10 The first one is the behavior and characteristics of other persons. The
importance of one’s position in the society can strongly affect his behavior. For example, an employer will easily influence his servant because hisher position is
considered higher than the servant’s. The second factor is the social cognition one’s thoughts, attitudes and
inferences about other people around him. It is the aspect that affects one’s thoughts, ideas and judgments on other people. If someone has a good judgment
on other people, then heshe may follow or imitate their behavior. The third one is an ecological variable. The term ‘ecological variable’
refers to the social ecological circumstances around an individual such as the condition of the environment, the house, the city, etc. For example, if a person
lives in the place where heshe feels comfortable, heshe will likely have an unchanged behavior. On the other hand, if a person lives in the place where heshe
feels hard to live, then heshe may have certain behavior that leads himher to change the condition to be better.
The fourth aspect is the socio cultural context in which a social behavior occurs. Such factors as cultural norms and regulations will affect one’s behavior.
Societal standards or values shifting can influence one’s behavior. In this novel, the main characters are mostly influenced by cultural norms that they have which
later will affect their relationship. The fifth one is the aspect of one’s biological nature relevant to social
behavior. The last factor is the physical condition of the person himherself. Hisher ability to accept any social information will help himher to change hisher
old behavior and subsequently imitate or adopt another behavior from the society. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
11 Each society has certain cultural life. Culture represents one’s way of
thinking and behaving in a society. People differ from society to society because they have learned different cultures. Therefore, it can be inferred that the influence
of culture toward one’s social behavior is tremendous.
3. Theory of Mother-Children Relationship
Mother-children relationship is the main issue in the novel The Kitchen God’s Wife.
In order to comprehend the relationship described in the novel, this part defines the meaning and the importance of mother-children relationship.
a. The Meaning of Mother-Children Relationship
Allers 1953: 245 affirms that the relationship between mother and child is possibly the most intimate of all forms of association between two people, for
its closeness cannot be compared even with the greatest love between man and woman. He also implies that the unique nature of mother-child relationship is
reflected in the fact that the term “mother- love” is commonly known better than “father- love” which sounds unusual and strange.
Deutsch 1973: 322 explains that a daughter’s identification with her mother is important for her emotional and moral development. A mother will play
a role as the source of identification of her daughter, who later will likely develop her mental and moral according to her perceptive toward her mother.
Mother-children relationship is not always in harmony. Sometimes there may be some misunderstandings and conflicts which may affect the relationship
and create a gap between them. Warga 1983: 248 remarks that every older generation disagrees with the preceding generation’s views with alarm. They seem
12 to forget their own rebellions completely. The gap between mother and children
becomes wider with the fact that the mother is an immigrant. Children of the immigrants are like the first generation born in a new country. They cannot
understand when their parents’ talk about the past because those children have no access to their parents’ past. Therefore, sometimes there are misunderstandings or
conflicts between them.
b. The Importance of Mother-Children Relationship
Interactions between mother and child set the stage s for the development of the attachment bond. This bond seems to be crucial in the development of
healthy and happy relationships at all stages of the life cycle. In fact, according to Sirjamaki 1953: 6, parents attend not only to the physical needs of their children,
but also to the society and culture in which they have their being. In addition, Anshen 1949: 204 states that mother is the first teacher of a child. The child
learns to respond to other persons from hisher mother who is the first person to set the child’s cultural patterns.
Noller and Fitzpatrick 1993: 199 say that the attachment bond between mother and child is formed to maintain proximity between mother and infant. The
maintenance of proximity is a mutual endeavor of both the mother and the child and is sometimes initiated by one and sometimes by the other.
Children’s relationship with others is affected by their understanding of their relationship with their mother. The mother-children relationship can also
affect the mother herself to deal with others. Therefore, the relationship between children and mother is very essential for the sake of both of them.
