The influence of culture in woman inferiority as seen in lavryle spencer`s November of the heart and Pramoedya Ananta Toer`s the girl from the coast : a comparative study.

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xiv ABSTRACT

Ulrikayanti, Alene R. 2008. The Influence of Culture in Women Inferiority as seen in LaVyrle Spencer’s November of the Heart and Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s The Girl from the Coast: A Comparative Study. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program. Department of Language and Arts Education. Faculty of Teachers Training and Education. Sanata Dharma University.

This study is about Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority which is influenced by culture as they experience in the novels November of the Heart (1994) and The Girl from the Coast (2002). It is interesting to discuss women inferiority because it provokes us to learn about societies and their cultures. During the late of nineteenth century, women are treated as inferior. Each society may have different treatment. This differentiation is affected by their cultures. These cultures will influence women inferiority and the development.

This study will discuss two problems. They are how Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority reveals in the nove ls, and how culture influences their inferiority. This study is aimed to answer the problems mentioned.

The theory of character and characterization were used to understand Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s characters and also to find out what actually happen to them. The feminist literary criticism is used to analyze the position of Lorna and Mas Nganten as women in the novel, and to criticize their inferiority. This criticism is used to answer the first and the second problem formulation. Since this study focuses on culture and women inferiority, it uses sociocultural-historical approach as the critical approach.

The results of this study show that Lorna and Mas Nganten are treated as inferior. They cannot make any decision, do their interest, and even cannot express their feelings and ideas. Patriarchy and religion, as their cultures, influences their inferiority. At the end of the novel, Lorna is succeed to make her own decision which means developing her inferiority. It is also influenced by her culture, American culture, which is more liberated and opened that provide chance for changes. Meanwhile, Mas Nganten remains inferior because Javanese culture is stricter and stronger.

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xv ABSTRAK

Studi ini berbicara mengenai inferioritas Lorna dan Mas Nganten yang dipengaruhi oleh budaya masyarakat mereka yang mereka alami di dalam novel November of the Heart (1994) dan The Girl from the Coast (2002). Inferioritas wanita merupakan suatu hal yang menarik untuk dibicarakan karena hal ini membuat kita belajar mengenai masyarakat dan budaya mereka. Pada akhir abad ke 19, wanita diperlakukan sebagai makhluk inferior. Setiap masyarakat memiliki perbedaan perlakuan terhadap hal tersebut. Perbedan tersebut dipengaruhi oleh budaya masyarakat itu sendiri. Budaya akan mempengaruhi inferioritas wanita dan perkembangannya.

Studi ini akan mendiskusikan dua permasalahan. Masalah-masalah tersebut adalah bagaimana inferioritas Lorna dan Mas Nganten digambarkan di dalam kedua novel tersebut, dan bagaiman budaya mempengaruhi inferioritas mereka.

Teori kesusasteraaan seperti teori tokoh dan penokohan digunakan untuk memahami karakter Lorna dan Mas Nganten dan untuk mencari tahu mengenai yang sebenarnya terjadi pada Lorna dan Mas Nganten. Selanjutnya, kritik sastra feminis digunakan untuk menganalisa posisi Lorna dan Mas Nganten sebagai wanita di dalam kedua novel tersebut, dan untuk mengkritisi inferioritas mereka. Kritik ini digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan pertama dan kedua. Mengingat fokus dari studi ini adalah mengenai budaya dan inferioritas wanita, maka studi ini menggunakan pendekatan sosial budaya dan sejarah.

Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan bahwa Lorna dan Mas Nganten diperlakukan sebagai makhluk inferior. Mereka tidak boleh membuat keputusan, tidak boleh melakukan semua hal yang mereka sukai, dan mereka juga tidak boleh mengungkapkan seluruh perasaan dan ide-ide mereka. Patriarkhi dan agama, sebagai budaya mereka, mempengaruhi inferioritas mereka. Pada akhir novel, Lorna digambarkan mampu membuat keputusannya sendiri dimana hal ini menunjukkan perkembangan atas inferioritasnya. Hal ini juga dipengaruhi oleh budaya Lorna, budaya Amerika, yang lebih bebas dan terbuka sehingga memungkinkan adanya perubahan. Sementara itu, Mas Nganten tetap inferior karena budaya masyarakat Jawa lebih ketat dan kuat.

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THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE IN WOMAN INFERIORITY AS SEEN IN LAVYRLE SPENCER’S NOVEMBER OF THE HEART

AND PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER’S THE GIRL FROM THE COAST: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

A Thesis

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

in English Language Education

ALENE ROSABEL U. 031214009

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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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that the thesis I wrote does not contain the works or part of the works of other people, except those which were cited in the quotations and the bibliography, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, March 11, 2008 The writer

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Alene Rosabel Ulrikayanti

Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214009

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE IN WOMEN INFERIORITY AS SEEN IN LAVYRLE SPENCER’S NOVEMBER OF THE HEART AND PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER’S THE GIRL FROM THE COAST: A COMPARATIVE STUDY beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, menditribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya atau memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya, Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal : 11 Maret 2008 Yang menyatakan

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vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all I would like to express my thank to Jesus Christ. He is not only the one who saves me, but He is a loyal and great companion. He gives me strength, He stays on my side, and gives me tremendous bless that I can stand up once again and again. His helpful hands support me that I can finally finish this thesis.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my major sponsor Dr. Wigati Yektiningtyas Modouw, M. Hum., for her patient, motherly understanding, and her motivating guidance in helping me finish this thesis. I will not forget those great moments we share together. My deepest gratitude also goes to my co-sponsor Drs. Concilianus L. Mbato, M.A.. He assists me on my every page of this thesis. He is unbelievably efficient, and critical, and I am honored to be one of his students.

I would also like to express my great thanks to all lecturers for their great contribution in my development, their honest and critical sharing, and unforgettable memories. I would like to express my thanks to all staff in the secretariat, especially Mbak Tari and Mbak Dani for supporting me since my very first day in this campus. I also thank to all the librarians who are always willing to help me, and provide students’ needs in the library services.

My special thanks go to my father Bambang Poediyanto. He is my hero and my idol since I was a little girl until now. He supports me with his endless love, continuous assistance, and enriches me with his encouraging wisdom. I learn

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about respect for individua l difference from him. My special thanks also go to my beautiful mother Priscilla Susi Siti Maryati, who has become my loyal bestfriend. Nothing in this world can replace her and her great love and caring. My greatest debt is to them, whose influence in this thesis was indirect but profound. To my gorgeous sisters Gabey and Aggie who has become a light on my night. No one can make me as happy, as sad, as proud, as confuse as they do.

My sincerest thanks go to my best friends, Paulina Gupta, who is the best friend ever. She never judges me but encourages me with multiple perspectives on any problems. She stays on my side during the hard days, and I promise I will pay that someday somehow. My sincerest thanks also go to my closest friends Nina Indarjo, Viana Rolos, Yani Bali, Chichil, Ari (Cret), and Aryo (UGM). I found precious friendship, honesty, and respect and share the greatest feeling of friendship with them.

My deep gratitude and admiration are addressed to my favorite lecturer Drs. Petrus Garanim Purba, M.Pd. I found a figure of strong and loving man from him. He assists me during my study on this university, and during crucial parts of my development. He is more than just a lecturer; he is a grandfather of mine who is always willing to provide me with chances for sharing and learning. The only thing I want to do before I leave this university is to attend his class again and enjoy his magnificent behavior, which is now impossible.

I also thank to my precious friend of PBI: Rizta, Dame, Monic, Daniel, Meiske, si Bhe, Miertah, Tony Tonol, Pun-pun, Beni Suki, Rere, Tia Protee, Indra Gupta, Dita, Netty, Kanya, Bertha ‘04, Bunga Ajeng ‘03, Andre ‘02,

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Tante-Tante Tua ‘02, Lady Dee and Siddha ’04 for crazy critical ideas in this thesis, Mas Yudi ’00, Haris 04, Mas Punto ‘00 and all of them I cannot mention one by one. You guys give me a lot.

