6. Struggle for Life
Problems will always occur in our life. These problems are various. They might be easy or even very difficult. When people face problems, they have to
struggle to overcome the problems. According to Abate 1514 struggle means “make violent or determined efforts under difficulties”. People will make some
efforts and keep struggling in dealing with problems emerging in life. Struggle may also be interpreted as person’s strategies to protect him from
problems in life. Bernard says, “Individuals also may consciously and rationally implement strategies that enable them to cope with the stresses and problem of
life”. When people face problems, they will seek for ideas and strategies to cope with the problems. Although it is sometimes painful and difficult, people will find
ways of resolving the problems in life by struggling. Braun, Linder, and Asimov 479-480 in Psychology Today state that there
are many life events happening in life. These life events will force people to struggle in their life. These life events can be death of spouse, divorce, personal
injury or illness, gaining a new family member, family members leaving home, etc. While dealing with these problems and challenges of life, people will need to
adjust. Therefore, how people react to all these events is one aspect of the process called adjustment.
Adjustment is a process of coping with events, challenges, problems, and difficult situations that occur throughout our life. This adjustment is divided into
three major categories. The first category is problem solving. When dealing with problems, people will seek for the solutions. By facing various problems in life,
our problem solving skill will automatically develop. The second category is acceptance of the situation. It is sometimes better for us to accept the problems
and its consequences, as there is no solution for it. However, we have to be careful with unconsidered acceptance. Sometimes we accept consequences that we could
have avoided. The third category is defense mechanisms such as repression and denial. These defense mechanisms are very helpful in alleviating stress and
anxiety while dealing with difficult situations. Still, there is a danger too. Overuse of these defenses can create severe disturbances Braun, Linder, and Asimov 478.
According to McKechnie 367, struggle is a task or goal requiring much effort to accomplish or achieve. People struggle because they have goal that
motivate them. They have dreams to achieve. Therefore, they will give the greatest effort to accomplish the dreams. It keeps them struggling, even in the
most difficult situation. When people fail to reach their goal, they will struggle from the unpleasant experience. They can learn positive things from their struggle.
Each person believes that he needs struggle since he realizes that all of his efforts will satisfy him.
B. Theoretical Framework
The approach and theories I have discussed above are used to help to analyze this novel. They will be applied to answer the problems of this study. In
this part, I would like to explain which approach and theories used and how they are applied in the analysis.
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