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THE INFLUENCE OF LIFE IN PRISON TOWARD ANDREW’S
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN JODI PICOULT’S VANISHING ACTS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DYAH EKO PURWANINGRUM
Student Number: 044214134
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE INFLUENCE OF LIFE IN PRISON TOWARD ANDREW’S
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN JODI PICOULT’S VANISHING ACTS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DYAH EKO PURWANINGRUM
Student Number: 044214134
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama : Dyah Eko Purwaningrum Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214134
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul The Influence of Life in Prison toward Andrew’s Character Development in Jodi Picoult’s Vanishing
Acts 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, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 28 Oktober 2011 Yang menyatakan (Dyah Eko Purwaningrum)
LIFE BEGINS AT THE END OF YOUR
COMFORT ZONE Neale donald walschThis undergraduate thesis is dedicated to: God Almighty, My beloved parents, brother and sister in their hopes and prayers
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to say thank you to Allah SWT, for giving me the strength to finally finish my thesis, for giving me the opportunity to study in Sanata Dharma University, for giving me chance to meet great people there.
I would like to express my gratitude to bu Venti as my advisor for the guidance, for the support and advice during this thesis writing. Thank you for your time given to me. I would like to thank bu Luluk as my co-advisor and pak Tatang as my examiner. Thank you for the corrections and suggestions to make the very best of my thesis
My deepest gratitude goes to my family. To my Mom and Dad thank you for the attention to my study and your concern to my health. To my brother and sister, thank you for the support and love you gave me.
I would also like to give my best regards to all my friends. To Iin, Oyo, Dewi, Cherry, Nia, Dini, Ntonk, Fani, Molen, Yuli, and Kadit, thank you for the great times we had and for always be there for me. To Galih, Moko, Wawan, Simbah, and Kipli, thank you for the friendship you gave all this years. To Sapu, Tata, Nisa, BulBul and friends at MITRA, thank you for your support and understanding. In short, to all my friends, thank you for the friendship and memories we shared together.
The last but not least I thank the entire lecturers and staffs of English Letters Departement for their help and cooperation in finishing my study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................ i
APPROVAL PAGE .................................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................. iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ................. iv
MOTTO PAGE ......................................................................................... v
DEDICATION PAGE ............................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... ix
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................. x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ................................................................. 1 B. Problem Formulation ....................................................................... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................... 3 D. Definition of Terms ......................................................................... 4CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................... 5
A. Review on Related Studies.............................................................. 5 B. Review on Related Theories............................................................ 7 C. Theoretical Framework ................................................................... 16CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................ 17
A. Object of the Study.......................................................................... 17 B. Approach of the Study ..................................................................... 17 C. Method of the Study ........................................................................ 18CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 20
A. The Characteristics of Andrew ........................................................ 20 B. The Life in Prison ............................................................................ 26 C. The Influence of Life in Prison toward the Character Developmentof Andrew ........................................................................................ 35
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................ 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 54
ABSTRACT
DYAH EKO PURWANINGRUM. The Influence of Life in Prison toward Andrew’s Character Development in Jodi Picoult’s Vanishing Acts. Yogyakarta: Department of English, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
This thesis discusses the novel of Jodi Picoult, Vanishing Acts. The novel tells about a man named Andrew who is arrested because of kidnapping his own daughter. Although only for a while, living in prison gives certain effect toward Andrew. In this thesis, the writer focuses on finding out the influence of life in prison toward Andrew’s character.
The objective of this study is to answer three problems. The first problem deals with the description of Andrew’s character. The second problem deals with the description of the setting in prison to show how the life in prison is. The last problem deals with the influence of the life in prison to major character, Andrew.
This thesis applies Formalistic approach to solve the problems of the study. This approach is appropriate for this thesis because it deals with the intrinsic elements of the novel that is setting and character in the novel.
The result of the study shows that the setting gives influence on Andrew’s character. At first, Andrew is characterized as a discipline person. He is a good role model for the family and the society. He is a kind of person that can be relied on. His character develops inside prison because the condition in prison demands him to. He takes part in the fight inside prison and even decides to help producing and smuggling drugs. The hard and rough condition of the prison forces Andrew to do everything that is needed in order to survive.
