Discrimination within an Afro-American community in The United States in 1960s-1970s as depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise.

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vii ABSTRACT

Atmaka, Stanislaus Febri (2009). Discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960s – 1970s as Depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Yogyakarta: Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Department of Language and Arts Education, English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

This thesis deals with discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960s – 1970s as depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Ruby is an Afro American community that has isolated themselves to avoid discrimination from white people. This situation changes when one family, the Morgans, dominates the community. Discrimination happens everywhere since there is no equality within a community.

In this thesis, there is one problem formulation that is how Toni Morrison depicts discrimination within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s. In order to focus on the major topic deeper, the problem was divided into two sub divisions. The first one is the structure of Afro American Community in 1960s. Second is the fundamental problem why discrimination happens within Afro-American community.

To achieve the objectives of the study, the method used in this study is library research was used to gather the data. There were two kinds of sources that were used in this thesis. The primary source was obtained from the novel itself, Paradise. The secondary source was obtained from the books related to the theories and also history of Afro American people. The sociocultural-historical approach was applied in this study to get a clear picture of Afro American’s way of life consisted of culture, religion, and system of their community especially in 1960s-1970s. The information was important to reveal the life events developed in the novel. The theories were needed to analyze the social phenomenon happen within Afro American community which enabled discrimination.

The result of this study shows that discrimination happens because there is inequality within Afro American community. Ruby community is a picture of Afro American community. The system of stratification, class and power distribution legalize the inequality within Ruby community. Since the Morgans have all of the things, becomes the upper class family, has most of the assets in Ruby, and holds the power towards Ruby community, their domination is not stoppable. The Morgans as the most influential family becomes the main problem of discrimination that happens within Ruby community. Equality becomes the fundamental thing to erase discrimination within a community.

In the last part of this thesis, there are two suggestions. The first suggestion is for the future researcher(s) on Paradise. The second suggestion is to implement Paradise in teaching English, especially Intensive Reading II.


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viii ABSTRAK

Atmaka, Stanislaus Febri (2009). Discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960’s –1970’s as Depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Yogyakarta: Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Jurusan Bahasa dan Seni, Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini berhubungan dengan diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika in Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1960an-1970an sesuai dengan apa yang digambarkan di dalam novel karangan Toni Morrison yang berjudul Paradise. Ruby adalah sebuah komunitas orang Afro American yang mengisolasi diri untuk menghindari diskriminasi dari orang kulit putih. Situasi ini berubah ketika salah satu keluarga yaitu keluarga Morgan mendominasi komunitas ini. Diskriminasi terjadi dimanapun juga karena tidak adanya kesetaraan di dalam komunitas tesebut.

Di dalam skripsi ini, ada satu pertanyaan yaitu tentang bagaimana Toni Morrison menggambarkan diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1960an-1970an. Agar fokus kepada pokok bahasan utama mendalam, pertanyaan itu dibagi menjadi dua pokok pertanyaan. Yang pertama adalah struktur dari komunitas Afro Amerika di tahun 1960an. Kedua adalah masalah dasar mengapa terjadi diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika.

Untuk mencapai tujuan dari skripsi ini, digunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mengumpulkan data-data. Ada dua sumber yang akan digunakan dalam skripsi ini. Sumber utama diambil dari novel itu sendiri yang berjudul Paradise. Sumber kedua diambil dari buku-buku yang terkait dengan teori sekaligus sejarah tentang orang-orang Afro Amerika. Pendekatan sosial kebudayaan dan sejarah diimplementasikan di dalam skripsi ini dengan tujuan untuk mendapatkan gambaran jelas tentang cara hidup orang-orang Afro American yang terdiri dari budaya, agama, dan sistem dari komunitas Afro Amerika khususnya pada tahun 1960an-1970an. Informasi ini penting untuk menganalisa fenomena sosial yang terjadi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika yang memungkinkan terjadinya diskriminasi.

Hasil dari studi ini memperlihatkan bahwa diskriminasi terjadi karena tidak adanya kesetaraan di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika. Komunitas Ruby adalah gambaran dari komunitas Afro Amerika. Sistem stratifikasi, kelas dan distribusi kekuasaan melegalkan ketidaksetaraan hak di dalam komunitas Ruby. Karena keluarga Morgan memiliki segala-galanya, menjadi keluarga kelas atas, memiliki sebagian besar aset Ruby, dan memegang kekuasaan terhadap komunitas Ruby, dominasi mereka menjadi tidak dapat dihentikan. Keluarga Morgan sebagai keluarga paling berpengaruh menjadi masalah utama terjadinya diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Ruby. Kesetaraan menjadi hal mutlak untuk menghilangkan diskriminasi dari sebuah komunitas.


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ix

Pada bagian akhir dari skripsi ini, terdapat dua saran. Saran pertama diperuntukkan bagi (para) peneliti Paradise selanjutnya. Saran kedua untuk penerapan Paradise dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris, terutama untuk mengajar Intensive Reading II.


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i

DISCRIMINATION WITHIN AN AFRO-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1960s - 1970s

AS DEPICTED IN TONI MORRISON’S PARADISE

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Stanislaus Febri Atmaka Student Number: 031214128

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA


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vi

DEDICATION PAGE

This thesis is dedicated to;

My mother, father, little brother, lover, best friends and myself

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it

shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he

that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

(Matthew 7 : 7-8)

Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:

and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of

all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

(Mark 10 : 43-45)

Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that

curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him

that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that

taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man

that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not

again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them

likewise.

(Luke 6 : 27-31)

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.

(John 6 : 63)


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vii ABSTRACT

Atmaka, Stanislaus Febri (2009). Discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960s – 1970s as Depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Yogyakarta: Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Department of Language and Arts Education, English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

This thesis deals with discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960s – 1970s as depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Ruby is an Afro American community that has isolated themselves to avoid discrimination from white people. This situation changes when one family, the Morgans, dominates the community. Discrimination happens everywhere since there is no equality within a community.

In this thesis, there is one problem formulation that is how Toni Morrison depicts discrimination within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s. In order to focus on the major topic deeper, the problem was divided into two sub divisions. The first one is the structure of Afro American Community in 1960s. Second is the fundamental problem why discrimination happens within Afro-American community.

To achieve the objectives of the study, the method used in this study is library research was used to gather the data. There were two kinds of sources that were used in this thesis. The primary source was obtained from the novel itself, Paradise. The secondary source was obtained from the books related to the theories and also history of Afro American people. The sociocultural-historical approach was applied in this study to get a clear picture of Afro American’s way of life consisted of culture, religion, and system of their community especially in 1960s-1970s. The information was important to reveal the life events developed in the novel. The theories were needed to analyze the social phenomenon happen within Afro American community which enabled discrimination.

The result of this study shows that discrimination happens because there is inequality within Afro American community. Ruby community is a picture of Afro American community. The system of stratification, class and power distribution legalize the inequality within Ruby community. Since the Morgans have all of the things, becomes the upper class family, has most of the assets in Ruby, and holds the power towards Ruby community, their domination is not stoppable. The Morgans as the most influential family becomes the main problem of discrimination that happens within Ruby community. Equality becomes the fundamental thing to erase discrimination within a community.

In the last part of this thesis, there are two suggestions. The first suggestion is for the future researcher(s) on Paradise. The second suggestion is to implement Paradise in teaching English, especially Intensive Reading II.


