The parenting and its effect upon a child`s character as seen in dave pelzer`s my story - USD Repository
THE PARENTING AND ITS EFFECT UPON A CHILD’S
CHARACTER AS SEEN IN DAVE PELZER’S MY STORY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
MELYANTI ATENG
Student Number: 034214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
THE PARENTING AND ITS EFFECT UPON A CHILD’S
CHARACTER AS SEEN IN DAVE PELZER’S MY STORY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
MELYANTI ATENG
Student Number: 034214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
for
the gReaTestPARENTS i’ve ever
had
MaPa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My highest gratitude goes to my greatest Papa Jesus and Holy Mary for the endless blessing, love, and grace upon me in every single path of my life.
I would also like to thank: my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A., for the patience and guidance in doing the undergraduate thesis.
my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M.Hum., for the advice for the undergraduate thesis.
my academic advisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A., for the supervision during the undergraduate thesis completion.
my USD lecturers and staffs, for the experience of studying. my MaPa (Sugian Ateng and Suvia Yulianti), for the trust and all kinds of support in running my days.
my LeMOTeRs_cLub (Daq, Ka, Grez, Tyn, Cha) and friends’03, for the colors of life in Yogya.
my sista’z (Neetz, Vienz, Leenz, c’Nuri), for the true friendship we share. my English Made Easy community, for the essence of learning and teaching. my dÖdÖL, so glad to have you in my every moment.
Melyanti Ateng
TABLE OF CONTENTS
14 4. Maslow’s Theory of Needs .............................................................
34 C. The Characteristics of the Main Character as the Effect of the Minor Characters’ Parenting Style .........................................................................
29 B. The Minor Characters’ Parenting Style towards the Main Character .........
26 2. The Characteristics of Alice Turnbough .........................................
26 1. The Characteristics of Harold Turnbough .......................................
23 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ....................................................................................... 26 A. The Characteristics of the Minor Characters ...............................................
22 C. Method of the Study ....................................................................................
21 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................................
19 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 21 A. Object of the Study.......................................................................................
18 C. Theoretical Framework ...............................................................................
11 3. Theories of Parenting ......................................................................
TITLE PAGE APPROVAL PAGE ....................................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................................. iii MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. ix ABSTRAK .................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................
7 2. Theories of Personality ..................................................................
7 1. Theories of Character and Characterization.....................................
6 B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................................
6 A. Review of Related Studies ..........................................................................
4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .............................................................
4 D. Definition of Terms .....................................................................................
3 C. Objective of the Study .................................................................................
1 B. Problem Formulation ..................................................................................
1 A. Background of the Study .............................................................................
42 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 52
ABSTRACT
MELYANTI ATENG. The Parenting and Its Effect upon a Child’s Character
in Dave Pelzer’s My Story. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty
of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2007.The success of rearing a child could be seen from the success of the fulfillment of the parenting roles towards the child. The fulfillment of the parenting roles then becomes the decisive factor of the parenting style set by the parents, including foster parents to their foster children. Successful parents are considered as caring parents both physically and emotionally, trusting their children with freedom but still keeping them in a set of limitation. One of the works of literature which deals with the topic of parenthood could be seen in Dave Pelzer’s autobiography My Story. The writer is interested in perceiving the success of the parenting style of the foster parents, Alice and Harold Turnbough, that are the minor characters in My Story, towards the main character, Dave Pelzer.
There are three objectives in this thesis. The first objective is to see Harold and Alice’s characteristics. The second objective is to analyze how the Turnboughs applied the parenting style towards Dave Pelzer which is influenced by their characteristics. The last is to see the characteristics of Dave Pelzer as the effect of the Turnboughs’ parenting style.
In answering the problems, the writer used the novel, My Story, as the primary source and the books of psychology. In this study, the writer used a library research method. Then, the psychological approach was used as the approach of the study.
The result of the analysis shows that Harold Turnbough was a hard worker, responsible, kindhearted, disciplined person who was well-organized. Harold was categorized as Choleric type who was strong-willed, self-reliant, and unaffectionate. He was an introvert individual. Different from her husband, Alice Turnbough was a friendly, understanding, caring, loving, wise, patient, and democratic parent. Alice was categorized as Sanguine type who was animated, sociable, demonstrative, and inspiring. She had the extrovert personality. As the foster parents of Dave Pelzer, the Turnboughs set themselves well in the parenting roles: as the instructors, educators, advisors, supervisors, facilitators, and role- models. Based on the combination of the Choleric and Sanguine type of the Turnboughs and also the fulfillment of the parenting roles, it was concluded that the Turnboughs conducted the authoritative parenting style, in which both high warmth and control were set well in the family. The success of the Turnboughs’ parenting style was seen from the fulfillment of Dave’s needs, based on Maslows’ theory of needs. The result was the stiff, introvert, and inferior Dave developed into a self-reliant, confident, patient, mature, resilient, and responsible visionary.
ABSTRAK
MELYANTI ATENG. The Parenting and Its Effect upon a Child’s Character
in Dave Pelzer’s My Story. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2007.Kesuksesan dalam membesarkan anak dapat dilihat dari suksesnya pemenuhan peran-peran orang tua terhadap anaknya. Pemenuhan peran orang tua ini kemudian menjadi faktor penentu gaya orang tua mendidik anak, termasuk orang tua angkat terhadap anak-anak angkatnya. Orang tua yang berhasil dianggap sebagai orang tua yang perhatian baik secara fisik maupun emosi, memberikan kebebasan pada anak-anaknya tetapi juga menjaga mereka tetap berada dalam batasan. Salah satu karya sastra yang berhubungan dengan topik mendidik anak dapat dilihat di autobiografi Dave Pelzer, My Story. Penulis tertarik untuk melihat kesuksesan gaya mendidik anak oleh orang tua angkat, Alice and Harold Turnbough, yang menjadi karakter minor, terhadap karakter utama, Dave Pelzer.
Ada tiga pokok tujuan dalam tesis ini. Tujuan pertama adalah untuk melihat karakter Harold dan Alice. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk menganalisa bagaimana pasangan Turnbough menerapkan gaya mendidik anak terhadap Dave Pelzer. Yang terakhir adalah untuk melihat karakter Dave Pelzer sebagai akibat dari gaya mendidik anak pasangan Turnboughs. Dalam menjawab permasalahan- permasalahan di atas, penulis mengacu pada novel, My Story, dan buku-buku ilmu psikologi. Dalam hal ini, penulis menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka. Kemudian, pendekatan psikologi dipakai sebagai pendekatan studi.
Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa Harold Turnbough adalah seorang pekerja keras, bertanggung jawab, baik hati, disiplin, dan teratur. Harold dikategorikan sebagai tipe Kolerik yang berkemauan keras, mandiri, dan sulit menunjukkan kasih sayang. Ia adalah pribadi yang tertutup. Berbeda dari suaminya, Alice Turnbough adalah orang tua yang ramah, pengertian, perhatian, penyayang, bijaksana, sabar, demokratis. Alice dikategorikasn tipe Sanguin yang hidup, mudah bersosialisasi, penuh gerak, dan menginspirasi. Dia mempunyai pribadi yang terbuka. Sebagai orang tua angkat dari Dave Pelzer, pasangan Turnbough berperan dengan baik dalam peran-peran orang tua: sebagai instruktur, pendidik, penasihat, pengawas, penyedia, dan contoh gambaran. Berdasarkan kombinasi tipe Kolerik dan Sanguin pasangan Turnbough, dan juga pemenuhan peran orang tua, disimpulkan bahwa pasangan Turnbough mendidik anak dengan gaya autoritatif, dimana tingkat kontrol dan kehangatan sama besar dalam keluarga. Kesuksesan gaya mendidik anak pasangan Turnbough dilihat dari pemenuhan kebutuhan Dave berdasarkan teori kebutuhan Maslow. Hasilnya, Dave yang kaku, tertutup dan minder berkembang menjadi seorang Kolerik yang berpandangan ke depan, mandiri, percaya diri, sabar, dewasa, tabah, dan bertanggung jawab.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Being parents nowadays is not an easy thing to do. It is not merely a
matter of bearing children, feeding, and sending them to school, but deeper, it is a basic and primary problem of giving attention, love, and warmth to each member inside a family. In the book Human Development Pikunas states:
As a primary group, the family with children is bound together by kinship and intimate relations marked by care, affection, and support, as well as mutual sharing in various activities and concerns. Husband and wife, or father and mother, are crucial members of the family, and the family is considered incomplete or “broken” when either is absent (Pikunas, 1976:60-61).
