A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

  A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES

  IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 034214020

  

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SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

  A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES

  IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 034214020

  

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

  

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  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

  A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES

  IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

  By

SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA

  Student Number: 034214020 Approved by

  Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. January 14, 2011 Advisor Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. January 14, 2011 Co-Advisor

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  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

  

A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES

  

IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

  By

  

SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA

  Student Number: 034214020 Defended before the Board of Examiners on January 14, 2011 and Declared Acceptable

  

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Signature

  Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd., M.A ______________________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. ______________________ Member : Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. ______________________ Member : Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. ______________________ Member : Modesta Luluk Artika Windrasti ,S.S. ______________________

  Yogyakarta, January 31, 2011 Faculty of Letters

  Sanata Dharma University Dean Dr. I. Praptomo Baryadi, M. Hum.

  i am i'm a mistake i don’t know what it'll take i'm a monster i destroy anything i thought greater i'm useless i talk too much and say i'm fearless i'm a fool i think love will always beautiful i'm a negativity i never see life with sensitifity i'm a man i try to run when i can’t stand (felix krisnugraha)

  

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  this undergraduate thesis is dedicated to: the God of the universe Parents family

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Satya Adri Krisnugraha Nomor Mahasiswa : 034214020

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan , saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

  

A STUDY ON MITCH’S PERSONALITY CHANGES

  

IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

  Dengan demikian saya memberikan hak kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikannya secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

  Yogyakarta, 31 Januari 2011 Satya Adri Krisnugraha

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Finally after years I could finish this thesis. First of all, I would like to give my gratitude to The God of the Universe who has always accompanied me, though most of the time I forgot that He exists.

  Second, I would like to thank my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S.,

  

M.Hum. who has guided patiently and helped me during this thesis writing

  process. I would like also to thank my co-advisor, Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. for checking this thesis and giving me her suggestion.

  My deepest gratitude also goes to my beloved parents, Bambang Endro

  

Supriadi and Anna Maria Niken Kristiarti. Thanks for the trust and support

  during my study at Sanata Dharma University. Thanks for the love, prayer, and patience that have been given.

  Thanks to my grandparents, Eyang Putri Endro Sutidjap, Eyang Basuki

  

Kakung, and Eyang Basuki Putri for their prayers, and to my little brother, Man

Bayu, who has grow so fast. Thanks also to the doggies, Peppo, Kecil, and

Mocca who have colored my life and always made me smile. I also dedicate my

  gratitude to Andrew, Flora, Lia, Hana, Rangga, and Yessi for their love and support.

  My very special thanks are for my lovely Radio FeMale office crew, Dian, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

English Letters students. My appreciation also goes to all the staff in English

Letters Department and staff in the library for helping me so much.

  I give my profound thanks to Widhy for the smile and the stories. Thanks also to Alfa for graduating before me.

  Finally, I would like to thank Bianca and Satya for being there so I can finish this paper.

  Satya Adri Krisnugraha

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................................ ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE .......................................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE ...................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE..............................................................................................v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... xi ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................ xii

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................1 A. Background of the Study.....................................................................................1 B. Problem Formulation...........................................................................................4 C. Objectives of the study ........................................................................................4 D. Definition of Terms .............................................................................................4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW..............................................................6 A. Review of Related Studies ..................................................................................6 B. Review of Related Theories ................................................................................8

  1. Theory on Character and Characterization........................................8

  2. Theory on Personality Changes.......................................................10

  3. Theory on Factors that Cause Personality Changes ........................12

  C. Theoretical Framework .....................................................................................15

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................16 A. Object of the Study............................................................................................16 B. Approach of the Study.......................................................................................17 C. Method of the Study ..........................................................................................17 CHAPTER IV ........................................................................................................19 A. The Characterization of Mitch ..........................................................................19

  1. The Characterization of Mitch as a Student ....................................19

  2. The Characterization of Mitch as a Journalist Before His Reunion with Morrie.....................................................22

  3. The Characterization of Mitch as a Journalist After His Reunion with Morrie .......................................................26

  B. Factors that Change Mitch’s Personality...........................................................30

  1. Internal Factors................................................................................31

  a. Strong Motivation ..................................................................31 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion

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  b. Self-concept ...........................................................................33 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie....................................................................33 ii. From a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie ...................................34

  2. External Factors...............................................................................35

  a. Environment...........................................................................36 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie....................................................................36 ii. From a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie ...................................37 b. Significant People ..................................................................39 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie....................................................................39 ii. From a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie ...................................42 c. Social Pressure .......................................................................45 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie....................................................................45 ii. From a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie ...................................47 d. Role........................................................................................47 i. From a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie....................................................................47 ii. From a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie ...................................47

  C. The Characteristics of Personality Changes Experienced by Mitch .................49

  1. The Kinds of Personality Changes Experienced by Mitch from a Student to a Journalist Before His Reunion with Morrie ...............49

  2. Kinds of Personality Changes Experienced by Mitch from Before His Reunion with Morrie to after His Reunion with Morrie ..........58

  CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION..............................................................................64 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................68 APPENDIX ...........................................................................................................70

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ABSTRACT

  SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA (2010). A Study on Mitch’s Personality

  

Changes in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  This study analyzes the factors that influence the personality changes experienced by Mitch Albom in his nonfictional novel, Tuesdays with Morrie. This topic is chosen because Tuesdays with Morrie is an interesting autobiographical novel which tells about the psychological changes experienced by the author.

  This study discusses three problems, namely how Mitch is characterized as a student in university, as a journalist before his reunion with Morrie, and as a journalist after his reunion with Morrie, to find out the factors that develop Mitch’s personality from university until his reunion with Morrie, and to find out the kinds of personality changes experienced by Mitch from university until his reunion with Morrie.

  This study uses Abrams, Forster, Murphy, Rotter, and Hurlock’s theories. This study applies the library research method and uses psychological approach. It is the most appropriate approach because this study examines the psychological aspect experienced by the main character.

  As the result of this study, firstly, Mitch is characterized differently as a student in university, as a journalist before his reunion with Morrie, and after his reunion with Morrie. As a student, he is unconfident, introverted, but has a lot of potential. As a journalist before his reunion with Morrie, he is characterized as self-centered, materialistic, and ambitious. After his reunion with Morrie, he is characterized as an affectionate, benevolent, and laid-back person. Secondly, Mitch’s personality changes are caused by internal and external factors. The internal factors include strong motivation and self-concept. The external factors include environment, significant people, social pressure, and role. The changes in theses factors also bring some changes in Mitch’s personality. Finally, Mitch’s personality changes from a student to a journalist before his reunion with Morrie are partly for the better and partly for the worse, partly qualitative and partly quantitative, partly rapid and partly slow. Meanwhile, his personality changes from a journalist before his reunion with Morrie to after his reunion with Morrie are for the better, qualitative, and mostly slow. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRAK

  SATYA ADRI KRISNUGRAHA (2010). A Study on Mitch’s Personality

  

Changes in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra

Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Studi ini menganalisis faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi perubahan kepribadian yang dialami oleh Mitch Albom dalam novel nonfiksi karyanya, Tuesdays with Morrie. Topik ini dipilih karena Tuesdays with Morrie adalah novel autobiografi yang menarik yang bercerita tentang perubahan psikologis yang dialami oleh penulis.

  Studi ini membahas tiga masalah, yaitu bagaimana Mitch dikarakterkan sebagai mahasiswa di universitas, sebagai wartawan sebelum reuninya dengan Morrie, dan sebagai wartawan setelah reuni dengan Morrie, untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang membuat kepribadian Mitch berkembang dari universitas hingga reuni nya dengan Morrie, dan untuk mengetahui jenis-jenis perubahan kepribadian yang dialami oleh Mitch dari universitas hingga reuninya dengan Morrie.

