The contributions of conflicts towards holly Kennedy`s maturity in Cecelia Ahern`s P.S. I Love You - USD Repository

  

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONFLICTS

TOWARDS HOLLY KENNEDY’S MATURITY

  

IN CECELIA AHERN’S P.S I LOVE YOU

FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES

  Student number : 074214056

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

  

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONFLICTS

TOWARDS HOLLY KENNEDY’S MATURITY

  

IN CECELIA AHERN’S P.S I LOVE YOU

FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES

  Student number : 074214056

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

  i A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

  THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONFLICTS TOWARDS HOLLY KENNEDY’S MATURITY

  IN CECELIA AHERN’S P.S I LOVE YOU

  By

FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES

  Student Number : 074214056 Approved by

  Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. June 10, 2011 Advisor Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum. June 10, 2011 Co-Advisor ii iii A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

  

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONFLICTS

TOWARDS HOLLY KENNEDY’S MATURITY

  

IN CECELIA AHERN’S P.S I LOVE YOU

  By

FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES

  Student Number : 074214056

  

 

  Defended before the Board of Examiners on June 26, 2011 and Declared Acceptable

  

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name

  Chairman : Dr., Fr. Borgias Alip, M.pd., M.A. Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. Member 1. : Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari, S.S., M.ed. Member 2. : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. Member : Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum.

  Yogyakarta, June 30, 2011 Faculty of Letters

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswi Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES Nomor Mahasiswa : 074214056

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

  THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF CONFLICTS TOWARDS HOLLY KENNEDY”S MATURITY IN CECELIA AHERN’S P.S I LOVE YOU

  Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya ataupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogayakarta Pada tanggal ……..2011 Yang menyatakan (Florentina Yuliana Rafles) iv

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My first gratitude goes to God for blessing me in my whole life and guiding me to write and to complete my undergraduate thesis.

  I would like to express my best gratitude to my advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. I thank him for providing the time to guide me and to share his knowledge with me. I also thank him for his patience during the process of writing this undergraduate thesis.

  I would also like to express my gratitude to Mr. Harris Hermansyah Setiajid, SS, M.Hum for giving me such helpful advices and suggestions in writing this undergraduate thesis.

  My best gratitude goes to my beloved parents. I thank them for giving me supports, love and places to be who I am. My special gratitude goes to my two beloved sisters for the love, happiness, sadness, and anger we have shared together. I love you all.

  My special thanks go to the “tengikers”, Maria, Mustika, Karina, Tata, Cicil, and Grace. I thank them for being supportive friends for these 4 years. I will always love you girls. I also thank my friend Andre Perdana who always supports me in distance, and spends his time to help me find sources to my undergraduate thesis.

  Florentina Y. Rafles

  v

  vi

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………………………i APPROVAL PAGE……………………………………………………………………..ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………………………iii ACKNOLEDGMENTS……………………..…………………………………………..v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………….vi ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..vii ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………………………….viii

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1 A. Background of the Study………………………………………………………....1 B. Problem Formulations……………………………………………………………..4 C. Objectives of the Study…………………………………………………………...5 D. Definition of Term………………………………………………………………...5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…………………………………………...6 A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………………………..6 B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………………………….8

  1. Theory of Characterization…………………………………………………….8

  2. Theory of Conflicts……………………………………………………………11

  3. Theory of Maturity…………………………………………………………….13

  C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………16

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………………...………………………..17 A. Object of the Study…………………………………………………………...…...17 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………………...……..18 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………………...…….19 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………...……………..21 A. Holly Kennedy’s Characteristics………………………………………………......21 B. The Conflicts Experienced by Holly Kennedy………………………………....…25 C. The Contributions of Conflicts toward Holly Kennedy’s Maturity………...….…31 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………...43 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………...………………..45 APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………..…..46  

  ABSTRACT

  FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES. The Contributions of Conflicts towards Holly

  Kennedy’s Maturity in Cecelia Ahern’s P.S I Love You. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.

  P.S I Love you is the first novel written by Cecelia Ahern. It was a best seller

  novel in its first publication. This novel is a story of a woman named Holly Kennedy who lost her husband because of brain tumor. Holly has to deal with a lot of conflicts in her life since her husband died. She feels frustrated at first but then she is able to learn from her conflicts and take them as the experiences in life. She can show the changes after she deals with her conflicts. She has new perception of life and proper ways in handling and maintaining some aspects of life such as love, emotion, and reality. She now sees love as something to share, uses her emotion as a positive energy and seek solution rather than blaming people to handle her emotion. She is now able to perceive reality wisely. It shows that she is able to reach the maturity.

