Open Minded Person The Impact of New York’s Lifestyle toward the Character of Sheila

she does not need to eat while having sex. This is one of her thought that makes her do sexual intercourse. I’m glad. All that sleeping around did two good things for me. First of all, I lost a little weight. FACT: The average sex act uses up about a hundred and fifty calories. Really, that is a fact. And you don’t eat while you fuck. Therefore, the more you fuck, the less you eat. It’s the best diet I’ve ever been on. Second of all, all that sleeping around got me rid of my sexual hang-ups. Whadda you mean, Mom, don’t let a boy touch you, you know where? It feels good when they touch you, you know where. Parent, 1972: 11-12 Being independent person also makes Sheila think about her relationship with her boyfried Norman whom she has already dated in seven year. Sheila and Normal relationship is a normal relationship like others couple out there in New York. They go to dinner, they watch movie together, they go to museum, and they go vacation together. Along the seven years relationship, Sheila is getting bored because Normal doesn’t propose her to get married to him. It makes Sheila decide to break up with Norman and be a single lady. So I finally proposed. The night before we left Puerto Rico. “Norman, I really think we’re wasting each others time if we don’t get married.” “I don’t think so.” And I gambled with love... “Then I really think we should stop seeing each other.” “Okay.” ... and lost. Parent, 1972: 151. Sheila is not depending on others back even her family. She stands by her own feets. She does what she wants and she will take responsibility by her own self. The fact that she is overweight and is not married makes her feel so depressed. And it makes her decide to kill herself. Being overweght is one of the reasons I’m going to kill myself. I’m tired of dieting, and I’m tired of looking at everyone else in bikinis. I’d stick a knife in my chest, but it would probably never get through the fatty tissue to my heart. Parent, 1972: 121 Being an independent person also makes Sheila Levine prepares her own funeral. She prepares where she is going to be buried. She prepares a good dress for herself to be wore. She meets the Rabbi to explaine why she kills herself. She wants Rabbi tell to everyone at her funeral the reason she kills herself. She wants her parents know that she suffers because of not getting married and there is no a single man who wants to be her husband. “Rabbi, I have planned to kill myself on July third and will be buried Jully fourth. I am killing myself because I wanted to get married and my mother wanted me to get married and I never did get married, and I’am tired of the embarrassment of it all. I would like you to officiate at the funeral because if you don’t, some strange rabbi will say a lot of prayers that would be meaningless to me and no one in the whole memorial chapel at Rossman’s Memorial Park will know why I died. I want them to know why I died. I want the to know. It’s important to me” Parents, 1972: 198. All of the quotations above is a proof that the main character in this novel named Sheila Levine is an independent person. Although the things that she decides is not all a good thing, at least, she braves to choose what she wants. She just does what she wants to do without being controlled by others. She also braves to decide the things that will be going through in her life. 40

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION

From the analysis in the previous chapter, it is concluded that the lifestyle of New York impacts the character of the major character, Sheila Levine, in Gail Parent’s Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York. At the beginning of the story, it shows that Sheila Levine is a low self-confidence girl, a dreamer girl, an easy to give up girl and a think negative girl. When she was a kid she always dreams about her marriage. She dreams about her future husband, where will they live and how many kids she wants. After she grows up, she loses her confidence because of her physical appearance. She starts to give up about her live and starts to think negative about herself. The condition changes when Sheila moves to New York City to finish her education. The life she lives in New York is different from her old place. In New York City, people around her has different lifestyle. They sleep with people they just meet and have promiscuous sexual intercourse. They also have freedom to choose some interests. They go to party at night, meet people they want, get vacations, get their career, get higher education, and go shopping. This lifestyle changes Sheila character. She already knows what she wants in life. Living in New York makes Sheila think what she wants in life. It makes her become independent person. She moves out from her parent’s house and gets her own apartment. She also becomes an open minded woman. She finishes her education and becomes a diploma. She also opens her mind about her career. In New York University, she gets her first career. She works at drama major and an English minor in the School of Education, where she meets Joshua and Professor Hinley. Sheila tries to look for another job and then she joins at children’s record business which Frank Holand is the owner of the company. Besides, living in New York also makes Sheila’s promiscuous sexual intercourse becomes uncontrolled. She sleeps and has sexual intercourse with every guy she wants. All of the statements above shows that New York’s lifestyle through the setting impacts the character of Sheila Levine. At the beginning, her character before she moves to New York City are a low self-confidence girl, a dreamer girl, an easy to give up girl and a negative thinking girl. Then she moves to New York City. In New York City, there are some lifestyles which can impact Sheila’s character. Those are promiscuous and freedom to choose some interests. Those lifestyles impact Sheila’s character. She has uncontrolled sexual life. She also becomes open minded and independen person.