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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
There are three main parts in this chapter. They are object of the study, approach of the study, and method of the study. The object of study deals with the
novel that is analyzed in this study and some sources that support the study. The approach of the study contains the description of the approach that is used in the
analysis. In the last part, the method of the study, it is about description of the steps taken in analyzing friendship between Mariam and Laila in Khaled
Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.
A. Object of Study
The object of this thesis is Khaled Hosseini’s novel entitled A Thousand Splendid Sun. It was originally published in 2007 by Riverhead Books. The novel
used in this study was the mass - market international edition, printed on May 2008. The novel consists of 448 pages. It contains 51 chapters in 4 parts. This
novel is a best seller novel, according to New York Times. Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns tells about a family in
Kabul, Afghanistan. There are two major characters in this novel. They are Mariam and Laila. The novel tells a friendship between Mariam and Laila. The
story starts with the story of Mariam. Mariam is a fifteen–year–old girl who is illegatimate daughter of a rich man named Jalil and his servant, Nana. Mariam is
married to Rasheed. Several years later, Rasheed saves a beautiful young girl
26 named Laila. He falls in love with her. He asks to marry her. Laila becomes
Rasheed’s second wife. Mariam and Laila try to get Rasheed’s attention. They try to be the best. As the time goes by, Mariam and Laila are used to live together.
They share everything, think deeply and become close friend naturally. Mariam and Laila often share what they feel. They help each other. Since Rasheed
becomes unkind, Mariam and Laila always care each other. One day, they face the hardest thing that force Mariam to kill Rasheed for saving Laila. Laila are asked
to escape and marry to Tariq, beside Mariam must be responsible to her action. Mariam is punished in the jail. Laila feels so regret but she is proud of Mariam.
She loves Mariam. Then, the value of the friendship appears.
B. Approach of The Study
According to Rohrberger and Woods Jr 7-14, there are five approaches concerning the study of literature. They are the formalist approach, the
biographical approach, the sociocultural - historical approach, the mythopoeic approach and the psychological approach. One of the theories is applied in order
to be able to understand literary work. Guerin 17 mentions that feminist criticism is as one of critical approaches that can be used beside those five
approaches. In this study I use the psychological approach, the sociocultural-historical
approach, and the feminist approach. The psychological approach is necessary for analyzing and answering the formulated problems as stated in the problem
formulation. By using psychological approach, the study of friendship can be
27 analyzed through the personalities of both characters, thoughts, and behaviours.
The sociocultural – historical background is used to analyse and answer the formulated problems based on the social, culture, and history of the novel’s
setting. The feminist approach is used to dig out the two characters that are discussed.
C. Method of the Study