  The writer formulates three problem formulations in this research: (1) The characteristics of Holly Kennedy. (2) The conflicts experienced by Holly Kennedy. (3) The contributions of conflicts towards Holly Kennedy’s maturity. The writer uses the library research to conduct this study. The writer collets all the data from printed and on- line sources. Psychological approach is applied to analyze the novel. The writer applies theory of maturity in analyzing the maturity of the main character, Holly Kennedy.

  The writer finds out that Holly Kennedy is an irresponsible, selfish, and ignorant woman. Most of those characteristics are seen at her thought, her attitude, her speech, and her reaction. Some conflicts experienced by Holly are the conflicts within herself. Those conflicts are important in helping her gain maturity. Holly’s conflicts slowly change her way of perceiving life and they make her see love as something to share. She uses her emotion as a positive energy and seeks solution rather than blaming people to handle her emotion. Those evidences show that Holly Kennedy has reached her maturity. vii

  ABSTRAK

  FLORENTINA YULIANA RAFLES. The Contributions of Conflicts towards Holly

  Kennedy’s Maturity in Cecelia Ahern’s P.S I Love You. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.

  P.S I Love You adalah novel pertama karangan Cecelia Ahern. Novel ini merupakan novel yang sangat disukai sejak pertama kali diterbitkan. Novel ini bercerita tentang seorang wanita bernama Holly Kennedy yang kehilangan suaminya akibat tumor otak. Holly harus menghadapi banyak konflik di hidupnya sejak suaminya meninggal. Dia merasa frustasi pada awalnya, namun kemudian dia dapat mengambil pelajaran dari konflik-konflik itu dan menjadikan konflik-konflik itu sebagai pengalaman hidup. Dia dapat menunjukkan perubahan setelah dia berhasil mengatasi konflik-konflik tersebut. Dia punya pandangan baru tentang hidup dan berhasil mengatasi dan menjaga beberapa aspek dalam kehidupan seperti cinta, emosi, dan kenyataan. Dia kini melihat cinta sebagai sesuatu yang harus di bagi. Dia menggunakan emosinya sebagai energy yang positif dan mencari solusi untuk menyelesaikannya daripada mencari kambing hitam. Dia juga bisa menerima kenyataan hidupnya dengan lebih baik. Hal tersebut menunjukkan bahwa Holly berhasil mencapai kedewasaan.

  Penulis memformulasikan tiga pokok permasalahan dalam studi ini; (1) Karakteristik-karakteristik yang dimiliki Holly Kennedy (2) Konflik-konflik yang dihadapi Holly Kennedy (3) Peranan konflik-konflik tersebut dalam kedewasaan Holly Kennedy. Penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk menyusun studi ini. Penulis mengumpulkan data dari sumber media cetak dan media on-line. Pendekatan psikologi adalah pendekatan yang digunakan penulis dalam menyusun studi ini. Penulis juga mengaplikasikan teori tentang kedewasaan dalam menganalisis kedewasaan tokoh utama, yaitu Holly Kennedy.

  Penulis menemukan bahwa Holly Kennedy adalah wanita yang tidak bertanggung jawab, egois, dan tidak suka ambil peduli. Banyak dari karekteristik yang dimiliki Holly ditemukan dari cara pikirnya, perlakuannya, cara dia bicara, dan reaksinya. Beberapa konflik yang dihadapi Holly adalah konflik dengan dirinya sendiri. Konflik-konflik tersebut sangat penting dalam mencapai kedewasaan. Konflik-konflik yang dihadapi Holly perlahan-lahan mengubah caranya merasakan dan menerima kehidupan dan membuatnya bereaksi secara tepat terhadap aspek-aspek kehidupan seperti cinta, kenyataan, dan emosi. Bukti-bukti tersebut menunjukkan bahwa Holly Kennedy telah mencapai kedewasaan. viii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study People in this world are born differently one from another. They have their own characteristic and personality. Certainly, there will exist a lot of conflicts among them. This of course could bring them to at least two possibilities. They will live in a miserable situation and be static persons or they will live in a better life and become better persons. Most people may think when they have conflicts their life will be miserable. That

  kind of thought must be deleted from the mind. As it is known, people change and the changes can be better or worse. The changing itself is the result of the conflicts being faced. Some people may get depressed by the conflicts that they have. This research aims to reveal how conflicts may contribute in people’s life.

