The neuroses Of Claudia Parr in Emily Giffin's Baby Proof through Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis theory

THE NEUROSES OF CLAUDIA PARR IN EMILY GIFFIN’S BABY PROOF THROUGH SIGMUND FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYSIS THEORY

MEIVA EKA SRI S. NIM. 104026000924

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA

THE NEUROSES OF CLAUDIA PARR IN EMILY GIFFIN’S BABY PROOF THROUGH SIGMUND FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYSIS THEORY

A Thesis

Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

Strata One Degree (S1)

MEIVA EKA SRI S. NIM. 104026000924

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA

LEGALIZATION

The thesis entitled “The Neuroses of Claudia Parr in Emily Giffin’s Baby Proof through Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory” has been defended before the Letters and Humanities Faculty’s Examination Committee on September 2008. The thesis has already been accepted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for Strata One Degree (S1).

Jakarta, September 5, 2008

Examination Committee

Chair Person, Secretary,

Dr.H.Muhammad Farkhan, M. Pd. Drs. Asep Saepuddin, M. Pd

NIP. 150 299 480 NIP. 150 261 902

Members:

Elve Oktafiyani, M. Hum Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M. Ed

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.

Jakarta, September 5, 2008

ABSTRACT

Meiva Eka Sri S., The Neuroses of Claudia Parr in Emily Giffin’s Baby Proof Through Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory. Thesis. Jakarta: English Letters Department, Letters and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, August 2008.

The study concerns on the way the writer explores the concept of neuroses as one of the symptoms of psychological problems to express her idea through the literary work which appears in the novel Baby Proof. The writer uses qualitative descriptive analysis as the method to analyze the relationship between the main character and the neuroses symptoms as one of the form of the psychological problems which have been injured by the main character since her childhood. The data are obtained from the books of psychology and the internet which are related with the neuroses symptoms. Therefore, the writer focuses her analysis to the Neuroses symptoms of Claudia Parr through Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory.

In this analysis, the writer find out the final result that showes how childhood could influence its perspective in adulthood period. In Baby Proof, the effect of great traumatic in the childhood appears through the character of Claudia Parr. It began when Claudia was a child. Her parents were divorced because her mother left their family to cheat with the other guy whom wealthier than her father. Everybody humiliated them and they must struggle with their own efforts. Claudia never felt her mother’s affection. She was also an unwanted child. Those things made her take a decision for not having a child during her life. There were fears in Claudia’s towards all the stuffs of family and motherhood. Moreover, her decision made her seems abnormal from the people around her. And it appears with the neuroses symptoms as the form of psychological problems of Claudia’s. It is the symptoms which reveals when someone has a great trauma in the childhood that made them unable to deal with the reality.

The result of this study shows that neuroses symptoms are influenced by the reaction which is developed from the great anxiety in the childhood. Finally, the writer concludes that childhood is the most important period in someone’s life which can influence their development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, the writer would like to give the most appreciation and many thanks to Allah SWT, the Lord of the universe and the thereafter. She is sure that she can not do anything without Him. He guided us with all of His blessed in our life. Then, peace and blessing is upon to our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW and all of his followers.

The writer would like to express her highest gratitude to her family: her mother for giving a spirit everyday that makes her strong; her beloved siblings (Emon, Baby, Wiwo and Aban) for always make her laugh and entertain her whenever she was down, and her great families (Mamah, Pusy, Buledede, Buletin, Om Dodo with their families and also her beloved grandparents), for their big supports to her in doing this thesis. Most of all, she dedicated this thesis for her beloved father who had passed away two years ago.

The writer can not fail to mention her advisor Dini Masitah, M. Hum for her great patients and contributions in finishing this paper. She thanks for all of her advices that have been given to her; and may Allah SWT bless her and her family.

The writer wishes to say her gratitude to the following persons:

1. Dr. H. Abdul Chair as the Dean of Faculty of Letters and Humanities State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.

2. Dr. M. Farkhan, M. Pd as the Head of English Letters Department.

3. Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M.Pd as the Secretary of English Letters Department.

4. All lecturers of English Letters Department for taught and educated her very well during her study at UIN Syahid Jakarta.

5. All of her beloved classmates at English Letters Department: Nova, Ode, Ida, Aya, Dening, Nufuz, Wulan, Yanti, Lisa, and Cut; for giving her a great support during the process of making this thesis. Great thanks she would give to Nina Farlina and Siti Zubaidah for struggling with her until the end.

6. Her beloved best friends since she was in the Senior High School: Rahma, Dilla, Merry and Sukma, for supporting her in every moment that they shared together. They were the best that she ever had in her life; friendship forever.

7. Her best friend, Jajang in Medical major of UPN Jakarta, for giving her spirit in life for many years and also giving a motivation on doing this thesis.

Finally, may Allah gives His blesses to us, amien.

Jakarta, August 2008 The writer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT…………...……….….….i

APPROVEMENT…..………..ii

LEGALIZATION……..……….iii

DECLARATION……..………..iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……….……….v

TABLE OF CONTENTS………..………....vii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION………...1

A. Background of the Study………..….1

B. Focus of the Study………..…...6

C. Research Questions……….….…..7

D. Objectives of the Study………..…7

E. Significance of the Study………..….8

F. Research Methodology………..…8

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK……...…...…….………10

A. Character Analysis………..….10

B. Psychoanalysis………...12

C. Neuroses……….….14

CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS………....21

A. Character Analysis……..………...………..21

B. Analysis of Neuroses………...…26

1. Neuroses………..……….………...………...….28

2. Anxiety Reactions………29

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION……….………..…..44

BIBLIOGRAPHY………..……..…..47

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Family is the basic institution which characters are formed.1 Moreover, it was the first place for someone to learn about everything around them, which is started by their nuclear family members then continued with the surroundings. Family is also having their own rule to manage their members through their surroundings and also the society. Those are known as family values.

Family values could also be defined as the political and social concept used in various cultures to describe values or norms in the society that are believed to be traditional in that culture and in support of the idea that families are the basic unit of the culture.2 The concept of ‘family values’ is rooted in each individual culture thus making the values different for different societies. In addition, culture change overtime in response in economic, political and cultural development. Therefore, family values vary from households to households, from country to country, and from generation to generation.

1

The Concept of Family Values in America. Accessed on 14 September 2008 at 11 pm. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Values_in_America.

2

Myron Magnet, “The American Family Values”, Fortune Magazine. Accessed on 17 April 2008 at 8 pm. http://www.family/values/in/america.com

We can see many family values around us. It can be seen since the early stages of life. Family values could be learnt from the beginning of childhood because it is one of the most important aspects in our life. Most of the physical and mental development of a person takes place in childhood. It is the critical period for establishing good habits which can last a lifetime. 3 That means childhood has a big influenced in someone’s further life.

Every body has different childhood memory. But most of us often ignored and even forget about it. It seems like something which contains unimportant things in the past. On the contrary, childhood could help us to find our identity in the future. Childhood is not related only with the family and its values; but also with the social condition, culture and mental experiences. The concept of childhood itself is also different for each person. Someone could have a good childhood and vise versa.

In short, the family values may seem in the reality and also as a part of the story; both has their unique way to express. In this case, the writer concerns to the novel; as one of products of literary works. In novel, the esthetical values were also reflected from the intrinsic elements and also the attractive language which is used. Moreover, one of the cognitive sides from

3

http://www.answers.com/topic/childhood with titled the definition of childhood, Accessed on May 14th 2008, at 6 pm.

the novel is psychological values inside. A linguist said, “The novel can teach you more about human nature than the psychologist.” 4

Baby Proof is a family novel, which is written by Emily Giffin’s as the third novel after Something Borrowed and Something Blue. It was one of the Best New York Times Bestseller in 2006. It tells the story of that uncommon creature—which is the main character, Claudia Parr—the woman who doesn’t want a child; just because of her traumatic in early childhood. It made her has a fear with all the stuff about family. It is also contains with a psychological problem which is injured by the main character that built the story. Those things show that how important the family values which can give a big influence to the main character’s physical development. What happened next in her life was so attractive. Readers were made suspicious with the end of the story; that makes it challenging to be read. It’s sometimes funny, always thoughtful exploration about how life sometimes has other plans for us than the ones we make for ourselves.

Emily Giffin is one of the best international authors in United States of America. She was born on March 20, 1972, in Baltimore, Maryland and had a very happy childhood. She grew up with a love of reading, surrounded by books and making frequent trips to the library with her mother and her older sister, Sarah. She began writing at very young age, and published many of her

4

Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, Teori Kesusastraan, ed. Melani Budianta, (Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1999) p.30

own stories. Emily’s father was an executive for Sears, so her family moved around quite a bit over the years. In 1986, they arrived in Illinois just in time for Emily to start high school. During those years, Emily indulged her passion for writing as a member of creating writing club and the editor in-chief of her high school newspaper. She won several awards for her writing and wrote in journal every day. After college, Emily attended law school at University of Virginia. She even works in a litigation department, but she realized that writing was her way of life. In 2001, she began creating the world of Rachel and Darcy. Here is the page from the early draft of Something Borrowed— under its original working title, Rolling the Dice. In 2002 was an exiting one for Emily. She got married, found an agent, and signed two-book contract with St. Martin’s Press. Although she hadn’t palled to do so originally, she became interested in Darcy’s side of the story during revisions of Something Borrowed and thus began writing Something Blue. In 2004, Something Borrowed was released to have reviews and instantly make the New York Times bestseller list. Baby Proof followed its succeeded which produced around 300.000 in the first printing in the early 2006.5

The main character in Baby Proof is Claudia Parr, single, 35-years-old, a successful carrier woman. She was a kind of ambitious woman who loves her jobs so much. Her job as an editor in one of the biggest publisher

5

Amazon.ca: Baby Proof: A Novel: Emily Giffin: Books, accessed on June 21, 2008 at 1 pm. Retrieved from http://www.amazon .ca/Emily_Giffin/Novel/Baby Proof.com

company in New York, her attractive physical appearance, bright future and has a lot of friends made her life seemed so perfect. Overall, she was content with her life. She told herself that she didn’t need a husband to feel complete and fulfilled.

Then she met Ben who seemed way too good to be true, after she learned that he actually shared her feelings about children. She realized something during her life. On the flip side, she knew that she could be automatically disqualified for a long-term consideration as she had with so many guys in the recent past. After all, most people—women and men—view not wanting kids as a deal breaker. At the very least, her risked coming across as cold and selfish, two traits that don’t top the list of “what every man wants”; because didn’t want to have a kid was a selfish decision.

But Ben was different. He doesn’t want to have a child either. They found many similarities and they were fall in love. In short, they were married. After two years of their happy marriage, Ben wanted to have a child. Claudia refused Ben’s wishes for having a child in their marriage. She felt betrayed; Ben betrayed their previous commitment about having a child. Conflicts happened; both of them were stubborn. Finally, they were divorced.

By analyzing the plot carefully, the writer assumes that it seems that there is a relationship between Claudia’s childhoods in her future decision for not having a child. A terrible childhood created a deep psychological

traumatic for Claudia as a part of her surroundings and that become a trouble for her. The decision itself also influenced the development of her personality. She identified the character of her mother to herself. Her decision for not having a child made her seemed so selfish.

Therefore, the writer interested to analyze neuroses symptoms which are injured by Claudia’s character related with her trauma in the childhood by using Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses. Freud believed that “a child was a human’s father”; people’s mental explorations were always related with their childhood and also their past experience which has the implication of psychological problems, especially Neuroses. Neuroses are one kind of psychological problems which is caused by a great anxiety and traumatic during the childhood.

B. Focus of the Study

The research will be concentrated on how the childhood influences Claudia’s perspective on not having a child. In this case, the writer emphasizes to the neuroses symptoms of Claudia, using Psychoanalysis Theory by Sigmund Freud, which comes from as the psychological problem due to her traumatic in the childhood in order to limit the scope of the problem.

C. Research Questions

According to the focus of the research, there is a question that would be interested to be discussed:

How does Claudia’s childhood influence her perspective on not having a child viewed from Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses?

D. Objectives of the Study

Based on the research question above, the objective of this research is:

To explain the great role of childhood which is influenced Claudia’s perspective on not having a child in her life viewed from Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses.

E. Significance of the Study

Through the research, hopefully, readers can understand that family is the basic institution that really important in our stages of life. Moreover, the concept of family values, which has been taught since a childhood, would determine someone’s personality and behavior in the future. In this case, the writer emphasizes all of her concern to this novel from the psychological problems, as the result of malfunctioned of the family values, through the main character inside. Moreover, it can open our mind for knowing our psychological sides to be a better personality in the future.

F. Research Methodology

The research methodology comprises by many aspects such as method of research, technique of data analysis, instruments of research and analysis unit.

1. Method of Research

The writer conducts the research by using qualitative-descriptive and content analysis method. In qualitative research, she used verbal data and the relevant theory; that is the analysis will be explained by the word Neuroses. The type of qualitative study that she chooses is content analysis with the description of the main problem in the story. Content analysis is the study that tries to understand the message of the literary work; in this case that the novel Baby Proof.

2. Technique of Data Analysis

In this research, the writer uses Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses based on critical study and sharp analysis to the qualitative data that is collected from the variety of sources based on the study of historical literature that is used internal and external structure of literary work.

3. Instrument of Research

The research instrument of this qualitative research is the writer herself who analyzed the novel carefully and accurately by checking, quoting, and analyzing some important quotation from the novel and

related with the relevant theory that she has been used that is Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses.

4. Analysis Unit

Analysis unit that is used in this research is the novel Baby Proof

written by Emily Giffin printed in 2006 by St. Martin Paperbacks, Inc. United States of America. This novel consists of 306 pages.

5. Place and Time

The research started on the seventh semester of academic year 2007-2008, at the Department of English Letters, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. The research was also conducted at Adab and Humanity Faculty’s library, main library of UIN, University of Indonesia’s library, and other libraries which can give references information about that material that the writer needed.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Intrinsic Theory

Every literary work has intrinsic and extrinsic elements. Intrinsic elements are the internal structure of literary works such as plot, characters, characterizations, theme, setting, point of view etc; meanwhile, extrinsic elements are the external structure of literary work from the external factors outside the literary work itself, such as author’s background, sociological, history, and also culture when the literary work has been created.6 In this research, the writer focused on the analyses of the main characters and the psychological side of the main character as an extrinsic element in the novel.

Character is one of the intrinsic elements that the writer would discuss. Character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story. 7 The term character applies to any individual in literary work. A character is a fictional of person—who was presented in works of narrative or drama who convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or

6

Indra Fajar, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: An Overview of Genetic Structuralism, thesis, (Jakarta: The Library of State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2006), p.5. u.p.

7

X. J Kennedy, An Introduction To Fiction: Third Edition, (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1983), p.45

audience understands their feelings, thoughts, intentions and motives— usually a psychologically realistic depiction.8

Generally, characters are divided into two types: there are main character and minor character. The major character is a character that always appears and dominates in every part of the story.9 It also will usually be complex and fully developed; it’s often described as a dynamic character. The major character of the plot is protagonist. The protagonist is usually easy enough to identify: he or she is essential character without whom there would be no plot in the first place.10 Minor character is character that only appears in a single event. Appearance of minor characters in the entire story is less, not significant and it appears only when there is connection with major character, either directly or indirectly.11 A story’s minor characters are often static; their growth is not usually relevant to the story development.

According to the useful terms of the English novelist E. M Foster, characters may seem flat or round, depending on whether a writer sketches or sculptures them. Flat characters are those who embody or represent a single characteristic, trait, or idea, or at most a very limited number of such qualities. Flat characters are also referred to as type characters, as one-dimensional

8

The Department of English, University of Victoria, Character and Characterization, from http//web.avic.ca./wguide/Pages/LTCharacter.html. Retrieved on April 2008.

9

Adib Sofia Sugihastuti, Feminisme dan Sastra: Menguak Citra Perempuan Dalam Layar Terkembang, (Bandung: Penerbit Katarsis, 2003) p. 69.

10

James H. Pickering and Jeffrey D. Hoeper, Concise Companion to Literature, (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc, 1981) p.24

11

characters, or when they are distorted to create humor, as caricatures. Flat characters are usually minor actors in the novels and stories in which they appear, but not always so.

Meanwhile, round characters were embodies a number of qualities and traits and are complex multidimensional characters of considerable intellectual and emotional depth that have capacity to grow and change. Major characters in fiction are usually round characters, and it is with the very complexity of such characters that most of us become engrossed and fascinated.

B. Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a part of literature psychology; it was also the best-known techniques of psychological therapy. Most people go to therapist because they want to be more productive, happier, or even more effective in handling daily problems. And psychotherapy was one of the answers. It was an attempt to help a person feel better or function more effectively in life. Insight therapies12 were one kinds of psychotherapy; which is known as

Psychoanalysis.13

12

An insight therapy was a stem from the belief that emotional problems come from conflicts between unconscious processes and conscious functioning. The goal of insight therapies is greater self-knowledge through increased understanding of unconscious processes.

13

In the theory of psychoanalysis, Freud saw personality as developing out of conflicts between three basic structures of personality: id, ego and superego. In essence, this was a conflict between the conscious self and unconscious sexual desires.

According to psychoanalytic model, the most effective way to personal change in the present is to understand the repressed conflicts and memories from the past. As a child, one learns quickly that sexual and aggressive expressions are unacceptable. This doesn’t prevent a child from feeling angry at his parents, but he learns to hide these feelings, even from himself. There may have been single event of interaction with family members that were traumatic, and too painful to remember. The aim of psychoanalysis is to overcome a person’s unconscious resistance to repress their memories, feelings and drives. Then they can be brought to awareness, and then re-experienced and understood. Psychoanalysis is the most effective with educated adults’ neurotic who want to think and talk about their experience. 14

This study was announced, firstly, by Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 in Moravia; between in the ages of four and eighty-two his home was in Vienna: in 1938 Hitler’s invasion of Austria forced him to seek asylum in London, where he died in the following year. His career began with several years of brilliant work on the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. He was almost thirty when, after a period of study under Charcot in Paris, his interest first turned to psychology: and after ten years of clinical work in Vienna (at first in collaboration with Breuer, an older colleague) he

14

Stanley Berent, Introductory Psychology: A Basic Self-Instructional Guide, (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977), p. 183

invented what was to become psychoanalysis. This began simply as a method of treating neurotic patients through talking, but it quickly grew into an accumulation of knowledge about the workings of the mind in general. Freud was thus able to demonstrate the development of the sexual instinct in childhood and, largely on the basis of an examination of dreams, arrived at his fundamental discovery of the unconscious forces that influence our everyday thought and actions. Freud’s life was uneventful, but his ideas shape not only many specialist disciplines, but also the whole intellectual climate of the twentieth century. 15

C. Neuroses

The term “neuroses” was firstly founded by William Cullen (1769). At first, he thought that neuroses were only a disorder around the neurotic symptoms. At that time, the condition reflected the malfunction of neuron which is appeared on behavior. Around two centuries later, Freud suggested the source of neuroses was an intra-psychic conflict.16 Particularly, he adds, that inner conflict which is involved by non-fulfils wish happened because there was an obstacle from superego, meanwhile, ego can’t make a decision to

15

Sigmund Freud. The Penguin Freud Reader, ed. Adam Phillips (England: Penguin Books Ltd. : 2006) p. 2

16

Dr. A. Supratiknya, Mengenal Perilaku Abnormal, (Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 1995), p. 36

resolve peacefully.17 Behaviorist argued that the source of neuroses is faulty learning in order to avoid the anxiety. 18

Moreover, according to Kartini Kartono, neuroses is mental disorder that causes a sense of distress and deficit in functioning.

“Psychoneuroses called neuroses, mental disorder that causes a sense of distress and deficit in functioning”

Kartono adds that neuroses were characterized by anxiety, depression, or other feelings of unhappiness or distress that are out of propotion to the circumstances of a person’s life. They may impair a person’s functioning in virtually any area in his life, relationships, or external affairs, but they are not severe enough to anticipate the person. Neurotic patients generally do not suffer from the lost of the sense of reality seen in persons with psychoses.19

Neuroses are abnormalities in any other aspect of personal or social behavior which cause discomfort to the individual or annoyance to others, but are not severe enough to make him incapable or unwilling to assume responsibility for himself or to require his isolation from society. Neuroses are serious failures to adjust. They usually involve failure to deal adequately

17

Prof. Dr. A. Wiramihardja, Psi., Pengantar Psikologi Abnormal, (Bandung: PT. Refika Aditama, 2005), p. 67

18

Every body has a defense mechanism for surviving their life. Neurotic patient often felt a great anxiety both inside and outside them. This anxiety may cause a phobia to something that manifested on daily attitude or avoiding behavior as their self-defense from the neurotic symptoms. Even though they realized that they didn’t lose contact with the outside world.

19

Kartini Kartono, Patology Social 3: Gangguan-gangguan Kejiwaan. (Jakarta: CV. Rajawali, 1997), p. 142

with anxiety.20 This can mean either being overwhelmed by anxiety or developing behavior patterns to deal with anxiety that are themselves maladaptive. Neuroses were characterized by feeling of inadequacy, fearfulness, tension, and difficult interpersonal relationship21; the high anxiety narrow perceptions, and muddles thinking and action.

Most psychological theories of neuroses stress the importance of parent-child relationships and early life experiences as contributing influences in the development of personality flaws that predispose the child to neurotic behavior in later years. There are some characteristic of neuroses:

1. Sex conflicts induced by early indoctrination in puritanical standards or unresolved oedipal bonds. Parental exploitation of the child’s love needs as a means of control or other disappointing earlier experiences may cause a child subsequently to avoid becoming emotionally involved with other persons.

2. Inferiority feelings resulting from unfavorable comparisons with siblings, belittlement, unrealistic expectations and goals set by parents, or past failures.

3. Conflicts regarding the expression of aggression related to strong parental disapproval and withdrawal of affection whenever the child attempted to assert himself, resist domination, or express hostile feelings.

4. Insecurity feelings resulting from overprotection, parental inconsistencies, separations, or the expression of affection by the parents only when the child was “good”.

5. Traumatic experiences during childhood that were either dismissed or ridiculed by parents or could not be discussed with parents.

6. Dependence and immaturity resulting from parental domination and indulgence; the sacrifice of autonomy and self-identity as the price paid for retaining parental affection and the security and safety thus provided.

20

T. K. Launder, Psychology: A Brief Overview, (United States of America: Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company, 1972), p. 85

21

7. Identification with and adoption of a parental model of neurotic behavior. For varied reasons, parents may actually encourage and reinforce compulsive, hysterical, and fearful behavior in their children.22

Those characteristics usually appear during the childhood. Childhood was a fragile period in someone’s life. Someone’s who sufferer from anxiety during their childhood may also have the other anxiety in many ways when they were adult. That makes anxiety in the childhood could influenced the development of someone’s personality.

Anxiety in the childhood is the part of anxiety reactions. It does not develop suddenly but usually over an extended period of time. In fact, most anxiety neuroses probably originate in childhood. Children learn anxiety all too easily. Psychologist believed that parents often condition their children to develop anxieties; such as punishing, frightening, setting goals or even too strict to their children are actually encouraging their anxiety and apprehensions23.

The child, especially the young child, seeks to please his parents. When his parents are displeased, the child may assume it is because he has failed in some way and he may expect to be punished. Children were easily to get anxious. Most of us didn’t realize that it might be happen in our past experience. Many parents trying to teach the child to distinguish between

22

James D. Page and Aldine Aherton, Psychopathology: The Science of Understanding Deviance, (New York: Inc. James D. Page, 1971), p. 279.

23

correct and incorrect behavior may make the mistake of punishing him too severely. As a result, the child become anxious about everything he does. By the time he is old enough to understand his fears (and perhaps resolve them), he may be so permanently conditioned that his attempts to be free of anxiety are stymied. An anxious person often looks for someone or something to cling to. If he has not found security in his early years, he may believe that none is possible, and continue to react anxiously.

Anxieties generally are well established before adolescence, and at that time they begin to exert a new pressure. Anxiety that is easily conditioned during childhood seems to grow stronger as the child grows older. It is extremely difficult to extinguish. Some children may overcome the stress and tension of anxiety symptoms, while others generate conflicts so severe that their behavior becomes totally maladaptive. Still others resolve their conflicts during childhood only to find the same inexplicable fears and continuous tensions recurring later in life.

During the childhood years, children are influenced by many outside forces. These include family and friends, schools and televisions. All of these influences the ways children learn to behave. As these outside forces are operating, however, children are also developing their own self-concepts. The self is shaped partly by child’s own cognitive abilities and partly by relations to other people.