  Penelitian ini menggunakan teori-teori dari Abrams, Forster, Murphy, Rotter, dan Hurlock's. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode studi kepustakaan dan menggunakan pendekatan psikologis. Ini adalah pendekatan yang paling tepat karena penelitian ini meneliti aspek psikologis yang dialami oleh karakter utama.

  Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah, pertama, Mitch dikarakterkan berbeda sebagai mahasiswa di universitas, sebagai wartawan sebelum reuni dengan Morrie, dan setelah reuni dengan Morrie. Sebagai mahasiswa, dia adalah orang yang tidak percaya diri, introvert, namun memiliki banyak potensi. Sebagai seorang jurnalis sebelum reuninya dengan Morrie, ia dikarakterkan sebagai orang yang egois, materialistis, dan ambisius. Setelah reuninya dengan Morrie, ia dikarakterkan sebagai orang yang penuh kasih sayang, baik hati, dan santai. Kedua, perubahan kepribadian Mitch disebabkan oleh faktor internal dan eksternal. Faktor internal meliputi motivasi yang kuat dan konsep-diri. Faktor eksternal meliputi lingkungan, orang-orang penting, tekanan sosial, dan peran. Perubahan dari factor-faktor ini juga membawa beberapa perubahan dalam kepribadian Mitch. Terakhir, perubahan kepribadian Mitch dari siswa hingga wartawan sebelum reuni dengan Morrie adalah sebagian untuk menjadi lebih baik dan sebagian lagi untuk lebih buruk, sebagian kualitatif dan kuantitatif, sebagian secara cepat dan sebagian lagi lambat. Sementara itu, perubahan kepribadiannya dari wartawan sebelum reuni dengan Morrie adalah perubahan untuk menjadi lebih baik, perubahan secara kualitatif, dan sebagian besar perubahan itu berjalan secara lambat. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Human life and literature cannot be separated because literature usually

  deals with human experience in this life. According to Hudson in his book An

  

Introduction to the Study of Literature (1960: 10), literature is expression of life

  through medium of language. Literature presents some aspects of human life such as historical, social, moral, psychological, and many more. Therefore, literature can be regarded as manifestation of human life. It talks about how human beings work out with their lives; the way how they face and solve their problems; and their thoughts. Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literarture state that:

  Literature is the reflection of human feeling toward his life. It is closely related to human experience through which we can learn the image of human being that is expressed in the written way. It can also be defined as the work of arts that represents human life (1956: 94) By reading literature, we can get a lot of experiences of life, and we can have deeper understanding about something that we have never seen before.

  Moreover, we can learn to understand the variety of human personality through the characters in literary works. As one of the intrinsic elements in literary works, characters also have an important role. Characters can build the readers’ emotion so that the readers will be interested to read the whole story. Characters are described differently, and they also have different problems or conflicts that must

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  As a novel which is based on true events, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a good example of Hudson, Wellek and Warren’s explanation about literature as expression and reflection of life, because the novel is based on the true events experienced by the author. The characters in the novel are also based on persons in real life. There are many important messages in the story that can be applied in the readers everyday life.

  The narrator and main character of this novel is Mitch, the autobiographical character of Mitch Albom, the novel’s author. Another major character, Morrie, is based on the late Morrie Schwartz, Mitch’s professor in college. They first met in the college. Morrie was the sociology professor and Mitch was the student. In his years in the college, Mitch learned many things from Morrie, not only about the subject he studied in the class, but also about life which is given by Morrie outside the class hours by doing discussions with him.

  They lost contact after Mitch graduated from the university. Mitch grew to be a totally different person after he started working as a journalist. He turned into a workaholic person who valued life based on possession and money. Mitch no longer kept any contact with any of his old friends or professors, until one day he saw Morrie on the Nightline on ABC-TV. From this talkshow, he learned that Morrie had an illness of the neurological system called amyotropic lateral sclerosis or ALS, and that he was dying.

