Portrayal of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain's 'The Diary of Adam and Eve'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini, saya memilih untuk menganalisis salah satu
novel yang ditulis oleh Mark Twain dengan judul The Diary of Adam and Eve.
Mark Twain adalah salah satu penulis besar yang berasal dari Amerika.
Kehebatannya dalam menulis cerita diiringi dengan kemampuannya dalam menyisipi
unsur humor dan sindiran dalam banyak karyanya. Banyak karya-karya Twain yang
telah dibaca dan diakui oleh dunia.
Novel The Diary of Adam and Eve ini sendiri ditulis Twain ketika hidupnya
mulai mengalami kemunduran. Novel ini menampilkan Adam dan Hawa sebagai
karakternya. Diceritakan bahwa Adam dan Hawa, dalam imajinasi Twain, memiliki
sifat-sifat layaknya manusia biasa. Sifat-sifat Adam dan Hawa tersebut tidak dapat
kita lihat dalam penggambaran Adam dan Hawa dalam dua kitab suci yang
mempercayai bahwa Adam dan Hawa adalah dua manusia pertama yang menghuni
dunia, yaitu Alkitab dan Al-Qur’an. Yang menarik adalah sifat-sifat yang dimiliki
Adam dan Hawa ini bertolak belakang satu sama lain, sehingga tidak mudah bagi
mereka untuk menyesuaikan diri masing-masing.
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Dalam novel ini, Adam ditampilkan sebagai seorang pria yang penyendiri.
Adam sangat menikmati kesendiriannya, sehingga ketika Hawa diciptakan sebagai
pendampingnya, Adam merasa sangat terganggu. Disisi lain, Hawa ditampilkan
sebagai wanita yang aktif; ia memiliki inisiatif untuk bertindak. Ketika Adam yang
penyendiri menjauhinya, ia tetap berinisiatif untuk mengenal Adam. Selain itu, Adam
ditampilkan sebagai pribadi yang rasional. Dia mengandalkan pikirannya untuk
menjawab apapun yang menjadi pertanyaan baginya. Sifat ini berbeda dengan Hawa
yang juga mengandalkan perasaannya dalam bertindak. Adam juga ditampilkan
sebagai pria yang tidak sensitif terhadap sekitarnya, dia tidak menaruh perhatian
terhadap Hawa, anaknya, maupun alam. Sifat Adam ini sangat kontras dengan sifat
yang ditampilkan oleh Hawa. Hawa adalah seorang wanita yang penyayang. Ia
menyayangi Adam, anaknya, hewan maupun alam.
Penggambaran karakter Adam dan Hawa yang sangat manusiawi, saya
simpulkan sebagai tujuan penulis dalam menyampaikan bahwa perbedaan sifat yang
dimiliki manusia sebenarnya dapat dijadikan bagian yang saling melengkapi.
Penggambaran Adam sebagai pria yang individualistis diseimbangi dengan kehadiran
Hawa sebagai wanita sosial. Begitu pula sebaliknya, sifat sosial Hawa diseimbangi
dengan sifat individualistis Adam, sehingga dalam realisasinya pria dan wanita dapat
saling melengkapi kehadiran masing-masing dengan apa yang menjadi kekurangan
maupun kelebihannya.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………………………………………………………….
i
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….......... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………….
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………...
Method of Research………………………………………………………
Organization of the Thesis………………………………………………..
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ADAM
AND EVE IN MARK TWAIN’S THE DIARY OF ADAM AND
EVE............................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION…………………………………………. 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. 22
APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Diary of Adam and Eve………………………………… 23
Biography of the Author………………………………………………….. 25
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APPENDICES
Synopsis
Adam and Eve are believed to be the first two human beings on earth. God
creates Adam first and then God creates Eve as a companion to Adam. God
commands them to take care of the Garden of Eden and be united with each other.
When Adam and Eve finally meet, Adam objects to the presence of Eve.
Adam is a man who enjoys his own company, when Eve shows up for the first time,
he remains to keep a distance from her. Adam ignores Eve when she introduces
herself, and he even puts her out in the rain to show his discomfort of the presence of
Eve. On the other hand, Eve keeps trying to get acquainted to Adam. Eve’s love to
Adam is so great that she still tries to get close to Adam even though Adam treats her
indifferently.
As an active woman, Eve is the one who has initiative to act and she also
loves to talk. It bothers Adam very much that Eve talks too much. It also bothers
Adam to find Eve’s initiative to name everything that comes along for Adam thinks
that it is his role. Eve thinks that by being initiative and naming all things, she
relieves Adam from a heavy job and she can be useful for him; on the contrary, Adam
feels annoyed. Being a curios woman, when God commands them not to eat the fruit
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of good and evil, Eve is eager to know what the meanings of good and evil are. Eve’s
curiosity of those words leads her to eat the forbidden fruit.
The next year since their fall, Eve gives birth to their first son, Cain. Being
insensitive man, Adam thinks that Cain is a kind of animal. On the other hand, Eve
develops her love to Cain. When Adam puts Cain to water to answer whether Cain is
a kind of fish or not, Eve protects Cain. She patiently guards Cain to make sure her
son is safe.
After many conflicts and as the time goes by, they gradually realize that they
are completed by the presence of the each other. Eve realizes Adam being a rational
man is useful to present a great contribution to science. The law that water runs down
not up comes from Adam’s rational thought. He cannot explain things just by using
feeling like Eve does. Adam realizes that Eve is an essential part of his being for she
shows the greatness of her heart and makes him learn to love. As Adam states at
Eve’s grave: ‘Wheresoever she was, there was Eden’.
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Biography
Mark Twain, is pseudonym of Samuel Longhorn Clemens was born on
November 30, 1835 in Florida. He spent his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, where
he developed a strong tie to the Mississippi River. His first job was a printer for a
newspaper. The young Clemens was looking for new adventures; therefore, in 1857
he headed to New Orleans and spent the next two years as a steamboat pilot. In 1861,
his brother, Orion, who had been appointed as a secretary of Nevada, chose Twain to
be his secretary. In Nevada he was interested in making his fortune by mining. But,
he never succeeded in it. To support his income he contributed humorous letters to
the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and became the reporter for the paper. He
began signing his articles with the pseudonym Mark Twain in 1863, a Mississippi
River phrase meaning “two fathoms deep”. Twain’s short story The Celebrated
Jumping Frog in Calaveras Country became a national sensation and within months
he was known around the country.
He was married to Olivia Langdon in 1870 and she gave him three children.
Much of Twain’s best work was written in 1870s and 1880s; Roughing It, The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1884) is considered as Twain’ masterpiece. In the same year Huck Finn was
released, Charles L. Webster & Company, the company which published Twain’s and
other writer’s works, went bankrupt and left Twain in considerable debt. Before he
could handle his financial trouble, his eldest daughter was dead followed by his wife
and his youngest daughter. So great was the effect of his family’s death and his
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financial trouble as to make the latter part of his life very pessimistic and bitter.
During the final years of his life Twain’s most notable writings were Extract From
Adam’s Diary, Eve’s Diary, Chapters From My Autobiography, and Letters From the
Earth. Owing to his grieving, Twain vowed to never write again. On April 21, 1910
he sank into a coma and his heart failed to survive. Until nowadays Twain is
considered as one of American’s great writers, whose best work is respected
throughout the world.
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Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The story of Adam and Eve is a story which is related to religion.
Christianity and Islam are the two religions that believe Adam and Eve are the
first two human beings on earth. They believe that God created Adam first and
then God created Eve as a companion and helper to Adam. However, both the
Bible, the Christian holy book, and the Koran, the Moslem holy book, do not
describe the portrayal of Adam and Eve in detail. They have certain
characteristics, yet not in detail. Thus, now the possibility of creating the first
two human beings on earth is open.
Inspired by the story of Adam and Eve, Mark Twain takes the same
subject in his work entitled The Diary of Adam and Eve. Yet, Twain portrays
Adam and Eve through his own interpretation. I am interested in Mark Twain
because Twain is known as one of America’s great writers:
Whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent
humor or biting social satire. He was known and respected
throughout the world as a humorist during his life, and since
1
Maranatha Christian University
his death, his reputation has only grown. Today, Mark Twain
is known as a great writer as well as a humorist as well as
American icon.’
(http.//mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twainbiography.aspwain,).
Twain wrote a lot of great and interesting books; however, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn is considered to be Twain’s greatest novel.
I choose to analyze the characters in this book owing to the fact that a
character is one of the important things in the work of literature. According to Robert,
a character is a verbal representation of human being as presented to us by authors
through the depiction of actions, conversations, descriptions, reactions, inner thoughts
and reflections, and also through the author’s own interpretive commentary. Authors
can create the image of the characters in his book as they want it to be. The characters
in this book, Adam and Eve, are presented to have characteristics in detail. In
analyzing the characters in this book, I look into the characterization techniques that
the author uses. According to Murphy, characterization technique is:
How an author conveys to the reader the characters and the
personalities of the people he writes about; in other words how he
convey to the readers what sort of people they are, how he makes
the readers get to know and understand them. Characterization
technique consist of personal description, character as seen by
another, thoughts, speech, past life, conversation of others,
reactions, direct comment, and mannerism.
(Murphy, 1972:161-173)
I will focus on the characterization techniques used by the author in this novel,
so that I can have a better understanding about the characters. I found that the most
dominant techniques in revealing the characteristics are thought, reactions, and
character as seen by another.
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Based on my reasons above, my discussion will focus on portraying the
characteristics of Adam and Eve. Afterwards, I will try to find the author’s purpose in
creating such characters.
Statement of the Problem
I would like to discuss the following problems:
1. What are the characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The Diary
of Adam and Eve?
2. What is the purpose of the author in creating such characters?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, I would like to show:
1. The characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The Diary of Adam
and Eve.
2. The purpose of the author in creating such characters.
Method of Research
In analyzing my thesis, I use intrinsic approach. I also apply library research.
First, I read The Diary of Adam and Eve as the primary text. Then I read some
reference books and explore some internet sites that are relevant to and support my
thesis. Finally, I analyze the primary text and draw a conclusion.
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Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters. In Chapter One, I present the
Introduction, which consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Purpose of the Study, Method of Research and Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter
Two, I present my discussion of the portrayal of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The
Diary of Adam and Eve and the purpose of the author in creating such characters.
After this, I conclude my analysis in Chapter Three. The thesis ends with
Bibliography and Appendices, which contain the Biography of Mark Twain and the
Synopsis of The Diary of Adam and Eve.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The
Diary of Adam and Eve, I would like to conclude what the characteristics of Adam
and Eve are and what the author’s purpose is in creating such characteristics.
Thus, Adam has these following characteristics: loner, rational, and ignorant.
Besides, I also have the conclusion that Eve has these following characteristics:
curious, active, and loving. I notice the characteristics of Adam and Eve in this novel
from what they think, what they do, and what one another says.
I come to a conclusion that Adam is a loner since he enjoys his own company.
I can see this when he himself states that he is not used to be companied and the
presence of Eve means nothing but a disturbance to him. Adam escapes from Eve to
show his discomfort of her presence.
Adam is a rational man as he tends to use his logic rather than his feeling.
When Eve tells him that she is made from his rib, Adam thinks that it is impossible
for he does not miss any rib. Also when his son, Cain, is born, at first he only
considers his son as an animal. He treats his son as an experiment to answer what
kind of animal his son is.
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I am of the opinion that Adam is an ignorant man owing to the fact that he is
ignorant toward his surrounding. He has no attention to Eve, his son, and also nature.
He ignores Eve’s feeling. When Eve introduces herself, Adam has no interest in her.
Being ignorant, he is also not touched by the presence of his son. Adam is ignorant of
the nature, as he cares for nothing except building shacks to coop himself.
On the other hand, Eve is portrayed as a curious, active and loving woman. I
conclude Eve as a curious woman for she always questions something that is new to
her. She is eager to know about everything because she herself considers that she is
just an experiment. Eve’s curiosity is also shown when God commands Adam and
Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She keeps
questioning Adam about what those two words means that it leads them to eat the
fruit.
Eve is an active woman for she is the one who has the initiative to act. Eve
takes the first initiative to introduce herself to Adam and name the things. Her being
an active woman is also shown when she is portrayed as a talkative woman and when
she constructs experiments. This characteristic of Eve also presents Eve as a sociable
woman.
I also believe that Eve is a loving woman on the grounds that she presents her
love to everything she knows. Her love to Adam is shown when she remains to love
Adam even though Adam is ignorant of her. Her love to her son can be seen when she
simply develops her love to her son even at the first time she does not know what her
son is and protects him. Her love to animals can be seen when she adores and treats
them as pets.
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After analyzing the characteristics of Adam and Eve above, I understand the
purpose of the author of creating such characteristics. I think the author tries to say
that even though people have different characteristics, they can be united by
understanding that their lives could be completed by the companion of others. Even
though there are many differences to live with, differences are not the reasons to
create a gap; on the other hand, it can be a complementary part.
The purpose of the author can be seen from the point of view of the author’s
portrayal of the characteristics of Adam is in contrast with the characteristics of Eve.
Adam completes Eve for things that have to be determined not only by feeling but
also by logic. The author shows it when Eve desires to pet a mighty brontosaur. Eve,
on the other hand, completes Adam for things that do not have to be determined by
reasoning but by simply feeling it. Eve shows this when Adam is perplexed by the
presence of their first son, Cain. As an ignorant man, Adam is ignorant toward his
surrounding, while Eve is able to show love to others. The portrayal of Adam as an
individualist is also completed by the presenting Eve as a sociable woman, and vice
versa. Therefore, in reality men and women can complete the presence of the others
with all their strengths and weaknesses.
I found this book is interesting simply because it is funny and also teaches the
readers a lesson. It is funny as Mark Twain describes the portrayal of the first two
human beings on earth in contrary toward each other. As a result, they have to deal
with a lot of misunderstandings before they can understand and complete each other.
I also have the perception that the author describes Adam and Eve as representation
of men and women in general, such as men are rational and women are emotional.
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I think this book successfully represents Twain as a humorous author since he
presents Adam and Eve’s misunderstandings toward each other as something which
can tickles the readers. I am also of the opinion that Twain is an observant and skillful
author owing to the fact that he is able to capture the characteristics of men and
women in general and skillfully teaches the readers that beyond the differences
between men and women in characteristics, they can complete each other.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
High, Peter B. An Outline of American Literature. United State of America:
Longman Group Limited, 1986.
Robert, Edgar V. Writing about Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
International, 2003.
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and
the English Novel for Overseas Students. Oxford: Alden Press, 1972.
Internet Sites
•
•
•
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product. (13th November 2006)
http://hannibal.net/twain/biography. (17th December 2005)
http://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twain-biography.aspwain,
(19th February 2006)
•
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/major_works.shtm/The
Diary
of
Adam and Eve. (19th February 2006)
Primary Text
Twain, Mark. The Diary of Adam and Eve. Hesperus Press Limited;
London.2002.
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Dalam penulisan tugas akhir ini, saya memilih untuk menganalisis salah satu
novel yang ditulis oleh Mark Twain dengan judul The Diary of Adam and Eve.
Mark Twain adalah salah satu penulis besar yang berasal dari Amerika.
Kehebatannya dalam menulis cerita diiringi dengan kemampuannya dalam menyisipi
unsur humor dan sindiran dalam banyak karyanya. Banyak karya-karya Twain yang
telah dibaca dan diakui oleh dunia.
Novel The Diary of Adam and Eve ini sendiri ditulis Twain ketika hidupnya
mulai mengalami kemunduran. Novel ini menampilkan Adam dan Hawa sebagai
karakternya. Diceritakan bahwa Adam dan Hawa, dalam imajinasi Twain, memiliki
sifat-sifat layaknya manusia biasa. Sifat-sifat Adam dan Hawa tersebut tidak dapat
kita lihat dalam penggambaran Adam dan Hawa dalam dua kitab suci yang
mempercayai bahwa Adam dan Hawa adalah dua manusia pertama yang menghuni
dunia, yaitu Alkitab dan Al-Qur’an. Yang menarik adalah sifat-sifat yang dimiliki
Adam dan Hawa ini bertolak belakang satu sama lain, sehingga tidak mudah bagi
mereka untuk menyesuaikan diri masing-masing.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam novel ini, Adam ditampilkan sebagai seorang pria yang penyendiri.
Adam sangat menikmati kesendiriannya, sehingga ketika Hawa diciptakan sebagai
pendampingnya, Adam merasa sangat terganggu. Disisi lain, Hawa ditampilkan
sebagai wanita yang aktif; ia memiliki inisiatif untuk bertindak. Ketika Adam yang
penyendiri menjauhinya, ia tetap berinisiatif untuk mengenal Adam. Selain itu, Adam
ditampilkan sebagai pribadi yang rasional. Dia mengandalkan pikirannya untuk
menjawab apapun yang menjadi pertanyaan baginya. Sifat ini berbeda dengan Hawa
yang juga mengandalkan perasaannya dalam bertindak. Adam juga ditampilkan
sebagai pria yang tidak sensitif terhadap sekitarnya, dia tidak menaruh perhatian
terhadap Hawa, anaknya, maupun alam. Sifat Adam ini sangat kontras dengan sifat
yang ditampilkan oleh Hawa. Hawa adalah seorang wanita yang penyayang. Ia
menyayangi Adam, anaknya, hewan maupun alam.
Penggambaran karakter Adam dan Hawa yang sangat manusiawi, saya
simpulkan sebagai tujuan penulis dalam menyampaikan bahwa perbedaan sifat yang
dimiliki manusia sebenarnya dapat dijadikan bagian yang saling melengkapi.
Penggambaran Adam sebagai pria yang individualistis diseimbangi dengan kehadiran
Hawa sebagai wanita sosial. Begitu pula sebaliknya, sifat sosial Hawa diseimbangi
dengan sifat individualistis Adam, sehingga dalam realisasinya pria dan wanita dapat
saling melengkapi kehadiran masing-masing dengan apa yang menjadi kekurangan
maupun kelebihannya.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………………………………………………………….
i
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………….......... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………….
Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………………...
Method of Research………………………………………………………
Organization of the Thesis………………………………………………..
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ADAM
AND EVE IN MARK TWAIN’S THE DIARY OF ADAM AND
EVE............................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION…………………………………………. 18
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. 22
APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Diary of Adam and Eve………………………………… 23
Biography of the Author………………………………………………….. 25
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APPENDICES
Synopsis
Adam and Eve are believed to be the first two human beings on earth. God
creates Adam first and then God creates Eve as a companion to Adam. God
commands them to take care of the Garden of Eden and be united with each other.
When Adam and Eve finally meet, Adam objects to the presence of Eve.
Adam is a man who enjoys his own company, when Eve shows up for the first time,
he remains to keep a distance from her. Adam ignores Eve when she introduces
herself, and he even puts her out in the rain to show his discomfort of the presence of
Eve. On the other hand, Eve keeps trying to get acquainted to Adam. Eve’s love to
Adam is so great that she still tries to get close to Adam even though Adam treats her
indifferently.
As an active woman, Eve is the one who has initiative to act and she also
loves to talk. It bothers Adam very much that Eve talks too much. It also bothers
Adam to find Eve’s initiative to name everything that comes along for Adam thinks
that it is his role. Eve thinks that by being initiative and naming all things, she
relieves Adam from a heavy job and she can be useful for him; on the contrary, Adam
feels annoyed. Being a curios woman, when God commands them not to eat the fruit
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of good and evil, Eve is eager to know what the meanings of good and evil are. Eve’s
curiosity of those words leads her to eat the forbidden fruit.
The next year since their fall, Eve gives birth to their first son, Cain. Being
insensitive man, Adam thinks that Cain is a kind of animal. On the other hand, Eve
develops her love to Cain. When Adam puts Cain to water to answer whether Cain is
a kind of fish or not, Eve protects Cain. She patiently guards Cain to make sure her
son is safe.
After many conflicts and as the time goes by, they gradually realize that they
are completed by the presence of the each other. Eve realizes Adam being a rational
man is useful to present a great contribution to science. The law that water runs down
not up comes from Adam’s rational thought. He cannot explain things just by using
feeling like Eve does. Adam realizes that Eve is an essential part of his being for she
shows the greatness of her heart and makes him learn to love. As Adam states at
Eve’s grave: ‘Wheresoever she was, there was Eden’.
24
Maranatha Christian University
Biography
Mark Twain, is pseudonym of Samuel Longhorn Clemens was born on
November 30, 1835 in Florida. He spent his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, where
he developed a strong tie to the Mississippi River. His first job was a printer for a
newspaper. The young Clemens was looking for new adventures; therefore, in 1857
he headed to New Orleans and spent the next two years as a steamboat pilot. In 1861,
his brother, Orion, who had been appointed as a secretary of Nevada, chose Twain to
be his secretary. In Nevada he was interested in making his fortune by mining. But,
he never succeeded in it. To support his income he contributed humorous letters to
the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise and became the reporter for the paper. He
began signing his articles with the pseudonym Mark Twain in 1863, a Mississippi
River phrase meaning “two fathoms deep”. Twain’s short story The Celebrated
Jumping Frog in Calaveras Country became a national sensation and within months
he was known around the country.
He was married to Olivia Langdon in 1870 and she gave him three children.
