THE INFLUENCE OF SETTING OF PLACE TOWARDS THE MAJOR CHARACTERS AS SEEN IN EDITH NESBIT’S THE RAILWAY CHILDREN

  

THE INFLUENCE OF SETTING OF PLACE TOWARDS THE MAJOR

CHARACTERS AS SEEN IN EDITH NESBIT’S THE RAILWAY CHILDREN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  

By

DEWI RACHMAWATI

  Student Number: 044214095

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2008

  

THE INFLUENCE OF SETTING OF PLACE TOWARDS THE MAJOR

CHARACTERS AS SEEN IN EDITH NESBIT’S THE RAILWAY CHILDREN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  

By

DEWI RACHMAWATI

  Student Number: 044214095

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2008

  

“IT IS BETTER TO WANT WHAT YOU

HAVE THAN TO HAVE WHAT YOU WANT”

(Somerset Maugham)

  

I dedicate this thesis to

My beloved father

My beloved mother

  

My beloved Sister

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I would like to express my ultimate gratitude to God, Allah SWT, for His help and His guidance. Without Him, I cannot be what I am meant to be. He always gives me what is the best for me. He fills me with His strength and guidance, so I can finally finish writing this thesis.

  My deepest gratitude also goes to my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum, my co- advisor, J. Harris Hermansyah S., S.S.,M.Hum, and my examiner, Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M.Hum, who have been willing to guide me to finish this thesis. I really thank them for their help, guidance, suggestion, support, time and energy spent to read, correct, and criticize my thesis. Because of them, I can complete my thesis.

  Besides, I also thank to my dearest father Gatot Midihardja and loveliest mother Sekarteky for their work hard, trust and prayer. Without them, I do not have opportunity to study in Sanata Dharma University. Then, I also thank to my sister, Titien Noorfidiana, who becomes my biggest motivation to finish my study as soon as possible.

  In addition, there are also many persons that support me to complete my thesis. I thank to my best friend, Muhammad Nur Addin, for his patience and attention. Then, I also thank to my friends Tata, Intan, Cimot, Master Erwin, Rita, and Ririn who always disturb, support and make me laugh when I will do this thesis. Next, to my KKN Wonodoro friends group 11 Mita, Indri, Tato, Dima, Andrew, Lia, Ndaru, Joko, and Amel and her charming boyfriend. I thank for the sweetest memory given. I will never forget it guys. The last gratitude is for persons who have contribution and are not mentioned here.

  

ABSTRACT

  DEWI RACHMAWATI. The Influence of Setting of Place towards the Major

  

Characters as Seen in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children. Yogyakarta: Department

of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.

  This thesis analyzes a novel written by Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children. The writer talks about the influence of setting that happens toward the major characters, Mother, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis in the novel. They become major characters because they have big part in this novel and their characteristics change after they move in the new environment, Three Chimneys.

  In order to analyze this novel, three problems are formulated. The first problem is about the characteristics and characterization of the major characters. The second problem deals with the setting of the novel. The setting in this novel is the setting place that causes changes on the major characters’ behavior. The last problem is about how the setting of place in the novel influences the major characters’ behaviors.

  To accomplish this study, the writer employs the New Criticism approach. Library research method is used to collect the data from the books and other references. Theories of character and characterization, theory on setting, and theory on characters development are used to answer the three problems formulated of this thesis.

  The result of this study shows that the setting of place in this novel influences the characteristics of the major characters. The major characters in this novel move into a certain setting that is very different from their previous setting. The major characters that experience characters development in this novel are Mother, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. Their characteristics change when they move from London to Three Chimneys. First, Mother is an attentive mother when in London, but after moving in Three Chimneys, she becomes introverted, busy, patience, strong and thrifty mother, but she still worries about her children. However, Mother’s characteristic changing is different from her children because she has bigger responsibility than her children. Second, Roberta is a stubborn girl and she becomes an attentive, mature, and brave girl. Next, Peter is spoiled boy that becomes mature, attentive, and brave boy after moving to Three Chimneys. The last character is Phyllis. She is spoiled and spontaneous child. Then, she becomes attentive, brave, and little bit mature when they move to Three Chimneys. However, the setting of place influences her indirectly through her siblings. In short, in their new setting of place, the major characters get new experiences and make acquaintances with different people and characteristics. They also have to face the problem in their life that is harder than before. Therefore, they also have to change their characteristics to face their problems in the new setting.

