The struggle of a Dyslexic in facing social bad treatment as seen through Percy Jackson in Rick Riordian`s Percy Jackson and the Olympians : the lightning thief.

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x

ABSTRACT

STEVE KAMEVAN. The Struggle of a Dyslexic In Facing Social Bad Treatment as Seen through Percy Jackson in Rick Riordian’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

This thesis discusses Rick Riordan’s novel Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. The discussion is about a student in Yancy Academy who has a dyslexia syndrome. It is reflected through the main character in the story who is Percy Jackson.

This discussion is meant to answer three problems that are formulated to analyze the issue. The first problem is about the characteristics of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic. The second one is about the discrimination towards Percy Jackson by society seen in the story. The last one is how Percy Jackson as a dyslexic can struggle against the social bad treatment.

To answer the research questions, this thesis used a psychological approach to study the personality of the character in relation to his dyslexia. The main source of the study is Riordan’sPercy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. The other references are taken to support arguments stated in this undergraduate thesis.

This study finds out that Percy Jackson is described as a teenager who has a good education and lives in a common society. However, Percy suffers a dyslexia syndrome which is revealed through some characteristics that he has, such as short tempered, pessimistic and clumsy. Even though he is seen as a good teenager generally, he has some characteristics that show his differences to other teenagers in his environment. Percy thinks that he is different to his other friends in school, home and camp. Then, Percy always gets discrimination from his friends, his teachers and his family. After Percy gets a discrimination from his friends, teachers and family, Percy wants to survive and to be a good teenager. Since he lives at the camp, Percy struggles to be seen as a normal teenager, till he can be accepted in the new society. He has to change his “dyslexic” characteristics to be more “normal”. He changes to be a calm, optimistic, brave and confident teenager. Moreover, Percy also increases his skill in many fields, such as reading Latin Language, sport and strategy like learning how to fight, making a potion and many other activities.


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xi ABSTRAK

STEVE KAMEVAN. The Struggle of a Dyslexic in Facing Social Bad Treatment as Seen through Percy Jackson in Rick Riordian’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Skripsi ini mendiskusikan novel Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. Novel ini bercerita tentang seorang siswa yang bersekolah di Akademi Yancy yang memiliki sindroma disleksia. Hal ini tercemin melalui tokoh utama dari cerita Percy Jackson.

Diskusi ini bermaksud menjawab tiga pertanyaan yang diformulasikan untuk menganalisa isu terkait. Pertanyaan pertama adalah tentang karateristik Percy Jackson sebagai seorang disleksia. Pertanyaan kedua adalah tentang diskriminasi yang dialami oleh Percy Jackson oleh lingkungan masyarakatnya. Pertanyaan terakhir adalah tentang bagaimana seorang Percy Jackson sebagai dislekia dapat melakukan perjuangan melawan diskrimansi sosial.

Untuk menjawab dari pertanyaan penelitian ini, penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan psikologis yaitu mempelajari kepribadian karakter dalam kaitannya dengan disleksia. Sumber utama di pembelajaran ini adalah Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief milik Riordan dan referensi-referensi lain diambil untuk membantu argumen - argumen yang diyantakan dalam skripsi ini.

Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa Percy Jackson digambarkan sebagai seorang remaja yang memiliki pendidikan yang baik dan tinggal di masyarakat umum. Namun, Percy menderita sindrom disleksia yang terungkap memalui beberapa karakteristik bahwa ia mudah marah, selalu menyerah dan ceroboh. Meskipun dia terlihat sebagai murid yang baik pada umumnya, ia memliki beberapa karakteristik yang menunjukkan perbedaan dengan siswa lain di sekolahnya. Percy berfikir bahwa ia berbeda dengan teman-temanya di sekolah, di rumah maupun di kamp. Kemudian, Percy selalu mendapat diskriminasi dari teman-temannya, guru dan orang tuanya seperti di lingkungan sekolah, keluarga dan kamp. Setelah Percy mendapat diskriminasi dari teman-temannya, guru dan orang tuanya, Percy ingin berjuang untuk dilihat sebagai anak yang normal, sampai ia dapat diterima di masyarakatnya. Dia harus mengubah karakter “disleksia” menjadi karakter “normal”. Percy menjadi tenang, optimis, berani dan percaya diri. Selain itu, Percy juga meningkatkan keterampilan dalam berbagai bidang, seperti membaca Bahasa Latin, olah raga dan strategi seperti belajar bagaimana cara bertarung, membuat ramuan dan banyak lagi.


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THE STRUGGLE OF A DYSLEXIC IN FACING SOCIAL BAD

TREATMENT AS SEEN THROUGH PERCY JACKSON IN

RICK R

IORDIAN’S

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS:

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

By

STEVE KAMEVAN

Student Number: 104214105

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016


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i

THE STRUGGLE OF A DYSLEXSIC IN FACING SOCIAL

BAD TREATMENT AS SEEN THROUGH PERCY JACKSON

IN RICK RIORDIAN’S

PERCY JACKSON AND THE

OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

STEVE KAMEVAN

Student Number: 104214105

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2016


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A Sarjana Sqstra Undergraduate Thesis

THE STRUGGLE

OF

A DYSLEXIC IN FACING SOCIAL BAD

TREATMENT

AS SEEN

THROUGH

PERCY

JACKSON

IN

RICK RIORDIAN'S

PERCY JACKSON

AND THE

OLYMPIANS:

THE

LIGHTNING

THIEF

By

STEVE KAMEVAN Student Number: rc4[4105

Approved by

w

Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani. S.S.. M.Hum. Advisor

Co-advisor

November 2,2016


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I

I

I I

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

THE STRUGGLE

OF

A DYSLEXIC IN FACING SOCIAL BAD

TREATMENT

AS SEEN

THROUGH

PERCY

JACKSON

IN

RICK RIORDIAN'S

PERCY JACKSON

AND

THE OLYMPIANS:

THE

LIGHTNING

THIEF

By

STEVE KAMEVAN Student Number:

l}42l4l}5

Defended before the Board of Examiners on

and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF'EXAMINERS

Name Chairperson Secretary Member I Member 2 Member 3

Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. Sri Mulyani, Ph.D.

Drs. Hirmawan Wijanark4 M.Hum.

Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M.Hum. Elisabeth. Arti Wulandari, S.S., M.A., Ph.D.

Yogyakarta, November 30, 2016

lll

lroo"

fi-'{'

5,-m

Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University


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STATEMENT

ffi'

ORIGINALITY

is eontains rto material which has been

I certi$

that this undergraduate

tl$si-previously submitted forthe awarrd

sf@

other degree at any university, and that,

to

the best

of

rny knowledge, tltis trrrdergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person ex@pt where due reference is made in the text of the undergradute thesis.

'ffi;ilemberl'2016


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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

ILMIAH

UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, Nama

Nomor Mahasiswa

saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Steve Kamevan

:104214105

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

THE STRUGGLE OF A DYSLEXIC IN FACING SOCIAL BAD TREATMENT AS SEEN THROUGH PERCY JACKSON IN RICK

RIORDIAN,S PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

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 minta

ijin kepada

saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pemyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta


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vi

I Come

I Consult

I Test

I Revise

And

I WIN


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vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Praise and great gratitude submitted to Almighty God, Almighty Jesus Christ who always gives her gracious mercy and tremendous blessing that has helped the writer finishing this undergraduate thesis. This undergraduate thesis is as a requirement in accomplishing the S-1 Degree at the Department of English Letters of University of Sanata Dharma.

The writer would like to thank to all of those who have given the contribution so that this script can be finished. The writer would like to deliver this thank Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum as the first advisor and Elisabeth Arti Wulandari, S.S., M.A., Ph.D as the second advisor who have guided and assisted the writer in writing and finishing the script. Thank you for your good advice and valuable input. Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum as examiner who have given the valuable input and advice for the improvement of this thesis. All lecturers in Sanata Dharma University that the writer cannot mention all the names. Thanks for your time, knowledge, advice and motivation that you have given to the writer since study in this great campus. Cia, Ray, Tyas, Cindy and mbak Mayang as friends of Sanata Dharma University who have allowed and helped the writer conducted this research at Sanata Dharma University. Thank you for your cooperation and contribution. My parents who always give motivation when the writer is studying in Yogyakarta at Sanata Dharma University.


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viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ... i

APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE... iii

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ... iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH... v

MOTTO PAGE ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS... viii

ABSTRACT ... x

ABSTRAK... xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 6

C. Objectives of the Study ... 6

D. Definition of Terms ... 6

1. Struggle... 7

2. Bad Treatment ... 7

3. Dyslexia ... 7

CHAPTER II: REVIEWS OF THEORIES ... 8

A. Review of Related Studies ... 8

B. Review of Related Theories ... 10

1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 10

a. Speech ... 11

b. Conversation of Others... 11

c. Reaction... 11

d. Direct Comment ... 11

e. Thoughts ... 11

f. Mannerism... 11

2. Theory of Dyslexia ... 12

a. Difficulty with reading unfamiliar material ... 13

b. Slow pace of reading ... 13

c. Understanding more easily when listening than when reading ... 13

d. Underachievement at school, particular in exam ... 13

e. Having close family members with dyslexia ... 13

3. The Bad Treatment Facing Dyslexic ... 14

a. Anxiety ... 15

b. Anger ... 15


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ix

d. Depression ... 16

4. The Relation between Psychology and Literature ... 22

C. Theoretical Framework ... 23

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 25

A. Object of the Study ... 25

B. Approach of the Study ... 27

C. Method of the Study ... 28

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 30

A. The Characteristics of Percy Jackson as Dyslexic ... 30

1. At school ... 30

2. In the family ... 39

3. At the Camp... 40

B. The Bad Treatment Experienced by Percy... 44

1. School ... 44

2. Family... 47

3. Camp... 49

C. Percy Struggles Against the Society... 55

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION... 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY………. 74


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x

ABSTRACT

STEVE KAMEVAN. The Struggle of a Dyslexic In Facing Social Bad Treatment as Seen through Percy Jackson in Rick Riordian’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

This thesis discusses Rick Riordan’s novel Percy Jackson and The

Olympians: The Lighting Thief. The discussion is about a student in Yancy Academy who has a dyslexia syndrome. It is reflected through the main character in the story who is Percy Jackson.

This discussion is meant to answer three problems that are formulated to analyze the issue. The first problem is about the characteristics of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic. The second one is about the discrimination towards Percy Jackson by society seen in the story. The last one is how Percy Jackson as a dyslexic can struggle against the social bad treatment.

To answer the research questions, this thesis used a psychological approach to study the personality of the character in relation to his dyslexia. The main source of the study is Riordan’sPercy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. The other references are taken to support arguments stated in this undergraduate thesis.

This study finds out that Percy Jackson is described as a teenager who has a good education and lives in a common society. However, Percy suffers a dyslexia syndrome which is revealed through some characteristics that he has, such as short tempered, pessimistic and clumsy. Even though he is seen as a good teenager generally, he has some characteristics that show his differences to other teenagers in his environment. Percy thinks that he is different to his other friends in school, home and camp. Then, Percy always gets discrimination from his friends, his teachers and his family. After Percy gets a discrimination from his friends, teachers and family, Percy wants to survive and to be a good teenager. Since he lives at the camp, Percy struggles to be seen as a normal teenager, till he can be accepted in the new society. He has to change his “dyslexic” characteristics to be more “normal”. He changes to be a calm, optimistic, brave and confident teenager. Moreover, Percy also increases his skill in many fields, such as reading Latin Language, sport and strategy like learning how to fight, making a potion and many other activities.


(14)

xi ABSTRAK

STEVE KAMEVAN. The Struggle of a Dyslexic in Facing Social Bad Treatment as Seen through Percy Jackson in Rick Riordian’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Skripsi ini mendiskusikan novel Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. Novel ini bercerita tentang seorang siswa yang bersekolah di Akademi Yancy yang memiliki sindroma disleksia. Hal ini tercemin melalui tokoh utama dari cerita Percy Jackson.

Diskusi ini bermaksud menjawab tiga pertanyaan yang diformulasikan untuk menganalisa isu terkait. Pertanyaan pertama adalah tentang karateristik Percy Jackson sebagai seorang disleksia. Pertanyaan kedua adalah tentang diskriminasi yang dialami oleh Percy Jackson oleh lingkungan masyarakatnya. Pertanyaan terakhir adalah tentang bagaimana seorang Percy Jackson sebagai dislekia dapat melakukan perjuangan melawan diskrimansi sosial.

Untuk menjawab dari pertanyaan penelitian ini, penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan psikologis yaitu mempelajari kepribadian karakter dalam kaitannya dengan disleksia. Sumber utama di pembelajaran ini adalah Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief milik Riordan dan referensi-referensi lain diambil untuk membantu argumen - argumen yang diyantakan dalam skripsi ini.

Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa Percy Jackson digambarkan sebagai seorang remaja yang memiliki pendidikan yang baik dan tinggal di masyarakat umum. Namun, Percy menderita sindrom disleksia yang terungkap memalui beberapa karakteristik bahwa ia mudah marah, selalu menyerah dan ceroboh. Meskipun dia terlihat sebagai murid yang baik pada umumnya, ia memliki beberapa karakteristik yang menunjukkan perbedaan dengan siswa lain di sekolahnya. Percy berfikir bahwa ia berbeda dengan teman-temanya di sekolah, di rumah maupun di kamp. Kemudian, Percy selalu mendapat diskriminasi dari teman-temannya, guru dan orang tuanya seperti di lingkungan sekolah, keluarga dan kamp. Setelah Percy mendapat diskriminasi dari teman-temannya, guru dan orang tuanya, Percy ingin berjuang untuk dilihat sebagai anak yang normal, sampai ia dapat diterima di

masyarakatnya. Dia harus mengubah karakter “disleksia” menjadi karakter “normal”. Percy menjadi tenang, optimis, berani dan percaya diri. Selain itu,

Percy juga meningkatkan keterampilan dalam berbagai bidang, seperti membaca Bahasa Latin, olah raga dan strategi seperti belajar bagaimana cara bertarung, membuat ramuan dan banyak lagi.


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1 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study

Literature has been a part of human life. In An Introduction to the Study of Literature, it is stated that literature is an expression of life through changing social and artistic circumstances. Literature presents some aspects of human life, such as historical, social, moral, and psychological aspects (Hudson, 1960: 10). It can be seen that most of poem, prose, drama and also movies are the representation of reality, in which the authors try to express their life experience. Literature is human creation in certain time to say something or events in certain period or year. It is intended to share some idea or issue to other human beings, because the greatness of the literature works brought out by the wisest and the most sensitive mind in the form of information, experiences, knowledge or non-aesthetic values (Guerrin, 1979: 18).

Psychology and literature are strongly related each other which mean that they cannot be separated. It is because through literature, psychological issues can be found. For instance, the novel Frankenstein that is written by Mary Wollstonecraft. In this work, the author tries to show how technology of science can build a character or “a monster” (https://www.cliffsnotes.com, September 20, 2016). The main character in that novel is Victor Frankenstein who has a psychological problem. The problem is called as the abnormality of character because Victor Frankenstein, the main character, has “abnormal” characteristics that are different from other common people in society at that time.


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Until now, abnormality still becomes the major issue in a psychology. It is because the sufferer often gets humiliation and bad treatment from the society even though they are smart or genius. For instance, one of the most common and popular faces all over the world is Tom Cruise. He suffered from reading disorder called dyslexia. Tom Cruise’s dyslexia was inherited from his mother. By the age of seven, he was claimed that he had a dyslexia syndrome. It was very difficult for him to understand what he read or wrote. He was not accustomed to reading and writing. As a young boy, he had to suffer due to his learning disability. Having a disability can cause other problems like depression, anger, stress, and others. He often suffered from stress, headaches and temper problems. His depression kept increasing each day of his young life. He was also very talented in playing games like baseball, wrestling and soccer. When he graduated from his school, he refused to attend his graduation, as he knew that he might have failed in it. However, by the time becoming an adult, he learned how to read and write. Knowing that he was especially talented in acting, he tried to pursue a career out of acting. Tom Cruise is an example of a disabled person who came out as a winner in his life. He proved to the world that we could survive and be accepted in society, provided we are able to get over our symptoms (http://www.dyslexiaconsultants.com, March 10, 2015).

Sometimes “the abnormal” that gives effect toward the unstable personality has an impact towards the environment itself. Many people still do not understand what kinds of the “abnormal”syndrome are. They always judge and intimidate the person who has abnormality because commonly the sufferer


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cannot control his abnormality. They tend to have negative behaviors. Being an “abnormal” person is not anybody’s expected. It means that the normal people do not want to become an “abnormal” person. This abnormality is commonly triggered by many factors. They can be from genetic factor or environment factor.

Furthermore, in A Medical Dictionary about Dyslexia by James and Philiph, dyslexia is a kind of learning disorders (James and Philip, 2001:3-6). It means that dyslexia syndrome comes from the social influence and education influence. Then, in book Helping Hyperactive Kids A Sensory Integration Approach, it is stated that hyperactivity and dyslexia are almost similar but different in action or behavior (Lynn et.al, 2006:17-19). It means that people with dyslexia and hyperactivity are very different from their behavior. For example, the dyslexia has a lack of reading. Then, hyperactive has difficulty to control his or her emotion because he or she always keeps being active and be never tired.

Children who suffer from dyslexia have problem with reading and comprehension of the written language, whereas reading becomes one of the important elements in the learning process. The child is difficult to master the basic ability to read and it can affect her/his scores. Besides, children with dyslexia also have problems in absorbing the information from the written form. Most of the people who have the dyslexia syndrome are difficult to pronounce a word that is composed from several specific letters (Adams, 2008: 3). In addition, the child will have difficulty in math. Previously, this condition is often


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called as minimal brain dysfunction syndrome or commonly called as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Based on the research at the University of Toronto and the University of North Carolina, the researchers found that around 35 percent of the dyslexic participants in the aged of 18 and over had become the victim of physical abuse. Moreover, about 77 people from 1,020 respondents who said they had been physically abused during childhood which is received a diagnosis of dyslexia. In journal of Interpersonal Violence by Stephen Hooper, he states,

“It is possible that for some children, the presence of dyslexia and related learning problems may place them at relatively higher risk for physical abuse, perhaps due to adult frustrations with chronic learning failure." (Hooper, 2014).

Moreover, not only the children but also the adult with a dyslexia get bad treatment. In one of the articles, it is said,“Dyslexic tax worker sues HMRC for

’bullying’”. The article discusses about the worker who had dyslexia sued by her

management because the victim feels that she gets a bullying from her works. The worker name is Caroline Nicholson.

"I struggle reading any information and find it very difficult to put my thoughts and ideas down into writing that anyone can understand. If someone interrupts me speaking, I can easily lose my train of thought.

“Under stress, I can struggle to see the screen or the paper in front of

me. Also, reading under scrutiny is very difficult."

When her "understanding and supportive" manager retired in 2008, her new manager gave her a hard time. (http://stv.tv/news/east-central/215496-dyslexic-tax-worker-sues-hmrc-for-bullying/) (March 10, 2015).

From this article the writer is increasingly convinced that the people who suffer from a dyslexia cannot be accepted in their community. Caroline is struggle not to show her syndrome. In a way, she always prepares her work


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before she goes to work with the help of her mother. Even though she has a weak memory, she tries harder to remember what is ordered by her boss.

Based on the fact above, the writer chooses the topic about dyslexia. The writer wants to analyze the reaction of the society and the people who suffer from dyslexia. In this research, the writer uses a psychological approach. The writer chooses the psychological approach because the writer wants to look deeper through this research how the people are accepted in their society although they try to make them acceptable in society with the limitations. Besides, the writer wants to show kinds of bad treatment of the people against dyslexic.

The writer chooses a novel related to psychological a term that is Rick Riordan’s work, in which the content is related to the issue of symptoms of dyslexia syndrome. The novel Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is categorized as fantasy fiction story. Rick Riordan tells about a child who has dyslexia and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The main character itself is Percy Jackson. He is twelve years old, but he is always getting trouble with his dyslexia syndrome and ADHD. In the novel, Percy always cannot be accepted by his society or community in his school. He always gets troubles with his friends and teachers. Besides that, in the novel, Percy Jackson also has been claimed by himself as a dyslexic.

The writer focuses on the main character who has the dyslexia disorder and how the main character struggles and survives in his society. Besides, the writer wants to show the impact of dyslexia to his society. The main character


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that the writer tries to analyze in this research is Percy Jackson. The writer also tries to identify what kind of symptoms that appears of the character in the novel.

B. Problem Formulation

1. What are the characteristics of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic?

2. How is Percy Jackson as a dyslexic treated badly by society in the story? 3. How does Percy Jackson as a dyslexic bring about the struggle against the

social bad treatment?

C. Objectives of the Study

The writer focuses on three problems that are stated above as the objectives of study. First, the writer wants to see what kind of characteristic of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic is. Second, the writer wants to identify how Percy Jackson as a dyslexic is discriminated by his society. Third, the writer wants to find out how Percy Jackson struggles against the social bad treatment.

D. Definition of Terms

In this part, the writer gives the explanation of three important and related terms in the study that are stated in problem formulation. The terms are explained in the following paragraphs.


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1. Struggle

In book The Struggle of Recognition, struggle is defined as “affective motivational basis that is represented by the negative emotional reactions accompanying the experience of disrespect”(Honneth, 1996: 135).

2. Bad Treatment

In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, bad means “unpleasant and causing difficulties or harm”(2001: 81). Then, treatment means “the way you deal with or behave towards someone or something”(2001: 1541). Therefore, the meaning of bad treatment is a way of behavior or actions that is performed by the person or community or society. The actions can lead the problems such as bullying, causing hostility and discriminating. Moreover, the bad treatment also refers to practice of treating someone or a particular group in society less fairly than others, based on their behavior (syndrome).

3. Dyslexic

Dyslexia is a kind of developmental learning disabilities (learning disabilities) that is characterized by the difficulty in learning to read. Some dyslexic children are also likely to have difficulty in writing, and sometimes in speaking or numeracy (Aaron, 1994: 2-3).


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8 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

The first related study is A Study Of Dyslexia Among Primary School Students In Sarawak, Malaysia. This thesis written by Rosana Bin Awang Bolhasan from Education Department Batu Lintang Teachers’Training Institute. Rosana determine the degree of dyslexic reading problem among primary school students and the relationship between the degree of dyslexia and some factors. The factors meant by Rosana were gender of age, class, parents’ income, parent

education, and parents’ occupation, students’ position in the family and the

number of brothers and sisters in the family.

The second related study is Sanata Dharma University; English Letters Program Undergraduate thesis written by Erlita entitled The Causes of

Narrator’s Schizophrenia in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Paper”. The writer takes Erlita’s work because the topic that she takes has a similar focus with this study that is a character with a particular condition with the writer’s analysis which is about “abnormal”syndrome. Erlita’s works in novel

“The Yellow Paper” analyzes the narrator’s characterization, the symptoms of schizophrenia suffered by the narrator through the characterization, and the factors that cause the narrator’sschizophrenia.

From the Narrator’s description, the writer is able to know the symptoms of the Narrator’s schizophrenia, such as hallucination, delusions, and experiences of control. Based on these symptoms, the


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writer can conclude that the Narrator suffers from schizophrenia. Then,

the writer finds the factors that cause the Narrator’s schizophrenia. The

factors are the social life and life events. The social life factor is the Narrator’s condition which she has to be isolated in the rented house without being able to see her relatives, added by the lack of communication between her and her husband, John; and life event factor is the condition which she experiences a trauma after giving birth her first child that cause the Narrator becomes a schizophrenia sufferer (Erlita, 2012: 9).

Based on the quotation above, Erlita wants to analyze how the narrator gets schizophrenia. Then, she also tries to look the problem why the narrator gets the schizophrenia symptoms. As it can be seen that Erlita concludes that the narrator of the short stories “The Yellow Paper” suffered the schizophrenia symptoms because of the social life factor and the lack of communication between her and husband who is John.

In Erlita’s thesis, the character suffered schizophrenia while in this thesis the character of Percy Jackson in the novel“Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief” suffered dyslexia. Schizophrenia and dyslexia are not the same condition. Then, in Erlita’s analysis, we learn the characteristics and the impact of the condition to the characters’ relationship with other people. In the writer analysis, the writer tries to look and analyze what kind of the characteristics of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic is, how the relationship of Percy Jackson in the society is, and what kind of bad treatment that Percy Jackson gets in the novel is.


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B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

In order to analyze the characteristics of the main character in the novel, the writer uses characterization theories. In Glossary of Literary Terms, it is stated that:

Character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work that are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositions qualities through their dialogue and their action (Abrams, 1981: 20).

Based on the quotation above, it is stated that the character is the person who can give the readers the plot of the story. Through the plot, the character shows the characteristics of his or her that bring many values and morals through everything that the character does in the story. Abrams also divides the characters into two categorizes; the main or major characters and minor characters. The major character always becomes the center of the story. He or she is the most important character in the story and the conflict of the story is focused on the main character from the beginning until the end of the story.

To analyze further about character in the plot, the writer uses theory of characterization from Understanding Unseen: An Introduction of English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Student by Murphy. The writer uses six ways to identify the character because in these six ways to identify the character of Percy Jackson because only six that can help the writer to answer the problem formulation:


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a. Speech

The reader can understand the character through what he or she says when he or she is in conversation with other, and whenever he or she puts forward an opinion.

b. Conversation of Others

The author can also give some clues to a person’s character through the

conversations among other characters. c. Reactions

The author gives clues about character’s personality through the character’s reaction towards various situations and events.

d. Direct Comment

The author describes or comments on a person’s character directly. e. Thoughts

The author gives the readers information and understanding about what the character’sthinking about.

f. Mannerism

The reader can get some clues by knowing the author’s description of character’s personality through mannerism, habits, and many more in the novel (Murphy, 1972:161-173).

By using those six ways, the writer knows what the character is and how the character is characterized. The writer also can understand the main idea about whom and what kind of character that the author wants to say and shows is.


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2. Theory of Dyslexia

This study tries to analyze the main character who is Percy Jackson. He has a dyslexia syndrome. The syndrome occurs since the person in the childhood period, around kindergarten until junior high school. According to James and Philip in Dyslexia: A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References, dyslexia is one of the most serious conditions afflicting the termination of human developmental disorders which ranges from childhood like the development of their language, learning progress, and attention (2003: 3-64). It means that the syndrome of dyslexia can be seen when the children go to school around kindergarten until junior high school. Furthermore, the syndrome of dyslexia can affect human development disorder such as their language, learning progress, and attention.

According to Bonnie R. Strickland in Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, the definition of dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by significant disparity between an individual’s general intelligence and his or her language skill which is usually reflected from the school performance (Strickland, 2001: 200). Strickland wants to say that the dyslexia can disturb attention and cause hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behavior disorder.

For further explanation, the writer collects some information about dyslexia. The researcher Hughes quotes of a variety of indicators of dyslexia in adults in Living with Dyslexia (2009:24):


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a. Difficulty with reading unfamiliar material

It means when we learn a new vocabulary or new word, we have the difficulty to learn it. For example, usually we read a novel or book with many pictures in the book, but suddenly we read a novel or book with no pictures in that novel or book.

b. Slow pace of reading

It depends on the situation and the ability of the people, especially, the people who have the dyslexia syndrome.

c. Understanding more easily when listening than when reading.

The dyslexic has a lack of the ability of reading. They can better understand a story through listening than reading.

d. Underachieving at school, particularly in exams. Usually, the dyslexic also has a bad score in exams. e. Having close family members with dyslexia.

Usually, the dyslexic may have come from their family or their relative. For example, they have someone who has the dyslexia syndrome.

Teachers can find that there are many factors that are experienced by the dyslexic. According to Neil Alexander-Passe in How Dyslexia Teenagers Cope, not only children but also adult is identified as a dyslexic. Because they have a difficulty in reading, they feel being excluded by their friends. Afterward, there are feelings like lack of confidence, behavioral problem, self-doubt, school refusal and competitive disorder (2006:6). M. Thomson and G. M. Hartley in Academic Therapy say that the difficulties that they often face are withdrawing


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their emotion and even conversely becoming aggressive by obtaining the negative attention from the people (1980:19).

Moreover, the dyslexic that is obtained is not only the deficiency of characteristics problems but also positive site.

The factor of the successful of the dyslexic in teenagers were active, expressive individuals…. were pro-active to overcome hurdles, which require high levels of self-confidence…. encouragement of talents and hobbies and a search for self-worth…. also found that persistence and stubbornness were assets (Passe, 2006: 3).

Based on the quotation above, Passe shows that the people who have the dyslexia syndrome can survive and be successful in their lives. It can be seen

fromthe dyslexics’persistence and stubbornness.

3. The Bad Treatment Facing Dyslexic

The dyslexics usually try to live this lives normally as they can. However, people in the society often see them as disturbing people who have to be isolated from the environment. It is because, commonly, normal people do not like to see something that diverges from the norm. People often treat the dyslexics inappropriately because they think that the dyslexics are the people who are different from them. This situation then triggers the bad and unhealthy relation between the society and the dyslexics.

According to explanation Dr. Michael Ryan in The International Dyslexia Association (IDA), many people that suffer dyslexia get depression and frustrated from their lives. One of them is who has parents having great hopes for his children to be a successful. It becomes a source of depression. After that,


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the dyslexics get social bad treatment that they feel being underestimated by their social life.

a. Anxiety

According to Dr. Michael in The International Dyslexia Association (IDA), anxiety is the major factor in people with dyslexia syndrome. It means that the dyslexics become fearful because of their constant frustration and confusion in school. For example, they are afraid that they cannot enjoy their school, society, and life. Moreover, they are afraid if they get homework from their teacher, they cannot do the homework well.

b. Anger

Then, Dr. Michael in The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) said,

“Many of the emotional problems caused by dyslexia occur out of frustration

with school or social situations”. It means that the dyslexic cannot affect their

emotion because they get problem from their school and their social situation. For example, at school, the dyslexics know they have difficulties in speaking and reading. Therefore, they always get a reprimand from their teachers, because they have a bad score at school. Next, they get a bad score and difficulty to speak with their friend, they will be socially discriminated by their friends (the normal people). The normal people assume that the dyslexics are unintelligent and difficult to communicate well. Afterward, they will keep their distance and claim that they are weird.


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c. Self-image

The self-image is the very important part for shaping the character of the child. Then, according to Dr. Michael in The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) said that,” during the first year of school, every child must resolve the conflicts between a positive self-image and feelings of inferiority”. It means that the character building starts when they enroll their school at the first time. The conflict that they must face is social situation at school. If they cannot deal with it, they get a difficulty to blend with their friends at school.

d. Depression

Depression is also a frequent complication in dyslexia. Although most of dyslexics are not depressed, children with this kind of learning disability are at a higher risk for intense feelings of sorrow and pain. If they cannot control their emotion, they cannot build their character by themselves. They are afraid if they cannot blend with their friend, they can be depressed. Perhaps because of their low self-esteem, dyslexics are afraid to turn their anger toward their environment instead turn it toward themselves. However, both children and adults who are depressed tend to have three similar characteristics. First, they tend to have negative thoughts about themselves, i.e. a negative self-image. Second, they tend to view the world negatively. They are less likely to enjoy the positively experiences in life. This makes it difficult for them to have fun. Lastly, most depressed youngsters have great trouble imagining anything positive about the future. The depressed dyslexic not only experiences great


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pain in his present experiences, but also foresees a life of continuing failure (http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/, April 25, 2015).

Those four characteristics above are the characteristics that can be felt by dyslexics. Moreover, the dyslexic feels depression not only from the society but also from their parents.

Time and again, dyslexics and their parents hear, “He’s such a bright

child; if only he would try harder.” Ironically, no one knows exactly how hard the dyslexic is trying. The pain of failing to meet other people’s expectations is surpassed only by dyslexics’ inability to achieve their goals. This is particularly true of those who develop perfectionistic expectations in order to deal with their anxiety. They grow up believing that it is “terrible” to make a mistake. (http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/, April 25, 2015)

Dr. Michael states that parents want their children can be successful. Parents want their children be good at the academic, get a better job and many else. From that depression, the children with dyslexia syndrome feel anxious to enjoy their school life. Furthermore, when the dyslexics are pressed, they always compare themselves to the other children. From this situation, the dyslexics can feel unaccepted in social situations. Then, the dyslexic has difficulty in reading social cues. They may be oblivious to the amount of personal distance necessary in social interactions or insensitive to other people’s body language. Next, the effect of oral language functioning. It means that affected persons may have troubles in finding the right words, may stammer, or may pause before answering direct questions. This puts them at a disadvantage as they enter adolescence phase, when language becomes more central to their relationships with peers. Moreover, the dyslexics have difficulty in remembering the sequence


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of letter or words and remembering the order of events (http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/, April 25, 2015).

Furthermore, Dr. Michael Ryan in his article The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) says:

For example, let us look at a normal playground interaction between two children. A dyslexic child takes a toy that belongs to another child, who calls the dyslexic a name. The dyslexic then hits the other child. In relating the experience, the dyslexic child may reverse the sequence of events. He may remember that the other child called him a name, and he then took the toy and hit the other child.

(http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/parents/living-with- dyslexia/home/social-emotional-challenges/what-does-dyslexic-person-feel)

Based on the quotation above, the dyslexic has a difficulty to retell the events that have occurred. In this situation, the normal people can assume the dyslexic is a liar even though they as a normal people do not know what the dyslexic experiences. From that situation, the dyslexic will be shunned by the society.

From the quotation above, the writer can conclude that the dyslexic has a difficulty to speak clearly in order to retell what have happened. The normal people can assume that they are a liar. Then, the normal people cannot believe what the dyslexic says. The problem is that the dyslexic cannot make good interactions with the normal person.

In addition, Gunnel (2007: 31-32) also supported Humphrey, Hellendoorn, and Ruijssenaars theory about dyslexia. He states;


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Most participants [of a survey among dyslexic] reported that they had few or no friends as children, and that they were bullied frequently. The underachievers were less popular and had a lower social status in the class as compared to other children.

Gunnel shows the comparison between dyslexic and normal person. The dyslexic has few friends because they always get bullied even though they have reached achievement. In Taube’s study as cited in Gunnel, it is stated that even though the dyslexic has higher achievement than others, he or she is still not popular and has lower social status in the class rather than other normal students.

Gunnel (2007: 32-33) supports Ridsdale and Casey about disability of dyslexia. He states,

The dyslexia influences academic, rather than global self-esteem. The reading-disabled children revealed more emotional problems and considered themselves to be less competent scholastically than their peers.

Most of children with dyslexia who commonly have difficulty in reading and writing tend to have difficulty in controlling their own emotion. They cannot control their emotion which cause problem that disturb their development. If it happens at school, their learning progress will be hampered and it can cause their competency become decreasing.

Gunnel (2007: 33) maintains Svensson, Lundberg and Jacobson theories. He states,

The high prevalence of reading and writing disabilities that were found in the study of juvenile delinquents seemed primarily to be related to social and cultural factors, home backgrounds, limited school attendance and poor self-esteem rather than to constitutional problems of a dyslexic nature.


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Moreover according to studies by Syensson, Lundberg and Jacobson as cited by Gunnel, it shows that the cause that make dyslexics cannot read and write is because of the poor guidance from their own parents, society, and teachers. They tend to see dyslexics as the people who cannot do anything eventhough they are already taught. It is not caused by the natural limitation that dyslexics have. All of those factors, then, can also cause their poor self-esteem that trigger their inabillity in reading and writing which then, are seen as the social problem.

People with dyslexia are often considered as weird and hyperactive. The reason why dyslexics are weird and hyperactive is their syndrome. They include hyperactive or daydreamer, lazy, and poor in vision, reading, spelling. They also cannot count in math, and make the right time management (cannot focus). (http://www.dyslexia.com/) (April 9, 2015)

Based on the studies above, it can be conclude that people who have syndrome of dyslexia commonly make many people do not feel comfortable. It is because they judge or bully the dyslexics. There are some explanations that show some signs of dyslexics who may be bullied (http://www.minedu.govt.nz/; 2009: April 9, 2015):

1. Children who got bullied seem anxious about going to school. 2. They will try to skip the class.

3. They tend to avoid joining certain activities.

4. Children have bruises and do not want to give a straight answer about how they got the bruises.


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5. Children are submissive or withdrawn with other children. They seem to be unhappy or insecure, have low self-esteem or self-confidence.

6. They will talk about “nobody likes me” or “I haven’t got any friends” 7. They will talk about how they want to hurt someone or get back at someone 8. They will become someone who cannot stand up for themselves. They will

tend to be more shy and become introvert or vise versa. They can be someone who are arogant and hot-tempered.

Because of the bad treatment from the society toward dyslexics and from those signs of the bullying to dyslexic, the victims will not feel comfortable. They will always become sad because they have become the bullying object. The shocking fact is that there is also a case where a child who always got bullied ended his life by hanging himself.

In an article from www.dailymail.co.uk states that “A dyslexic boy hanged himself and said in a note that it was because he had been bullied by primary school teachers eight years earlier.” According to the facts and studies, the writer can conclude that children with dyslexics who always got bullied and humiliated by the society will feel stressed, depressed and traumatic. It can happen because of the bad relation between dyslexics and society. They cannot understand how to treat the dyslexics appropriately. However, not all of people who have the similar syndrome always end their own life.

Aside from that, normal people do not want to have a bloodline descended from the people who have a symptom of dyslexia. For example, London Sperm Bank does not want take the sperm for donate from the dyslexic.


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Ina practice branded “eugenics” by campaigners and a would-be donor, the London Sperm Bank has banned men with dyslexia or other

common conditions it described as “neurological diseases” from

donating. (http://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/)

This is a social bad treatment toward the people with syndrome of dyslexia. They do not want to take and will reject the donation from the dyslexic.

There are also some people who have successed to manage their illness and their relation with society. As the result, the society also recognizes and gives a reward of the achievement that they have reached. They are Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Tom Cruise, Walt Disney, Orlando Bloom and many else. They succeed to manage their dyslexic syndrome and got many achievements.

4. The Relation between Psychology and Literature

Literature and psychology are two different issues. However, they are related to each other. According to Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature, it is described that psychology and literature have a close relation in which some of literary works talk about psychology cases. Through psychology, people will learn about human condition in systematic way, meanwhile people will learn about psychological value in the art of writing through literature (Wellek and Warren, 1963:81).

In Psychology and its Allied Disciplines, Bornstein states that both literature and psychology have one common purpose that is to describe the human condition. Literature tries to describe the human condition into drama


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while psychology studies human characteristics systematically (Bornstein, 1984:144).

Then, Richard explains more in The Psychology of Human Behavior. He states that the author can communicate the feeling of his functional character and make them look more like the real people whose behavior is trying to be described by psychologist (Kalish, 1972:8).

C. Theoretical Framework

In this part, the writer explains the application of theories to answer the problems formulation of the study. All related studies and theories are useful as instruments to analyze problems formulation in this study. The reviews which are mainly taken from the internet and books are important to be used in the

writer’s analysis.

To analyze the study, the writer chooses some suitable theories. They are theory of character and characterization, theory of dyslexia, review of relation between social and dyslexia, and theory of relation between psychology and literature.

The first related theory is the theory of character and characterization. This theory is used to answer problem number one which is how Percy’s character is described in Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

The second related theories are the theory of dyslexia, review of relation between society and dyslexia, and theory of relation between psychology and


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literature. The first is theory of dyslexia. It is used to give more description and understanding about the the dyslexia syndrome that are reflected through Percy’s characterization. The second is theory of relation between pyschology and literature which can help the writer to analysis how the dyslexia syndrome can affect Percy’s psychological character. Finally, the review of relation between society and dyslexia which is important to help the writer’sunderstanding about whatkind of dyslexia’s symptom that Percy suffers that influences his character in his social process is.


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25 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of this study is a novel entitled Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Moreover, Riordan writes this novel because of his experience and his imagination. Riordan writes this novel based on Greek mythology because he is a teacher who teaches about Greece at his school. It is a fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology. Greek mythology means the myths surrounding the Heroes & Demigods, the sons and daughters of gods from Ancient Greece and Rome. The definition of Demigods: Demigods were the offspring of a deity and mortal, half-gods, who were invariably known for their courage and great strength. Many of the ancient gods, like Zeus, had children as a result of their romantic involvement with mortals. Demigods, being part of god and part mortal, had great powers and abilities and often featured in the mythology of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Demigods were fabulous famous heroes they are Achilles, Hercules, Theseus and Perseus (http://www.ancient.eu/, September 26, 2016). Then, this novel includes a fantasy fiction novel. It means that a form of literary genre in which a plot cannot occur in the real world. Its plot usually involves witchcraft or magic taking place on an undiscovered planet of an unknown world. Its overall theme and setting is a combination of technology, architecture, and


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language resembling European medieval ages. The most interesting thing about fantasies is that their plot involves witches, sorcerers, mythical and animal creatures talking like humans, which never happens in the real life (http://www.findmeanauthor.com, September 26, 2016). It is also the first young adult novel written by Rick Riordan, known for his Percy Jackson novel series.

Based on the explanation above, this novel is the first novel in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which tells about the adventures of modern twelve-years-old teen, Percy Jackson; he discovers that he is a demigod, the son of Sally Jackson and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, go on a quest to prevent a war between the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The writer is not to analyze this research Percy who is demigod but the writer wants to analyze from Percy as a student and son in his school, family, and society.

The Lightning Thief was sold at auction to Miramax Books and published in June, 2005. The book has been sold over 1.2 million copies in the subsequent four years, appearing on The New York Times children's Best Seller list and being listed as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards. This novel consists of 375 and 22 chapters. It was adapted into a film named Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief which was released in the United States on February 12, 2010. The sequel of this novel is The Sea of Monsters.


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B. Approach of the Study

In this study, the approach of the analysis is essential to help the writer to limit the study. Based on the objectives of the study, the analysis of the novel of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief employs the psychological approach. In Encyclopedia of Literature and Criticism edited by Martin Coyle et al., it is stated that psychological criticism sets out to study the subjective phenomenon of art by a scientific understanding grounded in psychoanalytic theory (1993: 770).

According to Daiches in Critical Approaches to Literature;

“The notion that the artist is neurotic, sick, maladjusted, that art is

somehow a by-product of this sickness and maladjusted, has become immensely popular during the last hundred and fifty years, and modern psychology seems to have justified it” (1981: 343).

