Analysis of Social and Inner Conflict in Pat Barker's 'Union Street'.
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis konflik sosial dan konflik batin
yang terjadi dalam novel yang berjudul Union Street karya Pat Barker, seorang
penulis wanita yang berasal dari Inggris.
Union Street adalah novel pertama yang dibuat oleh Pat Barker dan
diterbitkan pada tahun 1982. Novel ini menceritakan tentang tujuh wanita yang
harus menghadapi berbagai konflik kehidupan dan mereka berusaha untuk
mencari jalan keluar dari konflik-konflik tersebut. Namun, dalam tesis ini saya
hanya akan menganalisis tiga tokoh wanita yang bernama Kelly, Lisa dan Alice.
Saya memilih tiga tokoh ini karena mereka mewakili awal, pertengahan
dan akhir dari kehidupan seorang wanita. Kelly mewakili awal kehidupan
seorang wanita. Seorang anak yang sedang mengalami masa puber seringkali
mengalami konfik dengan keluarganya dan merasa tidak nyaman dengan
tubuhnya yang sedang tumbuh. Kemudian seorang anak akan menjadi seorang
wanita dewasa yang mengalami kehidupan pernikahan. Tokoh ini diwakili oleh
Lisa. Kehidupan pernikahan wanita umumnya berhubungan dengan anak-anak,
rumah tangga, kehamilan dan hubungan dengan suami. Sedangkan tokoh
terakhir adalah Alice yang mewakili wanita yang sudah tua, mengidap penyakit
iii
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dan akhirnya menghadapi kematian.
Barker ingin menunjukkan kepada para pembaca bahwa menjadi seorang
wanita tidaklah mudah. Wanita yang mempunyai konflik sosial dan konflik batin
harus membuat keputusan terbaik untuk kehidupan mereka dan tidak mudah
menyerah.
Menurut pendapat saya, wanita adalah mahluk ciptaan yang kuat bertahan
dalam menghadapi masalah. Para wanita berjuang mencari jalan keluar yang
terbaik dengan cara melakukan banyak hal untuk menjalani kehidupan masa
depan. Wanita patut dihargai dan dihormati karena wanita sering menghadapi
berbagai masalah hidup yang kadang-kadang sulit diatasi tetapi kebanyakan dari
wanita terus berjuang untuk keluar dari persoalan dan bertahan hidup.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE …………………………………………………………………..
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………..
ii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………….
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ………………………………………………
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………
Purpose of the Study ………………………………………………….
Methods of Research ………………………………………………….
Organization of the Thesis …………………………………………….
1
3
3
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND
INNER CONFLICT IN UNION STREET ………………………...
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ..….…...……………………………. 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….…………………………………….……………
22
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Union Street ………...…………………………………….
23
Biography of the author ………………………………………………… 25
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Union Street
Union Street by Pat Barker is about seven neighbouring women who live
at the same street in England. Its name is Union Street. All of them have different
problems and they try to solve these problems.
The first, is Kelly Brown. She is eleven years old, her mother and her
sister neglect her. One night, she is raped by a stranger. Three weeks later, she
tells her mother about the rape but her mother still ignores her. Kelly becomes a
loner and hates her mother. She also cuts her hair very short, wears a boy’s shirt
and hurts herself. Nobody wants to accompany her and she is always alone.
Joanne Wilson is eighteen years old. She is pregnant. When she tells her
boy friend about it, he is angry and blames Joanne. She is afraid of marriage
because after getting married, her husband forbids her to work and she does not
want to be a housewife and only takes care of the baby. In the end, they are forced
to get married although they have not met Joanne’s mother yet.
Lisa Goddard is twenty-two years old. She has two sons and she is
pregnant of the third child. Her husband has no job and becomes an alcoholic. He
also often hits Lisa. When the baby is born, Lisa feels a dilemma because actually
23
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
she does not want to have the third baby because of the low economic condition.
Finally, she can accept and try to love the baby.
Muriel Scaife has a husband whom she loves. Muriel feels depressed
because of the illness of her husband and he does not want to go to the doctor. Her
husband dies and Muriel blames herself for it and she always feels haunted by her
husband’s image. At the end of the story, she can accept her husband’s death and
takes care of her children.
Iris King feels disappointed and angry with Brenda, her youngest daughter
because of her pregnancy. Iris persuades and asks her daughter to have an
abortion. Brenda refuses it but Iris still asks her to do it until she accepts her
mother’s request. Iris almost changes her mind when Brenda aborts the baby.