Much of Twain’s best work was written in 1870s and 1880s; Roughing It, The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1884) is considered as Twain’ masterpiece. In the same year Huck Finn was
released, Charles L. Webster & Company, the company which published Twain’s and
other writer’s works, went bankrupt and left Twain in considerable debt. Before he
could handle his financial trouble, his eldest daughter was dead followed by his wife
and his youngest daughter. So great was the effect of his family’s death and his
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financial trouble as to make the latter part of his life very pessimistic and bitter.
During the final years of his life Twain’s most notable writings were Extract From
Adam’s Diary, Eve’s Diary, Chapters From My Autobiography, and Letters From the
Earth. Owing to his grieving, Twain vowed to never write again. On April 21, 1910
he sank into a coma and his heart failed to survive. Until nowadays Twain is
considered as one of American’s great writers, whose best work is respected
throughout the world.
26
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The story of Adam and Eve is a story which is related to religion.
Christianity and Islam are the two religions that believe Adam and Eve are the
first two human beings on earth. They believe that God created Adam first and
then God created Eve as a companion and helper to Adam. However, both the
Bible, the Christian holy book, and the Koran, the Moslem holy book, do not
describe the portrayal of Adam and Eve in detail. They have certain
characteristics, yet not in detail. Thus, now the possibility of creating the first
two human beings on earth is open.
Inspired by the story of Adam and Eve, Mark Twain takes the same
subject in his work entitled The Diary of Adam and Eve. Yet, Twain portrays
Adam and Eve through his own interpretation. I am interested in Mark Twain
because Twain is known as one of America’s great writers:
Whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent
humor or biting social satire. He was known and respected
throughout the world as a humorist during his life, and since
1
Maranatha Christian University
his death, his reputation has only grown. Today, Mark Twain
is known as a great writer as well as a humorist as well as
American icon.’
(http.//mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twainbiography.aspwain,).
Twain wrote a lot of great and interesting books; however, The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn is considered to be Twain’s greatest novel.
I choose to analyze the characters in this book owing to the fact that a
character is one of the important things in the work of literature. According to Robert,
a character is a verbal representation of human being as presented to us by authors
through the depiction of actions, conversations, descriptions, reactions, inner thoughts
and reflections, and also through the author’s own interpretive commentary. Authors
can create the image of the characters in his book as they want it to be. The characters
in this book, Adam and Eve, are presented to have characteristics in detail. In
analyzing the characters in this book, I look into the characterization techniques that
the author uses. According to Murphy, characterization technique is:
How an author conveys to the reader the characters and the
personalities of the people he writes about; in other words how he
convey to the readers what sort of people they are, how he makes
the readers get to know and understand them. Characterization
technique consist of personal description, character as seen by
another, thoughts, speech, past life, conversation of others,
reactions, direct comment, and mannerism.
(Murphy, 1972:161-173)
I will focus on the characterization techniques used by the author in this novel,
so that I can have a better understanding about the characters. I found that the most
dominant techniques in revealing the characteristics are thought, reactions, and
character as seen by another.
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Based on my reasons above, my discussion will focus on portraying the
characteristics of Adam and Eve. Afterwards, I will try to find the author’s purpose in
creating such characters.
Statement of the Problem
I would like to discuss the following problems:
1. What are the characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The Diary
of Adam and Eve?
2. What is the purpose of the author in creating such characters?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, I would like to show:
1. The characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The Diary of Adam
and Eve.
2. The purpose of the author in creating such characters.
Method of Research
In analyzing my thesis, I use intrinsic approach. I also apply library research.
First, I read The Diary of Adam and Eve as the primary text. Then I read some
reference books and explore some internet sites that are relevant to and support my
thesis. Finally, I analyze the primary text and draw a conclusion.
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Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters. In Chapter One, I present the
Introduction, which consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Purpose of the Study, Method of Research and Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter
Two, I present my discussion of the portrayal of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The
Diary of Adam and Eve and the purpose of the author in creating such characters.
After this, I conclude my analysis in Chapter Three. The thesis ends with
Bibliography and Appendices, which contain the Biography of Mark Twain and the
Synopsis of The Diary of Adam and Eve.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the characteristics of Adam and Eve in Mark Twain’s The
Diary of Adam and Eve, I would like to conclude what the characteristics of Adam
and Eve are and what the author’s purpose is in creating such characteristics.
Thus, Adam has these following characteristics: loner, rational, and ignorant.
Besides, I also have the conclusion that Eve has these following characteristics:
curious, active, and loving. I notice the characteristics of Adam and Eve in this novel
from what they think, what they do, and what one another says.
