The portrayal of Jimmy as false protagonist in Jack Davis's no sugar.
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ABSTRACT
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Jack Davis’s No Sugar is a play that explored the living condition of the
Aborigines during the 1930’s era in Australia, where the Aborigines lived as
second class citizen segregated from society. Viewed from literary perspective,
this play also features an example of a still not widely used literary term, false
protagonist.
The objective of this study is to prove that one of the characters in the
play, Jimmy is considered as a false protagonist. This study used two questions
stated in the problem formulation, first is how Jimmy is considered as a
protagonist based on his action and dialogues on the first act and secondly is how
Jimmy is portrayed as a false protagonist, not as the protagonist.
The chosen method of the study is library research which mainly uses the
play script as the primary source in this research. The primary source is supported
by several secondary sources which consisted of theories used in this paper and
also several studies which either study Jack Davis’s No Sugar or analyze a text
which used false protagonist in literature.
This paper managed to conduct an analysis which proves that Jimmy is
considered as a false protagonist based on several arguments. First is Jimmy is
indeed a prominent character in the first act of the play and if viewed from the
first act alone, he can be considered as the protagonist of the play. The second
argument analyzes that Jimmy gradually lessened in importance during the
continuation of the play and is replaced by another character as the leading role.
The last argument is that the playwright prepared Jimmy for his role as a martyr
for the Aborigines cause due to his tragic death in the last act of the play, and the
emotional impact in the audience is greater due to their false assumption that
Jimmy is the leading character. it Based on these arguments; Jimmy is not the real
protagonist but the false one.
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ABSTRAK
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra,Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Drama No Sugar yang dikarang oleh Jack Davis adalah sebuah drama
yang mendeskripsikan kondisi hidup kaum Aborigin di Australia era 1930an,
dimana kaum Aborigin adalah penduduk kelas kedua dan hidup terpisah dari
masyarakat. Dilihat dari sudut pandang literatur, naskah drama ini adalah salah
satu contoh penggunaan sebuah istilah literatur yang belum banyak digunakan,
yakni protagonis palsu.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah membuktikan bahwa salah satu tokoh
dalam drama, Jimmy dapat dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis palsu. Penelitian
ini menggunakan dua pertanyaan, pertama adalah bagaimana Jimmy dapat
dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis melihat dari perbuatan dan perkataannya di
babak pertama dan pertanyaan kedua adalah bagaimana Jimmy digambarkan
sebagai protagonis palsu.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah riset pustaka dimana
naskah drama adalah sumber pertama. Sumber pertama ini didukung oleh
beberapa sumber kedua yang terdiri dari teori-teori yang digunakan dalam
penelitian ini dan juga beberapa penelitian lain yang mempelajari naskah drama
No Sugar oleh Jack Davis atau contoh penggunaan protagonis palsu dalam
literatur.
Penelitian ini telah melakukan riset yang membuktikan bahwa Jimmy
adalah protagonis palsu yang didukung oleh beberapa argumen. Argumen pertama
adalah di babak pertama Jimmy adalah seorang tokoh yang berperan penting
dalam cerita, dan jika dilihat dari babak pertama saja, dia dapat disebut sebagai
protagonis cerita. Argumen kedua adalah dalam kelanjutan cerita Jimmy mulai
kehilangan peran pentingnya dalam cerita dan perannya sebagai protagonis diganti
oleh tokoh lain. Argumen terakhir adalah sutradara mempersiapkan Jimmy
menjadi martir bagi kaum Aborigin lewat kematiannya di babak terakhir, dan
dampak emosional bagi penonton akan lebih besar karena asumsi mereka Jimmy
adalah karakter utama di cerita. Berdasarkan argumen-argumen tersebut, Jimmy
tidak berperan sebagai protagonis tetapi protagonis palsu.
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THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS THE FALSE PROTAGONIST
IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KRISTIAWAN INDRIYANTO
Student Number
: 094214067
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS THE FALSE PROTAGONIST
IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KRISTIAWAN INDRIYANTO
Student Number
: 094214067
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I declare that the thesis I have written does not contain the works or parts of
the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations as scientific
paper should.
Yogyakarta, January 30, 2014
The writer
Kristiawan Indriyanto
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma
Nama
: Kristiawan Indriyanto
NomorMahasiswa
: 094214067
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS
FALSE PROTAGONIST IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
Beserta 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: 30 Januari 2014
Yang menyatakan
Kristiawan Indriyanto
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We are all visitors to
this time, this place.
We are just passing
through. Our purpose
here is to observe, to
learn, to grow, to
love... and then we
return home.
(Australian
Aboriginal Proverb)
Gott mit uns/ God with Us
(German Empire’s Motto)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude toward dear Lord; it is only
because of His blessing that I am able to finish this thesis, by giving me wisdom and
also good health during the steps of researching this thesis. In researching this topic,
my family always gives me moral supports as the majority of my work was done in
my home. This paper is also unable to be completed without many advices and
supports from my dear advisor, Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed whom always gives me
correction for any mistakes I made and also gives me many new insights in finding
new approach in doing this research. I also thank Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S.,
M.Hum as my co advisor for more guidance and help in correcting this thesis.
I would also like to express my thanks toward many people whom either
directly or indirectly helps in the process of creating this paper. First of all, I would
like to thank Tatang Iskarna, S.S.,M.Hum for the copy of the play No Sugar which I
use in this thesis. I also send my regards towards my entire classmate in the year of
2009 and also all the lecturers in English Letters Department, some of them are my
oldest friends since the first semester Rendy, Ubaid, Ucca, Okky, and also Bryan,
Richard, Li, We, PutuAndi, Theo, Anto, Uya, Nilam, Meme, and Putri. Lastly, I give
my deep thanks toward all the members of Kepik Theatre, and I send my thanks for
Bea, Mov, Pandu, Samsul, Sakha, Anik, Febi, Pita, Kezia, Lenny, Pucil, Luisa, Mb
Nisa, Aulia, the other members of Kepik Theatre, and also for Hullo Theatre.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………….......
APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………….
ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………….
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY…………………………..
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI…................
MOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………………
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………
i
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iii
iv
v
vi
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x
xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………
A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………
B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………..
C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………..
D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………………
1
1
5
5
6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………..........
A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………………..
B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………………
C. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………....
7
7
9
13
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………
A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………….....
B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………….
C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………
15
15
15
16
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………………………………………….. …..
A. Jimmy is Portrayed as the Protagonist in Act One…………………..
1. Jimmy’s Characteristics ……….………………………………
a. Outspoken…………………………………………………..
b. Rebellious…………………………………………………...
2. The Minor Characters as Jimmy’s Foil………………….............
a. Jimmy Compared to Gran and Milly…………………….....
b. Jimmy Compared to Sam…………………………………..
3. Jimmy’s Importance to the Plot………………………………….
B. Jimmy is Portrayed as the False Protagonist...……..…………………
1. Jimmy’s Declining Influence in the Plot ………………………..
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2.
3.
Joe’s Real Role in the Story …………………………………….
a. Joe’s Role in the Story in the Second Act’s First until Fourth
Scene…………………………………………………………
b. Joe’s Role in the Story in the Second Act’s Sixth until Tenth
Scene…………………………………………………………
c. Joe’s Role in the Story from the Third until Fourth Act ………
The Significance of Jimmy’s Portrayal as A False Protagonist……
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….. …
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Summary of Jack Davis’s No Sugar………………….
Appendix 2 Jack Davis’s Life……………………………………...
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ABSTRACT
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters,
Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Jack Davis’s No Sugar is a play that explored the living condition of the
Aborigines during the 1930’s era in Australia, where the Aborigines lived as second
class citizen segregated from society. Viewed from literary perspective, this play also
features an example of a still not widely used literary term, false protagonist.
The objective of this study is to prove that one of the characters in the play,
Jimmy is considered as a false protagonist. This study used two questions stated in
the problem formulation, first is how Jimmy is considered as a protagonist based on
his action and dialogues on the first act and secondly is how Jimmy is portrayed as a
false protagonist, not as the protagonist.
The chosen method of the study is library research which mainly uses the play
script as the primary source in this research. The primary source is supported by
several secondary sources which consisted of theories used in this paper and also
several studies which either study Jack Davis’s No Sugar or analyze a text which
used false protagonist in literature.
This paper managed to conduct an analysis which proves that Jimmy is
considered as a false protagonist based on several arguments. First is Jimmy is indeed
a prominent character in the first act of the play and if viewed from the first act alone,
he can be considered as the protagonist of the play. The second argument analyzes
that Jimmy gradually lessened in importance during the continuation of the play and
is replaced by another character as the leading role. The last argument is that the
playwright prepared Jimmy for his role as a martyr for the Aborigines cause due to
his tragic death in the last act of the play, and the emotional impact in the audience is
greater due to their false assumption that Jimmy is the leading character. it Based on
these arguments; Jimmy is not the real protagonist but the false one.
x
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ABSTRAK
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas
Sastra,Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Drama No Sugar yang dikarang oleh Jack Davis adalah sebuah drama yang
mendeskripsikan kondisi hidup kaum Aborigin di Australia era 1930an, dimana kaum
Aborigin adalah penduduk kelas kedua dan hidup terpisah dari masyarakat. Dilihat
dari sudut pandang literatur, naskah drama ini adalah salah satu contoh penggunaan
sebuah istilah literatur yang belum banyak digunakan, yakni protagonis palsu.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah membuktikan bahwa salah satu tokoh dalam
drama, Jimmy dapat dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis palsu. Penelitian ini
menggunakan dua pertanyaan, pertama adalah bagaimana Jimmy dapat dikatakan
sebagai seorang protagonis melihat dari perbuatan dan perkataannya di babak
pertama dan pertanyaan kedua adalah bagaimana Jimmy digambarkan sebagai
protagonis palsu.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah riset pustaka dimana
naskah drama adalah sumber pertama. Sumber pertama ini didukung oleh beberapa
sumber kedua yang terdiri dari teori-teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini dan
juga beberapa penelitian lain yang mempelajari naskah drama No Sugar oleh Jack
Davis atau contoh penggunaan protagonis palsu dalam literatur.
Penelitian ini telah melakukan riset yang membuktikan bahwa Jimmy adalah
protagonis palsu yang didukung oleh beberapa argumen. Argumen pertama adalah di
babak pertama Jimmy adalah seorang tokoh yang berperan penting dalam cerita, dan
jika dilihat dari babak pertama saja, dia dapat disebut sebagai protagonis cerita.
Argumen kedua adalah dalam kelanjutan cerita Jimmy mulai kehilangan peran
pentingnya dalam cerita dan perannya sebagai protagonis diganti oleh tokoh lain.
Argumen terakhir adalah sutradara mempersiapkan Jimmy menjadi martir bagi kaum
Aborigin lewat kematiannya di babak terakhir, dan dampak emosional bagi penonton
akan lebih besar karena asumsi mereka Jimmy adalah karakter utama di cerita.
Berdasarkan argumen-argumen tersebut, Jimmy tidak berperan sebagai protagonis
tetapi protagonis palsu.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
In a literary work, whether it is fictional-or not fictional, the work will consist
of a number of characters. As stated by Beaty on his book, The Norton Introduction
to Literature Eighth Edition (2002:102), “Character is someone who acts, appears, or
is referred as playing a part in literary work”. The characters might be divided
according to their importance of the plot as the major and the minor characters, and
the story will revolve about how those characters interact with each other. A story
would need to have a conflict that will drive the story. There is a character or faction
which is described as the antagonist, which is the one who opposes the main or
central character from reaching his/her goal. On the other side, there is also the
protagonist of the story. Perrine on her book Story and Structure: An Introduction to
Fiction Third Edition (1988:41) further state it as
Protagonist are people in the central character in the conflict whether a
sympathetic or an unsympathetic person; antagonists are the forces
arranged against him, whether person, things, convention of society or
traits of his own character.
A protagonist is the focus of literary work, whether the literary work is in the
form of prose, novel, or a play. In the story, protagonist is the main focus of it. The
protagonist is described as the most important or the central character in the story,
whom the story revolved around the protagonist’s struggle for reaching his/her goal
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and the protagonist’s conflict with the opposing force, the antagonist which seeks to
halt the progress of the protagonist and provide obstacles on the way. On his book,
Developing Critical Reading Skill Fifth Edition (1999:42), Spears says that
“protagonist is the main character who encounters a conflict, a tension between
himself or herself and something else.”
In many different forms of literary work, the reader will see the protagonist in
different ways. In a prose for example, the protagonist has no visual appearance that
can be seen directly by the reader, instead the reader have to visualize how the
protagonist is described, about how his/her physical appearance, and how the
protagonist interact with the other character. While on a written form the reader is
unable to see directly the protagonist’s action, and has to imagine it; on contrast in a
play the audience will be more able to see the action of the protagonist directly as a
play is meant to be performed in the front of the audience, therefore the audience will
directly see how the protagonist is described by the author, how the protagonist
interact with the other character, his/her appearance, his/her tone whenever s/he
speaks, and the actions that the protagonist will do in order to overcome the struggle
to reach the goal.
Those are the usual portrayal of a protagonist; a technique commonly used by
many writers is to introduce a protagonist early in the story, this is used to enhance
the emotional contact the reader possess toward the protagonist, as the reader is able
to see the protagonist’s beginning of his or her journey since the beginning of the
story. The reader then see how the author described the protagonist is, who s/he is,
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what his /her goal is and what his /her motivation for reaching that goal is. While it is
not by any means the only way of portraying a protagonist, many works of literature
chooses to reveal its central figure early in the story for the reason mentioned before.
A protagonist is commonly portrayed as mentioned in the previous paragraph,
but there is also a concept of ‘false’ protagonist. A false protagonist seems similar to
a protagonist, especially in how he/she is portrayed in the beginning of the story.
Similar to a protagonist, a false protagonist is also given a particular focus by the
author in the beginning of the story and also the reader is able to see his/her
motivation in moving the plot. Therefore, a false protagonist has a similar level of
importance to the plot compared to the ‘real protagonist’, the difference is a false
protagonist is no longer become main focus of the story as stated by Cesar in his
essay, Narratology (2008:11), “false Protagonist is a character who is introduced as a
''protagonist'' at the beginning of the story but removed (normally, killed) halfway
through”
The usage of false protagonist in a literary work is still not quite as common
as the usual portrayal of a protagonist. The usual concept in a story is mainly about a
protagonist that remains important from the beginning of a story until the story
reached the conclusion, and on the other hand the usage of false protagonist deceives
the reader by introducing a character that is very prominent in the first few parts of a
story and the character has such a strong personality or characterization that remain in
the reader’s mind so that the reader believes that the character has an important part
in the story. Unlike a protagonist, the false protagonist will have lesser importance in
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the continuation of a story and usually the false protagonist will be removed midway
through the plot, the false protagonist might even be killed to show that his/her
importance in the plot is already over.
A false protagonist is still relatively unknown in the studies about literature.,
and therefore this paper choose to analyze the usage of false protagonist, how it is be
employed as a literary device, and also to offer a new insight about the concept of
false protagonist. This research analyzes a literary work that used false protagonist in
it, as stated before, the usage of false protagonist has not entered the popular concept
about protagonist so therefore if a character is particularly given a specific focus by
the author there is a tendency to assume that s/he is the protagonist of the play,
without considering his/her prominence to the continuation of the story.
There are several reasons for a false protagonist in a play is preferred
compared to other form of narrative. First, the essence of a play is the interaction
between the protagonist and the other character, either supporting character or the
antagonist in form of dialogues. Therefore by examining what the protagonist says in
his/her dialogues and how he/she reacts toward a situation, the protagonist’s defining
trait can be seen. In a play there is also a clear partition of the story in form of acts
and scenes, therefore it is be easier to differentiate the false protagonist and the ‘real
protagonist’ based on the false protagonist’s action and relevance of the plot in the
next acts and scenes. The last reason is that the word ‘protagonist’ itself is defined
from Greek drama as the ‘central’ character in a story we can see more clearly that a
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false protagonist will have lesser importance in driving the plot compared to the ‘real’
protagonist which remain important throughout the whole story.
No Sugar is the play analyzed in this paper. No Sugar by Jack Davis is a play
that uses false protagonist as a literary device, even though in the beginning it is not
clearly stated. In this play, one of the major characters is Jimmy. As an Aborigine
who is treated unfairly, Jimmy is the most outspoken person in the first act and he
takes direct action against the Australian Government for their racial discrimination
toward the Aborigines. How Jimmy is described and given a specific focus usually
reserved for the protagonist convinced reader that Jimmy as a character will play an
important role in the continuation of the story and is the leading protagonist in
Aborigine’s struggle against the Australian government. But instead in the
continuation of the story it is later shown that Jimmy is not quite as relevant to the
plot and therefore cannot be said that he is still the protagonist of the play. Therefore
this play has a good example of how a false protagonist is used as a literary device.
B. Problem Formulation:
1. How is Jimmy described as the protagonist based on his speeches and action
on the first act?
2. How is Jimmy considered as a false protagonist?
C. Objectives of the Study
The main purpose of this research is to better understand about the usage of
false protagonist in literature, a literary term that is still not quite often used in
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literature. This research is mainly concerned with two main questions. The first is
how Jimmy is described as the protagonist based on the focus of his action and
dialogues in the first act, and the second is how does the author portray Jimmy as
false, not the main protagonist. By analyzing a play which used a false protagonist,
this study hoped that this paper can aid in the further research of this topicand give
more insight of false protagonist in literature, or more specifically, drama.
D. Definitions of Terms
This section explains about a terminology that is used in the title, and that is
‘false protagonist’. In his essay, The Constant Art of Being a Writer: The Life, Art
and Business of Fiction (2009), Kelby defines it as, “A false protagonist is a character
that appear to be the protagonist, but then killed off”. Therefore the false protagonist
is created to deceive the audience to believing that the false protagonist is the central
role in a story, especially if s/he has been emotionally attached by the ‘false’
protagonist due to the protagonist’s action in the beginning in the story, only to
discover that the ‘false’ protagonist suffer a tragic fate in the following continuation
in the story.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
No Sugar is a play about the struggle of Aboriginal people. For a time they are
numerous, the undisputed ruler of the whole continent, but after the arrival of the
colonial force from Europe they become marginalized in society. The colonial ruler
not only destroys the local Aboriginal cultures but also treats the remaining
Aboriginal people unfairly. In her essay, Bertrand (2010:1) says:
Jack Davis' No Sugar (1985) is a critique of the violence and cultural
destruction caused by British colonialism. Davis explores the dispossession,
absorption, and marginalization of the Nyoongah peoples of Australia and the
imperial attitudes that caused the systematic elimination of their way of life.
Another review of the play No Sugar said that No Sugar is a first-hand
experience of the Aborigines who were forced to relocate from their home into new
hand, Casey (2006:10) stated “No Sugar is said to explore Jack Davis’s family history
of removal from traditional lands and their experiences of mission realities.” It
symbolizes the weaknesses of Aboriginal people as second-class citizens; they are
powerless to avoid what fate the Australian Government has for them.
Besides finding the related studies about the play No Sugar, this paper also
uses a review of a research which analyzes false protagonist in literature that is found
in the short story The Roads Must Roll by Robert Heinlen. On his book, The Science
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Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One Silverberg commented about the use of false
protagonist in the character of Van Kleeck.
The Roads Must Roll uses a technique known as “the false protagonist”. At
first, the reader is introduced to the revolutionary Van Kleeck, and is easily
drawn into his fervent speech, suggesting a revolutionary measure against the
Transport Cadets. Furthermore, When Larry Gaines first appears, the reader is
led to believe that Gaines is merely trying to subdue any attempts by Van
Kleeck. The reader is seemingly cautioned against Gaines’ super devotion to
the Cadets. However, the storyline stays with Gaines, versus switching back
to the “revolutionary hero” Van Kleeck, and the reader witnesses the
wounding of innocent passengers, subsequently winning the reader's
sympathy for Gaines. Van Kleeck, who seemed the hero at first, is only seen
once more at the very end, when he is clearly identified as the arch-villain
who gets his just punishment (2005:53)
The two studies above focus on the struggle of the Aborigines under the
Australian government in 1920’s. The Aborigines are discriminated from the white
ones and are considered a second class citizen, even though that they are the rightful
owner of the land of Australia. The reviews above also focused on the life of Jack
Davis, and how No Sugar can be said as a mirror of Jack Davis’s own life, a life
which is full of hardship, discrimination, and having to rely for ration in order to
survive.
This paper has a different focus from studies above. It is not about how the
Aborigines try to fight their ‘oppressor’ using peaceful ways such as literature but
instead this research tries to analyze how the character in this play is used as a literary
device. This paper analyze the text as what it is, not relate it with Jack Davis’s life
and the hardship the Aborigines faced but instead analyze the intrinsic elements of the
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script, and how a character in the play, Jimmy actually fits the description of a false
protagonist instead of placed in the role of the protagonist of this play.
B. Review of Related Theories
In order to answer the questions, this paper used some theories in order to
analyze two main questions. The theories are theories about the definition of
character, characterization, minor character and foil, protagonist, false protagonist,
and plot.
1. Character
According to Kennedy in his book, Backpack Literature: An Introduction to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, character is a fictional people living in the story, a
character might be a historical person who was really alive, but it is up to the author
to develop the character’s personality so that it can be said as ‘fictional’. Kennedy,
(2005: 91) states:
Character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story. It means
that the character is a central focus in building up the story because
their involvement influences the story. In addition, most of literary writers
attempt to create characters who strike us not as stereotype but as a unique
individual.
2. Protagonist
Protagonist is the main focus of the story. The story in a literary work mainly
concerned about the journey of the protagonist to reach his/her goal. The word
protagonist comes from Greek drama as the ‘first’ or the central character in the
drama. Holman, (1985:355) said that “The protagonist is the leading figure both in
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terms of importance in the play and in terms of his or her ability to enlist our interest
and sympathy, whether the cause is heroic or ignoble.“Another definition of
protagonist is from Pickering, (1993:19) “Protagonist, the leading or central character
of the story that is essential as without whom there will be no plot in the first place, is
usually easy enough to be identified”. Furthermore, in his essay, In Sympathy with
Narrative Character, Giovanni stated that the sympathy toward the protagonist
comes from the emotional attachment that creates feeling that the reader experienced
the protagonist’s struggle him/herself.
The distinction between a narrative’s protagonist and other characters has to
do not just with the concern we have for the former but not for the latter, but
also with the quality of the concern we have and feel, a concern that is
modified and often prompted by the empathic representation of the character’s
experience. We are concerned for the protagonist in a special way, in the way
we are when we know what it must be like for someone to undergo the
experiences he/she is having (2009:85).
A protagonist might seems similar to the major character, but the difference
between them is that, the protagonist is the leading figure, which means that he/she is
the center of the story and the reason the story is able to unfold is due to the
protagonist’s action. The major character, on the other hand, is also an important
figure and prominently involved in the continuation of the story but the major
characters are not the reason for the creation of the plot. If the protagonist can be
symbolized as the sun in the solar system, the major character is the planet orbiting
him/her; the major characters are important figure, but not the central figure of the
story.
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3. Minor character and foil
The next theory used in this paper is about minor characters. It helps in defining
the protagonist in a story -or in this case a play- as the minor character’s purpose in
the story is to support the protagonist’s struggle. In Literature: Reading Fiction,
Poetry, and Drama, Diyanni(2000:60) wrote minor character as:
Supporting the major characters is one more or secondary or minor character
whose function is partly to illuminate the major characters. Minor characters are
often static and unchanging: they remain the same from the beginning of a work
to the end.
Besides giving advices or guidance, another function of the minor character is
to make sure that the protagonist is more illuminated in the eyes of the reader or the
audience, so the author or playwright usually depicts them with a contrasting
personality or trait to the protagonist. In literary term it is named foil, as stated by
Northrop Fyre on his book Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957:180) as “A
character foil is a character whose traits are in direct contrast to those of the principal
character. The foil therefore highlights the traits of the protagonist.”
4. False Protagonist
A false protagonist is different from a protagonist in terms of the false
protagonist’s importance to the story as a whole. A false protagonist is introduced as
a protagonist in the beginning of the story but in the continuation of the play, his/her
importance to the plot is reduced and another character will take his/her place. In his
essay, Narratology, Cesar defines it as
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False Protagonist is a character who is introduced as a ''protagonist'' at the
beginning of the story but removed (normally, killed) halfway through.
Another major or minor character, which was also introduced early in the
narrative, then takes his/her place and completes the story. (2008;11)
5. Characterization
In order to be able to define the protagonist in a play, a theory about how the
character is characterized by the author and intended to be the protagonist in the play
is needed. According to Hatlen, (1967: 17-18) there are four ways of which a
character can be portrayed. The portrayal of a character helps in finding the
protagonist on the play based on the definition of a protagonist.
First, by appearance, since the actor's physical qualities give an immediate
stimulus to the audience
Second, by speech, for the kind of language employed by the person, his
manner of speaking, his voice quality, his inflection pattern, pitch, rate and
general vitality,
Third, through a character's external actions we have clues to his inner
motivations
The more usual practice, however, is for the playwright to set the key to a
character from the outset others say about a character and the way in which
they react to him, we may begin to form an opinion before he may appear
6. Plot
Based on the definition of protagonist that is the central character in drama,
theory of plot is needed so that it can be figured out that the protagonist should be the
leading character in the whole drama, not just in the beginning as the assumed
protagonist in No Sugar, Jimmy is. A plot in drama is defined by Scholes in his book,
Elements in Drama (1971) as
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a wholly interconnected system of events, deliberately selected and arranged,
in order to fulfill a complex set of dramatic purposes and theatrical condition,
it comprises everything which takes place in the imaginative world of the
play. And the totality of events must create a coherent imitation of the world
(1971:62)
Based on the theory above, it can be inferred that the plot in a drama is linked,
in term of the previous scenes influenced how the next scene unfold. The playwright
then placed a character which has the role of developing the plot- the protagonist-,
which will drive the plot of the play into its conclusion. Thompson in his book, The
Anatomy of Drama (1946), further explained it as:
As a general rule a play requires a protagonist or hero, and a plot that
develops, from origin to conclusion, an action or series of causally related
actions centering in this protagonist. (1946:6)
C. Theoretical Framework
The first theory, theory about character is used to give definition and as the
background of analyzing the fictional people which is depicted in this drama. The
theory of characterization helps in analyzing the action and the dialogue of the
character in No Sugar, as this paper aims to find the particular qualities in Jimmy’s
character that usually is associated with a protagonist by analyzing how Jimmy is
characterized, mainly by his speech and action, it can be proved that Jimmy can be
assumedas the protagonist based on his action in the first act of the play alone.