  Mitch decided to visit Morrie, his old professor, in West Newton, Massachusetts. Then he started visiting Morrie regularly every Tuesday. In each PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  again and Morrie is his professor. Throughout their discussions, Mitch slowly changes his point of view about life. He also finds back the value of life that has faded away since he began to drown himself in his work. After Morrie’s death of ALS, Mitch writes his experience as the novel Tuesdays with Morrie in order to help pay for Morrie’s medical expense.

  Mitch’s experience shows that someone’s personality will change and develop through times. According to Hurlock, there are many factors which influence personality changes such as our desire to change the personality and the significant people around us. Hurlock also explains that people are not completely satisfied with their personality and they often desire to change (1976: 120).

  Since Tuesdays with Morrie is written based on the real life experience of the author, it is interesting to discuss the personality changes of Mitch as the main character and narrator of the story. There are three important points in Mitch’s life, namely his life in college, after he works, and after he meets Morrie again.

  Between those three points, Mitch undergoes some changes in his personality, which are caused by various factors, both internal and external. This thesis aims to discover how those factors influence Mitch’s personality changes by examining Mitch’s characterization in each of those points, the factors that change his character between those points, and finally the way those factors influence him.

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B. Problem Formulation

  1. How is Mitch characterized in the novel Tuesdays with Morrie?

  2. What are the factors that change Mitch’s personality from college until his reunion with Morrie?

  3. How are the characteristics of personality changes experienced by Mitch from college until his reunion with Morrie?

  C. Objective of the Study

  The aim of this study is to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. The first objective is to examine how Mitch is characterized as a student in university, as a journalist before his reunion with Morrie, and as a journalist after his reunion with Morrie. The second objective is to examine the factors that develop Mitch’s personality from university until his reunion with Morrie. The last objective is to examine the characteristics of personality changes experienced by Mitch from university until his reunion with Morrie.

  D. Definition of Terms

  To avoid any misinterpretation in understanding the title, there will be some explanation on several important terms mainly used and closely related to the topic.

1. Character

  According to Abrams, characters are “persons presented in a dramatic or PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI and emotional qualities that are expresses in their dialogue and actions (1981: 23).

  Characterization is the process of presenting a character in literary work (Murphy, 1972: 161), while to characterize a character means to present the qualities of a character.

  2. Personality

  According to Hurlock, personality is the characteristics and qualities of a person as a whole. In literary work, personality is all the characteristics and qualities that make the imaginary person alive to the readers (1976: 108).

  3. Personality Changes

  According to Hurlock, personality changes are the “alternation or variation” of a person’s personality pattern. The personality pattern can change in some areas and remain persistent in others (1976: 108). The personality changes have several characteristics, variations, and caused by some factors or conditions (1976: 121-122). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Literary works can never be separated from criticism and comments. It shows that criticism and comments have a great role in evaluating literary works. This chapter will provide some related studies on Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie . The first related study which discusses this novel is an undergraduate

  thesis by Alisa Widya Mutiara. In her thesis entitled “Moral Lesson on Death and Love Depicted in Morrie Schwartz in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie”, she examines the novel by focusing on two topics, death and love. She is interested in choosing the title especially because the story is based on true events, and Mitch and Morrie are real persons, and their discussions really happened. She aims to find the moral lessons on those topics based on Mitch and Morrie’s discussions. On the conclusion of her thesis, she states:

  The significance of this biographical novel is there are many moral lessons about how to live wisely that readers can learn from the figure of Morrie. To be more focused, the writer will analyze two matter of life. They are death and love matters (2005: 71).

  The next related study is by Stephanie Bowen, a book explorer on creative writing at UCLA and CNN’s staff, in her May edition of 2008’s article entitled “Tuesdays with Morrie”. According to Bowen, Tuesdays with Morrie is the kind PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  many lessons about life by reading this novel. It can be seen in her following comment:

  Tuesdays with Morrie is more than just a dying man’s last words. It is an

  inspirational recount of a man’s life—a man whose passion for the human spirit has continued to live long after his last breath. (http://edition.cnn.com/books/reviews/9805/06/index.html) The success of this novel is shown from another positive opinion from

  Charles Derber, a Boston College sociology professor. As quoted by Jim Suhr, an Associated Press writer in his articles titled “Sick Professor, Ex-student Talk of Life’s Lessons” in Chronicling Tuesdays with Morrie on February, 1998, Derber says, “The fact that Mitch’s book is so widely read is testimony that he captured something valuable. Morrie would be smiling about this” (http://www.s- t.com/daily/02-98/02-15-98/e07li216.html). Derber wants to say that the author’s findings of life lessons through his experiences with Morrie is one of the strong factor that made Tuesday with Morrie became a successful book.

