A study of Sybil`s dissosiative identity disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiberâ€™s Sybil`s, the true story of woman possessed by sixteen personalities.

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xv ABSTRACT

Nastiti, Dian Ndari. 2010. A Study of Sybil’s Dissociative Identity Disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiber’s Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training Education, Sanata Dharma University.

This thesis analyzes a woman named Sybil, a main character of Flora Rheta Schreiber’s novel, Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder in which she has 16 co-existing personalities as a result of terrible childhood trauma. There are three problems related to the topic of this thesis. (1) How are Sybil and her splitting personalities described in the novel? (2) How is Sybil’s dissociative identity disorder described? (3) How does Sybil cope with all the conflicts in her splitting personalities?

The primary source is from the novel itself, whereas the secondary sources are from books, criticism, and articles related to the subject of the study. Some relevant references such as: personality theory, dissociative identity disorder theory, parental influences on children psychological development theory, and mother-daughter theory are the secondary sources. Those theories are used to analyses the novel. The psychological approach is also used in this analysis to observe Sybil’s dissociative identity disorder as formulated in the problems in this study.

There are three points that can be concluded from this analysis. Firstly, Sybil is described as a woman who is unconfident, fragile, and fearful. Whereas, her dissociative personalities are described as: Vicky, who is sophisticated and generous; Marcia and Vanessa, who are close friends that always do things together; Mary, a house woman who is very sensitive; Sybil Ann, the depressive woman; Peggy Lou, an energetic, moody and bad tempered girl who takes Sybil’s unexpressed anger; Peggy Ann, an individual who takes the fearfulness of Sybil; Mike and Sid Dorsett, the boys who come up based on identification of Sybil’s grandpa and father; Ruthie, the youngest; Helen, a personality who gets the biggest terror because of Hattie Dorsett; Marjorie, a sanguine personality; Clara, a religious girl; Nancy, a girl who is also fanatic; and the last one is the Blonde, who comes up during Sybil’s recovery treatment and claims that she is the girl Sybil wants to be. Secondly, Sybil has multiple personalities of which each personality has its own name, sex, intelligence, and personal states. Sybil has the symptoms of having dissociative identity disorder, which are headache, emptiness, lost time, and depersonalization. And, the causes of her splitting personality are the result of her parental abuses. Her mother always does sexual, psychical and emotional abuses, intensified by the role of her father, who takes actions to be apathetic to help her, incompetent, irresponsible, and emotionally withdrawn, and the puritan environment where Sybil lives gives contributions in making Sybil’s dissociative grow fertile. Thirdly, she faces conflicts, both interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts. Her interpersonal conflicts related with both her parents and her parents’ hypocrisy. Whereas, the intrapersonal conflicts are conflicts with her splitting personalities, namely ignoring her belief and her trial of committing suicide.

This thesis provides suggestions for future researchers who are interested in studying the novel from other aspects. This thesis also provides suggestions for English teachers to teach English , especially Intensive Reading II at university level by using Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities.

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xvi ABSTRAK

Nastiti, Dian Ndari. 2010. A Study of Sybil’s Dissociative Identity Disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiber’s Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini membahas tentang seorang wanita yang bernama Sybil, tokoh utama dari novel karya Flora Rheta Schreiber, Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities, yang menderita kepribadian majemuk dengan 16 kepribadian akibat trauma pada masa kanak-kanak. Ada tiga permasalahan yang berhubungan dengan topik dari skripsi ini. (1) Bagaimana Sybil dan pribadinya yang terpecah digambarkan dalam novel? (2) Bagaimanakah kepribadian majemuk dari Sybil digambarkan? (3) Bagaimana Sybil menyelesaikan semua masalah dalam perpecahan pribadinya?

Metode studi pustaka diterapkan dalam pencarian data. Sumber utama adalah dari novel itu sendiri, sedangkan sumber pelengkap datang dari buku-buku, kupasan suatu buku, dan artikel yang berhubungan dengan subyek studi. Beberapa reverensi yang berkaitan, antara lain: teori kepribadian, teori kepribadian majemuk, teori perngaruh orangtua dalam perkembangan psikologis anak, dan teori hubungan ibu-anak perempuan, yang adalah contoh dari sumber pelengkap. Teori-teori tersebut digunakan dalam menganalisa novel. Pendekatan psikologis digunakan dalam menganalisa kepribadian majemuk dari Sybil terhadap permasalahan dalam studi ini.

Ada tiga hal yang dapat disimpulkan dari skripsi ini. Pertama, Sybil adalah seorang wanita yang tidak percaya diri, rapuh dan penuh ketakutan. Sedangkan, kepribadian majemuknya digambarkan sebagai: Vicky, seorang yang modern dan murah hati; Marcia dan Vanessa, yang merupakan teman dekat yang selalu melakukan segala sesuatu bersama-sama; Mary, seorang ibu rumah tangga yang sangat perasa; Sybil Ann, wanita yang muram; Peggy Lou, seorang yang energik, pemurung dan emosional yang menanggung amarah yang tidak dapat diekspresikan Sybil; Peggy Ann, seorang yang menanggung rasa takut yang dirasakan Sybil; Mike dan Sid Dorsett, anak laki-laki yang muncul berdasarkan identifikasi dari kakek dan ayahnya; Ruthie, yang paling muda; Helen, seseorang yang mendapat ketakutan paling besar yang dikarenakan Hattie Dorsett; Marjorie, si ceria; Clara, si saleh; Nancy, seorang yang fanatik; dan yang terakhir, The Blonde, yang datang pada saat proses penyembuhan Sybil berlangsung dan mengklaim sebagai seorang yang diinginkan Sybil. Kedua, kepribadian majeluk Sybil berhubungan dengan tanda, gejala, dan penyebab. Sybil mempunyai kepribadian majemuk, dimana setiap kepribadian mempunyai nama sendiri, jenis kelamin, kecerdasan dan status pribadi. Gejala kepribadian majemuknya meliputi pusing, kekosongan, hilang ingatan, dan depresi. Dan penyebab dari penyakitnya muncul dari pengaruh orangtuanya. Ibunya selalu melakukan penganiayaan seksual, fisik, dan emosional, diperkuat oleh peranan ayahnya, yang bersikap apatis, kurang cakap, tidak bertanggungjawab, atau menarik diri secara emosional, serta lingkungan yang amat memegang teguh aturan agama dimana Sybil tinggal, memberi sumbangan dalam mempersubur kepribadian majemuknya. Ketiga, menyingkapkan semua konflik yang dialami Sybil, baik interpersonal maupun intrapersonal. Konflik interpersonalnya berhubungan dengan kedua orangtua dan kemunafikannya. Sedangkan, konflik intrapersonal adalah konflik dengan pribadinya yang majemuk, yaitu konflik untuk tidak memperdulikan agamanya dan keinginannya untuk mencoba bunuh diri.

Skripsi ini memberikan saran bagi peneliti di masa datang yang tertarik dalam mempelajari novel ini dari aspek lain. Skripsi ini juga memberikan saran bagi guru bahasa inggris, terutama untuk pengajaran Intensive Reading II untuk mengajar menggunakan Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities pada level universitas.

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A STUDY OF SYBIL’S DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER IN FLORA RHETA SCHREIBER’S SYBIL, THE TRUE STORY OF WOMAN POSSESSED

BY SIXTEEN PERSONALITIES A THESIS

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

in English Language Education

By:

Dian Ndari Nastiti 041214099

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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I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set

me in a large place

PSALM 118:5

This thesis is dedicated to:

My Savior Jesus Christ

My Loving Babe and Ibu

My Brother “Primol”

My Lovely Eyang Kakung and Eyang Putri

My Dear Felix

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vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my savior, Jesus Christ for His blessing, especially for guiding me through my hardest time. I have to thank Him for showering me with love and grace during my study in Sanata Dharma University. I never walk alone because He is always by my side.

I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my major sponsor, Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y. M.hum, for sparing me his valuable time to guide, correct and discuss my thesis. I thank him for his criticism and suggestion, so that I can finish this thesis. Another appreciation goes to all the lecturers of the English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University for sharing their knowledge during my study, and also my thanks go to the secretariat and library staff for good services, kindness and friendliness. I also thank my great friend, Chrisogonus Sidha for his willingness to spend his time to be my language consultant.

With abundant of love, I dedicate this thesis to my wonderful family, my beloved parents, Bp. Markus Eddy. S and Ibu. Endang Agustina. W for their supports, endless love, patience and prayers. I also would like to thank my grandparents, Eyang Yahya Soewarno and Eyang Mudjilah, for always giving me good advice, support and prayers. I would like to thank my brother, Prima Rekha Panji who has also given me support and sharing both sadness and happiness. I would like to thank Gracea for time we have shared together.

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My special thanks go to My Ndundul, Felix Tyas Warih Utomo for his love, accompaniment, encouragement, and patience, for being ‘tukang ojek’, for being ‘dust-bin’ and for all the sadness and happiness we have shared together. I am very blessed to have him in my life.

My next best gratitude goes to all my friends in Blindsoul band (Mas Anton, Kobis, Mas Galih, Eqi, Mas Bagus, Nonok, Mbak Desi, Ambon, Mbak Ika and Dinda), East-Rasta Band (Bang Foster, Bang Ronald, Bang Hero, Bang Diaz, ect), Chromatic Band ( Mas Jack, Mas Oggy, Lala, Mas Kiki), and all Jogja TOP 40 bands (VLV, Recycle Band, Refresh Band, etc). I am nothing without them all. I thank them for all chances given me to develop my talent, my knowledge about music and for every wonderful experiences we have shared. Foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to my friends in Rhu Band (Aviandra Nagara, Joe, Kiki Maskur, Liza Barus, Wisnu ‘penyu’, Dalbo, Siska, Gildaz Heri and Dimas Pakde) for the support, the friendliness, the understanding during my thesis writing time.

I would also like to express my deepest appreciation to “Alumni Kos Bu Djaman”, to Mbak Desi, Mbak Vika, Mbak Mey, Mbak Ayi, Mbak Nina, Oline, Briggita, Ikka, Mbak Cita, Mbak Dewi, Lolin and Meta. My time with them has been the sweetest one. I thank them for always giving me a place to release my burden and time to laugh.

My gratitude goes to my PBI’s friends, to Maea, Rita, Tami, Bishop, Greg, Erlian, Novi, Dede, Etza, Tuti, Silvi, Tika, Albert, Pius, and Bekti who have made my life in PBI become alive. I thank them for sharing knowledge together.

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Last but not least, for those I cannot mention one by one, I thank them for every moment with me and sharing moments together, for making me grow up, for every pain, because there is always blessing in disguise. May God bless us all. Amen.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITTLE PAGE... i

APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH……… iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY... v

PAGE OF DEDICATION ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS... x

ABSTRACT ... xv

ABSTRAK... xvi

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION... 1

A. Background of the Study... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 5

C. Objectives of the Study ... 5

D. Benefits of the Study... 6

E. Definition of Terms... 7

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 9

A. Theoretical Review ... 9

1. Characters and Characterization ... 9

2. Dissociative Identity Disorder ... 12

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b. Causes ... 13

c. Treatment ... 13

3. Personality... 14

a. Definition ... 14

b. Sigmund Freud ‘s Personality Theory ... 15

c. Three Basic Structure of Personality ... 16

4. Parental Influence on Children Psychological Development... 18

5. Mother-Daughter Relationship ... 20

6. Conflict... 21

a. Interpersonal Conflict... 21

b. Intrapersonal Conflict... 22

B. Theoretical Framework ... 23

CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ... 25

A. Object of the Study ... 25

B. Approach ... 26

C. Method of the Study... 27

CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS ... 28

A. The Description of Sybil and Her Splitting Personalities ... 28

1. The Characteristics of Sybil Isabel Dorsett as the Major Character ... 29

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2. The Characteristics of Sybil Isabel Dorsett’s Splitting Personalities as the

Minor Character ... 33

a. Victoria Antoinette Scharleau ... 34

b. Vanessa Gail and Marcia Lynn Dorsett ... 36

c. Mary Lucinda Saunders Dorsett ... 38

d. Sybil Ann ... 39

e. Peggy Lou Baldwin... 40

f. Peggy Ann... 42

g. Mike and Sid Dorsett ... 42

h. Ruthie Dorsett ... 43

i. Helen Dorsett ... 44

j. Marjorie Dorsett ... 44

k. Clara Dorsett ... 45

l. Nancy Lou Ann Baldwin ... 45

m. The Blonde Girl ... 46

B. The Description of Sybil’s Dissociative Identity Disorder ... 47

1. Sybil’s Characteristic as a Person with Dissociative Identity Disorder.... 47

2. The Symptoms ... 48

3. The Causes ... 51

a. Parental Influences ... 51

1). Mother- Daughter Relationship ... 52

a) Hattie Dorsett’s Past Life ... 53

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2). Father- Daughter Relationship... 56

a) Willard Dorsett’s Past Life ... 56

b) Willard Dorsett’s Ignorance... 58

3). Puritan Environment ... 59

a) Puritan’s Way of Life... 60

b) The influence of Puritan Environment on Sybil’s Personality 61 4. Applying Sigmund Freud’s Personality Theory in Sybil’s Case ... 61

C. Sybil’s Conflicts and the Way She Seals with Them... 63

1. Sybil’s Interpersonal Conflicts... 64

a. The Conflict between Sybil and Her Mother ... 64

b. The Conflict between Sybil and Her Father... 65

c. The Conflict between Sybil and Her Parents’ Hypocrisy ... 67

2. Sybil’s Intrapersonal Conflicts... 69

a. The Conflicts between Sybil and Her Splitting Personalities ... 69

b. Ignoring Her Belief ... 70

c. Committing Suicide... 71

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS... 73

A. Conclusions ... 73

B. Suggestions ... 78

1. Suggestion for Further Study on Sybil, the True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities... 78 2. Suggestions for Teaching Intensive Reading II by Using Sybil, the True Story

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of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities ... 78

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 81

APPENDICES ... 83

Appendix 1 : Summary of Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities... 84

Appendix 2 : Cover of Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities... 88

Appendix 3 : Shirley Ardell Mason (Sybil’s novel reference) and Sybil’s film and Sally Field (Sybil’s cast in the film) ... 89

Appendix 4 : The Author’s Biography ... 90

Appendix 5 : Picture of Dr. Cornelia B. Wilbur ... 92

Appendix 6 : Lesson Plan for Teaching Intensive Reading II ... 93

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xv ABSTRACT

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xvi ABSTRAK

Nastiti, Dian Ndari. 2010. A Study of Sybil’s Dissociative Identity Disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiber’s Sybil, The True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of background of the study, problem formulation, objectives the study, benefits of the study and definition of terms. The background of the study states the topic and the reasons of choosing the topic. Then, the problem formulation describes the guidelines to do the analysis, whereas the objectives of study describe what to gain in the study. The advantages of the study are presented in benefits of the study. The last is definition of terms. This part defines some terms related to the study

A. Background of the Study

Family is the smallest structure in a society that consists of parents and children. It is the first place for someone to learn everything. As stated in Psychology of the Child, there are two major effects that the home has on the life of the child. Firstly, it provides the conditions that facilitate some kinds of behavior and inhibit other. Secondly, its effect consists of the way in which child‘s personality is shaped (Watson and Lindgreen 297). Whenever the function of family member does not work optimally and then creates some terrible home situation, it will have a deep effect on the children.

One of the worst things that may happen in a family is child abuse. A dreadful abuse experienced by children can cause some awful effects, such as

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depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and physical injury to the child. A philosopher Daniel Dennett, as quoted in Dr. Paul McHugh says

...the evidence is now voluminous that there are not a handful or a hundred but thousands of cases of MPD (DID) diagnosed today, and it almost invariably owes its existence to prolonged early childhood abuse, usually sexual, and of sickening severity…..(reference the Wikipedia, Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder resource))

Relating to this case, Dissociative Identity Disorder is one product of terrible childhood trauma.

In Psychology in Action, it is described that Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), is a disorder, in which at least two or more distinct personalities stay alive within the same person. Dissociative Identity Disorder is one of the five dissociative disorders identified in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) by the American Psychiatric Association (1994). These include Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Fugue, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Somatoform Disorders. In DID, each personality has unique memories, behavior, and social relationship. When a person suffering from this disorder cannot overcome certain problem, then the alternate personality comes to cope with. Shortly, it is said that the change of personality may be associated with psychological stress (Huffman, Vernoy and Vernoy 531). A person with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) tends to have some depressions, amnesia, blackouts or time loss, sleep disorder, headache, panic attack, flashback or intrusive memory, phobia, mood-swing and suicidal tendencies.

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A work of literature may portray such issues as described above. People may think that through literary works they only gain some pleasure. However, Woody says that through literature readers can get not only pleasure, but also knowledge.

And all of us who read literary work will find our knowledge broadened and deepened, whether in the individual, the social, the racial or the internal sphere; we shall understand how we come to live at particular time and place, with all its pleasure and vexations and problems, we shall understand the ways own wards which are open to us, and we shall perhaps be able to make right rather than wrong choice (Woody 2-3).

From the quotation above, we can see that literary work can give us new perspective of life. The contents in the literary works are the reflections of our daily life. Therefore, it will enable us to know life better and enable to decide the right things in life.

A novel by Flora Rheita Schreiber entitled Sybil, the True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Separate Personalities is one real example of a story of a woman with a Dissociative Identity Disorder. The story is about a child named Sybil. As a child, Sybil has a tendency to escape from all severe physical and emotional abuses at the hand of her cruel mother, and the worst thing is that her father does nothing to protect her. This condition leaves her to have some trauma and this also influences her personalities. Then, Sybil develops some personalities within her, in which two of them are boys. When a personality controls her body, Sybil is in the condition of losing the memory and the time (blackout). Each of the characters has his/her own behavior and way of thinking and they know each other, except Sybil. Whenever Sybil cannot overcome her problems, one of them comes up and takes control of Sybil’s body. Then, finally Sybil realizes that there is something wrong with her, so she decides to be examined by Dr. Cornelia Wilbur. The doctor is the

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one trying hard to unite Sybil’s characters. The novel is interesting because we will find that the biggest enemy is within human themselves.

This study is, therefore, meant to analyze the Dissociative Identity Disorder in Sybil’s case. Nowadays, we see that there are many cases of broken-home children who tend to have more problems than those from the harmonious home. They grow up to be troublemaker children, unconfident, weirdo, etc, because of lack of affection from their parents. Shortly, as stated by Watson and Lindgren in Psychology of the Child, it is no doubt that parents play a key role in the upbringing the children. They can influence the child’s development especially on the development of the intellectual ability, emotions, the relationships to peers, etc (310). Relating with Dissociative Identity Disorder, many scientists say that the terrible childhood trauma pays biggest contribution in making a personality divided and home is a fertile field to plant the seed of child future personality, whether they will be a good person or not.

The novel is intersting to discuss because, beside the story is based on a true story, it also gives us a vivid picture of how difficult it is for someone who has sixteen different and independent personalities within herself. Those characters come up unconsciously in the main’s character life. This is a kind of fascinating things to study about human personality and to find the reason why such kind of dissociative identity disorder appears. It is true in our society that people sometimes ignore the importance of parental role on childhood period in shaping their personality. That phenomenon is reflected clearly in this novel. Thus, the writer believes that this thesis can contribute a new thing among many criticisms, essays and debates about

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this story, not only for the students who directly have the relation to the literature and psychology, but also to all readers in general.

B. Problem Formulation

In this thesis, there are three problems to solve which are formulated into these questions:

1. How are Sybil and her splitting personalities in Sybil, the True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Separate Personalities described?

2. How is Sybil‘s Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) described in the novel? 3. How does Sybil cope with all of the conflicts in her splitting personalities?

C. Objectives of the Study

This study is aimed to answer the questions formulated in the problem formulation. In the first part, the writer will explain the description of Sybil’s personality as the main character, because it plays important rule in the way the story goes along. This part will also explain all the splitting personalities, since; they are the keys to find the answer why Sybil suffers that disorder.

The second part digs on what is Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), the symptoms and the reasons why someone can posses such a personality disorder from a psychological view in relation with the parental influences, and the result of the splitting characters.

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Finally, the last part of this study is the discussion on conflict which is experienced by Sybil and the way she deals with them, both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict. And, based on the story, the other characters will be used to reveal the conflicts and show that the splitting happens because of the childhoodod abusive experiences.

D. Benefits of the Study

First of all, for the writer, the study can give me a chance to broaden the knowledge, for the term Dissociative Identity Disorder is new in our society. Sometimes, our society often judges that a person with the symptoms of DID is often considered as a person with schizophrenia. Actually, that both Schizophrenia and DID are two extreme distinct things. As described in e-medicine health, that the term schizophrenia is meant "split mind." This is not an accurate medical term. In Western culture, some people have come to believe that schizophrenia refers to a split-personality disorder. These are two very different disorders, and people with schizophrenia do not have separate personalities. Schizophrenia and other mental health disorders have fairly strict criteria for diagnosis. Unfortunately, the society usually gives some “wrong treatment” to a person with the DID symptoms. This is how the study may be implemented.

Whereas for the researchers and the students, this study, hopefully, will give them additional information, especially from the psychological point of view. It also presents a deep understanding of how to cope with all the problems face and to learn to have empathy for others. It gives an understanding that family is the place where

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everything whether good or bad starts. Family also means the environment where the child grows. This is important, especially for the students at their teenage phase to know such that phenomena, because they are searching an identity and it may give them a reference.

Finally, for the readers in general, after they read the novel, they will gain meaningful lessons and values from the psychological aspect, family influences, so that they will be wiser. Especially for the parents, it may teach them that childhood is the essential period to shape a personality of someone.

E. Definition of Terms

In order to obtain better understanding and to avoid misinterpretation, the writer defines some important terms that are used in the study.

1. Dissociative Identity Disorder

Karen Huffman, Mark Vernoy, and Judith Vernoy in their book Psychology in Action explain that the person with dissociative identity disorder has two or more distinct personality system that becomes dominant at different times. Each personality has unique memories, behaviors, and social relationship. The transition from one personality to another occurs suddenly and often associated with psychological stress. Often the alternate personalities are very different from the original personality, and may be the other sex or a different race (506).

2. Parental influences

Parents are regarded as the most influential figures in the personality development of a child. This is because the child’s first social environment is the

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home in which she/he lives. The home and the family will determine his first attitudes towards people and social activities. Based on Psychology of the Child, basically there are two major effects on the life of the child, namely the condition that facilitates some kinds of behaviors and inhibit others and the way the personality of the child is shaped (297).

3. Child Abuse

Child abuse is a physical, psychological, or emotional maltreatment of children. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define child abuse as any act or series of acts or commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child. Mostly, child abuse happen in child’s home, schools or communities the child interacts with. There are four major categories of child abuse: neglected child, physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

(http://www.ammericanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/fact-sheets/child-sexual-abuses.html). 4. Motherhood

According to Helena Deutsch in her book Psychology of Woman, motherhood is the relationship of the mother to her child as a sociolinguistic, physiologic and emotional whole. This relationship begins with the conception of the child and extends throughout the further physiologic process of pregnancy, birth, feeding and care (18).

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9 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of theoretical review and theoretical framework. The first section covers theories of character and characterization, theory of personality, theory of multiple personality disorder, theory of parental influence on psychology of the child, theory of motherhood, theory of conflicts (both interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts). The second section describes theoretical framework, which describes the application of the theories reviewed in the analysis.

A. Theoretical Review

In answering the problems stated in the problem formulation, some related theories are viewed to support the understanding of the topic. Some theories correlate with the topic will be discussed. They are theories of character and characterization, theory of personality, theory of multiple personality disorder, theory of parental influence on psychology of the child, theory of motherhood, theory of conflicts (both interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts).

1. Characters and Characterization

Character is one of the elements of a literary work. It is all about a person in a literary work. The character also controls the way in which the story goes along. General readers usually identify some characters from the text. According to Robert

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Stanton in his book, An Introduction to Fiction, the term “character” is commonly used in two ways: it designates the individual who appears in the story and the mixture of interest, desires, emotions, and moral principle that makes up each of these individuals (Stanton 17-18).

Abrams divides character into two types. First is the main or major character. A major character is usually the center of the story and the most important character in the story. Usually, the story focuses on this character from the beginning until the end. Secondly is minor character. Minor character only appears in a certain setting, just necessary to become the background for the major character. Their roles are less important than major one because they are not fully developed, and their roles in a story just support the development of the major characters (Abrams 20).

According to Murphy (161-173) in his book, Understanding Unseens there are nine ways employed by the author to make the character understandable and come alive for the readers. First is the personal description. Here, the author gives a description of character by the appearance and clothes. The author also tells the details of certain personal characterization, i.e. the face, the eyes, and the skin. Second is character as seen by another. The author gives some descriptions by the comments and the eyes of another character, instead of describing the character directly. Third is speech. Usually, we can understand the character by the speech of the character or by its speech. Forth is through past life. Here, readers are led to know character’s past life in order to give some hints to certain actions. This can be done by the author’s direct comments, through the character’s thoughts, through the conversation and by another character’s thought. Fifth is by conversation of others.

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Readers are able to recognize certain characters through the conversation of other character and the things people say about certain characters. Sixth is from the reactions, the author can give some clues about the character by the reaction of the character in various situations and events. Seventh is through direct comment. The author gives direct comment or description on a character. Eighth is a thought. By knowing what character thinking about, the author can give us direct knowledge about a character. In this case, the author explains us that different character has different thought. And the last is from the mannerism. The author may describe a character’s mannerism, habits, or unconventional behavior that can tell us something about the character.

A well-developed character is the one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many qualities shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the

character, the better the character development (http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTCharacter.html).

According to Baldick, character is a person in a narrative or dramatic work. It is different from characterization. Characterization is the way in which a character is represented. Therefore, a character is the result, while characterization is the process. Baldick also defines that there are three methods of characterization in fiction. The first method is explicit presentation. It means the author tells the readers through the direct exposition or analysis, which informs the character. The second is the presentation of the character in action. In this representation, the author only uses a little or no explicit comment, so the readers are able to conclude the attribute of the actor from action. The last method is the representation from within a character

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without comments by the author. In this method, the author suggests the reader will come to a clear understanding of attribute of the character clearly through the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self (Baldick 81).

Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Whereas, based on information of Wikipedia, characterization is the process of conveying information

about characters in fiction or conversation (http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/LTCharacter.html).

2. Dissociative Identity Disorder

G. Terence Wilson, Pete E. Nathan, K. Daniel O’Leary, and Lee Anna Clark in their book Abnormal Psychology explain the Dissociative Identity Disorder. They say that an individual with this disorder appears to have two or more distinct personalities or personality states. These personalities take turns in controlling the actions, because an individual with this disorder is not capable to remember personal information (Wilson, Nathan, O’Leary, Clark 181).

The Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a condition of possessing a mental disorder in which at least two separate and distinct personalities exist within the same person. Each personality has unique memories, behaviors, and social relationship. The change from one personality to other occurs suddenly and is often relates with psychological stress. Usually the original personality does not know about the existence of the alternate personalities, but all of them may be aware of lose period time. Frequently, the alternate

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personalities are very different from the original one and may be of the other sex or a different race or age (Huffman, Vernoy and Vernoy 531).

a. The Symptoms

Individuals diagnosed with Dissosiative Identity Disorder (DID) show variety of symptoms. Symptoms can include: multiple mannerisms, attitudes and beliefs that are dissimilar to each other, headaches and other body pains, distortion or loss of subjective time, depersonalization, amnesia, and depression. People with this symptom may face a wide collection of other symptoms that look like epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, and eating disorders (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). A patient with Dissosiative Identity Disorder (DID) was reported that she ever faced frequent headaches, feeling of weakness and period of amnesia- all symptoms associated with dissociation (Wilson, Nathan, O’Leary, Clark 183).

b. Causes

The causes of dissociative identity disorder have not been identified clearly, but are connected with overwhelming stress, traumatic past history, insufficient childhood development, and a natural ability to dissociate memories or experiences from consciousness (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). It is said that the major problem underlying all dissociative disorder is the need to escape. A history extreme trauma, usually sexual abuse is found in all researches in this case. Moreover, it is also believed that severe childhood trauma is considered as a primary cause of dissociative disorder (Huffman, Vernoy and Vernoy 531).

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According to James C. Coleman in his book, Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life, the treatment of person with DID by hypnosis and narcosis interview. Also the key of importance in treatment is helping the patient to learn more effective method of survive, which make the anxious behavior unnecessary (Coleman 248).

Treatment of Dissosiative Identity Disorder (DID) is the effort to reconnect the identities of disparate alters into a single functioning identity. The treatment may focus on symptoms, to ease the distressing aspects of the condition and ensure the safety of the individual. Treatment methods include psychotherapy and medications. Some behavior therapists firstly use behavioral treatments such as responding to a single identity and using traditional therapy (http://skepdic.com/mpd.html)

3. Personality

Everyone has his own personality and every personality is different from another. None has same personality, even, identical twin. One may be phlegmatic, the others may be shy and another may be cheerful and easygoing. This topic of difference is the fundamental topic to the study of personality.

a. Definition

Personality is not easily defined. Basically, ‘personality’ refers to our effort to capture an individual’s ‘essence’. Personality is person-ality that means the science of describing and understanding persons. The word ‘personality’ derives from the Latin word ‘persona’ meaning ‘mask’. So, the study of personality can be understood as the study of ‘masks’ people wear (Wilderdom).

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Hjelle and Ziegler in their book Personalities Theories say that the basic study of personality is to contribute extensively to our understanding of human being from within the structure of the science psychology. Actually, there is no one best way to understand human behavior in psychology. In fact, individual in this field struggle to develop different systems of consistent gathering of concept, and it called the theory of personality (Hjelle and Ziegler 1-2).

b. Sigmund Freud’s Personality Theory

Relating to the topic above, Sigmund Freud personality’s theory is reviewed in this section. It is based on consideration that the topic has the closest relation to Freud’s theory (Hjelle and Ziegler 32). Freud proposes a topographical model of personality organization. According to this model, psychic life can be represented by three level of consciousness. They are:

1. The conscious level

It includes all the feelings of our senses we can feel and experiences that we are conscious. Freud states that only a small part of mental life (thought, perceptions, feeling, and memories) contains in the area of consciousness. Conscious represents only a small and limited aspect of personality.

2. The preconscious domain

The preconscious domain is often called “available memory.” It includes all memory that we are not conscious, but it can be transmitted to the conscious area both spontaneously and with a minimum effort. This memory might include all that somebody had done last week, and our past memory

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3. The unconscious

It is the deepest and main level of the human mind. Freud believes that the important parts of human behavior are shaped and directed by desire and controled totally by the outside area of consciousness (Hjelle and Ziegler 32-33).

c. Three Basic Structures of Personality

Based on the information of changing mind resources, the concept of the unconscious mind becomes a central in Freud’s study of personality, then he revised his conceptual model of mental life and introduced three basic structures in the anatomy of personality (changing mind resources):

They are: 1. Id

The Id has no real perception of reality and it always struggles to find satisfaction needed through what Freud called the primary processes. The process is like something that controls the life of baby, including hunger and self-protection. The id stands in direct opposition to the super-ego. The energy for the Id's actions comes from libido. The id has 2 major instincts:

a. Eros:

It is the instinct that influences people on finding pleasures (e.g., sexual desires).

b. Thanatos:

Thanatos is the unconscious instinct of human life, and sometimes it is called death instinct that stimulates people to use aggressiveness.

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2. Ego

Different with the Id, the Ego is aware of reality and controls by the reality principle. The Ego knows and be aware of what is real and knows that every behavior done has its consequences, including the feeling of belonging into the social rules. Usually it uses secondary processes (perception, recognition, judgment and memory) that developed during childhood.

The problem faced by the Ego is to balance the demands of the Id and Super ego with reality. The Ego controls higher mental processes such as reasoning and problem-solving, that uses to solve the Id and Super ego demands, finding ways to satisfy the Id's needs safely in the controls of the Super ego.

3. Super ego

The super ego contains values and social morals come from the rules of right and wrong learned in childhood from parents and contain in the ethics. The Super ego gives the sample for ego to compare and encourage ego to move. The Super ego plays as a balance to the Id, and often reduces the Id's pleasure-seeking demands, especially for sex and aggressiveness (reference the changing minds resource).

Conscious

--- Preconscious Ego

--- Unconscious Superego

--- Id

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The Relation of the structural model of personality to levels of awareness (Hjelle and Ziegler 33)

4. Parental influence on Children Psychological Development

Parents play an important role in shaping their child’s personality. Children need to grow out of his vulnerability; in this case, parents have to provide both material and emotional needs while they bring the children toward self-sufficiency. If parents fail to provide them their need, the growth toward independence will seriously obstruct. It is also usual to find that child from broken homes tend to have more adjustment problem than those from integral homes. (Watson and Lindgren 310). For the example, the absence of father in home will give the effects that child will have less confident, dependent, had poorer relationships with peers (Watson and Lindgren 309).

There are basically two major effects that the home has on the life of a child. First, home provides the conditions that facilitate some kinds of behavior and inhibit others. Second, is a place where child’s personality is shaped. This is also proving that love, parental warmth and permissiveness are about all that are needed for healthy personality development (Watson and Lindgren 299).

Child’s development, known as a golden age, is a phase when as a child he absorbs the entire environment, especially family and parents given consciously or unconsciously. Joseph and Lois Bird explain in his book, Power to the Parents that even in early childhood, the child encounters frustration. At first, all he can do is lash

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out in fury: cry, scream, and kick. He needs parents’ example and teaching if he is to learn to cope with the countless frustration, large and small, he will run up against during his lifetime. He needs to be taught alternative actions (Bird and Bird 31).

Although most parents are loving and nurturing, some cannot or will not take a proper care of their children, and some deliberately hurt, even kill them. Maltreatment, by parents or others, is deliberate or unavoidable endangerment of a child that take in many forms.

In general, abuse can refer to action that inflicts harm, physical abuse involves injury to the body through punching, beating, kicking or burning. Neglect is failure to meet a child’s basic physical, emotional, or education needs. Sexual abuse is sexual activity involving a child and another person. Emotional maltreatment includes acts of abuse or neglect that may cause behavioral, cognitive, emotional and mental disorder. It may include rejection, terrorization, isolation, exploitation, degradation, ridicule, or failure to provide emotional support, love, and affection (Papalia, Olds, Feldman, and Gross 294).

Abuse may begin when parents who are already anxious, depresses or hostile try to control a child physically but loses self-control and ends up with doing some violations. Neglected parents tend to be apathetic, incompetence, irresponsible, or emotionally withdrawn. They sometime built a distance from the child, critical and uncommunicative. Many abusive and neglectful families cut themselves off from other, socially isolated, with no one to see what is happening (Papalia, Olds, Feldman, and Gross 295).

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lack of enthusiasm, self-esteem and dependent. Therefore, maltreatment children often have disorganized-disoriented attachments and negative, distorted self concept. They will not develop social skills because they act aggressively and are often rejected by peers. Physically abused child tend to be fearful and uncooperative. Emotional abusive will produce children to be lying, stealing, low self-esteem, emotional maladjustment, dependency, depression, aggression, homicide and suicide (Papalia, Olds, Feldman, and Gross 296-297).

5. Mother- Daughter Relationship

The relationship between mother-child is possibly the most intimate of all forms of association for two people, for its closeness can not be compared even with the greatest love between man and women. It also implied that the unique nature of mother-child relationship is reflected in the term “mother- love” is commonly known than “father-love” which sounds unusual and strange (Allers 245).

Motherhood is the relationship of the mother to her child as a sociolinguistic, physiologic and emotional whole. This relationship begins with the conception of the child and extends throughout the further physiologic process of pregnancy, birth, feeding and care (Deutsch 18). Furthermore, Deutsch explains that a daughter’s identification with her mother is important for her moral and emotional development. Mother will play as role of source of identification of her daughter, who will next develop her moral and behavior according her perception toward her mother (Deutsch 322).

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is the only person who pregnant and gives birth; moreover, she takes care of the baby’s needs until he/she grows independently. Consequently, besides parents have a contribution in shaping a child’s personality; a mother is the one who first puts the basic shape of what a child’s personality.

Based on (Deutsch 312) sometimes, mother seeks and expects from her child something she misses in herself. While she naturally realizes that her child builds her personality on models, and since she herself does not want to give up to be her model, she makes a great effort to pretend before her to be what she is not. If the mother fails in this responsibility, her love for the child is transformed into hostility and become danger for the child.

6. Conflict

Conflict always happens in our society. A clash of interests, values, actions or directions often sparks a conflict. Conflicts refer to the existence of that clash. Psychologically, a conflict exists when the reduction of one motivating stimulus involves an increase in another, so that a new adjustment is demanded. Conflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests (http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/training/ca/personality.html). Conflict can be divided into two. They are:

a. Interpersonal Conflict

This is a person-to-person conflict. Interpersonal conflict also means “an expressed struggle between at least two independent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scare resources, and interference from the other party in

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achieving goals.” The essential thing in this concept comes from the words “expressed struggle” which has a deep meaning from both side to overcome the conflict and it needs compromise.

There are five basic ways of addressing conflict are identified by Thomas and Kilman in 1976 in Wikipedia’s article. There are: First is accommodation, it surrenders on one's own needs and wishes to accommodate the other party. Secondly is avoidance. In this method, people usually avoid or postpone conflict by ignoring it, changing the subject, etc. Avoidance can be useful as a temporary measure to enhance time or as a method of dealing with very negligible, non-recurring conflicts. In more cases, conflict avoidance can involve severing a relationship or leaving a group. Thirdly is collaboration. In this method, people are work together to find a mutually beneficial solution. While the Thomas Kilman grid views collaboration as the only win-win solution to conflict, collaboration can also be time-intensive and inappropriate when there is not enough trust, respect or communication among participants for collaboration to occur. Fourthly is compromise. People are to find a middle ground in which each party is partially satisfied. Fifth is competition. It emphasized on one’s viewpoint at the possible solutions of another. It can be useful when achieving one's objectives balances one's concern for the relationship (http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/training/ca/personality.html)

b. Intrapersonal Conflict

It goes on within one’s self. It deals with the struggle a person or character has within himself/herself. Richard G. Warga in his book “A Psychology of Adjustment” gives a point of view that its description includes into the intrapersonal

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conflict. He says that a conflict is a special sort of frustration because it requires choosing among alternatives (Warga 112).

Warga also states in his book about types of conflict within a self. There are: first is approach-approach because it involves making choice between two equally attractive alternatives. The opposite of this is avoidance-avoidance conflict, in which the alternatives are equally unattractive. It means we are damned if choose one and doomed if we do not. And the last is double-approach-avoidance; that the conflict involves such choices of good and evil on both sides (Warga 112).

B. Theoretical Framework

In analyzing the novel, the writer uses six theories; theories of character and characterization, theory of personality, theory of conflicts, theory of dissociative identity disorder, theory of parental influence on children psychological development, theory of motherhood. Theories of character and characterization will help the writer to describe the main character and all her characteristics of this story. It also means that the writer will describe all characters and their characteristics inside the main character. By using theory of personality, the writer will analyze deeper on the main character’s personality and her alternate. It helps to understand what personality is before study deeper on the next parts. The theory of dissociative identity disorder is used to give clear descriptions about dissociative identity disorder, being multiple, and the symptoms. Actually, this is the main theory in searching what kind of person Sybil is. Parental influence on children psychological development will describe and answer about the role of family, especially parents, as

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why Sybil personality splits. Because the writer believes that somebody’s personality is splitting because severe childhood trauma, and in this case parents give the biggest contribution.

Similar with theory on parental influence on psychology of the child, by using the theory of motherhood, it will specify emphasize about mother’s role in taking care of her child. This is important, because in this story, Sybil’s mother plays the biggest part in contributing of being multiple. It also her responsiblility of causing Sybil’s multiple pesonalities. The theory of conflict is very useful to give specific details of the conflict in the story. It will also help the writer to show how main character deals with all conflicts.

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25 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter contains three parts. The first part is object of the study that states the physical descriptions of the novel. The second part is the approach used in this thesis in analyzing the novel. The last part is method of the study. It deals with the research steps taken from reading up to the report writing. It also deals with what the type of study undertaken, aspects of the topic, and how and where to gather data.

A. Object of the study

The object of the study is a novel entitled Sybil, the True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities by Flora Rheita Schreiber. Sybil was written in 1973 and first published in the same year and became bestseller. Sybil is the most controversial novel talking about Multiple Personalities, later called Dissociative Identity Disorder. Because of its controversy, it was brought into a film in 1976 starring Sally Field as the actress and won an Emmy award. Thus, Sybil deeply affected readers’ point of view in seeing the new term of being Multiple and of course its influence the mental health profession.

The novel analyzed was published by Penguin Book in 1975. The novel was written based on the true story of Dr. Cornelia C. Wilbur’s patient, Sybil who was firstly considered as the patient with schizophrenia that had a history of blackout and emotional background, and then finally it was revealed that she possessed more than

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one personality.

The story is about the main character named Sybil Isabel Dorsett who is born in a rural down in a very strict, conservative and orthodox family. Her father, Willard Dorsett, is a building contractor, and her mother, Hattie Dorsett is a housewife. She grows in the hands of a psycho-mother, who often does some abuses. The worst thing is that her father does not care about what happens to her. Little Sybil then tries to find a way to escape from her trouble by creating some imaginary personalities in her mind, so she can run away from that horror. This habit of escaping traps her into a big problem that is the personality splitting that she does not know about that.

B. Approach

This study aims to reveal the Sybil’s dissociative identity disorder. The psychological approach is the approach to analyze the novel. The psychological approach will enable the writer to analyze the characteristics of dissociative identity disorder of the main character and the conflicts lying inside and also find out how she copes with all the conflicts in her spitting personalities. Psychological criticism employs three approaches. First, it investigates the creative process of the artist. The second is psychological study of particular artist. Most modern literary uses the psychological approach to understand the subject’s motivation and behavior. The third common area of psychological criticism is the analysis of fictional characters (Kennedy and Gioia, 1947).

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Library research was the method used by the writer in gathering the data from this study. It means the data were collected by reading books, and taking notes and doing some researches.

The main source was from the deep analysis of Flora Rheita Schreiber’s Sybil. The others sources were collected by reading the articles, essays and criticism either from books or from websites.

There were some steps done by the writer in analyzing the novel in order to answer the problem formulation states in the chapter 1. Firstly, the writer read the novel untilled: Sybil, the True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities for several times both the English and Indonesian version to get clear and better understanding. Secondly, the writer decided the problem to analyze in this study; it is about a study on Sybil’s dissociative identity disorder, then the problems was formulated. Thirdly, to answer the problem formulation, the writer needed to collect data to support. The data can be found by reading some books related to the topic. The writer also uses the electronic sources in finding some data. Fourth, the writer re-read the primary data and underlines some important things relate to the answer of the problems. Next, the writer applied some theories and the approach to analyze. Finally, the writer drew some conclusions to answer the problems formulated.

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28 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter discusses the analysis of the novel Sybil, the True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities. It is divided into three sections. The first one is the analysis of how Sybil and her splitting personalities are described, while second one is to reveal why Sybil has the dissociative identity disorder. The last one is to answer how Sybil copes with all conflicts in her splitting personalities.

A. The description of Sybil and her Splitting Personalities in Sybil, the True Story of Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities

In a novel, we can see that there are several characters with their own characteristics. In the previous chapter, Abrams divides characters into two types. The first is the main or major character. A major character is the center of the story and the most important character in the story. Usually, the story focuses on this character from the beginning until the end. The core of the story is highlighted through this character experiences. Secondly are minor characters. Minor characters only appear in a certain setting, just becomes the background for the major character. Their roles are less important than the major one because they are not fully developed, and their roles in a story are just to support the development of the major character. However, the discussion of the major and minor characters is just limited to the discussion of the character of Sybil and her splitting personalities by applying Murphy’s theory of characterzation.

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1. The Characteristics of Sybil Isabel Dorsett as the Major Character a. Sybil Isabel Dorsett

This story presents Sybil Isabel Dorsett who is born on January 20, 1923 in Willow Corners; a place where Sybil’s depressed life begins. She is the major character in this story because she is the center of the story and most important character. She is the main focus in the story from the beginning until the end of the story. And she is described as:

1. Battered

Sybil is described as a battered person. She always gets some abuses from her mother during her childhood.

A favorite ritual however, was to separate Sybil’s leg with a long wooden spoon, tie her feet to the spoon with dish towels, and then string her to the end of a light bulb cord, suspended from the ceiling. The child was left to swing in space while the mother proceeded the water faucet to wait the water to get cold. As the child swung in the space, the mother would insert the enema tip into the child’s urethra and filled the bladder with cold water…After placing Sybil on kitchen table, Hattie would force into the child’s vagina an array of objects that caught the mother’s fancy-a flashlight, a small empty bottle, a little silver box, the handle of a regular dinner knife, a little silver knife, a buttonhook (Schreiber, 198-199).

The quotation above shows the examples of abuses that Hattie does to Sybil. Everyday for almost nine years during her childhood, Sybil has to face these kinds of abuses.

Another proof is when Sybil is eight years old, she often sits alone, leaning her head on her knees, and wondering why she feels lack of something. But, why she should feel that way, she has the best house in Willow Corners and has better clothes and more toys then some other child in town. The more she tries to define the lack, the more obscure it becomes. She feels so sad, down and blue. To assuage her

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feelings of guilt she prays for forgiveness three counts: for not being more grateful for all she has; for not being happy, as her mother teaches she should be; and for what her mother named ‘not being like other youngsters’ (Schreiber, 126).

That is why from the Sybil past life and by the reaction of Sybil in certain situations we can conclude that Sybil is a battered person.

2. Fragile

After living for almost eighteen years in Willow Corners, Sybil has moved several times to study and work. Finally, she lives in New York to heal the syndrome by the help of Dr. Cornelia B. Wilbur.

Dr. Wilbur has her own perception toward Sybil’s appearance. She thinks that Sybil is lean, fragile, and looks younger than her age. She has a heart shape, a tilted nose, a small rosebud mouth; the characteristics of an English woman.

At the same time Dr. Wilbur was thinking: She’s as slender, as fragile, as ever. Looks no older. I’d know that face anywhere: the heart shape, the tilted nose, the small rosebud mouth. It’s a face you don’t see on the street of New York. It’s an English face, and despite the slight pitting of the skin, it has the fresh, unadorned look of an Englishwoman (Schreiber, 56).

The other evidence that shows the Sybil’s fragile is when she is trying to commit suicide. This is based on consideration that she will never be healed.

She felt alone, useless, futile. Convinced that she never going to get better…certain that her life had stopped while retraced a path that uncovered only anguish, Sybil felt that she had indeed come to the end of the line…She envisioned herself in the water, sinking (Schreiber, 320).

Another proof showing the Sybil’s fragile is when she tries to jump into the grave in her grandmother’s burial. Her grandmother is the one who really loves and cares for little Sybil. She is the only one who brings happiness toward Sybil. Her grandmother’s burial means burying the happiness, so she tries to chase the

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happiness by jumping into the grave, to the place of the one who really loves her (Schreiber, 132). Thus, from the personal description, reactions of the certain situations, thought, etc, she is described as a fragile person.

3. Unconfident

Sybil is also described as a person who does not have enough self-confidence. It can be seen from the conversation between Sybil and Henry. She thinks that people do not like her and she does not deserve to have a close relationship.

“Don’t you like me just a little bit?” he asked. “Of course, I like you, “she replied slowly. “Well?” he asked.

“But I don’t want to date anybody,” she replied firmly.

“You’re too nice for that,” he protested. “Lots of people like you, and you shouldn’t be like that. You’re a good company (Schreiber, 318).

We can also see the idea of Sybil’s lack of self-confidence is from Vicky’s opinion. Vicky is one of the characters of Sybil. She says that Sybil is always afraid of not being polite enough. She is terrified to interact with some high society women (Schreiber 91). This opinion is based on consideration that the society will never accept Sybil’s condition. When she meets Marian Ludlow, a high class woman from the society, Sybil becomes afraid and thinks that she does not deserve to have a relationship with a woman from a high society. Thus, from her speech, conversation of other, Sybil is described as a woman with lack of confidence.

4. Fearful

In all her entire life, Sybil is always scared. Peggy, one of Sybil’s personalities, gives the opinion about Sybil. Sybil is always under the shadow of fear (Schreiber 67). This is the product of her abusive mother. From the harsh condition, she will never be permitted to tell anybody, including her father. She is forbidden to

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be angry or just showing her feeling. Because of facing the dreadful situation from her mother, she then becomes a person who cannot stand up for herself. She is always afraid to depend for her right or at least to ask for help. All she can do is only image that she becomes someone else who has a completely different situation, and of course a happy life. The way she escapes from all her problems by imaging brings her personality dissociated (Schreiber 103-105).

Another proof is when Peggy appears and introduces herself; she makes some comparison between Sybil and herself. She says that Sybil is scared. She is just scared all the time (Schreiber 67). From the conversation of other, character seen by another, we can conclude that Sybil is a fearful person.

5. Clever

Above all those negative characteristics within Sybil, actually Sybil is a smart girl. Dr. Hall, her mother’s doctor, gives her a special attention and has treated her like an intelligent adult.

…and she realized that what she liked most about him was that he treated her like an intelligent adult…

Being twenty two entitled her to adult status. Having an IQ of 170, according to a standard intelligence test, should have earned her the right to be treated as if she were intelligent (Schreiber 33).

In fact, she is never treated like being an intelligent person by her mother and her father. Based on Dr. Wilbur’s opinion, Willard Dorsett, Sybil’s father has let his daughter down by not permitting her to skip grade (even though her IQ was170 and she is held back by slower children), for fear she would get what he calls a ‘swelled head’ (Schreiber 248). That quotation shows us that Sybil’s father does not allow her talented child to skip grade because he is afraid that her child will be an arrogant

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person. On the other hand, what he has done makes Sybil’s mental down.

Another proof is from her father who realizes that Sybil is talented child. When Frieda, Sybil’s step mother gives her opinion about Sybil, saying that Sybil does not try good enough to be a good daughter, Willard denies her wife opinion with a conviction that Sybil is a genius, brilliant, gifted girl, no matter what else she is. Therefore, based on comment of others, conversation between Willard and Frieda and by the author direct comment, Sybil is described as a cleaver person.

2. The Characteristics of Sybil Isabel Dorsett’s Splitting Personaties as the Minor Character

Sybil has multiple independent and different personalities, and each of the personalties knows each other well. The ironic thing is that Sybil does know nothing about them, and even does not know they exist. She finally agrees to be examined by Dr. Wilbur, a Psyatrician. She says that the first dissociation happens in St. Mary hospital when Sybil is in age of three and a half years old and that it has been spawned not by one trauma but by succesion of traumas induced by Hattie Dorseet, Sybil’s mother, the taproot, aided and and abetted by the powerful associated roots of Willard Dorsett’s failure to provide rescue and it has been also reinforced by Sybil’s entrapment by religion, particularly as projected by a religiously hysterical grandfather (Schreiber 310).

The chart below shows Sybil’s dissociative personalities, a genealogy of psycologycal functioning, emotional inheritance. In the year of 1935, she is only

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known as Sybil, then when she is twelve years old. Sybil personalities consist of Vicky’s line, Peggy’s line and Sybil’s line. Dr. Wilbur describes that Vicky’s line consists of Marcia, who appeares in 1927, Mary (1933), Vanessa (1935) and Sybil Ann. Whereas, Peggy’s line consists of Peggy Ann, into whom the original Peggy has developed; Peggy Lou who arrives in 1926; Sid and Mike, who arrive early in 1928. Ruthie, Helen, Marjorie and Clare are descented from neither Peggy nor Vicky, but directly from the original Sybil. It is stated that although Sybil has lost everything with which Vicky and the original Peggy endowes, Vicky and Peggy has lost nothing from their descendents inheritage. Vicky and Peggy retaines their own the emotions, characteristics, aquisitions, and modes of behaviour that have infused the lives of their progeny. (Schreiber 309-310). Whereas Nancy is not states in the novel when she appers and the Blonde appears during Sybil recovery treatment.

SYBIL ISSABEL DORSETT

Vicky Peggy

Ruthie Helen Marjorie Clara Nancy The Blonde Marcia Peggy Lou

Vanessa Peggy Ann

Mary Sid Sybil Ann Mike

a. Victoria Antoinette Scharleau

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personalities. She is a character borrowed from Sybil’s imagination, which is in the fantasy of the pretending world of childhood who is bright, and unafraid. She describes herself as a woman with blonde ringlets (Schreiber 89). She comes from abroad and her family is in Paris. She assures that her existence is to help. And after awhile, her parents will come to her to pick her up (Schreiber 87). Vicky comes up when Sybil is still a little girl.

Vicky is sophisticated woman. As a sophisticated woman, Vicky has a good taste of fashion. She can fit all her clothes beautifully. She always can mix and match some clothes and fit it with a circumstance in which she will attend (Schreiber 86).

Vicky’s sophisticated character can also be seen not only by her choice to dress, but also from her movements, voice and her diction and grammar when she held a conversation (Schreiber 94). Dr. Wilbur also has the same opinion about Vicky. She thinks that Vicky is sophisticated, friendly, and very concern about Sybil. From Vicky’s mannerism, direct comment from the author and other’s character’s description, Vicky can be concluded as a sophisticated woman.

Vicky is described as a helpful person. She says that she is glad she can help (Schreiber 91). Vicky really wants to help Dr. Wilbur to find the basis problem of Sybil. From the entire story, we can see that Vicky is the key person who helps Dr. Wilbur in the process of integrating all Sybil’s personalities. She is also the most important personality who gives the most information about all personalities (Schreiber 86). Therefore, from her speech about herself and other’s thought, Vicky can be described as a helpful person.

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96 READING PASSAGE

The vague memory of the girl who had distributed the funeral flowers gave Sybil the incentive to ask Danny about all of the things that were different. Houses had been built. Stores had changed hands. The town was not the same. Sybil knew that she could ask Danny about any or all of it.

‘How come the Greens are living in the Miners’ house?’ Sybil asked.

‘They moved there last summer,’ Danny replied

‘Who’s the baby Susie Anne is pushing in the buggy?’ Sybil wanted to know.

‘That’s Susie Anne’s little sister,’ Danny explained. ‘She was born last spring.’

‘Who is Mrs Schwarzbard?’

‘A dressmaker who came to town a year ago.’

Danny never asked. ‘How come you don’t know?’

Sybil was freer with Danny Martin than she had been with any human being except her grandmother. The freedom with Danny was the more remarkable because it came during the spring, summer, and fall of 1934, the very period which, tricked by time, Sybil enshrouded herself in a green alones and fortified her usual reserve with a special invincible armour against the world.

Danny became the antidote to the loneliness and vulnerability Sybil experienced after ‘coming to’ in the

fifth grade. Inexplicably, she had lost her friends. And, although her fundamentalist faith had always set her apart from other children, it was now as if they were noticing it for the first time. Now, because she could not do all the things they did – because the prohibitions of her faith – they directed at her sinister epithet ‘white Jew’.

Less painful, too, because of Danny, was her father’s coolly critical counsel, ‘You should be able to talk to people and to face the world,’ and her mother reactivation of an old complaint, ‘I never know from one day to the next what mood you’ll be in or what kind of person you’ll be.’

If it weren’t for Danny, Sybil knew she could not have endured the humiliation at school, where, because of her problem with maths, her marks had gone down. Without Danny, Sybil could not have withstood her mother’s unrelenting accusation: ‘But you used to know the multiplication tables. You used to know them. You’re just pretending to forget. You’re a bad girl-bad.’….

When Sybil was with Danny, she was able to forget that otherwise she walked alone. And she was alone. In the morning she was careful not to leave home until after she had ascertained that none of her classmates was in sight. After school she lingered at her desk until all the other children had left. When she walked on Main Street, doing

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some errand for her mother, she often crossed from one side of the street to the other six or seven times in a single block to avoid an encounter with one of townsfolk. Turning from everybody else, she turned to Danny. Danny, without erecting barriers against other children, turned as surely to Sybil as she did to him. Sybil and Danny just naturally assumed that when they were old enough, they would marry. Sybil firmly believed that when this happened, time would cease to be funny.

Then, on a brisk October day, as Sybil and Danny sat on the front steps, Danny said, somewhat awkwardly, ‘Syb, I have something to tell you.’

‘What?’ Sybil, sensing his tone, asked anxiously.

‘You see,’ Danny continued, ‘my dad – well, he brought a gas station in Waco, Texas, and well, we’re going there to live. But you’ll come to see me. I’ll come back here. We’ll see each other.’

‘Yes,’ Sybil said, ‘we will.’

That evening, when Sybil told Hattie Dorsett that Danny was leaving Willow Corner forever, Hattie shrugged and said, with great deliberateness: ‘Well, Daddy didn’t like you to spend so much time with that boy anyway. Daddy thought you were too old to be playing together.’

…….

Ultimately however the day came for Danny to say goodbye. Sybil, sitting with him on the front steps, which for so long had been the scene of close communion, was quiet and composed.

‘You’ll come to see me,’ Danny reminded Sybil.

‘I’ll come,’ Sybil temporized. ‘We’ll see each other,’ Danny repeated.

‘We’ll see each other,’ Sybil echoed.

Danny rose to go. Sybil sat motionlessly on the steps. ‘Well, Sybil,’ he said. ‘Well…’ overwhelmed by adolescent embarrassment and unable to complete sentence, he fell silent, bending over instead to where Sybil was still sitting. He kissed her swiftly on the cheek, turned and was gone.

Sybil, who, since early childhood, had shunned even the most casual physical contact, was now transported by a joyous tingle. At first, she was not even aware that Danny was no longer beside her. Then, when awareness did come, she panicked apprehensively searching for Danny. There he was – his blond hair, his little body-moving retreating.

As he turned from Vine Street into Main Street, he faded out of sight. Sybil sank down onto the steps. The rescue that Danny represented had been withdrawn. The town was deserted. All that existed now was an unmitigated aloneness.

And there still was something funny about time, which, like invisible soap in imperceptible water, slipped away.

The Sky is blue, Vicky thought, as getting up from the front steps, she stepped into the time from which Sybil had just departed.

Vicky walked around the white house with black shutters thinking about how nice it was to be able to give locomotion to the body, which for the first time belonged wholly to her, Vicky …

Vicky knew what had happened in life of Sybil Isabel Dorsett, whether or

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not Sybil herself had been present. Paradoxically, while time had been discontinuous for Sybil, who had lived in the world, it had been continuous for Vicky, who had existed in the recesses of being. Time, which had been capricious and often blank for Sybil, had been constant for Vicky. Vicky, who had total recall, served as a memory trace in the disjointed inner world of Sybil Dorsett.

This solidity of memory, combined with the fact that, in surfacing into the world, Vicky incorporated within herself a powerful fantasy of Sybil’s

own coinage, became the source of Vicky’s strength. The Victoria of the fantasy, like the new Vicky, an alternating self, was confident, unafraid, and immune from influence of the relationships that had disturbed Sybil.

**************************

II. WHILST READING ACTIVITY

A. Read the following statements. If a statement is true, write T in the front of statement. If it is false, write F!

__ Danny Martin always asked Sybil ‘How come you don’t know?’ if Sybil asked him about something.

__ Because of her fundamentalist faith, Sybil had lost friends. __ Sybil used to know the multiplication table.

__ Sybil was accustomed to the physical contact since her childhood. __ Vicky knew everything about Sybil, vice versa.

B. Reading passage above has only one main idea. Which one of the following statements is the main idea?

1. Sybil had relationship with Danny Martin.

2. Sybil suffers because of her school mates’ humiliation. 3. Sybil suffers because of splitting personality’s blackout. 4. Vicky’s emergence because of Sybil’s suffers.

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C. Find the supporting idea (with evidence) of the following main idea of the passage above.

• Sybil felt free to tell everything to Danny Martin. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

• Sybil’s Father did not like Sybil and Danny’s relationship. _______________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ • With Danny, Sybil was able to forget her reclusions.

________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

• The existence of Vicky was a product of Sybil’s imaginary denomination of her own.

________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

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D. Try to guess meaning of following words which are used in the passage 1. Vague (par.1)

2. Buggy (par.4) 3. Enshrouded (par. 9) 4. Green aloneness (par. 9) 5. Fortified (par. 9)

6. The antidote (par.10) 7. Vulnerability (par. 10) 8. Sinister epithet (par. 10) 9. Lingered (par 13) 10. Deliberateness (par.18)

11. Adolescent embarrassment (par. 24)

12. Swiftly (par.24)

13. A Joyous tingle (par. 25) 14. Unmitigated (par. 26) 15. Imperceptible (par. 27) 16. Capricious (par.28) 17. Coinage (par.29)

III. POST READING ACTIVITY

A. What do you think about what Sybil’s parents had done in relation with Sybil’s blackout?

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A study of Sybil`s dissosiative identity disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiberâ€™s Sybil`s, the true story of woman possessed by sixteen personalities.

I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set

me in a large place

PSALM 118:5

This thesis is dedicated to:

My Savior Jesus Christ

My Loving Babe and Ibu

My Brother “Primol”

My Lovely Eyang Kakung and Eyang Putri

My Dear Felix

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A study of Sybil`s dissosiative identity disorder in Flora Rheta Schreiberâ€™s Sybil`s, the true story of woman possessed by sixteen personalities.

I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set

me in a large place

PSALM 118:5

This thesis is dedicated to:

My Savior Jesus Christ

My Loving Babe and Ibu

My Brother “Primol”

My Lovely Eyang Kakung and Eyang Putri

My Dear Felix

Parts

Dokumen yang terkait

Analysis Of The Leading Character’s Personalities In Patrick Suskind’s Novel, Perfume : The Story of a Murder

An Analysis Of Main Characters’ Conflict In Flora Rheta Schreiber’s Novel Sybil

A Brief Study of Characterization of Sidney Sheldon’s Novel The Sky is Falling

Language Disorder In Schizophrenia Patient: A Case Study Of Five Schizophrenia Paranoid Patients In Simeulue District Hospital

WomenÂs Limitation In Wilkie Collin's The Woman In White (A Study Of Marxist Feminism)

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PROVING THE TRUE IDENTITY OF EVELYN SALT IN THE PHILLIP NOYCE’S SALT MOVIE (2010): Proving The True Identity Of Evelyn Salt In The Phillip Noyce’s Salt Movie (2010): A Psychoanalytic Approach.

PROVING THE TRUE IDENTITY OF EVELYN SALT IN THE PHILLIP NOYCE’S SALT MOVIE (2010): Proving The True Identity Of Evelyn Salt In The Phillip Noyce’s Salt Movie (2010): A Psychoanalytic Approach.

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