Different self defense mechanisms in major characters in Alice Walker`s Everyday Use a psychoanalytic reading

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DIFFERENT SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN MAJOR

CHARACTERS

IN ALICE WALKER’S “EVERYDAY

USE”: A PSYCHOANALYTIC READING

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

in English Letters

By

PUTRI APRILIANA

Student Number: 094214103

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2014

ii

DIFFERENT SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISMS IN MAJOR

CHARACTERS

IN ALICE WALKER’S “EVERYDAY

USE”: A PSY

CHOANALYTIC READING

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

in English Letters

By

PUTRI APRILIANA

Student Number: 094214103

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2014

vii

DREAMS

BECOME P’OSSIBLE

IF YOU SET UP

THE GOALS

-Drew Holt-

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For My Beloved Parents, My

Brothers, My Lovely Friends

who have supported me and helped me a

lot (Billy, Drew, Yuni, Nindya,

Dela, Angelin, Anien, Hilma,

Galuh, and many more)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My entire grateful is for Allah SWT, who has always given me the strength to struggle in accomplishing this undergraduate thesis. Your guidance is always with me.

My sincere gratitude goes to my advisor, P. Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D., for his kindness, endless and thorough guidance and advices while I was working on this thesis. Without his helps, I would not be able to finish this undergraduate thesis. I also thank my co advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., for more guidance and help in correcting this thesis.

My most affectionate gratitude goes to my parents and my brothers, who always support me in every condition. They gave me reasons that encouraged me to finish this thesis. I would like to thank Billy, who supports me and wishes me a better future; Drew, who supports me and tells me things that inspire me, and gives me a lot of good advices; Yuni, who supported me and helped me in the process of writing this undergraduate thesis; Angelin, Bagas, Mbak Yayuk, Hilma, Anin, Galuh, Ucil, Eky, Tika, Maya, Ana, Rini, Metya, Alice, and many others that cannot be mentioned by name here, for their supports and companionship. I’m thankful for everything you all have done for me.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE _{... ii}

APPROVAL PAGE _{... iii}

ACCEPTANCE PAGE _{... iv}

LEMBAR 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 A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 4

C. Objectives of the Study ... 4

D. Definition of Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE A. Review of Related Studies ... 7

B. Review of Related Theories ... 10

1. Character and Characterization ... 10

2. Lois Tyson’s Theory of Psychoanalysis ... 11

C. Theoretical Framework ... 15

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study ... 18

B. Approach of the Study ... 19

C. Method of the Study ... 21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS A. The Characterization of the Major Characters ... 23

1. Mrs. Johnson (Mama) ... 24

2. Dee ... 27

3. Maggie ... 34

B. The Core Issues of Each Characters in “Everyday Use” and the Defense Mechanisms that are Reflected on Each Character to Cope with those Issues ………...37

xi

1. Mrs. Johnson (Mama) ... 38

2. Dee ... 40

3. Maggie ... 44

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION _{... 48}

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ABSTRACT

APRILIANA, PUTRI. Different Self-Defense Mechanisms in Major

Characters in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”: A Psychoanalytic Reading. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014.

A literary work is a work that represents the form of life. It has many similarities to the real life itself. The characters, situation, and problems in it are the reflection of human life. This study discussed one of those literary works. It is a short story by Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”. From psychoanalytic angle, the main characters have a few core issues and different self-defense mechanisms.

The objective of this study is to analyze the different self-defense mechanisms of the major characters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. This study used two questions stated in the problem formulation, first is how are the major characters, Mama, Dee, and Maggie characterized in the story? Secondly, what are the core issues of each character and the defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character to cope with those issues?

This study applied primary and secondary sources. A library research was a method to get the material or data taken from the library. So the primary source was the literary text itself, a short story by Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”. The secondary sources were some articles, journals and criticisms from the internet which were related to the work, and books. The sources were used for evidence to support this undergraduate thesis.

The result of this study is Mama, Maggie, and Dee have a few core issues and reflect different self-defense mechanisms from the concepts of psychoanalytic theory by Lois Tyson to cope with those issues. Core issue is our negative feeling that stay with us throughout life and determine our behavior in destructive ways. Mama has a low self-esteem and her defense mechanism is avoidance. Dee’s core issues are insecure or unstable sense of self and fear of abandonment, while she defends herself by developing avoidance, displacement, and fear of intimacy unconsciously. Maggie’s core issue is low self-esteem, and her defense mechanism is avoidance.

xiii ABSTRAK

APRILIANA, PUTRI. Different Self-Defense Mechanisms in Major Characters in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”: A Psychoanalytic Reading. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2014.

Karya sastra adalah sebuah karya yang menggambarkan bentuk kehidupan. Karya ini mempunyai banyak kesamaan terhadap kehidupan nyata itu sendiri. Tokoh, situasi, dan masalah yang ada di dalamnya adalah refleksi dari kehidupan manusia. Studi ini membahas salah satu dari karya sastra tersebut. Karya tersebut adalah sebuah cerita pendek yang ditulis oleh Alice Walker berjudul “Everyday Use”. Dari sudut psikoanalitik, para tokoh utamanya mempunyai beberapa permasalahan utama dan mekanisme pertahanan diri yang berbeda – beda.

Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menganalisir perbedaan mekanisme pertahanan diri dari tokoh – tokoh utama dalam cerita pendek “Everyday Use” karya Alice Walker. Studi ini menggunakan dua pertanyaan, pertama adalah bagaimana para tokoh utama, Mama, Dee, dan Maggie digolongkan dalam cerita tersebut? Kedua, apa permasalahan utama yang dimiliki tiap tokoh dan mekanisme pertahanan diri apa yang di cerminkan dalam setiap tokoh untuk mengatasi permasalahan – permasalahan tersebut?

Studi ini menggunakan sumber pertama dan kedua. Penelitian perpustakaan adalah metode untuk mendapatkan data dengan mengambil data dari perpustakaan. Jadi sumber pertama itu adalah teks sastra itu sendiri, cerita pendek karya Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”. Sumber kedua yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah beberapa artikel, jurnal dan kritik dari internet yang berkaitan dengan karya tersebut, dan beberapa buku. Sumber – sumber ini digunakan sebagai bukti untuk mendukung study ini.

Hasil dari studi ini adalah Mama, Maggie dan Dee mempunyai beberapa permasalahan utama dalam diri mereka masing – masing dan mereka menggunakan mekanisme pertahanan diri yang berbeda berdasarkan konsep teori psikoanalitik milik Lois Tyson untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut. Permasalahan utama adalah perasaan buruk yang tinggal di dalam diri kita sepanjang hidup dan membentuk perilaku kita dengan cara merusak. Mama memiliki rasa rendah diri yang merupakan permasalahan utamanya dan penghindaran adalah mekanisme pertahanan dirinya. Permasalahan utama yang dimiliki Dee adalah kegelisahan atau ketidakstabilan diri dan rasa takut akan pengabaian, sementara dia melindungi dirinya secara tidak sadar dengan mengembangkan mekanisme pertahanan seperti penghindaran, pemindahan, dan rasa takut untuk memiliki keterkaitan emosional yang mendalam dengan seseorang. Permaslahan pokok yang dimiliki Maggie adalah rasa rendah diri dan mekanisme pertahanan yang dia gunakan adalah penghindaran.

1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION A. Background of the study

A literary work is a work that represents the form of life. It has many similarities to the real life itself, for example like the characters, situation, and problems in it are the reflection of human life. In his book An Introduction to The Study of Literature, Hudson says that literature presents some kinds of human aspects of life such as history, psychology, social, and many more. It is an important record of what they have experienced, seen, thought, and felt in life and they express those through the medium of language (1960:10).

Since literary work is a realization of the authors’ opinions of life, the emergence of it cannot be separated from them. An author is an individual who cannot be free from the influence of his community. According to Meyer Howard M.H Abram’s Theory of Mimesis, a work of art is the imitation of nature. Their life is influenced by the culture, religion, idea, and any convention of their society (Abrams, 1985:36).

A literary study using psychological perspective is known as psychoanalytic criticism. Peter Barry in his book Beginning Theory explains the definition of psychoanalytic criticism.

Psychoanalytic criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the technique of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature (2002:96).

Through an analysis of the characters in a literary work, the psychological aspects can be seen. The feeling, thought, attitude, and view of the characters can be analyzed through a psychological theory. It is because the characters have a great similarity to the real life of human beings.

An author’s social background, ideology, and experience have an important role in the process of creating the work of literature, that’s why literature and the author have a close relationship. The main sources for the author to create their works are society and personal experiences. They use literature to express their feelings. In his book How to Analyze Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Kenney says that literature is an imitation of life, literature is not merely a copy of the world; there’s a creative process (1966:3). The main point of Kenney’s statement is quite the same with M.H Abram’s that the author’s life has an important role in a literary work. This study will discuss about one of those literary works. A short story by Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”, is a literary work which the story is really related to the author’s life.

Alice Walker was born in rural Eatonton, Georgia, in 1944. She’s the youngest of eight children. “Everyday Use” has been published a part of the short story collection In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women (1973). The stories in this collection take place in settings ranging from Walker’s home territory in the American South to the multicultural world of New York City to the east African nation of Uganda. Critics have seen “Everyday Use” as standing out from the other stories in the collection because of the protagonist’s confidence in defending her family’s legacy. The author’s

background has an important role in the process of creating her works. It influences this story, and seeing that these three major characters have very different characteristics even though they come from the same world is the reason why the writer is interested to analyze one of her short stories, “Everyday Use”. The two of major characters, Maggie and Dee, have some similar story to Walker. She gives the hints are at the beginning. Walker left her home town, Georgia, for the city and an education, just like Dee left her home town for college. Walker also was handicapped by an accident, just like Maggie who was handicapped by the house fire.

In this study the writer is going to analyze three of the main characters’ characteristics. Why? Because these major characters have different characteristics even though they come from the same world especially the two sisters. Each character has their own issues and their own self – defense mechanisms to cope with those issues. So the writer wants to analyze further about their characteristics and emotional problems. This topic interests the writer since the writer has known the author from her great novel The Color Purple which encouraged the writer to read more about her works and carry out this small research. In analyzing this topic, the writer will use the theory of character and characterization. After that the writer is going to analyze the different self – defense mechanisms in major characters using the theory of psychoanalytic by Lois Tyson.

B. Problem Formulation

Considering the phenomenon that has been clarified above, the writer proposes two problems:

1. How are the major characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee, characterized in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”?

2. What are the core issues of each character in “Everyday Use” and the defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character to cope with those issues?

C. Objectives of the Study

First of all, the writer will analyze the characterization of the major characters in the short story “Everyday Use”, Mama, Maggie and Dee, to help the writer understand the characteristics of them and to answer the problems stated.

After the writer analyzes the characterization of the characters, the writer will list the characteristics of them. Then the writer will use the result of the characterization of those major characters to find out important elements of core issues and self – defense mechanisms within the theory of Tyson’s psychoanalysis which are reflected in the Alice Walker’s short story, “Everyday Use”.

D. Definition of Terms

There should be an explanation about the meaning of psychoanalytic criticism. It is to avoid any kinds of misinterpretation in understanding this thesis. In his book Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, Peter Barry explains that Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy that its aim is to cure mental disorder by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious in the mind (2002:96). He also defines that psychoanalytic criticism as a form of literary criticism that uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature. In Critical Theory Today: A User – Friendly Guide (Second Edition) Lois Tyson states that Psychoanalytic concepts such as sibling rivalry, inferiority complexes, and defense mechanisms are in such common use that most of us feel we know what they mean without them define it (2006:11). So psychoanalytic criticism is a literary approach which useful to understand human behavior by using some of psychoanalysis techniques.

In Theresa Mae Thompson, Ph. D’s notes, Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory, anxiety, according to Freud, is an unpleasant feeling or signal that people try to avoid. It acts as a signal that things are not going right. We will feel this anxiety when our defense mechanisms break down. So it is an unpleasant feeling that makes people worry about something is going not right too much.

According to Lois Tyson in his book Critical Theory Today: A User – Friendly Guide (Second Edition), Tyson explains that defense mechanisms are

the processes by which we keep our repressed experiences in the unconscious

to avoid knowing things that we feel we can’t handle (2006:15). So defense

mechanism is a tactic or a way that people use to protect themselves against

their anxiety and emotional problems and it’s developed by the ego.

When we feel anxiety, core issues are revealed. In his book, Learning for a Diverse World, Lois Tyson states that core issue is the main cause of recurring self-destructive behavior. They define our being in fundamental ways (2013:26).

7 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

In this chapter, the writer tries to show and explain some studies which are done to analyze Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and some criticisms from books and internet. These will prove that this short story is worth reading and interesting to discuss. The writer also explains some theories which are needed to characterize the three major characters, to analyze the core issues and self – defense mechanisms that they use to cope with those issues. The first thing that the writer is going to review is some studies which are done to analyze this literary work.

According to Elaine Showalter’s observation in her essay Piecing and Writing, that has been quoted by David White in his essay “Everyday Use”: Defining African – American Heritage (2001), “In contemporary writing, the quilt stands for a vanished past experience to which we have a troubled and ambivalent relationship” (1986:228). This statement seems to apply specifically to the quilts of “Everyday Use”. It explains that the quilt represents the past experience that has been erased, and which we have a trouble with.

This analysis by Elaine Showalter is different from Lori Jackson’s. According to Lori Jackson in his analysis paper, Cultural Studies Analysis of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, the symbolism and value of the quilts

represent a challenge for the black people. The challenge is to value and recognize their own American roots (2009:3). So it means that the black people use the quilts to show how they value and recognize their own roots.

In Literary Analysis of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker by Niwar A. Obaid, the quilts in “Everyday Use” are also the clothes that Dee’s great grandma used to wear and Dee’s great grandpa uniforms that he used to wear during the Civil War. It gives a sense of history to the African American history because it symbolizes value in Negro-American experience. The quilts also show that women at that time had creative activities that they came up with. They did that to pass down history from generation to generation (Obaid, 2013:9). Walker also wants to show the women roles in that era and how they use their roles and creativities to appreciate their heritage.

Obaid also states that these two sisters portray their contrasting family views on the heritage and it builds a conflict about the meaning of the heritage for the family between them. But what the narrator is trying to point out is that the idea of a quilt as a part of a family’s history (Obaid, 2013:9). The main conflict in this short story is about the different views on the heritage among the three major characters.

In Rhetoric Analysis of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”, Santosh Aryal explains that the different lives and experiences that Mama, Maggie and Dee had in the past creates different ways of viewing the world between them. Maggie lives with Mama in a world of limitations and uneducated, while Dee

lives in a better world, educated, and has a better lifestyle than Maggie and Mama (Mrs. Johnson) (Aryal, 2012). Mama and Maggie never leave their hometown and never know what the other side of the world looks like, while Dee leave her hometown and study many things during her youth. Dee learns new things out there but she never learns her own heritage, while Mama and Maggie never learn new things but they learn a lot about their heritage.

After the writer explains some studies about the symbolism and the meaning of the quilts and heritage, now the writer wants to explain another study about “Everyday Use” related to the theme. The main theme of the story itself is about heritage meaning. What Walker tries to point out is that a quilt is a part of family’s history. They represent their ancestor’s lives not only parts of cloths put together to make a blanket. The author also gives important understanding that valuing the culture and traditions of your family is extremely meaningful. In the story shows that Maggie, the younger sister, is different from Dee, the older sister, because she knows how to sew and appreciate the quilts personally and emotionally. This is according to “Theme of Heritage in Everyday Use” essay on the internet.

The writer tries to discover something new. This study does not focus on the symbolism of the quilts, the meaning of the heritage, the themes or the struggle for women’s rights in African American community in that era, but it focuses on analyzing the three major characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee, in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” in psychological angle concerning the core issues and self – defense mechanisms.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Character and Characterization

In his book, A Glossary to Literary Terms, Meyer Howard Abrams explains that character is the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral disposition and emotional qualities. The qualities are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action (1981:2).

M.J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Student exemplifies some ways in representing the characters. These are some of the ways that the writer will use in this study (1972:161).

The first is by the Character as seen by another. The author can describe the character through the eyes and opinion of another instead of describing the character directly. The second is by the Speech. Through what the character says, the author can give us insight into the characteristic of one of the characters in the story. The third is by the character’s Past Life. The author can give the reader a clue that has helped to shape a character’s characteristic as they are now at present by learning about a character’s life. It can be done by direct comment by the author, through the thought of the character, through the person’s conversation or through the medium of another character. The fourth is by the Conversation of Others. It is the conversation of other character and the things they say about the character. The fifth is by the Personal Description. It is when the character describes their own physical appearance or clothes. And the last is by the character’s

Reactions. The character shows their character from their reactions to various situations and events (Murphy, 1972:161).

2. Lois Tyson’s Theory of Psychoanalysis

According to Lois Tyson’ explanation in his book Learning for a Diverse World, that has been quoted by Cecilia Lam’s English paper “Psychoanalysis of Maggie”, everyone has at least one core issue. He states in the book that a core issue is the main cause of some sort of recurring self-destructive behavior, whether that behavior is really mild or really serious (2001:26).

In his educational book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide (second edition), Tyson also explains that this literary theory explores how much repressed desire and unresolved emotional distress, motivate a character’s actions, conflict and resolution in a story. According to Chicago Literature Examiner named Magdalene Paniotte in her literary article, Overview of Lois Tyson’s “Critical Theory Today” (2012), Tyson explains that psychoanalytic criticism assumes that human behavior and conflict is mostly determined by internal factors originating in early developmental stages.

According to Tyson, the unconscious consists of repressed wounds, fears, unresolved conflicts and guilty desires. It has been stated in his book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide (second edition) (Tyson,

2006:12). Tyson also states in his book Using Critical Theory: Using Critical Theory to Read and Write about Literature that the theory of psychoanalysis focuses on events that we go through in our life as we grow up, affects and shapes our psychological development, and we can see this development as we get older. These early experiences tend to perform in our adult lives (2013:23). He also explains that we all experience some sort of psychological problems in our lives, and psychological problems are a natural and unavoidable part of being human means that we all have at least one problem that related to our psychological, and it is important to try to identify and understand them because, according to psychoanalytic theory that is how we can start to heal the problems (2013:23).

For psychoanalytic theory, the result of the emotional experiences we had growing up is our adult personality, which means our early emotional experiences have a big impact on our personality. And according to Tyson, the most important source of our early emotional experiences is the family. Because it is in the family that our sense of self and our way of relate to others are first established (2013:25).

Psychoanalytic theory is more interested in understanding the origin of personal problems. This theory wants to offer ways to overcome personal problems. According to this theory, we all have core issues, so analyzing the three main characters from this perspective does not necessarily mean that we are judging them negatively. Usually the character’s race, class, and gender are the major factors in forming their personalities and creating their

personal problems. But psychoanalytic focuses on the family because it is the basic concept, and cultural factors as race, class, and gender play different roles in different families.

Tyson describes in his book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide (second edition) that our unconscious desires do not acknowledge or change our destructive behaviors because we have formed our identities around them and we are afraid of what we will find if we look at them closely and carefully, and these unconscious desires are served by our defense mechanisms (2006:15). Defense mechanisms are the processes by which we keep the repressed not allowed to be expressed in order to keep ourselves from knowing things we do not want to know because we feel we can’t handle the feelings (2006:15). In other words, defense mechanisms are the processes by which the contents of our unconscious are kept in the unconscious (2006:15). The unconscious is the storehouse of those painful experiences and emotions, those wounds, fears, guilty desires, and unresolved conflicts that we do not want to know about because we feel we will be affected very strongly by them (2006:12).

In his book Using Critical Theory: Using Critical Theory to Read and Write about Literature, Tyson states, “Many of our defense mechanisms develop during childhood as ways of protecting ourselves emotionally” (2013:26). It means that during our childhood we develop these defense mechanisms unconsciously to protect ourselves emotionally. These defense mechanisms become more destructive than helpful as we get older because

these become a way for us to protect ourselves in a wrong way. These defense mechanisms keep us from understanding, and then healing, our psychological problems. Those defense mechanisms include Avoidance, Denial, Displacement, Selective Perception, Selective Memory, Projection, and Regression. Displacement is when we take out our negative feelings about one person on someone else less threatening that the person who caused our fear, hurt, frustration, or anger. Avoidance is we stay away from people, places, or situations that might make us anxious by stirring up repressed experiences. Denial is when we believe an unpleasant situation doesn’t exist or an unpleasant even never occurred (2006:15).

Sometimes our defense mechanisms break down for a moment, and this is when anxiety happens. Tyson also states that anxiety is an important experience because it can reveal core issues (2006:16). Core issues do not consist of unsteady negative feelings such as insecurity or low self-image, they stay with us throughout life and they determine our behavior in destructive ways of which we are usually unaware, unless they have effectively addressed (2006:17). Tyson explains in his book Using Critical Theory: Using Critical Theory to Read and Write about Literature, that:

“A core issue is the underlying cause of some sort of recurring self-destructive behavior, whether that behavior is something as mild as being habitually late for important appointments or something as serious as being habitually involved with abusive romantic partners” (2013:26)

From those statements above, we can conclude that our self-destructive behavior is caused by core issue. That behavior can be something simple for

example, always late for an interview, or something serious like always involved with abusive partners. A problem is considered as a core issue only if responsible for most or all of the emotional difficulties we have as adults.

Core issues include, Low Self Esteem, Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self, Fear of Intimacy, Fear of Abandonment, and Fear of Betrayal. Low Self Esteem is the believe that someone less worthy than the others and don’t deserve attention, love, or any other form of life’s rewards (2006:16). Insecure or Unstable sense of self is the feeling of vulnerable and when we may have a tendency to repeatedly change the way we look or behave as we become involved with different individuals or groups (2006:16). Fear of Abandonment is the unshakeable belief that our friends and loved ones are going to desert us (physical abandonment) or don’t really care about us (emotional abandonment) (2006:16). Fear of Intimacy is the chronic and overpowering feeling that emotional closeness will seriously hurt or destroy us and that we can remain emotionally safe only by remaining at an emotional distance from others at all times (2006:16).

Besides as a core issue, fear of intimacy also can function as a defense mechanism. But if this particular defense mechanism occurs continually, then it is probably a core issue.

C. Theoretical Framework

All the theories above will be used to find the answer all of the problems. In this study, the writer will emphasize to analyze the three main characters.

The theory of character and characterization by M.J Murphy is needed to analyze their characteristics. This theory will be used to answer the first problem formulation. It is really needed in order to get a clear insight about how the main characters are characterized.

In finding main character’ core issues it is important to understand their characters, to understand their characters the writer will analyze it from the way the character as seen by another, through their speech, their past life, their reactions, personal description, and from the conversation of others. For example, by analyzing it from the way the character as seen by another, it means the writer will describe Maggie through the eyes and opinionof Mama or Dee, instead of describing Maggie directly. By analyzing it through their speech means the writer will give us insight into the characteristic of Maggie in the short story through what Mama or Dee says. By learning about the characters’ life, the writer also can give the readers a clue that has helped to

shape a character’s characteristic as she is now at present. Through personal description, we can know a character’s physical appearance. Through the

conversation of other characters about a character and the things they say about her also will give more clues to her character. Also by seeing the

character’ reactions to various situations and events, she can show her

characters.

The second theory will help the writer to answer the second problem

formulation. By using the Lois Tyson’s psychoanalysis theory the writer can

analyzing their self - defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character of the three main characters in the story according to the theory. This theory is taken from Tyson’s book Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide (Second Edition) which has been published in 2006.

According to Tyson the goal of psychoanalysis is to help us resolve psychological problems, often called disorders and none of us is completely free of psychological problems (2006:12). That is why this theory is needed to answer the second problem formulation. After the writer analyze and understand the characterization of each character, the writer will be able to analyze the core issues that the characters have, and analyze the defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character to cope with their core issues by using Tyson’s theory of psychoanalysis.

18 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

“Everyday Use” is a short story by Alice Walker. The story is set in the late 1960s or early 1970s when black American life and identity were undergoing a radical transformation. In 1960s during the African-American Civil Rights Movement while analyzing the worlds of three black women spirit worlds and symbols of significance in terms of Feminine Consciousness to project the literature topic of the novel (Stacy, 2012). This was a time when African-Americans were struggling to define their personal identities in cultural terms. This story was first published in 1973 as part of Walker’s short story collection, In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women.

In 1994, the story was honored by a critical edition published in the

Rutgers University Press series “Women Writers: Texts and Contexts.” The

work was reviewed enthusiastically upon publication, and “Everyday Use” has since been called by some critics the best of Walker's short stories. A film version was released in 2003. The stories in this collection take place in

settings ranging from Walker’s home territory in the American South to the

multicultural world of New York City to the east African nation of Uganda.

Walker’s protagonists are portrayed as victims. According to the information that the writer found in Sparknotes, “Everyday Use” has been seen as standing out from the other stories in the collection, partly because of

the protagonist’s confidence in defending her family’s legacy” (SparkNotes Editors, 2007). According to West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, African Americans struggled to gain equal treatment. In the South, African Americans had been treated like second-class citizens since the time of slavery (Encyclopedia Editors, 2005). Finally, southern African Americans’ lives were changing. Their expectations were also changing.

According to Katherine Raz’s paper, the story involves characters from both sides of the entire African American culture. Dee/Wangero represents the “new black,” with her natural hairdo and brightly colored clothing. Mama and Maggie remains traditional people, unchanged and unaffected. The characters never directly mention their feelings about the Americanization of African tradition. By telling the story from the mother's point of view, Walker's representation of Wangero is seeped in irony. The way Wangero loved her African heritage becomes an exploitation of it (Raz, 2005).

B. Approach of the Study

To answer the problem formulation in this study, the writer applies psychoanalytic criticism by Lois Tyson. Psychoanalytic criticism is a literary approach which useful to understand human behavior. It is the most suitable approach to analyze this short story because according to Tyson in his book Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide (second edition), “psychoanalysis concepts have become part of our everyday lives” (2006:11). Peter Barry in his book Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, states that psychoanalytic criticism uses some of the

techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature (2002:96). Tyson states in his book Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide (second edition), “the goal of psychoanalysis is to help us resolve our psychological problems, often called disorders or dysfunctions” (2006:12). He believes that everyone at least has one psychological problem. He also says, “the focus is on patterns of behavior that are destructive in some way” (2006:12). It also certainly can help us to understand human behavior and literary texts, which are about human behavior. The characters’ repetition of destructive behaviors reveal the existence of some psychological difficulties that have been influencing them for some time. This is why the writer thinks that this approach is the most suitable to analyze this short story.

This literary approach will help the writer to analyze the psychological problems and self-defense mechanisms of the main characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee. Although psychoanalytic criticism comes from the field of psychology, it is relevant to be used as an approach to analyze literary work because psychology and literature are closely related subjects. Lindauer in Bornstein’s Psychology and Its Allied Disciplines states that literature is best at describing human condition in dramatic form (1984:144). While Lindauer also states that psychology studies human characteristics systematically, both in real life as well as in literature, which is “the reflection of human feeling, experience, and life” (Wellek and Warren, 1956:94). Thus, both psychology and literature study about human characteristics or condition.

Psychoanalysis is considered the most suitable approach to analyze the topic and work in this study. Tyson states that unconscious desires are served by defense mechanisms which include Avoidance, Denial, Displacement (2006:15). Tyson also states that anxiety is an important experience because it can reveal core issues which are includes Low Self Esteem, Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self , Fear of Abandonment, and Fear of Intimacy (2006:16). The psychoanalysis will help the writer to analyze the core issues and self-defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character. Therefore, the writer employs this method in order to answer the question in the problem formulations.

C. Method of the Study

This study applied primary and secondary sources. A library research was a method to get the material or data taken from the library. So the primary source was the literary text itself, a short story by Alice Walker titled “Everyday Use”. The secondary sources include some articles, journals and criticisms from the internet related to the work, and books. The sources were used for evidence to support this thesis.

There are several steps that are taken in the research. First of all, it was reading the short story carefully and repeatedly in order to understand the story. The second step was finding out some references related to the theory of literature that was needed to help the writer analyze the elements in the story such as characters.

The next was analyzing the characteristics of the two main characters by using the theory of character and characterization by M.J Murphy, and tried to focus on any “dysfunctional” or abnormal behavior of them, because then it is possible to implement the psychoanalytic concepts from Tyson’s Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide (second edition). Finally, after writing the analysis, the last step was bringing a conclusion based on the overall analysis.

23 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

The writer will answer the two questions that have been stated in the problem formulation, which have been presented in the previous chapter. Firstly, the writer will explore the three major characters, Mama, Maggie and Dee. Theories of character and characterization will support to know their characteristics as well. The second problem that is the core issues that the major characters have and the defense mechanisms that are reflected on each character to cope with those issues will be discussed by applying the theory of Psychoanalytic by Lois Tyson.

A. The Characterization of the Major Characters

Like what Abrams says that character is the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral disposition and emotional qualities. And the qualities are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action (1981:2).

In this short story the major characters are Maggie, Dee, and Mama, and the writer will discuss all of them. Their emotional qualities are expressed in the dialogue and the action. That is why the writer will apply theory of character and characterization by Murphy. Murphy says that there are nine techniques to describe a character of a story. Their characterization can be seen through their personal description, speech, thought, past life, reaction,

conversation of others, direct comment, manners and character as seen by another. In this study, the writer will only use six of them which are character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, personal description, and reactions to answer the first problem formulation.

1. Mrs. Johnson (Mama)

Mama is a single parent who raises two daughters, Maggie and Dee. She is one of the protagonists in the short story and also the narrator of it. She is a woman with a solid foundation and tough roots, which means that she has a great appreciation to her own heritage and family. Now the writer will analyze Mama’s characteristics through her personal description, her speech, and her reactions.

Mama is characterized by her personal description. Mama describes herself as a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. She proudly tells of her ability to kill and clean hogs as “mercilessly” as any man. Mama describes:

In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing (p. 315)

From her description we can imagine how Mama looks like in real life. We can see that she is a tough woman and a hard worker.

Mama is characterized by her speech. Mama is characterized as a patient woman. We can see it when Dee changes her name and Mama did not even get mad at her.

“How do you pronounce this name?” I asked.

“You do not have to call me by it if you do not want to,” said Wangero.

“Why shouldn’t I? I asked. “If that is what you want us to call you, we’ll call you.”

“I know it might sound awkward at first,” said Wangero. “I’ll get used to it,” I said. “Ream it out again” (p. 318) From what Mama says above she is willing to back down and call Dee with the name that she wants them to call her by. As a parent, Mama has the right to reject what Dee wants because she is named after their ancestors and she cannot just change it easily. It is a kind of disrespect. But in this case Mama does not even get mad but back down instead. She is willing to learn how to pronounce Wangero’s name. Mama is also honest. It is shown when Dee wants to have the quilts which Mama promises to give to Maggie. Mama tells Dee, “The truth is, I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas” (p. 320). From that sentence, Mama shows that she is not afraid to tell the truth to Dee even though she knows that it might hurt Dee’s feeling and makes her angry.

What Mama says about Dee, that “no” is a word that the world never say to her. But this time Mama really does say no to Dee. She knows that Dee might not like the truth she tells but she says it anyway. Mama can think of any other reasons why she can’t give the quilts to Dee instead of telling that those are Maggie’s portion since she knows that Dee used to hate Maggie, but she does

not do it. She prefers to tell the truth to Dee. By now we can conclude that Mama is a patient and honest person.

Another characteristic’s of Mama is wise or fair. We can see when Mama says that Maggie knows how to appreciate the quilts. Mama says, “I reckon she would. God knows I been saving „em for long enough with nobody using „em. I hopeshe will!” (p. 320). Mama did not want to bring up how she offers Dee a quilt when she goes away to college, then she says they are old-fashioned and out of style. So Mama tells Dee that she can have the other quilts to make it fair. Mama says, “Take one or two of the others” (p. 321). Even though Dee does not want to take the other ones, Mama still does not let Dee to take Maggie’s portion because she promises to Maggie that she will give them to Maggie. After Mama knows that Dee cannot appreciate the quilts like Maggie does, she even more sure that the decision to give them to Maggie is the best for all of them because Maggie always can make some more. Maggie knows it better than Dee does and that is just how you appreciate your heritage.

Mama is characterized by her reactions. Mama is a caring mother. It can be seen when Maggie says that Dee can have those quilts, and Maggie looks at her sister with something like fear but she does not mad at her. Mama says, “I did something I never done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap” (p. 321). From Mama’s reaction of hugging Maggie shows that Mama really cares about Maggie and wants to fight for what

Maggie deserves to have. She acts like she wants to protect her daughter from danger. And the part when Mama snatches the quilts out of Wangero’s hands and dumps them into Maggie’s lap also shows her firmness as a parent. So we can conclude that beside she is caring, she is also a firm mother. She can act caring and firm at the same time. This reaction also shows us her wisdom.

2. Dee

Dee is Mrs. Johnson’s (Mama) oldest daughter. She is characterized by her speech, and Dee as seen by another. She exhibits the most diverse characterization in the story.

Dee is characterized by her speech. It is shown when Dee arrives home, her mother called her with her birth name “Dee” but Dee says, “No, mama. Not „Dee’, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!” (p. 318). Dee tries to cut herself off from her own family. It is shown when she states, “She is dead. I couldn’t bear it any longer being named after people who oppress me” (p. 318), whenever her mother asks her why she changes her name.

Some words and statements characterized Dee as an unappreciative woman. She does not appreciate her own heritage by changing her name to Wangero. She knows that her parents named her after their ancestors, but she thinks that she is being named after people who oppressed her when actually no one oppressed her. Dee also does not appreciate what Mama has done to her in the past. She should have known that her mother in the story works hard to raise her daughters, supply food and clothes, and even gets her into college

somehow, but she returns with her college education and new personality. Moreover, we can say that she is quite disrespectful. Dee also begins to take their personal properties that she did not want earlier when she had been asked. Mama says, “I did not want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style” (p. 320). Here, we can see that Dee does not really appreciate her family heritage. She says that those quilts are old-fashioned and she does not want them because she is ashamed of them even though in the end she wants them. If she really appreciates the quilts she will accept them when her mother offers her.

Some other speech also shows that she is uneducated. Not the usual education, such as in college, because she had that, but the education of heritage or past. It is also showed when she tells her mother that she changes her name to Wangero, follows by the statement that Dee is dead and that she can no longer bear the name of the people that oppress her. There is nothing in the story that shows or mentions Dee is being oppressed in the past. And then she tries to track back where her name comes from, and her mother also tracks it back as far as she can remember and no such thing is pointed out. It is just Dee who cannot appreciate the name that her family gives her. Her lack of education about heritage makes her think that it is okay to change her name without thinking about the value or history behind her real name.

To move on to another situation where Dee makes herself look uneducated is when she gets into the car to leave, she turns towards her mother and says,

“You just do not understand.” Her mother asks, “What do not I understand?” Dee replies, “Your heritage” (p. 321). Her mother knows exactly where she comes from and is still living that life. It is Dee who forgets where she comes from and feels like she can tell her mother where she comes from.

Dee is also arrogant. She tries to make Mama and Maggie change the way they live just like the way she does. She believes herself to be above them instead of honoring and embracing her roots. It is shown when she turns to Maggie, she says, “You ought to try to make something of yourself too, Maggie. It is really a new day for us. But from the way you and mama still live you’d never know it” (p. 321). Another speech of her that shows her arrogance is when she says Maggie cannot appreciate the quilts. She says, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backward enough to put them to “Everyday Use”” (p.320). From her statement she acts like she can appreciate her heritage better than Maggie does when the fact is the opposite. She thinks that by putting those quilts to “Everyday Use” will damage the quilts and that is not how to appreciate them.

Dee does not allow her desire to be prevented. It is shown when she says Maggie cannot take care of the quilts.“But they are priceless! ” she was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” (p. 320). From her speech, Dee does not like anyone to prevent her desire. When Mama will not let her have the quilts to display and says that those quilts are for Maggie, Dee becomes

furious. She says that Maggie cannot keep the quilts well and she also claims that Mama and Maggie do not understand her heritage.

By analyzing her speech, Dee is also showing disrespect towards her mother and sister. First off is when they sit down to eat. Hakim asks if Uncle Buddy whittled the dash and Maggie answers that it is Aunt Dee’s first husband who does it. Maggie talks in a very low voice that almost everyone cannot hear her and Dee makes fun of her. She says, “Maggie’s brain is like an elephant’s” (p. 319). She says that while laughing at her. It shows a little disrespectful towards her sister. The second proof is when Mama will not let her to have the quilts she wants, she acts very rude and disrespectful to her mother. Dee (Wangero) looks at Mama with hatred and says, “You just will not understand. The point is these quilts, these quilts!” (p. 321). From Mama’s explanation and Dee’s statement, we can see that Dee acts disrespectful to her own mother. She talks very harsh to her mother as if her mother is wrong for giving those quilts to Maggie and thinks that she knows about heritage better than her mother does. We know that it is not how you treat your own mother.

Now we analyze the emotional qualities of Dee by applying the theory of Abrams, the qualities are also expressed in what she does or her actions. For example, when she arrives home she pulls out a Polaroid and begins taking pictures. She snaps photographs of her mother, sister, and the entire house.

She turns showing her white heels through her sandals, and goes back to the car.

Out she peeks next with s Polaroid. She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me. She

never takes a shot without making sure the house is included (p. 318).

She is able to show that she is well educated by degrading her own family with these pictures. When she takes a shot of her mother and sister, she also makes sure to include the livestock as well as the entire house. She treats her family and her house as if they’re something unique, out of style and unfamiliar for her. When she is inside, she goes around picking out items such as butter churn, quilts, and other household luxuries she wants to take back with her.

She jumped up from the table and went over in the corner where the churn stood, and the milk in it clabber by now. She looked at the churn and looked at it. “This churn top is what I need (p. 319)

She wants to take back the churn with her and use it as a centerpiece for the alcove table. As she taking the churn top and asking about Uncle Buddy who whittled the churn out of a tree, she says, “And I want the dasher too. I’ll think of something artistic to do with the dasher” (p. 319). She wants to take the dasher that Aunt Dee’s first husband had whittled. And then after dinner Dee went to her mother’s bedroom.

After dinner Dee (Wangero) went to the trunk at the foot of my bed and started rifling through it. Maggie hung back in the kitchen over the dishpan. Out came Wangero with two quilts. They had been pieced by Grandma Dee and then Big Dee and me had hung them on the quilt frames on the front porch and quilted them (p. 320).

From this action Dee wants to take the quilts too. By taking her mother’s butter churn, the dasher, and the quilts, she without any remorse, leaves her family without quilts to keep them warm and without a churn to make butter.

I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of, a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red-hot brick chimney. Why do not you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her. She had hated the house that much (p. 316).

By Mama’s words, the writer can sense that the burning of their house brought happiness to Dee because she had hated the house. She just standing off under the tree as she watched the house burnt to the ground with a look of concentration on her face instead of trying to help or sad. And when she off at college years later, she writes a letter to Mama and Maggie telling that she will visit them no matter where they choose to live, but she will never bring any of her friends. And as Mama and Maggie read the letter, Maggie asks, “Mama, when did Dee ever have any friends?” By seeing Mama’s statement about

Dee’s reaction when the house burned down and Maggie’s question, Dee can

be characterized as egotistical or selfish. She is excessively conceited or absorbed in herself because she only had a few friends which are furtive boys in pink shirts and nervous girls who never laughed. “Impressed with her they worshiped the well-turned phrase, the cute shape, the scalding humor that erupted like bubbles in lye. She read to them” (p. 317).

Another proof that she is arrogant is when reads to her mother and sister. She looks down on her surroundings. Mama explains:

She used to read to us without pity, forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we did not necessarily need to know. Pressed us to her with the serious ways she read, to shove us away at just the moment, like dimwits, we seemed about to understand (p. 316)

Dee forces all her education to her mother and sister, when she knows they are not educated like her. She acts like she is better than others, showing her arrogance.

3. Maggie

Maggie is Mrs. Johnson’s (Mama) youngest daughter. She is characterized by her past life, conversation of others, her speech, and Maggie as seen by another.

Maggie as seen by another. She is described as an unattractive and shy person. We can see it from Mama’s sentence, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (p. 315). The burn scars down her arms and legs make her look rather unattractive. And the way she walks shows that she is shy. This can be seen from Mama’s another explanation:

Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle (p. 316)

The dialogue above shows that Maggie is a shy person. We can see it from the way she walks as her chin on her chest, her eyes on ground, and how she shuffles her feet. That is just how a shy person generally walks. Another proof that she is a shy person is when she wears a pink skirt and red blouse, and asks

what her mother thinks about her look, she stands there but almost her mother cannot see her. “Maggie says, showing just enough of her thin body enveloped in pink skirt and red blouse for me to know she is there, almost hidden by the door” (p. 316). This also shows that Maggie has a low self confidence. Then when Mama admits that she never had an education herself, she also says that sometimes Maggie reads to her. “Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturedly but can't see well. She knows she is not bright” (p. 316). From that, we can see that Maggie is uneducated and not as smart as Dee.

Maggie is characterized by her past life. As Mama tells about the house fire that happened around ten or twelve years ago, “That is the way my Maggie walks. She has been like this, chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle, ever since the fire that burned the other house to the ground” (p. 316). From that description, we can conclude that the accident shapes Maggie’s shy and low self confident characteristics. The house fire also leaves some burn scars down her arms and legs that make her become more low self confident and feel ashamed. Mama explains this in the beginning of the story, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs” (p. 315)

If we analyze the emotional qualities of Maggie by applying the theory of Abrams, the qualities are also expressed in what she does or her actions. For example, when Hakim-a-barber asks if Uncle Buddy whittled the dasher that Dee wants, Maggie answers with a very low voice. "Aunt Dee's first husband

whittled the dash," said Maggie so low you almost couldn't hear her” (p. 319). From that dialogue, Maggie’s action of talking in a very low voice shows that she is quiet and withdrawn. She is hardly a presence even when she does manage to utter a complete sentence.