During childhood, the parent-child relationship is deepened through the process known as identification. Children incorporate qualities of their parents into their own self-concepts. Values, personality traits, and belief that children observe in their parents become part of the child’s own style of thought and action. Parental identification adds the cognitive dimensions of shared beliefs and values to the emotional bond that was established through the formation of a secure attachment.24

The neuroses can be classified into four subtypes: anxiety reactions, phobias, obsessive-compulsive reactions, and psychosomatic disorders.

In this novel, the writer would like to prove that the anxiety reactions were developed from Claudia’s traumatic in the childhood. Claudia’s has a great anxiety during her childhood which made her chose a decision for not

having a child. The decision was manifested of her disappointment to her mother for years. Here, the writer emphasizes her concern into anxiety

reactions which is related with the neurotic condition of the main character, Claudia.

1. Anxiety reactions

It’s probably the most common neurotic condition, are emotional. A person in an anxiety state is extremely irritable, or constantly worried and fearful. Usually he has accompanying bodily symptoms—nausea, sweating,

24

Philip R. Newman and Barbara M.Newman, Principles of Psychology, (Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1983), p.77.

palpitations of the heart. These reactions consist not of occasional periods of worry over rational or partly rational problems, such as the normal person has, but prolonged periods of extreme, diffuse, and uncalled-for nervousness and apprehension.

Anxiety reactions are caused by a great anxiety and stress. Anxiety is much like stress in the way our bodies respond. There is a feeling of being threatened, of apprehension, tension, and worry. Anxiety affects a person’s performance. People can usually perform simple task better under higher anxiety. Since most situations are rather complex, it is not surprising that highly anxious people cope less adaptively or effectively.

As we have seen, people are more anxious in responses to the stresses of external situations. Anxiety can also be generated from within to be generated from within, by threats to our self-esteem, or by unacceptable feelings or emotional conflicts. Anxiety is frequent on children who usually can’t consciously admit that they sometimes hate their parents. It is too anxiety-provoking.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS

A. Data Description

In chapter III, having read the novel, the writer finds some statements as the corpus of the research. They are classified into two groups: character and neuroses. They are presented in the following tables.

1. The List of Claudia Parr’s Characters in Emily Giffin’s Baby Proof

No. Corpus Page Remark

1 “I never wanted to be a mother.” 1 Persistent

2 “I steadfastly maintain that short of being orphaned of severely disfigured was the worst thing that can happen to a fifth-grader…”

48 Lonely

3 “I never had any illusions that either of my parents was perfect”

48 Pessimist 4 “I remember how pathetic that I am at that time” 48 Pathetic

5 “…my mother left us for real, giving up custody to my father when I was thirteen”

50 Sad childhood

7 “The fact that I don’t want children because I have such issues with my own mother.”

50 Hate her mother’s figure 8 “…everyone who has messed-up family thought

that it was only a tiresome cop-out to blame your bad childhood…”

50 Unconfident

9 “…even with a mother like mine…” 108 Embarrassed

10 “I can’t deny that there is a little life-shaping stigma in having a mother who cheats on her family…”

50 Bad childhood

11 “I don’t want to be something that someone has to overcome”

50 Overwhelming frightened

12 “I still could have sworn things would be so much neater and easier than they were turning out to be”

108 Optimist

13 “Now I live in the present and stop sniveling about the past.”

50 Forgiving

2. The List of Neuroses in Emily Giffin’s Baby Proof

No. Corpus Page Remark

1. “…And although my relationship ended for some variety reasons, I always had sense that babies were the factor.”

1 Anxiety reactions

2 “After all, most people—women and women—view not wanting kids as a deal breaker. At the very least, my risked coming across as cold and selfish…”

3 Anxiety symptoms

3 “I always have the feeling that she is directing her comments at me and that she blames me for our decision. Ben used to say that I was paranoid, but now, of course I’m actually right…”

43 Overwhelming anxiety

4 “I think I have always has the misguided sense that worry and fear serve as an insurance policy of sorts.“

46 Unreasonable fears

5 “I hate to be jaded, but I can’t help feeling that my fears about marriage were confirmed when I and Ben broke up. If I thought I was free when I didn’t want children, I’m

141 Neuroses symptoms

especially free now that I even don’t want a husband.”

6 “…fear of failure, fear of change, fear of the unknown…”

89 Neuroses 7 “I always cave—not for her sake, nor because

I need or want to be a mother—but because I don’t want my mother to define who I am, and not talking to her would do that in some bizarre sense.”

114 Anxiety in the

childhood

8 “I never did think I was anything like my mother, nor did I peg her as the main reason I didn’t want children.”

117-118 Neuroses

9 “…which has the effect of making you fear losing someone than if it were the other way around.”

46 Neuroses

10 “I knew that my love for Ben was the most real thing I had ever known, but I still fretted that I was setting myself up for disappointment.”

66 Anxiety reactions

11 “I don’t know whether I will overcome my fears of motherhood. Whether I will someday be a mother. Whether I am capable of being a good one”

306 Anxiety reactions

12 “”Nothing has changed. Ben wants a baby and, maybe, either do I…”

89 Anxiety reactions

13 “That I would do anything to get him back, even if that means having a baby; that I nearly might even want a baby with him. That I want to do is share my life with him, in whatever form takes.”

B. Character Analysis

According to the story, the writer assumes one period of time which is significant to the development of Claudia’s characters is the childhood period. Therefore, the writer needs to analyze Claudia’s childhood which is related with her psychological problems that is neuroses.

Neuroses problem of the main character has developed in the early age. It was related with her experiences in the childhood. Claudia was never wanted to be a mother. Even when she was a child, she always prefers to be an aunt. Mother was a kind of figure that she never want to be.

I never wanted to be a mother. Even I was a little girl, playing dolls with my two sisters. I assumed the role of the good Aunt Claudia. (Giffin, 2006: 1) Claudia’s childhood was not as beautiful as the other child have at her age; her mother is self-centered of those problems and her sisters were distracted by their complicated lives. It was begun when her mother started to cheat with Claudia’s elementary principal and many guys after him. Everybody’s around her insulted her because of her mother’s behavior. She was never being a good example for Claudia and her sisters. And having a divorce parents was far from her imagination. She often compared her parents with ideal parents in book. But it wasn’t being real.

Claudia’s traumatic reveals that, basically, children learn anxiety all too easily. She identified her parent’s model as an example. Her mother’s attitude, which seems to be a bad example for her, increasing her fearness of motherhood itself.

But about six years later, when I was eleven, I learned how closely the two emotions are aligned. That was the year that my mother had an “alleged” affair (she still denies it) with my elementary school principal, Mr. Higgins. I steadfastly maintain that short of being orphaned of severely disfigured, it was about the worst thing that can happen to a fifth-grader; particularly when you’re the very last person in the school to hear about it. I never had any illusions that either of my parents was perfect, as I frequently compared them to the ideal parents in books. I wished that my father were a little more Atticus Finch, and that my mother would occasionally behave like Ramona Quimby’s nurturing, understanding mother in my favorite Beverly clearly books. (Giffin, 2006: 48)

As a child, one’s could learn quickly that sexual and aggressive expressions are unacceptable. This doesn’t prevent a child from getting angry at her parents; but she learns to hide these feeling, even for herself. Every single event about her mother was traumatic and too painful to remember. It was a terrible childhood because everyone always mocked her family. She never forgets when there was a boy named Chet whom called her mother as a bitch. It was a horrible situation for the fifth-grader like her. After Mr. Higgins, her mother had another affair with Dwight. At the same time, she left Claudia’s family and divorced from Claudia’s father. Claudia was so embarrassed with her mother’s behavior.

I didn’t help that Chet was suspended for a week or that very few people saw the drawing before it was horsed off by a janitor. All that mattered was that upon one glimpse I knew in my gut that it was true: my mom was, indeed, doing Mr. Higgins The pieces came together for me in a rush of shamefaced horror: my mother’s Over the next few weeks, I had only heard uttered from boys like Chet. Slut, whore and bitch. It was a real healthy stuff for a fifth-grader. I think my mother and Mr. Higgins stopped seeing each other a short time later. But other affairs followed until she met Dwight, a tanned plastic surgeon who wore a pinky signet ring and ascots on special occasions and always conjured rich, tacky character on The Love Boat. My mother was so smitten with Dwight and the lavish lifestyle he promised that she left us for real, giving up custody to my father when I was thirteen. (Giffin, 2006: 49-50)

Claudia felt that the world would not accept her and her family inside; because her mother did many things which made them very embarrassed. It started from the insult from her friend in the playground until her neighborhood. That made Claudia frustrated with her life.