The next is about protagonist. This theory is used to give the meaning of the
term ‘protagonist’ that is leading character in a play whom the audience is able to
recognize based on the character’s importance in the play and also having the
defining characteristics compared to the other supporting character. In identifying the
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protagonist, this paper use the theory of characterization based of his/her portrayal on
the stage. The theory about minor characters and foil are used for helping the process
of recognizing the characteristics the protagonist possesses which is contrasted with
the minor character that acted as his foil.
The other theory is about false protagonist, this theory is used to analyze how
the assumed protagonist in the play that is the character of Jimmy is actually not
being able to be defined as protagonist due to his declining importance in the
following scenes, and that the leading role of the play No Sugar in the next few acts is
moved to another character. The last theory, plot is used to support the previous
theory of false protagonist, as a protagonist is supposed to be the one who is
responsible for the plot until the ending, but if the supposed protagonist is a false
protagonist, s/he is only used as the driving force in the plot in the beginning, while
another character replaces the role of protagonist in the continuation of the play until
its ending.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
No Sugar is an Australian play written by Jack Davis in 1986. It was first
published by Currency Press Pty, Ltd in 1986 and first performed in 1985 Festival of
Perth; No Sugar proved a sell-out success and received a standing ovation from its
audience. This play consists of Four Acts. This paper used the 1st edition of the play.
The story of No Sugar is about the struggle of Aborigines struggling against
the unfair treatment they faced from the local government. The focus in the play is in
the family named Millimura whom faced hardship in the form of limited ration for
sustaining their daily live and by the disrespect of the local Australian authority who
viewed them as pests. After being accused of carrying disease, the whole family had
to be relocated in the new settlement in Moore River. The plight of an Aborigines
woman and her escape from Moore River is another conflict in the story.
B. Approach of the Study
In his book, A Handbook to Literature (1985, 316), Holman defines New
Criticism theory as
Whole body of criticism that concentrates on the work of art as an object in
itself; finds in it a special kind of language opposed to – or at least different
from – the languages ofscience or philosophy; and subjects it to close
analysis
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New Criticism focused on the text as what it is, without any other influence
either from the author him/herself (intentional fallacy) or what the readers might have
think (affective fallacy). Therefore it can be said that in New Criticism, the text and
its intrinsic elements are the most important thing to be analyzed, so the focus is only
on the text, we can get deeper understanding on the text by closely reading the text
even without outside influence.
This criticism is chosen as the approach in the paper due to the focus of the
paper about the portrayal of Jimmy as a false protagonist which as a character, Jimmy
is the intrinsic elements in the play No Sugar. By using New Criticism, this paper
limited the scope of the research only in the text itself to better understand how the
playwright used false protagonist as a literary device in the play. There are no outside
reference that is used in this approach, so the paper focused only on the intrinsic
elements, that is character in Jack Davis’ No Sugar
C. Method of the Study
This paper used library research in analyzing the problem. Library research is
gathering information from books and other references to find theories to support the
argument in this paper. The primary source is the play No Sugar by Jack Davis itself.
In analyzing the play, there are some steps done. First is to answer the first problem
formulation about how Jimmy is supposed to be a portrayal of the protagonist based
on his characterization on first act. The research focused on Jimmy’s characterization
compared to the other member of his family so that it can be assumed that he is
supposed to be the protagonist on the play. It is shown in his dialogue and his action
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and also his role in driving the plot of the story .The next step, answering the second
problem formulation is mainly to show that the answer of the first problem
formulation is Jimmy is actually not a protagonist, but a false protagonist. The
research analyzes Jimmy’s importance and relevance to the story as the harbinger of
the continuation of the plot of the play, and to discover that another assumed minor
character in the beginning of the play will replace him as the protagonist of the play
as is stated in the theory of false protagonist.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In answering the two problem formulation, this research mainly used the
interconnected theory about protagonist and false protagonist. The first question
concerned about understanding that Jimmy’s character is assumed as the leading
character. The second question focuses about Jimmy’s role as false protagonist,
identify the real protagonist of the play and how the real protagonist is subtly
replaced Jimmy’s role as the central character and lastly, identify the significance of
Jimmy as a false protagonist.
A. Jimmy is Assumed as the Protagonist in the First Act
This subchapter is divided into three sections, first is defining Jimmy’s most
prominent characterization, and secondly by analyzing the purpose of the minor
characters that acted as his foil in order to more illuminate Jimmy’s personality
mentioned before, and lastly, this research analyzes Jimmy’s character in term of his
importance of driving the plot of No Sugar.
1. Jimmy’s Characteristics
This paper argues that by reading the script only on its first act Jimmy can be
assumed as the protagonist, and to prove that, a throughout understanding of Jimmy’s
personality is needed. After finding his defining characteristics, this paper connected
them to the definition of protagonist by Holman, that is his personality is able to
attract the audience’s sympathy (1985:355), and also further explored by Giovanni
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(2009:85) which stated that the audience is able to have a greater emotional
attachment with the protagonist compared to the other characters to be able to identify
Jimmy as the protagonist. In analyzing Jimmy’s characterizations, this paper used
Hatlen’s theory of characterization which is more applicable in analyzing a drama
text. Jimmy’s characterization is mainly shown in his dialogues, about the way he
speaks, language and so on as this paper used the play script where no physical
description of Jimmy can be found. Jimmy’s characterization is also shown in his
actions and his gestures on stage.
There are two most defining characteristics about Jimmy’s character, those
are:
a. Outspoken
This side of Jimmy’s personality has been shown ever since the first scene of
No Sugar. The first scene in the beginning seemed to deceive the audience about the
seemingly peaceful atmosphere in the Aborigines camp. Jimmy’s dialogues are
intended to shatter this false perception; the truth is that the Aborigines are being
subjugated as minority by the government of Australia. This is a foreshadowing for
things to come, the Aborigines are actually oppressed by the authorities, and in the
continuation of the story the audience will further see the oppression, the limited
rationing, and even physical abuse.
JOE. Were a steadfast performance of duty in the face of difficulty and
danger. With them was a reminder of the danger they faced,
in the shape of the three lorries…carrying Aborigines..Aborigines,
incongruously dancing to a brass-band.
SAM. Koorawoorung!Nyoongahs corroborrein’ to a wetjala’s brass band!
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JIMMY.:Ah! That beats everythin’ stupid bloody blackfellas!
You fellas, you know why them wetjalas marchin’ down the street,
eh? I’ll tell you why, Cause them bastard took our country
and them black fellas dancin’ for em, bastard (Davis, 1986:15-16)
Among the members of the Millimura, even among the adults, Jimmy is the
most outspoken of them. Not only unafraid of stating whatever he is feeling right
now, his usage of language is also a prominent aspect in determining his personality.
Jimmy prominently used swear words that is considered vulgar as his choice of
language, and where as the other members of his family, even the adult ones speak in
a more reserved tone, Jimmy has a lot of dialogues which indicate that he speak in a
louder voice and rising tone, in form of questioning and shouting compared to the
other members of his family.
JIMMY. Yeah, fuckin’ gubment. Fucks everybody up; everybody, eh? Eh?
You allowed to walk down the street after sundown? Eh?
FRANK. Yeah, don’t see why not.
JIMMY. Well I’m not. None of us are; You know we’re not allowed it town,
not allowed to go down the soak, not allowed to march…?
(He mimes handcuffs and gaol by first putting his wrists together and
then placing a hand downwards over his forehead with the
fingers spread over his eyes.)
(Davis, 1986:28)
Besides showing more of Jimmy’s outspoken personality in form of showing
his personal belief based on the true condition the Aborigines faced and in his manner
of speaking, this quotation from the third scene also shows the theatrical aspect of
Jimmy’s character, not just by his dialogues, but from his acting. In the italic
sentence, we can see that even though he is not speaking during that time, he is
intended to keep drawing the audience’s attention by silent acting, acting with just
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using his body by gestures without making any sounds or spoken words. He mocks
his previous arrest to gaol/prison, furthermore, his gestures are meant to indicate his
hel
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ABSTRACT
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Department of English
Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Jack Davis’s No Sugar is a play that explored the living condition of the
Aborigines during the 1930’s era in Australia, where the Aborigines lived as
second class citizen segregated from society. Viewed from literary perspective,
this play also features an example of a still not widely used literary term, false
protagonist.
