KABUO MIYAMOTO’S INTROVERT PERSONALITY IN DAVID GUTERSON’S SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
KABUO MIYAMOTO’S INTROVERT PERSONALITY
IN DAVID GUTERSON’S SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
IKA WIDHYASTI
Student Number: 034214009
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2007
T rust in the L ord with all your heart
Put all your faith in H is power
And you can rest in confidence
Even through your darkest hour
L ean not on your own understanding
T heres so much you can t know
Only God is able to see
T he way your life should go
Acknowledge H im in everything
Put God first in all you do
Proudly lift H is banner high
L et others see God through you
And H e shall direct your path
W hen in confusion you roam
J ust call upon God s guidance
H ell lead you safely home
(T aken from A Proverb )
T his undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
M y L ord, J esus Christ in the kingdom of heaven
M y beloved parents M y little brother and my angelsM y soul mate
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to God, finally I could finish this thesis. First of all, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ who has accompanied me in time of difficulty. He has been there to protect me, when I have no strength to do anything.
Second, I would like to thank my advisor, Dra. Theresia Enny
Anggraini, M.A. who has guided and helped me during this thesis writing
process. I would like you to know that every time I meet you in the common room, I always get new spirits indirectly. I would like also to thank my co- advisor, G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. for checking this thesis and giving me his suggestion.
My deepest gratitude also goes to my beloved parents, Bapak Policarpus
Sutowo Hadi and Ibu Nur Isnaini. Thank you for trusting and supporting me
during my study at Sanata Dharma University. Thank you for your love, prayer, and patience that have been given to me. I’m sorry mom, for being such a naughty daughter.
Thanks to Eyang Putri for her prayer, and to my ‘big’ little brother, Qcoz, who has become a friend in quarreling. Thanks also to my little angels, Deo
Rabbani and Kagendra Padha Rahagi who have colored my life. I also dedicate
my gratitude to Bapak Agus Haryanto family for their love, support, and guidance.
My special thanks are for Supri and Tyas who always support me when I am in desperation. Thanks girls, for this beautiful friendship. Thanks also to
Yayac, Vallone, Renziee, Frieda, Ajeng, Ella, Hanna and English Letters
students of 2003. My appreciation also goes to all the staff in English Letters
Department and staff in the library for helping me so much.
I give my profound thanks to Mba Ari who has never been tired to protect me. Thanks also to Mba Ayu and Mas Deny for allowing me to finish this thesis at midnight in their house. For Gigi Besi who has lent me her personality books. I thank my sisters, Mba Mita, Mba Sari, Aic, and Wahyu, for every craziness we have had in the boarding house.
Thank you so much for the big family of Cantus Firmus Choir, especially Syarikem, Rosalinda, and Mas Mbong for every beautiful song we have sung together. I thank Mas Ical for the meaningful short time I have had with him. Thank you for sharing many things with me. My special thanks also go to Cumi-Cumi who has encouraged and supported me. Thanks also to THEM who have made me stronger by giving tears and pain.
Finally, I would like to thank Gayuh Prastomo for laughing and crying with me. Thanks for being a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold on. I can pass this because I have you.
Ika Widhyasti.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................ iAPPROVAL PAGE .................................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................ iii
MOTTO PAGE ......................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE .............................................................................. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. ix
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................. x
17 C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………… 19
53 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …............................................................ 63
39 C. The Dominant Aspect of Psychological Factor that Influences Kabuo Miyamoto’s Introvert Personality ………………………
24 B. The Introvert Personality of Kabuo Miyamoto …………………
21 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………. 24 A. Characterization of Kabuo Miyamoto .........................................
21 C. Method of the Study .....................................................................
20 B. Approach of the Study .................................................................
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………. 20
A. Object of the Study .......................................................................13 4. Theory of Introversion ..........................................................
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study .............................................................2. Theory on the Relation between Psychology and Literature 12 3. Theory of Personality ............................................................
8
8 1. Theory on Character and Characterization ........................
6 B. Review of Related Theories.........................................................
5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................... 6 A. Review of Related Studies ...........................................................
