The motivation of the main character’s homosexual relationship as seen in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple - USD Repository
THE MOTIVATION OF THE MAIN CHARACTER’S HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP AS SEEN IN ALICE WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
ANYSIA FERDITA WIKANTAYU
Student Number: 014214132
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009
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THE MOTIVATION OF THE MAIN CHARACTER’S
HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP AS SEEN IN
ALICE WALKER’S THE COLOR PURPLE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
ANYSIA FERDITA WIKANTAYU
Student Number: 014214132
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009 ii
iii
Look not mournfully into the past.
It comes not back again.
Wisely improve the present.
It is thine.
Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sing the tune
Without the words
And never stop at all
(Emily Dickinson)
This thesis is dedicated to My Beloved Parents in Heaven My dear sister and her husband My little brother in Heaven
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank God the Almighty because of His greatness I would be able to finish my thesis. I also want to express my gratitude to my advisor Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. because without her guidance I would not be able to finish my thesis.
I thank my beloved father and mother in heaven. I am sure they are watching so I would be able to finish my thesis. I thank my lovely and only sister (Mbak Rien) who always encourages me to finish my thesis and my study. I thank her for taking care of me. I also want to thank my brother in law (Mas Alex) for his patience and for taking care of my sister.
I thank my friends in campus, The Cipika-Cipiki Plus, for their friendship. They give me many things to learn, things that I will never forget. To Ega, for the last moment, I thank her for the support she gave.
I also want to thank my big family, my grandfather, oma, uncles, aunties, cousins who always support me to finish my thesis.
I thank my best friends, Ijok, for the lessons he gave me. Last but not least, my gratitude goes to my very best friend Arba. I thank him for understanding me, giving me support and also his love.
Anysia Ferdita Wikantayu v
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TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE .............................................................................................. i APPROVAL PAGE .................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................ iii MOTTO PAGE ......................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ vii ABSTRAK ................................................................................................... viii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ................. ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 A. Background of the study ............................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation .................................................................... 4 C. . Objectives of the study .................................................................. 4 D. Definition of Terms ....................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ............................................... 7 A. Review of the Related Studies ...................................................... 7 B. Review of the Related Theories .................................................... 9
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ................................. 9
2. Theory of Psychology ............................................................... 11
a. The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse ..................................... 12
b. Theories on Homosexuality .............................................. 17
c. Theories on Human Motivation .......................................... 19 C. Theoretical Framework ................................................................. 21
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 23
A. Object of the Study ...................................................................... 23 B. Approach of the Study .................................................................. 24 C. Method of the Study ...................................................................... 25 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 27 A. The Characteristic of the Celie...................................................... 27 B. The Homosexual Relationship between Celie and Shug Avery .... 36 C. Celie’s motivation of her Homosexual Relationship ................... 43
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION … ................................................................ 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 53 APPENDIX .................................................................................................... 55
ABSTRACT
ANYSIA FERDITA WIKANTAYU (2009). The Motivation of the Main
Character’s Homosexual Relationship as Seen in Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University.Alice Walker’s The Color Purple tells about an African American girl named Celie. Since she was a child, Celie was abused by her father and she also never has a happy life with her husband. Her fear of men led her into a homosexual relationship with a blues singer named Shug Avery. This novel is chosen to be analyzed because the writer is interested in the psychological problem which is the homosexual relationship that is often discussed and found lately in this era. The writer wants to see the motivation of the main character’s homosexual relationship in the novel.
There are three problem proposed in this thesis. They are (1) How is Celie depicted in the novel? (2) How do the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery portray a homosexual relationship? (3) What is Celie’s motivation of her homosexual relationship?
This study applied the library research. This research collected data and information from some research books and internet. The psychological approach is the most appropriate approach to analyze the story related to the motivation of the main character’s homosexual relationship and her childhood experience that influenced it.