ABSTRAK
DYAH EKO PURWANINGRUM. The Influence of Life in Prison toward Andrew’s Character Development in Jodi Picoult’s Vanishing Acts. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Skripsi ini mendiskusikan novel karya Jodi Picoult yang berjudul
Vanishing Acts. Novel tersebut menceritakan tentang seorang pria bernama
Andrew yang dipenjara karena menculik putri kandungnya sendiri. Meskipun hanya sebentar, tinggal di dalam penjara memberikan efek tersendiri pada Andrew. Dalam skripsi ini, penulis memfokuskan untuk mencari tahu pengaruh dari kehidupan di dalam penjara terhadap karakter Andrew.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan. Permasalahan pertama berkaitan dengan deskripsi mengenai karakter Andrew. Permasalahan kedua berkaitan dengan deskripsi seting di dalam penjara untuk menunjukan kehidupan di dalam penjara. Permasalahan terakhir berkaitan dengan pengaruh kehidupan di dalam penjara terhadap karakter utama, yaitu Andrew.
Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan Formalistik dalam menjawab permasalahan. Pendekatan ini sesuai karena berhubungan dengan elemen-elemen intrinsik yang terdapat di dalam novel, yaitu karakter dan seting.
Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan bahwa seting memberikan pengaruh terhadap karakter Andrew. Pada awalnya, Andrew digambarkan sebagai orang yang disiplin. Dia adalah panutan yang baik bagi keluarga dan masyarakat. Dia adalah orang yang dapat diandalkan. Karakternya berkembang di dalam penjara karena keadaan di dalam penjara menuntutnya. Dia ikut serta dalam perkelahian di dalam penjara dan bahkan memutuskan untuk membantu dalam pembuatan dan penyelundupan narkoba. Keadaan yang keras di dalam penjara memaksa Andrew untuk melakukan apapun yang diperlukan agar dapat bertahan.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature can be read as a pleasurable or serious reading. As a pleasurable
reading, people usually read literary works to fill in their leisure time. Meanwhile, when literature functions as a serious reading, it may become means to criticize social conditions or certain issues in society. It is true because literature is not created from empty space, but it embodies idea of culture that produces it (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 9). However, we cannot simply say that the facts in literature are the same as the facts in the real world. One of the reasons is because the author sometimes decides to put his own idea in certain social issues to make the work more interesting (Langland, 1984: 29). Therefore, literature is imaginative.
Through literature we can learn about life, how to solve problems and make the decisions in life. The problems that are faced by characters in the literary work may be similar with the problems we faced in the real world. Therefore, literary works can be a good example of human life that can be learned. By understanding the problems that are faced and the decisions that are made by the characters, the readers are taken inside into the character’s mind. This make literary work becomes a valuable thing for people who want to get something to learn from the literary text by reading it.
Novel is one of the forms of literary genres. A novel always has a central idea that is called as theme. This theme is the control for the author’s selection of characters, plot, setting, conflict, point of view, and style. Those elements interact to each other to form a successful story. Therefore, it is difficult to separate those elements because they cannot stand by itself in order to create a good story (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 20).
Character and setting are elements that create a novel. Both of it are related to each other. Character can be defined as person who acts out in a particular time and place or setting (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 20). In a novel, each character has a role to perform. When he/she is performing the role, the society responds it. The character then can know what is expected by the society and what is not. In the process of performing and responding the role. The society as the setting might influence the character.
From many novels, finally the writer chooses Vanishing Acts written by Jodi Picoult. Considering that the writer already read the work and find out that there is a clear description on the setting, the writer takes a decision to focus the discussion on the society in prison as the setting and the influence to character.
Vanishing Acts tells us about the story of a man who took his own
daughter during a custody visit. Andrew took his daughter and tells her daughter that her mother has died in a car accident. He changed their identity and lives a new life in New Hampshire. Twenty eight years later, the police found out about the case and took Andrew to prison.
In Vanishing Acts the influence of the society on its character is clearly seen. Through the story and the characters we can learn many things. Reading the novel, we are encouraged to contemplate whether or not we can judge someone from what he/she did. More than that, it also teaches us that society can really give influence to us. It is amazing to find out how society can lead us to do something we think we are not capable of doing.
The relation between society and its character is very strong. A character needs medium, which is society, to respond its action (Langland, 1984: 9).
Knowing it, the writer then tries to relate the society as the setting to what happens to the character of Andrew in this novel. In other words, this study is intended to show how the society as the setting can influence the character of Andrew.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is Andrew characterized in the novel?
