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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter is divided into three parts and aimed to answer the problems formulated in the first chapter. The first part is the description that describes the
characteristics of Ruth Young in the novel. The next part is the explanation about the cultural conflicts that are experienced by Ruth Young. The last part is the
analysis that shows what acculturation strategy that she chooses to reconcile with the cultural conflicts around her.
A. The Characteristics of Ruth Young
The characteristics Ruth Young are used by the writer to reveal the cultural conflicts that are experienced by Ruth and how she undergoes the conflict
to reconcile . Ruth’s characteristics are analyzed by using the theory of
characterization by M. J. Murphy. According to M.J. Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction of English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas
Student , there are nine ways to explain the characters. However, not all of the
ways of explaining the characters are used in this part. The writer only uses some of them, which are speech, reaction, conversation, direct comment, and thought.
In the first part, the writer describes the characteristics of Ruth Young as the main character in
The Bonesetter’s Daughter. The characteristics are divided into three according to Ruth’s social role. The first one is her role as a second
generation daughter, the second one is as an employee, and the last one as a lover.
The divisions of her role are given to emphasize her characteristics in society. It will show Ruth’s characteristics toward her mother, her colleagues, and her
boyfriend at certain circumstances as discuss below. The explanation of her characteristics in each social role will help the writer to map the cultural conflicts
that are experienced by Ruth Young.
1. Ruth Young as a Second Generation Daughter
Ruth Luyi Young is an American born of Chinese immigrant mother, LuLing Young. Ruth was born in a Water Dragon Year Tan, 2004: 1. Her father,
Edwin Young, was killed in a hit and run car accident while Ruth had been two years old 2004: 52. Ruth lives with her mother and they have been moving down
to a new house eight times 2004: 56. Her mother is a conservative and superstitious Chinese lady. LuLing
believes in superstition and gives a doctrine of supernatural belief to Ruth. Her mother always relates anything to the ghosts. “To her mother, just about anything
was a sign of ghosts: broken bowls, barking dogs, phone calls with only silence or heavy br
eathing at the other end” Tan, 2004: 9-10. In contrast, Ruth does not believe in anything that relates to the
superstition. Ruth has lost her voice when she was a child and it happens again on her adulthood. On the second anniversary of living together with her boyfriend,
Ruth and Art were watching the falling stars festival and her laryngitis strikes again. According to her mother
’s story, shooting stars are the melting bodies of
ghosts and it brings bad luck if people watch the shooting stars. However, Ruth does not buy her mother’s words.
She did not actually believe that her laryngitis was star-crossed, or that the meteor shower had anything to do with her inability to speak. Her mother,
though, had often told Ruth throughout her childhood that shooting stars were really ‘melting ghost bodies’ and it was bad luck to see them. If you
did, that meant a ghost was trying to talk to you Tan, 2004: 9. The contrast is shown through the quotation and it points out the
characteristic of Ruth as being reasonable. Her characteristic can be seen through the direct comment. It is emphasized in the quotation that Ruth is being
reasonable. She believes that the shooting star has no connection with her laryngitis.
LuLing as a conservative Chinese lady often teaches Ruth with her hierarchical parenting system, yet Ruth does not like it. Ruth as a second
generation who grows up in America does not like to be controlled by her mother. When she is tired of her
mother’s complaints, she chooses to read and study, so her mother can remain in silent and Ruth can escape for awhile from her mother.
“The only time her mother didn’t bother her was when she was doing her homework or studying for a test. Her mother respected her studies. If she
interrupted her, all Ruth had to do was say, ‘Shh I’m reading.’ And almost always, her mother fell quiet Tan, 2004: 105.
Her reaction shows that she is a perceptive girl. She can choose the best way to avoid her mother when she starts to bother her. She learns that her mother pays
respect to her studies and she uses it as her way to escape. From that, it can be seen that she puts herself into a suitable situation when facing her fussy mother.
Another characteristic as being perceptive can also be found from her reaction when she has to face her demanding mother. Her mother breaks her
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