The study of the main character and his conflicts to convey messages in Walter Dean Myer`s Scorpions.

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ABSTRACT

VINSENSIA HARSANTY (2008). The Study of the Main Character and His Conflicts to Convey Messages in Walter Dean Myers’ Scorpions. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

This undergraduate thesis deals with one of Walter Dean Myers’ novel entitled Scorpions. It is a children’s novel that tells the story of Jamal, a twelve year old boy who lives in black poverty of Harlem. It is recited in the story that Jamal has to face problems happening to him and his family. Anyway, the content of the story points out the depiction of urban life and its complexity that encourage someone to survive and to have certain attitudes. Such these values are tried to be conveyed in this discussion by considering them as the messages that the story is going to reveal.

Therefore, conveying the implied messages in the story is the objective of this study. It will be gained through analyzing the main character’s qualities, Jamal, and the conflict he owns. Considering this, the discussion will be focused on the description of the main character, the explanation of the main character’s conflicts, and finally the messages found in the main character’s description and his conflicts.

In this discussion, the writer conducted library research in which there are two types of sources that are primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel Scorpionsitself, while the secondary sources are the reference books and the sites from internet. Meanwhile, the theories applied are concerned with the theory character and characterization, the theory of conflict, and the theory of message. Since this study is about the intrinsic elements of the novel, the writer employs formalistic approach.

The result of this study mentions that Jamal is a young black man who is brave and tough, nice, fast in comprehending something, mature, and a dreamer. In the other side, Jamal is also an introvert, an inconsistent, and a sensitive. These qualities provoke him to undergo internal and external conflicts. The internal conflicts refer to his confusion to be a Scorpion, desire to own the gun, and his dislike about schooling. The external conflicts refer to Jamal’s conflicts with other characters (the Scorpions, Dwayne, Randy and Jevon Hicks, Tito, and Sassy) and God. After analyzing these points, the writer figures out some messages that author is probably going to deliver through his writing. The story reveals that one has to survive in dealing with any problems, that one needs to communicate his or her difficulties, and that one should not commit crime to overcome the poverty since it is not the last choice.

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ABSTRAK

VINSENSIA HARSANTY (2008). The Study of the Main Character and His Conflicts to Convey Messages in Walter Dean Myers’ Scorpions. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Tesis ini berhubungan dengan salah satu novel Walter Dean Myers yang berjudul Scorpions. Novel ini adalah novel anak-anak yang bercerita tentang Jamal, seorang bocah berumur dua belas tahun yang tinggal di Harlem yaitu kawasan orang kulit hitam yang miskin. Dikisahkan di dalam cerita tesebut bahwa Jamal harus menghadapi masalah-masalah yang terjadi padanya dan keluarganya. Isi cerita tersebut menunjukkan penggambaran tentang kehidupan urban dan kerumitannya yang menganjurkan seseorang untuk bertahan dan mampu menyikapinya.

Oleh karena itu, penyampaian pesan-pesan yang terkandung pada cerita merupakan tujuan studi ini. Hal ini dicapai melalui penganalisaan sifat-sifat karakter utama, Jamal, dan masalah-masalah yang dimilikinya. Atas pertimbangan ini, pembahasan akan difokuskan pada pendeskripsian karakter utama, penjelasan tentang konflik-konflik karakter utama, dan akhirnya pada pesan-pesan yang ditemukan dalam pendeskripsian karakter utama dan konflik-konfliknya.

Pada pembahasan ini, penulis melakukan penelitian pustaka di mana terdapat dua macam sumber, sumber utama dan tambahan. Sumber utamanya adalah novel itu sendiri, sedangkan sumber tambahannya adalah buku-buku referensi dan situs-situs. Sementara itu, teori yang diterapkan berkenaan dengan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori konflik, dan teori pesan. Karena studi ini mengenai elemen-elemen intrinsik pada novel, penulis menggunakan pendekatan formalistik.

Hasil studi ini menyebutkan bahwa Jamal adalah seorang bocah lelaki yang berani dan tangguh, baik, cepat memahami sesuatu, dewasa, dan seorang pemimpi. Di sisi lain, Jamal juga seorang yang tertutup, tidak konsisten, dan sensitive. Sifat-sifat ini mengakibatkannya mengalami konflik-konflik internal dan eksternal. Konflik-konflik internal mengacu pada kebingungannya untuk menjadi anggota geng Scorpion, keinginannya memiliki senjata, dan ketidaksukaannya bersekolah. Konflik-konflik eksternal mengacu pada konflik-konflik antara Jamal dan karakter-karakter lain (anggota gengScorpion, Dwayne, Randy dan Jevon Hicks, Tito, dan Sassy) dan Tuhan. Setelah menganalisa poin-poin tesebut, penulis menemukan beberapa pesan yang mungkin coba disampaikan pengarang melalui tulisannya. Cerita tesebut mengungkapkan pesan bahwa seseorang harus bertahan dalam menghadapi masalah-masalah apapun, bahwa perlu mengutarakan kesulitan-kesulitannya, dan bahwa seseorang tidak perlu melakukan tindak kriminal untuk mengatasi kemiskinan karena itu bukan merupakan pilihan terakhir.

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THE STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER AND

HIS CONFLICTS TO CONVEY MESSAGES

IN WALTER DEAN MYERS’

SCORPIONS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

in English Letters

Vinsensia Harsanty Student Number: 034214030

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

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ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis

THE STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER AND

HIS CONFLICTS TO CONVEY MESSAGES

IN WALTER DEAN MYERS’

SCORPIONS

VINSENSIA HARSANTY Student Number: 034214030

Approved by

Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, M.A.___ January 11th, 2008 Advisor

Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M. Hum. January 11th, 2008 Co- Advisor

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GOD DOES NOT EXPECT US

TO BE MORE THAN WE ARE.

HE EXPECTS US

TO BE ALL THAT WE ARE.

JUST DO OUR BEST

AND LET GOD DO THE REST.

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I dedicate this work for

those who have participated

in accomplishing my thesis

especially MY BELOVED

PARENTS

and

MY

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my biggest gratitude to Jesus Christ and the Holy Mary whom I always plead for blessing, strength, and ideas, so that I am finally able to accomplish this undergraduate thesis. Thank God for answering my prayers.

My gratitude is also directed to Ms. Th. Enny Anggraini as my advisor for her time, advices, guidance, and patience. I really appreciate all things she has done in the process of writing my thesis. I would also like to say thank to Mr. Fajar as my co- advisor.

Furthermore, I deeply express my gratitude to my beloved parents for their prayers; spiritual, material, and financial support; and good advices. It is wonderful to have both of them as my parents since they can be the model for my life. They have made me proud of them and hopefully I make them proud of me now. My big and only brother, Vinsensius Hartanto, also deserves to get my gratitude, ”Thanks Bro for your help, support, and also for allowing me to spend your printer ink!” He is not only the best brother but also the best friend.

Next, my sincere gratitude belongs to Dedhy. It is because of his help, support, and understanding. He has done his best to help me while I am dealing with my study especially my thesis.

I would not forget to say thanks to my best friends in Brojodento 1 (Sandra, Achie, Nia, Veron, Meygha, Thyas, and Paula). I thank them for their

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helps and supports. There are many wonderful and exciting moments that we have shared together, “Thanks girl for the friendship!”

I thank all my friends in class A that I can not mention one by one. It is nice to have nice friends like them

Lastly but not the least, I would like to express my gratitude to my big families in Ambarawa and Boro especially Joni. All of them have helped me much from the first time I was in Yogyakarta, “I really appreciate your kindness and I am glad to have you as my families.”

