The causal factors of Otoko`s homosexuality as seen in Yasunari Kawabata`s beauty and sadness.

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xii ABSTRACT

KORAAG, HELGA LARRISA C. The Causal Factors of Otoko’s Homosexuality As Seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

This thesis discusses Yasunari Kawabata’s novel entitled Beauty And Sadness. The novel tells about the life of a girl who is experiencing good and bad experiences during her chilhood until early adulthood which become the determinant of her transition to become a homosexual.

The purpose of this research is to find out the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality as seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. There are two problems to solve in this thesis. The first is to reveal the main character’s sexual pattern seen from its characterization, while the second problem is to find out the causal factors of her homosexuality.

The writer used library research in this study. The writer found suitable sources containing necessary data and information by concidering the factors of validity, accuracy, and also appropriateness that could finally decide which source could be used. The primary source was the novel Beauty And Sadnessby Yasunari Kawabata.

The writer finds out that the sexual pattern of the main character in the novel is changing, from a heterosexual person to a homosexual person. Then the causal factors of the changing are psychosocial factors which includes a bad conditioning of heterosexual behavior and homosexual experiences and its positive reinforcement. The writer finds there are self-defense mechanisms which the main character uses during her struggle in copping with her trauma in her past heterosexual relationship. The self-defense mechanism which she uses are repression, sublimation, denial of reality and emotional insulation. The writer also finds is the representation of Otoko’s trauma through her dream as the later impact of her traumatic experiences. The last finding which the writer find is the positive reinforcements of Otoko’s homosexual experience. Otoko meets both biological and emotional needs from her homosexual experience.


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xiii ABSTRAK

KORAAG, HELGA LARRISA C. The Causal Factors of Otoko’s Homosexuality As Seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Skripsi ini membahas novel Yasunari Kawabata berjudul Beauty And Sadness. Novel tersebut bercerita tentang seorang gadis yang mengalami pengalaman yang baik dan buruk selama masa remaja sampai masa awal dewasa yang mana menjadi penentu pergantian pola seksualnya menjadi seorang homoseksual.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkap faktor penyebab dari homoseksualitas yang dialami Otoko seperti yang tercakup pada novel Yasunari Kawabata yag berjudul Beauty And Sadness. Terdapat dua pokok masalah yang akan diurai di tesis ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk mengungkap pola seksual dari tokoh utama dilihat dari karakterisasinya. Sedangkan yang kedua adalah untuk mengungkap faktor penyebab homoseksualitas dari tokoh tersebut.

Penulis menggunakan penelitian pustaka dalam studi ini. Penulis mendapatkan sumber yang sesuai yang berisi data dan informasi yang dibutuhkan dengan mempertimbangkan faktor keabsahan, ketepatan, dan kepantasan yang bisa ditentukaan sumber mana yang dipakai. Sumber utama skripsi ini adalah novel Beauty And Sadnesskarangan Yasunari Kawabata

Penulis mengungkap bahwa pola seksual dari tokoh utama di novel mengalami perubahan, dari heteroseksual menjadi homoseksual. Dan juga penyebab dari perubahan tersebut adalah faktor psikososial yang merupakan kondisi buruk dari hubungan heteroseksual and pengalaman homoseksual yang memberi dampak positif. Penulis menemukan bahwa sang tokoh utama tersebut menggunakan mekanisme pembelaan diri untuk menghadapi trauma dalam hubungan heteroseksualnya di masa lalu. Mekanisme pembelaan diri yang ia gunakan adalah repression, sublimation, denial of reality dan emotional insulation. Penulis juga menemukan gambaran dari trauma sang tokoh utama melalui mimpi yang ia alami. Temuan terakhir yang penullis temukan adalah dampak positif dari pengalaman homoseksual Otoko. Otoko mendapatkan baik kebutuhan biologi dan juga kebutuhan emosional dari pengalaman homoseksualnya tersebut.


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THE CAUSAL FACTORS OF OTOKO’S HOMOSEXUALITY AS

SEEN IN YASUNARI KAWABATA’S

BEAUTY AND SADNESS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

HELGA LARRISA CHARITY KORAAG

Student number: 114214067

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2017


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ii

THE CAUSAL FACTORS OF OTOKO’S HOMOSEXUALITY AS

SEEN IN YASUNARI KAWABATA’S

BEAUTY AND SADNESS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

HELGA LARRISA CHARITY KORAAG

Student number: 114214067

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2017


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Drs. Hirmawan Wijarnaka. M.Hum Co-Advisor

January 9,2017

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ヴα″α&7S″α Undergraduate Thesis

THE CAUSAL FACTORS OF OTOKO'S HOMOSEXUALITY AS

SEEN IN YASUNARI KAWABATA'SF引

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IIIelga Larrisa Charity Koraag

Studel■tnumber l14214067

Defended before the Board ofExarll1lners on Janua増

′31,2017 and Deciared Acceptable

BOARD OF E脚

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Name

Chairperson

Secretary

Member 1

Member 2

Member 3

:F,X,Siswad二]工△.

:Elizabeth Arti Wulandari.Ph D

DewI Widvastuti_S Pd_ヽ(Hum : Drs. Hirmawan Wijamaka. M.Hum.

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Yogyakarta, Faculty of Letters


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LEⅣIBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILⅣ IIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEル IIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama

: Helga Larrisa Charity Koraag

Nomor

Mahasiswa

: 114214067

Demi pengembangan

ilmu

pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

Universitas Sanata Dharama karya imiah sata yang berjudul

THE

CAUSAL

FACTORS OF

OTOKO'S

HOMOSEXUALITY

AS

SEEN

IN YASIINARI KAWABATA'S

BEAUTY

AND

SADNESS beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan

kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan

dalam bentuk

media

lain,

mengelolanya

dalam bentuk

pangkalan data,

mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain

untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta

ijin

kepada saya maupun

memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai

penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tangga1 8 Januari 2017


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STATEⅣ IENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously

submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best

of

my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by

any other except where due reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis


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vii

One foot in front of the other. Repeat as often as necessary to

finish.


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viii

For the one and only,


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ix

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for His unlimitted blessing and love that I could finish my thesis.

My sincere gratitude is also expressed for my advisor Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd, M. Hum. for her patience, time, guidance, helps, support, and advice to help me during my thesis writing process. I would like to thank her for her support and suggestions to improve and make my thesis better. I also thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijarnaka, M.Hun as my co- advisor for his guidance in improving this thesis. Further more, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my academic advisor Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. for the priceless guidance, knowledge, and wisdom that he has thought during my education process.

My deepest gratitude and thanks are dedicated to my mom and my brother for their unlimited and non-stop love, patience, prayers, support and care during my thesis writing process. Also, I would like to give my gratitude and thanks to my nanny, sisters, aunts, uncles, niece, nephew, and all my dogs. Without them, it would be impossible for me to do this thesis.

I would also deliver my deep thanks to all of my little family outside home: Chintia, Dea, Menik, Louisa, Woody, Greta, Soca, Riza, Richard, Ubaid, Gerby, Joshua, Deril, Karin for their love and time in accompanying me and cheering me up whenever I felt down and desparate. I also thank mas Charlie and Febi for their time, helps, and patience to help me whenever I was in doubt in doing this thesis. I would also deliver my thanks to all my classmate in C class for all the good things in this five years together. See you on top guys!

My deepest gratitude and thanks are also dedicated to Titus Dewo Broto for his unlimitted love, support, patience, prayers, and helps anytime I need it. I thank him for always being there for me.

The last, I want to thank my father whenever he is. His absence always strongly strengthen me to be a better person and also to do all my best for my better future.


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x

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...ii

APPROVAL PAGE ...iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE...iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH...v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...vi

MOTTO PAGE...vii

DEDICATION PAGE...viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...x

ABSTRACT ...xii

ABSTRAK...xiii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...1

A. Background of the Study ...1

B. Problem Formulation ...5

C. Objectives of the Study ...5

D. Definition of Terms ...6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ...8

A. Review of Related Studies ...8

B. Review of Related Theories ...11

1. Theory of Character and Characterization ...11

2. Theory of Homosexuality ...14

a. Types of Homosexual ...15

b. Causal Factors of homosexuality ...17

3. Theory of Trauma ...20

4. Theory of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ...25

5. Theory of Motivation: Human needs and Strivings ...26

6. The Relation between Literature and Psychology ...27

C. Theoretical Framework ...28

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...30

A. Object of the Study ...30

B. Approach of the Study ...31


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xi

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS...34

A. Otoko’s Sexual Pattern...34

1. A Heterosexual Person...35

2. A Homosexual Person...38

B. Factors that Caused Otoko’s Homosexuality ...42

1. Negative Conditioning of Heterosexual Behavior...43

2. Homosexual Experiences and Its Positive Reinforcement...55

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION...61


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xii ABSTRACT

KORAAG, HELGA LARRISA C. The Causal Factors of Otoko’s Homosexuality As Seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

This thesis discusses Yasunari Kawabata’s novel entitled Beauty And Sadness. The novel tells about the life of a girl who is experiencing good and bad experiences during her chilhood until early adulthood which become the determinant of her transition to become a homosexual.

The purpose of this research is to find out the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality as seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. There are two problems to solve in this thesis. The first is to reveal the main character’s sexual pattern seen from its characterization, while the second problem is to find out the causal factors of her homosexuality.

The writer used library research in this study. The writer found suitable sources containing necessary data and information by concidering the factors of validity, accuracy, and also appropriateness that could finally decide which source could be used. The primary source was the novel Beauty And Sadnessby Yasunari Kawabata.

The writer finds out that the sexual pattern of the main character in the novel is changing, from a heterosexual person to a homosexual person. Then the causal factors of the changing are psychosocial factors which includes a bad conditioning of heterosexual behavior and homosexual experiences and its positive reinforcement. The writer finds there are self-defense mechanisms which the main character uses during her struggle in copping with her trauma in her past heterosexual relationship. The self-defense mechanism which she uses are repression, sublimation, denial of reality and emotional insulation. The writer also finds is the representation of Otoko’s trauma through her dream as the later impact of her traumatic experiences. The last finding which the writer find is the positive reinforcements of Otoko’s homosexual experience. Otoko meets both biological and emotional needs from her homosexual experience.


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xiii ABSTRAK

KORAAG, HELGA LARRISA C. The Causal Factors of Otoko’s Homosexuality As Seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty And Sadness. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Skripsi ini membahas novel Yasunari Kawabata berjudul Beauty And Sadness. Novel tersebut bercerita tentang seorang gadis yang mengalami pengalaman yang baik dan buruk selama masa remaja sampai masa awal dewasa yang mana menjadi penentu pergantian pola seksualnya menjadi seorang homoseksual.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengungkap faktor penyebab dari homoseksualitas yang dialami Otoko seperti yang tercakup pada novel Yasunari Kawabata yag berjudul Beauty And Sadness. Terdapat dua pokok masalah yang akan diurai di tesis ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk mengungkap pola seksual dari tokoh utama dilihat dari karakterisasinya. Sedangkan yang kedua adalah untuk mengungkap faktor penyebab homoseksualitas dari tokoh tersebut.

Penulis menggunakan penelitian pustaka dalam studi ini. Penulis mendapatkan sumber yang sesuai yang berisi data dan informasi yang dibutuhkan dengan mempertimbangkan faktor keabsahan, ketepatan, dan kepantasan yang bisa ditentukaan sumber mana yang dipakai. Sumber utama skripsi ini adalah novel Beauty And Sadnesskarangan Yasunari Kawabata

Penulis mengungkap bahwa pola seksual dari tokoh utama di novel mengalami perubahan, dari heteroseksual menjadi homoseksual. Dan juga penyebab dari perubahan tersebut adalah faktor psikososial yang merupakan kondisi buruk dari hubungan heteroseksual and pengalaman homoseksual yang memberi dampak positif. Penulis menemukan bahwa sang tokoh utama tersebut menggunakan mekanisme pembelaan diri untuk menghadapi trauma dalam hubungan heteroseksualnya di masa lalu. Mekanisme pembelaan diri yang ia gunakan adalah repression, sublimation, denial of reality dan emotional insulation. Penulis juga menemukan gambaran dari trauma sang tokoh utama melalui mimpi yang ia alami. Temuan terakhir yang penullis temukan adalah dampak positif dari pengalaman homoseksual Otoko. Otoko mendapatkan baik kebutuhan biologi dan juga kebutuhan emosional dari pengalaman homoseksualnya tersebut.


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1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Reading literary works gives knowledge, understanding and usually also inspires about life to the reader. As in Theory of Literature, Wellek and Warren stated that the works of literature portrays life as reality.

Literature looks like a real life potrait. It as an illustration of human lives because the literary works presents the reality of human situations, problems, feelings, and relationship (1956: 96).

Henkle also stated that “Literature has a special value over other disciplines

because it puts ideas in a human context” (Henkle, 1977:86). So it can be concluded that we as readers can learn about life through literary works because most of the situations, problems, feelings, and relationship in literary works reflect those that appeared in the real life.

In this modern age, the path to a meaningful and satisfying way of life has probably never been easy to reach. There are a lot of obstacles and problems that we face in our life are related to stress. It commonly interferes with efforts to achieve

need satisfaction, thus may affect the behavior patterns of the individual in copping with such demands. Coleman said in Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life,

Many of us encounter serious difficulties in dealing with life’s problems, particularly problems centering around intimate personal relationships and the


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search for values contributing to a meaningful and fulfilling way of life (1976: 3).

However, problem is an important part of our life. It gives a huge contribution

in shaping our personality. The way how people face and handle problems is different from one to another. Although the problem is the same, the responses and outcomes will be different. It can result either normal or abnormal behavior.

As Coleman stated in his book,

Although we may assume that the same psychological principles underline both normal and abnormal behavior, the problem still remains of delineating the specific conditions responsible for different outcomes (Coleman, 1976:152). Abnormal behavior somehow has been the number-one health problem in our

era. According to Coleman, there is a factor which plays significant roles in abnormal behavior, trauma. Traumatic experience results tremendous pain in which a person cannot endure. It affects our ways of thinking, ways of acting, ways of handling

something in our life, or even our sexuality. According to Coleman’s book,

Most of us have had traumatic experiences that temporarily shattered our feelings of security, adequacy, and worth, and were important in influencing our later evaluations of ourselves and our environment (Coleman, 1976:168)

Sexuality is not something that remains unchanged. It can change. It is caused by several factors and reasons. As Peter Barry stated in his book, Beginning Theory, “Sexuality is not seen as something merely ‘natural’ and unchanging, but rather as a construction and as subject to change.” (2002:142)

As this thesis is written, the writer chooses topic about homosexuality. The writer chooses the topic because nowadays people see it as taboo and inappropriate


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things to talk about. They only judge that homosexuality as abnormality or disorder that should be healed without seeing the other side which is the reason of it. In fact, homosexuality is a complex case that should not simply be only seen as abnormality

or disorder which is taboo and inappropriate. The writer wants to give a different prespective when it comes to homosexuality that there is a long complex process which should be respected behind a person’s decision to finally be a homosexual. A

person may experiences many complex situation in his life which later bring him into shifting in his sexual pattern. Therefore the writer will analyze the causal factors of homosexuality in this study.