I didn’t think too much about my parents one way or the other. Most kids don’t; until my friend in the playground decided to break the big news of my mother’s affair via chalk graffiti. He drew two large stick figures, complete with some vivid male-female anatomy, and the words CLAUDIA’S MOM DOES MR. HIGGINS. I remember how pathetic that I am at that time.

(Giffin, 2006: 48)

After the scandals that her mother’s made; her parents were fighting almost everyday. Claudia remembered when her father finally took her and her sisters to the train station. They decided to move to the other town because they can’t stand anymore with her mother’s behavior. Her father had tried to be a good husband, but her mother never appreciates it; he even never got the divorce-memo.

Having to watch her parents fighting were a terrible experience for Claudia. Moreover, hearing that there’s one parent tears while the other down were become a great traumatic experiences which is long lasting remain in Claudia’s psyche.

My dad, who still lives in Huntington in the house we grew up in, drove to my sister’s earlier this morning and picks me up at the train station now. Before I close the car door, he starts in on my mother. “That woman is impossible”. He announces. My mother is usually very positive, but my mother brings out in worst in him. And apparently, he never got the divorced-parent memo that explains that it’s not healthy for a child (even an adult child) to hear one parent tear the other down. (Giffin, 2006: 67)

Everything become worst for Claudia when she knew that, actually, she was unwanted child. Her mother told the truth that she was regretting to have her. She thought that she wouldn’t have any child from Claudia’s father, but she was wrong. She told it to Claudia without any guilt. It made Claudia really sad.

You were accident, my mother says. An unplanned pregnancy. She never tried to hide the fact—it was something I knew at very young age. She’d tell people in front of me. She thought that she was done, but Claudia here was an accident. (Giffin, 2006: 116)

Claudia never wanted to say the real reason for her decision for not having a child. She kept it as a secret of her life. An anxious person often looks for someone or something to cling to. Still, others resolve their conflicts during childhood only to find the same inexplicable fears and continuous tensions recurring later in life.

Yet, Claudia believed that every body knew her true reason for not having a child; but it ever came out and say altogether. It was related with her bad childhood; the fact that she doesn’t want a child because she has a great traumatic with her mother. She denied the charges for being a mother because she is afraid to be trapped in the tiresome cop-out to blame her current predicament like in her bad childhood. She was afraid to have a family—because her previous family was messed up.

The fact that I don’t want children because I have such issues with my own mother. My first instinct is to deny these charges as I have always thought it a tiresome cop-out to blame your current predicament on your bad childhood. Everyone has a messed-up family—to one extent to another—but we all have an obligation to rise about it. Live in the present and stop sniveling about the past. (Giffin, 2006: 50)

Claudia couldn’t erase her memories of the bad childhood that she had. She couldn’t deny that she has a traumatic life because of a mother who cheats on her family and then finally leaves them altogether. A kinds of trauma which gets buried in her psyche forever. The pain was never been erased. It was influence her point of view on having a child. She believed that it would be felt better to be irresponsible mother than to have a mother who ignored her child; because the victims were only innocence children; that have no power to against it.

Still, I guess I can’t deny that there is a little life-shaping stigma in having a mother who cheats on her family and then finally leaves them altogether. A stigma that gets buried in your psyche forever. And those feeling must be playing at least a small role in all of this, just as I think my sister Daphne’s obsession with having children has a lot to do with wanting to erase the pain my mother caused. On one level, Daphne’s approach makes more sense. Yet the thought of a redo is not only unappealing, but terrifying. I don’t want that kind of power of anyone. I don’t want to be something that someone has to overcome. After all, I think everyone would agree that it’s far worse to be fucked-up mother than to have one. (Giffin, 2006: 50)

Claudia was never imagining that her life would be full of sadness like these. Slowly but surely, she learnt that everything wouldn’t always be happened as she wanted. Even she has a bad mother; she still believed that someday everything would go to be fine for her. Because life was like a wheel; and there’s would be a time for everything to turning out to be.

Things certainly aren’t the way you imagine them when you’re kid and dreaming big dreams about what your life as a grown-up will look like. Even with a mother like mine, even with my untraditional wishes, even with all books I’ve read about all the people with life screwed up in one way to another, I still could have sworn things would be so much neater and easier than they’re turning out to be. (Giffin, 2006: 108)

From the analysis above, the writer assumes that Claudia’s childhood was the main reason for Claudia took a decision for not having a child. She never wants to be like her mother. So, it was better for her to avoid all the stuff about family.

C. Analysis of the Neuroses (from Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory on Neuroses) of Claudia Parr in Baby Proof

In Baby Proof, Claudia’s character is presented with the internal conflicts from her family. In the beginning of the story, Claudia is described as a perfect woman. But, her decision for not having a child has made her relationships with many people was always failed. Claudia always frightened with all the stuff of family and motherhood. Her parent’s divorce had influenced her with a great anxiety of marriage life and having a child in her whole life due to her childhood; which is developed into one kind of psychological problems called Neuroses; according to Psychoanalysis Theory by Sigmund Freud.

Claudia has suffered from neuroses because she chooses for not having a child in order to against all of her fears of motherhood which is caused by her mother. But it was unnatural decision for woman because it would against woman faith for giving birth and raising children. Moreover, in general, people made a relationship to continue their inheritance. People thought that someone’s life would be devoid of

meaning if they decided for not having a child; because child was the source of happiness. And for the long considering was nobody’s was going take care of you when you were old someday.

Of course the subject of children surfaced often during our newlywed days, but only when responding to rude inquiries regarding our plans to procreate from everyone and anyone: Ben’s family, my family, friends, random mother in the park, even our dry cleaner. And the final recurrent motif was the whole which is appeared as a question about who is going to take care of you when you were old someday. (Giffin, 2006: 8)

There are some public opinions on having a child in the novel like the explanation above. But most of the people around Claudia thought that her principal seems so weird. And because of it she has a bad experience with man in many years. She always failed to make a serious relationship. Her failures were always related with her decision about not having a child. Many boyfriends left her because they never understand with Claudia’s decision about not having a child in their relationship. And she realized it.

Of the many boyfriends who followed him, none seemed understand or accept my feelings. And although my relationship ended for some variety reasons, I always had the sense that babies were a factor. (Giffin, 2006: 1)

From the first time, Claudia realized that her principal was full of risks. She considered that she might never find someone who could accept it; because her principal just made her seemed so selfish. People made a relationship in order to have a generation. There wouldn’t be any man, and also women, who wants to make a relationship which has no future. The decision for not wanting a child seems as a deal breaker for any relationship. And she almost felt desperate with her failures.

On the flip side, I knew that I could be automatically disqualified for a long-term consideration as I had with so many guys in the recent past. After all, most people—women and men—view not wanting kids as a deal breaker. At the very least, my risked coming across as cold and selfish, two traits that don’t top the list of what every man want. (Giffin, 2006: 3)

Claudia realized those things but she can’t stop for being paranoid with any situation that related with child, having unreasonable feared with marriage life, and all the stuff about family. All of her fears made her seem abnormal from another woman because, in her surroundings, having a child was the necessity to continue their family name. The abnormality of her decision for not having a child has appeared since she was a child. It was related with her childhood and also the traumatic experiences from the people around her.

Here, the writer tries to analyze the main character viewed from her psychological problem, which would be called as Neuroses in Claudia’s childhood with many anxiety reactions as a symptom of the neuroses itself.

1. Neuroses

Neuroses are abnormalities in any other aspect of personal or social behavior which cause discomfort to the individual or annoyance to others, but are not severe enough to make him incapable or unwilling to assume responsibility for himself or to require his isolation from society. Neuroses are serious failures to adjust. They usually involve failure to deal adequately with anxiety.25 This can mean either being overwhelmed by anxiety or developing behavior patterns to deal with anxiety that are

25

T. K. Launder, Psychology: A Brief Overview, (United States of America: Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company, 1972), p. 85

themselves maladaptive. In this case, Claudia’s decision for not having a child considered as something weird for her surroundings. Claudia come from a big family which is appreciate the presence of child as the source of happiness. That makes her decision be in contradiction with her family values. The most common neurotic condition that ever happens to the people was known as anxiety reactions. It might happen to everyone without considering their gender or even age.