Finally, Brenda has undergone an abortion and Iris regrets asking Brenda to do it.
Iris decides to love her other grandchildren with all her heart.
Blonde Dinah is sixty years old but she always comes to pub, waiting for a
man who wants to be accompanied because she is lonely and poor. Nobody knows
where her family is. She is always alone and feels lonely. Finally, she meets
George. Dinah asks him to pay one pound to her for having sex with her because
she needs the money.
Old Alice Bell is 76 years old, has a stroke and she has the difficulties of
walking, talking and hearing. She always depends on her neighbor. Her son asks
her to stay in the Workhouse at St. Anne, which is the place for old and poor
people. Alice does not want to stay there because she knows she will die soon and
she wants to die in her house, in her surroundings. Then, she goes to the park and
sits on the bench. Finally, she dies peacefully.
24
Biography of the author
Pat Barker is a novelist who is born on 8 May 1943 in Thornaby-on-Tees
in Yorkshire, England. She is graduated from London School of Economics and
Durham University. Barker also learns about International History, so she
becomes a teacher of History and Politics until 1982.
She begins to write at her young age and she is supported to be a writer as
her career by the novelist Angela Carter. Barker’s early novels are about hard
lives of working-class women living in the North England. Her first novel is
Union Street, which is published in 1982 and gets the Fawcett Society Book Prize.
This novel is about seven neighbouring women who should face different
problems and they try to cope with them. Her second novel is Blow Your House
Down, which is published in 1984.
Barker is chosen as one of the 20 ‘Best Young British Novelists’ in 1983.
She makes trilogy of novels about the First World War. Her first novel in trilogy
is Regeneration (1991), which is made into a film in 1997. The Eye in the Door
(1993) is her second novel in trilogy, which wins the Guardian Fiction Prize. The
final novel in the series, entitled The Ghost Road (1995), ges the Booker Prize for
Fiction.
Her last novel, Border Crossing (2001) is about the relationship between a
child psychologist and a murderer. Her new novel is entitled Double Vision. This
novel is about the atrocity of war.
(http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/)
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Every human being has conflicts which should be faced and resolved in
his daily life. Whether one is young or old, male or female, as long as one lives in
the world, one cannot run away from one’s problem and conflicts until one dies.
However, in my opinion women are the ones who face greater conflicts because
women are considered to be the weakes sex and get a lot of demands from their
surrounding. There are many examples of demand and condition in which women
are put into by society. For one, women cannot have the freedom to work and
study. Sooner or later they will be housewives. Also, some women are used to be
victims of men physically or mentally. As wives, they should obey their husbands,
follow his rules and should be responsible for their children and husbands.
Therefore, from time to time women are considered not to be equal to men. Those
problems began in about the 19th century and are still continuing until now
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Union Street by Pat Barker is a story that focuses on seven women who
have different problems and how they try to cope with the problems. Kelly
Brown, 11 years old, is raped; Joanne, 18 years old, is pregnant and is afraid of
marriage because after getting married, her husband forbids her to work but she
does not want to be a housewife and only takes care of the baby; Lisa, 22 years
old, is married to an alcoholic and rejects the third child; Muriel, is marries to a
man who has an illness and dies; Iris, has a problem with her youngest daughter
who is pregnant before getting married; Dinah, 60 years old, is lonely; and Alice,
76 years old, who is waiting for her death. After reading the novel, I find that the
novel has a unique content and it becomes the reason why I choose to analyze this
novel for my thesis. However, I would only focus on three characters, namely
Kelly, Lisa and Alice because they represent women in real life who might have
to deal with similar problems and they also represent the beginning, the middle
and the end of life.
Pat Barker is an author who was born in Thornaby-on Tees in Yorkshire,
England, on 8 May 1943. Her early novels deal with the harsh lives of workingclass women living in the North England. Her first novel, Union Street (1982)
won the Fawcett Society Book Prize; The Eye in the Door (1993) won the
Guardian Fiction Prize; The Ghost Road (1995) won the Booker Prize for Fiction.
(http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/)
Through her first novel, Union Street, Pat Barker wants to show the reader
how difficult it is to be a woman and how often she gets pressure in her life, as
seen in the conflicts that each character must face. As conflicts are the most
2
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
dominant element in this novel, I would like to analyze conflicts using formalist
approach.
According to Harry
Shaw, there are
three
kinds of conflicts:
Social conflict – a struggle between man and man; inner conflict – a struggle
between man and himself; physical conflict – a struggle between man and nature
(1905:91-92). However, in this thesis, I would only focus on social and inner
conflicts faced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
After reading Union Street, the present writer states the problems as follow:
1. What are the conflicts experienced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice?
2. What are the causes and the effects of the conflicts?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on the statement above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To show the conflicts experienced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice
2. To show the causes and the effects of the conflicts
3. To show the solution for the conflicts
3
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of research used in library research. First of all, I read the novel as
the primary text. I apply Formalist approach to have better understanding of the conflicts
found in the novel. I then gather and search information needed for the thesis from some
references and materials from the Internet to support the analysis of the primary text.
Finally, I draw the conclusion.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
I divide this thesis into three chapters, which are preceded by the Preface and the
Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study,
the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis of social and inner
conflicts which are faced by three of the women in Pat Barker’s Union Street. Chapter
Three is the Conclusion, in which I conclude my analysis of the conflicts in Union Street.
The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices.
4
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the social and inner conflicts in Union Street by Pat
Barker, I would like to draw a conclusion. In the novel, I have found seven female
major characters who have to face their own conflicts. In my opinion, Barker
wants to show the reader how difficult it is to be a woman. Each character should
struggle to cope with her conflicts in order to have a better life. By writing Union
Street, Barker wants every woman who faces social or inner conflicts to make the
best decision for life and never give up. From the seven female characters, I only
focus on three of them: Kelly, Lisa and Alice.
Kelly is an eleven-year-old girl who faces conflicts with her mother. She
needs attention and love from her mother but her mother does not care about
Kelly. After Kelly is raped by a stranger, her mother is still indifferent to her and
the conflict makes Kelly have no sympathy towards her mother and she becomes
a loner. Kelly also faces an inner conflict. She does not feel comfortable with her
body, but she should accept that later on, she will become an adult. She decides to
change her appearance into a boy’s. In the end, the solution of the conflicts is that
although Kelly is still a loner, she tries to survive by herself as well as she can.
19
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
The next character is Lisa. She is twenty-two years old with two sons and
she is pregnant of her third child. She experiences conflicts with her husband, who
after being fired, becomes an alcoholic and often hits Lisa. Lisa feels disappointed
with her husband’s behaviour. She wants her husband to look for another job and
take care of the family. Lisa also experiences an inner conflict concerning her
feeling about the baby. She does not want to have her baby who is a daughter
because her daughter is different from her sons, but actually she also loves her
baby. As a result, Lisa realizes that she cares for her baby and she tries to accept
and love her own daughter.
The last character whom I have analyzed is Alice Bell. She is a seventysix-year old woman who has a stroke. Her conflict starts when she is forced by her
son to stay in the Workhouse: a convalescent home for old and poor people. Her
son thinks that in the Workhouse, Alice will be safe and there is someone who
will take care of her. However, Alice does not want to stay there because for her,
the Workhouse is a terrifying place for her and she will feel uncomfortable there.
Afterwards, Alice decides to run away from her house and goes to the park. In the
end, she dies in peace in her own surroundings.
I choose these three female characters because in my opinion, each
character represents the beginning, the middle and the end of a woman’s life.
Kelly represents the early life of womanhood. A girl starting puberty commonly
has problems dealing with parents and the uncomfortable feelings from her
growing-body. After that, a girl becomes an adult and experiences her married
life. This character is represented by Lisa. The life of a married woman commonly
deals with children, household, pregnancy and the relationship with the husband.
20
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The last character, Alice, represents women who face illness, old age and finally,
death.
Having analyzed the conflicts in this novel, I am of the opinion that Pat
Barker has succeeded in delivering her message that it is difficult to be a woman.
Through this novel, I learn that women who can survive in all their problems are very
strong indeed. They keep struggling to get the solution of the conflicts through
difficulties and obstacles. Until the end, they have to choose the right decision for
their own future. As women, they should be appreciated and respected because most
of them deal with a lot of burdens of life which makes them desperate and underpressure but they have to lean on themselves to get a better life and to prove their
existence and their effort to survive.
21
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Company,
1905.
Internet Website
Pat Barker’s Biography. April 2006
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/
Primary Text
Barker, Pat. Union Street. New York: Picador USA, 1982.
