Maria wondered what the connection was between the blood on her legs and her becoming a young woman, but her mother wasn’t able to give her
a satisfactory explanation: She just said that it was normal, and that, from now on, for four or five days a month, she would have to wear something
like a doll’s pillow between her legs Coelho 4.
In her past life, Maria cannot find the Prince of her life. Every time she has a relationship with boy, it always ends in the wrong way and leads to
disappointment. She needs someone to be able to share life together. However, she feels like nobody wants to do that with her. It can be seen from her writing in
her diary that she wants love but it seems that love is just a dream. Although my aim is to understand love, and although I suffer to think of
the people to whom I gave my heart, I see that those who touched my heart failed to arouse my body, and that those who aroused my body failed to
touch my heart Coelho 16.
Living in Switzerland, she meets a librarian who she thinks she can talk to. She realizes that the woman is as lonely as she is.
Maria became a regular visitor to the library, where she would chat to the woman, who seemed as lonely as she was, ask her to suggest more books
and discuss life and authors-until her money had nearly run out Coelho 50.
In doing her job as a prostitute, Maria is not only working with the body. She also does any consultation with her clients to make them feel better in their
own life. One night she meets an executive who feels lonely. She does not trust the man who is success in his life and still thinking that he is the loneliest person
in the world. She realizes about the fact that she is a lonely person actually. “No, that man wasn’t the loneliest person in the world. Maria knew the loneliest person
on the face of this earth: herself “ Coelho 81.
In conclusion, it is clear that Maria is a beautiful, smart, brave, honest and lonely woman. She can attract men easily by her beautiful looks without being
35 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
used by them. She is smart in dealing with all the problems in her life. She is brave enough to take chances that pass her life. She is an honest girl in conveying
everything that makes her uncomfortable. She is a lonely woman who never has real friends and fells nobody beside her since her experience in having any
relationships is always ended in a wrong way. In her character, it is obvious that basically, she is a woman who really wants to change her life into better.
B. Maria’s Struggle for a Better Life
As we know that people always have problem in their own life. In this case, Maria has many problems and obstacles to achieve her dream. Thus, she
always has motivation behind the dream. Worcher and Shebilske 417 say that motivation is arousal or energy that directs behavior. However, sometimes
problem can cause depression or stresses. Therefore, we need to find a good way to deal with it. The novel describes Maria’s struggle for a better life. She has to
face many things in order to survive. In her struggle, she experiences many things that change her into a different person, whether it is a good or a bad person.
1. Causes of Maria’s Struggle for a Better Life
Maria is an innocent girl who becomes a high-class prostitute. In her journey to a better life she has to face problems. Usually, people try to cope with
stress and anxiety since they know how to implement strategies in dealing with the problems Bernard 64. Therefore, Maria knows and has to deal with every
problem she has. Moreover, her motivation to have a better life makes Maria keeps her effort and the goal to avoid loosing her way to achieve the target of life.
According to Smith 282, motivation is an internal process that influences the direction, persistence, and vigor of goal directed behavior. That is why Maria
36 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
wants to survive especially when dealing with her social condition and her traveling desire.
The following are the causes of Maria’s struggle:
a. Social Condition
Maria, the major character in the novel, comes from a low class family whose father is a traveling salesman and her mother is a seamstress. She lives in
the backlands of Brazil where people can find poverty everywhere. Based on Maslow’s theory qtd. In Schultz 62, the first important needs are the
physiological needs where we have to deal with food, air, water, sleep and the drives for sex and activity. Therefore, Maria’s parents have to work hard to fulfill
their daily needs. Realizing about her family condition, little Maria has a dream of having a great family, a nice house and a rich husband who can help her escape
from poverty. Like all prostitutes, she was born both innocent and a virgin, and, as an
adolescent, she dreamed of meeting the man of her life rich, handsome, intelligent, of getting married in a wedding dress, having two children
who would grow up to be famous and living in a lovely house with a sea view Coelho 1.
Maria is the only daughter in the family. Since her father is a traveling salesman who is hardly at home and her mother is a busy seamstress, Maria grows
in loneliness. She has nobody to talk to at home. According to Maslow’s theory qtd in Schultz 63, people need love and belongingness from others. In this case,
Maria has lack of love from their parents because they are busy by themselves and never tell everything about life to her. However, Maria always needs answers for
every question of life which unfortunately her parents cannot make a proper 37
