The silent fighttoward class repressionin black society as seen through Frank Money And Ycidra In Tony Morrison`s Home.

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IRVYANI, FRISCA’. The Silent Fight toward Class Repression in Black Society as Seen through Frank Money and Ycidra in Tony Morrison’s Home_. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2014.

The social status gap between the lower and upper class happens in a society. The upper class has more power than lower class. InHome_{, it is clearly seen that the} upper class represses the lower class. In the novel written by Toni Morrison, it brings the issue of class repression. The two main characters Frank and Ycidra, are repressed by their grandmother who belongs to upper class.

The objective of the study is to answer the questions in the problem formulation. The questions are about the class repression in this novel. In the first question, the writer identifies the characterization of the main characters. For the second question, the writer tries to reveal the class repression within black society through the main characters. The last question, the writer tries to analyze the reactions of the main characters of the class repression.

The method used in this study is library research method. The writer used two kinds of sources. The primary source is the novel itself, Home_{, and the secondary} sources are taken from books and undergraduate thesis. The approach of the study used in this thesis is socio-cultural historical approach.

The first part of the analysis is the characterization of Frank and Ycidra as the main characters. Frank is described as a brave, caring, friendly and protective man. Ycidra is depicted as a tough, uneducated and hardworking girl. Both of them are African-American who lived in the black society. In the second part of the analysis, the writer finds class repression is experienced by blacks in the black society that is seen through the main characters. Blacks are repressed within black society itself, they are treated unequally in their social life. The lower class blacks are repressed by upper black. The economics condition portrays what class blacks belong to. As the result the lower class is repressed by the upper class. For the last analysis, the writer describes how blacks react to the class repression within their society. The writer concludes that the class repression in the real life and the novel have some similarities according to historical records. The novel reflected the condition of Blacks life within black society in America around the 1950s.

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IRVYANI, FRISCA’. The Silent Fight toward Class Repression and in Black Society As Seen Through Frank Money and Ycidra in Tony Morrison’s Home_.

Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, UniversitasSanata Dharma, 2014.

Kesenjanganstatus social antara kalangan atas dan kalangan bawah dalam masyarakat pun terjadi . Kalangan atas mempunyai lebih mempunyai kemampuan dibandingkan dengan kelas bawah. Dalam novel Home, dapat dilihat adanya tekanan dari kalangan atas terhadap kalangan bawah. Novel karangan Toni Morrison mengangkat isu tekanan terhadap kelas social. Dua tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut mendapat tekanan dari nenek mereka.

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menjawab permasalahan yang telah dirumuskan. Permasalahan tersebut mengenai tekanan status social dalam novel ini. Dalam perumusan masalah yang pertama, penulis mengidentifikasi karakter dari tokoh utama. Untuk perumusan masalah yang kedua, penulis mencoba untuk mengungkap tekanan status social dalam lingkungan orang berkulit hitam melalui tokoh utama. Perumusan masalah yang terakhir, penulis mencoba menganalisis reaksi tokoh utama terhadap tekanan status sosial yang mereka alami.

Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah metode penelitian pustaka. Penulis menggunakan dua macams umber. Sumber utama adalah novel itu sendiri, Home, dan sumber sekunder yang diambil dari beberapa buku juga skripsi. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah pendekatan sosio-kultural historikal.

Dalam analisis pertama, penulis memaparkan karakter dari Frank dan Ycidra sebagai pemeran utama. Frank dideskripsikan sebagai sesosok laki-laki yang berani, peduli, ramah, dan protektif. Ycidra digambarkan sebagai seorang gadis tangguh, tidak berpendidikan, dan pekerja keras. Keduanya merupakan orang Afro-Amerika yang tinggal di masyarakat orang berkulit hitam. Bagian kedua dari analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa diskriminasi statuis social dan gender dialami oleh orang berkulit hitam seperti yang terlihat melalui tokoh utama. Orang berkulit hitam mengalami diskriminasi dalam lingkungan kulit hitam itu sendiri, mereka diperlakukan dengan tidak adil dalam kehidupan sosial mereka. Orang kulit hitam kelas bawah ditekan oleh kulit hitam kelas atas. Kondisi ekonomi menggambarkan status sosial. Kelas bawah ditekan oleh mereka yang berada di kelas atas. Untuk analisa yang terakhir, penulis menggambarkan reaksi mereka terhadap diskriminasi status social dan gender dalam linkungan mereka. Dalam analisa ini penulis menyimpulkan bahwa diskriminasi status social dalam kehidupan nyata dan novel mempunyai beberapa kesamaan menurut sejarah. Novel ini merefleksikan kehidupan orang berkulit hitam dalam lingkungan kuli thitam di Amerika di era 1950.

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MORRISON’S

HOME

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjanaSastra

in English Letters

FRISCA’ IRVYANI Student Number: 104214106

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2014

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MORRISON’S

HOME

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjanaSastra

in English Letters

FRISCA’ IRVYANI Student Number: 104214106

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2014

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iii

THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARDS CLASS REPRESSION IN BLACK

SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND CEE IN TONY

MORRISON’S

HOME

FRISCA’ IRVYANI Student Number: 104214106

Approved by

Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum. November 12nd, 2014

Advisor

Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum. November 12nd, 2014 Co-Advisor

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THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARD CLASS REPRESSION IN

BLACK SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND

YCIDRA IN TONY MORRISON’S

HOME

FRISCA’ IRVYANI Student Number: 104214106

Defended before the Board of Examiners on November 25, 2014

and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Signature

Chairperson :Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. ________________ Secretary :A.B Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D. ________________ Member 1 :J. Harris Hermansyah S., S.S., M.Hum. ________________ Member 2 :DewiWidyastutiS.Pd.,M.Hum. ________________ Member 3 : Dr. Gabriel FajarSasmitaAji, M.Hum. ________________

Yogyakarta, November 28, 2014 Faculty of Letters

Sanata Dharma University Dean

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Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama : Frisca’ Irvyani

Nomor Mahasiswa : 104214106

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

THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARD CLASS REPRESSION IN BLACK

SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND YCIDRA IN

TONY MORRISON’S

HOME

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan 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 perlumeminta ijin kepada saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal 12 November 2014

Yang menyatakan,

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I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, 12 November, 2014

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Have we not opened your heart, and relieved you of the burden which

weighed down heavily on your back, and raised your voice.So, with every

difficulty there is relief; verily with every difficulty there is relief.So, when

your task is over, prepare yourself and seek your Lord with all fervour

(Q.S Al Inshiroh)

Build your own dreams, or someone will hire you

to build theirs

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viii

For My Beloved Grandmother

Karsiyem Warna Suharja

In Heaven

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to deliver my deepest gratitude to the Almighty God, Allah SubhanahuwaTa’ala. _{I am very grateful for the love, guidance and blessing}

during myundergraduate thesis. Thank You for teaching me how to fight for dreams. You are the one and only strength who makes metough for every single obstacle and problem in my life. Thank God for giving me a hand to go through the hardest part in this life.

I am very grateful to have DewiWidyastutiS.Pd., M.Hum. as my thesis advisorfor her patience and guidance in helping me finish this thesis. I also thank forher willing to be my good listener in my difficulties and for giving me valuable advice. The last but not least, thank you for lending me books about the theories to my study.I would also like to thank Dr. Gabriel FajarSasmitaAji, M.Hum. as my co. advisor for the suggestions and corrections.

I would also thank Fanny, Findy, and Dias for sharing the knowledge for the entire semester and Laurent for motivating me to finish this thesis. I will not forget to thank myfairy godmother Retnawati S.S. who always gives me the support and taught me to be a tough and skillfulgirl. I would also like to thank my boyfriend who always supports me and pays attention for every single progress in finishing my study.

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TITLE PAGE_………. _ii

APPROVAL PAGE_………... _iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE_………. _iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH_…….. _v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY_………. _vi

MOTTO PAGE_………... _vii

DEDICATION PAGE_……… _viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS_……….. _ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS_……….. _x

ABSTRACT_………... _xi

ABSTRAK_……… _xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION_... ₁

A. Background of the Study ……….. 1

B. Problem Formulation ……… 3

C. Objectives of the Study ……… 4

D. Definition of Terms ……….. 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE_……… ₆

A. Review of Related Studies ………... 6

B. Review of Related Theories ………. 8

1. Theory on Character and Characterization……..……… 8

2. Theory of the Relation between Literature and Society……….. 9

3. Theory of Marxism……….………. 12

C. Review on Historyof Blacks in America around the 1950s……… 13

1. Africans in America………. 13

2. Black Economics………. 14

3. Class Repression……… 15

D. Theoretical Framework ………. 18

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY_………. ₂₀

A. Object of the Study ……….. 20

B. Approach of the Study ………. 21

C. Method of the Study ……… 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS_………. ₂₄

A. The Characteristics of the Main Characters ………. 24

B. The Class Repression……… 33

C. The Reactions of the Main Characters ………... 44

APPENDIX_... ₆₀

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION_... ₅₅

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xii

IRVYANI, FRISCA’. The Silent Fight toward Class Repression and in Black Society As Seen Through Frank Money and Ycidra in Tony Morrison’s Home_.

Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, UniversitasSanata Dharma, 2014.

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Repression is very close to life. Sometimes people are not aware of the situation that they are repressed. The treatments that people get are different from one another. Home _{is one of Toni Morrison’s works,it shows the} African-American experiences of slavery, poverty, repression and freedom. This novel was published in 2012. Toni Morrison is an African-American Novelist who was born on February 18th 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, United States. She wrote about her observation of the blacks’ experience especially within black society. The novel includes native American, African, and mixed-race characters. All of them are looking for a place in this new world. The main character Frank Money as a black Korean war veteran who has returned from an integrated army tried to protect his sister, Ycidra and found a safe place to life. On the other hand, he felt that the place where they lived was uncomfortable for him because of many reasons. One of the reasons was about the repression and class of people who lived there. Tony Morrison showed the blacks’ experience of repression in the black community itself influencing the life of colored people through her work entitledHome.

Repression ended as the end of Civil War but the class repression does exist. The act of repression can be found in some of literature books as mentioned in Louis Tyson book

I have known many fine white students who were so ill-informed concerning the realities of race in America that they believed racism ended

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with the civil war. Unfortunately, though, the evils of slavery are still with us today in a heritage of racial bias that is so thoroughly built into American law, politics, and social behavior that many white Americans are unable to see it (Tyson, 2011:207).

The statement above can become the proof that the bad treatments do exist. It shows the repression of the upper class toward the lower class. It is interesting to understand why it happens and how the repression can be revealed. He gives also the evidence that happened in America which describes the repression

Discriminatory laws spotlight drug activity in poor black neighborhoods and have resulted in increased police surveillance in these areas, while drug activity in middle and upper class white neighborhoods is largely ignored. In fact, although the majority of drug users of all kinds in the United States are white, the majority of inmates serving prison sentences for drug-related offences are black (Tyson, 2011:207).

According to Louis Tyson repression also happened in the action of law by his statement above. Law of drug seemed only concerned in poor black neighborhoods. The repression about law which is shown in the work of literature can be seen and analyzed using African American theory as he stated in his book about African American theory. The work of literature by Toni Morrison which is told about African American story entitled Home _{showed how social status has} the big impact for the black characters in the story.

In this study the writer wants to analyze why social class has a big impact for people to repress or discriminate other people who are considered of having lower classes. Studying about class can help people to know that being repressed person who has negative stereotypes can cause repression toward other people whom they think are the inferior and make people as human break the human rights.

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Toni Morrison’s Home _{used by the writer because this work is suitable} because Morrison’s puts the issue ofthe repression. The writer wants to reveal what exactly that the author did not explain clearly. The writer wants to reveal the reactions of the main characters toward class repression by analyzing the characterization of the main characters. By studying this work hopefully it can be used tohelp people see the effects of negative stereotypes. Those kinds of point of view can cause people to repress other people which were happening at that time in African American society. It becomes the learning point that people as human being should treat other people in the same way without any repression.

B. Problem Formulation

1. How are the main characters depicted?

2. How is the class repression toward the main charactersdescribed? 3. How is the reaction of the characters toward repression?

C. Objectives of the Study

The objective of the study is to give clear descriptionto the questions of the repression in African-American Society in problem formulation. The questions are about the description of the main characters, the class repression toward the main characters, and the reactions of the characters toward their experience being repressed within African-American society. In the first question, the writer will depict characterization of Frank Money and Ycidra as known as Cee. In the second question the writer will give the evidence of class repression which is experienced by the characters presented in the novel. For the last question, the writer will try to reveal the reactions of the characters’ experience of

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being repressed through Frank Money and Ycidraas the main African-American characters in novel entitledHome_.

D. Definition of Terms

In this study, in order to avoid the misunderstanding on certain terms the writer makes specific key terms as mentioned in the title.

Silent Fight

Fight is struggle determinedly to make a strenuous effort to do, obtain, achieve or defend something; to make vigorous effort to oppose, resist, or overcome something or somebody which is not expressed or voiced, though felt or believed; not speaking or communicating, especially through voice (Webster, 2006: 1345).Fight is struggle determinedly to make a strenuous effort to do, obtain, achieve or defend something; to make vigorous effort to oppose, resist, or overcome something or somebody. The silent occurs when someone has no power to react directly. Someone who feels that actions will not make any changes, will take no action towards the problem. It also happens when someone has no choice to express his or her feeling.

Class

Class is an objective economic category, it can be defined as a position of an individual within the structure of production relations, including their effective rights and duties (Stearns, 1996: 184). The status in the society that is shaped by the economic condition and position of person has big influence in society.

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Repression

Repression is the process of suppressing somebody or the condition of having political, social, or cultural freedom controlled by force (Webster, 2006: 1230). The repression occurs when there is a gap between the upper and the lower.The way someone suppresses another people who have less power. This action aims to get advantage of someone.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE A. Review of Related Studies

Home is the one of popular works of Toni Morrison which was published in 2012 describing the social life within the black community in Georgia. She lived with her grandmother after the death of her mother. The author of Home Toni Morrison as an African-American novelist observes the black experience using the strong fantasy and myth in her works and most of her works that she wrote telling the issues and experiences of the black community especially women. In 1993, she received the Nobel Prize for Literature as mentioned in Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature:

Toni Morrison an African- American writer noted for her examination of the black experience, particularly the experience of women within the black community. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Morrison’s use of fantasy and myth, mastery of ambiguity, and sinuous poetic style gave her works great strength and texture (1995: 781).

From the statement above, the writer knows that Morrison is one of the authors focuses on the issues of the black community. The reader can see the problems which were faced within the black community including their experience to facing their class repression that had limited their life. It is interesting how the novel which tells about the experience of black community written by an African American author and Nobel Prize winner. It means that Toni Morrison used African-American perspective rather than white perspective.

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Siska Angeline Suganda, in her thesis entitled “Racial Discrimination towards African Americans in the 1950S Reflected through The Setting in Alice Childress’Florence” stated as follows:

The schools of black children were not only inferior but they were also segregated by law. The Jim Chow schools of the South were very pathetic. Student ranging in the age from six to seventeen were crowded into a single classroom, taught by a twenty years old teacher with only a high school education (2011: 17).

As mentioned in the statement above she focused on how the setting can reflect racial discrimination. Suganda elaborated the racial discrimination by the different places and condition of the education place for black community which is described as the place with lack of facilities and qualified teachers.

Kumala Dewi, in her thesis entitled “Racial discrimination in the 20th Century United States of America Seen from Troy Maxson`s Conflicts in August Wilson’sFences”asmentioned below:

As a wife of diplomat, Mrs. Taylor tends to be very rude to her servants. Her racial background as a Caucasian also makes her underestimate the poor Indian people. Being a rich woman with luxurious lifestyle also triggers Mrs. Taylor to be very suspicious-minded to thr poor Indian people (2011: 28).

From Dewi’s statement stated above concerned on the discrimination caused by the background of race and class. She describes not only how the race of a person which defines the treatment that they will get from others but also how the class status of a person influences how they will be treated by others because of their race or class where they belong to. The quotation above, it can be seen also that the powerful races and high classes can act impolitely to them who belong to the powerless races and lower classes. Meaning to say someone belongs to powerful

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certain race and a high class they will be treated politely also they can treat the inferior whatever they want whether it is polite or rude.

The analysis of this study is about the class repression towards the black people from the black within black community which are described in the story. Observing the blacks’ experience being repressed by their own race because they are acknowledged to different classes and gender. Elaborating their reactions of being repressed because they belong to certain classes or as the inferior and they are blacks male or female.

B. Review of Related Theory

1. Theory on Character and Characterization

Character as one of the part in intrinsic elements takes an important role in a story. InA Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams and Harpham state that:

Characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it-the dialogue-and from what they do-the action. The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and moral mature for their speech and actions are called their motivations. A character may remain essentially “stable,” or unchanged in out look and disposition, from beginning to end of the work (2012: 46).

As mentioned above Abrams and Harpham emphasize that the characters are the figures presented in a story. Each of the characters has their own characterization which differentiates one another. The characters are classified as person’s character ifthe figure’s character has no change from the very beginning until the end. When the figures characters’ changing in the middle or at the end of the story so it is not classified as the characterization of the figure presented in a story.

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The characterization cannot be separated from character because it has the correlation to one another. Characterization in general means the way or how the author creates a character of a story. The writer will give the definition of characterization according to Yelland, Jones, and Easton which is mentioned in their book entitledA Handbook of literary Termsstated as follows:

Characterization is the further aspects that may be considered are the treatment of main and minor characters, and the degree to which they are allowed to change or develop. Many writers present their main characters with fullness or detail, “in the round”, while the minor figures appear flat sometimes lifeless. However this conception of major and minor, of stars and supporting cast, is also passing and there is a tendency to regard every human being who strays into the book as being worthy of close inspection (1953: 31).

From the quotation above characterization is the way the authors create the characters completely in literary work through their development.

Murphy mentions in his book entitled Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students the ways an author attempts to make characters are easy to be understood by the reader.

a. Personal Description

The author describes the characters by their appearance which can be seen from the physical appearance such face, skin tone, dress, hair, and so on and so far.

b. Character as Seen by Another

The way an author describes a character indirectly. The character is described by another character in the story through their actions and opinions. The reader

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can see the character’s behavior and personality through another character’s comments.

c. Speech

The author’s way in describing the character by what the character says. Whenever a person having a conversation with another. It can be monolog or dialog. By giving speech the author gives the reader clues about the character.

d. Past Life

The author mentions events that happened in a person’s past life which has a role in shaping a person’s character. The character’s past life can be mentioned directly by the author, through the conversations or a person’s thought and by another person opinions.

e. Conversation of Others

The way author gives the clue through the conversation of other people who talk about certain person. People do talk about other peolple and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the person spoken about.

f. Reactions

The author can also give the reader a clue through a person’s characterby letting the reader know how the person reacts to various situations and events.

g. Direct Comment

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h. Thoughts

The author can give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell what different people are thinking.

i. Mannerism.

The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or distinction which may also tell the reader something about the characterthat may become the difference from another character (1972: 161-173).

The theory of characterization can be appliedto reveal and to get the deep understanding about the characters. It can be seen by some ways. First, the reader analyzes the personal description which is given directly by the author. Second, the character analyzed by another characters’ point of view and opinions. Third, the dialog and speech defines what the character of the person is. Fourth, the character can be seen by understanding the person’s past life which is given by the author. Fifth, the author gives the clue of a person’s character through conversations of others. Sixth, the reactions of the person towards the situation or events may describe what his or her characters. Seventh, the character can be analyzed through the direct comment of the author towards the person in the story. Eighth, the way the person thought can describe the person’s character. The last is by analyzing the person’s behavior through the manner, activities, and the difference from another person in the story.

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2. The Relation between Literature and Society

The relation between literature and society mentioned in the book entitled Theory of Literaturewhich was written by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren. They described the influence of society towards literature stated as follows:

Literature is a social institution, using as its medium language, a social creation. Such traditional literary devices as symbolism and metre are social in their nature. They are conventions and norms which could have arisen only in society. But, furthermore, literature ‘represents’ ‘life’; and ‘life’ is, in large measure, social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary ‘imitation’ (1956: 94).

Wellek and Warren explain literature as a representation of life. It is clear what was happening in the reality can be described in the literary work such as poem, drama, short story or even in a novel. Some aspects in the real life become the message of the story or it could be criticized towards reality and society.

While in the book entitledSociety in the Novel, Elizabeth Langland gives the description of the relation between literature and society as mentioned below:

Society as do all other aspects of novels, functions as an element in a structure that is, at least in part, self-referential. Studies of society must acknowledge, then, that society is a concept and a construct in fiction. In the past, definitions of society that explicitly or implicitly see society always as an imitation of an outside world have tended to obscure the formal variety of social presentations in novels (1984: 4).

From the statement above, society has an important role in literary works. Society as one of the elements of the literary works itself. In the literary works there are values which are taken from the reality and it becomes imitation of real life in fiction. Sometimes it was stated clearly but it can also be unspoken. Knowing that authors have different ways in creating their works so the readers have to analyze what really is inside of the story if the authors state the message in an implicit

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way. What Langland said is not really different from Wellek and Warren. The way authors wrote a story became Langland’s point that the representation of the world can be implied or defined.

The writer decided that society have influenced literary works and fictions because literary works is the attributes of a transcendent idea of life. Lifting some issues of the real world into fictions became a big deal to criticize or just to lift up without any tendency.

3. Theory of Marxism

The writer appliesthe theory of Marxismto reveal that power and social classes play an important role in shaping society.

Marxism sees progress as coming about through the struggle for power between different social classes. This few of history of class struggle regard it as ‘motored’ by the competition for economic, social, and political advantage. The exploitation of one social class by another is seen especially in modern industrial capitalism, particularly in its unrestricted nineteenth-century form (Barry, 2002: 157).

From the quotation above, it can be seen that the social class defines the power that people have. The people who belong to higher social class repress the people with lower social class. It can be seen clearly in the industrial system. Marxist discusses about the power especially in economic causes the distinction between the strong and the weak ones. The gap between the superior and inferior, made them to gain more power. The superior focuses on the exploitation of the inferior. Besides, the inferior tries to gain power to resist the superior. The struggle for power between the different social classes becomes continuity.

The theory of Marxismwill help the writer to reveal that the repression in Home,is related to the real society. According to Haslett, the work of literature is

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the real world because it is created in a concrete context (Haslett, 2000 :8). The theory of Marxism is not only help the writer to see the connection between literature and society but also to see that social classes has the big power in shaping a society. By applying the theory of Marxism the writer is able to see the influence of a social status in a society.

C. Review on History of Blacks in America around the 1950s

The writer focuses on two aspects within the black community. The aspects are:

1. Africans in America

The history of the settlement of black in America being an important explanation used by the writer to see the background of black in America around the 1950s. Knowing the issues and also the historical figures who had influenced the Blacks in America. Mentioned in Introduction to Black Studies written by Maulana Karenga stated as follows:

There is strong evidence that Africans did not come to America first on slave ships or as crew members and pilots on white ships, but on their own ships as early as 800-900 B.C.E. and afterwards in 1311 and 1312 (1993: 110).

According to Karenga’s statement the settlement of African in America was not the impact of slavery. They even came before the enslavement era happened. Karenga mentions also Van Sertima who has published new data about the settlement of Africans in America as stated below:

Van Sertima presents a further proof, skeletal evidence, from studies by craniologist AndrzejWeircinski which reveal a clear presence of Africanoid skulls from Olmec B.C.E. sites. Van Sertima has clearly shown the African presence and legacy in Ancient America and thus, has given an alternative image of African arrival here. In a word, he has demonstrated

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that Africans came first to America, not as enslaved persons, but as explorers, traders, visitors and built with the Native Americans agreat civilization that fortunately could not be erased by Europeans’ wholesale book burning and vandalism in Mexico. In doing this, he has made a significant contribution to the rescue and reconstruction of Blacks history and humanity (Karenga,1993: 114).

The discovery ofthe skullto be oneproofthatblackshavelivedbeforethe arrival of Columbus. Blacks had settled in America long before the enslavement.

The settlement of blacks in America was not really accepted. In the 1950s the African Americans was not treated as same as White. For example in education the blacks did not get what the white got. Blacks aged seventeen got the same materials as thirteen years old white. It proves that although blacks can go to school but their schools were not actually had a good standard (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997: 533)

2. Black Economics

The economic condition of the life within black society can depicthow affluent their life was. Karenga mentions the black economics seen from the employment status.

The economic disadvantage of the African American community appears also in employment data and labor market trends. Employment for Blacks fluctuates between 54.1 and 55.7 percent. There are several reasons offered for black unemployment: low educational levels and lack of jobs skills, the recurring recession, unwillingness to take menial jobs; displacement, the move of industry from the central city; shutdowns in industries where Blacks are in heavy numbers; lack of viable social networks and above all, continuing discrimination (1993:361).

Karenga states some reasons of why Blacks were being discriminated in the job field. Education background has important role during the nineteenth century. The educational level defining what class they belong to and what kind of society

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where they life.The low education levels or even uneducated background seen as the strong reason for them hard to find a job and being jobless. Blacks were also discriminated because they had no skills become a reason of their difficulties to find job. Know that some jobs require typical skills needed.

3. Class Repression

The writer uses this review to reveal what reason that exactly influences the class identification especially within the black community towards the characters’ life. The book which was written by Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom entitledAmerica in Black and Whitemention:

The emergence of a strong black middle class has not received the attention it deserves. “Black” still goes with “poor” in the minds of many. According to this view, blacks live in ghettos, next door to, if not actually in, a high rise public housing project. The mean street of their neighborhoods are filled with predatory muggers high on crack. The main source of income for males is a crime, and for females, the welfare check (1997: 183).

The neighborhood where the blacks live can define what class they belong to. The blacks who live in a well environment belong to higher middle class rather than working class who live in cruel neighborhoods. The place where blacks live also defines how wealth they are. Their Job classified their position of social status that the blacks with a good job are higher than them with a regular job as blacks or even jobless.

The job that they work on is defined by their educational background. The ending of World War II the education play the big role in shaping the American class structure includes the African Americans who obtained more education rather than their parents had. It helps the blacks to get a better job. Know that the

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middle class jobs required at least graduated from high school (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997: 189-190).

In the beginning of 1959, two-third of all black children under the age of eighteen lived in the poor neighborhood and their parent income was under poverty line. Although they worked but the salary that they got was not enough to live the family. In the 1950s until 1960s, African American made the great deal by narrowing the gap in occupations, educations, and income. In the other hand, although they made the great action but in social reality they still lagged behind(Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997: 200-236).

The class repression toward black men and black women was experienced by African-American within the black society in the nineteenth century.The writer gives a picture on how black men thought about black women. The point ofblackmen’s view that the black women are weak and they have to protect them as described in Home.The book entitled The Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Imagesmentions:

Basic to the struggles of the black woman was the way others viewed her and the way she viewed herself. According to Rosalyn Terborg-penn’s “Black Male Perspectives on the Nineteenth-Century Woman,” some black men in nineteenth century America felt that black women were no different from themselves in that both were struggling to improve that lot in society (Harley and Terborg-Penn, 1978: 10).

Harley and Terborg-Penn states that the gender status between black men and black women was not equal. There was the difference treatment that was experienced by African-American with a different class.

Throughout the American history black and white women gave the big role in the work field. By the role of white, black had to compete with white in

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order to get job. There was a gap between whites and blacks, also black women and black men, Afro American are less educated become the reason that their income not as high as the white’s, and they were faced with limited job options. This condition influenced by the slavery, even though the enslavement era was ended a long time ago (Goldin, 1990: 27).

In competing with the white women to get job the black women.Black women did less effort as job seekers because the white women did not want to do the domestic job. In the 1950s many middle and upper class whites in the South that regularly employed African American to do jobs such as cooks, maids, even taking care of the children. By hiring the blacks, whites domestic job problems were solved (Rose, 1997: 138). The ending of enslavement era did not really make contribution for the black get their freedom of slavery. Only a few of blacks been freed on the same basis as indentured servants. Free blacks more often were skilled blacksmiths, carpenter, cobblers, farmers, or common laborers. The limited skills that blacks had, made them could not work at the same place with the whites in the factory. The employers chose to hire the whites rather than blacks because blacks were not suitable to the requirements that the factories needed. Blacks only had skills that they were taught as a slave (Tindall, 1989: 360).