22
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis konflik sosial dan konflik batin
yang terjadi dalam novel yang berjudul Union Street karya Pat Barker, seorang
penulis wanita yang berasal dari Inggris.
Union Street adalah novel pertama yang dibuat oleh Pat Barker dan
diterbitkan pada tahun 1982. Novel ini menceritakan tentang tujuh wanita yang
harus menghadapi berbagai konflik kehidupan dan mereka berusaha untuk
mencari jalan keluar dari konflik-konflik tersebut. Namun, dalam tesis ini saya
hanya akan menganalisis tiga tokoh wanita yang bernama Kelly, Lisa dan Alice.
Saya memilih tiga tokoh ini karena mereka mewakili awal, pertengahan
dan akhir dari kehidupan seorang wanita. Kelly mewakili awal kehidupan
seorang wanita. Seorang anak yang sedang mengalami masa puber seringkali
mengalami konfik dengan keluarganya dan merasa tidak nyaman dengan
tubuhnya yang sedang tumbuh. Kemudian seorang anak akan menjadi seorang
wanita dewasa yang mengalami kehidupan pernikahan. Tokoh ini diwakili oleh
Lisa. Kehidupan pernikahan wanita umumnya berhubungan dengan anak-anak,
rumah tangga, kehamilan dan hubungan dengan suami. Sedangkan tokoh
terakhir adalah Alice yang mewakili wanita yang sudah tua, mengidap penyakit
iii
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
dan akhirnya menghadapi kematian.
Barker ingin menunjukkan kepada para pembaca bahwa menjadi seorang
wanita tidaklah mudah. Wanita yang mempunyai konflik sosial dan konflik batin
harus membuat keputusan terbaik untuk kehidupan mereka dan tidak mudah
menyerah.
Menurut pendapat saya, wanita adalah mahluk ciptaan yang kuat bertahan
dalam menghadapi masalah. Para wanita berjuang mencari jalan keluar yang
terbaik dengan cara melakukan banyak hal untuk menjalani kehidupan masa
depan. Wanita patut dihargai dan dihormati karena wanita sering menghadapi
berbagai masalah hidup yang kadang-kadang sulit diatasi tetapi kebanyakan dari
wanita terus berjuang untuk keluar dari persoalan dan bertahan hidup.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE …………………………………………………………………..
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………..
ii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………….
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ………………………………………………
Statement of the Problem ………………………………………………
Purpose of the Study ………………………………………………….
Methods of Research ………………………………………………….
Organization of the Thesis …………………………………………….
1
3
3
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND
INNER CONFLICT IN UNION STREET ………………………...
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ..….…...……………………………. 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….…………………………………….……………
22
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Union Street ………...…………………………………….
23
Biography of the author ………………………………………………… 25
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Union Street
Union Street by Pat Barker is about seven neighbouring women who live
at the same street in England. Its name is Union Street. All of them have different
problems and they try to solve these problems.
The first, is Kelly Brown. She is eleven years old, her mother and her
sister neglect her. One night, she is raped by a stranger. Three weeks later, she
tells her mother about the rape but her mother still ignores her. Kelly becomes a
loner and hates her mother. She also cuts her hair very short, wears a boy’s shirt
and hurts herself. Nobody wants to accompany her and she is always alone.
Joanne Wilson is eighteen years old. She is pregnant. When she tells her
boy friend about it, he is angry and blames Joanne. She is afraid of marriage
because after getting married, her husband forbids her to work and she does not
want to be a housewife and only takes care of the baby. In the end, they are forced
to get married although they have not met Joanne’s mother yet.
Lisa Goddard is twenty-two years old. She has two sons and she is
pregnant of the third child. Her husband has no job and becomes an alcoholic. He
also often hits Lisa. When the baby is born, Lisa feels a dilemma because actually
23
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
she does not want to have the third baby because of the low economic condition.
Finally, she can accept and try to love the baby.
Muriel Scaife has a husband whom she loves. Muriel feels depressed
because of the illness of her husband and he does not want to go to the doctor. Her
husband dies and Muriel blames herself for it and she always feels haunted by her
husband’s image. At the end of the story, she can accept her husband’s death and
takes care of her children.
Iris King feels disappointed and angry with Brenda, her youngest daughter
because of her pregnancy. Iris persuades and asks her daughter to have an
abortion. Brenda refuses it but Iris still asks her to do it until she accepts her
mother’s request. Iris almost changes her mind when Brenda aborts the baby.
