Factors influencing the recovery process of Jamie in A Walk to Remember - USD Repository

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FACTORS INFLUENCING THE RECOVERY PROCESS OF
JAMIE IN A WALK TO REMEMBER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
BERNAD SETIAJI FERGANTORO WIDODO
Student Number: 044214059

ENGLISH LETERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011

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Life
Is
Beautiful

☺
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For whom I called
Mamah and Pak’e
And for every single thing
which has fulfilled my
space…

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Father in Heaven for giving His blessing to me so that I can
complete this thesis. I really thank Him for the chance to taste and complete this
another chapter of life, in the hope for a brighter future.
I would like to thank my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M. Hum. for her
time, guidance, help and supports in correcting my thesis. I also would like to
thank my co-advisor Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari, S.S., M. Ed. for the advice and
correction to this work. I also thank for all the lecturers and staff of the
Department of English Letters for all their guidance and helps that lead me
coming at this point.
I would like to thank my family for being the greatest family ever. I thank
my father, F.X. Slamet Widodo and my mother, Elisabeth Murtiyah, for
encouraging me all the time, night and day, in working on my thesis. I thank them
for their never ending love and patience in taking care of me.
Next, I would like to thank all my college friends Ratna PBI, Zico, Riska
‘Entunx’ and especially to Shanti, Ade, Deva, Bayu ‘Gembur’, Minto, Adit
‘Acong’, Adit ‘Bambang’, Renaldi ‘Reject’, Azalia Novela, Tutik, for the

togetherness in finishing our last homework. I thank Bang Marsono for giving me
the novel, I thank Romo Sulis for always asking me “Piye skripsimu Ben?”, I
thank my friends of OMK St. Sylvester Paroki Wedi, my friends of Joglo (Jomblo
Glodogan) and I thank the big family of Bu Titik and her three beautiful daughters
(Agnes, Ita, Cicil) for the laugh we have shared. To my beloved, Merbarini, I
thank her for her support and all the things she has done to change my world.

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Finally, for those who can not be mentioned here, I thank them all for the
help and support in the process of writing this thesis. God bless you all!

Bernad Setiaji F. W.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………… i
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……………………………………………………… iii
MOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………………… iv
DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………………. v
APPROVAL PRONOUNCEMENT PAGE OF THESIS PUBLICATION

FOR ACADEMIC CONCERN ........................................................................vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………… vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………… ix
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………. x
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………… xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………….. 1
A. Background of the Study …………………………………………. 1
B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………… 6
C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………… 7
D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………. 7
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………………………………. 8
A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………… 8
B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………. 10
1. Theories of Character and Characterization ………………. 10
2. The Relation between Literature and Psychology…………. 13
3. Theory of Recovery Process ………………………………. 15
C. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………… 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………….. 21
A. Object of the Study ………………………………………………... 21
B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………… 23

C. Method of the Study ………………………………………………. 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………………………………………………… ..25
A. Jamie’s Characters as Described in A Walk to Remember ………......25
B. Factors Influencing Jamie’s Recovery Process ………………..….....32
C. The Effects of the Factors toward Jamie’s Recovery Process ……....42
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………….. 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………. 53
APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………... 55
Summary of A Walk to Remember………………………………… 55

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ABSTRACT

BERNAD SETIAJI FERGANTORO WIDODO. Factors Influencing the
Recovery Process of Jamie in A Walk to Remember. Yogyakarta: Departement
of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
A Walk to Remember, created by Nicholas Sparks, is a novel about the
love story between Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan. The analysis of this study
focuses on the major character, Jamie Sullivan. She is a 17-year-old-girl who
suffers from cancer, and it brings her to the recovery process. Jamie’s recovery
process is influenced by some factors. Those factors will also give effects toward
her recovery process.
There are three problems to be discussed in this study. The first problem
deals with Jamie’s characterization as the main character. The second problem
deals with the factors that influence Jamie’s recovery process. The third one deals
with the effects of the factors toward Jamie’s recovery process.
In this study, the writer applied the library research method to analyze the
primary source of this study, the novel of A Walk to Remember. The other sources
to support this study are from literary books, books of psychological theory and
internet. This study uses psychological approach because it discusses the
psychology aspects of the main character. Therefore, besides using literary
theories to answer the problem formulation, this study also uses the psychological

theories, which are the theories of recovery process.
Jamie Sullivan’s characters are described as caring, religious, honest, and
optimistic. The fact that Jamie Sullivan suffers from cancer brings her to the
recovery process which is influenced by some factors. Those factors are social
support, hope, empowerment, spirituality, and meaningful activity. All those
factors also give effects to the recovery process of Jamie Sullivan that she has
more power to fight against her disease. All factors that influence the recovery
process of Jamie Sullivan make her stronger facing the condition that she has
cancer, it also gives her more spirit to life in the rest of her time. Although in the
end the result is not as the same as she wants, with all factors that influence her
recovery process, Jamie Sullivan has more power in accepting the reality that she
suffers cancer and has more respect to her life.

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ABSTRAK

BERNAD SETIAJI FERGANTORO WIDODO. Factors Influencing the
Recovery Process of Jamie in A Walk To Remember. Yogyakarta: Jurusan
Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
A Walk to Remember, dikarang oleh Nicholas Sparks, adalah sebuah novel
tentang kisah cinta antara Landon Carter dan Jamie Sullivan. Pembahasan skripsi
ini difokuskan pada karakter utama yaitu Jamie Sullivan. Jamie Sullivan adalah
seorang gadis berusia 17 tahun yang menderita kanker, dan hal itu membawanya
kepada sebuah proses pemulihan. Proses pemulihan yang dijalani Jamie Sullivan
dipengaruhi oleh beberapa faktor. Semua faktor yang berpengaruh tersebut juga
akan memberikan dampak terhadap proses pemulihan yang dijalaninya.
Ada tiga permasalahan yang dibahas dalam skripsi ini. Permasalahan
pertama berkaitan dengan penokohan Jamie sebagai tokoh utama. Permasalahan
kedua berkaitan dengan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi proses pemulihan pada
diri Jamie. Permasalahan ketiga berkaitan dengan dampak dari faktor-faktor
tersebut terhadap proses pemulihan pada diri Jamie.
Dalam skripsi ini, penulis menerapkan studi pustaka untuk menganalisis
novel A Walk to Remember karangan Sparks. Sumber-sumber lain yang
mendukung penulisan skripsi ini berasal dari buku-buku literatur, buku-buku
tentang teori psikologi serta internet. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan
psikologis karena membahas mengenai aspek psikologis tokoh utamanya.
Karenanya, selain menggunakan teori sastra untuk menjawab pertanyaan yang
terdapat pada rumusan masalah, studi ini juga menggunakan teori psikologi yaitu
teori mengenai proses pemulihan.
Karakter Jamie Sullivan digambarkan sebagai sosok yang penyayang,
religius, jujur, dan optimis. Fakta bahwa Jamie Sullivan menderita kanker
membawanya kepada sebuah proses pemulihan yang dipengaruhi oleh beberapa
faktor. Faktor-faktor tersebut antara lain dukungan sosial, harapan, motivasi dari
dalam diri, kehidupan spiritual, dan aktivitas sosial. Semua faktor tersebut
berdampak terhadap proses pemulihan pada diri Jamie Sullivan yaitu bahwa dia
semakin kuat untuk berjuang melawan penyakitnya. Segala faktor yang
mempengaruhi proses pemulihan pada diri Jamie Sullivan membuatnya lebih kuat
menghadapi kondisi bahwa dia menderita kanker, hal itu juga memberinya
semangat untuk menjalani hidup di sisa waktunya. Walaupun pada akhirnya nanti
hasilnya tidak sama seperti apa yang dia harapkan, dengan semua faktor yang
mempengaruhi proses pemulihan dirinya, Jamie Sullivan menjadi lebih kuat
menerima kenyataan bahwa dia menderita kanker dan dia pun dapat lebih
menghargai hidupnya.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Reading a literary work gives many valuable things for the readers. We can
enrich our knowledge and experiences in our life. In other words, reading a work of
literature does not only give us pleasure, but also educates us as a human being. We
may understand the reality of life through literature. In literature, an author of literary
works writes a work of literature because of his/her experiences about things related
to the reality of life, maybe his/her own life or someone else life. The author will
express his/her ideas, feelings, and experiences in his/her own style by making a
meaningful and beautiful work which can not be expressed by common people. There
are many things in literature that we can learn, such as love, faith, religion, sacrifice,
struggle and the knowledge about life that maybe we never knew before.
We can also learn many other things in literature, such as the conflict of
human life, the setting they live, the ideas, or the criticism the author wants to reveal.
Literature, actually, gives us a picture of life from the author’s view (Brooks et al,
1952: 8). Since literature is the reflection of life, it is not impossible that personal
experience can influence the creation of characters in a literary works, particularly
since they are taken from the life itself.
In his book, An Approach to English Literature, Van de Laar says that, “a
novel is a work of art in so far as it introduces us into living world: in some respect

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resembling the world we live in, but with an individuality of its own” (1963: 163).
Van de Laar stated that there is a world in the novel that looked like the real world; it
means that there is a close relation between the world in the novel and the real world.
It also means that a story of life will be found in a novel because it tells about
someone’s world, his/her life condition or the conflict he/she has to face. Therefore,
by reading a novel, we may learn more valuable things in life such as what happened
in the past, what kind of human behavior, the problem the characters have to face in
life, and how they have to deal with that problem.
According to Milligan (1983: 4), a novel, as a work of literature, is more in
touch with reality, as it helps the readers see things as they really are. By reading a
novel the readers will see some realities that will give them the deeper understanding
about life and its problem. Through a novel the readers can find so many interesting
experiences that can enrich the reader’s knowledge and experiences of life. The
readers can also get a lot of principles about human cultures, human characters, and
human experiences because novel is such an imitation of life. The readers can learn
the way of life through the characters of a novel.
A Walk to Remember is an interesting novel because it is based on a true story.
The novel shows the readers the understanding of reality in this life. The story is
about a couple and the survival of someone against her disease, the power of love
makes them strong to fight against the disease. Sparks mixes the story of a person
who struggles against cancer with the romance story about a man and a woman who
fall in love. A Walk to Remember is a heart wrenching account of a young, first love

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and the choices and steps a person will take to provide another with
happiness. Sparks chooses the best words to describe the characters in the novel, so
that the reader can easily identify each character with their feelings. The book lets the
readers explore their own feelings about love.
Nicholas Sparks who has the real name Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in
Omaha, Nebraska on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1965; he is the son of Patrick
Michael Sparks and Jill Emma Marie Sparks. As a child, Sparks lived in Minnesota,
Los Angeles and Grand Island, Nebraska, finally settling in Fair Oaks, California at
the age of eight. His father was a professor, his mother a homemaker, then
optometrist's assistant. He lived in Fair Oaks through high school, graduated
valedictorian in 1984, and received a full track scholarship to the University of Notre
Dame. Sparks was the middle of three children with an older brother Michael Earl
Sparks (b. Dec. 1964), and a younger sister Danielle Sparks (b. Dec. 1966, d. June,
2000). Danielle Sparks is the inspiration for the main character in his novel A Walk to
Remember. Sparks and his wife Catherine, who met on spring break in 1988, were
married in July, 1989. While living in Sacramento, he wrote his second novel in that
same year, though again, it was not published. He worked a variety of jobs over the
next three years, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products
by phone, and started his own small manufacturing business which struggled from the
beginning. He moved from Sacramento, California to North Carolina in 1992
(http://www.nicholassparks.com/AboutNicholas.asp?PageID=1).

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In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months.
In October, 1995, rights to The Notebook were sold to Warner Books. It was
published in October, 1996 and he followed that with Message in a Bottle (1998), A
Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001) and Nights
in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), Three Weeks with
my Brother (2004), True Believer (2005) and At First Sight (2005) all with Warner
Books. All were domestic and international best sellers and were translated into more
than 35 languages. Further, some of his novels, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to
Remember, The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe were adapted into movie version
(http://www.hhsdrama.com/documents/BioNicholasSparks.pdf). In this thesis, the
writer will only focus on the novel A Walk to Remember.
A Walk to Remember is inspired by the experience of Danielle, Sparks’ sister
who got cancer. It tells about Landon and Jamie as the major character. The story
started with Landon Carter, a 57 year-old man from Beaufort, North Carolina,
narrates the story of his seventeenth year, the year that changed his life. He tells the
reader how he takes part in the Christmas play at the urging of a strange girl he had
known and teased for being different all his life. Her name is Jamie Sullivan, the
seventeen year-old girl who is dying of cancer, but who gives impacts on the lives of
everyone around her. She is the deeply religious daughter of the local Baptist
minister. Through his experiences with her during the play and other times that Jamie
impacts on his life, Landon falls in love with her, only to discover that she is dying of
cancer. At first, he could not take the reality that she was sick, but he still loves her

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and takes her as she is. In the seven months that he spends with her, he becomes a
different young man forever.
The writer is interested in analyzing Nicholas Sparks’ novel because most of
his works are widely known and read. Another interesting aspect is about the
characteristic of Sparks’ novel; love is often raised as the main topic of his works.
Sparks writes romance novels with the perfect words to describe the nature of the
characters, so that the reader can identify with the feelings in their hearts to explore
their own feelings and memories of love. A Walk to Remember is chosen because the
story is so beautiful; it is a story of the beauty, power and innocence of first love, the
story gives us more knowledge about life. There are many interesting elements in the
novel that we can learn such as the values of love, sacrifice or religion, but the most
attractive element is the recovery process of the character during the illness. Not an
easy thing to do when some people have to struggle against their disease, especially
cancer, sometimes a person will experience a problems as the result of an underlying
medical condition because the patients has to do many treatments, consume many
medicines, and may be they can not do their daily activities anymore. People around
someone suffering with cancer will do everything to struggle to keep their spirit of
life, and they have to be ready to face the worst possibility that is death of the
patients.
Cancer is a fearful disease. It causes considerable psychological distress for
many people such as in patients, families, friends or even the loved one. It is natural
for people with cancer to feel many emotions. Not only the patient, but also people

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living around them will feel frightened or even angry when they know that they live
with someone with cancer. Keep in mind that the person we care about is simply sick.
Despite the cancer, he or she is still the same person we have always known and
loved. One of the biggest things we can do for someone suffering with cancer is to
make them smile and laugh. Give them a purpose to get up every day and live happily
like a normal life. Laughter and love is always the best choice of medicine.
Jamie feels afraid about the condition she has to face, but she keeps struggle
against her disease. Jamie Sullivan is a strong figure for someone who is claimed to
have leukemia. There are some factors that make her strong to face the condition. She
has leukemia but she accepts her condition wisely, her disease slowly but surely ruins
her life. She knows that she is going to die soon, but she always keep her spirit of life,
one thing that not every person can do as people tend to deny their weakness and they
want to be perfect in this life. Jamie shows the readers the importance of accepting
the reality because it can lead people to have more respect in their life. From the
attractive element of the factors that influence the recovery process of the character
and the writer personal interesting about the story, therefore the writer propose to
write a thesis entitled Factors Influencing the Recovery Process of Jamie in A Walk to
Remember.

B. Problem Formulation
The problems of this undergraduate thesis that will be discussed can be
formulated as follows.

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1. How is Jamie described in the story?
2. What are the factors influence Jamie’s recovery process?
3. What are the effects of the factors toward Jamie’s recovery process?

C. Objectives of the Study
The objective of this study is to answer the three questions stated in the
problem formulation. Firstly, this study has the aim to find out the character of Jamie.
By finding the character of Jamie when she has to face cancer, the next step is to see
the factors that influence Jamie’s recovery process. Then, the study has the aim to
explain the effects of the factors toward Jamie’s recovery process. The writer hopes
that this study will help readers to know well about the novel and also to know deeper
the recovery process of people with cancer.

D. Definition of Terms
In order to understand the word that is used in this thesis and to make a better
understanding, the writer presents the explanation of the word. There is one term that
needs to be defined, that is “recovery process”.
Recovery process is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one’s
attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying,
hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness. Recovery
involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one’s life as one grows
beyond the catastrophic effects of illness (Anthony, 1993: 13).

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies
In this thesis the writer will analyze one of Nicholas Sparks’ novels, A Walk
to Remember. This part consists of the related studies that deal with the novel. There
are many responses to the publishing of this novel, generally they are positive ones,
here the writer would like to present criticism to the story of A Walk to Remember in
order to enrich the writer’s knowledge in understanding the novel. Criticism is very
important, because if people give their comments to certain literary work, it means
that they pay attention to it, and the work itself is able to attract people to read it.
Nicholas Sparks is one of the contemporary authors. Besides A Walk to
Remember, he also wrote many other novels, and he always tries to combine all
elements

to

make

his

novel

interesting.

In

(http://www.nicholassparks.com/LearnMore.asp?BookID=3#), Sparks says that, there
are a few challenges in writing the novel A Walk to Remember.
The major challenge lay in blending of spirituality into the text. Though faith
is a powerful element of my own life, when I set out to write a novel, I am
guided by the simple thought of writing a story that most people will enjoy.
Since religion and faith vary greatly among my readers, it was difficult to
write such a story with a balance that wouldn't offend anyone. Nor did I want
to preach to anyone. That's not the purpose of a novel.

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In writing A Walk to Remember, Sparks tries to offer something different in the era of
1990’s. He tries to combine some elements that he has on his novel, they are faith,
beauty, power and the innocence of first love.
Book Page as a site which provides a directory of thousands information of
books also gives response about the author of A Walk to Remember:
Nicholas Sparks waves his magic romance wand once again; this time over
the ideal of transformational first love … Sparks is a modern master of fateful
love stories and road-not-taken fables written uncluttered prose
(http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780446693806.htm)
Sparks is a great author of love stories, he is a very famous author especially most of
his novels become bestseller. Although there are lots of love stories from the past
until now, Sparks’ stories are remarkable stories an always interesting to be read.
The publisher of the novel also shows that Sparks’ A Walk to Remember,
which is based on a true story of his younger sister, tells about a true love that is not
easy to be forgotten. The true love itself is so powerful that it is able to change one’s
personality, one’s life, even one’s fate.
No other author today touches our emotions more deeply than Nicholas
Sparks. In A Walk to Remember, he tells a truly unforgettable story, one that
glimmers with all of his magic, holding us spellbound- and reminding us that
in life each of us may find one great loved, the kind that changes everything…
(http://www.flipkart.com/b/books/walk-remember-nicholas-sparks-book0446525537)
The writer also finds a study about the novel A Walk to Remember. A student
of Faculty of Letters in Sanata Dharma University named Merry Christina writes
about The Values of Love as Reflected in Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember. She
discusses about the values of love in the story and the way the characters love each

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other. In her thesis, she explains about how the author presents love through the
characters and conflicts. Then she tries to find the values of love seen in the novel
(Christina, 2007: viii).
The thesis written by Merry Christina uses the formalistic approach in
analyzing A Walk to Remember. The focus is more about the values of love in the
novel. This undergraduate thesis also uses the same object, but with different topic, in
this undergraduate thesis, the writer is more interested in the factors that influence the
recovery process of the character, especially Jamie as the main character when she
has to fight against cancer.

B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
In this study, the writer would like to present the theory of character by
Stanton, Henkle, Perrine and Kenney. Besides, the writer also uses the theory of
characterization presented by Murphy.
Stanton (1965: 17) says that there may be two kinds of interpretation that
come to people’s mind. First, people may think about the people who are in the novel
such as Jamie Sullivan in A Walk to Remember. Second, people may think about
personality traits of the people who exist in the novel.
Henkle (1977: 87-101) states that characters can be divided into two parts.
The first one is major characters and the second one is secondary characters. Major
characters are the most significant characters in a novel. They can be identified

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through the complexity of their characterization, the attention given by certain
figures, and the personal intensity that a character seems to transmit (1977: 178-181).
The major character will completely need the reader’s fullest attention because they
perform a key structural function. While the secondary characters are characters who
serve functions that are more restricted. They perform and respond in more limited
functions than the major characters, they may be less sophisticated, therefore their
response to experience is less complex and less interesting.
Perrine classified fictional characters into static and dynamic characters. Static
characters are characters that change little in their outlook or personalities during the
course of the study. They remain stable and are the same sort of persons at the end of
the story as at the beginning. They are described without much detail and they are not
changed by circumstances. Dynamic characters are those who undergo changes in
some aspects of their characters, personalities or outlook from the beginning to the
end of the story. The changes could be for better or for worse and may be a large or
small one, but it is something that is important and basic, and more than a minor
change in opinion (Perrine, 1974: 71).
According to Kenney (1988: 32-34), there are three traits that build up the
whole character. The first is social traits, which are related to the character’s role in
society, for example the relationship with groups or institutions, which are recognized
by society. The second one is physical traits, which are related to the physical
appearance of the character. The last one is psychological traits. They concern with
the emotion, intellectually, feeling and motivation of the character.

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In order to describe clearly the character, the writer uses theory of
characterization by Murphy. According to Murphy (1972: 161-173), there are nine
ways of characterization. The nine ways of characterization are used to create the
character understandable for his readers.
a. Personal Description
In some part of this novel Nicholas Sparks describes the characters through
their appearance and clothes, as Murphy says that the author describes a person’s
character through the appearance and clothes.
b. Character as Seen by Another
The characters not only described through their appearance and clothes but
also through the point of view of the other people in the novel.
c. Speech
Nicholas Sparks also gives a deeper understanding about the characters from
the speech that is produced or in a conversation with other characters whenever
they propose an idea.
d. Past Life
By allowing the reader learns something about a person’s past life, the author
can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This
can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts,
through his conversation or through the medium of another person.