Daiches explains that the concept of an artist to be neurotic, sick, and maladjusted is largely accepted by the public through modern psychological approach. By using psychological point of view, the inner idea that is hidden by the artist can be revealed and it thing has been done for many years.

“Psychology comes into criticism in two ways, in this investigation of the act of creation and in the psychological study of particular authors to show the relation between their attitudes and states of mind and the special qualities of their work. This aspect belongs to descriptive and not to the normative side of criticism no amount of psychological investigation, either of the creative process in general or of the problems of individual authors…. thoughthe psychological investigation of individual authors can sometimes help us to see why

those author displayed certain characteristic qualities in their work”


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According to the quotation above, by using psychological criticism in

Daiches’ book Critical Approaches to Literature it can help the writer to

investigate the work through the action and other psychological aspects that appear in the work. Eventhough a work can be analyzed by using pyschological criticism, it is not necessary to use the specific pyschological aspects which are usually used by a psychoanalyst. In literature, the psychological aspect that is used while using this criticism as the point of view is only the descriptive one. It describes the quality of the work’s elements rather than the normative one. It also uses the standard rules and arguments of psychoanalysis. The other function of this criticism also to help the writer to analyze the author’s intention and purpose through the relation between the attitudes of all characters, the condition of characters’ state of mind which is seen through the conversation, action, and story plot, and also some qualities of the work that the author brings into it (1981: 340- 341).

The psychological approach is used for explaining the “abnormal”

behavior of the main character this study who is Percy Jackson, because of the dyslexia symptom. The dyslexia disorder makes him to have a bad self-development. This approach enables the writer to analyze that character from psychological point of view.

C. Method of the Study

The writer used library research as the method of this study. The primary source used in this study was the novel written by Rick Riordan entitled Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lighting Thief. Then, the


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writer collected data from books of literature, theories, and some other books that might complete this analysis. The writer also used other information source such as online sources.

To answer the problem formulation, the writer used several steps. First, the writer read the novel for several times for the deep and clear understanding about what the novel was about. By understanding the content of the novel, the writer found the issue about dyslexia and the symptoms, and knew how the society acceptance over the dyslexic. Then, the writer formulated it into some questions.

Second, the writer collected some data to support the study. The writer used reliable sources, such as books and internet sources to help the writer to understand the character and the theory well. By doing this way, the writer gathered the related studies, theories, and references. Third, the writer related the topic and the theories that are used to answer and analyze the problem formulations. Lastly, the writer drew a conclusion.


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30 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the writer discusses the three problems that are stated in the first chapter. There are three parts in this chapter. The first part is the identification of the characteristic of Percy Jackson as a dyslexic. The second part is the discussion of the social bad treatment experienced by Percy. The third part is the discussion on how Percy faces his struggle against social bad treatment.

A. The Characteristic of Percy Jackson as Dyslexic

In this part, the writer wants to explain deeper about Percy’s characters. Therefore, the writer divided this part into three sections. There are school, family, and camp. From those three sections, the reader can see the differences of the characteristics of Percy as a dyslexic.

1. At the school

In this section, the writer discusses about Percy’s characteristics as a dyslexic that can be revealed when he is in school. In the novel of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy is seen as a good student in general. Percy is described as a teenager who has a good education and lives in a common society. However, Percy suffers a dyslexia syndrome which is revealed through some characteristics that he has. Even though he is seen as a good student generally, he has some


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characteristics that show his difference from the other students in his school. Percy himself thinks that he is different from his other friends in school.

First, Percy is described as a clumsy person. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, clumsy is defined as a character of a person who does not behave in a careful and controlled way, so that he or she often gets accidents (2001: 245). Percy often gets troubles and accidents in school. As the result, Percy cannot enjoy the lessons and other activities in his school. He feels that all he does is wrong and cause disaster. For example, Percy gets trouble in his old school when he goes to a study tour in Saratoga battlefield museum. He accidentally touches the wrong button of a canon and as the result, he makes an accident that caused many of his friends injured.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong button on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea. (Riordan, 2005: 2)

Based on the quotation above, it can be seen that Percy cannot control his movement. He often makes an accident that eventually puts him in a bad situation. Therefore, it can be concluded that the characteristic of Percy is clumsy. According to Dyslexia the Gift, clumsy is defined as a characteristic that becomes a part of dyslexia syndrome.

Dyslexic people are often hard to control their energy; thus it causes their lack of caution. They tend to move excessively, which make them not really careful when they do something. This kind of behavior can make


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dyslexic to be hyperactive which can be the cause of some behavioral problem. According to the theory of dyslexia in How Dyslexia Teenagers Cope by Passe, one of the dyslexia syndromes is suffering the behavioral problem. As what Percy does, he shows the kind of behavioral problem in his daily behavior because he cannot control his energy. Percy does the same mistake when he joins field trip. In the novel, Percy accidentally attacks his school bus and hit the wrong button when he has tour in the Marine World shark pool. When Percy said, “I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but of

course I got expelled anyway” (Riordan, 2005: 2). Because of his clumsiness

and fault, he is drop out from his school.

Second, Percy is described as a short-tempered person. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2001: 449), the emotion makes people have strong feelings or opinions. He often gets mad easily without clear reason. It is because he cannot control his energy (hyperactive).

The quotation below shows Percy’s inability in controlling his emotion.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into (Riordan, 2005: 3 - 4).

In the story, Nancy is Percy’s teacher in Yancy Academic. Percy is disturbed and bullied by his teacher, especially Nancy. She often bullies Percy by spilling her lunch over Percy. Percy cannot accept Nancy’s action. He then cannot control his emotion. It can be seen through his nagging towards Nancy.


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Moreover, Percy cannot be dissuaded by other people when he gets angry. Percy even can fight with his teacher, Nancy. It is because Nancy spilled her food to Percy. Then, Nancy tries to provoke Percy because she knows that Percy has on probation or Percy gets the sanction from the school.

Percy’s reaction shows his characteristic that is emotional and

short-tempered. “Looking back on it, I wish I’d decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.” (Riordan, 2005: 3). Based on that quotation, it can be concluded that Percy is a grudging person. Percy’s lack of emotional control leads him to get angry easily. Percy wants to beat his teacher because he is very angry and gets irritated by his teacher.

According to the theory of dyslexia Academic Therapy by M. Thomson and G. M. Hartley, the dyslexic got problem of dealing with their emotion. Then, Dr. Michael in The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) said, “Many of the emotional problems caused by dyslexia occur out of frustration with school or social situations”. From those theories of dyslexia, it can conclude that the people who suffered dyslexia syndrome got problem with their emotion. Percy also has the emotional problem.

Third, Percy is described as an absent-minded person. As described in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, absent-minded is likely to forget things, especially because you are thinking about something (2001: 5). In the story, Percy often gets humiliation from his friends because he cannot get good score for most of school subjects that he has. His teacher even does not really like him because of his inability to get good score.


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Unlike other students in his class, Percy has difficulties in listening and reading to his teachers. Percy cannot concentrate easily when he has to

read book or read his teacher’s explanation on the board. He has to listen to

his teacher’s explanation directly, so that he can catch the material better. His friends like to bully him because of his different learning style. Therefore, Percy is emotional, he gets angry easily and start to fights with his friends.

I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up (Riordan, 2005: 4).

