Review on American Culture

19 their right to make a decision on their own. Other family members may give some opinions and suggestions, but still they do not have any right to decide anything for them. In education, the principles of freedom can also be found in American schools. Sex education is being taught among children or teenagers nowadays. The Chinese in America can be classified into two categories: immigrants from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia are considered as the first generation and American-born Chinese are the second and third generations. Most of the first generation Chinese still use Chinese as their first language. Their descendants who were born in America use English as their first language http:www.camla.org.history.html accessed on July 19, 2007. In America, To Thi Anh observed, children speak with confidence in front of adults. They are not inhibited by shyness or fear. They enjoy much choice in their work, leisure, and relationships because they are brought up in liberal ways. They are not morally bound to behave in order to please other people. They are simply given permission to be themselves, and to develop their own characters. They are equal in their relationships with people, regardless of their age, wealth, or social position. One of the characteristics of Chinese-American in the United States is modern thoughts. It is difficult for them to accept something that is too abstract to be described. Therefore, everything should be explained scientifically and can be thought logically. If somebody teaches them about an abstract object such as ghost or spirit, they will have a different perception with the elders. The elders from China usually still admit the existence of ghosts and spirits. 20

C. Theoretical Framework

There were some theories applied to answer the problems formulated in this study. First, the theory of critical approach is used to analyze the problem. There are five approaches and the emphasis of the approach used is the socio- cultural approach. In analyzing the characters’ cultural aspects, the writer used the theories from Light, Keller, Calhoun, Lindgren, Haviland, and Baron and Byrne. The important factor in this novel is each character’s cultural background in their relationship. As a result, the backgrounds and definition of culture become essential in understanding the novel. In analyzing the mother-children relationship, the writer used some theories proposed by Allers, Deutsch, Warga, Noller and Fitzpatrick, Sirjamaki, and Anshen. The novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife, is about a relationship of mother and daughter so that it is important to know the basic theories of this relationship in order to get a better understanding of the story. In making a review on Chinese culture, the writer applied several theories from Latourette, Loewe, Hook, Giles, Bloomfield, Nanquin and Rawski, To Thi Anh, Hsu, Smith, and Meyer. This cultural review is expected to help the readers understand the no vel because Winnie’s character is influenced greatly by her Chinese background. Moreover, the review might help the writer to analyze the characters of Winnie in developing her relationship with Pearl. The theories proposed by Glazer, Kearny, and To Thi Anh, and a source from the internet, http:www.camla.org.history.html will help the writer to review the American culture which can be used to analyze the characters of Pearl in PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 21 developing her relationship with Winnie. The review of American culture is hoped to help the writer understand the reasons behind Pearl’s behavior towards Winnie. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI