41 After that moment, Eliot realizes that not all the people in the country have
the same fortune as he is. His sympathy just concerns with the condition of all the people in the Rosewater Country.
“I think it’s terrible the way people don’t share things in this country. I think it’s a heartless government that will let one baby be born owning a
big piece of the country, the way I was born, and let another baby be born without owning anything. The least a government could do, it seems to
me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. Life is hard enough, without people having to worry
themselves sick about money, too. There’s a plenty for everybody in this country, if we’ll only share more.”
“And just what do you think that would do to incentive?” “You mean fright about not getting enough to eat, about not being able to
pay the doctor, about not being able to give your family nice clothes, a safe, cheerful, comfortable place to live, a decent education, and a few
good times.” Vonnegut, 1965: 104. From the conversation above, the researcher can conclude that Eliot feels
sympathy with the way that the government do not equally divide up the people’s
wealth, and the way that the rich people do not share with each others because if government divide up equally and people sharing to each other whom in less
fortune, they would not worry about not having money. For example, they would not to worry about not being able to pay the doctor bill, not being able to get
enough to eat, pay the education, and so on. Some people have more than enough, while the others have less than
enough. Eliot thinks that there is so much that can be shared with everybody in the Rosewater Country. Therefore, with Eliot has a big fortune owning a bigger sum
of money than anyone else, is going to give a little more to the people of Rosewater, who are in need, such as money, so that it would give them hope and
not to worry anymore about not being able to pay the doctor bill, not being able to get enough to eat, to pay the education, and so on. It is accordance with the first
42 principle of humanity provides by Vanier, in which that human beings must be
help each other when going through a hard time.
3. Money is Not the Only Thing We Need
In the novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine the main character Eliot besides as sympathetic person, he is also attentive, by being a
good listener. The way Eliot donates money to charitable organizations is not good enough for him anymore. He takes his kindness to the streets and helps less
fortunate individuals with their everyday problems. In other words, Eliots kindness takes more private, personal, and intimate character than the very public
and an impersonal act of donating sums of money to various causes. The reason that Eliot intends to make more private and personal is because
by that way it makes him understand what their problems are and what their worries are. It is seen when Eliot receives a call in his office from an old virgin
woman that by almost anybody’s standards, it is too dumb to live. She is frightened about the thunderclap that is surely about to kill her. Also, her kidneys
hurt her all the time. Then, Eliot suggests her to go to see a doctor, but she is not satisfied with the doctor’s service. She feels that Eliot is the only doctor for her
because Eliot has cured more hopeless diseases than all doctors in Indiana put together Vonnegut, 1965: 74.
It is revealed that by listening tirelessly to people’s problems, it feels that
those people are being loved, cared, and understood. Besides money, the thing
thats the less fortune people mostly need is an understanding and sympathetic ear.
43 The message from the explanation above is that sharing with those people
who are in less fortune is not enough. They also need to be loved, cared, and understood. There is no point of sharing them some of our money if we do not
understand or care about them. Instead of helping solely because we want to look good in the eyes of others that we are a kind person, we should give them love and
understanding because by giving them some understanding and love, at least it gives
them a
hope to
go on
living without
worry anything.
44
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This study presents an analysis of the messages that are revealed through Eliot’s view on humanity, the major character of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater,
or Pealrs Before Swine . There are two research questions used in this study to
help the researcher to discover the messagea , namely “How is Eliot’s character
characterized based on his views on humanity?” and “What messages are revealed through Eliot’s view on humanity?”. After analyzing the problem formulation,
there are two conclusions to be drawn in this chapter. The first conclusion is the character and characterization of Eliot Rosewater and the second conclusion is the
messagea that are revealed through Eliot’s view on humanity.
Based on the previous chapter, Eliot Rosewater is portrayed as a sympathetic person since in the past event he had accidently killed three unarmed
firemen. After that incident, Eliot seems to be feeling guilty by killing those unarmed firemen. By his own guilty feeling, he decides to love and care all the
people of Rosewater. Eliot’s sympathetic also shows when he is attentive. Eliot’s attentive portrayed as a good listener that is shown by the way he listens tirelessly
about the people’s problems. He takes more private and personal than the very public and impersonal act. Eliot thinks that with the way he takes on more private
and personal act, he can understand about their everyday problems and at least give them a little hope by understanding their problems. Besides, Eliot is also an
indiscriminate person. He always helps the people of Rosewater without
