The Absurdity of Tracy Whitney's life in if tomorrow comes by Sidney Sheldon.

THE ABSURDIT
ITY OF TRACY WHITNEY’S LIFE IN IF TO
TOMORROW
COMES BY SIDNEY SHELDON

THESIS
tial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarj
Submitted as Partial
arjana Degree of
nt Faculty of Arts and Humanities State Islamic
English Department
ic University of
Sunan Ampel Surabaya

By:
Lidia Ayu Purnamasari
Reg Number : A73213105

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FA
FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

STATE ISLA
RABAYA
AMIC UNIVERSITY SUNAN AMPEL SURA
2017

ABSTRACT
Purnamasari, Lidia Ayu. 2017. The Absurdity of Tracy Whitney’s Life in If
Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon. English Department Faculty of Arts
and Humanities. State Islamic University Sunan Ampel Surabaya.
Advisor : Wahju Kusumajanti, M. Hum.

This study attempts to analyze about the life of the main character, Tracy
Whitney, in If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon based on Albert Camus’
absurdism. Absurdism is defined as the confrontation between human and the
world. The condition of Tracy Whitney’s life that is changed from harmonious
life into miserable life becomes the main focus in this study. Tracy has lost
everything she had in her previous life that makes her life in absurd situation. This
study aims to describe about the characterization of the main character, the
portrayal of the absurdity in the main character’s life, and the consequence from
the absurdity in the main character’s life. The researcher is using two theories in

analyzing the study, absurdism as the main theory and new criticism as the
supporting theory. The results shows that the main character has three
characteristics; independent, courageous, and intelligent. The life of the main
character that suddenly changes is found as an absurd situation. The feeling of
hopelessness and alienated makes the life of the main character becomes absurd.
Moreover, in the consequence from the absurd situation the main character
chooses to revolt and becomes a thief.

Keywords: absurd, change, life

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INTISARI
Purnamasari, Lidia Ayu. 2017. The Absurdity of Tracy Whitney’s Life in If
Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon. Jurusan Sastra Inggris Fakultas
Adab dan Humaniora. Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya.
Pembimbing : Wahju Kusumajanti, M. Hum.
Penelitian ini menganalisis tentang kehidupan karakter utama yang bernama

Tracy Whitney dalam novel yang berjudul If Tomorrow Comes oleh Sidney
Sheldon menggunakan teori absurdism milik Albert Camus. Kondisi kehidupan
Tracy Whitney yang berubah dari kehidupan harmonis menjadi kehidupan
menyedihkan menjadi fokus utama dalam penelitian ini. Tracy kehilangan semua
yang ia miliki di kehidupan sebelumnya, yang membuatnya hidupnya berada
dalam situasi absurd. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjabarkan tentang
bagaimana karakter Tracy, gambaran tentang kehidupan Tracy yang absurd, dan
konsekuensi dari absurditas kehidupan pada kehidupan Tracy. Peneliti
menggunakan dua teori untuk menganalisis, yaitu teori absurditas sebagai teori
utamanya dan teori kritik baru sebagai teori pendukungnya. Hasil penelitian
menunjukkan bahwa karakter utama memiliki tiga sifat yang menonjol, yaitu
mandiri, berani, dan cerdas. Kehidupan karakter utama yang tiba tiba berubah
digambarkan sebagai situasi yang absurd. Adanya perasaan putus asa dan
terasingkan membuat kehidupan karakter utama menjadi absurd. Serta, karakter
utama memilih menjadi seorang pencuri sebagai konsekuensinya dari absurditas
kehidupannya.

Kata Kunci : absurd, perubahan, kehidupan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Inside Cover Page.....................................................................................................i
Inside Title Page......................................................................................................ii
Declaration Page.....................................................................................................iii
Dedication Page......................................................................................................iv
Motto........................................................................................................................v
Advisor’s Approval Page........................................................................................vi
Examiner’s Approval Page....................................................................................vii
Acknowledgement................................................................................................viii
Table of Contents.....................................................................................................x
Abstract..................................................................................................................xii
Intisari...................................................................................................................xiii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION.........................................................................1
1.1. Background of the Study.................................................................................1
1.2. Statement of the Problems................................................................................4
1.3. Objective of the Study.....................................................................................4

1.4. Significance of the Study.................................................................................5
1.5. Scope and Limitation........................................................................................5
1.6. Method of the Study.........................................................................................5
1.7. Definition of Key Terms...................................................................................6

CHAPTER II LITERARY REVIEW.................................................................7
2.1. New Criticism...................................................................................................7
2.1.1. Character............................................................................................8
2.1.2. Characterization...............................................................................10
2.2. Absurdism.......................................................................................................11
x

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2.2.1. Hopelessness....................................................................................15
2.2.2. Alienation.........................................................................................15
2.3. Review of Related Literature..........................................................................18
CHAPTER III ANALYSIS................................................................................20
3.1. Tracy Whitney’s Characterization..................................................................20
3.1.1. Independent.....................................................................................20

3.1.2. Courageous.......................................................................................25
3.1.3. Intelligence.......................................................................................28
3.2. The Absurdity of Tracy Whitney’s Life.........................................................30
3.2.1. Hopelessness....................................................................................36
3.2.2. Alienation.........................................................................................38
3.3. The Consequence from the Absurdity inTracy Whitney’s Life......................41
CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION..........................................................................45
WORK CITED.....................................................................................................47
APPENDIX...........................................................................................................51

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1

Background of the Study
Every human being wants to get a freedom in their life. It is the right that

every human had and fight for. They have rights in order to maintain their life,
including the way of thinking, choosing, and making decision. Through freedom,
humans can choose what they want to be or to do in their life because there is no
determination to it. They are free to shape themselves and their lives and create
their own values through their decision in life (Sartre qtd in Maureen 11-12).
Indeed, they have to be responsible for the decision they have made, no matter if
it will make their life better or even worse.
However, not all people can reach the freedom itself. People who are not
getting the freedom in real life, will try to get it by creating another world. They
are making a world where they can express everything, such as; their thought,
their creativity, their opinion, their critique, and so on (Stephenson). Therefore,
they create their world in the form of writing, which is known as literary work.
Literary work is a writing which persistently and provocatively engages with the
aspect of experience, thought, and feeling (Bennet and Royle 35). Literary work
also considers as a mirror reflecting human’s life (Simma 03). It is the reflection
of human’s life since it is taken from the condition that happen around the author
or experienced by the author.
Literary work is divided into three genres, those are; poetry, drama, and
prose (Klarer 03). Poetry is defined as a work appeared in verse which has rhythm

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Purnamasari 2

that creates the sense of harmony in every line (Cuddon 678). Drama refers to a
work which appeared in text or script which intended to be performed in the stage
and played by actors (Cuddon 237) and Prose is a spoken or written discourse
which is not patterned in lines, either in metric verse or free verse and its function
is to describe, to explain, to narrate, or to express the content of the work itself
(Abrams 246-247). There are two kinds of prose, those are; fiction and nonfiction. Fiction considers as a narrative work which not written based on the
factual events. It is the creation from the imaginative thought of the author. While
non-fiction refers to a work which is written based on fact that happened in a
certain time (Abrams 94).
One of the prose fiction forms is novel. Novel is a writing that is organized
by the action, the narrative of thought, and the dialogue of the characters to the
artful pattern of plot (Abrams 286). The term novel is derived from Italian word
‘novella’ which means ‘tale’ or ‘piece of news’ (Cuddon 560). It is a narrative
writing which includes characters, actions, incidents, and plot (561). Novel can be
defined as an extended narrative that tells the dramatize story of human

experience or individual character. Thus, novel is an artful work which contains
plot, character, setting, theme, and others.
In this study, the researcher is using one of the novel from an author
named Sidney Sheldon. Sheldon was born in Chicago during the Great Depression
on February 11th, 1917. He was known as an author with crime fiction genre.
Most of his works is come with woman as the main character. As what was
reported on hachettebookgroup.com, in his interview, Sheldon said that the reason

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Purnamasari 3

he used woman as his main character because he wanted to change the myth of the
“dumb blonde”. He believed that woman is not only pretty in the face but also
pretty in the brain. Moreover, he was inspired by the women in his life; his
mother, his old wife – Jorja, and his new wife – Alexandra, who had strong
personalities and physically attractive. One of his novels which shows the figure
of a beautiful smart woman is If Tomorrow Comes.
If Tomorrow Comes tells about the freedom of a woman, named Tracy
Whitney, who was getting unfair treatment from people around her. Tracy lived in

a harmonious life before she was trapped by a gang of mafia. She was accused for
thievery and premediated murder, and being prisoned for fifteen years. No one
helped her, even her boyfriend, Charles, was ignoring and leaving her. Feeling
that her life was destroyed, Tracy felt hopeless and alienated by people around
her. Yet, Tracy did not want to give up. She tried to face her downfall by working
as a thief just like what she was accused before.
The condition that happen to Tracy can be categorized as a revolt toward
human’s freedom in showing his existence. Humans as a conscious being are
thrown into the world which full of absurdity (Audi qtd in Cendana 15). They
exist without any explanation of why they live and what is their purposes. A
world without purpose, value, or meaning is literary senseless, worthless, and
hopeless. Mostly people, who were in an absurd situation, will choose to kill
themselves because they cannot cope with the absurd condition. However, by
killing or doing suicide to end the absurdity of life does not encounter the absurd
itself. Rather, it is only become more absurd (Lewis 14). Therefore, Camus stated

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Purnamasari 4

that there are three consequences from the absurd; revolt, freedom, and passion
(Camus 42). These consequence are the truly freedom of human being from the
absurd situation.
From the background above, the issue that the researcher takes is about the
changing of Tracy Whitney’s life; from harmonic life into miserable life. The
researcher will be using absurdism as the main theory, since it is suitable for
evaluating the life of the main character. This study also applies New Criticism as
the supporting theory to describe about the character of Tracy Whitney.
1.2

Statement of Problem
From the background of the study above, the researcher is interested to

analyze these formulated questions:
1. How is the characterization of Tracy Whitney in If Tomorrow Comes?
2. How is the absurdity portrayed in Tracy Whitney’s life in If Tomorrow
Comes?
3. How is the consequence from the absurdity in Tracy Whitney’s life in If
Tomorrow Comes?
1.3

Objective of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, the objective of the study

has goals to reveal:
1. the characterization of Tracy Whitney in If Tomorrow Comes.
2. the absurdity in Tracy Whitney’s life in If Tomorrow Comes.
3. the consequence from the absurdity in Tracy Whitney’s life in If
Tomorrow Comes.

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Purnamasari 5

1.4

Scope and Limitation
To get a focuses discussion, this study will be limited on the novel written

by Sidney Sheldon entitled If Tomorrow Comes. It focuses on the characterization
and the life of Tracy Whitney as the main character in If Tomorrow Comes.
1.5

Significance of the Study
This study is expected to give valuable contribution in both theoretical and

practical. Theoretically, this study will enrich the readers’ knowledge in the
literary theory which is related to absurdism. It will also help the readers,
especially those who have interest in literature, to get the description of what
absurdism is and how it applied in the literary work.
Practically, it is hoped that this study can be used as a helpful reference for
other researchers who want to analyze using the same novel or other novel using
absurdism theory. While for common readers, this study is hoped to help them
understand how the absurdity in life is.
1.6

Method of the Study
In this section, the researcher discussed on how the data were collected

and how the analysis will be conducted. This study applies qualitative
methodology and uses library research. The qualitative methodology means that
the analysis will be presented in descriptive way. While the library research
means that this study is using books, journals, articles, and undergraduate theses
which are related to the subject matter that will be analyzed. The main source for
the analysis is the novel from Sidney Sheldon entitled If Tomorrow Comes that is

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Purnamasari 6

published in 1985. Also the researcher will be the instrument in analyzing the
data. These are the following steps of the analysis:
1. Reading the novel carefully in order to understand the novel well
2. Selecting and collecting the data related to Tracy Whitney’s characterization
and life.
3. Analyzing the collected data by dividing into three sections of analysis, the
first is analyzing the characterization, the second is analyzing the absurdity in
the character’s life and the third is analyzing the consequence from the
absurdity in the character’s life.
4. Making conclusion from the result of the analysis
1.7

Definition of Keyterms
There are some definition of keyterms used in this study. These are the

explanation of the keyterms:
Life-changing : An event experienced by a person that change because of some
factors – biology and the passage of time, self-generated, and the
circumstance or fate. (Abigail Brenner via
https://www.psychologytoday.com)

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CHAPTER II
LITERARY REVIEW
This chapter discusses about the theories which are going to be used as the
guidance for analyzing the study. Since the researcher wants to reveal about the
main character’s characterization and the absurdity of the main character’s life in
the novel, therefore new criticism and absurdism theories are chosen. New
criticism will be used to analyze the characterization, while absurdism will be
used to analyze the absurdity that occurs in the main character’s life and how the
main character encounters it. Futhermore, this chapter also discusses about some
previous studies to support the study completely.
2.1

New Criticism
New Criticism is a kind of movement in literary criticism which developed

in America around 1920s. The name of New Criticism itself was taken from a
book entitled The New Criticism by John Crowe Ransom which published on
1941 (Selden et al 19). Other prominent writers who influence the development of
new criticism as a theory and practice are I.A. Richard, T.S. Eliot, Cleanth
Brooks, Robert Penn Warren, and many more (Abrams 180). New Criticism
discusses about the relationship between the ideas of text and its form. It examines
what the text says and the way it is said. New Criticism focuses on the text of the
literary work without considering the context outside the text, including the
historical, biographical, and intellectual background (Selden et al 19). It ignores
the mind and the personality of the author, the sources, and the history of ideas,

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Purnamasari 8

political, and social implications (Cuddon 544). New Critics believe that the
author’s intention tells almost nothing about the text of the literary work. They
assure that the text of the literary work has more meaning than the author realized.
Thus, the interpretation of text could be discovered through the text and the
language provided by the text itself (Tyson 148).
Seeing that New Criticism concerns only on what was on the text,
therefore reading in an exact and careful way are needed. This is known as close
reading methodology. Close reading is known as the way the readers examine the
text’s meaning carefully through all the evidence provided by the language of the
text itself, such as images, metaphor, point of view, character, setting, and so on
(Tyson 137). Close reading also considers as examining a piece of literary work
by understanding the structure and pattern that shape the work (Gillespie qtd in
Nevada 21). It means that close reading emphasizes on the elements inside the
text or intrinsic elements which readers should pay their attention to – such as
theme, setting, plot, character, and others.
Since the researcher wants to reveal about the description of the main
character in Sidney Sheldon’s If Tomorrow Comes, then the researcher will
explain more about the character and the characterization.
2.1.1 Character
Character is defined as the life of literature; it is the object of curiosity,
fascination, affection, dislike, admiration, and condemnation (Bennet & Royle
60). Character is a person represented in a dramatic or narrative works who
interpreted by readers which provided with particular moral, intellectual, and

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Purnamasari 9

emotional qualities that shown through its dialogue and action (Abrams 32-33).
Character is created to help readers distinguish between fiction and non-fiction
works of literature. Character plays an important role in every literary works.
Without the presence of the character, the literary work will be as plain as food
without salt. Character attracts readers to feel what the character is feeling. Like in
romance genre, when the character is falling in love, it will make the readers feel
happy about it or when the character is having some problems, then readers will
also feel the feeling of having problems. Those things happen because the
character was created by the author as real as human.
Character can be defined as a life-like or character that resembles people in
real life when it is meet some requirements; the first is characters should have a
plausible name, they should saying and doing things that seems convincingly like
people say and do in real life. The second is a fictional characters should have a
certain complexity and a number of different traits. The third is the tensions,
contradictions, and multiplicities of the characters should cohere in a single
identity. It means that the traits, problems, and anything about the character
should appear in unity (Bennet & Royle 62).
In the book of Aspects of the Novel, Forster divided the character into two
kinds; flat and round character. Flat character is refering to a character which has
only one trait. It means that the character will remain the same from the beginning
until the end of the story. Flat character is often described in a single sentence,
easy to recognize, and mostly remembered by the readers easily. While round
character is known as a character which has more than one trait, and it is more

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Purnamasari 10

complex, also it may changes along with the story (67). Round character is in
temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity; such a
character therefore is as difficult to describe with any adequancy as a person in
real life, and like real persons, is capable of suprising us (Abrams 33).
According to Altenbernd and Lewis in their book A Hanbook for Study
The Fiction, character is divided into two types; those are protagonist and
antagonist. Protagonist defines as a character who represents ideal norms and
values. Readers are sometimes giving sympathy towards the protagonist character.
Thus, it can be said that protagonist character is the hero in the story. Different
with protagonist, antagonist refers to a character who causes a conflict in the story
(Qtd in Rufqoti 13). Another way to know the types of character is by seeing the
position of the character in the story. If the character is always appear in almost of
the whole story, then, it is known as major character. Whereas, if the character is
only appear in some parts of the story and told less than the major character, then,
it is the minor character (Nurgiyantoro qtd in Rufqoti 13).
2.1.2 Characterization
In order to help readers understand about how the character in the story is
built, the author draws it through the characterization. Characterization is the
method that used by author in creating a fictional character through describing the
character’s actions, speeches, thoughts, physical appearances, and what the other
characters say or think about the character itself (Shaw qtd in Yulia 11).
Characterization also considers as the way the author creates or builds the
character in a specific way. According to Abrams, in A Glossary of Literary

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Purnamasari 11

Terms, there are two ways in creating a character in the literary work, those are;
showing and telling. Showing means the author shows the readers about both
external and internal side of the character through the character’s speech, actions,
inner thought, feelings, and response to events. Whereas telling means the author
describes and evaluates the motives and dispositional qualities of the character
(33-34).
Another way to characterize the character is by looking at the indirect and
direct presentation of the character itself (Holman 138). Indirect presentation
considers as the way the author describes the character via the character’s speech
or action. It means that to get the depiction of the character’s characterization,
readers should intepret from the way the character’s act, think, or say. Different
with indirect presentation, direct presentation is the description about the
character which comes from the author as a story teller in the story or from the
other characters in the story. It means that the informations about the character are
directly shown to the readers.
Moreover, there are four ways to know the character’s characterization in
the novel; the first is through the speech and thought of the characters, the second
is through what the characters do or act, the third is through other characters’
point of view, and the fourth is through the author as the narrator of the story
(Holman 139).
2.2

Absurdism
Absurdism was coined for the first time by Albert Camus, which concept

has its root from the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism itself is a

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Purnamasari 12

philosopical movement which deals with humans condition and their existence
(Cuddon 294). It was originated from a Danish thinker, named Soren Kierkegaard,
which then followed by other existentialists such as Jean Paul Sartre, Albert
Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, and so on. Existentialism became influential in the
middle of 1900s in which many people are faced with death and destruction. The
World War II which gave rise to widespread feelings of despair led to the idea that
people have to create their own values in the world. Existentialism also insists that
choice have to be made arbitrarily by individuals, who thus create themselves,
because there is no standards to determine their choices (http://www.spiritweb.org/philosophy). Whereas absurdism, which influenced by the philosophy of
existentialism, was developed after the World War II. It started when the
absurdity was deeply felt by people who lived in the post World War II. They
were starting to questioning about the purpose of their existence. They felt that
their rights as a human being are not respected anymore, which can be seen
through the huge number of innocent people who were tortured, raped, and even
killed by other humans. These make the values of humanity that had already
existed become meaningless. It created a feeling that their lives were purposeless,
meaningless, and senseless, or in other word, absurd (Kostelanetz qtd in
Kurniawan 10).
The word absurd is considering as no purpose, no goal, or no objective. it
refers to the situation which is incomprehensible, uncertain, senseless, and chaotic
(Esslin qtd Kurniawan 08). Absurd also can be said as a condition in which
human existed from the nothingness – which later he will give himself essence,

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Purnamasari 13

and came toward the nothingness or in other word death (Abrams 01). Absurd is
known as the condition when a man desperately demands meaning and clarity of
the world around him, but he finds himself confronting a universe that is irrational
and meaningless (Camus qtd in Raskin 157). It is related to human condition in
which he faces with nothingness, that is, the encounter of human’s need and the
silence of the world (Camus qtd in Davachi 09). As what Camus stated in The
Myth of The Sisyphus and Other Essays that;
... man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his
longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this
confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the
world. This must not be forgotten. This must be clung to because the
whole consequence of a life can depend on it. (20).
Camus also argues that the absurd arises because the world fails meeting
human’s demand about the meaning of life (Nagel 721). It is when a hope of a
man does not go as he expected or hoped. To Camus, man is confronting his
obscurity in the world and since he cannot change it, then he rebels against it.
Hence, it can be assumed that absurdity is the confrontation between man and the
irrational world (qtd in Davachi 09).
Through his work, The Myth of The Sisyphus and Other Essays, Camus
described about the concept of absurdity in Sisyphus’ life. Sisyphus is the figure
from greek mythology whom the gods condemned to rolling a rock to the top of
the mountain; “The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to
the top of the mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They
thought with some reason that there is no more dreadfull punishment than futile
and hopeless labor” (75). It can be seen that, Sisyphus is an example of the human

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Purnamasari 14

condition who is struggling hopelessly to achieve something. The punishment
which given by gods to Sisyphus is a kind of hopeless and futile action. Sisyphus
has to roll a rock to the top of the mountain, even though he knows that the rock
will always go back down. But Sisyphus does not surrender with the punishment
and still do it over and over again. In his action, Sisyphus finds that he is truly free
and the gods cannot control his thoughts. He can scorn the gods’ attempts to
punish him, to be authentic to his inner self and choose to be happy. Sisyphus
does not try to escape his absurd task, but instead resists suicide (Camus qtd in
Yasemin 05). However, the story of Sisyphus gives something to learn. Although
in his life, man is faced with many kinds of problems which make he feels
hopeless, disappointed, stress, even alienated, he must keep living his life and
avoid to do suicide. By avoiding the suicide, it means that he is respecting his own
existence in the world.
According to Camus, the depressing existential problems of a man,
including anguish, suffering, sickness, disease, anxiety, death, and so on, which
conspire to render human existence becomes meaningless. Therefore, living the
absurd means a total lack of hope, a permanent rejection, and a conscious
dissatisfaction (Lewis 13). Camus also writes in his essays;
Before encountering the absurd, the everyday man lives with aims, a
concern for the future or for justification (with regard to whom or what is
not the question). He weighs his chances, he counts on “someday”, his
retirement or the labor of his sons. He still thinks that something in his life
can be directed. In truth, he acts as if he were free, even if all the facts
make a point of contradicting that liberty. But after the absurd, everything
is upset (38).

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Purnamasari 15

From the quotation above, it can be seen that many people already think about
their futures – even their families’ futures, but the futures that they have already
planned are not going as they want. Hence, they will feel hopeless, disappointed,
frustrated, alienated and other bad feelings.
2.2.1 Hopelessness
Hopelessness is the feeling of despair which happen when there is no hope
in life and find that life is not worth living anymore (www.differencebetween.net).
It is defined as the feeling of a person in which he does not have any confidences
and hopes in his life. As what Camus said in his essay;
If I were tree among trees, a cat among animals, this life would have
meaning, or rather this problem would not arise, for I should belong to this
world. I should be this world to which I am now opposed by my whole
consciousness and my whole insistence upon familiarity. This ridiculous
reason is what sets me in opposition to all creation (Camus 34).
It means that hopelessness is considered as the feeling of failure in
obtaining the hopes. The hopeless person will considers himself as a failure
because he cannot overcome the obstacles and difficulties in his life. The feeling
of hopeless occurs when a person thinks that his life is not going as he expected or
wanted.
2.2.2 Alienation
Alienation refers to the act or the result of the act in which someone
becomes strange to something or somebody around him. According to Keniston,
most usage of alienation share the assumption that some relationship or
connection that once existed that is ‘natural’, desirable or good, has been lost (Qtd
in Saleem 70). As what Camus said in his essay;

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Purnamasari 16

... in a universe suddenly divested of illusions and lights, man feels an
alien, a stranger. His exile is without remedy since he is deprived of the
memory of a lost home or the hope of a promised land. This divorce
between man and his life, the actor and his setting, is properly the feeling
of absurdity (Camus 06).
It means that a feeling of alienation happens because man cannot go back to his
old condition in which he still accepted in society. A man is feeling strange with
his surrounding and being estranged by the people around him. The feeling of
being alienated leads to the absurd situation. When a man feels alienated, he will
go and look for another life.
Generally, people who live in absurdity will choose to end up their lives
by killing their own selves. They believe with ending up their lives, they can
avoid the long painful and disease in their life. However, doing suicide is not a
solution to encounter the absurd. For Camus, suicide is a confession of a man that
his life is not worth living. Suicide is not an option, not a solution to facing the
absurd. He construing it as cowardly (Lewis 14), and for him suicide is
repudiation (Camus 37). Another choice is by doing religious solutions. Camus
defines this religious solution as a philosophical suicide. In this case, a man wants
to escape from reality and try to find a peace in his life. He chooses to get rid of
the world rather than himself (qtd in Yaesemin 03-04). Camus believes that to
adopt a religious or supernatural solution to the problem of the absurd is
destroying the reason of living, which is as fatal as physical suicide. For him,
suicide, either it is physical or philosopical, is not authentic or valid solution to the
problem of the absurd because doing a suicide means that human rejects the revolt
and the protest against injustice and senselessness (qtd in Lewis 14). The last

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Purnamasari 17

solution to the problem of the absurd is accepting and embracing the absurd itself.
Since absurd is unavoidable, therefore the proper response is by accepting the
absurd courageously (Lewis 14).
Camus stated that the appropriate way to deal with the absurd situation is
by doing a revolt (qtd in Lewis 14). Camus argued that the existential authenticity
demands that people are admit to theirself that their plans and projects are for the
most part hopeless and vain. This is the existential revolt to affirm the absurdity of
life and continue living (qtd in Timrayner 04). Revolt is an attitude of heroic
defiance or resistance to anything that oppresses human beings (Simpson). It
considers as a refusal to accept the loss of human lives and a pressure on viewing
death as a scandal (Raskin 159). It is a constant confrontation between man and
his own obscurity (Camus 36). Through revolt, humans can challenge the world
for something new. No matter if the result is satisfying or not. The most important
point is the process of the revolt itself which gives meaning in humans’ life. Just
like what Camus said in his essay;
It may be thought that suicide follows revolt – but wrongly. For it does not
represent the logical outcome of revolt... Revolt gives life its value. Spread
out over the whole length of life, it restores its majesty to that life. To a
man devoid of blinders, there is no finer sight than that of the intelligence
at grips with a reality that transcedens it (36).
It means that, doing revolt is better than suicide. Eventhough humans still do not
know about the result from their revolt but through revolt, humans can find their
meaning and values in life. They do not think about the upcoming condition from
their revolt, whether it is good or bad.

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Purnamasari 18

Therefore, Camus defines three consequences from the absurd, those are;
revolt, freedom, and passion (Camus 42). It means that, when human is revolting
towards the absurdity in his life, thus he will get his freedom which then becomes
his passion. Revolting the absurd does not mean escaping from the absurd, but
accepting the absurd itself. Humans will keep living the absurd because they
cannot go back to the situation before. From there, human will get his truly
freedom and enjoy his condition.
From the explanation above, the researcher will analyse the novel entitled
If Tomorrow Comes written by Sidney Sheldon by using two theories above. The
first theory is New Criticism which is used to analyzed the characterization of the
main character; independent, courageous, and intelligence. Meanwhile, the second
theory is absurdism which is used to analyze the life of the main character, that is;
the feeling of hopelessness and alienation. Also, it is used to analyzing the action
of the main character in facing her absurdity in life, that is; by doing a revolt.
2.3

Review of Related Literature
In order to enrich the knowledge, the researcher reviewed some previous

studies which have relation to this study in some aspects. Here are some previous
studies that have been done by other researchers before.
The first previous study came from Windi Astuti who analyzed the same
novel by Sidney Sheldon If Tomorrow Comes, but with different focus. She
examined about the feminist ideas which represented in Tracy Whitney’s
character. In her work, entitled Feminist Ideas in the Novel If Tomorrow Comes
by Sidney Sheldon, she proposed two main problems; the characterization of

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Purnamasari 19

Tracy Whitney and the portrayal of feminist ideas in Tracy Whitney character.
From her analysis, she found that the feminist ideas were drawn in Tracy Whitney
character as an educated, independent, obstinate, heroic, struggle, courageous, and
decisive woman.
Another work came from Erni Nurhayati Soraya from Muhammadiyah
University of Surakarta. In her work, entitled Woman’s Rebellion in Sidney
Sheldon’s Novel If Tomorrow Comes (1985): A Feminist Perspective, she
revealed about woman’s rebellion through feminist perspective that portrayed in
the novel by Sidney Sheldon If Tomorrow Comes. Soraya found that woman can
endure the oppression condition in life. Woman is struggling with her own effort
in order to get her right and prove that she can do what the man do. Soraya also
conclude that rebellion is the reflection of the feminism.
Similar to the two previous studies above, this research is also using the
novel written by Sidney Sheldon entitled If Tomorrow Comes. This research also
focuses on Tracy Whitney character as the main object in analyzing the novel.
Whereas, the differences between this research and those two previous studies
above is this research concerns in the life of Tracy Whitney as the main character
and how Tracy Whitney lives her miserable life in her own. While the two
previous studies above are focusing on the feminist side of Tracy Whitney.

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CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the researcher analyzes about the portrayal of the absurdity
in Tracy Whitney’s life in If Tomorrow Comes. This chapter will be divided into
three sections. The first section is about how the characterization of Tracy
Whitney described in If Tomorrow Comes and then the second section disscuses
about the background of Tracy Whitney’s life – start from her harmonious life to
her miserable life, and connect it with the concept of absurdity in life. The last
section is about how Tracy Whitney encounters her miserable life and how is the
present life of Tracy Whitney.
3.1

Tracy Whitney’s Characterization
This section discusses about the characterization of Tracy Whitney, the

main character, in If Tomorrow Comes. There are three characterization that have
been found by the researcher, those are; independent, courageous, and
intelligence. Here are the brief explanation;
3.1.1 Independent
Independent is an attitude in which a person can do anything without
depending on or controlling by the other people. It is an ability of a person to face
his problems in a mature way. This attitude is described in the character of Tracy
Whitney as the main character in If Tomorrow Comes because she is able to work
and live in Philadelphia on her own. After graduating from university and getting
a job in one of the bank in Philadelphia, Tracy leaves New Orleans. While her

