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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The word white trash has been widely spread throughout the United States. Some people might have already known what it is, when they use it and why they
use it but some still consider it as a taboo. They might have heard about it but with different terms. According to Wray in White Trash: Race and Class in America,
the term white trash is invented around 1820s and arises around Baltimore, Maryland. For people who lives in The States in about 1830s, they obviously know
about this term used by the group of whites against the white people as well. The rich whites refer to the poor whites living in rural area as white trash.
They do not use that derogatory term of white trash only but also redneck for rural poor whites of the Southern United States.
“Many of these accounts became popular with the American public, and family clans
like “The Jukes” and “The Kallikaks” became widely known, entering the public imagination as poor,
dirty, drunken, criminal minded and sexually preserved people” Wray,1996:2.
Another term used is cracker which is for the poor lived in Georgia and Florida and trailer trash for poor people living in trailer parks in North America. According to
the history of white trash written by Matt Wray, the term white trash is not invented by the whites but by African Americans who were enslaved and freed. It keeps
being used by the middle class and high class whites against the low class whites in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
white society. Low class whites are given such names because they have low income, low education and the stereotypes of their behavior.
The effects of the term white trash to them are physiologically and physically disturbing. People always try to get rid of them because they are
stereotyped as dangerous, hazardous and corrupt. Matt Wray says “some white
people are now identified as “white trash” to signal rebelliousness and cultural
difference —their refusal of a bland, mainstream white society that oppresses and
stifles ” www.thesocietypages.org. Other than that, white trash itself brings the
sense of exoticness, sexually disruptive behavior and immoral which is assumed as negative.
Relating to this story, the object analyzed is a little girl, named Bone. She comes from a family who is stereotyped as white trash in her society. She is born
when her father leaves her sixteen year old mother. Being raised without the figure of a father becomes one of the reasons why white trash family have a negative
stereotype. It also becomes a matter for Bone’s development because the figure of
both parents is very important for a child’s development. During a child’s
development, there are many phases that she has to go through. Every phases of a child towards the maturity is very important and takes some years to be completed.
It requires a lot of attention from both parents until the child reaches the optimum of her development. The attention needed does not only take a year or two but from
the very first time a baby comes to the world until they are ready to be separated from her parents. Even the first year of a child is the crucial year that takes the
whole attention of the care taker. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The successful of passing every phases determines the future of the child. Each of it has its own primary concern. In this study, it focuses more on the
development of a child in constructing her sexual identity. Therefore, the concern is more on the sexual necessity. It starts with her needs when she is a baby, toddler,
teenager until the identity is constructed. In completing every phases, a child cannot do it by herself. She needs the help from the primary care taker or the closest person
she is relationship with. Therefore the existence and the help from both parents mother and father influences a lot in constructing children’s identity. A child needs
a help to identify herself and her surroundings. In the condition when one of the requirements of development is missing, there has to be an abnormal development
happens. The failure itself affects the psychology of a child that determines her future.
Relating to this story, the abnormal development has to occur in Bone’s
sexual development. The problems caused by the absence of one of the parents give a lot of impacts in structuring
Bone’s identity. In this story, Dorothy Allison does not really emphasize how the white trash men live. It is because white trash men
are known for their wildness and rebelliousness so they still could fight for what they are supposed to get. It contrasts to white trash women
’s life. They never have a chance to do it. Therefore, the identity of the white trash women in the novel is
constructed differently. Morris says that the idea of identity is “the collective aspect
of the set of characteristics by which a person or things is recognized or known” 1980:350. The common characteristics must be different between each person and
usually in one group they share some similarity of characteristics. In the process of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
getting their real identity, a person can ameliorate her own image in herself or making her own images. However it still depends on the experience of sexuality
that someone goes through. In the story, the white trash children are indicated as the victims, especially
Bone. It is called victims because almost all of the white trash children do not have one of their parents. They have to struggle more to determine their sexual identity.
Bone is a daughter who does not have biological father and has an abusive step father. Her mother Anne loves her but she is busy of making a good life for her.
Thus, she does not get a chance to have a good parenting from both of her parents. The reason of doing a research in this book is because it provides the
complexity of identity construction. It tells about the intricacy life since Bone is still a baby until she finds out her identity. In order to reveal the problem, the writer
is challenged to see the gaps throughout her childhood experience until adulthood. However this reason is supported with the review stated:
one, the author knows the craft of storytelling; two, the book is brutally honest about a frequently noted ailment in our society, sexual abuse; three,
the protagonist deals with the common problem of coming of age in an uninhabitable family environment; four, the language and ideas suggest that
young adolescents possess sophisticated reasoning tools; and five, the book is complex and thoroughly engaging Glenn: 1996.
The quotation above presents that the book clearly pictures the white trash life and their problems happened at that time. It is told with simple language and
easy to understand. This book also shows various problems of a daughter throughout her life to find out sexual identity. It delivers to the public that aspects
such as economic structures, terms adopted, sex’s matters and family lineage are
some of the factors that disempower Bone. Other than that, this novel has strong main character who fights for her identity. Therefore, this book is very challenging
for a research about identity. This study discusses the process of having a sexual identity in a fatherless
daughter. The method of this study is firstly to observe Bone’s characteristics. And
then it is related to one of the literature theories called psychoanalytic theory. After that, the application of the theory of female sexuality is done when she experiences
a failure in one of her sexual development stages. Psychoanalysis offers an analysis of unconscious, preconscious and conscious of someone in developing her identity.
It also observes the existence of repression and disorderliness in children’s
biological sexual development. Specifically, the theory used in psychoanalysis is psychosexual
development. The reason is because “it covers the development of the first instinct
theories, which drew attention to the biol ogical sexual development of the child”
Thompson, 2003: 4. It gives a complete theory or explanation on how to analyze a child’s development biologically that influences the psychology. The background
of doing this study is because Simone de Beauvoir says that “one is not born as a
woman but one becomes one” Madsen, 2000: 94. Actually both women and men
are born to be a human in the same position. They do not have any distinction yet when the first time they come to the world. What changes them psychologically and
biologically is the experience with other human throughout their life. This study proves that the sexual identity of someone can be changed and reconstructed
throughout her life. The experiences and phases of someone have big influence for structuring her identity. Psychoanalytic criticism sees how this process could
happen in someone. Thus, it shows that this approach is appropriate for this kind of avant-
garde story, its problem and the development of the character’s libidinal.
The approach of psychoanalytic realizes on the analysis of a psychological of the character in a literary work. According to www.merriam-webster.com
psychology is the science or study of the mind and behavior. It deals with the study of observable patterns of human’s behavior while literature exhibits how human
beings behave in dealing with their problems and environment. So there is a close relationship between both of them. The approach used is to critics view works
through the lens of psychology. It looks either at the psychological motivations of Bone or Dorothy Allison as the author. Based on journal of literary criticism: an
overview of approaches, there are advantages of disadvantages of applying psychoanalytic approach to a literary work. The advantage is it is a useful tool for
understanding some works, in which characters manifest clear psychological issues. Like the biographical approach, knowing something about a writer’s psychological
makeup can give us insight into his work. On the other hand, the disadvantage is Psychological criticism can turn a work into little more than a psychological case
study, neglecting to view it as a piece of art. Critics sometimes attempt to diagnose long dead authors based on their works, which is perhaps not the best evidence of
their psychology. Critics tend to see sex in everything, exaggerating this aspect of literature.
B. Problem formulation
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