Despite her weaknesses, Maggie has some significant strength. This can be explained by looking at the conversation of others, which is the conversation between Mama and Dee. When Dee thinks that Maggie cannot appreciate the quilts and they would be in rags less than five years, Mama replies, “She can always make some more, Maggie knows how to quilt” (p. 320). From Mama’s statement that Maggie knows how to quilt, we can say that Maggie is respectful especially towards her family heritage. Even though she hasn't been able to go away to school and learn the things her sister has, she has learned to quilt. She shows her respect by learning how to quilt. Her ability to quilt is something she shares with her ancestors, which connects her strongly to them. The last, Maggie is characterized by her speech. She is characterized as a nice person who always back down, and always give everything when Dee asks for. Even when Dee asks for the quilts which Mama promised to give to Maggie when she marries to John Thomas, she says, “She can have them, Mama” (p. 321). She let her sister to keep those quilts. She also seems also to have a true, un-superficial sense of heritage when she says, “I can „member Grandma Dee without the quilts” (p. 321). This statement, again, shows that she has a great respect towards her ancestors and heritage.

B. The Core Issues of Each Characters in “Everyday Use” and the Defense Mechanisms that are Reflected on Each Character to Cope with those Issues

Brothers and Sisters, when they are raised by the same mother and grew up together as siblings usually they have things in common. But this is not the situation that happens in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”. These two sisters, Maggie and Dee, are raised by the same mother, Mrs. Johnson, and grew up as siblings indeed, but from their personalities and the way they think, they are really different.

As human beings, we all have to deal with a lot of things with different kinds of problems. Tyson explains in his book Learning for A Diverse World that everyone has “at least one core issue…” (2001:16). In this short story by Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”, Mama, Maggie and Dee show psychoanalysis problems that Tyson talks about in “Using Concepts from Psychoanalytic Theory to Understand Literature”. Tyson says that psychoanalysis has to deal with core issues, which includes, Low Self Esteem, Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self and the defense mechanisms they face which are Avoidance, Denial, and Displacement. In this story these three main characters are going through some sort of emotional problems.

1. Mrs. Johnson (Mama)

Mama’s core issue seems to be low self-esteem. It is shown when she says she does not look at people’s eyes when she talks. Mama says:

Who ever knew a Johnson with a quick tongue? Who can even imagine me looking a strange white man in the eye? It seems to me I have talked to them always with one foot raised in flight, with my head turned in which ever way is farthest from them (p. 315)

From this description we can see that Mama thinks that she is not as worthy as other people, therefore, she will not eye them directly when she talks.

Mama knows that she is dark and heavy. She also tells us that she is uneducated. The school she attended in the second grade closes down.

Another core issue of Mama is fear of abandonment. Mama has the fear that Dee might leave her someday. It is shown when Mama agrees to call Dee by Wangero.

“How do you pronounce this name?” I asked.

“You do not have to call me by it if you do not want to,” said Wangero.

“Why shouldn’t I? I asked. “If that is what you want us to call you, we’ll call you.”

“I know it might sound awkward at first,” said Wangero. “I’ll get used to it,” I said. “Ream it out again” (p. 318) From the conversation between Mama and Dee above, we can see that Mama agrees to call Dee by Wangero and wants to learn how to pronounce it just for the sake of her daughter. She is afraid that Dee might leave her if she does not want to call her by it so she tries to respect Dee’s choice. The fact that Dee hates their old house, and the way Dee treats Mama, makes Mama

thinks that Dee does not like to live with her and Maggie. We can see that Dee and Mama’s relationship are not as close as Mama and Maggie’s. That is why Mama is afraid if Dee might leave her someday just because she cannot give what Dee wants. They know that “no” is a word that people never learned to say to Dee. Another proof that she has the fear of abandonment is when she tries to tell Dee that she cannot have the quilts that she promises to give to Maggie. Mama says, “I did not want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old fashioned, out of style” (p. 320). This tells us that Mama is afraid if she brings it up, Dee will be embarrassed, angry and leaves her. That is why she does not want to talk about it anymore.

Now, let’s take a look at self-defense mechanism that Mama shows to cope with her core issues. Mama shows avoidance as her defense mechanism. It is shown when Mama does not bring up how Dee rejected the quilts that Mama had offered in the past. Mama says, “I did not want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told me they were old-fashioned, out of style” (p. 320). Mama fears that Dee might leave her so she does not want to bring up any situation that might make Dee angry. Mama is also willing to call Dee by her new name, Wangero. She does anything that Dee wants just for the sake of her daughter, because she does not want Dee to leave her and Maggie. This is why she avoids any situation that probably for Dee is unpleasant.

2. Dee

Dee’s core issue is known as Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self. Dee is insecure about how she looks. This can be seen when she arrives home. Mama describes:

A dress so loud it hurts my eyes. There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun. I feel my whole face warming from the heat waves it throws out. Earrings gold, too, and hanging down to her shoulders. Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves her arm up to shake the folds of the dress out of her armpits. The dress is loose and flows, and as she walks closer, I like it. I hear Maggie go "Uhnnnh" again. It is her sister's hair. It stands straight up like the wool on a sheep. It is black as night and around the edges are two long pigtails that rope about like small lizards disappearing behind her ears (p. 317).

Mama’s description above shows that Dee really pays attention to her look. Dee always wants nice things and a better life. She dresses elegantly. She changes her looks, her name, and her persona. Another additional description by Mama is when Dee turns to take her Polaroid in her car, “she turns, showing white heels through her sandals, and goes back to the car” (p. 318). Women who like to dress elegantly do seem to wear high heels just like Dee does. The way she dresses very fancy and “show off” might seems to be irritating at first, but in reality it is just a way to protect herself. She wants to dress well and look good due to her sense of insecurity. She acts like she is better than others towards her mother and sister. Dee lifts herself above her family by going to college and joining a “higher class” of people. And then when she returns, she lets her family know that she is better than them by

rubbing her education in their faces. She forgets that they help her financially through college.

As a part of her insecurity, Dee changes her name. She changes her name into Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo. It is a name that was passed on from generation.

“Well,” I say. “Dee.”

“No, Mama,” she says. “Not „Dee,’ Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo!”

“What happened to „Dee’?” I wanted to know.

“She is dead,” Wangero said. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (p. 318) From the dialogue between Mama and Dee above, we can see that Dee is ashamed of her own name and changed it to Wangero. She is also denying where she came from, a poor family, and her own family.

One more core issue that Dee has is fear of abandonment. It is shown at the end of the story when she asks Mama if she can have the quilts that are supposed to be left for Maggie, but Mama will not let her.

“The truth is,” I said, “I promised to give them quilts to Maggie, for when she marries John Thomas.” She gasped like a bee had stung her.

“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to “Everyday Use”” (p. 320)

In this case, Dee has feeling of abandonment. She probably thought that her mother does not love her as much as her mother loves Maggie since her mother does not let her to have the quilts and prefers to give them to Maggie.

Dee just wants to reaffirm her spot in the family. She just wants to own something that represents her family because she thinks that she deserves to have those quilts.