The objective of this study is to prove that one of the characters in the
play, Jimmy is considered as a false protagonist. This study used two questions
stated in the problem formulation, first is how Jimmy is considered as a
protagonist based on his action and dialogues on the first act and secondly is how
Jimmy is portrayed as a false protagonist, not as the protagonist.
The chosen method of the study is library research which mainly uses the
play script as the primary source in this research. The primary source is supported
by several secondary sources which consisted of theories used in this paper and
also several studies which either study Jack Davis’s No Sugar or analyze a text
which used false protagonist in literature.
This paper managed to conduct an analysis which proves that Jimmy is
considered as a false protagonist based on several arguments. First is Jimmy is
indeed a prominent character in the first act of the play and if viewed from the
first act alone, he can be considered as the protagonist of the play. The second
argument analyzes that Jimmy gradually lessened in importance during the
continuation of the play and is replaced by another character as the leading role.
The last argument is that the playwright prepared Jimmy for his role as a martyr
for the Aborigines cause due to his tragic death in the last act of the play, and the
emotional impact in the audience is greater due to their false assumption that
Jimmy is the leading character. it Based on these arguments; Jimmy is not the real
protagonist but the false one.
x
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ABSTRAK
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris,
Fakultas Sastra,Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Drama No Sugar yang dikarang oleh Jack Davis adalah sebuah drama
yang mendeskripsikan kondisi hidup kaum Aborigin di Australia era 1930an,
dimana kaum Aborigin adalah penduduk kelas kedua dan hidup terpisah dari
masyarakat. Dilihat dari sudut pandang literatur, naskah drama ini adalah salah
satu contoh penggunaan sebuah istilah literatur yang belum banyak digunakan,
yakni protagonis palsu.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah membuktikan bahwa salah satu tokoh
dalam drama, Jimmy dapat dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis palsu. Penelitian
ini menggunakan dua pertanyaan, pertama adalah bagaimana Jimmy dapat
dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis melihat dari perbuatan dan perkataannya di
babak pertama dan pertanyaan kedua adalah bagaimana Jimmy digambarkan
sebagai protagonis palsu.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah riset pustaka dimana
naskah drama adalah sumber pertama. Sumber pertama ini didukung oleh
beberapa sumber kedua yang terdiri dari teori-teori yang digunakan dalam
penelitian ini dan juga beberapa penelitian lain yang mempelajari naskah drama
No Sugar oleh Jack Davis atau contoh penggunaan protagonis palsu dalam
literatur.
Penelitian ini telah melakukan riset yang membuktikan bahwa Jimmy
adalah protagonis palsu yang didukung oleh beberapa argumen. Argumen pertama
adalah di babak pertama Jimmy adalah seorang tokoh yang berperan penting
dalam cerita, dan jika dilihat dari babak pertama saja, dia dapat disebut sebagai
protagonis cerita. Argumen kedua adalah dalam kelanjutan cerita Jimmy mulai
kehilangan peran pentingnya dalam cerita dan perannya sebagai protagonis diganti
oleh tokoh lain. Argumen terakhir adalah sutradara mempersiapkan Jimmy
menjadi martir bagi kaum Aborigin lewat kematiannya di babak terakhir, dan
dampak emosional bagi penonton akan lebih besar karena asumsi mereka Jimmy
adalah karakter utama di cerita. Berdasarkan argumen-argumen tersebut, Jimmy
tidak berperan sebagai protagonis tetapi protagonis palsu.
xi
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THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS THE FALSE PROTAGONIST
IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KRISTIAWAN INDRIYANTO
Student Number
: 094214067
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS THE FALSE PROTAGONIST
IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KRISTIAWAN INDRIYANTO
Student Number
: 094214067
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
i
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I declare that the thesis I have written does not contain the works or parts of
the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations as scientific
paper should.
Yogyakarta, January 30, 2014
The writer
Kristiawan Indriyanto
iv
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma
Nama
: Kristiawan Indriyanto
NomorMahasiswa
: 094214067
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
THE PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY AS
FALSE PROTAGONIST IN JACK DAVIS’S NO SUGAR
Beserta 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: 30 Januari 2014
Yang menyatakan
Kristiawan Indriyanto
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We are all visitors to
this time, this place.
We are just passing
through. Our purpose
here is to observe, to
learn, to grow, to
love... and then we
return home.
(Australian
Aboriginal Proverb)
Gott mit uns/ God with Us
(German Empire’s Motto)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude toward dear Lord; it is only
because of His blessing that I am able to finish this thesis, by giving me wisdom and
also good health during the steps of researching this thesis. In researching this topic,
my family always gives me moral supports as the majority of my work was done in
my home. This paper is also unable to be completed without many advices and
supports from my dear advisor, Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed whom always gives me
correction for any mistakes I made and also gives me many new insights in finding
new approach in doing this research. I also thank Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S.,
M.Hum as my co advisor for more guidance and help in correcting this thesis.
I would also like to express my thanks toward many people whom either
directly or indirectly helps in the process of creating this paper. First of all, I would
like to thank Tatang Iskarna, S.S.,M.Hum for the copy of the play No Sugar which I
use in this thesis. I also send my regards towards my entire classmate in the year of
2009 and also all the lecturers in English Letters Department, some of them are my
oldest friends since the first semester Rendy, Ubaid, Ucca, Okky, and also Bryan,
Richard, Li, We, PutuAndi, Theo, Anto, Uya, Nilam, Meme, and Putri. Lastly, I give
my deep thanks toward all the members of Kepik Theatre, and I send my thanks for
Bea, Mov, Pandu, Samsul, Sakha, Anik, Febi, Pita, Kezia, Lenny, Pucil, Luisa, Mb
Nisa, Aulia, the other members of Kepik Theatre, and also for Hullo Theatre.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………….......
APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………….
ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………….
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY…………………………..
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI…................
MOTTO PAGE ……………………………………………………………
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………
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x
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………
A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………
B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………..
C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………..
D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………………
1
1
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5
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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………..........
A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………………..
B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………………
C. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………....
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7
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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………
A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………….....
B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………….
C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………
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CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………………………………………….. …..
A. Jimmy is Portrayed as the Protagonist in Act One…………………..
1. Jimmy’s Characteristics ……….………………………………
a. Outspoken…………………………………………………..
b. Rebellious…………………………………………………...
2. The Minor Characters as Jimmy’s Foil………………….............
a. Jimmy Compared to Gran and Milly…………………….....
b. Jimmy Compared to Sam…………………………………..
3. Jimmy’s Importance to the Plot………………………………….
B. Jimmy is Portrayed as the False Protagonist...……..…………………
1. Jimmy’s Declining Influence in the Plot ………………………..
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2.
3.
Joe’s Real Role in the Story …………………………………….
a. Joe’s Role in the Story in the Second Act’s First until Fourth
Scene…………………………………………………………
b. Joe’s Role in the Story in the Second Act’s Sixth until Tenth
Scene…………………………………………………………
c. Joe’s Role in the Story from the Third until Fourth Act ………
The Significance of Jimmy’s Portrayal as A False Protagonist……
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….. …
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Summary of Jack Davis’s No Sugar………………….
Appendix 2 Jack Davis’s Life……………………………………...
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ABSTRACT
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters,
Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Jack Davis’s No Sugar is a play that explored the living condition of the
Aborigines during the 1930’s era in Australia, where the Aborigines lived as second
class citizen segregated from society. Viewed from literary perspective, this play also
features an example of a still not widely used literary term, false protagonist.
The objective of this study is to prove that one of the characters in the play,
Jimmy is considered as a false protagonist. This study used two questions stated in
the problem formulation, first is how Jimmy is considered as a protagonist based on
his action and dialogues on the first act and secondly is how Jimmy is portrayed as a
false protagonist, not as the protagonist.
The chosen method of the study is library research which mainly uses the play
script as the primary source in this research. The primary source is supported by
several secondary sources which consisted of theories used in this paper and also
several studies which either study Jack Davis’s No Sugar or analyze a text which
used false protagonist in literature.
This paper managed to conduct an analysis which proves that Jimmy is
considered as a false protagonist based on several arguments. First is Jimmy is indeed
a prominent character in the first act of the play and if viewed from the first act alone,
he can be considered as the protagonist of the play. The second argument analyzes
that Jimmy gradually lessened in importance during the continuation of the play and
is replaced by another character as the leading role. The last argument is that the
playwright prepared Jimmy for his role as a martyr for the Aborigines cause due to
his tragic death in the last act of the play, and the emotional impact in the audience is
greater due to their false assumption that Jimmy is the leading character. it Based on
these arguments; Jimmy is not the real protagonist but the false one.