  

ABSTRAK

  DEWI RACHMAWATI. The Influence of Setting of Place towards the Major

  

Characters as Seen in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children. Yogyakarta: Jurusan

Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma 2008.

  Skripsi ini menganalisis novel yang ditulis oleh Edith Nesbit, The Railway

  

Children . Penulis membahas tentang pengaruh latar yang terjadi pada tokoh- tokoh utama

  dalam novel yaitu Mother, Roberta, Peter, dan Phyllis. Mereka menjadi tokoh utama karena mereka mempunyai peranan yang besar dalam novel ini dan watak mereka berubah setelah mereka pindah ke lingkungan mereka yang baru yaitu Three Chimneys.

  Ada tiga masalah yang dirumuskan untuk menganalisis novel ini. Permasalahan pertama tentang watak dan perwatakan tokoh utama. Permasalahan kedua berkaitan dengan latar novel. Latar dalam novel adalah tempat yang menyebabkan perubahan- perubahan pada tingkah laku tokoh-tokoh utama. Permasalahan terakhir tentang bagaimana latar tempat dalam novel mempengaruhi tingkah laku tokoh- tokoh utama.

  Dalam skripsi ini penulis menggunakan pendekatan kritik baru. Metode kepustakaan digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data dari buku- buku dan sumber- sumber lain. Teori watak dan perwatakan, teori latar, dan teori perkembangan karakter digunakan untuk menjawab tiga masalah yand dirumuskan pada skripsi ini.

  Hasil dari pembelajaran ini menunjukkan bahwa latar tempat dalam novel ini mempengaruhi watak tokoh- tokoh utama. Tokoh- tokoh utama dalam novel ini pindah pada latar yang sangat berbeda dengan latar mereka sebelumnya. Karakter utama yang mengalami perkembangan karakter dalam novel ini adalah Mother, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. Watak mereka berubah ketika mereka pindah dari London ke Three Chimneys. Yang pertama Mother yang merupakan ibu yang perhatian ketika di London menjadi ibu yang tertutup, sibuk, sabar, kuat dan hemat setelah pindah ke Three Chimneys. Akan tetapi dia masih mengkhawatirkan anak- anaknya. Perubahan karakter pada Mother berbeda dengan anaknya karena dia mempunyai tanggung jawab yang lebih besar dari anak- anaknya. Yang kedua adalah Roberta yang merupakan gadis yang keras kepala dan menjadi gadis yang perhatian, dewasa dan berani. Berikutnya adalah Peter yang merupakan anak manja yang menjadi anak yang dewasa, perhatian, dan berani setelah pindah ke Three Chimneys. dan yang terakhir adalah Phyllis. Dia adalah anak yang manja dan spontan. Kemudian dia menjadi anak yang perhatian, berani, dan sedikit dewasa ketika mereka pindah ke Three Chimneys. Akan tetapi latar tempat mempengaruhinya secara tidak langsung yaitu melalui saudara- saudaranya. Singkatnya, pada latar mereka yang baru, mereka mendapatkan pengalaman- pengalaman baru dan berkenalan dengan orang- orang yang berbeda watak. Mereka juga harus menghadapi masalah dalam hidup mereka yang lebih sulit dari sebelumnya. Sehingga mereka juga harus mengubah watak mereka untuk mengahadapi masalah mereka di latar yang baru.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study A novel is a kind of literary work that we often meet in our daily life. It

  

consists of some elements, such as plot, characters, setting, and theme. In addition,

those elements relate to each other and sometimes can influence one another, too.

  

One of interesting things in analyzing a literary work is by relating one element to

another element in the literary works. Besides interesting, it is also very useful to

give deeper understanding for the readers about the content of a novel. For

example, what the writer is going to do in this thesis is by relating the setting and

the characters in the novel. The setting and the characters in the novel have close

relationship, so the characters’ behaviors are sometimes influenced by the setting,

such as setting of time, setting of place and setting of society. The characters can

have different characteristics in a different setting. It depends on when and where

the characters live, and the society that live around them. By doing that kind of

analysis, the readers will understand why the characters’ behavior changed when

they live in a different setting.

  In this thesis, the writer will analyze The Railway Children, a novel written

by Edith Nesbit. The writer is going to analyze two elements of this novel. Those

elements are the setting and the characters. Then, the writer will relate those

elements and see their relationship. Therefore, the writer can see how one element

can influence the other element. In this novel, the main characters are influenced

by the setting of place in the novel. Their characteristics change when they move

from their house in London that is comfortable to the cottage in the country that

  

lies beside a railway track. It is clear that the setting of place influences their

behavior.

  In addition, the writer is going to analyze a novel written by Edith Nesbit

because of some reasons. First, it is because Edith Nesbit is one of the popular

novelists. Her works are also very popular and some of them appeared in Sunday

Magazine . The works of Edith Nesbit are The Treasure Seekers that was

published under pseudonym “Edith Mortimer” in 1904, The Book of Dragon

(1900), The Would-be-Goods (1901), Five Children and It (!902), The Phoenix

and the Carpet (1904) that is the sequel of Five Children and It. Then, two years

later, The Story of the Amulet completed the trilogy. In addition, The Railway

Children were published on 1904 and followed by one of her most haunting

stories, The Enchanted Castle. Her other books are The House of Arden (1908),

Harding’s Luck (1909), and Wet Magic (1913).

  Besides the author and her works, the story of this novel is also very

interesting. This novel tells about a family life and also the adventures of three

children. Their life changes when their father left home mysteriously and

suddenly. Then, the children and the mother move from London to a cottage in the

country named “Three Chimneys” that lies beside a railway track. In addition,

their behavior changes in this place, especially the children as we can see in the

quotation below.

  ‘So I’ve caught you at last, have I, you young thief?’ said the Station Master.

‘I’m not a thief,’said Peter, as firmly as he could. ‘I’m a coal-miner.’

………… ‘You know that wet day? Well, Mother said we were too poor to have a fire. We always had fires when it was cold at our other house,and —‘ (Nesbit, 1995: 31-33)

  The quotation above shows that Peter’s behavior changes. He tries to steal

coal in the station, whereas he never did that before. He did that because his

mother did not permit him to have a fire when the day was very cold. His mother

did that because coal was very expensive, so they had to be thrift and saved the

coal for the winter. Besides, he knew that there were many coals in the station and

he decided to steal coals from the station. In addition, the setting of place here has

an important role in shaping the characteristics of Peter. Peter and his family live

in the station that is a place where there are many coals that is very needed by

Peter. Therefore, he was determined to steal some coal from the station because of

necessity. It is one of the examples that the setting of place has important roles in

this novel.

  Then, the writer chooses The Influence of Setting of Place towards The

Major Characters as Seen in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children as the topic.

  

The writer chooses that topic for this thesis because the setting of place and the

characters in this novel have close relationship. The setting of place has important

roles toward the development of the major characters. Moreover, in this thesis, the

writer will analyze the setting of place and the characters in this novel one by one.

  

First, the writer will analyze the first setting of place and the behavior of the

character in the first setting. Second, the writer will analyze the second setting of

place and the changes of characters’ behavior because the behaviors of the

characters are influenced by the setting around them. They live in the certain

place, so they have to adapt and survive with the place and the society around

them. However, their behaviors can also change. Then, the writer will compare

both setting of places and the characters. Therefore, the writer can see the changes

of the characters’ behavior. Besides, the writer can also see how the setting of

  

place gives influence toward the characters and forms the characters’ behavior

that is different from their previous behavior when they are in the different setting.

B. Problem Formulation

  In order to analyze the influence of setting of place towards major characters in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children, the writer formulates three problems listed as follows.