2. How is the life in prison described?
3. How does the life in prison influence the character development of Andrew?
C. Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to answer the questions in the problem formulation above as clear as possible. This thesis aims first, to give depiction of how Andrew characterized, second is to give the description of the setting in the novel and the third, to find out the influence of the society as setting toward the character of Andrew.
D. Definition of Terms
Character is the individual appears in a story, mixture of interests, desires,
emotions, and moral principles that make one individual different from the other (Stanton, 1988: 712).
Character development defines as the changing of a character from the
beginning until the end of the story (Forster, 1974: 54).
Setting of narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time and
social circumstance in which its action occurs (Abrams, 1985: 175). Holman and Harmon mention that there are four elements forming setting, namely:
(1) the actual geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room; (2) the occupations and daily manner of living of the characters; (3) the time or period in which the action takes places, for example, epoch in history or season of the year; (4) the general environment of the characters, for example, religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional conditions through which the people in the narrative move (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 465).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Vanishing Acts is Jodi’s Picoult’s twelfth novel. The novel tells about a
father who loves his daughter very much that he kidnapped her from her drunkard mother twenty eight years ago. He is now extradited back to Arizona to await the trial on kidnapping charge and held in a jail ruled by vicious racial gangs. The writer tries to analyze the character development of father, Andrew, which is influenced by the setting. In order to know more about this research, the writer tries to see some people‘s studies that has similar topic with this research as references.
One of the studies about the influence of the setting towards to the character is written by Dewi Rachmawati entitled The Influence of Setting of
Place towards the Major Characters as seen in Edith Nesbith’s The Railway
Children. In her thesis, she talks about a family that is forced to live their comfort
live in London and moved to the simpler house in Three Chimneys. There are four characters in the family that is analyzed. There are Mother, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. All of them experienced character development after they moved to Three Chimneys. Mother used to be an attentive person, but after they move from London; she becomes an introvert, busy and thrifty mother. The children also experienced changes in their characters. Roberta who used to be a stubborn girl becomes an attentive, mature and brave girl. As for peter, from a spoil boy, he spoil and spontaneous child also becomes attentive, brave and a little bit mature. When they move from London to Three Chimneys, they get a new experience and make acquaintances with different people. They face harder problems in the new place which make them have to adjust their characters in order to face problems occur (Rahmawati, 2008: 62-64).
Another study about the influence of setting toward the character is from Octavia Wijayanti entitled The Influence of Setting towards Santiago’s
Characteristics as seen in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist . The research is focused
on the major character’s character development as he travelled to many places in search of treasure. Santiago, the major character in the story is the one to be analyzed. There are four settings mentioned in the story. They are Andalusia in Spain, Tangier in Africa, the desert on the way to Al-Fayoum and the pyramids.
Santiago is a shepherd who comes from Andalusia. It is his dream to travel to many places and he can get it by working as a shepherd. His adventure began form Tarifa, one of the cities in Andalusia. At first, Santiago is characterized as a sociable young man. He is also described as curious, religious, and naïve young man. From Tarifa, the setting continued to tangier in Africa. In Tangier, he lost all his money because of his naïve. But he managed to collect some money and continued his travel to the pyramids. In his travel to pyramids, he passed the desert to Al-Fayoum where he met the Alchemist who taught him the language of birds. In that place, Santiago also met his love, Fatima. During his staying in the desert to Al-Fayoum, Santiago turned into a courage boy. He bravely admitted his journey, Santiago becomes a wise man. He “gets to see the strength of the desert, understand the Language of the World, meet the woman of his life and even get to the travel with the Alchemist.” Travel from one place to another got Santiago new experiences and many things to learn. All the journeys Santiago have taken made him in to a brave and a wise person (Wijayanti, 2007: 47-49).
Those related studies are very helpful to give description about the topic and the object that the writer is going to analyze. The writer can get information about the description of the character in the novel. More of it, the writer can get to see some reasons that can influence the change or the development of the character when they live in certain setting.
However, this thesis is a little bit different from the previous two studies. The difference lies on the number of the character and setting that are going to be analyzed. The first study analyzed many characters in one setting while the second analyzed a character with many settings. Meanwhile, in this study, there will be only one character and one setting that is going to be analyzed.