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Purnamasari 21

mother, Doris Whitney, lives in New Orleans to take care of the family company
which left by her husband:
“I’m going to Philadelphia, Mother. I have a job at a bank there (44)”.
By leaving from New Orleans to Philadelphia, Tracy shows that she is an
independent woman. She is capable to leave her comfortable zone with taking a
new experience by working out of town. Tracy is working in the cable-transfer
department in one of the bank in Philadelphia called Philadelphia Trust and
Fidelity Bank. Her job is transferring the money through computer to the other
banks in the world. Having a job is one of the form of self-independence, which
means that a person is able to show his ability and be responsible of his job.
Another attitude that showed Tracy as an independent woman is when she
wants to keep working after she is married. Tracy has a boyfriend named Charles
Stanhope III, who is going to marry her. Their relationship started when Tracy
met Charles at a financial symposium, where Charles was the guest speaker there.
Day by day, their relationship became closer, until finally Tracy had pregnant his
baby, and they decided to get married. Tracy who is really like her job still wants
to work and plans to keep working even though they are already married. It can be
seen in the quotations below:
“...’How is your job? Still enjoying it?’ ‘I love it. Charles doesn’t mind if I
keep working after we’re married.’ (3)”
“Charles and I talked it over, and we agreed I’d be happier if I worked
(10) “
From the quotation above, the way Tracy asks to keep working after the marriage
is one of the characteristic of an independent woman. By keeping her job, Tracy

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Purnamasari 22

will have her own salary, and with her own salary she will not burden or
troublesome her husband in fulfilling her needs. She also can purchase anything
she wants with her own money. Hence, Tracy will become independent in
financial.
Tracy’s independence can also be seen when she has a problem with the
case of her mother’s death. At that moment, Tracy, Charles, and Charles’ family
are already agree to celebrate Tracy’s and Charles’ marriage in a huge wedding
party. Both of Charles’ parents have already prepare for sending a wedding
invitation to their overseas relatives. However, in the next morning, when Tracy
has to meet Charles’ mother to talk about the wedding, Tracy is no longer in
Philadelphia. Tracy, then, tells Charles that she cannot meet his mother because
she needs to take care of her mother’s death in New Orleans:
“... she wanted desperately to cry out the whole story about what they had
done to her mother, but she stopped herself. It’s my problem, she thought.
I can’t throw my burden on Charles. She said, ‘Don’t worry I’m all right,
darling’ ‘Would you like me to come down there, Tracy?’ ‘No. Thank you.
I can handle it. I’m burying Mama tomorrow. I’ll be back in Philadelphia
on Monday.’ (22)”
From the evidence above, it can be seen that Tracy wants to tell Charles
everything about the death of her mother. Nevertheless, Tracy keep it for her own
self because she does not want to hinge or rely on other people in dealing with her
problem. She does not want to troublesome or burdening other people with her
problem. She also has a very big self-confidence that she can handle and
overcome the problem by her own self.

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Purnamasari 23

Therefore, it can be concluded that Tracy Whitney is an independent
woman. She is able to undergo and undertake everything alone. She is also trying
not rely on other people, either in economic aspect or private problem.
3.1.2 Courageous
Courageous is an ability of a person to control his fear when he is facing a
new, dangerous, and challenging things. This characteristic is drawn in Tracy
Whitney’s character when she knows about the problem behind her mother’s
death from Otto Schmidt, one of the loyal employee in Whitney’s company. Otto
Schmidt tells about how Doris Whitney, Tracy’s mother, trapped in Joe Romano’s
game. Joe Romano is known as the accomplice of Anthony Orsatti, the man who
controls New Orleans. Schmidt informs that Joe Romano had been taken
Whitney’s company and made a lot of debt to other companies. Romano also
made Doris Whitney accussed for fraud. After hearing all the story about what
was actually happen to her mother before she was dead, Tracy has a plan to go to
Romano’s house and ask him to clean her mother’s name:
“’Tracy Whitney. I’m Doris Whitney’s daughter... Mr. Romano, the
district attorney believes that my mother was guilty of fraud. You know
that’s not true. I want you to help me clear her name.’ ...Tracy opened her
purse and pulled out the revolver. She pointed it at him. ‘I’ll tell you what
will make you feel better Mr. Romano. Having you confess to exactly
what you did to my mother.’ (26)”
The quotation above shows that Tracy is doing something brave. She has a
courage to act in a riskful situation. During her lifetime, Tracy is never
threatening someone by pointing a gun towards them. This kind of act is a new
thing for Tracy. It is something dangerous and challenging which have been done

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Purnamasari 24

by her for the sake of her mother. Therefore it can be said that Tracy is a
courageous woman.
Tracy’s courageous also showed when she is prisoned in the Southern
Louisian