My great appreciation, finally, goes to my greatest friend, my boyfriend, Batista Ismoyo “beibi” Sedjati. Thanks for supporting words, inspiring encouragement, and splendid love. He is all that suits me. He is the one I want to have in this life, beside my own Grand Piano, of course, and he is the answer of my prayer.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ... APPROVAL PAGE ... BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... DEDICATION PAGE ... STATEMENT OF PUBLICITY ... ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ... TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ABSTRACT ... CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ... 1.1 Background of the Study ... 1.2 The Aim of the Study ... 1.3 Problem Formulation ... 1.4 Benefits of the Study ... 1.5 Definition of Terms ... CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 2.1 Theoretical Review ... 2.1.1 Theory of Character ... 2.1.2 Theory of Characterization ... 2.1.3 Theory of Critical Approaches ...

i ii iii iv v vi vii x xiv 1 1 5 5 5 6 8 9 9 10 13

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2.1.4 Feminist Literary Criticism ... 2.2 Review on American and Javanese Culture ...

2.2.1 Review on American Culture in the Late of Nineteenth Century ... 2.2.2 Review on Javanese Culture in the Late of Nineteenth Century ... 2.3 Criticism on Literary Work ...

2.3.1 Criticism on LaVyrle Spencer’s Novel November of the Heart ... 2.3.2 Criticism on Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Novel The Girl from the Coast ... 2.4 Theoretical Framework ... CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ... 3.1 Subject Matter ... 3.2 The Approach ... 3.3 Research Procedure ... CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS ... 4.1 Women Inferiority in the life of Lorna and Mas

Nganten ... 4.1.1 Making Decision and Choices ... 4.1.2 Doing Interests ... 4.1.3 Expressing Feelings and Ideas ...

15 18 18 20 21 22 24 25 27 27 28 29 30 32 37 48 59

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4.2 The Influence of Culture toward Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s Inferiority ... 4.2.1 Patriarchy ... 4.2.2 Religion ... CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS ... 5.1 Conclusions ... 5.2 Suggestions ... 5.2.1 Suggestions for Future Researchers ... 5.2.2 Suggestions for English Teachers ... 5.2.2.1 The Teaching Learning Activity in Prose II Class Using November of the Heart... 5.2.2.2 The Teaching- Learning Activity in Prose II Class Using The Girl from the Coast ... BIBLIOGRAPHY ... APPENDICES ... APPENDIX 1 Portrait of LaVyrle Spencer ... APPENDIX 2 Portrait of Pramoedya Ananta Toer ... APPENDIX 3 Summary of November of the Heart ... APPENDIX 4 Summary of The Girl from the Coast ... APPENDIX 5 LaVyrle Spencer’s Biography ...

68 68 77 86 86 87 88 89 90 90 92 95 96 97 98 100 102

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APPENDIX 6 Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Biography ... APPENDIX 7 LaVyrle Spencer’s Novels ... APPENDIX 8 Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Novels ... APPENDIX 9 The Implementation of Teaching Prose II Using Some

Parts of the Novel November of the Heart for the Fourth Semester Students of English Language Education Study Program ... APPENDIX 10 The Implementation of Teaching Prose II Using Some Parts of the Novel The Girl from the Coast for the Fourth Semester Students of English Language Education Study Program ... APPENDIX 11 Material to Teach Prose II class Using November of the Heart ... APPENDIX 12 Material to Teach Prose II class Using The Girl from the Coast ...

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xiv ABSTRACT

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xv ABSTRAK

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1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter is divided into five sections. The first section is Background of the Study. This section explains the background knowledge of the study. It also explains why the novels were chosen as the primary data of this study. The second one is the Aim of the Study. This section mentions the main purpose of this study. The third section is Problem Formulation that contains questions to be answered as the focus of this study. Next, Benefits of the Study is discussed. It contains the advantages of this study. The fifth section is Definition of Terms. It explains the terms used in this study to enable the reader to understand this thesis better.

1.1 Background of the Study

Literature is a special work of art. Literature involves social phenomena, thoughts, feeling, attitude, and even the society itself in it. Literature is special in the way that it provides us with a very clear reflection of our living. So, by reading literature, we can understand about our selves`, about people around us, even about the society. Moreover, literature enables us to learn something about life without experiencing by our selves.

Hudson (1958: 10) states that literature is a vital record of what men have seen about life; what they have experienced of it, what they have thought, and felt about those aspects of which have the most immediate and enduring human

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interest. It is, thus, fundamentally dealing with an expression of life through the medium of language.

Literature is a means that provides us with chances to reflect. We can see life and its aspects very clearly, because literature lets us stand as observer; we don’t experience, but watch. In modern literature we have three major sections, namely fiction, poetry, and drama. According to Milligan (1983: 4), novel is classified as fiction that has a close relationship to human life. Novels convey reality. Novel tells us something just how it is.

A novel is a book that tells a story of life. De Laar (1963: 163) says that a novel is a work of art in so far as it introduces us into living world; in some respects resembling the world we live in, but with individuality of its own. Every novel may have different way and style of telling the story, but they tell the same thing; life.

“Woman inferiority” is always an interesting subject of discussion by many people in this world because this subject has a long and interesting history, and the changes on it involve many efforts from so many people in this world. Many authors had brought this issue into their writing. LaVyrle Spencer has an interesting way to tell a story through her novel. Her diction is always perfect and conveys the meaning clearly. The characters descriptions are also very clear and understandable. LaVyrle Spencer really knows how to make the readers understand, and even be involved in the story. Pramoedya Ananta Toer is also a great writer. In his The Girl From the Coast (1991), he describes the issue in a controversial way that allows the readers to find the reality. Instead of making a

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misunderstanding, his controversial way enables the readers to explore more meaning and value concerning on woman inferiority. The strengths of both novelists become the reason why I choose their novel. These novels are exactly what this study is about.

When we discuss the issue of woman inferiority, especially in the middle age, we will include matters that influence the particular issue such as culture, politic situation, tradition, and life style on that age. Since it includes many matters, the practicality of the issue may vary, and it will be very challenging to find out how it differs among countries. That is the reason why I choose two novels that use two different countries as the setting. The differences among them make us know that one particular issue may vary in different setting of place and time.

November of the Heart (1994) tells us about the story of how woman in that age was treated strictly by man. This novel is about a young woman named Lorna Barnett who was born in a rich family. Lorna has the spirit of a modern woman. She is willing to learn many things and to try new things. But, culture and society never let her grow as she wishes. She must marry a man who is the choice of her father, while she is in love with another man. She may not do what man at that time can do. She may not make her own decision.

While, The Girl from the Coast tells us a story about a village girl who is trapped in a nobility life. She is engaged to a noble and must marry him. The girl then has a new name, Mas Nganten. When Mas Nganten finally falls in love with her husband, she must accept inappropriate treatment on her. She is considered as

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a temporary wife before her husband marries to another woman from the same class to be the “real” wife. She is married in proxy manner where a dagger represents her husband to be. The interesting point of this novel is how this novel describes the situation when Indonesian woman were treated as inferior. It is clearly described how women had no right upon their own life. Their destiny is thoroughly arranged by men. Mas Nganten finds herself dumped when she is in love with her husband and having their baby.

Those two novels illustrate the issue on woman inferiority in different ways. They do not merely talk abut the issue, but the stories of those two novels pictures the clear situation, feeling, thought, even the effect of the practicality of the issue. Those two novels are exactly what this study is about.

Women nowadays have their own freedom and life. They may pursue any career they want to have. Women, now, may make their own decision for their life, and even they deserve the same appreciation and respects as man have. When we read those two novels, we find that there is a long history of woman freedom. The process in achieving woman freedom is influenced by many things over times. This process happens everywhere, such as in western region and eastern region which have different cultures. I am interested to talk about the treatment as inferior toward women in past time, and compare the issue to investigate how culture influences it. Since Lorna and Mas Nganten come from different regions and cultures, although they receive the same treatment, they may have different experience on the same issue. Different experience may result in different effect on them, and even different action and reaction.