2. Anxiety reactions

Probably the most common neurotic condition is an emotional overreaction. A person in an anxiety state is extremely irritable, or constantly worried and fearful. Usually he has accompanying bodily symptoms—nausea, sweating, palpitations of the heart. These reactions consist not of occasional periods of worry over rational or partly rational problems, such as the normal person has, but prolonged periods of extreme, diffuse, and uncalled-for nervousness and apprehension.

Neuroses are characterized by feeling of inadequacy, fearfulness, tension, and difficult interpersonal relationship26; the high anxiety narrow perceptions, and muddles thinking and action. Those symptoms were reflected on Claudia’s behavior. Many of Claudia’s friends and family said that Claudia was too paranoid; and her feared didn’t make sense. She feared on something that never exists. The worse was Claudia never told the cause of her fearness to anybody. Her divorce made everything

26

worse for Claudia. She keeps on frightening. Moreover, it was just her overwhelming anxiety that come from the conflicts inside her.

I always have the feeling that she is directing her comments at me and that she blames me for our decision. Ben used to say I was paranoid, but now, of course I’m actually right. Either does Jess. She insist that I am being paranoid—that of course Ben’s just as sad as I am—but I have two good reasons for believing I am in a worse state than he is. (Giffin, 2006: 43) Still, she tried to defend herself that she has a reason for her fears. She said that the things that she frightened might become real someday. It feels like you were cheated from someone; and it would be so terrible for her. In some ways, her fears become an insurance to be more careful.

I think I have always has the misguided sense that worry and fear serve as an insurance policy of sorts. On a subconscious level, I subscribe to the notion that if you worry about something, it is somehow less likely to happen. Well, I am here to say that it doesn’t work like that. The very things you fear the most can still happen anyway. And when it does, you feel that much more cheated for having feared in the first place. (Giffin, 2006: 46)

Neuroses are serious failures to adjust with the reality. They usually involve failure to deal adequately with anxiety. And a person in an anxiety state is extremely irritable, or constantly worried and fearful; neither was Claudia.

Actually, Claudia feared to get married. Her parent’s divorce gave her a great anxiety for having a serious relationship. She has insecurity feelings as a result of the divorced. For her, marriage was commitment with great responsibilities. And she was afraid for being failed in her marriage. She chooses for not having a child because she doesn’t want to make them suffer like her mother did to her. Marriage failures made her trauma.

I hate to be jaded, but I can’t help feeling that all my fears about marriage were confirmed when Ben and I broke up. If I thought I was free when I didn’t want children, I’m especially free now that I even don’t want a husband. Instead of playing hard to get a worrying about perception, I can do exactly what strikes my fancy. (Giffin, 2006: 141)

Moreover, Claudia realized that her fears were overwhelming. She lets Ben go just because of her fears of having a baby which she can’t be handled. She was afraid that she might become like her mother; something that she really frightened. Here, Claudia positioned herself as her mother if she has a child someday; and she didn’t want it to happen. Her adoption of parental model of neurotic has various reasons. One of them was Claudia’s mother has disobeyed her duties as a mother for her children; moreover, she preferred to cheat with the other guy and left them without any guilty. But she couldn’t tell it to Ben. She just sinks in her fearness.

Maybe I’m just afraid. Maybe I let Ben go because the fear of having a baby actually overweighed the fact that I didn’t want one. Maybe I feared the person I would become. Maybe I feared something I couldn’t quite name, even to Ben, even to myself. Here I am anyway, facing all of the above. Fear of failure, fear of change, fear of the unknown. And right here, in a bar under the bridge in Brooklyn, I feel a very small pang of regret. (Giffin, 2006: 87-89)

Claudia can’t stop to blame her mother for everything that happened in her life. She never understands; how her mothers could be so cruel to them, meanwhile they love her so much. Claudia couldn’t easily forgive her mother. There would be no second chances for those who cheated on their family. It’s not all about the morality but her inability to forgive her mother.

Thinking how much easier and clear cut an affair would be. I could never stay with a man who cheated on me; no matter what the circumstances. I am more

like most men in this regard; no second chances. It’s not so much about morality, but about my inability to forgive. (Giffin, 2006: 72)

Claudia can’t help not to hate her mother. Even after she has grown up; her mother still never changes. Her mother was never wanted to be blame for anything. She wasn’t confessing for many scandals that she did for years. She also never respects Claudia’s father efforts to make her happy. Claudia knows exactly how much her father love her mother. In Claudia’s mind, her mother wasn’t deserves to get a very kind man like him.

But to be fair, I will say this for her: at least she has interests and hobbies and passions, even if those passions often include inappropriate romances. She also did actually watch soaps, but she also made sure her life was as scandalous as the most outrageous character on all her favorite shows. My mother always picked up her own presents. Whenever my father tried, his efforts would go unrewarded. (Giffin, 2006: 110)

Claudia becomes cynical with her mother. She has never been a good mother for Claudia and her sisters. Her mother left them to cheat with the other guy when they still need her loves and affections. And it was not over in that way. Claudia and her family must faced the mocked from their surroundings because of her mother’s attitudes. They had to move to the suburban area and being isolated from neighborhood in years. Her mother was nuisance and a trial; she even not deserve to any events in their life.

And she can’t forgive her anyway, no matter what her mother tried to apologize. Claudia knows that she was facing with the woman who gave birth on her. But it was already late; her heart, either with her sisters, has been frozen. She prefers

to avoid her in any situations. She even decided to make revenge to her. It was more like a business. Claudia thought that if she can divorce from the man whom she loved most, so, she must be able to revenge and being cruel with her mother. Every evil that they ever did to her must be paid. And Claudia always tried to hide her fears of motherhood through many reasons. Frankly, the reason why she didn’t want to have a child was because she didn’t want her mother to define who she is because it gave her bizarre sense; a feeling like facing with the enemy.

I suddenly know that this woman, who happened to give birth to me almost thirty-five-years ago takes my picture in this moment and seeks the benefit from my grief, I will be done with her forever. I will not speak to her again. I will refuse to see her under any circumstances, death bed scenario included. No matter how atrocious the mother’s offense, it’s still made the daughter as unforgiving, self-righteous, and cold. My mother is a nuisance and a trial, but she is not important enough to write off in any bold terms. Still, despite my general feelings about avoiding total estrangement, I have the sense that I am at a crossroads. This time I mean business. If I can get a divorce from a man I love, I can cut off this woman. Of course I’ve had this thought many times before, but I have never followed through. I always cave—not for her sake, nor because I need or want to be a mother—but because I don’t want my mother to define who I am, and not talking to her would do that in some bizarre sense. (Giffin, 2006: 114)

One day, Claudia’s mother was apologizing to her for everything she made; it was the first time after years. Claudia knew that she couldn’t hate her mother in her whole life. No matters what she had done, she is still her mother; Claudia is proud that her mother finally wants to confess her mistakes. It also reminds her that she didn’t necessary for being sad because she still has many worth things in life. Such as good career, her beloved sisters and father, and of course, she has rich relationships with many people.

But there was something about my mother’s words that felt revelation to me. Perhaps because it was the first time my mother had ever apologized to me for anything. Perhaps because everyone wants her mother to be proud—and, to some extent, we can’t help seeing ourselves as our mother sees us. Perhaps because it was a reminder of all that I still have in my life. I have my career, of course. But more important, I have rich relationships that I cherish. I am a good sister, daughter, and friend. My life has meaning—and will continue to have meaning—without Ben. (Giffin, 2006: 118)

Claudia’s mother was meant with her words. She realized that she was not the best mother in the world. She convinced Claudia that Claudia wasn’t her; and she doesn’t want Claudia made a wrong decision to let Ben go just because of her. Claudia’s fearness was not reasonable. Because Claudia was not her; Claudia means a lot of things for many people. Claudia knew that her mother has a good intention to her. But, it couldn’t change everything so easily. She has pegged her as the main reason she didn’t want a child. And Claudia has been settled up her position on motherhood since she was a child.