  The topic discussed in this research is maturity that is caused by conflicts. It will be seen in the novel P.S I Love You written by Cecelia Ahern. In this research, the maturity will be observed by looking at the conflicts faced by the main character and the characteristics of the main character herself. The writer chooses the maturity as the topic of this study because the maturity contributed by the conflicts in the novel P.S I Love You is the strongest element in the story. The idea is that people’s maturity can be influenced by the conflicts they faced.

  1 The conflict is being chosen to observe the maturity because most people do not realize that conflicts in their lives can make them become mature. Their maturity is being tested and the writer wants to show that conflicts do not always have to be faced pathetically, but people have to face the conflicts as one way to the better life and character. When they are dealing with conflicts, they will experience something and they can take a lesson from this experience, for example a lesson to be more mature. In other words it can be said that people can learn to be mature by experiencing conflicts in their life.

  In this research, the writer wants to show that conflicts really can influence people’s life in every kind of aspect. The maturity process is one of the aspects that will be analyzed further by the writer. That people’s maturity can be influenced by the conflicts. They can be more mature than before just by facing their conflicts. Sometimes, maturity is used to indicate people’s response to one circumstance or environment in appropriate manner. This research is very worth studying because it hopefully will make people realize that they should not be stressed by the conflicts they face. Besides they can have a good response towards a circumstance and environment in a good and proper manner, such as handling their emotion rather than blaming other people.

  The work of literature used as the object of the research is P.S I Love You written

  th by Cecelia Ahern. Cecelia Ahern was born on September 30 , 1981 in Dublin, Ireland.

  At the age of 21 she wrote this novel P.S I Love You. It was her debut novel published in 2004. This novel is best seller in Ireland and The U.K. That’s why this work of literature is chosen as the object of the research by the writer. Besides, the conflict in the story is very strong. The conflicts that the main character faces can reflect the conflicts that people usually face as well. The main character is depressed by her conflicts at first, but then the conflicts she faced make her becomes mature.

  The writer finds it interesting to study this novel because the conflicts in this novel are very worth learning, for example the conflict that Holly faced is when she lost her husband because of brain tumor. She has to face the truth that she no longer lives with her husband. Holly Kennedy is an Irish woman who married to Gerry who later has a brain tumor. Her life with Gerry is not a perfect life of husband and wife. They don’t have any child and it often makes them feel bad, especially Holly. They often argue during their marriage. After Gerry died of tumor, Holly’s life becomes miserable and imperfect with no child and no husband. Gerry’s love to Holly was very strong. Gerry had written several letters before he died and later on he asked Holly’s mother to give them to her. By learning from her conflicts, and with some helps from the friends and family, Holly slowly becomes a different woman and a better woman. She grows up and becomes a mature woman.

  This work of literature is a good object to be analyzed because it contains every aspect of human life. What Holly has gone through can happen in real life and environment. It brings a lot of good lessons for people. Such things as marriage life, lost, grief, sadness, happiness, and friendship are all covered in this novel. The marriage of Holly and Gerry does not work very well, yet they still can keep up their love even until Gerry has passed away. The grief that Holly feels since that moment on makes her devastated at first but she manages to learn something from it.

  Such things, told in the story written by Cecelia Ahern are very worth reading and learning. It makes the writer interested in selecting this novel as the object for the research. It is quite suitable with the topic of the research because later on Holly will prove that by facing conflicts people are one step ahead to the maturity. This novel also makes people realize that to live this life without regretting every single thing that has happened is very important. People will learn to live a better life by facing and taking lessons from their conflicts as the experience in their life.

  In this study, the writer will focus on the conflicts of the story, that people could become better persons by learning from the conflicts of their own as the experience in their life. The writer will look at the contribution of the conflicts in changing one’s characteristic.

B. Problem Formulations

  Problem formulation is necessarily needed to analyze a work of literature. It contains questions that are related to the work of literature itself. Here are the problem formulations for this research.

  1. What are the characteristics of Holly Kennedy?

  2. What are the conflicts experienced by Holly Kennedy?

  3. How do the conflicts contribute to Holly Kennedy’s maturity? C.

   Objectives of the Study

  Considering the problem formulation above, there are three objectives in this research. The first objective is to analyze the characteristics of Holly Kennedy as the main character. The second is to explore the conflicts that Holly Kennedy faced during her life in the story which then lead her to the new Holly Kennedy that is mature. The third objective is to observe how the conflicts that Holly Kennedy faced in her life contribute to her maturity.