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1.2 The Aim of the Study

The first objective of this study is to find out how women inferiority reveals in the life of Lorna and Mas Nganten. It tries to give a clear description of treatment toward woman in past time, both in western area and culture, and in eastern area and culture. The second objective is to find out whether different culture may result in different influence toward Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. It tries to give a clear description if western culture and society influence women inferiority differently from how eastern culture and society do.

1.3 Problem Formulation

Based on the aim of the study, the questions to be answered in this study can be formulated as fo llows:

1. How is woman inferiority revealed in the life of Lorna and Mas Nganten? 2. How does culture influence Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority?

1.4 Benefits of the Study

There are benefits that we can obtain from this study for both readers and those who are interested in a literary work. By reading this study readers can understand more about the treatment on woman as inferior both in western and eastern areas. The other advantage is that the readers are able to reflect on how woman independence nowadays derives from a long and very hard history and struggle. For example, in this study, readers can see and learn that as a human being, we have the right of freedom, and we have to

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struggle to be able to get or defend it. Moreover, this study can be such an enjoyment and pleasure.

This study also helps the reader to understand more about the novel, so that the readers are able to enjoy reading the novel.

1.5 Definition of Terms

In this study, some terms are used. In order to have a clear understanding of this study, I include the definition of some terms used in this thesis.

A Comparative Study

According to Levin (1966: viii), comparative literature already sets its discipline which has tended to focus its interest on interrelationships-traditions and move ments, the intellectual forces that find their logical termination in –ism – rather than on the contemplation of individual masterpieces. So, comparative study here means to compare two or more people or things. This study seeks for the interrelationships between two different society and culture, and seeks for the difference and similarities among them.

Woman Inferiority

According to Hornby (1987), inferiority is defined as feeling that you are not as good, important, etc. as other people. In this thesis, inferiority means feeling of having no control and right on your own life. Therefore, woman inferiority means the condition in which woman is weak and totally controlled by man without any chances to make a choice.

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The American and the Javanese

This study compares the practicality of a certain issue from two different areas. The areas are American and Java. The American area refers to Minnesota, which is the setting of place of the first novel, November of the Heart. While, the Javanese area refers to Rembang and the north coast of Central Java which is the setting of place of the second novel, The Girl from the Coast.

Culture

According to Geertz (1973:4), in Mirror for Man, Clyde Kluckhohn defines culture in 11 definitions. Four of them states that culture is the total way of life of people, the social legacy the individual acquires from his group, a way of thinking, feeling, and believing, and an abstraction of behaviour.

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8 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of two sections. The first section is the Theoretical Review. The second section is the criticism of LaVyrle Spencer and her work November of the Heart, and Pramoedya Ananta Toer and his work The Girl from the Coast, and the theoretical framework.

The first section, that is the theoretical review, consists of two theories. Those theories are theory of literature, and the feminist literary criticism. The theory of literature itself consists of three parts. They are theory of character, theory of characterization, and the theory of critical approaches. The theory of character and characterization are used to find out the clear and detailed description of the characters in the two stories. It helps us to understand more about what happens to the two main characters in the stories. The theory of critical approaches are used to find the appropriate approach I am going to use in this study to analyze the two novels. This study uses sociocultural- historical approach. Rohrberger and Woods (1971: 12 – 13) state that this approach enables us to investigate the place and society. Using sociocultural- historical approach, I can analyze women inferiority in the two stories in deep. The feminist literary criticism is used to enrich the analysis by giving a keen analysis on the subject matter.

The second part is the criticism of LaVyrle Spencer and her work November of the Heart, and criticism of Pramoedya Ananta Toer and his

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work The Girl from the Coast. Most of the criticisms are stated by comparing the works with what happen in the real life, and also by considering the values that revealed through the work. I also include the context of the two novels to provide a clear background about the two novels.

2.1 Theoretical Review

This section presents theory of literature, and the feminist literary criticism. The first is the theory of literature. It is divided into two, namely theory of character and characterization, and theory of critical approaches. The second is the feminist literary criticism.

2.1.1 Theory of Characte r

In this thesis, I use the theory of character and characterization to help me to understand about women inferiority through the main characters of the two novels, Lorna and Mas Nganten. Women inferiority deals with society, culture and also historical background of the environment, that is why I mostly use the sociocultural- historical approach to analyze the novels. The theory of character and characterization itself can be used in the analysis, especially when I need to examine the subject matter through Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s character. I apply this theory by relating the theory with their behaviour and actions.

According to Abrams (1981: 2), a character is a person presented in dramatic or narrative works, and interpreted as being encouraged with moral

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and disposition qualities that are expressed in the dialogues of the novel and the actions. Abrams also adds that characters are like human beings. Characters have emotion, temperament, moral, and social values that become the basic motivation of his or her speech and actions. Characters can remain stable or can have some changes during the story. The events or experiences that characters have during the story can affect their thoughts, ideas, or judgements about life and their environment or society.

In the two novels, Lorna and Mas Nganten are also presented in dramatic and narrative way with dialogs and actions. Those dialogs and actions are means for Lorna and Mas Nganten to express their feeling. Through their dialogs and actions, we can understand more about their thoughts, idea, feeling, judgements and even social values. Their behaviour, as presented in the novels, also expresses their emotion and feeling, and even their moral values. Using this theory, I can analyze those behaviour, dialogs and actions, and get the fact beyond the issue of women inferiority.

2.1.2 Theory of Characterization

In every novel, we will find that characters ‘live and ‘act’ in the stories. Therefore, to make the readers accept those characters as believable people, those characters must be presented very well. In this case, characterization is important. Characterization is a process in which characters are portrayed in the novel as real people in real life. In this thesis, I use the theory of characterization to analyze Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s character deeper. In these

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novels, November of The Heart and The Girl from The Coast, Spencer and Toer present their characters in the novel very lively and understandable for the reader through several ways, like speech, conversation of others, mannerism and direct thoughts. The theory of characterization is able to reveal a character’s description.

Murphy (1972: 161-173) states that there are nine ways which enable an author to present the character in the story understandably and lively for the readers. The nine ways are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comment, thought, and mannerism.

1. Personal description

The author can describe one’s appearance and clothes that he or she wears. A character’s character and personality can be seen through his and her appearance and clothes.

2. Characters as seen by another

The author can describe a character’s character from another characters’ point of view and opinion. Another characters’ opinion on character can help the reader to understand the character more.

3. Speech

The author can give us an insight into the character of certain person in the book from what the particular person says. Speech can be whenever this person speaks, has a conversation with other people, or gives an opinion. Whenever it happens, he or she gives us clues about his or her character. Speech can also show his or her personality implicitly.

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4. Past life

The author can invite the reader to know and learn something about a person’s background or past life. The author can provide the reader with clues about the events that have given some help in shaping the person’s character. The clues can be given through the author’s direct comment, through the person’s thoughts and feeling, through the person’s conversation, and also through another person in the story. A person’s past life also influences his or her ways of thinking and behaviour toward other people. 5. Conversation of others

The author can provide the readers with clues about a person’s character through other people conversation and what they say about him or her. People talk about other people and all the thing they say may give a clue about the character of the particular person spoken about.

6. Reactions

The author can provide the reader with clues about a person’s character through his or her way in reacting various situation or events he or she faces. A person’s reactions will show his or her character and personality.

7. Direct comment

The author can describe a person’s character by giving an opinion or direct comment on the person directly. The author usually gives the comment or opinion about the person in the story in his point of view and put it in line within the story.

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8. Thoughts

The author can give the reader direct knowledge about a person’s thoughts. This is what an author cannot do in real life. The author can provide the reader with special device which plugged into the deepest thought of a person in the story, so that the reader knows what the particular person is thinking about, and what his or her opinion on certain things.

9. Mannerism

The author sometimes describes a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies. This description will provide the reader with clues about the person’s character. The author usually reveals both the positive and negative habits of the person to enable the reader to know more about the person’s character.

Character is one of internal aspects in a novel. The term character is used in two ways: (1) it designs the individual who appears in the story and (2) it refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and principles that make up each of these individuals. Through some of these ways, the author makes the reader aware of the personalities and the characters of certain person he wrote in his books.