Finally, Brenda has undergone an abortion and Iris regrets asking Brenda to do it.
Iris decides to love her other grandchildren with all her heart.
Blonde Dinah is sixty years old but she always comes to pub, waiting for a
man who wants to be accompanied because she is lonely and poor. Nobody knows
where her family is. She is always alone and feels lonely. Finally, she meets
George. Dinah asks him to pay one pound to her for having sex with her because
she needs the money.
Old Alice Bell is 76 years old, has a stroke and she has the difficulties of
walking, talking and hearing. She always depends on her neighbor. Her son asks
her to stay in the Workhouse at St. Anne, which is the place for old and poor
people. Alice does not want to stay there because she knows she will die soon and
she wants to die in her house, in her surroundings. Then, she goes to the park and
sits on the bench. Finally, she dies peacefully.
24
Biography of the author
Pat Barker is a novelist who is born on 8 May 1943 in Thornaby-on-Tees
in Yorkshire, England. She is graduated from London School of Economics and
Durham University. Barker also learns about International History, so she
becomes a teacher of History and Politics until 1982.
She begins to write at her young age and she is supported to be a writer as
her career by the novelist Angela Carter. Barker’s early novels are about hard
lives of working-class women living in the North England. Her first novel is
Union Street, which is published in 1982 and gets the Fawcett Society Book Prize.
This novel is about seven neighbouring women who should face different
problems and they try to cope with them. Her second novel is Blow Your House
Down, which is published in 1984.
Barker is chosen as one of the 20 ‘Best Young British Novelists’ in 1983.
She makes trilogy of novels about the First World War. Her first novel in trilogy
is Regeneration (1991), which is made into a film in 1997. The Eye in the Door
(1993) is her second novel in trilogy, which wins the Guardian Fiction Prize. The
final novel in the series, entitled The Ghost Road (1995), ges the Booker Prize for
Fiction.
Her last novel, Border Crossing (2001) is about the relationship between a
child psychologist and a murderer. Her new novel is entitled Double Vision. This
novel is about the atrocity of war.
(http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/)
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Every human being has conflicts which should be faced and resolved in
his daily life. Whether one is young or old, male or female, as long as one lives in
the world, one cannot run away from one’s problem and conflicts until one dies.
However, in my opinion women are the ones who face greater conflicts because
women are considered to be the weakes sex and get a lot of demands from their
surrounding. There are many examples of demand and condition in which women
are put into by society. For one, women cannot have the freedom to work and
study. Sooner or later they will be housewives. Also, some women are used to be
victims of men physically or mentally. As wives, they should obey their husbands,
follow his rules and should be responsible for their children and husbands.
Therefore, from time to time women are considered not to be equal to men. Those
problems began in about the 19th century and are still continuing until now
1
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
Union Street by Pat Barker is a story that focuses on seven women who
have different problems and how they try to cope with the problems. Kelly
Brown, 11 years old, is raped; Joanne, 18 years old, is pregnant and is afraid of
marriage because after getting married, her husband forbids her to work but she
does not want to be a housewife and only takes care of the baby; Lisa, 22 years
old, is married to an alcoholic and rejects the third child; Muriel, is marries to a
man who has an illness and dies; Iris, has a problem with her youngest daughter
who is pregnant before getting married; Dinah, 60 years old, is lonely; and Alice,
76 years old, who is waiting for her death. After reading the novel, I find that the
novel has a unique content and it becomes the reason why I choose to analyze this
novel for my thesis. However, I would only focus on three characters, namely
Kelly, Lisa and Alice because they represent women in real life who might have
to deal with similar problems and they also represent the beginning, the middle
and the end of life.
Pat Barker is an author who was born in Thornaby-on Tees in Yorkshire,
England, on 8 May 1943. Her early novels deal with the harsh lives of workingclass women living in the North England. Her first novel, Union Street (1982)
won the Fawcett Society Book Prize; The Eye in the Door (1993) won the
Guardian Fiction Prize; The Ghost Road (1995) won the Booker Prize for Fiction.
(http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/)
Through her first novel, Union Street, Pat Barker wants to show the reader
how difficult it is to be a woman and how often she gets pressure in her life, as
seen in the conflicts that each character must face. As conflicts are the most
2
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
dominant element in this novel, I would like to analyze conflicts using formalist
approach.
