10 researcher to discuss the effect of Danny‟s changing personality towards his
friendship with other characters. The fifth study was conducted by Tirtaningsih from English Letters batch
2008. She wrote a thesis entitled The Message of Friendship Seen through the Major Characters and Plot in John Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat. Based on her study,
there are three things discussed. They are the characterizations of the major characters described in the novel, the plot of the story, and the message of
friendship seen through the major characters and plot of story. She used liberal- humanism approach in her study.
Different from the studies mentioned above, this study discusses motivation in friendship as portrayed in Tortilla Flat. It focuses on the motivation
of two characters: Pilon and the Pirate, for building friendship as seen in the novel. In this case, the researcher analyzes the motivation of Pilon and the Pirate
for building their friendship using psychological approach to conduct the research.
B. Review of Related Theories
This part presents critical approach, theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of friendship, and theory of motivation. It is important to
understand those theories because this study will analyze Pilon‟s and the Pirate‟s
motivation for building friendship.
1. Critical Approach
An approach is a must to analyze a literary work. According to Rohrberger and Woods 1971, pp. 6-14, there are five kinds of critical approaches. They are
11 formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural-historical approach,
mythopoeic approach and psychological approach. The first is formalist approach that focuses on the esthetic value of a work. This approach seeks the meaning of a
literary work through the form or structure of the work itself. The second is biographical approach that
examines a literary work through the author‟s personal experiences and ideas. The third is sociocultural-historical approach. This
approach considers social, cultural, and historical backgrounds of the literary works are important things to understand. The fourth is mythopoeic approach that
uses myth beyond the work of art as a reference to explain the mythical relationship found in a story. The last is psychological approach that focuses on
the complexity of thought and behavior, the content of this region of the mind found expression in symbolic words, thought and actions.
Among those approaches above, physiological approach is chosen because it has contribution to answer the formulated problems. This approach focuses on
the behaviour. The behaviour of people can be seen through their actions and speech which can define their characters. This approach is applied to reveal the
characteristics description of Pilon and the Pirate and their motivation for building their friendship in Stei
nbeck‟s Tortilla Flat.
2. Character
Characters play an important role in a literary work like a novel. Abrams 1981 defines characters as “the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work,
which are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the
12 action.” p. 20. It means that character in a novel should be understood by the
reader. The reader can imagine how the character looks like by noticing what the character says and does.
In addition, Forster 1985 says that character can also be categorized as flat and round. A flat character is not changed by circumstance. The author can
describe the character in one sentence and describe it completely. The advantage of this character is that it can be easily recognized and easily remembered by the
reader because the character does not experience changes. A round character is more complex in temperament and motivation. The author describes the character
like a human being in real life who can act unpredictably. Thus, a round character undergoes changes that can surprise the reader pp. 46-54.
Besides, characters can also be categorized into major and secondary or minor characters. According to Henkle 1977 a major character is a character that
gets fullest attention from the reader and it plays larger roles to carry meanings or ideas in a novel. Whereas a minor character is less complex, or less intense in the
story and it supports the major character pp. 92-96. Characters in a novel can be revealed through characterization created by the author.
3. Characterization