2.1.3 The Theory of Critical Approaches

In this study, I need to employ one of the theories of critical approaches to enable me to have reasonable judgments. Reasonable judgements will make it easier for me to analyze the novel better and even to

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explore more. By using an appropriate critical approach, I can understand more about what value is revealed in the novels and how literature is shaped. Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature (1971: 3) distinguish five critical approaches. Those approaches are the formalist approach, biographical approach, sociocultural - historical approach, mythopeic approach, and psychological approach.

In this thesis, I employ the sociocultural- historical approach. According to Rohrberger and Woods (1971: 9-10), sociocultural- historical approach insists that the only way to locate the real work is be in the reference to the civilization that produces it. It is needed to investigate the place or society, which reflects a created work. The historical critic examines either the work itself or the work in relation to other works by the same author or works of similar kind of subject matter by different authors in the same or in the different periods.

This approach brings us to analyze the two novels from the sociocultural- historical point of view. It enables us to investigate and examine the society or the place deeply. Society creates culture which becomes one of guidance, beside religion, on their life. Culture really affects the society, but it is not the only thing that affects them. What happens on that time also brings big influence to the society. Because the settings of time of these two novels are around 1800, we can call it history. Society, culture and history have certain relation, and using the sociocultural- historical approach, we can analyze the two novels deeper and keen.

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2.1.4 Feminist Literary Criticism

In the novel November of the Heart and The Girl from the Coast, the influence of culture toward the main characters’ inferiority is very interesting to be analyzed because the influence reflects the power of society in controlling as well as destroying their own life. Culture is made by the society, to control themselves and their own life. Since this study is closely related to culture and women inferiority, it is necessary for me to use the feminist literary criticism. Feminist Literary Criticism is a theory that explains how women are placed in the novel. Humm states (1994: ix) that gender is the focus and the fundamental category of this criticism analysis. Feminist literary criticism gives a big contribution toward my study. It helps me in understanding how woman is characterized in the two novels. It also makes me understand the cultural background that influences the main characters’ inferiority better.

Culture deals with society, because it is the society who creates culture. Culture represents society’s thought, idea, and also civilization level. There are many other aspects that represent the society, such as ideologies, religion and traditions. Those aspects influence women as a part of the society. In here, the feminist literary criticism brings a great contribution in understanding the influences. According to Humm (1994: ix), feminist literary criticism attends to how those ideologies in society and its practices shape literary texts.

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Literary texts may tell a life phenomenon. The life phenomenon represents social ideologies, culture, traditions, and many other aspects through the story. In this study, the two novels, November of the Heart and The Girl from the Coast, represent the culture of the societies throughout the story. The feminist literary criticism helps me in understanding the cultural implications behind the story by showing how women behave, how they are treated, the social attitude and society tradition, patriarchal practices, and the mind concepts of the society.

Humm (1994: 2-3) explains that feminist literary criticism has developed in tandem with the women’s movement. It emerges from the situation of women who encounter injustice in the society. Humm (1994: 2) also underlines that Virginia Woolf’ A Room of One’s Own can be said as the first modern work of feminist criticism. The work is liberating and fluid autobiographical in its form, and a serious address to the social, literary and cultural aspects of female difference in its content. She explains that literature which is read with feminist eye has double instead of single perspective. Further, Humm explains that Woolf is succeed in providing the two perspectives. Woolf (Humm, 1994:2) shows that since women’s social reality, like men’s social reality, is shaped by gender, the representation of female experience in literary form is gendered. She also shows that the representation of women in literature, while not depicting innate characteristics of actual women, might disrupt the traditional symbolic order or language system of patriarchy. Feminist Literary Criticism (Humm, 1994:

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3) enables the readers to understand the ways in which we acquire a gender through language, and to perceive the role played by language in creating our subjectivities and our oppressions.

In her further explanations, Humm (1994: 4) tries to explain what feminist criticism is by mentioning three basic assumptions which are shared by feminist criticism based on the writing of many critics. The first assumption is that gender is constructed through language, and is visible to writing style; and style, therefore must represent the articulation of ideologies of gender. The second assumption is that there are sex related strategies. It underlies the fact that some writing is written by women, and how women wrote is how they were allowed to write. Therefore, the language may appear as not the real expression. It also underlies that men and women have different vocabularies and use their vocabularies in different kind of sentences. The third assumption is that the tradition of literary criticism uses masculine norms to exclude or undervalue women’s writing and scholarship.

According to Humm (1994: 7), Feminst Literary Criticism or, which is also called as feminist criticism, addresses four issues in literary texts. The first (Humm, 1994: 7) is the issue of a masculine literary history is addressed by re-examining male texts, noting their patriarchal assumptions and showing the way women in these texts are often represented according to prevailing social, cultural and ideological forms. In here, the criticism focuses on women’s oppression as a literature theme, and assumes that a woman reader

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is a consumer of male- produced works. The second (Humm, 1994: 7) is the issue of the invisibility of women writers has been addressed. It underlies the consideration on the texts of neglected women, and women’s oral culture. The third (Humm, 1994: 8), the feminist criticism confronts the problem of the feminist reader by offering readers new methods and a fresh critical practice. Humm adds that the practice focuses on those techniques of signification which are undervalued in traditional criticism. The fourth, Humm explains (1994: 8) that feminist criticism aims to make us act as feminist readers by creating new writing and reading collectives.

Using this criticism, I am able to analyze the two novels deeper. The criticism enables us to find values under the issue of gender, and also to find the role played by women in the society during the period of time which also shows us the civilization and tradition of society.

2.2 Review on American and Javanese Culture

This section presents the cultural background of the two areas of the two novels. This section is divided into two. They are review on American culture and review on Javanese culture.

2.2.1 Review on American Culture in the Late of 19th Century

During the late nineteenth century, America was dominated by the rise of highly developed industrial and capitalist society (Hinsley, 1967: 487). There were people from British who decided to move to America and built enterprises that later gave great contributions to America economic growth.

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As the enterprises get bigger, there were migrants who decided to come to America to work on those enterprises. Hinsley (1967:501) also states that in this period, America economic growth was supported fully by the great wealth entrepreneur. They were asked to chary for the development of America. The gap between the great wealth and ordinary businessman was so great that they were separated into classes. Hinsley (1967:505) mentions that the businessmen began to enjoy their separate existence. This economic growth produced not only big enterprises, but also brought immigrants. Immigrants were accepted in the society only as strangers and were put in lowest social class.

Women on that time already had education. Hinsley (1967: 197) states that in the period of time a class distinction cut across the sex distinction. For worker girls, they may have the same education level with boys. Those girls went to the same school with boys and learnt the same things, even though their maximum level of education was very low.

Hinsley (1967:197) adds that for girls from the middle and upper classes, the education was so poor and sex distinction meant everything. Girls were taught at home or in private school to learn everything about household and or about art. They did not go to universities as man did. Along the period, there are many of women’s pioneer emerged to struggle for the rights to have the same education as men had. According to Buckler (1983:860), encountering injustice, there is no wonder that some women rebelled by the second half of the nineteenth century and began the

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long-20

continuing fight for the equality of the sexes and the rights of women. Hinsley (1967:197-200) mentions certain names who struggle for justice for women. They are Frances Mary Buss (1827-1894), Dorothea Beale ( -1906), Emily Davies, Anne Jemmima Clough, Professor Henry Sidgwick, and also Maria Grey. Therefore, during the time, the equality of men and women starts to be developed.

2.2.2 Review on Javanese Culture in the Late of 19th Century

Conley (1988:221) says that during this period, Java was still under the authority of the Dutch imperialist. There were many Javanese people who work for the Dutch as the administration workers. They were given with luxury and privilege. They later became a part of high class society which commonly named priyayi. People worked as farmer, fisherman, and employee of high class people. Those who were common people usually forced to work for the Dutch without any payment.

There were social classes that separate the Javanese (Budiman, 1990:67). Common people live to serve the upper classes people. Upper classes people may decide the lower people destiny, whether they are right or wrong, and whether they should live or die.

Keji mentions (1990:79) that arranged marriage was very common in this period of time. A man cannot marry a woman from lower class. If it happens, it was not considered as a real marriage or illegal. Women did not have any chance to choose their husband. They must agree with their parents’

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choice. Polygamy was also common among the upper class society, and women did not have any rights to protest or deny it. Kenji (1990:105) adds that divorce happens very often as the effect of arranged marriage and polygamy. In this case, after the divorce, women can choose their own future husband.

During the time, men could have sufficient education as long as it was for the Dutch importance (Conley, 1990:561). Many men were sent to Dutch to attend universities. Only people and the son of upper class people who had the right. While women were taught at home by private teacher who would teach them how to read and write, read the Koran, and maybe to draw batik. This education was only for upper class women.

Conley (1990:266) explains that there were schools for girls but not many. He explains that these schools taught common girls the same thing with what has been taught to upper class girls. These schools were pioneered by R. A. Kartini. Since women independence was still considered as ashamed, common parents decided not to send their daughters to the schools. Instead of send them to schools, common people prefer to marry their young daughters.

2.3 Criticism on Literary Work

In this part, I would like to present some criticisms on LaVyrle Spencer’s work November of the Heart, and Toer’s The Girl from the Coast. Much of it is from websites since there is very little information or analysis

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on this book. I also add some of my criticism on this book along with other reviewers.

2.3.1 Criticism on LaVyrle Spencer’s Novel November of the Heart In this part, I would like to present some criticism on LaVyrle Spencer’s novel November of the Heart. Much of the criticisms is from websites because there is very little information and analysis on this novel. I also add my criticism on this novel along with other reviewers. The objective of presenting these criticisms is to enable us to understand more about LaVyrle’s November of the Heart. The criticism contains of some critical opinion about her work, and it will help us to get further understanding on her writing. This criticism also helps me to explore more on the novel, so that I can understand more about what happens to Lorna Barnett.

Publishers Weekly (www.barnesandnoble.com/novemberoftheheart.

html/, accessed on January 8th, 2006) says that November of the Heart is a

very interesting novel. The rhythm of the story is good, and it has a strong dramatization and strong characterization that make it very interesting romantic fiction. The interesting point of the story is when Jens, a handsome kitchen hand and a boat builder, offers to build his employer, Mr. Barnett, a regatta winning yacht with Lorna, Mr. Barnett’s daughter, helps to get the ideas. When the boat takes shape, Lorna and Jens fall in love and get into an unwise and impossible love. Then, Lorna must risk all that she has to get the life that she really wants to have. This novel is great, but Spencer diminishes

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her tale’s dramatic impact by failing to provide a similarity full portrait of lower class society. Moreover, her ornate and old fashioned language is not that good.

A reader from California (www.barnesandnoble.com/novemberofthe

heart.html/, accessed on January 8th, 2006) says that he loves Spencer’s work,

because Spencer has the ability to put very strong feeling into words like no other author. He also thinks that November of the Heart is her best work. It affects him and makes him emotional. He feels so bad especially when Jens and Lorna have rough time. He also feels rejoices over Jens and Lorna happiness.

A reader from Chicago (www.barnesandnoble.com/novemberofthe

heart.html/, accessed on January 8th, 2006) mentioned three strengths of this

book. The first strength is the characters and their relationship has process. In here, it has steps from mutual attraction to friendship that grows into grand passion. Moreover, all the characters are very real, and well suited for the period and the turn of the century. The second strength is this novel has no bad guys. Even Lorna’s parents’ action to apart Lorna and Jens is very normal for they believe it is the best for her dearest daughter. The third strength is this novel has very sweet and hot love scenes.

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2.3.2 Criticism on Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s Novel The Girl From the Coast

In this part, I would like to present some criticisms on Toer’s The Girl from the Coast. Much of it is from websites. I also add some of my criticism on this book along with other reviewers. The aim of presenting them is to understand Toer’s The Girl f rom the Coast. It explains some of the critical opinions about his writing, so that we can understand more his well-known work. By reading the criticism, I got many informations related to Javanese culture and its’ treatment toward Mas Nganten.

A reader named Sarah Rachel Egelman (http://www.bookreporter. com/reviews/0786868201.asp, accessed on September 7, 2006) says that she loves this novel. For her, this novel is beautiful of its emotional tale. This emotional tale is deceptively simple. It contains the rich history and landscape of Java surge against the economical use of words and the sparseness of the action. This novel is masterfully crafted, which is apparent even in translation. It is often dark, often witty and always thought provoking. According to her, one reading of this novel is likely to inspire many trips to the bookshelf to delve into other works by Toer and non- fiction about the island of Java.

The short- story writer Nell Freudenberger has noted in the New York Times Book Review that there are clichés in the translation. This is quite true and does mark the work. She also implies that the novel lacks “the shading and dimension of lived experience.” She means, one supposes, that the

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book’s action is imposed upon characters by the ideas of the writer. Her operative word for many of its situations is improbable. She echoes what various critics of Pramoedya, often those hostile to his political views, have said before: politics stifles artistic beauty and insight. The “desire to communicate and the urgency of his message,” she says, “have overwhelmed his art.” The girl herself displays the “banner of oppressed Indonesian womanhood.”

In my opinion, what is probable in fictional characters comes, first of all, from the sociologically truthful. It may appear in spite of the writer’s conscious political beliefs, if he or she is an honest artist. In a successful work of art, a character can be both individualized and universal, both a shy teenager exposed to abuse and the “banner of oppressed Indonesian womanhood.” What Freudenberger and many other critics miss is the fact that Pramoedya’s theme is rooted in a century- long social process in Indonesia, the struggle against imperialism and the mass striving, despite betrayals and setbacks, for an alternative to capitalism. On the whole, the manner in which this novel portrays the emergence of a dissenting consciousness in an oppressed person feels authentic.

2.4 Theoretical Framework

I use some of the theories stated above to understand more about Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority, and to help me to answers the problem formulation. The first theory is the theory of character and characterization. I use

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the theory to understand Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s character, and find out what actually happens to them. The second theory is the feminist literary criticism. It is used to analyze the position of women in the two novels. This criticism not only brings better understanding on how women are positioned in the novel, but also brings realization on the role of women. There are ways that I can use to employ the feminist literary criticism in analyzing the two novels. One of them is by criticising the language which is used by the author to describe women in the two novels. An author lives during certain period of time among the society, so what he or she writes on the novel represents the society. The background of the author may influence his or her work. The language of the novel also plays big role in portraying the message of the story in the novel. Language represents meaning, and it explains and also shows the whole situation of the society. By criticising the language, I can find the culture and its influence toward women’s inferiority during the period of time. I also employ the sociocultural- historical approach to analyze the influence of culture in Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. By using the theory of character and characterization, theory of feminist literary criticism, and the sociocultural- historical approach, I can answer the problems formulated in this thesis.

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27 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided into three parts; namely subject matter, approach, and procedure. The first part, subject matter, is explaining the focus of this study. The second part, approach, discusses the approaches being used in this study. The third part, procedure, contains the phases that I used in analyzing the problem formulation.

3.1 Subject Matter

This study is focused on Lorna and Mas Nganten. Two women who suffer from cultures of their countries that oblige them not to make any decision and treat them only as inferior. Since this study deals with the literature, the subject matter is a novel by LaVyrle Spencer entitled November of the Heart, and a novel by Pramoedya Ananta Toer entitled The Girl from the Coast. November of the Heart is published by the A Jove Book, NY. in 1994. It contains of 418 pages. The story takes place in the late of nineteenth century. Most of the events are in Minnesota, a city where Lorna spent most of the summer with her family that guides her to Jens Harken. While, The Girl f rom the Coast is published by Hyperion in New York in 2002. It contains 280 pages which are translated from its’ original text in Indonesia. The story takes place in the late of nineteenth century in one of costal region in the north of Central Java.

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The two novels tell us about old culture, which treats woman as inferior. The two main characters, Lorna and Mas Nganten, suffer from this cultural attitude, and were facing bitter life. They are tired of this situation, and tried so hard to survive.

These novels teach us that life is full with unpredictable and unavoidable things. The only way out of those very bad conditions is face it and try hard to survive. These two novels also provide us with the fact how human could be so cruel, considering woman as inferior, and treating them as if they have no feeling and their own right to live.

3.2 The Approach

In order to get the answers of the problem formulation, certain approach is needed to analyze a literary works, and to give boundaries of the aspects to discuss in the study. It gives background of knowledge on the study and helps me develop the analysis based on the work to discuss. The focus of this study is on the treatment toward the main characters from the two novels as inferior that is influenced by the culture of their country.

This study applies the sociocultural – historical approach because it concerns in cultural attitudes toward Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority deals with the situation in the society, the culture and also historical background during the time. Society has culture as one of guidance for their life. These cultures influence the treatment toward women, in here Lorna and Mas Nganten. The author also include some historical events that

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influence the life of the society. Using the sociocultural – historical approach, I can analyze the culture and attitude in the two novels, November of the Heart and The Girl from the Coast.

3.3 Research Procedure

There were two ways that could be used to do the research in order to get some information and data, named field research and literature review. I preferred using the second research, literary review, since it was sensed as the most

appropriate way in collecting some information, data, and theories that would be used latter in the discussion.

The first thing I did in analyzing this novel was read the novels November of the Heart and The Girl from the Coast over and over again to find the message of the novels. I used the two novels as the primary source to find evidence for this study. From the very first, I read the novel Novemeber of the Heart, I am

interested in the unique culture of Minnesota, and it also makes me want to explore more and try to understand the cultural attitudes better. When I read the novel The Girl from the Coast, I find the originality of Javanese culture, and its attitude toward Mas Nganten which becomes a very touching story as well as a brave presentation of a fact. This novel also motivates me to analyze the culture better, and compare it with what happens to Lorna in November of the Heart. When I read the two novels, I wrote some important points for the analysis. Then I analyzed the cultural attitudes toward Lorna and Mas Nganten as inferior from the author’s comments, characters’ feeling and thought, and characters’ speech in order to answer the problems in the problem formulation.

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Secondly, I tried to find some important theories to support my findings about the cultural attitude toward woman as inferior. In this phase, I read many books especially those, which have relation with the problem of culture and women inferiority. These books on literature were the secondary sources. Books that deal with society and culture, and history were mainly used to analyze the treatment toward Lorna and Mas Nganten, and their inferiority. Since the main topic of this study was the cultural attitudes toward women inferiority, the sub discussions on the socio-cultural and historical books that dealt with the issues became the main interest to read. Besides these socio-cultural and historical books, the books on the literature theories also become the main interest to read. Those books gave more information and guidance in understanding the two novels. I also browsed in the Interne t to find information related to my analysis.

The third step was analyzing the novel. In this step, I answered the problems in the problem formulation using the approaches and references, which are related to the study.

The last step was making the conclusion of the study. I made conclusion of the study after answering the questions in the problem formulation. The

conclusion was the findings of the analysis, and suggestions that were useful for the readers to use parts of November of the Heart and The Girl from the Coast as teaching learning materials to improve the speaking and writing skills in using English for the third and fifth semester students of the English Language Education Study Program.

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31 CHAPTER 4

ANALYSIS

This chapter discusses the answers to questions that are formulated in the problem formulation. The discussion is divided into two parts. The first part is the analysis of Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. The analysis focuses on the disability of both characters in order to show their inferiority in the society. The second part or the last part is the analysis on cultural influences toward Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority. It focuses on cultural value that influences Lorna’s and Mas Nganten’s inferiority and its effect. Each analysis is discussed using the theories that are stated in the review of related theories.

4.1 Women Inferiority in the Life of Lorna and Mas Nganten

Inferiority is something that can be seen in daily life, but maybe invisible for particular persons. Women inferiority has not been noticed for a long time until many people started to talk about it. A woman’s inferiority is revealed in how people treat her, and how she behaves. In the two novels, both the authors show women inferiority very clearly in the life of Lorna and Mas Nganten.

In the novel, Lorna is described as a pretty girl. It can be seen through the manner of people around her (Murphy: 1972). She is 18 years old. Besides her beauty and young age, the author also describes her as a girl who has brown eyes and auburn hair that make her even prettier than others.

Every eye in the room swerved to the pretty eighteen- year-old who sat with her brown eyes fixed upon her father. Her auburn hair was

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combed in a “Gibson girl” pompadour, its intentional droop and neckline squiggles so much more than her mother-braided crown (3).

The author describes that even man cannot deny her beauty. It reveals through the thought of other people (Murphy: 1972) that is Jens when he meets her for the first time. “She was too pretty to deny himself the pleasure (20)”. Lorna’s beauty can provoke a man to be sweet on her. It can be seen through the speech of Lorna’s sister, Daphne. Daphne realizes that Lorna is so beautiful that Taylor DuVal behaves very nicely to Lorna. “Gosh, Lorna, it’s no wonder Taylor DuVal is sweet on you (68)”.

The author even gives more evidence about Lorna’s beauty. She is so gorgeous that no man will ignore her pretty face and her slim body. She also inherits interesting features from her mother. It can be said that she is perfect as a woman.

But there she stood, looking at him expectantly from the shadow from a straw bonnet, with a faint sheen of sweat on her brow and a hint of it dampening the armpits of her ham shaped sleeves. From the waist down she was as slim as a buggy whip, while above she’d inherited her mother generous breast. A man would have to have two glass eyes not to notice all that plus her pretty face (41).

Besides her beauty, the author also describes that she lives in a rich family, and it makes her has a good life. It can be seen through the manner of her family (Murphy: 1972). Her father, Gideon, is a rich man. The author describes Lorna’s father as a successful man in business, and he does not do small business, but the great one that is lumbering business.

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They read like the Who’s Who in Minnesota, their vast wealth earned in railroading, iron ore mining, flour milling and, in Gideon Barnett’s case, lumbering (5).

As a rich family, the Barnetts got a life style other than the ordinary family. Lorna’s father has an interest in boat race. As a rich man, he has his own style in expressing his interest in it. He bets for thousand dollars for a race, yet other people bet for few dollars.

“How? Gideon Barnett threw up both hands. “I don’t know how, but I for one refuse to lose ten thousand dollars to those damned Minnetonka sandbaggers, not when it was they who challenged us to these three years of races (3).

Gideon Barnett’s success has put him and his family into high-class society. They live among rich people, and make friends with them. They share the same interests, and do the same hobby. The Barnetts often invite their friends in certain occasions to maintain their relationship with those people.

… Around the table glances were exchange among the men-Gideon, Taylor, Nathan, Percy Tufts, George Whiting and Joseph Armfield-the most powerful and persuasive cartel not only of the White Bear Yacht Club, but of the Minnesota financial scene in general (5).

From the evidences, I can conclude that Lorna is a beautiful girl who lives in a rich family.

Meanwhile, in The Girl from the Coast, Toer describes Mas Nganten as a beautiful girl. She was fourteen years old when she married a nobleman from the city of Rembang. She has nothing special with her profile or her nose line, but she is attractive, because she has a beautiful skin color and eyes.

She was only fourteen at the time, a wisp of a thing. Her profile, the line of her nose, was nothing extraordinary, but she was attractive, nonetheless, with honey-colored skin and slightly slanted eyes. In her fishing village

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outside the regency seat of Rembang on the north coast of Java, she was the flower of the town (3).

She was too young to realize that she has a beautiful face. Some people around her may also think that she was just a little girl, but a person from the city saw her and report her beauty to his Bendoro. The author describes how Mas Nganten’s beauty attracts man from the city who even reports her beauty to a person higher than him self. “…there was a man who had taken note for her and informed his employer in the city of this village girl’s beauty (4).”

Her beauty is said to be very attractive and that every man will have a desire on her. The author describes her as a village girl who has smooth and tawny skin. Her beautiful eyes with supple eyelids and her slim body make her perfect as a young woman.

“What man would not desire the woman you see here?” the servant asked. “Just look,” she said to the girl’s mother. “With her small body, no heavier than a cotton ball, and her tawny skin, as smooth as a flat iron to the touch. It’s only her hands that need some work, but if we soak them in saltwater, they’ll soon lose their roughness. And with her supple eyelids and almond-shaped eyes, she looks for all the world like a Chinese princess. Who would not recognize such beauty? (44)”

The author shows the reader that Mas Nganten is different with the other village girl. Toer shows it through the conversation of others (Murphy: 1972). She has an attractive profile and some parts of her body are well shaped. “People said that her skin was soft and smooth and the color of lansium fruit (45)”. Even people admit that she has good features on her body that give her a good appearance. Mas Nganten’s servant at Bendoro’s house also said that Mas Nganten is even prettier than another wives before her.

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“Mbok?” “Yes, Young Mistress.” “Do you think I’m pretty?” “You’re beautiful, Young Mistress.” “But weren’t the others prettier?” “In this world, Young Mistress, when beauty passes, everyone steps aside.” At the inner courtyard, they rested momentarily. “But the others,” the girl continued, “weren’t they nice, too?” “You’re much nicer, Young Mistress. (67)”

Besides her beauty, the author describes that Mas Nganten comes from a poor fisherman family in the north coast of Rembang. She used to help her parents to work. Her family was poor that she must do a lot of works to help her parents to get extra money. She also did some helps for her neighbour and relatives too.

At home, in the village, she had always helped her parents and lent a ready hand to relatives and fellow villagers. She herself sometimes had to gather her father’s net, heavy with its metal sinkers, and hang it from the crossbeam in the house to dry; using a wooden pole for a lever, she would, all by herself, hoist the net onto a pulley and raise it to the joist. She also had to help grind the dried shrimp. Now her mother would be performing the task alone, all for few cents that she would receive from the Chinese trader from town (62).

She usually works in sunny days and does rough things like carrying fishes, and repairing the net. “Accustomed as she was to the coarse fiber of the fishing nets that she made and lugged about in the village… (21)”. The situation requires her to do a lot of works and provides her with no chance to care about her appearance.

Since her marriage with Bendoro, Mas Nganten has to live with different life style and she must adapt herself to this situation. Her new house is a nobleman house which is filled with luxury that Mas Nganten could never imagine before. She could have what other people cannot have.

The girl peered over the edge of the mattress and looked down at the foot of her bed, where the maidservant was sleeping soundly on a woven mat

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of pandanus leaves similar to the one she might now be sleeping on if she were at her parents’ home in the village (24).

Mas Nganten sleeps on mattress instead of a woven mat as she used to in the village. This shows different social class she belongs to. She can enjoy a soft mattress, and she has her servants sleep near her in case Mas Nganten needs something. Living in a high class family also enables her to own jewellery to wear. “She looked at her necklace, bracelets, and ring, all od them made of gold and studded with gems (45).”

4.1.1 Making Decisions and Choices

Women’s life in Minnesota is just the same as other women on the age. Men rule their lives. Women live as their properties whose feeling and thought are not considered to exist. As it happens to women, the same thing happens to daughters. Their parents, especially their fathers, decide their lives as women. Everything is decided and chosen. They may only agree with the decision.

Living in a rich family with a high-class social status does not give Lorna any right to make any decision for herself. It can be seen through the manner of people around her, especially her parents who decide everything for her including her marriage. As a daughter of a rich man, Lorna cannot marry to anyone out of the social circle or she will take her father’s wealth and position as the risks. It becomes the reason why her parents choose a certain man for her to marry with.

“Mother, I thought you like Taylor.” “I do dear. Your father and I both like Taylor. As a matter of fact we’ve had frequent discussions what a perfect husband Taylor would be for you.” (59)

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"Don't think about men," the older woman advised, "even your own father. Men can always take care of themselves, even in hell no doubt."

"But he is my father," the girl said.

"But now, Young Mistress, you are the Bendoro's consort . and you live here, in this big house. And nobody is going to bother your father, not even with him living out in that fishing village on the coast. None of the overlords; none of the soldiers, either. Your father will never have to run away again or to take his family to some small fishing island. Not now. Your father will have the respect of everyone in the village. Everyone will listen to what he has to say. Don't worry yourself needlessly, Young Mistress."

"How can you know all this?" the girl asked.

"I know lots of things, Young Mistress, too many things." She smiled. "Sometimes even the Master asks me questions."

"Do you like me, Mbok?" The girl now used the familiar term of address for an older woman.

"More than you'll ever know, Young Mistress." "Then take one of my bracelets, or a necklace."

"You must stop suggesting such a thing. I could be run out of this place for that. And if that were to happen, I wouldn't know where to go. The world is wide, but where would I go? I just don't know."

"I love you, Mbok. I just want you to promise me to tell me if I do anything wrong."

"As long as you keep the Master happy, Young Mistress, you can do nothing wrong." She turned her pillow over, plumped it up, and slapped it down. “To do any wrong toward the Bendoro would be to invite trouble in your life. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Young Mistress?”

There was no answer. The Girl from the Coast was asleep.

After the Master's return, days and then weeks went by without the girl's servant visiting the girl's room again/Meanwhile, ( the girl's mother returned to the village, taking with her a gun- nysack of rice, several score rupiah, some used clothing of the Bendoro's for her husband, a kilogram of tamarind paste, and a number of tins of spices,

The Girl from the Coast wasn't able to see her mother until a few minutes before her departure. When the girl's mother came to her bedroom to say good-bye, the girl offered her her gold jewelry several times, but her mother feigned not to hear the offer and talked to her about other things: about the girl's father and his work in the village; about their need for a new net to replace the one they had, which was old and worn out; about the cost of sailcloth, which had fallen in price; about the rise in the price of resin, which meant that her father had to put off resealing his boat.

"Is there something you'd like me to tell him?" the girl's mother finally asked.

(2)

"Just ask him for his blessings," she said. "Do you like living here?" her mother asked.

"You and Pa want me to live here. I'd rather be home, in the village." "A woman must be with her husband. That's the way it's been for me," the mother consoled. "It doesn't matter if you live in a rundown shack or whether or not you're happy; you have to learn to please your man."

The girl pressed on her mother two lengths of dress batik, which she accepted without comment. But then, finally, she said, "I have to go."

"But Ma!"

"Don't raise your voice like that. You're not a little girl anymore." "Yes, Ma."

"Now when you cry you must learn to cry alone. Nobody, else is going to see or hear you. You have to stop thinking about yourself and learn how to make other people happy."

After watching her mother leave from her place beside the door to her room, the girl turned and went inside. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, she studied her features, and the look on her face, but then quickly averted her eyes and went to lie down on her bed.

What now? the girl screamed silently. Haven't I suffered enough? But she had no rights now, she had come to realize, not even the right to scream from fear or pain. During the weeks since her arrival at the Bendoro's house, she had gradually been taught to understand that the one and only thing she could do—in fact, had to do—was to serve her husband,) the Bendoro. It's not that she wasn't accustomed to helping others.At home, in the village, she I had always helped her parents and lent a ready hand to relatives and fellow villagers. She herself sometimes had to gather her fa ther's net, heavy with its metal sinkers, and hang it from the cross-beam in the house to dry; using a wooden pole for a lever, she would, all by herself, hoist the net onto a pulley and raise it to the joist. She also had to help grind the dried shrimp. Now her mother would be performing that task alone, all for the few cents that she would receive from the Chinese trader from town. That was work. But here, in this house, what did people actually do?

"We are here to serve the Bendoro, Young Mistress," the servant stressed. Was that work? Serving the Bendoro was work? This was something the Girl from the Coast could not comprehend.

A batik teacher was called to the house to teach the girl how Jtp transform a piece of white cloth into a fabric of multicolored patterns; thereafter, mornings would find her with a pencil tracing intricate patterns on cloth. The calluses on her hands disappeared, and her skin grew soft from the lack of hard work. Once a week another teacher came to teach her cake making. And every third jiay, her religion teacher would come to tell her tales of mystery that had been handed down from some far-distant desert kingdom.

