The Impacts of Grayer`s attitudes on his inharmonious relationship with his mother as Portrayed in Kraus and McLaughlin`s the Nanny Diaries - USD Repository
THE IMPACTS OF GRAYER’S ATTITUDES
ON HIS INHARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MOTHER
AS PORTRAYED IN KRAUS & MCLAUGHLIN’S
THE NANNY DIARIES
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
By
Lukas Banu Aji 06 1214 166
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011
“Keep on smiling no matter what, because
yesterday is the past. You will never know
what you will get. Enjoy your life.”
(CARPE DIEM, ANONYMOUS)
This thesis is dedicated to my beloved: Father, Mother, Brothers, Sister, Friends, and all people who love me.
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Lukas Banu Aji Nomor mahasiswa : 06 1214 166 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
The Impacts of Grayer’s Attitudes on His Inharmonious Relationship with
His Mother as Portrayed in Kraus & McLaughlin’s The Nanny Diariesbeserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 18 Maret 2011 Yang menyatakan (Lukas Banu Aji)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I praise my Lord Jesus Christ for all of His Love and Blessing. I thank Him for being a true friend for me, staying by my side, protecting me in any situation I have encountered in my life and guiding me in my study so that I was finally able to finish this thesis.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y., M.Hum., who has guided me patiently in the process of writing this thesis. I thank him for his patience, advices, and time for consultation on this thesis until it is done. I also send my gratitude to Sanata Dharma University that has given me place and facilities to study, and to all my lecturers, the administrative staff of PBI study program who have devoted themselves to help me during my study in Sanata Dharma University.
With greatest gratitude, I thank my beloved family. It is for my wonderful father and mother, Antonius Asmuri and Theresia Annie. I thank them for their love, prayers, supports, and efforts to make me educated. It is also for my beloved brother Matheus Banu Leksono, Thomas Banu Yudhanto, Fx. Banu Resiyawan and my beloved sister Elisabeth Milaningrum for their helps in my study.
My special thankfulness goes to my uncle Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A. who has been so kind to me and provided me with supports and prayers. Last but not least, I would to thank all my “2006” friends of the English Language Education Study Program and people that I cannot mention one by one, for giving supports and helps in finishing my thesis. May God bless them all.
Lukas Banu Aji
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................... PAGES OF APPROVAL ...............................................................................6
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
6
1
7
7
7
8
9
9
10
10
1
2.1.3.4. Past Life ............................................................................. i ii iv v vii viii xi xii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ............................................ PAGE OF DEDICATION ............................................................................. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................... TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................
1.5.3. Conflict ...........................................................................................
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................
1.1. Background of the Study ...........................................................................
1.2. Problem Formulation .................................................................................
1.3. Objectives of the Study .............................................................................
1.4. Benefits of the Study .................................................................................
1.5. Definition of Terms ...................................................................................
1.5.1. Relationship ....................................................................................
1.5.2. Character .........................................................................................
1.5.4. Social Status ....................................................................................
2.1.3.3. Speech ................................................................................
1.5.5. Society ............................................................................................
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...........................
2.1. Review of Related Theories ......................................................................
2.1.1. Critical Approach ............................................................................
2.1.2. Character .........................................................................................
2.1.3. Characterization ..............................................................................
2.1.3.1 Personal Description ...........................................................
2.1.3.2 Character as Seen by Others ...............................................
10
2.1.3.5. Conversation of Others ......................................................
10 2.1.3.6. Reaction .............................................................................
10 2.1.3.7. Direct Comment .................................................................
10 2.1.3.8. Thoughts ............................................................................
11 2.1.3.9 Mannerism ..........................................................................
11 2.1.4 The Mother-Child Relation ..............................................................
11 2.1.5 Family Influences on a Growing Child ............................................
13 2.1.5.1 The Nature of Parent-Child Relations .................................
13 2.1.5.2 Three Principal Parent Variables .........................................
14 2.1.5.3 Three Factors in Parent-Child Relationships .......................
15 2.1.6. Power and Parent-Child Relationships ............................................
16 2.1.6.1 The Authoritarian Parent .....................................................
16 2.1.6.2 The Authoritative Parent ......................................................
16 2.1.6.3 The Permissive Parent .........................................................
17 2.1.7 Child Emotional Development and Physical Well-Being ................
17 2.2 Theoretical Framework ..............................................................................
19 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................
20 3.1. Object of the Study ....................................................................................
20 3.2. Approaches of the Study ...........................................................................
21 3.3. Method of the Study ..................................................................................
21 ..............................................................................
22 CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS 4.1 Relationship between Mrs. X and Her Son ................................................
22 4.1.1 The Description of the Characters of Annie Braddock ....................
22 (the Nanny), Mrs. X, and Grayer Addison X 4.1.1.1 Annie Braddock (the Nanny) ...............................................
23 4.1.1.2 Mrs. X ..................................................................................
26 4.1.1.3 Grayer Addison X ................................................................
29 4.1.2 The Relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer .................................
30 4.1.2.1 Lack of Communication ......................................................
33 4.1.2.2 Too Much Control from the Mother ....................................
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4.1.2.3 Considering a Child as a Marital Status Only .....................
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4.2 The Impacts of Inharmonious Relationship on Grayer’s Attitudes ............
39
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APPENDIX 1 Summary of the Novel .............................................................. APPENDIX 2 Biography of Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin ................ APPENDIX 3 Lesson Plan to Teach Public Speaking I .................................. APPENDIX 4 Teaching Materials of Public Speaking I ................................. APPENDIX 5 Pictures of Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin ...................... and The Nanny Diaries
REFERENCES ............................................................................................... APPENDICES ................................................................................................
Process 5.2.2. The Implementation of Teaching Public Speaking I ....................... Using Literary Work
5.2.1. Suggestions for the Implementation of Teaching Learning ............
5.2. Suggestions ...............................................................................................
5.1. Conclusions ...............................................................................................
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ..............................
4.2.3 Rebellious .........................................................................................
4.2.2 Selfish and Arbitrary ........................................................................
4.2.1 Rude .................................................................................................
ABSTRACT
Banu Aji, Lukas. 2011. The Impacts of His Inharmonious Relationship with
His Mother on Grayer’s Attitudes as Portrayed in Kraus & McLaughlin’s
The Nanny Diaries. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program,
Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discusses the impacts of his inharmonious relationship with his mother on Grayer’s attitudes as portrayed in Kraus & McLaughlin’s The Nanny
Diaries . This novel tells about the inharmonious relationship between a mother,
Mrs. X and her son, Grayer Addison X. Mrs. X is a mother who often spends her time on shopping and having treatments at a beauty salon. She also hands over all her responsibilities as a mother to the Nanny. Therefore Grayer has to spend most of his time with the Nanny and he does not get enough love and care from his mother.
There are two problems related to the topic of this thesis: (1) how is the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer described in Kraus & McLaughlin’s The ? (2) and what are the impacts of inharmonious relationship with
Nanny Diaries
his mother on Grayer’s attitudes? In solving the two problems above, the writer applied the psychological approach, theories of character and characterization, theories of mother-child relation and family influences on a growing child, theory of power and parent- child relationships, and theory of child emotional development and physical well- being. The method of this thesis was a library study. The primary source was the novel itself. Other sources were obtained from books of Introduction to English
Literature , Character and Characterization, The Psychology of Women, The
Psychology of Women Volume II, Communication in Family Relationships, Child
and other written sources.
and Adolescent Psychology,
Based on the analysis, there are three major characters that are found in the novel. The first character is the Nanny, who is described as a loving and hard working person. She is also polite and honest. She works diligently under Mrs. X’s suspicions. The second character is Mrs. X, who is described as a terrible mother. It is already her habits to go shopping all day long and back home until late night. That selfishness makes her careless about her own son’s development. The third character is Grayer, who is described as a rude and arbitrary boy. He becomes a rude boy because he does not get enough affection and care from his mother. Therefore, it can be concluded that Mrs. X has inharmonious relationship with her son, because she cannot do the first task of a mother that is to shape her unity with the child in a harmonious manner and to dissolve the unity harmoniously. As a result, there are three impacts happening on Grayer’s attitudes. The first impact is that Grayer becomes a rude boy. The second impact is that Grayer becomes selfish and arbitrary. The third impact is that Grayer becomes rebellious toward his own parents.
This thesis also provides suggestions for the implementation of teaching Public Speaking I using literary work.
ABSTRAK
Banu Aji, Lukas. 2011. The Impacts of His Inharmonious Relationship with
His Mother on Grayer’s Attitudes as Portrayed in Kraus & McLaughlin’s
The Nanny Diaries. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,
Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas dampak hubungannya yang tidak harmonis dengan ibunya pada sikap Grayer seperti yang digambarkan dalam Kraus & McLaughlin's . Novel ini bercerita tentang hubungan yang tidak harmonis
The Nanny Diaries
antara seorang ibu, Mrs. X dan anak laki-lakinya, Grayer Addison X. Mrs. X adalah seorang ibu yang sering menghabiskan waktunya untuk berbelanja dan perawatan di salon kecantikan. Dia juga menyerahkan semua tanggung jawabnya sebagai ibu kepada Nanny. Oleh karena itu Grayer harus menghabiskan sebagian besar waktunya dengan Nanny dan dia tidak mendapatkan kasih sayang dan perawatan yang cukup dari ibunya.
Ada dua pertanyaan yang berkaitan dengan topik skripsi ini: (1) bagaimana hubungan antara Mrs. X dan Grayer yang tercermin dalam Kraus & McLaughlin's The Nanny Diaries? (2) dan apa dampak hubungan yang tidak harmonis dengan ibunya pada sikap Grayer?
Dalam menjawab dua pertanyaan di atas, penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologis, teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori hubungan ibu-anak dan pengaruh keluarga pada perkembangan anak, teori kekuasaan dan hubungan orang tua-anak, dan teori perkembangan emosi anak dan kesehatan fisik. Metode penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumber utama adalah novel itu sendiri. Sumber-sumber yang lain diperoleh dari buku-buku Introduction to English
Literature , Character and Characterization, The Psychology of Women, The
Psychology of Women Volume II, Communication in Family Relationships, Child
dan sumber-sumber tertulis lainnya.
and Adolescent Psychology,
Berdasarkan analisis tersebut, ada tiga karakter utama yang ditemukan dalam novel. Karakter yang pertama adalah Nanny yang digambarkan sebagai seorang yang penuh kasih sayang dan giat bekerja. Dia juga sopan dan jujur. Dia bekerja dengan tekun di bawah kecurigaan Mrs. X. Karakter yang kedua adalah Mrs. X yang digambarkan sebagai ibu yang payah. Hal ini sudah menjadi kebiasaannya untuk berbelanja sehari penuh dan kembali pulang sampai larut malam. Keegoisannya itu membuat dia tidak peduli dengan perkembangan anaknya sendiri. Karakter yang ketiga adalah Grayer yang digambarkan sebagai anak laki-laki yang kasar dan sewenang-wenang. Dia menjadi anak yang kasar karena dia tidak mendapatkan kasih sayang dan perawatan yang cukup dari ibunya. Oleh karena itu dapat disimpulkan bahwa Mrs. X mempunyai hubungan yang tidak harmonis dengan anaknya, karena dia tidak dapat melakukan tugas pertama dari seorang ibu yaitu membangun kesatuan dirinya dengan anak dengan cara yang harmonis dan larut dalam kesatuan yang harmonis. Akibatnya, ada tiga dampak yang terjadi pada sikap Grayer. Dampak yang pertama adalah Grayer menjadi anak yang kasar. Dampak yang kedua adalah Grayer menjadi egois dan sewenang-wenang. Dampak yang ketiga adalah Grayer menjadi memberontak kepada orang tuanya sendiri. Skripsi ini juga memberikan saran untuk pelaksanaan pengajaran Public Speaking I dengan menggunakan karya sastra.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of background of the study, problem formulation,
and definition of terms. The background of the study provides information of the topic of the study and the reason for choosing the topic. Then, the objectives of the study state the focus of the study. Next, the problem formulation describes the problems formulated in order to make the study more directed. Last but not least, the definitions of terms define some crucial terms in order to avoid misunderstanding.
1.1. Background of the Study As we all know, a mother is the first person of the children’s life.
Whatever happens to her son or her daughter, a mother should be responsible for that. According to Deutsch (308) in her book entitled The Psychology of Women
Volume II: The Monumental Work on the Emotional Life of the Modern Women ,
there are two greatest tasks of a mother namely giving birth and upbringing. It is very difficult to rear a son for a mother, because she is concerned not only with the bodily care, but also with the well-being of her son. A mother must be able to teach her son for controlling his instincts, in order to avoid having an uncontrolled son that is dominated by his instincts. In this case, she must not be too mild in her methods of training, so that a mother should not allow excessive indulgence occurring in her son, because it involves the danger of undisciplined son. A mother also is not allowed to forbid too much, for excessive inhibition exposes the child to the danger of neurotic illness.
Medinnus and Johnson (343) further strengthen the explanation above in their book entitled Child and Adolescent Psychology: Behavior and Development.
According to them, the existing relationship between parents and children possess certain characteristics that explain the tremendous and permanent impact of one upon another. There is an intimate and intense relationship between the parents and the child. The child is the mirror for his or her parents, who reflect the parent’s own childhood. The emotional needs of one to another create a system where the breakdown of one member will affect the entire system. Some clinical reports reveal that the family member who seeks for psychological treatment actually is not the one who needs it. This statement indicates that the psychological disturbance of the concerned individual reflects a greater disturbance within the family system. Furthermore, family-therapy case studies show that when one family member is relieved from the psychological symptoms, the symptoms frequently reappear in another member.
From the explanation above, relationship between the family members (parents and children) is so close that one thing, which is done by one of the family members, may have certain impacts on the other members. There is phenomenon of child abuse as the results of inharmonious relationship between the parents and the children. One cause within the inharmonious relationship is the frustrated and disturbed parents. These parents are not able to cope with the psychological, economic and social problems happening in their life. Therefore, they put their being frustrated and disturbed onto their child or children. The impact of this action is that the child becomes the victim of the child abuse. This child abuse, then, will hinder the child to play their role well within the family system (Medinnus and Johnson 343-344).
Deutsche (313-315) gives a clear example. There is a case that a very respectable woman destroys her own life by marrying a wrong person. It leads to her mental condition getting worse, causing her to turn her emotion to her children. The mother becomes very protective in order to prevent her children from making the same mistake as her. Her treatments towards her children make mother-children relationship become inharmonious as the children feel that the mother limits them in every aspect.
Literary works, like novels, can portray the relationship as described above. Some of literary works are created based on the real life. According to Hudson (10), literature is an important record of what people have seen, what they have experienced, what they have thought and felt in life. This aspect of literature may have permanent interests for readers. A novel entitled The Nanny Diaries clearly portrays such life experience. In this novel, readers can find more insights about the inharmonious relationship between a mother and a child. Eventually, after reading the novels, readers can conclude the solution for this problem, especially for the working or busy mothers.
In brief, The Nanny Diaries tells about a mother named Mrs. X who does not care about Grayer’s development. Grayer is a four year old boy and he is the only child of Mrs. X. Living in a high class neighborhood she enjoys a very prestigious life style. This makes her think about her life and herself only and she apparently forgets her role as a mother. Therefore, she hires Annie Braddock, a recent graduate from New Jersey as a nanny to take care of Grayer. After sometimes, Nanny feels that Mrs. X does not care and does not know about Grayer’s developments, needs, and achievements. The situation grows harder when Grayer becomes very naughty just to gain her mother’s attention. This is the time when the inharmonious relationship between Grayer and her mother start.
This novel is very intriguing to be discussed. Because I can see the connection between a mother, a nanny, and a child in the prestigious life style.
Being more specific, I can see the inharmonious relationship between a mother and a child as portrayed within the novel. The character of Grayer was chosen to be the focus of the theme of this study, because Grayer is a victim of an inharmonious relationship in the X’s family based on the Nanny’s perception.
Therefore, I analyzed the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer although the title of the novel is The Nanny Diaries. I can also gain insights about the impacts of the inharmonious relationship between a mother and her child toward the child’s development. This is very important, because this study will enable me to see some factors contributing to family healthy relationship and to prevent the same tragedy from taking place in a family who hires a nanny to take care of their children.
1.2. Problem Formulation
Based on the explanation above, the writer formulates the problem formulations to be discussed:
1.2.1. How is the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer described in Kraus & McLaughlin’s The Nanny Diaries?
1.2.2. What are the impacts of inharmonious relationship with his mother on Grayer’s attitudes?
1.3. Objectives of the Study
The study has two objectives. The first objective is to investigate how the authors describe the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer Addison X. This objective also covers the analysis how the authors characterize Nanny, Mrs. X, and Grayer. The second objective is to analyze the impacts of the bad parental role on Grayer’s attitudes.
1.4. Benefits of the Study
This thesis gives the benefits to the writer as well as to the readers. For the writer, this paper gives deeper understanding in the aspect of how important a good relationship between the mother and the son is. For the readers, who are mostly students of a college and who are going to be married and build a family in the upcoming years, hopefully this paper can give some contributions to the knowledge about how to take care of the child well.
1.5. Definition of Terms
There are some important terms related to this study. The terms will be defined briefly and understandably as follows.
1.5.1 Relationship
According to Baron and Byrne (236), relationship is something that happens if there are individuals who are influencing each other. Conviction, feeling, and attitude are the factors that have important rule in relationship.
1.5.2 Character
According to Abrams (20), character is the person, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action. Throughout one’s actions and speeches in the novel, it can be discovered how profound his personal quality is. The process of knowing the personal quality will become so much help of finding personal description of a character.
1.5.3 Conflict
According to Verderber (97), a conflict is “the clash of opposing attitudes, ideas, behaviors, goals, and needs”. In this study conflict in relationship as a mother and a son is focused. Therefore, a conflict here means the clash of different views, attitudes, and ideas between a mother and her son.
1.5.4 Social Status
Richard T. Schaefer (122) states that social status refers to any position of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society – from the lowest to the highest position. Status often conveys connotations of influence, wealth, and fame.
1.5.5 Society
According to Henkle in his book Introduction to English Literature (23), a society means “a variety of people of different occupations, ages and natures, in living a way that creates a web of interrelationship”. The society in this study refers to the society in the novel, namely the people who live in the Manhattan Island and have a prestigious life style.
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter is divided into two parts namely the review of related theories
and theoretical framework. Review of the related theories gives brief explanation of the theories of critical approaches and the theories of literature such as theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of mother-child relation, theory of family influences on the growing child, and theory of child emotional development and physical well-being. Theoretical framework provides an explanation of how those theories are applied in analysis.
2.1 Review of Related Theories
This part presents the theoretical review which contains critical approach, theories of character, theories of characterization, theory of mother-child relation, theory of family influences on the growing child, and theory of child emotional development and physical well-being.
2.1.1 Critical Approaches
According to what Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. (6-15) have claimed, there are five types of critical approaches used to analyze a work of literature. First is the formalist approach that searches only on the work based on its aesthetic value. Secondly, the biographical approach is an approach in understanding a work of art through the biography of the author. Third is the sociocultural-historical approach that sees a work of literature which is referenced on sociocultural-historical background. The sociocultural-historical approach explores a work of literature by emphasizing on historical background that shapes the setting of place in a story.
Fourth is the mythopoetic approach that uses myth beyond the work of art as the reference. Fifth is the psychological approach which is based on the psychological theories. The psychological approach explores a work of art by using some psychological theories as the framework.
The psychological approach considers that each character’s behaviour could be interpreted to the psychology of human being, resulting in the deeper explanation of each character’s actions and behaviours (Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. 16). In this study, the psychological approach was employed to investigate how the authors describe the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer and to analyze the impacts of inharmonius relationship with his mother on Grayer’s attitudes. The psychological approach is also chosen as tools to process in The Nanny
, particularly in the impacts of his inharmonious relationship with his
Diaries mother on Grayer’s attitudes.
2.1.2 Character
In order to understand how a character in literary work is described, we need to understand the theories of character. Through these theories we will get the understanding about the character which is portrayed in a work of literature.
Characters experience many things that could influence their thoughts, ideas, judgments about life and society (Abrams 20). They seem to have the same dynamic emotion which can be seen through their speech and action. Abram adds that characters have some characteristics which are similar with human being. Sometime it comes to them to get angry, and to show some moral and social values that ultimately become their motivation in saying and doing something.
According to Henkle (88 – 97), characters can mainly be categorized as major and minor characters. He states that major character is created to carry out ideas or messages in a story to readers through the character’s feelings, thoughts, actions, and reactions. In the other side, minor or secondary characters are those who only appear in a certain setting to support the major characters. Henkle says that it is necessary for us to pay a heed to the major characters in order to understand the novel profoundly. As an addition, he says that we build expectations and desires upon them to establish our values and to present convincing dramatizations of the human issues of the book.
2.1.3 Characterization
Rhorberger and Wood, Jr. in Reading and Writing about Novel define characterization as the process by which an author creates character, it is the devices that he makes the readers to believe a character in the particular type of person he is. An author does this way to make a stereotype of someone existing in a real world situation comes real during the reading (20).
According to Murphy, there are nine methods in which the readers can understand the character (161 -173). They are:
2.1.3.1 Personal Description The author describes the appearance of a character in details such as the face, the skin color, the hair, etc.
2.1.3.2 Character as seen by others The author describes the character of the person through the other’s eyes and opinion. There the opinion may come from people around the person about his personality which can also determine his characteristics.
2.1.3.3 Speech The author gives the readers some clue about the character through what the character says.
2.1.3.4 Past Life In certain events of the characters past life, the readers will know the characteristic of him/her. Here we learn that a character’s past experiences, particularly those which are really meaningful can cause several effects to the person’s future life even may change his character.
2.1.3.5 Conversation of others Through the conversations done by other people, the readers will know what they say about the character.
2.1.3.6 Reactions The readers will know what kind of person the character is by seeing how he/she reacts to various situations in the story. The readers here can conclude if a person is temperamental or patient and etc.
2.1.3.7 Direct Comment The author gives direct comment to the character. However, the author will not give lots of direct comment otherwise the novel will be uninteresting to deeply read.
2.1.3.8 Thoughts The author directly gives what a person is thinking about. By knowing what in the character’s mind, the readers will know his characteristic.
2.1.3.9 Mannerism The author creates the character’s behaviors where each and every one of the behaviors will show the characteristic of the character. A person’s habits of idiosyncrasies may also tell us something about someone’s characteristic.
Murphy also adds that characterization is the presentation of the characters’ personalities including their attitudes, appearances, motives, and actions, which are created to be life like. This is in order that the ideas of what kind of people they are in the story are conveyed to the readers (161).
2.1.4 The Mother-Child Relation
According to Deutsch (308), the main problems of motherhood are the reproductive function, and, as we have seen, continue, with the birth of the child, the mother’s relation to the child. From this statement, it can be inferred that the mother’s relation to the child is very important because the relation will be an ongoing process; regarding the fact that the child grows bigger each day.
There are two greatest task of a woman, namely: to shape her unity with the child in a harmonious manner and to dissolve the unity harmoniously. The tasks of motherhood that serve the preservation of the species correspond to the developmental stages of the child. For instance, all of the mother’s interests during the child’s first life period are chiefly directed to the goal of his physical thriving. Her activity at this time is applied to his feeding and bodily care. At this stage the mother’s urge to preserve the unity with the child is strongest and the possibility of gratifying it greatest: the child’s helplessness during the suckling period furthers this unity (Deutsch 308-309). From this explanation, it can be inferred that the first task of a mother in her early child’s life is to make a unity with him. After having the unity with the child, then the next task of a woman will be educating the child. This matter will be explained in the following paragraph.
The mother’s next task is educating. Beside her attention to bodily care, she is now concerned with the child’s psychology and his adjustment to reality.
Above all, the mother must now teach her children to control his instincts, and the better her own instinctual life is controlled, the better does she succeed in this task. She must not be too mild in her methods of training, for excessive indulgence involves the danger of the child’s remaining undisciplined and dominated by his instincts. She also is not allowed to forbid a lot, for excessive inhibition exposes the child to the danger of neurotic illness (Deutsch 309). From the previous explanation, it can be concluded that the second task is the important one. The reason is that the mother must educate her child well. If the mother is too mild, then her child will remain undisciplined and dominated by the instincts. If the mother forbids too much, then the child will have a danger of experiencing a neurotic illness. Therefore, the mother must take a right step in taking care of her child.
Noller (135) states that there are three styles of parenting. They are authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive styles. Further, Greenbaum & Landau state that mother-child interactions tend to be dominated by caretaking. Mothers communicate with their children, stimulate them, express positive affection to them, and perform the basic childcare tasks more than do fathers (205).
2.1.5 Family Influences on a Growing Child
This theory is proposed by Medinus and Johnson and divided into several sub-topics namely: the nature of parent-child relations, three principal parent variables, and three factors in parent child relationships. Each of the sub-topics will be explained briefly.
2.1.5.1 The Nature of Parent-Child Relations
Although all human relationships are unique, those existing between parents and child posses certain characteristics that explain the tremendous and permanent impact of one upon the other. The intimacy and intensity of contact and the everyday interaction an interchange exist in an emotionally charged atmosphere. A child serves as a mirror to the parent, who sees reflected there his own childhood, his own unresolved and frequently long-term conflicts, and his own needs and aspirations (Medinnus and Johnson 343).
The emotional needs of one to another create a system where the breakdown of one member will affect the entire system. Some clinical reports reveal that the family member who seeks for psychological treatment actually is not the one who needs it. This statement indicates that the psychological disorder of the concerned individual reflects a greater trouble within the family system. Furthermore, family-therapy case studies show that when one family member is relieved from the psychological symptoms, the symptoms frequently reappear in another member (Medinnus and Johnson 343).
There is also another view of the value of children for their parents. According to Nye (153), children are considered to fulfill needs of their parents. One of the values of children for their parents is being a marital status. In this case, they may enhance parents’ status because parenthood is thought to establish parents as truly mature, stable, and acceptable members of adult community.
Parents who have children will be considered as having higher social status in their community because being parents is regarded as prestigious and needs great responsibility.
2.1.5.2 Three Principal Parent Variables
Medinnus and Johnson (347) state that there are three principal parent variables, which are parent is personality, attitudes, and behavior. The first variable is parent’s personality that influences personality development of their child. It is because parents unconsciously teach character’s trait, values, and attitudes to their children. The result of the influence can be good or bad to the children, depending on how they receive it.
The second variable concerns parent’s attitudes. How the adult understanding of the parental role in relation to the child influences his attitudes as a parent. The conception of these responsibilities, functions, and obligations of a role create the individual’s attitudes. Further, the interest of the child psychologist in parental attitude stems, therefore, from the notion that a basic, underlying attitude influences many behaviors of parenthood that are assumed to affect the personality development of the child. (Medinnus and Johnson 349).
The third variable is parent’s behavior. At this point, there are many aspects to learn in exploring the characteristics that describe the general behavioral atmosphere of the home. Two characteristics which usually emerge are acceptance versus rejection and autonomy versus control. Theoretically, the psychological atmosphere of a home may fall into any of the four quadrants, each of which represents one of four general combinations: acceptance-autonomy, acceptance-control, rejection-autonomy, and rejection-control (Medinnus and Johnson 356).
2.1.5.3 Three Factors in Parent-Child Relationships
There are three factors in parent-child relationships. Those factors are perception of parents, discipline, and parent attitudes. Each part will be explained briefly below.
The first factor is perception of parents. Commonly, children’s tendency in perceiving their parents is negative. As a result, there is not so much to say about the child’s perception and interpretation of their parents. It causes children to view all of his interpersonal relations negatively, including their relationships with their parents. Their negative perceptions of their parents also produce their poor adjustments. Second, the young child is not a very reliable informant, not through any desire to deceive, but through inability to express himself adequately in his early years (Medinnus and Johnson 375).
The second variable is identification. Even though the concept of identification has been used in many ways with a host of meanings, Sanford states that identification is the process by which an individual incorporates certain aspects of someone else’s behavior, attitudes, and characteristics. Identification may occur at the unconscious level. The discussion of identification in the young child primarily concerns his identification with sex role, the process of developing characteristics similar to those of the parent of the same sex. However, numerous characteristics seem to emerge from this process. Aggressive behavior, behavior and attitudes toward others, leisure-time pursuits, are the results of children’s identification with the parents in early years (383).
The third factor is discipline. The measurement of the effects of discipline (the independent variables) on the child’s behavior and attitudes (the dependent variables) would be full of uncertainty. Moreover, it is clear that the effects of discipline depend upon the emotional context in which it is directed (Medinnus and Johnson 383).
2.1.6 Power and Parent-Child Relationships
Noller in her book Communication in Family Relationships (135-136) states that in parent-child relationship, parents are supposed to be in control of families and responsible for their children’s behavior. Parents vary in the extent to which they exercise power over their children. There are three basic styles of parenting. They are:
2.1.6.1 The Authoritarian Parent The authoritarian parents emphasize that children should obey them and punish children if they do something wrong. This kind of parents do not encourage their children, believing that the children should accept the parents’ word for what is right.
2.1.6.2 The Authoritative parent The authoritative parents direct the activities of the child, while at the same time they let their children to find their own talents and creativities. These parents encourage and share with the children about the family rules and the reasons to obey them. They are careful in controlling their children and tend to persuade in getting the children’s cooperation.
2.1.6.3 The Permissive Parent The permissive parents do not give any strict control over their children and allows the children to regulate their own activities as much as possible.
Basically, such parents are warm but very low in control. They rely on the family rules to control their children and to be responsible in the mildest ways.
2.1.6 Child Emotional Development and Physical Well-Being
According to Martin and Stendler, one’s health can be affected by one’s emotional state. Sickness may be caused not only by disease but also from one’s psychological conditions. Further, physical well-being may influence emotional development (46-47). From these statements, it can be concluded that children’s illness affect the emotional well-being of the child. Additionally, Mohr (47) states that illness restricts children’s activities, which may bring out depressions and inferiority towards their peers.
Further, Hurlock (184-185) proposes that emotions have significance over children’s life. The importance of emotions is serving as a form of communication, interfering with mental activities, coloring the child’s outlook on life, affecting social interaction, developing habits, and affecting the psychological climate.