40 This statement shows that Dawan will not get a chance to study if her
brother does not talk to their father. For Dawan, she is just a girl who has no chance to study because she will end up staying at home for her whole life. She
thinks that her role is not that important for her father. The schema is more about how influential boys are. In this case, Kwai can easily influence her father to let
Dawan go to school. If Dawan herself tells her father about how she wants to go to school, her father will not accept her wish.
C. Daw
an’s Mind Development
To answer the second research problem, the writer uses theory of mind by Davidson 1963. He states that center of a theory of mind is conceptual triad of
constructs actions, beliefs, and desires as cited in Bartsch, 1995, p. 5. The writer correlates gender schemas that have been found in the novel to those three center
of theory of mind which are beliefs, desires, and action. In this section, the writer describes
how gender schemas influence Dawan‟s mind development from the beginning of the story until the end.
1. Beliefs
According to Davidson 1963, beliefs refer to a general category of thoughts involving knowledge, opinions, guesses, convictions, and hunches. as
cited in Bartsch, 1995, p. 5. Those are all the mental states that reflect something true about the world. The writer finds some kinds of beliefs that are found in the
41 novel, especially from gender schemas. Beliefs that are found in the novel are
opinions, convictions and hunches.
a. Opinions
Opinions are parts of beliefs that influence Dawan‟s mind development.
There are some gender schemas that are considered as opinions which contribute to
Dawan‟s mind development. Those gender schemas are found in statements from many character
s in Dawan‟s life. The gender schemas are constructed and then influence Dawan‟s mind, especially her opinions towards the equality of
gender in her village. Their parents had considered it foolish and wasteful to send girls to school.
It was not until Kwai had started school himself and kept insisting that his sister be allowed to join him that Dawan was finally permitted to go too.
p. 14.
The quotation above is about Dawan‟s parents‟ opinion which is related to
education for their son and daughter. It can be seen that there is no equality between boys and girls for them because education is only for boys. Dawan, as a
girl, is actually not meant to be permitted to go to school, like her brother, Kwai. Their parents never intend to send Dawan to school because the only one who will
be sent is Kwai. Dawan is finally allowed to get education because Kwai asks their parents to send Dawan to school with him. If Kwai does not ask their parents
to do so, Dawan would never be given a chance to study at school. For Dawan‟s parents, it is useless and foolish to send their daughter to
learn something at the school. They do not expect anything to Dawan, while they expect many things from Kwai because he is a boy. A boy should get more
knowledge rather than a girl, so Dawan‟s parents only allow Kwai to be sent to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
42 school at the beginning. They say it is foolish to send girls to school because for
them, girls cannot do many things to improve their family‟s life, while boys are believed to bring a better life to the family. It is also considered as wasteful
because they think that they will waste more money if they have to send Dawan to school too, and Dawan will not give anything to them as a feedback.
As a result, Dawan also thinks the same way about her chance to go to school. It can be seen from her statement to Bao when Bao gives her compliment
about her scholarship. “It‟s not that people are born smarter or dumber than one another. It‟s the
way different chances have been given or denied people that makes them so different after a while. I can read now only because I was given a
chance to, when my brother helped to talk to our father into letting me
study years ago and...” p. 63. When Bao praises Dawan after she knows that Dawan gets the scholarship,
Dawan responses wisely. She gives her opinion towards her luck to get education at school. Similar to her parents‟ opinion, she also believes that she is just lucky
because she has a brother who can ask their parents to give her chance to go to school and study many things there. For her, getting the scholarship does not
mean that she is smart. She improves her capability at school to the fullest, so that she can get the first rank at school. Dawan believes that her chance to be sent to
school in the village leads her to the chance to get the scholarship to study in the city.
b. Convictions
Conviction is one of belief that can be found in the novel. This kind of belief is different from opinions because conviction is more strict than opinions