  By considering the related studies on Tuesdays with Morrie, this thesis will discuss and analyze one point which has not appeared much in the previous studies, namely Mitch’s personality changes. This study contains some aspects which are similar to most studies above; for example, the writer is interested in this novel because it is taken from true story. However, this study contains some aspects which are different to the previous studies, because unlike most previous studies, this thesis does not focus on the relation between Mitch and Morrie or the content of their discussions. Instead, this study focuses on the process of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  This study will examine the novel by analyzing the character of Mitch and the factors that cause his personality changes.

B. Review of Related Studies

1. Theory on Character and Characterization

  M. H. Abrams in his A Glossary of Literature Terms says that character are “persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expresses in what they say—the dialogue—and by what they do—the action” (1981: 23)

  Meanwhile, to understand more deeply about characters, Forster divides characters into flat or static characters and round or dynamic characters. A flat character is static and never changes, and represented by “a single idea or quality”. It means that personality is not described in detail. The character remains stable and unchanged from the beginning to the end of the story. A round character is dynamic and complex in temperament and motivation. A round character is hard to classify because the character is always changing and hard to guess. Round character can change or develop according to certain actions. Also, the character can keep still, change, or develop in the same manner as human being (1974: 73).

  There are many ways to understand a character. Robert Stanton in An

  

Introduction to Fiction discusses some indications to understand the character, the

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  adds that every speech and action is a manifestation of the character (Stanton, 1965: 18).

  While according to Murphy in Understanding Unseens: an Introduction to

  

English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students , there are nine ways

in which an author can present the characterization of character in a literary work.

  Those nine ways are personal description, character as seen by other, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism.

  Through personal descriptions, the author can describe a character by using the appearance and clothes. The readers will get only a visible look of the character, like the parts of the body of the character and the clothes he or she wears (1972: 161).

  Through character as seen by other, the author can describe a character through the view, opinions, attitudes, and comments of other characters. The readers will get a reflected image of the characters the author means (1972: 162).

  Through speech, the author can describe a character by giving readers an insight into the characteristics through the way he or she speaks and the language he or she uses. Here the reader enables to analyze from the sentences the character uses (1972: 164).

  Through past life, the author can describe a clue to events that help to shape characteristics by giving the readers the character’s past life. This is quite helpful to analyze the motives that a character has when he has a particular characteristics or does something special (1972: 166). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  Through conversations of others, the author can also provide a clue about a character through the conversation of other people and what they say about him or her. Readers will learn that what others say about a character may reveal what kind of characters he or she is (1972: 167).

  Through reactions, the author can describe characteristics by showing how a character responds to various situations and events. The reactions may give a clue to what characteristic a character has (1972: 168).

  Through direct comment, the author may give comments and descriptions on the characteristics of the character directly to readers. This becomes the best way for the readers to visualize the characteristics because they know what exactly the author wants to reveal (1972: 170).

  Through thoughts, the author gives readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. There, he or she can tell readers what different people are thinking of. Such things cannot be seen but can be represented through the speech and attitudes. The readers then are in a priviledge position; they have a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a character in a novel (1972: 171).

  Through mannerism, the author can characterize a character through the mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies. Those things may tell the readers something about the character’s characteristics (1972: 172). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

2. Theory on Personality Changes

  According to Hurlock in Personality Development, personality is the characteristics and qualities of a person as a whole. In literary work, personality is all the characteristics and qualities that make the imaginary person alive to the readers (1976: 108).

