Method of the Study

Even though Jake does not consider himself as the leader of the team, he cares greatly about the safety of his friends, he often feel responsible whenever his plan does not go as planned and eventually put him and his friend in danger. He often shown worried and scared whenever his friends are put in danger. Jake’s responsibility is one of the reason why his friends tends to rely on him in making a decision. In accordance to Terror Management Theory, where the management of self esteem is very important in fighting the terr or in people’s mind, Jake has a good control toward his self esteem; he is able to keep his emotion in check even in a dangerous situation. Numerous times throughout the series, the protagonists other than Jake describe him as the person capable of handling certain situation which no other protagonists is capable of, like giving the right strategy in the middle of a battle. If we Animorphs have a leader, its Jake. Hes strong, inside and out, and really good looking, also inside and out. I mean, hes just an amazingly cool guy. Jake has had to grow up a lot in a very short time. Its weird to be a kid, and yet act like some kind of a general or something. We all decide the big stuff together. But when were in a fight, its Jake who has to make the little decisions a lot of times, the little decisions that could leave one of his friends dead. Animorphs 9, 1997:10 Jake’s capability in controlling his self esteem is the reason why he is chosen by his friend to be leader of Animorphs. Based on his friend’s decision, we can see that Jake is the person who can control his self esteem better than his friend. Even though Jake is capable of managing his self esteem, that does not mean he cannot get worried or scared. Sometimes when his decision goes wrong PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI and put his entire friend in danger, Jake will show his fear and confusion. He gets scared because he feels responsible for what happen to his friend. 2. The Description of Marco’s Characteristics Marco is the second character to be described in this study. In the story, Marco only lives with his father, they mother was believed to be missing on the sea and presumed dead by everyone. After the accident, his father was greatly depressed that it caused him to quit his job. “Marco and his dad live in a garden apartment complex. One of the older ones, on the far side of the big neighborhood where Jake and Rachel both live. Id only been over there a couple of times. I think Marco is kind of embarrassed because he doesnt have much money. He used to live in a house just down the street from Jake. But that was when his mother was still alive, and before his father had a breakdown and quit his job.” Animorphs 4, 1996:42. Marco’s mother who was believed to be dead is actually alive; she was infested by a Yeerks known as Visser One, the highest ranking Visser in Yeerks world. Before he learned that fact, he is reluctant in becoming Animorphs, become the guardian of the earth, because he does not want to make his dad to lose another family member again. After learning the truth about his mother, Marco became determined to fight against the Yeerks and defeat them, in order to save his mother from Visser One’s control. Even though Marco’s family is in a devastated condition Marco, is depicted as the kind of guy who likes to make fun or joke on anything. He often makes fun of everything, even in a most dire situation he still able to make a sarcastic comment, which intended to either cheer up his friend, or he just PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI annoyed by the situation. His habit of making jokes is sometimes able to irritate a person to a certain degree. Sometimes he make a joke about something which is not suitable to his or their current condition, and sometimes he accidentally make a joke which can hurt other people’s feeling. Rachel often disliked Marco’s joke, Marco and Rachel often argued with each other, this is caused by Marco’s constant annoying comment toward Rachel, regarding her personality. Sometimes, Marco’s joke can be seen as an attempt to hide his true feeling shy, fear, etc in a certain condition. He once stated it himself that he makes jokes to defend his mind from anything that may harm his inner mind. His habit to make a joke also can be seen to hide his sadness because of the loss of his mother. He doesn’t want other people to know his inner mind. He forces himself to make other people believe that Marco is the guy who likes to crack a joke. “My dad stood for a long time, looking down at the white marble headstone. It has my moms name. The day she was born, the day she died. And a message that says, No wife, no mother, was ever more loved, or more deeply missed. My dad and I stood a few feet apart. We didnt say anything. We both just kind of cried. You probably wouldnt think I was the kind of guy who would cry. Mostly I dont. Mostly I make jokes about things. Its better to laugh than to cry, dont you think? I do, even when the world is scary and sad, especially when the world is scary and sad. Thats when you need to laugh.” Animorphs 5: 81 Compared to Jake, Marco has less control toward his self esteem. In the story, whenever Marco was put in a dire situation, he was overwhelmed by the fear in his mind. For Example in book 21, After the Animorphs morphed into a flea in order to infiltrate a meeting between world leaders, Marco was unable to control his transformation back into his human form. If Marco did not able to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI