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THE MESSAGES REVEALED THROUGH THE WAY THE

MAIN CHARACTERS FACE THE CONFLICTS IN DAVID

HENRY HWANG’S FAMILY DEVOTIONS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  ANDRY  GANI WIDJAJA 

  Student Number: 06 4214 071

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2013

  B B e e

  I I m m m m o o r r t t a a l l i i f f e e

  ~ ~

  ? ?

  ? ?

  S S e e r r i i o o u u s s

  S S o o

  W W h h y y

  ~ ~

  P P o o s s i i t t i i v v e e

  ! !

  ! !

  ! !

  U U p p

  G G i i v v e e

  N N

e

e

v v e e r r

  & &

  J J o o k k e e r r

  F o r F o r

  M y B e l o v e d P a r e n t s , M y B e l o v e d P a r e n t s ,

  M y L o v e l y S i s t e r s a n d B r o t h e r , M y L o v e l y S i s t e r s a n d B r o t h e r , a n d Y o h a n e s N a n a n g S u r y o a n d Y o h a n e s N a n a n g S u r y o

  P r a y o g a i n H e a v e n P r a y o g a i n H e a v e n

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Above all, I would like to thank Jesus Christ and Mother Mary for blessing and guiding me in writing this undergraduate thesis. You will always be my guidance for now and forever.

  I would also like to thank Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., my advisor, for her guidance, suggestions, and time during the writing of this undergraduate thesis, and to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., my co- advisor, for reading, correcting, and giving me essential inputs in order to make this undergraduate thesis better. And I would also like to thank all my lecturers in English Letters Department for fulfilling me with knowledges.

  My deepest gratitude goes to my Dad whose way of teaching me to be a strong man can make me who I am today. To my Mom, who always says my name in her prayers, your spirit makes me stronger. To my two beloved sisters,

  

Lucy Gani and Linda V Budiman, I thank you for your unseen support that can

push me to finish this undergraduate thesis as soon as possible. I love you all.

  Finally lots of gratitude go to all my friends in English Letters, especially

  

Damay, Juleha, Lusi, Chatter Box Groups, and all my 2006 friends for their

spirits to finish this undergraduate thesis, thank you from my deepest my heart.

  Andry Gani Widjaja

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ i

APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................. iii

MOTTO PAGE ............................................................................................. iv

DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................... v

STATEMENT PAGE ................................................................................... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. viii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... x

ABSTRAK ..................................................................................................... xi

  

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1

A. Background of the Study ................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation ......................................................................... 5 C. Objectives of the Study ...................................................................... 5 D. Definition of Terms ........................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ............................................... 8

A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................. 8 B. Review of Related Theories .............................................................. 11

  1. Theory on Character and Characterization ................................... 11

  2. Theory of Conflict ......................................................................... 13

  3. Theory of Message ........................................................................ 15

  C. Theoretical Framework ...................................................................... 16

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 18

A. Object of the Study ............................................................................ 18 B. Approach of the Study ....................................................................... 20 C. Method of the Study .......................................................................... 21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 25

A. The Characteristics of the Main Characters in Family Devotions ...... 25

  1. The Characteristics of Ama ............................................................ 25

  2. The Characteristics of Popo ........................................................... 29

  3. The Characteristics of Di-Gou ........................................................ 31

  B. The Conflicts Revealed in Ama, Popo, dan Di-Gou .......................... 38

  1. The Main Characters External Conflict ......................................... 39

  2. The Main Characters Internal Conflict .......................................... 46

  C. The Messages as Revealed by the Main Characters and Conflicts .... 48

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................... 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 56

  

ABSTRACT

  ANDRY GANI WIDJAJA. The Messages Revealed through the Way the Main

Characters Face the Conflicts in David Henry Hwang's Family Devotion.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.

  The object of this study is a drama by David Henry Hwang entitled Family

  

Devotions . The drama was first published in 1989. The purposes of this study are

  first, explaining the main characters, Ama, Popo, and Di - Gou; second, explaining the conflicts revealed by Ama, Popo, and Di - Gou; and third, showing the messages as revealed by the main characters and their conflicts.

  This study applies the formalistic criticism as the approach to analyze this novel. This approach emphasizes literature that is seeing it from the intrinsic elements. This study analyzes the messages that can be taken from the intrinsic elements are the main characters and the conflicts. The dominant theory that was used in analyzing this study is theory of character and characterization, because by knowing the characteristics of the character, it will be easier to find out the conflicts and the message inside the story.

  The findings of the analysis are as follows. There are three main characters of the story written by David Henry Hwang. They are Ama, The Eldest, Popo, The Second, and Di – Gou, the youngest brother. Ama and Popo, Chinese women, who emigrated to Philiphines, then to America, and their little brother Di-Gou who is a resident of the People’s Republic of China. The extended families of Ama and Popo are waiting the arrival of Di-Gou whom they have not seen for thirty years. They really want to hear Di-Gou’s testimony and confession of miracles done by evangelist See-goh-poo. Unfortunately, when he arrives he disavows ever being Christian and it makes his sisters disapointed and furious. Hence, the conflict begins to appear in this family. Then, Di-Gou tells his sisters the truth about the evangelist See-goh-poo, but with a great shock, Ama and Popo finally collapse and die. By analyzing the drama, the writer can find some messages; first; everything that is too much is not good and second, fanaticism can bring a family downfall.

  

ABSTRAK

  ANDRY GANI WIDJAJA. The Messages Revealed through the Way the Main

Characters Face the Conflicts in David Henry Hwang's Family Devotion.

Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.

  Objek dari studi ini adalah drama karya David Henry Hwang berjudul

  

Family Devotion . Drama ini pertama kali diterbitkan pada tahun 1989. Tujuan dari

  studi ini adalah pertama, menjelaskan karakter tokoh utama, Ama, Popo, dan Di- Gou; kedua, menjelaskan konflik-konflik yang ditampakkan dalam diri tokoh utama, dan; ketiga, menunjukkan pesan-pesan yang dinyatakan dari karakter dan konflik-konflik tokoh utama.

  Studi ini menerapkan kritik objektif sebagai pendekatan untuk menganalisa novel ini yang menekankan pada karya sastra itu sendiri, yaitu dari unsur-unsur intrinsik. Studi ini menganalisa pesan-pesan yang dapat diambil dari unsur-unsur intrinsik yaitu tokoh utama dan konflik-konflik. Teori yang dominan digunakan dalam menganalisis studi ini adalah teori sifat dan pelukisan watak, karena dengan mengetahui sifat dari karakter tokoh, akan memudahkan untuk menemukan konflik dan pesan di dalam cerita.

  Temuan analisis adalah sebagai berikut. Ada tiga karakter utama dari cerita yang ditulis oleh David Henry Hwang. Mereka adalah Ama, kakak pertama, Popo, kakak kedua, dan Di - Gou, adik bungsu. Ama dan Popo, wanita Cina, yang beremigrasi ke Filipina, kemudian ke Amerika, dan adik mereka Di-Gou yang merupakan penduduk dari Republik Rakyat Cina. Para keluarga besar dari Ama dan Popo sedang menunggu kedatangan Di-Gou yang sudah selama tiga puluh tahun mereka tidak saling bertemu. Mereka ingin mendengar kesaksian Di-Gou dan pengakuan mukjizat yang dilakukan oleh penginjil See-goh-poo. Sayangnya, ketika ia tiba, ia membantah pernah menjadi Kristen dan itu membuat saudara- saudara perempuannya menjadi kecewa dan marah. Oleh karena itu, konflik mulai muncul dalam keluarga ini. Lalu, Di-Gou mengatakan saudaranya kebenaran tentang penginjil See-goh-poo, kemudian dengan mendengar berita itu, Ama dan Popo akhirnya jatuh dan mati karena mengalami shock berat. Dengan menganalisis drama, penulis dapat menemukan beberapa pesan, pertama, segala sesuatu yang berlebihan itu tidak baik dan yang kedua, fanatisme dapat membawa kejatuhan sebuah keluarga

  .

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter is divided into four parts of discussion that are very useful to

  understand this study. The first part is the background of the study, which discusses the reason of writing this study. The second part is the problem formulation that contains three problems that are discussed in the analysis and it can also lead the writer to find the objective of the study. The third part is objective of the study that conveys the goals of the study that the writer wishes to obtain here. The last part is the definition of terms. It will be very helpful because it includes some definitions of related studies that contain the meaning and several important terms used in this study.

A. Background of the Study

  Literary works often become an expression of reality that happens in human life because they have some similarities to the real life. Its characters, settings, and conflicts are the reflection of life showing the realities of human’s conditions, problems, feelings, and relationships. Abram states that “a work of art

  is the imitation of nature ” (1985:36).

  Reading literature gives us amusement and utility. Wellek in his book

  

Theory of Literature (1962:31) noted that literature is useful because it contains an

  aesthetic seriousness of perception. Moreover, it also gives us knowledge. It enriches our knowledge about love, hatred, ambition, failure, and idealism. John

  Thibant in his book An Approach to Literature (1931:1) emphasized that literature really helps us to connect ourselves to the cultural context that we have never known. It enables us to struggle in a different society. As the result, our cross cultural understanding will be improved.

  The existence of a literary work cannot be separated from the author because a literary work is a reflection of the author’s opinion about life. Through his work, an author tries to make the readers get the feeling of its characters. There are many things, including pleasure and lesson, which the readers can get by reading drama.

