The depiction of Francesca Dietrich
Francesca turned from the girl’s image to her own. Her thighs were grotesque bulges under the leg warmers. Above them her buttocks
protruded offensively. Her torso seemed to be all flab. Her breasts hung uselessly, obscuring the straight line that should have risen above her ribs.
She was fat. Worse than that, she was a monster. A five-foot-four, ninety- eight-pound monster Levenkron, 1978: 10.
“You are so thin” Levenkron, 1978: 23. From the quotation, Francesca often compares herself towards her friends;
she compares her friends’ image to her own. She feels that she is fat even though her friend tells her that she is so thin. She also describes herself ugly and looks
like a monster. From the way Francesca describes herself previously, we may see her low
self-esteem. For example, she feels that she is fat although her friend tells her that “you are so thin” Levenkron, 1978: 23. She does not feels confident with herself
and always consider herself as an ugly figure. Her low self-esteem can also be seen from her thought about her friends in the school.
Francesca thinks that her friends in the school are considered as perfect school girls and they are famous among the others student. Her friends’
appearances are different from hers. Francesca sees them as girls with perfect figure, slim and straight.
In the mirror a black leotard, taut and slim and straight, caught Francesca’s attention. She was perfect. Not an awkward gesture. Not an extra ounce
flesh. The figure was pure movement, all energy and strength Levenkron, 1978: 9.
Her friends are the type of person that put attention to their appearance. Those things make Francesca lacks of confidence. She thinks that she is far for being
perfect like them. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Besides from her low self-esteem, Francesca is also described as an obedient girl. The first reason that makes her classified as an obedient girl is
because she always obeys her ballet teacher’s words. Francesca is so obsessed to her teacher that she considers her as her role model. She portrays her as a perfect
figure that she has to obey to every word that she has said to her. Madame Seuart is the person who introduces Francesca to ballet dance. She is also the first person
who tells her that to be a professional dancer at least Francesca has to be thin. Those words always linger in Francesca’s mind and become her reminder when
she wants to eat all of her meals. “A good class, Francesca. You’re showing progress.”
“Now stay slim-perhaps even a pound less here.” She touched Francesca’s real lightly.
“And firm up.” She patted the girl’s stomach. “Slim and firm. It isn’t enough to make you a dancer, but without it you’ll
never be a dancer.” The words echoed in Francesca’s head as she stared into
the mirror at the woman’s receding reflection. Slim, firm, slim, firm.
They made a rhythm of their own. Like the well done, well done the teacher had thrown out during class Levenkron, 1978: 11.
Since then, her teacher’s words always be her consideration in every action that she does. She even begins to change her name. Her idea is to replace the old
Francesca with the new Francesca, which named is Kessa. “Fat Francesca was dead had died giving birth to perfect Kessa” Levenkron, 1978: 13-12.
Francesca ’s obedient can also be seen toward her parents. She always
obeys her parents’ instruction even though sometimes she does not want to do it. For example, when her father forces her to eat her dinner, she eats it even though
she does not want to. “If your mother went to all the trouble of making it, you can do her the
honor, your ladyship, of eating it. Eat your dinner, Francesca.” PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
She began to eat quickly now Levenkron, 1978: 47. The quotation shows that Francesca is an obedient child. She does her father
words immediately when he asks her to do something. The next example can be shown from the quotation below:
“I warned you, Francesca, as of tomorrow there will be no more dance class.” Levenkron, 1978: 111.
“Francesca is no longer be attending class.” It shows that Francesca’s father wants her to quit from the ballet class. It is
because he does not want Francesca to lose more weight if she is still doing ballet dance. Therefore, Francesca obeys her father’s word and quits from the ballet
class. Frances
ca’s description can also be seen by another character’s point of view. The followings are several speeches stated by Francesca’s mother, which
can be used to depict Francesca’s personality. Francesca depicts as the good child in the family. “She’s always been the sensible child, the good one in the family”
Levenkron, 1978: 67. As her mother says, she is a sensible child; she never makes a trouble for the family. Francesca’s mother describes her as a daughter
that can take care of herself well even though she is the youngest in the family. The next quotation is when her mother says “Francesca’s too good to be true. I
never even have to remind her to do her homework. She’s so independent I don’t even know she’s there sometimes” Levenkron, 1978: 14. It shows that Francesca
is an independent child, she always does what she has to do even without someone asking her to do so. She is a diligent child, she does her homework very
well. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Francesca’s depiction can also be seen from the quotations below which are stated by Francesca’s teacher in the school. “French was one of Francesca’s
best subjects, though she did well in all of them” Levenkron, 1978: 24. Francesca depicts as a smart student in the school, as her teacher says she is good in all of
the subjects that she learns in school especially French. “Francesca has always been such a good student”, she is one of the best students in her class and always
has good marks. Francesca’s teacher calls her as “Her straight-A student”. She always listens to what her teacher says in the class and volunteered in the class.
