Background of the study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of five parts. The first part is the Background of the Study, stating the reason of choosing the book as the primary data of this study. The second part is the Problem Formulation that contains questions to be answered as the focus of this study. The third is Objectives of the Study which elaborates the main purpose of this study. The fourth is Benefits of the Study that contains the advantages of this study and the last part is Definition of Terms that will help readers to understand this thesis better.

A. Background of the study

Literature as one of special written art works involves social phenomena, thoughts, feeling, attitude, and even the society itself in it. As a unique art, it offers special way to provide us with a very clear reflection of our living. Therefore, we can understand ourselves, people around us, even our society by reading literature. Moreover, people can learn the life values through literature without experiencing by themselves. In other words, literature is the best teacher in our life since it is a mean that provides us with chances to reflect. Literature lets us stand as an observer so that we can see life and its aspects clearly. We do not need to experience, just follow the scene and observe it. 2 According to Hudson 10, literature is a vital record of what men have seen about life; what they have experienced of it, what they have thought, and felt about those aspects of which have the most immediate and enduring human interest. Literature also plays an important role in language learning. We can enrich our vocabularies and improve our reading skills by reading literary works. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is one example of literary works. Literary works in the form of diaries are not common or popular to be read by Indonesian people. Since, our people are socialized who like to share their feeling to others better than to write it in a diary. In contrast, Western people are more introvert and independent, so that it is common to write everything in a diary. Therefore, many art works in the form of diaries are more popular in Western countries rather than in our country. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl contains many life-lessons which can also improve our reading skills and enrich our vocabularies, since it has varied diction. Anne Frank used a simple language which was easy to follow in her diary. Moreover, she told her experiences, her thoughts and feelings clearly which makes the readers can feel that they are involved in the story. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl has won several literary awards which prove that it is worth reading. Because of its strengths, I choose Anne Frank’s literary work as the primary source of my study. I am interested in studying Anne Frank’s motivation in giving response to the conflicts and how she learns to be stronger by conquering every problem, 3 conflict and difficulty in her life. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl tells about a life of a young Jewish girl who was forced to go into hiding in order to avoid Nazi’s execution. Anne Frank was not a great author. She was only a little girl who liked to write on her diary. She wrote everything about her life, her thoughts, her feelings and her comments in her diary that she called Kitty. Despite the fact that she was not a great author, her literary work is so inspiring as it contains so many lessons of life. The readers can see how a young girl overcame every problem, how tough she was, how critical and sensitive her thoughts were, and how the situation in the hiding caused a little girl grew up much wiser than other girls in her age. The central of the character in this literary work is the author herself, Anne Frank who was a young Jewish girl who lived during the World War II. She was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1929. In 1933, she and her family moved to Amsterdam in search of safety. German invasion of Holland began on May 10 th 1940. The Jews, whose freedom was restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees, lived under severe discrimination during the Nazi’s authority. Some of those decrees were: Jews were required to wear a yellow star to show that they were Jews, Jews were forbidden to use trams, swimming pools, tennis court and other public places. They were forbidden to go to cinemas, theaters, and any other forms of entertainment, Jews were forbidden to ride car even their own, Jews were required to do their shopping between 3.00 and 5.00 p.m., Jews were required to have their hair-cut only in Jewish-owned barber shops and beauty salons, they 4 were also forbidden to be out on the street between 8.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. Jews were forbidden to sit in their gardens or in their friends’ gardens after 8.00 p.m., Jews were forbidden to visit Christians in their homes, and last but not least Jews were required to attend Jewish school. One day, her sister, Margot, was called by Nazi to go to the concentration camp. Franks family decided to go into hiding sooner than what had been planned in order not to let Margot taken by Nazi. Living in the small hiding place with some other people was not easy. There were many conflicts that aroused there. However, those conflicts brought some development toward the major character, Anne Frank. A young girl was growing older and more mature in emotion after experiencing some conflicts in which most of those came from other people’s bad treatments and behaviors toward her. At first, Anne Frank was a reactive girl who always got angry easily whenever she felt bothered by others. However, she grew wiser, more introspective and more mature. Anne Frank’s maturity in thinking and attitudes were not without crossing a long process. She faced many troubles and conflicts in her life. She had her own motivation in solving every problem. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is a good literary work for all ages. The readers can learn how cruel the war is and how it is important for people in this world to respect each other’s rights and respect other persons as unique characters from it. The readers can see how difficult to live in the hiding with some people without having enough food, clothes, soaps, and other basic needs. 5 Anne and her family faced many troubles and conflicts in the hiding. They lived in fears and anxiousness and lived without freedom for about two years. This literary work also shows the readers Anne’s relationship with her mother which was not going well and how she gave response to it. This is a unique literary work which teaches us how to dream and conquer every problem to be stronger and more independent through a story of a young girl. Through the main character people can learn how to be ambassadors of peace for the entire world, how to be sensitive and emphatic. They will never think about promoting war to gain their goals. Someone will not promote war if heshe knows exactly that war will not bring anything except grief, pain and suffering of thousands innocent people.

B. Problem Formulation