According to Harry
Shaw, there are
three
kinds of conflicts:
Social conflict – a struggle between man and man; inner conflict – a struggle
between man and himself; physical conflict – a struggle between man and nature
(1905:91-92). However, in this thesis, I would only focus on social and inner
conflicts faced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
After reading Union Street, the present writer states the problems as follow:
1. What are the conflicts experienced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice?
2. What are the causes and the effects of the conflicts?
3. How are the conflicts resolved?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on the statement above, the purposes of the study are:
1. To show the conflicts experienced by Kelly, Lisa and Alice
2. To show the causes and the effects of the conflicts
3. To show the solution for the conflicts
3
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of research used in library research. First of all, I read the novel as
the primary text. I apply Formalist approach to have better understanding of the conflicts
found in the novel. I then gather and search information needed for the thesis from some
references and materials from the Internet to support the analysis of the primary text.
Finally, I draw the conclusion.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
I divide this thesis into three chapters, which are preceded by the Preface and the
Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study,
the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the
Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis of social and inner
conflicts which are faced by three of the women in Pat Barker’s Union Street. Chapter
Three is the Conclusion, in which I conclude my analysis of the conflicts in Union Street.
The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices.
4
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the social and inner conflicts in Union Street by Pat
Barker, I would like to draw a conclusion. In the novel, I have found seven female
major characters who have to face their own conflicts. In my opinion, Barker
wants to show the reader how difficult it is to be a woman. Each character should
struggle to cope with her conflicts in order to have a better life. By writing Union
Street, Barker wants every woman who faces social or inner conflicts to make the
best decision for life and never give up. From the seven female characters, I only
focus on three of them: Kelly, Lisa and Alice.
Kelly is an eleven-year-old girl who faces conflicts with her mother. She
needs attention and love from her mother but her mother does not care about
Kelly. After Kelly is raped by a stranger, her mother is still indifferent to her and
the conflict makes Kelly have no sympathy towards her mother and she becomes
a loner. Kelly also faces an inner conflict. She does not feel comfortable with her
body, but she should accept that later on, she will become an adult. She decides to
change her appearance into a boy’s. In the end, the solution of the conflicts is that
although Kelly is still a loner, she tries to survive by herself as well as she can.
19
Universitas Kristen Maranatha
The next character is Lisa. She is twenty-two years old with two sons and
she is pregnant of her third child. She experiences conflicts with her husband, who
after being fired, becomes an alcoholic and often hits Lisa. Lisa feels disappointed
with her husband’s behaviour. She wants her husband to look for another job and
take care of the family. Lisa also experiences an inner conflict concerning her
feeling about the baby. She does not want to have her baby who is a daughter
because her daughter is different from her sons, but actually she also loves her
baby. As a result, Lisa realizes that she cares for her baby and she tries to accept
and love her own daughter.
The last character whom I have analyzed is Alice Bell. She is a seventysix-year old woman who has a stroke. Her conflict starts when she is forced by her
son to stay in the Workhouse: a convalescent home for old and poor people. Her
son thinks that in the Workhouse, Alice will be safe and there is someone who
will take care of her. However, Alice does not want to stay there because for her,
the Workhouse is a terrifying place for her and she will feel uncomfortable there.
Afterwards, Alice decides to run away from her house and goes to the park. In the
end, she dies in peace in her own surroundings.
I choose these three female characters because in my opinion, each
character represents the beginning, the middle and the end of a woman’s life.
Kelly represents the early life of womanhood. A girl starting puberty commonly
has problems dealing with parents and the uncomfortable feelings from her
growing-body. After that, a girl becomes an adult and experiences her married
life. This character is represented by Lisa. The life of a married woman commonly
deals with children, household, pregnancy and the relationship with the husband.
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The last character, Alice, represents women who face illness, old age and finally,
death.
Having analyzed the conflicts in this novel, I am of the opinion that Pat
Barker has succeeded in delivering her message that it is difficult to be a woman.
Through this novel, I learn that women who can survive in all their problems are very
strong indeed. They keep struggling to get the solution of the conflicts through
difficulties and obstacles. Until the end, they have to choose the right decision for
their own future. As women, they should be appreciated and respected because most
of them deal with a lot of burdens of life which makes them desperate and underpressure but they have to lean on themselves to get a better life and to prove their
existence and their effort to survive.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Company,
1905.
Internet Website
Pat Barker’s Biography. April 2006
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/
Primary Text
Barker, Pat. Union Street. New York: Picador USA, 1982.
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