Black women earn money by working exclusively as the servants and agricultural workers. On the other hand, black menhad to compete with white men in the same field of work because they would not do the domestic job as the black women did. Black men would not win because the low educational level they belong to. The unemployment rate was higher than white men’s rate. The

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high rate of unemployment and lower educational of black men directly proportional with the repression that they got. Some people argued that black men are more repressed than black women(Goldin, 1990: 27).

D. Theoretical Framework

The focus of this study is to see the class repression toward African American in Black Society reflected in Home. Each theory and review as stated above is needed to analyze the novel. The theory of character is used by the writer to see the relation and conflict within black community particularly the way of Blacks treating each other. This theory helps to answer problem formulation number one. The review of class repression contributes to see the position of the social status including their economics condition and occupations in black neighborhoods. The theory of class repression helps the reader to see the different point of view of strength and weakness towards black men and black women. How the economics condition define their position in the society. The theory of Marxism helps the writer to reveal the issues of concerning class. The theory of relation between literature and society contributes to see that what written in the novel is as the imitation of the real world.

The review on history of black in America around the 1950s is used to understand in general the background of African-American in America including their settlement and their economics. It gives clear understanding that the history cannot be separated because it has a role in the development of African-American in America.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of this study is a novel entitled Home. Home is one of Toni Morrison’s work which shows the African American experiences of poverty and freedom in United States of America in 1950s. The novel consist of 17 chapters and 146 pages. It was published in 2012 by Alfred A. Knopf in New York. Home is written by an African American writer Toni Morrison. The main characters in this novel are Frank and Ycidra, they are a sibling. Frank is an African American and Korean War veteran and Ycidra is Frank’s little sister. This novel shows how the poverty play an important impact towards the black’s life especially in Georgia.

This novel is about the life of African American in the poor neighborhood. In this novel there is a gap between working class and middle class within the black society. The writer shows how bad Frank and Ycidra are treated by Mrs. Lenore as their step grandmother. Mrs. Lenore also an African American but she treats her grandchildren unequally than other. Frank and Cee are discriminated just because they belong to working class. The writer wants to analyze about how the main characters reactions towards the class and gender discrimination in this study.

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B. Approach of this Study

In analyzingHome, the writer needs to use certain literary approach which is appropriate for the topic which is analyzed. Hence, in this thesis the writer uses socio-cultural historical approach. In order to understand between the background knowledge and the work of literature itself, the writer considers that socio-cultural historical approach is an appropriate approach to analyze this novel. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature say that:

Critics whose major interest is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilitation to produce it. They define civilitation as the attitudes and actions of specific group of people and point out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matters (1971: 9)

From the statement above, the researcher concludes that socio-cultural historical is an approach affirms that the history and society where the author lived play the important role that influence the way story is created. The work of literature is a reflection from the culture and reality. The author transforms the history and culture in the real life becomes a story in fiction The researcher wants to understand the historical background of the novel to analyze the historical novelHome. As mentioned earlier that the historical novel is a picture of the real world it is important to know the historical background relates to the story.

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C. Method of the Study

The appropriate method used by the writer in analyzing this work is library research method. The writer uses two kinds of data. The first data is the work of Toni Morrison’s entitled home. The second data are taken from several books, Such as International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, A Glossary of Literary Terms, Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students, Theory of Literature, Society in the Novel, Introduction to Black Studies, America in Black and White, and undergraduate thesis.Know that the novel Home had not been analyzed before the writer uses not only library sources but also internet sources.

Some steeps were taken in this study. Firstly, the writer decided the work that is going to be analyzed. Secondly, the writer read the book and took important note to get the deep understanding. The writer also reads the book over and over again to make sure that nothing is left to be analyzed and put some sign to the important part in the novel.

Thirdly, the writer found the most important issues for the topic as the problem formulation in this analysis. In order to support this research the writer collected some data that fit into the topic, so the writer decided the theories and approach relate to this study. The theories were: the theory of character and characterization, the relation between literature and society also the review of blacks in America around 1950s. In this step, the writer gathered the information

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by reading some books of literature theory and approaches. Besides, to know and understand the historical background of African American the writer had to collect the information that is needed by reading historical books.

Fourthly, the writer analyzed the novel by answering the issues as stated in problem formulation. The writer applied the theories of character and characterization which had been mentioned in the review of related theory. In analyzing the story, the socio-cultural historical approach was applied to understand the background of the novel was made which related to the history in the 1950s. The next step was the writer related the theories and approach in order to reveal the problem as questioned in the problem formulation. The last step the writer was drawing the conclusion based on the analysis that would be presented at the end of this study.

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ANALYSIS

Home talks about the life of black in the black society. The colored people have to deal with the class repression. This analysis will be divided into three parts. Each part will discuss about each number of the problem formulation questioned in Chapter I. The first part analyzes about the main characters Frank Money and Ycidra. The second part is the discussion about the class repression within the black society in 1950s as described in the novel. The last part discusses the reaction of the African American toward the class repression seen through the main character inHome.

A. The Characteristics of the Main Characters

In this part, the writer tries to analyze the characterization of the African American family which are revealed through Frank Money and his sister Ycidra as the main characters in the novel entitled Home. Frank and Ycidra or called as Cee have the different characterization that brought them to the dissimilar reactions toward the problem of class repression within the black society that they try to fight for. The writer describes the personal appearance and the personality of Frank Money and Ycidra. In analyzing the characteristics of the main characters, the writer applies the theory of characterization taken from a book which is written by Murphy. The writer analyzes the characterization of the main characters by concerning on character as seen by another, speech, fact life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts and mannerism.

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1. Frank Money

Frank is one of the main characters inHome. He is a Korean War veteran. He moved from Texas to Lotus, Georgia with his family, he lives in his grandmother’s house until his parents can rent a house for them to live. His characteristics play an important role in the reactions toward class repression. Frank’s characteristics are chosen by the writer because he is one of the main characters. In this part, the writer depicts the characteristics of Frank Money in Home, uses the theory of characterization as stated in Chapter II.

a. Brave

Frank is an African American Korean War soldier who tried to escape from the hospital where the soldiers are looked after. In analyzing this part, the writer applies the theory of characterization, it focuses on the reactions of the character. Frank shows how brave he is, when he has to choose the right decision in the hard situation.

Four a.m., before sunrise, he managed to loosen the canvas cuffs, unshackle himself, and rip off the hospital gown. He put on his army pants and jacket and crept shoeless down the hall. Except for the weeping from the room next to the fire exit, all was quiet-no squeak of an orderly’s shoes or smothered giggles, and no smell of cigarette smoke. The hinges groaned when he opened the door and the cold hit him like a hammer (Morrison, 2012 :10-11)

According to the quotation above the way Frank escape is considered as a brave action because he will be killed, when someone or the nurse saw him.

The author comment on Frank’s characteristic directly. “Now, with Mike gone, he was brave, whatever that meant.” (Morrison, 2012: 98). The author comments that after Mike, Frank’s best friend died in the battlefield, Frank became a brave man.

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The two quotations mention above gives a picture of what one of the Frank’s characteristics are. Frank was a child who grew as a brave man while he joined the army. Frank knew what he had to do when the situation was getting harder. He had to escape from the hospital even though the risk is death when someone recognized him. Both quotations are taken by the writer to prove the characteristics of Frank. Frank is a brave man to take high risk of death and it was shaped while he joined the army.

b. Caring

Frank is described also as a caring man for his family and his one and only younger sister Ycidra. Frank experiences the condition living with his mean grandmother Lenore and the tough life brings him to be a caring man. He is the one that can protect Ycidra in their grandmother house while their parents work or even when Ycidra socializes with her friends. Frank is very protective becomes the reason of Ycidra not to have a boyfriend yet. The writer sees the direct comment from the author to get more clues about Frank’s characters. “When Cee and a few other girls reached fourteen and start talking about boys, she was prevented from any real flirtation because of her big brother.” (Morrison, 2012: 47). Frank cares of Ycidra or called as Cee that much. He would not let any boys to get closer to see and hurts her.

The writer analyzes also the characterization of Frank which can be seen from Ycidra’s thought mentioned as follows:

Ycidra agreed with Thelma about her foolishness, but more than anything she wanted desperately to talk to her brother. Her letters to him were about weather and Lotus gossip. Devious. But she knew that if she could see him, tell him, he would not laugh at her, quarrel, or condemn. He would, as always, protect her from a bad situation (Morrison, 2012: 51).

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from the quotation above known from Ycidra’s thought that she misses her brother. She knows that Frank would protect her no matter what. She could tell frank about anything that she would to tell about. Frank is the one that will always stand beside her to make sure that everything is going right.

The way Frank treated his sister, Ycidra, can also be seen from another Ycidra’s thoughts as mentioned by the writer in the following quotation.

Standing at the window, wrapped in the scratchy towel, Cee felt her heart breaking. If Frank were there he would once more touch the top of her head with four fingers, or stroke her nape with his thumb. Don’t cry, said the fingers; the welts will disappear. Don’t cry; Mama is tired; she didn’t mean it. Don’t cry, don’t cry girl; I’m here. But he wasn’t there or anywhere near (Morrison, 2012: 53).

Frank is the one that she always thinks about when they are separated. Frank is the brother that she always runs to when she gets any problem. Frank also calms her down when Lenore did something rude to her and told her that Lenore actually did not mean to do a bad thing to her. Take care of his own sister is the thing that brother has to do and it is a common thing but here the writer sees Frank as a caring man because Frank does not stop to take care of Ycidra, anywhere and anytime.

c. Friendly

In this story Frank is described as a friendly man. Many people like to be his friend even though they have not met before. In this story Frank meets some new friends after he escaped from the hospital. The first people that Frank met were Reverend John Locke and his wife Jean Locke. The writer will describe how friendly Frank is by applying the theory of characterization that focus on speech which deals with the conversation of Frank, Mr. Locke, and his wife. Although they just met, Mr

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Locke and his wife treat Frank nicely. They also give Frank money to pay for the bus to go to Georgia (Morrison, 2012: 14-19).

The second person that he met was Billy. Frank met him at the Café as mentioned as follows:

“Billy scanned the addreses and frowned. “ Forget that,” he said. “ Come on home with me. Stay over. Meet my family. You can’t leave tonight anyway.”” (Morrison, 2012: 29).

The quotation above shows that Frank can easily make friends with people they just meet. Billy just met Frank in the café at that time and they have not met before but after had conversation with him, Billy knows that Frank is a fun guy then he asks Frank to come to his house and meet his family. No one will ask a stranger to come to their house, unless they like the stranger. The way Frank communicates with people and the respond of the people toward him are considered by the writer that Frank is a friendly man.

d. Protective

Frank is depicted as the brother of Ycidra who is very protective to his sister. Frank loves her so much, after their mother died, Frank becomes the one who responsible to take care of Ycidra. The writer will describe how protective Frank is by showing Ycidra’s thought.

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Whenever the situation go tough, Ycidra believed that Frank will stand right beside her. From the quotation above the writer sees that Frank is a protective person. He tries to protect his sister from any bad situation although Ycidra is not a child anymore.

2. Ycidra (Cee)

a. Tough

In this novel Ycidra is described as a tough person. It can bee seen from the way she reacted when her grandmother treated her. She does not let Ycidra to sleep in the bedroom. During those years living in the discomfort place Ycidra and her parents sleep on the floor, on a thin pallet. She accepted all of the bed treatment that her grandmother did. She did not complain for a better place to sleep (Morrison, 2012:45).

The toughness of Ycidra can be seen from Lenore’s thought as stated in the quotation below:

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Since Yacidra’s mother, Ida died, she decided to work at Bobby Restaurant. She would not rely on her grandmother anymore. She had no choice except working because Frank left the town long before their mother died.

b. Uneducated

InHome, Ycidra is described as an uneducated girl. It can bee seen when she was interviewed for a job. She states that she did not take any school but she could read and write. She also mentions that she ever worked as a cashier (Morrison, 2012: 59-60). Ycidra’s statement that she did not take any formal school shows that she is an uneducated girl.

The job that someone takes describes their educational level. InHome, Ycidra works as a waiter then a maid for a doctor in Atlanta (Morrison, 2012: 53-60). The jobs, such as maid, cook, and servant do not need any special skills. The ending of World War II, education plays the big role in shaping the American class structure includes the African Americans who obtained more education rather than their parents had. It helps the blacks to get a better job. Middle class jobs required at least graduated from high school (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997: 189-190).

The writer sees Ycidra as an uneducated girl by her own statement which tells that she does not take education in school. The writer sees also by Ycidra’s Job, the job that Ycidra takes is the job with no skill and knowledge requirement. Those jobs are offered for them who lack of job skills and uneducated.

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c. Hard working

Ycidra is depicted as a hard working girl. The writer will quote some actions that she did, it can be considered as the proof. The first one it is shown by the letter that she wrote to Frank as mentioned below:

“Hello brother how are you I am fine. I just got me an ok job in a restaurant but looking for better one. Write back when you can Yours truly Your sister.” (Morrison, 2012:53)

In this quotation, it can be seen that although Ycidra was very young but she decided to work at Bobby’s restaurant. After her parent died, she had to work to earn money for her daily needs because she no longer stay with her grandmother and their relation was not good. Ycidra could not ask for Lenore’s help so she decided to work. Working as waiter in the restaurant was a good deal for her.

Ycidra was not satisfied with the salary that she earned when she worked as a waiter in a restaurant. One day she asked her friend Thelma about job, and Thelma told her that a doctor in Atlanta needed a maid and the salary was higher than the salary as the waiter in Bobby’s Restaurant. The quotation below shows when Thelma told Ycidra about the new job:

“No. A helper. I don’t know. Bandages and iodine, I guess. His office is in the house, the woman said. So you’d live in. She said the pay was not all that good but since it rent-free, that made all the difference.” (Morrison, 2012: 60). She was looking for another job that give higher salary for her. Ycidra decided to quit from there and go to Atlanta because she heard a doctor needed a helper (Morrison, 2012: 54-60). The writer sees Ycidra as a hard working girl because she took a job as a waiter when she was young. Most of young girl spend their childhood to play with

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their friend while Ycidra as a young girl chose to spent her childhood to work so she could earn money. The writer also sees how hard Ycidra tries to earn a lot of money so she can get a better life.

