The father as the main character in the story is a strong man but he suffers from a disease. He often coughs and spits out blood from his mouth. He realizes that there is a big
responsibility waiting for him to bring his son’s life into a better place. This can be imagined how hard a father has to bring up a son without the existence of his wife right
next to him. He has to depend on his struggles to find the safe place to stay for a while before continuing the journey, to avoid crossing a path with other survivors, to sleep less in
order to keep eye on his son, to find enough food and drink, and to teach his young son to figure out the appearing obstacles in that situation so that he can learn to stand on his feet.
B. Approach of the Study
In order to get better understandings about the character in the analyzed novel I apply the psychological approach proposed by Rohrberger and Woods Jr. 3-5. The
psychology approach deals with certain character’s behaviors that refer to the psychology of human beings. By using this approach the character’s mind and behaviors can be
analyzed deeply. In this study, the psychological approach is used to comprehend the father’s personality in The Road and the ways he reacts to the bad situation and solves his
problems in the story. In dealing with the struggles of the father to get a better life for his son in the novel,
the psychological approach is applied to answer the formulated problems in this study. In other words, it is used to find out and comprehend the underlying motive of the main
character in conducting his struggles and to reveal the ways the main character struggles.
C. Method of the Study
In analyzing the novel, I used library study. I took some several steps that made me understand the novel entirely. From the taken steps, I could organize my study well. First, I
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
read the novel several times to understand the content of the story. Then, I reread the novel to get the description of the main character and the points showing the motivation and the
struggle of the main character. I also gathered the information about the description of the main character by
applying the ways listed on the theory of characterization proposed by Murphy. I found out the description of the main character from the character’s direct comment, his character as
seen by other characters, his past life, thoughts, speech, and his reaction towards the situation in the story. Thus, this step helped me to answer the first problem in this study.
Furthermore, I highlighted and took notes the quotation of the points and aspects written in the novel showing the motivation and the struggles of the main character. This
step helped me to answer the second problem in this study. Then, in writing chapter two of this study I searched, collected, and noted some theories that were in accordance with the
necessities and for the sake of the study from books and Internet sources. I applied psychology approach in my study that was proved by the theories I used to analyze the
novel. In analyzing the character of the father in the novel I used theory of character and characterization. While for the second problem of this study I used theory of psychology
such as motivation, struggle for life, and parental love. After answering the formulated problems I checked my analysis with the theories to
make sure that they met. Afterwards, I made a conclusion of my study. The last step was making suggestions for the future researchers and for the teaching learning activity.
D. Sources