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ABSTRAK
KRISTIAWAN, INDRIYANTO. 2009. The Portrayal of Jimmy as False
Protagonist in Jack Davis’s No Sugar. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas
Sastra,Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Drama No Sugar yang dikarang oleh Jack Davis adalah sebuah drama yang
mendeskripsikan kondisi hidup kaum Aborigin di Australia era 1930an, dimana kaum
Aborigin adalah penduduk kelas kedua dan hidup terpisah dari masyarakat. Dilihat
dari sudut pandang literatur, naskah drama ini adalah salah satu contoh penggunaan
sebuah istilah literatur yang belum banyak digunakan, yakni protagonis palsu.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah membuktikan bahwa salah satu tokoh dalam
drama, Jimmy dapat dikatakan sebagai seorang protagonis palsu. Penelitian ini
menggunakan dua pertanyaan, pertama adalah bagaimana Jimmy dapat dikatakan
sebagai seorang protagonis melihat dari perbuatan dan perkataannya di babak
pertama dan pertanyaan kedua adalah bagaimana Jimmy digambarkan sebagai
protagonis palsu.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah riset pustaka dimana
naskah drama adalah sumber pertama. Sumber pertama ini didukung oleh beberapa
sumber kedua yang terdiri dari teori-teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini dan
juga beberapa penelitian lain yang mempelajari naskah drama No Sugar oleh Jack
Davis atau contoh penggunaan protagonis palsu dalam literatur.
Penelitian ini telah melakukan riset yang membuktikan bahwa Jimmy adalah
protagonis palsu yang didukung oleh beberapa argumen. Argumen pertama adalah di
babak pertama Jimmy adalah seorang tokoh yang berperan penting dalam cerita, dan
jika dilihat dari babak pertama saja, dia dapat disebut sebagai protagonis cerita.
Argumen kedua adalah dalam kelanjutan cerita Jimmy mulai kehilangan peran
pentingnya dalam cerita dan perannya sebagai protagonis diganti oleh tokoh lain.
Argumen terakhir adalah sutradara mempersiapkan Jimmy menjadi martir bagi kaum
Aborigin lewat kematiannya di babak terakhir, dan dampak emosional bagi penonton
akan lebih besar karena asumsi mereka Jimmy adalah karakter utama di cerita.
Berdasarkan argumen-argumen tersebut, Jimmy tidak berperan sebagai protagonis
tetapi protagonis palsu.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
In a literary work, whether it is fictional-or not fictional, the work will consist
of a number of characters. As stated by Beaty on his book, The Norton Introduction
to Literature Eighth Edition (2002:102), “Character is someone who acts, appears, or
is referred as playing a part in literary work”. The characters might be divided
according to their importance of the plot as the major and the minor characters, and
the story will revolve about how those characters interact with each other. A story
would need to have a conflict that will drive the story. There is a character or faction
which is described as the antagonist, which is the one who opposes the main or
central character from reaching his/her goal. On the other side, there is also the
protagonist of the story. Perrine on her book Story and Structure: An Introduction to
Fiction Third Edition (1988:41) further state it as
Protagonist are people in the central character in the conflict whether a
sympathetic or an unsympathetic person; antagonists are the forces
arranged against him, whether person, things, convention of society or
traits of his own character.
A protagonist is the focus of literary work, whether the literary work is in the
form of prose, novel, or a play. In the story, protagonist is the main focus of it. The
protagonist is described as the most important or the central character in the story,
whom the story revolved around the protagonist’s struggle for reaching his/her goal
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and the protagonist’s conflict with the opposing force, the antagonist which seeks to
halt the progress of the protagonist and provide obstacles on the way. On his book,
Developing Critical Reading Skill Fifth Edition (1999:42), Spears says that
“protagonist is the main character who encounters a conflict, a tension between
himself or herself and something else.”
In many different forms of literary work, the reader will see the protagonist in
different ways. In a prose for example, the protagonist has no visual appearance that
can be seen directly by the reader, instead the reader have to visualize how the
protagonist is described, about how his/her physical appearance, and how the
protagonist interact with the other character. While on a written form the reader is
unable to see directly the protagonist’s action, and has to imagine it; on contrast in a
play the audience will be more able to see the action of the protagonist directly as a
play is meant to be performed in the front of the audience, therefore the audience will
directly see how the protagonist is described by the author, how the protagonist
interact with the other character, his/her appearance, his/her tone whenever s/he
speaks, and the actions that the protagonist will do in order to overcome the struggle
to reach the goal.
Those are the usual portrayal of a protagonist; a technique commonly used by
many writers is to introduce a protagonist early in the story, this is used to enhance
the emotional contact the reader possess toward the protagonist, as the reader is able
to see the protagonist’s beginning of his or her journey since the beginning of the
story. The reader then see how the author described the protagonist is, who s/he is,
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what his /her goal is and what his /her motivation for reaching that goal is. While it is
not by any means the only way of portraying a protagonist, many works of literature
chooses to reveal its central figure early in the story for the reason mentioned before.
A protagonist is commonly portrayed as mentioned in the previous paragraph,
but there is also a concept of ‘false’ protagonist. A false protagonist seems similar to
a protagonist, especially in how he/she is portrayed in the beginning of the story.
Similar to a protagonist, a false protagonist is also given a particular focus by the
author in the beginning of the story and also the reader is able to see his/her
motivation in moving the plot. Therefore, a false protagonist has a similar level of
importance to the plot compared to the ‘real protagonist’, the difference is a false
protagonist is no longer become main focus of the story as stated by Cesar in his
essay, Narratology (2008:11), “false Protagonist is a character who is introduced as a
''protagonist'' at the beginning of the story but removed (normally, killed) halfway
through”
The usage of false protagonist in a literary work is still not quite as common
as the usual portrayal of a protagonist. The usual concept in a story is mainly about a
protagonist that remains important from the beginning of a story until the story
reached the conclusion, and on the other hand the usage of false protagonist deceives
the reader by introducing a character that is very prominent in the first few parts of a
story and the character has such a strong personality or characterization that remain in
the reader’s mind so that the reader believes that the character has an important part
in the story. Unlike a protagonist, the false protagonist will have lesser importance in
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the continuation of a story and usually the false protagonist will be removed midway
through the plot, the false protagonist might even be killed to show that his/her
importance in the plot is already over.
A false protagonist is still relatively unknown in the studies about literature.,
and therefore this paper choose to analyze the usage of false protagonist, how it is be
employed as a literary device, and also to offer a new insight about the concept of
false protagonist. This research analyzes a literary work that used false protagonist in
it, as stated before, the usage of false protagonist has not entered the popular concept
about protagonist so therefore if a character is particularly given a specific focus by
the author there is a tendency to assume that s/he is the protagonist of the play,
without considering his/her prominence to the continuation of the story.
There are several reasons for a false protagonist in a play is preferred
compared to other form of narrative. First, the essence of a play is the interaction
between the protagonist and the other character, either supporting character or the
antagonist in form of dialogues. Therefore by examining what the protagonist says in
his/her dialogues and how he/she reacts toward a situation, the protagonist’s defining
trait can be seen. In a play there is also a clear partition of the story in form of acts
and scenes, therefore it is be easier to differentiate the false protagonist and the ‘real
protagonist’ based on the false protagonist’s action and relevance of the plot in the
next acts and scenes. The last reason is that the word ‘protagonist’ itself is defined
from Greek drama as the ‘central’ character in a story we can see more clearly that a
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false protagonist will have lesser importance in driving the plot compared to the ‘real’
protagonist which remain important throughout the whole story.
No Sugar is the play analyzed in this paper. No Sugar by Jack Davis is a play
that uses false protagonist as a literary device, even though in the beginning it is not
clearly stated. In this play, one of the major characters is Jimmy. As an Aborigine
who is treated unfairly, Jimmy is the most outspoken person in the first act and he
takes direct action against the Australian Government for their racial discrimination
toward the Aborigines. How Jimmy is described and given a specific focus usually
reserved for the protagonist convinced reader that Jimmy as a character will play an
important role in the continuation of the story and is the leading protagonist in
Aborigine’s struggle against the Australian government. But instead in the
continuation of the story it is later shown that Jimmy is not quite as relevant to the
plot and therefore cannot be said that he is still the protagonist of the play. Therefore
this play has a good example of how a false protagonist is used as a literary device.
B. Problem Formulation:
1. How is Jimmy described as the protagonist based on his speeches and action
on the first act?
2. How is Jimmy considered as a false protagonist?
C. Objectives of the Study
The main purpose of this research is to better understand about the usage of
false protagonist in literature, a literary term that is still not quite often used in
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literature. This research is mainly concerned with two main questions. The first is
how Jimmy is described as the protagonist based on the focus of his action and
dialogues in the first act, and the second is how does the author portray Jimmy as
false, not the main protagonist. By analyzing a play which used a false protagonist,
this study hoped that this paper can aid in the further research of this topicand give
more insight of false protagonist in literature, or more specifically, drama.