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TITLE PAGE... i

APPROVAL PAGE... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE... iii

MOTTO PAGE... iv

DEDICATION PAGE... v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS... viii

ABSTRACT………... ix

ABSTRAK ... x

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

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW... 9

A. Review of Related Studies ... 9

B. Review of Related Theories ... 12

1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 12

2. Theory of Conflict... 16

3. Theory of Message ... 19

C. Review on Harlem ... 22

D. Theoretical Framework ... 26

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 28

A. Object of the Study ... 28

B. Approach of the Study ... 29

C. Method of the Study... 30

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 32

A. The Description of the Main Character ... 32

1. Physical Description ... 32

2. Personality Description ... 33

B. The Main’s Character Conflicts ... 45

1.The Main Character’s Internal Conflicts ... 45

2.The Main Character’s External Conflicts ... 49

C. The Possible Messages Implied in the Story ... 60

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 66

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 71

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ABSTRACT

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ABSTRAK

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

There is no single definition can satisfy everyone to answer what literature is. Once a definition has been made, the limits make it inadequate to call other writings as literature. Robert and Jacobs in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing state that technically literature can be defined as anything spoken or written. This definition is clarified then in order to specify kind of writings that can be called as literature. Therefore, Roberts and Jacobs continue their explanation by arguing that literature is any writings that invite our emotional and intellectual involvement and response (1989:1). This argument disallows us to categorize writing such as shopping list as literature then.

In discussing literature, we also look at the kinds of literature. There are two main divisions of it discussed by Connolly as mentioned by Drs. Sunaryono Basuki Koesnosoebroto, i.e., the literature of knowledge and the literature of imagination. Both kinds of literature differ in function, according to the purpose of the writer. The literature of knowledge is to present or interpret things such as facts, ideas, happenings, a description of a person or a place, the explanation of scientific process, the account of war, or the discussion of political issues. Autobiography and personal narrative, biography and history, and various form of the essay are included into this type of literature. Meanwhile, the literature of imagination interprets experience by fictitious presentation of persons, ideas, and

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events. Here, the author is not concerned with the actual truth of particular events (1988:2-3).

About the literature of imagination, Roberts and Jacobs say:

“ Imaginative literature, which we call simply literature, refers to written (and also spoken) compositions designed to tell stories, dramatize situations, and reveal thoughts and emotions, and also to interest, entertain, stimulate, broaden, and ennoble readers (1989:

1).”

They also add that imaginative literature may be based upon situations that never have and never may occur. It does not mean that literature is not truthful, but rather that the truth of literature is true to life and human nature, not necessarily to the world of historical and scientific facts (1989:3). The same thing

is conveyed by Drs. Sunaryo Basuki Koesnosoebroto by saying “It is only

necessary to underline that prose fiction has its own standard of truth, which can

be only judged using all the information contained in the fiction itself (1988: 9).”

Imaginative literature itself can be classified then into three genres. Those are prose fiction, poetry, and drama. All these genres are dramatic and imaginative in varying degrees (1989:3). Since the discussion is to analyze a novel, let us take a look first that novel is classified into prose fiction. Prose fiction is a kind of literary work that focuses on one or few major characters that undergo some kind of changes as they meet other characters or deal with problems or difficulties in their lives (Roberts and Jacobs, 1989:3).

As a form of literature, a novel also pleases its reader by imitating life, or

more precisely, by displaying its writers’ visions of life as it is or as the writers

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reader, who will be satisfied by reading stories which contain exciting image of the world or some flattering image of himself, but rather to be the mature reader. Unlike the immature reader, the mature reader is more aware and critical with the issues in the story he reads (Koesnosoebroto, 1988:3-4).

This study, therefore, is made by the writer since she would like to point out one of the issues she is aware in the novel she read that is Scorpions. It is a teen or children novel which tells the story of a young black man named Jamal.

Like the most of Myers’ novel, this novel also gets influence from his experience

especially his childhood <www.northern.Edu/hastingw/myers.Html > (8 March 2007). Myers, in this novel, draws an excellent picture of life in urban city.

It is recited in the novel that Jamal, who is living in Harlem, is struggling to handle the responsibilities of becoming a man within the conflicting environment of home, school, and now membership in a gang, the Scorpions. His friendship with Tito is jeopardized by the circumstances surrounding his being forced to take a place with the Scorpions and the resultant possession of a gun and involvement with drugs. However for Jamal there is the question of the bail

money for his brother, his mother’s anguish, his father’s wish to be a ‘man’.

Reading this novel, the reader is able to see that the story is really close to the reality. The conflicts that are undergone by Jamal are more or less also experienced by the other children or people in this real life especially by those who live in urban city. The conflict with family, friends, neighborhood, are common things to meet in the urban city. Criminality is the product of such this area since everyone who lives there will do everything no matter how dangerous it

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is in order to keep them alive and survive. To commit crime is a chosen, in fact, only a small part of them who is able to survive without committing crime.

What Myers depicts in his novelScorpions is a portray of the urban city and the life inside it then. The children living in an urban city, like Jamal, has accustomed with the hard condition of their surrounding. Each of them has to be able to defense their own self in order not to be influenced by the bad things happen surround them. Meanwhile, the parents are too busy to work or find any kinds of job outside their house to fulfill their needs therefore they can not totally watch their children. The same thing happens to Jamal. He lives only with her mother, who has to work for a whole day, and his only little sister. He is the only male in their home since his mother left his father and his big brother is charged for killing a store owner. By considering this condition, Jamal realizes that he is indirectly demanded to take the responsibility. He has tried to do his best for the family especially his beloved mother. Still, many problems and difficulties happen to him and his families force him to face many conflicts from inside and outside his self. His hesitation to hang around with the gang, Scorpions, is one of the conflicts that come from inside his self. The other conflicts that come from outside his self are the conflict with his father, his best friend, and the gang for instance.

Jamal’s figure as a brave and tough young man is created by the author to

be able to deal with many kinds of conflicts that is undergone by the other children living in the urban area. It seems that he is a portray of one of the children living in the urban city who is able to survive. Here, the reader admires this main character for his qualities. Apart from the good qualities he has, the

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writer notices that Jamal’s weaknesses lead him into more difficult condition. It

means to say that it is Jamal himself that creates his own conflicts sometimes. The reader probably does not aware with this. The writer, therefore, is provoked to

reveal that there is relation between one’s characters and his conflicts since

someone sometimes does not realize that he himself who makes the situation and condition difficult for himself.

Talking further about Jamal’s personality and his conflicts, there are

possible messages the writer tries to reach. By conveying the messages, the readers are expected not only to become aware with the issues revealed in the story but also understand and learn something from this literary work. The literary work, therefore, is not only to entertain its readers then but also to help them grow as Roberts and Jacobs say in their book Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing:

“Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually; it

provides an objective base for our knowledge and understanding; it helps us to connect ourselves to the cultural context of which we are a part; it enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles in different societies that we would never otherwise get to know; it helps us to develop mature sensibility and compassion for the condition of all living things- human, animal, and vegetable (1989:2).”

Actually there are other ways that can be employed to reveal the message of the story; however, the writer tries to offer this kind of analysis as one of the alternative ways. The writer determines that the title The Study of the Main Character and His Conflicts to Convey Messages in Walter Dean Myer’s Scorpionswill be appropriate to represent the idea of this study.

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B. Problem Formulation

The writer limits the focus of this study on the main character, the conflicts, and the messages revealed after analyzing the main character and his conflicts. Therefore, in this part, the writer formulates the problems as follows:

1. What are the qualities of the main character in the novelScorpions, Jamal? 2. What conflicts are undergone by the main character?

3. What messages are possible to be conveyed after analyzing the main character and his conflicts?

C. Objectives of the Study

Below are the objectives of this study that are drawn by considering the background and the problem formulation mentioned in the previous part:

1. to describe the main character’s physical characteristics and personalities 2. to reveal the main character’s conflicts, both the conflicts that come from

inside and outside his self

3. to convey and explain the possible messages that can be drawn from the previous analysis about the main character and his conflicts

D. Definition of Terms

The writer would like to write the definitions of the key terms related to the title of this undergraduate thesis. They are given in order to satisfy the need of this writing.

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1. Main Character

In general, character may be defined as a descriptive analyzes of a human virtue or vice or of a general type of human character (Kuiper.ed, 1985:229). Related to the literature, Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms specifies this definition. He says:

“Characters are persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work,

who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say- the dialogue- and by what they do- the action (1985:

23).”

According to Stanton, the term “character” can be used in two ways. First,

character refers to the individuals who appear in the story. Second, character also refers to moral principles that make up each of the individuals (1965:17). Hence, major or main character refers to those who become the main focus in the story from the beginning to the end (Milligan, 1983:55).

2. Conflict

The first definition of conflict is taken from Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama by Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain. It is mentioned there that conflict is a struggle between a character and some obstacle (for example, another character or fate) or between internal forces, such as divided loyalties (2005: 1375).

Another definition is given by Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter in their book New Worlds of Literature. There, they define conflict as the struggle between opposing forces- characters, families, nations, ideas, or ideological

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systems- that provides the central action and interest in any literary plot (1989:1162).

3. Message

Message is any communication sent from one person to another, an errand, an official communication of president, governor, etc, to a legislature or council; the teaching that a poet, sage, prophet, has to communicate to the world (Davidson, G.W., M.A. Seaton, J.Simpson,1994: 604).

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

This is the section to review other related studies that are previously done by other writers on the same topic. Here, the writer is going to see what those other writers have said about the work under study in discussing the same topic. Besides, at the end of this section, the writer would like to show how the undergraduate thesis is different from the other study.

Doing the library research, the writer points to two undergraduate thesis

done by the students of Sanata Dharma that are Juli Purnami’s The Possible Messages Seen from the Main Character and the Conflicts in Robert Louis

Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Helena Patricia

Dahat’s The Revelation of Message through the Main Characters and the

Conflicts of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. Although both the studies talks

about the same idea and intrinsic elements of the stories that are the character, the conflicts, and the messages, the writers do not always be parallel in doing the analysis. The similarity takes place on the problems they formulate and the theories they apply. First, the problem refers to the description of the main character. Second, the problem refers to the revelation of the conflicts the main character owns. Third, the problem refers to the messages obtained after analyzing the previous problems. While, there are three theories Purnami and Dahat employ

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in doing the discussion i.e. the theory of character and characterization, the theory of conflict, and the theory of message.

Purnami’s study on Stevenson’s novel entitled The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde that talks about the duality aspects of human nature focuses on the figures of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde as the main character. The study purely concern with the content of the story itself without employing any external aspects

such as the society, the author’s biography as its reference. The writer, therefore, applies the objective criticism as the approach since this approach emphasizes on the work it self.

The two names mentioned above actually refer to the same person in that Dr. Jeckyll represents the good side, while Mr. Hyde represents the evil side. Purnami then tries to reveal three conflicts the main character own by having the

double life. The first conflict is the main’s character internal conflict in that he

feels guilty and suffers from the things he has done. The conflict between Dr. Jeckyll and another person is the second conflict. Dr. Jeckyll lies to Mr. Utterson, his old friend, about his secret therefore Mr. Utterson gets angry at him. The third conflict is the conflict between Dr. Jeckyll and God. He regrets doing his experiment that has opposed what God has determined. He finally feels depressed and asks help from God to release him from his suffering.

As the result of her analysis toward the main character and his conflicts, the writer then states the message ofStevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. The message mentioned by the writer is that there are always two sides or personalities in human being, bad and good side, that are inseparable.

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The next review will be on Dahat’s work in revealing the messages of

Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. It is the tragic story of Jude, a working-class man who aspires to be a clergy but is thwarted by the social system and his entanglement with woman and also about his love affair with his own cousin that causes trouble and misery due to the social disapproval. This study is different

from Purnami’s in which it applies the sociocultural-historical approach since the study deals with the sociocultural-historical context of the novel that was written during the Victorian age. Therefore, Dahat also gives the review on Victorian society in her undergraduate thesis.

The first analysis about the main character’s description show that Jude

Fawley is actually honest, compassionate, honorable, hard working, persistent, and ambitious. He undergoes internal and external conflicts. His internal conflicts lay on his personalities as a conventional, religious, and traditional Victorian that leads him to his ambition to be a clergy. However, he immediately turns to be skeptical and embittered about his conviction by the influence of Sue Bridehead. In the other words, the internal conflict of the main character is the collision

between Jude’s intellectual and emotional sides. Meanwhile, the external conflicts

are shown through his conflict with the society that disapproves his love affair with his cousin. It means that it is the conflict between individual and society.

The analysis of the main character and his internal and external conflicts recited in the story enable Dahat to reveal the message. According to her, it is

revealed that Hardy’s Jude the Obscuretries to suggest a refinement of Victorian social system from the snobbish, rigid, and orthodox social system into a

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democratic and liberal one. Besides, the novel can be seen as a criticism toward the snobbery, rigidity, orthodoxy, hypocrisy and prudery of Victorian social system.

Learning about the two review studies above, the writer then states that this undergraduate thesis will not be totally similar to the previous studies. Unlike both the reviews that convey only one message, this undergraduate thesis will try to convey any possible messages revealed through the analysis of the main character and his conflicts in the novel under study. Another thing that distinguishes this study with the other two is the type of the novel. Both the previous studies deployed the adult novel, while this study deploys children novel to be analyzed. The writer, therefore, tries to reveal messages that are not only appropriate for adult but also children.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

Characters are usually the key to a writing and become the simplest place to start a story. It should be noticed at first that characters are not the same as people. People are in life, while characters are in fiction. However, characters are

very ‘life-like’ so that when you read about them, you will feel that you know them like a person in life (Grenville, 1998: 35-36).

An author has provided the characters with motivation which can be defined as sufficient reason to behave as they do. The readers then are asked to understand these characters and their motivation. The motivation itself can be

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distinguished into two: specific motivation and basic motivation. Specific motivation is his or her immediate reason, perhaps unconscious, for any particular speech or act, whereas, basic motivation is an aspect of his or her general character (Stanton, 1965:17).

Characters can be categorized into vary types. Roger B. Henkle, for instance, in his book Reading the Novel (1981:82) differs characters into major and minor character. Major character (main character) is the most important in the story. His role is significant so that the story is about this character who appears from the beginning to the end of the story. This character draws our fullest attention because he or she performs a key of structural function; with whom we build expectations and desires. While, minor character only performs a more limited function in the story. This character may be less sophisticated so that his or her responses to the experience are less common complex and interesting.

Other types of characters are introduced by E.M. Forster in his book Aspects of the Novel as quoted by Roberts and Jacobs inFiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (1989: 120-122). It is mentioned that there are two types of characters those are round and flat character. Round characters are usually the major figure in a story. They have many realistic traits and are relatively fully developed by the author. They are often called hero or heroine. Round characters posses many individual and unpredictable human traits. Since they demonstrate their capacity to change and grow, they may be considered as dynamic. Therefore, a round character stands out and totally identifiable within the class, occupation, or circumstances in which she or he included. Flat characters, otherwise, are

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usually minor characters although not all minor characters are flat. They are undistinguishable from their class or group. We understand little about their traits and lives. Unlike the round characters who are dynamic, this type of character is static since they are not developed and do not change or grow.

The term stock characters is also found in this theory to show the type of character who performs in the repeating situations and have many common or outstanding traits (for examples are the clown, the revenger, the foolish boss, the macho male, etc). They are given the label stereotype because they all seem to be cast in the same mold.

Authors use many different ways to convey information about characters in fiction through the methods of characterizing which is often called characterization. Grenville states:

“Characterization is all the things writers do to build up the characters they want. Characterization is the process that transforms real-life people into characters in fiction (1998: 36).”

M. J. Murphy’s Understanding Unseens (1972: 161-173) includes the theory of characterization and he proposes nine methods to disclose the characters. Below are those nine methods:

a. Personal description

The character is personally described by using the appearance (skin color, hair, eyes, nose, hands, and the other parts of the body) and clothes (how she or he wears the cloth and what kind of cloth she or he wears).

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b. Characters as seen by another

By using this method, the readers are able to describe the certain character

through the other’s character opinion, view, attitudes, and comments to that character.

c. Speech

The conversations (even if the character do monologue) that are made by the author allow the readers to notice how the characters speak or say about something so that they give information about the characters.

d. Past life

This methods invites the readers to describe the characters through their past life or experiences.

e. Conversation of other

The author describes the characteristics of a character through the conversation done by others and their saying about him or her.

f. Reaction

The readers are able to obtained information about the character by analyzing his or her reactions while facing some events, incidents, or cases.

g. Direct comment

This method will be easier than the other since the author gives the description about the characters directly.

h. Thoughts

In this case, the author describes the character of a character through his or her thoughts that may be presented from the speech or attitude.

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i. Mannerism

The characters are described by the author through their mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies.

According to Abrams, however, there are two methods of characterization: showing or dramatic method and telling method. In the first method, the author presents the characters talking and acting and leaves the reader to infer what motives and dispositions lay behind what they say and do. Whereas, in the second method, the author intervenes authoritatively in order to describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the characters (1981:21).

2. Theory of Conflict

Conflict is the most significant element and the essence of plot which is also considered as a necessary element in fiction. The reason that conflict is the major ingredient in a plot is that once two forces are in opposition, there may be doubt about the outcome. The doubt, if the readers become interested and engaged with the characters, produces curiosity and also tension. The interest of a highly contested game is also generated by a conflict in a story. The conflict should be a contest, an engagement between characters or forces of approximately equal strength. The point is that unless there is doubt there is tension, and unless there is tension there is no interest (Roberts and Jacobs,1989:99).

Further, Virgil Scott adds that conflict must be handled in certain ways in order to make it convincing and effective. Therefore, he writes in his bookStudies in the Short Storiesbasic principles that should be noticed by a writer if they want

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to arouse and maintain a reader’s interest in a story. First, the conflict in a story must be significant. It means that as a result of given conflict, the character or characters involved there will never again be quite the same people as they were before the incident occurred. Second, there must be a unity of the conflict, the characters, the theme, the symbols, and the point of view, and the other literary devices. They must be interrelated, functional, and necessary to achieving the

story’s basic purpose or effect. Unity, in the term of conflict, means that each development in the conflict of a story must follow logically and inevitably from the preceding development (1968:3-4).

There are various ways used by the author to arrange the events. In the narrative structure, the author will usually begin the story by giving the reader information which he must have before he can understand the conflict that follows. This part is called exposition. The section called the rising actions follows just after the exposition. Here, the author proceeds to introduce the complication or conflict. The resolution or denouement takes place after that. It is the climax that will be the turning point of the action which will lead to that section. The reader will be led to an understanding of some kind of disclosure (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971:21). Such this plot above is noted by Koesnosoebroto in his book The Anatomy of Prose Fiction as the conventional plot. This type of plot places conflict at the core of it (1988:43).

Rohrberger and Woods suggest us that conflict is not only a struggle between people. The protagonist may be in conflict with fate, the gods, environment, and even with a part of himself with conflicting value systems or

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desires. Another possibility is that his inner conflict may be in objectified in a conflict with someone or something outside himself.

The same idea is contributed by Koesnosoebroto by claiming that a conflict may be physical, moral, psychological, intellectual, or spiritual contest between antagonistic forces. What he means by antagonistic forces are internal conflict between aspects of the personality or external conflict between a person and external forces such as another person, society, environment, nature, the universe, and God. He then specifies his explanation by employing the types of conflict that he adopts from other writer. Below are those types of conflict:

a. a conflict of man-against-man when the main character is pitted against some other some other person or group of persons

b. a conflict of man-against-environment when the main character is confronted against some external forces (physical nature, society, or fate)

c. a conflict of man-against-himself (the internal conflict) when the main character is confronted against some elements in his own nature

Moreover, he states:

“An external conflict may be a projection of internal conflict.

Whatever, a major function of conflict is to clarify the issue or problem. At moments of great conflict, characters reveal themselves more clearly, plot moves through its most significant action, and theme arises most evidently from its context

(1988:43).”

The term internal and external conflicts are also deployed by Redman in categorizing conflict. Internal or inner conflict refers to a struggle within the heart and mind of the protagonist. While external conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and an outside force. In his opinion, conflict is resolved when one

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force usually the protagonist succeeds or fails in overcoming the opposing force. The protagonist sometimes gives up the struggle as too difficult or not worthwhile (1964:363).

Holman and Harmon also contribute four different kinds of conflict. They are a struggle against nature, a struggle against another person usually the antagonist, a struggle against society, and a struggle for mastery by two elements within the person (1986: 107).

Meanwhile, Stanton affirms that internal conflict, external conflict, or even both of them reduce to the central conflict. The central conflict is the core of the

story’s structure or the generating center out of which the plots grows. It is possible to have more than one conflict or force in the story, still the central conflict that fully accounts for the events of the plot. The central conflict of a story, therefore, is intimately related to its theme. In the other words, both of them may be identical (1965:16).

3. Theory of Message

One of the purposes why a literary work is written by an author is to offer kind of ideal life the author expects. It contains of moral application in the character’s attitude. Through the story and the character’s attitude, the readers then are expected to be able to take lesson from the moral values that are delivered. Moral, in a literary work, can be viewed as message (Nurgiyantoro, 2007:321).

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Message is something that the author would like to convey to the reader. It is the meaning of the story or the meaning that is suggested through the story. Message is sometimes considered identical with theme since both of them are something contained in the story and can be interpreted from the story. However, message and theme do not always refer to the same thing. Theme is different from moral in that it is not only more complex than moral but also does not have meaning or direct value as suggestion for the reader. Hence, message or moral can be judged as one form of theme but in the simple way. It should be noticed then that not all theme are message (Nurgiyantoro, 2007:320).

The same concept is told by Stanton by stating that theme contains reevaluation or judgment of moral or message direct or indirectly (1965:4, 19) and message can be seen as one form of theme (1966:899). Meanwhile, Beaty and Hunter try to assert the difference between theme and message more clearly,

“While message seeks to inform and convince, theme seeks to have you comprehend and empathize, so that the information or the ideas are less directly

articulated, or more broadly accessible (1989:899).”

It is revealed by Roman Jacobson as quoted by Jeremy Hawthorn in A Concise Glossary of Contemporary Literature that sending the message is the general function of language. Therefore, it needs several requirements in order to be more operative. There are six factors that determine the effectiveness of message those are addressers who sends the message, the message itself, addressee who receives the message, context in which the message referred to, code being used for the meaning of a particular word, and contact both physical or

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psychological connection between addresser and addressee to stay in communication.

“The addresser sends a message to theaddressee. To be operative the message requires a context referred to, sizable by the addressee, and either verbal or capable of being verbalized; a code fully, or at least partially, common to the addresser and addressee…, and finally a contact, a physical channel and psychological connection between the addresser and the addressee, enabling both of them to enter and stay in communication (Hawthorn, 1992: 73-74).”

The message or moral that is offered in the literary work, especially

fiction, is always related to human’s noble characters and has universal

characteristic. Its universality means that it does not only refer to individual or a group of people but also to the all human being in this universe. Therefore, the truth will be accepted universally. Furthermore, we should be aware that the message in the fiction conforms to the nature of human being characters and not to the rules or regulation which are created, determined, and judged by human being. Besides, the message of fiction is not always in accordance with the religion law since fiction indeed is not religion (Nurgiyantoro, 2007:322).

According to Nurgiyantoro, a novel can propose more than one message. Still there will be major and minor message. Kinds of messages or moral themselves may includes conflicts owned by human being i.e. the conflict between man and himself, the conflict between man and other people or nature, and the

conflicts between man and God. The reader’s task is to recognize and take lesson from the messages then (Nurgiyantoro, 2007: 333-334).

Therefore, the reader needs to recognize the author’s method in delivering

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delivered by the author through direct and indirect form. Direct form means the message is conveyed directly and explicitly by the author. Here, the author seems to teach the reader and gives his advice straightly. This method is communicative in that the reader enable to understand and comprehend what the author intends to say easily (2007:335-336). In comparison to the previous form, indirect form means the message is implied in the story and fuse coherently with the other elements of the story. This method allows the reader to determine his own message. Unlike the direct method, the indirect method is less communicative in

that the reader can not always able to reach the author’s intention. Therefore, it

may cause misunderstanding (2007: 339-340).

C. Review on Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that has been long known as a major black cultural and business center. It stretches from the East River to the Hudson River. However, the history began as the first European, Hendrick de Forest, and the Dutch settlers came there in 1637. The area was repeatedly savaged by Native Americans, leading many Dutch to abandon it. The settlement was formalized then in 1058 as Nieuw Harlem (New Harlem) after the Dutch city of Harlem under the leadership of Peter Suyvesant.

Harlem was a synonym for elegant living through a good part of the nineteenth century. In the early years of that century, Harlem remained a place of farms. As late as 1820, the community had only 91 families. In 1811, New York City (NYC) planning commission opined that Harlem would not be developed for

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over a hundred years. The New York and Harlem Railroad (now Metro North) was incorporated in 1831 to better link the city with the suburb. In the years between about 1850-1870, he village of Harlem declined. Many large estates were auction off as the soil was depleted and the corps yields fell.

Recovery came when elevated railroads were extended to Harlem in 1880. With the construction of the ells, urbanized development occurred very rapidly with townhouses, apartments, and tenements springing up practically overnight. However, the construction glut and a delay in the building of the subway led to a fall in real estate price with attracted Eastern European Jews to Harlem in large number in 1917. Presaging the later response to the arrival of black Harlemist, existing landowners tried to stop Jews from moving in to the neighborhood.

Small groups of black people lived in Harlem as early as 1880. The mass immigration of blacks into the area begin in 1904, thanks to another real estate crash, the worsening of condition for blacks elsewhere in the city, and the leadership of black real estate entrepreneur named Phillip Payton, Jr. Harlem experienced another real estate bust in 1904-1905; after the collapse of the 1890, new speculation and construction started up again in 1903 and the resulting glut of housing led to a crash in values that eclipsed the late 19th century slowdown. Landlords could not find white renters for their properties so Phillip Payton stepped in to bring black.

During World War I, black laborers were actively recruited to leave the southern US and work in northern factories, thinly staffed because of the war. So many came that it threatened the very existence of some of the leading industries

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of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Many came to Harlem. By 1920, central Harlem was predominantly black and by 1930 blacks lived as far south at Central Park. The expansion was fueled primarily by the influx of blacks from West Indies and Southern US. As blacks moved in, white resident left.

The period of Harlem’s history has been highly romanticized since the

1920 then although it was the time when the neighborhood to become a slum and some of the storied traditions of the Harlem Renaissance were driven by poverty, crime, or other social ills. Indeed, since the arrival of blacks in Harlem, the neighborhood has suffered from the unemployment than the NY average (generally more than twice as high) and high mortality rates as well. The people also suffer from infectious disease and diseases of the circulatory system with a variety of contributing factors including the deep fried foods traditional to the neighborhood which may contribute to heart disease. Yet, black Harlem has always been religious, and the area is home to over 400 churches.

Furthermore, it is not surprisingly, as a neighborhood with a long history of marginalization economic deprivation, Harlem has long been associated with

crime. In the 1920’s, he Jewish and Italian mafia played a major role in running the white- only night clubs in the neighborhood and the speakeasies that catered to a white audience. Mobster Dutch Shultz controlled all liquor production and

distribution in Harlem in 1920’s. Rather than compete with the established mobs, black gangsters concentrated on the "policy racket," also called the Numbers game, or "bolita" in Spanish Harlem. This was gambling scheme similar to a lottery that could be played, illegally, from countless locations around Harlem.

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The popularity of playing the numbers waned with the introduction of the New York State lottery, which has higher payouts and is legal, but the practice continues on a smaller scale among those who prefer the numbers tradition or who prefer to trust their local numbers bank over the state.

In 1940 statistics show about 100 murders per year in Harlem, but rape is very rare. By 1950, essentially all of the whites had left Harlem and by 1960, the black middle class had gone. At the same time, control of organized crime shifted from Jewish and Italian syndicates to local black, Puerto Rican, and Cuban groups that were somewhat less formally organized. At the time of the 1964 riots, the drug addiction rate in Harlem was ten times higher than the New York City average, and twelve times higher than the United States as a whole. Of the 30,000 drug addicts then estimated to live in New York City, 15,000 to 20,000 lived in Harlem. Property crime was pervasive, and the murder rate was six times higher than New York's average. Half of the children in Harlem grew up with one parent, or none, and lack of supervision contributed to juvenile delinquency; between 1953 and 1962, the crime rate among young people increased throughout New York City, but was consistently 50% higher in Harlem than in New York City as a whole. Injecting heroin grew in popularity in Harlem through the 1950s and 1960s, though the use of this drug then leveled off. In the 1980s, use of crack cocaine became widespread, which produced collateral crime as addicts stole to finance their purchasing of additional drugs, and as dealers fought for the right to sell in particular regions, or over deals gone bad.

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Finally, the recent history shows that Harlem began to see rapid gentrification in the late 1990s after years of false starts. This was driven by changing federal and city policies, including fierce crime-fighting and a concerted effort to develop the retail corridor on 125th Street. Starting in 1994, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone funneled money into new developments. Finally, wealthier New Yorkers, having gentrified every other part of Manhattan and much of Brooklyn, had nowhere else to go. The number of housing units in Harlem increased 14% between 1990 and 2000 and the rate of increase has been much more rapid in recent years. Property values in Central Harlem increased nearly 300% during the 1990s, while the rest of the City saw only a 12% increase. Even empty shells of buildings in the neighborhood were, as of 2007, routinely selling for nearly $1,000,000 each. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has rented office space at 55 West 125th Street since completing his second term in the White House in 2001.

D. Theoretical Framework

Concerning to the analysis of main character and his conflicts in revealing the messages of the story, three theories illustrated in the previous section i.e. the theory of character and characterization, the theory of conflicts, and the theory of message are going to be the bases to answer the problem formulation. Each theory has their own contributions to this discussion and therefore they will be very helpful.

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The theory of the character and characterization, especially Murphy’s theory, is very helpful in giving description of the main character in the story. This

theory enables the writer to consider the main character’s personal description,

speech, thought, manner and reaction as the method in disclosing his figure. Meanwhile, the theory of conflict guides the writer to differentiate any conflicts that are undergone by the main character. By distinguishing the conflicts, the analysis will be well-arranged and will not be confusing. Finally, the last theory that is the theory of message helps the writer to consider what way used by the author to convey the message and to determine the possible messages that can be drawn from the story. This theory also eases the writer to distinguish the major and minor message.

Besides the three theories, the writer assumes that the review on Harlem society also plays important role in this discussion. The function of Harlem as the setting of the story will give us clear depiction and explanation that base the main

character’s attitude and enable us to understand the conflicts happen to the main

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The writer would like to employ a novel written by Walter Dean Myers to be the object of this study. The title of the novel is Scorpions and its first publication was in 1988. Yet, this study refers to the first Harper Trophy edition in 1990 that contains 216 pages.

The novel Scorpionsis categorized into a young-adult fiction that tells the story of a poor young black kid named Jamal who lives in Harlem. The story itself

gets much impact from the author’s own life experience of growing up in Harlem.

It explains how Myers can create good depictions of the setting. Myers is also

good in creating a strong character of Jamal who is able to attract the readers’

attention because of his effort to survive for living in this black poverty society. Jamal Hicks, as recited in the novel, was asked by Randy, his brother who got in jail, to replace him in leading the gang, Scorpions. Once Jamal did not want

to hang out with this gang, but Randy’s best friend, Mack convinced him by telling him that the Scorpions could make money for Randy’s appeal. Mack even

gave Jamal a piece. Jamal planned to throw it away after shooting it, but he always delayed to do that since he figured out that people would not mess up with him as long as the piece was with him. Unfortunately, that piece brought him and his best friend, Tito, into a tragedy in the night when Jamal would like to give his position as the leader to Indian, one of the Scorpions. Indian and Angel messed up with

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Jamal. Tito, who was hiding and observing the fight, shot Angel suddenly. After realizing what had just happened, both Jamal and Tito ran away without looking back.

There are many valuable things from this novel that can be learnt by the readers, especially children, since the story is very close with the society. Finally,

Myers’ talent in writing such a wonderful story that shows his concern toward social problems brought him to receive a Newbery Honor recognition in 1989. It is only one of his various great achievements in writing.

B. Approach of the Study

It is necessary to apply an appropriate literary criticism in analyzing and evaluating a literary work. Since this study would like to analyze the intrinsic elements of the fiction that are character, conflict, and message, the appropriate approach chosen by the writers is the formalistic approach. This approach, as explained by Marry Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, examines the literary work without any reference to the facts of

the author’s life, to the genre of the work or the place in the development of the

genre in literary history, and to its social milieu (1971: 7).

Guerin in his book A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literaturealso mentions about this approach. He affirms:

“As its name suggests formalistic criticism has its sole object the

discovery and explanation of form in the library work. This approach assumes the autonomy of the work itself and thus the relative

importance of extra literary considerations such as the author’s life, his

time, sociological, political, economic, or psychological implications

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Both explanations above show that formalistic approach refers to the literary work itself as the main source of the study. By applying this approach, the writer does not need additional texts that come from outside the novel because all the information and evidences needed are explored from the fiction work.

C. Method of the Study

There are some steps that can be applied as the method in composing this thesis. The writer used library research that would supply two sources, primary and secondary sources, to support the analysis of the chosen topic. The primary

source was the novel itself, Walter Dean Myers’s Scorpions. Meanwhile, the secondary sources were some internet sites and some books such as Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms, Murphy’s Understanding Unseens, Rohrberger and

Woods’ Reading and Writing about Literature.

The first step the writer did was to read the novel for several times. After that, the writer formulated the problems that enabled the writer in achieving the main purpose of this study. The next thing to do was conducting the library research to collect all the supporting data that were needed such as the theories and the approach.

Doing the analysis was the next step. Here, the writer would pay attention thoroughly to the text. The analysis that was done was the answers for each problem mentioned in the problem formulation. Therefore, the first analysis was to describe the main character physically and psychologically. The writer then

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analyzes the main character’s conflicts by categorizing them into internal and external conflicts. After both analyses were done well, the writer finally was going to identify any possible messages that could be drawn from the story.

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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

As we come to the analysis part, it is better for the writer to give brief introduction regarding the content of it. Here, the answers of the three problems formulation as mentioned in the first chapter will be given. To specify the answers of each question, this analysis part will be divided into three divisions. First division is to answer problem formulation number one that is to describe the main character that is Jamal. The next division will explicate the conflicts the main character owns. The third division is to see the possible messages that can be drawn from the previous analysis.

1. The description of the main character

a. Physical description

The novel Scopions employs a young black man of twelve as its main character. His name is Jamal Hicks. This boy lives only with his mother, brother, and sister. He is no longer stay with his father. Mama has left Jevon Hicks, their father, since Jamal and his siblings were still babies. Jamal is the second child in the family after his big brother, Randy. Apart from this, Jamal has interest on art, above all on drawing and painting. He is excited to have some real paints, a real paint brush, and plain white papers. It seems that he is serious with his hobby.

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Unlike his sister, Sassy, who resembles their father, Jamal tends to resemble their mother. Their mother or Mama, as Jamal and Sassy call her, is described by Jamal as a pretty and strong woman who looks like the African women he has seen in the magazines. Jamal is the same deep brown as she is. In his age of twelve, Jamal is only a little bit shorter than Mama. Another description is that Jamal has wide eyes like Mama and Sassy.

b. Personality description

The first thing the readers may notice about this main character is his courage. He never steps back in facing those who try to make him feels small inside and weak no matter how old, big, and tough they are. Jamal has a good self defense since he does not want to be underestimated and considered as a weak and coward.

Jamal’s courage is clearly depicted when he faces Dwayne. Dwayne is

Jamal’s classmate with whom Jamal has quarrel. Unless nobody pays him any attention, he will start a mess on Jamal. There is no day in school when Dwayne does not bother Jamal. He always finds something on Jamal to be insulted and laughed. Jamal, in this case, does not let Dwayne do that to him. Jamal will

replies Dwayne’s insults until there will be quarrel between them. The quarrel

often continues to be fighting if Dwayne has not been satisfied yet. Jamal, in the other side, is never scared with Dwayne’s challenge to fight. He realizes that Dwayne is much bigger and tougher than him since Dwayne is two years older than him, however, Jamal does not really care about that. He even does not care

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whether he will win or lose in fighting. “Even if he lost it didn’t make any difference to Jamal, because you couldn’t get hurt that much in a fight with just fists (p. 100).” It is rather about pride, dignity and courage. Jamal needs to proof

that he can maintain his pride and dignity, he has power, and he is not a coward.

Another proof of Jamal’s courage is his attitude in dealing with the

Scorpions who are older, bigger, and tougher than Jamal. They also have had crime records. Jamal figures out that they do not like him to be the next leader of Scorpions therefore they try to mess with him. They try to force Jamal and make him gives up, but Jamal does not step back. He keeps standing on his feet to answer their questions explicitly.

The two examples above are able to represent how brave and tough Jamal is. They show how Jamal always has courage in dealing with the harsh and hard condition of his surrounding. His courage enables him to do something no matter what. He is ready to take serious risk. He does not want to let other people underestimate him because of his weakness. It can be seen also here that Jamal does not want to be inferior.

Moreover, Jamal does not take after his brother, Randy, in that he has no interest to commit crime basically. He struggles to keep away from any bad things that may bring him into trouble. He will think about Mama before doing something even when he finally decides to join the gang.

At home, Jamal and his sister, Sassy, share the house work since Mama has to go to work for a whole day. As a brother, Jamal would like to watch Sassy. He will remind Sassy to do his homework and wake up her if she falls asleep

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while watching television. Before playing to Tito’s house after school, Jamal

usually checks his sister at home first. Jamal understands that he should do all these stuff to relief Mama’s burden.

In order to make Mama happy, Jamal encourages himself to go to school although he is tired of school actually. He can not figure out any interesting things to do at school excluding drawing and painting. According to him, the activities are too monotonous there. As the consequences, he can not focus at class and sometimes do mistakes unexpectedly therefore the principal warns him or call Jamal to his room in order to advise Jamal.

Even if he is often involved in quarrel with his classmate, Dwayne, it is not because Jamal is a naughty kid but it is rather Dwayne who starts the mess.

Jamal’s resistance over Dwayne is just to show that he is not a coward.

Jamal also sacrifices his sentiment toward his father in order not to make Mama feel bad. Jamal knows that Mama is happy every time she has his husband home. Jamal would not like to ruin that happiness therefore he controls himself not to get fresh at his father although he does not like the way his father underestimates him.

Principally, Jamal always be nice to any body unless one tries to mess with him. He is not a trouble maker anyway. Toward Mack, for instance, Jamal treats him kindly although he does not really like Mack. According to Jamal, Mack is different from anyone Jamal has ever met. He has a strange way of talking, running his word together so that it was hard to understand him. Sometimes it

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seems that he also has trouble to understand something. In the other word, Mack is not so smart. Yet, Jamal does not underestimate him because of his weaknesses.

Another quality of Jamal that we can draw from the story is that Jamal is a fast learner. It can be seen through his attitude in analyzing his experiences. It is revealed in the story that Jamal is tired of school therefore he can not focus himself to the lessons taught by the teachers in the classroom. Probably, we can then presume that his academic achievement is not really good. Still it does not guarantee that Jamal is stupid. Jamal can learn everywhere from what he experiences. Jamal’s lessons are gained from his daily experiences. He soon analyzes what he has observed or undergone and makes his own conclusions as the values to remember.

