Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Domestic violence is a kind of abuse. Usually, it involves a spouse or partner, but a child, elderly relative, or other family member also can be the victim of the domestic violence medlineplus.gov, 2017. Domestic violence often happens around us. Sometimes, women are being the object of the violence. Many women are oppressed because of this situation. There are many assumptions related to the women and men status in a society. It is believed that men are higher than women. Men are also believed to have authority toward women. So, the violence toward women cannot be avoided. Sometimes, the victim of abuse is blamed unfairly because of the assumption that victims still want to stay in abusive relationship. In fact, to end the abuse is not a matter of the victim choosing to leave; it is a matter when the victims try to escape safely from their abuser. In this situation, to end the violence, the abusers consciously choose to stop their action by themselves or because of law enforcement or courts that make the abusers to be responsible for the abuse that they do ncadv.org, 2017. Domestic violence is not a simple matter because many complicated conditions make it worse. The victim ’s life often depends on the abuser. The victim cannot be independent because of the trap that the abuser uses to make it more complicated. Consequently, in order to leave the abuser, the victim should make sure that the abuser does not disturb the victim ’s life in the future. According to Peter Barry, many literary works describe how happiness and fulfillment of a woman are determined by her marriage partner. As a marriage partner for a woman, a man also decides the social position of his wife 2009:117. Thus, men are described as leaders in the family who have a big influence to the family members. A woman ’s social status is determined by his husband ’s social position. Maybe, the status is not as good as she expects, but she cannot complain about it. Also, whether or not she is happy is determined by her marriage partner. In many cases, being a leader makes a man treat his wife whatever way he wants. He feels he has the right to do everything that he considers right. He has some power in driving his family. Judith Butler says that the flaw of a universal patriarchy is criticized because the existence of the gender domination in a society Butler, 2008:5. This idea can bring loss to a woman because she can be a target of a man to be an object of his desire. So, it makes a woman unable to get her freedom. In a patriarchal family, a man is the leader. He can do everything he wants to, including, sadly doing violence to his family members. In here, a man is the key to the happiness in a family. He is the one who is respected because he can bring a family to a true way. He is being a guardian for his family members. However, he can also become an abuser that tortures family members by doing inappropriate behavior to them, such as hitting and slapping them. Eleanor and Park tells about a love story between two adolescent. They are in love because they have similar taste in books, and music. The main characters are Eleanor Douglas and Park Sheridan. However, the writer ’s concern is on Eleanor and her life in a chaotic family. She has a mother, Sabrina, who always obeys her step-dad. Her step-dad, Richie, always does violence toward her mother. Eleanor is a sixteen years old girl who has a strange style that makes people stare at her. She lives in a family that is not as good as other families. In the families, she lives with her sisters and brother. Sabrina, as a mother, yet she is abused. She takes care to all her sons and daughters. She always saves Eleanor by giving her advices and some warnings in order to make Eleanor not kicked out by her step-father. The violence occurring in the novel can be a reflection to the real life that is happening nowadays. The writer is interested to this research because the writer wants to know how women face the reality of patriarchy which oppresses them. So, the writer can understand the way of women in facing their faith toward man ’s authority in this kind of society.

B. Problem Formulation In this study, there are three questions to lead the analysis: