Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts of The Major Characters in Chitra Divakaruni's 'Queen of Dreams'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis sebuah novel karya penulis wanita
India-Amerika Chitra Divakaruni yang berjudul Queen of Dreams. Aspek yang
dibahas adalah konflik sosial dan konflik psikologis. Queen of Dreams
menggambarkan konflik sosial dan psikologis yang dialami oleh dua perempuan,
anak dan ibu, sebagai imigran India yang berada di Amerika. Tokoh utama dalam
novel ini adalah Rakhi dan ibunya, Ny. Gupta.
Konflik dalam novel tersebut dipicu oleh adanya perbedaan nilai budaya
antara imigran generasi tua dan generasi muda. Generasi imigran muda mengadopsi
nilai-nilai budaya Barat, sementara generasi tua masih sangat dipengaruhi tradisi
kebudayaan India dalam perkerjaannya sebagai pembaca mimpi. Oleh karena itu, dua
kebudayaan yang saling bertentangan tersebut menyebabkan konflik sosial dan
psikologis. Konflik sosial di dalam novel tersebut terjadi antara ibu dan anak; anak
dan bapak; serta Rakhi dan warga Amerika.
Saya menyimpulkan bahwa konflik sosial dan psikologis yang dialami kedua
perempuan dalam novel tersebut merupakan gambaran kondisi para imigran India
yang berada di Amerika. Walaupun mereka sudah menjadi warga Amerika, mereka
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
tetap saja dicap sebagai seorang teroris semata-mata dari penampilan fisik dan cara
berpakaian mereka yang mirip bin Laden otak peledakan gedung World Trade
Center. Pekerjaan sebagai pembaca mimpi juga bukan merupakan pekerjaan yang
biasa di mata orang-orang Amerika tapi sangat biasa di mata orang-orang India. Ini
semua dapat memicu konflik sosial dan psikologis yang disebabkan nilai-nilai budaya
yang berbeda yang diadopsi oleh imigran dan generasi berikutnya.
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………………………………………………………...
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….…... ii
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Statement…………………………………………… 1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………….. 3
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………. 4
Methods of Research………………………………………………….... 4
Organization of the Thesis……………………………………………... 5
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER
CONFLICTS OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN CHITRA
DIVAKARUNI’S QUEEN OF DREAMS…………………………….
6
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION………………………………………. 20
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………..
23
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Queen of Dreams…………………………………………. 25
Biography of the Author……………………………………………….. 26
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF CHITRA DIVAKARUNI’S QUEEN OF DREAMS
The Queen of Dreams is a story of the two narrators as Indian immigrants who
live in America. The first narrator, Rakhi, is an Indian girl who was born and has
grown up in America. During her childhood, she lives in one culture, American
culture. Although she adopts American culture, she is curious to know about Indian
culture. She finds that the Indian culture is very mysterious and this makes her
curious. She wants to know about it but her mother does not want to tell about it. So
she tries to create it from what she sees in her mother’s job.
The second narrator, Rakhi’s mother, Mrs. Gupta, is as dream teller. She was
born in and married to Mr. Gupta in Calcutta, India. After that, they move to
America. She still keeps her hereditary culture. Because of her profession, she
becomes secretive and she has to obey a dream teller’s rules. So that is why, she faces
some social conflicts with her daughter. Rakhi does not understand why her mother is
different from other mothers. She thinks like this because her mother does not give
her logical reasons. That makes the relationship between mother and daughter
25
become worse. But it is ironic because the conflicts are resolved when Rakhi finds
her mother’s jo urnals after her mother’s death.
Mrs. Gupta not only faces social conflicts, but also inner conflicts. As a
dream teller, she has to choose between her talent and her husband’s love. On e of the
rules are she cannot have sex with her husband. When her husband knows that she is
a dream teller, he can accept it. But it is ironic because her husband becomes
drunkard.
One day, Rakhi’s mother dies by car accident. Rakhi blames her father
because she thinks that her father is the cause of her mother’s death. But her father
tries to explain that he is irresponsible. The relationship between father and daughter
becomes close after Rakhi believes her father’s story before the accident.
Rakhi not only faces social conflict with her father but also with American
citizens. It happens because terrorist planes hit the World Trade Center and the
Americans think Rakhi, her family and her Indian friends are identical with terrorists.
This is because they physically share the same characteristics of the terrorists who
attacked the World Trade Center in New York.
Rakhi ‘s life is better because all the conflicts can be resolved and thanks to
her mother’s journals so she can understand her mother’s past life and India.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. She was
born in 1957 in Calcutta, India and lived there until 1976, until she was nineteen, then
26
she left Calcutta and came to the United States. She continued her education in the
field of English Language, receiving a master’s degree from Wright States University
in Dayton, Ohio and a Ph. D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
For several years Chitra Divakaruni has been interested in women’s problems
and has worked with Afgani women refugees and women suffering from families’
attack and shelters. Since 1991, she has been President of MAITRI, an organization
for South Asian women’s service in the San Fransisco area.
She writes several books of poetry. She produces a few works, including :
Dark Like The River (1987), The Reason For Nasturtiums (1990), Black Candle
(1991), Arranged Marriage (!995), The Mistress of Spices (1997), Leaving Yuba City
(1997), Sister of My Heart (1999), The Unknown Errors of Our Lives (2001), The
Vine of Desire (2002), and Nella: Victory Song (2002).
In 2000, Chitra Divakaruni became one of the judges for the prestigious
National Book Award. Chitra Divakaruni receives a lot of awards, for example: The
American Book Award in 1996 for Arranged Marriage, The Best Books of 1997
from Los Angeles Times for The Mistress of Spices, and The Best American Short
Stories in 1999 for Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter.
27
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
From the three literary genres, I decided to choose novel because it is easier to
analyse and to read. Novel consists of events that occur in the world; that is why, it is
more lifelike than drama or poetry. According to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of
Literary Terms ‘Novel is a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying character and
presenting an organized series of events and settings. Every novel is an account of
life; every novel involves conflict, characters, action, setting, plot and themes’ (Shaw,
1927: 257).
I chose Chitra Divakaruni because she is an Indian-American writer who
writes about the opposition of ideas between the two cultures, Indian culture and
American culture. She is an international bestselling author of fourteen books of
poetry and fiction. All her novels are concerned with the world of the Indian
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
immigrants living in America. Furthermore, the settings of all her novels are in the
Bay Area of California, and her focus is on the lives of Indian women struggling with
cultural shackles (http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0385506821.asp//). I am
also of the opinion that as a woman author, Divakaruni shows about women’s
struggle as immigrants and this makes me interested in reading her novels.
The reasons I chose Queen of Dreams for my thesis is because the story
mentioned is about conflicts of the Indian immigrants in America. The social
conflicts occur between mother and daughter; father and daughter; and daughter and
the society. Moreover, the inner conflict occurs between mother and herself. The
daughter finds a barrier in her relationship with her mother. It is basically due to the
fact that she adopts American cultures, while her mother still keeps her hereditary
culture as a dream teller. Because of her mother’s job, her mother becomes secretive.
I found that there is a praise for Queen of Dreams. ‘This story of an emotionally
distant between mother and a daughter trying to find themselves transcend cultural
boundaries. Queen of Dreams combines the elements that Chitra Divakaruni is known
for, the Indian American experience. She effectively takes the reader into an
immigrant culture but she also shows the common ground that lies in a world that
some
would
find
foreign’
(Denver
Post)
(http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/queen_of_dreams//).
In analysing the novel, I focus on the major characters. ‘In the portrayal of a
character’s behaviour, the writer presents the action and speech of the character,
allowing the readers to draw his or her own conclusion from what the character says
or
does.’
(http://www.myschoolonline.com/page/0,1871,52991-1347122
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
5614417,00.html//). The major characters in Queen of Dreams have a close
relationship with each other and they have important roles which cause conflicts to
occur.
I chose conflicts in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queens of Dreams because I can find
that there are a lot of conflicts to be analysed. From the conflicts, I might know about
Indian immigrants’ f eeling. Social and inner conflicts are the most prominent aspects
in the novel which show the condition of the Indian immigrants who live in America.
The definition of conflict, according to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary
Terms, is: ‘The opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction.’ (Shaw, 1972: 91) There are three types of conflicts. They are
physical, social, and internal conflicts. Physical conflict is a struggle between man
and the physical world. Furthermore, Shaw divides the social conflict into two types:
the first one is a struggle between man and man, and the second one is a protagonist
against society. The last type is internal or psychological conflict, which is a struggle
between desires within a person. (Shaw, 1972: 92) I will focus my analysis on the
social and inner conflicts because they are the most prominent aspects in the novel
which show the condition of the Indian immigrants who live in America.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Based on the reasons above, I formulate the statement of the problem as follows:
3
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1. What kind of conflicts happen to the major characters in Divakaruni’s Queen
of Dreams?
2. What is the cause of the conflicts?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1. To show what kind of conflicts that happen to the major characters in
Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams.
2. To analyse the causes of the conflicts.
3. To present how the conflicts are resolved.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
I apply the library research, in which I read the primary text, Chitra
Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams. In addition, I get some data from the internet. I use
the intrinsic approach in analysing the novel. The intrinsic approach is used to
analyse the major characters in facing inner and social conflicts.
4
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis begins with the Preface. The Abstract contains the core of the
thesis in Indonesian. It is followed by the Introduction in Chapter One, where I
mention the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the purpose of the
study, the method of research and the organization of the thesis. The analysis of
social and inner conflicts of the major characters in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of
Dreams is presented in Chapter Two. I draw the conclusion of the analysis in Chapter
Three. The Bibliography contains a list of references in writing my thesis. The
Synopsis of the novel and the Biography of the author are presented in the Appendix.
5
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having discussed the social and inner conflicts that are faced by the major
characters, Rakhi and her mother, Mrs. Gupta, in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of
Dreams, I am aware that conflicts always happen in people’s daily life. As long as
people live, people will face a lot of conflicts. And among them are social and inner
conflicts. Life without conflicts is like cooking without salt.
In this chapter, I would like to draw a conclusion of what I have analysed.
Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams is about Indian immigrants who live in
America. The novel reflects the tendency of American people of Indian descent,
especially the first generation, who adopt Western culture and do not know about
their root, Indian culture. However, the older generation who are conservative still
clings to their root, Indian culture. Consequently, their values lead the two
generations to face social conflicts.
20
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I notice that the immigrants who come to a new country should adopt new
values in order not to face the social conflicts like those who keep their root. If they
still cling to their root, they will face social conflicts against their younger generation.
It is like what Mrs. Gupta and her daughter face.
Mrs. Gupta’s profession as a dream teller is the cause of the conflicts. Yet, I
notice that a dream teller is not an easy job because there is a consequence that she
has to bear although this is hard for her. And I know not all people can get this talent
as a dream teller because this is a gift. They can learn how to be a dream teller.
Without a gift, they cannot be a true dream teller. And to be a dream teller is a curse
as well because they are not supposed to have a space of love in their heart.
The mother in Queen of Dreams, Mrs. Gupta, experiences the inner conflict as
she cannot choose between her talent and her family. To be a dream teller, she has to
obey the rules, such as not to have sex with her husband, not to be allowed to tell
anyone about her job, and to put other people’s affairs first before her personal
affairs. Yet, she is so confused that she lies to her husband about her profession when
she gets married. I notice that she wants to be a dream teller and a wife concurrently.
