NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES IN SUE MONK KIDD’S NOVEL THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES : AN ANALYSIS WITH NARRATOLOGICAL APPROACH.

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NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES IN SUE MONK KIDD’S NOVEL THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (AN ANALYSIS WITH NARRATOLOGICAL APPROACH)

A Research Paper

Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education as

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree

ANYA PRITAFANIA 0902401

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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Univeristas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

2014

Narrative and Characterization Techniques in

Sue Monk Kidd’s Novel

The Secret Life of Bees

(An Analysis with Narratological Approach)

Oleh Anya Pritafania

Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni

Juni 2014

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Skripsi ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian, dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis.

PAGE OF APPROVAL

NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES IN SUE MONK KIDD’S NOVEL THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES

Anya Pritafania 0902401

Approved by

Main Supervisor,

Bachrudin Musthafa, M.A., Ph.D. NIP. 195703101987031001

Co-Supervisor,

Budi Hermawan, S.Pd., M.P.C. NIP. 197308072002121002

Head of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Arts Education

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Univeristas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

Prof. Dr. Didi Suherdi, M.Ed. NIP. 196211011987121001

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ABSTRACT

This research analyzes narrative techniques in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret

Life of Bees (2002) by using Barry’s version (2002) of Genette’s Narratology

theory (1980). The purpose of the research is to identify how the story is narrated and how the story constructs the main character as evidenced in the novel. By applying the theory, this research attempts to gain insights into how the narrative is presented to the reader in the form of first person mode. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method. This research finds that the story The Secret Life

of Bees is narrated through six narrative categorizations: narrative level, narrative

time, narrative voice, focalization, narrative of words, and narrative mode. Moreover, the story constructs the main character through four methods of characterizations: physical description, dialogue and actions, thoughts and feelings, and what other characters’ say about the main character. This research implies that the story The Secret Life of Bees is well organized. The use of first person narrative and the presence of child character who is also the narrator have made the story interesting and easy to follow. Furthermore, the development of

the main character also plays a crucial role in giving the clue to the story’s

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ABSTRAK

Penelitian ini menganalisa teknik narasi di dalam novel The Secret Life of Bees karya Sue Monk Kidd (2002) dengan menggunakan teori Naratologi yang diusulkan oleh Peter Barry (2002) dengan berbasis kepada teori Naratologi Gerard Genette (1980). Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengidentifikasi bagaimana cerita The Secret Life of Bees dinarasikan dan bagaimana cerita tersebut membangun karakter utamanya di dalam novel. Dengan menerapkan teori Naratologi, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan pemahaman serta wawasan mengenai bagaimana suatu cerita disajikan kepada pembaca dalam sudut pandang orang pertama. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa cerita The Secret Life of

Bees dinarasikan melalui enam kategori narasi: narrative level, narrative time, narrative voice, focalization, narrative of words, and narrative mode. Selain itu,

karakter utama di dalam cerita The Secret Life of Bees dibentuk melalui empat metode karakterisasi: deskripsi fisik, percakapan dan tindakan, pikiran dan perasaan, serta opini karakter lainnya terhadap karakter utama. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa cerita The Secret Life of Bees telah tersusun dengan baik. Penggunaan narasi sudut pandang orang pertama dan keberadaan karakter anak yang juga berperan sebagai narator (pencerita) membuat cerita The Secret Life of

Bees semakin menarik dan alurnya pun mudah untuk diikuti. Selain itu,

pengembangan karakter utama juga memiliki peranan penting sebagai penunjuk makna cerita dan telah berhasil mencakup tema utama dari cerita.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... ii

PREFACE ... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... iv

ABSTRACT ... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi

LIST OF TABLES ... viii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1Background of the Study ... 1

1.2Research Questions ... 3

1.3Aims of the Study ... 3

1.4Scope of the Study ... 3

1.5Research Methodology ... 3

1.5.1 Data Collection ... 4

1.5.2 Data Analysis ... 4

1.6Clarification of Terms ... 4

1.7 The Organization of the Paper ... 5

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION ... 7

2.1 The Concept of Barry’s Version of Genette’s Narratology Theory ... 7

2.2 Character and Characterization ... 11

2.2.1 Character ... 11

2.2.2 Characterization ... 12

2.3The Novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd ... 13

2.3.1 About the Author ... 13

2.3.2 The Synopsis of The Secret Life of Bees ... 14

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 17

3.1Research Questions ... 17

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3.3Research Procedure ... 17