1. How are the major characters depicted in the novel? 2.

  How is the setting of place described in the novel? 3. How does the setting of place influence characters’ development?

C. Objectives of Study

  The main objective of this study is to answer the questions in the problem

formulation. The questions are about the major characters, the setting of place in

the novel and the influence of setting of place towards major characters’ behavior.

In this study, firstly the writer tries to see how the characters and the setting of

place are described in the novel. Because of the setting of place in this novel

changes, the writer will analyze both setting of places and compare them. The

setting of place here is not merely place but also the society who live in it. Then,

the writer is also going to analyze the behavior of the major characters in each

setting, so the writer can see the changes of the major characters’ behavior and

why they changes. Besides, the writer will also be able to see how the setting of

place influences the major characters’ behavior in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway

Children .

D. Definition of Terms

  In order to analyze the novel, there are some terms that need to be clarified

in order to give clear explanation and make the same perception about the terms

used in this analysis. The terms are: 1.

   Character Abrams, in his A Glossary of Literary Terms, defines characters are “ the

person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who interrupt the readers as

being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what

they say- the dialogue- and by what they do- the action”(1981: 20). It means that

the personality of characters can be judged from their action and dialogue that

they have in drama or narrative.

2. Characterization

  Rohrberger and Woods, in their book named Reading and Writing about Literature state that:

  Characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters. The process by which and author creates a character is called CHARACTERIZATION (1971: 22) It means that characters can be judged from their personalities and also

their physical attribute. It can be done by describing their physical appearance

such as their age, hair, skin, etc or seeing the way they behave. For example is that

the character can be said as naughty or a bad person if she/he often makes

troubles.

2. Setting

  In the literary works, there must be setting. The setting in the literary work

has important roles such as influence the character’s behavior, give description

about certain society in the certain time, etc. Abrams, in his book A Glossary of

Literary Terms , states that the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs; the setting of a single episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in which it takes place (1981: 175). It means that setting is not only about the place where the actions occur,

but also time and society. Setting of time means time when the action occurs,

while setting of society is what kind of social circumstances the action occurs.

Then, in this thesis, the writer will focus on the setting of place including the

society who lives in it because that setting of place have important role in this

novel in influencing the main characters’ development.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Review of related studies is a study that was done previously and used as

  

references in the next study. In the thesis, the writer has four related studies. The

writer is going to use two undergraduate theses, essays on the author’s life, and an

analysis about The Railway Children but with different topics as the related

studies for this thesis. As the first related study, the writer will use study of Vicki

  

Palmquist. In her essay, she tells about the life of Edith Nesbit. She tells that Edith

Nesbit was trailblazer because she wrote in the midst of the Victorian conventions

of preaching to children through her books.

  Instead of preaching, E. Nesbit wrote to children as her equals because, "When I was a little child I used to pray fervently, tearfully, that when I should be grown up I might never forget what I thought, felt, and suffered then." (http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/birthbios/brthpage/08aug/8- 15nesbit.html) Besides, from the quotation above we can see that Vicky also wrote in her

essay that the purpose of Edith Nesbit’s life is to write novels for children because

she did not want to forget what she felt, suffered, and thought when she was a

child. Vicky’s essay also mentioned that Edith Nesbit’s father ran a London

college but died when she was three years old and left her mother to raise five

children alone. Besides, Vicki also told about Edith Nesbit’s life. Then, from

Vicki’s story, it can be seen that the story of Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children

is almost the same as Edith Nesbit’s life. It means that Edith Nesbit wanted to tell

about her experiences in life through her novels. Then, as the second related study

  

Widiyanti titled The Influence of Setting to Dr.Manette’s Characterisation in

Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities . In her thesis, Natalia talks about Dr. Manette, a

responsible and kind doctor that is sent to jail because he tries to help the poor

people against injustice that often happens at that time. It gives bad influence to

Dr. Manette’s characteristic. He is isolated in a small and lonely place that makes

him cannot communicate with others and practice his profession as a good doctor.