  Personality changes are the “alternation or variation” of a person’s personality pattern. The personality pattern can change in some areas and remain persistent in others. People might try to change their personality to be a better person because everyone wants to be the best in all aspects, and a nice personality becomes the demand of society. However, in fact, personality change is not always synonymous with “improvement”. Instead, there are several kinds of changes that may happen, because the society has a variety of influences to a personality (1976: 108-119).

  Hurlock divides changes in personality into three categories. Firstly, some changes are for the better and some are for the worse. The personality for better and for worse reflects the kind of life adjustment the individual is making at the time. Successful adjustment improves the self-concept and the person exhibits greater composure, self-confidence, and self-assurance. On the other hand, failure to adjust leads the person to deterioration in self-concept and to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority (1976: 120-122).

  Secondly, some personality changes are quantitative and some are for

  qualitative. In quantitative changes, characteristics already present are reinforced,

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  person is motivated to weaken such traits and conform to socially approved patterns. The stronger of the motivation to win social approval and acceptance strengthen desirable traits. In qualitative changes, an already-present trait, usually an undesirable one is replaced by another trait, usually a desirable one. A person who has already careful of his money, become more or less as he discovers the social reaction to stinginess and generosity. If he is normal, he will probably be somewhat more generous, hoping to win greater social favor. But if he is not normal, he may change into a spendthrift or he may change into an extravagant person or he may fluctuate between extreme generosity and miserliness (1976: 121-122).

  Thirdly, the changes are also classified based on the period of time. There

  are slow changes and rapid changes. Hurlock states that changes are regarded as slow if they are barely perceptible, while rapid changes are readily apparent to all.

  Normally, personality changes are slow and gradual. Every change in personality involves the violation of previous habit and the learning of a new habit to replace it (1976: 122).

3. Theory on Factors that Cause Personality Changes There are some factors that cause personality changes in a person.

  According to Rotter (1975: 25), the factors can be internal or external. Internal means factors within the person, such as his or her level of intelligence or other variables that make the individual responsible for the event. External means factors outside the person, such as the weather or other external circumstances.

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  While according to Hurlock, there are eight categories of conditions responsible for personality changes. The first condition is physical changes.

  Physical changes may come from maturation, decline, illness, injuries or some condition resulting from the person’s life pattern but unrelated to the normal changes in the body structure (1976: 124-125).

  The second condition is changes in environment. Changes either in the physical or in the social environment may produce changes in the person’s self- concept and his characteristics behavior. A change in environment will not guarantee an improvement in personality although the change may have the opposite effect. Moving to a new environment will not automatically improve our personality. It depends on how well we are accepted in the new environment and whether it meets our needs (Hurlock, 1976: 125).

  The third condition is change in significant people. The experiences of each individual are the key point in the personality forming. People learn and imitate. Of course, each person is hoped to imitate the good ones. One thing that should be remembered is that we are responding to the values in different ways, and sometimes those values will not match our hopes. When the significant people in an individual’s life change and when he tries to adapt his pattern of behavior and his attitudes, beliefs, values and aspiration to theirs, changes in his personality pattern cannot be avoid. These changes may not be marked. Nor are they always permanent (Hurlock, 1976: 126).

  The fourth condition is changes in social pressure. As childhood PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  admired while some are disliked. Since everyone normally has a strong desire to be accepted by those who are significant to him, he tries to change any personality trait that will militate against his being accepted. Strong social pressure to conform to a socially approved personality pattern thus encourages change in certain aspects of the personality. Traits which are likely to lead to social rejection, such as shyness, bossiness, aggressiveness and greed are more subject to change that those, which are usually admired, such as affection, ambition, cooperativeness and generosity (Hurlock, 1976: 126-127).

  The fifth condition is changes in role. Role changes caused the status changes within the group. One’s role may change because of change in age. A child changes from being a dependent to being an economically independent person when is old enough to become a wage earner. The changes role will have a favorable or unfavorable effect depends how well it fits to the person’s needs and whether it has greater prestige in the eyes of the social group than the old role (Hurlock, 1976: 127).

