RAGS-TO-RICHES AS THE CAUSE TO THE CHARACTER’S TRAGIC LIFE SEEN IN BEVERLY LINET’S LADD A HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDY
RAGS-TO-RICHES AS THE CAUSE TO THE
CHARACTER’S TRAGIC LIFE SEEN IN BEVERLY LINET’S
LADD A HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
HARTYO WISMADI JULIASMONO
Student Number: 034214125
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE CAUSE OF RAGS-TO-RICHES LIFE IN BEVERLY
LINET’S LADD A HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDYBy
HARTYO WISMADI JULIASMONO
Student Number: 034214125 Approved by
Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S.,M.A. (Hons)
4 August 2007 Advisor Drs. Hirmawan Wijarnaka, M. Hum.
4 August 2007 Co-advisor
(TRANSFORMER, 2007)
NO RUSH TO STEP ON, WHEN YOU SEE THE RESULT WILL BE DISSAPOINTING
This thesis is dedicated to: My beloved parents My only grand mother My brother And All my friends
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank God for blessing me, especially, in making all this happen, so that I could finally finish my study and the thesis writing. I would also give my big thanks to my family: my parents for supporting me financially, mentally, and spiritually, and my brother for his best supports and inspiring experiences in his life. To all of my cousins, I thank you for your inspirations, and also to my family, especially to om Sito, for supporting my financial need on the field work (KKN) after the earthquake tug at everything my family had, and mbak Eny for giving me supports by her inspiring passion in life.
In the process of completing the thesis, Dr. Novita Dewi, M. S., M. A. (Hons) is my leading lecturer to whom my next big thanks will go. She was giving me advices and guidance, and also checking my terrible thesis formulation, structure and grammar along the thesis writing. My lovely friend, Dini, also helped me much. I would be pleased and thankful to her for giving me the best advices and guidance from her own personal experience. Special thanks also go to Drs. Hirmawan
Wijanarka,
M. Hum., Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd., M. A., and all the lecturers. Thank you all for
teaching me during my study in the whole semesters for four years.Special warm thanks to all my class friends (Abit, Afril, Ketut, Maya, Clara,
Leni, Ryan, Daud, Tyas, Mei, Dewi, Yuni, Agnes, Nani, Sondang, Inop, Ginting, mention) and to my teams: O’life (Ida Ayu, N’du, Ana, Lina, and Amie), the desired people, the play team, Sastra Mungil, the helpful members from TSD, Potluck Party, Jaksa, the Gedongan Wetan team of KKN (Marine, Leli, Oky, Nia, Mega,
Maya, Melia, Adit, and Anggie), Narcist. Inc, the Nite goers (Eko, Mitha, Mina,
Chazzy, Clara, Paul, Bonie, Sandra, Ardi, Sherly and her beloved, Numan, Abah,
Enrico, Fafa, Agung, and all the Embassy-aholics). My unforgettable thanks go to
Vera (Cheche Mar Cheche) my boo for giving and lending her books to me, Nana
for the disks copy-burning and her cameras, Princess for the Psychology books,
Olive for HoeLit books, Mesya for her dictionary, Jatie for the computer building
and setting, Tyas Cherry for my frogie bank, and for those that could not be mentioned. Thanks too to my second family, T-qa, Mesya, Gilang, tante Wieke, and
om Untung. You are all the best things I have ever had.
HartyoWismadi Juliasmono
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………… i APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………………... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE……………………………………………………….. iii MOTOPAGE…………………………………………………………………. iv DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………………... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….. viii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….. x ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………………… xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study…………………………………………..
1 B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………
3 C. Objectives of the Study……………………………………………..
4 D. Definition of Terms………………………………………………..
4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…………………………………… 7 A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………...
7 B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………….
11 1. Theory of American Dream: Rags-to-riches………………..
11 2. Theory of Character………………………………………..
13 3. Theory of Setting…………………………………………..
14
4. Theory of the Intertwinement between Literature and Society
14 5. Theory of Society………………………………………….
15 6. Theory of Psychology……………………………………...
15 a. Psychology on the Social Environment……………...
16 b. Psychology on Socio-Culture………………………..
17 C. Review on the Biographical Background…………………………
18 D. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………
20 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………. 22
22 A. Object of the Study……………………………………………….
23 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………
24 C. Method of the Study……………………………………………...
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………………………………………………… 28
28 A. Rags-to-riches Life: The Depiction………………………………
29 1. The Contrast of the Character’s Life…………………….
47
B. Rags-to-riches Life: The Cause……………………………………
1. Family……………………………………………………... 48
2. Society……………………………………………………. 57
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………. 65 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………….. 69 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………… 72 A. Cover of the Novel…………………………………………………
72 B. Summary of the Novel……………………………………………..
73
ABSTRACT
HARTYO WISMADI JULIASMONO (2007). The Cause of Rags-to-riches Life in
Beverly Linet’s Ladd a Hollywood Tragedy. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.The novel chosen for this thesis is Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy by Beverly Linet (1980), set in the era when Hollywood began its rise of film-making. The time is called the Golden Era of Hollywood. The growth of movie industry has brought an effect to American people and their social values. In this biographical novel, the American social values in early 1930’s were reflected in the main character Alan Walbridge Ladd.
There are two problems to discuss in this thesis. The first problem is the depiction of rags-to-riches as reflected before and after Alan Ladd became an actor in Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy. There are some aspects which depict rags-to-riches life through the main character, such as the contrast of the character’s life, the character’s personality, and the setting. The second problem is to see how the novel shows that the society contributes to Alan Ladd’s tragic life. To answer the second problem, the writer analyzes the novel through psychology on the family and social aspects to show their influences toward the character’s life condition.
This thesis is done through library research. The writer used socio-cultural approach to see if the cultural and social conditions in the novel may reflect the same conditions that happen in reality.
From the study, it can be concluded that the author of this biographical novel shows the depiction of rags-to-riches life in relations between the social economic condition as depicted in the novel and the social condition at the time the author produced the work, and the influence of the society to the character’s life. The true story of the biographical novel bases such criticism to come up. This thesis shows that in order to criticize the modern life, the author brings a specific idea of rags-to- riches as the message to pass on to the readers of the biography.
ABSTRAK
HARTYO WISMADI JULIASMONO (2007). The Cause of Rags-to-riches Life in
Beverly Linet’s Ladd a Hollywood Tragedy. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Novel yang dipilih oleh penulis dalam skripsi adalah Ladd A Hollywood
Tragedy (1980). Novel yang ditulis oleh Beverly Linet dengan penempatan waktu
pada saat Hollywood mengawali keberadaanya dengan perkembangan produksi filem.Masa pada saat itu disebut sebagai Masa Keemasan Hollywood. Perkembangan dari industri perfileman telah memberi pengaruh terhadap masyarakat Amerika dan nilai- nilai sosialnya. Dalam novel biograpi tersebut, nilai-nilai sosial masyarakat Amerika pada kisaran waktu 1930 tersirat pada gambaran tokoh utama Alan Walbridge Ladd.
Ada dua persoalan yang akan dibahas dalam skripsi ini. Persoalan pertama adalah tentang penggambaran rags-to-riches yang ada didalam kehidupan Alan Ladd pada Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy sebelum dan sesudah si tokoh menjadi pemain filem. Ada beberapa aspek yang menggambarkan rags-to-riches lewat pengamatan tokoh utama, seperti perubahan kehidupan dan kepribadian pada tokoh, dan seting. Persoalan kedua adalah mengenai bagaimana novel tersebut mengisyaratkan bahwa lingkungan masyarakat memberi dampak pada kehidupan yang tragis yang dimiliki Alan Ladd. Pada persoalan kedua, penulis menganalisa hal tersebut melalui segi psikologi dari unsur-unsur keluarga dan lingkungan sosial supaya dapat menunjukkan pengaruh-pengaruh kedua unsur tersebut pada kondisi kehidupan si tokoh.
Skripsi ini diuraikan dengan menggunakan penelitian lewat perpustakaan. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosio-kultural untuk mengetahui bagaimana kebudayaan dan kondisi-kondisi sosial yang ada pada masyarakat dalam novel tersebut bisa juga menggambarkan kondisi yang sama yang terjadi pada kenyataan.
Dari penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa si pengarang novel biograpi menunjukkan gambaran dari kehidupan rags-to-riches dalam keterkaitannya antara kondisi sosial-ekonomi didalam novel dengan kondisi pada saat penulis membuat isi novel, dan pengaruh dari lingkungan sosial kepada kehidupan si tokoh. Cerita nyata dari biograpi mendasari munculnya kritik. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa supaya dapat mengkritik kehidupan moderen, si pengarang menyiratkan kemunculan gagasan khusus mengenai pengertian rags-to-riches sebagai pesan bagi pembaca biograpi ini.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Most popular novels or literary works take the issues in daily life as the
bases of inspiration. It is certain that they are written for commercial purpose so that readers can enjoy and become interested in reading them. Issues and criticism on the present social phenomenon are fresh to explore in writing, and it might not only cost more than just a profit, but public interest as well. By this, popular works of literature may also serve as criticism to the real social situation.
Modern era tends to be judged as a materialistic social category, along with the term rags-to-riches where people are mostly obsessed to reach the maximum wealth to fight poverty, especially in western society. Since the twentieth century until today, we live in the era of modernism, where economic aspects, especially finance, take an important role in many aspects of life. Such is the characteristic of materialistic society.
Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy is a novel by Beverly Linet published by
Arbor House in 1979, and later A Berkley Book published it in 1980 in New York. This non-fiction novel is a work which is categorized as modern novel, telling autobiographically about one character’s life named Alan Walbridge
Ladd in confronting his financial problem. The life which is described in the novel is even a way to have the kind of changing positions, from the ordinary life into the extraordinary one. The character is described as one who was born in a poor family. They never have a settled living, in that Alan Ladd thinks the poverty and nomad to be serious problems. An obsession then comes up by a principal to reach the success of fame and wealth. By this, it can be assumed that richness is the passion of the character and it becomes an incredible obsession under the idea of rags-to-riches, until it causes problems.
Rags-to-riches life is a term which is built following the idea of the American Dream. The idea of American dream focuses on the greater social and political aspects of America in creating a better, free, and democratic America. Although the term has been developed since the early time of Victorian era, several arguments, however, judge it as having the differences in concept from what is caught in the earlier time and in recent situation.
People, in order to clarify, might differentiate what is depicted as the former and the new concept of the term American dream, as Victorian-based concept and non-Victorian or modern-based concept. Thus, the changing portion of the definition also indicates the adaptation of the existing idea of the term rags-to- riches as to match and similar with the idea of American Dream.
The point of analyzing and studying this topic is to understand the influence of the term rags-to-riches toward the tragic life of one character and development of the character. The thesis uses Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy as primary data. It represents the cause of Rag-riches life which becomes one phenomenon in world society, especially the western. This study can be used as to see the issue happening in the recent era as giving influence from the author’s work. This study is certainly important in a way to see that what the author provides in the work can reveal the condition of the real society and the issue of the era, in this case, the modern era. Therefore, it is essential to explore of the work as to criticize the real situation.
B. Problem Formulation
As a guide for the writer in referring to the particular elements to discuss, these questions below will direct the writer’s writing on the certain scope of the analysis. They are stated to be the problems, as well as the basic construction of the thesis.
1. How is the idea of rags-to-riches reflected in the life of Alan Ladd before and after he became an actor as shown in Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy?
2. How does the novel show that the society as the part of the rags-to-riches life of Ladd contributes to his tragic life?
C. Objectives of the Study
Studying the topic proves that literature has a relation with the real social condition, related to the time of the author’s work. The social condition reflects the rags-to-riches and tragic life issue in the society, especially the twenty first century western society, in which starting from 1930’s film- making has been indicating the extreme public awareness of rags-to-riches phenomenally.
The objective of the study is to know that the analyzed literary work,
Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy, represents and criticizes the real society. It is a
particular social environment which gives influences to the term rags-to-riches and it is the real society that gives the backdrop of the story in the examined work. Besides, the thesis proves that literature enables the author to criticize the real society.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid any misinterpretations in the title, this thesis will provide some explanation on several important terms mainly used and closely related to the topic. The writer tries to explain them by borrowing mainly from the media, particularly from the internet.
1. Rags-to-riches Rags-to-riches is one terminology which is defined as the process when a person is dealing with a hard and serious economic problem that in some way the person is forced to get revived trying to reach up the betterment of life. In other words, the person has been yearning for the success which is granted to be real. According to the Longman Dictionary of English
Language, it is a situation from being very poor to being very rich (Procter,
1995)
2. Hollywood In a way to see the time that Hollywood is situated in the novel, the
Hollywood in the novel is described in sky-rocketing moment as kind as the Golden Era, where people started to see the dream of becoming a movie stars and it remains challenging to them. The rise of Hollywood had taken a Start with a shining moment, years after its pace in the business of entertainment. During 1930, Hollywood took an honor to name the time as the “Golden era” of Hollywood. This is time when people were at the most competitive moment to hit the time with big chance and full of hope to make the reality among them into the kind of sparkling life in the world of film-making.
By the early 1930s, Hollywood had become well established as a big film goers to escape from the humdrum reality of their daily lives into a world of fantasy. The studio system, which was dominated by a few big film companies, such as MGM, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal, controlled the production of films, their distribution, and their exhibition in the cinemas that the studios owned. Film-making had become a very profitable big business dominated by a small number of Hollywood studios (http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/hollywood.htm).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies On the web site, Metrotimes gives an access to see a comment about the
main character in Beverly Linet’s Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy, Alan Walbridge Ladd. Critics simplify arguments that the rise and fall as the impact of the rags-to-riches of his career proves several aspects to obscure his success under the work of film-making. Racism and discrimination are some of them
The Western is alternately reviled and revered. Most Westerns can be regarded as oaters: moldy, badly acted B movies with noisy cowboy- and-Indian fights, helpless women, more gunfire than Gettysburg and a cocky, cardboard hero galloping off in a dust cloud of self-righteous importance. Cliches were prevalent in Westerns, and so was racism. Insensitive scripts scribbled by Hollywood hacks freely referred to Native Americans as "savages" or "redskins," who ironically were often played by Europeans. Although Ladd often played the part of the rugged hero, he was only 5 feet 3 inches tall. His films with Lake were helped by the fact that she was even shorter than he was. But in other films, directors often had him stand on boxes so he wouldn't look so diminutive. Still, the pint-sized the spian gave a towering performance in what stands as the finest Western ever made (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000042/bio).
The history of American film has put him into the gigantic and the most phenomenal artist. Yet, in fact, it brings him to the situation in which it has not really bestowed him a comfortable life. The journey of his acting results several movies as to lead his career existence.
From the late 1940s to the mid-'50s, the quality of Westerns movies began to grow, including Red River (1948), High Noon (1952), Shane (1953) and The Searchers (1956). The scripts had more touches in the body, and the characters tended to be more depth (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000042/critics). Yet, metrotimes.com also argues about the condition of his career. The film- making may also bring pros and contras to public assumption, thus it also becomes another consequence to the career rise and fall.
In the history, the movie Shane was reached to be a sensational movie. However, Shane existed to make such controversy and criticizes. Among western movies, it was outstandingly different, and it was judged to be the most unromanticized romantic Western ever made (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000042/critics).
After his long role in film-making bringing the success to both the growth of movie production and the position of his career, the movie Shane which was expected to impress the public has brought the declining interest. This situation results the loss of attention and disappointment to the public.
In less sensitive hands, the film could have descended into another
shoot-em-up, sagebrush-variety Western. But under Stevens' understanding direction, Shane assumes a fragility that was completely foreign to the genre (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000042/critics). In brief, the website criticizes the rise and fall of Ladd’s success which can be connected with rags-to-riches life he has, in terms of career process. In other words, after he has reached the top positions of his career, several aspects (the discrimination and public pros and contras) presume to be the cause and impact, thus it results a down fall in the following situation after his rags-to- riches career.
Reviews on websites also relate to the discussion on the way his career in movie production performs both supporting critics and negative views to public. As one of the examples is the comment from the reviewer, Frank Thompson, on a website named Film Reference. He says:
After This Gun for Hire Ladd became more prolific and quite popular, but his range never extended appreciably. Stalwart and manly, he could also be dour; he seldom smiled without irony. Never a personable figure on the screen, Ladd's appeal was that of an icon: serene face, athletic body, piercing eyes, and an overall tough-guy demeanor that was precisely appropriate for the dark side of the 1940s. (http://www.filmreference.com/Actors-and-Actresses-Ke-LeLadd- Alan.html)
Frank Thompson in film reference, for instance, gives an opinion about the character’s contribution in movie production. During the character’s journey in filming some movies, his career which starts from nothing carries him to play in
This Gun of Hire. He, then, could step on to far better position as to gain his
success in acting, so that he also plays a great deal in rags-to-riches of his career.
On Delorenzo’s dugout.com, a part of the review on the character beginnings through his career states the life process of the character by narrating the conditions of his earlier life. It proves that the character has a long-term process to achieve a successful career.
However, Ladd was still a long way away from entering the world of Hollywood film-making. Before becoming an actor, Ladd worked a number of odd jobs including gas station attendant, hot dog vendor, and lifeguard. Starting in the entertainment business, Ladd played small parts in radio shows and local theatre productions. For two years, he also worked as a grip on the Warners lot. Ladd's early film work was mostly minor parts, such as the role of a reporter in Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1914) (http://www.delorenzosdugout.comladd.htm).
It can be seen from the comments above that his rags-to-riches life is defined mostly with the term of his career which has been so long to come up in its process. Reviews from the websites focus only on the details of the character’s career, so that the study, however, limits the discussion, especially toward the elaboration in carrying the idea of rags-to-riches life as the whole.
By considering the tragic life happening toward the novel, the thesis will analyze the work in a way to point out the idea of life in a different kind of perspective, rags-to-riches. By this, it can be a way to see that the author wants to prove such factors in the rags-to-riches life of the character, through the society, to infer from a certain problematic situation that may give impacts to the character’s tragic life. Besides, while most studies deal with the works individually, the writer uses the type of analyzing as a way to find out that Literature is able to show the real life and the descriptive aspect of seeing the main issue that mostly appears in the era, especially in the Hollywood society: The rags-to-riches life. The analysis attempts to look further what is based on the novel, that life in the society at that time makes the people confront the problem in financial aspect and let them to get rid of the problem, thinking of desirable need of using money and buying things.
B. Review of Related Theories
There are some theories that the writer will apply, such as theory on relationship between literature and society and theory on society. These theories will support the analysis of the novel Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy.
1. American Dream
The term American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931.
"The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position" (p.214-215).
The American Dream is built from the society in United States of America, as related with hard work and determination that can lead to a better life, usually through economic success. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to the newer generations. Currently this iconic middle class lifestyle is lived by a sizable minority. The American Dream has been criticized for its emphasis on material possessions as a way of finding happiness. Classes prove to be a dominant phenomenon involving a person’s consideration on the pride and preciousness to exist among the social life or society.
This theory is more likely to mean a phrase that represents all Americans’ thoughts and expectations of what the America would be. The term American Dream has the notion of unlimited freedom. The part of stating “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer or everyone” seems to get along with the idea that Guerin says “creating the second paradise in which people that are poor corrupt and suffering can have the unlimited opportunity of second chance” (Guerin et al, 1999: 186). A dream and willingness of a better place may cause stimulation for people to seek the determination to be free. The history proves that the freedom in America has undergone many changes as Americans were and are fighting in the battle for freedom. It is not only in a boundary of the historically physical war, but it also rings more complex issue in the personal, economic, and political freedoms.
Rags-to-riches life is one term that can be categorized as one element found in the American dream, in that, later, the theory will be prominent in maintaining the analysis. Rags-to-riches is the term in which a person is dealing with a hard and serious economic problem that in some way the person is forced to get revived trying to reach up the most betterment, so that moreover the situation where the person has been yearning for the successfulness is somehow granted to be real. Then, the person is considered to have the preciousness of American Dream.
2. Character
According to Murphy, there are four ways of analyzing and finding the understanding of character, since character helps the readers to interpret and catch the point in reading of the literary works. He states in his Understanding
Unseen that some indications can be proved to help understanding character.
It is based on the four concepts he has built. Those are: a. Personal description: physical appearance, dressing, attitude, etc.
b. Character as seen by another: the description among the eyes and opinions of others.
d. Reaction: to certain events or situations (Murphy, 1972: 161-170).
3. Setting
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams says that the whole setting of a narrative work includes general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs (Abrams, 1981: 192). Usually the background of the character concerns with the setting of time and place in which the character lives, so that it may construct a great personalities, actions, and way of thinking (Murphy, 1972:141).
4. Intertwinement between Literature and Society.
Literature can be defined as the imitation of the real life and it represents the reality to be happening in the literary work with both relational existences.
Author may imitate the society in his/her work, in that it involves the constructions of plot, theme, conflict, issue, setting, character, and many other aspects of literature.
Wellek and Warren support the idea about the relations between literature and the society. Since it has the connection with the real life, literature might bring the contributions of many aspects in the reality, such as economy, politic, and social ideology that influence the author’s condition and experience. Therefore, the society in the literature contains its own problem, which is similar with the phenomenon in the reality (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 95).
5. On Society
Society creates culture and gives influence on the members of the society. It is able to be learned or imitated by others. One and the most of things that builds the kind of ambition or even ambitiousness on achieving the materialistic idea and richness in the life of the society is the reference from one group of the society to the other group(s).
Schifman and Kanuk state that in contemporary societies, the existence of social classes can be identified by seeing the common reality which shows that people who are more in reaching richness or have more prestigious occupations are often more highly valued than those who are under that position. In other words, the more we afford wealth the better people appreciate and give respect on us (Schifman and Kanuk, 1978: 407).
6. On Psychology
This theory consists of several categories, which are considered to be related to the content of the analysis, so that they might support and perform such portraits in visualizing a verified and completed analysis.
Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of the mind, brain, and behavior, both human and nonhuman. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology concerns more in seeking to capture explanatory generalizations about the mental function and overt behavior of individuals (http: //www. wikepedia. org /wiki /psychology#
principles_of_psychology)wiki/psychology#principles_of_psychology).
In practice, however, there is quite a lot of cross-fertilization that takes place among the various fields. Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior, and of the overall processes of a system, and it does not simply the biological or neural processes themselves, though the subfield of neuropsychology combines the study of the actual neural processes with the study of the mental effects they have subjectively produced .
As Psychology is related to the influence of environments or society, below are the reviews of psychology and their relations.
a. Psychology and Social Environment As psychological element appears and starts to grow in the very beginning process of human grow, it can be seen that a child sensitively reacts on the conditions of the family and the environment (social). According to DR Kartini’s Hygiene Mental, a family tends to be the closest and the most effecting position in which it must construct the very essential foundation for and the personality. This forming through the development creates a permanent mark on the memory that the child has in mind, so that either good or bad, it will result an impact through the child’s development in reaching up the grown up situation (DR Kartini Kartono, 2000: 166-167).
b. Psychology and Socio-Culture According to Dr. A Supratiknya, based on the theory of abnormality, socio-cultural background can also bring effects on developing the psychological condition. The objectivity of the social environment carries out the concepts of making judgments, which are objective and less objective. The way people judge something, in less objective way of thinking, tend to be damaging. Sometimes they confront the loss of moral indication by making the gaps or discriminations through social status, race, and priority. This stressor is able to infect the attitudes of a person toward the social life into the changing condition, along with psychological problems that follow (Supratiknya, 1995: 21).
Another theory that can also be applied in this analysis is the term ‘psychoneuroses’. This term elaborates the tendency of psychological condition in which there is a possibility that the reactions of anxiety, compulsion, obsession, and phobia are able to come up in one condition as psychological problems. This theory explains about the complexity of this kind of psychological problem, in which the characteristic of a person is changed into having the attitudes of feeling obsessive and insecure, caused by the repression on the traumatic experiences of the previous moments. This kind of problem is also followed by the condition of feeling guilty and sinful of having the traumatic and unforgettable memory ( Supratiknya, 1995: 18).
C. Review on Biographical Novel
The biographical novel becomes one of the results of the development of the genre. At the first time, novel is considered as only a fictional prose, but hen novel can be categorized also as non-fictional prose. Baldick in his book
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines novel as an
extended fictional prose narrative, although some novels are very short, some others are non-fictional, some others have been written in verse, and the others do not even tell a story (1996: 151). Baldick also adds that novel has frequently incorporated the structures and language of non-fictional prose forms, such as history an autobiography, even sometimes the non-fictional element outweighs the fictional (1996: 152). Therefore, novel can be fictional and non-fictional.
As a non-fictional novel, Stone says that biographical novel is based not merely on fact, but on feeling, the legitimate emotion. Facts can get lost with almost too great facility, but and emotional experience, once lived, can never be forgotten. (http: //ecplio. net/ megafile/ msa/ speccol/ sc5300/ sc5339/ 000060/000000/000001/restricted/ecp-10-240/stone01.html accessed on 21 September 2006). Therefore, biographical novel cannot be separated from emotional experience. Emotional experience in a biographical novel will bring the readers to feel it like own.
Further more, Stone explains: Alexander Pope said that the proper study of mankind is man, the biographical novel accepts that challenge and sets out document its truth, for character is plot; character development is action; and character fulfillment is resolution (http: //ecplio. net/ megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000060/000000/000001/restricted/ecp- 10-240/stone01.html accessed on 21 September 2006). From this statement, the writer can understand that biographical novel has plot, action, and resolution like fictional novel. Then, the biographical novel must emerge naturally and organically from the conflicts of man against himself, man against man, or man against fate. Beside based on fact, the biographical novel must also have the novel’s requirements especially emotional feeling.
Therefore, Ladd A Hollywood Tragedy is a biographical novel, because, instead of based on the true story of Alan Ladd’s life before he died, it also has the novel’s requirements, such as character, plot, conflict, and setting.
D. Theoretical Framework
There are several elements which will be necessarily viewed in the analysis of the novel. The writer will use some concepts of theories, such as Rags-to-riches in American Dream, setting, society, and character, Psychology, and social influence in the following. The theories will also be used along with the answering of the analysis based on the problem formulations.
As based on the two problem formulations, the discussion will be divided in two parts. The first part of the analysis will include the depiction of the life of the character as being related to rags-to-riches, the character’s personality, and the setting in both different situations where the character lives. The second part will involve the description on the character in a way to show the interpersonal problems. The psychological aspect is involved through the family and the society aspects, and it is combined with their influences toward the character’s life condition.
The implication of the relations between the main theory and other aspects, such as social and culture is considered to be necessarily used in describing the condition of one personal development among the environments. It then gives the understanding that the writer can prove the cause of the rags-to-riches life, as the main aspect of personal or internal background, to be involved along with the external situation, in this case is the character’s society. Therefore, instead of using the focus on inter determination of one personality, social condition is also following ahead in taking the contribution to fulfill a continuity of both aspects.
The relation of the rags-to-riches life and the modern society can also be reviewed, in that it gives the way to convince an understanding on the problems: the obsession of being rich and the cause of rags-to-riches in the modern society, so that the writer might be able to prove that the problems are indeed really happening, especially during a certain era (the golden age of the Hollywood society).
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of the study is one novel written in the era of the early Hollywood film production and film making. Ladd a Hollywood Tragedy is a
novel by Beverly Linet published by Arbor House in 1979, and later A Berkley Book published it in 1980 in New York. This novel tells about the life process of a man through certain social life and family conditions, especially in the era where people tend to have an obsession in reaching up fame and an involvement on the film growing.
Ladd a Hollywood Tragedy is an American novel taking Arkansas,
California, and New York as the main settings in which the two different lives of the main character are contrasting. The setting of time takes long-term set of story during 1913 up to 1950’s. The main character is Alan Walbridge Ladd, the main character that the author describes along with a sort of story in the process of life, born in such poor family. He passes his childhood with his family in financial great depression and socially isolated. The family survives without any help from other people. When Ladd is already being a superstar, he has starred some movies, soon after having a contract with the Lux Radio Station, as a radio actor. Ladd has far better life with Sue, after he and Midge, his former wife, decides to divorce. They have their own beautiful house, another baby, named Alana, and Ladd is definitely a millionaire.
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis consists of a study on a non-fiction novel. In the thesis, the writer uses the contrast of the past life and the life in the following situation and how the character faces such contrast life through condition of the society at that time. Therefore, the use of socio-cultural approach takes the main control of the analysis on the thesis, following the theory of rags-to-riches life. In Rohrberger’s Reading and Writing About Literature, Socio-cultural is proposed as she argues that the most suitable way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that is producing it. She also defines civilization as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and points out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter (Rohrberger, 1971: 9). It will be hard to understand a novel without an awareness of the culture in which a story is set. The importance of the approach is to see the contrast of the rags-to-riches life that the main character has been confronting, as well as to see the problems which distract the mental condition through the whole of his life, until the main character ends up his life tragically. Therefore, the socio-cultural approach is applicable in order to elaborate the connection between the social condition, built in the novel, and the social condition of the time the authors produced the