Analysis of Themes Through The Female Protagonists in Hwee Hwee Tan's 'Mammon Inc.' and Lauren Weisberger's 'The Devil Wears Prada'.
ABSTRACT
Bahan penulisan skripsi ini saya ambil dari novel Mammon Inc. karya
Hwee Hwee Tan dan The Devil Wears Prada karya Lauren Weisberger. Kedua
novel tersebut menceritakan tentang 2 orang wanita yang masing-masing
mengorbankan nilai-nilai dalam hidup mereka demi mencapai tujuan mereka.
Nilai-nilai dalam hidup yang mereka korbankan antara lain impian, prinsip,
hubungan dengan orang-orang yang disayangi, waktu dan harga diri.
Kedua novel tersebut membahas tentang hal apa saja yang melatar
belakangi kesediaan kedua tokoh utama wanitanya untuk melakukan pengorbanan
yang begitu besar kepada sebuah perusahaan. Kedua novel tersebut juga
membahas bagaimana proses pengorbanan nilai-nilai dalam hidup tersebut terjadi
dan apa saja hal yang mereka korbankan serta keuntungan yang mereka peroleh
dari pengorbanan itu.
Dalam skripsi ini saya membahas apa tema dari kedua novel tersebut. Dan
setelah melakukan analisis dengan membahas karakteristik kedua tokoh utama
wanita dalam kedua novel tersebut serta menggali apa saja hal yang melatar
belakangi kedua tokoh utama untuk mengorbankan nilai-nilai dalam hidup mereka
kepada perusahaan dimana mereka bekerja, saya menyimpulkan sebuah tema
untuk masing-masing novel. Di bagian terakhir saya menyimpulkan pembahasan
dari kedua novel tersebut.
iii
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ................................................................
Statement of the Problem ...............................................................
Purpose of the Study .......................................................................
Method of Research ........................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ..............................................................
1
3
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME
THROUGH THE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
IN MAMMON INC. ..................................................................... 4
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH
THE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
IN THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA .............................................. 17
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ....................................................... 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 30
APPENDICES:
Summary of Mammon Inc. .............................................................
Summary of The Devil Wears Prada ..............................................
Biography of Hwee Hwee Tan .......................................................
Biography of Lauren Weisberger ...................................................
ii
32
33
34
35
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF MAMMON INC.
Chiah Deng Gan is a Singaporean woman who has just graduated from St.
L’leh, Oxford, where she studied on a scholarship. She lives in Oxford with her
flat-mate Steve, a British guy. One day Chiah Deng receives a letter from
Mammon Corps, a subsidiary of Mammon Inc., the largest enterprise in the world
serving more than seven billion consumers in over 170 countries. The Mammon
Company (mc) is the world’s leading brand name. Chiah Deng is offered an
interview at the company’s headquarters in New York for the Adapter Position.
They are looking for an adapter to liaise between their Oxford and Singapore
offices.
At first Chiah Deng does not want to have the interview because she
thinks she will not fit the job and considers the people who work in that company
are people who have a shallow life and are only concerned about their appearance
and lifestyle. Besides, she also gets an offer from professor Ad-oy to be his
assistant. But her sister, Chiah Chen, forces her to accept the Mammon offer
because working at the Mammon Company means big money so her family will
get a better life.
Shortly, Chiah Deng flies to New York and has the interview session with
Dr Draco Sidious, CEO of Mammon CorpS. Draco says that in order to get the
32
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
position as an adapter, Chiah Deng must pass three tests that will examine her
ability in different international arenas. First, she has to join the Gen-Vex
anniversary at Utopia, one of the most exclusive clubs in New York. She has to
convince the Gen-Vexers that she is one of the rulers of New York night life.
Second, she has to take her Singaporean sister to an Oxford gathering, and make
her acceptable to the intellectual elite. Third, she has to take her British flat-mate
to a Singaporean dinner, and help him to fit in with the guests. Chiah Deng must
work hard to accustom her sister and her flat-mate. Finally she passes all the tests.
At first she rejects the position offered because she feels she has corrupted her
sister and flat-mate, but then after Draco asks Chiah Deng about her feeling when
joining the Gen-Vexers party, she realizes that the Gen-Vexers society is the only
society where she feels accepted. After that she changes her mind and decides to
join Mammon Inc.