The fact is that many fathers and mothers sometimes fail to meet the general requirements of being parents. There are many factors playing behind this failure. It is mainly the problem about the parents’ parenting style in their family life. For instance, most cases come from the lack of time of the parents for their children. Some of those parents do not have enough understanding about the exact role they have to run and the foreground needs of the children. Most parents force themselves to work hard to earn money in order to fulfill all the physiological needs of each member of the family. This causes parents to miss even the simplest need of the family itself, that is a moment of trust and close togetherness. As the result, the relationship between children and parents becomes worse. Children feel that their parents do not want to understand them. Meanwhile, parents think that
2 their children cannot understand the adults’ problems. Lots of misunderstanding happen then, and for some cases children begin to search for other sources of care and attention outside. It could be positive or negative release of a feeling of frustration.
Other case of the failure in parenting comes from the wife herself or the husband himself. Most cases happen because both of the parents (one of them) begin(s) losing their intimacy as lovers. They do not love each other anymore and feel like they cannot live together any longer. In the end, divorce would become the only choice for them in order to solve their complicated domestic life. And as the result, children become the victim of their parents’ selfishness. They lose the real mother or father’s role in their life development. This would somehow result in positive or negative behaviors of the children.
Troubled parents would also become the source of the family life destruction. The term ‘troubled’ here refers to the emotional sickness of a mother or a father. It could result in an abusiveness case in this matter. Many cases of child abuse are now reported and informed to public. And this phenomenon is included as one of the failure of parenting style in society.
Despite some facts of the failure of parenting, there are also many successful cases of parenthood role happening in the world’s society. Successful parents are considered as caring parents both physically and emotionally, trusting their children with freedom but still keeping them in a set of limitation. In this case, the children would grow up with adequate love and a well-established standard of responsibilities. This parenting style is applied as well as for the foster parents to their foster children in a society.
The reality of parenting is often reflected as one of the ideas which form a work of literature. One of the works of literature which deals with the topic of parenthood can be seen in Dave Pelzer’s autobiography My Story. It is a novel of compilation of the life journey of an abused child to a successful young man. In the middle of the journey after being released from his abusive mother, Pelzer becomes a foster child which is resented by the society at that time. In the process of being a foster child who is still bound miserably to his experience of being abused by his real mother, Pelzer is forced to move from one to another foster care. It makes Pelzer face many problems of adapting himself to the new situation in the society. But through the hand and care of one of the foster parents, Pelzer could overcome his problems in his life and successfully become a man named Dave. Because of the parenting style of the foster parents, Pelzer could finally feel and get the real love of a family which he has been searching for so long and become a great man in his life and people’s.
The writer is interested in seeing and perceiving the success of the parenting style of the foster parents, Alice and Harold Turnbough, that are the minor characters in My Story, towards the main character, Dave Pelzer.
B. Problem Formulation
1. What are the characteristics of Harold and Alice Turnbough, the minor characters in My Story?
2. How do the Turnboughs apply the parenting style towards the main character, Dave Pelzer?
3. What are the characteristics of Dave Pelzer as the effect of the Turnboughs’ parenting style?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are first to find out both the characteristics of Harold and Alice Turnbough, the minor characters in My Story. The second purpose is to identify how the Turnboughs apply the parenting style towards the main character, Dave Pelzer. The last is to understand the characteristics of Dave Pelzer as the effect of the Turnboughs’ parenting style.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to clarify the content of the analysis, there are some terms needed to be clarified, they are:
1. Patterns of Parenting Rohner in Understanding Psychology described patterns of parenting as the ways for parents of expressing love, warmth, and affection for their children (parental acceptance), as well as the possibility for parents to show displeasure with and even dislike of their children (parental rejection) (1995: 113).
2. The Parents Role Based on Influence of Significant Others on Learning about Relationships by Parke and O’Neil, parents role is the dynamic aspect of the status as parents (1997:32).
3. Parenting Styles According to Psychology in Action by Huffman et al., parenting styles are the ways the parents treat the children as they are growing up (1997:316).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW D. Review of Related Studies Some related studies of the works of Dave Pelzer have been discussed in
some undergraduate theses. The mainly studied works are the trilogy: A Child
Called ‘It’, The lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. Fransiska Sarwono from
Department of Language and Arts Education, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, states her review in the thesis Dave’s View Toward His Miserable
Life as Seen in Pelzer’s ‘The Lost Boy’. The study learns that Dave’s personality
is the characterization well-portrayed by Dave Pelzer, the author himself.Sarwono shows in her thesis that Dave is a naïve, kind-hearted, and wants total acceptance from his society. She also reviews Dave’s view on his pain. The key for Dave’s success is his ability to forgive his mother and to be able to regard his miserable life as a mean to enforce him to have a better life.
His courage, strength, hope, healing and forgiveness make him survive and become a success man, and rather than weeping for Dave, we should be rejoicing for his ability to overcome his abuse and devote his life to trying to help others to do the same (Sarwono, 2003:54).
Meanwhile Dessy Christanti from Department of Language and Arts Education, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, states her review in the thesis
The Impact of Child Abuse on Dave Pelzer’s Self-Esteem as Revealed in his
Trilogy, A Child Called ‘It’, The Lost Boy, and A Man Named Dave. The result of
this study shows that Dave experienced three kinds of child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. The study also shows that the abuse Dave experienced affected Dave’s self-esteem strongly. Before the abuse, Dave was a child with a high self-esteem. During the abuse, Dave lost most of his self-esteem due to the physical, emotional abuse, and neglect of his mother. However, after Dave was rescued, he learned to love and respect himself, which helped him to survive and regain his self-esteem.
All human are constantly changing. Dave Pelzer had very hard moments, but he had won the battle. Dave raised himself out of the black hole in which he had been for years. From a person with a low self-esteem because of the abuse, Dave was able to regain his self-esteem. Above all, Dave had the spirit to survive, to learn from his mistakes, to forgive, to love and to live (Christianti, 2004:89).
Different from the two discussions of the main character, Dave Pelzer, here the writer is going to see from the characteristics of the minor characters, Harold and Alice Turnbough, as one of the foster parents which appears in Pelzer’s trilogy collection, My Story, by focusing on the two last parts, The Lost
Boy and A Man Named Dave. The other problem to be discussed is about the
parenting style of the Turnboughs towards the main character, Dave Pelzer. And the last, the writer will analyze the characteristics of Dave Pelzer as the effect of the Turnboughs’ parenting style.
E. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
Character is one of the most important aspects in a literary work. It is best defined as certain persons refer to men and women. According to Laar and Schoonderwoerd in the book of An Approach to English Literature, characters are built through the novelist’s imagination and actual life. What the actual life means here is how the novelist tries to recreate the image of the persons in an actual life imaginatively to the novel. The imaginative human being is put in human situation and behaves as human. The recreated characters should be interesting, do interesting things or ordinary things but in interesting way to make the image of characters alive to the readers. Laar and Schoonderwoerd also divided the character into two terms that are round and flat characters. Round characters can be seen from the wholeness and in all different aspects. The action of the round character should be surprising and suited to the character. Different from the round characters, flat characters can be expressed with a single idea of quality and seen from one particular angle (Laar and Schoonderwoerd, 1969: 165-171).
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature supported the definition of character by Laar and Schoonderwoerd. It is said that characters should be credible and believable people. They have particular personalities and physical attributes which differentiate them from other characters. Rohrberger and Woods also added that flat characters are one-sided (knowing only one side of a person), while round characters are many-sided (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 20).
The characteristics of both round and flat characters are enriched by Forster in the book Aspects of the Novel. Flat characters in the seventh century were considered as humors, types, or caricatures. They are expressed in one sentence, easily recognized by the reader’s emotional eye, and easily remembered by the readers because they are not changed by the circumstances (static). Flat characters are usually minor characters. Meanwhile, round characters are considered as major characters. Different from the flat characters, round characters fit to perform tragically for any length of time and cause no boringness to the readers for they move the readers to any feelings except humor and appropriateness. They are defined by implication. Round characters are surprising in convincing way and that is why they are considered to be dynamic for they have the capacity to change or grow (Forster, 1974:.46-54).
The process of an author in creating a character is called characterization. According to Rohrberger and Woods there are two principal ways to characterize that are direct and dramatic. Direct means to describe the characters from the physical appearance, intellectual and moral attributes or degree of sensitivity. Dramatic means to put the characters in situations to show what they are by the way they act or speak (Rohrberger et al., 1971: 20).
Guth in The Literary Heritage adds more ways to understand a character. It can be seen from the character’s outward impression. This includes the physical characteristics, gestures and behaviors, voice and clothing. Dialogue also plays an important part because by listening to what the characters say, the readers could interpret the image of the characters by their own. It would be clearer when it is seen from the character’s action. What kind of characters they are would be easier to understand especially when they are forced to face a challenge or to make an important decision. What the characters think of themselves through their feelings and thoughts also help the readers to understand them (Guth, 1981: 729-730).
The characterization stated by Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction shows more evidences to learn about character. The first evidence is the character’s name for most of the sounds of the names fit the character. The second evidence is the description of and comment upon the characters to show their personal description. The other evidence is others character’s attitude towards the character. The character’s own dialogue and behavior are as well used as the evidence (Stanton, 1965:17-18).
To the most general and complete ways of how character is disclosed in fiction is described by Murphy in Understanding Unseens: “(a) Personal description: describing a person’s appearance and clothes; (b) Character as seen by another: describing the character through his eyes and the opinions of another; (c) Speech: giving an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says; (d) Past life: giving a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character in the form of direct comment by the author, the person’s thoughts, or his conversation; (e) Conversation of others: giving clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him; (f) Reactions: knowing how that person reacts to various situations and events; (g) Direct comment: describing or commenting on a person’s character directly; (h) Thoughts: giving direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about” (Murphy, 1972:161-171).
Hurlock in her second edition book Child Development (1992:238) stated that there are three factors affecting one’s character, they are heredity, family and society. According to Martin and Stendler in Child Behavior and Development (1959:545), the inheritance includes the physical characteristics, intelligence, the tempo at which he functions, the energy level, and the rate of maturation. Family is the second factor affecting one’s character. In a family, parents play the most important role. Since a child is born, s/he is under control of his parents. The parents provide all the basic and primary needs such as food, clothing, housing, love, care, and regulations. Society is the last major factor. Starting from the middle year of childhood phase (6-12 years old), an individual starts to widen the socialization. Both the society and individuals modify one to another. The child modifies his behavior by learning from the society as the teacher. The child receives many inputs from the society that are filtered for his development.
2. Theories of Personality
According to Halonen and Santrock in Psychology: Contexts and
Applications,
Psychologists define personality as enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotion, and behaviors that characterize the way a person interacts with the world (1999:372). Halonen and Santrock also explain that psychologists recognize that personality descriptions identify the essential characteristics of individuals and allow us to observe subtle differences among us. Personality does not exist apart from the person, but it does involve social contexts (1999:372).
Florence Littauer in her book, Personality Plus, stated out four types of people’s personality, both with their strengths and weaknesses (1996: 16-18): a. The Popular Sanguine The strengths of sanguine people are animated, playful, sociable, convincing, refreshing, spirited, promoter, spontaneous, optimistic, funny, delightful, cheerful, inspiring, demonstrative, mixes-easily, talker, lively, cute, popular, bouncy. The weaknesses of sanguine people are brassy, undisciplined, repetitious, forgetful, interrupts, unpredictable, haphazard, permissive, angered-easily, naïve, wants- credit, talkative, disorganized, inconsistent, messy, show-off, loud, scatter- brained, restless, changeable.
b. The Perfect Melancholic The strengths of melancholic people are analytical, persistent, self-sacrificing, considerate, respectful, sensitive, planner, scheduled, orderly, faithful, detailed, cultured, idealistic, deep, musical, thoughtful, loyal, chart maker, perfectionist, behaved. The weaknesses of melancholic people are bashful, unforgiving, resentful, fussy, insecure, unpopular, hard to please, pessimistic, alienated, negative-attitude, withdrawn, too sensitive, depressed, introvert, moody, skeptical, loner, suspicious, revengeful, critical.
c. The Strong Choleric The strengths of choleric people are adventurous, persuasive, strong-willed, competitive, resourceful, self-reliant, positive, sure, outspoken, forceful, daring, confident, independent, decisive, mover, tenacious, leader, chief, productive, bold. The weaknesses of choleric people are bossy, unsympathetic, resistant, frank, impatient, unaffectionate, headstrong, proud, argumentative, nervy, workaholic, tactless, domineering, intolerant, manipulative, stubborn, Lord over others, short- tempered, rash, and crafty.
d. The Peaceful Phlegmatic The strengths of phlegmatic people are adaptable, peaceful, submissive, controlled, reserved, satisfied, patient, shy, obliging, friendly, diplomatic, consistent, inoffensive, dry humor, mediator, tolerant, listener, contented, pleasant, and balanced. The weaknesses of phlegmatic people are blank, unenthusiastic, reticent, fearful, indecisive, uninvolved, hesitant, plain, aimless, nonchalant, worrier, timid, doubtful, indifferent, mumbles, slow, lazy, sluggish, reluctant, and compromising.
In her book Personality Plus, Littauer provides all the strengths and weaknesses of all the personality types as the compliment to the personality profile test. According to Littauer, each individual in this world actually comes from the mixture of the four types of personalities. The problem is one type of the personalities would be the dominant type of the others. It then makes an individual recognized as a sanguine, a choleric, a phlegmatic, or a melancholic (1996: 3).
In Personality and Problems of Adjustment by Young, Hippocrates also explains about four types of personality (1945:302:303). They are Choleric (characterized by irascible, hot-tempered make up), Melancholic (characterized by a depressed, sad, and gloomy outlook on life), Phlegmatic (characterized by sluggish and apathetic disposition), and Sanguine (characterized by cheerful, hopeful, or even ardent nature).
In the same book, Jung as the follower of Freud also explains other types of personality’s theory. They are extrovert and introvert. The extrovert is one whose fundamental orientation is toward the exterior world. Individuals of extrovert tend to feel and act according to the demands and expectations of the situation, identify themselves easily with emotions of those around them. In contrast, the introvert centers his attention in himself, in his inner or subjective world, and his contact with the externalities around him, people or things, is predominantly colored and changed by his efforts to retreat from the impress of this outside world into his own inner mental sanctum. He finds his chief values and satisfaction within a realm which he has re-created subjectively for himself.
The individuals of introvert love within their own internal world of emotions and feelings. They react much more egocentrically rather than the extrovert people.
(1945: 305-308).
3. Theories of Parenting
i. Patterns of Parenting Rohner in Understanding Psychology described two patterns of parenting.
They are parental acceptance and parental rejection. Parental acceptance means the warmth and affection given by the parents toward their children. The warmth of touch, kiss, hug, and the affection of compliment can be shown both physically and verbally. Meanwhile parental rejection is classified into three: hostility/aggression, indifference/neglect, and undifferentiated rejection. Hostility/aggression deals with anger and resentment. It can be both conducted physically with the action of hurting and verbally with sarcasm.
Indifferent/neglect results in the lack of care or interest about the children. With the absence of both hostility and indifference from their parents, children would feel unloved and uncared somehow. This condition is known as undifferentiated rejection. All the patterns of parenting above are called as the warmth dimension of parenting (Rohner, 1995:114).
Parke and O’Neil in the Influence of Significant Others on Learning about
Relationships (1997:32-39) formulate the parents role into: instructor, educator,
advisor, supervisor, facilitator, and role model. As the instructors, parents should give orders, rules, and information to the children for their own good. As the educators, the parents teach them knowledge about the good and bad things happening around them, both the intellect and moral teaching. As the advisors, the parents give advices for their problems and everything that happens to them, about the every result they may have from their behavior, so they could find the best solution for themselves. As the supervisors, the parents watch their behavior and keep them under control for avoiding the destructive and irresponsible attitudes they may have. As the facilitators, the parents provide the children with all the facilities like sending them to school to develop themselves into a well-grown individual. As the role-models, parents give themselves to the children to be the model they will look at and rely on in their lives. ii. Parenting Styles
First of all, there are two dimensions of parenting by Vasta, Haith, and Miller in Child Psychology. They are parenting warmth and parenting control.
Both dimensions should be best applied equally in a family. Parenting warmth includes support, affection, love, care, encouragement from parents to their children. Parenting control is the other side of parenting dimensions which involves the monitoring of the children, the disciplined and regulated behavior of the children (Vasta, Haith, and Miller, 1995:476).
The combination of the two dimensions and research done by Diana Baumrind in Vasta et al. Child Psychology resulted in four styles of parenting.
There are authoritative parents, authoritarian parents, permissive parents, and indifferent parents. Authoritative parents are those parents who are high both in warmth and control over their children. They have the characteristics of caring, loving, and sensitive parents. At the same time, they also set clear limits on the children behavior. Children of authoritative parents have the most positive effects on their early social development. Children become self confident, independent, academically and socially successful. Authoritarian parents are low in warmth but high in control. They generally have the characteristics of demanding with threats and punishment. They have a strong control over their children’s behavior. As the result, children under the authoritarian parents are moody, easily upset, aggressive and often creating problems. Permissive parents are the opposite of the authoritarian parents. They set high warmth but low control. They are loving and sensitive parents but set very few limits on their children’s behavior. Because of the lack of control of the parents, children become impulsive, immature and out of control. Indifferent parents are those parents that are low both in warmth and control. They set few limits as well as little attention, affection, and concern to their children. Children under indifferent parents become very demanding, disobedient, and lack of social skills to deal with other people (Vasta et al., 1995:476).
Huffman and the Vernoys in Psychology in Action summarized the parenting styles of Baumrind’s research into three broad patterns: authoritarian parents, permissive parents, and authoritative parents. Huffman et al. added that authoritarian parents demand mature awareness and responsibility of their children. No questions are needed to be asked by the children under the authoritarian parents. This style of parenting makes the children have poor communication skills in their social development. For the permissive parents, Huffman et al. divided into two types. They are indifferent parents who set few limits as well as little attention, and indulgent parents who provide high affection and concern but few controls on their children. Huffman et al. also added that children under the indulgent parents have no respect to others. The third style of parenting is authoritative parents who are caring but also set firm limits and encourage increasing responsibility of the children. As the result, children become self reliant, self controlled, high achieving, friendly and sociable (Huffman et al., 1997:316).
Almost similar to Huffman et al., Kasschau in Understanding Psychology also divided Baumrinds’s research into three patterns: authoritarian families, democratic/authoritative families, and permissive/laissez-faire families. According to Kasschau, parents in authoritarian families are considered as boss. Meanwhile in the democratic/authoritative families, discussion and negotiation between parents and their children are highly involved in the families. In the permissive/laissez-faire families, Kasschau found that children have the final say. Parents make no demands and rules about their children’s behavior. They guide their children but give up easily when children insist on having own way (Kasschau, 1995:236-237).
From all the parenting styles, it can be concluded that the authoritative parenting is the best one, as stated by Bukato and Daehler in Kasschau’s
Understanding Psychology:
“It seems clear that authoritative parenting yields the best results. This seems to come from two features – the establishment of limits on the child and responding to the child with warmth and support” (Kasschau, 1995:237).
4. Maslow’s Theory of Need
Maslow’s theory of need is the theory focusing on the physical and emotional needs of a human being. Kasschau in Understanding Psychology conveyed several studies of what adolescents need and want from their parents which resulted in:
“(1) Teenagers want parents to take an interest in their activities and to be available when they need help and support; (2) Parents should listen to what their teenaged children say, and should try to understand their point of view; (3) Parents should communicate with their children, exchanging ideas and talking with their teenagers, not at them; (4) Parents should love and accept adolescents as they are; (5) Parents should trust their children and respect their privacy; (6) Parents should allow their children to learn to be independent by granting them autonomy in gradually increasing amounts as they learn to handle it; (7) Parents should be neither too strictly nor too permissive” (Kasschau, 1995:235).
Seeing the sample of research of the needs of a human being, Maslow provided a theory of needs that is known as Maslow Theory. Every human being has his or her needs of physiological and emotional ones. They cannot live without fulfilling each need they have. Maslow in Huffman and Vernoys’
Psychology in Action divided the needs of human beings from the very basic one
up to the highest one. The theory is well known as hierarchy of needs. There are five levels of needs to be fulfilled by human beings in life. The first level is physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, sleep, health and all maintenance of internal part of the body. This is the very basic needs of a human being. According to Maslow, these physical needs must be the first fulfilled one before being able to reach for the higher growth of needs. After satisfying the needs of physics, human being tends to search for a higher degree of needs that is safety needs. They include the feeling of security and safety, and the intention to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. If a human being already feels secured in his or her life, s/he moves to satisfying the next level of needs that is belonging and love needs. They are to socialize with others, to be accepted in the society by giving and receiving attention. These needs lead a person to the esteem needs of achievements and prestige in life. If each need has been fulfilled gradually from the biological drives, a person may come to the highest level of the hierarchy of needs stated by Maslow that is self-actualization needs on finding self-fulfillment and realizing one’s potential. The highest level deals with one’s self esteem. The well fulfillment of this five-level hierarchy of needs would help the individual to grow and develop in his or her life (Huffman and Vernoys, 1997:382-383).
F. Theoretical Framework
In analyzing the problem formulation, the writer is going to use several theories to support the answers of the problem.
Theories of character and characterization and theories of personality are chosen in order to describe the characteristics of the minor characters, Harold and Alice Turnbough, in My Story, as well as the major character, Dave Pelzer. Theory of parenting is used to analyze how the Turnboughs apply the parenting style towards Dave Pelzer. Maslow’s theory of need is applied to show the success of the Turnboughs’ role as parents in fulfilling their parenting style by providing the physiological and emotional needs of the main character as a child.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study This undergraduate thesis analyzes the novel entitled My Story written by Dave Pelzer. This novel is the compilation of Pelzer’s bestseller trilogy of his
autobiography: A Child Called ‘It’, published in 1995; The Lost Boy, published in 1997; and A Man Named Dave, published in 1999. My Story itself is published latest in 2004 by Orion Books Ltd. The novel consists of 490 pages of the complete trilogy.
All the three novels have become the New York Times Best Seller. His other inspirational books: Help Yourself, The Privilege of Youth, Help Yourself for
Teens, Life Lessons are all becoming the New York Times Best Seller as well.
Through his works, Pelzer has been focusing on the importance of survival to the life of human being, exactly as what he has experienced.
The first story of Pelzer’s A Child Called ’It’: One Child’s Courage to
Survive tells how his alcoholic, abusive mother tortures him for years (4-12).
Being the third son from the fives, he is the only victim in the family and his father is powerless to protect him from his mother. For eight years Pelzer has to suffer from both physical and emotional abuse badly until being rescued by his teachers and staff members at his school. The second sequel The Lost Boy: A
Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family rehashes the maternal abuse and
documents his wild teenage years. In this book it tells the life of Pelzer as a foster child who has to be in and out of five different homes. Being a foster child forces Pelzer to suffer more shame due to the view of the society at that time that considers all foster children badly; unworthy of love. The society resents the existence of foster children and foster parents for they are trouble. But through it all Pelzer never stops hoping and searching for the love of a real family. The last book of the trilogy, A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness, recounts his mother's cruelty again and tells how the adult Pelzer learns to cope with the memory of it. It is the gripping conclusion to his inspirational trilogy on how the lost boy called ‘it’ could at last finds the self inside the heart and the soul of a man named Dave who is finally able to release himself from the past life.
The author, Dave Pelzer, is the recipient of the JC Penney Golden Rule Award, making him the California Volunteer of the Year. In 1993, Dave Pelzer was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. In 1994 he was the only American to be honored as The Outstanding Young Person of the World. In 1996 he carried the coveted centennial flame for the Olympic Games. Dave Pelzer was paid tribute as the recipient of the 2005 National Jefferson Award.
B. Approach of the Study
Since the thesis focuses on the minor characters’ characteristics and the role of parents which deals a lot with the individual psychology, the most appropriate approach to apply is psychological approach. Lewis Leary in A Study
and Research Guide states that:
A psychological approach is an approach that applies principles of modern psychology to characters or situations within a literary work or to the person who wrote that work (1976:57).