3.4Data Collection ... 17

3.5Data Analysis ... 18

3.6Data Presentation ... 18

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 31

4.1Narrative Categories and How the Story is Narrated ... 31

4.1.1 Narrative Level ... 31

4.1.2 Narrative Time ... 34

4.1.3 Narrative Voice ... 37

4.1.4 Focalization ... 39

4.1.5 Narrative of Words ... 41

4.1.6 Narrative Mode ... 42

4.2Methods of Characterization of Lily Melissa Owens ... 44

4.2.1 Physical Description ... 44

4.2.2 Dialogues and Actions ... 46

4.2.3 Thoughts and Feelings ... 50

4.2.4 What Other Characters’ Say about the Main Character... 52

4.3Discussions ... 54

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 58

5.1Conclusions ... 58

5.2Suggestions ... 60

REFERENCES ... 61 APPENDIX

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the introduction of the research which covers the background of the study, research questions, the aims of the study, the scope of the study, the research methodology, the clarification of terms, and the organization of the paper.

1.1 Background of the Study

Narrative involves an action or an event to be told. People in general often associate narrative with literary types, like novels, short stories, fairy tales, sagas or folk tales. As a widespread activity which is closely related to the acts of telling and re-telling, narrative can have numerous variety of structures that produce different kinds of effects and responses. In specific, narrative can be found in a text, such as literary text. In relation to this, Thwaites, Davis, and Mules (1994:114), state that narrative structure complements texts in three ways: it depicts the sequences of events or ideas in a story by foregrounding their movement through the passing of time, emphasizes a network of social meanings by transforming events into actions performed by characters, and offers the kinds of pleasure and enjoyment to the readers.

The study of narrative is commonly called narratology. According to Barry (2002: 145), narratology is not the reading and interpretation of individual stories, but rather the attempt to study the structure of narration or the way stories

are told. Of many different narratology theories, Barry believes that Genette‟s

theory of narratology (1980) is considered as one of the most valuable theories, because the work has as its focus, not the story itself, but rather the process of telling the story itself (Barry, 2002: 151). Concerning Genette‟s theory, Barry provides six basic questions which possibly cover the main areas discussed by Genette. First, how is the story „packaged‟? Second, how is time handled in the

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story? Third, who is telling the story? Fourth, how is the narrative focalised? Fifth, how are speech and thought represented? And sixth, is the basic narrative

mode „mimetic‟ or „diegetic‟?

Research on the use of narratology includes Barry‟s analysis of Edgar

Allan Poe‟s The Oval Portrait (2002) which outlines four fundamental areas in narrative theory, which are plot/story distinction, Aristotle‟s theory of functional relation between character and action, Propp‟s theory of narrative functions, and Genette‟s theory. Fludernik (2006) analyzes the development of the character who

is also the first person narrator, Philip Pirrip (Pip) in both Charles Dickens‟ novel

Great Expectations (1861) and Llyod Jones‟s novel Mister Pip (2006)─a

rewriting of Dickens‟ text. Fludernik (2006: 104-108) states that some narratologists have made significant contributions to narrative terminology for example Ansgar Nünning (2001) who succeeds in giving some useful typologies of historical novels, the functions of narrator, and various kinds of metanarrativity, Mieke Bal (1997) who reconstitutes Genette‟s types of focalization, and Seymour Chatman (1990) who offers a narratology of film.

Other research on narratology, for example, Henrik Skov Nielsen in

Postclassical Narratology (2010: 20) discusses what is called as hybrid narrative

texts. Nielsen looks at two types of texts which cannot easily be classified as either fiction or non-fiction. He uses the term “underdetermined texts” to refer to a text which is presented as neither fiction nor non-fiction, and the term

“overdetermined texts” to describe a text which is presented as both fiction and

non-fiction. Marcus (2006) analyzes Albert Camus‟ novel The Fall and focuses on

the triangular relation, narrator-narratee-reader. Marcus believes that there is a significant change of focus in the interrelations between “unreliable narrator” and

“reliable reader”. Mildorf‟s analysis (2006) merges narratological approaches and

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“focalization” and “double deixes” can be helpful for a more systematic

investigation of particular narratives features of oral stories.

This present research aims to investigate how narrative makes meaning of

a story. The subject of this research is Sue Monk Kidd‟s novel The Secret Life of

Bees. Since its publication in 2002, The Secret Life of Bees has sold more than six

million copies and spent over one hundred weeks on the New York Times bestseller list (Amazon.com). The first person mode used in the novel The Secret

Life of Bees became one of its interesting aspects. Thus, by applying Barry‟s

version of Genette‟s narratology theory, this research attempts to analyze the

narrative technique of the story to know how the narrative is presented to the reader in the form of first person mode.

1.2 Research Questions

This research is geared toward answering the following questions: 1. How is the story narrated as evidenced in the novel?

2. How does the narrative construct the main character?

1.3 Aims of the Study

Based on the research, this research is aimed:

1. To identify how the story is narrated in the novel

2. To identify how the narrative constructs the main character

1.4 Scope of the Study

This research is limited only to analyze the way the story is narrated in the novel and the way the narrative constructs the main character.

1.5 Research Methodology

This research employs a descriptive qualitative method in nature. Fraenkel and Norman (2006) explain that the descriptive qualitative method aims to

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identify and provide a picture of an event, condition, or situation by using data in the form of words rather than numbers. Therefore, this method is appropriate for describing the current research which deals with the analysis of narrative

technique in Sue Monk Kidd‟s novel The Secret Life of Bees (2002). 1.5.1 Data Collection

The data of the research are critically selected from the novel The Secret

Life of Bees (2002). The data were taken by reading the novel thoroughly, then

selecting the parts which serve as textual evidence.

1.5.2 Data Analysis

The collected data are then categorized into narrative categories and methods of characterization. The data are then analyzed using the framework of

Barry‟s version of Genette‟s narratology theory. In conducting the research, the following steps have been taken:

1. Reading the novel thoroughly, 2. Classifying the textual evidence,

3. Analyzing the data by applying relevant theories, 4. Interpreting the data,

5. Making conclusion based on the findings.

1.6 Clarification of Terms

To avoid misunderstanding, the following is the clarification of the terms used:

1. Characterization: The figures in a literary text can either be characterized as types or individuals (Klarer, 1998: 133).

2. Diegesis vs. mimemis: Traditionally, this oppositional pair is used to characterize the difference between telling and showing, particularly in

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the discussion of the representation of speech and thought (Fludernik, 2006: 151).

3. First person narration: Point of view in which one of the characters who is part of the plot tells the story, referring to her- or himself in the first-person singular (Klarer, 1998: 137).

4. Focalization: The position or quality of consciousness through which

we „see‟ events in the narrative (Abbott, 2008: 233).

5. Mode: According to Genette, the way in which focalization is treated,

defined in the category of voice as „Who sees?‟(mode) vs. „Who speaks?‟ (voice) (Fludernik, 2006: 156).

6. Narrative: Narrative is a way of organizing and depicting any kind of events or ideas in a story by foregrounding the movement of time (Thwaites, 1994: 112).

7. Narrative Events: The basic units of a story, a dynamic part of the story which changes a situation. Events then combine into sequences to build up the story (Thwaites, 1994: 123).

8. Narratology: Narratology is a branch of literary structuralism. It is not only focuses on the structure of narration but also on the way stories are told. The main goal of narratology itself then be conceived as an attempt to discover the general model of narration, so that we know some possible ways in which the stories can be told (Bertens, 2001: 71).

9. Narrator: In stories that are written down, in other words in written texts, the term narrator refers to both first-person narrator and third-person narrator (Fludernik, 2006: 158).

10.Voice: The sensibility through which we hear the narrative, even when we are reading silently. Voice is very closely associated with focalization, the sensibility through which we see the characters and

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events in the story, and sometimes hard to distinguish from it (Abbott, 2008: 243).

1.7 The Organization of the Paper

This research consists of five chapters. It is organized as follows:

Chapter I: Introduction

This chapter presents the background of the study, research questions, the aims of the study, the scope of the study, the research methodology, the clarification of terms, and the organization of the paper.

Chapter II: Theoretical Foundation

This chapter consists of the theoretical frameworks and the literature reviews as the foundation of the research.

Chapter III: Research Methodology

This chapter discusses the research methodology describing the techniques and procedures of the data collection and data analysis.

Chapter IV: Finding and Discussion

This chapter presents the elaboration of findings and discussion of the research.

Chapter V: Conclusion and Suggestions

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the method in conducting the research. It contains the research questions, the research subject, research procedure, the data collection, data analysis, and data presentation.