SUMMARY OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Andrea Sachs, a recent Brown University graduate, has an interview with
the most leading fashion magazine, Runway. She is offered a position as the junior
assistant of Miranda Priestly, an editor-in-chief of Runway, a very chic and
influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. It is a job that
millions of girls would die for. Andrea considers that by working for Runway
magazine as Miranda’s assistant, she can have reference from Miranda when she
applies for her dream job as a writer in The New Yorker. Working at the most
leading fashion magazine, Andrea is expected to dress fabulously. Before she was
a simple and unfashionable girl. But as the time goes, she becomes a fashionable
girl. As Miranda’s new assistant she is told that her job is primarily doing
33
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
personal errands for Miranda. Andrea starts work at 7 am. In the morning of every
working day, she must buy a cup of Starbucks coffee and put it on her boss’ desk.
She has to fullfill whatever Miranda asks and this sometimes upsets her. Miranda
has a habit of ordering her assistant to do something without being specific,
because Miranda hates to give a second explanation. Luckily, there is Emily,
Miranda’s senior assistant, who often helps Andrea in completing her tasks.
During the time she works for Runway Andrea begins to change.
Before working for Runway, Andrea’s fashion style is not really
glamorous. But then she is influenced by the other girls who work for Runway;
they all have fashionable style. As she is too busy meeting her boss’s needs,
Andrea begins neglecting her boyfriend Alex, her best friend Lily and her family.
One day, Andrea is ordered to go with Miranda to Paris because Emily, the senior
assistant, is sick. While in Paris, Miranda asks Andrea to renew her twin
daughters’ passports, because they are already expired. Andrea thinks it is
impossible to do it in less than three hours. At that moment Andrea begins to
realize that she has ruined her life for her job and she has sacrificed too much for
her boss. Finally, Andrea quits the job.
Biography of Hwee Hwee Tan
Hwee Hwee Tan is a Singaporean writer who was born in Singapore in
1974. During her youth she spent three years in the Netherlands. At first she
studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia, from which she
graduated with honours. Tan also holds a Master's degree in English Studies
1500-1660 from the University of Oxford. After winning the New York Times
Fellowship in 1997 she studied creative writing at New York University. Her
34
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
short stories have appeared in PEN International, New Writing, and won
numerous awards with the BBC. She published her first novel, Foreign Bodies
(Penguin), at the age of 22, while she was still a graduate student at the University
of Oxford.
Foreign Bodies was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal
for being "the first novel by a Singaporean author to receive critical acclaim in the
UK and the US". In 1997, she moved to New York to study creative writing at
New York University. In 2001, she published her second novel, Mammon Inc.
(Penguin), which received widespread critical acclaim in Asia and spent over two
months on the WH Smith Top 20 bestseller list in Asia.
Mammon Inc. was also adapted for the stage during the 2002 Singapore
Arts Festival, where it sold out all its performances. She has appeared in Harper's
Bazaar Asian "New Power Generation" issue for being one of the most influential
writers in the region, and was featured in Elle's "Hot List" for 2002.
After she returned to Singapore in 2001, she worked as a reporter for the
Business Times and later on became the senior writer at Twenty4Seven, a lifestyle
and entertainment magazine. She has also freelanced as a journalist and her credits
include TIME, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE and the BBC. Tan has received numerous
awards from the National Arts Council, the National University of Singapore, the
New York Times Foundation and the British Broadcasting Corporation. She
received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council in 2003, the
highest arts award given to an artist under 35. Mammon Inc. won the 2004
Singapore Literature Prize. Her current residence in New York further expands
her status as a writer to watch among the young jet set of international literature.
35
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Biography of Lauren Weisberger
Lauren Weisberger was born on March 28, 1977 in Scranton,
Pennsylvania. She is an American novelist and author of the 2003 bestseller The
Devil Wears Prada, a speculated roman à clef of her time as a put-upon assistant
to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Weisberger's mother was a school teacher
and her father a department store president turned mortgage broker. She spent her
early youth in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Scranton. At
age 11, her parents divorced and she and her younger sister, Dana, moved to
Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, with their
mother.
In 1995, she graduated from Allentown's Parkland High School. During
her time at Parkland, Weisberger was involved in various activities, including
intramural sports, some competitive sports, extra projects, and organizations.
Following her graduation from high school, she attended Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York, where she was an English major and a sorority member of
Alpha Epsilon Phi. She graduated from Cornell in 1999, with a Bachelor's Degree
in English. After college, she traveled as a backpacker through Europe, Israel,
Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, India, Nepal, and Hong Kong. Returning home, she
moved to Manhattan and was hired as Wintour's assistant at Vogue. She was there
for ten months before leaving along with features editor Richard Storey. While
she herself said she felt out of place there, the magazine's managing editor, Laurie
Jones, said "she seemed to be a perfectly happy, lovely woman".
After leaving the fashion magazine, she wrote 100-word reviews for
Departures Magazine, an American Express publication, before writing her first
novel. She also published an article in Playboy magazine in 2004.
36
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Her success came really from her stint at Departures Magazine working as
an assistant editor. After mentioning her interest in writing classes to her boss,
Richard Story, he referred her to his long esteemed friend, Charles Salzberg. She
started writing a story about her time at Vogue, trying to get done fifteen pages
every couple of weeks. After continuous nudging for her to show her completed
writing to agents, she finally did and within two weeks, it was sold. Weisberger
resides currently in New York City.
37
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I have decided to analyze two novels as the object of my thesis. I think
novel is more enjoyable to read than other genres of literary works. Novel serves
more detailed information in telling the story, compared to poetry or drama. When
reading a novel I can both imagine and feel the experience of the characters and
the atmosphere. A novel is defined as ”…a long work with great amount of detail
on every page. They thus present all complicating facts that need to be taken into
account before we can reach any sort of judgment.“ (Peck and Coyle 103). A
novel also consists of elements like theme, setting, conflicts, plot and
characterization which really help me in understanding the story.
The novels I have decided to analyze are The Devil Wears Prada by
Lauren Weisberger and Mammon Inc. by Hwee Hwee Tan. I am interested in
analyzing these novels because the dilemmas faced by the female protagonists in
their work environments are very possible to happen in the real world. The two
novels tell about the search for one’s comfort place where one can be herself. This
process of searching, however, leads them into some conflict which require them
to sacrifice something from their lives.
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Thus, by analyzing these novels I try to portray the reactions, thoughts and speech
shown by the protagonists in facing their bosses’ demands, whether to follow
them or not and whether the protagonists find their comfort community in their
new work environment. Besides, I also try to analyze the theme by portraying the
protagonists’ characteristics.
I am interested in analyzing Tan’s Mammon Inc. because it talks about the
influence of Chinese and British culture, which makes the novel richer. Tan is a
young Singaporean writer who often portrays Chinese culture in her works as
found in her first book Foreign Bodies. Her Mammon Inc. is also “commissioned
by the National Arts Council of to be a play at this year's Arts Festival.”
(Mammon Inc. review).
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger is also an interesting piece
to read. It portrays the views of a New York metropolitan jet-set community and
branded goods like bags, clothes and shoes. The title of the book itself is catchy. It
mentions a very famous and expensive brand, Prada. This novel is Weisberger’s
best-seller. “It was on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list for six
months. It has been published in twenty-seven countries” (The Devil Wears Prada
Review). It has also been made into a motion picture starring Anne Hathaway and
Meryl Streep.
In this thesis I am going to analyze the theme of both novels through the
female protagonist. Theme means “the total meaning discovered by the writer in
the process of writing and by reader in process of reading” (Kenney 94). I feel
curious to reveal what exactly both authors’ purpose is in writing the books. I
decide to go deeper in analyzing the theme of both novels and analyze the theme
through the female protagonists.
2
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1) What are the themes of the novels?
2) How does the portrayal of the protagonists help to reveal the theme?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1) To know what the themes of the novels are
2) To know how the portrayal of the protagonists helps to reveal the
theme
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of research I use in this study is library research. First, I look
for and read the novels I want to discuss for my major thesis. Second, I find the
information from the references in the library and multimedia sources to help me
with the analysis. I then analyze the two novels using references and make a
conclusion.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis is divided into three chapters that are preceded by the preface
and the abstract. Chapter One is the introduction consisting 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. Chapter Two consists of the analysis
to find the theme of Mammon Inc. Chapter Three is the analysis to find the theme
of the novel The Devil Wears Prada. Chapter Four is the conclusion. The thesis
ends with a bibliography and an appendix, which consists of the summary of the
two novels and a biography of the two authors.
3
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
•
Weisberger, Lauren. The Devil Wears Prada. New York: Ancor Books,
2003
•
Tan, Hwee Hwee. Mammon Inc. London: Penguin Books, 2001
References
•
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press,
1996
•
Peck, Thomas, and Martin Coyle. Literary Terms and Criticism. London:
McMillan Publisher Ltd, 1984
•
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: MgGraw Inc, 1972
Hornby, A S. Oxford Advenced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1995
Internet Sources
•
Yahoo.com: Lauren Weisberger. 2 June 2007
Bahan penulisan skripsi ini saya ambil dari novel Mammon Inc. karya
Hwee Hwee Tan dan The Devil Wears Prada karya Lauren Weisberger. Kedua
novel tersebut menceritakan tentang 2 orang wanita yang masing-masing
mengorbankan nilai-nilai dalam hidup mereka demi mencapai tujuan mereka.
Nilai-nilai dalam hidup yang mereka korbankan antara lain impian, prinsip,
hubungan dengan orang-orang yang disayangi, waktu dan harga diri.
Kedua novel tersebut membahas tentang hal apa saja yang melatar
belakangi kesediaan kedua tokoh utama wanitanya untuk melakukan pengorbanan
yang begitu besar kepada sebuah perusahaan. Kedua novel tersebut juga
membahas bagaimana proses pengorbanan nilai-nilai dalam hidup tersebut terjadi
dan apa saja hal yang mereka korbankan serta keuntungan yang mereka peroleh
dari pengorbanan itu.
Dalam skripsi ini saya membahas apa tema dari kedua novel tersebut. Dan
setelah melakukan analisis dengan membahas karakteristik kedua tokoh utama
wanita dalam kedua novel tersebut serta menggali apa saja hal yang melatar
belakangi kedua tokoh utama untuk mengorbankan nilai-nilai dalam hidup mereka
kepada perusahaan dimana mereka bekerja, saya menyimpulkan sebuah tema
untuk masing-masing novel. Di bagian terakhir saya menyimpulkan pembahasan
dari kedua novel tersebut.
iii
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ................................................................
Statement of the Problem ...............................................................
Purpose of the Study .......................................................................
Method of Research ........................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ..............................................................
1
3
3
3
3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME
THROUGH THE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
IN MAMMON INC. ..................................................................... 4
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH
THE FEMALE PROTAGONIST
IN THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA .............................................. 17
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ....................................................... 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 30
APPENDICES:
Summary of Mammon Inc. .............................................................
Summary of The Devil Wears Prada ..............................................
Biography of Hwee Hwee Tan .......................................................
Biography of Lauren Weisberger ...................................................
ii
32
33
34
35
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF MAMMON INC.
Chiah Deng Gan is a Singaporean woman who has just graduated from St.
L’leh, Oxford, where she studied on a scholarship. She lives in Oxford with her
flat-mate Steve, a British guy. One day Chiah Deng receives a letter from
Mammon Corps, a subsidiary of Mammon Inc., the largest enterprise in the world
serving more than seven billion consumers in over 170 countries. The Mammon
Company (mc) is the world’s leading brand name. Chiah Deng is offered an
interview at the company’s headquarters in New York for the Adapter Position.
They are looking for an adapter to liaise between their Oxford and Singapore
offices.
At first Chiah Deng does not want to have the interview because she
thinks she will not fit the job and considers the people who work in that company
are people who have a shallow life and are only concerned about their appearance
and lifestyle. Besides, she also gets an offer from professor Ad-oy to be his
assistant. But her sister, Chiah Chen, forces her to accept the Mammon offer
because working at the Mammon Company means big money so her family will
get a better life.
Shortly, Chiah Deng flies to New York and has the interview session with
Dr Draco Sidious, CEO of Mammon CorpS. Draco says that in order to get the
32
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
position as an adapter, Chiah Deng must pass three tests that will examine her
ability in different international arenas. First, she has to join the Gen-Vex
anniversary at Utopia, one of the most exclusive clubs in New York. She has to
convince the Gen-Vexers that she is one of the rulers of New York night life.
Second, she has to take her Singaporean sister to an Oxford gathering, and make
her acceptable to the intellectual elite. Third, she has to take her British flat-mate
to a Singaporean dinner, and help him to fit in with the guests. Chiah Deng must
work hard to accustom her sister and her flat-mate. Finally she passes all the tests.
At first she rejects the position offered because she feels she has corrupted her
sister and flat-mate, but then after Draco asks Chiah Deng about her feeling when
joining the Gen-Vexers party, she realizes that the Gen-Vexers society is the only
society where she feels accepted. After that she changes her mind and decides to
join Mammon Inc.