I come to a conclusion that Adam is a loner since he enjoys his own company.
I can see this when he himself states that he is not used to be companied and the
presence of Eve means nothing but a disturbance to him. Adam escapes from Eve to
show his discomfort of her presence.
Adam is a rational man as he tends to use his logic rather than his feeling.
When Eve tells him that she is made from his rib, Adam thinks that it is impossible
for he does not miss any rib. Also when his son, Cain, is born, at first he only
considers his son as an animal. He treats his son as an experiment to answer what
kind of animal his son is.
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I am of the opinion that Adam is an ignorant man owing to the fact that he is
ignorant toward his surrounding. He has no attention to Eve, his son, and also nature.
He ignores Eve’s feeling. When Eve introduces herself, Adam has no interest in her.
Being ignorant, he is also not touched by the presence of his son. Adam is ignorant of
the nature, as he cares for nothing except building shacks to coop himself.
On the other hand, Eve is portrayed as a curious, active and loving woman. I
conclude Eve as a curious woman for she always questions something that is new to
her. She is eager to know about everything because she herself considers that she is
just an experiment. Eve’s curiosity is also shown when God commands Adam and
Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She keeps
questioning Adam about what those two words means that it leads them to eat the
fruit.
Eve is an active woman for she is the one who has the initiative to act. Eve
takes the first initiative to introduce herself to Adam and name the things. Her being
an active woman is also shown when she is portrayed as a talkative woman and when
she constructs experiments. This characteristic of Eve also presents Eve as a sociable
woman.
I also believe that Eve is a loving woman on the grounds that she presents her
love to everything she knows. Her love to Adam is shown when she remains to love
Adam even though Adam is ignorant of her. Her love to her son can be seen when she
simply develops her love to her son even at the first time she does not know what her
son is and protects him. Her love to animals can be seen when she adores and treats
them as pets.
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After analyzing the characteristics of Adam and Eve above, I understand the
purpose of the author of creating such characteristics. I think the author tries to say
that even though people have different characteristics, they can be united by
understanding that their lives could be completed by the companion of others. Even
though there are many differences to live with, differences are not the reasons to
create a gap; on the other hand, it can be a complementary part.
The purpose of the author can be seen from the point of view of the author’s
portrayal of the characteristics of Adam is in contrast with the characteristics of Eve.
Adam completes Eve for things that have to be determined not only by feeling but
also by logic. The author shows it when Eve desires to pet a mighty brontosaur. Eve,
on the other hand, completes Adam for things that do not have to be determined by
reasoning but by simply feeling it. Eve shows this when Adam is perplexed by the
presence of their first son, Cain. As an ignorant man, Adam is ignorant toward his
surrounding, while Eve is able to show love to others. The portrayal of Adam as an
individualist is also completed by the presenting Eve as a sociable woman, and vice
versa. Therefore, in reality men and women can complete the presence of the others
with all their strengths and weaknesses.
I found this book is interesting simply because it is funny and also teaches the
readers a lesson. It is funny as Mark Twain describes the portrayal of the first two
human beings on earth in contrary toward each other. As a result, they have to deal
with a lot of misunderstandings before they can understand and complete each other.
I also have the perception that the author describes Adam and Eve as representation
of men and women in general, such as men are rational and women are emotional.
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I think this book successfully represents Twain as a humorous author since he
presents Adam and Eve’s misunderstandings toward each other as something which
can tickles the readers. I am also of the opinion that Twain is an observant and skillful
author owing to the fact that he is able to capture the characteristics of men and
women in general and skillfully teaches the readers that beyond the differences
between men and women in characteristics, they can complete each other.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
High, Peter B. An Outline of American Literature. United State of America:
Longman Group Limited, 1986.
Robert, Edgar V. Writing about Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
International, 2003.
Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and
the English Novel for Overseas Students. Oxford: Alden Press, 1972.
Internet Sites
•
•
•
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product. (13th November 2006)
http://hannibal.net/twain/biography. (17th December 2005)
http://mark-twain.classic-literature.co.uk/mark-twain-biography.aspwain,
(19th February 2006)
•
http://www.marktwainhouse.org/theman/major_works.shtm/The
Diary
of
Adam and Eve. (19th February 2006)
Primary Text
Twain, Mark. The Diary of Adam and Eve. Hesperus Press Limited;
London.2002.
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