This is a hard choice for her. Lying to her husband for a long time, she wants to tell
him the truth. When she does so, he feels shocked. Knowing the consequences he will
bear of marrying a dream teller, he still loves his wife. I notice this is his sacrifice
because he knows that his wife cannot perform her duties as a wife, one of which is
sleeping together with her husband. And yet, in my opinion, these social and inner
conflicts will not happen if Mrs. Gupta can choose between one of them: fully to be a
21
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dream teller meaning that she is not married or she is married but leaving her
profession.
Showing her commitment as a dream teller, Mrs. Gupta has to obey the rules.
She suffers from the bottom of her heart. She wants to share her feelings with her
family but she cannot. She knows that her family does not understand her because she
is secretive. Not wanting to break her commitment as a dream teller, she pours out her
feelings and thoughts in her journals. She knows that her family will find it one day
after her death. She does hope that they will understand her. I notice through the
journals, all the conflicts that Mrs. Gupta faces are resolved.
From this novel, I also notice that Citra Divakaruni wants the readers to view
those terrible days from the point of view of immigrants and Indian-American whose
only ‘crime’ is due to their physical differences. I know that thousands of American
people died in the black September, but surely they cannot judge all coloured people
are terrorists. All coloured people suffer also from this. Not all coloured people are
terrorists because they share the similar physical characteristics of those of the
terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center. Chitra Divakaruni wants people to
know how it feels to be racially prejudiced. She wants white people not to think that
all coloured people are terrorists just because they look like terrorists in appearance.
22
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References :
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York : McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1972.
Electronic Cites :
Desi Journal. Queen of Dreams. 29 June 2006
Divakaruni, Chitra. Queen of Dreams. 20 March 2006
Family Education Network, Inc. 2000-2003. Literature and the Language Arts: Hand
book of Literature. 25 March 2006.
Farrell, Shaun. Queen of Dreams. 29 June 2006
Indian Child. Culture of India. 29 June 2006
23
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Lotfen, Marie Hashima. Queen of Dreams. 1 March 2006
Lynchburg City School. East vs West. 29 June 2006
VG. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. 1 April 2006
Primary Text :
Divakaruni, Chitra. 2004. Queen of Dreams. A Division of Random House Inc.
24
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Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis sebuah novel karya penulis wanita
India-Amerika Chitra Divakaruni yang berjudul Queen of Dreams. Aspek yang
dibahas adalah konflik sosial dan konflik psikologis. Queen of Dreams
menggambarkan konflik sosial dan psikologis yang dialami oleh dua perempuan,
anak dan ibu, sebagai imigran India yang berada di Amerika. Tokoh utama dalam
novel ini adalah Rakhi dan ibunya, Ny. Gupta.
Konflik dalam novel tersebut dipicu oleh adanya perbedaan nilai budaya
antara imigran generasi tua dan generasi muda. Generasi imigran muda mengadopsi
nilai-nilai budaya Barat, sementara generasi tua masih sangat dipengaruhi tradisi
kebudayaan India dalam perkerjaannya sebagai pembaca mimpi. Oleh karena itu, dua
kebudayaan yang saling bertentangan tersebut menyebabkan konflik sosial dan
psikologis. Konflik sosial di dalam novel tersebut terjadi antara ibu dan anak; anak
dan bapak; serta Rakhi dan warga Amerika.
Saya menyimpulkan bahwa konflik sosial dan psikologis yang dialami kedua
perempuan dalam novel tersebut merupakan gambaran kondisi para imigran India
yang berada di Amerika. Walaupun mereka sudah menjadi warga Amerika, mereka
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
tetap saja dicap sebagai seorang teroris semata-mata dari penampilan fisik dan cara
berpakaian mereka yang mirip bin Laden otak peledakan gedung World Trade
Center. Pekerjaan sebagai pembaca mimpi juga bukan merupakan pekerjaan yang
biasa di mata orang-orang Amerika tapi sangat biasa di mata orang-orang India. Ini
semua dapat memicu konflik sosial dan psikologis yang disebabkan nilai-nilai budaya
yang berbeda yang diadopsi oleh imigran dan generasi berikutnya.
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………………………………………………………...
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….…... ii
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Statement…………………………………………… 1
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………….. 3
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………. 4
Methods of Research………………………………………………….... 4
Organization of the Thesis……………………………………………... 5
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER
CONFLICTS OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS IN CHITRA
DIVAKARUNI’S QUEEN OF DREAMS…………………………….
6
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION………………………………………. 20
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………..
23
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Queen of Dreams…………………………………………. 25
Biography of the Author……………………………………………….. 26
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
SUMMARY OF CHITRA DIVAKARUNI’S QUEEN OF DREAMS
The Queen of Dreams is a story of the two narrators as Indian immigrants who
live in America. The first narrator, Rakhi, is an Indian girl who was born and has
grown up in America. During her childhood, she lives in one culture, American
culture. Although she adopts American culture, she is curious to know about Indian
culture. She finds that the Indian culture is very mysterious and this makes her
curious. She wants to know about it but her mother does not want to tell about it. So
she tries to create it from what she sees in her mother’s job.
The second narrator, Rakhi’s mother, Mrs. Gupta, is as dream teller. She was
born in and married to Mr. Gupta in Calcutta, India. After that, they move to
America. She still keeps her hereditary culture. Because of her profession, she
becomes secretive and she has to obey a dream teller’s rules. So that is why, she faces
some social conflicts with her daughter. Rakhi does not understand why her mother is
different from other mothers. She thinks like this because her mother does not give
her logical reasons. That makes the relationship between mother and daughter
25
become worse. But it is ironic because the conflicts are resolved when Rakhi finds
her mother’s jo urnals after her mother’s death.
Mrs. Gupta not only faces social conflicts, but also inner conflicts. As a
dream teller, she has to choose between her talent and her husband’s love. On e of the
rules are she cannot have sex with her husband. When her husband knows that she is
a dream teller, he can accept it. But it is ironic because her husband becomes
drunkard.
One day, Rakhi’s mother dies by car accident. Rakhi blames her father
because she thinks that her father is the cause of her mother’s death. But her father
tries to explain that he is irresponsible. The relationship between father and daughter
becomes close after Rakhi believes her father’s story before the accident.
Rakhi not only faces social conflict with her father but also with American
citizens. It happens because terrorist planes hit the World Trade Center and the
Americans think Rakhi, her family and her Indian friends are identical with terrorists.
This is because they physically share the same characteristics of the terrorists who
attacked the World Trade Center in New York.
Rakhi ‘s life is better because all the conflicts can be resolved and thanks to
her mother’s journals so she can understand her mother’s past life and India.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. She was
born in 1957 in Calcutta, India and lived there until 1976, until she was nineteen, then
26
she left Calcutta and came to the United States. She continued her education in the
field of English Language, receiving a master’s degree from Wright States University
in Dayton, Ohio and a Ph. D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
For several years Chitra Divakaruni has been interested in women’s problems
and has worked with Afgani women refugees and women suffering from families’
attack and shelters. Since 1991, she has been President of MAITRI, an organization
for South Asian women’s service in the San Fransisco area.
She writes several books of poetry. She produces a few works, including :
Dark Like The River (1987), The Reason For Nasturtiums (1990), Black Candle
(1991), Arranged Marriage (!995), The Mistress of Spices (1997), Leaving Yuba City
(1997), Sister of My Heart (1999), The Unknown Errors of Our Lives (2001), The
Vine of Desire (2002), and Nella: Victory Song (2002).
In 2000, Chitra Divakaruni became one of the judges for the prestigious
National Book Award. Chitra Divakaruni receives a lot of awards, for example: The
American Book Award in 1996 for Arranged Marriage, The Best Books of 1997
from Los Angeles Times for The Mistress of Spices, and The Best American Short
Stories in 1999 for Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter.
27
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
From the three literary genres, I decided to choose novel because it is easier to
analyse and to read. Novel consists of events that occur in the world; that is why, it is
more lifelike than drama or poetry. According to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of
Literary Terms ‘Novel is a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying character and
presenting an organized series of events and settings. Every novel is an account of
life; every novel involves conflict, characters, action, setting, plot and themes’ (Shaw,
1927: 257).
I chose Chitra Divakaruni because she is an Indian-American writer who
writes about the opposition of ideas between the two cultures, Indian culture and
American culture. She is an international bestselling author of fourteen books of
poetry and fiction. All her novels are concerned with the world of the Indian
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
immigrants living in America. Furthermore, the settings of all her novels are in the
Bay Area of California, and her focus is on the lives of Indian women struggling with
cultural shackles (http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0385506821.asp//). I am
also of the opinion that as a woman author, Divakaruni shows about women’s
struggle as immigrants and this makes me interested in reading her novels.
The reasons I chose Queen of Dreams for my thesis is because the story
mentioned is about conflicts of the Indian immigrants in America. The social
conflicts occur between mother and daughter; father and daughter; and daughter and
the society. Moreover, the inner conflict occurs between mother and herself. The
daughter finds a barrier in her relationship with her mother. It is basically due to the
fact that she adopts American cultures, while her mother still keeps her hereditary
culture as a dream teller. Because of her mother’s job, her mother becomes secretive.
I found that there is a praise for Queen of Dreams. ‘This story of an emotionally
distant between mother and a daughter trying to find themselves transcend cultural
boundaries. Queen of Dreams combines the elements that Chitra Divakaruni is known
for, the Indian American experience. She effectively takes the reader into an
immigrant culture but she also shows the common ground that lies in a world that
some
would
find
foreign’
(Denver
Post)
(http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/queen_of_dreams//).
In analysing the novel, I focus on the major characters. ‘In the portrayal of a
character’s behaviour, the writer presents the action and speech of the character,
allowing the readers to draw his or her own conclusion from what the character says
or
does.’
(http://www.myschoolonline.com/page/0,1871,52991-1347122
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
5614417,00.html//). The major characters in Queen of Dreams have a close
relationship with each other and they have important roles which cause conflicts to
occur.
I chose conflicts in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queens of Dreams because I can find
that there are a lot of conflicts to be analysed. From the conflicts, I might know about
Indian immigrants’ f eeling. Social and inner conflicts are the most prominent aspects
in the novel which show the condition of the Indian immigrants who live in America.
The definition of conflict, according to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary
Terms, is: ‘The opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction.’ (Shaw, 1972: 91) There are three types of conflicts. They are
physical, social, and internal conflicts. Physical conflict is a struggle between man
and the physical world. Furthermore, Shaw divides the social conflict into two types:
the first one is a struggle between man and man, and the second one is a protagonist
against society. The last type is internal or psychological conflict, which is a struggle
between desires within a person. (Shaw, 1972: 92) I will focus my analysis on the
social and inner conflicts because they are the most prominent aspects in the novel
which show the condition of the Indian immigrants who live in America.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Based on the reasons above, I formulate the statement of the problem as follows:
3
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
1. What kind of conflicts happen to the major characters in Divakaruni’s Queen
of Dreams?
2. What is the cause of the conflicts?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1. To show what kind of conflicts that happen to the major characters in
Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams.
2. To analyse the causes of the conflicts.
3. To present how the conflicts are resolved.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
I apply the library research, in which I read the primary text, Chitra
Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams. In addition, I get some data from the internet. I use
the intrinsic approach in analysing the novel. The intrinsic approach is used to
analyse the major characters in facing inner and social conflicts.
4
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis begins with the Preface. The Abstract contains the core of the
thesis in Indonesian. It is followed by the Introduction in Chapter One, where I
mention the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the purpose of the
study, the method of research and the organization of the thesis. The analysis of
social and inner conflicts of the major characters in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of
Dreams is presented in Chapter Two. I draw the conclusion of the analysis in Chapter
Three. The Bibliography contains a list of references in writing my thesis. The
Synopsis of the novel and the Biography of the author are presented in the Appendix.
