Skeeter Phelan’s Intention in Writing a Book

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter consists of three parts; conclusions, implications, and recommendations. The first part is concluding the whole analysis of the study. The second part is the implication of this study to education matters. In the third part, the writer gives suggestions for the future researchers and English teachers to use this study in teaching activity.

A. Conclusions

From the analysis of Skeeter‘s characteristics, the writer concludes that Skeeter is an egalitarian, hard worker, brave and determined woman. She is an egalitarian because she believes that African American deserves equal rights. When she sees injustice towards African Americans around her, she wants to do something because she cares about those people. She decides to help the African American maids to get a better life by writing a book where they can speak the truth so that there will be more people who realize not only the good side but also bad side from the maids‘ point of view. Skeeter is a hard-worker since she was just a student in college. She reads and writes a lot. She is able to manage herself to work with tight deadline and a lot of requirements from her publisher. She is also brave because even though she knows what she writes is highly risky and dangerous, she believes it will matter and for that reason she is willing to take the 46 risk. She is not affected by her best friend‘s threat that she will be casted away from the Junior League if she disagrees with them about discriminating African Americans. She is determined for the reason that she does not stop writing even though she meets a lot of obstacles along the way. She is also determined in pursuing her career to be a writer and she hopes this book will be her ticket to a brighter future. Based on the socio- historical analysis of Skeeter‘s life, her decision in writing the book is because she sees a lot of unfair treatment from the white people around her towards African American in her society. Writing a book is her act to help the African Americans to facilitate them in speaking the truth about their experiences in working for white families. From the analysis of Skeeter‘s intentions based on Hancher 1972 theory of author‘s intention, Skeeter‘s programmatic intention is to make her relieved of her sorrow of losing Constantine and to express her love to Constantine by helping other African American maids . Skeeter‘s active intention is to help the African American maids to have a better life by speaking the truth through her book. The final intention of Skeeter is to pursue a better career with the hope that after the book is published, it will also change Jackson into a better place.

B. Implications

Novel as one of literary works is a good media to be used in teaching language. In the novel, the story contains a lot of language features and moral value. Teachers should guide the students to choose certain kind of stories which 47 is related to good moral values. Skeeter in The Help is a good character example. Besides learning the language features of the novel, the students can be taught about humanity and good personality. From Skeeter character, teachers could explain that it is important to respect others without discriminating, even though the students have different sex, physical appearance, age, race, and religion. Learning literature could also broaden students‘ knowledge in history. The students will be guided to draw conclusion based on what they read.

C. Recommendations

The writer divides this part into two sections. In the first part the writer gives general recommendation for the future researchers and the second part is the specific recommendation for English teachers.

1. Future Researchers

The writer recommends the future researcher to study other main characters. The Help by Kathryn Stockett is written in multiple narrator points of view. There are three main characters; Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny. The writer also gives suggestion to conduct study about the author of The Help novel. Skeeter as the main character and Stockett as the author of the novel have some similar facts regarding the social and historical background. Thus, the writer suggests that the future researchers will conduct study of Kathryn Stockett‘s life experience and intention in writing The Help using biographical approach. 48

2. English Teachers

The writer suggests the teachers to use The Help novel as teaching material in Prose class. Teachers can explain the good character of Skeeter Phelan to teach students about humanity, justice, and to respect diversity. From Skeeter character, the students will understand that it is important to respect other people; that race and class differences should not separate people. It is also important to make a move when they see unfair treatment around them. In Indonesian schools, there are a lot of races and some of them have different physical appearance. Students must be taught the beauty of the racial diversity instead of mocking their friends because they think the minorities are different. The Help is a good reference because it contains a lot of themes and moral values that is related to the daily life. The writer gives the example of lesson plan on appendix C and the worksheet in appendix D. 49 REFERENCES Abrams, M. H. 1985. A glossary of literary terms 6 th ed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Aguirre, Jr., A., Turner, J. H. 2011. American ethnicity: The dynamics and consequences of discrimination 7 th ed.. New York: Mc-Graw Hill. Arneson, R. 2013. Egalitarianism. In Edward N. Z. Ed.. The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy Summer 2013 edition. Stanford University. Retrieved on November 27, 2014, from http:plato.stanford.eduarchivessum2013entriesegalitarianism Armstrong, T. E. 2012. The hidden help: Black domestic workers in the civil rights movement . Unpublished masters thesis. University of Louisville. Retrieved on October 28, 2014 from http:digital.library.louisville.eduutilsgetfilecollectionetdid2543filena me5340.pdf Gill, R. 1995. Mastering English literature 2 nd ed.. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. Goodman, L. Ed. 1996. Approaching literature: Literature and gender. London: Routledge. Hancher, M. 1972. Three kinds of intention. MLN: Comparative literature. 87:7 , 827-851. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved on November 24, 2013 from http:www.jstor.orgdiscover10.23072907788?sid=21105688631053ui d=4uid=3738224uid=2 Irvin, S. 2006. Authors, intentions and literary meaning. Philosophy compass, 1: 2 , 114-128. Retrieved on November 24, 2011 from http:www.ou.eduouphilfacultyirvinIntention.pdf Joseph, T. D. 2004. Black women in the civil rights movement: 1960-1970. Unpublished thesis. Brown University. Retrieved on October 28, 2014 from cds.library.brown.eduprojectsFreedomNowtiffany_joseph_thesis.html Longman Dictionary of Language and Culture. 1992. Essex: Longman Group.