(3)

In time, the girl's thoughts of home—of her mother and father, her younger siblings and her relatives—grew less frequent. But when she did think of them and her life in the village, she would ask her servant to repeat for her all the fisherman's tales she knew.

The Girl from the Coast gradually became accustomed to a way of life that was filled with tools to make work easier. She became familiar with the sound of Dutch being spoken by the young relatives of the Bendoro when the y left the prayer house to the left of the main house. She could hear their voices through the wall of her room, and when they spoke in Javanese she learned of many things she didn't know before: One of their classmates, who had gone to school in Holland, had returned home, not with a degree but with a young Dutch woman on his arm; a Dutch warship was now anchored a number of miles offshore; the cliffs on the coast north of Lasem had caved in, resulting in a large flood; three pirate boats had attacked a fishing village near her home and wiped out more than a tenth of the population before carrying off all the gold, silver, and other items of value that were to be found; a number of young men from the city had joined the government army and gone to fight ove rseas.

"If you were to go back to your village now," her servant told her one day, "everyone there would think you were a princess."

The Girl from the Coast also took lessons in embroidery, knitting, and sewing. Her quick mind and apparent skill at most anything she set out to do excited praise in all her teachers.

Several times during the weeks she had been at the Bendoro's house, she had gone to the kitchen to try to help with the work there, but she didn't do that anymore. The looks the kitchen staff gave her told her that her company wasn't welcome.

"You'd best stay out of the kitchen," her servant advised. "The kitchen help are nothing more than servants, but you'd never know that from their attitudes, grumbling and griping-all the time. They can't see the good fortune in front of their own faces. They should live in their own shacks and see how they like it then."

During this formative time, the Bendoro did not visit the girl's bedroom.

"The Master is very busy helping the Regent," the servant told her. "They say that the Regent is now going to marry a princess from Solo. It's such a shame about Kartini's death. Just twenty-something and dead from childbirth! Now she was a person to look up to. Such courage! No one had more. She wasn't even afraid to speak her mind to the Dutch. All the important people respected her."

Even the Girl from the Coast had come to know of the young woman named Kartini. When she had visited the city several years ago, the girl learned, she had traveled in a royal carriage. All the people of the district had been ordered

(4)

out to the highway to greet her, where they stood waving the Dutch tricolor paper flags with their dark brown hands. Now, she finally understood the story her father had brought back with him from the city several years ago when he and several other men from the village had gone there to represent the village at a gathering in the city's central square. All she knew at the time was that they had been there to witness festivities for an incredible young woman from Jepara who had married the Regent. That young woman, she surmised, must have been Raden Ajeng Kartini. And now she was dead. Such a short life, but she had managed to do so much in that time: acquiring an education and fluency in Dutch despite the many barriers; establishing schools for girls; setting up cooperatives for artisans. It was no wonder her name was now held with such respect.

The Girl from the Coast didn't particularly like hearing about the great wedding celebration that had been held for Kartini and the Regent. What did that say about her own marriage ceremony, with a dagger instead of a groom? But she marveled at the stories of Kartini's love for children, regardless of whose they were. Her servant had told her about the Bendoro's children; and what caused it, she wasn't quite sure, but/the more time she spent in his house, the more she wanted to take care of his children. But that, it seemed, was not to be; the children of previous consorts were intentionally kept away from her sight. Eve n the older child, the Young Master Rahmat, she rarely saw, though she did sometimes hear him speaking in Dutch to his teacher in the back room of the house.

The days passed and the Girl from the Coast spent her time practicing her new skills. Her skin, no longer baked by a coastal sun, became reddish yellow in color; her young girl's features had disappeared and had been replaced by a more womanly expression.

As the wedding date of the Regent approached, the Bendoro spent less and less time in his own home. Months passed when she almost never saw the Bendoro; during this time, he never set foot in her room. The city was bedecked with colored flags and palm- leaf decorations. The princess from Solo, it seemed, was to be given an even greater welcome than the one that had been shown to Kartini.

The city arches, marking the official gateways of the regency, were decorated with palm leaves and banana trunks, as were the roadways into town. On the shore of the city's northern border, the masonry wall that surrounded the sacred anchor, symbol of the city, was being restored.

And then one night, some six months and a few weeks after the Girl from the Coast arrived at the Bendoro's home, the city came alive with celebration. On that night, her servant escorted her from her room and out of the house across the central garden to a pavilion on the far right side of the compound. They went inside and climbed to its uppermost floor and there, from the open air vent, watched the festivities in the square below. The city was bathed in light and the

(5)

square was filled with spectators. She wanted to join the party makers below, to be a part of the crowd of people she had known since she was just a baby. But now that was not possible, for she was higher than them all.

Late that night, she returned to her room, her mind awhirl. She thought of the Regent, a man much older than the Bendoro, and his Solonese bride, a woman greater in years than she, whose wedding celebration had been an event for all the city to see. But her own wedding to the Bendoro—how had that been celebrated? Certainly there had been no grand welcome celebration.

At three o'clock in the morning, she awoke to find the servant gone from the floor below her bed and .the Bendoro sprawled on the bed beside her.

At five in the morning, the servant came back to the room. Seeing her mistress still lying on the bed, she went closer and heard the young woman calling to her in a whisper, "Help me, Mbok, please ..."

The servant pulled back the mosquito net and placed the fo lds over a hook to keep the curtain aside. "Are you sick?" she asked.

The girl could only moan.

The servant felt the girl's legs. "It's all right, Young Mistress. You don't feel feverish."

"But I feel sick," the girl told her. Lifting her arms toward the woman, she said, "Please take me to the bathroom."

The woman took hold of the girl's arms at her elbows and pulled her into a sitting position. She fixed the girl's hair, which was now in complete disarray, and straightened the girl's blouse and batik wraparound cloth. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the bedsheet with her hand.

"You're not sick, Young Mistress," the servant said again as she helped the girl from her bed.

"But Mbok ..." she lamented softly.

"It's all right, Young Mistress, it won't be like that again.".

The girl's mind reeled with darkened images of the night before: her husband coming into her room and lifting the cloth that - covered her lower body.

"What happened?" she asked, for she herself was not completely sure. After the servant had helped her mistress to her feet, she pointed at the bedsheet and several small reddish brown stains. "Don't worry. A little pain, a few drops of blood. You've been here over six months. That's nothing."

"But Mbok . . ." the girl moaned again. "Yes, Young Mistress."

"I'm afraid."

"Of course you are."

"Take me to the bathroom."

The servant helped the girl walk away. "Mbok?"

(6)

"I want to see my mother. When can she come back?" They continued their slow journey toward the bathhouse. "Mbok?"

'Yes, Young Mistress." 'Do you think I'm pretty?" "You're beautiful, Young Mistress."

"But weren't the others prettier?"

"In this world, Young Mistress, when beauty passes, everyone steps aside."

At the inner courtyard, they rested momentarily.

"But the others," the girl continued, "weren't they nice, too?" "You're much nicer, Young Mistress."

"Mbok?"

"Yes, Young Mistress." "Do you love me?"

"Do you still have any doubt?'

"No, I wasn't doubting you. But, what about. . . ?" She didn't have to finish.

"The Master loves you, Young Mistress. You don't have to worry about that."

"But..."

"Yes, Young Mistress?" "I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Do you think I'll always be pretty?" "Of course you will. Why not?"

"When you were young," she asked the servant, "were you pretty?" "I was never pretty, Young Mistress."

"I'm so afraid."

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The influence of culture in woman inferiority as seen in lavryle spencer`s November of the heart and Pramoedya Ananta Toer`s the girl from the coast : a comparative study.

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The influence of social relationship on Lorna Barnett`s personality development as seen in lavyrle spencer`s november of the heart.

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THE REFLECTION AND INFLUENCE OF POPULAR CULTURE AS THE RESULT OF WESTERNIZATION IN THE PHILIPPINES IN JESSICA HAGEDORN’S DOGEATERS

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