Her teacher used to compliments about her being an active and diligent student. Francesca’s depiction however changes in the middle story of the novel.
She becomes a troublemaker in her family and also has problems in her school. Once she was a good girl however her behavior change into a bad girl. The
followings are several evidences that show Francesca’s behavioral change. In the description above, Francesca is an obedient child. In the middle of the story
Francesca changes into a disobedient child and often makes problem for her family. It can be seen from the quotation below:
“Are you going to eat or are you just going to sit there in a daze all through dinner? You may be moving the food around but you are
definitely not eating.” “I don’t like lamb chops.”
“What do you mean, you don’t like lamb chops? You used to love lamb chops.”
“Well I don’t care whether you like lamb chops or not. Your mother made lamb chops for dinner and you’ll eat lamb chops for dinner.” Levenkron,
1978: 18. Francesca is told by her father to eat her dinner however she rejects it. Francesca
does not what to eat her dinner and she is just moving the food around. Her father PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
finds it very strange that suddenly Francesca does not want to eat her favorite food and it surprises him that she does not want to listen to his words. The quotation
shows that there is a change in Francesca’s depiction. In the previous part she is an obedient child towards her parents however she changes to become a child who
dares to reject her parents’ words. The next change in Francesca’s behavior is she becomes so picky toward
foods. She used to eat whatever foods that she wants or her parents offer to her. However she has to act strange in front of her parents as if she has eaten all of her
dinner. “She’d have to put up a better front at dinner, make it seem as if she were eating more than she was” Levenkron, 1978: 34. Besides being picky toward
foods, Francesca also starts to lie in front of her parents especially when it comes about food. She lies that she is not in diet and eat properly. “I told you, I have
been eating properly.” Kessa’s mouth felt sour with the lie and taste of bile. Levenkron, 1978: 35. She turns to be a liar towards her parents. She tells them
that she is not in diet, in fact she is in a very thight diet that even endanger her. Francesca also turns to be a stubborn child. She does not want to listen to
her parents. She talks back to them when they want to do something for Francesca’s own good. It can be seen from this quotation:
“There must be something wrong with you. I’ll make an appointment with Dr. Gordon for a checkup.”
“But I just went to Dr. Gordon two months ago. I don’t wanna go.” Levenkron, 1978: 35.
From the quotation, it tells that Francesca’s mother wants her to go to the doctor to check her health, however Francesca rejects it and try to find any reasons so
that she does not have to go. Actually, her mother is concerned about her. She PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
finds that there is something wrong happens to her daughter. Therefore, she does not want it to get worse or endanger her daughter. It is not only once Francesca
talks back to her parents and argue with them, below is the next evidence: “What would you like for dinner, Francesca?” Grace was thinking that one
way to keep her daughter from losing more weight was to tailor all meals to her taste.
“An egg?” “An egg?Dr. Gordon said you’re not to lose any more weight. And she
suggested you eat more to compensate for all those calories you burn up dancing and exercising.”
“Well, I didn’t go to dance class today, I went to Dr. Gordon. So I don’t have to compensate for anything.”
“All the same, an egg doesn’t sound like much of a dinner.” Grace’s voice was defensive, a direct response to her daughter’s accusation: you made
me go to the doctor, you made me miss dance class, so don’t go nagging me now about eating. Levenkron, 1978: 43.
The quotation shows that Francesca does not want to hear her mother’s words.
Her mother wants her to eat more food not just an egg. She notices that Francesca is quite weird lately. She does not want to eat her foods and always lies when her
mother asks her if she is in a diet. Fr ancesca’s mother just wants her to not lose
any more weight and obey the doctor’s advice that she has to eat more foods. However, Francesca does not want to obey them. She thinks that she already does
what her mother wants her to do and her mother does not have right to force her to do anything else again. She even dares to talk back to her mother when her mother
says she has to eat more to compensate the burned up calories by saying that she does not have to compensate for anything.
The next change is Fran cesca’s behavior in the class. Francesca is known
as a very diligent and smart student in her class. She used to get the best marks and so active among the other students. However, she turns to be lazy and
becomes very different in the class. It can be seen from the report that her parents get from her teacher.
The report was shocking. Grace looked at it in disbelief. Her straight-A daughter had gotten two C’s and two failures. The note from the
headmaster said he feared something was wrong with Francesca Levenkron, 1978: 95.