D. Definition of Terms

  The writer needs to define some terms in order to make a better understanding and not to confuse the reader.

  Contribution

  Referring to the Oxford Advanced Learner dictionary, contribution means an action or a service that helps to cause or increase something. (2005: 333)

  Conflict

  According to Perrine, conflict is a struggle within a person, or a struggle which involves a character and other things outside the character (1966: 54-59).

  Maturity

  R. Guys Lefrancois in his book Psychological Theories and Human Learning states that “Maturity is related to development which include growth and learning as a relatively permanent change in the behavior of individual resulting from experience"(1982: 107).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies In this part, the writer reviews some related studies that have been done by other

  researchers. This is important to see whether this research is a developing research, or a new one. In this part, the writer reviews the study done by Rudiyastuti in 2004 entitled

  The Influence of the Family and Environment toward Annemarie’s Maturity in Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. Besides the study of Rudyastuti, the writer also reviews the

  previous study written by Bahdin in 2005 entitled The Contribution of Symbols to the

  Revelation of Griet’s Maturity in Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Both of them are the studies of the undergraduate thesis from the students of Sanata Dharma University.

  Rudyastuti observes the character’s maturity through the influence of the family and environment in the story. In her study, Rudyastuti shows that someone’s maturity can be influenced by the existence of the family. The way the family treats a person will give impact to the development of that person, including the maturity. She also shows that someone’s maturity can be determined by the place where the person lives and grows up. The environment helps a person shapes maturity.

  Based on the analysis, the writer finds that there are two influences which lead to Anemarie’s maturity. The first influence comes from the family and the second one comes from the environment. The atmosphere in johansens is so nice. They are careful and care each other.....

  6 The second influence comes from the environment, where the war takes place which is dangerous especially for the Jews (2004: 58).

  Bahdin analyzes the maturity by looking at the contribution of the symbols within the story. One symbol can help to determine someone’s maturity. She analyses the story from the inside of the story itself, she does not see other element outside the story to analyze someone’s maturity in her study. Instead of using the psychological approach she used the formalistic approach point of view to analyze the character’s maturity.

  In Griet’s process of life to be a mature woman, Chevalier uses many symbols to make it easier for the reader to understand her character development. The using of symbol is a revelation of her process to be a mature woman that helps the reader to interpret what exactly the kind of life that Griet experienced which is devided intoi two parts, the contribution of symbols as a reflection of Griet as a young woman and as a mature woman (2005: 58).

  Those two studies of Bahdin and Rudyastuti have similar topics with this study that is maturity. The study done by Rudiyastuti is emphasizing the significance of the family and environment. The one done by Bahdin is particularly emphasizing on the use of symbol to analyze the maturity. Here, in this study, the writer puts a particular attention on the significance of the conflicts towards people’s maturity. The writer will show that people’s maturity can also be shapped by the conflict that they face. By facing conflicts that happens in people’s life, they can also learn to be mature and even more mature than ever before. The writer, in this study wants to emphasize that conflicts give contributions in shaping someone’s maturity. If Bahdin used the formalistic approach, here in this study the psychological approach is used.

  Besides those two studies, the writer also reviews a study of P.S I Love You which was done by Donovan. She wrote an article entitled “Advice for A Young Widow”. She analyzes this book from the side of humor behind the grief and the sadness that faced by the main character caused by death of the husband. She focuses her study on the fact that being a widow is not always as miserable as it seems. “Ahern weaves just the right amount of humor into her tale of Holly's struggle with grief and its aftermath, resulting in a highly engaging addition” (Donovan, 2007).

  While Donovan puts her attention on the humor side from the book, the writer tries to see and to observe the psychological side of the story. Meaning to say that the writer thinks this book consist of more message and value rather than humor.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  Abrams, in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms defines what character is. He states : Characters are the 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 expressed in what they say-the dialogue and what they do – the action (1993:24).

  As Abrams states in his book, it can be seen that the character is an important element in building a story as well as conflict. From the definition above it can be seen that character involves emotional qualities, dialogue, acts etc. This is used by the author to establish and to make the readers understand the story.

  An author has some ways to describe the character he wrote. It is called characterization. It is aimed to make the reader understand what kind of person the character is in the story. Murphy in his book, Understanding Unseen (1972: 161-173) gives some ways the author usually uses in describing the characters he wrote. They are:

• Personal description.

  The author can show the readers the character he wrote by giving the readers personal description. The author will give us the details about the appearance of the character. The face, the skin, the way the character wearing clothes, all the details on the outlook. It will give the readers the picture of the characters in the story they read.

• Character as seen by another.

  The author shows the character he wrote to the reader through the choice of words and or thought that said by another character in the story. One character can be interpreted as having certain characteristic by seeing another character’s thought and words.

• Speech.

  The author can show directly the character he wrote to the reader by the way the character speaks. The reader can see what kind of person the character is by looking at the way the character speaks to the others. It can be seen in the conversation in the story. If the character in the story speaks slowly and politely, the readers can say that this character is a polite and nice person.

• Past life.

  The readers will know what kind of person the character in the story they read by knowing character’s past life. The author can mention it in the conversation or in the narration. It will help the readers examine the character in the story they read better.

• Conversation of others.

  The author can give the readers clues about what kind of person the character he wrote from the conversation had by other characters. The reader will get it easier through what other characters say about one character.

• Reactions.

  The author can show the readers what kind of person the character he wrote by giving the readers the way the character react to the situation. It will make the readers understand more about the character in the story.

• Direct comment.

  The author can simply state what kind of person the character he wrote to the readers. The author will give comment directly to show the readers what kind of person the character is.

• Thoughts.

  The readers can get knowledge about the character by knowing what is in the character’s mind. The author will mention the thoughts of the character and it will help the reader to see and examine the character.

• Mannerism.

  The author shows the readers about the character by telling the habits character has. The manner that the character has can also shows the readers about whet kind of person the character is.

2. Theory of Conflict

  Since the object of the research is a literary work and the approach used is the psychological approach, the writer will explain the conflict seen from literary and

psychological sides. In order to make it clear, the writer will explain it one by one.

  From the psychological side, conflict is defined as an opposition between two things. The opposition appears from the differences of the two. Conflict exists at least in two characters with two different thoughts or arguments.

  The term of conflict is the result of an opposition between at least two sides. Just it takes two to make an argument, it takes two opposing people or forces to produce conflict. Without this opposition there is no conflict and without a conflict there is no plot (Potter, 1967:25).

  From the literary side, conflict can be defined as the struggle. It can be a struggle within a person, or a struggle of a person against herself. The individual is facing a kind of complicated situation in which she should choose the best alternative according to her consideration. It is usually called Internal Conflict (Perrine, 1966: 54). Conflicts may also happen between a person against someone or something outside. It is usually called External Conflict. External conflict is struggle which involves a character and other things outside the character herself. There are three kinds of external conflict. First is a struggle against nature, the second is a struggle against another person. The third is a struggle against society (Perrine, 1966: 59).

  It can be seen that conflicts are important part in building the story. Without the conflicts a story can never be called a story. Because the story is conflict itself, without conflicts a story will never exist. Basically, conflicts do not only involve quarrel or fight but also involve a feeling of ideas or kind of desire.

  Most of people tend to avoid conflicts. It happens because conflicts are discomfort feeling. But if people finally come to this, the reaction is the way to make it seems to fade. The way people react to the conflicts can also show their maturity. The way people control themselves to the situation of their life shows that they are mature or not.

  Being non-reactive means ignoring our physical reaction until we have adequately assessed what is really going on around us. Even though our bodies are figuratively screaming at us to flee, freeze, or fight, with a commitment to non-reactivity we can evaluate and choose an appropriate response. As we learn this lesson, we move from lashing out or striking back, physically or verbally, to patience, perseverance, and tolerance. Again, we grow into maturity (Noll, 2003).

  As the excerpt states, it is true that even psychically people want to run away from their discomforting feeling or situation, they have to have commitment in facing it wisely to be mature.

  From the explanation mentioned previously, it can be seen the conflicts are basically struggles. Whether a struggle within a person or outside the person. It takes two opposing sides to create conflict. And to make a good story, conflicts are needed to be built. As it is mentioned, a person might have external conflicts or internal conflicts.

  Sometimes a person even might have external and internal conflicts all in one. And then it can be one way to be mature, because conflicts are important factors in shaping people to be mature.