3.1 Research Questions

This research is geared toward answering the following questions: 1. How is the story narrated as evidenced in the novel?

2. How does the narrative construct the main character?

3.2 The Research Subject

The subject of the research is The Secret Life of Bees, a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd. The novel was first published by Viking Books in 2002. The novel was downloaded from www.libgen.org in the pdf format on October 3, 2013. The novel is written in English and consists of 14 chapters and 223 pages.

3.3 Research Procedure

This research employs a descriptive qualitative method. The novel was read thoroughly and notes were taken in order to mark the parts which best answer the research questions. This research is limited only to analyze the way the story is narrated in the novel and the way the narrative constructs the main character (Lily Melissa Owens) by using the framework of Barry‟s version (2002) of

Genette‟s narratology theory (1980).

3.4 Data Collection

The data are in the form of words, clauses, comments and dialogues of the main characters which are critically selected from the novel The Secret Life of

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Bees (2002). The data were collected by reading the novel thoroughly, then

selecting the parts which serve as textual evidence.

3.5 Data Analysis

The collected data are then categorized into narrative categories (how the story is narrated) and methods of characterization (how the narrative contructs the

main character). The data are then analyzed using Barry‟s version (2002) of

Genette‟s narratology theory (1980). In conducting the research, the following steps have been taken:

1. Reading the novel thoroughly, 2. Classifying the textual evidence, 3. Analyzing the data,

4. Interpreting the data,

5. Making conclusion based on the findings.

3.6 Data Presentation

The analyzed data are then presented in the form of tables below:

Table 3.1

How the Story is Narrated in the Novel

Chapter / Page

Narrative Category Textual Evidence Brief Explanation

1 5/67 Narrative Level „A long time ago,

across the world in Germany, there was a

young nun named

Beatrix who loved

The story consists of

several embedded

narratives which

means that one of the characters in the

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6/79

Mary. She got sick and tired of being a nun, though, what with all the chores she had to do and the rules she had to go by. So one night when it got too much for her, she took off her nun outfit, folded it up, and laid it on her bed. Then she crawled out the convent window

and ran away.‟

„One day,‟ August said, „a slave named Obadiah

was loading bricks onto a boat that would sail down the Ashley River, when he saw something washed up on the bank. Coming closer, he saw it was the wooden figure of a woman. Her body was growing out of a block of wood, a black woman with her arm lifted out and her

fist balled up.‟

story tells another story within the primary narrative

which makes it

stories within a story.

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1/6

Narrative Time:

a. Flashback My first and only

memory of my mother was the day she died. I tried for a long time to conjure up an image of her before that, just a sliver of something, like her tucking me into

bed, reading the

adventures of Uncle Wiggly, or hanging my underclothes near the space heater on ice-cold mornings. Even her picking a switch off the forsythia bush and stinging my legs would have been welcome.

The afternoon my

mother died, there was a suitcase open on the floor, sitting near the

stuck window. She

moved in and out of the closet, dropping this and that into the suitcase, not bothering to fold them.

In the story,

flashback is used to refer to an event which happened in the past but has relevance to the present story.

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6/84 b. Flash

forward

I knew one day I would go back into the parlor

when no one was

around and touch the

Lady‟s heart. Then I

would show August the picture of my mother and see if the moon broke loose and fell out of the sky.

The story uses flash forward technique to narrate an event which happens in the future.

2/30

Narrative Voice:

First-person narrator Suddenly I felt ice cold,

as if something

dangerous had slipped into the room. I looked toward the window and felt a tremor slide along my spine.

The story is told from the first person

“I” who is also the

main character in the

story and the

narrator directly tells us only what she

thinks and

experiences. 4 13/194 Focalization: Internal focalization (First-person narration)

I knew Mrs. Watson from church, from all the times she stopped to buy peaches from me. She was kind as she

could be, but she‟d

always looked at me

The event is narrated

from a single

character‟s point of

view. Therefore, the narrator has a limited access to know about

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like there was

something

indescribably sad

written across my

forehead, like she wanted to come over and scrub it off.

feelings and

thoughts.

8/116

12/175

4/54

Narrative of Words: a. Direct and

tagged

b. Direct and untagged

c. Direct and selectively tagged

„I‟m Lily,‟ I said.

„She‟s staying with

August,‟ Zach explained.

„I call him T. Ray.‟ „Not Daddy?‟

„He‟s not the Daddy type.‟

„Thank you,‟ I said to

August.

„You‟re welcome. Now,

sit down. I‟ll get some

orangeade.‟

This is called direct because the actual

words are given

within a quotation

marks and then

followed by the

name of the

speakers.

There are two

characters engaged in conversation but the name of the speakers are not explicitly tagged.

The speech is

„selectively tagged‟

because the first utterance is tagged, but the second one is

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not. 6

1/5

Narrative Mode:

Mimetic I slid from the covers

and dashed through the bees for the door. I woke him by touching his arm with one finger, softly at first, then harder and harder till I was jabbing into his flesh, marveling at how hard it was.

The story uses

mimetic mode or 'slow telling'. The mode allows for the creation of great detail and intimacy

between the

character and the readers, creating the illusion as if the readers are seeing and hearing things for themselves.

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Table 3.2

How the Narrative Constructs the Main Character

No Main

Character

Chapter / Page

Method of

Characteri-zation

Textual Evidence Brief Explanation

1 Lily

Melissa Owens

1/8 Physical

description

He did not care that I wore clothes I made for myself in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only the Pentecostal girls

In the story, Lily describes herself as an ordinary and unpopular girl, there is nothing special about her looks, except her Pentecostal dresses.

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wore. I might as

well have worn a sign on my back: I

AM NOT

POPULAR AND

NEVER WILL

BE... My hair was

black like my

mother‟s but

basically a nest of cowlicks, and it worried me that I

didn‟t have much of

a chin...I had nice eyes, though, what

you would call

Sophia Loren eyes...

Matters below my neck had shaped up, not that I could show off that part.

2 2/29 Dialogues

and actions

„You don‟t scare me,‟ I said, mostly under my breath.

He‟d already turned to leave, but now he whirled back.

„What did you say?‟

(T.Ray)

Through the

dialogue and

action, Lily is portrayed as a

brave girl,

especially when she is dealing with her cruel father,

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„You don‟t scare me,‟ I repeated,

louder this time. „You better watch your mouth.‟

(T.Ray)

„Go ahead, try and hit me!‟ I yelled.

When he swung, I turned my face. It was a clean miss. I ran for the bed and scrambled onto the

middle of it,

breathing hard.

T.Ray.

3 12/178 Thoughts and

feelings

“It was my fault

she died. I—I killed

her.”

I sobbed and

dropped straight

down onto my knees on the rug. It was the

first time I‟d ever

said the words to another person, and the sound of them

broke open my

heart... Kneeling on the floor, unable to

Through the story, Lily thinks that she is truly responsible

for her mother‟s

death, and when she finally knows the truth that her mother was leaving her when she was a little girl, she feels of being unwanted

and unloved.

Moreover, Lily

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1/8

stop shuddering, I heard it plainly. It

said, You are

unlovable, Lily Owens. Unlovable. Who could love you? Who in this world could ever love you?

I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I AM NOT

POPULAR AND

NEVER WILL BE.

I needed all the help that fashion could give me, since no one, not a single person, had ever

said, „Lily, you are such a pretty child,‟

except for Miss

Jennings at church, and she was legally blind... There was

nothing I hated worse than clumps of whispering girls

feeling very much alone, unpopular, friendless, and motherless.

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1/9

who got quiet when I passed.

I had thought my real chance would come from going to charm school at the

Women‟s Club last

spring, Friday

afternoons for six weeks, but I got

barred because I

didn‟t have a

mother, a

grandmother, or even a measly aunt to present me with a white rose at the closing ceremony.

4 1/9 What other

characters‟

say about the main

character

„You‟re charming

enough,‟ Rosaleen had said, washing the vomit out of the sink basin.

„You don‟t need to

go to some

highfalutin school to

get charm.‟

(Rosaleen)

Through the other

characters‟ opinion, Lily‟s personality

can simply be

described as a charming, smart, brave, and lovable girl. As the story progresses, Lily is described as a liar

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5/63

„Please, Lily, you are

insulting your fine intelligence. Do you

have any idea how smart you are? You

could be a

professor or a writer with actual books to your credit. Beauty

school. Please.‟

(Mrs. Henry)

„You know she‟s lying,‟ said June.

„I know,‟ August

told her.