B. Review on related theories
Since the aim of this undergraduate thesis is to answer the problem formulated in the previous chapter, it is necessary for the writer to explain some theories are going to be used to support the analysis. The topic of this thesis deals with the influence of the setting to the character, therefore the writer considers that the understanding on theories of character and characterization and the theories of setting is relevant in analyzing the study.
1. Theory on character
a. Character and Characterization
A character is a mean to create a society, from the character, the picture of society where the character lives can be revealed. In his book, A Glossary of
Literary Term , Abrams defines a character as:
Person presented in a dramatic or a narrative work , who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with the moral and dispositional qualities that are expresses in what they say–the dialogue-and what they do–the action. The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and actions constitute his motivation. A character may remain essentially “stable” or unchanged in his outlook and disposition, from the beginning to the end of the work, or he may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual development or as a result of an extreme crisis (Abrams, 1985:20).
Referring to that, a character acts in certain way because he has a motivation. The character may be dynamic or stable. The dynamic character changes through times and is unpredictable while the stable character remains the same in performance or characterization from the beginning until the end of the story.
Meanwhile, E.M Foster in Aspect of Novel divides characters into two. The first is the flat character, which is built around a single characterization and quality. The second is the round character, which is more complex in temperament and motivation. The round character is on the make and cannot be summed up in a single phrase. We remember him or her in connection with the great scenes through which he or she passed. He or she is modified by those scenes.
A character has a complex personality that is influenced by the environment or society where he lives. The motivation owned by a character to do the action is started from the society‘s demand. In order to be a part of the society, the character has to adapt to the environment whether he likes it or not (Langland, 1984: 12).
De Laar in An Approach to English Literature stated that “The interaction with the environment such as nature and society’s moral values influences the character’s idea and their moral values. The norms and moral values in society can make a change on the character’s idea on life” (De Laar, 1963: 20)
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature define characterization as “ the process by which an author creates a character, the devices by which he makes us believe a character is like particular type of person he is” (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 20).
Meanwhile, characterization according to Perrine is a representation of characters in the story. In other way, characterization is the way in which character is represented. Thus, the character is the result, while characterization is the process.
Perrine in his book Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, says that characterization must also observing three other principles. First, the characters must be consistent in their behavior. Second, the characters must be clearly motivated in whatever they do, especially when there is any change in their behavior. Third, the characters must be plausible and lifelike (Perrine, 1974:69).
Abrams stated that someone’s characterization can be seen from his emotional qualities that are expressed in their dialogues and their actions (Abrams, 1985:23). Meanwhile, M.J. Murphy in his book, Understanding
Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas
Students (Murphy, 1972: 161-173) explained how to characterize the character’s
characterization. He exemplified that there are nine ways of how the author makes his or her character understandable:
1. Personal description The author explains the physical appearance of the characters to the readers to introduce his character. Sometimes, the physical appearance can also reflect the character’s psychological condition.
2. Speech The author can give us insight into certain character in the book through what the persons says. Whenever a person is speaking, he or she is giving the readers some clues to his or her character.
3. Character as seen by another Instead of describing a character directly, the author describes him or her through the opinion of other characters. Other characters will give explanation about what the character is like. Other’s thought about a certain character can be a significant factor to build an understanding of that character.
4. Past life Experiences are usually giving some influential memories to someone. By helped to shape person’s character as he or she is now. It can be done by direct comment by the author, through the thoughts of the person, through the person’s conversation or through the medium of another person.
5. Conversation of others In a fiction, there are dialogues spoken by some characters about other character in the story. Therefore, the readers may refer to this conversation to know about a character in the story.
6. Reaction The author may also mention the personality of a character by letting the readers known how that person reacts to various events of situation.
7. Thoughts When reading the description of what the character thought, we will find a personality of a character. In reality, to know what in people’s mind is impossible without asking them. On the contrary, we will find much easier to know what the character in fiction is thinking about. The author can give us direct knowledge of what a character is thinking about. Then, we can follow the inner life of the character’s mind which reveals his or her thoughts inside.
8. Mannerism The author may describe a person’s mannerism that may also tell the readers something about the characters.
9. Direct comment Direct comment is given by the author in describing the character.
b. Character Development
According to E.M. Forster in his book Aspect of the Novel character development is the changing of a character from the beginning until the end of the story. A character is developed if he or she experiences a change in aspects of disposition, personality, or outlook. He is not the same person as he was at the beginning of the story. He changes into the new character. The changing depends on the condition and experiences as it is in the story (Forster, 1974:54).
In Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, Perrine states that all the fictional characters can be classified as static or dynamic character. The dynamic character or developing character undergoes a permanent change in some aspects of his or her character’s personality or outlook. It can be big or small change; and it can be better or worse (Perrine, 1974: 71).
Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature add that dynamic characters are modified by the actions and experiences, and one objective of the work in which the characters appear is to reveal the consequences of this action. In the most of great dramas and novels, dynamics characters are considered as protagonist (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 83).
2. Theory on Setting a. Setting and its Elements
Setting is one of the important elements in literary works, which can give information about where and when the action occurs. Setting is also used to enrich the meaning of a story. Stanton in Introduction to Fiction (Stanton, 1988:18-19) usually presented through descriptive passages, which demands the readers to give a careful and thoughtful look “out of the possibilities, the author has chosen just this background and stressed out just these details.” From the certain details the author make for the setting we can get the idea of what the story is about.
Therefore, setting is considered important to help the readers knows the story better. It sometimes influences the characters, reveals the theme and evokes a definite emotional mood or tone surrounding the characters.
Wellek and Warren put forward the function of a setting. It functions to express characterization and will and have to have a close relationship with human and nature (Wellek and Warren, 1962: 220-221). Setting is important as the background of character’s life. It can influences the personalities, actions and way of thinking of the characters (Murphy, 1972: 141).
Rohrberger and Woods stated that the setting aids in establishing credibility, it can help to explain both characters and situation; it can contribute to the atmosphere or predominated mood; it can be active in foreshadowing; it can be symbolic (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 22). In other words, we can say that setting can give complete information to the readers and help to find out what the author wants to reveal in his work.
Koesnobroto quotes Lostracco and Wilkerson’s statement that the setting is use to enrich the meaning of a story. For them, it depends on the author’s authority whether to present setting in a specific or general way. If the author wants to show the particular effect of setting on the story, he or she usually sets a vague if the author does not intend to provide a certain effect (Koesnobroto, 1988: 81).
Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms stated that the setting of narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time and social circumstance in which its action occurs (Abrams, 1985:175). The setting of place (general locale) refers to the place where the action in the novel happens. The place can refer to the actual place with certain name, an initial name or perhaps a certain place without a clear name. The description of the place should reflect the conditions and geographical circumstance of that place. The setting of time refers to the time the events in the story occur; it is usually connected to the factual time, which has a relationship with historical events. Social setting or society refers to the people in the novel, the social behavior, such as the habits, traditions, beliefs and moral values, and the social status of the characters. Society is used to reveal human relationship, characters patterned interactions and common expectations (Nurgiyantoro, 1955: 233).
According to Holman and Harmon, setting is the physical and sometimes spiritual background against which the action of narrative (novel, drama, short stories and poem) take place (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 465). They also stated that there are four elements making up settings. They are listed as follows: (1) the actual geographical condition, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room.
(2) the occupation and daily manner of living of the characters.
(3) the time or period in which the action takes place, for example, epoch in history or season of the year.
(4) the general environment of the characters, for example religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional conditions through which the people in the narrative move (Holman and Harmon, 1986:465).
b. Society as Setting
An author is a part of society since he lives in a certain group. As the consequence, directly or indirectly, the work of an author will be influenced by the social, cultural, political, economics and historical aspects around him.
According to Langland in Society in the Novel, society is “an animation of an outside world which has tended to obscure the formal variety of social presentation in the novels.” (Langland, 1984: 4) So the society in a real life and in a literary work is almost the same because usually the author describes the society of his work based on the society in a real life.
Langland mentions that society is not merely a concept and a construct in fiction but also in life. Society in novels does not depend on points of absolute fidelity in an outside world in details of costume, setting and locality because a novel’s society does not aim at faithful mirror of any concrete, existent thing (Langland, 1984: 5).
