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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.1 The main characters’s dilemma
Before I going on to the psychology, the writer will present the character first. It is necessary to be known, because the character has main part in a literary work.
Character is the fictional people, animals or things which are take part of the action of literary work. There are main and minor characters. Main character is the
prominent actor who acts, appears, or is referred to as playing a part in a literary work, he or she has great role in developing the story, often appear in the story.Main
character has many relations with other characters and needed many times of story, it involved on the theme and meaning. Sometimes called the protagonist. Character
other than main character is classified as minor character. Based on the explanation above, the writer analysis two main characters in
the novel, they are: 1.
Colin Fenton: a businessman, developer and owner of C.J.F software solution.
2. John Bentley: an ex-prisoner, works at a jewelry shop.
4.1.1 Colin Fenton
Colin Fenton is a businessman having a company named C.J.F. Software Solution. He runs this company along with his wife, Julie Fenton. Their company
develops computer programs and sells them to a number of large businesses. Colin looks after the company’s finances, the marketing of the software company, and the
organization of training courses while Julie is a software developer. At the beginning of the story, it is described that Colin Fenton is in
Brentwood, just beyond the eastern suburbs of London. He is in Brentwood to teach at computer software course to the administrative staff of a company called Sutton
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Chemicals. Having finished with it, he goes back to his hotel. The hotel where he stays does not have a restaurant so he goes to a pub down the street to have dinner.
Finishing with his meal, he goes into a bar. Although it is noisy and crowded, Colin does not care.
When looking for an empty seat, he meets a perfect double of himself. The double is John Bentley. He is with his wife, Linda Bentley. They work in a jewellery
shop. John invites Colin to sit with them and they soon get into a fun and nice conversation. When it is the time to leave, Colin says that they have to meet again as
shown here, ‘Yes,’ Colin said. ‘We must meet. I’d love to see you again both of you.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 10.
Going to the pub and talking with the Bentleys makes Colin forget the time as well as forget to call his wife. Again his ego takes an action in the form of Colin’s
desicion not to phone his wife and his thought that it is going to be alright as shown here, ‘Oh, well,’ he thought. ‘I’ll be back home in Bath tomorrow night anyway. It
doesnt’t matter now.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 12. In its functioning, the id seeks the release of excitation, tension, and energy. It
opperates according to the pleasure principle, which is particularly simple to define: the id pursues pleasure. Colin Fenton undergoes this when it deals with Linda
Bentley. a.
Linda was dressed in black clothes. She had fair hair, large green eyes, and a broad smile. She wore a lot of make-up and
she wore a lot of heavy gold jewellery. Her skirt, Colin noticed, was very short indeed. She could not have looked less like his
own wife, but he liked the way she looked. Officially Dead, 2003 : 8, 10.
b. The idea of another day teaching the administrative staff of Sutton Chemicals was thoroughly tedious. He didn’t want to
think about it. He thought instead about Linda Bentley. The only
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good thing about coming back to Sutton Chemicals for another course was that he might get a chance to see her again.
Officially Dead, 2003 : 12
Back to Bath, Colin has his usual life again. He and his wife, Julie, always go to work in separate cars. They leave home at different times in the evenings. During
the day, they hardly see each other. They are busy with their own jobs. Colin is busy to sell the software and teach training courses while Julie is busy with the technical
problems. But after running for some years, the company has a financial problem and to
make it worse, the company does not have any large orders coming. It can be seen on the dialogue below.
a. ‘You’re going to lose money for the second year running, Mr.
Fenton,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to do something about this quickly or you’ll go out of business.’ Officially Dead,2003:14
b. ‘Well,’ Booker said, ‘The facts are clear enough. This year
you’ve earned around £40,000 so far. But last year, you spent more than £150,000. And you’ll spend more or less the same
this year. Your business won’t survive unless there are some large orders coming in soon.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 14
Eventhough having a serious financial problem, Colin Fenton does not want to look weak in front of Mr. Booker, his accountant. His ego makes him act calm and
gives the best answer that he can think of as shown below. a.
‘I know the situation isn’t good at the moment,” Colin replied. We’re short of cash. But the situation’s only temporary.’
Officially Dead, 2003 : 14
b. ‘We’re developing some important new software for Jackman’s, the big insurance brokers,’ Colin said. ‘It’s for use at their head
office, in Manchester. It’s a valuable contract.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 14
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Unfortunately, the contract has not been signed yet because there are some tests waiting for results besides there are still a few technical problems with the
software. In spite of the matters, Colin does not want Mr. Booker sees it as problems. His ego leads him to defend himself and his company by making a promise that in a
few months everything will be ready.
‘Have you signed the contract already?’ Booker asked. ‘Well, no, actually,’ Colin said. ‘The people at Jackman’s are
waiting for the results of some tests. We still have to sort out of a few technical problems with the software. But in a few months,
everything will be ready.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 14
Mr. Booker is pleased with Colin’s answer. But although he is pleased with the answer, it seems that he does not feel satisfied that is why he emphasizes again
about the serious financial problem by saying the amount of money that Colin has to earn. This arises Colin’s id. Id is the most basic form of human desire. It consists of
human desires which are still pure, unfiltered by logic, norms and regulations. In order to save the company, Colin has to do something. The principle of the id is
carrying out a human from unpleasant circumstances into favorable circumstances. Having a loan from a bank becomes Colin’s favorable circumstance to save his
company. Booker smiled. ‘I see,’hesaid. ‘Well, you’ll need to earn about
£20,000 between now and the end of the year, if you want your company to survive.’
‘I’ve arranged a loan at the bank,’ Colin said. Officially Dead, 2003 : 14
But the situation is more complex when Mr. Booker in fact does not agree with Colin’s idea about having a loan from a bank.
’Bank loans are trouble,’ Booker said, pushing the heavy drawer shut. ‘And you need real orders now, not possible orders in a few
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months’ time. You need cash now, or you’ll go out of business.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 16
Colin’s human instinct arises in the form of what he should do and what he
has to do to save his company. He takes the responsibility by himself. He does not want his wife to know about the financial problem. Again his ego takes part.
Julie saw Colin looking at her. ‘Is everything OK?’ she asked. ‘You’ve been to see Booker this morning, haven’t you? What did
he say?’ ‘Oh, nothing much,’ Colin said. ‘He just wanted me to take him
some documents he needed.’ Officialy Dead, 2003 : 16
When Colin sits at his desk in his office, he sees a small envelope with his
name and the address of the company are hand-written neatly on it. It is from Linda Bentley.
Dear Colin, You’ll probably be surprised to get a letter from me. I found
your company’s address in the Yeloow Pages. I just wanted to remind you that we’d love to see you when you next come to
Brentwood. I think you said you would be here again in a few weeks’ time. Perhaps this time you could have dinner with us at our
house?
We really enjoyed that evening we spent together. Your funny stories made us laugh so much. Please phone me on 0033 23456
before your next vist, so that we can arrange to meet.
Hoping to see you again soon. Best wishes,
Linda Bentley The letter he reads smells of perfume. The perfume is the one which Linda
Bentley had been wearing in the pub in Brentwood. Colin does not know what to think about the letter. But his id says that Julie does need to know about it as quoted
here, “He didnt’t want Julie to see it.” Officialy Dead, 2003 : 17. He quickly reads
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through the letter again and then tears off the part of the letter with the phone number on it and put it in his wallet. As mentioned above, Colin’s id persuades him to do
something about Linda’s letter as shown in this statement. “He tore the rest of the letter into small pieces and put them into the wastepaper bin beside his desk.”
Officially Dead, 2003 : 17. A few weeks after it, Colin calls Linda Bentley to set the time for their
meeting. It will be on Wednesday evening which is a perfect time according to Linda.
Linda switched her phone off and put it in her handbag. She smiled to herself. Wednesday was certainly the best day for her what she
had in mind. John would be away from home that night Officialy Dead, 2003 : 20
On the evening of the following Tuesday, Colin leaves his home in Bath and travels to Brentwood. The next evening, when he is in Brentwood, he starts to regret
his agreement to meet the Bentleys because he is exhausted. He decides to call and cancel their meeting but when he looks at his watch, he realizes that it is too late. So
he dresses up and goes to the pub. His ego constructs a rational plan to obtain pleasure consistent with moral codes, leading to feelings of pride while avoiding
feelings of guilt.
It was almost six o’clock already, and he had agreed to meet his friends at the pub at six-thirty. He would have to go to the pub, eat
his meal at their home as quickly as he could, and leave early. Officially Dead, 2003 : 20
Arriving in the pub, he directly sees Linda, wearing a black dress, made of
shiny material, tight-fitting, and very short. For his surprised, John does not join
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them because he is in Liverpool to watch a football match. Colin does not agree with his meeting only with Linda and asks for another time to meet but Linda insists on
their tonight meeting as shown in the dialogue below.
‘You should have sent me a message,’ Colin said. ‘We could have met another time.’
Linda smiled at him, ‘I wanted to see you tonight, Colin. Go and get yourself a drink,’ she said. Officially Dead, 2003 : 21
After a few drinks, they leave the pub and Linda drives them back to her
house. Everything is ready for dinner. There is a small vase of flowers in the middle of the table and a glass bowl full of water on which candles float. They spend the
next couple of hours eating, laughing, and getting to know each other. In psychoanalytic theory of personality, the id is the personality component
made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires. After couple of hours, Colin feels relaxed and enjoys the evening he spends
with Linda as qouted in the statement below. Colin was soon feeling much better, and he was glad that he had
come. Suddenly he found himself looking straight into Linda’s large green eyes. She smiled at him and looked down at the table,
pretending to be embarrased. Officially Dead, 2003 : 22
Finishing their meal, they continue by drinking coffee. Linda then offers something that makes Colin surprised and think that Linda is making fun of him.
After the second cup, Linda leant back in her chair and said calmly, ‘Colin, do you want to earn £10,000 for one evening’s easy work?’
This simple question took Colin completely by surprise. He’d been expecting a proposal, but a very different one. He laughed. ‘I don’t
buy lottery tickets,’ he said. ‘I’m serious, Colin,’ Linda said. ‘And I’m not talking about buying
lottery tickets.’
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She got up and came to sit on the floor next to his chair. She smiled at him and touched his hand. ‘I’m talking about £10,000 in cash.
It’s yours, if you want it.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 22
Linda’s words make him nervous. He knows that he has a financial problem
and he is expecting something but not like this one. Colin’s reaction to her words makes Linda cancel her offer but Colin pushes her. His ego makes him want to know
about Linda’s offering. And when Linda is still not telling him, his ego tells him to go back to his hotel.
‘What’s going on?’ he said nervously. ‘What do you want from me?’
‘Nothing, Colin,’ she said quickly. ‘I was joking.’ She stood up. ‘Let’s have some more coffee.’
‘You weren’t joking,’ Colin said. ‘You’d better tell me what this is about.’
‘You’re right, I wasn’t joking,’ she replied.‘But I’m not sure that I should tell you. Perhaps I’ve made a mistake.’
Colin finished his coffee and stood up. ‘OK. You’d better take me back to my hotel,’ he said. ‘It really is late. It’s past midnight.’
Officially Dead, 2003 : 22, 24
The id is the only part of the psyche that is present at birth and it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses; particularly our sexual and
aggressive drives. The pleasure principle drives the id to seek immediate gratification of all needs, wants, and desires. It happens on Colin Fenton also. He lets his id
conquer him when dealing with Linda Bentley who is somebody’s wife. Colin put his arms around her and held her for a moment . Then he
kissed the tears on her cheeks and stroked her hair. ‘It’s all right, Linda,’ he said.
Linda stopped crying and pulled herself away from him. ‘You must think I’m very stupid,’ she said. ‘I’ll get my coat and take you back
to your hotel. I’m sorry I spoilt a lovely evening.’ She went into the hall and took her coat from a cupboard. Colin
followed her. When she turned round, Colin was right behind her. He took the coat from her and dropped it on the floor. She looked
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at him, her eyes wide open. Colin held her arms, pulled her very close to him and kissed her on the mouth.
‘You can take me back to the hotel early tomorrow morning,’ he said. ‘The evening’s not spoilt at all.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 24
The next morning, Linda drives Colin back to his hotel. When reaching the
hotel, Colin asks again about Linda’s offering. It seems that he is interested with it besides he needs money to save his company and Linda’s offering is a suitable
option. Then he addedd, ‘And what about the £10,000? You were serious about that, weren’t you?’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 25.
Linda then explains about what Colin has to do. As his ego arises, he asks lots of questions. He needs to know whether the offering is a saved one.
Linda drove onto the carpark and switched off the car engine. ‘My husband is going to need an alibi,’ she said. ‘You can provide one
for him. It’s as simple as that.’ ‘What do you mean?’
‘You and John are identical. All you have to do is pretend to be John for a night.’
‘While John does a robbery, am I right?’ ‘Right.’
‘What’s he going to steal?’ ‘I can’t tell you that.’
‘Linda, I need to know,’ Colin said. ‘It won’t be an armed robbery, will it? Nobody will carry a gun?’
‘No one will get killed or hurt, Colin.’ ‘What’s the plan?’ Colin asked. ‘Is John going to rob a bank?’
‘No,’ Linda said. ‘And you don’t need to know any more about it.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 25
Colin’s curiousity about the plan, whether it is going to be a saved or a
dangerous plan arises his superego. The superego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of their conflicting objectives, and its aggressiveness
towards the ego as shown below.
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‘Yes, I do, Linda,’ Colin insisted. ‘I have to know what risk I’ll be taking. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. And I don’t want to spend
years of my life in prison.’Officially Dead, 2003 : 25
The needs to save his company from financial problem finally arises his id.
His id makes him agree with Linda’s offering but here Colin still wants to think about it first as shown here. “I might be able to help you. But I need some time to
think about this,” said Colin. Officially Dead, 2003 : 26 A few weeks after their meeting, Colin calls Linda and agrees to help. Not
just to be John’s alibi but Colin also wants to take part in arranging John’s alibi in their next meeting. His taking part in arranging John’s alibi is because he wants
everything to run well without harming somebody. Here his ego shows up. It was nearly Christmas and the London streets were crowded with
shoppers. Linda’s mobile phone rang inside her bag. She opened her bag and lifted the phone to her ear. She heard Colin say, ‘All
right, I’ll do it.’ ‘Good, I knew you would,’ she replied. ‘We’ll need a few weeks to
get everything ready.’ ‘That’s fine,’ Colin said. ‘Ill be in Manchester in about four weeks
time. That’ll be the second week in January. We can arrange John’s alibi for then.’
‘Phone me again next week, Colin,’ Linda said. ‘We’ll fix the dates and times then.’ Officially Dead, 2003 : 27
At the end of December, Colin makes the final arrangements with Linda. The date for the robbery is arranged for 10th January. After everything is set, Colin
realizes about the risk he is going to face but his responsibility to save his company conquers his worry. Here, Colin’s id takes over his superego. Colin knows if the
robbery does not run according to the plan, there is a possibility that he will be caught and put in a jail. But the money that Linda offers makes him keep straight to
the plan and consider that it is only an exciting game.
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Now that all the plans were made, Colin suddenly understood the risk he was taking. But he tried not to worry, telling himself that it
was only an exciting game. After all, the money he was going to be paid would save his company. Officially Dead, 2003 : 29
Having finished arranging the robbery plan with Linda Bentley, now it is the time for Colin to deal with Julie, his wife. Julie does not have to know about the
robbery plan so Colin makes a fake meeting out of town. At first Julie suggests that both of them should go but Colin insists that he has to go alone. As the ego works by
reason, Colin comes up with many reasons so that Julie will not come with him.In the end Colin surpises at how easy he lies at Julie.
a. ‘These figures look good, Julie,’ Colin said. ‘When I show the
people at Jackman’s these charts, I’m sure they’ll be very impressed. I’m going to see Jim Slater in Manchester next week.
It should be easy to convince him to purchase the software now.’
