data. While the secondary data were taken from some books and internet that would be used to support this study or which related to the problem that I
analyzed. The first step was reading the primary data for 7 times to get a better
understanding about the story. While reading, I focused my attention on Marguerite’s character and took some important notes for the analysis.
The second step was finding some books about the theories of literature and psychology. After reading, I applied the theories of character from Greenville,
Thrall and Hibbart, and also used the theory of characterization from Murphy.
In the third step, I analyzed Marguerite’s unpleasant life that she faced at
the age of three up to sixteen. Afterwards, I found out Marguerite’s struggles to face her unpleasant life. The theories of motivation and human needs were applied
to help me to analyze Marguerite’s motives behind her struggles. The fourth step, I also searched and took the data from the internet. It
provided the data about the author, her works, and some information about the sociocultural-historical background of the novel.
And finally, after making the analysis, I processed the data gathering and put the points in the drawing thesis process. I also gave some suggestions for the
readers and the next researchers who will conduct the same study so that they will analyze the novel better.
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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS
This analysis is to find out the answers of two problems formulated in the problem formulation. It is divided into two parts. The first part is to find out
Marguerite’s characters and characterization. The second part is to analyze Marguerite’s struggles and motivation to face her unpleasant life as seen in Maya
Angelou’s
U
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
4.1 The Description of Marguerite’s Characters as Portrayed in
U
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
U
A character is one of the important elements in a work of literature. According to Forster 44, there are flat and round characters. A round character is
complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity. In this novel, Marguerite’s characters are not easy to understand
because she has the complexity of temperament and motivation. Her characters are described in some sentences and phrases. Therefore, Marguerite is categorized
as a round character. Furthermore, according to Abrams 50-56, the terms of characters are
categorized into two namely major and minor characters based on their importance. Major characters are the ones that mostly appear in the novel. While
minor characters appear in a certain setting or just become the background of the major one. In
U
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
U
, the major character is
Marguerite. She does not only emerge from the beginning to the end but also becomes the focus of the story. Then, the minor characters are grandmother or
Momma Annie Henderson, Bailey Johnson Junior, Mother Vivian Baxter, Mr. Freeman, Mrs. Bertha Flowers and Dolores. Those six minor characters are
considered important because they influence Marguerite’s character. In order to understand a character fully, Murphy 161-173 states that there
are nine ways of characterization, namely personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation with others, reactions, direct comment,
thought, and mannerism. However, some ways of characterization will be implemented to understand Marguerite’s characters. They are personal
description, reactions, thought, and mannerism. Marguerite is described as:
4.1.1 Ugly
According to Murphy, the author may portray a person’s character based on appearances and clothes. Heshe can tell the details of the character’s
appearance such as face, skin, body, hair and clothes 161. Angelou as the author of
U
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
U
describes Marguerite’s characters through her personal description. She describes Marguerite as a black girl who has black
curly hair, black skin, skinny legs, and broad feet Angelou 17. Being a girl who is big, elbowy, and grating, she is mocked by her playmates as having shit color.
Where I was big, elbowy and grating, he was small, graceful and smooth. When I was described by our playmates as being shit color, he was lauded
for his velvet-black skin. His hair fell down in black curls, and my head was covered with black steel wool. And yet he loved me. Angelou 17
Marguerite is displeased with her physical appearance because she thinks that she is not a beautiful and attractive girl. She considers that her beauty has
