which has the biggest followers in India is Hinduism. Since Hinduism has the biggest followers, Hinduism gives the biggest influence to the law, the culture and the
tradition, and also to the people thinking. One of Hinduism doctrines which has influenced people thinking is karma.
Karma is “deeds” or “actions” in the sense of the consequences of human acts. Karma is useful in identifying people actions which deserve of moral merit and
those which do not 1992: 677. People who do good deeds will get good karma or reward from their actions and people who do bad things will get bad karma or
punishment. Poor Indian believes that what they get and face in the present is part of their karma. This is interesting because in every action people commonly think about
karma. After reading the City of Joy, readers can realize that karma also influences Hindu people’s struggle for survival in Calcutta.
Therefore, the influence of karma on the struggle for survival of poor people will be chosen to be the topic of the study. This topic is worth discussing since these
poor Hindu people have to struggle for survival while continuously thinking of a way to get a better karma despite that the latter case, in reality, require a lot of sacrifice.
For those people, their belief in the law of karma always remains them to be careful with their act. No matter how hard their life, they try to avoid bad deeds which result
bad karma.
1.2. Objectives of the Study
This study aims to figure out how karma influences the poor people especially Hindus in Anand Nagar. The writer also wants to show the real condition
of those poor people and to show the way they struggle for survival.
1.3 Problem Formulation
1.What is the socio-cultural background of India during 1960s - 1970s as seen in The City of Joy?
2. How does karma influence the struggle for survival of poor people as seen in The City of Joy?
1.4 Benefit of the Study
People usually complain about their misfortune because of many reasons. For example, some people think that they do not have enough money to buy things
such as clothes, shoes, cosmetics, etc. They think that their houses are not as big as their neighbors or their cars are not as expensive as their friends. Most people do not
realize that they are lucky enough because they have permanent houses, they can eat three times a day, and they wear clean clothes. Hence, by studying The City of Joy
novel, it is hoped that the readers will realize that there are many people who live in poverty. Those people do not give up although they face so many difficulties in their
life. By reading this paper, it is expected that the story of those people inspires readers not to give up while facing problems. It is better to fight and struggle than
give up and do nothing.
1.5. Definition of Terms
There are two important terms used in the study that the writer would like to clarify in this part. The first is Karma and the second is Struggle for survival.
1.
Karma
Lemaitre 1959: 73 explains that the idea of karma is the fundamental doctrine of Hinduism which follows the principle of causality that influences
human destiny. In a practical and moral sense, karma is the consequences
from the actions. If the action is right, it will bring a good karma, but if the action is wrong it will bring a bad karma. If someone has made a good karma
in hisher past life, heshe will earn reward in the next life. 2.
Struggle for Survival
The term struggle is defined as “to try very hard to do or to achieve something that is difficult” Hornby, 1995: 1186. In this study, the term
struggle for survival is defined as the situation where people fight to keep alive. They try to solve the problem and try to leave the poverty. They are
the poorest of the poor who work very hard so that they can get something to eat and shelter to stay.
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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