In the novel, Celie’s personality is influenced by her life experience. Her fear of man and her childhood trauma makes Celie choose women to love and to be loved. It leads her into a homosexual relationship with a blues singer named Shug Avery. The research finds that the motivation of Celie’s homosexual relationship is the needs of belonging and love. Love and affection is important feeling for Celie. Shug Avery becomes Celie’s motivation to have a good relationship with the one that she loves. vii
ABSTRAK
ANYSIA FERDITA WIKANTAYU (2009). The Motivation of the Main
Character’s Homosexual Relationship as Seen in Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata
Dharma.The Color Purple karangan Alice Walker menceritakan tentang seorang
wanita Afrika Amerika bernama Celie. Sejak kecil dia menjadi korban pelecehan oleh ayahnya dan dia juga tidak pernah hidup bahagia dengan suaminya. Ketakutannya terhadap lelaki mendorongnya untuk mempunyai hubungan homoseksual dengan seorang penyanyi jazz bernama Shug Avery. Novel ini dipilih untuk dianalisa karena penulis tertarik pada masalah sosial tentang hubungan homoseksual yang banyak ditemukan dan dibicarakan oleh banyak orang sekarang ini. Penulis ingin mencari motivasi tokoh utama dalam hubungan homoseksualnya.
Ada tiga permasalahan yang diajukan untuk penelitian ini. Permasalahan tersebut adalah (1) Bagaimana penggambaran Celie dalam novel? (2) Bagaimana hubungan antara Celie dan Shug Avery menggambarkan sebuah hubungan homoseksual? (3) Apa motivasi Celie dalam hubungan homoseksualnya?
Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Penulis mengumpulkan data dari buku dan internet. Pendekatan psikologi adalah pendekatan yang paling sesuai untuk meneliti cerita ini yang berhubungan dengan motivasi tokoh utama dalam hubungan homoseksualnya dan pengalaman masa kecil yang mempengaruhinya.
Dalam novel ini, kepribadian Celie dipengaruhi oleh pengalaman dalam hidupnya. Ketakutannya terhadap laki-laki dan trauma masa kecil membuat Celie memilih wanita untuk dicintai dan mencintainya. Kurangnya cinta dan kasih sayang membawanya kedalam hubungan homoseksual dengan seorang penyanyi jazz bernama Shug Avery. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa motivasi Celie dalam hubungan homoseksualnya adalah kebutuhan akan cinta dan diakui keberadaanya. Cinta dan kasih sayang adalah perasaan yang penting untuk Celie. Shug Avery menjadi motivasi Celie untuk mempunyai hubungan yang baik dengan orang yang dicintainya.
. viii ix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study In literature, a story can explore many aspects of human lives. We can see
literature as a reflection of reality. There is so much to learn about what or why something can happen either in reality or in a fiction story. The most important thing in a story is a character, which in reality is called human being, the one that experienced lives.
Charles E. Bressler in his book Literary Criticism stated that literature’s primary aim is to tell a story. The subject of this story is particularly human, describing and detailing a variety of human experiences, not stating facts or bits and piece of information. By doing so, literature concretizes an array of human values, emotions, actions, and ideas in story form. And it is this concretization that allows us to experience vicariously the stories of a host of characters.
Through these characters we observe people in action, making decisions, struggling to maintain their humanity in often inhumane circumstances, and embodying for us a variety of values and human characteristic that we may embrace, discard, enjoy, or detest (1999: 11).
The writer is interested in the life of the character in the novel. By Charles
E. Bressler’s way, we can find out the character’s life story through her/his experiences. The experiences can directly lead us to the emotion and actions of the character. We can also observe the character’s actions in making decisions, and their effort to maintain their humanity in often inhumane circumstances, and embodying for us a variety of values and human characteristic that we may embrace, discard, enjoy, or detest.
The novel that the writer is talking about is The Color Purple. The Color
Purple is a popular and controversial novel written by Alice Walker. In 1983, The
Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making Walker the first African-
American Woman to win, as well as the National Book Award. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1985 and 2005 Broadway musical play.
The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as “Mr.____”, and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. Next to the controversy of the novel about the portrayal of the male characters as mean, abusive, uncaring and disloyal, other critics also felt that Steven Spielberg was a poor choice for such a complex drama and that the film had changed or eliminated much of the book's defense of lesbianism. In the novel, Walker's writing reveals the transformative power of female bonding and female love. It offers frank portrayals of bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships amidst situations that penetrate the core of female spiritual and emotional development (http://www.answers.com/topic/the-color-purple).
The novel is talking about a young girl named Celie, the main character, who writes letters to God and her sister Nettie. The setting takes place mostly in rural Georgia. The story focuses on African-American women life during the 1930s in Southern United States, addressing the numerous issues in the black female life. Beside discrimination and violence, The Color Purple also tells about Celie’s love life. A love with a woman named Shug Avery, Celie’s husband mistress. Despite her miserable life, it is the feeling that Celie considered to be her greatest feeling. A love that later on influences Celie to be a different woman. It is not just a love between sisters or best friends, its more like a love between man and woman. In other way, that kind of relationship can be considered as a portrait of homosexual relationship. That is why the novel is interesting to discuss about.