„But they‟re in

some kind of trouble and need a place to stay. Who‟s

gonna take them in if

we don‟t—a white girl and a Negro

woman? Nobody

around here.‟

(August and June)

too, but it is because she is not ready to tell other people about her life secret. Other characters also see how Lily looks like she is in a kind of trouble, feeling lost and does not have place to stay.

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12/178

„It doesn‟t sound like

me and my mother

were anything alike,‟

I said.

„Oh, but you were.

She had a streak in her like you do. Suddenly she would

up and do

something other

girls wouldn‟t dream of.‟

„Like what?‟ August

stared over my

shoulder and smiled.

„One time she ran

away from home. I can‟t even remember what she was upset about. We looked for her long past dark. Found her curled up in a drainage ditch,

sound asleep.‟

(August)

„Listen to me now,‟

said August, tilting my chin to her face.

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„That‟s a terrible,

terrible thing for you to live with. But

you‟re not

unlovable. Even if

you did

accidentally kill her, you are still the most dear, most lovable girl I know.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions of the research, which are based on the findings and discussion in the previous chapter. This chapter also presents the suggestions for further investigations on the study of narrative technique.

5.1 Conclusions

This research has elaborated its findings which answer the main questions of how the story is narrated in the novel and how the narrative constructs the main character. The previous chapter shows that The Secret Life of Bees (2002) is narrated through six narrative categorizations, those are narrative level, narrative time, narrative voice, focalization, narrative of words, and narrative mode. In addition to this, the narrative constructs the main character through four methods of characterization; physical description, dialogue and actions, thoughts and

feelings, and what other characters’ say about the main character.

Based on the findings, The Secret Life of Bees can be said as a complex narrative text in a sense that it contains more than one narrative levels. The use of flashback and flash forward techniques has given a significant contribution to the order of events in the story. The research also finds that The Secret Life of Bees is

narrated through a single character’s point of view or commonly called as internal focalization which makes the narrator able to reveal only her personal thoughts and feelings because she has a limited access to know for certain the other

characters’ minds.

In constructing the main character, the story The Secret Life of Bees uses

both the direct (“telling”) and indirect (“showing”) methods of characterization to reveal Lily Melissa Owen’s traits. The direct method occurs when Lily simply

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shown through the use of indirect method of characterizations, such as dialogues and actions, thoughts and feelings, and what other characters’ say about the main character.

The close analysis of narrative technique and character development in

The Secret Life of Bees reveals that the story is well organized. The overall events

are narrated in a chronological order by employing both flashback and flash forward techniques. Moreover, the research finds that the use of direct presentation of speech plays a crucial role in the development of mimetic mode in the novel. By using direct presentation of speech, the mimetic mode can reach its dramatic effects and give the readers a sense of intimacy and closeness.

The presence of a child character also affects the writer’s choice of words in the novel The Secret Life of Bees. As the main character, Lily, who is a fourteen-year-old girl, takes a great control in narrating every single event of the story through her personal point of view. Consequently, the words used in the novel are mostly simple rather than complex ones. Furthermore, the main character also allows the readers to enter her inner world so that they can be the one who understand her traits the most. Like a human being, the main character undergoes certain changes as she learns from the problems she has experienced. In the story, Lily faces an internal conflict which leads her to struggle with her own soul whether she can tell her life secrets or not, and she has a great hole in her heart since the death of her mother which has also left her with so many secrets.

Therefore, the development of Lily’s traits is the clue to the story’s meaning and

has successfully covered the major theme of the story.

The analysis of narrative technique in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Life of Bees can be a starting point for a future investigation and therefore it is

expected to motivate readers to be more critical in reading narrative texts. Thus, readers can get better understanding about how meanings are produced in narratives and other literary texts through some narratological categories.

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5.2 Suggestions

In regard with the findings, the researcher suggests that the future research investigate narrative techniques in a comprehensive way. An analysis of narrative technique in films, for example, can be a good topic to be investigated. Therefore, the researcher expects that such research will provide another variation in narratological analysis in order to enhance the study of narrative techniques.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions

feelings, and what other characters’ say about the main character.

narrated through a single character’s point of view or commonly called as internal

focalization which makes the narrator able to reveal only her personal thoughts and feelings because she has a limited access to know for certain the other

characters’ minds.

In constructing the main character, the story The Secret Life of Bees uses

both the direct (“telling”) and indirect (“showing”) methods of characterization to

reveal Lily Melissa Owen’s traits. The direct method occurs when Lily simply