Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains four sections. First is the background of the study which covers the reasons of choosing the novel and topic. Second is the problem formulation which gives general explanation about the problem that will be analyzed in this study. Third is objectives of the study that state the purpose of the study that undertaken in the relation with the problem formulation. The last is definition of terms that elaborates the keywords used in this study to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

A. Background of the Study

Literature was used as a haven for human’s feeling; human’s imagination. Simon and Delyse 1990 have described one of many literature definitions: Literature is something that reflects society, makes us think about ourselves and our society. Literature also teaches something which is useful for humanity. From its story, people know what the real life is meant. It is because literature is made as a portrayal of a human’s life. Life also can be learnt through literature. When a person lives in his or her world, he must have something that drives him to keep alive. A mother for example, she stays alive to see her children grow up and finally become like her one day. Maybe that is not the only reason why she stays alive; it can be her husband or something else. The reason why someone does something or acts in a particular way also can be related with motivation. 2 Every person has his or her own motivation. It is just like the final destination in someone’s life. Because of the excitement in knowing what drives a person to do something, the writer is interested in investigating human motivation. As Simon and Delyse has said before, literature is something that reflects society. It also means that literature reflects the human life. According to Wellek and Warren 237, most modern literary theory would be inclined to scrap the prose-poetry distinction. Then imaginative literature is divided into three types. First is fiction novel, short story, and epic, second is drama whether in prose or verse, and the last is poetry. Among three types of imaginative literature, the writer is interested in novel. Therefore, the writer decided to use novel as the source of the study. The novel that the writer uses in this study is Lian Hearn’s Across the Nightingale Floors . It is one of the five series novels which are written by Lian Hearn. The first series is Across the Nightingale Floor 2002, second is Grass for His Pillow 2003, third is Brilliance of the Moon 2004, fourth is The Harsh Cry of the Heron 2006, and the last is Heaven’s Net is Wide 2007. Almost the whole series of the novels tells about the life of Tomasu Takeo, except the last series of the novel. The last series, Heaven’s Net is Wide, tells more about Shigeru’s life. In the last chapter of Heaven’s Net is Wide, Shigeru and Takeo meet for the first time and the story of the Ottori begins. As a product of literature, Across the Nightingale Floor tells more about life. Maura Mchugh, the author of blog critic, said that it was a pleasure to read a fantasy that was beautifully executed, and with interesting and complex 3 characters. It means that this novel is worth reading because of its complex characters and of course it will give us a new experience in reading a novel. Across The Nightingale Floor also won The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, the prize for German Youth Literature, in 2004. There is a meaning behind the title Across the Nightingale Floor. It is taken from the strategy which is used by Iida Sadamu to save himself from assassination. Iida Sadamu has ordered a floor which sounds like the Nightingale bird when someone steps on it. The word “across” also has a meaning that anyone who wants to kill Iida Sadamu should pass the Nightingale Floor in order to kill him. In this novel, Takeo is the man who wants to kill Iida Sadamu, so he must cross the Nightingale Floor successfully. The story is started when Takeo his real name is Tomasu, Takeo is the name given by Shigeru in the middle of the story came back to his village after exploring the mountains. He found that his family was slaughtered by the Tohan who are led by Iida Sadamu. Unfortunately, he watched his step father being killed by Iida’s men. Takeo stood up and by a chance, he unhorsed Iida Sadamu. This makes Iida’s men angry and chase him. He ran into the mountain and met Lord Shigeru the Ottori. Lord Shigeru rescued Takeo by killing two Iida’s men and brings Takeo with him. Then, Shigeru adopts Takeo as his son as a protection from Iida’s men. In the middle of the journey, Takeo loses his voice but his hearing become supersensitive. This ability is gained by Takeo because he is the descendant of the Hidden tribe, the tribe which has a unique ability. Because of 4 this ability, he could save Lord Shigeru from the assassination. Shigeru, who has seen Takeo’s ability, has a plan to use Takeo as an assassin to kill Iida Sadamu. This study intends to examine the motivation of Shigeru in adopting Takeo, the main character in the novel, as his son. This novel is chosen to be analyzed because it becomes the reflection of human motivation in doing action in order to reach their needs. In this study, the writer is attracted to Shigeru’s motivation in adopting Takeo as his son after he has r escued him from Iida’s men.

B. Problem formulation