Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

An interesting story from Toni Morrison book titled Paradise is great to discuss. Paradise is a book which shows the gender discrimination and the oppression of women. The previous books titled Beloved and Jazz also have great story which tell different conflict of society. Morrison in Paradise depicts a portrayal of women who live in a Convent in the town Ruby Oklahoma. The conflict is between female characters in Convent and the men who live in Ruby. Throughout the story, the treatment of the women is noticed which shows the patriarchal society that they live in, disturbing their own freedom and choices. The difference of gender between male and female bring problems in social life. It’s explained in Maggie Humm’s book titled A Readers Guide to Contemporary Feminist Literary Criticism that all of the differences can put humans in a serious and dangerous problem. Ideally, people try to see this kind of differences as an opportunity for them to build the stronger community. The different treatment between male and female cannot be avoided because it already becomes parts of life. As a social creature, people need other people to live with. A simple example is that men need women and women need men. Both men and women need each other to fulfill their life. Yet in social life, sometimes, the role of women is neglected. It is a fact that the positions of religious leader in the world are held by men. Most people will think that it is not discrimination because PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI discrimination is thought to be bad and cruel. If this case is discussed deeper, it can be said that it is discrimination in the base of gender discrimination. This study explains about the oppression of women within a black community, they are being oppressed by their own race. It is an interesting topic to discuss since there are only few people discussing it. Toni Morrison wants to tell the situation of Afro-American community through her novel Paradise. In this novel, Morrisons development of the female characters is similar in a way most of black female writers deal with feminism. Morrison shows these concern of oppression and patriarchy intentionally, but the main focus of the story is those concerns dont allow them to control their whole experience. The novel is titled Paradise although the situation is not the same as what people think about paradise in common. Morrison creates a community of black families named Ruby. Ruby is a town that is built consist of eight family names; the eight rocks. This community tries to build a community which gives a better life since they have been slaves for a long time. The people in Ruby try to find their own paradise in the earth by creating this community. The situations changes when one of the family founders tries to dominate.Ruby becomes the oppressive system by repeating the logic of the oppressor. It is built upon eight families who abandons Haven to create what they thought would be the Paradise on earth: a town in which only black people could live and be born. In this story, the female characters seem to be described as a weak and unpowered person. The main female characters are oppressed by the men. They try to survive from their misery by making community whose members are female and they make their own shelter.The female characters try to find their own paradise despite the oppression toward them. From this circle they find their own potential and they have their own thinking. The free thinking of women is a threat to the men because it can stand in the way of men. It can be seen in the novel that women are a threat to this society because they stand in the way of “progress”. Female babies can not carry on the “holy” family names of the town. Female midwife and child bearers stand between the successful births of healthy baby boys. To the men of the town, this is everything. Without the ability to continue the utopia, the dream dies. Any woman who is able to create too much power is a clear threat to their authoritarianism. In the novel, church is another symbol of oppression which gives the evidences of the treatment of women by the Catholic Church. The nuns of the Church have been programmed with this repression to such a degree that they in turn act as the patriarchs in this very convent. Connie, one of the major female characters, is affected by the Chatolic church. Connie believes that she needs this authority to survive. She has been pushed down by patriarchy to the point where her thoughts are not her own. She has not learned the process of discovering her own individuality but at the end she will and does. It is the Covent, a place which is run by the law of Catholic Church. The Convent was once an orphanage run byRoman Catholic nuns. All the sisters have left by the time the book begins. People who live there are women who have experienced various hurts, abuses, and losses. From the explanation in Women: A Feminist Perspective written by Freeman Jo, feminist points out the gap in the relationship between women and men. It assists anyone to consider that the imbalance relationship of the two sexes can burden both of them. Society demand women to enjoy domestic affairs while men win in any access to develop themselves. In Paradise, the blacks already free from the white oppression, they try to get a better life but the women are still being oppressed by the men of their own race. The point of view of feminist is interesting to discuss because Paradise gives the reader a critical point of view towards the issue of gender and patriarchy system that people can use as reflection materials in daily life situation. Discrimination of gender and patriarchy system is an actual problem to discuss and learn.

B. Problem Formulation: