Analysis of Theme of Laurence Yep's 'Child of The Owl' Through The Major Female Characters.
ABSTRACT
Tugas Akhir dengan judul Analysis of Theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of
the Owl through the Major Female Characters ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah
satu persyaratan kelulusan dari program S-1 Jurusan Sastra Inggris di Fakultas
Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha.
Cinta merupakan salah satu kunci terpenting yang dibutuhkan di dalam
menciptakan suatu hubungan yang harmonis antar manusia. Cinta dapat
ditunjukkan dengan berbagai cara. Kita dapat memulainya dengan saling berbagi,
menunjukkan perhatian dan kepedulian kita terhadap orang lain, juga membantu
orang lain yang membutuhkan pertolongan, dengan syarat kita harus memberikan
pertolongan tersebut secara sukarela. Memaafkan kesalahan orang lain sangatlah
sulit, tetapi hal itu akan menjadi mudah apabila kita mau membuka hati dan
melupakan kesalahan itu dan semua ini menjadi mudah karena cinta. Komponenkomponen tersebut digambarkan oleh kedua tokoh utama wanita dalam novel
Child of the Owl, Casey dan Paw-Paw.
Child of the Owl mengisahkan hubungan antara seorang nenek dan
cucunya. Casey, gadis berumur dua belas tahun, yang terlahir sebagai keturunan
Cina-Amerika. Casey tinggal bersama Barney, ayahnya yang seorang penjudi.
Mereka tinggal di luar kawasan Chinatown. Karena adanya suatu permasalahan
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yang dihadapi Barney, maka Casey dikirim untuk tinggal bersama neneknya yang
dipanggil Paw-Paw di kawasan Chinatown untuk sementara waktu.
Tinggal di Chinatown, Casey merasa dirinya sebagai orang asing. Ia sama
sekali tidak memahami kebudayaan Cina. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey
mulai belajar untuk beradaptasi tinggal di lingkungannya yang baru. Paw-Paw
juga mengajarkan berbagai hal yang tidak dimengerti oleh Casey. Paw-Paw
adalah gambaran seorang nenek yang baik hati dan penuh pengertian. Ia banyak
membantu Casey dalam berbagai hal. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey dapat
lebih mudah beradaptasi di lingkungannya yang baru dan memahami ayahnya.
Setelah menganalisis novel ini, saya mempunyai kesimpulan bahwa yang
menjadi dasar dari setiap tindakan dan perbuatan kedua tokoh utama wanita di
dalam novel tersebut adalah cinta. Tetapi mereka menunjukkan cinta tersebut
dengan caranya masing-masing.
Dalam menganalisis tema novel, saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsik
dengan menitikberatkan pada kepribadian dan sifat dari kedua tokoh utama wanita
dalam karya tersebut. Saya menyimpulkan bahwa novel tersebut mempunyai tema
yang universal: cinta adalah kunci yang penting dalam suatu hubungan. Cinta
merupakan suatu dasar yang diperlukan dalam menjalin hubungan. Suatu
hubungan tidak akan bisa berjalan dengan harmonis bila cinta tidak menjadi
bagian dalam hubungan tersebut.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE....................................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study..................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................3
Purposes of the Study.......................................................................................3
Methods of Research........................................................................................3
Organization of the Thesis ...............................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME OF LAURENCE
YEP’S CHILD OF THE OWL THROUGH THE MAJOR
FEMALE CHARACTERS............................................................................5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION....................................................................17
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................20
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Child of the Owl .........................................................................21
Biography of the author .................................................................................23
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of Child of the Owl
This novel tells about Casey, a twelve years old young girl who was born
as a Chinese-American. She lives with Barney, her compulsive gambler father.
Barney is hospitalized when he is beaten up by a bookie. Barney decides to send
Casey to live with Phil, her rich uncle. By living in Phil’s house, Barney hopes
that Casey will get a better life. Casey’s living in her uncle’s house makes her feel
dissatisfied. It happens because their way of life was totally different. So, Phil
decides to send Casey to San Francisco’s Chinatown to stay with Paw-Paw, her
maternal grandmother.
Arriving in Chinatown, Casey feels completely like a stranger because she
only speaks English. She never sees many Chinese in her life before. For Casey,
Chinatown is the same as a new world because she knows nothing about Chinese
culture or language. Paw-Paw welcomes Casey’s arrival in her small apartment
happily. In her new environment, Casey must attend Chinese school, eat strange
Chinese food and live among people who rarely speak English.
Luckily for Casey, she has a good and kind grandmother. Paw-Paw
teaches Casey patiently because she knows that it is difficult for Casey to learn
many new things in her new environment. Slowly Casey learns about her family
history. With time, and with help from her grandmother, her grandmother’s friend
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and her friend Casey feels more comfortable living in Chinatown. She no longer
feels like a stranger.
One day, when Paw-Paw and Casey finished watching the movie, there is
a burglar who comes into Paw-Paw’s apartment. The burglar not only steals PawPaw’s charm but also hurts Paw-Paw and makes her send to hospital. While PawPaw take a rest in hospital, Casey and some of her grandmother’s friends go to
search for the man who takes Paw-Paw’s money and the owl charm. Actually,
Paw-Paw recognizes the burglar but she does not tell it to anybody. She keeps it
only in her mind. She does not want to hurt her grandchildren’s feeling.
Casey meets Barney at The Pachinko’s apartment. It was the first time she
feels mad to her father. She is so disappointed because Barney does not tell her
when he comes to Chinatown. Barney admits that he is the burglar who gets into
the apartment. The fact that her father is the burglar makes Casey hates him. She
cannot forgive him.
Different from Casey, Paw-Paw tries to understand Barney’s gambling
habit and his difficulty. She not only forgives Barney’s bad behavior but also has
a longing to help him. She decides to sell her precious charm to the museum.
Although it is hard for her to sell the charm; but for Paw-Paw, helping Barney to
pay all his debt is more important than anything
At the end, Barney realizes all his mistakes and Casey forgives him. He
joins the gambler anonymous to get rid of the habit.
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Biography of Laurence Yep
Laurence Michael Yep was born on June 14, 1948 in San Francisco,
California. He grows up in an African-American neighborhood where he feels like
a stranger. He lives between two traditions, American and Chinese; as a result,
this situation makes him never feels completely a part of either.
In 1966 Yep attended Marquette University. He was graduated from the
University of California at Santa Cruz in 1970, and he received his PhD in
English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well
as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American studies at the University of
California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.
In the novel Child of the Owl, Yep’s grandmother was his inspiration to
the character of Paw-Paw. Moreover, he connects his own feeling and his real life
experience to the character of Casey which experiences her life in Chinatown.
His concerns are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints
dealing with cultural alienation and racial conflict. He has written realistic fiction,
science fiction, and fantasy for children, young adults and adults. Several of his
works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979), The
Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995). Lot of his
works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl which won many
prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library
Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the
Year,
Jane
Addams
Children's
Book
Award.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
If one intends to understand a story, it is better to read a novel, although it
is usually longer than poetry or drama because in a novel the story is presented
very clearly, and sometimes it has important moral messages to the readers. Novel
is a genre of literature that is defined as ‘…a form of story or prose narrative
containing characters, action and incident, and perhaps, a plot.’ (Cuddon,
1979:430-431). In a novel, a writer can give a more detailed description of the
flow of events, a greater variety of characters and detailed settings of place and
time than in the other genres. Novel sometimes contains several themes, and
multiple narrators. (Http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/genre/ hader1.html.)
For the above reasons, I am interested in analyzing novel.
I am also interested in multicultural issue. So I choose Laurence Yep, a
Chinese-American writer, because he is one of the multicultural writers. He has
written many books based on the issues of Asian-American culture. His concerns
are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints dealing with cultural
alienation and racial conflict. Several of his novels are based on his life’s
Maranatha Christian University
experience as an outsider. Yep was born and raised in a black neighborhood and
educated in San Francisco’s Chinatown although he does not speak Chinese. He
felt like an outsider at school because he spoke no Chinese like his peers. Several
of his works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979),
The Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995).A lot
of his works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl, which won
many prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library
Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the
Year, Jane Addams Children's Book Award.
Child of the Owl is a story about Casey, a young girl who was born as a
Chinese-American and she moves to live with Paw-Paw, her maternal
grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In this novel, the reader can see how
hard it is for Casey to adapt herself to her new environment and how she tries to
make a relationship with her grandmother and handle her gambler father. PawPaw is a very kind grandmother who always helps Casey in adaptation to the new
environment, and she also teaches Casey about Chinese culture. So through this
analysis of the novel, I want to show that love is an important key to a
relationship.
I notice that the theme of the novel is dominant and worth analyzing.
According to Harry Shaw, theme is ‘the central idea and dominating idea in a
literary work and the message or moral implicit in any work of art’ (Shaw,
1972:378). I find that in this novel, the most prominent element used to reveal the
theme is character. I am in agreement with William Kenney that ‘as a major
element in fiction, character is obviously of major importance for theme’
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(Kenney, 1966:95). Therefore, in discussing the theme of the novel, I am going to
focus my analysis on the major female characters whose roles are significant and
dominant in revealing the idea.
Statement of the Problems
In order to analyze the novel, I state the problem as follows:
1. What is the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl?
2. How do the major female characters help to reveal the theme?
Purpose of the Study
My purposes in studying and analyzing Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl
are:
1. To present the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl.
2. To discuss how the major female characters help to reveal the theme.
Methods of the Research
In this research I use library research. First of all, I read my primary text
entitled Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep. Next, I decide what topic is going to
be discussed. Then, I read some supporting criticisms and reference books. I
continue my research by gathering other related information from the Internet. In
this thesis, I use the intrinsic approach, namely the portrayal and action of the
major female characters to reveal the theme. Finally, I use the data I have
collected for my analysis from which I draw some conclusions.
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Organization of the Thesis
I will present my thesis in preceded first by the Preface and Abstract.
Chapter One, the Introduction, contains the Background of the Study, the
Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, Methods of Research, and the
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter One is followed by Chapter Two, in which I
present the Analysis of the Theme in Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl. After that
comes Chapter Three, which contains the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the
Bibliography, which contains the list of reference books and various sources used
in the analysis, and the Appendices, which present the Synopsis of the Novel and
the Biography of the Author.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analyzed Laurence Yep’s novel, Child of the Owl, I conclude that
the author is successful in presenting the theme. The theme is clearly revealed
through the major female characters. I come to the opinion that the theme of the
novel is one who wants to attain a harmonious relationship has to prioritize
love in one’s relation. By presenting such a theme, the author means to make the
readers realize that love is a basic foundation in one relationship.
In Child of the Owl, Laurence Yep explores the relationship between a
grandmother and her grandchildren, Paw-Paw and Casey. Casey, a twelve years
old young girl who was born as a Chinese- American, moves to live with PawPaw, her maternal grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown for a while. Living
in Chinatown, Casey feels like a stranger because she knows nothing about
Chinese culture. In this novel, the readers can see how hard it is for Casey to adapt
herself in her new environment. She tries to make a harmonious relationship with
her grandmother she has never known before, her gambler father and with the
people around her. It is not easy for Casey to live in such condition but because
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she is a kind hearted and loving girl she can easily understand and is willing to
help others. It is also because of love that she learns how to forgive someone’s
mistake. Because of the love she has, she survives in her new life in Chinatown.
In this novel, the readers can see that Paw-Paw is portrayed as a sample of
a good grandmother. Luckily for Casey, she has a very kind and helpful
grandmother. Paw-Paw always gives her assistance sincerely. She not only helps
Casey in adaptation in her new environment but also teaches Casey about Chinese
culture and many new things that she does not understand before. Paw-Paw also
shows her love to all the members in her family. Moreover, I can see that PawPaw is a typical kind of kind hearted and thoughtful grandmother. She shows her
kindness when Barney has a difficulty to pay his gambling debt. She is not angry
when Barney robs her precious owl charm and hurts her; as a matter of fact she
even helps Barney after what has happened. She not only understands Barney’s
bad habit and forgives him but also pays for Barney’s debt at the end.