It shows that there is an intersection of art and life which is important, Langland says that the absolute literary realism may be impossible, but art cannot help making claims to something beyond itself. It means that literature can mean In Society in the Novel, society is understood not only people and their classes, but also their medium and physical environment. The medium of a society in a fictional work can be expressed as a house, a city, a country, an institution, an object, or a group of people. She adds that society “may also be revealed through human relationship, through characters patterned interactions and their common expectations of one another.” (Langland, 1984: 6)
C. Theoretical framework
There are three problems that are stated in the previous chapter in order to discuss the influence of the life in the prison towards Andrew’s character in Jodi Picoult’s Vanishing Acts. The first problem formulation is about the depiction of Andrew’s characteristics. In order to answer the questions, it is necessary to apply the theory of character and characterization which is included in the theory of literature. The second problem is about how the setting is described in the novel, particularly the setting in prison. Here, the theory of setting is needed to help the writer to describe the setting in prison as society accurately. The third problem is to analyze the influence of setting as society towards Andrew’s character in
Vanishing Acts . The combination of theory of characters and characterization and
the theory of setting will play an important role to answer the last problem formulation.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The type of literary work that is analyzed in this paper is a novel, it is
entitled Vanishing Acts. The novel is written by Jodi Picoult and published in 2005 by Hodder and Stoughton, London. The novel consists of 418 pages and it is divided into ten chapters. The novel was written in the first person point of view of several characters.
Vanishing Acts tells a story about a man named Andrew Hopkins. He took
his own daughter and separated her from her mother when she was four. He took her from Arizona to New Hampshire and lives a new life there. Andrew is a respectable member of the councilman in New Hampshire. Everything was well until the police accidentally found out about his case. He was arrested and extradited to Arizona to wait the trial.
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis applied the formalistic approach to solve the problem of the study. Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, stated that the extreme formalist critic examines the literary piece without reference to the fact of the author’s life, without the reference to the genre of the piece or to its place in the development of the genre or in literary history, and without reference to its social condition in which a work was created (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 7).
This approach is appropriate for the analysis, because in analyzing this topic or in answering the questions in the problems formulation, the writer did not relate the analysis to the environment, event, and society outside the novel or other extrinsic elements. The writer only dealt with the intrinsic elements of the novel. The intrinsic elements of the novel are character, plot, setting, theme etc. In this study, the writer only focused on two intrinsic elements, those are character and setting without even relating it to the extrinsic elements such as environment, society, author’s backgrounds or persons outsider the novel.
C. Method of the Study This undergraduate thesis used a library research in analyzing the work.
The primary source of this study is the novel Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. The secondary sources used were some books on literary theories, especially theory of character and characterization, theory of setting and the relation between society as the setting and the character and characterization.
In conducting the analysis, the writer applied some necessary research procedures, which were divided into some steps. First, the writer read the whole novel. By doing this, the writer could explore the important points that were needed in analyzing the problem of study.
However, it was not enough to read the novel just one time. Rereading the novel is very important to find out some pints that are related to the problem of the study. While reading novel, the writer paid much attention on intrinsic elements. The writer focused on the character in the novel which can be found in that is society in prison. Moreover, the writer paid attention to the words that are said by the narrator about the description of a situation of the society or about the characteristics of the character.
The second step was collecting the data which has the relationship with the problem of study. The data were important to support the analysis. The third step was the writer tried to compile data to analyze the character of Andrew. Next is the writer classified and arranged the data to answer the problems of formulation.
To answer the first question that is the characteristics of Andrew, the writer used the theory of character and characterization. To answer the second question, the writer used the theory of setting. Then to answer the third problem, the writer tried to relate between the character and the setting to find the influence of society as the setting towards the character development of Andrew. Last but not least, the conclusion was made at the last step.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS In this chapter, the writer tries to answer the problem formulation in the
previous chapter. There are three problems to answer; therefore the writer divides this chapter into three sub-chapters. First of all, the writer is going to give the depiction about the characteristics of Andrew as the subject analyzed in this thesis. Second to discuss, the writer gives the description of the setting in prison.
Finally, the writer tries to see the relationship about character and how the setting influences the character of Andrew.
A. The Characteristics of Andrew
As Abrams mentions that characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative works, who are endowed with moral and dispositional qualities (Abrams, 1985: 20), then the writer treats Andrew, the character analyzed in the novel as a person who has the characteristics and life as human.
In describing the characteristics, the writer applies the theory of characterization by M.J. Murphy. According to Murphy, there are nine ways to characterize the character. It is through the personal description from the author, speech of the characters, character as seen by another, past life, conversation of others, reaction, thought, mannerism and last is direct comment (Murphy, 1972: 161-173).