  The sixth condition is strong motivation. When the motivation to improve the personality pattern is strong enough, changes can be affected. Ordinarily people are strongly motivated to change those traits, which they believe will improve their social relationship and earn them greater social acceptance (Hurlock, 1976: 127).

  The seventh condition is changes in self-concept. A change in the self- concept may cause the change in the entire personality pattern. This change PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  concept requires tremendous self-insight. This means that a person must be able to see himself as he actually is, not as he would like to be as others perceive him (Hurlock, 1976: 128).

  The eighth condition is the use of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy helps a person to gain a better insight into the reasons for his unrealistically favorable or unfavorable self-concept, to realize how his self-concept affects the quality of behavior, to achieve both the motivation and know how to change his self- concept, to secure the guidance necessary to make his change, without upsetting the entire personality pattern and to change the condition in the environment which contribute to an unfavorable self-concept (Hurlock, 1976: 129).

C. Theoretical Framework

  This section explains about how the theories presented in this chapter are used to analyze Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. The theories will be used to answer the questions in the problem formulation. Abrams, Forster, and Murphy’s theories on character and characterization will be used to answer the first problem formulation. Hurlock’s theory on factors that cause personality changes and Rotter’s theory of internal and external factors are used to answer the second problem formulation. Lastly, Hurlock’s theory on characteristics of personality changes is used to answer the third problem formulation. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of the study is a bestselling nonfiction book by American writer Mitch Albom, published by Doubleday in 1997 entitled Tuesdays with Morrie. It

  consists of 192 pages and is divided into 27 chapters. This novel has won many awards and achieved great popularity among readers around the world. It was rewarded as The New York Times best-seller list for two years running with five million copies in print. The book has already been translated also into 30 languages in 34 countries. The story was later adapted by Thomas Rickman into a television movie directed by Mick Jackson, aired on 5 December 1999.

  Tuesdays with Morrie describes the true story of the author’s experience

  with his former professor, Morrie Schwartz, before Morrie died because of ASL (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). In this novel, Mitch Albom as the author describes his relationship and discussions with Morrie during the time before Morrie’s death. Therefore, Tuesday with Morrie is the last record from Morrie and Albom’s discussion about life as the greatest lesson.

  Mitch Albom is an author and journalist. After graduating from college, he worked as a sports journalist, then became a nationally-acclaimed sports journalist at the Detroit Free Press. He also works as a radio host and sports reporter on

  

ESPN Sports Reporters and SportsCenter. Besides Tuesdays with Morrie, Albom

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven . His books have collectively sold over 26

  million copies worldwide, have been published in forty-two languages around the world, and have been adapted into successful television movies.

B. Approach of the Study

  There are various applicable approaches to analyze a work of art. These approaches can be categorized according to the theorists who propose them. To analyze this novel, the writer will apply psychological approach in analyzing the main character’s personality development that is influenced by significant people.

  Atkinson, et al in Introduction to Psychology defines psychology as the science that studies human’s behavior and mental process (1983: 636). Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in Theory of Literature also explains that works of literature can be analyzed psychologically, using the term “psychology of literature” as shown in the quotation below.

  By ‘psychology of literature’, we may mean the psychological study of the writer, as type and as individual, or the study of the creative process, or the study of the psychological types and laws present within works of literature (1956: 81).

  Meanwhile, Guerin, et al in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to

  

Literature describe the psychological approach as one of the critical approaches to

  literature which employs “psychological interpretation” to interpret literature (2005: 152-153). According to them, “the psychological approach is an excellent tool for reading beneath the lines” (2005: 153). The psychological approach is the

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  aspect that is experienced by the main character. The psychological approach will help to interpret the psychological aspect of the main character in the novel.

C. Method of the Study

  Library and internet research is used in this thesis. Two kinds of sources are used, the primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel

  

Tuesdays with Morrie itself. The secondary sources are books and articles on

  theories from the library or internet to be used in the analysis, such as Elizabeth Hurlock’s Pesonality Development, M. J. Murphy’s Understanding Unseens: an