Since the complexity of life can apparently be seen through literature, the aim

of this study is to study further about the causal factor of homosexuality through a character of a literature novel. Hudson said in An Introduction to the Study of Literature that “literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they

have experienced of it, what they thought and felt about those aspects of it which have the most immediate and enduring interest of all of us.” It is thus fundamentally an expression of life through the medium of life through the medium of language

(Hudson, 1958: 10).

Yasunari Kawabata is the winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize for literature. He devoted his novels largely to aspects of love. Beauty and Sadnesswas his last novel before he was found dead by his own hand with no suicide note on April 16, 1972

(Kawabata, 1996:137). It tells about adultery, relationship with underage child, suicide attempt, suffering from psychological problem, exploitation and lesbianism.


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The main story of this novel is Otoko’s struggle of love that changes her life completely. The novel talks about Otoko who faced traumatic events which brought massive pain in her life, thus decided not to get married and then became a

homosexual person.

Otoko was Oki’s mistress when she was 15 years old while Oki was about 30 years old at that time. At the age of 16, Otoko had premature dead baby. She was

really frustrated that she was hospitalized in psychiatry ward for a while. After she was out from the hospital, she was separated from Oki and moved to Kyoto and began a new chapter of her life as a painter. All the things which happened durring her teenage has traumatized her that she decided not to get married. Then Otoko met

her pupil, Keiko, who soon became her lover in Kyoto. It can be said that Oki was the love of her life, because even after all this time, Otoko still loved Oki but she could not be with him because the pain he brought still lingers until now.

Although there are many novel which have the same topic as this novel, this novel tells a really complex process of a heterosexual person in becoming to be a homosexual person. This novel rises the issues about adultery, relationship with

underage child, suicide attempt, suffering from psychological problem, exploitation and lesbianism, which, when it is read carefully, can simply be captured through the main character named Otoko. The underlying reason of this thesis is to analyze the process of Otoko’s sexual pattern changing. The writer wants to analyze the character


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since the main story of this novel is Otoko’s struggle of love that changes her life completely.

B. Problem Formulation

There are two problem that are formulated based on the background of the study explained above. The problem are formulated as follows:

1. How does Otoko’s characterization reveal her sexual pattern? 2. What factors caused Otoko’s homosexuality?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem formulation, there are two objectives stated in this study.

The first one is to reveal Otoko’s sexual pattern as seen from her characterization. This objective explains Otoko’s Sexual Pattern through her characterization. The second objective is to find out the factors which caused Otoko’s Homosexuality. This

objective explains the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality and how the factors caused her homosexuality.


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D. Definition of Terms

In order to help the readers in interpreting some words which are frequently used in the study, the definition of those terms are presented here:

According to James C. Coleman in his book Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life, “Homosexuality is sexual behavior directed toward a member of one’s own

sex.” (1976: 589)

According to Herbert A. Carroll in his book, Mental Hygiene,homosexuality is

Homosexuality is usually defined as sexual relationship between individuals of the same sex. In a somewhat broader sense it may be considered as a sexual attraction toward individuals of the same sex, even though no overt practices are involved. (1961: 69-70)

From the explanations above, it can be concluded that homosexuality is sexual

behavior or sexual relationship between individuals of the same sex. In the broader sense, it is a sexual attraction toward individuals of the same sex even though there is no overt practices involved. A person may be claimed as homosexual as he is sexually attracted to an individual of the same sex as him even though they do not do


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8 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

There are related studies of Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness to help

the readers understand on the study is really about. The reviews of the novel are studies about the same novel and the study of same topic discussed in this thesis.

The first study has the same novel which is used as the main source as this thesis. The study is an undergraduate thesis by Linangkung Sri Indarsih, entitled “Revealing Messages through the Characters in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty and

Sadness”. Unlike this thesis which focuses on the sexual pattern of the main character, the study focuses on revealing the message through the major characters and also their view of love. Those characters are Otoko, Oki, and Keiko. Otoko’s

view of love is “a sacrifice” (Indarsih, 2007: 50). She sacrificed everything she had for Oki, her virginity and most of all, her life. Oki had ruined Otoko’s life. He took her virginity, made her pregnant, and then left her without marrying her. He had made

Otoko suffered from both physically and mentally for the rest of her life. Oki’s views of love are “passion and money”. The passion comes from Otoko’s and Keiko’s youth and beauty, and the money comes from his novel about his experience with Otoko. And the last is Keiko’s view of love as “obsession” (Indarsih, 2007: 51).


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The second study is an undergraduate thesis by Angela Astrid S. C. A. entitled “The Influence of Patriarchy on Otoko and Keiko’s lesbianism in Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness”. Again, this study has the same novel for the main source as the writer

does, but the focus is different. This study reveals patriarchal oppression which is faced by Otoko and Keiko as the factor which is contributing their transition in lesbianism through feminism point of view. In this study is stated that “patriarchal

oppression serves as one of the psychological, social, and cultural factors which triggers Otoko and Keiko’s transition in lesbianism” (Ayu, 2008:65). Altough this thesis analyzed the same novel as this study, but the topic was different. Angela’s thesis analyzed the patriachal oppression as the factor which contributed to Keiko and

Otoko’s transition in lesbianism through feminism prespective, while this study analyzed the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality through psychological

prespective.

The third study is an undergraduate thesis by Regina Rita Sri Maryati entitled “A Study on Maurice’s Character Development as A Homosexual in E.M Forster’s

Maurice”. Although the thesis does not have the same main source as this study, this thesis analyzes the same topic with the topic in this study. It analyzed Maurice’s character development as a homosexual which is caused by psychosocial and

sociopsychological factors. The first causal of his homosexuality is family patterns which is the absence of the father figure of his life. The second causal of his


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homosexuality is the changes of the significant people around him, Clive Durham and Alec Scudder (Maryati, 2012: 60).

The last study is an undergraduate thesis by Immanuela Langgeng Santini entitled “Maurice Self-Realization of Being A Homosexual after His Conflicts Seen

in E.M Forster’s Maurice”. Like the previous thesis, this thesis has the same topic as this study which is homosexuality. It revealed Maurice’s complete self-realization of being a homosexual was led by the conflicts he experienced throughout his life. The first conflict is the conflict between his homosexual desire and his social reality

which lead on his anxiety and longing for the harmony within his life. He also faced social conflict which was related with religion which also lead his irrational anxiety for became what was society so-called a “normal person’. As in his suffering of

sexual identity indistinctness, he got his first homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement thus encouraged him to a decision of his self-realization of being a homosexual as his real personality (Santini, 2011:65). This thesis use the same approach as this study, psychological approach.

From all the related studies above, the writer convinced that this study is different from the others because in this study the writer uses a different novel as some of those above, and also this study will reveal the causal factors of Otoko’s

Homosexuality as seen in Yasunara Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness. The writer finds it best to analyze the study with psychological point of view as it is a study about a character’s behavior patterns, feelings, and thoughts.


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B. Review of Related Theories

This part consists of explanation on the theories that are applied in this study. They are theory of character and characterization, theory of homosexuality, theory of

trauma, theory of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, theory of motivation, and also some explanation on the relation between literature and psychology.

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

According to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is described as

the person in a dramatic or narrative work naturally possesses moral, dispositional and emotional qualities that are reflected in the dialogue and action among the people

(Abrams, 1998:20).

Based on their importance, characters are devided into two, major characters and minor characters. Major characters are substantially involved in the main action

as well as becoming the central and the most important in a story. While minor characters are characters who appear in certain setting, and they are necessary to

become the background for the major characters (Abrams, 1998:20).

Based on internal complexity, As Laurence Perrine said in his book, Literature:

structure, sound, and sense, characters are divided into two sorts of character based on the development of the characters, static character and dynamic character. Static character is a character who does not change from the beginning to the end of the


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story. He is the same sort of person as he was at the beginning. While dynamic character is the opposite of static character. He experiences changes from the

beginning to the end of the story. It could be for better or worse (1978: 71).

Discussing further about character is as important as discussing the

characterization. According to Roth Berger and Woods, Jr., characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters. Characterization is the process by which an author creates the character (1971:20). In terms of characterization, the writer intends to apply the theory of characterization

from M. J. Murphy’s Understanding Unseen. It illustrates some ways in representing the characters. The author attempts to make his characters understandable to come and alive for the readers. Murphy categorizes the characterization as follows (1972:

161-173):

a. Personal Description

This characterization deals much with physical appearances of the characters. The

description is often related to psychological condition, because personality can be reflected from external appearance.

b. Character as Seen by Another

The author describes the characters through the eyes and opinion of the other characters in the story. The direct opinion of the other characters could explain the


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c. Speech

The characteristics of the characters are reflected through what they say. Whenever the characters speak, whenever he put forward an opinion, they give the readers clues

to their characteristics. d. Past Life

The author gives the readers a clue to the characteristics of the characters by letting

the readers learn something about the character’s past life. What have happened in the character’s past, might shape his characteristics in the present.

e. Conversation with Others

In this category, the author gives the readers clue about the characteristic of the

characters through conversation of the characters. Whenever the characters are in conversation with another, they gives the readers to their characteristics.

f. Reactions

The character shows his characteristics from his action and reaction. We can see the characteristic of a character through his action and reaction to the other characters or the conflicts he faces. So that, the readers understand the characteristics of the

characters, including, mental and moral qualities, in the story. g. Thoughts

The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a character is thinking about. The characters’ thought and feeling can reflect their characteristics.


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h. Direct Comment of The Author

The author directly describes or comments on the characteristic of a character in the story.

i. Mannerism

The author describes the characteristics of the characters through their mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies.

All the theory about the characterizations that are mentioned above can be applied to facilitate the reader to analyze the characterization of the character that plays in the story.

This study uses theory fom M.J Murphy to reveal Otoko’s sexual pattern

through the characterization. There are three theories that is used to do the analysis such as theory of personal description, theory of past life, theory of coversation with others, and theory of direct comment of the author.

2. Theory of Homosexuality

Theory of homosexuality is needed to help analyzing Otoko’s type of

homosexuality and the causal factors of her homosexuality. Homosexuality is a relation between two persons in which they are attracted sexually to each other and their strongest feelings and affections are directed toward each other, but it may or may not involve overtly sexual contact or intercourse.


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a. Types of Homosexuals

There are also various attempts have been made to categorize homosexuals. Although such labeling is crude and stereotyped at best and misleading at worst, it

nevertheless does give some idea of the range of homosexual patterns and life-styles, and also of the impact of societal pressures on those who commit homosexuality. There are the classification of homosexual as in Our Sexuality(1983: 483) written by

Crooks and Karla.

i. The Blatant Homosexual

This type of homosexual deals with the individuals who are fit by the popular stereotype of the homosexual-the lisping, limp-wristed, swishing caricature of

femininity, in the case of male. On the other side, his lesbian counterpart, called the “butch”, “dyke” or “stud” flaunts her masculinity, even to the point of trying to look like a man. Some transvestites, who enjoy wearing the clothes and often assuming the

behavior of the opposite sex, fit in this category too. However, as we shall see, many transvestites are not homosexual.

ii. The Desperate Homosexual

The so-called desperate homosexual tends to haunt public toilets (“tearooms”) or steam baths and it is apparently driven to homosexual behavior but unable to face the tensions of establishing and sustaining a serious homosexual relationship.

iii. The Secret Homosexual

The members of this type range across all class and racial lines, but they tend to come from the middle class and to hold positions that they try to protect by


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concealing their homosexuality. They have double lives. One is what so-called by “normal” life, the other is homosexual life. People who are included in this type are extremely skilled at camouflage and at “passing” as straight. They generally prefer

subdued clothes, and maintain a suitably conservatives appearance. Often they are married but their partner and also people around them never know about their homosexuality. Only a few close friends, their lovers, and occasionally their

psychotherapists know about their homosexuality. However, living in continuing fear of detection and possible social sanctions often adds to their adjustive problems. iv. The Adjust Homosexual

The members of this type accept their homosexuality. They have normal job

and act as like normal people, and most of them also settle down or live in a homosexual community and usually belongs to a group of homosexual friends. Some of them are trying to build a steady and real relationship, moreover they even get

married to homosexual partner. v. The Situational Homosexual

There are various situations in which an individual engage in homosexual

behavior without any deep homosexual commitment. As the example, both males and females may engage in homosexuality in prisons and other institutions, but such individuals usually resume heterosexual behavior on their release. Some prisoners act as homosexual prostitutes. They may merely engage in homosexual practices for the

only reason, economic advantages. vi. The Homosexual Prostitutes


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This type engages in homosexual only for money and materials. vii. The Bisexual

This type engages in both homosexual and heterosexual practices during a

sustained period of their lives.

All the theories about the types of homosexual which are mentioned above can be applied to facilitate the reader to analyze the type of Otoko’s homosexuality. This

study uses the theory of secret homosexual to do the analysis of Otoko’s homosexuality.

b. The Causal Factors of Homosexuality

There are some possible conditions which may contribute to the development of homosexuality. In his book, Coleman states three possible causal factors may contribute the development of homosexuality. Those are biological factor which

consists of genetic and hormonal factors, psychosocial factor which consists of negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior, homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement, family patterns, and general socio-cultural factors, and

interactionist factor which draws upon both biological and psychosocial factors (Coleman, 1976: 101-103).

a) Biological Factor

Biological factor is factor where homosexuality are the result of some

characteristic of the physical organism, such a person’s ratio of male hormone (androgen) and female hormone (estrogen). The imbalance of the hormones might be


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caused by gene patterns inherited from the parents. Although there is a possibility that homosexuality is caused by genetic and hormonal factors, but the truth of this statement still be doubtable and quentionable. Many studies that had been done,

however, have produced widely differing results, and also no agreement has been reached on the truthfulness of this statement.

b) Psychosocial Factor

Psychosocial stands for psychological-social. It refers to the quality of an

individual’s relationship with other people during that person’s childhood and adolescence that find out whether the person becomes homosexual or heterosexual or maybe that person will change into asexual who is not interested to all physical love

making. As Coleman said, “A variety of circumstances may lead to conditioning in which heterosexual behavior becomes an aversive stimulus” (Coleman, 1976: 595).

i) Negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior

An individual may shifts from heterosexual behavior to homosexual behavior because bad experiences which are causing severe stress thus lead on trauma with

his/her previous heterosexual partner. It has been proved by the findings of the study of homosexuals that has been done by the Institute for Sex research:

Preliminary findings in the study of homosexuals being carried out by the Institute for Sex Research showed that some lesbians shifted from heterosexual to homosexual behavior after disillusioned with their heterosexual partners. (Coleman, 1976: 595)


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The same statement which is stated by Carroll in his book, Mental Hygiene (Caroll, 1961: 69), one of causation of homosexuality is persistent failure during adolescence to establish satisfactory social and emotional heterosexual

relationships-for women is from fear-producing experience with a man.

ii) Homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement

“The development of homosexuality is frequently associated with pleasant homosexual experiences during adolescence or early adulthood.” (Coleman, 1976: 595). This pleasant impression may be led to later homosexual life-style if it is “reinforced by pleasurable repetition and/or meet biological and emotional needs”

(Coleman, 1976: 595). Meaning to say that once an individual experiences a pleasant homosexual experience and gets its positive reinforcement in his adolescence or early adulthood which he cannot get from heterosexual relationship, he tends to become a

homosexual after that. iii) Family patterns

In a study of 106 male homosexuals who were undergoing psychoanalysis found a common family pattern involving a dominant and seductive mother and a

weak or absent father (Coleman 1976: 596).

iv) General sociocultural factors

A variety of sociocultural factors might influence the incidence of homosexual

and other unconventional life-styles. Sociocultural factors in one place might different from another. For example, among certain primitive groups living in areas


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with limited resources, homosexuality has actually encouraged to help control the population of the groups.

c) Interactionist Factor

This factor draws upon both biological and pychosocial factors in the belief that some combination of chemistry’s body and environmental factors account for the

development of homosexual behaviors.

From all the theories that has been explained above, it shows that the causal factor of Otoko’s homosexuality is psychosocial factor which consists of negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior when she is relationship with Oki and

homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement when she is in relationship with Keiko.

3. Theory of Trauma

What happened in an individual’s past life can affects his behavior toward the conflict or hard situation that occur in the future. Since a person may learn, grow and adapt to a new situation, therefore he often uses experiences in the past life as the reference or hint to the action that will be taken in the future while facing a problem. An expert, Judith Herman explained in her book Trauma and Recovery: The

Aftermath of Violence,

Psychological trauma is an affiliation of the powerless. As the moment of the trauma, the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force. Traumatic


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events overwhelm the ordinary system of care that give people a sense of control, connection and meaning. Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptation of life (1992: 33).

When Otoko is in relationship with Oki, she is powerless to deny Oki’s will. She accepts whatever Oki does to her, incuding take her as a mistress, take her virginity, take her to improper clinic while she is giving birth, and leave her. The fact

that she is madly in love with Oki causes the fear of lossing him. It makes her stand still facing the hard situations and the pain it brings that Oki gives to her.

Trauma is an emotional response to terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disater. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer-term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headache or nausea. While these feeling are normal, some people have difficulty moving on their lives (1992:34).

As writen in the theory above, people tend to have difficulty moving on from the horrible traumatic events that had happened in their lives. That is exactly as Otoko

undergoes in her life. After she is apart from Oki, she moves to Kyoto and starts a new life with her mother. Years after, she declares herlself as a painter and has a new life with Keiko. That facts redirect her long-term reactions of the traumatic

experiences thus keep her clinging to the horrible traumatic experiences that happened in her past.

Coleman also give explanation about traumatic experiences in his book, he stated that

Most of us have had traumatic experiences that temporarily shattered our feelings of security, adequacy, and worth, and were important in influencing our later evaluations of ourselves and our environment (Coleman, 1976:168).


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Traumatic experiences leave psychological wounds that never completely healed. It result a tremendouss pain in which a person cannot endure. Thus affects someone’s life massively, as the example, in the way of acting, the way of thinking,

and the way of feeling.

Traumatic experiences can be one of the aspects that influence an individual to use defense mechanism. By the time, an individual will develop a self-system which

serves to protect him/her from anxiety through the use of self-defense mechanism. Self-defense mechanism specifically functions to protect an individual from both internal threats, such as guilt-arousing desires or actions, and external threats, such as devaluating failures. It is designed to deal with inner hurt, anxiety, and

self-devaluation. It also typically involves some measure of self-deception and reality distortion. An individual may use more than ego-defense mechanism for coping with the problems he has (Coleman, 1976: 122-123). There are kinds of self-defense

mechanism:

a. Denial of reality

It is the simplest and most primitive ego-defense mechanism. In this mechanism, an individual will turn away, faint, deny, become so preoccupied, or refuse the disagreeable realities. Or in some extreme cases, an individual will totally

refuse to acknowledge the unpleasant things or traumatic events. As it is reported in a study of persons with severe illness by Hamburg and Adams (1967) which is written


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At first there are efforts to minimize the impact of the event. During this acute phase there tends to be extensive denial of the nature of the illness, its seriousness, and its probable consequences (Coleman, 1976: 278).

The first stage of the efforts to minimize the impact of the illness is to deny

the reality which are the nature of the illness, its seriouseness and its propable consequences. An individual tends to deny everything which is related to the unpleasing things he has.

b. Repression

Repression is an extremely important self-defense mechanism in that it affords protection from sudden, traumatic experiences until time has somewhat desensitized the individual to the shock (Coleman, 1976: 125). In this mechanism, threatening or painful thoughts and desires are excluded from consciousness. Some often refer it to as “selective forgetting” and some often

refer it to as selective remembering. The disagreeable realities are not really forgotten but it is just repressed to be denied admission to conscious awareness.

c. Rationalization

This mechanism results in being untruthful and dishonest to ourselves. The perticular reason people do this mechanism because they sometimes feel anxious and afraid at the same time to accept the truth. Instead of giving the real reason and the

truth, people keep laying to themselves. This mechanism has two major values. The first one is to “help justify specific behavior” and the second is to “aid in softening the disappointment connected with unattainable goals” (Coleman, 1976: 125).


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d. Reaction formation

This mechanism is not only repressing the disagreeable realities but actually developing conscious attitudes and behavior patterns that are just the opposite. As Coleman explain the example of this defense mechanism, “An individual will conceal

hate with façade love, cruelty with kindness, desires for sexual promiscuity with moralistic sexual attitudes and behavior” (Coleman, 1976: 126).

e. Emotional insulation

An individual will reduce his emotional involvement in situations which are viewed as disappointing and hurtful. He will keep his anticipations within limits. According to Coleman, “an individual may become passive recipients of whatever

life brings him in order to protect himself from the bitter hurt or sustained frustration” (Coleman, 1976:126). He also stated that, “it provides a protective shell which prevents a repetition of previous pain, but it reduces the individual’s healthy,

vigorous participation in life” (Coleman, 1976: 127).

f. Sublimation

Freud also adds self-denfence mechanism in Peter Barry’s book (2002:96), Beginning Theory, An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, which is called

sublimation. It is the redirection of an impulse onto a powerless substitute target. The target can be a person or an object that can serve as a symbolic substitute. It


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takes place when we manage to displace our emotions into a constructive rather than destructive activity.

From the theories that has been mentioned above, there are five defense mechanism which Otoko uses in order to deal with traumatic experiences. The

defenses are denial of reality, repression, emotional insulation, and sublimation.

4. Theory of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Theory of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is needed to help analyzing the actual

feeling which Otoko represses. In Mental Hygine, there are stated that,

In the nightmares of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder victims, the content is based on the difficult circumtances they experienced at the time of the trauma. for example, someone who was injured in the explosion of a bus is likely to dream about explosions (Caroll, 1961:90).

People who have traumatic experience in their lives tend to undergo the symptom

as the result of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. They will have nightmares about their traumatic experiences or things which related to the traumatic experiences.

For trauma survivor, nightmares can be a common source of distress. Nightmares are one of the 17 symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Along with flashback and intrusive thoughts or memories, nightmares are one of the ways in which a trauma survivor may re-experience or relive the traumatic experience for the months or years following the event (Caroll, 1961:93).

Flashback and intrusive thoughts or memory may trigger nightmares which are

related to their traumatic experiences. As the theory that has been mentioned, Otoko undergoes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. As Oki is back to her life again after years


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of parting, Otoko recalls all the traumatic experiences that she had in the past. One of the recall which is showed is the nightmare Otoko has after she meets Oki.

5. Theory of Human Needs

Motivation plays the key role in determining both the direction (the goals

which are pursued) and the activation (the effort which is expended in trying to attain the goals) of human behavior. To understand human motivation, it is needed to distinguish between the terms motive and need.

Motive refers to any condition of the individual that initiates or directs behavior toward a specific goal, while need refers to a requirements that must be met for heallthy development and/or functioning (Coleman, 1976:96).

According to Coleman, needs are devided into two, the biological needs and the emotional needs. He explained that the biological needs includes (Coleman, 1964:

97-103):

a. Visceral needs

It is the most basic of all human needs. It includes food, water, sleep, the elimination of wastes, and for other conditions and substances necessary for life.

b. The need for safety and avoidance of pain

Psychological integration depends on adequate contact with the outside world. An optimal level of stimulation and activity that varies over time must be maintained

within limits for a normal psychological functioning. c. The need for sexual gratification


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Sex can be an important source of satisfaction and self-realization or else a source of anxiety and self-devaluation, although the meaning and importance of sexual motives vary greatly from one person to another. The strength of an individual’s sex drive

depends heavily on past learning.

Coleman also explains about emotional needs. There are five kinds of emotional needs:

a) Curiosity: understanding, order, predictability. b) Adequacy, competence, security.

c) Love, belonging, approval.

d) Self-esteem, worth, identity. e) Values, meaning, hope.

6. The Relation between Literature and Psychology

According to Wellek and Warren, there is a close relation between psychology

and literature. Psychology and literature have a close relation in which some works of literature talk about psychology cases. They also discuss that character in plays and novels are judged to be “psychologically” true. Sometimes a psychological theory,

held either consciously or dimly by an author, seems to fit a figure or a situation (1956: 91-92). There is other collaboration which collaborates the explanation about literature and psychology by Kalish. Literature and psychology are two subjects that


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can be a media to explain human’s life. He states that literature “holds the mirror up the man”. A good writer or novelist can communicate the feelings of his characters and make them seem more life-like than the real people whose behavior the

psychologist attempts to describe. The writer can use the understanding provided by psychologist to enrich their stories, and psychologist can gain in their understanding of human behavior by drawing from the deep sensitivity of good authors (Kalish,

1973: 8).

C. Theoretical Framework

This study has two problems. The writer uses the theories that have been

explained to analyze the problem formulations. The first theory is the theory of character by Abrams. This theory functions to determine whether Otoko is a major or minor character in the story.

The second theory is theory of character based on its development by Laurence Perrine. This theory functions to determine whether Otoko is a static or dynamic

character in the story. It is seen from the development of the character from the beginning to the end of the story.

The next theory is theory of characterization by M. J. Murphy. This theory functions to explain Otoko’s sexual pattern seen from her characterization. The fourth theory is the theory of Homosexuality by James C. Coleman. This theory functions to


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Homosexuality. Other theories which are used in this study are theory of Trauma and theory of Human Needs. These theories function to analyze how the factors of


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30 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of this study is a novel of Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness. Yasunari Kawabata is the winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize for literature. He devoted his novels largely to aspects of love. Beauty and Sadness was translated from the

Japanese by Howard S. Hibbett and first published in 1975. This novel was his last novel before he was found dead by his own hand with no suicide note on April 16, 1972. This novel contains of 138 pages and it divided into 8 chapters.

Throughout the story in Beauty and Sadness, Kawabata presents adultery, relationship with underage child, suicide attempt, suffering from psychological problem, exploitation and lesbianism. In the novel, these ideas are explored by a woman, called Otoko. She passes some crucial experiences which changes her

personality to a lesbian.

Adultery, relationship with underage child, suicide attempt, suffering from psychological problem, exploitation and lesbianism are the major conflicts seen

through the character of Otoko and later will be analyzed by the writer in this study. Because of the complexity of the character and the situation she faced, this study will


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discuss the factors caused Otoko’s Homosexuality as seen in Yasunari Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness.

B. Approach of the Study

In analyzing the problems happening to a person with a typical sort of personality, it is important to deal with the psychological aspect. Thus, it will be

necessary to apply psychological approach because it deals with the behavior pattern of the characters. In connection with this approach, Rohrberger and Woods state that psychological approach is focused on psychological interpretation for enterancing the understanding and appreciation of literature (1971: 13). This study will apply the

approach to interpret the psychological aspect of the main character in the novel. Moreover, when talking about psychology, it is always in connection with a character. A character involves behavior patterns, thoughts, and feelings. Therefore, in order to

make a deeper understanding about a character, the writer find it best to study the literary work from the psychological point of view because it is related to human’s behavior pattern which is affected by things surround him.

C. Method of Study

In doing this research, the writer used library research method. The writer also downloaded the books and sources which were not available in the library from the


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primary data was the novel itself. While the secondary data were the supporting books to help analyzing the study.

The first step which the writer did was reading the novel Beauty and Sadness

by Yasunari Kawabata. The writer read the novel in several times to understand the story. The aim of reading the novel more than once was to understand the story deeply because the novel was the primary source of the analysis.

The second step was determining the topic of the analysis and picking up the problems arose in the story to put in the problem formulation section.

Thirdly, the writer collected data to explore information about the novel. It included studies related to this study and theories which might be used in this study.

Those data were taken from library observation and internet research.

The fourth step was analyzing each problem of the study. Psychological approach was used to analyze the problems because it was related to human behavior

patterns. Regarding the first question, the writer tried to describe the sexual pattern seen from the characterization of the main character, Ueno Otoko, using the theory of character and characterization. In answering the second question, the writer tried to

find the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality by using four theories, theory of Homosexuality by Colleman, theory of Trauma by Coleman and some additional by Freud, and theory of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by Caroll, and the last is theory of Human Needs by Coleman. The theory of Homosexuality fuctions to analyze the

type of homosexuality and the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality. The theory of Trauma and theory of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder function to analyze Otoko’s


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traumatic experiences as one of the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality. The last is theory of Human Needs function to analyze how Otoko’s biological and physical needs which motivate her homosexuality.

The last step of this study was to draw the conclusion from what has been analyzed. This step is simply conducting all data in the analysis and generalized them into representative statements.


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34 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

Based on what is stated in the problem formulation, this analysis part is devided

in to two subchapters. The first part discusses the sexual pattern of Otoko seen from her characterization. The second part discusses the causal factors that caused Otoko’s homosexuality.

A. Otoko’s Sexual Patterns

There is only one character disscused in this study named Otoko. Abrams stated that there are two kind of character in the story based on its importance in the story,

major and minor character. Based on his theory, Otoko is the main character in the novel. Otoko was substantially involved in the main action as well as becoming the central and the most important in the story (Abrams, 1999:20). The story was focused

on the character named Ueno Otoko who experienced complexity of her life thus affected her sexual pattern.

Based on the internal complexity, as Laurence Perrine said in his book (1978: 71), Otoko is a dynamic character who experienced changes from the begining to the end of the story. Otoko’s sexual pattern changed at her adulthood. She started as a

heterosexual person at her childhood then became a homosexual person at her adulthood.


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Further, to intepret the change of Otoko’s sexual pattern seen from the characterization, Murphy’s nine ways of characterization will be used. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation with

others, reactions, thoughts, direct comment of the author, and mannerism.

As it had been explained, Otoko’s sexual pattern was devided into two, heterosexual and homosexual. Back to the definition of the term homosexuality, it is sexual behavior or sexual relationship between individuals of the same sex. Otoko was a hetero sexual person when she was young, then she shifted into homosexual in

her adulthood.

1. A Heterosexual Person

Otoko had a relationship with a man when she was young. The story began with the desire of Otoko’s past lover named Mr. Oki Toshio to meet her when he was in his middle age after twenty four years past. Oki’s desire awoke his memory of Otoko and

their love story.

That had come to mind again this year end, and he had impulsively decided to go to Kyoto. He had also been stirred by a defiant wish to see Ueno Otoko again after all these years, and to listen to the bells with her (Kawabata, 1996:4).

The theory of characterization by Murphy was applied. According to the theory, the quotation above was direct comment from the author and past life. It was a direct comment from the author to describe Oki’s feeling and thought about his will to see


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to see Otoko at the past time, then after few years he wanted to see her again to listen the bells with her. He wanted to celebrate the new year eve with Otoko, his past lover.

Slowly tying his necktie, he suddenly recalled Otoko saying:

"I'll tie it for you. Let me...." She was fifteen, and those had been her first words after he had taken her virginity. Oki himself had not spoken. There was nothing he could say. He had been holding her tenderly close, stroking her hair, but he could not bring himself to speak. Then she had slipped out of his arms and begun to dress (Kawabata,1996:4).

The conversation between Otoko and Oki happened in the past, therfore theory of past life was applied. Otoko was a heterosexual in the past time. She had a relationship with Oki when she was fifteen years old. Oki had took her virginity, which was the most precious thing to a girl, when she was just a teenager. Otoko was

only fifteen years old. She was at her most innocent age when Oki took her virginity. It could be said that she was really naive that all she knew was she loved Oki so much that she let him took her virginity.

Startled by its fresh, poignant beauty, Oki turned round to her. She touched his shoulder, nestled her face against his chest, and said: "I love you."

It had also seemed strange that a fifteen-year-old girl should call a man twice her age "Sonny-boy."

That was twenty-four years ago. Now he was fifty-four. Otoko must be thirty-nine (Kawabata,1996:5).

Theory of direct comment of the author, speech and personal description were applied to quotation above. It showed that their love story was not as simple as any other love story. Otoko was fifteen years old when she was in relathionship with Oki

while Oki was thirty two. The difference of their age did not bother her at all. It showed from the way she called him with “Sonny-boy”. According to Merriam


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Webster Dictionary, the word “sonny” was a call to address a younger man or boy which is used by an older person. It was also a metaphor for a sweet call. It came from sunny, which meant cheerful and happy. If such call is applied in a relationship,

it means a sweet call. Otoko did not treat him as a person older than her. She saw him as her lover no matter how old he was. The way Otoko called Oki with that nick name was the reprensentation of her feeling toward Oki. She love him as lover.

“He was reminded of the thin cry of a newborn baby.... At sixteen, in the seventh month of carrying his child, Otoko had given birth. The baby was a girl.” (Kawabata, 1996:6). Theory of past life was applied to this quotation. It described

that during her relathionship with Oki, Otoko has given birth to a baby girl. It was seven months of carrying the baby when she was sixteen years old, but unfortunately the baby died. The baby was a girl. Those behavior showed that at that time Otoko’s

sexual orientation was straight. She was in relationship with Oki whom she had sexual intercourse with, thus she got pregnant and given birth to a baby girl.

Oki had called his novel A Girl of Sixteen. It was an ordinary, straightforward title, but in those days people thought it shocking that a teen-age schoolgirl should take a lover, have a premature baby, suffer a lapse of sanity. Probably that was why it had been so successful. It was the tragic love story of a very young girl and a man himself still young but with a wife and child: only the beauty of it had been heightened, to the point that it was unmarred by any moral questioning (Kawabata, 1996:17).

Theory of direct comment of the author and past life was applied to the

quotation. It happened in the past time. Oki wrote his love story with Otoko in a novel. It was A Girl of Sixteen. It told about their love story in detail. A tragic love


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story of a very young girl and a man with a wife and child. Otoko was a mistress. Oki had had a wife and child when he was in love affair with Otoko. The way he wrote his novel showed his actual thought and feeling of his relationship with Otoko. He

only took advantage from their tragic love story. He wrote the novel without thinking of Otoko’s feeling.

“He had not known Otoko in the full flower of her youthful beauty. She was sixteen when they parted” (Kawabata, 1996:15). To this quotation, theory of direct comment was applied. It mentioned that Otoko got parted from Oki when she was

sixteen years old after Otoko given birth to a baby girl. It was the last time Otoko had a relationship with a man.

2. A Homosexual Person

Homosexual is is sexual behavior or sexual relationship between individuals of the same sex. In the broader sense, it is a sexual attraction toward individuals of the

same sex even though there is no overt practices are involved. Otoko shifted from heterosexual to homosexual at her thirties. Otoko was in relationship with her protegee, a girl named Sakami Keiko.”It seemed that Otoko was living in a guest house on the grounds of a certain temple, along with a girl who was her protégée”

(Kawabata, 1996:3). The direct comment of the author clearly showed that Otoko lived together with protegee who is actually her lover. They never parted since then.


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"I want you to paint me."

"I'd be happy to, if I could," Otoko repeated.

"Maybe your love has cooled — or are you afraid of me?" Keiko's voice had an edge to it. "A man would be delighted to paint me. Even in the nude."

Otoko seemed unperturbed. "If that's how you feel, suppose I try." "I'm so glad!"

"But a nude won't do. A nude painted by a woman never turns out very well. Not in my old-fashioned style, anyway."

"When I paint my self-portrait I'll include you in the picture," said Keiko insinuatingly.

"What kind of picture would that be?"

Keiko giggled mysteriously. "Don't worry. If you're going to paint me, mine can be abstract. No one will know." (Kawabata, 1996: 31).

Theory of coversation with others was applied to the quotation. Keiko related Otoko’s love for her with her willingness to paint her. Keiko insisted Otoko to paint her by making an anology that a man would absolutely be delighted to paint her even

in nude. Hearing Keiko’s words about she being painted nude by a man, Otoko agreed to paint her. Even though there was explained that Otoko seemed unperturbed to accept Keiko’s wishes, the way she instantly agreed after Keiko talked about being

painted nude by a man showed her jealousy. She did not want Keiko being painted nude by a man. Those facts shows that Otoko and Keiko had a relationship as lovers.

The conversation also showed that Otoko had a secret relationship with Keiko which was hidden from anyone. It was seen through their conversation about Keiko’s desire to be painted nude by Otoko, she told Otoko that if she painted herself and

Otoko, she would make it abstact so that no one would know. In this case, abstract painting was a metaphor for their relationship. Abstract means an expression of ideas and emotions by using elements such as colors and line without attempting to create a


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realistic picture. Abstract painting represented unspecific people, objects or actions. Therefore, Keiko’s intention to paint Otoko and herself in abstract style was a metaphor for their secret relationship. According to Coleman’s theory of

homosexuality, Otoko and Keiko were classified as secret homosexual because they hide their relationship. People would see them only as a teacher and student who lived together. There were just a few people who might know about their relationship.

Omiyo had been a maid at the temple for the past six years, and she also took care of Otoko's quarters. A hard worker, she did everything from housecleaning and laundry to washing dishes, even preparing occasional meals. Although Otoko liked to cook and was good at it, she would become too engrossed in painting. Keiko herself had a surprising knack for creating the subtle flavors of Kyoto cuisine, but she was inclined to be unreliable. Thus they often made do with simple dishes turned out by Omiyo. Since there were two other women at the temple — the master's young bride and his mother — Omiyo was free to spend most of her time taking care of Otoko's needs. She was in her early fifties, small and pudgy, her wrists and ankles so plump the deep folds of flesh looked as if they had been tied with a string (Kawabata, 1996:62-63).

The personal description showed that Omiyo was the one who might know

about Otoko’s and Keiko’s relationship. Since Omiyo had been a maid at the temple for the past six years and also had spent most of her time taking care of Otoko’s needs, there was a possibility that she might know about their homosexual

relationship because Otoko and Keiko were inseparable. As Coleman stated in his theory, there was only a few people knew about the identity of the secret homosexual. In this story, Otoko was classified as a secret homosexual and the only people who

knew about her homosexulaity were Omiyo and Keiko.

Looking at the portrait had brought a flood of memories of her mother. Then Keiko had called to her, and Otoko was reminded once again of the old portraits


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of the boy saint. Some of the figures looked like pretty little girls or beautiful young maidens, in the elegant, refined manner of Buddhist art but also with a certain voluptuousness. They could be taken as symbols of the homosexual love at medieval monasteries where women were forbidden, of the yearning for handsome boys who could be mistaken for beautiful young girls. Perhaps that was why the saint's portraits had come to mind as soon as she thought of painting Keiko (Kawabata, 1996:39).

The quotations was about Otoko’s thoughts, therefore theory of thoughts could be applied. Her thoughts showed the reason why she would paint Keiko in Buddhist

style in the manner of the paintings of the boy saint. It was a purely classical Portrait of a Holy Virgin. As it has been described, the painting of the boy saint was taken as symbols of homosexual love at medieval monsteries. It came to Otoko’s mind as she thought about painting Keiko. From those explanation, it was clearly seen that they

had relationship as lover through they way Otoko would paint Keiko.

Later when had it been? — Otoko somehow began toying with her at night, pressing her lips on Keiko's eyelids, or nibbling at her sensitive ears until she squirmed and moaned. That led Otoko on. (Kawabata, 1996: 74).

Theory of direct comment of the author was applied to this quotation. It showed that Otoko and Keiko did sexual intercourse. Their relationship showed the quality of relationship as lover. They did not only live together, share affection toward each

other but also they had sexual interests toward each other and did sexual activity as any other straight-couple. Otoko was led on by Keiko’s squirm and moan as the impact of her caresses to Keiko. Otoko’s sexual pattern has shifted from heterosexual to homosexual, because she was in reationship with Keiko and also practiced sexual


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B. The Causal Factors of Otoko’s Homosexuality

As already described above in the second chapter about the theories that is used in this study, some of the the theories are to reveal the factors which caused Otoko’s

homosexuality. This part explains about events which happened in Otoko’s life thus became the causal factors of her homosexuality. Coleman stated in his theory that there are three possible causal factors which may contribute the development of

homosexuality. Therefore, according to his theory, the causal factor of Otoko’s homosexuality is psychosocial factor. Psychosocial factor which Otoko faced in her life were negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior and homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement.

Otoko’s homosexuality is the result of a variety of circumstances during her childhood and adolescence. Her sexual pattern switches from heterosexual in her childhood to homosexual in her adulthood. From what has been explained in the first

problem formulation, Otoko was a heterosexual person when she was in her childhood. She had negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior when she was in relationship with Oki. She had a relationship with Mr. Oki Toshio when she was

fifteen years old. Their relationship lasted only for a year after Otoko gave birth to a baby girl. Those things which happened durring her relationship with Oki lead her to trauma, therefore, here the theory of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder was used. The other causal factor of her homosexuality is homosexual experience and its

positive reinforcement. She got it when she met her student, Keiko, and then had relationship with her. Her homosexual experience with Keiko went along with its


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hides her relationship with her pupil, Sakami Keiko, from anyone else. There are only a few people who may know about her relationship with Keiko. Omiyo is one of people who knows about Otoko’s homosexuality and her relationship with Keiko, because she has taken care of Otoko for a long time. Even though Omiyo knows about Otoko’s homosexuality and her relationship with Keiko, it does not leak to anyone else.

The second problem reveals the causal factors of Otoko’s homosexuality is psychosocial factor which includes negative conditioning of heterosexual behavior and homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement. Otoko experiences bad experience in her heterosexual relationship with Mr. Oki Toshio when she is fifteen years old. She has experienced really bad experiences during her heterosexual relationship whith Oki which thus lead her to trauma. Those experiences which traumatize her are the death of her baby and Oki’s leaving soon after that. It brings her to be hospitalized in a psychiatry ward for a while. Those traumatic experiences bring her into self defense mechanism. She did several defense mechanism, sublimation, denial of reality, repression and emotional insulation. Otoko also faces post-trauma stress disorder caused by the traumatic experiences in her past. She gets nightmare related to her traumatic experience. Finally, those traumatic experiences make her to give up on everything related to heterosexual behavior.

The second causal factor of Otoko’s homosexuality is homosexual experience and its positive reinforcement. Otoko’s development of homosexuality is associated with pleasant homosexual experience in the early adulthood. This pleasant impression


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is reinforced by pleasurable repetition and meet both biological and emotional needs thus lead to homosexuality. Otoko is seduced by Keiko first. Keiko has been a homosexual before she meets Otoko. The trauma which is caused by Otoko’s past is defeated by her pleasant homosexual experience with Keiko. Otoko gets both biological and emotional needs from Keiko.

Even though Otoko still loves Oki, she cannot deny the fact that Keiko has fulfill all of her needs which Oki cannot give to her. For the biological needs, Otoko gets safety and aviodance of pain from Keiko. Keiko always protect her no matter what happens. She also gives Otoko avoidance of pain which she has endured for all this time. The fact that Otoko is traumatized with any man brings her to become a homosexual. Otoko cannot make it with any man. Everytime she realizes that a man falling in love with her, it revives the memories of her heterosexual relationship with Oki and all the pain it brings. Therefore, having a homosexual relationsip with Keiko will not revive all the bad memories of her past.

Another biological need which Otoko gets form Keiko is sexual gratification. Even though the meaning and importance of sexual motives may be vary from one to another person, it cannot be denied that sex gives a contribution to everyone’s satisfactory to a happy life. When she is making love with Oki, Otoko is seems powerless. She accepts whatever Oki does to her. Now, with Keiko, she is even freer, she has developed a bold, middle-aged eroticism. It has amazed her to learn through Keiko that she has ripened as a woman during her long years alone. She fears that has


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her new lover been a man the vision she secretly guarded within her — the sacred vision of her love with Oki — would have vanished at his touch.

Otoko also gets her emotional needs fulfilled by Keiko. Those are understanding, adequacy, competence, security, love, belonging, approval, worth, identity and meaning. Otoko has gotten those emotional needs since the first time she met Keiko. Their meeting is like a throb of desire for Otoko. For all which Otoko desires has been fulfilled by Keiko.

Otoko has encountered traumatic experiences when she was in chidhood. It makes her incapable to live as normal as any other people at her age, but the need for a meaningful and satisfying way of life encourage her to rise again. Both traumatic experience and the needs for a meaningful and satisfying way of life have hugely contributed in shapping her personality. It changes her sexual pattern later in her adulthood to become a homosexual.

A meaningful and satisfying way of life is a dream for every human beings. In reaching the meaningful and satisfying way of life, both biological and emotional needs must be met. However in reaching that meaningful and satisfying way of life, conflicts cannot be avoided. Conflicts are mostly resulting stress thus lead to trauma. Traumatic experience gives big contribution in shapping someone’s personality, even someone’s sexual pattern. One of the way people survive from their stressful time which caused by trauma is by solving problem they are facing, and defense mechanism is one of the way of someone’s way out when she/he facing a problem.


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So it means by learning and understanding further about defence mechanism, we have learned one of the way yof surviving and solving problems.

By reading and analyzing literary works using psychological approach, people can understand and go deeper to many kinds of knowledge. Literary work tells about the world and what is happening in the real life, that is why by reading literary work people can get the image of the world outside their own world. Reading literary work is one of the easiest ways to go to the wider knowledge and to the further world.


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