Background of the Study

1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Some people live in a multicultural society where there are many races and ethnics. Sociologists have tried to make a distinction between race and ethnicity. Race refers to differences between people based upon inherited characteristics, such as skin color while ethnicity refers to social differences in acquired characteristics such as language, religion, national origins, and culture Broom and Selznick, 1977: 443. Most of people tend to group themselves in the similar race or ethnicity. This produces a characteristic type of a group to make the group easier to be distinct. Broom and Selznick say that when people of one culture gather, they will produce a signature of their culture 1977: 113. The goodness of the group is able to make continuity of the group. However, it can also go to the assumption that their culture is the best. This assumption is called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism can be defined as the identification with the familiar and devaluation of the foreign Broom and Selznick, 1977: 73. Ethnocentric people treat strange people, beliefs, or practices with suspicion and hostility simply because they are different and they feel that their culture is the best. The most extreme ethnocentric people support to treat the other less than human. In less vicious form, ethnocentrism takes one‟s own culture for granted and passively, but still rejects others. The term “American” that becomes very sensitive means nation of the United States. However, the word is the common property of all the people of North and South America, Latin American sometimes becomes angry becau se that word is equally used to them. Ethnocentrism appears through one‟s behavior in the society. Ethnocentrism exists through socialization in the clan, tribe, or village. People usually become tradition-directed. Their behavior focuses on the tradition or mores that live in the society. A detailed norm of village life is learned directly by people. When one person does something wrong, he will be ashamed because wrongdoing is a transgression against the group Broom and Selznick, 1977: 14. Ethnocentric people are politically indifferent because they are traditional. They are also subsistence-oriented which focus to make the continuity of the group. Through those characteristics of ethnocentrism, people can see that ethnocentrism can bring a trouble to society. Ethnocentric people feel that they are superior while others are just inferior. In consequence, they will underestimate other cultures and treat others as barbaric. They are also trying to maintain their culture and close themselves from the others. Unfortunately, their treatments to others, subsequently, can trigger others‟ resistance. Feeling humiliated makes others have to show that they also have power by rebellion. There will be a conflict between superior group and inferior group. In South Vietnam, before the fall of Saigon, Chinese, as a minority group, controlled 70 to 80 of commerce sector in Vietnam. The Hoa, overseas Chinese, were respected as a an upper class group. They employed Vietnamese as their servants. After the fall of Saigon, they were suspicious as communist. Their business were also taken over by government. Therefore, many of them were driven out from Vietnam and they were being refugee in other countries. In fact, superior group can be defeated to show that inferior group have power. The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam has a main character that shows ethnocentrism clearly. Percival is a Chinese descent who lives in Cholon, South Vietnam. In the 19 th century, Vietnamese tended to like reading in Chinese than Vietnamese. At that time, Chinese had more prestige. Chinese was the language that was used by nomad in South East Asia. Certainly, many Chinese in Vietnam still hold on their tradition. Percival feels that he has a higher rank than Vietnamese, but the situation in the novel does not support Percival to hold on his culture. Percival who used to think that his heritage was the best one realizes that he has to diminish his ethnocentrism. Cultures may be weakened or destroyed under certain conditions. “A culture may lose its strength and vitality as a result of internal social change or it may be overwhelmed by outside influences” Broom and Selznick, 1977: 78. There are four situations that make culture weakened or vulnerable. First, a breakdown of authority is threatened. Second, there is a serious gap between cultural ideals and social realities. Third, individuals‟ life are fragmented, so that they lack the sense of participated in a coherent and sustaining symbolic order. Fourth, beliefs or practices hitherto valued for themselves become more narrowly instrumental Broom and Selznick, 1977: 79. The writer will focus on the second situation that is suitable with the situation in the novel. The reality in society does not always support the value of culture. Society can destroy the culture of a group of people. The development in the technology and economy makes some groups of people suffered to grow in the development or stay in the culture or traditional life. “The rapid and radical collapse of a way of life has frequently occurred when technologically advanced societies have impinged on primitive communities” Broom and Selznick, 1977: 82. War can also make the culture or the ethnocentrism of people diminished. War is a situation that usually brings misery to people. It, actually, does not need to happen because the war usually destroys not just material, but also people. There are many victims and uncountable material destruction. Although it is dangerous, Vietnam experienced this in the past, begun in 1950s. The Headmaster Wager takes Vietnam War as the background of the story. During the Vietnam War, the nationalism of Vietnamese was growing. They thought that Vietnam had to have their own tradition, speak their own language, and only Vietnamese could live in Vietnam. It forced immigrants to go back to their homeland or stay there as Vietnamese. At the end of Vietnam War, the Chinese and the American who were a minority and lived in South Vietnam had to move. Americans would never have a place in Vietnam because America was known as the causes of the second Vietnam War while Chinese could stay but as a Vietnamese. Vietnam War is described very well in novel The Headmaster’s Wager that tells about the dilemma of Percival as a Chinese in a divided country, South and North Vietnam. Percival has diminished his ethnocentrism as the effect of Vietnam War. The war has made Chinese in Vietnam become homeless. They stay refugee in another country. Percival used to be superior, but at the end of the novel, Percival can not maintain his culture anymore. Through many aspects, Vietnan War changes Percival‟s perspective as a Chinese. The Headmaster’s Wager is written by Vincent Lam who never lives in Vietnam, but in Canada. His grandfather, who lived in Vietnam during the war, is inspi ring him to write a novel. This novel does not tell about his grandfather‟s experience. Instead, it picks up on a thread of his grandfather‟s life and an era his grandfather experienced. Lam just heard and remembered what his grandfather had said about the war and he made it as a story. It is interesting that Lam does not experience the war or feel as a Chinese, but he can describe the situation and the feeling clearly. Everyone who reads The Headmaster’s Wager will think that this book was published at that time. In fact, this book was published in 2012. The truth that Lam is a doctor will make reader surprised. Even though he is a doctor, he is able to write a novel and short stories aesthetically. It is being proper with the prize that he gets from his works. The Headmaster’s Wager has been reviewed in Literary Review of Canada Vol. 20 No. 6 JulyAugust 2012 Edition. The Writer, James Fitzgerald, said that “Lam has forged a testament to the immutable power of the filial bond” http:www.jamesfitzgerald.infoVincent_Lam.pdf. Lam has got Giller Prize winning collection of linked short stories on his short story Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. The Headmaster’s Wager, actually, is his first novel. This novel will be the object of this study. The points that will be studied in The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam is 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