the main character which is Percival. Percival lives in Vietnam, but still holds on the Chinese‟s tradition and makes him as ethnocentric person. This characteristic
will be analyzed together with Vietnam War, which is the society background that has relation with the diminishing of Percival‟s ethnocentrism.
B. Problem Formulation
In this paper, there are two important points that will be discussed; it is to observe the representation of main ch
aracter‟s ethnocentrism in the novel. This paper also wants to explain the effect of the Vietnam War to Percival‟s
ethnocentrism. These points are briefly formulated as follows: 1.
How is main character‟s ethnocentrism revealed in the novel? 2. How does Vietnam
War change the main character‟s ethnocentrism?
C. Objectives of the Study
In formulating two questions above, the writer tries to focus on the main character named Percival in the novel
The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam. First focus is the characteristic of Percival which is ethnocentric. The writer will
reveal Percival‟s ethnocentrism in the novel through the element character. After identifying the ethnocentrism, the writer will analyze how Vietnam War can
affect Percival‟s ethnocentrism and make it diminished. At the end, the writer will use first problem formulation to see how much change that happens in Percival‟s
ethnocentrism because of Vietnam War.
D. Definition of Terms
There are some terms that the writer used in this undergraduate thesis. To avoid ambiguities and misunderstanding in the meaning, the writer tried to give
some definition of those terms. There are two terms that have to be explained, there are ethnocentrism and Vietnam War.
First, ethnocentrism is the perspective that “is using the standards of one‟s own culture or subculture to evaluate the characteristics of other cultures or
subcultures, generally from the point of view that one‟s own are superior” Broom and Selznick, 1977: 73. Ethnocentric people will think that they are
superior while others are just inferior. Therefore they usually underestimate to others.
Second, Vietnam War is “the commitment between North and South Vietnam to be in a bloody war instead of conducting a General National Election
in accordance with the Geneva Accord that aimed to gain a final military victory”
Tran, 2000: 19. The superpowers countries that involved in the conflict were Soviet Union and China supported North Vietnam and the United States
supported South Vietnam. The war ended in 1975 with heavy casualties of Nort and South Vietnam. More than 4 million people including Vietnamese servicemen
and civilians
of both
countries died
.
8
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
