The influence of Amir Khan`s personality development in facing his conflicts as seen in Khaled Hosseini`s The Kite Runner - USD Repository
THE INFLUENCE OF AMIR KHAN’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN FACING HIS CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
RIBKA GUNARTO
Student Number: 054214041
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2012
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE INFLUENCE OF AMIR KHAN’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN FACING HIS CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
By
RIBKA GUNARTO
Student Number: 054214041 Approved by
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka,M. Hum. Date: August 29, 2012 Advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S., M. Hum. Date: August 29, 2012 Co-Advisor
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE INFLUENCE OF AMIR KHAN’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN FACING HIS CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
By
RIBKA GUNARTO
Student Number: 054214041 Defended before the Board of Examiners
On August 31, 2012 And Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name SignatureChair Person : Dr. F. X. Siswadi, M. A. ____________ Secretary : Dra. A. B. Sri Mulyani, M. A., Ph.D. ____________ Member : Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S., M. Hum. ____________ Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. ____________ Member : J. Harris Hermansyah S.S., M.Hum. ____________
Yogyakarta, August 31, 2012 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean, Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A.
PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA TULIS SKRIPSI
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya menyatakan bahwa skripsi dengan judul:
THE INFLUENCE OF AMIR KHAN’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN FACING HIS CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S
THE KITE RUNNER
Yang diuji pada tanggal 31 Agustus 2012 adalah hasil karya saya.Dengan ini saya menyatakan dengan sesungguhnya, bahwa dalam skripsi ini tidak terdapat keseluruhan atau sebagian tulisan orang lain yang saya ambil dengan cara menyalin, atau meniru dalam bentuk rangkaian kalimat atau simbol yang menunjukkan gagasan atau pendapat atau pemikiran dari penulis lain, yang saya aku seolah-olah sebagai tulisan saya sendiri, dan atau tidak terdapat bagian atau keseluruhan tulisan yang saya salin, tiru, atau yang saya ambil dari tulisan orang lain tanpa memberikan pengakuan pada penulis aslinya.
Apabila saya melakukan hal tersebut di atas, baik sengaja maupun tidak, dengan ini saya menyatakan menarik skripsi yang saya ajukan sebagai hasil tulisan saya sendiri ini. Bila kemudian terbukti bahwa saya ternyata melakukan tindakan menyalin atau meniru tulisan orang lain seolah-olah hasil pemikiran saya sendiri, berarti gelar dan ijasah yang telah diberikan oleh Universitas Sanata Dharma batal saya terima.
Yogyakarta, Yang membuat pernyataan
RIBKA GUNARTO NIM 054214041
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Ribka Gunarto NIM : 054214041 Demi kepentingan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE
INFLUENCE OF AMIR KHAN’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN FACING HIS CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN KHALED HOSSEINI’S THE KITE RUNNER
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin saya maupun memberika royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 31 Agustus 2012 Yang menyatakan,
Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive
” This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to my beloved Lord: Jesus Christ my beloved father: Daniel Gunarto my beloved mother: Maria Setiawati my lovely brother: Andy Gunarto my best friends because of their affection, support and prayer.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Jesus Christ who always stays beside me, hears my pray, and gives me strength to finish this thesis. I realize that I would never accomplish my thesis without His blessing. I do believe that Jesus had made everything beautiful in His time for me.
I also realize that I would never finish this thesis without advice and guidance from my advisors. Therefore, I would like to expresses my gratitude to
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum, my major advisor who has spent his time
patiently in guiding, sharing, and helping me to finish my thesis from the beginning until the end. I also thank my co-advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani
S.S., M. Hum, who has sacrificed her time for reading and correcting my thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to my beloved family, I thank my lovely parents, Daniel Gunarto and Maria Setiawati and also my lovely brother Andy
Gunarto for their never ending love, prayer, patience, support, encouragement
and understanding. How lucky I am to have them in my life. I love them so much.I would like to thank Linda Kurniawati, Indah Setyawati, Johan
Santoso, Anton Sulistio, and Ricky Padmoputro who always encourage,
support, and pray for me to finish my thesis. I also thank Silvia, Citha, Ayu Uuk,
Dinda, Vita, Aris, Fajar, Ori, and many other names that I cannot mention one
by one.My profound gratitude goes also to all my lecturers in English Letters of Sanata Dharma University who have taught me and made me what I am today.
Thank God for everyone that supports me in finishing this thesis. God bless you all.
Ribka Gunarto
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................. i
APPROVAL PAGE ....................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE.................................................................................. iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN......................................................... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ........................ v
MOTTO PAGE .............................................................................................. vi
DEDICATION PAGE.................................................................................... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................... x
ABSTRACT... ................................................................................................. xii
ABSTRAK........................................................................................................ xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study...................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ........................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study... ..................................................................... 5 D. Definition of Terms.............................................................................. 5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................... 7 B. Review of Related Theories ................................................................. 8
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ..................................... 8
2. Theory of Personality and Personality Development..................... 12
3. Theory of Conflict.......................................................................... 13
C. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study............................................................................... 18 B. Approach of the Study ......................................................................... 19 C. Method of the Study............................................................................. 20 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS A. Amir Khan’s Personality Development ............................................... 22
1. Before Moving to America ............................................................ 22
a. Cowardly .................................................................................. 22
b. Childish .................................................................................... 24
c. Pessimistic................................................................................ 26
d. Selfish....................................................................................... 27
e. Envious..................................................................................... 28
2. After Moving to America............................................................... 29
a. Optimistic................................................................................. 29
d. Responsible .............................................................................. 32
B. The Conflicts That Is Faced By The By The Main Character
1. Intrapersonal Conflicts ................................................................... 33
2. Interpersonal Conflicts ................................................................... 36
C. The Influence of Amir Khan’s Personality Development in Facing His Conflicts
1. The Intrapersonal Conflicts............................................................ 41
2. The Interpersonal Conflicts ........................................................... 44
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION..................................................................... 46
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 48APPENDIX: Summary of The Kite Runner ................................................... 50
ABSTRACT
Ribka Gunarto (2012). The Influence of Amir Khan’s Personality Development
in Facing His Conflicts As Seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.This study focuses on the influence of Amir Khan’s Personality Development in Facing His Conflicts As Seen in Kheled Hosseini’s The Kite
Runner. Amir Khan is the major character in The Kite Runner. There are
influences which can be derived from his personality development in facing his conflicts.
The aim of this study is to answer the following three problems. First, to analyze Amir Khan’s personality development described in the story. Second, to find out the conflicts faced by Amir Khan in the story. Third, to analyze how the personality development of Amir Khan influences him in facing his conflicts.
This study employs a library study method. There are two kinds of sources. The primary source is the novel itself, The Kite Runner. The secondary sources are taken from several books related to the topic, they are theory of character and characterization, theory of personality and personality development, and theory of conflicts. The psychological approach is chosen since the study deals with personality of the character
The study discloses three main findings. The first finding is the description of Amir Khan’s personality development. Before moving to America Amir Khan’s characteristics are rich, cowardly, childish, pessimistic, selfish, and envious. After moving to America, Amir Khan’s characteristics are average people, optimistic, caring, opinionated, and responsible. The second finding is the conficts that Amir must face in the story. There are three Amir Khan’s internal conflicts; they are his feelings to Baba, his feelings to Hassan, and his decision to leave Hassan. There are three Amir’s external conflicts; they are Amir versus Baba, Amir versus Hassan, and Amir versus Assef. The third finding is the influences of his personality development in facing his conflicts. It can be concluded that Amir does not avoid the problems but Amir is braver and responsible to overcome his conflicts.
ABSTRAK
Ribka Gunarto (2012). The Influence of Amir Khan’s Personality Development
in Facing His Conflicts As Seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Fokus studi ini adalah menelaah pengaruh kepribadian Amir Khan dalam menghadapi konflik-konfliknya dalm novel The Kite Runner karya Khaled
Hosseini. Amir Khan adalah karakter utama dalam novel The Kite Runner. Ada
beberapa pengaruh yang dapat diperoleh dari perkembangan kepribadiannya dalam menghadapi konflik-konfliknya.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan berikut. Pertama, untuk menganalisa perkembangan kepribadian Amir Khan digambarkan dalam cerita. Kedua, untuk menemukan konflik-konflik yang dihadapi Amir Khan dalam cerita. Ketiga, untuk menganalisa bagaimana perkembangan kepribadian Amir mempengaruhi caranya dalam menghadapi konflik-konfliknya.
Studi ini menggunakan metode perpustakaan. Terdapat dua macam sumber. Sumber utama adalah novel itu sendiri, The Kite Runner. Sumber kedua diambil dari beberapa buku yang berhubungan dengan topik, yaitu teori karakter dan karakter karakterisasi, teori kepribadian dan perkembangan kepribadian, dan teori konflik. Pendekatan psikologi dipilih karena studi berhubungan dengan kepribadian dari karakter.
Studi ini memperlihatkan tiga kesimpulan. Kesimpulan pertama adalah penggambaran perkembangan kepribadian Amir Khan. Sebelum berpindah ke Amerika, karakteristik Amir Khan adalah kaya, pengecut, kekanak-kanakan, pesimis, egois, dan iri hati. Setelah berpindah ke Amerika, karakteristik Amir khan adalah orang biasa, optimis, perhatian, berpendirian, dan bertanggung jawab. Kesimpulan kedua adalah konflik-konflik yang harus dihadapi Amir Khan dalam cerita tersebut. Ada tiga konflik internal Amir, yaitu perasaannya terhadap Baba, perasaannya terhadap Hassan, dan keputusannya untuk meninggalkan Hassan. Ada tiga konflik eksternal Amir, yaitu Amir melawan, Amir melawan Hassan, and Amir melawan Assef. Kesimpulan ketiga adalah pengaruh perkembangan kepribadiannya dalam menghadapi konflik-konfliknya. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa Amir tidak menghindari permsalahan tetapi dia lebih berani dan bertanggung jawab untuk menghadapi dan menyelesaikan konflik-konfliknya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is the art of written works. It can be a device or a media for the
author to tell about things, ideas, imagination, and their expressions. Beside that, the author was also influenced by his period, by an intellectual climate the nation provided and by his personality. 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, psychological, and many more.`` Literature is human creation in certain time to say something or events in certain period or year. It is itended to share some idea or issue to other human beings, because the greatness of the literature work is brought out by the wisest and the most sensitive mind in the form of information, experiences, knowledge or non-aesthetic values (Guerrin, 1979: 18).
While for readers, by reading literature, they can enrich their knowledge, since literature may contain special information of life which is useful to learn. We may get a knowledge and also learn new things that we have never know before. As Wellek said that literature’s function is dulce et utile: means that literature functions as pleasure and utility (Wellek, 1959: 30), literature is something enjoyable to read and valuable to enrich the reader’s knowledge and experience.
According to Rohrberger and Woods, literary works can be divided into four genres namely short story, novel, poem, and play. Each genre has its own history and particular dimension, and the form and requirement of each must be considered before evaluative judgement can be made (1971: 19).
In this study, the writer prefers to use a novel to be analyzed. A novel is a work of art in so far as it introduces a living world. Novel is an imitation of life. The novel is the reflection of human life, which the stories that happen in a novel also happen in real life (1971:163). A primary assumption of the novel was that it would report the actions of individual characters with detail sufficient and abundant to create the illusion of authenticity to the material facts of the everyday world. Because of that we can describe a novel into one word that is “realistic” (1971: 29).
Novels contain many aspects that build up the story together. Along with plot, setting, theme, and style, character is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction. Characters can build the readers’ feeling and emotion so that the readers will be interested to read the whole story. Through the characters in the novel, we can study the knowledge of the life of human. The description of the characters enables the reader to get a more understanding on human characters. (Henkle, 1977:86).
”A character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in the dialoque and the action” (Abrams, 1981: 20)”. Character in literary term is the person in the story, while character in psychology is personality. Personality is something that may differentiate somebody with another. According to Kalish in The Psychology of Human
Behavior, he defines personality as a dynamic organization of characteristic
attributes leading to behavior and distinguishing one individual from other individual (1973:52-53).
As a human being, people have passed some stages in their life. People will have past, present and future. Along with the stages, the personality might change or develop. The personality development is experienced by everyone. The development is caused not only because of human growth, but it can be caused by many things. According to Hurlock in Personality Development, there are three major factors that determine and can influence someone’s personality. Those three factors are hereditary endowment, family, and environment (1974:19- 20).
In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton says that a novel usually presents in details the development of a character or a large complex situation, or a relationship involving many characters or a complicated event covering many years, or a complex relationship among a few characters (1965:44). It means that we can find a character of human with his or her thought, belief, feeling, relationship, and also conflicts in the novel.
In the daily life, people always deal with conflicts. Conflicts may create crisis in someone’s relationship with others even ruin it. According to Isenhart and Spangle, our daily life problems are often caused by internal unconscious state, such as anxiety, fear, ego, aggressiveness or quilt. It can be said that human conflicts are not only triggered by his relationship with others
Personality leads someone to choose his way to face conflicts. It has a great influence in someone’s way of life, whether it is good or bad.
Personality determines how people end his conflicts.
In this study, the writer uses a novel with title The Kite Runner. The Kite
Runner is a novel by Afghan-American writer, Khaled Hosseini. Published in
2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It is Khaled Hosseini’s first novel and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007. It spans the period from 1979 before the Soviet invasion until the reconstruction following the fall of the odious Taliban. The novel gives a description on how personality development of Amir Khan leads him to take different ways in resolving conflicts.
Reading The Kite Runner, the writer’s curiosity goes to have a deeper knowledge on Amir Khan’s personality and its development, and also the conflicts that he faced. The study therefore intends to reveal the influence of his personality development in resolving his conflicts with title The Influence
of Amir Khan’s Personality Development in Resolving His Conflicts as Seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Amir Khan’s personality development described in the story?
2. What are the conflicts faced by Amir Khan in the story?
3. How does Amir Khan’s personality development influence him in facing his conflicts?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to answer the research questions stated in the problem formulations above. The first objective is to describe the personality of the main character and its development. The second objective attempts to find out the conflicts faced by Amir Khan. The last objective attempts to analyze the influnce of Amir Khan’s personality development in resolving his conflicts.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to understand the word that is used in this study and to make better understanding, there are some terms necessary to be defined. The terms define are:
1. Influence
Drever proposes that the word “influence” means any past or present condition, experienced as or actually playing a part in determining one behaviour, or course of thought in the present (1958:134).
2. Personality
Halonen and Santrock say that personality refers to our enduring thoughts, emotion, and behaviours that characterize the way we interact with the world (1999:378).
3. Personality Development
According to Samuel, Personality development is yhe product of interaction between internal psychological dynamics and the external socio-cultural environment which is adapting from the situation of his or her life (1981: 73).
4. Conflict
Robert and Jacobs (1972:88) define conflict as the opposition between two characters. It may also exist between larger groups of people, although in fiction. Conflict may also exist between an individual and larger forces, such as natural objects, ideas, a mode of behaviour, and public opinion.
The existence of difficult choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented not as direct opposition, but as a set of comparative ideas of values.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies The Kite Runner received the South African Book Prize in 2004. It was
also voted the Reading Group Book of the year for 2006 and 2007 and headed a list of 60 titles submitted by entrants to the Penguin or Orange Reading Group prize (UK). Therefore, it is no doubt that many studies have been done based on this novel.
Robertus Vembry Mahartantyo in his undergraduate thesis analyses the personality of Amir Khan. Through Amir Khan’s personality, he tries to find out the reasons why Amir is disloyal to Hassan. He presents that Amir is disloyal to Hassan because of some factors. First is the family factors that cover Hassan’s true position in Amir’s family and Baba’s treatment to both Amir and Hassan. The second is social factors that differentiate Pashtun and Hazara and also the relationship betwwen Sunni and Shi’a that is not good as well. (Mahartantyo, 2010: 66).
In her undergraduate thesis, Elizabeth Nita Kurniasih also analyze personality of Amir Khan to find the influence of Amir’s guilty feeling upon his self-concept. In her analysis chapter, she says that Amir’s guilty feeling makes him experiences personality development. (Kurniasih, 2009: 52).
Although both of the studies above use the personality aspect to be studies beacuse the writer also finds that there is a development in Amir’s personality. It is presented by Khaled Hosseini’s in the chapter one of his novel itself.
“I thought of Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today” (Hosseini, 2003: 2)
There are many factors that could make someone changes. In this study the writer will not analyze the factors that makes Amir experiences personality development, but since the story tells that Amir faces many conflicts, the writer tries to find out the influences of his personality development in facing his conflicts that are told in the novel.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character in a literary work is very important, so that the readers can understand the story. Therefore, the theories of character and characterization are needed.
A character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in the dialoque and the action” (Abrams, 1981: 20).
Literary work often contains of many character inside it that cannot be separated because they always complete each other. In his book, An
Introduction to Fiction, Stanton said that the character in a story can be
Major character is a character that may dominate the whole story and is frequently presented in it. Meanwhile, the minor character is presented in order to explain and help the other characters, especially the major character (1965: 17-18).
Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense describe that by nature, character is divided into two types which are static and dynamic or developing character. Static character is one who does not undergo any change. This kind of character remains the same from beginning until the end of the story. While dynamic character is seen as a character who can change in the story. A character is developing if she or he experiences a change in some aspects of disposition, personality, or outlook. The change may be a big or a small one; it may be for better or worse but it is something important and basic. Moreover, Perrine says that the character in the story does not change in a sudden way, but changes step by step. The character must begin the change with smaller change that is carefully prepared for. The change of the character should be sufficiently motivated by circumstances. One cannot change his or her characteristic so suddenly without any reasons, but it must follow sufficient time and reason for a change (1974:71).
Certainly, the author makes his work to be interesting to read by the readers. Rohrberger and Woods said in Reading and Writing about
Literature that the characterization as the process by which an author is like particular person he is (1971: 20). It fits what Grenville says that characterization is all the things that writers do to build up the characters they want and it is the process that transforms real-life people into characters in fiction (1998: 36).
Perrine in Story and Structure stated that characterization must observe three principles:
1. Characters must be consistent in their behavior. They must not behave one way on one occasion and a different way on another unless there is a clearly sufficient for change.
2. Characters should be motivated in whatever they do, especially when there is any change in their behavior. The reasons for what the characters do should be understood.
3. The characters must be plausible or like life. (Perrine, 1974: 86).
Guth and Rico in Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays said that characters are recognized through some clues.
“The characters are known from what the author says about them or more exactly from what the narrator says, from what other characters also say about him or her, from what they say about themselves as well as from the action done by them in the work. From the action of character, the readers can draw conclusion about the motivation, the problems, the ambitions, and the desires of the character”. (1997: 9).
Similarly, Murphy in Understanding Unseen: an Introduction to
English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students mentioned
nine ways in which an author can present the characterization of a. Personal Description The author can describe a character by his or her appearance and clothes (1972:161).
b. Characters as Seen by Another The author describes a character through the eyes and opinions of another character (1972:162).
c. Speech The author describes the character by giving the readers an insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what the person says. Whenever the person speaks, whenever the person is in conversation with another, whenever the person puts forward an opinion, the author is giving us some clue to the character (1972:164).
d. Past Life The author can describe the character by letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life. The author can give the reader a clue to events that have helped to shape person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person (1972:166).
e. Conversation of others The author can also give the reader a clue to a person’s character through the conversation of other people and what they say about him or her. People do talk about other people and the things they say often give a clue to the character of the person spoken about (1972:167).
f. Reactions The author can describe characteristics by showing how a character reacts to the various situations and events (1972:168).
g. Direct comment The author may give comments and descriptions on the characteristics of the character directly to the readers (1972:170).
h. Thoughts The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this matter, an author is able to do what his or her readers cannot do in real life. The author can tell us what different people are thinking (1972:171). i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the readers something about the character (1972:172).
2. Theory of Personality and Personality Development
Personality is an abstract word that gives us many descriptions of this word. According to Hurlock, character relates with the personality.
Personality and character are not synonymous and cannot be used interchangeably. To trace the relation between personality and character. character relates to behaviour that is regulated by personal effort and will”. (1974: 4).
Hurlock’s states that the term “personality” is derived from the Latin word persona, which means “masks”. Among the Greeks, actors used a mask to hide their identity on stage. This dramatic technique was later adopted by the Romans to whom persona denoted “as one appears to others”, not as one actually is. (1974:6).
Kalish in The Psychology of Human Behaviour says that the meaning of personality is the dynamic organization of characteristic attitudes, values, and abilities (1973:52) while Allport in Pattern and
Growth in Personality describes personality as the dynamic organization
within the individual of those psychological system that determine his characteristic behavior and thought (1961:10).
Hurlock defines personality development as a stage in growth of a constantly changing and evolving process within an individual. This process becomes more complex because it is related with patterning one’s self-concept, habits, attitudes, emotional states, sentiments, and motives. It determines his or her uniqueness in speech and in actions to others, in mannerism, in fantasy, and in other ways directed toward the specific goal to adjust to his other environment. (1974:7-8).
3. Theory of Conflict
Human life is full of conflicts. Holman and Harmon say “conflict forces in the plot”. A conflict provides interests, suspens, and tensions. At least, one of the opposing forces is usually a person, or, if an animal or an inanimate object is treated as though it was a person.
This person usually the protagonist, maybe involved in conflicts of five different kinds: a struggle against nature; struggle against another person; struggle against society; struggle for mastery by two elements within the person; struggle against destiny or fate. (1986: 80).
Jones and Gerard as cited in Worchel and Cooper state that conflict is a state that requires a person when he is motivated to make two or more mutual incompatible actions. It means that a people will face a conflict when he can not complete two or more actions or goals in a same time. As a result, he must choose one of them and accept the consequences. (1979: 460).
Laurence Perrine (1974: 44) defines conflict as clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills btween two individuals or among people in the society. The conflict can include physical, mental, emotional, or moral. In the real life, people try to avoid conflict. They prefer to live wi thout any clash or quarrel. Although people try to avoid conflict, they will soon get conflict, even without wars or large scale of disagreement. Conflict in a literary work may consist of one conflict that is stated clearly and the reader can easily identify the conflict. It may also consist of multi conflicts, the reader should analyze the
Hunt (1995: 31) says that a conflict does not always have forms in direct ones, such as frontal war, fight, raid, riot or any kind of open hostilities. A conflict does not always mean hate, hatred, or distrust. A conflict can also happen just through the limit of differences of opinion, perspective, judgements, and opposing arguments. It happens because a group tends to evaluate certain matters based on its own perception or point of view, which is influenced by any aspects of its culture, values, religion, belief, and moral standards.
a. Types of Conflict
Stanton (1965:16) proposes two types of conflicts. They are internal and external conflicts. An internal conflict means a conflict that comes from the character himself, whether he has a problem in his thought, mind or in his belief. While, external conflict is the obstacle that comes from outside. It can be a conflict with other human being, society, nature, even social belief and tradition.
Worchel and Cooper (1979:460-464) also determine two types of conflicts. They propose Intrapersonal and Interpersonal conflicts. An intrapersonal conflict means a conflict that an individual experiences when he or she makes a decision between two or more alternatives. Intrapersonal conflict deals with human minds and doubts. On the other hand, Interpersonal conflict means a conflict which deals with two or more people when they are
b. Causes of Conflict
Isenhart and Spangle (2000: 14-15) state that there are seven common causes of conflicts. The first is data. Every person has differences of opinion about source, reability or interpretation of data. Second is interest. It means that conflict happens when two or more parties have different interest and try to force his own interest to others. Next causes is procedure. It can trigger a conflict when parties do not involve in a discussion if they do not agree with the procedure in solving problem. Forth is value. The conflicts occurs when the priority of value is different. Fifth is relationship. Conflict happens when the individual can not trust and respect each other.
Sixth is Role. A conflict appears because of the imbalance role of the people among the rules toward their own roles. The last is communication. It can be trigger of a conflict if miscommunication occurs. It will make individual interprets the communication differently each other.
C. Theoretical Framework
The writer uses three theories in this study to help answering the problem formulation stated in the first chapter. The theories are the theory of character and characterization, the theory of personality and personality development and
The theory of character and characterization are used to analyze the main character of the story. By applying the theory, the writer will be able to describe the characterization of the main character. Moreover, the writer also uses the theory of personality and personality development to reveal the personality development of the main character in order to answer the first problem formulation.
Besides that, the theory of conflicts is also needed to answer the second problem formulation. This theory helps the writer to find the conflicts of the main character in the story.
Finally, at the end of the analysis, the writer tried to relate those theories to find out the influence of the main character’s personality development in his way to overcome his conflicts.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of the study is a novel entitled The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner is the first novel by Afghan-American writer, Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Bloomsbury and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007. The Kite Runner was published in 48 countries and received the South African Book Prize in 2004. According to Nielsen BookScan, it was the first
best seller for 2005 in the United States. The Kite Runner spent more than 120 weeks on the New York Times paperback list and has sold more than four million copies in the United States. It was also voted the Reading Group Book of the Year for 2006 and 2007 and headed a list of 60 titles submitted by entrants to the Penguin/Orange Reading Group Prize (UK).
The Kite Runner tells about the friendship between two Afghan boys –
Amir and Hassan. Amir, the novel’s narrator, the son of a wealthy businessman, a Sunni Muslim, a Pashtun, he is educated but Hassan is the son of Ali, a servant in the household of Amir’s father, a Sh’ia Muslim, a Hazara, he is illiterate and he has harelip. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, they grow up together in Afghanistan like brothers though Amir continually uses his superior position to taunt or abuse Hassan.
It also tells about the tension of Amir’s relationship with Baba, his hard- driving and demanding father. Desperate to win his father’s affection and respect, Amir tries to win the annual tournament of sport of kite flying to make Baba proud of him. With Hassan as his assistance, he wins the tournament. But Amir’s victory is tarnished because of his cowardice and selfishness. Amir decides not to help Hassan when he sees a vicious assault against his best friend, who has raced through the streets of Kabul to get the last kite sliced from the sky for him. Moreover, Amir’s cowardice is followed by an act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home. It makes him bears the burden of his sin for his future life. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sends Amir and Baba to California where Amir attends college, marries and becomes a successful novelist. But, a call from his father best friend reminds Amir to return to Kabul during Taliban rule to save Sohrab, the Hassan’s son.
B. Approach of the Study
The use of appropriate approach in analyzing the work is essential in order to have an exact and an accurate analysis on the topic. Since the topic of the study deals with a psychological aspect, that is the personality of Amir Khan, the writer therefore applies psychological approach for analyzing the work.
According to Rohrberger and Woods, psychological approach is to literary object, therefore, knowledge of psychology ground is important in order to understand the literary works. (1971:12).
From the statement above, the writer decides that psychological approach is suitable to be applied in this study. It is needed to analyze the personality of Amir Khan, its development and its influences to the way he faces his conflicts in the story.
C. Method of the Study
The method used by the writer in this study was library research. In library research, the study was done by reading and collecting data and information from certain books and other writings as materials that support the subject of the research. However, to get more information about the work and the author, the writer browsed some websites. The data were taken by considering their relevance, validity, accuracy, and appropriateness.
The primary data of the study was the novel Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite
Runner itself. Besides the primary data, there were also other secondary
data, they were theory of character and characterization, theory of personality and personality development, and the theory of conflict which were taken and summed up from some books.
In writing this research, the writer had done some steps. The first step was reading and understanding the primary data, the novel, carefully so that the writer could comprehend the story and its detail which were very writer focused on the main character in the story, Amir Khan. Secondly, the writer formulated problems into questions and decided the topic to be discussed in this study, which was The influence of Amir Khan’s Personality
Development in Facing his Conflicts as seen in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
The third step was trying to answer the questions in problem formulation. In answering the first problem formulation, the writer used the theory of character and characteristic and the theory of personality and personality development. Those theories are needed to determine the personality of Amir Khan and its development. After analising the personality development of Amir Khan, the writer tries to find out the conflicts that he faces in the story. The last is to find out the influences of Amir Khan’s personality development to his way in facing the conflicts.
The last step was to sum-up the discussion of this study and draw a conclusion from the analysis of the problem formulation.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the analysis on the Amir Khan’s personality development. The second is the analysis on the conflict
that Amir Khan faced, and the third is the analysis on the influence of Amir Khan’s personality development on his way to face his conflicts.
A. The Personality Development of the Main Character
In this part, the writer will analyze about the characteristic of Amir Khan, the major character in the Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. As Perrine says, characters can be divided into two types, a static character or a dynamic character. The writer considers Amir as the dynamic character. It can be seen from Khaled Hosseini’s statement in the chapter one of his book “I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today”. (p.2). His words show that there is the development in Amir Khan’s characteristic.
By using Murphy’s characterization theory, the writer divides this discussion into two parts. The first part analyzes Amir’s personalities before he has experienced developments (before moving to America) and the second part analyzes his after he has experienced developments (after moving to America).
1. Before Moving to America (Before 1980s)
Amir is a kind of person that cannot stand up for himself. He is afraid to fight for himself when he is attacked. He just drop his head, and let them do what they want to do and never fights back. We can conclude that from the conversation between Baba and Rahim Khan.