BLACK PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE AGAINST RACE DISCRIMINATION AS SEEN IN TAYLOR’S LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
BLACK PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE AGAINST
RACE DISCRIMINATION AS SEEN IN
TAYLOR’S LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
PRISKA NIAWATI
Student Number: 054214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
BLACK PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE AGAINST
RACE DISCRIMINATION AS SEEN IN
TAYLOR’S LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
PRISKA NIAWATI
Student Number: 054214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
Nothing is impossible for God.
When there is a will, there is a way
Dedicated to: My Beloved Parents
Partoyo and Endah Setyowati
For a brighter future
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I want to thank Jesus Christ because He always guides me throughout my life and never leaves me in my hard time. He is always beside me when I need Him so much. I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents; they have prayed for me and supported me. I also would like to thank them because they always push me so that I can finish my study in this university and for the attention and love that they have given to me. Thanks to my uncle and aunt for took care of me during my study in Yogyakarta.
My gratitude also would be addressed to my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A., for her advice and time that she had spent from the beginning of the thesis writing until I can finish my whole thesis. Without her help I would not be able to finish this thesis.
I also would like to thank my co-advisor, Harris. H. Setiajid, S.S.,M.Hum., for his time to read my whole thesis and for his advice to revise this thesis. Thanks for the time and for the suggestions.
For my best friends, Weny Natalia, Tetty Florentina, and Nani Arifianti, thanks so much for the spirit that all of you have given to me. For my friends in English Letters Department especially 2005 students that always cheer me up when I was desperate, I want to thank them all. And thanks for The Importance of Being crews and casts for the friendship. All of my friends have given such a
Earnest beautiful and crazy time in the college. Thank you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………….. i APPROVAL PAGE………………………………………………………… ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………….. . iii MOTTO PAGE…………………………………………………………….. . iv DEDICATION PAGE…………………………………………………........ v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI………………. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………….... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………... . viii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………... . ix ABSTRAK………………………………………………………………..... . x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study………………………………………....
1 B. Problem Formulation……………………………………………...
3 C. Objectives of the Study…………………………………………...
4 D. Definition of the Terms…………………………………………...
4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………..
5 B. Review of Related Theories………………………………………
7 1. Theories of Setting…………………………………………….
7 2. Theories of Character………………………………………….
9 3. Theories of Characterization…………………………………...
9 4. Theories of Discrimination…………………………………….
11 5. Theories of Poverty…………………………………………….
13
6. Theories of Motivation…………………………………………
13 C. Review of the history of Black People……………………………
14 D. Theoretical framework……………………………………………
18 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study……………………………………………….
20 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………
21 C. Method of the Study……………………………………………...
22 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
A. The Discrimination in 1930s in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken…. 25
B. The Struggle against Race Discrimination in the Society that Reflected in the Novel………………………………………………………..
43 …………………………………………….. 59
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
ABSTRACT
PRISKA NIAWATI (2009). Black People’s Struggle against Race Discrimination
as Seen in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.In the past time of United States, the race discrimination became a common issue. The discrimination happened in the United States because it was considered as a multicultural country and there was the separation between the minority and the majority class. The minority class was usually oppressed by the majority class. This was the result of the slavery that was done by the White people. The Blacks came to the United States as slaves and therefore the White people still considered them as the minority class that had lower position than the whites. That made the Whites oppressed the Blacks although they had gained their freedom. But the Blacks also did some struggle against the oppression. They did not remain silent of the discrimination. They struggled real hard against the race discrimination by the Whites. The race discrimination and the struggle are going to be analyzed based on the Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
The purpose of this study is to find out the discrimination experienced by the Blacks in the United States at that time as described in the novel. The other purpose is to show the struggle of Black people against racism in the United States society in 1930s as seen in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
In this study, the real society in the United States is being compared with the condition in the novel. The approach that is used is the socio-historical approach. By this approach, the understanding of the real life of the society can be known and the main point is that the novel reflects the real society.
Let the Circle Be Unbroken, is a novel that shows the racism in the United
States. The main character in the novel is Logan family, and through the Logans the readers can see the life of the Black people in the United States in 1930. In the study, it is found that the Blacks experienced the discrimination. The discrimination are the injustice law, they did not have the right to vote, segregation, and in the economic life. But, they also have to struggle against it. The Black people in the novel and in the real society have the same life. They had to work really hard and they had to struggle really hard to gain the justice law. Both of them have to face the discrimination and poverty and they also have done some struggle towards the discrimination itself. The novel can reflect the condition of the Black people in the United States in the 1930s.
ABSTRAK
PRISKA NIAWATI (2009). Black People’s Struggle against Race Discrimination
as seen in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.Pada masa yang lampau diskriminasi ras merupakan permasalahan umum di Amerika serikat. Diskriminasi ras terjadi karena Amerika Serikat merupakan suatu negara yang terdiri dari beberapa suku bangsa dan terdapat perbedaan antara kelas minoritas dan kelas mayoritas. Kelas minoritas selalu mengalami diskriminasi dari kelas mayoritas. Hal ini merupakan hasil dari perbudakan yang dilakukan oleh orang- orang kulit putih. Orang-orang kulit hitam datang ke Amerika Serikat sebagai budak dan oleh karena itu, orang-orang kulit putih masih menganggap mereka sebagai kelas minoritas yang memiliki posisi yang lebih rendah dibandingkan orang-orang kulit putih. Orang-orang kulit putih pun masih mendiskriminasi orang kulit hitam walaupun mereka sudah bebas dari perbudakan. Tetapi, orang-orang kulit hitam juga berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasi itu. Mereka tidak tinggal diam. Mereka berusaha cukup keras untuk melawan diskriminasi yang dilakukan orang kulit putih. Diskriminasi ras dan usaha inilah yang akan dianalisis berdasarkan Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Skripsi ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui diskriminasi di Amerika Serikat pada waktu itu seperti yang terdapat dalam novel. Tujuan yang lain adalah untuk mengetahui usaha yang dilakukan orang kulit hitam dalam melawan diskriminasi di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1930 seperti novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Dalam skripsi ini, kehidupan nyata di Amerika Serikat dibandingkan dengan kondisi yang terdapat pada novel. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan sosio-historikal. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan tersebut, pemahaman tentang kenyataan hidup masyarakat dapat diketahui dan pemikiran utamanya adalah bahwa novel menggambarkan kenyataan yang sesungguhnya. adalah novel yang menunjukkan diskriminasi di
Let the Circle Be Unbroken
Amerika Serikat. Tokoh utamanya adalah keluarga Logan, dan melalui mereka pembaca dapat mengetahui kehidupan orang-orang kulit hitam di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1930. Dalam analisis ini, orang kulit hitam mengalami diskriminasi. Mereka didiskriminasi dalam hukum, hak memilih, pemisahan , dan dalam kehidupan ekonomi. Tetapi, mereka juga berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasi tersebut. Orang- orang kulit hitam di novel dan di kehidupan nyata memiliki kehidupan yang sama. Keduanya harus menghadapi diskriminasi ras dan kemiskinan dan mereka juga berusaha untuk melawan diskriminasi. Mereka harus bekerja dan berjuang dengan sangat keras untuk hidup dan mendapat kesetaraan hukum. Novel ini dapat menggambarkan kondisi orang-orang kulit hitam di Amerika Serikat pada tahun
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literary work is a part of art that expresses human feeling and creativity. It is
a means to express the thought of the writer. By reading literary work, readers can find out what a writer has in mind, what a writer feels, and so on. Sometimes literary work itself represents the background or the psychology of the writer. That is why it is really interesting to read literary work and to deal with it. In this paper, literary work which will be analyzed is Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred. D. Taylor. This is a story of a Black family in a Black community which experiences the oppression from the White people. In this novel, the oppression is seen clearly. The Blacks are oppressed from so many aspects, for example political aspect and also economical aspect. It is shown that the Black family, with the Logan family as the center in this novel, struggle to gain their equality and to struggle against the poverty.
It is interesting to know about Black people struggle and how they are co- operating each other to defend their life and to gain their right. The loyalty between them is shown clearly in this novel, and it also makes this novel interesting to read. By reading this novel, readers can also reveal that in fact Black people do not remain silent. They try to gain their equality and try to reach their dream to have a better life.
The Black people are still helping each other and keep their friendship between the oppression. They are also helping each other even though they suffer. Those things make this novel more interesting to read and to understand.
The oppression from White people has been experienced by the Blacks since long time ago. Black people were brought to United States from Africa to be White people’s slaves. Therefore, until now Black people are still considered lower than White people. The Blacks also did not have the right in political matters such as to vote although they have become United States citizens. Besides, there are lots of laws that make the Blacks under-pressure. Even, there is segregation between the Whites’ public equipments and the Blacks’. The Blacks are not allowed to use the equipments that are prepared for the White people (Karenga, 1993: 121-122).
The Blacks are treated inhumanely by the Whites. There are no exceptions. The Whites are superior, and the Blacks are inferior. That is the rule. The sense of superiority in White people’s mind has become a habit and it is innate. It is surprising that even a child can know the invisible barrier between Black and White. It shows that oppression is inherited from generation to generation.
This kind of oppression lasts long so that it becomes usual for them. Most of the Blacks depend their life on White people. In this novel, it can be seen that the White people own most of the plantation land and the Blacks work for them in the plantation. The Blacks family can live in the land as long as they follow the rule which is made by the Whites. The rule includes how many crops they can plant and how many crops that they can sell. The rule is made by the government who are all on the contrary it puts Black people into despair. That is why the Blacks live in poverty. It is really hard to find Black people who live wealthily. Therefore, the Blacks are struggling to be free from the discrimination. Black people are also human that should be treated equally as a human. They also want the equality between Black and White. They want to have a better life. That is why they are struggling against the race discrimination done by the Whites. They do not want to remain silent and accept such treatments every day in their whole life.
Discrimination is a common issue which still can be found in present time. Discrimination usually occurs in the multicultural countries. Those are the countries that have more than one culture or race. It occurs because there are majority and minority class. The majority class usually oppresses the minority class because they think that they have power. Such discrimination actually still occurs until this time, consciously or unconsciously. The novel reflects the condition of the Blacks at that time which really happens in the true life.
B. Problem Formulation 1.
How is the discrimination in United States in 1930s described through the social setting in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken?
2. How does the novel reflect the struggle against racism of Black people in the
United States society in 1930s?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are to find out the discrimination in the United States at that time like what is described in the novel and to know how the novel reflects the racism of Black people. The other aim is to show the struggle of Black people against racism in the United States in 1930s.
D. Definition of the Terms 1.
Discrimination The International Encyclopedia of Ethics states that discrimination is differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation (Roth, 1995: 156).
2. Black People
Based on the Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, Black people are the African people who live in USA (Cashmore, 2004: 9).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies is a novel about racism in America. Mildred D. Let the Circle Be Unbroken Taylor has written several books and some of them also tell about the Logan family. This story is actually based on her own family story. The Logan family here can be
said as the representation of her own family. This story itself follows the story from her grandfather who bought land and then continued until what was presented in her novel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
The Logan stories closely follow the history of Taylor’s own family, from her great-grandfather’s purchase of land in Mississippi in the 1880s to their move to Ohio in the 1940s. Her last novel planned for the saga, Logan, will take the Logan family from their home in Mississippi to their new home in Ohio. Taylor is currently working on this novel, the final episode in the Logan family saga. (http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/taylor_mildred/) Taylor can make such story because she has experienced it by herself. The contents and events that occur in the novel are actually based on the story that is told to her by her father or her relatives. All the characters in the novel are also representation of the family or friends that she has known about. She makes this kind of novel based on the social condition at that era, particularly in about 1930. The kind of the discrimination and even the occasion that happens in the novel are also based on the condition of United States at that time. This novel is a representation of the Black people in the United States; it reflects their social life and the segregation that the Blacks had to face at that time.
Just like what Pierce said, the novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken tells about the Afro-Americans in the Great Depression era. It is necessary to understand the background of that era to understand what kind of life the African-American had to face. The African-American at that time had faced terrible life during the Depression.
In this era of Great Depression, even the white people faced the terrible time in their life. Then, it was not surprising that Black people became more suffered in this Great Depression era.
The sequel, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken,” gives further details of the Logan family and their struggle against prejudice and poverty. It is important that the students understand what life was like for Americans, especially African- Americans, during the Great Depression—a time of crisis for most people. The student will need a factual background of this era prior to studying the literature. (http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/guides/1992/4/92.04.03.x.html) Pierce notices that the novel might be related with the society in America at that time. The novel is a reflection of the Blacks’ life and how they can endure the bad life that they have and how they can struggle against the oppression. And, although they face hard time in their life, they do not lose their love to each other.
The novel is good for the study about the time and place in the United States. The characters inside the novel itself encountered the racial, social and even economic issues that can lead them to act to face those issues that make them under pressure. Those issues become their background to do some actions against the discriminations. They become motivated and can think to do something that maybe can change their life.
Set in the 1930s in the deep South, this novel makes an excellent addition to social studies courses covering that period and place in U.S history. The characters bring a human dimension to the economic, racial, and social issues that form the background of action. (http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/novelguides/hs/Mini-Guide.Taylor.pdf) From the quotation above, it can be drawn that the Black people also do some action against the oppression that they got from White people. They make the oppression toward their social, racial and economic life as the background of their acts. It means that they also do something to against the discrimination itself. This is the matter that will be discussed in the analysis later. This analysis is different because most of the study concern about the discrimination or the history itself. This analysis concerns in the struggle that is done by the Black people. Their struggle against the discrimination will be analyzed deeper in this thesis.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Setting
Setting is one of the important parts of a literary work especially novel. As Gill states in Mastering English Literature, setting can cover the places in the literary work, the social life, the behavior of the society, or the atmosphere (1995: 148). It means that the setting is not always about the place but it can be about the social setting of the literary work. It can also show the mood of the characters, situation of relation between setting and events. Sometimes the season atmosphere, etc in the novel can reflect the feelings of the characters. It also can reflect the situation that is encountered by the characters in the novel.
These words make clear the relation between setting and events. The seasons and the landscape are not pleasant, incidental decorations of the novel; they shape and reflect the feelings of the characters. (Gill, 1995: 150) The setting can also reveal the writer’s point of view about the world or about a certain society. They create the atmosphere, landscape, the condition of houses etc to convey the condition of the society and their perspective about the world.
There are some novelists who create settings for the purpose of giving their views about the world. Such a novelist creates landscapes, townscapes, interiors of houses and the weather in order to convey his or her particular feelings and views about life. A reader can look at these and se, to put it simply, what the author thinks about things. (Gill, 1995: 153) As noted before that the setting can reveal the condition of a certain society.
Then, Langland stated in her book entitled Society in the Novel that society is a concept and a construct in fiction. In the past, the society itself is considered as an imitation of an outside world. (1984: 4)
From the theory above, it can be known that the setting is not just a matter of the place or the time when an event take place. It also deals with the situation of a place, the social behavior, etc where an event occurs. From the above quotation also can be known that the setting deal with the society. And, the society in the novel itself is known as the representation of the real world. Then, the setting also has a relation with the outside world and it is the imitation of the real world.
2. Theories of Character
Characters are the person in dramatic or narrative work with particular qualities which are expressed in what they say or what they do. There are two kinds of characters that can be found in a novel, the character can change or remain stable (Abrams, 1981: 21). The character that remains stable called the flat character and the character that experienced changing called round character. As E. M. Forster said (as cited in A Glossary of Literary Terms) a flat character is built around “a single idea or quality” while the round character is complex in temperament and motivation. He is difficult to describe and like most of the people he is capable of surprising us. There are two ways of describing the character of the person, they are showing and telling.
In showing, the author presents the action of the person and then let the readers to infer what is behind the action and what characteristic the person has. In telling, the author expresses the character straightly.
This theory of character can be applied in the analysis to understand the behavior of the characters in the novel. Each of the character has their own characteristics; this theory will help to understand why a particular character does a particular action. Their actions might deal with the characteristics that they have.
3. Theories of Characterization
Characterization is the creation of imaginary persons so that they exist for the reader as lifelike. There are three methods of characterization in fiction. The first method is the explicit presentation. The second is the presentation of the character in action. And, the last is the representation from within a character (Holman, 1986: 81).
Murphy, as stated in his book Understanding Unseen, said that there are a few ways that the writer use to make his characters is understandable and come alive for the readers. The first way is using the personal description. By using this way, the author describes the person’s appearance for example the build, the skin color, the hair, and also the clothes that the person uses (1972: 161-162).
The second way is using the character as seen by another. The author does not describe a character directly but the author describes him through the opinions of the others and what the others seen. Then, the readers can get the reflected image of a character (1972: 162-164). The third is by using speech. The author gives an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever he speaks, having a conversation with another, or giving an opinion, actually he is giving some clues to his character (1972: 164-166).
The next is the past life. The author can give a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character by letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life. The author gives direct comment, though the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person (1972: 166-167). The fifth is the conversation of others. The author can give some clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things that they say about him.
People that talk about somebody and the things that they say sometimes give a clue to
Next way is the reactions. The author gives a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events (1972: 167- 168). The next is direct comment. The author gives direct comment or description on a person’s character directly (1972: 170). And the last way in this book is thoughts.
The author gives direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. He is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can also tell us what different people are thinking (1972: 171-172).
4. Theories of Discrimination
Based on the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, the definition of discrimination is differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation. It has negative impact on the human’s moral behavior (Roth, 1995: 231). The clear example of discrimination can be seen in the United States. There are several races that experienced discrimination such as racial, sexual, and religious discrimination. Beside that there is also discrimination against certain cultural groups, and against the disabled. There are a lot of kinds of discrimination that can be found in the US. And, the cruelest discrimination is the discrimination against the African-Americans (Roth, 1995: 232).
There are two types of discrimination; those are legal discrimination and institutional discrimination. Legal discrimination is the treatment of the law which is unequal, while the institutional discrimination (racism) is the unequal treatment based between race, redlining by financial institutions, and the continuous practice of low- paying job experienced by the minority group members. The minority itself means any group whose position is disadvantage (Roth, 1995:232). We can know a person or a group of people is in lower position from the reaction or their behavior toward certain group of people that considers as the majority people. A group of people is considered as the minority usually because they were treated unequally.
From the theory above, it can be known that a group of people that are discriminated can be known from several characteristics, such as segregated from the society, forced to do whatever the majority class wants from them, etc. Besides, the people who were discriminated usually live in poverty. They also usually get punished if they did not do what the majority class wants. By these characteristics, the people that experience discrimination can be seen clearly. This theory is useful to know the people that are discriminated and the people that discriminate them. By this theory the people that are being discriminated can be seen clearly since the characteristics have been known.
Based on Encyclopedia of Ethics, the discrimination that happened in the past can affect the future. For example, the unequal funding of black schools lower the Blacks’ tests scores. The other example is the segregation of public places and the housing between blacks and whites isolate the blacks from whites’ society. (Becker, 1992: 264)
5. Theories of Poverty
In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics definition of poverty is the relative lack of wealth. All people are entitled to live lives of material and psychological prosperity. But unfortunately, the distribution of wealth throughout the world is not equal. There is also no solution to the problem. Because of poverty, there are a lot of people died for famines. The housing and shelter are often so inadequate. There is a theory that said the way to decrease the inequality is to redistributed wealth.
Kelly (as cited in International Encyclopedia of Ethics) said that the theory was impossible to achieve. The solution should not cause poverty. It means that Kelly suggests to create a win-win solution, to earn prosperity that can make he other gain prosperity also. But, the strategy of this win-win solution depends on the duty of the part the prosperous people to care those who are not having the prosperity.
We can know that a person live in poverty or not is based on how they managed their live. The people that live in poverty have to struggle really hard to earn money for living. They have to do kinds of job that have a lot of risks. The people who live in terrible poverty even have a difficulty to produce enough food for their family and the life gets very hard on them.
6. Theories of Motivation
Motivation is the thing that the people have in their life. It stimulates them to
Psychology states that motivation is a general term that refers to the regulating of an
individual’s behavior as inner needs or drives that stimulates someone to satisfy his needs or to achieve a desired goal (Crow, 1973: 132). The motivation can push someone to do something to achieve what he wants. The continued functioning of an urge, in spite of one or two frustrating experiences, is the evidence of a strong push for a person to attain a particular goal. Such kind of persistence that continues until success is achieved is the significant characteristic of motivation (Crow, 1973: 132- 133). This theory explains that there must be a reason behind what a person did. There is an urge to do some actions to achieve their goals and fulfill the desire. They must have a desire that can be called motivation so that they do some struggle to achieve it.
We can know a person that is motivated is from their action to achieve what they want. The people who are motivated by something will do a struggle to achieve their desires, their needs, and their goals. This theory is useful to understand why a person did something, in this case struggle. We also can know the goal that a person wants by doing such things. They must have something behind their action and by understand this theory we can understand why people do that particular thing.
C. Review on the History of Black People
The term black people were given to African people. The Africans came to United States as slaves and they were brought by the Americans from their when the first African slaves arrived in the North American colonies. In the past, the Africans in American were regarded as a chattel or persons regarded as fixed items of personal property. It means that the Africans were only regarded as a thing and not as a human. (Estell, 1994: 2)
The slave-masters did not consider them as human beings, so slave had no own right, will and need or feeling. They forbade slaves to hold property, to leave his master’s premises without permission, to be out of the dark, to congregate with other slaves except in church, to carry firearms, to strike with white men even for self- defense, etc. They were also forbid to testify in court against white people. And, if a slave master killed a slave while punishing them it did not consider as a crime. It was terrible for the slaves in America. (Current, 1979: 340)
Although there is a constitution that promised ‘all men are created equal’ but that does not work for black. That constitution was only made for the white. This practice lasts for long, but after the Emancipation Declaration the slavery was abolished. But, although black was now called ‘citizen’ they still have no right. Many white people felt that they suddenly become poor after the slavery abolishment. They had to cope with poverty and they cannot accept that the ex-slaves now should be citizens and equal to their former master. The whites blame the blacks for their misery and they tend to hate the black. The white who mostly hate the black try to make the black ‘stay in their place’ and to reach it they do it by lynching, burning and threats. (http://www.studentshelp.de/p/referate/02/5919.htm)
The “Ku Klux Klan”, the “White Citizens Council” and many other racist organizations were founded to keep the black man “in his place” using threats, burnings and lynchings to reach this aim. But there were also new laws made in the South - the Black Codes were introduced, which limited the movement and rights of the freedmen and tried to establish the old master- and slave relationship. To keep blacks from registering to vote, poll taxes were raised, comprehension tests were held and the grandfather-clause was put into practice. (http://www.studentshelp.de/p/referate/02/5919.htm) The whites were hard to accept the constitution that made the slaves free. The whites only did little change of their attitudes toward black. Therefore, the blacks still live in discrimination although they were free from slavery (Estell, 1994: 38)
The American system of enslavements can be defined by: the extent of its brutality, its cultural genocide, and its machinery of control. The brutality of slavery can be seen from the physical, psychological, and sexual level. Physically includes violence in various forms such as whippings, mutilations, torture, murder, lynching, overworking and deprivation of food, clothing, and shelter. Psychology brutally includes daily humiliation, denial, and deformation of African history and humanity.
(Karenga, 1993: 123) The discrimination that the blacks faced is terrible. The blacks have to respect the whites and have to accept whatever the whites do to them. And the whites have a weapon to make the blacks under their command. And, the most powerful weapon of the whites is lynching. There are a lot of black people that has been lynched by the whites and some of the reasons o lynching is really simple, because the black did not address them by the word ‘mister’.
By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, lynching had become a weapon used by the whites against blacks throughout the country. Between 1882 and 1990, approximately 1750 African Americans were lynched in the United States. Victims, who included women, had been accused of a variety of “offenses” ranging from testifying in court against a white man to failing to use the word “mister” when addressing a white person. (Estell, 1994: 38) The Great Depression began in 1929 until about 1939. It brought great effect on the life of America. The economical condition of America was in chaos and a lot of businesses were collapsed. A lot of citizens became unemployment. In 1933, millions of Americans were unemployment. The Depression in 1930 is the worst depression of all time (Batra, 1985: 126).
This calamity was the longest---economic activity remained below the trend line for ten years---as well as the deepest in history, because the economy at one point sank more than 40 percent below the trend line. (Batra, 1985: 126) The Great Depression was caused by the imbalance of economy in U.S. But, the government took little attention to the business downturn, relying on the impersonal market forces to achieve necessary economic correction. These forces could not achieve the recovery but brought some changes in U.S.’ economic structure. After the Great Depression, government actions’ including the form of taxation, industrial regulation, etc, gave a principal role in ensuring stability.
(http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/about.htm) D.
Theoretical Framework
In this study, the writer uses some theories that might help to answer the problem formulations. The first is the theories of setting. This is used because it can help to understand the social condition that was shown in the novel. To use this theory the writer will try to understand the condition of society in the novel and then relate it with the condition in real life. This theory will be used to answer problem formulation number one.
Theories of character and characterization are used because related to the study about struggle and discrimination. Because the one who do the struggle and discrimination is human so the theories of character and characterization were also needed. To use these theories the writer applies it to understand the characteristic of the characters in the novel. These theories of character and characterization are related to struggle because the struggle was done by a person or a character. And the character who done the struggle must have a characteristic that can bring him to do the struggle. Because of that, these theories can be applied to understand what makes a character do the struggle. These theories are used to answer problem formulation number two.
Theories of discrimination were used to help the writer understand the meaning of discrimination itself and how the discrimination was. It also helps to understand the kinds of discrimination. To use these theories, the writer tries to understand the discrimination first and then find the proof and the condition of discrimination in the novel. This theory is useful to answer the problem formulation number one.
The theory of poverty is also used in this study to help the writer know what poverty occurs. To use this theory, the writer first reads the theory and then applies it to the novel. Then the writer can know the poverty that was experienced by the characters in the novel. This theory will be used for answering the second problem formulation.
The theory of motivation is needed to understand the behavior of someone. It is needed to give a little understanding about the reason why a person does something in his life. To use this theory, the writer read the theory and then finding the reason for the struggle in the novel. This theory will be used to help the writer answer the second problem formulation.
The review of black people and the Great Depression were also used to understand why the discrimination is occurring toward the Black people. What the cause and the impact toward the Black people are. The review on Great Depression itself used to give an image about the condition on the United States that has to be faced by both the White and Blacks. It also affects the behavior of the people.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The object of this study is to analyze the struggle of the Black people that live
in America in 1930. How that people are struggling against the discrimination and against the poverty that was caused by the discrimination itself. This is a novel written by Mildred D. Taylor entitled Let the Circle Be Unbroken. This novel consists of 14 chapters and 394 pages. It tells about Black family that lives in America in about 1930. This novel is the sequel of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and it was published by the Penguin Group, New York in 1991. Her first book, Song of the won the Council on Interracial Books for Children Award in 1974 and was
Trees,
published by Dial Books in 1975. Her second novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, won the 1977 Newbery Award from the American Library Association (http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/taylor_mildred/). The book that the writer reads,
Let the Circle Be Unbroken , itself is the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It
has also received an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Book in the Field of Social Studies. This book also has been nominated for the National Book Award.
This novel is about the Black families that are discriminated by the Whites and how the Black families deal with so many kinds of oppressions that were done by Taylor tells about a trial that will be faced by a black boy. He was accused to rob and kill the owner of a shop. Here, Taylor described how the black people cooperate and try to make T.J safe from the death penalty. But, their struggle did not end here. Being the only Black landowner, the Logans are afraid that they cannot pay the taxes. They have to struggle or they will lose their land because the government raised the tax. That is not the only problem that was faced by the Logans. One of the member of Logans family was married a white woman and they have a girl already. There are still a lot of problems that the Blacks have to face in the novel written by Mildred D.
Taylor.
The center of the story, the Logan family, was treated unequally and faced the discrimination. Not only Logans, the other Black family also experienced this kind of oppression. They try to struggle against the unequal treatment in many aspects, for example in law, economic and other aspects of Black’s life. Those struggles are what the writer wants to deal with in this study.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach used to analyze this novel is the socio-historical approach. This approach sees a literary work as a reflection of the society or the author’s life and times in the work (Guerrin, 1999: 51). This approach connects the society and the history that happen in that time with the events that occurs in the literary work.