What the writer tries to know is about Celie’s life and her relationship with Shug Avery. Why she chooses a woman to be loved and having homosexual relationship rather than loving a man.
Bisexual or homosexual relationship is a common issue to discuss lately. It is considered as a unique way of sexuality and interesting to discuss about. The existence of bisexual community interests many people around the world, not just from ordinary people but also the academic society. This minor community sometimes considers being negative, unusual, or weird to the society. There are a lot researches had been done about this topic to know more about this kind of people or community. Agreements and disagreements about this issue also rise in many countries. Different opinions and suggestions come from many people. The topic of this thesis itself discusses the character’s bisexual relationship.
All of the reasons above show that the topic of this thesis is worth studying because it contains an issue in our society which is now mostly discussed.
Through this thesis we can analyse characters in the novel, which are representing some psychological issues. The writer tries to relate literature and psychology.
Wellek and Waren in their book Theory of Literature state that analyzing literary works relation to psychology means studying theory of psychology that may present within works of literature (1956: 81). Hopefully, by using the psychological approach in analyzing the novel, the readers get some benefits from this thesis.
B. Problem Formulation
This undergraduate thesis discuss about the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery which is representing some problems in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple . The problems are formulated into the following.
1. How is Celie depicted in the novel?
2. How does the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery portray a homosexual relationship?
3. What is Celie’s motivation of her bisexual relationship?
C. Objectives of the Study
In the objectives of the study, the writer tries to find out the answers of the problem formulation in the previous part.
The first objective is to observe the characterization of Celie as the main character using theories on characterization and the impact of child sexual abuse.
Second, after knowing Celie’s characterization, is to find out about her homosexual relationship with Shug Avery. And the third, using the theory of human motivation, is to see Celie’s motivation related to her relationship with Shug Avery.
D. Definition of Terms
These are brief explanation about some terms that are used in this thesis in order to guide the reader to understand this thesis.
1. Characters According to Abrams in A Glossary of Terms, character are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what the say-dialogue and by what they-do-the action (1981: 20). In other words, characters are the persons that is seen by the reader as the one who undergo the action and the dialogue in the work of literature.
2. Personality According to Rita L Atkinson, Richard C Atkinson, and Ernest R Hilgard in Introduction to Psychology, personality is the characteristic patterns of behaviour and modes of thinking that determine a person’s adjustment to the environment (1981: 383). Knowing the character’s personality can be seen in her/his patterns of behaviour and modes of thinking
4. Homosexual behavior Since this thesis discuss about homosexuality, first we need to know about the definition of homosexuality itself. Hershel D. Thornburg in Development in
Adolescence state that an aspect of adolescent sexual behavior is homosexuality activity, which is usually defined as the satisfying of personal sexual desires with another person of the same sex. It is important to distinguish between homosexual experience and homosexuality. Homosexual experience refers to sexual experiences in the company of same-sex peers, usually during preadolescence. In contrast, homosexuality is the primary sexual orientation of a person—one which typically is not solidified until the adult years (1981: 424).
5. Motivation According to David C. McClelland in his book Human Motivation, motivation refers to conscious intents. The subject matter of motivation has to do with “how behaviour gets started, is energized, is sustained, is directed, is stopped.” In another words, motivation has to do with the why of behaviour, as contrasted with the how or the what of behaviour (1985: 4).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies The Color Purple is a popular and controversial novel written by Alice Walker. In 1983, The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making Walker the first African-American Woman to win the prize, as well as the National Book Award. The novel was also adapted into a film of the same name
in 1985, which was directed by Steven Spielberg, and Broadway musical play in 2005. Despite the controversy of the novel about the portrayal of the male characters as mean, abusive, uncaring and disloyal, other critics also felt that Steven Spielberg was a poor choice for such a complex drama and that the film had changed or eliminated much of the book's defense of lesbianism. The Color
Purple reveals the transformative power of female bonding and female love. It
offers frank portrayals of bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships amidst situations that penetrate the core of female spiritual and emotional development (http://www.answers.com/topic/the-color-purple).
Alice Walker was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly the fight against segregation and the restriction of voting rights to the literate, and also the Women’s Movement. She writes her experiences in fictional form in her early novel Meridian where she shows herself to be especially opposed to male domination. Walker continues writing in support of equality for Blacks and women (http://www.dreamhawk.com).
Deborah L. Madsen in her book Feminist Theory and Literary Practice said that The Color Purple is Walker’s solution to create a feminist epistolary mode by adapt to Black women’s experiences. She is dwelt at some length upon Walker’s achievement in The Color Purple because in this text Walker addresses the key issues for feminists of colour: the acquisition of an effective literary voice, the oppression of women within their own ethnic group as well as within the dominant patriarchal racist culture, the control of feminine sexuality and the exploration of alternative means of experiencing sexuality, the reception of mainstream feminism by feminist of colour, and the embeddedness of the work of writers of colour within the historical and traditional context of their racial identity (2000: 221).
All Walker’s writings, her novels as well as her critical essays, explore key critical issues: the role of Black women artist; the connection between artists and Black communities and Black history; and the significance, and richness, of myth and Black culture. In The Color Purple, Celie’s liberation is part of her spiritual freedom from traditional Christianity. It is Celie’s friendship with a bisexual, economically independent Black woman which leads to ‘spiritual experience’.
Walker makes explicit in the novel the notion that women best change our theories about experience by bonding sexually with other women. The novel also describes a version of animism ‘Dear God, dear stars, dear trees’ (Humm, 1994: 182-186).
There have been many studies related to Alice Walker’s The Color
Purple . Being different from the previous studies that discuss The Color Purple from the views of feminism, gender, Black history, racial, culture this paper will discuss the novel from psychological view. The writer focuses on psychological side that discuss about the main character personality.
B. Review of Related Theories
The writer needs to use some theories that are considered relevant to this study. Since the thesis studies the main character personality, the first theory is the theory of characterization. The second theory is the theory on psychology that explains about the experiences that makes the personality changes or develops.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry
and the English Novel for overseas Student states that there are nine ways in
which the author presents his character. Those are:
a. Personal Description The author can describe a person’s appearance and cloths so that the readers will be able to figure out the personality of the character.
b. Character as Seen by Another Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another character in the novel. c. Speech The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the novel through what the person says and it give us some clue to his character.
d. Past Life By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life the author can give us clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, though the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of Other The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.
f. Reaction The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct Comments The author can describes or comments on a person’s character directly.
h. Thoughts The author can give us direct knowledge of what a character is thinking about. i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character (Murphy, 1972: 161-173).
Abrams state that character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who has moral and certain type of person or quality are represented in their speech and action in the story. In his book A Glossary of Literary Terms , he says that:
Characters are the persons in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say i.e. the dialogue, and what they do i.e. the action. The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and action constitute his motivation (1981: 25).
Meanwhile, Roger B. Henkle in his book Reading the Novel says that characters are divided characters into major and minor character. The characters that are observed most often in the story can be considered as major characters. The major characters perform as the key structural function in the story. Because of that, the readers will give his full attention to these major characters in order to understand the story. On the other hand, the minor characters perform more limited functions. They can function in various ways: as elements of society that develop the human context or human condition being issued in the story; as an ordinary character; as a character which is very contrast to the major characters or they can be symbols of aspects of something (1977: 100).
2. Theories on Psychology
Here the writer uses some theories on psychology in this thesis. The theories on psychology are used to explain the character’s experiences that make her personality change or develop.
There are many studies in psychology that explores human development including their early development that is happen in their childhood step. In his classic textbook, Modern Psychopathology, Millon said,
In the first year of life, children engage in a wide variety of spontaneous behaviors. . . . Throughout (the) years, then, a shaping process (takes) place in which the range of initially diverse behaviors becomes narrowed, selective and finally, crystallized into particular modes of seeking and achieving. . . . Thus, . . . the child develops a distinctive pattern of characteristics that are deeply etched . . . and pervade every aspect of his (or her) functioning. In short, these characteristic are the essence and sum of his personality, his automatic way of perceiving, feeling, thinking and behaving (Everly and Lating, 2004: 10).
The statement means that the first year of life is the important development of a child’s life. The development can shape the child’s personality in the next year of his/her life.
a. The Impact of Child Sexual Abuse
David Finkelhor and Angela Browne’s article The Traumatic Impact of
Child Sexual Abuse: A Conceptualization said that the literature on child sexual
abuse is full of clinical observations about problems that are thought to be associated with a history of abuse, such as sexual dysfunction, depression, and low self-esteem. The experience of sexual abuse can be analyzed in terms of four trauma-causing factors; traumatic sexualization, betrayal, powerlessness, and stigmatization. These factors alter children’s cognitive and emotional orientation to the world, and create trauma by distorting children’s self-concept, world view, and affective capacities (http://www.Csom.Org/train/victim/resources).
