Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of five parts. It is aimed to give a description about the background of the study that shows the reason of choosing the novel, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter , as the subject of the study, to identify the objectives of the study, to limit the problem and formulate the problem into two questions, to describe the benefits of the study. In addition, this chapter also states definition of some terms that will explain about the important terms in the study.

A. Background of the Study

In literary work, the author creates the work of literature based on the experience or the reality that happens around someone environment where they live. Someone will respond their experience or the condition of the environment by expressing their ideas and feeling in their own style that is meaningful work which cannot be expressed by common people. The experience and the condition will make up into a good creation that makes the readers understand to the story because they are interacting with the text when they are reading the literary work, like Bressler 1999:7 has said that when reading, we are constantly interacting with the text. Therefore, when the readers read literary work, the author brings effect to them from the work itself so the readers could feel pleasure after reading the literary work, when we read a text to learn from it or to be entertained, we can say that we know that the text once having read it Bressler, 1999:13. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 Since human beings are born, they will grow up from a child to adult. They learn many things throughout their experiences that they have faced, whether in a good condition or in a difficult condition. It brings effects to the development of personal growth and it will develop their character. So, every human being has different thought and ways of living because of their different background or condition of living. They may have their own ways in responding to their conditions of living. Sarah Cirese in Quest: A Search for Self 1985: 62 said that every person is free in making decision, having commitments, taking risk within the bounds of his or her own value system. Each of them appears as an individual that continuously discovers and develops his or her own potentials as the evident of his or her personal growth. As an individual, a person deserves to reach their own goal in his or her life. It starts from the effort of someone to achieve what they want. When someone acquires means to carry out choices and believe that he or she is able to make, he or she is free to choose the way to go and to make decision of their choice because making choice is the potential factor of every person. Cirese 1985: 44 said that making choices to develop his or her talents, to extend the intellectual capacities, to strengthen interpersonal skills, to actualize physical capacities, to become all he or she can possibly be, are the sum up of personal growth. In writing my thesis, I choose a work entitled The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards. This story is written based on someone’s true story that has a twin who suffered Down syndrome. His twin was institutionalized at birth and kept secret from the family in all his life. He died in the institution and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 no one knew it. From the story the author develops it into a wonderful novel within the idea is a secret as the center of the family. The title The Memory Keeper’s Daughter represents Phoebe’s life that brings tragedy in David’s life. Life is so mysterious that it may become kind of tragedy. This is exactly what Kim Edwards’s The Memory Keeper’s Daughter expresses, the tragic life of David Henry. Based on unhappy life in the past, David planned to make other people to be prevented from having the similar unpleasant experience as same as he has been through. Therefore, the aim of this study is to find out David’s memory about his daughter, Phoebe, discover from Down syndrome. The discussions are therefore to deal with the result of his decision to hide Phoebe, as soon as he was want, from his wife. Therefore, it cannot be avoided that this study talks about David’s unpleasant past experience: losing his Down syndrome sister and the suffering experienced by his mother. In order to do so, this study employs some theories such as the theory of character, characterization and juxtaposition, theory of psychology including theory of personality, and the theory of motivation. The approach used in this study is psychological approach.

B. Objectives of the Study