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside (Riordan, 2005: 21).

According to the theory of dyslexia Living with Dyslexia by Hughes (2009: 24), it is said that dyslexic can understand something more easily when they are listening rather than when they are reading. From the quotation from Hughes, it can be concluded that the people with dyslexia must have a high concentration, but in different way.

Even though Percy always gets bad score in his study but he likes one lesson that is Latin. He also gets under pressure from his school and his teacher. The pressure that Percy experiences is that Percy must have a good score in his academic. If Percy cannot get a good score in academic, Percy can be dropped out from his school.

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else (Riordan, 2005: 7).


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Based on the quotation above, Percy gets pressure from his school. Mr. Burner as his teacher expects that Percy can be as good as his friends or better than his friends. Most of dyslexic has low concentration level, so does Percy. Based on the quotation above, it shows that Percy is stressed because of the pressure from his teacher who expects more from him. It makes Percy to be pessimistic. Percy knows that he never gets a good score in academic because his difficulty in concentrating.

This kind of characteristic is commonly suffered by most of dyslexic. In the story, Percy is told as a dyslexic who has same characteristic as common dyslexic, which is an absent-minded person or has low concentration level. Therefore, it made Percy becomes pessimistic person.

The writer’ opinion is also supported by theory of dyslexia Living with

Dyslexia by Hughes that the dyslexic has difficulty to get a good score.

Percy feels that he is different from other students because he cannot get average score in his school like his friends. His friends and teachers also see him as a “freak” or weird student because of his difference and his “foolishness”.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere (Riordan, 2005: 8)

Based on the quotation above, Percy is seen as a loser by his friends. Thus, it makes Percy and his friend, Grover does not like to play or gather together with their friends. Percy realizes that he is different from his friends


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because of his “foolishness”. Besides that, he feels that if he gathers together with his friends, he maybe can make some troubles with them.

According to the theory of dyslexia Living with Dyslexia by Hughes (2009: 24), the dyslexic has difficulty in their academic and their studies. Percy as a dyslexic also experiences this kind of difficulty. Based on the

quotation above, it shows Percy’s disinterest on doing his writing and reading

books. Therefore, Percy always tries to get shortcut to do his work in his school. Percy realizes that he cannot read the full version of the novel, “Tom Sawyer”. People with the dyslexia syndrome commonly have this kind of difficulty.

I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class (Riordan, 2005: 17)

Based on the quotation above, it shows that Percy often gets bad score in his study. Besides that, because he is a short-tempered person, his academic problem can be the reason why his emotion raises up. He often involves into trouble, either with his friends or his teachers. As the result of his inability to get the good score and to control his emotion, he has to get punishment in his school.

I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for (Riordan, 2005: 18).

The quotation aboveshows how low Percy’s motivation is to study. It is because Percy actually only likes one subject above all subjects in his


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school. He does not like other subjects in his school such as math, reading, writing, etc. Percy only likes studying Latin language. According to the theory of dyslexia Living with Dyslexia (2009: 24) by Hughes, the people who suffered from dyslexia only liked one or two subjects that they liked in school.

Since Percy never gets a good score in his school, Percy always does some trick to do his work in his school, so that he can finish his tasks. Percy knows that he cannot not read full of the novel of “Tom Sawyer”. This is the

main problem of people with the dyslexia syndrome. According to the theory

of dyslexia “Living with Dyslexia” (2009: 24) by Hughes said there are many

indicators of dyslexia, which one of them is having difficulties in reading, such as having difficulty with reading unfamiliar material and having slow pace of reading. If they are ordered to read many books, they should read them slowly because of their limitation in reading. Commonly, they tend to read books with few words. It means that they should be given a book with many pictures. Unfortunately, at school they tend to be given books that have no pictures or sketch on it. Thus, it makes them feel bored to read books.

Fourth, Percy is described as a stubborn person. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, stubborn is defined as a quality of a person who want to do what he or she wants and refuses to do anything else. (2001: 1434). This issue then recurs frequently. Even though his teachers have already warned him, Percy still cannot change the bad habit. He still likes to do things that he wants, which he thinks as revenge to his


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friends. Thus, it makes him to be seen as a stubborn person, because he cannot take others warning and suggestions.

Finally, when our teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the million time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. (Riordan, 2005: 17)

Based on the quotation above, Percy’s reaction towards what Mr. Nicoll says show us that he is a stubborn person. He does not care about what his teacher says though. It has been the million time and still does whatever he likes.

From the characteristic of Percy in his school, it shows that Percy is clumsy (careless), emotional or short tempered (easily angry), absent-minded (less able to concentrate on a few things or lesson), and stubborn. According to the theory of dyslexia How Dyslexia Teenagers Cope by Passe and Academic Therapy by Hartley, the people with dyslexia syndrome have short-tempered, clumsy, absent-minded and stubborn characteristics in their nature. If they are pressed, they can rebel. For example, at school, the teachers order the students to do all their homework or they are demanded by the teachers to become a clever person. Nevertheless, some of them can do it and some of them cannot do it, because they had a different ability to do that. Percy gets bullying in his school because of his difference. His characteristics which are commonly found in dyslexics then make him get pressure, different treatment, and bullying.


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74

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78 APPENDIX

The Summary of Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief The novel tells about Percy Jackson life and his journey. He is twelve years old. He is the main character in the novel. The story is about an ordinary child who has ADHD and dyslexia syndrome. He always moves from one school to another school because he cannot get a good score in his academic. His name is Perseus Jackson or called Percy Jackson. He lived with his mother and his step-father. One day he knew that he was not ordinary child because he had a school trip, he got attacked by a monster who pretended to be his math teacher. The monster wanted him to put back the thing that he stole but he realized that he never stolen anything and he was saved by a pen from his teacher who told the truth about him. Besides, he had a best friend named Grover.

Percy and his mother lived with his step-father named Gabe. He was lazy man who always made Percy’s mother become slave.Percy was really mad with his step-father but he could not do many things to stop it. His mother told about his father that his father and the reason why his father left them. One day, his mother wanted to send him to a camp for those people who had special abilities like him. At first, Percy did not now about his mother’s thought. When they were on their way, a monster (Minotaur) attacked them and he knew that Grover is not an ordinary person but he was a half goat and man. It is called Satyr. From the accident his mother was disappeared. Grover took him to the half-blood camp. This camp was the safe place for person like Percy. it was because Percy was a demigod; half-human and half-god. At that time, he was still confused why he


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lived in the half-blood camp. He learnt many things at there and met many things at there and met many friends such as Annabeth and Luke. Until he knew the truth about his father. The truth showed that Percy was the son of Poseidon, the God of Sea and the three of the biggest and stronger of God. Because of that, he was suspected as the lighting thief and he help his father to find the lightening thief. In his deep heart he felt his conflict between himself and his father but finally he decided it for the world and humanity.

Percy did his journey with Annabeth and Grover. Many accidents happened during his journey. He fought with Medusa, Cymera, and escape from Mrs. Dodds, fought with Ares who was God of War, and went to underworld to meet Hades and brought his mother back. All of journey finally brought him the truth that the truly lightening thief was Luke, son of Hermes. Actually he could not believe that Luke was the thief but it was proven by Luke. He was mad with all gods and his father. At the end he could return the thunder bold to Zeus.