5
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having discussed the social and inner conflicts that are faced by the major
characters, Rakhi and her mother, Mrs. Gupta, in Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of
Dreams, I am aware that conflicts always happen in people’s daily life. As long as
people live, people will face a lot of conflicts. And among them are social and inner
conflicts. Life without conflicts is like cooking without salt.
In this chapter, I would like to draw a conclusion of what I have analysed.
Chitra Divakaruni’s Queen of Dreams is about Indian immigrants who live in
America. The novel reflects the tendency of American people of Indian descent,
especially the first generation, who adopt Western culture and do not know about
their root, Indian culture. However, the older generation who are conservative still
clings to their root, Indian culture. Consequently, their values lead the two
generations to face social conflicts.
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I notice that the immigrants who come to a new country should adopt new
values in order not to face the social conflicts like those who keep their root. If they
still cling to their root, they will face social conflicts against their younger generation.
It is like what Mrs. Gupta and her daughter face.
Mrs. Gupta’s profession as a dream teller is the cause of the conflicts. Yet, I
notice that a dream teller is not an easy job because there is a consequence that she
has to bear although this is hard for her. And I know not all people can get this talent
as a dream teller because this is a gift. They can learn how to be a dream teller.
Without a gift, they cannot be a true dream teller. And to be a dream teller is a curse
as well because they are not supposed to have a space of love in their heart.
The mother in Queen of Dreams, Mrs. Gupta, experiences the inner conflict as
she cannot choose between her talent and her family. To be a dream teller, she has to
obey the rules, such as not to have sex with her husband, not to be allowed to tell
anyone about her job, and to put other people’s affairs first before her personal
affairs. Yet, she is so confused that she lies to her husband about her profession when
she gets married. I notice that she wants to be a dream teller and a wife concurrently.
This is a hard choice for her. Lying to her husband for a long time, she wants to tell
him the truth. When she does so, he feels shocked. Knowing the consequences he will
bear of marrying a dream teller, he still loves his wife. I notice this is his sacrifice
because he knows that his wife cannot perform her duties as a wife, one of which is
sleeping together with her husband. And yet, in my opinion, these social and inner
conflicts will not happen if Mrs. Gupta can choose between one of them: fully to be a
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dream teller meaning that she is not married or she is married but leaving her
profession.
Showing her commitment as a dream teller, Mrs. Gupta has to obey the rules.
She suffers from the bottom of her heart. She wants to share her feelings with her
family but she cannot. She knows that her family does not understand her because she
is secretive. Not wanting to break her commitment as a dream teller, she pours out her
feelings and thoughts in her journals. She knows that her family will find it one day
after her death. She does hope that they will understand her. I notice through the
journals, all the conflicts that Mrs. Gupta faces are resolved.
From this novel, I also notice that Citra Divakaruni wants the readers to view
those terrible days from the point of view of immigrants and Indian-American whose
only ‘crime’ is due to their physical differences. I know that thousands of American
people died in the black September, but surely they cannot judge all coloured people
are terrorists. All coloured people suffer also from this. Not all coloured people are
terrorists because they share the similar physical characteristics of those of the
terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center. Chitra Divakaruni wants people to
know how it feels to be racially prejudiced. She wants white people not to think that
all coloured people are terrorists just because they look like terrorists in appearance.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References :
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York : McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1972.
Electronic Cites :
Desi Journal. Queen of Dreams. 29 June 2006
Divakaruni, Chitra. Queen of Dreams. 20 March 2006
Family Education Network, Inc. 2000-2003. Literature and the Language Arts: Hand
book of Literature. 25 March 2006.
Farrell, Shaun. Queen of Dreams. 29 June 2006
Indian Child. Culture of India. 29 June 2006
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Lotfen, Marie Hashima. Queen of Dreams. 1 March 2006
Lynchburg City School. East vs West. 29 June 2006
VG. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. 1 April 2006
Primary Text :
Divakaruni, Chitra. 2004. Queen of Dreams. A Division of Random House Inc.
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