Motivation to Meet Standards

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4. Willpower as the Internal Strength to Control Urges

Willpower i s also found in Nick‘s character. The other people only think about having fun in the parties, but know nothing about the host. In this case, it can be seen that Nick still has a moral value to fulfill his standard. It is proven on page 52 when he has a desire not to be like the others who do not care about Gatsby as the host and he even apologizes to Gatsby for not knowing him as the host. It is explained before when Nick tries to apologize to Gatsby for not knowing him. When he comes to the party, he asks many guests whether they know where the host is or not. However, the guests do not care and tells Nick that they have never seen Gatsby and it becomes a normal thing for not knowing him and on the contrary, it becomes surprising for knowing or trying to know him: ―As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table —the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone‖ p. 42 Nick feels that looking for the host is important to him as a guest. Although the other guests do not care about Gatsby, Nick still has a desire to find him and is not affected by the other guests who ignore Gatsby. His desire not to follow the other guests and to just enjoy the party becomes a form of his willpower. He knows that he has to build a good relationship with Gatsby during his lifetime as a form of thankful for being invited to his party, unlike the others who only come as guests. Nick is also a character that can choose which is bad 52 and good based on his standards. He tries to avoid the short-term temptation which can be seen when he says: Her grey, sun-strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifted our relations, and for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires, and I knew that first I had to get myself definitely out of that tangle back home p. 58. It happens when he thinks that he loves Jordan, but then he realizes that he has his own rules for that. He remembers that having a relationship with a woman must be considered as a serious stuff. He does not want to be in a hurry for building a relationship with a woman. He thinks the effect for his future and also his goal to meet his standards. Willpower is considered also to be an important aspect to have a good self- regulation. Nick is proven having willpower to avoid the short temptation, so he can fulfill his standards. It becomes the reason why he tends not to be affected by the culture and rather to choose creating his own standards. It is important to have a good self-regulation, so he does not let the changes of the culture easily affect him. 53

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter provides a conclusion of the whole analysis from the problem formulation, the suggestions for further researchers, and the implementation for teaching and learning activities based on the analysis of the novel.

A. Conclusion

A novel titled The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows a story about Gatsby who tries to get her love back. This novel has a background after the First World War in New York. There is a phenomenon in that time because of the emerging of a new culture that is affected by the war. Therefore, in this thesis, the writer tries to focus on the culture background of the novel. There are two research problems that have been answered. The first problem is about the kinds of hedonism that are found in the novel. The writer tries to describe New York in 1920 and prove it through the novel. The culture description is connected to the kinds of hedonism to answer the first research question. The second research question is about a character in the novel named Nick Carraway. It analyzes how Nick‘s self-regulation dealing with the hedonism as his environment. The first topic that is discussed is about hedonism in New York in 1920s. There are seven kinds of hedonism that are found according to Weijers 2011, those are Folk Hedonism, Value Hedonism and Prudential Hedonism, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI