Analysis of the Elements of Plot of Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………..
i
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ………………………………………………..
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………..
Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………….
Method of Research ……………………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis ………………………………………………
1
2
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTS OF PLOT OF
HENRY RIDER HAGGARD’S KING SOLOMON’S MINES………
4
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ……………………………………….
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………..
28
APPENDICES
Synopsis of King Solomon’s Mines ...……………………………………
Biography of Henry Rider Haggard ……………………………………..
29
30
i
Maranatha Christian University
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya akan membahas sebuah novel berjudul King
Solomon’s Mines yang ditulis oleh Henry Rider Haggard. Novel yang bergenre
petualangan ini menceritakan tentang perjalanan Allan Quartermain, tokoh utama
dalam novel, dalam mencari orang hilang dan harta karun Raja Salomo. Seiring
berjalannya cerita, terjadi banyak hambatan dan hal-hal yang tidak terduga yang
harus dilewati oleh Allan Quartermain dalam petualangannya.
Setelah membaca buku ini saya menemukan bahwa elemen yang penting
dalam novel ini adalah alur ceritanya yang terdiri dari unsur suspense, surprise
dan artistic unity. Saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis hubungan antara
suspense dan surprise dan bagaimana keduanya terhubung sehingga membentuk
sebuah artistic unity yang masuk akal sehingga dapat dipercaya oleh pembaca.
Kesimpulan
saya
adalah
keberhasilan
novel
ini
terletak
pada
perkembangan alur ceritanya yang sangat bagus, karena semua kejadian yang
diceritakan disajikan secara sistematis sehingga membuat pembaca merasa ingin
tahu apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya serta dapat lebih memahami keterkaitan
antara satu kejadian dengan kejadian lainnya.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Henry Rider Haggard is a British classical novelist in the Victorian era.
Haggard is the creator of "the Lost World literary genre" ("Haggard, H. Rider")
which means "a fantasy or science fiction genre that involves the discovery of a
new world out of time, place or both" ("Lost World"). He is also best known for
his "African adventure novels" ("Haggard, H. Rider"). Haggard's style in his
novels is a "blend of hidden treasures and ancient artifacts, jungle beasts, creepy
ghoul and mystical spirits, lost civilization and big hearted, gun-packing
gentlemen adventurers" ("Haggard, H. Rider").
Haggard has written many adventure novels. One of his greatest novels is
King Solomon's Mines, published in 1885. King Solomon's Mines "has proved to
be inspirational, as it has laid the framework for adventures in exotic locales, with
his ‘lost world' transmuting easily into the ‘lost planets' favoured by writers of
science fiction" ("Haggard, H. Rider"). This novel is included in "International
1
Maranatha Christian University
Thriller Writers' critical anthology, Thriller: 100 Must-Reads, on the best thrillers
of all time" (Rogers).
King Solomon's Mines, the novel that I am going to analyse in my thesis,
tells about the journey of Allan Quartermain, the main character of this novel, in
searching for a missing person and the King Solomon's treasures. In describing
the journey, Haggard arranges the events in such a way that the readers will feel
more and more curious; they keep asking what will happen next. The author also
gives surprises until the end. So in my thesis, I am going to analyse the elements
of plot which are surprise, suspense, and artistic unity of this novel.
According to Perrine in his book Story and Structure, suspense is "the
quality in a story that makes the reader ask, ‘What's going to happen next? Or how
will this turn out' and impels him to read on to find the answer of the questions"
(45). Surprise is "the unexpectedness of what happens." (47); whereas artistic
unity is:
. . . the condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements
work together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically
unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central purpose,
nothing is omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the
most effective order for the achievement of that purpose. ("Artistic Unity")
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1. What suspense is revealed in the novel?
2. What surprise is revealed in the novel?
2
Maranatha Christian University
3. How is the artistic unity presented in the novel?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the above statements of the problem, this study is conducted
with the following purposes:
1. To show what suspense is revealed in the novel.
2. To show what surprise is revealed in the novel.
3. To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel.
Method of Research
In writing this thesis, I use library research method. First, I read King
Solomon's Mines as the primary text. Then I read some reference books and the
Internet sources that are relevant to the topic to support my analysis. Finally, I
draw some conclusions from what has been discussed.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis is divided into three chapters, which are preceded by the
Acknowledgements, the Table of Contents and the Abstract. In Chapter One, I
present the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the
Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and
the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I analyse the Elements of Plot of
Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. Chapter Three is the Conclusion.
The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which contain the
Synopsis of the Novel and the Biography of the Author.
3
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analysed the novel, I conclude that Henry Rider Haggard succeeds
in creating such a good story. He creates science fiction story that shows the
discovery of a new place. Later, it is called "lost-world" genre. His main character,
Allan Quartermain, is described only to depend on a map to King Solomon's
mine, the truth of which he does not know and he also does not know what kind of
obstacles that he will face when he starts to go to the mine. However, Quartermain
finally succeeds in discovering King Solomon's mine. It shows that Haggard's
"lost-world" story is delivered very well. He is very skillful at arousing the
readers' tension and curiosity. This makes the story have good elements of plot.
To begin with, the first suspense is when Quartermain does not agree
instantly to help Sir Henry find his brother, Mr. Neville, but promises to give an
answer in the next few days. It makes the readers feel the same tension with Sir
Henry whether Quartermain will agree to help him or not. The first surprise comes
right after the first suspense: Quartermain finally agrees to help Sir Henry with
24
Maranatha Christian University
some financial requirements. It is because he is a trader and a hunter and also he
has a son who still depends on him.
After Quartermain agrees, the journey of finding Mr. Neville and King
Solomon's mine begins. The next suspenses and surprises occur alternately during
their journey to King Solomon's mine. They must depend only on the map which
is not yet proven reliable; they also run out of water in the middle of desert; and
they have to face the threats from the natives. Surprisingly, they can survive all
the obstacles as the team consists of experts in their own field.
The next suspense and surprise happen when Quartermain, and his group
have to pass a cave between the desert and the Solomon's Road. Quartermain sees
a dead white man. Surprisingly, the body is not Sir Henry's brother. The low
temperature in the cave enables Quartermain to recognise that the body is not Sir
Henry's brother.
The next two suspenses and surprises continue as one of Quartermain's
helper, Umbopa, turns out to be the real king of Kukuanaland who later succeeds
in seizing the throne back. The explanation for this matter is given in detail so that
the readers do not question the plausibility.
The tension does not stop here. When they arrive at the mine and find the
treasure, they are trapped by Gagool in the mine. Surprisingly they can find the
way out as Captain Good knows some things about nature. At the end of the story,
they finally can find Sir Henry's brother on their way back across the desert. Mr.
Neville gets an accident when he goes to Sulaiman's Berg so he cannot continue
his journey. Thus, he just waits in a hut for somebody to come and help him.
25
Maranatha Christian University
The author has arranged the suspenses and the surprises in accordance
with their journey. He succeeds in building the readers' tension. That is why the
readers feel curious and keep reading from the beginning up to the end of the story
because they want to know what will happen next in the story. He lets the first
suspense unanswered till the story reaches its climax at the end of the story.
Meanwhile, he gives some unexpected surprises to answer the suspenses in
between. Therefore, it is obvious that the connection between the suspenses and
surprises is also acceptable and plausible, which builds the artistic unity of the
story.
In my opinion, Henry Rider Haggard's success in writing this novel comes
from the interesting subject of the novel. Moreover, Haggard writes excellent
details in describing the journey so that the readers feel that the book is easy to
understand and enjoyable to read. He can write such a story in which the solution
is held back in order to elevate the tension. He can lead the readers to a point
where they will always wonder what will happen next to the characters in the
story.
Based on my analysis above, I can say that all the events in King
Solomon's Mines are systematically arranged. The journey in the storyline gives
the readers the feeling of suspense and surprise. As a result, the readers will find
that the suspense and surprise are closely connected and also are acceptable and
believable to built artistic unity. Despite of the fact that the early thriller novel
King Solomon's Mines has less complicated plot than nowadays' thrillers, the wellarranged plot makes the novel still worth reading.
26
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Haggard, Henry Rider. King Solomon's Mines. London: Harper Collins Publisher.
2010. Print.
References:
"Artistic Unity". Humanitiesweb, 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Authortrek. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Fantasticfiction, 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Goodreads, 2002. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Infoplease, 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
"H. Rider Haggard". The Free Library by Farlex, 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Lost World". English Encyclopedia, 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc. 1974. Print.
Rogers, Amy. "King Solomon's Mines". ScienceThrillers, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
27
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………..
i
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ………………………………………………..