The character discusses in this novel is a man named Andrew Hopkins. He has a daughter named Delia. Delia is the one who gives description about her
“At nearly sixty, my father is good looking-ageless, almost, with his salt- and-pepper hair and runner’s build. “ (Picoult, 2005: 10) The narrative informs the physical appearance of Andrew, although he is old he still looks handsome and ageless, his body is lean and muscular like a runner with hair colored like salt-and-pepper.
Andrew Hopkins’s real name is Charles E Matthews. Before living in Wexton, Andrew and his daughter are staying in Arizona. Back then, Andrew is student of chemistry.
I close my eyes and I am a too-serious, overachieving grad student again. All my life I’ve gotten good grades; all my life I’ve done what my parents have asked...until now. It is their great shame that instead of becoming a doctor, I have chosen pharmacology; never mind the fact that I can’t stand the sight of blood. (Picoult, 2005: 207)
He is smart student and always gets good grades. From the quotation above, we can also see that Andrew is a persistent person. He refuses to do what his parent told him. Instead, he chooses his own way by taking pharmacology in college.
He meets his wife accidentally in a bar. He is looking for a phone to call the workshop to fix his car when he met his wife, Elise for the first time. He sees her being bothered by few bikers. It turns out that it was just a misunderstanding because they are regular customers who are playing games with the bartender.
The very first time I met your father, he tried to rescue me. I was working in the middle of nowhere, at a bar frequented by bikers—not clean-cut college boys with axle grease on their hands who wandered in, dazed, after their cars broke down. He saw me pinned against a wall by two Hell’s Angels while a third threw darts at me, and he launched himself at the big man. (Picoult, 2005: 159) Another explanation on the physical description can be seen in them quotation above. Andrew is described as a tidy young college boy who seems to not fit in to be in a bikers bar where he meets his wife.
Not long after they met, they get married and have Delia as their first child. Everything is well until Elise got pregnant her second child. However, they lost him and it makes Elise depressed. Because of that situation, Elise starts drinking and Andrew does not care anymore, finally they got divorced.
Elise got custody for their daughter Delia, and Andrew gets only one day in a week to see his daughter. He seems feeling very sad and unsatisfied about this situation. Especially when he finds out that his ex-wife does not take care of his daughter well. She spends her days drinking and forgets her obligations as a mother. That is what made Andrew angry and suddenly take away his daughter form the mother.
Andrew took her daughter during a custody visit twenty eight years ago. He is supposed to take her for one day only and gives her back to her mother’s arm. Instead, he took his daughter and run away with her. He even set up new identities for himself and his daughter. Their former names were Charles and Bethany Matthews. He takes her away when she was four years old. He lies to his daughter and tells her that her mother has died in a car accident.
Andrew comes to Wexton in 1977. By now, he has been living in Wexton for twenty –eight years. He moves there when his daughter was four. He falls in love to the city at the first sight when he comes for the first time. The white church and the town green and even the benches with the little brass plaques dedicated to old schools principals. It all seemed like a movie set, like a place where there could be a happy ending. (Picoult, 2005: 124) Andrew’s first job in Wexton is a janitor at the senior center. Not only works as a janitor, he also works as a pharmacist for the elderly. They never ask for references because they are desperate to find a pharmacist all this time.
Andrew is known as a good and caring person in Wexton City. He ended up running the senior center there, a place where active old people actualized themselves. Since coming, to Wexton, he has been dedicated his life to manage and run the senior center.
Eric sighs. “Mr.Baumschnagels,” he says, rising to his feet. “How long have you known Mr. Hopkins?” “Almost thirty years, “Irving says proudly. “We were on the planning committee together in Wexton. He got the senior center up and running just about the time I was ready to using it. “How does he contribute to the community?” “He always puts other people first. He sticks up for causes that most people would rather forget,“ Irving says. “Like old people. Or poor families—we have our share in Wexton. Where most folks in town would prefer to pretend they don’t exist, Andrew will run food and clothing drives.” “Do you know Delia Hopkins?” Eric asks. “Sure “ “In your opinion, what lessons did Delia learn from her father?” “Well, that is easy,” Irving says. “Just look at what she chooses to do for a living: search and rescue. I doubt she would have picked that if she hadn’t seen her farther putting other people first his whole life” (Picoult, 2005: 366-367) The quotation tells us that Andrew is a person with high dedication toward his work. It shows that he is a hard worker. He successfully runs the senior center by himself. It can be seen that Andrew is proactive person by taking care of things is a good role model for his daughter, otherwise, she may not decide to take career on search and rescue field.