  

He has studious habit that always spends his time to produce something useful, so

that when he is in the jail, he makes shoes to spend his time and produce

something useful. However, his life in the jail influences his life in the present

time. After he releases from the jail, he becomes a person who prefers to live in

the quiet place as he used to do when in jail. It seems that he has his own world.

He feels that by being a shoemaker he can erase his pain. It shows that the setting

influence Dr. Manette’s characterization (Widiyanti, 2000: 54-55).

  In addition, the third related study that the writer is going to use is also an

undergraduate thesis by Trisna Budiyanti titled The Influence of Setting toward

the Main Character as seen in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome . In her thesis, Trisna

has the same topic with Natalia that is about the influence of setting toward

characters in the novel. The focus of Trisna’s thesis is Ethan Frome. He is a man

that is trapped in the isolated place in New England town of Starkfield. He lived

with his wife, Zeena and his wife’s cousin, Mattie in Starkfield. Starkfield is a

small village that does not change much over time. Besides, the harsh winter

makes the condition in this town getting worse. That condition influence the

quality of life or the behaviors of people in that place, especially Ethan Frome. In

the novel, he is described as a lame, grizzled, and ruined man both in body and

spirit. He is also crippled, but he is a good person. There are many bad things that

  

happened to him during winter like the death of his father and mother, his

marriage with Zeena. That kind of condition makes him fail to realize any of his

desire, especially to be an engineer, because he has to be responsible to his

family.(Budiyanti, 2002: 51-53). It shows that the setting can influence the

character in the novel.

  Next, the fourth related study is a short analysis about The Railway Children that was compiled by Allie Spencer, Lisa Pashouros, and Trina Haldar.

  In their analysis, they analyze about the characters in The Railway Children and also the setting of the novel. However, they do not only analyze the setting of the novel, but also the setting when Edith Nesbit wrote The Railway Children. Then, they relate the setting in the reality with the setting in the novel. They also tell that The Railway Children is a kind of reflection from Edith Nesbit about the condition that happened around her. The condition and what happened through the character in The Railway Children is almost the same as the condition in the reality at that

time (Spencer, Allie, Lisa Pashouros, and Trina Haldar, 2004.

http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/files/The%20Railway%20Children.pdf) Those related studies are very helpful to give a description about the topic

and the object that the writer is going to analyze. The writer can get the

description of the characters in the novel and the theory that is usually used to analyze about the influence of setting toward the characters in the novel. Besides, from those related studies, the writer can see some reasons why the characters in the novel can change their behavior when they live in the other setting.

  However, what makes this thesis different from the other is that the objects

of this analysis are all the major characters, whereas usually other theses only

analyze one major character in the novel. The writer wants to analyze all of the

  

major characters because the characters whose behaviors change are not only one

character but all the major characters.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  The first theory that the writer uses is theory of character and

characterization. The writer uses that theory in order to analyze the characteristics

of the characters in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children. In A Glossary of

  Literary Terms, Abrams defines characters as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who interrupt the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what way they say- the dialogue- and by what they do- the action (1981: 20).

  The quotation above means that personality of the characters can be

judged from their action and dialogue that they have in drama or narrative works.

  In addition, according to Ian Milligan in The Novel in English (1983: 155),

characters can be distinguished based on their role in the story. Those characters

are major and minor characters. Major characters are characters that become the

focus of the story from the beginning to the end, while minor characters are

characters that only appear in certain setting, and only become the background of

major characters and have less important role.

  In addition, Barnet says that there are some important factors when the readers want to see the characters (1998: 712). Those factors are:

  1. What the characters say. In the novel, the readers will read what the characters say to others or to themselves and in what condition the characters say their dialogues. Then, the reader will know the characteristics of the characters.

  2. What the characters do. What the characters do in some different situations can show the readers their characteristics.

  3. What other characters say about the character. It is very helpful for the readers to evaluate the characteristics of characters in the novel more deeply.

  4. What others do. It is important in order to know the characters because the characters will say and do something. They interact with the others to show what they want, what they need and what they do. From that, we can see the responses of the others and the characters. Then, we can see the characters better.