2. Lenore

a. Cruel

In Home, Lenore is depicted as a cruel step-grandmother. She has two grandchildren, they are Frank and Ycidra. The cruelty of Lenore can be seen from her treatments toward Frank and Ycidra that:

Over the years, the discomfort of the crowded house increased, and Lenore , who believed herself superior to everybody else in Lotus, chose to focus her resentment on the little girl born “in the street.”.Young Frank slept on the back porch, on the slanty wooden swing, even when it rained (Morrison, 2012: 45) From the quotation above, it can be seen that Lenore repressed Frank and Ycidra by treating them badly. Frank was not allowed to sleep inside the house even though it rained. Lenore makes Ycidra feels so uncomfortable living in her house. Lenore’s house is big enough but she did not let Ycidra to sleep in the bedroom. During those years living in the discomfort place Ycidra and her parents slept on the floor, on a thin pallet (Morrison, 2012: 44). Lenore’s actions to her grandchildren are considered as a cruel action.

b. Rich

Lenore is described as the upper in the novel. Lenore is a wealthy woman who collects a five hundred dollar life insurance payment upon her first husband death. The wealth of Lenore becomes a great reason for Salem not to make any trouble with

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her (Morrison, 2012: 44-45). Lenore belongs to higher class because she does not need to work. She gets life insurance payment of her first husband death.

B. The Class Repression

In this part, the writer focuses on class repression as the main issue. The writer wants to give the brief explanation about class repression before analyzing the class repression in Home. Repression is the process of suppressing somebody or the condition of having political, social, or cultural freedom controlled by force (Webster, 2006: 1230). Class repression means the different way of treating someone based on their social status. Here, the different way of treating direct to the unequal or negative treatment. There are parts of class repression. The class repression that happens between the superior and inferior. People who belong to the upper class will discriminate the people who belong to the lower class. Superior who repress inferior can be classified as the class repression. The repression is not only influenced by the material that people have but also by the educational background. Educated people see themselves as the superior and the uneducated people as the inferior. They think that there is a border line which separates them into two different classes. It becomes a reason for the superior to give the unequal treatment toward the inferior.

a. Class Repression toward Frank Money by Lenore

Luther and Ida have two children, their names are Frank and Ycidra. Frank is the oldest one. He is a Korean War veteran who has no job after his retirement. He is raised in a poor family and he has to help his parents to take care of his sister Ycidra while their parents worked. They have no house to live in after they decide to move

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from Texas to Lotus, Georgia. They live in Salem Money’s House. Salem is Frank’s grandfather. In this house Frank is repressed by his step grandmother, Lenore, as mentioned below:

Over the years, the discomfort of the crowded house increased, and Lenore , who believed herself superior to everybody else in Lotus, chose to focus her resentment on the little girl born “in the street.”.Young Frank slept on the back porch, on the slanty wooden swing, even when it rained (Morrison, 2012: 45) The quotation above shows that Frank is treated in a bad way by Lenore. The repression Frank experience is when Lenore sees herself as the upper class and Frank and his family as the lower class. Lenore thinks that Frank and his family is poor, they can not rent a house for them to live. Lenore does not give the appropriate place to frank and his family to sleep. Just because they belong to the different classes Lenore lets her step grandson to sleep at the porch behind her house even though it rains. Lenore does not even care about Frank’s health because she thinks that it is her generosity to permit Frank to live in her house. She argues that what she does towards Frank is more than enough that he could get. The Moneys is considered as a lower class, they do not have a house to live. They cannot rent a house in Georgia because they lack of money.

Lenore also shows the repressing treatment about the food that Frank can eat. In Home, Frank is not really welcomed by his step grandmother though she allows him to live in her house. It can be seen in the way Mrs. Lenore feed him and Ycidra. The shredded wheat which is served by her for breakfast is poured with water instead of milk (Morrison, 2012: 44).

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Lenore’s perspective on the lower class that Frank’s family belong to, is not without a reason. Frank and his family did not have a house. The did not have money to buy a house. People who do not have a house belong to the lower class. The American history about black economics mentions the gap between black society influenced by the job that they work on. There are different categories of job that divide them into different classes. The first is Ida’s job, “Ida picking cotton or working other crops in the day and sweeping lumber shacks in the evening.” (Morrison, 2012: 45). Ida worked as the cotton picker also worked at the other crops and sweeping lumber shacks. The cotton and tobacco picker became the job of black women especially for them who have no educational background because these jobs have no requirement of educational limitation. A job without any educational background requirements is classified as lower class job. The writer sees that the blacks are not treated equally by the different class in black society.

The writer considers Lenore’s acts toward the Moneys as class repression because the social status gap between them. Lenore sees her family as the superior and the Moneys as the inferior due to their economic condition and jobs that they did.

b. Class Repression toward Ycidra (Cee) by Lenore

Ycidra thinks a cruel grandmother is one of the worst things a girl could have. Living in Lenore’s house is not a big deal for her. Ycidra’s imagination of fond and caring of grandmother’s figure is out of the box while Ycidra has to live with Mrs. Lenore. Evidence by evidence convinces Ycidra that her step grandmother does not like her. Lenore dislikes Ycidra because Ycidra does not have a birth certificate and

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she assumes that Ycidra’s future is not bright that she does not have a legal document stated as follows:

Lenore took it is as a very bad sign for Cee’s future that she was born on the road. Decent women, she said, delivered babies at home, in a bed attended to by good Christian women who knew what to do. Although only street women, prostitutes, went to hospital when they got pregnant, at the least they had a roof overhead when their baby came. Being born in street or the gutter, as she usually put it-was prelude to a sinful, worthless life (Morrison, 2012: 44). Ycidra is not treated in the way she should be treated as a granddaughter by her grandmother for the reason that Lenore thinks that Ycidra is a child who does not have clear origins and are not recognized by the state without having birth certificate. Around the 1950s women who went to hospital to deliver their babies are considered as bad women while the good women deliver their babies at home. Delivering a baby at the hospital means that the women do not have a house. From the quotation above, it can be seen that only street women or prostitutes deliver their babies in hospital.

Being born with no birth certificate is not common. The child with no birth certificate belongs to the lower class because it means the parents do not have enough money to pay for the administration. A birth certificate is a legal document that every single person must have.

Lenore makes Ycidra feels so uncomfortable living in her house. Lenore’s house is big enough but she did not let Ycidra to sleep in the bedroom. During those years living in the discomfort place Ycidra and her parents slept on the floor, on a thin pallet. Lenore thinks that it is a big favor to let some homeless relatives live in her house. Salem as Lenore’s husband can do nothing because he is scared of his wife. He is scared that Lenore will leave him as his first two wives did. Lenore is a

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wealthy woman who collects a five hundred dollar life insurance payment upon her first husband death. The wealth of Lenore becomes a great reason for Salem not to make any trouble with her (Morrison, 2012: 44-45). Lenore belongs to higher class because she does not need to work. She gets life insurance payment of her first husband death.

When Ycidra was a baby, Ida asked Mrs. Lenore to take care of Ycidra but she refused Ida’s request. Ida could not take the baby girl with her while working anymore because she can not keep an eye on her from a distance to make sure that nothing is wrong with the baby. Lenore’s rejection of Ycidra makes Ida’s life gets harder because Lenore is the one who stayed at home who can take care of the baby girl at the house. Lenore never gives her hand to help Ida to look after the baby because she hates the baby. Ida can not leave her daughter alone at home and on the other hand she has to work to raise the children. Frank as the old brother is the one who takes care of his younger sister. Ida has no choice to let Frank to look after the baby girl while she works in the fields (Morrison, 2012: 87-88). What Lenore did is class repression, she did not like Ida’s family because they were poor and rejected to help them.

Ycidra is also repressed by her friend, Thelma. When Ycidra asked her if there is a job that she could work on, Thelma said that Ycidra’s family is pathetic. Thelma assumed that Ycidra’s rejection to go back to Lotus because her family is so mean and Ycidra admitted it. Ycidra only can hide her pleading eyes while Thelma mock at her (Morrison, 2012: 57).

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choices. The black men do not have many choices to choose job for them. The limitation of the jobs is caused by the black women. Many of the jobs which are offered for the blacks are domestic and menial job. The domestic job is usually done by the black women. This kind of the repression makes black men have the limited choices. The classification of black men’s job and black women’s job makes black men cannot do black women’s job. Hence, black women cannot do black men’s job. The second reason is the lower of educational level which makes black men are difficult to find job.

The second main character, Ycidra, is depicted as tough, hardworking and uneducated girl. Her acceptance of the class repression is seen from her reaction. She remains silent when she is repressed by the upper class. She knows that she belongs to the lower class. She does nothing to resist the repression. The fact that the upper class sees their selves as the superior and sees the lower class as the inferior. The assumption that the superior can repress the inferior becomes the main reason why the class repression happens. The income level is the standard to classify what class someone belongs to. Within the black society middle class are they who have the higher income. On the other hand, working class are they who have lover income.

In Home_{, Ycidra experienced also the class repression in finding jobs. Class} repression appears when there is a gap between the people who have power and people with no power. The job which is available is usually the domestic and menial job. Those jobs are the job for the black women. The limit of work choices is because most of the black women are uneducated and lack of job skill. In this novel Ycidraaccepts the class repression in finding jobs. Ycidra does the domestic job. She

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have no choice and the important thing for her, she can earn money to her daily needs.

The writer finds the class repression in the novel. The classrepression is shown by the middle class toward the working class within the black society. The class repression is showed by the gap between the boss and the worker. The writer also sees the reaction of the main characters toward the classrepression . Both of the main characters in Home_{give the same reaction. Both of them are remains silent to} the class repression at the beginning. None of them try to resist the repression frontally. Frank’s and Ycidra’s reaction toward the class repression are silent fight and acceptance.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M. H. and Geoffrey Galt Harpham.AGlossary of LiteraryTerms, 9th edition. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012.

Barry, Peter.Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, 2nd edition. New York: Manchaster University Press, 2002.

Dewi, Kumala.“Racial discriminationin the 20th Century United States ofAmerica Seen from Troy Maxson`s Conflicts in August Wilson’s Fences”. Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: 2011.

Goldin, Claudia. Understandingthe Gender Gap: AnEconomic History ofAmerican Women. New York: Oxford university Press,1990.

Haslett, Moyra. Marxist Literary and Cultural Theories. Basingstoke: MacMillan Press Ltd,

2000.

Harley, Sharon and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn.The Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images. Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1978.

Henretta, James A, W. Elliot Brownlee, David Brody and Susan Ware.America’sHistory, 2th edition.Chicago: The Dorsey Press, 1987.

Karenga, Maulana. Introduction of Black Studies. Los Angeles: The University ofSankore Press, 1993.

Langland, Elizabet. Society intheNovel. London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984.

Morrison, Toni.Home.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.

Murphy, M. J.UnderstandingUnseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and theEnglish Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1972.

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

Rose, Peter Isaac. They and We: Racial and Ethnic Relations in the United States,5th edition. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, 1997.

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Stearns, Peter N.Encyclopedia of Social History. New York: Routledge, 1996.

Suganda, Siska Angeline. “Racial Discrimination towards African Americansin the 1950S Reflected through The Setting in Alice Childress’ Florence”. Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: 2011.

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58 APPENDIX

A summary ofHome

Home _{is written by Toni Morrison in the 1990s.} Home _{is a story about the} discrimination within the black society in the 1950s. Frank Money, Ycidra and their parents move from Texas to Georgia because an exodus. Frank was 4 years and Ycidra was a baby when they moved to Georgia. They live in their grandmother’s house Mrs. Lenore for three years before they can rent a house to live. The Moneys Family is a working class. The parents, Luther and Ida work in the farm. Sometimes Ida takes double job so she earns more money. Living with Mrs. Lenore is like a nightmare for the kids. Mrs. Lenore is not kind as they imagine. Mrs. Lenore often treats them badly. Mrs. Lenore even rejects to take care the baby, Ycidra, while the parents work because she hates her. The 4 years old boy, Frank is the one who takes care of his sister. They do not get room to sleep. Ycidra sleeps on the floor with the parents and Frank sleeps on the back porch, on the slanty wooden swing. Mrs. Lenore does not let Frank to sleep in the house even when it rains. The grandmother often treats them badly as the result that they belong to the working class. Mrs. Lenore is classified as the middle class within the black society in Lotus, Georgia.

Frank and Ycidra can live in their new house after three years their parent finally can rent a house. Even though the society is not really friendly but it is better than stay in Mrs. Lenore house. The day goes by, Frank grows up, leaves the city and joins the Korean War. Ycidra decides to go to another city after the death of her parents. She works in the Bobby’s Restaurant as a waiter also a servant. The salary is

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not enough to make a living. She asks Thelma, her friend who also works in the restaurant. Thelma tells her that in Atlanta, there is a doctor who is looking for a helper and the salary is bigger. Ycidra does not waste the time, she is quit the job and goes to Atlanta.

On the other hand, Frank tries to escape from the hospital after the end of the Korean War. Frank deals with the risky condition. He will be killed if anyone sees him. Frank wants to go back to Georgia and meets his sister Ycidra. In the way home Frank meets some people who help him to find a way back. There is a person who Frank fall in love with, her name is Lily. Lily helps Frank to find a job so he can get money to go back to Georgia. They both live together in an apartment. Their economical condition is not good, Frank does not get any job yet. All of the jobs are offered is domestic and menial job. At first, he does not want to take a job to wash the cars at car wash but after realizing that he needs money for Lily and to brings he back to Georgia. He has no choice except takes the available job.

The silent fighttoward class repressionin black society as seen through Frank Money And Ycidra In Tony Morrison`s Home.

MORRISON’S

HOME

MORRISON’S

HOME

THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARDS CLASS REPRESSION IN BLACK

SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND CEE IN TONY

MORRISON’S

HOME

THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARD CLASS REPRESSION IN

BLACK SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND

YCIDRA IN TONY MORRISON’S

HOME

THE SILENT FIGHT TOWARD CLASS REPRESSION IN BLACK

SOCIETY AS SEEN THROUGH FRANK MONEY AND YCIDRA IN

TONY MORRISON’S

HOME

Have we not opened your heart, and relieved you of the burden which

weighed down heavily on your back, and raised your voice.So, with every

difficulty there is relief; verily with every difficulty there is relief.So, when

your task is over, prepare yourself and seek your Lord with all fervour

(Q.S Al Inshiroh)

Build your own dreams, or someone will hire you

to build theirs

For My Beloved Grandmother

Karsiyem Warna Suharja

In Heaven

Parts

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