According to Cynthia Crosson-Tower in her book Understanding Child
Abuse and Neglect , there are some effects from a sexually abusing family:
i. Traumatic Sexualization Traumatic sexualization refers to a process in which a child’s sexuality
(including both sexual feelings and sexual attitudes) is shaped in a developmentally inappropriate and interpersonally dysfunctional fashion as a result of sexual abuse. Traumatic sexualization can occur when a child is repeatedly regarded by an offender for sexual behavior that is inappropriate to his or her level of development. Children who have been traumatically sexualized emerge from their experiences with inappropriate repertoires of sexual behavior, with confusions and misconceptions about their sexual self-concepts, and with unusual emotional associations to sexual activities. The effects connected to traumatic sexualization, among young child victims, noted to have an aversion to sex, flashbacks to the molestation experience, difficulty with arousal and orgasm, as well as negative attitudes toward their sexuality and their bodies. Confusion often arises especially about sexual identity, for example, they may wonder whether they are homosexuals. Another impact that traumatic sexualization may have is in the negative connotations that come to be associated with sex. Sexual contact associated in a child’s memory with revulsion, fear, anger, a sense of powerlessness, or other negative emotions can contaminate later sexual experiences (Tower, 2008: 392-393). ii. Betrayal Trust is as fundamental issue for the sexual abuse survivor as it is for past victims of other maltreatment. As a child, the individual trusted the parents and often felt that this trust was respected and understood. Recognition that the victim was used for the abuser’s pleasure is confusing and hurtful. They come to realize that someone whom they loved or whose affection was important to them treated them with callous disregard. Children can also experience betrayal by the part of family members who were not abusing them. A family member whom they trusted but who was unable or unwilling to protect or believe them – or who has a changed attitude toward them after disclosure of the abuse – may also contribute to the dynamics of betrayal. The effects noted in victims seem reasonably to be connected with the experience of betrayal that they have suffered, in the form of anger, grief reactions and depression over the loss of a trusted figure. In combination with this there may be an intense need to regain trust and security, manifested in the extreme dependency and clinging seen in especially young victims. This same need in adults may show up in impaired judgment about the trustworthiness of other people or in a desperate search for a redeeming relationship. An opposite reaction to betrayal – characterized by hostility and anger – has also been observed among sexually abused girls. Sometimes this distrust is directed especially at men and is a barrier to successful heterosexual relationships or marriages (Tower, 2008: 392).
iii. Powerlessness Powerlessness refers to the process in which the child’s will, desires, and sense of efficacy are continually contravened. The basic kind of powerlessness occurs in sexual abuse when a child’s territory and body space are repeatedly invaded against the child’s will. Powerlessness is then reinforced when children see their attempts to halt the abuse frustrated. It is increased when children feel fear, are unable to make adults understand or believe what is happening, or realize how conditions of dependency have trapped them in the situation. The effects from powerlessness are obviously fear and anxiety, which reflect the inability to control noxious events. Many of the initial responses to sexual abuse among children are connected to fear and anxiety. These fears and anxieties may extend into adulthood as well. A second major effect of powerlessness is to impair a person’s sense of value and coping skills. Having been a victim on repeated occasions may make it difficult to act without the expectation of being re- victimized. Finally, these victims may feel powerless to thwart others who are trying to manipulate them or do them harm (Tower, 2008: 396). iv. StigmatizationStigmatization refers to the negative connotations (e.g., badness, shame, and guilt) that are communicated to the child around the experiences and that then become incorporated into the child’s self-image. They can come directly from the abuser, who may blame the victim for the activity, demean the victim, or furtively convey a sense of shame about the behavior. But stigmatization is also reinforced by attitudes that the victim infers or hears from other persons in the family or community. Children may be additionally stigmatized by people in their environment who now impute other negative characteristics to the victim (e.g., loose morals or “spoiled goods”) as a result of the molestation. The effects of sexual abuse in relation to the dynamic of stigmatization is that child victims often feel isolated, and may gravitate to various stigmatized levels of society. Stigmatization also results in a sense of being different based on the (incorrect) belief that no one else has had such an experience and that others would reject a person who had (Tower, 2008: 393-395). v. Anger
Beside feel powerless because of their inability to protect themselves, victims may also fell powerless to control their anger. The anger stems from being used or victimized, being out of control or vulnerable, and being unprotected. They may also fell anger at their own helplessness or powerlessness. Sometimes the victim turned her anger inward because she was unable to direct it toward the appropriate person. A common technique used with victims is to have the individual write a letter expressing this rage to the perpetrator or to the unprotecting parent. For some, the pain and sadness resulting from the writing are sufficient to exorcise much of the anger. Because anger is so deeply felt but so difficult for victim to label or express appropriately, its existence often impedes the forming of healthy relationships (Tower, 2008: 397). vi. Relational Imbalance
Relational problems are based on numerous factors: need to repeat the past or gravitate toward the family of the origin; difficulty trusting; inability to label and express feelings appropriately and thereby have meaningful communication with intimates; strong needs to have others meet their needs and low self esteem.
Dysfunctional relationship is a result of an incestuous family. Adult who were abused often seek the all-loving mother who will give them unconditional love their mothers did not. Feeling understood only by partners with similar backgrounds (Tower, 2008: 398-399). vii. Multiple Victimatization
The individuals, especially women, who were victims of incest have a higher incidence of repeat victimatization. Because women have been conditioned to be victims, they are more likely than men to be victimized again. Most of us assume that the world is comprehensible and meaningful and that we are personally invulnerable. Once these perceptions become distorted, it is difficult for individuals to test and avoid danger. Often they become victims again (Tower, 2008: 399-400).
b. Theories on Homosexuality
What causes homosexuality is analyzed in Karen Huffman, Mark Verno, and Judith Vernoy’s book Psychology in Action (1997: 350). They said that psychoanalytic theory held that homosexuality resulted from disturbed family patterns, and, especially for males, a “close-binding intimate mother” and an emotionally detached, hostile father. However, modern research has found little support for the belief that childhood factors are the critical determinants of homosexuality. Gays and lesbians are just as likely as heterosexual to have come from either a “disturbed family” or a well-adjusted family.
According to Georgene H. Seward in her book Sex and the Social Order, many children experience sexual aggressions by adults, which have usually been assumed to endanger normal development. In a study of sexual behavior in a large group of normal and abnormal women no causal connection could be traced between the abnormality and the early sexual episodes. Apparently aggressions occurring before puberty did not predispose the individual toward the development of mental disorders in adult life. It has been found however, that they sometimes leave in their wake negatives attitudes toward sex which are unfavorable for the marital happiness and in certain cases they may lead to homosexuality. The book also said that lesbian and bisexual women are trying to recover from forces such as the devastating effects of terrible emotional/physical neglect or physical and/or sexual abuse, often inflicted within a chaotic chemically dependent family system. It said that lesbian and bisexual women are suffer from emotional/physical neglect or physical and/or sexual abuse (1954: 133).
David C. McClelland book Human Motivation said that homosexual males were more likely to have a strong, dominant mother and a cold or absent father.
Thus, they grew up fearing women and seeking the love from males that they failed to get from their father. The statement means that homosexual people are often to have miserable relationship with the opposite parents that lead them to search a figure to replace the absent mother/father (1985: 340).
For Freud, disharmony and disease resulted from the failure of the love instinct to develop normally (McClelland 1985: 334). He also said that properly functioning love was essential to mental and physical health. The statement means that disharmony in a relationship comes from the failure of the love life development. And disease comes from love that is not functioning properly.
c. Theories on Human Motivation
According to David C. McClelland in his book Human Motivation, motivation refers to conscious intents. The subject matter of motivation has to do with “how behaviour gets started, is energized, is sustained, is directed, is stopped.” In another words, motivation has to do with the why of behaviour, as contrasted with the how or the what of behaviour (1985: 4).
Herbert L. Petri in his book Motivation: Theory and Research also mentions that the concept of motivation is also used to explain differences in the intensity of behavior. More intense behaviors are considered to be the result of higher levels of motivation. Additionally, we often use the concept of motivation to indicate the direction of behavior. An approach to understanding the activation and direction of motivation has pointed out that our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes can motivate us. Some theorists also said pointed out that we are socially motivated. We interact with others, and this interaction both generates and directs behavior (1981: 3-4).
Emotional energy is a strong motivator for many adolescents behavior is stated by Hershel D. Thornburg in his book Development in Adolescents. One type that the writer discusses here is love and affection. Love involves strong feeling toward other individuals induced by sympathetic understanding, ties of friendship, or affection. As an emotion, love has special meaning to the adolescents. It generates a positive feeling from another person. Up to this time, the adolescent has directed affection toward parents, siblings, close relatives, and friends. Pleasant associations have caused the adolescents to maintaining these feelings. Love seems to be more totally encompassing (1982: 74).
People appear to have a basic need or desire to be with other people. David
C. McClelland in his book Human Motivation defined affiliation imagery as the concern over establishing, maintaining, or restoring a positive, affective relationship with another person or persons. The need to affiliate with others includes sexual contacts, but it is much broader, including various types of emotional interpersonal attachments that may grow out of natural contact (1985: 348).
To complete the analysis on human motivation, the writer uses the theory of motivation from Abraham Maslow. According to Abraham Maslow in
Psychology in Action , there is a theory to explain about human motivation that is
called hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s theory is based on the belief that we all have numerous needs that compete for expression. Maslow’s theory of motivation said that some motives (such as physiological and safety needs) have to be satisfied before advancing to higher needs (such as belonging and self esteem). He believed that once freed from the ‘lower’ needs, humans are drawn to satisfy needs that will help them grow and develop (Huffman, Verno and Vernoy, 1997: 382-383).
The Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is: Values such as truth, honesty, beauty, and goodness provide meaning to the life of the self-actualized people. The picture Maslow gives us of the self-actualized people is a very positive one. The self-actualized individual is no longer motivated by deficiencies but is motivated to grow and become all that he or she is capable of becoming. Self actualization constantly stimulates people to test their abilities and expand their horizons.
C. Theoretical Framework
In analyzing this thesis, first of all, the main character in the novel is studied by using the theory of characterization and also the theories on child development and sexual abuse. By using theories of character and characterization, the writer can identify the characteristics of the main character.
The use of child development and sexual abuse theories is to understand Celie’s personality in her childhood life. Once this is done the answer of the first problem formulation is obtained.
Second, the characters and their relationship in the novel are examined using the theories on psychology which is theories of homosexuality. This theory helps the writer to analyze the reason why their homosexual relationship happens.
Finally, the human motivation theories is use to analyze the third problem formulation. These theories help the writer to understand Celie’s motivation of her bisexual relationship. The theories also lead the writer to understand more about Celie’s life development after her relationship with Shug Avery.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the study The object of the study is a novel, The Color Purple, which was written by Alice Walker, a novelist who was born Eatonton, Georgia in 1944. It is first
published in 1982 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in New York. In this analysis the writer uses the 1982 edition. The Color Purple is also her novel which wins the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 as well as the National Book Award. The novel was also adapted into a film of the same name in 1985 and 2005 Broadway musical play.
The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as “Mr.____”, and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia.
The Color Purple is about a black woman named Celie who is raped by her stepfather and always gets the cruel treatment from her husband, Mr. ___.
One day Mr. ___ brings her lover, a jazz and blues singer named Shug Avery, to Celie’s house. Later Shug gives her motivation to release herself from Mr. ___ domination and making a better life without male domination. In the novel, Walker's writing reveals the transformative power of female bonding and female love. It offers frank portrayals of bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships amidst situations that penetrate the core of female spiritual and emotional development.
B. Approach of the study
To answer the problem formulation in this analysis, the writer uses the psychological approach. Psychological approach is the most suitable approach to use in this analysis because this approach deals with characters, human relationship, personality development, and human motivation.
According to Rob Pope in his book An Introduction to Language,
Literature and Culture that psychology for our purposes can be initially defined as
the understanding of mental and emotional processes as these relate to language, literature and culture. Furthermore he said that: Literature, and more generally writing, figures both as an object of psychological study and as therapeutic practice. We can study other people’s poems, plays, novels, auto/biographies and journals for what these tell us about their ‘inner’ lives (1998: 96). The writer wants to analyze the main character’s motivation in her bisexual relationship and her personality development. Lewis Leary in his book A
Study and Research Guide also said that a psychological approach is an approach
that applies principles of modern psychology to characters or situation within a literary work or to the person who wrote the work (1976: 57).
As defined by Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about
Literature , definition of psychological approach is an approach to literature which
“involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns” and which refers to different body of knowledge that is Psychology (1971: 13). In applying this approach, psychological theories are generally used as interpretive tools.