3. Theory of Maturity

  According to Dockery in his book Psychology, maturity refers to changes in behavior that are the result of the growth of the organism ( 1950:5109). In other words, maturity can be said as the changes within people as they grow. People can be categorized as mature when they fulfill their physical as well as psychological development. It means that they have to develop in appearance and also have to develop in behavior. Maturity does not depend on people’s age. Adults can not always be classified as mature persons when they only grow their physical development.

  To develop their maturity, people can learn from their experience in life. They not only learn from experiences, but also from the conflicts they have. Maturity deals with the ability to give response in an appropriate way to the situation. It means that maturity concerns with the way people react to the situation or even their emotion.

  Immature people have the different reactions from mature people’s reactions. They may have the same emotional feeling such us love, but they will not have the same

  respond to this. According to Martyn Carruthers (1966), immature people perhaps consider love as a need, but mature people maybe consider it as something to be shared.

  They also may have a different reaction in dealing with reality. Find people to be blame maybe the reaction of immature people when they are facing the reality, while mature people may find solutions and find the best solution to face the reality.

  To make it more understandable, the writer provides the different reactions of

immature and mature people dealing with their life as it told by Carruthers (1996).

  Immature Mature Love Love is need. Demand

  affection and love but avoid any sign of "weakness" and have difficulty showing and accepting love.

  Love is sharing. Foster a sense of security which allows vulnerability and sharing. Can express love and accept expressions of love.

  Emotion Cannot handle frustration

  or criticism; jealous, unwilling to forgive, fluctuating moods. Temper tantrums. Fears change.

  Use emotions as energy sources. When they feel frustrated, they seek solutions

  Reality Avoid and deny bills and

  relationship problems which demand integrity. Seek people to blame.

  Confront and analyze problems promptly. Seek solutions and choose the best.

  Give & May be willing to give, Give money, time, or

  Take but not take; or willing to take, but not give. effort to enhance the quality of life of loved people. Allow others to give to them.

  Feedback Do not learn from experience. Good or bad experiences are caused by luck, or fate. Little personal responsibility.

  Life is a learning experience. They accept responsibility and learn from feedback. Look for opportunities. Move on.

  Stress Avoid reality, pessimistic, angry, attacks people when frustrated. Often anxious.

  Relaxed and confident in their ability to get what they want.

  Relating Dependent, easily influenced, indecisive, or snap judgments. Are not responsible for own actions or deficiencies.

  Hyper-sensitive to criticism but insensitive to others' feelings.

  Independent or a team- worker as required; cooperative. Can experience true empathy, required for successful relationships.

C. Theoretical Framework

  The significance of the theories used by the writer will be explained in this section. The writer used theory of character and characterization, theory of conflict, and theory of maturity in this study. Theory of character and characterization is used to analyze the characteristics of the main character before and after she deals with her conflicts. Theory of conflicts is used to observe what kind of conflict the main character faces and the contribution of the conflict itself. Theory of maturity is used to picture the psychological growth as well as the physical growth of the main character.

                             

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The work of literature used as the object of the research is P.S I Love You written

  by Cecelia Ahern. Cecelia Ahern was born on September 30, 1981 in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of 21 she wrote this novel P.S I Love You. It was her debut novel published in 2004. This novel is best seller in Ireland and in the U.K. That is why this work of literature is chosen as the object of the research by the writer. Besides, this work of literature is chosen because the conflicts in the story are very strong. The conflicts that the main character faces can reflect the conflicts that people usually face as well. That the main character is depressed by her conflicts at first, but then she realizes that the things make her become mature are the conflicts she has. Cecelia Ahern could live the main character she creates well.

  The story of the book is about Holly Kennedy, a 30 year-old Irish woman who has to live the rest of her life without her husband, Gerry, who is dead of brain tumor.

  Holly has to face the reality that her husband is no longer with her. During her miserable situation, she becomes very selfish, self-centered, ignorant woman. The conflicts in her life slowly show up and make her depressed. But then, she realizes that every single thing happens in her life is the way it goes. She learns that she should not consider the

  17 conflict in her life as a misery. With some helps from her friends and family, she manages to live her new life without Gerry and faces her life in a new way of thinking.

B. Approach of the Study

  Psychology is the basic to understand the world in which everybody lives in. It will give more knowledge of the power that makes people act the way they do.

  Psychology studies human behavior. Everything people do has its own psychological significance (Wellington, 1940:3-4). It includes the way people respond to the environment, the capability to express emotion. Psychology helps to gain better understanding of human behavior and practical application to enrich the knowledge of life. It will cover everything people think, feel and do.

