Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of six parts. The first part presents the background of the study. The second part consists of the problem formulations. The third part is the problem limitation. The fourth part explains the objectives of the study. The fifth part describes the benefits of the study. Finally, the last part defines the terms which might help the readers to understand this study better.

A. Background of the Study

Murphy 127 says that a novel is a kind of literary work text that is most widely read in the world today. According to Kennedy and Gioia 1947, literature reflects life. The story in the novel is reflection of a real life. Readers are able to learn many things through a novel. Through reading a novel, the readers are able to develop their knowledge and they are able to learn many things through the characters from the novel. The novel One Child is a literary work that reflects a real life. In this study, the writer uses a novel based on a true story written by Torey Hayden. Torey Hayden was a teacher in a class for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children. The novel was written based on her experience teaching disturbed and disadvantaged children. In this school there was a “garbage class”. It was the one class in that school for the physically handicapped, the behaviorally disordered, 2 the learning disabled and the defied classification of children. Here, Torey Hayden taught a six-year-old girl, Sheila. A novel is a reflection of real life, the novel One Child is a true story that presents experience of the author. Torey Hayden wrote a story of her student, Sheila, in emotionally and behaviorally disturbed class. Sheila’s life was bitter. She lived in a migrant camp. She did not only suffer from malnutrition because of living under the poverty line, but also grow up without love. Her mother left her in a street. Sheila’s father never admitted Sheila was his daughter. Sheila’s father called her a crazy girl. Sheila had often been spanked. She also experienced sexual abuse. Sheila grew up in depth sorrow. Sheila’s family condition was not really comfortable for her to grow up. Sheila often committed crimes. Sheila even kidnapped her neighbor’s child. She tied him to a tree in a nearby woodlot then burned him. Sheila also had set fires in the migrant camp and smeared feces in the restroom of a bus station. Sheila often expressed her anger by committing acts of terror, screaming, or damaging something. The government in that country could not put Sheila in jail because she was too young. Because of this Sheila would be educated at the emotionally and behaviorally disturbed class until the children’s unit of the state hospital was opened. As a teacher, Torey observed that Sheila was in good control of her behavior, more than most of the children in the “garbage class”. Sheila did not suffer from any crippling, neurological illness, brain damage, or autism. Sheila’s eyes were full of hostility. According to Torey, Sheila was an intelligent little girl. 3 The psychiatrist of the country stated that Sheila suffered from Chronic Maladjustment to Childhood. The only normal reaction to a childhood like Sheila’s would be Chronic Maladjustment. Sheila’s bad behavior was a testimony of adjustment to cruel life. Sheila had dealt with the police. Sheila also dropped out from school three times. Sheila’s behavior resulted in consequences such as punishment from her father. No school received her and no teacher wanted to cooperate with her. As a result, she had to go to the disadvantaged and disturbed school until the unit for mischievous children in the state hospital had been opened. Sheila was not going to be an easy child to love and to teach. Sheila’s psychological test results were obscure. This novel is interesting to be read because it represents a little girl named Sheila that was a “normal” child of uncontrolled behavior. Sheila was the “normal” child among children in her class. Her abilities were better than the average children in her age. Sheila did math and reading well. Sheila was just a little girl who learnt that life really was not fun for anybody. The best way to avoid further rejection was to make her as objectionable as possible. This reason makes the writer interested in reading and analyzing the novel from the psychological perspective because it is concerned with Sheila’s behavior which is harmful and destructive. The novel One Child informs the readers about a real situation which may happen to children. The novel tells the reader about Sheila’s naughtiness. The 4 novel is able to inform the reader about a child who was raised without love that grew up as a destructive girl. The novel One Child gives knowledge to the reader about a child’s behavior. Hopefully, this study is able to inform the readers in general to know and understand deeply about a child’s behavior that may harm others. Ormond says 89 “Teachers are in excellent position to assess how students think about and behave in social situations and to help them interact more effectively with other.” Through reading this novel, the educators and the teacher candidates of the English Language Education Study Program hopefully are able to help children to manage, monitor and develop their behavior when interacting with each other or in society. In this study, the writer would like to analyze Sheila’s character as it is implied in the novel One Child. The writer is also interested to analyze Sheila’s aggression. Lastly, the writer would like to analyze the factors influencing Sheila aggressive behavior and the impacts of her aggression.

B. Problem Formulations