Diedre knew nothing as the mistakes were done by his parents, therefore Kathryn treated him like her own daughter.
Jack was not a faithful husband, yet Kathryn found that Jack was a very responsible father through Diedre and Mattie which was her own daughter. The
main idea of the essay written by Laura is that every minor character, no matter how long and how many times they appear, holds important and significant roles
to help the reader get the meaning of the story Lauren, 2004. The article written by Laura gives contribution in term of
characterization. What makes Laura’s study different from this study is this study analyzes the symbolic act of the main character and how it represents the idea of
social castration while Laura’s study analyzes the importance of minor characters which help the depiction of the main character.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Symbol
In this part, the writer summarizes the theories that give contribution to the analysis of this study. The focus in
this study is how Kathryn’s symbolic act shows the idea of social castration, therefore the theory of symbol is very helpful
for the writer to analyze the symboli n Kathryn’s action.
Every literary work, including novel, must have elements in it. Symbol is one of element in a literary work. There are some definitions about symbols in
literature. “A symbol is simply ‘something that stands for, represents, or denotes
something else’” Hall, 1996: ix. Symbols are important to be understood in
literature. Symbols have complex meanings which is not only literal meaning but also the meanings beyond its literal. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs in
their book Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing state that symbols is one mode of literary expression that are designed to extend meaning Roberts and
Jacobs, 1987: 279. Symbols in a story have extended meaning which help the author to deliver the idea of the story without mentioning it directly.
What is important about symbol is that the symbol points beyond itself to greater and more complex meaning. Robert and Jacobs describe that a symbol
pulls or draws together 1 a specific thing with 2 ideas, values, persons, or ways of life, in a direct relationship that otherwise would not be apparent Roberts and
Jacobs, 1987: 279. Symbols we find in fiction are inanimate objects, but other things may function symbolically.
Symbol can be divided into two: symbolic characters and symbolic acts Kennedy and Gioia, 2010: 224-225. A symbolic act is an action as a symbol
which holds more meaning. It is related to attitude and movement of a character that gives the meaning of the story. Symbolic act is not only related to important
attitude and movement but also a gesture. “A symbolic act is a gesture with larger
significance than usual ” Kennedy and Gioia, 2010: 225. A simple gesture in a
story is a symbol when it gives meaning in the story. A symbolic act, however, doesn’t have to be a gesture as large as starting a conflagration. A gesture is
interpreted by how characters act. It is supported by the setting when an action is done that makes them a symbolic act Kennedy and Gioia, 2010: 225. A
symbolic character is a symbol that is seen through the characters in the story
which hold more meaning in their appearances. Symbolic characters make brief cameo appearances, they are often not well-rounded and fully known, but are
fleetingly and remain slightly mysterious Kennedy and Gioia, 2010: 225. According to Barnet, Berman and Burto in their book An Introduction to
Literature, Expanded Edition, some symbols are natural symbol and conventional symbols. The meaning of conventional symbols are widely understood, agreed
and accepted, for example is a flag that stands for a country. Some symbols are natural symbols, recognized as standing for
something in particular even by people from different cultures. Rain, for instance, usually stands for fertility or the renewal of life. A forest
often stands for some sort of mental darkness or chaos, a mountain for stability, a valley for a place of security, and so on. There are of
course many execptions, but by and large these meaning prevail. Other symbols, however, are conventional symbols, which people
have agreed to accept as standing for something other than themselves: a poem about the cross would probably be about
Christianity Barnet, Berman and Burto, 1993: 694.
To know and recognize something as a symbol in literary works, it is important to know symbol’s characteristics. There are some characteristics of
symbol that help the reader to recognize something as a symbol in order to understand the meaning of a story. Kennedy and Gioia mentions that writers often
give the symbol particular emphasis which is put in any particular position, moment or situation.
They state; If an object appears time and again or is tied inextricably to the story’s
events, it’s likely to suggest something beyond itself. When an object, an action or a place has emotional or intellectual power beyond its
literal importance then it is a genuine symbol to recognize the existence of the symbol. In addition, symbols in fiction are not
generally abstract terms such as love or truth, but are likely to be
perceptible objects or worded descriptions that cause us to imagine them. Kennedy and Gioia, 2010: 226
Different readers must have different interpretation of the same symbol found in a story. Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico state on Discovering
Literature, that to respond fully to a story, readers have to become sensitive to symbolic overtones and implications. According to them, symbols have some
characteristics: a.
Some symbols come into a story from a shared language of symbols. Much in human experience has traditional symbolic associations: the dawn with hope,
the dark forest with evil, clay with death, water with fertility, rose with love, etc.
b. Some symbols have a special personal meaning for the writer. Their meaning
may come into focus as they return again and again in the writers’ work. In this point, the reader should read and compare some different stories written
by the same author to understand the meaning of the symbol found in the story.
c. Literary symbols are rich in associations. They have more resonance, more
reverberation than simple signs. d.
Symbols may be ambiguous. The ambiguity is caused by the particular situation or moment in the story.
e. Symbols acquire their full meaning in the context of a story.
To interpret the language of symbols, readers need to keep the points above in mind Guth and Rico, 1997: 189-190.
There is a reason why the writer use symbol instead of telling the reader directly about the meaning of the story. The readers are given some clues in order
to determine something as a symbol in order to understand the meaning of the story.
Writers use symbols because they want readers to perceive- at least faintly- that certain characters or places or seasons or happenings have
rich implications, stand for something more than what they are on the surface. How do writers help us to perceive these things? By
emphasizing them-for instance, by describing them at some length, or by introducing them at times when they might not seem strictly
necessary, or calling attention to them repeatedly Barnet, Berman and Burto, 1993: 70.
According to Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction, symbols have three usual effects which each of them depends on how it is used. The first is, a
symbol which appears on an important moment emphasizes the significance of the moment itself. The second is, one symbol which is repeated several time shows us
the consistency element in the story. The third is, a symbol that appears in different contexts can help clarifying the theme Stanton, 1965: 32. He also states
that the usual clues that a detail is symbolic is that it is conspicious for some reason other than its factual importance.
2. Theory of Theme
The theme of a story is whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals. Theme is the central idea of a story. Robert Stanton states
Like the central meaning of our experience, the theme of a story is both particular and universal in its value: it lends force and unity to
the events described, and it tells us something about life in general.
But whatever value it may have, the theme is necessary, integral part of the story’s reality, not something the author gratuitously tacks on to
the facts, like the “morals” following Aeshop’s fables, nor the only reason for the story’s existence, like the pill within the sugar coating.
Stanton, 1965: 4
According to Guth and Rico, theme is an idea or ideas that the story as a whole seems to act out Guth and Rico, 1997: 231. Theme is the main idea in the story
and point of the story’s content. In literary fiction, a theme is seldom so obvious. The theme is what it gives unity to the story and meaning to the events Stanton,
1965: 4. The theme in a story also may contain messages that writers are trying to deliver to the reader. Even though, a theme need not be a moral or a message; it
may be what the happenings add up to, what the story is about Kennedy and Gioia, 1999: 175.
It is readers’ job to find the theme in a story. The writers do not state what they mean directly in a story. Their task would be much easier if they could
first state the facts and in many words tell the readers what they mean as theme must appear within the facts. In a story, theme corresponds to the meaning of
human experience. Theme may be a generalization about human life. It can be a single fact of human experience in life that the story describes or explores. Some
stories convey moral judgments of their character’s actions, as wrong or right. Like the meaning of a human experience, a theme illuminates or comments upon
some aspect of life Stanton, 1965: 4. In this study, theory of theme is needed as it helps the writer to reveal the facts in human life. It helps to show the fact that
society constructs women position under men’s authority and show that women do not have power that men have in society.
To identify the theme in a literary work, readers must start with a clear idea of the characters, the situation, and the plot in order to identify the theme of a
story. Readers must look closely at any events, characters, or object that seem irrelevant to the main line of action. To be more specific, the theme should meet
some such criteria as the following: 1.
An adequate interpretation should account for every prominent detail in the story.
2. An adequate interpretation should not be contradicted by any detail of the
story. 3.
An interpretation should not rest upon evidence not clearly stated or implied by the story.
4. The interpretation should be directly suggested by the story.
Thus, action, character, statements, symbols, and dialogue may be judged in terms of how closely they relate to the idea of theme. A theme runs throughout a story
and ties things together muck like a continuous thread Roberts and Jacob, 1987: 319.
To find ideas in a story, readers must read the work carefully, considering the main characters and actions and evaluating such variable as tone,
setting and symbolism Roberts and Jacob, 1987: 321. This study considers the symbols found that show the theme in the story, which is social castration. The
symbol found in the story relate closely to the idea of the theme. The theory of theme helps the writer to reveal the facts in society that women are living under
men’s authority and they do not have power that men have.
3. Theory of Social Castration
The theory used to help the writer to answer the second problem is social castration theory. As feminist focuses on analyzing gender inequality, the theory
is applied in this study in order to show that gender inequality exists between a wife and a husband, to show the patriarchy system that is socially constructed and
naturally applied in every family. From The Second Sex 1949, Simone de Beauvoir states ‘one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’ Barry, 1995: 83.
The statement means that the roles women hold, including being a wife, that the roles people associate with women are not given to them in birth, by virtue of
their biology, but rather are by society. The same as what Beauvoir states, Freud also sees “masculinity” and “femininity” as social categories or social
constructed, that relations in a family are constructed under unconsciousness and that our identity is closely tied with the concepts about sexuality and gender
Gamble, 2004: 214. The term “social castration” was introduced by Sandra Gilbert and Susan
Gubar in their book The Madwoman in the Attic. Through the book, they identify women as “social castrates”. Social castration is a term that comes from
feminism’s relationship to psychology. Feminism’s early relationship to psychoanalysis was largely a critical one Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 120.
“In the reading discussed in the next section, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar use the idea of ‘social castration’, which ammounts to
the same thing, for this term signifies women’s lack of social power, this lack being represented, by means of the word ‘castration’, as a
male possession, though not as in any sense a male attribute” Barry, 1995: 125-126
Gamble mentions Juliet Mitchell’s statement that social castration is closely connected to the concept of penis envy and castration complex according
to Freud Gamble, 2004: 214. The concept of penis envy and social castration help to reveal the idea of social castration.
Penis envy theory is introduced by Freud. Castration complex theory is also introduced by Freud related to the theory of penis envy. Penis in the penis
envy concept is a symbol of men’s power in society while women are the desire for penis itself. Penis envy and castration complex theories by Freud imply that
penis symb olizes men’s power. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, castration means to remove testicles of a male animal or person. In castration complex theory, women are assumed as men who are castrated because
they do not have penises. The image of women as ‘castrated’ men who must prepare themselves
for a passive sexual role conveys the idea of their secondary status to men
– that their lack of penis is translated in social terms as lack of power, status and authority Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 121.
The thought from Pilcher and Whelehan above shows that the notions of penis envy need not be taken as simply concerning the male physical organ itself
whatever might have been Freud’s intentions, but as concerning that organ as an emblem of social power and the advatages which go with it Barry, 1995: 125.
At the b eginning, Freud’s theories seem to emphasize the changing of the
pressed sexual desire. Oedipus complex by Freud is the central problem for
feminist that according to him females are perceived as castrated when they see the male genital and discover her own lack of penis. Some books, for example The
Dialectic of Sex by Firestone, result critics on Freud’s penis envy and castration
complex that Freud’s theories is a patriarchal theories viewing women as unconsciously envy of men Gamble, 2004: 219. The unconscious, according to
Jaques Lacan, is structured like a language. Lacan see the oedipus complex as a symbol in the decline of the patriarchal hierarchy in Western society. It uses the
father’s name, the one who “have” phallus, which is an abstract paternal agency that separates mother, the one who “is being” phallus, and child Butler, 2006: 62-
63. Kate Millet through her book “Sexual Politics” evaluates the
misunderstanding thoughts about Freud’s penis envy theory. She states that Freud’s work tries to rasionalize the bad relation between two sexes, to validate
traditional roles, and to validate temperamental differences Gamble, 2004: 219. She sees women’s being passive in Freud’s pre-Oedipal supports status quo in
patriarchal system. Julliet Mitchell, through Psychoanalysis and Feminism 1974, evaluates the misunderstanding of the psychoanalysis from the previous works.
She clarifies that Freud’s penis envy does not state that women are biologically
lower than men but he gives the scientific tools to understand why women are formed the way they are in society holding patriarchal system. According to her,
castration can be seen as a social phenomenon. The concept of penis envy is a metaphor of men and women in biological matter, where men takes control to
penetrate towards women’s body during intercourse, showing possesion and power men have that women do not.
The term social castration is applied to denote the lack of power women have in society which follows patriarchy.
…she misses the great lack [phallus], so that without man she would be indefinite, indefinable, non sexed, unable to recognize herself:
outside the Symbolic. But fortunately there is man: he who
comes…Prince Charming. And it’s man who teaches woman because man is always the Master as well, who teaches her to be aware of
lack, to be aware of absence, aware of death. It’s man who will finally order woman, “set her to rights,” by teaching her that without man she
could “misrecognize”Cixous and Kuhn, 1981: 46.
Women do not miss a penis they never had, but that they have been deprived of something else that men enjoy which is the power to control their own destiny
while women follow what has been constructed by society which is male- centered. Women are powerless without men, women follow society that men set.
Women’s power, a power which is symbolized by penis, is castrated. The point of the word “castration” here is that in order to achieve
acceptability and feminity Catherine has to lose the power which men take for granted, namely power over their destiny Barry, 1995: 135
Society defines gender roles inequality. Inequality is the contrast of equality where equality can be defined as a state or condition of being the same,
especially in terms of social status or legalpolitical rights Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 37. Anthony Giddens and Simon Griffiths in Sociology mentions that Ann
Oakley in her text, Sex, Gender and Society, notes how Western cultures seem most prone to exaggeration of gender differences and argues that the ‘social
efficiency’ of our present gender roles centers round women’s role as housewife and mother Giddens and Griffiths, 2006: 742.
Society has also defines women roles in society including in a family. For example, in patriarchal system society says that a wife should follow what her
husband says as a husband is the head of a family. The male gender is always identified with power and authority while woman is someone who remains in awe
of his lofty position. In his academic research journal, Gatt states that the identity or role that a woman gets is just a construct of social, cultural mores which have
their sanction from the patriarchal society Gatt, 2014. Another example is According to Pilcher and Whelehan, what most feminists question about
Firestone’s view that the mothering role is an evidence of women’s ‘natural’ disposition towards nurturance and pacificism such as taking care the children and
the family, preparing food for the family, keeping the house clean Pilcher and Whelehan, 2004: 57. The theory is used in this study
to show women’s lack of power in society, which is the idea of social castration.
C. Theoretical Framework