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viii ABSTRAK

Atmaka, Stanislaus Febri (2009). Discrimination within Afro-American Community in the United States in 1960’s –1970’s as Depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Yogyakarta: Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Jurusan Bahasa dan Seni, Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini berhubungan dengan diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika in Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1960an-1970an sesuai dengan apa yang digambarkan di dalam novel karangan Toni Morrison yang berjudul Paradise. Ruby adalah sebuah komunitas orang Afro American yang mengisolasi diri untuk menghindari diskriminasi dari orang kulit putih. Situasi ini berubah ketika salah satu keluarga yaitu keluarga Morgan mendominasi komunitas ini. Diskriminasi terjadi dimanapun juga karena tidak adanya kesetaraan di dalam komunitas tesebut.

Di dalam skripsi ini, ada satu pertanyaan yaitu tentang bagaimana Toni Morrison menggambarkan diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1960an-1970an. Agar fokus kepada pokok bahasan utama mendalam, pertanyaan itu dibagi menjadi dua pokok pertanyaan. Yang pertama adalah struktur dari komunitas Afro Amerika di tahun 1960an. Kedua adalah masalah dasar mengapa terjadi diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika.

Untuk mencapai tujuan dari skripsi ini, digunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mengumpulkan data-data. Ada dua sumber yang akan digunakan dalam skripsi ini. Sumber utama diambil dari novel itu sendiri yang berjudul Paradise. Sumber kedua diambil dari buku-buku yang terkait dengan teori sekaligus sejarah tentang orang-orang Afro Amerika. Pendekatan sosial kebudayaan dan sejarah diimplementasikan di dalam skripsi ini dengan tujuan untuk mendapatkan gambaran jelas tentang cara hidup orang-orang Afro American yang terdiri dari budaya, agama, dan sistem dari komunitas Afro Amerika khususnya pada tahun 1960an-1970an. Informasi ini penting untuk menganalisa fenomena sosial yang terjadi di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika yang memungkinkan terjadinya diskriminasi.

Hasil dari studi ini memperlihatkan bahwa diskriminasi terjadi karena tidak adanya kesetaraan di dalam komunitas Afro Amerika. Komunitas Ruby adalah gambaran dari komunitas Afro Amerika. Sistem stratifikasi, kelas dan distribusi kekuasaan melegalkan ketidaksetaraan hak di dalam komunitas Ruby. Karena keluarga Morgan memiliki segala-galanya, menjadi keluarga kelas atas, memiliki sebagian besar aset Ruby, dan memegang kekuasaan terhadap komunitas Ruby, dominasi mereka menjadi tidak dapat dihentikan. Keluarga Morgan sebagai keluarga paling berpengaruh menjadi masalah utama terjadinya diskriminasi di dalam komunitas Ruby. Kesetaraan menjadi hal mutlak untuk menghilangkan diskriminasi dari sebuah komunitas.


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ix

Pada bagian akhir dari skripsi ini, terdapat dua saran. Saran pertama diperuntukkan bagi (para) peneliti Paradise selanjutnya. Saran kedua untuk penerapan Paradise dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris, terutama untuk mengajar Intensive Reading II.


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x

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to thank Jesus Christ, my Lord for His guidance and blessing to me so I can finish this thesis. Without Him I would never have finished this thesis. What I always believe is that He always lives in my heart until the end of my life.

My greatest gratitude goes to my parents, my beloved father, Markus Suwondo, A.Ma.Pd. and my loving mother, Yosepha Maria Eni Dwiningsih, S.Pd. I would like to thank them for everything they give to me: love, prayer, patience, and support. I really appreciate the life they have given to me and I will try as best as I can to make them happy and proud of me. They are the reason for me to be a better person day by day. I also would like to thank to my little brother, Yoannes de Ketty Rio Krismanuraga for his support and attention.

My next gratitude goes to my major sponsor Henny Herawati, S.Pd., M.Hum. and my co-sponsor Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y., M. Hum. for their

help, patience, suggestion and encouragement so I can finally finish my thesis. To all lecturers of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, I would also like to thank them for the time they taught and gave me knowledge. I wish God always bless them.

There are also my great friends I would like to thank. They are: Nina Setyorini, Priska Fitri Yuaningtyas, Upik, Putri, Qyer, Dono, Satrio “Ji’i” Nugroho, Ozzie, Tika, Nina “Ndut”, Andriana “Koki” Wahyu Saputra, Tri “Kentung” Aryanto, Wisnu “Kenthi”, Lukas, Djampez, mBud, “Angkatan Ad


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xi

Experimentum 1998 Seminari Menengah Mertoyudan “Here I am Lord!”, Bondan, Sony, Ernawati, Daru Pintoko, Mudika Aloysius Gonzaga “The AlGonzAholic Lovers” for their friendship and care. I would like to thank them for coloring my life. I hope we always keep our friendship until the end of our life. My special thank goes to my beloved one, drh. Yovita Andriana Eva Kristanti. I would like to thank her for her love, patience, care and support. I thank her for her unending love. My gratitude also goes to other PBI students year 2003 that I cannot mention one by one.

Last but not least, I thank those who have supported and encouraged me to finish this thesis. May God bless all of them.


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xii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE OF PAGE ………..….… i

PAGES OF APPOVAL ……… ii

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……….. iv

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ………. v

DEDICATION PAGE ……….. vi

ABSTACT ………. vii

ABSTRAK ……….. viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………. x

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………. xii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ………... 1

B. Problem Formulation ……… 3

C. Objective of the Study ……….. 3

D. Benefits of the Study ………..………….………. 4

E. Definition of Terms ………... 4

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Review ……….. 7

1. Critical Approaches ……….. 7

2. Theory of Social Class ……….. 9

a. History ……….. 9

b. Aristotle’s Theory of Class………. 10

c. Karl Marx’s Theory of Social Classes ……….. 12

3. Power and Status Relations ………... 14

4. Theory of Stratification ………. 18


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xiii B. Socio-Historical Background

1. The Afro American Community in 1960s – 1970s ……… 22

2. American Class and Caste System ……… 22

3. Negro Community after the Slavery ………. 25

4. Classes in the Negro Community ………. 27

5. Distribution of Afro American People ………. 29

6. Afro – American Church ……….. 30

a. Black and White Church ……….. 30

b. From a Place to Worship to the Outstanding Social Institution ……… 31

c. Problem of Denominations and Uneducated Preachers … 33 C. Theoretical Framework ………. 34

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study ……… 36

B. Approach ………... 37

C. Method of the Study ……….. 37

CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS A. Social Background of the Ruby Community ……… 40

1. The Picture of Puritan Afro American Community ………. 41

2. The Role of Preachers in Afro American Community …….. 44

3. Living in Isolation ……… 47

B. The Fundamental Reasons of Discrimination within Afro American Community ……… 50

1. Stratification within Afro American Community …………. 51

a. The Morgan Family as the Upper Class Family ………... 52

b. The Hierarchical System of Afro American Church …… 54

2. Class System in Ruby Community ……… 56


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xiv

b. Ruby as an “Oligarchical” Community ……… 58

c. Morgan Family as the Ruling Class Family ………. 60

3. Power and Status Relations of Morgan Family……….. 62

a. Morgan Family Domination ………. 63

b. The Twins as the Most Influential Persons in Ruby ……. 69

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusion ………. 76

B. Suggestions ………...…. 78

1. Suggestion for Future Researcher(s) ………. 78

2. Suggestion for Teaching Intensive Reading II .……… 79

REFERENCES ……… 84

APPENDICES ……… 86


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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

In the introduction, the writer divides the chapter into five parts; they are: background of the study, problem formulation, objective of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. Background of the study explains the reasons why the writer chooses Paradise, a novel by Toni Morrison, to discuss. Problem Formulation formulates the problems into a clear description in a form of question. Objective of the Study states the purpose of writing this. It is also related to the Benefits. Benefits reveal the advantages of this study for the students who learn literature and also everyone who wants to study literature especially Toni Morrison’s novels. The last part of this chapter, that is Definition of the terms, is meant to avoid ambiguous interpretations of the terms used in the study.

A. Background of the Study

Social status, job position, gender, skin color differentiate between one person and others. All of them, sometimes, bring problems in our social life. All of the differences can put human in a serious and dangerous problem. Ideally, we try to see this kind of differences as an opportunity for us to build our community stronger. The fact is that there are still social frictions that happen because of those differences, indeed. The differences cannot be avoided because they become parts of our life. Wherever we live, there will be differences.


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As a social creature, we need other people to live. A simple example that we can take is that man needs woman and woman needs man. Both man and woman need each other to fulfill their life. Yet in social life, sometimes, the role of a woman is neglected. It is a fact that the positions of religious leader in the world are held by men. Most people will think that it is not discrimination because discrimination is thought to be bad and cruel. If we go deeper in that case, we can say that it is discrimination in the base of gender discrimination.

There is a lot of discrimination in the world and it will always happen. Discrimination becomes our social problem since it produces friction in our social life. A Nobel Prize Winner, Toni Morrison’s Paradise, is one of her novels that was written in order to reveal to readers social problems, especially discrimination, which happened within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s. Toni Morrison titles her novel Paradise although the situation is not the same as what we think about “paradise”. She creates a community of black families named Ruby. Ruby is a town that is built consists of eight family names; the eight rocks. The eight rocks is the founder of Ruby. This community tries to build a community which gives a better life to them since they have been slaves for many years. At the beginning, they create an ideal social life. They together build the town from generation to generation. The situation changes when one of the family founders tries to dominate. One of the family founders does the discrimination within the community of Ruby.

Discrimination between the Blacks and the Whites is an old song. Discrimination within a black community is an interesting topic to discuss since


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there are only several people discussing about it. That is the situation that Toni Morrison wants to tell through her novel Paradise.

This new point of view is the reason why the writer is interested in discussing discrimination within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s as depicted in Toni Morrison’s Paradise. Paradise gives the reader a critical point of view towards discrimination in the United States that we can use as reflection materials we can bring in our daily life situation. Discrimination is still an actual problem to discuss and learnt because it can happen now or later.

B. Problem Formulation

Since the topic consists of several aspects, the writer formulates the problem into one question, that is:

How does Toni Morrison depict discrimination within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s?

C. Objective of the Study

The objective of this study is, of course, to answer the problem as the general objective of this study. In order to focus on the major topic deeper, the writer divides the general objective into two specific objectives. The first one is to reveal the structure of an Afro-American Community in 1960s. It provides information about social structure of Afro-American community which allowed


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the discrimination. The second one is to reveal the fundamental problem why discrimination happens within the Afro-American community.

D. Benefits of the Study

This thesis provides a reader with clear information about discrimination within an Afro-American community in the United States in 1960s - 1970s based on what is revealed in Paradise. Thus, this thesis is beneficial for those who study literature; students and lecturers. Many things in this novel are interesting to discuss. Discussion method will develop students’ critical thinking; moreover the value of this discussion will bring the students to get in touch with their social life and give them new point of view towards their social life.

As we know, Paradise is not just a novel that gives the readers enjoyment of reading. Moreover, it gives the reader new point of views, enlightments or may be references for reflection of their social life. Thus, this thesis is beneficial for those who are interested in social life especially in social problem. Since Paradise is a historical novel, it means that it portrays the real events happening in the United States in 1960s - 1970s. It is also beneficial for those who are studying American history.

E. Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding of the content of this thesis, there are three terms that must be clearly defined. The terms that must be clearly defined are discrimination, the Afro-American, and the caste system.


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1. Discrimination

The terms of discrimination, based on the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (508), is the practice of treating one particular group in society in an unfair way. Banton says that it is not possible to determine that an action is discriminatory without indicating the basis of the differential treatment (Banton 19).

Since there are some definitions about discrimination, the writer defines discrimination as the practice of treating one particular group or person in society in an unfair way in this case in front of the law that was made by a group of people based on an agreement among them. Paradise portrays the discrimination that happens within an Afro American community in a small town named Ruby. One family name that is the Morgan family treats the other families in an unfair way in the basis of the law that was made by the community of Ruby itself.

2. The Afro-American

According to the The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (53) the Afro American refers to a black American person. In this study, the writer specify the term of the Afro American. Thus the Afro American here refers to the Blacks American people who live in America because of slavery trading. They live in a community of black people and after the slavery era, they try to maintain their own life in order to protect themselves from the Whites.


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3. The Caste System

Here, the caste system refers to the rule of blood that was maintained by the Blacks and the Whites in order to protect them from intermarriage. This system was implemented by the Whites to emphasize the inferiority of the Blacks. The Whites said that all Negroes were alike and must be treated as the lower class people. Myrdal uses this term in his book because the term “class” is liable to blur a significant distinction between the lower class and the upper class so, a term to distinguish the large and systematic type of social differentiation from the small and spotty type is needed (Myrdal 667).


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7 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter includes theories and reviews on related literature that support the analysis of the novel. It consists of the theoretical review, the socio-historical background, and the theoretical framework. The theoretical review consists of critical approach, theory of social class, power and status relations, theory of stratification, and theory of discrimination. The sociocultural-historical background consists of the Afro-American history after the slavery era in 1960s - 1970s, the American class and caste system, Negro community after the slavery, classes in the Negro community, distribution of Afro American people, and Afro-American Church. The theoretical framework will explain how the theories mentioned answer the problem.

A. Theoretical Review

This part contains the literary theory related to the study. The theory is the theory of critical approaches.

1. Critical Approaches

According to Rohrberger and Woods Jr in Reading and Writing about Literature (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 3), there are five approaches that can be applied to analyze a work of literature. They are the formalist approach, the


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biographical approach, the sociocultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach.

The first approach is the formalist approach. It emphasizes on the total integrity of the literary piece. It focuses on its esthetic value and through how meaning is derived from structure and how matters of technique determine structure (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 6)

The second one is the biographical approach. This is the approach in which we consider the author‟s background to appreciate his work of literature. It insists that a work of art is a reflection of personality; therefore, it is necessary to appreciate the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. The basis of writing the literary work is the knowledge and sources about the author (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 8).

The third one is the sociocultural-historical approach. It insists that the attitudes and the actions are the “subject matter” of the literature. The critics are required to pay attention to the social environment in which the work of literature is written and to its influence towards the work of literature (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 9).

The fourth one is the mythopoeic approach. It seeks to discover universally repeated structures are structures that found first expression in ancient myths and folk rites and they are so basic to human thought that they have meaning to all men (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 11).

The last one is the psychological approach. This approach pays attention to the certain repeated structure but the attention is from the different knowledge‟s


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point of view, namely psychological theories. This approach leads to the exploration of the unconscious area of the human mind, which led to the conclusion that it was this area that was wellspring of man rich imagination, his capacity for creation and the complexity of his thought, behavior, and that the contents of this region of the mind found expression in symbolic words, thoughts and action (Rohrberger and Woods Jr 13)

2. Theory of Social Class

Talking about social status, the division of social life, and stratification, the first thing that we have to now is about social class. It is one of the fundamental things that we have to know in order to get a clear picture of social problem discussed.

a. History

It is difficult to define the word “class” because it occurs across a range of disciplines – sociology, politics, cultural studies, and „literary criticism‟. Related to the social analysis, in a broad term, the word „class‟ refers to divisions of people in society.

The word class is from the Latin classis (plural classes). According to Charlton Lewis and Charles Short, compilers of the Standard Latin Dictionary, this term is variant of Calare, meaning to call out, proclaim, or summon a religious assembly. It had two main senses (Day 3). The first refers to an armed


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gathering, either on land or water, while the second and most important, refers to the divisions of the Roman people according to their estates and age.

The result of this division was the creation of two major groups in Roman society, the patricians or aristocrats and the plebeians or commoners. The codification of Roman law stipulated that while rich and poor were entitled to its protection, a slave was not. As in Greek society, there was a clear division between a free man and a slave.

In the seventeenth century, the word “class” entered into the English language for the first time. In natural sciences, the word class refers to an equality of different types of, say, plants or animals. Yet, it was not how it applied in social description. The entry of “class” into the English language in the mid-seventeenth century refers to a decisive moment in the development of capitalism. The appearance of the word “class” is linked to fundamental changes in the economy and to their effect on social relations. The new idiom of class is an expression of social conflict.

b. Aristotle’s Theory of Class

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology and zoology. Aristotle has a point of view toward the understanding of class. He divides the society into three classes. The first one is


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the very rich, secondly, the mean (middle class), and thirdly the very poor. These three classes will determine whether a government built is good or bad.

Based on his opinion, the middle class is the best class who takes the rule. He wrote:

…moderation and the mean are best and therefore it will clearly be best to possess the gifts of fortune in moderation; for in that condition of life men are most ready to follow rational principle. But he who greatly excels in beauty, strength, birth, or wealth, or on the other hand who is very poor, or very weak, or very much disgraced, finds it difficult to follow rational principle… Those who have too much of the goods of fortune, strength, wealth, friends and the like, are neither willing nor able to submit to authority. The evil begins at home; for when they are boys, by reason of the luxury in which they are brought up, they never learn, even at school, the habit of obedience. On the other hand, the very poor, who are in the opposite extreme, are too degraded. So that the one class cannot obey, and can only rule despotically; the other knows not how to command and must be ruled like slaves. (Aristotle 1)

The class that is in charge of ruling will build the characteristics of a country and also a community. Aristotle wants to show that middle class will bring a community into a good one. Living in a middle class situation enables a person to understand the situation of a rich man or a poor man. This situation will also enable the person to act rationally towards two “extreme” classes; the rich one and the very poor one. Wisely then did Phocylides pray - “Many things are best in the mean; I desire to be of a middle condition in my city (Aristotle 1).”

The role of the middle class also has a great contribution in building whether a country is democratical or oligarchical (controlled by a small group of people). When there are numbers of the middle class in a government, the government will be democratic. In the other hand, if the rich one or the poor one takes the chance, it can be predicted that the governmental will be oligarchical.


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Democracies are safer and more permanent than oligarchies, because they have a middle class which dominates and has a greater share in the government; for when there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed in number, troubles arise, and the state soon comes to an end (Aristotle 2).

c. Karl Marx’s Theory of Social Classes

Karl Marx based his theory in an economic point of view. According to Marx history may be divided into several periods, for example, ancient civilization, feudalism, and capitalism. Each of these periods is characterized by a predominant mode of production and, based upon it, a class structure consisting of a ruling and an oppressed class. The struggle between these classes determines the social relations between men. In particular, the ruling class, which owes its position to the ownership and control of the means of production, controls also, though often in subtle ways, the whole moral and intellectual life of the people. According to Marx, law and government, art and literature, science and philosophy; all serve more or less directly the interests of the ruling class (Bendix 6).

The social classes are built based on the position which the individual occupies in the social organization (Bendix 8). Therefore, the income or occupation does not always determine his/her class position. For example, if two men are carpenters, they belong to the same occupation, but one may run a small shop of his own, while another works in a plant manufacturing pre-fabricated


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housing; the two men belong to the same occupation, but to different social classes.

In the production world where people earn for living, conflict is not avoidable. The experience of economic, conflict would prompt the members of a social class to develop common beliefs and common actions. According to Marx, there are five variables which would facilitate this process (Bendix 8): firstly, the conflicts over the distribution of economic rewards between the classes; secondly, easy communication between the individuals in the same class-position so that ideas and action-programs are readily disseminated; thirdly, growth of class-consciousness in the sense that the members of the class have a feeling of solidarity and understanding of their historic role; fourth, profound dissatisfaction of the lower class over its inability to control the economic structure of which it feels itself to be the exploited victim; and fifth, establishment of a political organization resulting from the economic structure, the historical situation and maturation of class-consciousness.

Thus, the organization of production provides the necessary but not a sufficient basis for the existence of social classes. The five points; repeated conflicts over economic rewards, the growth of class consciousness, the growing dissatisfaction with exploitation which causes suffering in psychological as much as in material term, etc are the conditions which help to overcome the differences and conflicts between individuals and groups within the class and encourage the formation of a class conscious political organization.


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The conflict or competition between or among classes make the classes are solid within themselves. The individual conflict is avoidable. A social class can be understood as a condition of group life which was constantly generated by the organization production. This class formation is important, moreover essential, in order to keep the existence of a common „class enemy‟, because without it competition between individuals would prevail.

The situation within classes as communities will be good if the competition was brought in a fair condition. If there is domination/monopoly of a specific number of people, the situation will be worst as what Marx had ever written: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole” (Bendix 10).

3. Power and Status Relations

The role of power in a society becomes one of the main things in status relation and how the community will be built. Maintaining power in a society is a must but needs consequences in practice. Power is needed in maintaining the management of a community in order to bring this community into a better future. But, an unmanageable or uncontrollable power will lead into great destruction of a community.

Talcot Parsons says that power is one of the key concepts in the great western tradition of thought about political phenomena (Parsons 240). To know the roles of power in a society, it is important to know the nature of power. The


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nature of power explained is based on the book titled Power and Society, An Introduction to the Social Sciences written by Thomas R. Dye. It is important for us to know the nature of power in order that we can see the way power “works” in a society. Dye has proposed seven elements related to the nature of power.

Firstly, power is the capacity to affect the conduct of individuals through the real or threatened use of rewards and punishments (Dye 4). It means that power is exercised over individuals or groups by offering them some things they value or by threatening to deprive them of those things. We can use power as a tool to rule the situation and persons. The rulers manage power by offering people some specific values so that they can build their society stronger. Power also offers punishment if the “followers” do not obey or live the value they agreed.

Secondly, we see power as a special form of influence. Influence is the production of intended effects (Dye 4). When people can produce intended effects by any means, we can say that they are influential. It is logic that someone who has power also has influential effect in his/her society. Someone can be said to be powerful if he/she can produce intended effects by the real or threatened use of rewards and punishments.

Thirdly, power can rest on various resources (Dye 4). It means that the exercise of power assumes many different forms – the giving or withholding of many different values. Yet power bases are usually interdependent – individuals who control certain resources are likely to control other resources as well. This situation is next, to be one of the main problem that occur in a society related to the misuse of power.


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Fourth, power is never equally distributed (Dye 4). “Power holder” must control some values in his/her society in order to get his/her influence. This situation urge for one domination. By controlling the values, the power holder is in a position to offer these values as rewards to others or to threaten to deprive others of these values. There is no power if power is equal.

Fifth, power is a relationship among individuals, groups, and institutions in society (Dye 4). When someone is isolated from his/her society, he/she is powerless. We can say that power is not really a “thing” that an individual possesses. Instead, power is a relationship in which some individuals or groups have control over certain resources. When someone wants to be powerful, he/she has to manage his/her relationship well.

Sixth, power is exercised in interpersonal relations. Psychologist Rollo May wrote that “power means the ability to affect, to influence, and to change other persons” (Dye 4). In a society, interpersonal relation is the first step to “conquer” the mass as a whole community.

The last one, power is exercised in large institutions – governments, corporations, schools, the military, churches, newspapers, television networks, law firms, and so on. Power that stems from high positions in the social structures of society is stable and far-reaching (Dye 5).

Sociologist C. Wright Mills observed: “No one can be truly powerful unless he has access to the command of major institutions, for it is over these institutional means of power that the truly powerful are, in the first instance, powerful (Dye 5).” Not all power, it is true, is anchored in or exercised through


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institutions. Yet institutional positions in society provide a continuous and important base of power. Mills explains:

If we took the one hundred most powerful men in America, the one hundred wealthiest, and the one hundred most celebrated away from the institutional positions they now occupy, away from their resources of men and women and money, away from the media of mass communication that are now focused upon them – then they would be powerless and poor and uncelebrated. For power is not of a man. Wealth does not center in the person of the wealthy…. To have power requires access to major institutions, for the institutional positions men occupy determine in large part their chances to have and to hold these valued experiences (Dye 5). According to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia there are some sources of power. They are delegated authority (for example in the democratic process), social class (material wealth can equal power), personal or group charisma, ascribed power (acting on perceived or assumed abilities, whether these bear testing or not), expertise (ability, skills) (the power of medicine to bring about health; another famous example would be "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" - Desiderius Erasmus), persuasion (direct, indirect, or subliminal), Knowledge (granted or withheld, shared or kept secret), money (financial influence, control of labour, control through ownership, etc), fame, force (violence, military might, coercion), moral persuasion (including religion), operation of group dynamics (such as public relations), social influence of tradition (compare ascribed power), and in relationships; domination/submissiveness


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4. Theory of Stratification

People in the world are divided into several classes. Each of the people has her or his role within their society. Consciously or unconsciously, people are divided into their social status.

The life of the Afro-American people in 1960s was also divided into their social status. The social status of black community, can be said, is the excess of social strata that was build by white community. This situation can be happen because the influence of white in the slavery era was so strong.

In 1960s, the Whites have higher social status in a society rather than the Blacks. Black people got a different treatment in front of the law or in public places because they belonged to the lower social status. We know that black people used to be slaves and the label of lower social status seems to be inherited from their ancestor.

The stratification that was built, if it is not controlled well, will lead into social discrimination. In the other words, discrimination will happen if there is stratification within a society and there is no social control which makes the differentiation as a tool to build the society stronger.

So, what are the positive and negative effects of stratification? Melvin M. Tumin wrote some functions of stratification as stated in the form of provisional assertions, as follows (Tumin 58):

Firstly, social stratification systems function to limit the possibility of discovery of the full range of talent available in a society. It means that every


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people in the society have different opportunity in developing their talent. Only particular persons have the chances to develop their talent through the society.

Secondly, in foreshortening the range of available talent, social stratification systems function to set limits upon the possibility of expanding the productive resources of the society, at least relative to what might be the case under conditions of greater equality of opportunity.

Thirdly, social stratification systems function to provide the elite with the political power necessary to procure acceptance and dominance of an ideology which rationalizes the status quo, whatever it may be, as “logical,” “natural” and “morally right.” Since the stratification system put people in the different position and class, distribution of power automatically fall into the hand of the upper class people. This upper class, of course, has a big chance to rule the society.

Fourth, social stratification systems function to distribute favorable self-images unequally throughout a population. The image of upper class people will be built better than the lower class. Inferiority of the lower class will put their self-images under the upper class people.

Fifth, to the extent that inequalities in social rewards cannot be made fully acceptable to the less privileged in a society, social stratification systems function to encourage hostility, suspicion and distrust among the various segments of a society and thus to limit the possibilities of extensive social integration. This situation related to the building of good relation among others people. Since there is no equality, the relation among the member of a society faces barrier.


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Sixth, to the extent that the sense of significant membership in a society depends on one‟s place on the prestige ladder of the society, social stratification systems function to distribute unequally the sense of significant membership in the population. Since the role of particular members of a society is different each other, the contribution one person to the society will be different with the other person.

Seventh, to the extent that loyalty to a society depends on a sense of significant membership in the society, social stratification systems function to distribute loyalty unequally in the population. Loyalties of a particular group of a society belong to their own group. Friction between different classes will lead to the conflict within a society.

Eighth, to the extent that participation and apathy depend upon the sense of significant membership in the society, social stratification systems function to distribute the motivation to participate unequally in the population. Each member will contribute their talent differently since they have different position within the society. A person who has significant role in the society has also different motivation.

5. Theory of Discrimination

Black people in the slavery era and after that faced discrimination within the society. Most of them were from white people. Black people were treated as commodity. After the slavery era, they also faced discrimination although there were some rules stated that black people were treated just the same as the White


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because they were also the citizens of United States. The fact was that black people were treated differently before the law.

Discrimination takes many forms. They are racial discrimination, age discrimination, gender discrimination, caste discrimination, employment discrimination, language discrimination, reverse discrimination, and disability discrimination. The most common discrimination in this world is employment discrimination since most of the country start with the industrial era. Moreover, employment discrimination also related to the other discrimination for example sex discrimination. Different opportunity in getting job because of different sex becomes one example of this kind of discrimination.

According to Linda Clarke, equal opportunities make good business sense. The key word of this statement is equal (Clarke 3). In order to avoid „a less favorable treatment‟, equality is needed. Equality becomes the key concept in fighting discrimination.

There are many efforts done to maintain the equality. The principle of equal treatment is recognized in Article 1 of the constitution of the Netherlands, which declares that „persons shall be treated equally in equal circumstances‟ (Banton 73). This article clearly stated that discrimination is wrong because it breaches this principle.


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B. Socio-Historical Background

1. The Afro American Community in 1960s – 1970s

Martin Luther King Junior portrays the discrimination the Black had to face (Rustin 444). During the slavery era, black people got so many tortures from white people as their land lord. This situation influenced black people thought. This situation also treated the black community as the lower class people. After the slavery era black people, although there was not all of black people got their freedom, maintain a better life. They built their own community. Some civil right movements rouse and gave some effects to the government.

There were some rules which facilitate black people life in the society. Equality as the American citizen was broadly spread through out the state. Yet all of the rules made were only tools to calm the black movement. It was only illusion. There was still discrimination toward black people.

Concerning this situation some leaders provoked some actions to maintain the solution. Two famous leaders from black community were Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. They fought for the black freedom in different ways. Malcom X as the Islamic black leader used the radical way whether Martin Luther King Jr. as the Protestant leader used the diplomatic way. In 1960‟s –1970‟s there are a lot of freedom movements rouse.

2. American Class and Caste System

Caste system differentiates the Blacks and the Whites. Caste here, as it is explained in the definition of the terms, refers to the blood rule within American


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society. The caste system is used to emphasize the inferiority of black people. The term class is also used within an Afro-American Community itself. Before we go further, I am going to start with the situation of class and caste determination between Black and White.

Intermarriage between the Negroes and the Whites is forbidden. Gunnar Myrdal wrote in his book “An American Dilemma” that the ban on intermarriage is one expression of the still broader principle, which is valid for the entire United States without any exception.

…A man born a Negro or a White is not allowed to pass from the one status to the other as he can pass from one class to another. In this important respect, the caste system of America is closed and rigid, while the class system is, in a measure, always open and mobile (Myrdal 668). This situation is kept by the law. We can see that caste purity is always guarded so intermarriage could not happen. This fact put the Afro-American people in a difficult situation. This situation also lit the discrimination upon Afro-American people related to their daily life situation. Caste discrimination between black and white is not because the American is poor or ill-educated. Afro-American people are subject to certain disabilities solely because they are “Negroes”.

Later, this situation will also happen within a Black Community. Gunnar Myrdal describes discrimination within Afro-American community as the excess of white attitude and behavior towards them, clearly.

…we conceive of the social differentiation between Negroes and whites as based on tradition and, more specifically, on the traditions of slavery society... The caste system is upheld by its own inertia and by the superior caste‟s interests in upholding it. The beliefs and sentiments among the whites centering around the idea of the Negroes‟ inferiority have been


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analyzed and their „functional‟ role as rationalizations of the superior caste‟s interests has been stressed. The racial beliefs and the popular theory of „no social equality‟ were found to have a kernel of magical logic, signified by the notion of “blood”. We have been brought to view the caste order as fundamentally a system of disability forced by the whites upon the Negroes, and our discussion of the Negro Problem up to this point has, therefore, been mainly a study of the whites‟ attitude and behavior... The Negro problem is primarily a white man‟s problem. In this part we shall find that the class order within the Negro caste is chiefly a function of the historical caste order in America (Myrdal 669).

Caste system in America will determine the blood rule. This situation is protected because intermarriage is banned. Both sides, the Blacks and the Whites, keep the purity of their blood heritage. So, crossing caste line is rarely happen. In the American caste order, this can be accomplished only by the deception of the white people with whom the passer comes to associate and by a conspiracy of silence on the part of other Negroes who might know about it (Myrdal 682).

When someone passes from one caste line to the other or intermarriage, he/she will find difficulties socializing with his/her associates. It is assumed that crossing caste line will make Negroes live in a higher class structure. But, there are some reasons why Negroes still keep their pure blood. Gunnar Myrdal interviewed his Negro friend, a young and gifted college graduate among his Negro friends, about why he preferred not to pass (Myrdal 686):

First, when passing as a white (with some Indian Blood), he could never overcome a slight feeling of strain and nervousness when in company; he would have to make forced explanations concerning his family; and he always felt suspicion around him-probably more suspicion, he remarked, than there actually was.


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Second, because of his teaching position and his “good looks” he is “tops” in the Negro community; while if he were white in a similar job, he would be one among many and far from the social ceiling.

Third, because his profession was one in which there are few qualified Negro workers, he got his position more easily as a Negro than he would have as white man. He was aware that he could advance further in the white world, but observed that even a large advance as a white man would carry much less esteem than a correspondingly smaller advance as a Negro.

Fourth, social life was so much more pleasant in the higher ranks of the Negro community than in the corresponding ranks of the white community: a Negro had so many more intimate associates; there were so many more social affairs and family entertainments going on in the Negro community-due probably, he observed, to the Negro‟s reaction against segregation in public places.

3. Negro Community after the Slavery

Slavery in the United States started in 1619 when the first Africans arrived. In that year a Dutch vessel landed in Jamestown, and the captain sold 20 blacks to the Virginia settlers (Pinkney 1). In the slavery era, slaves were treated as a commodity. The slave received none of the protections of organized society because he was not considered to be a person; rather, he was considered to be property, and only to the extent that a citizen‟s property must be protected could the slave expect society‟s consideration. The slaves were not treated as human beings.


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This situation formed a new community for the slaves. It could not be avoided that they lost their tradition and culture because of slavery. They lived in a place with black people from other areas. They could not maintain their own culture. They must master English language for the sake of the land lord in ordering them to do something. It was not surprised that there was a mix language within the slave community. Franzier summarizes the impact of slavery on the slaves as follows:

The African family system was destroyed, and the slave was separated from his kinsmen and friends. Moreover, in the United States there was little chance that he could reknit the ties of friendship and old associations. If by chance he encountered fellow slaves with whom he could communicate in his native tongue, he was separated from them. From the very beginning he was forced to learn English in order to obey the commands of his white masters. Whatever memories he might have retained of his native land and native customs became meaningless in the New World (Pinkney 7).

The population of the free blacks increased steadily from the middle of the seventeenth century until emancipation. But, not all black people in the United States were enslaved. The civil war is one of the trigger of free black movements. Pinkney says there are several factors account for the steady increase in the population of free blacks (Pinkney 15): firstly, manumission of slaves, which had been practiced since the beginning of slavery, became a major factor in the increase in the free black population; second, children born to free blacks inherited the status of their parents; thirdly, mulatto children born of free black mothers were free; fourth, children of free black and Indian parentage were born free; fifth, mulatto children born to white mothers were free; and sixth, slaves continued to escape to freedom. Although freedom is in hand for some black


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people, maintaining their freedom became the most difficult task to do. There were some attempts from the Whites to drag the free black people into slaves.

Abraham Lincoln was one of prominent figures who opposed to the institution of slavery and opposed racial integration. He fought for the same right between the Black and the Whites. This situation made him assassinated in 1865. After the assassination, the discrimination was growing faster and faster in the south area. Because of their economic plight and the widespread violence directed against them, many black people sought to improve their status through migration. In 1900 nearly nine-tenths of the blacks in the United States were in the South, the vast majority of them lived in the rural areas. The migration took several forms: rural blacks sought safety in the relative anonymity of cities, Southern blacks moved North, and many blacks moved to countries in Africa. Because of their economic plight, the absence of skills, and discrimination elsewhere in the United States, most blacks remained in the rural South.

4. Classes in the Negro Community

Belong to a different white master determined the class of a slave. Black people worked as servants (usually a mulatto) have a higher social status rather than those who worked in a farm or field. The cultural penetration of white was so strong. This new class order is the new thing inherited to the next generation of black people. Pinkney pictures this situation as follows:

On larger plantations an elaborate division of labor developed… Because of the division of labor among slaves, status distinctions developed among them. Status was frequently derived from the wealth and extent of holdings of the slaveholder, but the most important distinctions were those


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between domestic slaves and those relegated to field work. The “house slaves” enjoyed higher status that the “field slaves,” and they jealously guarded their superior positions… Being around the slaveholder‟s family afforded “house slaves” the opportunity to assimilate the external forms of behavior which they observed. Slaveholders and their families, who usually preferred mulatto house servants, encouraged the division between “house slaves” and “field slaves” as a means of maintaining control (Pinkney 5).

According to Gunnar Myrdal, lower classes are for those uneducated black people. They are the habitual criminals, prostitutes, gamblers and vagabonds. In the other side, the upper class of Negro community built their own community, separated from the lower class. They are business, particularly in the field of banking or insurance, but also in contracting, real estate, and personal service. The upper class black community tried to protect or isolate themselves from the lower class. The other characteristics of black upper class are described as follows:

Often family background is stressed in this class. The family is organized upon the paternalistic principle, legal marriage is an accepted form, and illegitimacy and desertion are not condoned. Children are shielded as far as possible both from influences of the lower class Negroes and from humiliating experiences of the caste system ( Myrdal 701-702).

This situation was improved and developed steadily within the black community. The black community, like the white community which surrounds it, has always maintained a degree of social stratification. This social stratification within black community was used by slave holders to divide the slave force. The slaveholders avoided or prevented the unity of black community.

After emancipation, class distinctions among blacks frequently followed the patterns established during slavery: those based on wealth, occupation, “respectability,” and skin color (Pinkney 63).


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5. Distribution of Afro American People

At the first time, the population was concentrated in the South. This situation happened because throughout most of American history black people had been heavily concentrated in the agricultural South (Pinkney 47). At the end of the Civil War more than 92 percent of all blacks lived in the South. There had been a gradual reduction in the black population in the South since the beginning of the twentieth century. At the turn of the century (1900), nine out of ten blacks in the United States were still in the South. Throughout the present century, however, blacks had migrated from the South to other regions, principally to the Northeast and to the Noth-Central states. So widespread has been this migration that, by 1970, only slightly more than half (53 percent) of the blacks remained in the South.

The significant exodus from the South to the North happened during the World War I. The Afro American people migrated from the South to the North because they could manage a better life in the North. The rest of the Afro American people in the South, at the first time, prefer to live in the rural area, in the Deep South states. By 1970, four out of every five (80 percent) blacks lived in urban areas, compared to 73 percent of the total population. Blacks have been becoming urbanized at a faster rate than the population as a whole. In the 70 years between 1900 and 1970, the black population has been transformed from a predominantly rural people to a predominantly urban people (Pinkney 49).


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6. Afro-American Church

Church as the central of black community has a great role in motivating black people to get their freedom. Most of the freedom movements formed by black community are discussed in religious community. Church is not only a place for praying or communicating with God, but also a place for sharing knowledge in managing the freedom from slavery. The primary function of the Negro church, school, and press are not, of course, to be agencies of power for the Negro caste. Nevertheless, they are of importance to the power relation within the Negro community and between Negroes and whites.

a. Black and White Church

As a hierarchical community, Church had its leader and the followers must obey all of the rule made. At the first time, the leaders of black religious were white men and, of course, blacks and whites were treated in separated places. Black could not do the service in the same church. Hence, the black community then chose their own religious leader. They chose their own preachers from black community itself. This situation was clearly described by Sir George Campbell:

Every man and woman likes to be himself or herself an active member of the Church. And though their preachers are in a great degree their leaders, these preachers are chosen by the people from the people, under a system for the most part congregational, and are rather preachers because they are leaders than leaders because they are preachers. (Myrdal 860-861).

How did the white preachers control the development of black community? Using the hierarchical system, the white controlled the black development through the black preachers they had. Moreover, many Negro


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political leaders were recruited from the preachers. This situation was used by whites to control black communities.

In practically all rural areas, and in many of the urban ones, the preacher stood out as the acknowledged local leader of the Negroes. His function became to transmit the whites‟ wishes to the Negroes and to beg the whites for favors for his people. He became-in our terminology-the typical accommodating Negro leader. To this degree the Negro church perpetuated the traditions of slavery (Myrdal 861).

But, this situation gradually diminished because gathering blacks and whites in the same church was a new problem for white preachers. This situation could be happen because there was dilemma. Segregation in Christian churches is an embarrassment. In a religion whose central teaching is brotherly love and the golden rule, preachers have to do a great deal of rationalizing as they expound their own gospel (Myrdal 868). The presence of black people in the church made the white followers left the church one by one. It could not be avoided that black church would be born.

The development of black church was growing stronger and stronger. The biggest church which had the biggest followers was the Baptist church. It got 41 per cent from the total followers (Myrdal 866). The other churches, ranked from the higher to the lower followers after the Baptist church, are the Methodist, the Protestant Episcopal, the Roman Catholic, the Presbyterian, the Adventist, the Congregationalist, the Moravian and Lutheran.

b. From a Place to Worship to the Outstanding Social Institution

Since the black church needed funds for managing its existence, it depended on the church membership. Because of this reason, the church became


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forcefully stimulated to make itself as indispensable as possible to the people, and it undertook many functions of a social nature in order to “sell” itself to the public.

In the Negro church the collection of money becomes of pathetic importance… The church has been, and continues to be, the outstanding social institution in the Negro community. It has a far wider function than to bring spiritual inspiration to its communicants. Among rural Negroes the church is still the only institution which provides an effective organization of the group, an approved and tolerated place for social activities, a forum for expression on many issues, an outlet for emotional repressions, and a plan for expression on many issues, an outlet for emotional repressions, and a plan for social living. It is a complex institution meeting a wide variety of needs. It is a social center, it is a club, it is an area for the exercise of one‟s capabilities and powers, a world in which one may achieve self-realization and preferment (Myrdal 867). This situation was getting worst when there was stratification in the black community itself. The big gap of the denominations brought the community of black people into the situation of anti-democratic in its results. This situation was described by Maurice Boyd and Donald Worcester, as follows:

Membership in various groups is another factor in determining class. In some religions belonging to a particular church will reflect some prestige on an individual, while membership in certain others will mark him as being of lower status. There is, for instance, an important distinction made in some communities between belonging to the Episcopal or Presbyterian church and to the Seventh Day Adventists or Holly Rollers. The same differential ranking is true to clubs and social organizations, each having its own status and prestige (Boyd 329-330).

This situation made for a greater manifestation of social class distinction that there would be if most people belonged to the same state-supported church. Became a member of one church or another became a means of class identification, just like membership in clubs. Most black people in rural


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communities were affiliated with either Baptist or Methodist churches, with Baptists outnumbering Methodists (Pinkney 58).

c. Problem of Denominations and Uneducated Preachers

As written before the denominations raised the problem of stratification. There were communities which were strong and weak within the religious community of black people. Each of denominations tried to get as many as possible their own mass. Actually, this situation brought bad effect to the unity of black community itself.

Different education level and also economic level differentiated the quality of the preachers the black church had. Most of the black people became a preacher because of a “call”. This kind of preachers tended to retain the emotionalism that had traditionally been identified with the Negro‟s religion.

Gunnar Myrdal pictured the decrease of preachers‟ role in a black community as follows:

… a class Negro preachers are losing influence, because they are not changing as fast as the rest of the Negro community…. As improvements in education have been rapid in the last decades, the bulk of the old Negro preachers are today below the bulk of younger generation Negroes in education. Young people have begun to look down on the old-fashioned Negro preacher.…. Few college students are going into the ministry. The ministry is no longer a profession which attracts the brightest and most ambitious young Negroes. The development under way will take a long time to manifest its complete effects. But it goes on and will spell the further decline of the Negro church as an active influence in the Negro community, if it does not begin to reform itself radically (Myrdal 875-876).

It was clear that the development of Negro church growing faster in the education area. The function of church as the freedom movement institution


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weighed : to consider something carefully so that you can make a decision about it

Exercise:

Match the words on the left side with their meaning on the right side!

No Words Meaning

1 deposits A violent and dangerous, and likely to hurt someone 2 despise B an increase in the price of something

3 idleness C an amount of money that is paid into a bank account

4 inevitable D an entrance covered by a roof outside the front door of a house or church

5 markup E certain to happen and impossible to avoid 6 pawned F to look at something quickly and secretly,

especially through a hole

7 peeped G to dislike someone or something very much 8 porch H to leave something valuable with a pawnbroker in

order to borrow money from them

9 slid I to move something quietly without being noticed 10 vicious J to spend time doing nothing

Comprehensive Questions

1. Do people in the town live in prosperity? Why?

2. Why Anna and Misner do not like the Morgans‘ attitude?

Post-Reading Questions

1. What kind of family is the Morgans?


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Appendix 8 Text 2

Pre-Reading Questions Instruction:

During the reading, find this information! 1. What does the text tell about?

2. How many characters are there in the story? Who are they? Reading Activity

Read the following text carefully!

“Beware the Furrow of His Brow” vs. “Be the Furrow of His Brow” The Methodists, early on, had smiled at the dissension among the Baptists. The Pentecostals laughed out loud. But not for long. Young members in their own churches began to voice opinions about the words. Each congregation had people who were among or related to the fifteen families to leave Haven and start over. The Oven didn‘t belong to any one domination; it belonged to all, and all were asked to show up at Calvary. To discuss it, Reverend Misner said. The weather was cool, garden scents strong, and when they assembled at seven-thirty the atmosphere was pleasant, people simply curious. And it remained so right through Misner‘s opening remarks. Maybe the young folks were nervous, but when they spoke, starting with Luther Beauchamp‘s sons, Royal and Destry, their voices were so strident the women, embarrassed, looked down at their pocketbooks; shocked, the men forgot to blink.

It would have been better for everyone if the young people had spoken softly, acknowledged their upbringing as they presented their views. But they didn‘t want to discuss; they wanted to instruct.

―No ex-slave would tell us to be scared all the time. To ‗beware‘ God. To always be ducking and diving, trying to look out every minute in case He‘s getting ready to throw something at us, keep us down.‖

―You say ‗sir‘ when you speak to men,‖ said Segeant Person.

―Sorry, sir. But what kind of message is that? No ex-slave who had the guts to make his own way, build a town out of nothing, could think like that. No ex-slave –―

Deacon Morgan cut him off. ―That‘s my grandfather you‘re talking about. Quit calling him an ex-slave like that‘s all he was. He was also an ex-lieutenant governor, an ex-banker, an ex-deacon and a whole lot of other exes, and he wasn‘t making his own way; he was part of a whole group making their own way.‖


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Having caught Reverend Misner‘s eyes, the boy was firm. ―He was born in slavery times, sir; he was a slave, wasn‘t he?‖

―Everybody born in slavery time wasn‘t a slave. Not the way you mean it.‖ ―There‘s just one way to mean it, sir,‖ said Destry.

―You don‘t know what you‘re talking about!‖

―None of them do! Don‘t know jackshit!‖ shouted Harper Jury.

―Whoa, whoa!‖ Reverend Misner interrupted. ―Brothers. Sisters. We called this meeting in God‘s own house to try and find –―

―One of His houses,‖ snarled Sergeant.

―All right, one of His houses. But whichever one, He demands respect from those who are in it. Am I right or am I right?‖

Harper sat down. ―I apologize for the language. To Him,‖ he said, pointing upward.

―That might please Him,‖ said Misner. ―Might not. Don‘t limit your respect to Him, Brother Jury. He cautions every which way against it.‖

―Reverend.‖ The Reverend Pulliam stood up. He was a dark, wiry man – white-haired and impressive. ―We have a problem here. You, me. Everybody. The problem is with the way some of us talk. The grown-ups, of course, should use proper language. But the young people – what they say is more like backtalk than talk. What we‘re here for is –―

Royal Beauchamp actually interrupted him, the Reverend! ―What is talk if it‘s not ‗back‘? You all just don‘t want us to talk at all. Any talk is ‗backtalk‘ if you don‘t agree with what‘s being said …Sir.‖

Everybody was so stunned by the boy‘s brazenness, they hardly heard what he said.

Pulliam, dismissing the possibility that Roy‘s parents – Luther and Helen Beauchamp- were there, turned slowly to Misner. ―Reverend, can‘t you keep that boy still?‖

―Why would I want to?‖ asked Misner. ―We‘re here not just to talk but to listen too.‖

The gasps were more felt that heard.

Pulliam narrowed his eyes and was about to answer when Deek Morgan left the row and stood in the aisle. ―Well, sir, I have listened, and I believe I have heard as much as I need to. Now, you all listen to me. Real close. Nobody, I mean nobody, is going to change the Oven or call it something strange. Nobody is going to mess with a thing our grandfathers built. They made each and every brick one at a time with their own hands.‖ Deek looked steadily at Roy. ―They dug the clay – not you. They carried the hod –not you.‖ He turned his head to include Destry, Hurston and Caline Poole, Lorcas and Linda Sands. ―They mixed the mortar – not a one of you. They made good strong brick for that oven when their own shelter was sticks and sod. You understand what I‘m telling you? And we respected what they had gone through to do it. Nothing was handled more gently than the bricks those men – men, hear me? not slaves, ex or otherwise – the bricks those men made. Tell, them, Sargeant, how delicate was the separation, how careful we were, how we wrapped them, each and every one. Tell them, Fleet You, Seawright, you, Harper, you tell him if I‘m lying. Me and my brother lifted that


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iron. The two of us. And if some letters fell off, it wasn‘t due to us because we packed it in straw like it was a mewing lamb. So understand me when I tell you nobody is going to come along some eighty years later claiming to know better what men who went through hell to learn knew. Act short with me all you want, you in long trouble if you think you can disrespect a row you never hoed.‖

Twenty varieties of ―amen‖ italicized Deek‘s pronouncement. The point he‘d made would have closed of further argument if Misner had not said:

―Seems tome, Deek, they are respecting it. It‘s because they do know the Oven‘s value that they want to give it new life.‖

The mutter unleashed by this second shift to the young people‘s position rose to a roar , which subsided only to hear how the antagonists responded.

―They don‘t want to give it nothing. They want to kill it, change it into something they made up.‖

―It‘s our history too, sir. Not just yours,‖ said Roy.

―Then act like it. I just told you. That Oven already has a history. It doesn‘t need youto fix it.‖

―Wait now, Deek,‖ said Richard Misner. ―Think what‘s been said. Forget naming –naming the Oven. What‘s at issue is clarifying the moto.‖

―Motto? Motto? We talking command!‖ Reverend Pulliam pointed an elegant finger at the ceiling. ―‘Beware the Furrow of His Brow.‘ That‘s what it says clear as daylight. That‘s not a suggestion; that‘s an order!‖

―Well, no. It‘s not clear as daylight.‖ said Misner. ―It says ‗…the Furrow of His Brow.‘ There is no ‗Beware‘ on it.‖

―You weren‘t there Esther was! And you weren‘t here, either, at the beginning! Esther was!‖ Arnold Fleetwood right hand shook with warning.

―She was a baby. She could have been mistaken,‖ said Misner. Now Fleet joined Deek in the aisle. ―Esther never made a mistake of that nature in her life. She knew all there was to know about Haven and Ruby too. She visited us before we had a road. She named this town, dammit. ‗Scuse me, ladies.‖

Destry, looking strained and close to tears, held up his hand and asked. ―Excuse me, sir. What‘s so wrong about ‗Be the Furrow‘? ‗Be the Furrow of His Brow‘?‖

―You can‘t be God, boy.‖ Nathan DuPres spoke kindly as he shook his head.

―It‘s not being Him, sir; it‘s being His instrument, His justice. As a race –― ―God‘s justice is His alone. How you going to be His instrument if you don‘t do what He says?‖ asked Reverend Pulliam. ―You have to obey Him.‖

―Yes, sir, but we are obeying Him,‖ said Destry. ―If we follow His commandments, we‘ll be His voice, His retribution. As a people –―

Harper Jury silenced him. ―It says ‗Beware.‘ Not ‗Be.‘ Beware means ‗Look out. The power is mine. Get used to it.‖

―‘Be‘ means you putting Him aside and you the power,‖ said Sargeant. ―We are the power if we just –―

―See what I mean? She what I mean? Listen to that! You hear that, Reverend? That boy needs a strap Blasphemy!"


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GLOSSARY

brazenness : behaving in an immoral way without being embarrassed or ashamed

dissension : disagreement and argument among a group of people mortar : a mixture of lime, sand, and water, used in building for

joining bricks or stones together

wiry : someone who is wiry is thin but has strong muscles

Exercise:

Match the words on the left side with their meaning on the right side!

No Words Meaning

1 aisle A to suddenly let a strong force, feeling etc have its full effect

2 assembled B

a narrow passage at the side of a church that is separated from the central part by a row of pillars

3 backtalk C to speak or say something in a nasty angry way 4 delicate D needing to be dealt with carefully or sensitively

in order to avoid problems or failure

5 gasps E to admit or accept that something is true or that a situation exists

6 hoed F to gather a large number of things or people together in one place

7 snarled G the care and training that parents give their children when they are growing up

8 unleashed H

to breathe in suddenly, quickly, and in a way that can be heard, especially because you are

surprised or afraid

9 upbringing I to break up soil with a hoe

10 acknowledged J a rude reply to someone who is telling you what to do

Comprehensive Questions

1. What problem do the people have in the story?


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Post-Reading Questions

1. How does the Morgans affiliate their influence upon Ruby?

2. Which words do you prefer: ―Beware of the Furrow of His Brow!‖ or ―Be the Furrow of His Brow!‖? Explain your reasons!