4 D. Definition of Terms ......................................................................
1 B. Problem Formulation ................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................
BIBLIOGRAPHY ….................................................................................. 67
APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………. 69
ABSTRACT
IKA WIDHYASTI. Kabuo Miyamoto’s Introvert Personality as the Result of
His Past Experiences in David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2007.Human personality is different from one another. It can be influenced by several psychological aspects such as environment, heredity and past experiences. These aspects can also bring a great effect towards someone’s personality. These aspects may influence someone’s behavior, speech, and reaction towards some situation. Related to the statement above, this analysis will be focused on a character’s introvert personality that is influenced by his environment. This environmental influence has happened to him in the past time, and brought a long lasting effect towards his personality.
The objective of this study is to answer three main problems. First, this study tries to find the description of Kabuo Miyamoto, the main character in the novel. Second, this study tries to identify his introvert personality. Third, this study tries to identify the dominant aspect of psychological factor that influences his introvert personality.
This study applies a psychological approach since it analyzes the introvert personality of the character Kabuo Miyamoto and the dominant aspect of psychological factor that influences his introvert personality. Further, this approach emphasizes on the psychological aspect of the character as an individual. This study also applies a library research in gathering information and analyzing the problems.
The analysis result shows that environment definitely influences Kabuo Miyamoto’s personality. In this case, the environmental influence happening to him in the past time has become traumatic experiences for him. Later on, these traumatic experiences bring long lasting effect towards his personality. Kabuo’s personality can be categorized as introvert personality since there are some characteristics of introvert that can be found in Kabuo Miyamoto. Further, this introvert personality can be seen through his gesture, manner, way of thinking, etc. In this case, Kabuo’s introvert personality is affected by environmental influences happening to him in his past time.
ABSTRAK
IKA WIDHYASTI. Kabuo Miyamoto’s Introvert Personality as the Result of
His Past Experiences in David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2007.Kepribadian manusia berbeda satu sama lain. Ini dapat dipengaruhi oleh beberapa aspek psikologis seperti lingkungan, keturunan, dan pengalaman- pengalaman masa lalu. Aspek-aspek ini juga dapat membawa pengaruh yang besar pada kepribadian seseorang. Aspek-aspek ini dapat mempengaruhi perilaku, cara berbicara, dan reaksi seseorang terhadap suatu keadaan. Berkaitan dengan pernyataan di atas, analisis ini akan dititikberatkan pada kepribadian tertutup seorang tokoh cerita yang dipengaruhi oleh lingkungan di sekitarnya. Pengaruh lingkungan ini terjadi di masa lalunya, dan sudah memberi pengaruh berkepanjangan terhadap kepribadiannya.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini mencoba untuk menggambarkan Kabuo Miyamoto, tokoh utama dalam novel. Kedua, studi ini mencoba untuk mengidentifikasi kepribadian tertutup tokoh cerita tersebut. Ketiga, studi ini mencoba untuk mengidentifikasi aspek terpenting dari faktor psikologis yang mempengaruhi kepribadian tertutupnya.
Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan psikologis karena menganalisa kepribadian tertutup Kabuo Miyamoto dan aspek terpenting dari faktor psikologis yang mempengaruhi kepribadian tertutupnya. Terlebih lagi, pendekatan ini menekankan pada aspek psikologis dari tokoh cerita sebagai seorang individu. Studi ini juga menggunakan penelitian perpustakaan dalam mengumpulkan informasi dan menganalisa permasalahan-permasalahan yang ada.
Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa lingkungan sungguh-sungguh mempengaruhi kepribadian Kabuo Miyamoto. Dalam hal ini, pengaruh lingkungan yang terjadi di masa lalu sudah menjadi pengalaman-pengalaman traumatis bagi Kabuo. Pengalaman-pengalaman traumatis ini kemudian membawa pengaruh yang berkepanjangan terhadap kepribadiannya. Kepribadian Kabuo dapat dikategorikan sebagai kepribadian yang tertutup karena ada beberapa ciri dari kepribadian tertutup yang dapat ditemukan pada Kabuo Miyamoto. Terlebih lagi, kepribadian tertutup Kabuo Miyamoto ini dapat dilihat dari bahasa tubuhnya, tingkah laku, cara berpikir, dan lain-lain. Dalam hal ini, kepribadian tertutup Kabuo dipengaruhi oleh pengaruh-pengaruh lingkungan yang terjadi di masa lalunya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature has become a part of human life. According to Hudson in his
book An Introduction to the Study of Literature (1960: 10), literature is expression of life through medium of language. Literature presents some aspects of human life such as history, social, moral, psychology, and many more. That is one of the reasons why people like reading literature. By reading literature, we can get a lot of experiences of life, we can have deeper understanding about something that we have never seen before. We may learn new things in order to enrich our life experience. Moreover, we can learn to understand the variety of human personality through the characters in literary works.
Talking about human personality, there is nobody in this world who shares the same personality. Each person has his or her own personality, and it will be different from one another. This situation also happens in literary works. An author will not create characters that have the same personality, but he will make the characters have their own uniqueness. It is because the diversity of characters’ personality can enrich and build the tension of the story.
In literary works, character, as one of the intrinsic elements, takes an important role. Characters can build the readers’ emotion so that the readers will be interested to read the whole story. Characters will be described differently. They will also have different personality and different problems or conflicts that
2 personality in the novel may be shaped by several psychological aspects such as early experiences, family, and environment. Further, those psychological aspects can also influence the personality development of characters in the novel. It is because those aspects might bring any kind of effect towards the characters’ personality.
Based on the statement above, the writer will try to analyze David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars. It is because in Snow Falling on Cedars, there is a Japanese American character that has a unique personality. This unique character of Kabuo Miyamoto can build the readers’ emotion. The way he reacts to his problems shows his personality directly, and his personality creates a quite complicated problem in the story. Besides, through this story David Guterson seems to show a “bad-side” of American society in the World War II era where they treat the Japanese Americans unjustly.
Snow Falling on Cedars, written by David Guterson in United States since
1984 until 1994, takes place in 1954 in Amity Harbor, a town in San Piedro Island, where Americans and Japanese Americans live as salmon fishermen and strawberry farmers. In this story, Guterson shows the reader about the conflict happening to those two races.
The story is started when Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American character, is accused as Carl Heine’s murderer. At that time, hatred and prejudice towards Japanese Americans still remain. So, considering a complicated land problem between Kabuo Miyamoto and Carl Heine, people start blaming Kabuo as the murderer. Moreover, no one in Amity Harbor believes in him. During the story, Guterson tries to show the fact that the trial is still driven by hatred and prejudice towards Japanese Americans.
In this novel, Guterson describes Kabuo Miyamoto as a unique person. Kabuo is a Japanese American character who has faced a lot of experience in his life. One of his experiences is being a soldier who fights for America in World War II, though he himself is Japanese. This experience takes an important role in shaping his personality, and also brings a great effect towards his personality.
Even though the war is over, he still faces an unjust situation. He is not accepted as a good American citizen, everyone still has prejudice on him, and hatred remains between them. On Japanese Americans, The Evolution of a Subculture, Harry H. L. Kitano quotes the writing of V. McClatchy, publisher of the Sacramento Bee:
The Japanese cannot, may not, and will not provide desirable material for our citizenship. 1. The Japanese cannot assimilate and make good citizens because of their racial characteristics, heredity and religion. 2. The Japanese may not assimilate and make good citizens because their government claims all Japanese, no matter where born, as its citizens. 3. The Japanese will not assimilate and make good citizens. In the mass, when opportunity offered, and even born here, they have shown no disposition to do so… There can be no effective assimilation of the Japanese without intermarriage. It is perhaps not desirable for the good of either race that here should be intermarriage between whites and Japanese… They cannot be transmuted into good American citizens (1976: 188).
Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality, influenced by environment in his past experiences, has made him as a victim in that unfair accusation. He has told the audience about the real story in the night Carl Heine dies, but every evidence still leads him as the murderer. The story becomes more interesting when Kabuo
3
4 accusation even though he knows that he kills nobody. As the right person, he gives a strange reaction to that problem. This strange reaction shows clearly that he is an introvert person.
By reading this novel, the reader may learn that many things around us can influence someone’s personality. The reader may know that the environmental influences in the past time can be a traumatic past experiences that affect our personality. The reader can also understand that someone’s personality might be seen through the way a person reacts to some situations, his gesture, thought, manner, etc.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Kabuo Miyamoto characterized in the novel?
2. How is Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality described in the novel?
3. What dominant aspect of psychological factor influences Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality?
C. Objectives of the Study
Based on the problems formulation above, there are three objectives of this study. The first is to find out the characterization of Kabuo Miyamoto, one of the main characters in the novel. The second is to analyze Kabuo’s introvert personality. Finally, this study will identify the dominant aspect of psychological factor that influences his introvert personality.
5 D. Definition of Terms
1. Introvert
According to Encyclopedia of Psychology, introvert is an attitude where people hide their minds and emotions. The introverts tend to spend their time alone or in contemplation, and they may avoid social situations (1994: 288).