After reading the novel, I see that all of Casey and Paw-Paw’s action are
based on love. I conclude that the most important key which makes the
relationship between Casey and Paw-Paw becomes harmonious is love. With love
as their motivation they understand each other, are kind to everyone, show their
attention to everyone and with all sincerity help everyone who need their
assistance. Forgiving someone’s mistake is a very difficult thing, but it will be
very easy with love as the reason because love can open one’s heart and also
forgives. I am of the opinion that these things one can do out of love can tighten
every relationship.
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Having analyzed the theme through the two major female characters in
this novel, I find that the author is successful in presenting the theme through
Casey and Paw-Paw. The author’s description about each character and what they
do in every situation that they have to face is very plausible and obvious, although
I find that the character of Paw-Paw is too good to be true. But Yep’s description
makes the readers easy to relate to the characters and this helps to lead the readers
to a better understanding of the characters and thus discover the very theme of the
novel.
Furthermore, I believe that the message of love which is conveyed through
the two major female characters in this novel is a universal thing in this world
because basically love is the basic foundation in every relationship. One’s
relationship never becomes harmonious if love does not take part in that
relationship. Wherever one is, whoever one is, the relationship one builds needs
love.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Penguin Books. 1882.
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press. 1996.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw. Hill, Inc. 1972.
Internet Websites
A. Hader, Suzanne. The Bildungsroman Genre: Great Expectation, Aurora Leigh,
and Waterland @ The Victorian Web: Literature, History & Culture in the
Age of Victoria. 5 May. 2005
Gendell, Adrienne, et al. Young Adult Literature: Learning about Laurence Yep.
3 May. 2005
Rogers, Frank. A Map Through Chinatown: ethnicity and cultural identity in
Laurence
Yep’s
Child
of
the
Owl.
17
March.
2006
Primary Text
Yep, Laurence. Child of the Owl. New York: Harper Collins. 1977.
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Tugas Akhir dengan judul Analysis of Theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of
the Owl through the Major Female Characters ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah
satu persyaratan kelulusan dari program S-1 Jurusan Sastra Inggris di Fakultas
Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha.
Cinta merupakan salah satu kunci terpenting yang dibutuhkan di dalam
menciptakan suatu hubungan yang harmonis antar manusia. Cinta dapat
ditunjukkan dengan berbagai cara. Kita dapat memulainya dengan saling berbagi,
menunjukkan perhatian dan kepedulian kita terhadap orang lain, juga membantu
orang lain yang membutuhkan pertolongan, dengan syarat kita harus memberikan
pertolongan tersebut secara sukarela. Memaafkan kesalahan orang lain sangatlah
sulit, tetapi hal itu akan menjadi mudah apabila kita mau membuka hati dan
melupakan kesalahan itu dan semua ini menjadi mudah karena cinta. Komponenkomponen tersebut digambarkan oleh kedua tokoh utama wanita dalam novel
Child of the Owl, Casey dan Paw-Paw.
Child of the Owl mengisahkan hubungan antara seorang nenek dan
cucunya. Casey, gadis berumur dua belas tahun, yang terlahir sebagai keturunan
Cina-Amerika. Casey tinggal bersama Barney, ayahnya yang seorang penjudi.
Mereka tinggal di luar kawasan Chinatown. Karena adanya suatu permasalahan
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yang dihadapi Barney, maka Casey dikirim untuk tinggal bersama neneknya yang
dipanggil Paw-Paw di kawasan Chinatown untuk sementara waktu.
Tinggal di Chinatown, Casey merasa dirinya sebagai orang asing. Ia sama
sekali tidak memahami kebudayaan Cina. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey
mulai belajar untuk beradaptasi tinggal di lingkungannya yang baru. Paw-Paw
juga mengajarkan berbagai hal yang tidak dimengerti oleh Casey. Paw-Paw
adalah gambaran seorang nenek yang baik hati dan penuh pengertian. Ia banyak
membantu Casey dalam berbagai hal. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey dapat
lebih mudah beradaptasi di lingkungannya yang baru dan memahami ayahnya.
Setelah menganalisis novel ini, saya mempunyai kesimpulan bahwa yang
menjadi dasar dari setiap tindakan dan perbuatan kedua tokoh utama wanita di
dalam novel tersebut adalah cinta. Tetapi mereka menunjukkan cinta tersebut
dengan caranya masing-masing.
Dalam menganalisis tema novel, saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsik
dengan menitikberatkan pada kepribadian dan sifat dari kedua tokoh utama wanita
dalam karya tersebut. Saya menyimpulkan bahwa novel tersebut mempunyai tema
yang universal: cinta adalah kunci yang penting dalam suatu hubungan. Cinta
merupakan suatu dasar yang diperlukan dalam menjalin hubungan. Suatu
hubungan tidak akan bisa berjalan dengan harmonis bila cinta tidak menjadi
bagian dalam hubungan tersebut.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE....................................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study..................................................................................1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................3
Purposes of the Study.......................................................................................3
Methods of Research........................................................................................3
Organization of the Thesis ...............................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME OF LAURENCE
YEP’S CHILD OF THE OWL THROUGH THE MAJOR
FEMALE CHARACTERS............................................................................5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION....................................................................17
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................20
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Child of the Owl .........................................................................21
Biography of the author .................................................................................23
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of Child of the Owl
This novel tells about Casey, a twelve years old young girl who was born
as a Chinese-American. She lives with Barney, her compulsive gambler father.
Barney is hospitalized when he is beaten up by a bookie. Barney decides to send
Casey to live with Phil, her rich uncle. By living in Phil’s house, Barney hopes
that Casey will get a better life. Casey’s living in her uncle’s house makes her feel
dissatisfied. It happens because their way of life was totally different. So, Phil
decides to send Casey to San Francisco’s Chinatown to stay with Paw-Paw, her
maternal grandmother.
Arriving in Chinatown, Casey feels completely like a stranger because she
only speaks English. She never sees many Chinese in her life before. For Casey,
Chinatown is the same as a new world because she knows nothing about Chinese
culture or language. Paw-Paw welcomes Casey’s arrival in her small apartment
happily. In her new environment, Casey must attend Chinese school, eat strange
Chinese food and live among people who rarely speak English.
Luckily for Casey, she has a good and kind grandmother. Paw-Paw
teaches Casey patiently because she knows that it is difficult for Casey to learn
many new things in her new environment. Slowly Casey learns about her family
history. With time, and with help from her grandmother, her grandmother’s friend
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and her friend Casey feels more comfortable living in Chinatown. She no longer
feels like a stranger.
One day, when Paw-Paw and Casey finished watching the movie, there is
a burglar who comes into Paw-Paw’s apartment. The burglar not only steals PawPaw’s charm but also hurts Paw-Paw and makes her send to hospital. While PawPaw take a rest in hospital, Casey and some of her grandmother’s friends go to
search for the man who takes Paw-Paw’s money and the owl charm. Actually,
Paw-Paw recognizes the burglar but she does not tell it to anybody. She keeps it
only in her mind. She does not want to hurt her grandchildren’s feeling.
Casey meets Barney at The Pachinko’s apartment. It was the first time she
feels mad to her father. She is so disappointed because Barney does not tell her
when he comes to Chinatown. Barney admits that he is the burglar who gets into
the apartment. The fact that her father is the burglar makes Casey hates him. She
cannot forgive him.
Different from Casey, Paw-Paw tries to understand Barney’s gambling
habit and his difficulty. She not only forgives Barney’s bad behavior but also has
a longing to help him. She decides to sell her precious charm to the museum.
Although it is hard for her to sell the charm; but for Paw-Paw, helping Barney to
pay all his debt is more important than anything
At the end, Barney realizes all his mistakes and Casey forgives him. He
joins the gambler anonymous to get rid of the habit.
Maranatha Christian University
Biography of Laurence Yep
Laurence Michael Yep was born on June 14, 1948 in San Francisco,
California. He grows up in an African-American neighborhood where he feels like
a stranger. He lives between two traditions, American and Chinese; as a result,
this situation makes him never feels completely a part of either.
In 1966 Yep attended Marquette University. He was graduated from the
University of California at Santa Cruz in 1970, and he received his PhD in
English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well
as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American studies at the University of
California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.
In the novel Child of the Owl, Yep’s grandmother was his inspiration to
the character of Paw-Paw. Moreover, he connects his own feeling and his real life
experience to the character of Casey which experiences her life in Chinatown.
His concerns are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints
dealing with cultural alienation and racial conflict. He has written realistic fiction,
science fiction, and fantasy for children, young adults and adults. Several of his
works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979), The
Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995). Lot of his
works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl which won many
prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library
Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the
Year,
Jane
Addams
Children's
Book
Award.
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
If one intends to understand a story, it is better to read a novel, although it
is usually longer than poetry or drama because in a novel the story is presented
very clearly, and sometimes it has important moral messages to the readers. Novel
is a genre of literature that is defined as ‘…a form of story or prose narrative
containing characters, action and incident, and perhaps, a plot.’ (Cuddon,
1979:430-431). In a novel, a writer can give a more detailed description of the
flow of events, a greater variety of characters and detailed settings of place and
time than in the other genres. Novel sometimes contains several themes, and
multiple narrators. (Http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/genre/ hader1.html.)
For the above reasons, I am interested in analyzing novel.
I am also interested in multicultural issue. So I choose Laurence Yep, a
Chinese-American writer, because he is one of the multicultural writers. He has
written many books based on the issues of Asian-American culture. His concerns
are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints dealing with cultural
alienation and racial conflict. Several of his novels are based on his life’s
Maranatha Christian University
experience as an outsider. Yep was born and raised in a black neighborhood and
educated in San Francisco’s Chinatown although he does not speak Chinese. He
felt like an outsider at school because he spoke no Chinese like his peers. Several
of his works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979),
The Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995).A lot
of his works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl, which won
many prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library
Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the
Year, Jane Addams Children's Book Award.
Child of the Owl is a story about Casey, a young girl who was born as a
Chinese-American and she moves to live with Paw-Paw, her maternal
grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In this novel, the reader can see how
hard it is for Casey to adapt herself to her new environment and how she tries to
make a relationship with her grandmother and handle her gambler father. PawPaw is a very kind grandmother who always helps Casey in adaptation to the new
environment, and she also teaches Casey about Chinese culture. So through this
analysis of the novel, I want to show that love is an important key to a
relationship.
I notice that the theme of the novel is dominant and worth analyzing.
According to Harry Shaw, theme is ‘the central idea and dominating idea in a
literary work and the message or moral implicit in any work of art’ (Shaw,
1972:378). I find that in this novel, the most prominent element used to reveal the
theme is character. I am in agreement with William Kenney that ‘as a major
element in fiction, character is obviously of major importance for theme’
Maranatha Christian University
(Kenney, 1966:95). Therefore, in discussing the theme of the novel, I am going to
focus my analysis on the major female characters whose roles are significant and
dominant in revealing the idea.
Statement of the Problems
In order to analyze the novel, I state the problem as follows:
1. What is the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl?
2. How do the major female characters help to reveal the theme?
Purpose of the Study
My purposes in studying and analyzing Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl
are:
1. To present the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl.
2. To discuss how the major female characters help to reveal the theme.
Methods of the Research
In this research I use library research. First of all, I read my primary text
entitled Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep. Next, I decide what topic is going to
be discussed. Then, I read some supporting criticisms and reference books. I
continue my research by gathering other related information from the Internet. In
this thesis, I use the intrinsic approach, namely the portrayal and action of the
major female characters to reveal the theme. Finally, I use the data I have
collected for my analysis from which I draw some conclusions.
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Organization of the Thesis
I will present my thesis in preceded first by the Preface and Abstract.
Chapter One, the Introduction, contains the Background of the Study, the
Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, Methods of Research, and the
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter One is followed by Chapter Two, in which I
present the Analysis of the Theme in Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl. After that
comes Chapter Three, which contains the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the
Bibliography, which contains the list of reference books and various sources used
in the analysis, and the Appendices, which present the Synopsis of the Novel and
the Biography of the Author.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analyzed Laurence Yep’s novel, Child of the Owl, I conclude that
the author is successful in presenting the theme. The theme is clearly revealed
through the major female characters. I come to the opinion that the theme of the
novel is one who wants to attain a harmonious relationship has to prioritize
love in one’s relation. By presenting such a theme, the author means to make the
readers realize that love is a basic foundation in one relationship.
In Child of the Owl, Laurence Yep explores the relationship between a
grandmother and her grandchildren, Paw-Paw and Casey. Casey, a twelve years
old young girl who was born as a Chinese- American, moves to live with PawPaw, her maternal grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown for a while. Living
in Chinatown, Casey feels like a stranger because she knows nothing about
Chinese culture. In this novel, the readers can see how hard it is for Casey to adapt
herself in her new environment. She tries to make a harmonious relationship with
her grandmother she has never known before, her gambler father and with the
people around her. It is not easy for Casey to live in such condition but because
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she is a kind hearted and loving girl she can easily understand and is willing to
help others. It is also because of love that she learns how to forgive someone’s
mistake. Because of the love she has, she survives in her new life in Chinatown.
In this novel, the readers can see that Paw-Paw is portrayed as a sample of
a good grandmother. Luckily for Casey, she has a very kind and helpful
grandmother. Paw-Paw always gives her assistance sincerely. She not only helps
Casey in adaptation in her new environment but also teaches Casey about Chinese
culture and many new things that she does not understand before. Paw-Paw also
shows her love to all the members in her family. Moreover, I can see that PawPaw is a typical kind of kind hearted and thoughtful grandmother. She shows her
kindness when Barney has a difficulty to pay his gambling debt. She is not angry
when Barney robs her precious owl charm and hurts her; as a matter of fact she
even helps Barney after what has happened. She not only understands Barney’s
bad habit and forgives him but also pays for Barney’s debt at the end.
After reading the novel, I see that all of Casey and Paw-Paw’s action are
based on love. I conclude that the most important key which makes the
relationship between Casey and Paw-Paw becomes harmonious is love. With love
as their motivation they understand each other, are kind to everyone, show their
attention to everyone and with all sincerity help everyone who need their
assistance. Forgiving someone’s mistake is a very difficult thing, but it will be
very easy with love as the reason because love can open one’s heart and also
forgives. I am of the opinion that these things one can do out of love can tighten
every relationship.
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Having analyzed the theme through the two major female characters in
this novel, I find that the author is successful in presenting the theme through
Casey and Paw-Paw. The author’s description about each character and what they
do in every situation that they have to face is very plausible and obvious, although
I find that the character of Paw-Paw is too good to be true. But Yep’s description
makes the readers easy to relate to the characters and this helps to lead the readers
to a better understanding of the characters and thus discover the very theme of the
novel.
Furthermore, I believe that the message of love which is conveyed through
the two major female characters in this novel is a universal thing in this world
because basically love is the basic foundation in every relationship. One’s
relationship never becomes harmonious if love does not take part in that
relationship. Wherever one is, whoever one is, the relationship one builds needs
love.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Penguin Books. 1882.
Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press. 1996.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw. Hill, Inc. 1972.
Internet Websites
A. Hader, Suzanne. The Bildungsroman Genre: Great Expectation, Aurora Leigh,
and Waterland @ The Victorian Web: Literature, History & Culture in the
Age of Victoria. 5 May. 2005
Gendell, Adrienne, et al. Young Adult Literature: Learning about Laurence Yep.
3 May. 2005
Rogers, Frank. A Map Through Chinatown: ethnicity and cultural identity in
Laurence
Yep’s
Child
of
the
Owl.
17
March.
2006
Primary Text
Yep, Laurence. Child of the Owl. New York: Harper Collins. 1977.
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