D. Definitions of Terms
This section explains about a terminology that is used in the title, and that is
‘false protagonist’. In his essay, The Constant Art of Being a Writer: The Life, Art
and Business of Fiction (2009), Kelby defines it as, “A false protagonist is a character
that appear to be the protagonist, but then killed off”. Therefore the false protagonist
is created to deceive the audience to believing that the false protagonist is the central
role in a story, especially if s/he has been emotionally attached by the ‘false’
protagonist due to the protagonist’s action in the beginning in the story, only to
discover that the ‘false’ protagonist suffer a tragic fate in the following continuation
in the story.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
No Sugar is a play about the struggle of Aboriginal people. For a time they are
numerous, the undisputed ruler of the whole continent, but after the arrival of the
colonial force from Europe they become marginalized in society. The colonial ruler
not only destroys the local Aboriginal cultures but also treats the remaining
Aboriginal people unfairly. In her essay, Bertrand (2010:1) says:
Jack Davis' No Sugar (1985) is a critique of the violence and cultural
destruction caused by British colonialism. Davis explores the dispossession,
absorption, and marginalization of the Nyoongah peoples of Australia and the
imperial attitudes that caused the systematic elimination of their way of life.
Another review of the play No Sugar said that No Sugar is a first-hand
experience of the Aborigines who were forced to relocate from their home into new
hand, Casey (2006:10) stated “No Sugar is said to explore Jack Davis’s family history
of removal from traditional lands and their experiences of mission realities.” It
symbolizes the weaknesses of Aboriginal people as second-class citizens; they are
powerless to avoid what fate the Australian Government has for them.
Besides finding the related studies about the play No Sugar, this paper also
uses a review of a research which analyzes false protagonist in literature that is found
in the short story The Roads Must Roll by Robert Heinlen. On his book, The Science
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Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One Silverberg commented about the use of false
protagonist in the character of Van Kleeck.
The Roads Must Roll uses a technique known as “the false protagonist”. At
first, the reader is introduced to the revolutionary Van Kleeck, and is easily
drawn into his fervent speech, suggesting a revolutionary measure against the
Transport Cadets. Furthermore, When Larry Gaines first appears, the reader is
led to believe that Gaines is merely trying to subdue any attempts by Van
Kleeck. The reader is seemingly cautioned against Gaines’ super devotion to
the Cadets. However, the storyline stays with Gaines, versus switching back
to the “revolutionary hero” Van Kleeck, and the reader witnesses the
wounding of innocent passengers, subsequently winning the reader's
sympathy for Gaines. Van Kleeck, who seemed the hero at first, is only seen
once more at the very end, when he is clearly identified as the arch-villain
who gets his just punishment (2005:53)
The two studies above focus on the struggle of the Aborigines under the
Australian government in 1920’s. The Aborigines are discriminated from the white
ones and are considered a second class citizen, even though that they are the rightful
owner of the land of Australia. The reviews above also focused on the life of Jack
Davis, and how No Sugar can be said as a mirror of Jack Davis’s own life, a life
which is full of hardship, discrimination, and having to rely for ration in order to
survive.
This paper has a different focus from studies above. It is not about how the
Aborigines try to fight their ‘oppressor’ using peaceful ways such as literature but
instead this research tries to analyze how the character in this play is used as a literary
device. This paper analyze the text as what it is, not relate it with Jack Davis’s life
and the hardship the Aborigines faced but instead analyze the intrinsic elements of the
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script, and how a character in the play, Jimmy actually fits the description of a false
protagonist instead of placed in the role of the protagonist of this play.
B. Review of Related Theories
In order to answer the questions, this paper used some theories in order to
analyze two main questions. The theories are theories about the definition of
character, characterization, minor character and foil, protagonist, false protagonist,
and plot.
1. Character
According to Kennedy in his book, Backpack Literature: An Introduction to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, character is a fictional people living in the story, a
character might be a historical person who was really alive, but it is up to the author
to develop the character’s personality so that it can be said as ‘fictional’. Kennedy,
(2005: 91) states:
Character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story. It means
that the character is a central focus in building up the story because
their involvement influences the story. In addition, most of literary writers
attempt to create characters who strike us not as stereotype but as a unique
individual.
2. Protagonist
Protagonist is the main focus of the story. The story in a literary work mainly
concerned about the journey of the protagonist to reach his/her goal. The word
protagonist comes from Greek drama as the ‘first’ or the central character in the
drama. Holman, (1985:355) said that “The protagonist is the leading figure both in
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terms of importance in the play and in terms of his or her ability to enlist our interest
and sympathy, whether the cause is heroic or ignoble.“Another definition of
protagonist is from Pickering, (1993:19) “Protagonist, the leading or central character
of the story that is essential as without whom there will be no plot in the first place, is
usually easy enough to be identified”. Furthermore, in his essay, In Sympathy with
Narrative Character, Giovanni stated that the sympathy toward the protagonist
comes from the emotional attachment that creates feeling that the reader experienced
the protagonist’s struggle him/herself.
The distinction between a narrative’s protagonist and other characters has to
do not just with the concern we have for the former but not for the latter, but
also with the quality of the concern we have and feel, a concern that is
modified and often prompted by the empathic representation of the character’s
experience. We are concerned for the protagonist in a special way, in the way
we are when we know what it must be like for someone to undergo the
experiences he/she is having (2009:85).
A protagonist might seems similar to the major character, but the difference
between them is that, the protagonist is the leading figure, which means that he/she is
the center of the story and the reason the story is able to unfold is due to the
protagonist’s action. The major character, on the other hand, is also an important
figure and prominently involved in the continuation of the story but the major
characters are not the reason for the creation of the plot. If the protagonist can be
symbolized as the sun in the solar system, the major character is the planet orbiting
him/her; the major characters are important figure, but not the central figure of the
story.
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3. Minor character and foil
The next theory used in this paper is about minor characters. It helps in defining
the protagonist in a story -or in this case a play- as the minor character’s purpose in
the story is to support the protagonist’s struggle. In Literature: Reading Fiction,
Poetry, and Drama, Diyanni(2000:60) wrote minor character as:
Supporting the major characters is one more or secondary or minor character
whose function is partly to illuminate the major characters. Minor characters are
often static and unchanging: they remain the same from the beginning of a work
to the end.
Besides giving advices or guidance, another function of the minor character is
to make sure that the protagonist is more illuminated in the eyes of the reader or the
audience, so the author or playwright usually depicts them with a contrasting
personality or trait to the protagonist. In literary term it is named foil, as stated by
Northrop Fyre on his book Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957:180) as “A
character foil is a character whose traits are in direct contrast to those of the principal
character. The foil therefore highlights the traits of the protagonist.”
4. False Protagonist
A false protagonist is different from a protagonist in terms of the false
protagonist’s importance to the story as a whole. A false protagonist is introduced as
a protagonist in the beginning of the story but in the continuation of the play, his/her
importance to the plot is reduced and another character will take his/her place. In his
essay, Narratology, Cesar defines it as
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False Protagonist is a character who is introduced as a ''protagonist'' at the
beginning of the story but removed (normally, killed) halfway through.
Another major or minor character, which was also introduced early in the
narrative, then takes his/her place and completes the story. (2008;11)
5. Characterization
In order to be able to define the protagonist in a play, a theory about how the
character is characterized by the author and intended to be the protagonist in the play
is needed. According to Hatlen, (1967: 17-18) there are four ways of which a
character can be portrayed. The portrayal of a character helps in finding the
protagonist on the play based on the definition of a protagonist.
First, by appearance, since the actor's physical qualities give an immediate
stimulus to the audience
Second, by speech, for the kind of language employed by the person, his
manner of speaking, his voice quality, his inflection pattern, pitch, rate and
general vitality,
Third, through a character's external actions we have clues to his inner
motivations
The more usual practice, however, is for the playwright to set the key to a
character from the outset others say about a character and the way in which
they react to him, we may begin to form an opinion before he may appear
6. Plot
Based on the definition of protagonist that is the central character in drama,
theory of plot is needed so that it can be figured out that the protagonist should be the
leading character in the whole drama, not just in the beginning as the assumed
protagonist in No Sugar, Jimmy is. A plot in drama is defined by Scholes in his book,
Elements in Drama (1971) as
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a wholly interconnected system of events, deliberately selected and arranged,
in order to fulfill a complex set of dramatic purposes and theatrical condition,
it comprises everything which takes place in the imaginative world of the
play. And the totality of events must create a coherent imitation of the world
(1971:62)
Based on the theory above, it can be inferred that the plot in a drama is linked,
in term of the previous scenes influenced how the next scene unfold. The playwright
then placed a character which has the role of developing the plot- the protagonist-,
which will drive the plot of the play into its conclusion. Thompson in his book, The
Anatomy of Drama (1946), further explained it as:
As a general rule a play requires a protagonist or hero, and a plot that
develops, from origin to conclusion, an action or series of causally related
actions centering in this protagonist. (1946:6)
C. Theoretical Framework
The first theory, theory about character is used to give definition and as the
background of analyzing the fictional people which is depicted in this drama. The
theory of characterization helps in analyzing the action and the dialogue of the
character in No Sugar, as this paper aims to find the particular qualities in Jimmy’s
character that usually is associated with a protagonist by analyzing how Jimmy is
characterized, mainly by his speech and action, it can be proved that Jimmy can be
assumedas the protagonist based on his action in the first act of the play alone.
The next is about protagonist. This theory is used to give the meaning of the
term ‘protagonist’ that is leading character in a play whom the audience is able to
recognize based on the character’s importance in the play and also having the
defining characteristics compared to the other supporting character. In identifying the
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protagonist, this paper use the theory of characterization based of his/her portrayal on
the stage. The theory about minor characters and foil are used for helping the process
of recognizing the characteristics the protagonist possesses which is contrasted with
the minor character that acted as his foil.
The other theory is about false protagonist, this theory is used to analyze how
the assumed protagonist in the play that is the character of Jimmy is actually not
being able to be defined as protagonist due to his declining importance in the
following scenes, and that the leading role of the play No Sugar in the next few acts is
moved to another character. The last theory, plot is used to support the previous
theory of false protagonist, as a protagonist is supposed to be the one who is
responsible for the plot until the ending, but if the supposed protagonist is a false
protagonist, s/he is only used as the driving force in the plot in the beginning, while
another character replaces the role of protagonist in the continuation of the play until
its ending.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
No Sugar is an Australian play written by Jack Davis in 1986. It was first
published by Currency Press Pty, Ltd in 1986 and first performed in 1985 Festival of
Perth; No Sugar proved a sell-out success and received a standing ovation from its
audience. This play consists of Four Acts. This paper used the 1st edition of the play.
The story of No Sugar is about the struggle of Aborigines struggling against
the unfair treatment they faced from the local government. The focus in the play is in
the family named Millimura whom faced hardship in the form of limited ration for
sustaining their daily live and by the disrespect of the local Australian authority who
viewed them as pests. After being accused of carrying disease, the whole family had
to be relocated in the new settlement in Moore River. The plight of an Aborigines
woman and her escape from Moore River is another conflict in the story.
B. Approach of the Study
In his book, A Handbook to Literature (1985, 316), Holman defines New
Criticism theory as
Whole body of criticism that concentrates on the work of art as an object in
itself; finds in it a special kind of language opposed to – or at least different
from – the languages ofscience or philosophy; and subjects it to close
analysis
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New Criticism focused on the text as what it is, without any other influence
either from the author him/herself (intentional fallacy) or what the readers might have
think (affective fallacy). Therefore it can be said that in New Criticism, the text and
its intrinsic elements are the most important thing to be analyzed, so the focus is only
on the text, we can get deeper understanding on the text by closely reading the text
even without outside influence.
This criticism is chosen as the approach in the paper due to the focus of the
paper about the portrayal of Jimmy as a false protagonist which as a character, Jimmy
is the intrinsic elements in the play No Sugar. By using New Criticism, this paper
limited the scope of the research only in the text itself to better understand how the
playwright used false protagonist as a literary device in the play. There are no outside
reference that is used in this approach, so the paper focused only on the intrinsic
elements, that is character in Jack Davis’ No Sugar
C. Method of the Study
This paper used library research in analyzing the problem. Library research is
gathering information from books and other references to find theories to support the
argument in this paper. The primary source is the play No Sugar by Jack Davis itself.
In analyzing the play, there are some steps done. First is to answer the first problem
formulation about how Jimmy is supposed to be a portrayal of the protagonist based
on his characterization on first act. The research focused on Jimmy’s characterization
compared to the other member of his family so that it can be assumed that he is
supposed to be the protagonist on the play. It is shown in his dialogue and his action
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and also his role in driving the plot of the story .The next step, answering the second
problem formulation is mainly to show that the answer of the first problem
formulation is Jimmy is actually not a protagonist, but a false protagonist. The
research analyzes Jimmy’s importance and relevance to the story as the harbinger of
the continuation of the plot of the play, and to discover that another assumed minor
character in the beginning of the play will replace him as the protagonist of the play
as is stated in the theory of false protagonist.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In answering the two problem formulation, this research mainly used the
interconnected theory about protagonist and false protagonist. The first question
concerned about understanding that Jimmy’s character is assumed as the leading
character. The second question focuses about Jimmy’s role as false protagonist,
identify the real protagonist of the play and how the real protagonist is subtly
replaced Jimmy’s role as the central character and lastly, identify the significance of
Jimmy as a false protagonist.
A. Jimmy is Assumed as the Protagonist in the First Act
This subchapter is divided into three sections, first is defining Jimmy’s most
prominent characterization, and secondly by analyzing the purpose of the minor
characters that acted as his foil in order to more illuminate Jimmy’s personality
mentioned before, and lastly, this research analyzes Jimmy’s character in term of his
importance of driving the plot of No Sugar.
1. Jimmy’s Characteristics
This paper argues that by reading the script only on its first act Jimmy can be
assumed as the protagonist, and to prove that, a throughout understanding of Jimmy’s
personality is needed. After finding his defining characteristics, this paper connected
them to the definition of protagonist by Holman, that is his personality is able to
attract the audience’s sympathy (1985:355), and also further explored by Giovanni
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(2009:85) which stated that the audience is able to have a greater emotional
attachment with the protagonist compared to the other characters to be able to identify
Jimmy as the protagonist. In analyzing Jimmy’s characterizations, this paper used
Hatlen’s theory of characterization which is more applicable in analyzing a drama
text. Jimmy’s characterization is mainly shown in his dialogues, about the way he
speaks, language and so on as this paper used the play script where no physical
description of Jimmy can be found. Jimmy’s characterization is also shown in his
actions and his gestures on stage.
There are two most defining characteristics about Jimmy’s character, those
are:
a. Outspoken
This side of Jimmy’s personality has been shown ever since the first scene of
No Sugar. The first scene in the beginning seemed to deceive the audience about the
seemingly peaceful atmosphere in the Aborigines camp. Jimmy’s dialogues are
intended to shatter this false perception; the truth is that the Aborigines are being
subjugated as minority by the government of Australia. This is a foreshadowing for
things to come, the Aborigines are actually oppressed by the authorities, and in the
continuation of the story the audience will further see the oppression, the limited
rationing, and even physical abuse.
JOE. Were a steadfast performance of duty in the face of difficulty and
danger. With them was a reminder of the danger they faced,
in the shape of the three lorries…carrying Aborigines..Aborigines,
incongruously dancing to a brass-band.
SAM. Koorawoorung!Nyoongahs corroborrein’ to a wetjala’s brass band!
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JIMMY.:Ah! That beats everythin’ stupid bloody blackfellas!
You fellas, you know why them wetjalas marchin’ down the street,
eh? I’ll tell you why, Cause them bastard took our country
and them black fellas dancin’ for em, bastard (Davis, 1986:15-16)
Among the members of the Millimura, even among the adults, Jimmy is the
most outspoken of them. Not only unafraid of stating whatever he is feeling right
now, his usage of language is also a prominent aspect in determining his personality.
Jimmy prominently used swear words that is considered vulgar as his choice of
language, and where as the other members of his family, even the adult ones speak in
a more reserved tone, Jimmy has a lot of dialogues which indicate that he speak in a
louder voice and rising tone, in form of questioning and shouting compared to the
other members of his family.
JIMMY. Yeah, fuckin’ gubment. Fucks everybody up; everybody, eh? Eh?
You allowed to walk down the street after sundown? Eh?
FRANK. Yeah, don’t see why not.
JIMMY. Well I’m not. None of us are; You know we’re not allowed it town,
not allowed to go down the soak, not allowed to march…?
(He mimes handcuffs and gaol by first putting his wrists together and
then placing a hand downwards over his forehead with the
fingers spread over his eyes.)
(Davis, 1986:28)
Besides showing more of Jimmy’s outspoken personality in form of showing
his personal belief based on the true condition the Aborigines faced and in his manner
of speaking, this quotation from the third scene also shows the theatrical aspect of
Jimmy’s character, not just by his dialogues, but from his acting. In the italic
sentence, we can see that even though he is not speaking during that time, he is
intended to keep drawing the audience’s attention by silent acting, acting with just
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using his body by gestures without making any sounds or spoken words. He mocks
his previous arrest to gaol/prison, furthermore, his gestures are meant to indicate his
hel