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………..
Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………….
Method of Research ……………………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis ………………………………………………
1
2
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTS OF PLOT OF
HENRY RIDER HAGGARD’S KING SOLOMON’S MINES………
4
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ……………………………………….
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………..
28
APPENDICES
Synopsis of King Solomon’s Mines ...……………………………………
Biography of Henry Rider Haggard ……………………………………..
29
30
i
Maranatha Christian University
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya akan membahas sebuah novel berjudul King
Solomon’s Mines yang ditulis oleh Henry Rider Haggard. Novel yang bergenre
petualangan ini menceritakan tentang perjalanan Allan Quartermain, tokoh utama
dalam novel, dalam mencari orang hilang dan harta karun Raja Salomo. Seiring
berjalannya cerita, terjadi banyak hambatan dan hal-hal yang tidak terduga yang
harus dilewati oleh Allan Quartermain dalam petualangannya.
Setelah membaca buku ini saya menemukan bahwa elemen yang penting
dalam novel ini adalah alur ceritanya yang terdiri dari unsur suspense, surprise
dan artistic unity. Saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis hubungan antara
suspense dan surprise dan bagaimana keduanya terhubung sehingga membentuk
sebuah artistic unity yang masuk akal sehingga dapat dipercaya oleh pembaca.
Kesimpulan
saya
adalah
keberhasilan
novel
ini
terletak
pada
perkembangan alur ceritanya yang sangat bagus, karena semua kejadian yang
diceritakan disajikan secara sistematis sehingga membuat pembaca merasa ingin
tahu apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya serta dapat lebih memahami keterkaitan
antara satu kejadian dengan kejadian lainnya.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Henry Rider Haggard is a British classical novelist in the Victorian era.
Haggard is the creator of "the Lost World literary genre" ("Haggard, H. Rider")
which means "a fantasy or science fiction genre that involves the discovery of a
new world out of time, place or both" ("Lost World"). He is also best known for
his "African adventure novels" ("Haggard, H. Rider"). Haggard's style in his
novels is a "blend of hidden treasures and ancient artifacts, jungle beasts, creepy
ghoul and mystical spirits, lost civilization and big hearted, gun-packing
gentlemen adventurers" ("Haggard, H. Rider").
Haggard has written many adventure novels. One of his greatest novels is
King Solomon's Mines, published in 1885. King Solomon's Mines "has proved to
be inspirational, as it has laid the framework for adventures in exotic locales, with
his ‘lost world' transmuting easily into the ‘lost planets' favoured by writers of
science fiction" ("Haggard, H. Rider"). This novel is included in "International
1
Maranatha Christian University
Thriller Writers' critical anthology, Thriller: 100 Must-Reads, on the best thrillers
of all time" (Rogers).
King Solomon's Mines, the novel that I am going to analyse in my thesis,
tells about the journey of Allan Quartermain, the main character of this novel, in
searching for a missing person and the King Solomon's treasures. In describing
the journey, Haggard arranges the events in such a way that the readers will feel
more and more curious; they keep asking what will happen next. The author also
gives surprises until the end. So in my thesis, I am going to analyse the elements
of plot which are surprise, suspense, and artistic unity of this novel.
According to Perrine in his book Story and Structure, suspense is "the
quality in a story that makes the reader ask, ‘What's going to happen next? Or how
will this turn out' and impels him to read on to find the answer of the questions"
(45). Surprise is "the unexpectedness of what happens." (47); whereas artistic
unity is:
. . . the condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements
work together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically
unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central purpose,
nothing is omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the
most effective order for the achievement of that purpose. ("Artistic Unity")
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1. What suspense is revealed in the novel?
2. What surprise is revealed in the novel?
2
Maranatha Christian University
3. How is the artistic unity presented in the novel?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the above statements of the problem, this study is conducted
with the following purposes:
1. To show what suspense is revealed in the novel.
2. To show what surprise is revealed in the novel.
3. To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel.
Method of Research
In writing this thesis, I use library research method. First, I read King
Solomon's Mines as the primary text. Then I read some reference books and the
Internet sources that are relevant to the topic to support my analysis. Finally, I
draw some conclusions from what has been discussed.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis is divided into three chapters, which are preceded by the
Acknowledgements, the Table of Contents and the Abstract. In Chapter One, I
present the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the
Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and
the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I analyse the Elements of Plot of
Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. Chapter Three is the Conclusion.
The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which contain the
Synopsis of the Novel and the Biography of the Author.
3
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analysed the novel, I conclude that Henry Rider Haggard succeeds
in creating such a good story. He creates science fiction story that shows the
discovery of a new place. Later, it is called "lost-world" genre. His main character,
Allan Quartermain, is described only to depend on a map to King Solomon's
mine, the truth of which he does not know and he also does not know what kind of
obstacles that he will face when he starts to go to the mine. However, Quartermain
finally succeeds in discovering King Solomon's mine. It shows that Haggard's
"lost-world" story is delivered very well. He is very skillful at arousing the
readers' tension and curiosity. This makes the story have good elements of plot.
To begin with, the first suspense is when Quartermain does not agree
instantly to help Sir Henry find his brother, Mr. Neville, but promises to give an
answer in the next few days. It makes the readers feel the same tension with Sir
Henry whether Quartermain will agree to help him or not. The first surprise comes
right after the first suspense: Quartermain finally agrees to help Sir Henry with
24
Maranatha Christian University
some financial requirements. It is because he is a trader and a hunter and also he
has a son who still depends on him.
After Quartermain agrees, the journey of finding Mr. Neville and King
Solomon's mine begins. The next suspenses and surprises occur alternately during
their journey to King Solomon's mine. They must depend only on the map which
is not yet proven reliable; they also run out of water in the middle of desert; and
they have to face the threats from the natives. Surprisingly, they can survive all
the obstacles as the team consists of experts in their own field.
The next suspense and surprise happen when Quartermain, and his group
have to pass a cave between the desert and the Solomon's Road. Quartermain sees
a dead white man. Surprisingly, the body is not Sir Henry's brother. The low
temperature in the cave enables Quartermain to recognise that the body is not Sir
Henry's brother.
The next two suspenses and surprises continue as one of Quartermain's
helper, Umbopa, turns out to be the real king of Kukuanaland who later succeeds
in seizing the throne back. The explanation for this matter is given in detail so that
the readers do not question the plausibility.
The tension does not stop here. When they arrive at the mine and find the
treasure, they are trapped by Gagool in the mine. Surprisingly they can find the
way out as Captain Good knows some things about nature. At the end of the story,
they finally can find Sir Henry's brother on their way back across the desert. Mr.
Neville gets an accident when he goes to Sulaiman's Berg so he cannot continue
his journey. Thus, he just waits in a hut for somebody to come and help him.
25
Maranatha Christian University
The author has arranged the suspenses and the surprises in accordance
with their journey. He succeeds in building the readers' tension. That is why the
readers feel curious and keep reading from the beginning up to the end of the story
because they want to know what will happen next in the story. He lets the first
suspense unanswered till the story reaches its climax at the end of the story.
Meanwhile, he gives some unexpected surprises to answer the suspenses in
between. Therefore, it is obvious that the connection between the suspenses and
surprises is also acceptable and plausible, which builds the artistic unity of the
story.
In my opinion, Henry Rider Haggard's success in writing this novel comes
from the interesting subject of the novel. Moreover, Haggard writes excellent
details in describing the journey so that the readers feel that the book is easy to
understand and enjoyable to read. He can write such a story in which the solution
is held back in order to elevate the tension. He can lead the readers to a point
where they will always wonder what will happen next to the characters in the
story.
Based on my analysis above, I can say that all the events in King
Solomon's Mines are systematically arranged. The journey in the storyline gives
the readers the feeling of suspense and surprise. As a result, the readers will find
that the suspense and surprise are closely connected and also are acceptable and
believable to built artistic unity. Despite of the fact that the early thriller novel
King Solomon's Mines has less complicated plot than nowadays' thrillers, the wellarranged plot makes the novel still worth reading.
26
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Haggard, Henry Rider. King Solomon's Mines. London: Harper Collins Publisher.
2010. Print.
References:
"Artistic Unity". Humanitiesweb, 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Authortrek. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Fantasticfiction, 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Goodreads, 2002. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
"Haggard, H. Rider". Infoplease, 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
"H. Rider Haggard". The Free Library by Farlex, 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Lost World". English Encyclopedia, 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
Inc. 1974. Print.
Rogers, Amy. "King Solomon's Mines". ScienceThrillers, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
27
Maranatha Christian University