2. Personality
According to International Encyclopedia of Psychology, personality is defined as the unique combination of thought, feelings, and behavior that make individual distinct from others (1996: 1228).
According to Hjelle and Ziegler in Personality Theories, personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of the psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic, behavior, and thought.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Shauna L. Benforfd says that the novel is about discrimination towards Japanese American in the small community of the coast of Washington. According to her, in this story Guterson combines the courtroom drama, mystery,
romance and gripping war story. Further, she adds that Guterson also gives great details of the characters in the story through flashback, and new atmosphere to attain the tension of the story. However, the most convincing part of the story for her is about the romantic sub-plot, especially the love affair between a white boy and a Japanese girl, which is described through flashback. (http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=340).
A review from MC45 states that Snow Falling on Cedars is a story that shows the situation when Japanese immigrated to the Pacific. It is also about the WW II where American military (including Japanese-descended volunteers and draftees) fought against Japan. Because of the war, the US Government imprisoned its Japanese-descended population. Guterson tries to make an honest story so that he writes about discrimination between Americans and Japanese in this story, a real situation when WW II was broken. Further, this review adds that Guterson also wants to show the bad side of Americans through their way treating the Japanese.
(http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/bookstore/books/fiction/guterson.html).
7 Zwetcillya (2004), in her undergraduate thesis, analyzes the racial prejudice toward the Japanese American descendant in Guterson’s Snow Falling
on Cedars. According to her, racial prejudice in the United States after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1940’s has given a great impact toward the Japanese Americans. After the bombing, Japanese Americans have to face different treatment from others. Further, she says that the conflict in that society can arise because both sides are blaming each other. In her study, Zwetcillya discusses two main problems. First is a character’s representation as a whole unity that causes conflicts based on racial prejudice. Second is the racial prejudice itself as a representation of the society in the United States.
Another study is done by Prihantini Theresia (2005). She states that her undergraduate thesis is focused on the role of values and perspective that belong to two Japanese American characters in rising their conflicts. The two Japanese Americans are Kabuo Miyamoto and Hatsue Miyamoto. Moreover, Prihantini tries to show the role of values and perspective of these two characters in helping them to deal with their conflicts. According to her, Snow Falling on Cedars is a novel that is rich in social phenomena and detailed description of nature and people.
This study will not have deeper analysis on the love that occurs in the novel or on the political aspect behind the story, but more on the unique character of a Japanese American, Kabuo Miyamoto. In this novel, Kabuo Miyamoto becomes an introvert person after facing several events in his life that are related to his environment. According to the theories of personality, someone’s
8 Considering this fact, this study will explore the environmental influences faced by Kabuo Miyamoto in his past time that affect his introvert personality. This study will reveal things that take the biggest contribution in shaping Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality. Meanwhile, the mysterious murder in this story will be taken just as a mediator to describe Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality. In this study, the writer tries to show that environmental influences in Kabuo’s past time have become traumatic experiences that affect Kabuo’s personality. This study will be different from the other studies because the writer will not only analyze the description of Kabuo Miyamoto, but also his introvert personality and the influences of environment, seen in Kabuo Miyamoto’s past experiences, towards his personality.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981: 20-21) states: Characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue
- – and what they do – in action. The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and moral nature for their speech and actions are called their motivation (1985: 23). Little in his book Approach of Literature, states that there are three steps to study a character (1981: 93). First is from a person’s basic characteristics. These can be seen from the physical condition of the character including a person’s age, the social relationship that means the personal relationship with
9 other characters, and the mental qualities, which is the typical ways of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Second is from a person’s appearance from various points of view. These include how the character sees himself, how various other characters see him, and how a person develops or fails to develop during the course of the story.
Third is from a person’s place in the works. It means the treatment of the author (sketched or fully rounded, a portrayed descriptively or dramatically, treated sympathetically or unsympathetically), a person’s place in the story (a leading character or minor one), and a person’s relationship to theme.
Murphy in his book Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English
Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Students (1972, 161-173) states some of
the important devices of characterization:
a. Personal description The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothing. He can describe clearly what the characters are like and tell the reader the details of the character’s appearance: the face, skin, eyes, and clothing.
b. Characters as seen by others The author describes the character’s appearance or personality by letting other characters in the story tell what they see about this character.
c. Speech The author can give the readers an insight into the character of one of the person in the story through what the person says. Whenever the person speaks, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving the readers some clues to
10
d. Past life The author shows a person’s character by revealing the person’s past life. It can be done by direct comment from the author, through the person’s conversation, and trough the medium of other person.
e. Conversation of others The author can also give the readers clues about a person’s character through the conversation, either by other people or by the things they say about him.
f. Reactions The author gives the clues by letting the readers know how the characters in the story react to various situations. Using this kind of characterization, the readers may expect to find the quality of the characters in dealing with those various situations.
g. Direct comment Usually the author gives his comment and opinion explicitly towards his characters in the story.
h. Thoughts The author may give the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. Here, he can tell the readers what different people are thinking. i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerisms or habits both positive and negative one, which may also tell the readers something about his character.
Richard M. Eastman in A Guide to the Novel states that “a novelist is expected to show people as they are” (1965: 17). He claims that the humanity and
11 Eastman also divides the theory on characterization into three elements, which are the selective development, the moral stature, and the psychology.
Selective development refers to the way the author describes the characters. It is done through the term “flatness” and “roundness”. The flatness of character intends for portraying a character when he is more a type than an individual (Eastman, 1965:17). The flat character is not likely to engage in inner conflicts, he is unlikely to change, he is static, and his responses are predictable. A round character acquires his own traits that define him as a person. “Because he is in tension, he is also dynamic; capable of new kinds of behavior under new strains (Eastman, 1965:18). The roundness of the characters aims to gain the readers sympathy because they illustrate the uncertainty, the sufferings, and the needs they face.
Moral stature is the element within the characters that involve the readers’ attentions. The goodness and badness of the characters are measured by the readers through popular morality as a reference (Eastman, 1965:20). It depends on the tendency towards such virtues and vices and the powers or the properties that the characters can bring to bear in doing good or evil.
Psychology is the last element to analyze. A character must be described “to have a mental life from which his choices are generated in some connected way. The traits of the character’s mental life have much to do with his vitality and authenticity, and it affects the reader’s engagement with him (Eastman, 1965:23). In analyzing the character’s mental life, the precise questions to rise refer to the main desires or traits that move him and the opposing traits that put him under
12 In this study, the writer will combine the theories of character by Little, Eastman, and Murphy to analyze one of the main characters, Kabuo Miyamoto.
2. Theory on the Relation between Psychology and Literature
Rene Wellek and Austin Waren in their book Theory of Literature define the psychology of literature as “the psychological study of the writer as a type of individual, or the study of the psychological types and laws presented within works of literature, or finally, the effects of literature upon its readers (audience psychology)” (1956: 81). Moreover, they state that psychology can enlighten the creative process of a work of literature. Characters in novels and plays are judged to be ‘psychologically’ true. It means that the characters need to be depicted as real creatures that have real personalities.
Recognizing that there is a close relation between literature and psychology, Kalish in The Psychology of Human Behavior implies that “literature holds the mirror up to the man” (1973: 8). A good writer or novelist can communicate the feeling of their characters and make them seem more life-like than the real people whose behavior the psychologist attempts to describe. The writer can use the understanding provided by the psychologist to enrich stories, and psychologist can gain their understanding of human behavior by drawing from the deep sensitivity of good author (1973: 8).
As the relationship between literature and psychology is closely established, it can be said that the analysis of literary works may reflect certain psychological factors. The close relationship between literature and psychology
13 have the psychological side. This study will explore one of the psychological subjects, which is introvert personality.
3. Theory of Personality
According to Hall and Lindzey in Theories of Personality, an adequate understanding of human behaviors will develop from the study of the whole person. They state that an individual personality can be assessed by the effectiveness with which he is able to conduct positive reaction from variety of person under different circumstances. These statements assure us that personality may be comprehended by examining an individual’s behavior (1957: 6). Cole in
Psychology of Adolescence states that personality is not fixed by heredity.
Sometimes, it is supported and warped by environmental pressures. It is also quickly affected by illness, decease, or unusual emotional strain (1956: 156).
According to Ruch in Psychology and Life, through a process called repression, a person can eliminate conscious awareness of both the stimuli and the responses in emotion if they cause him psychological pain. He also adds that people’s external behavior, and even their internal psychological responses, are often influenced by emotions of which they themselves are entirely unaware (1948: 163).
Hurlock in Personality Development states that human life consists of two aspects, which are individual and social aspects. For the individual aspects, it is concerned with physical changes and human’s personality development. Human’s personality development itself is influenced by two factors. First is human’s early
14 home (1974: 19-20). Meanwhile, according to Horton and Hunt in their book
Sociology , personality development can be influenced by some factors. These
factors are heredity, physical environment, and culture (1987: 114). Heredity is an inherent factor from our parents. Physical environment is the environment around us such as our parents, friends, and other people. Meanwhile, culture in society presents some experiences that are experienced by the people in the society.
According to Allport in Hurlock’s Personality Development, personality development is a stage in growth of constantly changing and involving process within an individual (1974: 7). This process will influence one’s self concept, habits, attitudes, emotion states, sentiments, and motives. Moreover, Allport explains that personality development will determine his or her uniqueness in speech, in reaction to people and things, in mannerism, in fantasy, and in other ways related to his or her environment (1970: 165).
Allport in his book Pattern and Growth in Personality states that from all determinants that possible to determine a person’s personality, environments seem to take the biggest contribution. Environments give more complex contributions to one’s personality. Therefore, Allport acquires the situation and the role as the determinant factors to determine a person personality. Each factor has its own contribution in forming one’s personality (1970: 165).
Pervin and John in Personality Theory and Research mention some environmental determinants that can influence one’s personality. First is culture.
Someone’s experiences in a particular culture are significant environmental determinant. By having these experiences, someone will have a certain personality
15 existence. For examples, it influences the way we define our needs, our experiences of different emotions, the way we express what we are feeling, also our relationship with others and with ourselves (1997: 11).
Second is social class. Social classes, whether lower class or upper class, working class or professional, also has an important role in shaping our personality. Social class factors help people to determine their own status, the roles they perform, the duties they are bound to, and the privileges they enjoy.
These factors influence how individuals see themselves and how they recognize members of other social classes. The same as cultural factors, social class factors also influence the way people define situations and the way they respond to them (1997: 11).
Next is family. One of the most important environmental factors is the influence of the family. Parents may be warm and loving or hostile and rejecting, overprotective and possessive or aware of their children’s need for freedom and autonomy. Parents may also influence their children’s behavior through three ways; through their own behavior, they serve as role models for identification, and they selectively reward behavior (1997: 12).
The last environmental determinant will be peer environment. Sometimes we find that people from the same family have different personality. It is because they have different experiences outside the home. People learn many things at home, but these influences are specific to the home environment, and often fade in the face of peer group influences. Peer group leads someone to accept new rules or behavior and provides for experiences that will have lasting influences on
16 Another aspect that also has an important role in shaping someone’s personality is past experiences. Freud in Pervin and John’s Personality Theory
and Research states that one’s early events in life are important for his later
personality development (1997: 104). Usually, experience that can influence someone’s personality is the traumatic one, such as being a victim of sexual abuse or facing a horrible event like world war. Variety of traumatic experiences may leave their impressions on a child’s future development.
However, a dramatic experience such as being left by parents can also influence one’s personality (1997: 105). People might find that the effects of traumatic experiences are different from one another. It is because those effects depend on personal characteristic. However, the role of early experiences might also depend on the intensity of particular experiences, their duration, and the level to which contradictory experiences occurred earlier and later (1997:107).
Not only influencing one’s personality, past experiences are also influencing someone’s behavior. One’s present behavior can be influenced by experiences in the remote past or the recent past, and those experiences might have long lasting effects in shaping one’s personality. Roger in the same book says that the healthy person can assimilate experiences into the self-structure. In the healthy person, there is equivalence between self and experience, an openness to experience, and a lack of defensiveness.
In this study, the writer will use these theories of personality to make sure that Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality is influenced by his environment that can be seen through his past experiences.
17
4. Theory of Introversion
Jung in Mounier’s The Character of Man states that the introvert is characterized by the predominance of person’s subjective life. While Lefrancq- Brunfaunt in the same book, describe that the primary introvert, instead of exteriorizing his emotion, keeps it captive, chews it over, recapitulates and savors it, differentiates and augments it on the spot, without showing any outward sign, at any rate for the moment (1956: 91).
The introvert tends to be hesitant, quiet, reserved, reflective and meditative in character, and does not easily betray himself. The introvert’s timidity and hesitation make adjustment to the external world difficult. An introvert person has little self-confidence so that he is irresolute in action. He lacks common sense and fails to achieve his purpose.
An introvert gestures are often angular and staccato. He also likes to be secret and isolated. His coldness is sometimes offensive, although he can show to intimate friends a warmth that is sometimes passionate (1956: 91). The introvert speech is turned inwards, for he is in fact uninterested to whether one listens to him or not. Without expression, inactive, stilted, the introvert is only too much inclined to withdraw into his shell. Introvert tends to wrap himself in a silence (1956: 95).
According to Jill D. Burrus and Liza Kaenzig in The Often Forgotten
Factor Impacting the Gifted , introversion is not a pathological condition; it is not
an abnormal response to the world. It is simply a personality trait found in a small percentage of the total population. These are some characteristics of introverts:
18
b. Become drained around large groups of people
c. Need time alone to recharge (get agitated and irritated without enough time alone) d. Prefer to work on own rather than do group work, happy to be alone
e. Do not share private thoughts with just anyone, think carefully before speaking f. Form a few deep attachments
g. See reflection as very important thing, concentrate well and deeply
h. Become absorbed in thoughts and ideas i. Limit their interests but explore deeply j. Communicate best one-on-one (http://cfge.wm.edu/documents/Introversion.html).
There are four functions of introversion based on Jung’s theory in Feist and Feist’s Theories of Personality. First is logical intellectual activity that produces a chain of ideas, called thinking. Introverted thinking people react to external stimuli, but their interpretation of an event is colored more by the internal meaning they bring with them than by the objective facts themselves (2006: 118).
Second is feeling, which is used to describe the process of evaluating an idea or event. Introverted feeling people tend to base their value judgments primarily on subjective perceptions rather than objective facts. This kind of people has an individualized conscience, and their complete indifference to the objective world often causes people around them to feel uncomfortable (2006:118).
Third is the function that receives physical stimuli and transmits them to
19 influenced by their subjective sensations of sight, sound, taste, touch, etc. They are guided by their interpretation of sense stimuli rather than the stimuli themselves (2006: 119).
The last function is intuition, which involves perception beyond the workings of unconsciousness. Introverted intuitive people are guided by unconscious perception of facts that are basically subjective and have little or no similarity to external reality. Introverted intuitive people often appear peculiar to another people around them (2006: 119).
C. Theoretical Framework
There are three problems stated in the previous chapter in order to discuss the introvert personality of a Japanese American character, Kabuo Miyamoto, in David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars. The first problem formulation is about the characterization of Kabuo Miyamoto himself. In order to answer this question, the theories of character are needed to describe exactly what Kabuo Miyamoto’s characteristics are.
The second problem formulation to analyze is about Kabuo Miyamoto’s introvert personality. Here, the theories introversion has an important role to answer the question. The third problem to identify is about the dominant aspect of psychological factor that influences his introvert personality. So, theories of personality will be used to answer this question.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson was firstly written
in United States since 1984 until 1994 and published by Harcourt Brace and Company. In this study, the writer uses the first vintage contemporary edition published in October 1995. In the novel, the author presents the story in thirty-two chapters. Snow Falling on Cedars consists of 460 pages and was published by A Division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Snow Falling on Cedars is the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award –the
largest annual juried literary prize in the United States-, and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award. It also won the Barnes & Noble Great New Writers Award and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award.
The story is set on San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, where everyone is either a fisherman or a strawberry farmer. Generally, it is about a murder trial, where Kabuo Miyamoto-a Japanese American-is accused as the murderer of Carl Heine, a white man. During the trial, problems of racism between American and Japanese that have already happened in WW II come up again. The incident also causes prejudice among American toward Japanese. As the effect of traumatic experiences in his past time, Kabuo Miyamoto reveals his introvert personality through the way he overcomes the problem.
21 B. Approach of the Study In this study, the writer applies psychological approach in analyzing the introvert personality of the character Kabuo Miyamoto and the aspect of psychological factors that influences his introvert personality. According to Rohrberger and Woods (1971:6-5) in Reading and Writing about Literature, psychological approach is “the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns, but from a different body of knowledge that is psychology. This approach uses the psychological theories to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior patterns written in literary objects.”
Wilfred L. Guerin in his book, A Handbook of Critical Approach to
Literature, explains that the psychological approach is perhaps the most
controversial, the most abused and the least appreciated. However, this approach lets the readers analyze psychologically the characters or situations in the literary works.
The reason why the writer chooses psychological approach in analyzing the study is because the writer studies the psychological aspect of the character Kabuo Miyamoto. Through psychological approach, the writer tries to answer the questions in problem formulation.