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e. Conversation of Others
Nicholas Sparks tries to describe the characters through the conversation of
other people in the story. For example Jamie Sullivan’s character is described by
conversation of Landon Carter or the other character say about her.
f. Reactions
The character of a person can be observed by seeing at the person’s reaction
toward various situations and events in his/her life.
g. Direct Comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly through
the narration, especially in third-person narrator.
h. Thought
The author can give us direct information of what a person is thinking about
and even tell us what other people are thinking. Here the author acts as a person
who knows everything.
i. Mannerism
The person’s character can be analyzed through the person’s mannerism and
habit that may also tell us something about his character.

2. The Relation between Literature and Psychology
In reading literary works, the readers may analyze the work by relating the
works with any psychological theories that are suitable. In the literary works, there
are things that can be analyzed by psychological theories such as human life,

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behavior, personality, emotion, etc. Literature and psychology are the two subjects
that can be a media to explore human’s life. Lindauer (1984: 144) states in the book
Psychology and its Allied Disciplines Volume I edited by Bornstein, et al., that
literature is best at describing the human condition in a dramatic form while
psychology has the strength to investigate human’s character or behavior in
systematic ways. Both subjects have one common purpose that is to depict human
condition. Literature depicts human condition in dramatic way while psychology
studies human characteristics systematically.
There is a distinctive relation between the works and the writer; the writer can
draw his idea, thought, and feeling through the works. According to Rene Wellek and
Austin Warren in their book Theory of Literature, psychology of literature means the
psychological study of the writer, as type and as individual, or the study of the
creative process, or the study of the psychological types and laws present within
works of literature, or, finally the effect of literature upon its readers or audience
psychology (1956: 81).
As Wellek and Warren said that psychology and literature have a very close
relation in which some of literary works talk about psychological cases, people can
learn theory of psychology that may be revealed in works of literature by analyzing
the works. It also can be said that the analysis of literary works may reflect certain
psychological aspects.

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3. Theory of Recovery Process
Anthony says that, recovery process is a unique process of changing one’s
attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying,
hopeful and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness (1993: 13).
This study applies the theory of recovery process to interpret the psychological
aspects of the main character in the novel. When talking about psychology, it is
always in a connection with a character which involves behavior, thoughts and
feelings. Recovery process involves the development of new meaning and purpose in
one’s life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of illness, it includes
everything that people think, feel and do. Recovery process is a personal and unique
process, everyone can develop his or her own recovery depends on the factors that
influence it. Factors that are common to the recovery process are social support, hope,
empowerment, spirituality and meaningful activity (Anthony, 1993: 15).
a. Social Support
Support from peers, family, friends and health professional is essential to
recover from the disease. It is especially beneficial to have multiple sources of
support. This not only reduces a client’s sense of isolation, but also increases their
activity in the community, allowing them to obtain an integral role in society. In
addition to support from individuals, participation in support groups is an important
tool for recovery. Being able to interact with others who understand their feelings and
experiences is the most important ingredient for their recovery (Anthony, 1993:16).

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Social support is a support that is given by a society for a person or for some
people on it, marriage and family are the important social support sources. Smet
(1994: 133) in his book Psikologi Kesehatan which are translated into English says
that social support is divided into four kinds: emotional support, instrumental support,
respect support and informative support.
i.

Emotional support: they are supports like empathy and attention or care to
someone who get a disease or problem.

ii.

Respect support: it is a respect expressed for people, such as a support to
develop or agreement with individual concept.

iii.

Instrumental support: it is a support that is included in a direct help like when
people lend their money to the other people or help them to do the job when
they need it.

iv.

Informative support: it is a support in giving advice or instructions to get
feedback from other people.
b. Hope
Hope is a desire accompanied by confident expectation. For the client, having

a sense of hope is the foundation for continuing recovery from illness. Even the
smallest belief that we can get better, as others have, can fuel the recovery process.
Early in the recovery process, it is possible for a health professional, friend or family
member to carry hope for a client. At some point, however, client must develop and
internalize their sense of hope (Anthony, 1993: 16).