  While, Rohrberger and Woods, in their book named Reading and Writing

about Literature state that characterization can be determined based on the

personalities and attributes that is possessed by the characters and can distinguish

them from the other characters. It can be done by describing physical appearances

or seeing how the characters behave. Besides, they also have the definition about

characterization. They define characterization as the process by which an author

creates a character, the devices by which he makes us believe that a character is

the particular type of person he is. Then, according to Rohrberger and Woods,

there are two ways that the author can do in order to characterize. Those ways are

Direct and Dramatic characterization. Direct characterization means doing

characterization by the describing physical appearances and intellectual, moral

and the degree of sensitivity such as the age, shape of the body, hair, and etc,

while dramatic characterization means characterizing by placing the character in a

situation to show what the character is by the way the character behaves or speaks

(1971: 20). For example, if the character in the story always has problems with the

others, it means that the character is characterized as a bad person. The author

  

places that character in the situation in which people hate her/ him because of her

or his bad attitude, so that makes her or him seem a bad person.

2. Theory on Setting

  Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms give definition about setting of narrative or dramatic work as follows: the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs; the setting of a single episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in which it takes place (1981: 175).

  Holman and Harmon in their A Handbook to Literature mention that there are four elements forming a setting, namely: (1) the actual geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors in a room; (2) the occupations and daily manner of living of the characters; (3) the time or period in which the action takes places, for example, epoch in history or season of the year; (4) the general environment of the characters, for example, religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional conditions through which the people in the narrative move (1986: 465). From the quotation above, we can see that the setting is the environment of

the events in the story and the immediate world in which they occur. There are

many things that can be included into setting and those have important roles in the

story. The setting can influence the behaviors and the mindset of the characters in

the novel. The characters can have bad or good behaviors and mature or childish

thinking based on the environment where they live. For example people who have

bad attitude live in the environment that consists of good people, it may change

their bad attitude into good attitude.

  Murphy in his Understanding Unseens also has some points about how the

setting is important. He says that setting of novel has great effects upon

  

personalities, action and way of thinking of the characters (1972: 41). According

to him there are four kind of setting of time as stated below a. Present time

  Murphy explains that an author may write a story about his or her own time, the things that are happening around him or her, or the events about them.

  b. Past time An author may choose to go backwards in time and write about historical events in order to light up the past to readers. Some imagination may be used to go back to past historical times.

  c. Future time An author may also take readers to the future through his imagination.

  The story may deal with the condition of the world free from any economic-social-political pressure (totalitarian tyranny, anarchy, capitalism), or with the development of human civilization exploring other planets in the universe or dealing with robots.

  d. No specific time An author has the right to give the readers no indication of the time in which the story takes place. The story is something like the old fairy stories; they happen ‘once upon a time’ (1972: 143-144). In addition, Murphy also states some points on the setting of place. He

says that a story may have three kinds of place as the settings. The first is a

familiar place, which is considered by the author to be familiar to most of the

readers, either from experience or by close acquaintance. Thus, a British writer may choose to write about events that take place in London or any other part of

  

Britain. The second place is an unfamiliar place that is likely to be unfamiliar to

many of the readers of the author’s own nation. Then, the third is imaginary place.

  

It is a place which is not familiar to anyone at all may be used as well by the

author to be the setting of his or her work of literature. However, in this thesis, the

writer will only focus on the setting of place including the society who live in it.

3. Theory on Characters Development

  Setting and characters in the novel are two important things that influence

one to another. The setting itself is not only where the action happened but also

when and in what condition the action happened. The characters cannot exist

without setting and vice versa. In his book, M.J. Murphy states that the setting of

the novel has a great effect upon the personalities, action and way of thinking of

the characters. The setting “where” and “when” they live in or at determine the

characters in the novel (1972: 41).