  The writer uses the psychological approach to analyze this work of literature. The approach is used because the writer wants to analyze the psychological side of the main character. The maturity is the topic that will be discussed here. To explore the maturity the writer will observe the conflicts in the story and also the characteristic of the main character, which are the areas of psychological study. According to Rohrberger and Woods, psychological approach is an approach to literature which involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent pattern, and which refers to a different body of knowledge, that is psychology. It is applied when the attention is focused on psychology is a study of man’s life together with his mind and behavior (1971:13-15).

  From the excerpt, it can be seen that the psychological approach is the most appropriate approach to this research. This approach is suitable with the research done by the writer. This research analyses the psychological side of the main character, Holly Kennedy together with her mind, behavior, and her surrounding.

  It can be said that psychology is an appropriate approach to analyze someone’s mind and behavior. In literary side, it will help to understand the character’s mind, behavior, way of thinking and relation with and other people.

  C. Method of the Study The writer uses library research to analyze Cecelia Ahern’s P.S I Love You. It means that the writer studies documents related to the topic of this thesis. The writer uses

  P.S I Love You written by Cecelia Ahern as the primary source, and for the secondary sources the writer uses books on literature and psychology.

  The first secondary source the writer uses is the book entitled Understanding

  Unseens, written by Murphy. This book is used to help the writer finds the characteristics

  of the main character, Holly Kennedy, by looking at the way the author describe the character or it often called characterization.

  The next secondary source the writer uses is the book Literature: Structure,

  Sound and Sense written by Laurence Perrine. The writer uses this book because this book helps to analyze the conflict face by the main character.

  Psychology written by Dockery becomes the next secondary source. The writer

  uses this book because this book helps the writer to explain the maturity of the main character. Reading and Writing about Literature written by Rohrberger and Wood is helpful for the writer because this book is a psychological book and the approach of this research is psychological approach. Other secondary sources can be seen in the bibliography.

  To conduct this research, the writer followed some steps. Firstly the writer was reading the object of her analysis; P.S I Love You. This is aimed to make the writer understand the story. The second step was looking for some sources and references to help her conduct the research. After all the sources needed were gathered, the third step was to formulate the problems for her research. The fourth step was answering the problems based on the sources. The last step was drawing the conclusion.

                           

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS A. Holly’s Characteristics According to Abrams (1993:24), character is a person presented in the story that has moral, disposition, and emotional quality expressed in the dialogue and the action. This is supported by Murphy (1972: 161-173) who states that the character can be

  presented in the dialogue and the action. He states nine ways the character is presented in the story. The main character in the story is Holly Kennedy, a thirty year old woman who struggles to live her life after the death of her husband. It is not easy for her to live her life after the devastating moment, but she manages to take a lesson for the conflict she has and she grows up to be a mature woman. Here are her characteristics: 1.

   Irresponsible

  After Gerry died, Holly has no intention in finding a job because she thinks she is unable to find one without Gerry beside her. She is just wondering around everyday. She keeps on thinking about Gerry while actually she should take care for herself and push herself to move on.

  ‘Any luck with a job yet? Her mother’s voice was casual but Holly knew she was dying to find out. ‘No, not yet mum. To be honest, I haven’t started looking, I don’t quite know what I want to do’ (Ahern, 2004:29).

  21 The quotation is taken from her conversation with her mother. Holly is physically adult, she is thirty years old. The quotation shows that Holly Kennedy is not responsible. It shows that Holly Kennedy does not have any intention to get a job and to be responsible for her self. Holly has been unemployed for about three months since Gerry died. It should have been the time for her to move on and be responsible for her own life. She does not respond to her situation quickly and sensibly. That is way it can be said that Holly is irresponsible by letting herself down and jobless while actually she needed to find a job and take care of her own income.

  Irresponsible means she is not thinking enough about the effects of what she do (Hornby,2005: 823).

  Holly’s irresponsibility is also shown in the way she treats herself and her house after her husband died. Holly no longer cares for her self and her life. It is shown when Sharon visits her one day and finds Holly in a very bad condition.

  ‘God, it’s so stuffy in here. When’s the last time you opened a window?’ Sharon marched around the house, opening windows and picking up empty cups and plates. She brought them into the kitchen where she placed them in the dishwasher and then proceeded to tidy up (Ahern, 2004:17).