She looks contemplative, as if carefully considering her wording. I’m not the best mother in the world… I never have been, she says slowly. But always remember, Claudia, you are not me. You are a lot of things to a lot of people. But you are absolutely nothing like me. I never did think I was anything like my mother, nor did I peg her as the main reason I didn’t want children. So, despite her intent, my mother speech did nothing to reverse my position on motherhood. (Giffin, 2006: 117-118)

Meanwhile, Claudia found that her relationship with Ben was so satisfying and real. And she started to believe that Ben was her soul mate. Claudia loves Ben so much, but Ben never shows like she does in a word. Claudia thought that Ben wasn’t capturing the essence of her feeling. It made her frustrating because she wanted Ben

to know how special he was to her. Those things appeared as an excessive fear for Claudia during her marriage. She always frightened to lose Ben someday.

As I talked, I had the distinct sense that I wasn’t really capturing the essence of the way I was feeling. It was frustrating because I wanted Ben to know how special he was to me. (Giffin, 2006: 7)

Claudia knows exactly how much Ben loves her more than anyone else in Ben’s life. But, she always thought that she loves Ben more than he ever did to her. She wants to show that Ben was everything to her. Moreover, in the other side it makes she cannot stop for being anxiety of losing Ben.

I’m pretty sure that I love Ben more than he loves me. I know he loves me a lot. I know he loves me more than he loves Nicole or anyone else. In the beginning, middle and end of ours, I think I’ve constantly loved him more. I’m Ben’s approximate equal and have always felt secure, confident, and worthy. But still, I happen to love Ben slightly more, which has the effect of making you fear losing someone than if it were the other way around. (Giffin, 2006:46)

A long time before her marriage broken, she always feared that she might let Ben go someday. Day-by-day Claudia lived with her anxiety of losing Ben. And now, her biggest fear has been formed as a divorce. But she couldn’t accept her divorce. She truly believed that her decision to let Ben slip away from her was the worst decision that she ever made; and she often regret for it in many times. She knew that she can’t live without him. Whenever she made a big decision in life, at least her decision where she might have viable alternative, there is an inevitable uneasy aftermath. And anxiety is merely a sign that you’re taking something seriously.

I remember looking at Ben when he slept one night and fearing that I would someday let him down; or that he would let me down. (Giffin, 2006: 66)

Claudia realizes that she was a stubborn person. Even if she told everybody that she didn’t regret for her divorce, but her heart cannot deny that she still miss Ben so much. She guesses that she could live without Ben, but she was wrong. Her life becomes such a misery that she never thought before. Everything was not as simply as someone’s too much to bear.

I guess I really don’t expect him to, but every time I check my voice mail and hear “no new messages”, I feel a fresh wave of devastation. Something tells me he’s not, though, and there is something about this hunch that makes my pain feel exponentially worse. The whole “misery loves company” thing never applies more than when you’re breaking up. The other thought that the other person is doing fine is simply too much to bear. (Giffin, 2006:43)

Claudia believed that her love for Ben was the most real thing that she ever known. Neither, she still fretted that she might end the relationship with a disappointment. And when she lost Ben because of their divorce, she has a nagging feeling that she might look back and realized it as the biggest mistake in her life.

Having Ben besides her made her feel comfortable. Ben gave her with a lot of love and affection, something that she never really feels in her life. Ben’s love was the most honest thing that she ever had and, frankly, she never wants to lose it.

I knew that my love for Ben was the most real thing I had ever known, but I still fretted that I was setting myself up for disappointment. And now, as I watched Ben slip away from me, I have the nagging feeling that I will someday look back at this fork in the road and point to it as the biggest mistake of my life. (Giffin, 2006: 66)

She sank herself into anger; anger to everything in her life. In some ways, she keeps thinking that she had already made the biggest mistake by losing Ben.

Everything does too easily and pretends that there was never be love between them. She tried to focus on her jobs, but she never does it well.

So in the following days and weeks, I find myself spinning my hurt into anger. Anger about the whole situation. Anger toward Ben for turning his back on me. Anger that propels me along quite nicely, all the way of fancy divorce lawyer on Fifth Avenue.In some ways, it feels like Ben and I are breaking up over night, way too easily. I keep thinking that only shallow celebrities end their marriages as easily as we are. I have always worked a lot of hours, but I’ve never been this inspired, this on top of things. (Giffin, 2006:52)

When the time come and she must assigned the closure of her divorce, she felt doubt. She hates to be honest but divorce from Ben was something that she ever wanted. A closure means that it would be the last time for Claudia to see Ben as her husband. Claudia hates to assign the closure. In her deepest feelings, she thought that she was just giving Ben one more last chance to think everything over again. And she hopes that Ben would like to change his mind; so that, they don’t need to be divorced like this.

Closure is one of those words I’ve always hated, overused by melodramatic women. But I don’t think it’s melodramatic to use the term when your marriage is dissolving. When you need to see your husband one more time to come to the terms with the fact that he’s no longer going to be your husband. Although maybe, maybe, I’m just giving him one last chance to change his mind. (Giffin, 2006:57)

Waiting for the process of her divorce, Claudia decided to walk around her previous neighborhood where she lived with Ben for years. She didn’t know exactly what makes her did it. But she convinced herself that she never meet Ben anymore. They were over now.

Everything was just same. Only her status that looks different now. She starts to consider that Michael might be right when he says that the stuff about fear motivating was the main reason which influences me to divorce Ben. Claudia hopes that afternoon she could meet Ben to give the answer. Even she knows, it doesn’t really matter because nothing has changed.

I really cannot say exactly what makes me take the subway up to my old apartment when, prior to this afternoon, I was convinced that sort of mere happenstance I would never see Ben again. I start to think about Michael says, the stuff about fear motivating my decision to divorce Ben. Somehow I think I believe that seeing Ben will give me these answers. Or maybe it’s just an excuse to see him again. In any event, it doesn’t really matter. Nothing has changed. I still don’t want a baby, and Ben still does. (Giffin, 2006:89)

Coincidentally, she met Ben in the park. He was jogging. Jogging was Ben’s favorite sport. Ben runs toward Claudia. They greet each other in a rigid conversation. But, a moment later, there is a girl who closes towards them. Ben introduced her to Claudia. Claudia cannot think about anything for a moment. She was just too shocked.

Ben was running with a girl, something that he never did before except with Claudia. Claudia thought that Ben was on a date with the girl. She studies the girl carefully. And she cannot stop for being jealous with her although she knows that she has not any right for it now. She was already divorce with Ben.

Instead, he turns to the other direction to face a girl jogging toward him. My mind freezes and then clicks into place. Ben is running with a girl. He is on a date. A late afternoon, summer date. A run-in-the-park-together date. I study this woman—this girl—he is with. And I cannot stop for being jealous with her; feelings that I shouldn’t have after all happened. (Giffin, 2006:91)

Ben knows that there was something wrong with Claudia after their meeting in the park; so, he tried to call her at night. But Claudia was too sad to answer the call. She was never imagining that she was so easily for being replaceable. She never thinks that Ben could be out there so soon and having a date with another women. She really disappointed with Ben. She decided for being alone for a while.

Ben calls me twice that night. But, I feel too sad and queasy to answer. I never fancied myself irreplaceable. I mean, our divorce is proof that I am totally replaceable. But I really didn’t think Ben would be out there so soon, meeting women already, as if he is up against some male biological clock. (Giffin, 2006:96)

After a few months since her divorce, Claudia realizes that now was the time for her to get up. She cannot let herself sank in her sadness any longer. There were so many things that she must do in her life. She also realizes that losing Ben was the most frightening things for her. She has made the biggest mistake in her life that makes everybody’s around her was suffered. She loves Ben more than her decision for not having a child.

An anxious person often looks for someone or something to cling to them. But it was not easy. An anxiety person needs someone who can understand, protected, make they feel comfortable, and also reduced their anxiety. If they felt matched they would kept their partner in many ways; and neither with Claudia. For some time, she doesn’t know what to do. She realized that she needs Ben so much in her life, after the divorce. She knew exactly that she loves Ben with all her heart. The only thing that she knows is she will do everything to keep her love. Even though she must

sacrifice her principle; and think to have a child with her beloved man, Ben. A decision that was very brave and she never thought before.

I don’t know whether I will ever overcome my fears of motherhood. Whether I will someday be a mother. Whether I am capable of being a good one. (Giffin, 2006: 306)

When the Thanksgiving Days come, she took an important decision that might change everything. She knows that she cannot life without Ben. Even all of things were happened to their relationship; Ben was always being her spirit in life. Claudia decided to tell Ben that she would have the same conclusion about their relationship. That she would do anything to get Ben back, even if that means she have to having a baby with him. The only thing that Claudia wants to do is sharing her life with Ben, in whatever form takes.

