3. Family
Rebecca has a mom who has the same hobby as her. Her mom really loves to buy something that others think as unnecessary thing. It is stated before that
Rebecca’s characteristic as a shopaholic is an effect of her mom’s characteristic. Rebecca tends to copy what she had seen in her childhood. The difference
between Rebecca and her mom is just from the kind of thing that they like to buy. Rebecca’s mom loves to buy something that is cute or able to be the new
collections. Same as her mom, Rebecca usually buys some branded things for her life.
In the moment when Rebecca wants to buy the scarf, it can be seen that she cannot control her desire. She does not care when she begins to embarrass herself
in order to lend some money to buy the scarf. As Alicia carries on speaking, I lean toward Elly.
“So, listen,” I whisper. “Can I borrow your credit card?” “All used up,” hisses Elly apologetically. “I’m up to my limit. Why do you
think I’m living off LVs?” “But I need money” I whisper. “I’m desperate I need twenty quid” I’ve
spoken more loudly than I intended and Alicia stops speaking. “Perhaps you should have invested with Foreland Investments, Rebecca,” says Alicia, and
another titter goes round the room. A few faces turn round to gawk at me, and I stare back at them lividly. They’re fellow journalists, for God’s sake.
They should be on my side. National Union of Journalists solidarity and all that. Not that I’ve ever actually got round to joining the NUJ. But still
“What do you need twenty quid for?” says Luke Brandon, from the front of the room. “I … my aunt,” I say defiantly. “She’s in hospital and I wanted to
get her a present Kinsella, 2005: 14. Rebecca looks very humiliate herself. She tries not to think about others.
The paragraph above can be classified as an effect of Rebecca’s family when she was child. Rebecca’s mom always lies about certain foods that she buys for her
family and says that she cooks by herself. She lies to her family in order to get
compliment. Rebecca looks like her mom who is willing to spend her money to buy some stuff that are not necessary. Similar to her mom, Rebecca is willing to
do anything in order to get something that she wants. It can be seen that Rebecca cannot control any desire to buy something. As
an effect of her mother, Rebecca’s problem is more complicated. It is similar with the characteristics of Conflict in the classification of behavioral addiction. The
component of CBD that is called as Relapse happens here. Rebecca has seen her mother’s behavior since she was a child. In her childhood, Rebecca also is told as
a girl who loves fashion that makes her want to buy something related with it. Her mom also allows her to buy the fashion magazine that possibly becomes the
reason of her big desire to shop. It is also the reason why Rebecca has more extreme pattern of her excessive behavior than her mom. She needs to control her
desire by reading the fashion magazine until she has her own salary. It is why Rebecca cannot control herself when she is in her addictive behavior.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
In this last chapter, the writer comes to the conclusion of the analysis of the main character, the social surroundings matched those characteristics to the
symptom of Compulsive Buying Disorder CBD as the impact. The writer has three problems which have been discussed in the previous chapter. There are the
characteristic of the main character, the description of the social surroundings, and the influence of the social surrounding towards CBD. The writer applied some
theories in order to answer the problems. Theory of character and characterization is to answer the characteristic of the main character, theory of setting is to define
about the social surroundings in the novel, and theory of CBD is to investigate the symptom that the main character has.
The object of this study is a novel written by Sophie Kinsella, entitled Confession of a Shopaholic. This novel has one important and interesting
character, named Rebecca, who has significant personality disorder in the story. Rebecca is seen to have some characteristics that show the tendency of
shopaholic. As a shopaholic, she is characterized by her personal description, character seen by another, the speech, her past life, and also her reaction in every
situation. There are three characteristics that can be drawn on the novel. First, she is described as a shopaholic. Since she was a child, she has loved fashion. She
usually imagined that she could be a woman with high-standard of lifestyle. In the age of 25, when she has her own salary, she truly enjoys to do shopping. She
usually buys everything that she wants. The brand becomes the most important consideration to decide whether the thing that she wants to buy is worth or not. It
influences her life until she cannot control her desire to do shopping. This situation that always happens throughout her life makes her become shopaholic.
Second, she is described as a self-justification. As it is mentioned before that Rebecca usually buys something that she wants, she usually justifies herself
to get the thing. The moment of self-talk always happens to her mind in order to make her choice or her wants become the important thing to buy. This situation
also makes Rebecca become someone who does shopping just to release her desire, not the necessity. Third, she is described as a self-seeking. Rebecca is a
person who will do anything to get something that she wants. Her big desire on shopping makes her become self-seeker. She will not care to anything except on
herself. Furthermore, to comprehend Rebecca’s CBD as an effect of social
surroundings, society of the novel becomes the second problem formulation. In the society of the novel, there are three points that can be drawn from the novel.
First, places in the novel. London is described as a place where has high-standard of lifestyle. Rebecca lives in Fulham road which is famous as a place for women
who have glamorous live. Living in a place that is surrounded with a certain atmosphere will make someone become similar with the surrounding. It is the
reason why Rebecca cannot control her desire to do shopping until some financial problems comes in her life.
Second, Rebecca’s relation is related to her society. Rebecca has a best friend named Suze who has the same hobby to do shopping. Suze has a glamorous
life because she comes from high-class family. Rebecca’s relation to the PR girls also influences her desire to do shopping. Those girls usually wear beautiful outfit
with high-standard of quality. Rebecca feels that she has to be more than those girls. Her relation makes her desire to have high-standard of lifestyle is bigger.
Third, family. Rebecca’s mom has a similar problem with Rebecca. Her mom cannot control to buy something that she wants. Even though her mom is not as
shopaholic as Rebecca, it can be the influences of Rebecca’s problem. Regarding the characteristic of Rebecca Bloomwood and the description of
social surroundings that is explained above, the writer aims to answer the last question of the problem formulation. The last question is about how the social
surroundings influences the Compulsive Buying Disorder CBD. According to the theory of CBD by Rosenberg and Feder, the writer already figured out five out
of six characteristics of CBD sufferer which are matched. Those are Salience, Tolerance, Withdrawal Symptoms, Conflict, and Relapse.
The first characteristics of CBD that is Salience can be identified in Rebecca’s reaction to her old friends. She never thinks about others because the
behavior that Rebecca’s has, it tends to dominate her feeling. Rebecca has shown the characteristic of Salience because her shopping hobby becomes the most
important thing for her and also tends to dominate the way of her thinking, feelings and behavior.
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