13 questions which are psychological approach, theory of characterization, theory of
personality, theory of motivation, and theory of needs.
1. Psychological Approach
According to Stangor 2011: 10, psychology comes from Greek words “psyche” which means life and “logos” means explanation. Psychology means
scientific study of mind and behaviour. Psychology is a branch of science and a popular topic in the public media which also becomes a part of our everyday lives.
As a science, psychology uses systematic methods to observe, describe, predict and explain behaviour. Behaviour is a part of every organism that control their
action and it can be observed. Human’s behaviour also shows their personalities. In psychology, someone’s personality can be analyzed through their reaction
toward experiences and events happened in their lives. This study conducts psychological approach. It is employed because it has
much to contribute to the understanding of literature and that it permits a conceptual clarity that cannot be derived from the literature alone Paris, 1997.
The use of theory of personality, theory of needs, and theory of motivation in this study is to look and analyze the personalities of the three main characters of the
novel, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan and how they face the problems and situations in their lives. In this part, Aibileen, Minny,
and Skeeter are facing the same problem, fighting against the racism issue, but in different cases. Moreover, this approach is chosen to help the researcher
understands the characters easier. The basis of this approach is the idea of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14 existence of human consciousness, impulses, desires, and feeling which a person
is unaware but which influence emotions or behavior.
2. Theory of Characterization
Character is a person presented in narration Abrams, 1981. Meanwhile, characterization is the process of making a character. According to Gill 1995,
characterization is the way in which a character is created p.127. Characters are created by the author of the story which portray people in real life. There are two
ways of portraying the character Abrams, 1985, by telling and showing. By telling, the author describes the characters directly through the sentences in order
to be criticized and “often to evaluate the motives and dispositional qualities”. By showing, the author only “presents the characters talking and acting” and lets the
readers to see the motives and dispositional beyond words and acts p. 24. Presenting a character cannot be separated from the setting of the story.
The setting covers the place where the characters appear, the social context such as family background, friends, class, characters’ manners, tradition and rules, and
also some particular scenes and atmosphere created along with previous elements Gill, 1995, p. 148. Therefore, setting and social context are important elements
to analyze characters. Stanton 1965 adds that the dialogue and the behavior are the most important evidences to understand the characters. According to Murphy
1972, there are nine ways used by the author to make the characters understandable for the readers, as follow:
a. Personal Description
The author directly describes a person’s appearance and clothes. The PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15 author can also describes clearly about the details of what the characters’ look like
such as the body-built, skin-color, hair, clothes with various adjectives to make the description more vivid pp. 161 – 162. The purpose is to make the readers can
imagine clearly about how the characters look like. It also helps the readers to create their own image of how the maids and white ladies of The Junior League
look like.
b. Character as seen by another
The author can also describes the characters using other characters. The author conveys the characters through the choice of words and phrases which are
reflected in another characters’ eyes, attitude, opinions and comments. The readers will get the reflected image of the characters’ personalities p. 162. The author
uses Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan to describe one another’s physical appearances and personalities by their attitude, opinions and
comments. The purpose is to help the readers catch the idea of the situation and
condition happened in Mississippi, early 1960s. c.
Speech
The author gives the readers clue about the characters’ personalities through their speech and their conversations with other characters. The language
and attitude used by the characters in their conversation with other characters will be clues of their personalities p. 164. The purpose is for the readers to
understand Aibileen Clark’s, Minny Jackson’s and Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan’s personalities by observing the languange and attitude they make when having
conversations with the other characters in the novel.