First experience that teaches Jamal takes place at school. In one occasion, Jamal struggled not to come late to school, as he usually did, after the lunch. Then he made sure to walk to Mr. Davidson, the principal, so he would notice that he is was not late. Unfortunately, the principal did not notice that and did not say anything. On the contrary, the principal would immediately warn him when he did not come to school on time. Jamal, therefore, was very disappointed. Through this experience, Jamal soon figured out that everybody would put their mouth on you when you did something wrong. The other way, everybody acted like it was not anything special when you did something good.

Jamal’s involvement with the gang contributes another lesson for Jamal.

He observed how the Scorpions were scared of Mack although he was not too smart. In his age of sixteen and as the oldest of the Scorpions, Mack’s attitude did

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not reflect his age. It seems as if he was in the third grade or something because of the way he talked and did. In the other side, Jamal noticed that the other Scorpions, who were even much smarter, bigger, and tougher than Mack, really respected him. Therefore, Jamal concluded that guys who were tough seem tougher when they were not too smart.

Jamal himself does not really know about Mack’s life actually. Yet, he

knows that Mack had been in juvenile home and in Spofford twice. It means that Mack has crime records that are enough to make the others are afraid of him. The

Scorpions does not consider Mack weakness but his ‘achievements’ in the

criminal world that become his strengths. Jamal immediately realizes that someone does not have to be too smart or excellent in order to be respected. He just needs to show or prove that he is powerful so that everybody will be afraid to underestimate him.

Like the other human being, Jamal also has hope, expectation, or dream although the poverty he should deal with does not do much to make someone get what they want. Having the hope, expectation, or dream reflects his spirit in

enduring his life. Besides, his admiration toward Mama’s figure encourages him

to give her many things in order to make her happy and proud of him. First thing he would like to do is to buy Mama a recording machine therefore both Mama and he can enjoy watching good movie together at home. This imagination appears in the beginning of the story as Jamal saw Sassy watched some stupid program on television. Check these lines:

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“When he got a job, he was going to buy one of those recording

machines. Then he and Mama could go and get movies and watch them instead of all the stupid stuff they had on regular television.

He thought about how he would tell Mama he had the

money for the recording machine. Maybe he wouldn’t tell her- just

go out and buy it for her and bring it on the house (p. 4).”

Later, while thinking about the two thousand dollars, that is the money to get Randy out, he imagines another thing he would like to do to with the money. He will use the money to buy a car, a used car or a nearly new car. He will allow Mama to drive it if he does not have a driving license yet. They will also drive that car to visit Randy in jail then.

“The thought of having a car made him smile. Maybe he couldn’t

get a new car, but he could get a nearly new car. He imagined himself driving it. In two years he would be fourteen and still

couldn’t get a license, but he could let Mama drive it and he could sit up front with her and Sassy sit in the back. Maybe they could go upstate in the car to see Randy. Randy would look out the window

and see him sitting in the car. He would be sitting in the driver’s

seat too (p.124).”

Jamal and Tito also dream to have their own yachts as they saw a small boat with black and gold trim in the harbor while they were walking around there. Tito liked that boat therefore he planned to have such that boat as his first boat. Tito preferred having the small boat first to the big one since he ought to save his money first. Jamal, on the contrary, preferred having the big boat first to the small one. According to Jamal, there was no difference whether they should have the big boat or the small one first. Imagined that there would be a war, the enemy would bomb everything the rich people got including the boats. Unfortunately, they have not realized their dreams yet since Tito has to leave for Puerto Rico.

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After all, Jamal undergoes a significant character development in that he is

going to be mature and tougher. Here, the readers are invited to believe that one’s

age does not always represent his maturity. There are many factors that are able to create someone to be more mature. Jamal, for instance, undergoes such this character development because of many problems and difficulties happen on him and the family. He accustomed to be independent in overcoming all those problems therefore he is trained to be tough. Perhaps, he has not acted like a man yet as his father supposes, but he is learning to act like a man.

Making his own decision is an example of Jamal’s maturity. Here, he

learns about responsibility. He must deal with the consequences later on. His decision to join the Scorpions means he should be ready to be arrested by the police or to be killed while running the business as a drugs dealer one day; his decision to accept the gun and keep it with him means he should be ready if someday the gun will lead him into a big trouble; his decision to head the gun at Dwayne means he should ready to receive any punishment if he is proved guilty. Jamal realizes all those consequences from the beginning.

Jamal also presents his maturity through his attitude in that he is able to give in to his ego. It is revealed in the story how Jamal hates his brother and father because of their conducts that make Mama sad and feel bad. He, however, does not let his hate takes control over him. He realizes that hatred can do nothing to overcome the problems. There is another thing which is more important to do that

is to lighten Mama’s burden by helping her in earning money for his brother’s

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makes a sacrifice by replacing Randy’s position as the leader of the Scorpions. He himself does not like to have business with any gang actually since he is afraid to have the same fate as his brother. It means that he will hurt Mama again. By joining the gang, he learns how to lead and make up decision for the gang’s importance.

Taking over the Scorpions is not the only way to get the money. Jamal also finds himself a job. He works as a package deliverer for Mr. Gonzalez store. He just receives fifteen dollars from Mr. Gonzalez and some tips from the customers. Jamal works hard and never complains about his job no matter how heavy the

goods he should deliver. Again, this depiction also implies Jamal’s toughness. Finding a job can be considered as Jamal’s way to prove to his father that

he is not a spoil kid as his father assumes so far. Jamal’s hatred toward his father has encouraged him to be better although Mama does not know about that. He understands that Mama still misses his husband to be with her therefore he is happy to have his visiting. Jamal does not want to ruin Mama’s time by making her feels bad by getting fresh toward his father. Here, we can see how Jamal is

able to give in for the sake of Mama’s happiness.

According to the writer, the sacrifices done by Jamal as described above have represented his maturity. There is value implied on it in that Jamal is able to distinguish which one is more important to do. He does not mind to spent his time, power, and thought to overcome the problems happen to his family.

Beside all the strengths Jamal has as explained above, Jamal has several weaknesses we need to know. That Jamal is an introvert is one of his weaknesses

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the writer analyzes through his attitudes. There is connection between such this

attitude and Jamal’s huge love toward Mama. Mama is someone whom Jamal loves the most. After her separation with his husband, she works hard in order to fulfill the daily needs for Jamal and his siblings. Jamal sees Mama sometimes comes late to home since there are more jobs she should do. Jamal understands that it is not easy for Mama to be a single parent since she has to take all responsibilities over her children and house works. Jamal, therefore, does as best as he can to help Mama with the house works. He does not want to see Mama gets upset and feel bad because of his attitudes.

This background is one of the reasons why Jamal become an introvert person. He keeps all his problems and difficulties by himself and then tells Mama

that everything is okay. He does not want to add Mama’s burden by thinking of his problems although Jamal himself does not sure about what he should do to deal with his problems. He does not tell Mama how he hates his brother and father because of their deeds that make Mama sad; he does not tell Mama about he hanging around the gang; he does not tell Mama that he hates school; he does not tell Mama about fighting with his classmates; he does not tell Mama that he has a gun, and many others. He even will reprimand his sister, Sassy, if she tells Mama honestly everything she knows that may causes Mama gets stressed and think hard.

It is only Tito, Jamal’s best friend, who knows Jamal problems. Still Tito

does not know exactly what Jamal thinks and feels. Jamal keeps his fear inside his heart. He always shows that he is not a coward and convinces Tito that he can

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handle his all problems. Jamal does not intend to be a hypocrite in front of Tito by having such this attitude. Jamal has his own reason for this. First, Tito will immediately turn to be panic or afraid if he knows they are in big trouble therefore Jamal prefers not to tell the truth to his friend. Second, Jamal himself does not want to be looked weak.

Talking further about Jamal’s weaknesses, it is better for us to consider

that Jamal is only a naive boy in the beginning. He considers that he can be a good boy as Mama expects by keeping his self away from crime although the family lives in poverty and his surrounding may support him to commit crime. He does what Mama wants and even convinces her that he will not hang out to any gang or any body.

Eventually, Jamal realizes that the poverty can not do much to help the

family in releasing Jamal’s brother, Randy, who is in charge for killing the

delicatessen owner. The family needs two thousand dollars to pay down the lawyer so he could make the appeal for Randy. It is a big number for them therefore Mama works harder to earn more money. In the same time, Mack,

Randy’s friend and also the Scorpion, tells Jamal to take over the Scorpions to

replace Randy for a while. Mack says that it is what Randy wants. Mack promises Jamal that the Scorpions will make money for the appeal. Hearing this, Jamal no longer keeps his words in that he will not hang out with the gang. Actually, Jamal is not sure about taking over the Scorpions, however he determines that it is the easiest way to get much money in the short time therefore he should not see

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Finally, the messages can be drawn after analyzing the main character’s qualities and conflicts. The writer considers that the messages are delivered indirectly by the author anyway. This way is less communicative therefore there can be misunderstanding in determining the messages. Hence, the messages mentioned in this discussion are considered as the possible messages. Firstly, there is a message that encourages us to survive in any condition especially in harsh time. We should not have to hide from the reality but face it bravely. Moreover, it is better for us to show our confidence, courage or power therefore other people do not underestimate us. Secondly, it is better for us to communicate any difficulties or problems happen to us. We should not have to keep our problems ourselves. Although we are sure that we can bear the problems ourselves, it does not mean that our own decision will solve them well. We sometimes need other people’s suggestion as consideration before making up final decision. It is not wrong to share our burden to other people that we can trust so that it is felt lighter. Lastly, the story try to convey that commit crime is not the final choice while dealing with poverty. Committing crime is only a way to get what we want in the short time, but it does not overcome poverty. It may make everything becomes even worse. There are other positive ways we can do if we can apply the talent that God has given maximally.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 6th edition. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1981.

Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 7th edition. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

Beaty, Jerome and J. Paul Hunter. New Worlds of Literature. New York: W. W. Norton Company, Inc., 1987.

Dahat, Helena Patricia. “The Revelation of Message through the Main Characters and the Conflicts of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2004.

Davidson, G.W., M.A. Seaton, and J. Simpson. Concise English Dictionary. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, Ltd., 1994.

Forster, E.M.Aspects of the Novel. Hammondsport: Penguin Books, 1974.

Grenville, Kate.The Writing Book: A Workbook for Fiction Writers. St. Leonards: Allen&Unwin, 1998.

Guerin, L. Wilfred. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper&Row Publisher, Inc., 1979.

Hawtorn, Jeremy. A Concise Glosary of Contemporary Literature. New York: Edward Arnold, 1992.

Henkle, Roger B. Reading the Novel. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, Ltd., 1977.

Holman, C.Hugh and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature, 5th edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986.

Koesnosoebroto, Sunaryo Basuki, Drs, M.A. The Anatomy of Prose Fiction. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Direktorat Jendral Pendidikan Tinggi, 1988.

Milligan, Ian. The Novel in English: An Introduction. Michigan: Gall Research Company, 1983.

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Murphy, M.J.Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Oversees Student. London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1972.

Myers, Walter Dean.Scorpions. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1990. Nurgiyantoro, Burhan. Teori Pengkajian Fiksi. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada

University Press, 2007.

Purnami, Juli. “The Possible Messages Seen from the Main Character and the Conflicts in Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2004.

Roberts, Edgar V. and Henry E. Jacobs. Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 2ndedition. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1989.

Rohrberger, Mary and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. Reading and Writing about Literature. New York: Random House, Inc., 1971.

Scott, Virgil.Studies in the Short Story. Dallas: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1968.

Stanton, Robert.An Introduction to Fiction. London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1987.

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APPENDIX

Summary

Scorpions

Scorpionwas a name of a gang which members were boys about twelve to sixteen years old. The Scorpions worked as the runners who had business with the dealers. Randy, Jamal’s brother, used to be the leader until he was being jailed as he charged for killing the delicatessen owner. The other two who involved in that stickup were Willie Pugh and Mack. Mack, however, got out earlier than Randy.

Mack then met Jamal to deliver Randy’s message about taking over the gang. Jamal was only twelve and he never thought about hanging around the gang at first. In the other side, Jamal needed much money to his brother’s appeal and Mack’s words were able to shake his conviction. Mack told Jamal what Randy said to him that the Scorpions could make money easily.

Meanwhile, the Scorpions did not want Jamal to be the leader since he was too young and had no experience. There was a debate among them to decide who would deserve to take over the gang. The debate was suddenly stopped when Blood, one of the Scorpions, realized that Jamal got a piece. That piece was given by Mack. Nobody wanted to against him immediately even the strong and big Indian only said,” I see he got the part, but I don’t know if he got the heart.” It was the first time Jamal understood that nobody would start to mess with him as long as he had the gun. Still Jamal was not sure if he wanted to be a Scorpion or not.

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Jamal also did not sure about the piece. He planned to give it back to Mack or throw it away after shooting it. Tito, Jamal’s best friend, always reminded him about throwing away the piece. Yet, Jamal hesitated to do that since part of him knew that he wanted that piece. Moreover, he ever used that piece to threat his class mate who always messed with him, Dwayne. In a serious fight with Dwayne in the store room, Jamal found that Dwayne who was bigger and stronger than Jamal had been so bad when he saw the gun was real. It brought Jamal into the principal room since Dwayne denounced her mother about that happening therefore she came to school to sue Jamal. However, Jamal was able to prove that he did not have the piece.

Since that case, Tito urged Jamal to throw away the piece. Jamal almost gave it back to Mack in a park until he thought that it would be dangerous to take out the gun in front of many people. Tito was disappointed. Yet, he gave Jamal an idea that was to tell Mack that Randy asked Mack to take over the Scorpions. Jamal agreed about that therefore he then planned to tell Mack that Randy said that Mack could still be the warlord if he wanted, while Indian to be the leader.

The meeting with Angel and Indian had been arranged. Jamal and Tito would meet them in the Marcus Harvey Park on night at eleven o’clock. Jamal were also going to give Indian the piece if everything was all right. Unfortunately, everything did not run well. Angel and Indian messed with Jamal. There was a fight among them. Tito, who was hiding by holding the gun, suddenly fired it to Angel when he was going to stab Jamal. Both Jamal and Tito run immediately. Jamal got rid of the gun in a dumpster while they were in the way home.

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Few days later, Jamal heard from Mack that Angel was die and Indian joint the emergency room. Mack went around saying that it was he who had shot Angel and Indian. In that occasion, Mack also agreed to take over the Scorpions finally.

Surprisingly, Tito admitted to the police that the gun belonged to him. Therefore, he was charged with being a juvenile delinquent. However, since he was not too old, he could go to Puerto Rico and stayed there with his father therefore he would not be in trouble. Jamal was very sorry to hear that. The story ended with Jamal watched Tito’s departure in the day he moved from Harlem.

The study of the main character and his conflicts to convey messages in Walter Dean Myer`s Scorpions.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

THE STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER AND

HIS CONFLICTS TO CONVEY MESSAGES

IN WALTER DEAN MYERS’

SCORPIONS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

THE STUDY OF THE MAIN CHARACTER AND

HIS CONFLICTS TO CONVEY MESSAGES

IN WALTER DEAN MYERS’

SCORPIONS

GOD DOES NOT EXPECT US

TO BE MORE THAN WE ARE.

HE EXPECTS US

TO BE ALL THAT WE ARE.

JUST DO OUR BEST

AND LET GOD DO THE REST.

I dedicate this work for

those who have participated

in accomplishing my thesis

especially MY BELOVED

PARENTS

and

MY

Acknowledgements

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX

Parts

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