Background of the Study

In this study, the writer intends to analyze the main character by comparing three short stories. Pickering states that without character, there would be no plot and no story 19. Character is very important to develop the story and help the readers understand the story. Understanding the characteristics of the main characters can be the guidance in analyzing the problems discussed in this study. The writer is interested in discussing about the influence of the absence of love towards the main characters’ behavior, because the writer finds that love is one thing that is close to human life. Love is one of many needs that human have. This study, hence, discusses the influence of love to the human psychology, especially to human behavior. Love can make one do anything to obtain it. When we lose our love, our life will change, because love gives big impacts in human life. The three short stories discussed are The Darling by Anton Chekhov, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D. H. Lawrence. Those three short stories are selected based on the consideration that they portray different influences of the absence of love in the main characters’ behavior. Besides, those three short stories are very interesting, especially for the writer. The writer is interested in exploring more about the main characters. It is known that one’s characteristics can be developed and changed depends on what one experiences in life. The first short story, The Darling by Anton Chekhov, tells about Olenka, the daughter of a collegiate assessor who has retired. She marries to Kukin, the manager of the amusement park. But Kukin dies while in Moscow on a business trip. Olenka goes into deep mourning, but within a few months she marries Pustovalov, a manager of the timber merchant. After Pustovalov passed away, Olenka begins an affair with Smirnin, an army veterinary surgeon who is separated from his wife. The second short story, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, tells about an account of the life and death of Miss Emily Grierson. Miss Emily’s house has been closed to the public for ten years. At the time of her death, many people come to pay their respects and see the house. In 1894, Colonel Sartoris, the mayor, established that Miss Emily would not pay any taxes since her father had loaned some money to the city. The death of the two people very close to her, her father and her fiancé, contributes to the specification of Miss Emily’s character. The third short story, The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D. H. Lawrence, tells about Mabel whose parents died and then lives with her brothers. Mabel is a silent, impassive, and very indifferent girl. She is a girl who lacks of love. Her brothers do not care about her; they even call her “bulldog”. One day, she tries to commit suicide by drowning herself in a pond. That is the time when she believes that there is someone who loves her because a man has saved her. That man is a young doctor named Jack Fergusson. The writer chooses to discuss The Darling, A Rose for Emily, and The Horse Dealer’s Daughter because the writer argues that the three short stories have similarity in having the theme of the impacts of the absence of love towards the main characters’ behavior. The other reason is because the psychological influences of the absence of love in each main character’s behavior are different. Based on the fact above, the writer analyzes the three short stories by discussing about the behavior of the main characters after they experience the absence of love in their life.

B. Problem Limitation

In this study, the writer focuses the study in analyzing the psychological influence on the characters’ behavior because of the absence of love by comparing three short stories. They are The Darling by Anton Chekhov, A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, and The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D. H. Lawrence. The writer limits the study by only analyzing the main characters of those three short stories.

C. Problem Formulation

The problems that are formulated can be listed as followed: 1. How are Olenka in The Darling, Emily in A Rose for Emily, and Mabel in The Horse Dealer’s Daughter, as the main characters, described? 2. How does the absence of love influence the main characters’ behavior in each short story?

D. Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to analyze the characterization of Olenka in The Darling, Emily in A Rose for Emily, and Mabel in The Horse Dealer’s Daughter as the main characters. Besides, this study also has the aim to find out the influence of the absence of love on the main characters’ behavior of those three short stories.

E. Benefits of the Study

This study is expected to give benefits for the writers who conduct a literary study, the readers, and the students of the English Education Study Program. For the writers who conduct a literary study, this study can make some additions and corrections to the relevant understanding and interpretation. For the readers, this study is expected to enrich readers’ mind and point of view about the problem arisen in the three short stories, so they will get the better understanding about the three short stories. For the students of English Education Study Program, this study may give inspiration to analyze the three short stories from another point of view. Finally, this study is expected to contribute some thought or ideas to the English Education Study Program Department as the resource of language teaching.

F. Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding about certain terms in this study, the writer states four terms to be clarified. They are: 1. Psychological Influence Drever defines the term “influence” as follows, “any past or present condition, experienced as or actually playing a part in determining one’s behavior, or