Portrayal of The Protogonist in Wally Lamb's 'She's Come Undone'.
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis salah satu novel karya Wally Lamb yang berjudul She’s Come Undone.
Wally Lamb dikenal sebagai salah seorang penulis yang karya novelnya telah menerima beberapa penghargaan.
Novel She’s Come Undone merupakan novel pertama Wally Lamb. Novel ini menceritakan sang protagonis yaitu Dolores Price yang harus menghadapi berbagai masalah dalam kehidupannya. Dia harus menghadapi perceraian orang tuanya, pelecehan seksual yang mengakibatkan dia mengalami trauma, keadaan fisik tubuhnya yang membuat dia tidak percaya diri dan dijauhi oleh teman sebayanya yang akhirnya mengakibatkan Dolores harus menjalani perawatan selama tujuh tahun di rumah sakit jiwa. Masalah-masalah tersebut berpengaruh dalam pembentukan karakternya, dari negatif menjadi positif. Karena perubahan karakter tersebut, Dolores Price dapat dikatakan sebagai karakter yang dinamis.
Saya menemukan bahwa pengarang menggambarkan Dolores dengan jelas sehingga saya dapat melihat karakteristik Dolores yang penuh kasih, kemudian berubah menjadi sinis, tidak percaya diri, penakut, namun akhirnya kepercayaan dirinya tumbuh dan dia mempunyai keberanian untuk menghadapi
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masalah-Universitas Kristen Maranatha masalah dalam kehidupannya dan bisa membuka hatinya untuk mencintai seseorang kembali.
Tujuan pengarang menggambarkan karakter ini adalah untuk dijadikan sebagai cerminan hidup dan memahami lebih jauh makna positif tentang hidup, bagaimana seseorang harus optimis dalam menjalani hidup meskipun dalam hidup itu sendiri ada kendala-kendala yang harus dihadapi.
Dari penggambaran Dolores, saya mendapatkan pengalaman tentang kehidupan, berani menghadapi apa pun yang terjadi meskipun itu semua diluar kehendak kita. Kita harus selalu berfikir positif sehingga kita bisa mengerti dan menghargai hidup itu sendiri.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ... TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ABSTRACT ... CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the study ... Statement of the Problem ... Purpose of the Study ... Methods of Research ... Organization of the Thesis ... CHAPTER TWO: POTRTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONIST IN
WALLY LAMB’S SHE’S COME UNDONE ... CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ... BIBLIOGRAPHY ... APPENDICES:
Synopsis of She’s Come Undone ... Biography of Wally Lamb ...
i ii iii 1 3 3 3 4 5 15 18 20 21
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APPENDICES
Summary of She’s Come Undone
Dolores Price is a joyful fragile girl. And as she comes of age, she suffers from almost every abuse and family problems. Her father is violent and abusive, she cannot be dependent on him. Her mother is mentally and emotionally inconsistent. She must also bear the consequences of her parents' divorce and of being raped at the age of 13; thus, she battles her great sorrow with her strength. While most kids of her age are dealing with the latest Beatles singles, and Dolores is dealing with issues such as divorce, rape, her overweight problem and her being sent to a mental institution. She falls deeper into the darker side, keeps us, the readers amused while descending into the depth of her depression. Ironically, she also learns how to cope with life in the outside world and her experiences are what allow her to become a fully-grown and developed person after leaving the institution.
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21 Biography of Wally Lamb
Wally Lamb was born in Connecticut in 1950, the youngest of three children. His neighborhood was ruled mostly by girls and it was in this environment that makes him have power to observe the opposite gender.
As a child, Lamb was not interested in reading or writing until he knew how important writing is. He writes because he wishes to understand the world better along with its pain and promise as to get a more universal truth by bending and stretching the factual truth into something called fiction.
Wally Lamb was graduated from the University of Connecticut’s School of Education in 1972 and has been a high school English teacher, a husband, a father and a fiction writer. His teaching and writing are equally important to him. In 1992, his first book She’s Come Undone was published; he was chosen as a finalist for the 1992 Los Angeles Times Book Award’s Art Seidenbaum Prize for his first fiction. His second book, I Know This Much is True, was released in June 1998.
Lamb himself is the recipient of the 1998 Governor’s Art Award, state of Connecticut and a past recipient of the NEA grant for fiction and is a Missouri Review William Peden Fiction Prize Winner. Lamb is currently an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Connecticut’s English Department and lives with his wife and three sons in Connecticut.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
I prefer discussing a novel to a play or a poem because a novel contains more details as Shaw states ‘Novel is a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying characters and presenting an organized series of events and settings.’(Shaw, 1972: 257).
Wally Lamb, whose surroundings were influenced mostly by girls, was given the inspiration and ability to observe the opposite gender, about their characteristics, feelings, points of view and response to lead their lives. He writes because he wishes to understand the world better along with its pain. I believe that this novelist is capable of writing about women’s life, which makes this novel worth reading and analysing.
In this thesis, I propose to focus on the protagonist, Dolores Price, in Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone. The novelist has clearly shown the portrayal of the protagonist. He has presented Dolores Price as an amusing character that she was once a fragile and guilty-ridden girl but now she is able to survive by
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learning how to face some problems in the outside world and her experiences that allow her to become a mature person.
I notice that this character is presented in realistically. It appears that the protagonist is portrayed as a dynamic character. I also discover that Wally Lamb presents the portrayals of the protagonist in order to give the readers lesson to think and learn about the influence for a child who is dealing with issues such as a victim of social abuse and rape, her parents who get divorce, her overweight and mental disorder. Dolores is amusing while descending into the depth of her depression. For that reason, I have decided to discuss Wally Lamb’s unforgettable portrayal of the protagonist.
Moreover, by analysing this literary work, I hope to discover more of how Wally Lamb portrays the protagonist in the novel as to show the purpose of the author in portraying the Dolores. It is hoped to give insights to other readers as a positive reference and further understanding of this book, its context, furthermore, of what lesson or moral the author is trying to convey by presenting the character in such manner.
In addition, I use characterization techniques in order to know how the author portrays the character. The techniques that are used are according the theory of Murphy; they are speech, reaction, and thought.
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1.2 Statement of the problem
In analysing the protagonist in Wally Lamb’s novel, the problems that I would like to analyse are:
1. How does the author portray the protagonist?
2. What characterization techniques are used to portray the protagonist?
3. What is the author’s purpose in presenting such a character?
1.3 Purpose of the study
1. To show how the author portrays the protagonist
2. To show how characterization techniques are used to portray the protagonist
3. To show the purpose of the author in presenting the character.
1.4 Method of research
In this thesis, I use the library research. First, I read She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb as a primary text. Next, I explore further through other reference books and Internet sites to obtain more relevant information about the topic. Finally, from the information obtained, I analyse the primary text and conclude the analysis.
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1.5 Organization of the thesis
The thesis consists of three chapters starting with the Introduction. In the Introduction, I will state the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I will present an analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist in the novel She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Chapter Three will cover the Conclusion of the analysis of the literary work. The thesis ends with the Bibliography, the Appendices which consists of the Synopsis of She’s Come Undone and Biography of Wally Lamb.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading and analysing the protagonist of the novel, I see how the author, Wally Lamb, gives a clear portrayal of the protagonist in every chapter of the novel, from what the protagonist feels and needs to solve the problem, thoroughly. It is how Wally Lamb portrays the protagonist, Dolores that makes this novel worth reading and analysing. Wally Lamb obviously has successfully depicted the protagonist from the point of view of a woman despite although he is a man. In this case, he has helped me to analyse the protagonist’s portrayal with clear descriptions of the characteristics and the changes along with the events happening to the protagonist throughout the novel.
He describes Dolores as a person who has to face many problems such as her parent’s divorce, her rape trauma, her obesity problem and her depression. While in the real life, it may be a rare occurrence for a person to experience such a combination of problems, but Lamb has successfully managed to portray the challenges Dolores has to suffer realistically and her struggles against these difficulties and reach a conclusive portrayal of Dolores in the end as a brave, open, and admirable character.
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16 Universitas Kristen Maranatha I find that Dolores is depicted firstly as a sympathetic and hostile girl in the first part of the novel, Our Lady of Sorrow. Her characteristic evolves to an
insecure, remorseful, unconfident and even extremely desperate person in the second part of the story Whales, because she is haunted by her rape trauma and
obesity problem. Lamb concludes the story well in The Flying Leg with a happy
ending with the changes of Dolores’s characteristics from negative traits to a self -accepting, mature and courageous lady; therefore, Lamb succeeds in presenting a full portrayal of Dolores as the protagonist of the story.
I conclude Dolores is a dynamic character because there are changes of her characteristics in the novel, from negative and suspicious, or even neurotic to a positive, brave and admirable woman. I admire Dolores for her effort and struggle in life from being a fragile girl into a woman who has courage to love again and face the world bravely despite the sad past she has had before.
I discover that from the portrayal of Dolores in the novel, Wally Lamb is trying to convey his insight as positive reference and while helping the readers to learn further to understand about life. He also wants to show that life is not an easy process; there are many things that may happen, the unexpected and undesirable events, but one should stay strong and ready to face what is going on in life. There are always difficult times in life as in the case of Dolores, but in the end, Lamb portrays that happiness will come sooner or later. Therefore, another purpose of Lamb in portraying this protagonist is to present to the readers the importance of optimism and positive thinking.
After analysing this literary work, from the portrayal of Dolores, I learn a lot about the importance of one’s personal appreciation of life, of what one
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17 Universitas Kristen Maranatha experiences even if it is something negative. Besides, it takes a great courage to embrace or face one’s sad events in life which might haunt forever if one decides to run away from them.
How Thayer becomes the support to Dolores, I also learn that sometimes one cannot face life alone, human beings will always have the needs to love and to be loved, to have someone supportive and compassionate to support one to be stronger in facing problems.
Lamb has managed to present his purpose in portraying the protagonist well, as the presentation of Dolores has given me as one of the readers positive insights about positive thinking, strength and most of all, about life.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference
•
Kenny, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York. Simon and Schuster,
Inc, 1966.
•
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and
the English Novel for Overseas Students. Oxford: Alden Press, 1972
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw Hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet Sites
•
She’s Come Undone (Oprah’s Book Club). 1996-2005. Amazon.com, Inc. 3
April 2005.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671021001/002-2818249-9428033?v=glance.
•
Oprah’s Book Club Archive. She’s Come Undone. January 27, 1997. 2005.
Harpo Productions, Inc. 3 April 2005.
http://www.oprah.com/obc/pastbooks/wally_lamb/obc_pb_19970122_b.jhtml.
•
Simon & Schuster, Inc. She’s Come Undone. ReadingGroupGuides.com. 3
April 2005.
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Primary Text
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1.5 Organization of the thesis
The thesis consists of three chapters starting with the Introduction. In the Introduction, I will state the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I will present an analysis of the portrayal of the protagonist in the novel She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Chapter Three will cover the Conclusion of the analysis of the literary work. The thesis ends with the Bibliography, the Appendices which consists of the Synopsis of She’s Come Undone and Biography of Wally Lamb.
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15 Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading and analysing the protagonist of the novel, I see how the author, Wally Lamb, gives a clear portrayal of the protagonist in every chapter of the novel, from what the protagonist feels and needs to solve the problem, thoroughly. It is how Wally Lamb portrays the protagonist, Dolores that makes this novel worth reading and analysing. Wally Lamb obviously has successfully depicted the protagonist from the point of view of a woman despite although he is a man. In this case, he has helped me to analyse the protagonist’s portrayal with clear descriptions of the characteristics and the changes along with the events happening to the protagonist throughout the novel.
He describes Dolores as a person who has to face many problems such as her parent’s divorce, her rape trauma, her obesity problem and her depression. While in the real life, it may be a rare occurrence for a person to experience such a combination of problems, but Lamb has successfully managed to portray the challenges Dolores has to suffer realistically and her struggles against these difficulties and reach a conclusive portrayal of Dolores in the end as a brave, open, and admirable character.
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16 Universitas Kristen Maranatha I find that Dolores is depicted firstly as a sympathetic and hostile girl in the first part of the novel, Our Lady of Sorrow. Her characteristic evolves to an insecure, remorseful, unconfident and even extremely desperate person in the second part of the story Whales, because she is haunted by her rape trauma and obesity problem. Lamb concludes the story well in The Flying Leg with a happy ending with the changes of Dolores’s characteristics from negative traits to a self -accepting, mature and courageous lady; therefore, Lamb succeeds in presenting a full portrayal of Dolores as the protagonist of the story.
I conclude Dolores is a dynamic character because there are changes of her characteristics in the novel, from negative and suspicious, or even neurotic to a positive, brave and admirable woman. I admire Dolores for her effort and struggle in life from being a fragile girl into a woman who has courage to love again and face the world bravely despite the sad past she has had before.
I discover that from the portrayal of Dolores in the novel, Wally Lamb is trying to convey his insight as positive reference and while helping the readers to learn further to understand about life. He also wants to show that life is not an easy process; there are many things that may happen, the unexpected and undesirable events, but one should stay strong and ready to face what is going on in life. There are always difficult times in life as in the case of Dolores, but in the end, Lamb portrays that happiness will come sooner or later. Therefore, another purpose of Lamb in portraying this protagonist is to present to the readers the importance of optimism and positive thinking.
After analysing this literary work, from the portrayal of Dolores, I learn a lot about the importance of one’s personal appreciation of life, of what one
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17 Universitas Kristen Maranatha experiences even if it is something negative. Besides, it takes a great courage to embrace or face one’s sad events in life which might haunt forever if one decides to run away from them.
How Thayer becomes the support to Dolores, I also learn that sometimes one cannot face life alone, human beings will always have the needs to love and to be loved, to have someone supportive and compassionate to support one to be stronger in facing problems.
Lamb has managed to present his purpose in portraying the protagonist well, as the presentation of Dolores has given me as one of the readers positive insights about positive thinking, strength and most of all, about life.
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Universitas Kristen Maranatha
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference
•
Kenny, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York. Simon and Schuster,
Inc, 1966.
•
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and
the English Novel for Overseas Students. Oxford: Alden Press, 1972
•
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw Hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet Sites
•
She’s Come Undone (Oprah’s Book Club). 1996-2005. Amazon.com, Inc. 3
April 2005.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671021001/002-2818249-9428033?v=glance.
•
Oprah’s Book Club Archive. She’s Come Undone. January 27, 1997. 2005.
Harpo Productions, Inc. 3 April 2005.
http://www.oprah.com/obc/pastbooks/wally_lamb/obc_pb_19970122_b.jhtml.
•
Simon & Schuster, Inc. She’s Come Undone. ReadingGroupGuides.com. 3
April 2005.
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