The last core issue she has is fear of intimacy. This core issue is caused by her fear of abandonment. She shows fear of intimacy as her defense mechanism, but she does it continually. We can see it throughout her life in her emotionally distant relationships with her family and her friends. It is shown through Mama’s description. Mama says, “She wrote me once that no matter where we „choose’ to live, she will manage to come see us. But she will never bring her friends” (p. 317). Here, besides Dee seems ashamed about her own family, this also shows that she actually never really has many friends. Maggie asks to Mama, “Mama, when did Dee ever have any friends?” and Mama says, “She had a few” (p. 317). By Maggie asking to her mother when Dee ever had any friends, it quite explains that Dee never really have friends, even though Mama says she had a few. This is because Dee does not let others to get too close to her emotionally and that is how she protects herself from people hurting her. Because of her lighter skin, achievements, and her differences, Dee is afraid that she will be abandoned by her family and whoever she gets close too. Because she is so different from her family, she is not close to them. We can see her relationship with her mother isn’t as close as Maggie and her mother, the same thing goes to her relationship with Maggie as sisters. She shows this defense mechanism continually so in her case, fear of intimacy is her core issue.

After her core issues are found, now the writer is going to answer the next question, how does she cope with it? The defense mechanism that Dee shows is denial. Dee also could completely avoid remembering where she comes from by keeping her upper-class lifestyle, never visiting her home. By doing that she can make a new image for herself and suppress her family and her past. And this is when Dee shows avoidance as her defense mechanism mechanisms as well. Mama explains, “I did not want to bring up how I had offered Dee (Wangero) a quilt when she went away to college. Then she had told they were old-fashioned, out of style“(p. 320). From those sentences we can see that Dee does not want the quilt when Mama gives it to her. She does not want it because she tries to avoid where she comes from and her family. Dee is also practicing avoidance by claiming that Dee is dead.

“What happened to „Dee’?” I wanted to know.

“She is dead,” Wangero said. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me” (p. 318)

In Dee's situation, her name is the thing that brings up repressed experiences and memories. Those are the fact that she is named after her ancestors, and she felt like they all oppressed her. Therefore, she showed avoidance by changing her name.

Dee also shows displacement. She would say very harsh, mean things to Mama and especially Maggie. It is shown when Dee says that Maggie’s brain is like an elephant’s (p. 319). Dee tries to convince and tell Maggie that she does not like her life but actually it was really Dee who does not like her own

life and tries to deny it and also change it. When she argues with her mother, Dee turns to Maggie to kiss her and says, “You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It is really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live, you’d never know it” (p. 321). From Dee’s dialogue, it shows that she tries to make her sister thinks like her. That is when Dee shows displacement. She knows that it is her mother who caused her negative feelings but she takes it out on Maggie instead of her mother.

3. Maggie

Same as Mama, Maggie’s core issue is low self-esteem. As mama says, “Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes; she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe” (p. 315). Maggie’s body language here shows her feeling of inferiority and she is jealous of her sister. She feels inferiority especially when comparing to her sister. She feels hopeless, ashamed of herself and thinks that her sister has everything good in life which she herself does not have, and that is why she envies Dee.

As Tyson psychoanalysis states Maggie shows low self-esteem”. In comparison to her sister it seems like they come from two different worlds. Her fears, her jealousy takes over at this point of time, which made it extremely easy to grow a low self esteem threw out time. However, the next proof that shows Maggie has a low self esteem can be seen through Mama’s description of the way Maggie walks.

48 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

After reading the whole story and analyzing all of the character’s

characteristics and self-defense mechanisms, it is worth drawing the following

conclusion.

Firstly, Mrs. Johnson (Mama) is characterized as a tough, patient,

honest, wise, firm, and caring woman. She is also a hard worker. She does

man jobs, she does not get mad easily and always think about her daughters

first, always tell the truth, deeply care about her two daughters, but at the same

time she is also firm in certain condition. Overall, Mama is a nice person and

that is why she is the protagonist of the story. Even though she has many

positive sides, she also has emotional problems (core issues) called Low

Self-Esteem and Fear of Abandonment. She thinks she is less worthy and does not

deserve any life’s rewards. She knows she is uneducated, heavy, and dark,

therefore she won’t eye people when she talk to them. But she does not change her looks or appearance. She is afraid that someday her daughter, Dee, might

leave her because of the life she chooses to live. So Mama always gives Dee

whatever Dee wants except the quilts that suppose to be left for Maggie. She

shows avoidance as her defense mechanism. Because of her fear of

abandonment she is willing to do anything that Dee wants at first. Even

though in the end she realizes that she Dee cannot always get what she wants.

uneducated (about heritage) which means that she does not know how to

appreciate and be respectful to her own heritage because she never learned it ,

arrogant, greedy, judgmental, and selfish. From this, we can conclude that she

is not a good person. She is the antagonist of the story. She always talks

harshly towards her mother and sister, always thinks about herself, always

thinks that she is better than her family, always wants everything that is nice

and the most important is she is lack of heritage education. She is so

unappreciative. She changes her appearance and her identity. She is ashamed

of her family too. This causes her to have some psychological disorders or

core issues called Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self, and Fear or

Abandonment that leads to Fear of Intimacy. She is insecure about her looks

so she changes her appearance. But she also fears if she might get abandoned

by her family. This fear of abandonment occurs continuously and it causes

fear of intimacy. She does not want to get close to anyone even her own

family, and that is why her relationship with Mama isn’t as close as Mama’s

relationship with Maggie. Because of these core issues, she faces some

defense mechanisms to cope with those issues. The defense mechanisms that

she faces are Denial, Avoidance, and Displacement.

Thirdly, Maggie is characterized as unattractive, shy, quiet, and

respectful. She is also lack of confidence. But generally, Maggie is a nice

person that makes her the protagonist of the story also. She has burn scars

down her arms and legs that makes her feel inferior, shy, lack of confidence

Her burn scars make her look unattractive and her unattractiveness makes her

feel inferior or less worthy than other human beings. She feels that she does

not deserve anything good in life. Because of this issue, she faces a defense

mechanism called avoidance. She avoids situation or things that might make

her feel anxious. She tries to avoid people because of her low self esteem, just

like when she tries to avoid Dee and Hakim (Dee’s boy friend).

The relationships between the three major characters are different

from each other. For example, the relationship between Mama and Dee, and

between Mama and Maggie. Dee does not have a good and close relationship

to her mother just like Maggie does. The writer believes that the difference

self-defense mechanisms between them is caused by the past they share

especially between the two sisters. We can say that the connection between the

two sisters and their behavior is shared through their previous experience of

house’s fire, that makes Maggie has those burn scars. The fire is what created

both Maggie and Dee’s behavior and how they interact with each other and

Mama. The way they treat each other and how the differences between them

make them complete opposite make them cannot be close sisters. Dee only

thinks about herself and how she can have a better life, but Maggie letting her

low self-esteem takes-over her. Dee and Maggie are blinded by their own core

issues, so that is why they couldn’t act like real sisters. They both use repression to try to subdue the experience. But to cope with those issues, they

show different defense mechanisms. Maggie and Dee are two sisters who have

Mama, Maggie, and Dee come from the same world, but they are

completely in their own way and go through problems that repress their

psychological problems. Human beings always deal with core issues and

defense mechanism in the way we thought it was right. The main characters of

the short story “Everyday Use”, Mama, Maggie, and Dee, have a few core issues from the concepts of psychoanalytic theory by Lois Tyson. This

connection to an experience makes this psychoanalytic theory accurate. People

52

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