Amy’s Personality Disorder in Flynn’s Gone Girl: A Psychological Approach.

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This writing is sincerely dedicated to Bapak Sugito, Ibu Ardanti,

Galang Arif Waskito, Denis Anggia Pertiwi, Bayu Aji Waskito, and

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Almighty for the strength, blessings, and guidance given to me so that this thesis could be finished.

My highest gratitude and appreciation go to my thesis consultants, Sugi Iswalono, M. A. and Rachmat Nurcahyo, M. A, who have guided me with patience, advices, cares, and even encouragement that have made this writing possible. Their assistance results me a sweet fruit that I would like to share with other people.

I also want to express my deepest gratitude to my parents, Bapak Sugito, and Ibu Ardanti for caring me during the process of reaching my adulthood, for every minute they spent to make sure that I live my life in comfort, for every coin they spent to get me graduated, and all the other things they have done to raise me. I can never return what they gave to me but I will do my best to make them proud of me.

I also feel grateful to have siblings like Galang Arif Waskito, Denis Anggia Pertiwi, and Bayu Aji Waskito, three beloved siblings who like to pick a fight with me. Even though we fought a lot, we are four people who share the same blood and blood is thicker than water.

It has always been a pleasure to have a lot of friends and I want to thank my friends for the support and joy they gave during the process of finishing this thesis.

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Riri, Tika, Mentari, Noviarika, Elsa, and Lia of @lune.merch, and Widya, I wish the crepe papers we touch everyday will turn to the real diamond, someday; Sasing H beauties, Biyla, Alya, Ratri, Shayyi, Yulia, Adlina, and also Haura, we have to keep shopping lipstick together sometimes; Sasing H guys, Napis, Ucik, Jeje, Adit, Khafidz, Bondan, Egie, Apri, and Rizky, it is nice to be friend with them; My fellows Persona Literature 2011, especially Happy and Bulan who always share their thought and knowledge that help me to finish this thesis; and English Literature 2011 that never fails to encourage me to graduate as soon as possible. The last, I also want to thank those who cannot be mentioned here for supporting, inspiring and helping me whenever I got tired or hopeless. I thank you all.

Finally, this writing is far of being perfect. Therefore, comments and suggestions are gladly accepted. I also hope this thesis will give some contribution to the learning of literary study, especially to English Department.

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PERNYATAAN……… iii

DEDICATIONS……… iv

MOTTO……….. v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………. vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS……….. viii

ABSTRACT……….. xi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION……….. 1

A. Background of the Study………. 1

B. Research Focus……….... 6

C. Research Objectives …..………... 8

D. Research Significance……….. 8

E. Definitions of the Terms……….. 10

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW……….. 12

A. Psychological Approach……….. 12

B. Personality………... 14

C. Personality Disorder……… 16

1. Genetics………. 18

2. Childhood Trauma………. 18

3. Verbal Abuse………. 19

4. High Reactivity……….. 20

5. Peers……… 20

D. Antisocial Personality Disorder………... 21

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6. Consistent Irresponsibility………. 24

7. Lack of Remorse……… 24

E. Previous Research Findings……….. 25

F. Conceptual Framework………. 27

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD……… 30

A. The Research Design……… 30

B. Data and Source of the Data……… 31

C. Research Instruments……… 32

D. The Technique of Data Collection……… 32

E. Data Analysis……… 34

F. Data Trustworthiness……… 35

CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION……… 37

A. The Characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder found in Amy’s Actions and Behaviors……….. 37

1. Failure to Conform Social Norms……….. 38

2. Deceitfuness……….. 41

3. Impulsivity………. 44

4. Irritability and Aggressiveness……….. 47

5. Reckless Disregard for Safety of Self or Others……… 51

6. Lack of Remorse………. 55

B. The Cause of Amy’s Personality Disorder………... 59

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION………... 64 A. The Characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder found in Amy’s Actions

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APPENDIX 1……… 70 APPENDIX 2………. 72

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ABSTRACT

This research applies psychological approach and American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV to Flynn’s Gone Girl. It aims to analyze (1) Amy Dunne’s personality disorder related to her actions and behaviors that reflect it, and (2) the cause of Amy’s personality disorder.

This research is a qualitative research and applies content analysis method to analyze the data. The object of the study is Flynn’s novel entitled Gone Girl. The data of this research are words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs taken from the novel which are related to the topic of the research. The researcher collected the data by reading the data comprehensively and took notes on important words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs related to the topic. The data analysis was observed by using psychological approach and American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV, focused on antisocial personality disorder, especially in the characteristics and the cause. Peer-debriefing method is used to gain the trustworthiness of the data.

The findings of the study show that Amy suffers antisocial personality disorder. It is indicated by her actions and behaviors which show the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. Amy shows six out of seven characteristics of antisocial personality disorder, which are failure to conform social norms, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety of self and others, and lack of remorse. Amy’s antisocial personality disorder is caused by her peers, who are her parents and husbands. Her parents write a book entitled Amazing Amy in which the main character, Amy, is a girl who is perfect in everything she does. Meanwhile, her husband cheats on her. It causes Amy to strive for perfection. Amy does anything to achieve perfection which makes her suffer from antisocial personality disorder.

Keywords: personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, psychological approach.

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A. Research Background

In everyday life, humans use many kinds of term in describing how a person behaves. We can refer a male friend as ‘kind’ if he does not mind to help us. Or else, we can also refer a boy as ‘lazy’ if he does not want to do his obligation. There are many other terms in describing how human behaves which are often used in daily life such as ‘naughty’, ‘diligent’, ‘easy-going’, and many more. Those terms are what people often called as personality. Kasschau (1980: 433) defines personality as the dynamic organization within an individual of those systems that determine his or her characteristic behavior and thought. Personality is often connected to social skill which is owned by a person (Kasschau, 1980: 430).

It is almost impossible for two or more people to have identical personality. Two people may have the same height, skin color, or social background but it does not mean that they will share the same personality. The first person might be good in communicating with other people while the second person lacks of it. There are three elements which make certain characteristics can be identified as personality: stability, consistency, and uniqueness (Kasschau, 1980: 434). For example, a woman who is brave today is more likely to be brave

 

tomorrow. This characteristic will stick on her as people see her day by day. She is consistent in being brave. The combination of those characteristics makes her unique. At this point, it can be seen that the woman has stability, consistency, and uniqueness that make her personality.

Personality seems to be synonymous to character but in fact they are different. Lickerman (www.psychologytoday.com: 2011) states that character is harder to be puzzled out since it will be shown in specific and uncommon circumstances. For example, we may refer a man as being honest just because he tells the truth once. Even so, there is no guarantee that the man would be honest again later. Even if people already see his honesty many times, they still do not know whether the man’s honesty is consistent or not. On the other hand, personality is easier to be analyzed since it can be seen or judged easily. It is continuously shown by each person. If a man is a humorous person, he will still be humorous in other conditions. People can see it even though they meet the person for the first time. Thus, character is different from personality.

Even though every human has certain personality, it does not mean that human is born with it. In order to establish personality, human has to develop it. The development of human personality begins when a baby interacts with other people. A research conducted by Christoper Nave (www.livescience.com: 2010), an assistant professor in psychology department of Rutgers University, Camden, finds that personality is set for individuals when they are seven year old.

 

According to Nave’s research, a talkative seven-year-old child would not have problems in delivering speech when he or she becomes an adult. Even so, Nave also says that life events such as marital breakup or childhood experience can influence the child’s personality. From Nave’s research, it can be concluded that most adults already shape their personality since they were children.

Yet, the process of developing personality does not always happen smoothly. There are some conditions that affect personality to deviate from the expectation of individual’s culture. When it happens, the individual can be diagnosed as having a personality disorder. According to Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders(American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 630), a personality disorder is defined as “a condition when personality traits are inflexible and maladaptive and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress.”.

People with personality disorder sometimes do not realize that they suffer from it. They are ignorant about the bad psychological condition they suffer. They act as if they are normal but in fact they are not. At some points, they do not really care about culture, norms, or laws. It causes other people to feel uncomfortable staying around them. The case of personality disorder can be found in everyday life. According to a survey conducted by Mark F. Lenzenweger, PhDet al in 2007(www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: 2007), 22.3% of general population in the United States is diagnosed to have personality disorder

 

From the research above, it can be seen that a personality disorder is a kind of problem which has to be faced in real life. Apparently, personality disorders can be caused by at least four factors: the genetics, environmental convergence, the parent-blame problem, and also the role of peers (Apa.org: 2004). American Psychological Association states that besides genetics and role of peers, personality disorder can also be caused by verbal abuse, high reactivity, and also childhood trauma (Apa.org: 2004). Those causes can affect the development of personality, so the individual will act differently from other normal people. It puts trouble to the individual in interacting with other people or coping with difficult situations.

Personality disorders are classified to eleven types: paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and personality disorder not otherwise specified (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 629). Each of the personality disorders has its own definition and characteristics. For example, the characteristics of paranoid personality disorder are: (1) suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her, (2) preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trust-worthiness of friends or associates, (3) reluctant to confide in

 

others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her, (4) reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events, (5) persistently bears grudges, (6) perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack, and (7) has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 638). Those characteristics can be used to diagnose a person who is suspected to suffer from paranoid personality disorder. The characteristics of personality disorder distinguish it from one to another.

In real life, there are many cases of personality disorders. One of personality disorders found in real life is obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are several public figures who are diagnosed suffering from this disorder such as Michael Jackson, Cameron Diaz, Howard Stern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Donald Trump, and many more (Disabled-world.com: 2014). Besides the case in real life, there are literary works which narratecharacters and personality disorders. As the mirror to real life, literary works adapt everyday life events. Therefore, it is possible for us to find problem which is familiar to our daily life in any literary work we read.

Flynn’s Gone Girl is one of literary works whose character suffers the web of personality disorder. The story is divided into three parts; “Boy Loses Girl”, “Boy Meets Girl”, and “Boy Gets Girl Back (Or Vice Versa)”. Those three

 

parts explain the whole plot of the story between two main characters, Nick Dunne and his wife, Amy Dunne. Each chapter is written by using the perspective of the main characters alternately.

The story starts when Amy is missing on the day of their anniversary. Nick realizes that he is supposed to be panicky but he is not. He calls the police and the investigation to find Amy begins. All the clues left in the house and other places direct the police to suspect Nick as the one who is responsible for Amy’s disappearance. Meanwhile, in fact, everything is planned well by Amy as the revenge to Nick’s infidelity. She wants to destroy Nick by plotting him in her scenario. She plans everything to the smallest detail and hides in a small cabin while she fakes her identity. In the process of taking revenge on Nick, she makes a fake pregnancy report, kills a man who is obsessed with her, uses her neighbors to deceive the police, and many more. All of those things are done without guilty feeling. She has one goal that she wants to achieve by all means. In the end, she could achieve her goal by sacrificing many things.

From what she has done, it can be seen that Amy has something wrong in her personality. She abandons the norms of society, breaks the law, and even manipulates people around her to achieve her goal. All of those things are done without feeling guilty. Therefore, this novel is chosen as the subject of the research because the main character shows personality traits which can be diagnosed as personality disorder.

 

B. Research Focus

Gone Girl is a thriller novel written by Gillian Flynn, an American author, screenwriter, comic book writer, and also former television critic for Entertainment Weekly. This book was first published in 2012and became New York Times best seller. This novel contains issue of gender line and stereotypes, failure of achieving American dream, feminism, and also personality disorder. Even though there are many issues which can be studied, the researcher chooses to focus on personality disorder issue.

Gone Girl portrays the life of seems-to-be normal couple who actually manipulate each other. It receives a lot of both praises and criticism due to the surprising events that occur in the story. Tana French (www.gillian-fylnn.com: 2014), the author of Faithful Place and Into the Woods describes Gone Girl as mentioned below.

Gone Girl is one of the best—and most frightening—portraits of

psychopathy I've ever read. Nick and Amy manipulate each other—with savage, merciless and often darkly witty dexterity. This is a wonderful and terrifying book about how the happy surface normality and the underlying darkness can become too closely interwoven to separate.

Gone Girl provides data on the case of personality disorder. The character used as the subject of this study is Amy Dunne whose actions and behaviors are different from normal people. She is considered as being psychopath. Psychopath

 

is one of references of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Here, this research focuses on finding out the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder found in Amy and examining the causes why she suffers personality disorder. The researcher believes that Amy Dunne has problems during the time when she develops her personality. In order to answer those questions, psychology approach is employed to examine the psychological aspects of the character Amy in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

The analysis of this research uses the personality disorder theory from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-TR) which defines the Antisocial Personality Disorder and also Antisocial Personality Disorder: Treatment, Management and Prevention written by Professor Connor Dugan et al. The researcher analyzes the actions, behaviors, and also motivations of Amy Dunne which reflect her personality disorders. Besides, other aspects such as environment and attire are also examined to find the causes of her personality disorder.

In analyzing the phenomenon, the data are taken from Flynn’s Gone Girl in the forms of words, clauses, phrases, expressions, sentences, and also paragraphs related to the research topic. Then, the personality disorder theory is applied on the data to draw the conclusions.

 

C. Research Objectives

From the research focus above, the objectives of the research are:

1. to identify the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder found in Amy’s actions and behaviors

2. to reveal the causes of personality disorder suffered by Amy, which can be tracked from her daily activities and childhood events.

D. Research Significance

1. Theoretically, this research is expected to give some information and contribution related to personality disorders, specifically about Antisocial Personality Disorder. It is a matter which can be found in daily life but common people might not know the characteristics of the personality disorder. Therefore, the researcher hopes this research will give insight to people about the characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder.

2. Practically, this research is conducted to give more understanding about personality disorder which can happen to anyone in real life. People with Antisocial Personality Disorder tend to do crimes that disadvantage people around them so they are hated for what they have done. In this research, a new perspective of Antisocial Personality Disorder is revealed. The researcher expects non-expert people to get

 

more knowledge about the causes of this personality disorder. Humans are not born with personality disorder. It is developed during their growth and affected by external factors. Hence, common people will gain more understanding and caring to the others so there would not be any possibility of developing this personality disorder. Also, this research can be an inspiration or reference to other researchers in conducting new research related to personality disorder.

E. Definitions of the Terms

1. Personality- In general, personality is kind of skill in representing oneself to others. To be more specific, according to Feist and Feist (2009: 4), personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristicswhich give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior.

2. Personality disorder- According to Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, personality disorder is defined as “a condition when personality traits are inflexible and maladaptive and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress.” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 630).

3. Antisocial Personality Disorder- According to Diagnostic and

 

Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues to adulthood. It has also been referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy, or dyssocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 645).

4. Character- Fleeson and Furr (2010: 4) specifically defines character as the collection of dispositions to think, feel, and act in morally relevant ways, and especially individual differences in those dispositions.

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A. Psychological Approach

Psychology is a field of study which is close to human’s everyday life. It is derived from Greek words “psyche” which means ‘life’, and “logos” which means ‘explanation’. The definition of psychology itself is the scientific study of mind and behavior (Stangor, 2010: 10). It was firstly founded by Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920) as science field apart from biology and philosophy in 1879. According to McLeod (www.simplypsychology.org: 2008, par. 2), Wundt differs psychology from physiology because it analyzes the workings of the mind in a more structured way. His contribution in this field makes him the father of psychology. Actually, since the era of Plato, psychology had been studied even though it was not introduced as psychology yet. It was developed greatly by then. After that, there were more people who were interested in studying psychology.

In 1892, American Psychological Association was founded by G. Stanley Hall. Years after that, there were more studies in psychology established such as functionalism, psychodynamic, behaviorism and many more. There are many names that contribute greatly in the field of psychology after its introduction by Wundt, such as Ivan Pavlov, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Sigmund Freud, and many more. Even though each of the psychologists has his own theory that becomes branches in psychology, the matter being discussed remains constant (Stangor, 2010: 26).

There are many fields which can be analyzed through psychology point of view such as the anxiety of new students, how dolphins communicate, the factors that lead a person to be a criminal, and many more. Since psychology can be applied to almost every field of human life, it is possible to apply psychological approach in literary works.

Literary work is a mirror of human life. It reflects human life and experiences which are adapted to a fictional or non-fictional literary work. According to Hake (2001: 2), literature is “a special kind of mirror in which we can see ourselves even more clearly, more vividly than in an ordinary mirror”. It means through literature it is possible for people to learn and explore wider knowledge. Since literary work imitates real life, applying psychological approach to analyze its content is possible. Using psychological approach in literature has been done since a long time ago. Aristotle (in Guerin, et al, 2004: 153) uses this approach in his Poetics when he tries to define tragedy as a combination of pity and terror to produce catharsis. The use of psychological approach comes to its peak when Sigmund Freund (1856 – 1939) introduces his psychoanalytic theory as the part of psychological approach in the twentieth century.

During 19th century, there were many authors that changed the perspective of their writings from finding the culprit to the reason why the culprit does his actions. Psychological approach becomes more popular since there are many things in literature which can be studied through psychological point of view. Moghaddam (2009: 507) states that literature can be used as source of psychological data. There

are many events in literary works which can be analyzed by using psychological approach such as Hamlet’s Oedipus complex in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hucklebery Finn’s rebellion in Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Lavinia’s Electra complex in O’Neil’s Mourning Becomes Electra and many more. Psychological approach can also be used to identify and analyze personality disorder of a character in literary work.

B. Personality

Personality is originated from Latin word “persona”. This word is used to refer the ancient Roman actors of Greek dramas who wore a mask to figure a role or false appearance. Even though it is the root of the word “personality”, the meaning of the term is different when it is used by a psychologist. The definition of personality is various. In general, personality is defined as kind of skill in representing oneself to others. Specifically, some psychologists have different definitions of personality. Feist and Feist (2009: 4) state that personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics which give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior. Kasschau (1980: 433) defines personality as the dynamic organization within an individual of those systems that determine his or her characteristic behavior and thought. Both of the definitions are correct. They emphasize that personality can be seen by analyzing a person’s behavior.

In order to be labeled with certain personality, a person should show three elements: stability, consistency, and uniqueness (Kasschau, 1980: 434). Firstly, personality is stable. A man who talks a lot today will still talk a lot tomorrow and

even the following days. This stability makes him labeled as a talkative person. Secondly, personality is consistent, without depending on the circumstances. A talkative man might talk a lot when he meets either his old or new friends, when he is in restaurant, classroom, or other circumstances. The man will be talkative anytime that it makes him judged as a talkative person. Lastly, personality is unique. Even though there are two men who are talkative, it does not mean that they have the same personality. There will be other combinations of personality that make each of them unique. For example, the first man might be actually talkative but shy when he meets a new circle. On the other hand, the second man is talkative but brave enough to greet new people. These three elements of personality can be seen as humans grow.

Since they were babies, humans develop personality. There are many factors which can affect the development of personality. Basically, the factors that affect personality disorder are hereditary factors and also environmental factors (O’Neil: 2006, par.1). According to O’Neil (www.anthro.palomar.edu: 2006, par.2), hereditary holds the most important role in developing personality because children inherit genes from parents. Therefore, it is more likely for the children to inherit their parents’ personality. O’Neil (www.anthro.palomar.edu: 2006, par.3) also states that the environment where people live also affects personality development. For example, children who are raised in an well-organized family might have different personality from children who are raised by alcoholic parents. If both hereditary and environment support one another, it is possible for the children to develop normal personality.

The factors above can be a significant trigger that shapes a person’s personality. Besides, in the middle of the process of developing personality, there might also be incidents that can make the person deviates from the expectations of individual’s culture. This is when a person is diagnosed with personality disorder.

C. Personality Disorder

When a person develops personality, he or she should be able to fulfill culture’s expectation. Fulfilling culture’s expectation means the person should be able to live in harmony according to the culture of the area where he or she lives. Therefore, the person would not cause any discomfort to the other people around him or her. When a person has fulfilled culture’s expectation, it will make him or her able to communicate and socialize with other people. However, the process of developing personality in oneself does not always go smoothly. In some conditions the person might face problems that make him deviate from the culture’s expectation. It is when the person is diagnosed as having personality disorder. Personality disorder is different from mental disorder. Christmas (2008: 3) states the difference between mental disorder and personality disorder lays on their representation.

People with mental disorder show alteration in normal function so that they seem to be abnormal, while people with personality disorder look like normal but actually they have excessive traits in themselves. Besides, people with mental disorder used to be normal and they change because of certain condition. It is different from people with personality disorder who are consistent in showing

patterns of personality disorder (Christmas, 2008: 3). People who have personality disorder tend to break social norms and rules. Therefore, they are likely to raise problems to other people’s life. It causes them to be difficult to live with other people. According to American Psychiatric Association (2000: 629) in Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders – IV (DSM – IV), personality disorder is defined as

An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.

The enduring pattern mentioned in the definition above should be manifested in the individual’s cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning, and impulse control (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 630). If the individual has shown the enduring pattern on at least two of those areas, he or she can be suspected as having personality disorder. The diagnosis of personality disorder should be done by evaluating individual’s enduring pattern in a long-term period and the features have to be evident since early adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 630). The enduring pattern shown by the individual is often referred as personality traits. American Psychiatric Association (2000: 630) defines personality traits as enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts. Besides the traits, the criteria of each personality disorder should be examined on the individual as well.

Personality disorder does not happen without causes. In the process of developing personality, an individual will face many kinds of things that make it hard to develop normal personality. Those things are what we called the causes of personality disorder. According to American Psychiatric Association (www.apa.org: 2004), there are five main causes of personality disorder.

1. Genetics

A study co-authored by Robert Krueger, Ph.D. shows that 128 twin pairs share the similar personality traits even though they have been raised apart (in Huff: 2004, par. 11). Krueger also states that the strongest reason why the personalities of both twins are linked to each other is because they have the same genetic mechanisms in their body. Another study conducted by Dr. DL Murphy (www.nature.com: 2003, par. 1) also proves that six of the seven family members have the same gene mutation which makes them suffer obsessive-compulsive disorder. From both of the studies above, it can be concluded that genetics take part in causing personality disorder.

2. Childhood Trauma

Since personality is developed since an individual is a child, any kind of event that occurs in the childhood will be likely to affect the development of personality. Tracie Shea, PhD (in Huff: 2004, par. 10 ) conducted a research in 2002. The research shows how childhood trauma affects personality development. This study proves that an individual who has borderline personality disorder has got sexual abuse when he

or she is child. Shea (in Huff: 2004, par. 10) also states that the trauma a child got because of forced sexual intercourse will influence the development of his or her personality. It can be concluded that childhood trauma has a role in developing personality disorder.

3. Verbal Abuse

During the process of developing personality, receiving verbal abuse might cause personality disorder when the child becomes adult. Several researches conducted by Jeffrey G. Johnson in 1999 and 2001 (in Huff: 2004, par. 15-16) found that children who receive verbal abuse, neglected more than four times, get screamed by their mothers for more than three times, and get told by their parents that they don’t love them or would send them away have more potential to develop personality disorder when they are adult. Some parents might find it common to yell at their children when they did not behave properly. In fact, screaming at children would affect their confidence in the future. The children might experience excessive anxiety which can be the cause of developing personality disorder. The abuse that comes from family does not always happen because of the mother’s evilness. It can be caused by the children’s behaviors. Even so, it does not mean that the mothers can yell or scream at the children.

4. High Reactivity

Some children are born with high reactivity. They are too sensitive to certain things such as light, texture, noise, or other stimuli. Jerome Kagan (in Huff: 2004, par. 21), in his research, found that high reactivity to stimuli plays significant role in developing personality disorder. It is simply because the children who have high reactivity towards certain stimuli tend to develop social phobias which can be part of personality disorder. When the children become too sensitive towards certain thing, it is the parent’s role to overcome the problem.

5. Peers

During the process of growth, it is obvious that children will meet many new people. Those people can be their caregivers, teachers, or even play mates. According to Beck (in Huff: 2004, par. 26), peers also take part in developing personality disorder. It includes the life events they experience with them. For example, when children grow up in an environment where their peers like to abuse or show negative behavior, it is possible for the children to develop personality disorder because their surrounding shows bad examples in facing life events.

Since personality disorder has different criteria from one to another, American Psychiatric Association (2000: 629) groups personality disorders into three clusters according to their descriptive similarities. The first cluster is Cluster A which groups personality disorder with odd and eccentric appearance. This cluster includes the

paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorder. The second cluster is Cluster B which groups personality disorder with dramatic, emotional or erratic appearance. This cluster includes the antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorder. Also, the last cluster is Cluster C which groups personality disorder with anxious and fearful appearance. This cluster includes the avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.

D. Antisocial Personality Disorder

Each type of personality disorders has essential features. It makes the personality disorders different from one to another. Antisocial personality disorder is included in Cluster B which means it has dramatic, emotional, or erratic appearance. American Psychiatric Association (2000: 645) states

The essential feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.

Actually, there are several terms used in describing people who have deviation in their behaviors so they continuously exploit other people and violate law or rules in order to gain personal pleasure or satisfaction. The terms used to describe this kind of personality disorder are antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, psychopathy, and also dissocial personality disorder (Duggan et al, 2008: 13). The research conducted to analyze people with this personality disorder is always linked to criminality. In the early 1800s, the researchers tried to understand prisoners or criminals who did malicious acts toward other people that made them diagnosed as

being mentally ill. Later, in 1959, the UK Mental Health Act acknowledged antisocial personality disorder so that the patients with this personality disorder are possible to get admission for hospital treatment (Duggan et al, 2008: 14). A person is diagnosed as having antisocial personality disorder if he or she shows the same characteristics.

The characteristics of antisocial personality disorder are used to diagnose individual with antisocial personality disorder. Usually, people get diagnosed of certain illness if they show the symptoms. For example, a girl will be diagnosed as having fever if her body temperature is high. That kind of symptoms will not appear on people who have personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder is not diagnosed by analyzing the symptoms or doing a blood test. Instead, individual who is suspected of having antisocial personality disorder will be examined by using the characteristics of this disorder. DSM-IV (AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION, 2000: 649-650) has seven criteria that characterize antisocial personality disorder. A person has to be indicated by three or more of the characteristics. The characteristics of antisocial personality disorder are:

1. Failure to Conform Social Norms

People with antisocial personality disorder tend to fail in conform social norms (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 649). Living in society makes humans have to obey the law. Law is needed so the society will live in peace. However, people with antisocial personality disorder do not have that kind of understanding. They show no respect to law and often perform acts of law breaking

so they can be arrested. These acts are repeated often. That is the reason why people with antisocial personality disorder usually have criminal records (Duggan, et al, 2008: 17)

2. Deceitfulness

Deceiving other people or constantly lying is another characteristic of people with antisocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). The individual with personality disorder likes to do repeated lying, use of alias, and also conning others. They like to manipulate people around them as long as they can get the benefits for themselves.

3. Impulsivity

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder tend to be impulsive and failed to plan ahead (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). Being impulsive means the individual does not think further before putting an act to everything. It causes the person to fail in planning ahead. The failure can lead to bad situation that harms the individual or even other people. For this reason, individual with antisocial personality disorder may be dangerous.

4. Irritability and Aggressiveness

People who have antisocial personality disorder usually get irritated easily and aggressive. Since they get irritated easily, people with antisocial personality disorder

are often involved in repeated physical fights or assaults (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650).

5. Reckless Disregard for Safety of Self or Others

Being reckless disregard for safety of self or others is another criterion to diagnose antisocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). Individuals with antisocial personality disorder are impulsive so they fail to plan ahead. The result of failure in planning ahead makes them reckless about safety of themselves or other people.

6. Consistent Irresponsibility

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder are irresponsible. It can be indicated by failure in doing consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). Whenever they do any kind of action, they would never hold any responsibility towards any accident or effects that follow what they have done.

7. Lack of Remorse

If individuals suffer antisocial personality disorder, they will also be lack of remorse. They do not really care if other people are hurt, mistreated, or even stolen from another people (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). They see it as something common that would not affect other people’s emotion. Normal people will

have empathy whenever they see other people suffering because of them. However, people with antisocial personality disorder do not have that kind of feeling because they are mostly callous.

E. Previous Research Findings

This thesis is not the first thesis to analyze personality disorder of a character in a literary work. There have been many researchers who aim to analyze personality disorder of character in literary works by using various approaches. However, each of the researches is different from one to another because the subject of the research is different. This thesis is different from other researches that aim to analyze personality disorder because it uses psychological approach and DSM-IV to identify the personality disorder of the character.

A research about psychological problem has been written by Agustina Tri Widayati in 2013 entitled “Frank’s Hedonistic Lust and Pleasure-Seeking Behavior in Abagnale’s Catch Me if You Can: A Psychoanalysis Approach”. In her thesis, Widayati attempts to analyze the psychological problem of Frank, the main character of “Catch Me if You Can” movie. She applies Freud’s psychoanalysis approach in order to reveal the relation between his imbalanced system of personality and the manifestation of malicious traits within Frank. In this research, it is revealed that Frank suffers psychopathy disorder which is also part of personality disorder.

Another research that applied similar approach is the one conducted by Terry Perdanawati in 2010 entitled “Lavinia’s Personality Disorder as the Effect of

Imbalanced Personality in Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra”. This research attempts to reveal personality disorder suffered by Lavinia and also the defense mechanism found in the literary work. Perdanawati also tries to reveal the cause of Lavinia’s personality disorder. In order to find the answer to the objectives of the research, Perdanawati applies Freud’s psychoanalysis approach to reveal the imbalanced personality of Lavinia which becomes the reason why she suffers personality disorder.

Another research that focuses on personality disorder of character in literary work is a thesis written by Fadhilah Atikah in 2014 entitled “Count Olaf’s Antisocial Personality Disorder in Handler’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”. In this research, Atikah attempts to analyze the personality disorder of Count Olaf, the main character of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Unlike the other two mentioned before, Atikah applies psychological theory from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). This manual is published by American Psychiatric Association as the guide for psychiatrics to diagnose any kind of mental disorder suffered by a person. Based on this research, Count Olaf shows the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder which makes him to be a psychopath.

The previous research findings above analyze similar topic which is personality disorder. However, the researches above are different from the researcher’s analysis because the researcher uses psychological approach and DSM-IV to analyze Amy Dunne in Flynn’s Gone Girl. This research aims to analyze the

personality disorder suffered by Amy including her actions and behaviors that reflect the personality disorder and also the cause of it.

F. Conceptual Framework

Psychological condition of a person cannot be seen directly when we meet that person. It needs deeper examination to know if a person has bad psychological condition or not. It has the same thing to do with a person’s personality. Even though it is easy to mention someone as kind, diligent, or talkative, no one knows if the personality shown by a person is fake. Personality is developed since one was child. During the process of growth from childhood to adulthood, there have been many events occurred to one’s life. Those events, more or less, will have impact to the person’s personality development. Being verbally abused by parents, bullied by childhood friends, or other bad events can be trigger to maladjustment of one’s personality development. When personality could not be fully developed, it will result personality disorder.

This research aims to analyze the personality disorder of Amy Dunne, the main character of Flynn’s Gone Girl. In order to analyze it, the researcher uses psychological approach and DSM-IV. The researcher believes the personality disorder suffered by Amy happens because many causes. Therefore, the researcher conducts this research to answer the objective of the research: (1) to identify the actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne that reflect her personality disorder and (2) to reveal the causes of personality disorder suffered by Amy, which can be tracked from

her daily activities and childhood events. The conceptual framework of the research can be seen below.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework

Amy’s Personality Disorder in Flynn’s Gone Girl: A Psychological Approach

Psychological Approach Personality Personality Disorder Cause: 1. Genetics 2. Childhood Trauma 3. Verbal Abuse 4. High Reactivity 5. Peers Types 1.Paranoid PD 2.Schizoid PD 3.Schizotypal PD 4.Antisocial PD 5.Borderline PD 6. Histrionic PD 7.Narcissistic PD 8. Avoidant PD 9.Dependent PD 10. Obssessive-Compulsive PD Characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder:

1. Failure to conform social norms

2. Deceitfulness 3. Impulsivity 4. Irritability and

Aggressiveness 5. Reckless

Disregard for Safety of Self or Others 6. Consistent

Irresponsibility 7. Lack of

Remorse Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl Words, Phrases, Clauses, Sentences, and Paragraphs

RQ. 1 RQ. 2 DSM-IV

30 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD

A. The Research Design

This research uses qualitative research as the approach. According to Creswell (2003: 18), qualitative research is a type of research in which the inquirer results knowledge based on constructivist perspectives, advocacy/participatory perspectives, or both. In addition, VanderStoep and Johnston (2009: 7) also state that qualitative research results narrative or textual descriptions of the research itself. Since the data is narrative, the result of this research design is usually rich in the description of sample (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2009: 8). The researcher is able to get deeper understanding about the phenomena occurred during the research.

In qualitative research, the forms of data used are words and pictures. That is the reason why qualitative research is suitable for this research since the data of this research were words, phrase, clauses, and paragraphs. The data found in this research are used to identify the actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne, the main character of Gone Girl that reflect her personality disorder and reveal the causes of personality disorder she suffers. The researcher used the description of the data to obtain deeper understanding about personality disorder found in the literary work.

Besides qualitative research, the researcher also used content analysis to conduct this research. According to Neuendorf (2002: 10), content analysis is “a summarizing, quantitative analysis of messages that relies on the scientific method

(including attention to objectivity-intersubjectivity, a priori design, reliability, validity, generalizability, replicability, and hypothesis testing) and is not limited as to the types of variables that may be measured or the context in which the messages are created or presented”. By this definition, the researcher applies content analysis in the process of analyzing the content of Gone Girl.

The researcher finds it suitable to use psychological approach as the theoretical instrument to analyze the personality disorder of Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. In order to achieve the objectives, the researcher used Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders – IV (DSM-IV) by American Psychiatric Association. This manual was used to identify the behaviors and actions that represent certain personality disorder, in this case, antisocial personality disorder. Besides, the researcher also used some journals, essays, and also online articles in order to get broader knowledge about the causes of personality disorder seen in psychological point of view.

B. Data and Source of the Data

The main source of the data for this research is Flynn’s Gone Girl first published in Great Britain, 2012. The novel is the paperback edition, consisting of three parts that divided to sixty four chapters and 476 pages. The researcher employs the novel and gathers the data which consist of the words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs in the novel that are related to actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne.

C. Research Instruments

The main instrument of this research is the researcher herself. According to Cresswell (2009: 177), researcher’s role is important in qualitative research because the data gained is the result of researcher’s interpretation. She examined the data and used her interpretation towards the data based on psychological approach and DSM-IV to conclude the result of this research.

Besides the researcher herself, table lists are used as the secondary instrument to facilitate the data processing. The researcher labels the data with certain category so they can be identified easily. The labels on the table lists are divided to quotations, page, category, and meaning.

D. The Technique of Data Collection

In order to collect the data, the researcher did several steps. The first of all, the researcher read Gone Girl several times, comprehensively, so that the researcher got deep understanding about the content of the novel. After understanding the novel, the researcher interpreted and recorded the words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs which are related to the topic of the research. The researcher also documented the data collected during the process so that they could be analyzed further. After the data was collected, the researcher re-checked them in order to avoid mistakes and to check if there was any datum which is unrelated to the topic. The last of all, the researcher categorized the data.

All of the data collected by the researcher are meant to answer the objectives of the research. The researcher used APA’s DSM-IV focused on Antisocial Personality Disorder to answer the first objective of the research i.e. to identify the actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne that reflect her personality disorder. According to APA’s DSM-IV (2000: 645), a person can be diagnosed as having antisocial personality disorder if he or she shows the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder, namely failure to conform social norms, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety of self or others, and lack of remorse. The researcher also used psychological theory focused on the cause of personality disorder to answer the second objective of the research i.e. to reveal the causes of personality disorder suffered by Amy, which can be tracked from her daily activities and childhood events. There are five main causes of personality disorder according to APA, which are genetics, childhood trauma, verbal abuse, high reactivity, and peers.

In order to ease the process of the research, the researcher uses table list during the data collection process. The table lists were presented below,

Table 1. The Table List of the Data for The Actions and Behaviors of Amy Dunne that Reflect Her Personality Disorder in Flynn’s Gone Girl

Table 2. The Table List of the Data for The Causes of Amy’s Personality Disorder

No. Quotation of the Data Page Category Meaning

E. Data Analysis

In order to analyze the data, the researcher follows six steps of designing qualitative research as stated by Creswell (2009: 185). The six steps applied during the research are as follows.

1. Identifying the data collected from the novel.

2. Arranging the data according to the two major topics which are the actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne that reflect her personality disorder and the causes of Amy’s personality disorder in Flynn’s Gone Girl.

3. Categorizing the data in the table list according to the topics. The first topic, which is actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne that reflect her personality disorder, is categorized to seven categories: failure to conform social norms, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety of self or others, consistent irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. The second topic, which is the causes of Amy’s personality disorder, is categorized to five categories: genetics, childhood trauma, verbal abuse, high reactivity, and peers.

4. Sorting the data by classifying the relevant ones and excluding the irrelevant ones. Then, the data were interpreted according to the topics. 5. Relating the description of the data with the theory in order to get the

findings to the objective.

6. Interpreting the findings based on the researcher’s understanding about the theory.

F. Data Trustworthiness

According to Cresswell & Miller (in Cresswell, 2009: 191), data trustworthiness is one of the strengths of qualitative research since it is concluded based on the standpoint of the researcher, participant, and or the readers. In order to achieve the trustworthiness of the research, there are many kinds of strategies which can be used. In this research, the researcher used three strategies to achieve data trustworthiness. First of all, the researcher checked the data of the research so they matched with the theories used. Second, the researcher kept re-reading the data until she was assured that the data had valid interpretation. Last, the researcher also did peer debriefing to achieve the trustworthiness of the research.

Cresswell (2009, 192) states that peer debriefer is a person who is located to review and ask questions about the research so the same understanding of related topic could be gained between the researcher and the debriefer. For this research, the researcher selected two of her friends who are also students of English Literature department and majoring in Literature to be the debriefer of the research. A

discussion was also conducted so there would not be any misunderstanding in interpreting the data. Besides, the researcher also discussed the data with her first and second consultant, Sugi Iswalono, M.A and Rachmat Nurcahyo, M.A who master the topics being discussed so that the researcher gets useful suggestion and opinion related to the research.

37 CHAPTER IV

DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researcher presents the discussion of the findings of the study. There are two sub chapters presented in this chapter; (1) the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder found in Amy’s actions and behaviors, and (2) the cause of Amy’s personality disorder. The first sub chapter focuses on identifying various actions and behaviors of Amy Dunne which are representing the characteristics of people with antisocial personality disorder, such as: (1) failure to conform social norms, (2) deceitfulness, (3) impulsivity, (4) irritability and aggressiveness, (5) reckless disregard for safety of self and others, (6) lack of remorse. The second sub chapter focuses on the cause of Amy’s personality disorder; i.e. role of peers.

A. The Characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder Found in Amy’s

Actions and Behaviors

In order to know the kinds of actions and behaviors that reflect antisocial personality disorder, the research identifies the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. According to American Psychiatric Association (2000: 645), antisocial personality disorder is a type of personality disorder that appears to be dramatic, emotional, and also erratic. It features pervasive pattern of disregard for,

 

and violation of, the rights of others (American Psychiatric Association, 2000:645). A person can be diagnosed as having antisocial personality disorder if he or she is indicated by three or more of the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 649). There are seven criteria of antisocial personality disorder according to American Psychiatric Association (2000: 649-650), which are failure to conform social norms, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety of self and others, constant irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. The researcher finds out that Amy Dunne is indicated to have antisocial personality disorder because her actions and behaviors show six criteria of antisocial personality disorder. The further explanation, which is concentrated on Amy’s actions and behaviors that reflect on her personality disorder, will be discussed in the below section.

1. Failure to Conform Social Norms

The first characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform social norms. People who are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder find it hard to obey rules. They do not really care about law or social norms. They tend to break it. That is the reason why people with antisocial personality disorder usually have criminal records (Duggan, et al, 2008: 17).

In Gone Girl, Amy shows several actions and behaviors which reflect her failure to conform the social norms. Amy’s action that shows her failure to conform the social norms is shown when she prepares to frame her husband. She knows that

 

she will be in the run for quite long time. Therefore, she has to prepare a lot of money in cash. It is impossible for her to purchase by using the credit card since it can be tracked down. Amy starts to steal money bit by bit from his husband’s pocket and also from tip jar in her husband’s bar. This case can be seen clearly in the below quotation.

I have $10,200 in cash. If I’d cleared out $10,200 in a month, that would have been noticed. But I collected cash forwards from credit cards I took out in Nick’s name – the cards that would make him like a greedy little cheat – and I siphoned off another $4,400 from our bank accounts over the months: withdrawals of $200 or $300, nothing to attract attention. I stole from Nick, from his pockets, a $20 here, a $10 there, a slow deliberate stockpile – it’s like that budgeting plan where you put the money you’d spend on your morning Starbucks into a jar, and at the end of the year you have $1,500. And I’d always steal from the tip jar when I went to The Bar.

(Flynn, 2012: 276) The failure to conform social norms is not only shown by doing something that breaks the law. Amy also acts impolite to her new friend. Greta, her new friend in her hiding, watches television that shows the news of her missing. Amy waits Greta to compliment her appearance on television, but instead of compliment her, Greta mentions Amy as ‘spoiled rich girl’ and ‘Bitchy’ (Flynn, 2012: 298). This kind of comment is not expected by Amy since she wants to be seen as ‘low-maintenance, easygoing, and cheerful’. Because Greta’s comment does not fulfill her expectation, Amy spits on her beverages and cereal in the fridge when Greta is away. This kind of actions is obviously impolite and inappropriate according to social norms. Yet, Amy still does it because she cannot accept Greta’s comment about her appearance on the television.

 

In her hideout, Amy cannot use credit card since it can be tracked. That is why she has to save a lot of cash money so she can live well until her husband is fully framed. She asks for a job to the owner of the cabin where she hides. One of her new friends, Jeff, offers her a job. The job is to steal catfishes from a restaurant’s tank and sell them. Amy does not mind doing it. She joins Jeff because she is interested in earning money by stealing the catfishes. It is shown by her line “How many women can say they were part of a fish-smuggling ring?” (Flynn, 2012: 321). Here, she shows that she does not mind breaking the law or social norm as long as she gets profits from it.

Amy’s failure to conform social norms is not only shown on simple things. She even does something that harms other people. It is seen clearly below.

Police have been dispatched to Desi’s home, where they’ll find him naked and drained, a stunned look on his face, a few strands of my hair in his clutches, the bed soaked in blood. The knife I used on him, and on my bonds, will be nearly on the floor where I dropped it, dazed, and walked barefoot, carrying nothing out of the house but his keys – to the car, to the gate – and climbed still slick with his blood, into his vintage Jaguar and returned like some long-lost faithful pet, straight back home to my husband.

(Flynn, 2012: 417) In the quotation above, it is clearly seen that Amy does not mind killing people. In order to escape from Desi, she kills him with a knife. After killing him, she even steals his car and pretends to be ‘long-lost faithful pet’ so she can remain innocent in front of other people. From some points above, it can be concluded that Amy is indicated to have failure to conform social norms, i.e. stealing, spitting on other people’s food and killing people.

 

2. Deceitfulness

Deceitfulness is another characteristic of antisocial personality disorder. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to deceive other people or constantly lie to other people for their own benefits (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). There are several things which are often done by people with antisocial personality disorder. For example, they like to do repeated lying, use alias, and even con others. It is common for them to manipulate other people as long as it is useful for them.

In Gone Girl, Amy is recorded to do a lot of deceiving, lying, conning or manipulating other people even since she was in her early adolescence. Amy’s deceitfulness during her early adolescence can be clearly seen in the quotation below.

‘So Amy said you pushed her?’

‘Yeah, because I was craaaazy. I was obsessed with her, and I wanted to be Suzy, and then being Suzy wasn’t enough – I had to be Amy. And she had all this evidence she’d had me create over the past few months. Her parents, obviously, had seen me lurking around the house. I theoretically accosted her mom. My hair dyed blond and the clothes I’d bought that matched Amy’s – clothes I bought while shopping with her, but I couldn’t prove that. All her friends came in, explained how Amy for the past month had been so frightened of me. All this shit. I looked totally insane. Completely insane. Her parents got restraining order on me. And I kept swearing it wasn’t me, but by then I was so miserable that I wanted to leave the school anyway. So we didn’t fight expulsion. I wanted to get away by that time. I mean, the girl cracked her own ribs. I was scared – this little fifteen-year-old, she’d pulled this off. Fooled friends, parents, teachers.’

(Flynn, 2012: 326) The quotation above is based on phone conversation between Nick Dunne and Hillary Handy. Hillary is Amy’s best friend in high school. People know her as the one who pushed Amy down the stairs because she wants to be Amy. Actually, it is

 

not true at all. Amy makes Hillary do all of the things months before so she will not suspect or find it weird. Finally, she throws herself down the stairs until she cracks her ribs and tells people that Hillary pushes her. Her plan works and Hillary is restrained from the school.

Another incident which is the result of Amy’s deceitfulness happens when she dates Desi. Desi’s mother is so possessive to Desi and she is cold to Amy. Amy, who is usually favored by other people, finds it to be annoying. Therefore, she frames Desi’s mother. She scratches her own face and tells Desi that his mother scratches her. It can be vividly seen in the quotation below.

His mother. I would die if his mother came up here, because she would report me immediately. The woman despises me, all because of that incident back in high school – so long ago, and she still holds a grudge. I scratched up my face and told Desi she attacked me (the woman was so possessive, and so cold to me, she might as well have).

(Flynn, 2012: 402)

Amy’s deceitfulness continues to her adulthood. It seems to be her nature to deceive other people. She even deceives everyone by writing a fake diary that tells people about her being scared of her own husband. She writes it so that she can get the cops and publics to her side. The quotation is shown below.

I wrote her very carefully, Diary Amy. She is designed to appeal to the cops, to appeal to the public should portions be released. They have to read this diary like it’s some sort of Gothic tragedy. A wonderful, good-hearted woman – whole life ahead of her, everything going for her, whatever else they say about women who die – chooses the wrong mate and pays the ultimate price. They have to like me. Her.

 

The quotation above shows how Amy is being serious in deceiving other people. She writes the diary of seven years carefully so people will believe it. It is clearly seen that Amy’s purpose is to manipulate other people so her plan to frame Nick will be successful. Besides deceiving and manipulating other people, Amy’s deceitfulness is also shown by using an alias. She uses alias two times in the novel. The first one is when she adds Nick’s mistress Facebook account and the second one is when she hides in the cabin. She clearly admits that she uses alias so she can access the daily information about Andie as seen below.

I do wonder about the little slut, Andie. I thought she’d last exactly three days. Then she wouldn’t be able to resist sharing. I know she likes to share because I’m one of her friends on Facebook – my profile name is invented (Madeleine Elster, ha!), my photo is stolen from popup ad for mortgages (blond, smiling, benefiting from historically low interest rates). Four months ago, Madeleine randomly asked to be Andie’s friend, and Andie, like a hapless puppy, accepted, so I know the little girl fairly well, along with all her minutiae-enthralled friends, who take many naps and love Greek yogurt and pinot grigio and enjoy sharing that with each other.

(Flynn, 2012: 278) Deceiving, manipulating, and using alias are surely parts of deceitfulness which is one of characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. Besides, doing all of those things, Amy also does not feel guilty to con others for her own profits. The passage that shows her conning others can be seen below.

‘Let me tell you a story, one quick story. About three years ago, we were driving up to Massachusetts. It was awful, road-rage traffic, and this trucker flipped Amy off – she wouldn’t let him in – and then he zoomed up and cut her off. Nothing dangerous but really scary for a second. You know those signs on the back of trucks: How Am I Driving? She had me call and give them the license plate. I thought that was the end of it. Two months later – two months later – I walked into our bedroom, and Amy was on the phone, repeating that license plate. She had a whole story: She was traveling with

 

her two year-old, and the driver had nearly run her off the road. She said it was her fourth call. She said she’d even researched the company’s routes so she could pick the correct highways for her fake near-accidents. She thought of everything. She was really proud. She was going to get that guy fired.’

(Flynn, 2012: 285) The quotation above is Nick’s story when he is driving with Amy. It can be seen that Amy gets mad with the trucker driver because he flips her off. In order to get him fired, Amy lies to the company by telling that she is driving with her two year-old baby two months after the incident. Most people will let it pass since it is not harmful to them. However, Amy does not let it pass since her purpose has not achieved yet. Therefore, she does anything, even conning the company, so she can get the trucker driver fired.

The acts of deceiving, manipulating, using of alias, and also conning other people are obviously kinds of deceitfulness. From some points above, it can be concluded that Amy is indicated to have deceitfulness in her by deceiving, manipulating, using of alias, and conning other people.

3. Impulsivity

According to American Psychiatric Association (2000: 650), people with personality disorder tend to be impulsive in all condition. It is obvious that human will face many kinds of condition which force them to act or behave wisely. It makes difference between normal people and people with antisocial personality disorder. Instead of thinking carefully, people with antisocial personality disorder do not think

 

further before putting an act to everything. It causes them to fail in planning ahead. Because of their impulsivity, people with personality disorder seem to be dangerous.

Amy’s impulsivities are shown in the novel. The first impulsivity she shows is when she decides to frame her husband. She says that she is a bit mad, but the actions she does in order to put a revenge on Nick shows that she does not think further.

So I may have gone a bit mad. I do know that framing your husband for your murder is beyond the pale of what an average woman might do. But it’s so very necessary. Nick must be taught a lesson. He’s never been taught a lesson!

(Flynn, 2012: 264)

Amy is mad because Nick cheats on her. Besides, Nick also does not show reaction which is expected by Amy when she shows her real self. For Amy who has high self-esteem, Nick’s actions hurt her pride. It is the reason why she decides to frame Nick. Her decision to frame Nick is obviously impulsive since she does not think further. She just wants Nick to be disadvantaged. She does not even think about Nick’s fate once he is framed. For Amy, she has to do it because it will teach Nick a lesson.

Her impulsivity is also shown when she spits on Greta’s food because she has bad opinion about Amy’s appearance on television. It happens not so long after Greta tells her opinion about Amy. Amy is mad about it and when Greta leaves to bathroom, Amy spits on her beverages and foods. Amy’s action is trigged by Greta’s comment which makes her angry and did the action. Therefore, it strengthens the fact that Amy is impulsive.

 

Another impulsivity shown by Amy can also be seen from other character’s opinion. An opinion comes from Hillary Handy. She tells Nick that Amy throws herself down a flight of stairs in order to frame Hillary when they are in high school. It can be clearly seen below.

‘Friends see most of each other’s flaws. Spouses see every awful last bit. If she punished a friend of a few months by throwing herself down a flight of stairs, what would she do to a man who was dumb enough to marry her?’

(Flynn, 2012:327)

In the quotation above, Hillary Handy tells Nick that Amy dares to throw herself down the flight of stairs in order to punish her. In Amy’s thought, punishing is not just simply being angry to her. She has to frame Hillary so she will get ousted from the school. Amy does it perfectly by throwing herself down the flight of stairs and tells everyone that Hillary pushes her down. It is obviously an act of impulsivity since it can harm herself if thing goes bad. She does not really think further as long as her plan is worked.

Amy keeps being impulsive while she is hiding from everyone. When she is in the cabin, Amy gets robbed by her new friends, Jeff and Greta. It makes her penniless and she has to move out from the cabin. She does not plan anything while she is moving. It shows how impulsive she is. It can be vividly seen below.

I am penniless and on the run. How fucking noir, Except that I am sitting in my Festiva at the far end of the parking lot of a vast fast-food complex on the banks of the Mississippi River, the smell of salt and factory-farm meat floating on the warm breezes. It’s evening now – I’ve waited hours – but I can’t move. I don’t know where to move to.

 

Since she does not have money, she can return to her husband. However, Amy does not see it as a choice. She just waits without planning anything. She does not know what to do and where to go. At this point, she is being impulsive and fails to plan ahead. She does not have any back up plan or aware of the possibility that she might get robbed.

Her decision to kill Desi in order to run from him is another impulsivity she made. She goes to Desi in order to hide even though she knows Desi will keep her like an antic figure. Amy realizes that she cannot go anywhere when she is with Desi. Therefore, she kills Desi and frames her as her kidnapper. The decision she made to kill Desi is a kind of impulsivity which obviously harms Desi’s life.

Failure to plan ahead and acting without thinking which harm self or other people are part of being impulsive. From the explanations above, it can be clearly seen that Amy is impulsive. It is indicated by her actions that show her failure in planning ahead and acting without thinking. Those actions can harm herself or other people around her.

4. Irritability and Aggressiveness

For some people, holding anger is easy. However, it is not that easy for people with antisocial personality disorder. They find it hard to hold anger. Besides, it is easy for them to get irritated. Because of it, people with antisocial personality disorder tend to get involved in physical fights or assaults (American Psychiatric Association, 2000: 650). Amy is easily irritated because of small things. When she is

 

angry, she can do something serious which can harm herself or other people. She is being aggressive when she is irritated. Amy’s irritability and aggressiveness can be shown by quotations below.

I suppose it’s not a compromise if only one of you considers it such, but that was what our compromises tended to look like. One of us was always angry. Amy, usually.

(Flynn. 2012: 4)

The quotation above is Nick’s opinion about Amy. He tells the reader that they often have compromises which end up with Amy is being angry. According to Nick, Amy is the one who is always angry when the compromise does not go well. He even puts ‘always’ and ‘usually’ to show that Amy is the one who gets irritated when they have compromise.

Nick’s opinion about Amy’s irritability and aggressiveness is also shown when they do the anniversary routine. On their anniversary, Amy always makes a kind of treasure hunt game which leads him to the anniversary present. Amy uses clue which has to be solved by Nick. The clue usually refers to the sweet memories they have. However, Nick rarely solves the clue because he could not remember any small talk they have. Because of it, Amy does not speak to him. It can be seen below.

By the time we got to the end of the day, to exchanging our actual presents – the traditional paper presents for the first year of marriage – Amy was not speaking to me.

(Flynn. 2012: 22)

Nick even tells “the Amy of today was abrasive enough to want to hurt, sometimes.” (Flynn, 2012: 54). Nick is someone who lives in the same house with

 

Amy and the closest person to Amy. It means he witnesses every single thing Amy did. That is the reason why his opinion towards Amy’s abrasiveness can be a proof that Amy has irritability and aggressiveness in her personality.

Another proof which shows Amy’s irritability and aggressiveness is when she and her husband, Nick, drives to Massachusetts (Flynn, 2012: 285). While driving, Amy’s car is flipped by a trucker. It is not harmful but Amy is so angry and calls the company of the trucker to get the driver fired. Even in two months after the incident, Amy still tries to call the company. She even makes up the story of the incident. It is a vivid proof how Amy is easily irritated because of small cause.

Amy’s irritability and aggressiveness are already shown when she was in high school. Amy’s best friend in high school, Hillary Handy, tells a story how she was framed by Amy just because of simple reasons. The quotation can be seen below.

‘A guy from our brother school, he meets us both at the fall dance, and the next day he calls me instead of Amy. Which I’m sure he did because Amy was too intimidating, but whatever . . . and then a few days later, our midterm grades come, and mine are slightly better, like point-one versus four-point. And not long after, one of our friends, she invites me to spend Thanksgiving with her family. Me, not Amy. Again, I’m sure this was because Amy intimidated people. She wasn’t easy to be around, you felt all the time like you had to impress. But I can feel things change just a little. I can tell she’s really irritated, even though she doesn’t admit it. . . .’

(Flynn, 2012: 325)

In the quotation above, Hillary Handy tells Nick the reasons why Amy frames her when they are in high school. As the icon of Amazing Amy, Amy cannot accept the fact that Hillary Handy is more popular than her. Hillary is called by a boy from

 

the brother school and gets invited by their friend while Amy does not. Because of these reasons, Amy gets really irritated and she wants to punish Hillary. She then punishes Hillary by framing her. She throws herself down the stairs and tells people that she is pushed by Hillary. This accident happens because Amy got irritated by Hillary Handy. It is a clear evidence of Amy’s irritability and aggressiveness.

The fact that Amy gets irritated by simple reasons can also be seen from Hillary Handy’s story when they are in high school. After the incident, Hillary chooses to move back to Memphis a month later. Suddenly, she gets a letter that shows the list why Amy frames her. It can be seen in the quotation below.

‘About a month after I moved back to Memphis, I got a letter. It wasn’t signed, it was typed, but it was obviously Amy. It was a list of all the ways I’d let her down. Crazy stuff: Forgot to wait for me after English, twice. Forgot I am allergic to strawberries, twice.’

(Flynn, 2012: 326)

From the lines above, the reasons written why Amy framed Hillary are obviously not that serious. However, what she did to Hillary is beyond the normal people would do.

The explanations above show that Amy is a kind of person who is easily irritated because of small things and aggressive in order to return the anger. It can be concluded from some points above that Amy has irritability and aggressiveness in her personality by showing some actions, i.e. framing her best friend because she is more popular than her, calling the trucker company because it flips her car, and acting abrasive to her husband.

every day I must try, and every day is a chance to be less than perfect.

3. Until Nick, I’d never really felt like a person, because I was always a product. Amazing Amy has to be brilliant, creative, kind thoughtful, witty, and happy. We just want you to be happy. Rand and Marybeth said all the time, but they never explained how.

252 Parents How her parents treating her as the icon of the book they write makes Amy has to live her life that way, She does not want to upset her parents so that she never really shows her true self. She tries to be a person who is liked by other people.

4. But then it had to stop, because it wasn’t real, it wasn’t me.. It wasn’t me, Nick! I thought you knew. I thought it was a bit of a game. I thought we had a wink-wink, don’t ask, don’t tell thing going. I tried so hard to be easy. But it was unsustainable. It turned out he couldn’t sustain his side either: the witty banter, the clever games, the romance, and the wooing. It all started collapsing on itself. I hated Nick for being surprised when I became me.

253 Husband Amy thinks she can be herself when she meets Nick. However, it seems like Nick cannot accept Amy’s true self. Therefore, it caused her to be upset.

5. I got there just in time to see him leaving with her. I was in the goddamn parking lot, twenty feet behind him, and he didn’t even register me, I was a ghost. He didn’t have his hands on her, not yet, but I knew. I could tell because he was so aware of her. I followed them, and suddenly, e pressed her up against a tree – in the middle of town –

262 Husband This quotation shows how Amy

feels betrayed by her own

husband. When he is the only one she can rely on, Nick cheats on her.

   

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and kissed her. Nick is cheating.

6. I could hear the tale, how everyone would love telling It how Amazing Amy, the girl who never did wrong, let herself be dragged, penniless, to the middle of the country, where her husband threw her over for a younger woman.

263 Husband Still, Amy believes that she has to be as perfect as Amazing Amy, the character created by her own parents. However, she knows that with his husband cheating, she cannot be that perfect anymore and it makes her upset.

7. My parents are worried, of course, but how can I feel sorry for them, since they made me this way and then deserted me? They never, every fully appreciated the fact that they were earning money from my

existence, that I should have been getting royalties. Then, after they siphoned off my money, my ‘feminist’ parents let Nick bundle me off to Missouri like I was some piece of chattel, some mail-order bride, some property exchange.

268 Parents In this quotation, Amy shows how upset she is to her parents who makes money by making her into the perfect character of the book, yet they let her to move to the countryside. According to Amy, they deserves to get the feeling of losing the only child.

8. ‘So, I start making excuses not to hang out so much. I don’t call it off, because I’m an idiot, and she’s gorgeous. I’m hoping it might turn around. But you know, I’m making excuses fairly regularly: I’m stuck at work, I’m on deadline, I have a friend in town, my monkey is sick, whatever. And I started seeing this other girl, kinda sorta seeing her, very casual, no big deal. Or so I think. But Amy finds out – how, I still don’t

311 Boyfriend Amy cannot really accept the fact that someone who is supposed to be with her and be loyal to her all the time, in fact, tries to avoid her. Here, Tommy O’ Hara even meets other woman.

know, for all I know, she was staking out my apartment. But …shit …’

9. ‘I feel like Amy wanted people to believe she really was perfect. And as we got to be friends, I got to know her. And she wasn’t perfect. You know? She was brilliant and charming and all that, but she was also controlling and OCD and a drama queen and a bit of a liar. Which was fine by me. It just wasn’t fine by her. She got rid of me because I knew she wasn’t perfect. It made me wonder about you.’

326 Friend Still, Amy thinks that she has to be perfect in front of her friends because she is the role model in the book. When she cannot make it because there is someone better than her, it makes her upset and wants to get rid of her.

10. Sales for the Amazing Amy books have skyrocketed since my disappearance – three generations of readers have remembered how much they love me. My greedy, stupid, irresponsible parents can finally pay back my trust fund. With interest.

394 Parents Again, Amy believes that her parents use the situation to increase the popularity of the book. Here, her opinion about her parents has not changed.

11. I look at Desi with outright disgust now. Sometimes, I feel my skin must be hot with repulsion and with the effort to keep that repulsion hidden. I’d forgotten about him. The manipulation, the purring persuasion, the delicate bullying. A man who find guilt erotic. And if he doesn’t get his way, he’ll pull his little levers and set his punishment in motion. At least Nick was man enough to go stick his dick in something. Desi will push and push his waxy, tapered fingers

404 Boyfriend This quotation shows how Amy feels being under control of Desi. Amy cannot bear it any longer and she thinks that it was the time when she has to get back to Nick.

   

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until I give him what he wants.

I thought I could control Desi, but I can’t. I feel like something very bad is going to happen.

12. Yes, the investigation is winding down. But for Amazing Amy, it’s quite the opposite. My parents’ publisher placed an abashed plea for another Amazing Amy book, and they acquiesced for a lovely fat sum. Once again, they are squatting on my psyche, earning money for themselves.

447 Parents Amy’s parents, again, exploits her by turning her story to an Amazing Amy book. It makes her thinking that she is still a product so she has to fulfill people’s expectation towards her.