The influences of the minor characters toward the main character`s motivation for a better life as seen in constance Briscoe`s Ugly.

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THE INFLUENCES OF THE MINOR CHARACTERS TOWARD THE MAIN
CHARACTER’S MOTIVATION FOR A BETTER LIFE AS SEEN IN
CONSTANCE BRISCOE’S UGLY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
RISSA EGITIA YUNIARTI
Student Number: 084214092

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

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THE INFLUENCES OF THE MINOR CHARACTERS TOWARD THE MAIN
CHARACTER’S MOTIVATION FOR A BETTER LIFE AS SEEN IN
CONSTANCE BRISCOE’S UGLY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By
RISSA EGITIA YUNIARTI
Student Number: 084214092

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama

: Rissa Egitia Yuniarti

Nomor Mahasiswa

: 084214092

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE INFLUENCES OF THE MINOR CHARACTERS TOWARD THE MAIN
CHARACTER’S MOTIVATION FOR A BETTER LIFE
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan, dalam
bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan
secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk
kepentingan akademis tanpa meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti

kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Di buat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 3 Juni 2013
Yang menyatakan

Rissa Egitia Yuniarti

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the

ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer.

Yogyakarta, May 27, 2013

Rissa Egitia Yuniarti

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DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS
AS YOU WOULD HAVE OTHERS DO UNTO YOU,
THEY MAY HAVE DIFFERENT TASTE.
-GEORGE BERNARD SHAW -

TWO ROADS DIVERGED IN A WOOD,
AND I, I TOOK THE ONE LESS TRAVELED BY,
AND THAT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.
- ROBERT FROST -

THE REASON FOR TIME IS SO THAT EVERYTHING DOESN’T
HAPPEN AT ONCE.
- ALBERT EINSTEIN -

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I dedicated this thesis to my beloved parents,
for they never stop loving me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, my deepest gratitude to my advisor and also my academic advisor,
Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed., for her guidance and patience to me through all of the
process of making this thesis. Second of all, I would like to thank my co-advisor, Ni
Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum., for her time on reading this thesis and share her
thought and guide me to finish this thesis. I also would like to thank Anna Fitriyanti,
S.Pd.,M.Hum., for her guidance to me in the last four years since I started studying in
Sanata Dharma University.
I would like to give my greatest thanks to my parents for their never-ending
love and patience and for always believing that I can reach any dream that I desire.

Thank you.
And finally, I would like to thank my friends who help me to live the life to
the fullest and to have the most exciting memories, Jessica, Tita, Jojo, Corny, Pucil,
Gisa, Rintan, Helga, Denty, Nophek, Cela, and Gerisca. Thank you guys for every bit
of fun that we shared. My second biggest thanks to Bonita Prasetyo, for suggesting
and helping me on understanding the theory of psychology. Also to my advisors in
life, Astri Widyanari, Irma Aulia Pratiwi, and Baskoro, thank you for sharing the
sarcasm. Ariata, Momon, and Rania, thank you for listening the “depressed” talking
while making this thesis. My entire classmates of 2008, who I cannot mention one by
one, thank you for all the crazy moments in the last four years.
Rissa Egitia Yuniarti

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................. i
APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................................ iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI ................................................................... iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .............................................................................. v
MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................................ vi
DEDICATION PAGE................................................................................................ viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. x
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
A.
Background of the Study....................................................................... 1
B.
Problem Formulation ............................................................................ 5
C.
Objectives of the Study ......................................................................... 5

D.
Definition of Terms ............................................................................... 6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ................................................................... 7
A.
Review of Related Studies .................................................................... 7
B.
Review of Related Theories ................................................................ 11
C.
Theoretical Framework ....................................................................... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 18
A.
Object of the Study.............................................................................. 18
B.
Approach of the Study ........................................................................ 19
C.
Method of the Study ............................................................................ 20
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ....................................................................................... 22
A.
Description on the Main and the Minor Characters ............................ 22
B.
The Treatments of the Minor Characters ............................................ 44
C.
The Main Character’s Motivation on a Better Life ............................. 53
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 72
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 76
APPENDIX: THE SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL ................................................... 78

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ABSTRACT
RISSA EGITIA YUNIARTI. The Influences of The Minor Characters Toward
The Main Character’s Motivation for a Better Life as Seen in Constance
Briscoe’s Ugly. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters,
Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
This thesis discusses Constance Briscoe’s autobiographical novel entitled
Ugly. This novel tells about Clare Briscoe’s miserable life, from her childhood to her
teenage life. All of the suffering in her life is caused by the bad treatment from her
surrounding, especially her own mother. This thesis analyzes the influence of the
minor characters, the mother and the teacher, toward the motivation of Clare Briscoe,
the major character, on a better life.
The aim of this study is to find the influence of both good and bad treatments
that Clare Briscoe gets in her life from her mother and her beloved teacher on her
motivation to reach her dream and to be loved as she deserves. The objective is
fulfilled by analyzing the two minors’ characteristics which affect their treatments
toward Clare Briscoe.
In this analysis, the writer uses library research method. This study applies
two main theories to answer the three problems proposed in the problem formulation.
They are theories of character and characterization, and theory of motivation. The
writer uses psychological approach in analyzing this novel because the focus of this
study is the major character’s psychological aspects.
The result of the analysis shows that the good and bad treatments that Clare
Briscoe gets in her life motivate her to get a better life. The motivation is caused by
the bad treatments from her mother and the good treatments from her beloved
teacher. Her mother never treats her well in her life. In her mother’s eyes Clare is
only a stupid and ugly girl who does not deserve to be treated really well. On the
other side, her beloved teacher treats her really nice like Clare is her own daughter.
Her teacher is the one who convinces her that she can get what she wants and she
deserves better. Being abandoned by her mother forces her to be independent and
survive in any kind of condition. Her teacher’s kindness teaches her to never give up
and to hold on to her dream. Both of these treatments lead Clare to her motivation on
a better life, where she can get the love she deserves, never gets beaten anymore, and
to live in secure financially. Clare’s struggle and survival in her childhood until her
teenage life show her motivation influenced by the minor characters.

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ABSTRAK
RISSA EGITIA YUNIARTI. The Influences of The Minor Characters Toward
The Main Character’s Motivation for a Better Life as Seen in Constance
Briscoe’s Ugly. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas
Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini membahas novel autobiograpi karya Constance Briscoe yang
berjudul Ugly. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Clare Briscoe yang
menyedihkan, dari masa kecil hingga ke kehidupan remajanya. Semua penderitaan
yang dialami Clare Briscoe disebabkan oleh perlakuan buruk dari orang-orang di
sekitarnya, khususnya ibu kandungnya sendiri. Skripsi ini membahas pengaruh dari
kedua karakter pembantu, yaitu ibu dan guru dari Clare Briscoe, terhadap
motivasinya untuk kehidupan yang lebih baik.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan pengaruh dari perlakuan
baik dan perlakuan buruk yang didapatkan oleh Clare Briscoe dari ibu dan gurunya
terhadap motivasinya untuk mencapai impiannya dan untuk dicintai seperti yang
selayaknya ia dapatkan. Tujuan ini terpenuhi dengan meneliti sifat-sifat dari
karakteristik kedua tokoh pembantu yang mempengaruhi perlakuan mereka terhadap
Clare Briscoe.
Di dalam pembahasan ini, penulis menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka.
Penelitian ini menerapkan dua teori untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang
dikemukakan di dalam perumusan masalah. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori tokoh
dan penokohan, serta teori motivasi. Penulis menggunakan teori pendekatan psikologi
karena fokus penelitian ini terletak pada aspek-aspek psikologi dari tokoh utamanya.
Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa perlakuan yang didapatkan oleh
Clare Briscoe dalam hidupnya memberikan motivasi atas kehidupan yang lebih baik.
Motivasi ini disebabkan oleh perlakuan yang buruk dari ibu kandungnya sendiri dan
perlakuan yang baik dari gurunya. Ibunya tidak pernah memperlakukan ia dengan
baik. Di mata ibunya, Clare hanyalah gadis bodoh dan jelek yang tidak pantas untuk
diperlakukan dengan sangat baik. Di lain pihak, gurunya memperlakukannya dengan
sangat baik selayaknya Clare adalah anaknya sendiri. Gurunya adalah orang yang
meyakinkannya bahwa dia bias mendapat apa saja yang dia inginkan dan dia berhak
mendapatkan yang lebih baik. Kepergian ibunya, secara tidak sengaja memaksa Clare
Briscoe untuk menjadi mandiri dan mampu menghadapi segala situasi. Kebaikan
gurunya mengajarkan Clare untuk tidak pernah menyerah dan percaya pada
mimpinya. Kedua perlakuan tersebut menuntun Clare pada motivasinya terhadap
hidup yang lebih baik. Perjuangan serta pertahanan Clare Briscoe pada masa kanakkanak hingga masa remajanya menunjukkan motivasi yang dipengaruhi oleh kedua
tokoh pembantu.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
Characteristic is a very important part in a literary work. It is the one that
leads the reader to understand the whole story in the novel and one of the most
interesting topics to discuss about. One can see how the author can really bring the
characters in the novel to become alive, not merely as representations of human being
in real life, but also as a single unit element that can bond the reader to the author.
In a novel, there is always the main character and the minor character. It does
not mean that the main character is the only important role in a story. In fact, the
reader can understand and know about the main character better from the minor’s
point of view. The minors’ influence, from the way they treat the main character,
somehow forms and changes her/him from the way she/he was in the past. The main
character can realize who she/he really is by the acceptance or denial of others, which
in this case are the minors.
It is not an easy job to tell one’s story of life to other people or even to the
world. Some of those choose to share their stories, either their own real stories or
other people who inspire them the most. One way of telling life story is by writing a
novel. As a literary work, it is the representation of the experience of life among
people. In the non-fiction novels, such as historical and autobiographical novels, both
the story and the intrinsic elements are as much the same as they are in the reality.

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Indeed novels are usually based on human being ways to deal with problems in life.
As what Hudson states in his An Introduction to Study of Literature,
Literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they have
experience of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of it
which have most immediate and enduring interest for all of us, it is thus
fundamentally an experience of life through the medium of language (1958:
10).
Literature cannot be separated from human’s life. Literature is the result of the
reflection of life. The characters in the novel are inspired by the people in real life,
the setting of the place and the time come from the real thing of what the author sees
in reality. Without imitating the real life, the author cannot connect the reader to the
novel thoroughly. As what Wellek and Warren described about how literature
represents human’s life in their Theory of Literature,
Literature is the reflection of human feeling toward his life. It is closely
related to human experience through which we can learn the image of human
being that is expressed in the written way. It can also be defined as the work
of arts which represents human life (1956: 94).
Due to what Wellek and Warren said about literature above, one can perceive
that human beings can learn a lot of things from certain literary works. Literary work
does not only entertain but also gives human being certain values about the
experience of others’ life.
Ugly is an autobiographical novel written by Constance Briscoe, who is the
main character in the novel as well. Autobiography is a desire, memoir, and deep
secret of one’s life. Abrams stated in his Glossary of Literary Terms, that
autobiography is a biography written by the subject about himself or herself (1985:

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15). Autobiography is different from a memoir. It emphasizes more on the author’s
developing self, not on the people and events that’s the author has known or
witnessed, and also from the private diary or journal, which is a day-to-day record of
the events in a person’s life, written for personal use and pleasure, with little or no
thought of publication (1985: 15). From Abrams’ statement, the writer can say that an
autobiography contains the important phase of the author’s personal life. It is about
their own point of view toward their life, the life that the readers might not know until
they read it themselves. Nowadays, the reader can find a lot of autobiographical
novels that have been published widely. Meaning, the reader can have the chance to
know what it is that is going on the author’s mind about her/himself. The authors of
the autobiographical novels bring a lot of messages which appear in their literary
works.
According to Stone in his The American Autobiography, an autobiography as
a type of writing has been widely accepted in the field of literature. However, many
scholars still debate upon this classification, whether to put it as a factual or fictive
work. There is no really opposite to the argument because the other existing argument
says that autobiography is simultaneously fact and fiction. This side argues that the
language of autobiography points both outward to the world of remembered
experience and inward to reflective consciousness. Dealing with experience, it is fact,
but dealing with reflective consciousness it can be fiction since it may not be felt the
same with the occurrence of the experience (1981: 7).

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Autobiography can be considered as a literary work, because it can be factual
and fiction as the same time. It can be approached by the literary theory and analyzed
from the literature point of view.
Ugly is a novel about the abuse of an innocence child by her own mother.
Clare Briscoe, the main character, has gone through a very painful and hard life. She
has to manage to live by her own effort because her mother does not want to take care
of her or gives her a decent life that she is supposed to get. She even tries to suicide
once in the past. But after all of those pains, she finally gets what she always wants.
Her relationship with her mother is not getting better and she decides to leave her
mother forever instead. However her mother has a very big influence on how she
pictures her life is going to be, and the treatments motivate her to get a better life, to
be accepted and loved as the way she is. Her mother shows her what she should not
do and how she should not act in life. She learns how to be better by seeing how bad
her mother is.
The main reason why the writer chooses this novel to be analyzed is because
it is possible to understand a psychological novel through the literary lens. The reader
can understand better on the characteristics of each character and how each of them
influences the other.
The writer sees this novel through the psychological point of view. How one’s
characteristics can affect her/his behavior and treatment toward other people. Indeed,
the writer discusses about the motivation on a better life of the main character.

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A better life according to Clare Briscoe is the life where she can support her own life
financially, that she can get her dream comes true, and to be loved just the way she is
and as she deserves to.
This thesis focuses on Clare Briscoe’s motivation that is influenced by the
treatment of the minor characters, the mother and the teacher. The behaviors of these
two minor characters affect Clare Briscoe’s motivation to keep her living her life and
become the barrister as she always wants. Clare Briscoe herself might not realize that
those treatments can really change how she sees life and how she should and should
not behave. It means that no matter how one hates or loves other people, there is
always a chance that one person can bring so many influences to the other people’s
life.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How are the main character, Clare Briscoe, and the minor characters, Carmen
Briscoe and Miss K, portrayed in the story?
2. How are the minor characters’ treatments toward Clare Briscoe shown in the
story?
3. How do the minor characters’ treatments influence the Clare Briscoe’s
motivation on a better life?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are firstly to observe the characterization of the
main and the minor characters. Theory of characterization by Murphy and Abrams

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will be used in this step. The characteristics will be analyzed from the way they are
described in the story, the way they act, the way they speak, and from each
character’s point of view.
Secondly, this study tries to analyze how the characteristics of the minor
characters determine their treatment to the main character. The writer relates the
characteristics to the way the minors are behaving and treating the main character.
Thirdly, the study analyses about the influences and the impacts of the minor
characters’ treatment toward the main character’s motivation on a better life.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Motivation
Motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces acting on or
within an organism to initiate and direct behavior (Petri, 1981: 3).
2.

Treatment
Based on The New International Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of The
English Language, treat means to conduct oneself toward in a specified
manner, and to subject to chemical or physical action. The word treatment
means the act, mode, or process of treating anything, as a raw, material,
substance, or product (1966: 1336-1337).

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
To accomplish this thesis the writer uses some theories and another works to
improve the analysis. Reviews on Constance Briscoe’s Ugly are very helpful to write
this thesis. The novel is relatively new; sources from the internet are really useful
since there are rarely printed reviews about this novel.
A. Review of Related Studies
Constance Briscoe is well known for her novel Ugly, and she is one of the
first black female judges in Britain. She proves to those who have ever
underestimated her that she can be what she wants herself to be. All of those
treatment, bad and good, affects her in a good way.
She became one of the first black female judges in Britain, despite suffering
years of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her mother. Her
harrowing autobiography “Ugly” proves that the past doesn’t always
determine
who
or
what
you
become
(http://www.mirandaleslau.com/files/NetworkAndPlay).
From the statement above, the writer can say that it is not only Clare Brsicoe’s
process of becoming the barrister, which she always dreams to be, that leads her to be
one of the judges in Britain, but also the treatments of her bad mother and beloved
teacher altered her to become the resilient Clare Brsicoe.
Ugly is an autobiographical novel which tells about Clare Briscoe’s story of
life. From the moment she had been neglected by her own family until the day she
made her own step to become a barrister. The people who surrounded her life
influence her point of view on her motivation of life.
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Clare was abused by her mother every day, terrible physical abuse was
inflicted on the growing body of Clare, benign cancer of the breasts caused by
constant punches and squeezing from her mother. Emotionally shut out and
neglected by her mother, taunted and teased all the time by her mother and her
new husband, frequently called UGLY and told she was not welcome and
unwanted
(http://www.123helpme.com/ugly-by-constance-briscoeview.asp?id=161033).
The ways people treat a person sometimes reflect the way one treats oneself.
Other’s opinion somehow becomes important on how one sees oneself and what they
are really capable to do. In Constance Briscoe’s case, her mother indirectly is the one
who makes her resilient and teaches her to live on her own without depending on
others.
As Clare Briscoe is getting older, she is not afraid of anything. She becomes
tougher because of all the treatments. Yuliana states in her undergraduate thesis,
As a teenager, Clare can be described as a brave girl. Her braveness
[*bravery] is shown after her mother leaves her alone. Her braveness
[*bravery] can be seen through her reactions to other people. Clare stays again
with her family because of the government’s law. Clare shows her braveness
[*bravery] to oppose her step father, Eastmen (2010: 29 – 30).
That kind of act shows that she starts to realize she can protest about others’
bad treatment toward her. She knows that she does not deserve that kind of treatment
from anyone, and no one else deserves that too. Constance Briscoe herself stated in
her interview with Helen Weathers,
"My mother had given me a very good example of how a mother should not
behave, and I knew if I took my lesson from that, I could never go wrong
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk).”

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From that statement above, the writer concludes that Constance Briscoe is
influenced by her mother’s bad treatment in a good way. She knows how to become a
good mother to her children because she does not get what she is supposed to get
when she is the daughter.
This novel is somehow still in debate, whether it is genuinely a true story or
not. The other family members, including her mother, declined about all of the abuse
that she had done in the novel. Simon Hatentston’s review in The Guardian stated
that,
Last year, her sister Patsy came to the defense of her mother in an article in
the Mail on Sunday. She labeled Ugly a pack of lies, the fictional work of a
self-hater. Patsy claimed that Eastman was a gentle giant, that Constance was
not beaten or sexually abused, as Constance claimed had happened on one
occasion,
and
that
the
suicide
attempt
was
fabricated
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books).
Constance Briscoe got a lot of protest from her own family. She fought really
hard to legalize her novel as a true story novel. She admitted in her interview with
Simon Heatentstone in The Guardian, she wrote the book from her memory and that
she discovered the real dates when she got the records after her mother sued her
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books).
According to UK newspaper, The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Ms
Briscoe's autobiographical account of her upbringing has been vigorously challenged
by other members of her family. Her sisters, Patsy and Christine, and her brother
Martin, together with half-sister Norma, have disputed Briscoe's account

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(http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/constance-briscoe). It is still not that easy
for Constance Briscoe to tell her story through her autobiographical novel even she is
now one of the female judges in Britain. She has to fight really hard to prove that she
writes the real story, and to get her novel legalized by the court.
Despite the debate on this novel, a lot of people, including the writer, think
that this is a very inspiring novel and there are so many things that can be learned
from this novel. As what Marcel Berlins state in the Guardian,
This is a lawyer’s memoir with a difference, an inspiring antidote to the usual
catalogue of tedious milestones towards legal eminence. She’s also managed a
rare feet for a lawyer to write an absorbing book in language untainted by
convoluted legal speak (http://www.featuresreviewguardian9.co.uk).
Constance Briscoe, in her way, motivates those who have a very horrible
childhood and being abused by their own family, can change their life and become a
good person. Miranda Leslau stated that, her book ‘Ugly’ is a testament to the
strength and spirit of a survivor and a clear message that there is hope for women
who have suffered from parental abuse. Constance Briscoe fought back in the only
way she knew how (http://www.mirandaleslau.com/files/NetworkAndPlay.pdf).
There are a lot of things that can be discovered in this novel. It is not only
from the main character but also from the other characters that seem to bring a lot of
influence in Clare Briscoe’s life. Similarly like the other people who focus on the
abuse of Clare Briscoe in her childhood, the writer is focusing more on the other
issue. In this thesis the writer focuses on the minor characters’ behavior and
treatments toward Clare Briscoe.

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B. Review of Related Theories
In analyzing Ugly, the writer applies some theories on character and
characterization. This analysis also uses some theories on personality since it is
dealing with psychological condition.
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
Character has a very important role in a story. The character is the one that
connect the reader to the story itself. Their action and their dialogue help the reader to
get to know the story deeper. In a literary work, character is a very significant and
interesting element to be discussed. In his Glossary to Literary Terms, Abrams stated
that:
Characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are
interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, and emotional
qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they dothe action (1985: 23).
Character is the author’s way to make the story life and real. The author
sometimes makes the character as understandable as possible to make the character
come out as the real person in the real life to the reader. The author might describe
his/her characters either implicitly or explicitly. The reader can understand the
characters in the novel deeper not only by the author’s direct description but also
from the way they act and speak.
In a true-story novel, a character acts in a reasonably consistent manner, and
that the author has provided them with motivation: sufficient reason to behave as
they do. It does not mean that all of the authors insist that the characters that they

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create behave consistently, sometimes the characters act without apparent reason
(Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia, 1999: 60).
Abrams further states that whether a character remains stable or changes, the
reader of a traditional and realistic work expects “consistency”—the character should
not suddenly break off and act in a way not plausibly grounded in his or her
temperament as we have already come to know it (1985: 24). The author sometimes
create some reasons why the characters behave the way they do so that the reader will
come to the same understanding about the novel. The reader can possibly summarize
what a person in a story has done, but an author needs considerable skill and insight
into human beings to describe convincingly who the person is (Arp, Thomas R, and
Greg Johnson, 2009: 161).
Characterization is the process by which the author creates a character
(Rohrberger, Marry, and Samuel H. Ward, 1971: 20). According to Rohrberger and
Ward, there are two kinds of characterization, direct and dramatic. Direct is used to
describe the physical appearances of the characters. Dramatic characters are
portrayed in a situation to show what they are by the way they behave or speak (1971:
20).
Murphy in his Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry, and
the English Novels for Overseas Students, states that the characters and the
personalities of the people in a novel can be understood by nine ways. There are some

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examples of the ways in which an author attempts to make his characters
understandable to and come alive for, his readers (1972: 161-173).
a. Personal description
The author describes the character by giving a person’s appearance. The author
can describe a person’s appearance and clothes such as his build, his skin-color,
his hair or his face.
b. Character as seen by another
The author describes the character through the eye and the opinions of another.
They will give explanations, comments, or opinion about what character is like.
Their opinions can help the reader to understand a character.
c. Speech
The author can give the reader insight into one of the persons in the book through
what the character says. Whenever a person is speaking, he is giving the reader
some clue to his character.
d. Past life
The author describes the character by giving a clue to event in a person’s past life.
This can be done by direct comment by the author, though the person’s thought,
through the conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others
The author can give clues to a person’s character through the conversation of
other people and the things they say about him. People talk about other people

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and the things say often give the reader a clue to the character of the person spoke
about.
f. Reactions
The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by showing how that
person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly.
h. Thoughts
The author can give direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this
respect, he is able to do what we cannot do in the real life. He can tell us how
each person is thinking. The reader has the privilege position; he has, as it were, a
secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies which
may also tell us something about his character.
2. Theory of Motivation
Motivation in general is a factor within an individual (such as needs, desires,
and interests) that activate, maintain, and direct behavior toward a goal (Huffman,
1987: 342). Motivation triggers human being to get a better life. The “felt need” or
desire, the barrier or task and the reward or goal are independent entities, but they are
intrinsically bound together in motivation (Dockeray and Lane, 1950: 265).

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Motivation is divided into two parts, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is the desire to perform an act for its own sake in an individual.
There is no outside influenced on the intrinsic motivation. To be distinguished from
the intrinsic one, extrinsic motivation is more on the desire to perform an act because
of external rewards or avoidance of punishment (Huffman, 2000: 401). Meaning to
say, the extrinsic motivation is influenced not only by the individual’s desire, but also
by the people’s expectation to that individual. Extrinsic motivation is also a construct
that pertains whenever an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome
(Ryan and Decy, 2000: 60). Therefore the writer can say that extrinsic motivation
does not mean that one does something to please someone else, but also to please her,
only it is triggered by someone else. In this analysis, the writer only uses the extrinsic
motivation because it is dealing with the influence of the minor characters toward the
main character’s motivation.
Extrinsic motivation is a way to receive external rewards or to avoid
punishments (Huffman, 2000: 401). Rewards and punishments can raise someone’s
motivation to do something because she/he sees them as an achievement that they can
get the rewards or prevent the punishments. Expectation somehow influences the
motivating behavior. Under certain motivating conditions, a person is capable of
doing many things she/he has not previously thought she/he can do (Dockerey and
Lane, 1950: 283). Often, the reward of extrinsic motivation affect negatively on the

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individual’s motivation, while the punishment somehow affects the individual’s
motivation positively.
A person who has the extrinsic motivation is doing the task not because
she/he likes it or interested in it, but more because she/he has to prove to
herself/himself or to other people that she/he can do it. This does not mean that the
person doesn’t like to do the task, it just means that she/he needs to reach a certain
value from doing the task. For example, when a student wants to get good grades in
school because of her/his fear to her parents, it can be said as the extrinsic motivation.
Similarly, when a student wants to get good grades because it brings so much value
for her/him in the future, it is as well can be said as the extrinsic motivation. As long
as the person does not do something in her own pure interest, she/he has the extrinsic
motivation that pushes her on doing the job (Ryan and Decy, 2000: 60).
Motivation is the result of human need to pursuit achievement, either for
themselves or for other people. Achievement orientation appears to be largely learned
in early childhood, primarily through interactions with parents (Huffman, 2000: 401).
The extrinsic motivation is influenced by the nearest people who surround the
individual. Each individual has different perspective on what they should achieve or
reward. It has to be meaningful to their life, not necessarily to other people. The
social approaches point out the motivating properties of the presence of others (Petri,
1981: 4). It means that other people can bring big influence in one’s life.

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C. Theoretical Framework
In this thesis, some theories are needed to answer the problem formulation
that has been proposed by the writer. There are theories on character and
characterization and theory on the extrinsic motivation which prove that one’s
characteristics can influence the way one treats others. This study uses library
research method in analyzing the data. Besides using the novel as the primarily
sources of data, this study also uses articles, internet sources and psychology books
that deal with human motivation.
This undergraduate thesis focuses on the characterization of the minor
characters that bring some influences to the main character, which is why this
analysis needs theories on character and characterization. Abrams’s theory on
characters and M.J Murphy’s theories on character and characterization help the
writer to reveal the characteristic of the characters through the dialogue, actions, and
other character’s opinion about the antagonists. All at once, these theories on
character and characterization answer the first and the second problems.
The third problem is answered using the theory of extrinsic motivation. This
theory helps the writer to examine how the minor characters’ bad and good
treatments motivate the main character to get a better life.

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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of The Study
This undergraduate thesis analyzes the novel entitled Ugly written by
Constance Briscoe. It was published in London in 2006 by Hodder & Stoughton. This
novel consists of 400 pages in twenty five chapters. It is categorized as a non-fictive
novel since it is based on the life story of the writer herself, Constance Briscoe or
known as well as Clare. It has been sold for 400,000 copies in the UK in 2006.
Each chapter in this novel has different titles. Chapter one up to chapter eight
tells about Clare’s childhood, when she was bedwetting and how her mother started
to abuse her. Chapter 9 to chapter 16 contains Clare’s religion story and about things
that she put interest to. Chapter 17 to the end contains the story when Clare was in
school, her dreams and her effort to reach them, and how she wanted to be free from
her mother.
Ugly is a really inspiring novel and it is also nominated as one of the
bestseller novels in the UK. Despite the bestseller nomination, this novel has a
controversial issue. As what Simon Hattenstone wrote in The Guardian,
Ugly became a bestseller when it was published two years ago, and Briscoe
immediately became better known as the victim of an unhappy childhood than
as one of Britain's very few black women judges. But her account has not
gone unchallenged. Her mother is suing her, her stepfather has taken legal
advice and some of her siblings have spoken up in support of their mother
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books).

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Constance Briscoe has been through a lot of suffering because of her family.
She fights very hard to prove that this novel is a true story novel, since the family
denies everything that happened in the novel is true. On the 1st December, 2008, she
finally wins the Ugly case.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that is used in analyzing this novel is psychological approach.
This approach is the most suitable one because it deals with human motivation,
behavior and feeling. According to Guerin, in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature, psychological approach is the equipment to understand the thematic and
symbolic mysteries of a work of literature and enhance other readings. These critics
seek the possible motives behind the literary work, reading “between the lines” for
author’s and character’s prychological conflicts (2011: 222).
In the psychological novel, the characterization is more than usually
important. It emphasizes on interior characterization and on the motivation,
circumstances, and internal action that spring from, and develop, external action
(Harmon, 2003: 409).
The writer focuses on the influence of the minor characters toward the main
character’s motivation. Psychological approach is one of the approaches which focus
on the importance of characterization. One does not need to analyze the author
through his work in order to understand the psychological effect in the novel. One
can use his/her knowledge of psychological problems and situations to interpret a

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work of literature without any reference to it’s author’s biography. The behavior of
the characters in the novel can be used to analyze the subtleties of the human mind
and the psychological problems (Daiches, 1981: 337).
The writer used this approach because this approach is suitable with the topic
of study, and in this thesis the writer analyzed the characteristics of the minor
characters through their psychological condition which affects their treatment toward
the main character.
C. Method of the Study
The library research is applied to complete this thesis. The entire data of this
study is collected from books and other writings, such as undergraduate thesis and
references from the internet. The primary source of this data is Constance Briscoe’s
Ugly, while the secondary sources are taken from relevant books, thesis, and online
references.
The secondary sources are taken in order to support the analysis of the study.
In this thesis, the theory of characters and characterization are needed since the
analysis focuses on the characteristics of the main character and the minor characters.
Theory of character and characterization by Abrams and Murphy are used in this
analysis. The writer also needs the theory of extrinsic motivation to help the writer to
reveal the psychology aspect of the main character’s motivation.
The study took some steps to answer the problem formulation. The first step
was to read and to reread the novel as the primary data of the study until the writer

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got a much deeper understanding of it. The writer focuses on how the minor
characters act and treat the main character, especially the mother, and the teacher.
The second step was to find the topics for this analysis which is the influence
of the minor characters toward the main character’s motivation on a better life, and
then the writer created the problem formulation which contains three questions.
Third, the writer decided to use the psychological theories on personality and
human behavior. The writer decided that the novel could be analyzed by using the
psychological approach.
Fourth, the writer looked for another source and reference, such as books and
undergraduate thesis related to this novel and also other data from internet, such as
articles and essays.
Fifth, the writer examined the characteristics of the main and minor characters
by the theory of character and characterization.
Sixth, the writer related the influence of the minor characters’ treatment
toward the main character’s motivation on a better life through the treatments of the
minor characters.
Seventh, the writer drew a conclusion of the three problems that had been
answered in the analysis. This step was needed as a closure of this thesis.

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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
Chapter four is divided into three subchapters. In the first subchapter, the
writer answers the first question stated in the problem formulation. It will discuss the
characterization of the main and the minor characters. The writer uses Abrams on
theory of character and Murphy’s on theory of characterization. The second
subchapter will answer the second problem. It shows how the minor characters treat
the main character, Clare Briscoe. The last subchapter consists of the third problem
which about the influence of the minor characters’ treatment toward the main
character’s motivation on a better life.
A. The Characterization of the Main and Minor Characters as Described in the
Novel
This part is divided into three parts. First is how the main character, Clare
Briscoe, is described in the novel. Second is how the mother portrayed in the story,
and third is the portrayal of the teacher. There are some ways to analyze their
characterization, using Abrams and Murphy’s theory. Abrams stated, “characters are
the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the
reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are
expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and by what they do—the action”
(1985: 23).

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1. Clare Briscoe’s Characterization
Clare Briscoe is the author and the main character in this autobiographical
novel. In analyzing her characteristics, the writer uses Abrams’ character theory and
Murphy’s characterization theory. The writer sees the character of Clare Briscoe from
her dialogue and from her action which are the two important components in
Abram’s theory of character. The writer also sees the characterization of Clare
Briscoe from her personal description, how the other characters see her, her
conversation toward other characters, her thoughts, and her mannerism which are
some of the Murphy’s nine ways to understand a character.
Clare Briscoe’s characters are shown from the beginning until the end of the
story because she is the central figure in the novel. The novel focuses on the struggle
of Clare Briscoe during her childhood and teenage life, when she finally enters the
New Castle University to pursuit her dream to become a barrister. She is the fourth
child of George Briscoe and Carmen Briscoe. She was born in 18, May 1957. She
lives in several houses in her early life which some of them she remembers. The last
house that she lives before leaving to the university is 19th Sutherland Square in
London.
a. Ugly Girl
Clare described herself as an ugly girl who is confident only on the outside.
She says so because her mother always tells her how ugly she is.
Then there was me – Clear, Clearie, Clare, born 18 May 1957. About five feet
three and a quarter fully grown, medium build, who never made it on the

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looks stakes until quite late in the day. Described as