  According to Reaske in his book How to Analyze Drama, he mentions that

there are two kinds of characters that are active characters and passive characters

(1966: 43). Active characters are characters that perform acts and have large parts

in the play. They are considered as dynamic because their characteristics change

based on the action in the play. They usually change their behaviors and views

because of some events or evidences. In addition, passive characters are characters

that only have small parts in the play. They are different from active characters

because their behavior and views unchanged although there are some events that

may change the situation. Because of that, they are considered as static. However,

this theory is actually to analyze drama, but in this thesis I use it to analyze novel

  

because novel and drama are almost the same. They are literary works that have

characters and setting as their important elements.

  Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense states that there are some

conditions that make the characters change. First, it must be within the

possibilities of the characters that make it. It means that the characters should

change step by step. Second, it must be sufficiently motivated by the

circumstances in which the characters find themselves. The characters usually

have certain reason to change their characteristics. Third, it must be allowed

sufficient time for a change of its magnitude believably to take place. It means

that the characters need a period of time to change their characteristics (1974: 71)

  In addition, according to Abrams, the characters express their moral and

disposition qualities through what they say and what they do. It can also reveal

their motivation. However, a character may remain stable in his view and

dispositions from the beginning to the end, but they may also unstable or have

gradual development as the result of an extreme crisis (1981: 20-21).

  Based on the explanations above, the writer can see that the characters in

the novel can develop their characteristics if there are change conditions in their

life or the settings changing around them. They have to adapt and overcome

problems that happen in their new environment.

C. Theoretical Framework

  As explained before, the theory of characters and characterization is a theory

that is used to analyze the characters based on the characters’ dialogue and actions

and to analyze how the characters are characterized. Then, in this thesis, the writer

uses the theory of character and characterization in order to analyze the

  

personalities of the characters in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children. The writer

will analyze the characters from their dialogue in the novel. In addition, the main

reason the writer uses this theory is because by using this theory, the writer will be

able to analyze the characters in The Railway Children. The theory of characters

gives description how to judge the characters, so we can get clear description

about the personalities of the characters in the novel.

  Then, in this thesis, the writer will also use theory of characterization as one

of theories in this thesis because from this theory, the writer is able to analyze how

the characters are described in the novel. Therefore, the writer can analyze how

the characters are described in Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children and how their

characteristics develop.

  Besides the theory character and characterization, the writer will also use

theory on setting. In A Handbook to Literature by Holman and Harmon, it is

stated that the setting is not merely time or place but sometimes it refers to the

spiritual and social condition where the story takes place. Meanwhile, according

to Murphy, there are three kinds of setting of place those are familiar, unfamiliar

and imaginary place. Besides, there are four kinds of setting of time those are

present, past, future and no specific time. The setting of the story also has

important role that can influence the plot of the story and the attitude of the

characters in the story. In this thesis, the writer uses theory of setting because by

using this theory, the writer is able to analyze the setting of place of this novel that

is where this novel is set and how the condition of the social life in novel titled

The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit. Besides, the writer can also see whether

the setting of place in the novel influence the attitude of the characters or the way

of thinking of the characters in the novel.

  The last theory that the writer uses in this thesis is theory on characters

development. For analyzing the characters development, the writer uses some

theories and combines it. The first theory is by M.J Murphy that mentions that the

setting where and when the characters live can give great influences toward

characters and determine the characteristics of the characters. Then, as the second

theory, the writer uses Reaske’s theory in his book How to Analyze Drama. He

mentions that there are two kinds of characters that are active characters who are

dynamic and passive characters who are static. Besides, their can change their

behaviors based on the events that happen. Next, Barnet’s theory which state that

there are some factors to see the characters that are what the characters say, what

the characters do, what other characters say about the character, and what others

do. The last theory is by Abrams who state that the characters can be stable or

unstable based on the extreme crisis that happen around them. The writer uses

those theories in order to analyze the development of the major characters in Edith

Nesbit’s The Railway Children. First, the writer will analyze whether the major

characters in The Railway Children develop their characteristics or behaviors or

not. Then, the writer will also analyze what makes their characteristics develop.

Therefore, by using these theories, the writer will be able to know how the setting

of place in The Railway Children can influence the major characters’

development.