22 who changes over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing
a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters.the
second is a static character which is someone who does not change over time; his or her personality does not transform or evolve.
In this novel, Dawan is considered as a major character. Dawan always appears in the whole story which means she appears from the beginning of the
story until the end. There are also conversations that are about her eventhough she is not included in those conversations. Dawan is also a dynamic character because
she is the central character and she changes over time as a result of facing a central conflict.
Dawan, a young village girl, wins a scholarship to study in a city school. Her brother, Kwai, places second and is initially jealous. His jealousy causes a
conflict between the two previously-close siblings. This hostility is further exacerbated by Dawans father, who feels that the city is not a place for a girl.
Dawan faces obstacles at every turn, and eventually overcomes these obstacles . She proves to herself and to others that she is fully capable of handling the
scholarship and the responsibility it entails. The conflicts in this novel are mostly about Dawan, the major character. Dawan also changes over time, from a
pessimistic person into an optimistic perso. Therefore, she is the dynamic character in this novel.
23
B. Gender Schemas in
Sing to the Dawn
Novel
To find out gender schemas that can be found in this novel, the writer uses theory by Bem 1981, in Vasta, 1998. In this theory, schemas result principally
from two factors. One is the child‟s inborn tendency to organize and classify information from the environment. This factor is classified as the internal factor.
The other is the culture‟s heavy emphasis on providing gender distinguishing cues
such as clothing, names, and occupations, which make these concepts easily identifiable as cited in Vasta, 1998. This factor is considered as external factor.
The writer finds that there are internal factors and external factors that create
gender schemas. The internal factors come from Dawan‟s herself who thinks that she does not deserve the scholarship because she is a girl. The external
factors come from people around Dawan. They are Dawan‟s father, Dawan‟s mother, Kwai, Noi and Ghan, the
old monk, Dawan‟s grandmother and Bao. The external factors seem to be the strongest affecting factor to create gender schemas.
1. Gender Schema as a Result of External Factor
These external factors that create gender schema come from many parties. As what Bem 1981 states that the culture emphasize on providing gender
distinguishing cues such as clothing, names, and occupations, which make these concepts easily identifiable as cited in Vasta, 1998. The culture is defined as
beliefs that are inherited in the society that makes the people have their own schema towards boys and girls. In this novel, the writer finds that there are gender
schemas that are resulted from characters around Dawan. Those people are Dawan‟s father, Dawan‟s mother, Kwai, Noi, Ghan, the old monk, Dawan‟s
24 grandmother, and Bao.
Dawan‟s father, Dawan‟s mother, Kwai, Noi, Ghan, and the old monk are the characters who oppose Dawan‟s optimism to study in the
city. There are two characters who support Dawan from the beginning until the en
d of the story. They are Dawan‟s grandmother and Bao.
a. Dawan’s Father
Dawan‟s father is the first person who forbids Dawan to go to the City and get a better education. He believes that no girl should learn more while all they
can do is just taking care of home and the children.
Dawan found strength in it and continued haltingly, “I won the prize. I can go to the City and study some more now.” She stole another glance at
her father. “Can‟t I?” Dawan addressed the puddle again, “Please, can I? ...”
“And Kwai? What about Kwai? He won nothing?” Her father‟s voice was rough, and yet tinged with a hard wonder. Dawan sensed the pain in her
father, and dared not look directly into his eyes. “There is only one prize,” she whispered.
There was a long pause, then he spat out, “You took your own
brother‟s chance away from him” p. 28 and 30. From the conversation, it can be concluded that Dawan‟s father gives more
expectation to his son, Kwai, rather than to Dawan. He is very disappointed and angry when he knows that the one who gets the scholarship is Dawan. For him,
Dawan cannot do anything for the family if she gets the scholarship because she is a girl. Dawan‟s father only focuses on Kwai because he certainly knows that his
boy can make him proud. Moreover, he points out that Dawan ta kes Kwai‟s
chance to go to the city. In this case, he regrets his decision to take Dawan to school if he knows that Dawan will get a chance to study more in the city. This
conversation shows that Dawan‟s father does not want her daughter to get better education and the one who should have chance to study more, should be his boy.
25 “ If you‟d won, of course it‟d be different,” the father answered. “You‟re a
boy, and more schooling would have been useful for you.” He paused, then added wi
stfully, “And useful for me too. Why, you could come back and help me to...” p. 55.
This statement goes to Kwai when the whole family of Dawan are eating dinner together. Dawan‟s father shows his disappointment towards the result. For
him, it will be useful if the winner of the scholarship is Kwai, instead of Dawan. Kwai is seen as someone that can bring the change to the family‟s fate. Dawan‟s
father hopes that Kwai can bring a better situation for the whole family if he gets the scholarship and goes to the city. He creates a schema that a boy will always be
useful for the family instead of a girl because a boy is still seen as a superior. If a boy gets a better education, there will be a better life for the family, while a girl
who gets a better education is believed as something useless. “But what right does your sister have? She‟s only a girl,” the peasant
retorted roughly p. 103.
This statement appears right after Dawan‟s father is angry because he finally knows that Kwai places at the second rank and Kwai does not tell him
about that. In addition, he keeps forcing Kwai to take Dawan‟s chance because he thinks he has a power to forbid Dawan to go to the city. He knows that Kwai will
go to the city if Dawan cannot take the scholarship because he places at the second rank. Dawan‟s father still thinks that Dawan has no right to get better
education because a girl should not be smart and will always end up staying at home. For the society, a boy should be given more chance rather than a girl
because he can bring the change and be more useful. Dawan hesitated, then retorted with a defiant, “Well, why not?”