SUMMARY OF THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Andrea Sachs, a recent Brown University graduate, has an interview with
the most leading fashion magazine, Runway. She is offered a position as the junior
assistant of Miranda Priestly, an editor-in-chief of Runway, a very chic and
influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. It is a job that
millions of girls would die for. Andrea considers that by working for Runway
magazine as Miranda’s assistant, she can have reference from Miranda when she
applies for her dream job as a writer in The New Yorker. Working at the most
leading fashion magazine, Andrea is expected to dress fabulously. Before she was
a simple and unfashionable girl. But as the time goes, she becomes a fashionable
girl. As Miranda’s new assistant she is told that her job is primarily doing
33
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
personal errands for Miranda. Andrea starts work at 7 am. In the morning of every
working day, she must buy a cup of Starbucks coffee and put it on her boss’ desk.
She has to fullfill whatever Miranda asks and this sometimes upsets her. Miranda
has a habit of ordering her assistant to do something without being specific,
because Miranda hates to give a second explanation. Luckily, there is Emily,
Miranda’s senior assistant, who often helps Andrea in completing her tasks.
During the time she works for Runway Andrea begins to change.
Before working for Runway, Andrea’s fashion style is not really
glamorous. But then she is influenced by the other girls who work for Runway;
they all have fashionable style. As she is too busy meeting her boss’s needs,
Andrea begins neglecting her boyfriend Alex, her best friend Lily and her family.
One day, Andrea is ordered to go with Miranda to Paris because Emily, the senior
assistant, is sick. While in Paris, Miranda asks Andrea to renew her twin
daughters’ passports, because they are already expired. Andrea thinks it is
impossible to do it in less than three hours. At that moment Andrea begins to
realize that she has ruined her life for her job and she has sacrificed too much for
her boss. Finally, Andrea quits the job.
Biography of Hwee Hwee Tan
Hwee Hwee Tan is a Singaporean writer who was born in Singapore in
1974. During her youth she spent three years in the Netherlands. At first she
studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia, from which she
graduated with honours. Tan also holds a Master's degree in English Studies
1500-1660 from the University of Oxford. After winning the New York Times
Fellowship in 1997 she studied creative writing at New York University. Her
34
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
short stories have appeared in PEN International, New Writing, and won
numerous awards with the BBC. She published her first novel, Foreign Bodies
(Penguin), at the age of 22, while she was still a graduate student at the University
of Oxford.
Foreign Bodies was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal
for being "the first novel by a Singaporean author to receive critical acclaim in the
UK and the US". In 1997, she moved to New York to study creative writing at
New York University. In 2001, she published her second novel, Mammon Inc.
(Penguin), which received widespread critical acclaim in Asia and spent over two
months on the WH Smith Top 20 bestseller list in Asia.
Mammon Inc. was also adapted for the stage during the 2002 Singapore
Arts Festival, where it sold out all its performances. She has appeared in Harper's
Bazaar Asian "New Power Generation" issue for being one of the most influential
writers in the region, and was featured in Elle's "Hot List" for 2002.
After she returned to Singapore in 2001, she worked as a reporter for the
Business Times and later on became the senior writer at Twenty4Seven, a lifestyle
and entertainment magazine. She has also freelanced as a journalist and her credits
include TIME, Harper's Bazaar, ELLE and the BBC. Tan has received numerous
awards from the National Arts Council, the National University of Singapore, the
New York Times Foundation and the British Broadcasting Corporation. She
received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council in 2003, the
highest arts award given to an artist under 35. Mammon Inc. won the 2004
Singapore Literature Prize. Her current residence in New York further expands
her status as a writer to watch among the young jet set of international literature.
35
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Biography of Lauren Weisberger
Lauren Weisberger was born on March 28, 1977 in Scranton,
Pennsylvania. She is an American novelist and author of the 2003 bestseller The
Devil Wears Prada, a speculated roman à clef of her time as a put-upon assistant
to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Weisberger's mother was a school teacher
and her father a department store president turned mortgage broker. She spent her
early youth in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, a small town outside Scranton. At
age 11, her parents divorced and she and her younger sister, Dana, moved to
Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, with their
mother.
In 1995, she graduated from Allentown's Parkland High School. During
her time at Parkland, Weisberger was involved in various activities, including
intramural sports, some competitive sports, extra projects, and organizations.
Following her graduation from high school, she attended Cornell University in
Ithaca, New York, where she was an English major and a sorority member of
Alpha Epsilon Phi. She graduated from Cornell in 1999, with a Bachelor's Degree
in English. After college, she traveled as a backpacker through Europe, Israel,
Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, India, Nepal, and Hong Kong. Returning home, she
moved to Manhattan and was hired as Wintour's assistant at Vogue. She was there
for ten months before leaving along with features editor Richard Storey. While
she herself said she felt out of place there, the magazine's managing editor, Laurie
Jones, said "she seemed to be a perfectly happy, lovely woman".
After leaving the fashion magazine, she wrote 100-word reviews for
Departures Magazine, an American Express publication, before writing her first
novel. She also published an article in Playboy magazine in 2004.
36
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Her success came really from her stint at Departures Magazine working as
an assistant editor. After mentioning her interest in writing classes to her boss,
Richard Story, he referred her to his long esteemed friend, Charles Salzberg. She
started writing a story about her time at Vogue, trying to get done fifteen pages
every couple of weeks. After continuous nudging for her to show her completed
writing to agents, she finally did and within two weeks, it was sold. Weisberger
resides currently in New York City.
37
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I have decided to analyze two novels as the object of my thesis. I think
novel is more enjoyable to read than other genres of literary works. Novel serves
more detailed information in telling the story, compared to poetry or drama. When
reading a novel I can both imagine and feel the experience of the characters and
the atmosphere. A novel is defined as ”…a long work with great amount of detail
on every page. They thus present all complicating facts that need to be taken into
account before we can reach any sort of judgment.“ (Peck and Coyle 103). A
novel also consists of elements like theme, setting, conflicts, plot and
characterization which really help me in understanding the story.
The novels I have decided to analyze are The Devil Wears Prada by
Lauren Weisberger and Mammon Inc. by Hwee Hwee Tan. I am interested in
analyzing these novels because the dilemmas faced by the female protagonists in
their work environments are very possible to happen in the real world. The two
novels tell about the search for one’s comfort place where one can be herself. This
process of searching, however, leads them into some conflict which require them
to sacrifice something from their lives.
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Thus, by analyzing these novels I try to portray the reactions, thoughts and speech
shown by the protagonists in facing their bosses’ demands, whether to follow
them or not and whether the protagonists find their comfort community in their
new work environment. Besides, I also try to analyze the theme by portraying the
protagonists’ characteristics.
I am interested in analyzing Tan’s Mammon Inc. because it talks about the
influence of Chinese and British culture, which makes the novel richer. Tan is a
young Singaporean writer who often portrays Chinese culture in her works as
found in her first book Foreign Bodies. Her Mammon Inc. is also “commissioned
by the National Arts Council of to be a play at this year's Arts Festival.”
(Mammon Inc. review).
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger is also an interesting piece
to read. It portrays the views of a New York metropolitan jet-set community and
branded goods like bags, clothes and shoes. The title of the book itself is catchy. It
mentions a very famous and expensive brand, Prada. This novel is Weisberger’s
best-seller. “It was on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list for six
months. It has been published in twenty-seven countries” (The Devil Wears Prada
Review). It has also been made into a motion picture starring Anne Hathaway and
Meryl Streep.
In this thesis I am going to analyze the theme of both novels through the
female protagonist. Theme means “the total meaning discovered by the writer in
the process of writing and by reader in process of reading” (Kenney 94). I feel
curious to reveal what exactly both authors’ purpose is in writing the books. I
decide to go deeper in analyzing the theme of both novels and analyze the theme
through the female protagonists.
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Universitas Kristen Maranatha
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1) What are the themes of the novels?
2) How does the portrayal of the protagonists help to reveal the theme?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1) To know what the themes of the novels are
2) To know how the portrayal of the protagonists helps to reveal the
theme
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of research I use in this study is library research. First, I look
for and read the novels I want to discuss for my major thesis. Second, I find the
information from the references in the library and multimedia sources to help me
with the analysis. I then analyze the two novels using references and make a
conclusion.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis is divided into three chapters that are preceded by the preface
and the abstract. Chapter One is the introduction consisting 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. Chapter Two consists of the analysis
to find the theme of Mammon Inc. Chapter Three is the analysis to find the theme
of the novel The Devil Wears Prada. Chapter Four is the conclusion. The thesis
ends with a bibliography and an appendix, which consists of the summary of the
two novels and a biography of the two authors.
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Universitas Kristen Maranatha
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
•
Weisberger, Lauren. The Devil Wears Prada. New York: Ancor Books,
2003
•
Tan, Hwee Hwee. Mammon Inc. London: Penguin Books, 2001
References
•
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press,
1996
•
Peck, Thomas, and Martin Coyle. Literary Terms and Criticism. London:
McMillan Publisher Ltd, 1984
•
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: MgGraw Inc, 1972
Hornby, A S. Oxford Advenced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1995
Internet Sources
•
Yahoo.com: Lauren Weisberger. 2 June 2007