B. Problem Formulation
In order to analyze the orientation of happiness in Liz Gilbert‘s novel, here are
the research questions:
1. How are the symbols eating, prayer, and love in Eat Pray Love
presented? 2.
How do the symbols of eating, prayer, and love reflect happiness?
C. Objectives of the Study
This research aims to find the relation between the symbols in the novel with the happiness which is contained in the symbols. The purpose of this research is to
explain and give answers of the two problem formulation that are stated above. The first objective is to reveal the symbols eating, prayer, and love in this novel.
The researcher can find how the symbols eating, prayer, and love presented through the action; eat, pray, and love in this novel which holds more meaning.
The second objective is to find how the symbols eating, prayer, and love reflect happiness. The researcher analyses the symbols showing happiness.
D. Definition of Terms
This part contains some definitions of key terms related to this study. They are the explanations of some terms to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms and to
make this study more understandable. The first term used in this research is happiness. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines happiness as a state
of well being or contentment, a pleasurable or satisfying experience. The philosophers often define happiness in terms of living a good life. Happiness has
also been defined as a state of well-being, characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy http:www.islamreligion.com.
The second term is symbol. Symbol, in the broadest use of the term, is anything which signifies something else; in this sense, all words are symbols. As
commonly used in criticism, however, symbol is applied only to a word or phrase signifying an object which itself has significance; that is, the object
referred to have a range of meaning beyond itself. Some symbols are conventional, or public; thus the Cross, the Red, White, and Blue, the
Good Shepherd are terms which signify objects of which the symbolic meanings are widely known Rinehart, 1957: 18.
The third term discusses the definition of eating, prayer, love. The definition of eating
while reading Purge: Rehab Diaries by Nicole Johns, about the author‘s
experiences in an eating disorder center. It came across the following definition of normal eating. It was created b
y Ellyn Satter , an expert on eating and feeding.
Satter writes: Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so
you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat
sometimes because you are happy, sad or bored, or just because it feels good. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some
again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful
http:psychcentral.com.
In short, the eating definition is related with pleasure in the novel when the main character takes her food, ―…because they taste so wonderful.‖ Like Satter
said. Next is the term prayer. According to
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera:
If prayer is necessary, it should be to strengthen the mind and not to beg for gains. The following prayer of a well-known poet, teaches us how to pray,
Buddhists will regard this as meditation to cultivate the mind: Let me not pray to be sheltered from danger, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg
for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved, but for the patience to win my freedom
http:www.budsas.org.
It emphasizes that prayer gives strength to face all the problems like Gilbert done in this novel.
The last term is love. A more modern philosopher, Michael Boylan, discusses
his idea of love in his book The Good, The True and The Beautiful. He states that love is an action, and the concept leads us to change and grow as human beings.
―Love is a powerful motivator for being good. The affective part of the good will is no poor sister to the rational. It can be an effective guide to good action‖
Chapman, 2011:23.
8
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
A novel by Elizabeth Gilbert Eat Pray Love is a contemporary novel, published in 2006 as the first edition. Eat Pray Love has ever been researched on
feminism approach. It was conducted by Natalia Herawati Sitorus. In her thesis entitled
The Pursuit of Self Identity Using Feminism in The Movie of ―EAT PRAY LOVE‖ by Ryan Murphy. The problems which are analyzed are the
process of Liz Gilbert in finding her self identity and what Liz got after the process. The analysis is based on the feminism theory by Simone De Beauvoir
about sex and identity. Natalia Herawati Sitorus using the qualitative method in her research to find the result of the analysis. It is formed through her travel
around the world in three places, Italy, India and Bali. Therefore, Liz Gilbert in Natalia Herawati‘s thesis is reflected a feminist character by Simone De Beauvoir
http:eprints.binus.ac.id. Another study about this novel was conducted by Mahirana Siti Zenab
entitled Self- Actualization of The Main Character in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray
Love. In her thesis she made psychology analysis especially on needs theory by Abraham Maslow which consists of D-needs Deficit needs and B-needs Being
needs or self-actualization. In the novel, the researcher finds the psychological symptoms experienced by Elizabeth in the process of finding her life balance.
That is the process of achieving self-actualization level. The four basic needs D- needs that she has completes are physiological needs, safety needs, belonging
needs, and esteem needs. Those four stages that make Liz can find what actually she
wants, the
balance of
pleasure and
solemnity in
her life
http:digilib.unimus.ac.id. Another thesis that is relevant to this study was written by Senja Pratiwi in
Eat Pray Love 2010 which covers the analysis of semantic features in the translation of negative emotion lexicon by applying the NSM. Realizing the
importance of transferring emotion in translation, her study is focused on the translation of the English emotion lexicon in Eat, Pray, Love into Makan, Doa,
Cinta by applying the natural semantic metalanguage approach NSM proposed by Wierzbicka 1996. The discussion includes the identification of the category
of emotion concepts and the semantic features of the emotion lexicon. This study also discusses the techniques of translation applied by the translator in translating
emotion concepts in Eat, Pray, Love into Makan, Doa, Cinta. The theory of translation techniques used in this study was proposed by Molina and Albir 2002
http:www.pps.unud.ac.id. Compared to those three previous studies, it can be known that the strength of
this study is in terms of the scope of structuralism which covers all explanation of the symbols from the beginning until the end of story that is related with her
struggle in searching for happiness. The structuralism analysis of Eat Pray Love mak
es this research different from Natalia Herawati Sitorus‘ research. By conducting this research, the researcher offers a different view that the novel
entitled Eat Pray Love can be studied by structuralism approach. This analysis focuses on symbols where all the symbols are found during her journey in looking