I desperately want to tell him that I have come to the same conclusion about us. That I would do anything to get him back, even if that means having a baby; that I nearly might even want a baby with him. That I want to do is share my life with him, in whatever form takes. (Giffin, 2006:300)

Having a child was one of the biggest decisions that someone had in life. It was also a decision with a great responsibilities and obligations. Every people have their own perspective on having a child. Most people said that child was the source of happiness because they can enrich our live. Claudia realized that she has a psychological problem which reflected by her unreasonable fears of motherhood. She knew that she also had a weakness in order to control her emotions because she lived

in her anxiety in years. She finally decided to forget the past and open a new life with her husband.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. CONCLUSION

Baby Proof is a family novel. Of course, there are many family values inside it; such as childhood, parenthood, sisterhood, friendship and love. Through this novel, we can assume that family is one of the important aspects in life. Family, with all of its values, has a great role in every decision that we might have in the future. As the author, Giffin, wrapped the whole story with a simple words, witty, sometimes quiet insightful, and a good balance of humor and seriousness.

Baby Proof is about a married couple, Claudia and Ben, who have a great relationship. They are agree in so many things, including that neither of them has ever wanted a child. Then, after two years of marriage, it turns out that Ben is starting to feel like he wants children after all. Finally, they’ve got divorced because both of them were stunned with their decisions. Still, Claudia felt something missing in her life; she misses Ben. She began to feel like she’d do anything to get him back and wonders if she should have a child to safe their love.

After analyzing the character of Claudia in chapter three, the writer drew a conclusion that Claudia suffered from neuroses symptoms. It might be

seen from Claudia’s decision for not having a child that related with the trauma in her childhood. Claudia’s mother left her and their family to cheat with another guy when Claudia was a child. Every body insulted Claudia and her family because of her mother’s attitude. Claudia’s mother never care with her children; she ignored them in many ways. So that, Claudia hates her mother. Therefore, she can not stop for being paranoid with any situations that related with child; that is the trully reason why she never want to have a child. In many situations, her fears on having a child are unreasonable. The fact is she just doesn’t want to be like her mother someday. Based on the above analysis, the writer could assume that in the novel Baby Proof is clearly obvious related with neuroses concepts which are reflected in the characters of Claudia.

However, the ending of Baby Proof is ambiguous. It is uncertain whether Claudia and Ben will ultimately reach a great decision about having baby. They finally stick together and live in their previous apartment without any arrangement for having a child. Even, in the end of the story, Claudia finally willings to change her decision and begun to consider to have a child someday to keep Ben beside her. But, they believed that their love really conquer everything, including their ego. And love was the most important thing in their relationship.

seen from Claudia’s decision for not having a child that related with the trauma in her childhood. Claudia’s mother left her and their family to cheat with another guy when Claudia was a child. Every body insulted Claudia and her family because of her mother’s attitude. Claudia’s mother never care with her children; she ignored them in many ways. So that, Claudia hates her mother. Therefore, she can not stop for being paranoid with any situations that related with child; that is the trully reason why she never want to have a child. In many situations, her fears on having a child are unreasonable. The fact is she just doesn’t want to be like her mother someday. Based on the above analysis, the writer could assume that in the novel Baby Proof is clearly obvious related with neuroses concepts which are reflected in the characters of Claudia.

However, the ending of Baby Proof is ambiguous. It is uncertain whether Claudia and Ben will ultimately reach a great decision about having baby. They finally stick together and live in their previous apartment without any arrangement for having a child. Even, in the end of the story, Claudia finally willings to change her decision and begun to consider to have a child someday to keep Ben beside her. But, they believed that their love really conquer everything, including their ego. And love was the most important thing in their relationship.

From the conclusion above the writer attempts to show the reader that the characters of Claudia Parr suffered from the neuroses symptoms. It reflected from her decision for not having a child because of her trauma in the childhood. Trauma is something which is not easy to forget; especially when it happened during the childhood. It could influence someone’s personality in the future. Moreover, childhood is one of the most important periods in someone’s life.

B. SUGGESTION

It is always interesting for the writer to explore a novel because there are thousands of ideas and morality message that the author shares through their works. The novel can teach us more than a psychologist about the values in life. Even the smallest thing that would escape attention could either carry thousands of meanings. From the analysis and the conclusion above, the writer would like to propose the following suggestions:

1. For those who want to study about novel and the other literary works, to give more attention not only in the intrinsic elements but also in the extrinsic elements because those subjects would be related each other if we want to analyze the literary works.

2. For the students of English Letters Department to continue this research by exploring the other kinds of psychological problems

around them; such as phobia, psychosis, psychosomatic disorders etc. to find the significant relationship about how important the past experience, especially in childhood period, might influence our personality in the future. For knowing more about neurosis symptoms and other psychological problems, the readers might read Sigmund Freud’s works or other books of psychology.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anonymus, Abnormal Behavior. Encyclopedia Britannica, XXII.

Arif, Imam Setiadi, M. Si, Psi. Dinamika Kepribadian: Gangguan dan Terapinya. Bandung: PT. Refika Aditama, 2005.

Berent, Stanley. Introductory Psychology: A Basic Self-Instructional Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977.

Ciminero, Lehey. Maladaptive Behavior: An Introduction to Abnormal Psychology. United States of America: Scoot Foresman and Company, 1980.

Darley, John M, et al., Psychology: Third Edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1986.

Fajar, Indra. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: An Overview of Genetic

Structuralism. Thesis. Jakarta: The Library of State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2006.

Farkhan, Muhammad. Penulisan Karya Ilmiah. Jakarta: Penerbit Cella, 2006. Freud, Sigmund. The Penguin Freud Reader, ed. By Adam Phillips. England:

Penguin Books Ltd, 2006.

Giffin, Emily. Baby Proof. USA: St. Martin Paperbacks, Inc., 2006.

Hilgard, Ernest R, et al., Introduction to Psychology. United States of America: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1953.

Kennedy, X. J. An Introduction to Fiction: Third Edition. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1983.

Launder, T.K. Psychology: A Brief Overview. United States of America: Mc-Graw- Hill Book Company, 1972.

Newman, Philip R. and Barbara M. Newman. Principles of Psychology. Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1983.

Page, James D. and Aldine Aherton. Psychopathology: The Science of Understanding Deviance. New York: Inc. James D. Page, 1971.

Passer, Michael W. and Ronald E. Smith. Psychology: the science of mind and behavior. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, 2004.

Pickering, James H. and Jeffrey D. Hoeper. Concise Companion to Literature. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc, 1981.

Rosen, Ephraim, et al., Abnormal Psychology: Second Edition. London: W. B Saunders Company, 1972.

Rycroft, Charles. Anxiety and Neurosis. Great Britain: Pelican Books, 1968. Semiun, Yustinus OFM. Kesehatan Mental 2: Gangguan-gangguan kepribadian

, reaksi-reaksi simptom khusus, gangguan penyesuaian diri anak-anak luar biasa, dan gangguan mental yang berat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 2006.

Sugihastuti, Adib Sofia. Feminisme dan Sastra: Menguak Citra Perempuan Dalam Layar Terkembang. Bandung: Penerbit Katarsis, 2003.

Supratiknya, A. Dr. Mengenal Perilaku Abnormal. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 1995.

Weiner, Irving B. Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. Canada: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1982.

Wiramihardja, A. Prof. Dr. Psi. Pengantar Psikologi Abnormal. Bandung: PT. Refika Aditama, 2005.

Amazon.ca: Baby Proof: A Novel: Emily Giffin: Books, accessed on June 21, 2008 at 1 pm. Retrieved from http://www.amazon .ca/Emily_Giffin/Novel/Baby Proof.com

http://www.answers.com/topic/childhood with titled the definition of childhood, Accesed on May 14th 2008, at 6 pm.

Magnet, Myron. The American Family Values. Fortune Magazine. Accessed on 17 April 2008 at 8 pm. http://www.family/values/in/america.com

The Department of English. University of Victoria, Character and Characterization. from http//web.avic.ca./wguide/Pages/LTCharacter.html. Retrieved on April 2008.