34 The novel is interesting. There are many beautiful matters dwelling in the
novel. There are many points to learn in the novel, such as friendship, love, struggle, discrimination, and prejudice. Besides, by reading the novel, people will
get knowledge on Afghanistan history. By reading the novel, people are also invited to watch a journey of a country; from a calm and cozy country with its rich
cultural heritage to a country of agony which is like vouching no hope to its people. Shortly, the novel is also scholarly worthwhile.
All the aspects stated previously had encouraged the writer to conduct a study on the novel. The novel has fulfilled Ferster’s two considerations in
choosing a literary work to be studied: the work has to be rich enough to be scholarly analyzed and the work has to be interesting 208-209.
B. Approaches of the Study
Prentice and Miller state that there is a relationship between people and their environment 3. Human beings are shaped by their environment. Grasping
the idea, this study employs Psychological Approach and Sociocultural-Historical Approach. The Psychological Approach would deal with the human beings’
aspects. Meanwhile, the Sociocultural-Historical Approach would deal with the matters influenced the aspects of human beings.
As the paramount aim of this study is to find out the effect of the social, cultural, and historical backgrounds in shaping someone’s personality, in this case
is Assef, as it is seen in the novel; therefore, the two approaches were seen as the most appropriate approaches.
35 Using the two approaches, the writer was required to find some references
about some theories in the discipline of Psychology telling about the personality and aspects influenced it. Besides, the writer also gathered information related to
social, cultural, and historical points within the scope of the study.
C. Method of the Study
This study was library study. This study was done using references from various sources on the fields of Psychology and Social Science. There were two
kinds of sources used in this study: the primary source and the secondary sources. The primary source was a novel titled The Kite Runner written by Khaled
Hosseini. The secondary sources were some books, articles, and journals related to the topic researched and the approaches employed in this study.
The writer borrowed the books and read the journals, and the articles from Sanata Dharma University’s library. In order to get the understanding of the novel
and the author, the writer read a biography of the author, Khaled Hosseini, taken from the internet and the postscript of Khaled Hosseini’s second novel, A
Thousand Splendid Suns. In order to obtain deeper understanding of the topic and scope researched
in this study, the writer browsed some articles from internet. Besides, the writer also read and copied several parts of books from UIN Sunan Kalijaga’s library.
The writer had made several steps in order to conduct this study. First, the writer consulted his lecturer and his friends about the novel to discuss and analyze
in this study. Then, the writer decided the novel that would be discussed and
36 analyzed in this study. Second, the writer read the novel carefully and thoroughly
until he found the understanding of the content of the novel. This step also required the writer to read some books, articles, and journals related to the novel
and the issues lied within. Third, the writer formulated the research question to be answered in this
study. This step required the writer to contemplate and muse on the novel—what the novel was really about. This step craved the writer to have many conversations
with others about the novel and the topics existed in the novel. In this step, the writer made an outline about what to write. Besides, the writer also made a note
on the references which might be used in this study. Fourth, the writer stockpiled information from books, articles, and journals. The writer also asked for
suggestions from his lecturers and friends. This step also obliged the writer to select the most appropriate references for this study.
Fifth, the writer analyzed the sources in order to answer the formulated research question. Sixth, the writer wrote the report. It was about presenting the
result of this study in a written form. The writer also drew a conclusion of this study. Seventh, the writer related this study to the EFL English as a Foreign
Language teaching learning in Indonesia.
37
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
