The Influences Of Cross And Clash Culture Towards The Main Character's Development In VS Naipaul's House For Mr. Biswas

  

THE INFLUENCES OF CROSS AND CLASH CULTURE

TOWARDS THE MAIN CHARACTER ’S DEVELOPMENT

  IN V.S NAIPAUL ’S A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS

SKRIPSI

  Submitted to fulfil one of the requirements of Sarjana Sastra Degree

  

ERNA SUSILAWATI

NIM 63707002

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LETTERS

  

THE INFLUENCES OF CROSS AND CLASH CULTURE

TOWARDS THE MAIN CHARACTER ’S DEVELOPMENT

  IN V.S NAIPAUL ’S A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS

SKRIPSI

  Submitted to fulfil one of the requirements of Sarjana Sastra Degree

  

ERNA SUSILAWATI

NIM 63707002

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

  ABSTRAK Skripsi yang berjudul The influences of Cross and Clash Culture towards

  “

  The Main Character’s Development in V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas“ ini

  

menggambarkan percampuran dan pertentangan budaya terutama antara budaya

India dan budaya barat .

  Metode yang digunakan dalam laporan ini adalah metode deskriptif. Tujuan

dari metode deskriptif adalah untuk mengungkapkan fakta secara akurat. Penelitian

ini juga berhubungan dengan budaya, dimana teori poskolonial sangat cocok

digunakan untuk menganalisis percampuran dan pertentangan budaya yang terjadi

dalam novel ini.

  Pengaruh dari percampuran dan pertentangan terhadap tokoh utama dibagi

menjadi tiga aspek yaitu aspek agama, kehidupan sosial dan ekonomi. Semua aspek

memberikan pengaruh yang besar terhadap tokoh utama yaitu Mr. Biswas. Dia

tinggal di daerah yang mempunyai dua kebudayaan yang berbeda yaitu kebudayaan

India dan kebudayaan local di Trinidad dan Tobago yang membuatnya menjadi

tokoh yang ambivalent (karakter yang berada diantara dua budaya dimana disatu

sisi dia menerima dan disisi yang lain dia menolak budaya tersebut). Oleh sebab itu,

dia memegang teguh beberapa budaya India dan menolak beberapa budaya India

yang kaku yang sudah tidak sesuai lagi dengan zaman pada masa itu seperti sistem

kasta berdasarkan jati atau kelahiran, sistem keluarga bersama dan percaya pada

tahayul. Disisi lain, dia juga mengadaptasi budaya barat seperti sistem keluarga inti,

mendukung emansipasi wanita untuk mendapatkan pendidikan formal dan dia juga

percaya bahwa status ekonomi seseorang tergantung dari pekerjaannya.

  Kata kunci: percampuran dan pertentangan budaya, hybridity, dan budaya India

  

ABSTRACT

  The skripsi entitled The influences of Cross and Clash Culture towards The

  “

  Main Character’s Development in V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas” shows clash and cross culture especially Indian and western culture.

  The method used in this research is descriptive method. The purpose of the descriptive method is to capture the fact accurately. This research also relates to culture; postcolonial theory that is appropriate to analyze cross and clash culture in this novel.

  The cross and clash culture which influence the main character is divided into three aspects; religion, social life and economic. All of these aspects give big influences to the main character, Mr. Biswas. He lives in the area that has two cultures; Indian and local Trinidad and Tobago culture which make him an ambivalent character. He preserves some of Indian cultures and throws some of the rigid cultures that are not appropriate with that era such as caste system based on jati, joint family system and superstition. On the other hand, he also adapts western culture such as nuclear family system, the emancipation for women to get formal education, and he believes that the economic status depends on the occupation. Key Word: clash and cross culture, hybridity, Indian culture

  ABSTRAK The influences of Cross and Clash Culture toward The

  Skripsi ini berjudul “

  

Character Development of Main Character in V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas“

Skripsi ini menggambarkan percampuran dan pertentangan budaya terutama antara budaya

India dan buaya barat .

  Metode yang digunakan dalam laporan ini adalah metode deskriptif. Tujuan dari

metode deskriptif adalah untuk mengungkapkan fakta secara akurat. Penelitian ini juga

berhubungan dengan budaya, dimana teori postcolonial sangat cocok digunakan untuk

menganalisis percampuran dan pertentangan budaya yang terjadi dalam novel ini.

  Pengaruh dari cross and clash terhadap tokoh utama dibagi menjadi tiga aspek yaitu

aspek agama, kehidupan social dan ekonomi. Semua aspek memberikan pengaruh yang

besar terhadap tooh utama yaitu Mr. Biswas. Dia tinggal di daerah yang mempunyai dua

kebudayaan yang berbeda yaitu kebudayaan India dan Kebudayaan barat yang membuat dia

menjadi tooh yang ambivalent. Oleh sebab itu, dia memegang teguh beberapa budaya India

dan menolak beberapa budaya India yang kaku yang sudah tidak sesuai lagi dengan zaman

pada masa itu seperti sistem kasta berdasarkan jati atau kelahiran, sistem keluarga dan

percaya pada tahayul. Disisi lain, dia juga mengadaptasi budaya barat seperti sistem keluarga

inti, mendukung emansipasi wanita untuk mendapatkan pendidikan formal dan dia juga

percaya bahwa status ekonomi seseorang tergantung dari pekerjaannya.

  

Kata kunci: percampuran dan pertentangan budaya, hybridity, dan budaya India

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Finally, the writer finished the skripsi entitled

  “The Influences of Cross

and Clash Culture towads The Main Character ’s Development in V.S.

  

Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas” , in order to fulfill one of the requirements

  of Sarjana Sastra Degree. There are many people who give a lot of supports along the research is conducted. For that reason, with the respect, the writer will dedicate this Skripsi for them as follows: 1.

  Dr. Ir. Eddy Soeryanto Soegoto as the rector of UNIKOM 2. Prof. Dr. Moh. Tadjuddin, M.A. as the Dean of Faculty of Letters of

  Unikom, 3. Retno Purwani Sari, S.S.,M.Hum. as the Head of English Department.

  Thank you for your encouragement. You always train all of students to be the better one, especially for coaching the character building,

  4. Nungki Heriyati, S.S., M.A., as the advisor I. Thank you for everything, thank you so much for spending time to revise my research and for the suggestions to complete my research.

  5. M. Rayhan Bustam, S.S., as the advisor II. Thank you for your suggestions, time to correct my research especially for the patient to correct my grammatical error. I love the way you teach us.

6. All lecturers in English Department of UNIKOM for giving the

  Furthermore, the write expects there is the benefit from this research for the readers who are interested in to delevop and complete this research.

  Bandung, July 2011 Erna Susilawati

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background to The Study Human as social creature cannot be separated from culture. According to Spencer in Foundation of Modern Sociology (1982:57)

  “Culture is a way of life shared by a group, a system of ideas, values, beliefs, knowledge and customs transmitted from generation to generation. The culture is produced by society; in turn a society depends on culture.

  ” Thus, it can be concluded that society produces culture and culture shapes society. Society and culture cannot be separated since both are related to each other and create values in their society.

  The cross and clash culture occur because every country in this world have the different culture. If there are two cultures assimilated, cross and clash culture will happen. The issue also occurs in the novel entitled “A House for Mr. Biswas” by V.S Naipaul. It tells about the main character, Mohun Sirvastav Biswas or Mr. Biswas, who never has an opportunity to develop his social class.

  He believes that money and occupation can change his social class in the society. He is also trapped by the rigid class structure controlling his society, especially the caste system. Even though Mr. Biswas and his family live in Trinidad and Tobago, North America having Western and modern culture, they still hold tight their Indian culture. He tries to against the Indian rigid culture. On the other side,

  2 colonized country that left colonial culture and power. This phenomenon is related by postcolonial so that we can analyze it by postcolonial theory.

  There are two researches before from English Letters Department, Indonesia University of Computer that relate with postcolonial theory and clash and cross culture. The first, Nenden Rikma Dewi (2010), her Skripsi focuses on social, politics and culture using postcolonial theory in

  Stephen E Ambrose’s Essay Undaunted Courage. The second Chandra Kelana (2010), his Skripsi focused on Clash and Cross Culture in the novel entitled Weep not Child by Ngugi Wa Thiongo used

  Joseph Roucek’s theory of culture and John Howthorn’s theory of Narratalogy. It is really different from this research because in this research the writer uses postcolonial theory to analyze the clash and cross culture that influences the main character.

1.2. Research Question

  There are three research questions in the research namely: 1.

  How is the main character characterized? 2. How are clash and cross culture described in this novel? 3. What are the influences of cross and clash culture to the development of main character?

1.3. Objectives

  According to the research questions there are three objectives in this research,

  3

2. To identify the examples of clash and cross culture described in this novel 3.

  To identify the influence of cross and clash culture to the development of main character

1.4. Significance to Knowledge

  The research entitled “ The Influences of Cross and Clash Culture on The

  Character Developments of Main Character in V.S. Naipaul ’s “ A House for Mr. Biswas” is focused on how the cross and clash culture influence the main character from post colonial theory point of view . The research may provide the knowledge about culture especially Indian culture and Trinidad and Tobago culture that may be useful for the other students learning the literary work especially about those culture.

  This research is expected to increase the rea der’s knowledge about culture and as a reference for them whom studying culture.

1.5. The Framework Theory

  This research will be analyzed using intrinsic and extrinsic elements of literature. Intrinsic elements used for the research focus on the character, and the extrinsic element focuses on the culture that influences the main character.

  One of the intrinsic elements of literature is characterization. It is used to

  4 what the main character is described from the narration of other character in the story. Besides, characters will be analyzed whether they are flat and round character. Flat and round character will be used to analyze the development of main character in this novel.

  This novel presents the main character influenced by culture. Due to this fact, the writer uses post colonial theory to analyze it. Regarding to Homi K Bhabha in The Postcolonial Studies Reader, in colonial dominance (1999: 207), there are clash and cross culture between colonizer and colonized. The clash culture happens when a foreign culture comes to one region. It has some differences between foreign culture and tradition culture that cannot be accepted by societies in that region. Whereas the cross culture happens when the foreign culture came in one region and the societies in that region are influenced by it.

  Thus, it assimilates with the traditional culture in that region and created the new culture.

  However, the cross and clash culture can influence the character. The developments of the character that are affected by the cross and clash culture can be described using showing and telling method.

  .

  5

  A House for Mr. Biswas Intrinsic Element

  Extrinsic Element Character Cultures Characterization Theory

  Poscolonial Theory Showing

  Cross and Clash Culture Telling

  

Religion Economic Social

The Character Development of Main Character

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter focuses on the explanation about some intrinsic and extrinsic

  elements. The intrinsic elements used in this research are character and characterization, whereas the extrinsic element used is culture. The character and characterization are used to analyze the character development of main character. Furthermore, the focus of the extrinsic elements, in this case about culture, is on the terms of cross and clash culture. Since the problem analyzed is about Indian culture that is influenced by

  Trinidad and Tobago’s local culture existing in the novel A

  

House for Mr. Biswas, the appropriate theory used to explain the cross and clash

culture is postcolonial theory.

2.1. Novel Novel is fictional narrative representing a way of life or an experience.

  According to P. Vasque the range of the novel is from slight recollections of a small part of life or an experience to the most complete and detailed accounts imaginable; and it vary from the lightest to the most serious experiences and events faced by man (1998:2). Novel is the representation of the author

  ’s experience or the life of the

  7 Henry James in The Art of Fiction (1995:3) pointed out that:

  “Novel in its broadest definition a personal impression of life; that to begin with constitute its value which is greater or less according to the intensity of the impression. But there will no interntity at all, and therefore no value, unless there is freedom to feel and say.

  ” From the quotation above the definition of novel is a personal impression about life, the greater or less the value of novel depends on how much intensity of the impression to that novel. Novel is the form of the author’s freedom to feel and say.

  However, as mention before this research will focus on intrinsic elements especially character and characterization. The explanation about those will be described as folow:

2.1.1 Characterization and Character

  Characterization is one of the intrinsic elements in novel. It is used to know how the characters in the novel are represented. Character is the person who acts and is acted upon in the novel. In studying the characterization we need to know the meaning of characterization. As stated by John (1968) in Hansyar (2003:2) characterization is a creation or illustration of the imaginary person. This means that the characterization is the way how the author describes the character in the novel in order to make the character as a real person and life.

  8 Furthermore, Pickering and Hoeper in Albertine Mindrop (1981:27-28) explained the method how to describe the character. They divided the method of characterization into two parts, namely showing and telling method. The methods will be described as folows:

  One method is telling, which relies on exposition and direct commentary by the author. In telling a method preferred and practiced by many older fiction writers

• – the guiding hand of the authors is very much evidence. We learn and look only at what the author calls to our attention. “the other method is the indirect, the dramatic method of showing, which involves the author’s stepping aside, as it were, to allow the characters to reveal themselves directly through and their actions. With showing, much of the burden of character analysis is shifted to the reader, who is required to infer character on the basis of the evidence provided in the narrative.

  Based on the explanation above, the writer concludes that telling is used to examine what the main character is described from the narration of other character in the story, and the indirect presentation is used to analyze the characterization from the character’s thought, speech and act. Besides, characters will be analyzed whether they are flat and round character. Laurence in Literature, Structure, Sound and Sense said that :

  “Flat characters are characterized by one or two traits; they can be summed up in a sentence. Round characters are complex and many-sided; they might require an essay for full analysis. Flat and round character will be used as a sign of development of the main characters in this novel; also it is important to divide, whether the main characters are flat or round to know if there is any attitude changing.” (1984: 67)

  Flat character can be described by one or two character’s behavior. It can be

  9 the end of the story, whereas round character is character’s traits change from the beginning until the end of the story.

2.2. Postcolonial Theory

  Great Britain during nineteenth century was known as the Empire which had great imperial power because almost quarter of the earth was Britain conquest. The Great Britain’s conquest spread from Europe, Asia until Africa. Great Britain not only spread and colonized the country but also spread its hegemony to the society in its colony. It made The British people believe that they were born to rule the world by virtue of that believe they feel the British is biological superior than the other race in the world in terms of physic and cultural difference.

  By the early twentieth century, England’s political, social, economic, and ideological domination of its colonies began to disappear, a process was known as decolonization. The effect of decolonization is a number of colonizer’s ideology and culture is adapted by the colonized.

  Many scholars believe the beginning of Postcolonial is marked when India in 1947 got its independence from Great Britain. After Britain was defeated in World War II, India forced Britain to give the independence. Afterward, Britain Colony gave the independence and divided India into two nations: India which the most civilization is Hindu and Pakistan which the most culture is Moslem. It made war between India and Pakistan, it caused hundreds of people die. Many writers analyzed

  10 the impacts of the British colonial in politic, economic, culture and social in the colony.

  Ahmad stated in Margaret Kumar in Journal of Educational Enquiry Vol 1, No. 2, 2000 that Postcolonialism was traditionally seen as a period of history initializing the handing over of colonized states by what colonies themselves. It means that Postcolonialism is a period after the colonizer colonized. Postcolonialism is also a study of the colonizer influence to the colonized. The effect of colonial is not only to expand the colonial region but also to spread its hegemony in colonized. According to Gramsci hegemony is socialist political activity should gear itself to achieving “consent” to socialist ideas from a range of groupings in society, and thus achieving some dominant influence for socialism in civil society prior to dealing with the state.

  It means that hegemony is the efforts to gain the dominant power in the colonized country. Indirectly, the societies in that state are influenced by the colonizer. The colonizer influences the colonized in some aspects such as economic, politic, social, culture and religion. Furthermore, cross and clash cultures occur in those aspects. As sited in Peter Burnell Colonialism and Postcolonialism (2007: 38

  ) “The impact of colonialism was transformative rather than transitory. As well as reshaping economic and political forms, it also changed the way people, especially the educated to see the world”. It explains that the impact of colonialism changes the way of the politic and economic of the colonial countries. The colonizers transform their education, ideology and mentality of the colony countries.

  11 Postcolonialism makes cross and clash culture or hybridity occur. Hybridity is one of the key terms of postcolonial theory. It is the new of transcultural forms within the contact zones produced by colonization (Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin 1998:20). It means that hybridity is the mixing culture between local cultures in one region with the foreign culture. Furthermore, hybridity will explain deeply in the sub chapter below.

2.2.1. Cross and Clash Culture

  The power of the colonizer to the colonized produced other cultures and new habitual of civilization in colony or it is called cross and clash culture, as stated by Homi K Bhabha in The Postcolonial Studies Reader (1995:205):

  “There is always ambivalence at the site of colonial dominance. When two cultures commingle, the nature and the characteristics of the newly created culture changes each of the cultures. This dynamic, interactive and tension- packed process unitary Bhabha names hybridity.”

  Bhabha stated that in colonial country, there are clash and cross culture between colonizers and colonized. The clash culture happens when a foreign culture comes to one region. It has some differences between foreign culture and traditional culture that cannot be accepted by the societies in that region. Whereas the cross culture happens when the foreign culture comes in one region and the societies in that region are influenced by it. Thus, it assimilates with the traditional culture in that region and creates the new culture.

  12 Bhabha also pointed out in

  “cultural diversity and cultural differences,” he stated that : “The problem of how in signifying the present, something comes to be repeated, relocated and translated in the name of tradition, in the guise of a pastness that is not necessarily a faithful sign of historical memory but a strategy of representing authority in terms of the artifice of the archaic.” (1995: 210)

  When the new culture or the modernity comes and repeat in the local tradition, the local tradition has to keep the tradition as the historical and the heritage for the new generations. It means the clash culture occurs between the new culture and the local tradition, but the cross culture also happens because we cannot prevent it. Therefore, hybridity occurs after the colonizer goes out from the colony.

  Basically hybridity refers to most basic sense to mixture. It is the term originating from biology, and in the nineteenth century the term hybridity is also employed in linguistics and in racial theory. The concept of hybridity in racial theory especially postcolonialism is formulated by Homi K. Bhabha in his essay entitled “Cultural Diversity and Cultural Differences”. It is described as folow:

  It is significant that the productive capacities of this third space have a colonial or post colonial provenance. For a willingness to descend into that the theoretical recognition of the split-space of enunciation may open the way conceptualizing an inter - diversity of cultures, but on the inscription and articulation of culture’s hybridity (1995:206).

  Bhabha argued that all cultural systems are constructed by enunciation, or he called it third space. The third space is the result of colonization that is influenced the cultures and the civilization in the colonies. Hybridity is the example of third space.

  13 He also stated that “cultures are never unitary in themselves not simply dualistic in relation of self to other

  .” it means that culture cannot be unitary by itself but it needs human being to form it. The process of unitary is not the simply thing but it needs the long time to form it. However, the hybridization of any culture creates ambivalent situation. Ambivalent refers to a state of mental or social cultural or behavioral condition of people.

2.3. Indian Culture

  As mentioned before that the culture relating to the research is Indian culture, so the writer will explain some of Indian cultures that exist in the novel as folow:

2.3.1. Caste System

  The word caste is derived from the Latin castus which means “pure”. In India the word caste is known by “jatis” or the small groups as distinct from classes. In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese was the first European who arrived in India and changed the word 'Jatis' into caste. The word caste later is used by The British who arrived to India much later after the Portuguese.

  J.H Hutton as cited in Richard Lannoy in his book entitled, The Speaking Tree: A Study of Indian Culture and Society (1971:137) stated that : A caste system is one whereby a society is divided up into a number of self-contained and completely

  14 in a graded scale. This description means the caste system is a social unit or group that has different customs from other groups and it is related to the religious.

  The caste system in India is a social stratification based on the Hindu hereditary class and occupations in the societies. Basically, there are four classes in Hindu Caste system or in Hindi called Catur Cast (Brahmin, Ksatria, Vaisya and

  

Sudra ). The Brahma or Brahmin is a person who fulfills the calling of priests and

  spiritual preceptors. Etymologically the Ksatriya means a person as a ruler or as a warrior. Whereas, the Vaisya is a person as commercial in live hood who associate with other producers and wealth-creators. Then, Sudra is a toiler and artisan. Beside the catur caste there is appeared another caste called untouchable caste. The untouchable is also called Pañcama. Pancama is the hill and forest population who is called tribals, inclusive. This group occupies a place below, outside this Varna scheme. People belonging to the untouchable grou p perform „unclean’ service such as cremation and kill animals for food.

  However, the caste in Hindu religion divided into two parts, first depending on the birth (Jati), and second depending on how those people education and their occupation (Varna). However, now along with modernism, Indian society prefers to choose the caste system by varna. For that reason, the member of the lowest class in Indian caste system can move to upper class.

  According to Prof. M Narasimhachary in A summary of the first lecture in

  

the IK Foundation Lecture Series. 'Indian Culture in the Modern World'. 23rd

  15

  October 2002, London the phenomenon of Indian caste system becomes controversy.

  Some people assume India’s caste system as Indian culture because some of Indian holy book was written about it. For example the Purusa of the Rgveda (5000 B.C) contains the first symbolic reference to the emergence of the four castes; Brahmanas from the mouth, Rajanyas (Ksatriyas) from the shoulders, Vaisyas from the tights and

  Sudras from the feet.

  The other people assume that caste system is colonial artifact. In the past India was one of British colonized country. The purpose of the colonizer is not only to expand their colonized region but also to spread their ideology in colonized country for example caste system. As cited by Dr Susan Bayly in Prof. M Narasimhachary

  ’s book “So, you want to marry my daughter?” The Caste System: An Overview (2002),

  “caste is not the essence of Indian culture and civilization. It is rather a contingent and variable response to the enormous changes that occurred in the subcontinent’s political landscape both before and after the colonial conquest.

  Due to Dr. Susan Bayly, a reader in Historical Anthropology in the Cambridge University Department of Social Anthropology, the caste system is not Indian culture but it is one of the colonial political landscapes to separate between colonizers and colonized. The colonizers believed that they have higher social class than the colonized. Thus, they created caste system and assimilated it with Hindu religion. It happens in order the colonized country obey it because Indian societies

  16 It is clearly that caste system is not colonial artifact because the Britain ruled

  India from 1757 to 1947 whereas the holy book of India Rgveda was published in 6000 B.C. This is clear that Rgveda is early than Britain colonized. It proved that caste system is truly Indian essence culture.

2.3.2. Joint Family System

  Regarding to I Karve the joint family system is a system that contains a group of people who generally live under one roof, who eat food cooked at one hearth, who hold property in common and who participate in common worship and are related to each other as some particular type of kindred (1995:5). Joint family system is Indian culture that Indian societies still hold until now. Under one roof there is gathered several branches of an extended family, living together sharing their property and incomes in order to teach and control the younger couple in their marriage. The younger generations in Indian societies believe that life will be easier by living together. The younger generations are strictly but not systematically controlled by the elder. The joint family system also has several disadvantages such as the laziness of the family members because they think they can get food without hard effort, the lankness of the effort to earn money and become independent, and the important thing they cannot prevent the quarrel between the members of the family.

  In Modern times some of Indian are no longer use the joint family system especially in the middle class. They are living under separate roofs or in the other

  17 word they prefer to choose nuclear family system. After married the son or daughter live in separated roof and they build their own family in order to be independent and they can resolve their problem by themselves. T hey come to their parent’s home only in special occasion such as festival, and marriage ceremony.

2.3.3. Marriage and Dowry

  Regeneration is really important for all of the society in this world. Every country in the world has each own marriage tradition. Regarding to William Stephen in A Study on Desertion Of Married Women By Non Resident Indians In Punjab and Andhra Pradesh,

  “marriage is a socially legitimate sexual union, beginning with a public announcement, and undertaken with some idea of permanence, with a more or less explicit contract, which spells out the reciprocal rights and obligations between the spouses and their future children (2004:16).

  The definition of marriage is the way to legitimate the relationship between man and woman included the sexual union by law, religion and social culture or norm in the society. However, every country in the world has different culture of marriage ceremony and funeral. Regarding to AK Goval in A Study On Desertion Of Married Women By Non Resident Indians In Punjab And Andhra Pradesh

  “Marriage under the Hindu Law was primarily and essentially a sacrament in which a wife is declared to be half the body of her husband equally sharing the fruits of pure acts, and the husband is regarded by the wife as god.

  ” (2004:24). It means that the marriage in

  18 Hindu is a ritual religion that the wives stated for life and shared the sweetness and the bitterness of life with their husbands. In Hindu custom the wives assume that the husband is a god in the earth where they have to obey all their order.

  Marriage system in India society is considered as alliance between two families than the union two individual. The parents especially the groom’s parents select the spouse by caste, education, economic position and the value of dowry. In

  India society the value of dowry is the most important thing. Dowry is a cultural system where the parents of bride give a huge amount of money, jewelry, and expensive gifts to the groom and their parents during marriage. The amount of dowry depends on the caste system and the educational system of the groom. The dowry will be expensive if the grooms derive from the high class and vice versa.

  The dowry system in India is the evidence of the patriarchal system that means men have more power in society than women. The dowry system in India is popular since the Vedic period. When

  Brahma„s daughter was marriage, he gave the gift for her husband and her parents in law so that the couple can start their life easily.

  Meanwhile, nowadays, it changes into commercial transaction. T he groom’s parents become greedy and want to receive much money from the bride’s parents. It affects Indian socio- economic problems as Achdeva said in AK Goval

  “A Study on Desertion of Married Women by Non Resident Indians in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh as folow:

  The Dowry system has always given rise to innumerable socio-economic

  19 late, numerous incidents of bride burning, harassment and physical torture of the young brides and various kinds of pressure tactics being adopted by the husbands /in-laws pressurizing for more dowry have compelled the social reformers and the intelligentsia to give serious thought to the various aspects connected with the very institution of dowry (1998:301)

  It is clear that the dowry system becomes the huge problems for the lower class family who does not have much money. The bride burning, harassment and physical torture of the young brides appear as the effects of the amount of the dowry given by bride to the groom. Some of Indian researchers called this tragedy by “The

  Evil of Dowry system”. Many young brides die because they are burned by their husband. This tragedy is called “Dowry Death”. It is affected by their lackness to give huge dowry to their husband. Daily an average of five women in India is burned because of the dowry case and there are many same cases which unreported. (www.un.org.rights/dpil 772e.httml 12/4/01). The problem is appeared by the dowry. Many couples in India especially from the lower class do an abortion when they know they will have a daughter because they think they have to pay huge dowries when their daughter gets married. This even is called female infanticide. Furthermore, some legal efforts are done by Indian government to reduce the amount of dowry death for example by the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961:8). This is an act to prohibit the giving or taking of dowry. However, the payment of dowry has not stopped in India because Indian society is more obedient to culture than to government and rule.

2.3.4. The Power of Superstitions in India

  20 In modern public life using high-tech to fulfill all man needs, the Indian societies still believe superstition. The meaning of superstition regarding to Dipesh

  Chakrabarty in thought and action an official journal Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Sammittee India ( 2011:8) as folow:

  “the word “superstition” to refer to practices marked by two features: (a) they entail human beings appealing to supernatural, extra-human forces for positive or negative interventions in their lives, and (b) these forces cannot be systematized into a set of religious doctrines.

  “ He argues that in human life there are the forces from God, god, goddess as positive intervention and Lucifer, Satan, devil and cruel spirit as the negative intervention. T S Raskar also stated in the same journal that “Superstitions consist of beliefs and practices, which have no evidence to support them, and are inconsistent with the degree of enlightenment reached by a community.”

  Based on the explanation above, it shows that most of superstition links to the religion. The Indian societies still believe superstition even though there is no any evidence to prove it because they believe to their religion or their belief. It is in line Edmund Burke statement that Superstition is the religion of feeble minds. It is something irrational that someone believes and does that irrational thing. Sometimes it is something foolish that someone do that irrational thing. It can happen because he or she has lack of education.

  However, many Indian citizens are Hindu. In Hindu, superstition plays big

  21 says about prediction, a good date for wedding, for getting a job and astrology. Pundit is the important person in Hindu society. Pundit is a man preparing the ceremony and ritual in Hindu. He is the second hand of God that every word which he spoke is obeyed by the Hindu society. It also happens in this novel.

2.4. The Brief History of Trinidad and Tobago

  As cited in An Introduction to The History of Trinidad and Tobago by Bridget Brereton (1996), Trinidad and Tobago is located in the northeast coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea. Trinidad is the southern island in the Caribbean island chain.

  Both islands were once an extension of the South American continent because the flora and fauna reflect this geographical link. The native who lived in Trinidad is called Amerindians. In 1492 Columbus landed in Trinidad, he thought that hewas landed in India so he called the people who live in that island is Indian. When Columbus visited Trinidad in 1498 and claimed Trinidad as Spain colony, at that time in Trinidad and Tobago there was settled Arawak and Carib tribes.. Trinidad was colonized by Spain until 1797.

  There are several colonizers that were colonized Trinidad; Spain, France, Netherland and England, but England colonized Tobago for a long time than another colonizer. In 1888 Trinidad and Tobago became a British Crown Colony and was politically united. In 1958, the Federation of the West Indies was formed. Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations in

  22 1962, and in 1967 joined the Organization of American States. On August 1, 1976, the twin islands became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

  There are two traditions or cultures in Trinidad and Tobago, Creole and East Indian. The term Creole derives from the Spanish criollo , it means "of local origin," Creole is a mixture of traditions from Africa, Spain, France and England that was colonized Trinidad and Tobago in the past. Trinidadians and Tobagonians of African that exist in Trinidad and Tobago are called "Negro," "Black," or "African"Afro- Trinidadian" (or "Afro-Tobagonian") and "Indo-Trinidadian" have gained currency to get heightened ethnic claims to national status. Trinidadians of European bloodline are called "White" or "French Creole and the black

• –white bloodline is called Mixed, Colored, Brown, and Red among other terms.

  The East Indian is the Trinidadians of Indian. The East Indian exist in Trinidad and Tobago since the African slave trade was abolished officially in 1834, East Indian and Chinese farmers were hired as indentured servants to work in the sugarcane. Even though, the practice of indentured servitude ended in 1917, many of them decided to stay and live in Trinidad and Tobago.

  The religions that exist in Trinidad and Tobago are Roman Catholic, Anglican, Hindu and Islam. However, Roman Catholic is the majority religion that exists in Trinidad and Tobago. The national language in Trinidad and Tobago is

CHAPTER III RESEARCH OBJECT AND METHODS This chapter explains the research object, research source and research

  method in this research. The research source describes synopsis and author’s biography. Furthermore, the research method is focused on method of collecting data and data analysis.

  3.1 Research Object

  The research object of this research is the influences of cross and clash culture toward the development of main character in the novel entitles A House for Mr.

  

Biswas. It is divided to three parts; the influences of cross and clash culture toward

the main character’s religion, social life and economic.

  3.2. Research Source

  The source of this research is a novel by V.S. Naipaul entitled “A House for Mr. Biswas.

  ” This novel tells about the efforts of the main character, Mr. Biswas to buy a house in order to prove that he can be independence. Furthermore, the illustration of the novel entitles A House for Mr. Biswas is described on synopsis. The author biography also has to be known in order to now the background of the author.

3.2.1 Synopsis

  Mohun Biswas, the main character of this novel is a Trinidadian who was born with six fingers, the sign for bad luck in Hindu. His grandfather came from a village in Uttar Pradesh in North-East India. He came to Trinidad as one of the thousands of indentured laborers to work in the sugar cane farm. After his father died he and his family moved to Pagotes. He lived along with her aunt, Tara. Her aunt sent him to learn to be a Hindu Priest to a Pundit, Jae Ram, but after eight month he leaves in disgrace. After that he worked at Rum shop that belonged to Tara-brother in law, a drunken.