Willie Traynor`s reaction to race discrimination in the American society in the 1970`s reflected in John Grisham`s The Last Juror - USD Repository
WILLIE TRAYNOR’S REACTION TO RACE DISCRIMINATION IN THE AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1970’S REFLECTED IN JOHN GRISHAM’S THE LAST JUROR AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DEVA BHARATA PROBO HANDOYO
Student Number: 044214070
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
WILLIE TRAYNOR’S REACTION TO RACE DISCRIMINATION IN
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1970’S REFLECTED IN
JOHN GRISHAM’S THE LAST JUROR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DEVA BHARATA PROBO HANDOYO
Student Number: 044214070
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
"The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt
with the heart."- Helen Keller-
For My Beloved Family
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK
KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Deva Bharata Probo HandoyoNomor Mahasiswa : 044214070
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengeetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas
Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:“WILLIE TRAYNOR’S REACTION TO RACE DISCRIMINATION IN THE
AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1970’S REFLECTED IN JOHN GRISHAM’S THE LAST
JUROR”beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada
Perpustakaan Univesitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk
media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan
mempublkasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu
meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan
nama saya menulis.Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 30 September 2011 Yang menyatakan, Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis has been improved by the help and comment of many people who are kindenough to get involved during the writing of this undergraduate thesis. I would not be able to
complete this thesis without the help of other, both direct and indirect. Here my gratitude goes to
. and Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. for the valuable Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Humassistance and patience in correcting and improving this thesis. I also thank to the administrative
staff of Department of English Letters of Sanata Dharma, especially Mbak Ninik who has been
so kind to help the writer during my study. Further, I also thank to all the members of lecturing
Staff of Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, for the best education that has
been given to me.I would like to express my special thanks to my beloved family, my father Drs. RM.
Devananda, M.M . and my mother Sugiastuti Handayani, S.Sos., my brothers Mahendra Dwi
Satrio Nugroho and Adhimas Chandra Aji Pamungkas, for your supporting love,
enncouragement pray and your financial support. Then, thank to the member of Sastra
2004,Bendot, Dinar, Diah, Fian, Shanti, Luminto, Ison, Deon, Dhita, Atiek, Troy, Irene,
especially to my best friends Efra Tania, Wahyu, Ayok, Rubin, Dino, Gunawan, Sigit, and
for giving your support in writing this thesis.Hoho The last gratitude is dedicated to my very special person in my life, my girlfriend,
Reksiana Septiningrum , who has helped me so much with huge support, and love during the
process of this thesis. I thank them for the understanding and attention for being my partner.Above all, I praises The Lord Allah SWT of the bllessing and love so that I can finish this thesis.
Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................................ i APPROVAL PAGE ..................................................................................................... ii............................................................................................... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE
............................................................................................................ iv MOTTO PAGE DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................................. v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI .................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ vii
............................................................................................ ix TABLE OF CONTENTS
.................................................................................................................. x ABSTRACT ABSTRAK .................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................
1 A. Background of the Study ...............................................................................
1 B. Problem Formulation ....................................................................................
4 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................
4 D. Definition of Terms .......................................................................................
5 ..............................................................
6 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies ............................................................................
6 B. Review of Related Theories ..........................................................................
8 C. Review of American Society in 1960’s – 1970’s ..........................................
11 D. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................
15 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................
17 A. Object of the Study .......................................................................................
17 B. Approach of the Study .................................................................................
19 C. Method of the Study .....................................................................................
19 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ........................................................................................
21 A. The Characteristics of Willie Traynor in the Story .......................................
21 B. The Moments of Race Discrimination that Spotlighted by Willie Traynor in
the Story .......................................................................................................
32 C. The Reaction of Willie Traynor upon the Race Discrimination as the Reflection of the Real Situation of American Society in1970’s …………............................... 51 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................
61 ......................................................................................................... 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX . ................................................................................................................... 68
Appendix : The Summary of John Grisham’s The Last Juror …………............ 68
ABSTRACT Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo (2004), Willie Traynors Reaction To Race
Discrimination in the American Society in the 1970’s Reflected in John Grisham’s The Last
, Yogyakarta: English Letters Study Programme, Sanata Dharma University. JurorThere were some reasons why the writer writes this undergraduate thesis. The main
reason was stemmed from the writer’s interest in racism that was suffered by the blacks in
Southern America. The writer then found the interesting novel of John Grisham entitled The Last
. The Last Juror was an interesting media to analyze further because the racial problems in JurorSouthern were trully reflected in this novel. The sufferings and discriminations based on the race
were listed clearly in the novel.The aims of writing this undergraduate thesis were to know further the life, the
sufferrings, and the race discriminations of the black in Southern; and also to highlight the
importance of main character of the story in reacting against the race discriminations that
happened in the society.The writer conducted a library research in writing this udergraduate thesis. The writer
also used the theory of characterization, the theory of racism, the reviews of United States in
1970’s and the sociocultural-historical approach as the foundation in analyzing this
undergraduate thesisThe writer found some moral values in writing and finishing this undergraduate thesis.
The importance of the main character’s reaction to the race discrimination and the social issues
that concerned on race discrimination were the moral values that could be gotten as the example
that the practice of racism was not good. The importance of the main character in the analysis of
this undergraduate thesis showed that black as the oppressed and minor people deserved to get
the equality in society.
ABSTRAK
Deva Bharata Probo Handoyo (2004), Willie Traynors Reaction To Race Discriminationin the American Society in the 1970’s Reflected in John Grisham’s The Last Juror ,
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris Universitas Sanata Dharma.Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini ditulis dengan beberapa alasan. Alasan utama berasal dari
ketertarikan penulis terhadap penderitaan yang dialami oleh para kaum hitam. Ketertarikan
penulis diiringi dengan adanya buku berjudul The Last Juror atau dalam versi bahasa Indonesia
karya John Grisham. Buku The Last Juror merupakan sarana yang Anggota Juri Terakhirmenarik untuk dijadikan sebagai objek penelitian karena buku ini sarat dengan permasalahan-
permasalahan ras di Kawasan Selatan. Penderitaan-penderitaan serta tindakan diskriminasi yang
disebabkan karena perbedaan ras benar-benar dijabarkan secara jelas di dalam buku ini.Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini mempunyai beberapa tujuan. Tujuan-tujuan tersebut
diantaranya adalah untuk mengetahui lebih dalam tentang kehidupan, penderitaan, dan tindakan
diskriminasi terhadap ras yang dialami oleh para kaum hitam di Wilayah Selatan; dan juga untuk
menyorot tentang pentingnya seorang tokoh utama dalam memerangi tindakan diskriminasi
terhadap ras didalam masyarakat yang ditemukan didalam cerita itu.Penyusunan skripsi sarjana ini menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka. Penulis juga
menggunakan beberapa teori tentang character dan characterization, teori racism, gambaran
tentang keadaan negara Amerika Serikat pada era 1970an dan menggunakan pendekatan sosial
budaya dan sejarah.Penulis menemukan beberapa nilai moral dalam penyusunan dan penyelesaian skripsi
sarjana ini. Pentingya peran seorang tokoh utama dalam memerangi tindakan diskriminasi ras
dan juga gejolak sosial yang berkaitan dengan perbedaan ras merupakan sebuah nilai moral yang
bisa dipetik sebagai sebuah contoh dari buruknya pembedaan ras yang terjadi di masyarakat.
Pentingya sorang tokoh utama dalam analisa di skripsi sarjana ini menunjukkan bahwa kaum
hitam sebagai kaum tertindas dan minoritas layak untuk mendapatkan persamaan derajat di
dalam masyarakat. Penulis berharap bahwa dengan adanya skripsi sarjana yang mengangkat
tentang problematika perbedaan ras ini, para pembaca dapat lebih memahami tentang tujuan
penulisan skripsi sarjana ini, dan pembaca juga diharapkan mendapat nilai-nilai moral dalam
kehidupan mereka setelah membaca skripsi sarjana ini.CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Most people in the world are familiar with the word “literature”, but not
many of them understand the meaning of the word of literature is. It is a term wich is used to describe written or spoken material.
In Theory of Literature, Rene Wellek and Austin Waren state that literature must stand in recognizable relation to life in such a way that it is in any case a selection from life (Wellek, 1956:212). In other words, literature must indeed be true to life. However, it seems impossible, especially for those who believe that literature is an imaginative, fictional piece of work; when peolpe concern themelves with life, they deal with something real and factual.
Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. It introduces us to the new world of experiences. People learn about books and literature; they enjoy comedies and tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and they may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.
Literature is an enjoyable performance in words, offering an unique delight or satisfaction and a beneficial effecst on readers. Therefore, it is not primarily a source of facts, but also offers truth. Rene Wellek and Austin Waren stated that literature must stand in a recognizable relation to life in such a way that in any case a selection from life (Wellek, 1956: 212). In other words, literature believe that literature is an imaginative, fictional piece of work; whereas people who concern with life, deals with real thing and factual. Therefore, the readers make a judgement to literary works, particularly for those who agree that it is considered true to life.
Literature in An Introduction to Study of Literature, offers pleasure and satifaction to people who like literary works. Literature also gives them visions and experience of living. William H. Hudson says that literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they have experienced in life, what they thought and felt about life. All of those things have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of us. It is fundamentaly an expression of life through the medium of language (1958:10).
Literature can be a principal element, which is regarded so essential since it contains the records of people, values, their thoughts, their problems and conflicts and their whole way of life. “Literature is also the chief art of mankind because it can effectively express one’s idea to others” (Little, 1981:1). He also says that by regarding a work of literature people can add their understanding of life in the world arround them because it embodies thought and feeling on matters of human importance. Besides literature deals much with human nature, with life’s most important issue love, hatred, peace, war, survival, death, ambition, failure, idealism, compromise, and other things. (1982:2).
The writer would like to analyze the novel of John Grisham entitled The
Last Juror . John Grisham is an American author, best known for his popular legal from Mississippi State University before attending the University Of Mississippi School Of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade. He also served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to September 1990.
The novel analyzed is The Last Juror (2004). It presents how the racism happens in American society in 1970’s. The main character in the novel is also the narrator of the story, he is the 23 years old, college drop-out boy, named Willie Traynor. In the novel, the author invites the readers to look at events and realities through the narator’s point of view. This novel is choosen because it shows the reaction of a young journalist who defends an old black housewife woman who is discriminated by the society. This happens because she is choosen as the only black jury in the court of murder case that has been done by a member of the notorious and scandalous Padgitt family named Dany Padgitt.
Since the topic of this undergraduate thesis is the reaction of the main character upon the race discrimination that happens to the black in the society, it is very important for the writer to give a brief definition about discrimination. It is important to write the definition in order to reduce misunderstanding of discrimination. According to International Encyclopedia of Ethics, discrimination means diferential treatment based on physical and social affilation (Roth, 1995:156). This definition implies that discrimination is conducted by someone who treat others by his or her physical appeareance only. In addition, Joan Ferrante through his book Sociology: A Global Perspective states that discrimination is unequal treatment, whether intentional or unintentional of individuals or group on the basis of group membership that is unrelated to merit, ability, or past performance (1992:124). Ferrante tries to say that discrimination is also a treatment that is unequal because it doesn’t have any relation to the marriage status, the people’s ability and also their past experience. It can be said that the discrimination is only a physical treatment.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the previous background, the writer finds some questions that are interesting to study further. These interesting questions are formulated into three problem formulations and can be discussed in this undergraduate thesis.
1. What are the characteristics of Willie Traynor described in the story?
2. How do Willie Traynor’s characteristics help him to spotlight the moments of race discrimination?
3. How does Willie Traynor react to the race discrimination as the reflection of the real situation of American society in 1970’s?
C. Objectives of the Study
This undergraduate thesis aims to analyze the characteristics of the main character decribed in The Last Juror. The second objective is to know how the main character’s characteristics help him to spotlight the moments of race discrimination that happen in the society in 1970’s showed in the story, and the third objective is to know how the main character reacts upon race discrimination
D. Definition of Terms
1. Racism According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica, racism is a theory or idea that there is a casual link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races are inherrently superior to others. The term racism has no necessary relation to biological or anthropological definition of race, a subdivision of species. Racist ideas are often indiscrimately extended to apply to such nonbiological and nonracial groupings as religious sects, nations, linguistic groups, and ethnic or cultrural groups (1983:360).
2. Race-Discrimination According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica, the term racial discrimination denotes all forms of differential behaviour based on race. The most notable form of racial discrimination is, of course,physical segregation by race, but there are many others, such as rules of etiquette defining forms of addres between racial “superiors” and “inferiors,” or choice of friend or spouses.(1768, 360).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies The Last Juror
is a novel that explores race relations and racism in the American South of the 1970’s. The setting was placed in Clanton, Mississippi.
During the time, racial and class were the major problems that effect in almost all aspects of life.
In this novel, it shows that black people were discriminated by the white people. No matter how high the education and prosperity they have, the black people always seen as the second class citizen.
Janet Blaylock stated in her blog, Willie and Callie spent time together, and Callie also invited Willie to her house on Thursday for a meal with her family. Willie enjoyed spending time with them eventough they were black and he was white. Racism did not matter to him like it did to some of the other characters. (http://www.helium.com, 2011).
By the quotation above Janet Blaylock tries to show that Willie does not discriminate black people. He accepts the invitation for a meal from a black family although in that era, racism was a serious issue in the American society. The story is about friendship and touches the issues of a time of change in American history. Moreover, it is a story of crime and criminal justice system that touches the issue of racism.
The writer also gives other quotation to improve this undergraduate thesis and in order to give the additional knowledge about the situation that happened at that time.
Grisham does a fine job creating a believeble world to surround his vivid small town, tense by unchallenged racism and corruption and the pressures of the times. We know the rest of the world is out there – the effect of Vietnam creep in, for instance – but it was content to keep it at arm’s lenght, just like everyone else in Clanton. When the story rests there, in the small town where everyone knows everyone else and exactly what they are doing (http://www.thebeachcomber.org, 2011).
The quotation above, according to Breanne Boland in his blog, gives a comment on the way Grisham’s struggle with the idea to deliver some crucial issues such as racism and corruption in the era that is still influenced by the Vietnam creep. The Last Juror shows the readers the chaos in a small town of rural Mississippi where the homogenization of business and culture seeped across America.
Kit Masters in his article says that although the story is a blend of themes of the court case, the crime, the system and the important topic of racial equality, the story never found confusing. Everything worked together and made sense. The story never lost its pace and held the reader’s attention to the the end (http://ezinearticles.com, 2011).
The passage point of the quotation above is that Grisham is successfully make the story runs smoothly. The Last Juror is an intelligent novel which major topic is the racial tolerance in 1970s Mississippi during an era of revolutionary change.
B. Review of Related Theories
Some theories are needed to support the analysis in this undergraduate thesis. These theories are also used to show the writer’s research on the novel is relevant to read and also to study. Since the undergraduate thesis studies about main character’s reaction upon the race disrimination, the theories that are appropriate to be used in the analysis are theory of character and characterization, and the second theory is the the theory of racism.
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
Abram’s in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981: 20) defines character as “the person, in dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and what by they do—the action.”
According to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction, character has two meanings. It means, the individuals who appear in the story, and it also refers to the mixture of interests, desire, emotions and moral principles that shape each of these individuals (1965:17).
According to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. in Reading and
Writing about Literature,
characterization is the process by which an author creates a character. There are two principal ways an author can characterize.
The first principal ways is he or she can direct means to describe physical appearance, intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the character. Second way is he or she can use dramatic means and place the character in situations to show what the character is by the way he behaves or speaks (Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 1971:20).
According to Rohrberger and Woods (1972:20), characterization is a process by which an author creates character. However, based on Henkle, characterization is:
Characterization therefore is central to the factional experience, and the principle objective of the creation of characters in novels is to enable us to understand and to experience people. Characterization also appears to loose sight of fact (Henkle, 1977: 86-87).
Characterization is a helpful element of literary work for reader, besides; it also supports the literary work itself to become alive and good as the work of literature.
2. Theory of Racism
Robert Blaunner in his writing The Question of Black Culture, states that racism is caused by the differentiation of colors.
Racism is crucial to the cultural process of Afro-Americans because a continuing racist social structure has served to fix rather that to race the distinctive experience of the past. He refers two key characteristic of American social structure. First, that (aside from age and sex). The division based upon colour is the single must important split within the society, the body politic, and the national psyche. Second, that values proceses and practices of exclusion and subordination based upon colour are built into the major public institution (Labor market, education, politics, and Law enforcements), with the effect of maintaining special privileges, power, and values for the benefit of the white majority (1970:124-125).
The second theory of racism is taken from a book entitled Racism in
American
written by Harvey Sarles. In this book the writer points out that racism can operate on two levels: (1) Individual and/or group and (2) institutional. Individual racism simply means that one has racist views according to its definition. It is also supposed to be somewhat easy to eradicate so long as a “good” human relation approach to educate the racist and thereby prove to him that his fears and hostilities are unsound. However, institutional racism is far subtler and very difficult to eradicate. It has been defined as the “operating policies, priorities, and function of an on-going system of normative patterns which serves to subjugate, oppressed, and force dependence of individuals or groups by establishing and sanctioning unequal goals, objectives, and priorities for blacks and whites, which forces inequality in status and in access to goods and services”(1970:49).
Concerning with The Discovery of Humanity: An Introduction to
Anthropology , racism is:
“A simple (and simple-minded) phenomenon, while the problem of human “races” is considerably more complex. Stripped down to its unsavory essence, racism is the attribution of behavioral or cultural characteristics-usually negative ones-to people on the basis of what people look like.” (Oliver, 1981:10)
Racism exists when the following elements are fulfilled:
a. The differences between group-differences in body and in mind are full due to hereditary biology, and nothing can change them. For example, Negroes are not as intelligent as whites, this is due to their heredity and can no more be charged than skin color.
b. Habits, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and all the things we learn are determined for us before we are born. For example, Jews are born to be sharp businessmen and Japanese are born to act in an insincere manner. c. Al differences between minority and the majority group are thought to be signs of inferiority.
d. If there should be biological crossing of the groups, the children will be more degenerate than either of the parents’ groups (Rose, 1981:223).
C. Review of American Society in 1960s - 1970’s
The review of American Society is important as the preference in the analysis because the story is set on 1970’s. However, the story has the setting of time in 1970’s, most of the moments that told in the story have close relation to the American Society condition in 1960’s. Most of the moments in the story are influenced by the important moments that happen in American Society in 1960’s, such as the war in Vietnam that was sparked off by JFK, the beginning of civil rights movement, and so on.
Steve Wiegar in his book U.S. History for Dummies, states that the decade of the 1960’s began with a defeat for Richard Nixon and ended in victory for him. In between, America became mired in a war it never understood and saw its citizens take to the streets in the name of peace, justice, and racial rage. By the mid-1970’s, U.S. streets were clearing, Nixon had suffered the last - and worst – defeat of his career, and America was trying to figure out just what the heck had happened in the preceeding 14 years (2009: 293).
In February 1960, four African American students sat down at a segregated lunch counter in Greenboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after they were denied service. The “sit-in” become a strategy used across the country, and by the end of 1961, some 70,000 people had taken part in sit-ins. In May
1961, black and white activists began “freedom rides,” travelling in small groups to the South to test local segregation laws. The inspirational leader of the movement was Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a courageous and eloquent orator who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights work. But not all African Americans were enamored of King’s non-violent-demonstration approach. They also did not believe equality could be attained through cooperation among the races. Leaders such as the Black Muslims’ Elijah Muhammad and Malcom X warned African Americans to neither expect nor seek help from whites. “if someone puts hand on you,” said Malcom X, “send him to the cemetery.” Both approaches eventually put pressure on the federal government to act. President Kennedy and his brother Robert (who was also his attorney general) used federal troops and marshals to force the admission of black students to the state universities in Alabama and Missisippi. In June 1963, JFK proposed a bill that would ban racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public places and give the federal government more authority to clamp down on state and local agencies that dragged their feet in enforcing civil rights laws. Black organizers gathered 200,000 demonstrators for a march in Washington, D.C., to support the Kennedy proposal (2009: 301).
After Kennedy’s assasination, JFK’s efforts were taken up by Johnson. Despite his Southern roots, LBJ was committed liberal whose “Great Society” programs mirrored the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930’s. In addition to providing more federal aid to America’s down-and-outs, LBJ pushed the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress. It featured many of the same elements Kennedy had propsed. Johnson followed it with another bill in 1965 that strengthened federal safeguards for black voter’s rights. But events and emotions moved faster than politics. In early 1965, Malcolm X, who had softened his earlier opposition to interracial cooperation, was murdered by Black Muslim extremists who considered such talk traitorous. A few months later, a march led by Martin Luther King Jr., from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama was viciously attacked by state and lpocal police, while a horrified national television watched (2009: 301).
Tired of waiting for an equal chance at the U.S. economic pie, many African Americans began demanding affirmative action programs in which employers actively recruit minorities for jobs. “Black Power” became a rallying cry for thousands of young African Americans. The anger manifested itself in a rash of race riots in the mid-and late 1960s. The first was in August 1965, in Los Angeles community of Watts. Before it was over, six days of rioting had led to 34 deaths, 850 injuries, 3,000 arrests, and more than $200 million in damages. Riots followed in the next two years in dozens of cities, including New York, Chicago, Newark, and Detroit, where 43 people were killed in July 1967 (2009: 301).
Then things got worse. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tenessee. A white man named James Earl Ray was eventually arrested and convicted of the crime. More riots followed across the country, most notably in Washington,D.C. the riots, in turn, triggered a blacklash by many whites. George Wallace, a racist and ardent segregationist, got 13.5 percent of the vote in the 1968 presidential election, and much of the steam of the civil rights movement had dissipated by the time Richard Nixon moved into the White House (2009: 301).
During the summer of 1962, the Soviets began developing nuclear missile sites in Cuba. That meant they could easily strike targets over much of North and South America. When air reconnaissance photos confirmed the sites’ presence on October 14, JFK had to amke a though choice: Destroy the sites and quite possibly trigger World War III, or do nothing, and not only expose the country to nuclear destruction but, in effect, concede first place in the world domination race to the USSR. Kennedy decided to go tough. On October 22, 1963, he went on national television and announced the U.S. Navy would throw a blockade around Cuba and turn away any ships carrying materials that could be used at the missile sites. A hotline was installed between the leaders of the United Staes and the Soviet Union to help defuse future confrontations, and in July 1963, all the major countries except China and France agreed to stop aboveground testing of nuclear weapons (2009: 295).
November 22, 1963, JFK went to Texas to improve his political standing in that state. While riding in an open car in a motorcade in Dallas, Kennedy was shot and killed by a sniper. America was stunned. The age of Camelot was over. And a veteran politician ferom Texas named Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States (2009: 296).
As president, Johnson inherited a host of problems, not the least of which was a growing mess in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Before World War
II, Vietnam had been a french colony, and after the Japanese were defeated and driven out, it reverted to French control. In August 1964, he announced that U.S. Navy ships had been attacked in international waters near the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress reacted by overwhelmingly approving a resolution that gave Johnson the power to “take all necesary measures” to protect U.S. forces. Vietnam was different. It was esseantially a civil war, which meant it was sometimes tough to figure out who was on whose side. The communists in the south were called Vietcong. There were conflicts between U.S. political leaders who wanted to contain the war and military leaders who wanted to expand it. finally, the lack of clear objectives and declining public support demoralized many American soldiers (2009: 296).
D. Theoretical Framework
Reviews of related studies are needed in the analysis of this undergraduate thesis to analyze the novel entitled The Last Juror by John Grisham. It is important for the writer to know about the other people’s opinions, especially those who also analyze the novel. By putting the reviews of related studies, the writer can make comparison, so that the analysis in this undergraduate thesis is different from other analysis. In addition, the reviews on related studies are used as the supporting data that make this analysis develop. Theory of Character and Characterization are used in the analysis in this undergraduate thesis to answer the first problem formulation, because the first problem formulation talks about the characteristics of the main character. Without the understanding on the theory of Character and Characterization, it will be impossible for the writer to analyze the first problem formulations based on the novel. Theory of Racism and Review of American Society in 1970s are used to analyze the second problem formulation that is about the moments of race discrimination that happen in America society in 1970’s; and the Review of American Society in 1970s is especially used as the reference of the real situation in America society that reflected in the story. In addition, Socio-Cultural Historical approach is also used as the direction to know that the time of the story is the reflection of the true condition of American Society in 1970’s. Theory of Character and Characterization are used to analyze the third problem formulation that is about the main character’s reaction upon the race disctrimination that happen in the American Society in 1970’s. In addition, the novel itself talks about racism and justice in the South America society in 1970’s, however the writer is only highlight the race discrimination, the moments that reflect the race discrimination, and also the reactions of the main character’s upon the race discrimination, as a result the theory of character and characterization, the theory of racism and the review of American Society in 1970’s are trully needed.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. To
a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing that he didn't have the right stuff for a pro-career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University.
John Grisham went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven after his graduation from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, specializing in criminal defence and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.
Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honouring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer.
The object of the study is a novel entitled The Last Juror. This novel is one of Grisham’s best selling novel. The Last Juror was published in New York on 2004 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. The Last Juror has 486 pages and it is divided into 44 chapters, also 3 pages of author’s preface.
The story began on one of Mississippi’s weekly newspapers named The
Ford County Times. The Times went bankrupt and then a 23 years-old college
dropout named Wille Traynor bought it from its owner who was dying and hopeless. The Times began to prosper after a young widow with 2 children was brutally raped and murdered by a member of notorious Padgitt family. Willie reported all the detail of the homicide, and the selling of his newspapers increasing.
Meanwhile, Willie interviewed Calia Ruffin, a local black woman, for a human-interest story, Calia became the first black juror in Ford County and was chosen as the jury during the murder trial of Danny Padgitt. After a series of gripping courtroom scenes, and in spite of Danny's threat to "get" the jury, Danny was convicted of murder. The jury then had to decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or give him the death penalty. The jury could not come to a unanimous decision because Danny Padgitt had threatened the juries if he was sentenced to death and finally Padgitt was sentenced to life in prison. After 8 years Danny Padgit sat for his hearing in front of Parole Board in order to gain his freedom. Willie as the journalist and the witness for Danny Padgitt’s case tried to block Danny’s freedom in front of Parole Board because he was totally brutal and danger for Clanton society. The story was ended with the murdering of Danny’s Padgitt, the passing of Calia Ruffin, and the selling of The Ford County Times that made Willie as the young millionaire as he wish when he bought The Ford County
Times in his coming to Clanton.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that is used in this thesis is Socio-Cultual Historical approach. The main point of Socio-Cultual Historical approach is to reveal certain literary work from its relation with social, cultural, and history of certain country. This approach sees a literary work as a reflection of the society or the author’s life and times in the work (Guerrin:1999:51).
Rohrberger and Woods (1971:9) in their book Reading and Writing
about Literature
state that Socio-cultural-historical approach puts the work of literature as a product of civilization here is defined as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and points out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as subject matter. It is important to investigate the social, cultural and historical milieu in which a work of literature is created so that the readers can find out the factors of motivations what the character behave and act in certain way. Literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produce it.
It means that literature is influenced by everything that happens in the society. Thus literature is a mirror of some society, because people can see many scenes that almost similar with the events which happened in society.
C. Method of the Study The method that is used in this undergraduate thesis is library research.
Library research is the primary source that is done by reading and collecting data and information as much as possible from certain books and other writing or findings which support the research in this study. In addition, collecting data or information about the work which are related to the work is also done by browsing many websites which contents are relevance, valid, accurate and appropriate.
Some steps were done by the writer in conducting this undergraduate thesis. The first step was reading the the novel in order to get deep understanding about the novel. The second step was deciding the topic of study and stating the problem formulations. The third step was collecting data or information which related to the work as the primary data in order to support the analysis of this undergraduate thesis. The fourth step was collecting additional data such as some theories and views from some sources which were also important in analyzing the problems formulation because the primary data was not enough to analyse this undergraduate thesis. The fifth step was analizing the problems with the theories. The last step was drawing the conclusion.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This chapter presents an analysis to answer the previous problems that
have been formulated in the previous chapter. It starts with the descriptions on the characteristics of Willie Traynor as the main character in the story, then the moments that show the act of race discrimination are stated in the second part of analysis to answer the second problem formulation, and the reactions of the main character upon the race discrimination in the novel is going to be analyzed as the third answer of the third problem formulation.
A. The Characteristics of Willie Traynor in the Story
The writer found some interesting characteristics of Willie Traynor when he read the novel as the main character in the story. As a result, the writer tries to describe the characteristics of Willie Traynor in this part. The characteristics of the main character are described to answer the first question in the problem formulations that has been formulated.