The report shows that Francesca does not do well in her examination. She used to get A in all of her examinations, however she even gets two failures in her test
now. It is very strange that Francesca suddenly becomes incompetent in almost all of the subjects which she is very good before. The headmaster finds that there is
something wrong with Francesca. He even writes a note for her parents about this change of Francesca.
The statement above is also strengthened by Francesca’s mother. It can be seen from this quotation, “She’s always been such a good kid, I can’t believe all
of a sudden there’s something screwed up about her.” Levenkron, 1978: 75. Francesca’s mother is confused because of the change in her daughter’s behavior.
She cannot believe that her smart and diligent daughter suddenly turns into an incompetent student. “Kessa is not only not logical now, she isn’t even
competent” Levenkron, 1978: 155. Francesca’s mother feels that her daughter turns to be a person that does not think about things in a reasonable way, she
becomes illogical. She thinks that Francesca is out of her mind because she often does something without think about the consequences or the impacts for her.
There is other evidence that shows Francesca turns to be a lazy student. It is when Francesca decides that she does not want to do her homework.
Kessa thought of the English paper due tomorrow. She hadn’t even read the play. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now. She’d just tell
the teacher s he hadn’t finished the assignment. She’d always gotten away
with that excuse in history. The teacher hadn’t dreamed that Francesca, straight-A-always-has-the-
answer Francesca, couldn’t be bothered to do her homework. Levenkron, 1978: 53.
The quotation above tells that Francesca actually has an assignment to do. She has
an English paper to be accomplished due the date. However, she does not feel to work on it. She is even too lazy to read the material for the paper. Francesca
thinks that she will just look for reason instead of work on it. She will tell the teacher that she has not finished the paper and that she will be safe with the
excuse. It is not only once that Francesca messes up with her school’s life. She even has two failures in her examinations before.
It is not only her behavior but also there is a change in her physical appearance. She becomes skinnier than her normal weight before.
“I’m not happy about the picture, Mrs. Dietrich,” Dr. Gordon said when Grace was sitting across the desk from h
er. “Francesca’s lost more weight. About seven pounds in two weeks.”Levenkron, 1978: 67.
Francesca loses more weight and it makes her looks so skinny than before. She is a healthy girl with a nice body before, however she turns to be underweight. This
change of Francesca is also strengthened by the quotation below: Grace was startled by the anger in her daughter’s tone, but more than that
she was shocked by her appearance. In her jeans she had looked thin. Now, in her cotton underpants and the small bra she had never really needed, she
looked dangerously underweight. Grace spoke more abruptly than she meant to. Levenkron, 1978: 35.
The quotation above is stated by Francesca’s mother. She also emphasizes that there is a change in her daughter’s appearance. She is surprise that Francesca
becomes so thin and looks dangerously underweight. It is such an uncommon thing for her to see that her daughter is losing much weight. She finds it ridiculous
because she is always feeding and treating her well. Francesca’s change in appearance is also marked from the development of
her body. Normally, a girl in her age will start to grow breasts and get her period every month. However, it is different in Francesca’s case. Actually, Francesca is a
normal girl who is in her puberty stage; her body develops well even though she feels that she does not like it. It can be seen from this quotation:
Her thighs were grotesque bulges under the leg warmers. Above them her buttocks protruded offensively. Her torso seemed to be all flab. Her breasts
hung uselessly, obscuring the straight line that should have risen above her ribs. Levenkron, 1978: 10.
That quotation from Francesca’s point of view actually describes that her body grows well. She has nice butts and curvy body. However in the middle of the
story, her body development becomes stunted. Instead of build up fat in the
breasts, Francesca’s breasts are flat and floppy. “Kessa picked up her head and looked down at her breasts. Flatter, but still not flat enough. She lifted her left
breast by the nipple and swayed it back and forth.” Levenkron, 1978: 52-53. The quotation tells that Francesca’s body development develops quite not well. She
gets her breasts become flatter. The change in Francesca’s body development also can be seen from her
period cycle. Dr. Gordon began to take her blood pressure.
“When was your last period?” “Six weeks ago. I guess I’m a little late.” Kessa saw the look on Dr.
Gordon’s face. “Oh, I’m not pregnant. I couldn’t be.” Levenkron, 1978: 39.
The quotation above shows that Francesca likely to have her period late. Since two years ago, Francesca already gets her period. “She hated her period, had hated
it since it had appeared a little less than two years ago.” Levenkron, 1978: 39. Even though she does not like it and the fact that she hits her puberty stage,
previously her period always comes right in time, every month. Somehow, this late period tells that there is something wrong with Francesca’s body than the fact
that she may be pregnant.