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As Anthony said, hope is an essential element in the recovery process. Hope
begins as a space in our inner world for possibility; it involves an idea that we may be
able to escape from some kind of personal imprisonment, addiction or obsession.
Hope can push someone to choose life, hope can make someone to reach out for help
and accept support, hope can encourage someone to work toward developing a
healthier relationship with their body and hope can help someone to search meaning
in their life. Hope can be described as a power resource that buffer stress and allows a
sense of freedom even during times of suffering.
c. Empowerment
Empowerment is the belief that one has the power and control in their life,
including their disease. For most clients empowerment also involves having a strong
motivation for recovery process, it is behavior motors from the inside. The most
important thing is the way clients use their power to motivate their self in the
recovery process (Anthony, 1993: 18).
According to Murray (1964: 8), motivation is an internal process that controls
behaviors to achieve certain goals; it is a desire that has certain goals to be obtained.
It is a power that gives strength in the people self to do something. Someone who gets
ill, the only goal to be obtained is that they want to be healthy. In order to be healthy,
someone has to have a positive thinking about the condition of the body for the
recovery process.

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d. Spirituality
People often relate spirituality to religion, a broad definition of spirituality is
that it’s a partnership with one’s higher power. For many clients spirituality provides
hope, solace during their illness, peace and understanding and a source of social
support. It can be a guide for a person to get positive solution for their recovery
process.
The most important feature of spirituality is that it tries to restore hope, which
is likely to counteract hopelessness. When the patients feel that they do not have
power against their disease, they can just take them to God. Spirituality can make a
person able to think actively until they reach their expectation, have positive feeling
and free from worried (Anthony, 1993: 20).
e. Meaningful Activity
What we do or our behavior shapes others' opinions of who we are. As a
result, it is common for a person's identity to be significantly impacted by their
behavior or what they do. Likewise, what a person does influences his or her
confidence, esteem, social role, values, etc. Simply, a meaningful activity affords
most clients the opportunity to regain a positive identity in their society, including a
sense of purpose and value (Anthony, 1993:21).
Anthony said that meaningful activity has a close relation to what a person
does in the society or in other words his/her behavior to get positive identity. Society
is the place where people can interact with one another; it means that someone needs
to build relationship with other people. Meaningful activity is an activity which is

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done by someone to show his/her behavior in order to get good judgment and support
from the society. What is meant by meaningful is that something good, important and
useful which is done for other people. By having a good behavior and characteristics
such as caring person, helping others, religious person or being honest, someone will
get good judgment from other people in the society. A person with a good judgment
will has charisma, and then it will be easy for that person to get attention, help or
support from other people.

C. Theoretical Framework
In the previous sub-chapters, the writer stated some theories and notes that
will be used to analyze the novel. The theories above are divided into three that are
theory of character and characterization, relation between literature and psychology
and theory of recovery process. Those theories are needed to help the writer in
analyzing the novel and to answer the questions stated in the problem formulations.
In analyzing this thesis, first, the main character in the novel is studied by
using the theories of characters and characterization. In this study, the writer uses the
theory of character proposed by Stanton, Henkle, Perrine and Kenney, and then the
theory of characterization proposed by Murphy. The characterization methods that are
used in this study are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past
life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thought and mannerism. Those
theories provide complete ways to analyze the characters of the novel. The write uses
those theories because those are appropriate for describing the characters of the major

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character in this novel. Once this is done, the answer of the first problem formulation
is obtained.
The writer also chooses the theory of recovery process in order to analyze the
factors that influence Jamie’s recovery process when she has to deal with cancer.
There are some factors that influence Jamie’s recovery process that are social support,
hope, empowerment, spirituality and meaningful activity. Next, it will also explain
the effects of the factors toward Jamie’s recovery process. To relate the novel with
the psychological theories, the writer presents theory on relation between literature
and psychology. Briefly, this study combines all theories that are relevant to answer
the entire questions in the problem formulation from book and internet as its main
sources.