‘I’d better come with you,’ Julie said. ‘There’ll be technical details to discuss.’
‘I can do that,’ Colin said. ‘Leaveit with me.’ ‘No, Colin,’ Julie said. ‘I should be in Manchester with you.
You know how fussy Slater is about details. We’ve got to do this properly. Jackman’s could become our biggest clients.’
b. Colin stood up and looked out of the window. He was thinking
quickly. He couldn’t allow Julie to come to Manchester with him – not this time.
He turned round and said, ‘I’ll just have preliminary talks with Slater. We won’t discuss the details this time. Of course you’ll
be with me when we have that discussion. I’ve already fixed this appointment, so I’ll go alone this time. Anyway, I’ve got other
people to visit up in the Manchester area. I’ll be away for a couple of days.’
‘You should have spoken to me first, Colin,’ Julie said. ‘You shouldn’t have arranged an appointment before seeing my report
on the latest tests.’ ‘Slater phoned me, Julie. The meeting was his idea,’ Colin said.
He was surprised at how easy it was for him to lie. Officially Dead, 2003 : 30
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On 10th January at six o’clock, Colin leaves his house to Manchester. After a two hour trip, he drives into a small road where the Bentleys have been waiting for
him. After being explained a few things, Colin asks about his money as his ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying
the id’s demands. ‘Exactlyon time,’ Linda said. Colin needed. Then he said hello to
John Bentley, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. Linda handed Colin her husband’s driving licence.
‘What’s this for?’ Colin asked. ‘You may need it,’ Linda said. The alibi must be perfect. If you’re
stopped by the police, you must show them John’s documents, not your own. We can’t take any risks. What if there’s an accident?
We’ll need your licence too, for the same reason.’ Colin took his driving licence from his pocket and gave it to
Linda.‘What about my money?’ Linda took out a thick envelope from her bag and handed it Colin.
‘That’s £5000 in twenty-pound notes,’ she said. ‘Count it.’ Colin did. Officially Dead, 2003 : 31 – 32
After the meeting, Colin drives along to Manchester. But on his way there, he gets an accident. His car crashes into a huge tree by the side of the road. He is
trapped in the driver’s seat, the steering-wheel pressing into his chest. There is blood on his face. He is still alive. Another car, driven by a man at Colin’s same age,
witnesses the accident. He looks inside the wrecked car and sees that Colin is trying to speak.
The superego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. As Colin has an accident and knows that he is
going to die, he regretsall the wrong things he has done; his affair with Linda Bentley, his robbery plan with the Bentleys, his fake meeting. He asks the man trying
to save his life to tell everything to Julie.
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There was blood on the man’s face. He looked about the same age as Mark himself – somewhere in his mid-thirties.
‘Julie,’ the man said. ‘Julian? Is that your name?’
‘No Please tell Julie,’ the man said slowly. It was difficult for him to breathe. ‘Tell her I’m sorry. I’ve been so stupid. Tell her, will
you? Please tell Julie I’m sorry.’ ‘Your wife?’
‘Yes, Julie, my wife,’ the injured man said. ‘I want her to know the truth.’
‘The truth about what?’ Mark asked. The man coughed. Blood came from his mouth and ran down his
face. In a moment, he was unconscious. Officially Dead, 2003:37
The ambulance and the fire engine arrive together. The fire crew begin cutting at the wreckage and pulling away bits of torn and twisted metal. In a few
minutes, they have removed part of the side of the car. Soon, two paramedics are beside Colin, trying to get him out of the wreck. When they finally manage to get
Colin out of the wrecked car, they lift him carefully and lay him on a stretcher on the ground. Colin groans once more, then he is silent.
Mark and the policewoman moved closer to them. One of the paramedics looked up. He shook his head.
‘He’s gone – there was no hope,’ he said quietly. Mark looked at the dead body on the stretcher. He felt both sad and
angry. He realized he was trembling. The man’s death shocked him. It seemed so unnecessary. Somewhere the man’s wife – Julie
– was waiting for him, not knowing what had happened. And perhaps they had children. Officially Dead, 2003 : 38
4.1.2 John Bentley
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