily needs and to raise their children. Besides, they have to save part of their salary to rent a house for them to live. Ida and
her husband, Luther took at least two jobs for each of them to earn money so they can feed and raise their children. Recalling the history of black economics in America, the
black economic condition depicts their social status. The difficulty of uneducated black in obtaining job becomes the reasonable cause that put them in a low social
status because they have low income. The different income between the working class and middle class become the continuity of the class repression. The review of
black economic mentioned that the educational background plays an important role to define their social status. The black who graduated from high school can have the
better job rather than the black who have no educational background. The financial condition directly becomes a mirror that can show what the class that black belong to.
The educational background becomes the pattern of what kind of job that they could take. The educated ones have a job that requires accomplishment also extensive
knowledge while the uneducated ones have a job without no requirement and any certain skill.
39
The blacks’ job portrays how much the income that they get. The office job or run a private enterprise gives the higher income rather than the labor job. Ida and
Luther as a laborer have to work in different job in a day to earn higher income. Doing only one job can not fulfill the daily needs and to bear two children. In this
part the writer shows how Ida and Luther work so hard and take double job as mentioned previously. Luther and Ida work on two jobs each. Start from the morning
Ida work to pick cotton then in the evening she sweeping lumber shacks. Ida’s husband works as a field worker for two planters at once Morrison, 2012: 45.
The income that the black men earn represents how well their life is and what category of class that they belong to. The blacks middle class for them who have high
income and the working class for them who have low income. In the black society the social status becomes a legal thing to repress people who belong to lower social
status. The Money Family as the poor family experienced the unequal treatments in the black society because they belong to the working class. Each of their children
experienced the repression by getting unequal treatments from the grandmother, Lenore.
c. Class Repression toward Frank and Ycidra in Finding Jobs
The second part deals with the repression in finding jobs. The class repression in black society appears because of the job division for black men and black women.
Looking back at the review on history of black in America around the 1950s, there is a gender gap between black men and women. The black women did less effort as job
seekers in competing with the white women because the white women did not want to
40
take the domestic job. The reason of white women do not want to do the domestic or menial jobs makes many middle and upper class whites in the South that regularly
employed African American to do jobs such as cook, maid, even take care of the children. By hiring the blacks, whites’ domestic job problems were solved Rose,
1997: 138. The writer sees that this condition makes the black women could easily get
job as a domestic worker. Working as servants, cooks, maids, or take care of children are easy for them because those kind of thing are the activities that they always do.
The class repression in the black society is in job classification. The domestic job is addressed to black women. The domestic job does not need any educational
background. Hence, the job which needs the power of thought and high difficulty level also extra energy is addressed to black men. The job classification makes black
women and men could not choose the job they want. The black women are not allowed to do the jobs that are addressed to the black men. On the other hand, the
black men cannot take the job that is addressed to black women. Job division between black men and black women in black society is considered as class repression. Class
repression is influenced by the social class. According to theory of Marxism the struggle for power happens between social classes. The competition to have higher
social classes is for economic, social, and political advantage. The higher social class has the power to repress the lower social class Barry, 2002: 157. The job division is
created by the employers who have power to create a system. A system that only women are allowed to take job at the factories. The job division is created to decrease
41
the cost of production because women’s payment is lower than men’s. By hiring women the companies earn more provit.
The class repression within black appears in Home. It is shown through the main characters in this novel. The writer tries to portray the repression in job field
towards Frank then the writer will show the repression which is experienced by Ycidra. In Home, one of the main characters, Frank experienced class repression. The
background of class repression about the job classification between black men and black women, will help the writer to understand the problem that was faced by Frank
in America around the 1950s. The writer tries to give a short description about Frank’s life with his
girlfriend Lily. On the way back home in Georgia, Frank met so many people who made him amused. One of them was Lily. He met Lily in Chicago. She became the
only girl that always stood by him. When the condition was getting harder, Lily helped Frank to find a way back to his house in Georgia. Lily told him to find a job so
he could earn money to go to Georgia and met his sister Ycidra. Frank was not allowed while he wanted to work with Lily at the Laundry. The cost of transportation
to Georgia was not cheap. Frank could not always rely on people that felt sorry to him. The one and only way that he had to do was working in Chicago because Lily
was not had enough money and no one would give the money compulsorily to him. Morrison, 2012: 33-35. In this quotation, it can be seen that Frank could not take the
domestic job. He was rejected while he wanted to take the same job as his girlfriend, Lily did. Lily worked at Wang’s Laundry. Lily’s job is classified as the domestic job
42
which makes Frank was rejected to work at Wang’s Laundry. Domestic job is addressed to black women. When Frank was rejected to do domestic job at Wang’s
Laundry is considered as class repression. Frank was rejected because he is a black man. Even though Frank wants to do it but black men are not allowed to do the
domestic job. Frank got a job at a car wash but he only worked in the afternoon Morrison,
2012: 77. The job that Frank took is addressed for black men. Working as a car washer needs an extra energy. This kind of job is addressed for black men because it
needs more energy. Black man is seen stronger than black women. The writer sees the class repression in the black society happened in America around the 1950s as
described in this novel, Home. Understanding the statement above gives the clear explanation to the writer. The difficulties of black to get a job is not about there are
no jobs for them but because there is a classification about the job for black men and black women. Frank as a black man could not work at the factory because the job is
addressed to black women. In fact, the competition of black men and black women to work at the factory happened. Not all of them will be hired by the employers because
the job needed some requirements and one of the requirements stated that the workers should be women. The requirements made the black can not compete with the black
women because the employers will hire only the black women because the job is addressed to women not men. Black men lost in competing with black women in
black women area. The job division makes the blacks have limited options of job.
43
Black women earn money by working exclusively as the servants and agricultural workers. On the other hand, black men with low educational level are
hard to get the job which is addressed to black men because the job needs the educational background and extra energy rather than black women’s job. The
unemployment of black men rate was higher than black women’s rate. Uneducated black women can easily find jobs because the job which is addressed to them does
not need the educational background. The high rate of unemployment and lower education of black men is directly proportional with the repression that they got.
Some people argued that black men are more repressed than black women Goldin, 1990: 27.
The class repression in job field can be seen also by the other main characters named, Ycidra. Black women are usually working as servants, cooks, and maids is
portrayed by Ycidra. Being an uneducated girl, Ycidra worked as a servant in a restaurant, Bobby’s. It is shown by Ycidra’s short letter to her brother Frank. She
writes that: “Hello brother I how are you I am fine. I just got me a ok job in a restaurant
but looking for better one. Write back when you can Yours truly Your sister.” Morrison, 2012:53.
Ycidra states that she is fine and works in a restaurant. In the end of the letter Ycidra asked Frank to reply the letter whenever he can. From the letter above she wanted to
quit the job and looked for the better one. There is not much that she could do to get the better job because the good job requires the good skill and high level of
educational background. The jobs are offered for black women is the job with low
44
education level and need less skill. She is not illiterate, she can read also count. Ycidra ever worked as a cash register once Morrison, 2012: 60.
In Home, mentioned that Ycidra tried to get a better job and stopped working in Bobby’s restaurant and went to Atlanta. She knew about the job by asking her
friend, Thelma. She told her that a doctor in Buckhead, Atlanta needs a maid to help him. Ycidra was wondering what kind of job that he would do. She thought it was
like a nurse but Thelma said it was not, Thelma said that: “No. A helper. I don’t know. Bandages and iodine, I guess. His office is in the
house, the woman said. So you’d live in. She said the pay was not all that good but since it rent-free, that made all the difference.” Morrison, 2012: 60.
The statement above shows that only a domestic job and common laborers that are addressed to black women. Working as maid or helper does not need any
high level of knowledge and skill. The workers of domestic job get the low salary. Many of domestic job workers took double jobs in a day as Ycidra’s mother, Ida
does. Ida took double jobs in a day, Ida picked cotton in the day, after finished she swept lumber shacks in the evening.
C. The Reaction toward the Class Repression