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CHAPTHER III
METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the study
The object of this study is a novel A Walk to Remember, the third novel which
was written by Nicholas Sparks. The novel was first published in the fall of 1999 by
Warner Books, but this study uses the same novel which was published by Sphere in
November 2007. A paperback edition is used in this study. It contains of 208 pages
and 13 chapters. The setting of the story is in the mid-1950s in Beaufort, North
Carolina. The novel has been translated into more than thirty languages. This novel is
also adapted into motion picture in 2002 and became an international bestseller. This
is an exiting novel about two teenagers who fall in love each other; it is a romantic
story of young people with their problems and how to overcome the problems. It is
also about the struggle of someone facing her illness and the recovery process of it.
A Walk to Remember was inspired by Sparks’ younger sister; it tells the story
of Jamie Sullivan and Landon Carter. Written in first-person, the narrator is a
seventeen year-old boy living in 1950s. His whole life was change when he spent his
time with Jamie, a girl whom he thought as a stranger before. From the first chapter,
this novel focuses on Jamie Sullivan and Landon Carter as the major character.
However, there are other characters in the story who serve as the secondary
characters.

21

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A Walk to Remember is a story of love by Nicholas Sparks, an everlasting
love between two teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan. Landon Carter, the 57
year-old man who through flashback narrates the story of his seventeenth year, is the
narrator of the story who tells us how he grew up in the town of Beaufort, North
Carolina, fell in love with Jamie Sullivan and completely changed his life. He is a
type of teenager who just wants to have fun in his senior year before goes to college.
The next main character of the story is Jamie Sullivan, the seventeen year-old
girl daughter of a Baptist minister who is dying of cancer, but who gives impacts on
the lives of everyone around her. She lives only with her widowed father, rescues hurt
animals and helps the local orphanage. She is the real angel of the story, not just a
character in the school play. She seems so different from the other teenagers. She is
depicted as a strange young girl who has her long hair in a bun and wears the same
sweater and plaid skirt almost everyday.
Landon has never dreamed that he will be friends with Jamie, a girl whom he
thinks as a stranger. In the story, he tells the reader how he takes part in the Christmas
play at the urging of a strange girl he had known and teased for being different all his
life. Her name is Jamie Sullivan and she is the deeply religious daughter of the local
Baptist minister, who has himself been the object of ridicule over the years. Through
his experiences with her during the play and other times that Jamie impacts on his
life, Landon falls in love with her, only to discover that she is dying of cancer. In the
seven months that he spends with her, he becomes a different young man forever.
Being with Jamie shows him the depths of human heart.

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B. Approach of the study
In this study the writer applies psychological approach because the study
focuses more on the psychological aspects. According to Rohrberger and Woods,
psychological approach is to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior
patterns written in literary object, therefore, knowledge of psychology ground is
important in order to understand the literary works (1971: 12). Psychological
approach uses theory of psychology which explains behavior, personality, motivation,
emotion, or feeling in order to give understanding and explain the characters in the
novel. According to Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature,
psychological approach deals with a work of literature primarily as an expression, in
fictional form, of the state of mid and the structure of personality of the individual
author. Psychological interpretation can afford many profound clues toward solving a
work’s thematic and symbolic mysteries (1999: 125).
Psychological approach is considered as the best approach for this study since
it analyses the psychological side of the character in the novel. The reference
mentioned above helped the writer to apply the psychological approach. By using
psychological approach and the theories related to it, the study will try to answer the
three questions stated in the problem formulations.

C. Method of the study
In this study, the writer applied a library research which uses written record as
the source data. It used novel as the main source data, and the novel A Walk to

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Remember was used as the primary source. The data included in the thesis was taken
from the book in the library such as for the theory and approach. Any website from
the internet also became the secondary source to find other information related to the
study such as the information of the author and also other data.
There were several steps taken by the writer to analyze the novel. The first
step was reading the novel many times to get a better understanding of the story. The
writer focused the analysis on Jamie Sullivan and then made some notes about her
personal description, her behavior, her thought, her mannerism and the conversation
of others. The writer was also trying to find out the connection to the formulated
problems. The writer imagined himself as Jamie. The writer wanted to feel what she
felt so that the writer felt what has been felt by the character.
The next step was finding some books about theories of literature and
psychology. The writer tried to find the theory of character and characterization,
relation of literature and psychology and theory of recovery process. Theory of
character and characterization could help the writer to go deeper in understanding the
main character. Theory of recovery process helped the writer to analyze the factors
that influence Jamie’s recovery process and its effects toward Jamie’s recovery
process. After learning about the theory, the next step to be taken was determining the
approach and then the study was started to be analyzed.

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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS

To analyze the novel clearer, this chapter will be divided into three parts. The
first part discusses about Jamie’s characters. The second part talks about the factors
that influence Jamie’s r