  Drama itself means a literary text that depicts action through dialogues of its acting characters and authorial notes. For example a description of physical action of actors, place and time circumstances, etc (Závodský, 1966:4).

  Drama also can be designed as a type of an artistic literature that depicts action and conflicts (i.e. actions that encounter resistance). Unlike a poet who states his emotions naturally, the author of a theatre play expresses his intentions via acting characters. A novel includes depictions of nature and ways of life as well as socially – psychological conflicts. A drama, on the other hand, develops the action in the form of dialogues of the characters and notes, describing the actions and events. As a piece of art work, drama describes society and has certain goals, conveying a message of society’s values, shows the social and political condition of society when the dramas or plays are made, and shows the background and the thought of the author. Dramatic dialogue is thus a bridge between two actions; it is a result of one action and cause of another  (Volkenštejn, 

  1963,  p.3). 

  In order to make the story become interesting and seem lively, there are many aspects needed to set up the story. One of them that become the important aspects is character. It is important because it is the main part of the story. The characters generally express the actions and the dialogue from the beginning of the story until the ending parts.

  By this thesis, the writer wants to discuss the character of the story in the drama or play titled Family Devotions by David Henry Hwang. It is a 1981 play and Hwang's third play which depicts the clash of West and East within three generations of an Americanized Chinese family living in a Los Angeles suburb.

  The discussion emphasizes on the description of the main characters through their dialogues and their conflicts to reveal the message.

  There are three main characters in the story written by David Henry Hwang, they are Ama, Popo, and Di-Gou. They are brothers and sisters who were born in China and first generations immigrants to America. Ama, is the eldest, and the second is Popo, and the last one is Di-Gou. They are the first-generation Chinese Americans in the story. Ama is a very religious, family bound, emotional, and stubborn person. Popo is just almost the same with Ama, but wiser than her sister. Other than his sisters, Di-Gou is a person who love his family especially his sisters, wise man, respect to his cultures, and he prefers not to believe to God, but do the good things.

  Ama and Popo are awaiting the arrival of Di-Gou whom they have not seen for thirty years. As they wait, the women discuss the atrocities of the Communists that affected their little brother. The family descended from the great Chinese Christian evangelist See-goh-poo and they anticipate hearing Di-Gou repeat his fervent testimony. However, when Di-Gou arrives, he disavows ever being Christian. He confides to Popo’s grandson, Chester, that to establish a true American identity, he must believe the stories “written on his face” and these stories reflect many generations.

  Ama and Popo organize a family devotional and invite him to witness for Christ, but then the family argument appear. They physically force him to believe in God again. The scene changes something like the Chinese opera where Di-Gou rises up speaking in tongues, the gas grill bursts into flame, and Chester, Di-Gou’s nephew, interprets the revelation.

  From the main characters of the story and its content, the writer chooses

  

Family Devotions as the object of his thesis because the writer can get and learn

  something valuable more than the work itself that is, by the possible messages appear in the story. The second reason for choosing David Henry Hwang’s Family Devotions is the story offers the realities of human beings, the value of a family such as we have to remember and take a good care our own family. Therefore, this story can open the writer’s mind toward world and life.

  B. Problem Formulation

  Based on the background above, the writer formulates three problems presented in this study that lead to the further discussion of the topic. Dealing with the characters of the story, the problems can be formulated as follows:

  1. How are the main characters described?

  2. What are the conflicts faced by the main characters?

  3. What are the messages revealed through the way the characters face the conflicts?

  C. Objectives of the Study

  This study is intended to answer the questions stated in the problems formulation. Related to the questions, the aims must be stated as follows: First, it is to explain how the main characters are described - Ama, Popo, and

  Di-Gou. Second, to find and explain the conflicts that faced by the main characters. And the last, it is to discover the messages revealed through the way the characters face to conflicts.

  D. Definition of Terms

  To understand the study of revealing the possible messages through the main characters and the way they face their conflicts, it is important to give a clarification of the terms used in the discussion. The clarification is needed to avoid misunderstanding and ambiguity and to obtain a clear understanding on the study.

  1. Character.

  According to Abrams, in A Glossary of Literary Term, the character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work that are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue and what they do – the actions (Abrams, 1981: 20). It means that the character in a story should have moral and natural qualities of mind and it can be found out in their dialogue and action. The characters will have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters.

  2. Conflict In A Handbook to Literature, Holman and Harmon define conflict as: “The struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces in the plot. Conflict may be an argument between opposing forces, like man against man, nature, fate, society or perhaps the internal one between the two opposing parts of man’s personality” (1986: 107).

  It can be said that conflict is a state of discomfort cause by someone’s ideas, desires, wishes, or will that are incompatible between individuals, society, or someone’s external and internal demands. The situation can happen because of someone’s hope that are incapable of existing together in agreement or harmony with a person or a society.

  3. Message Message is defined as an idea that someone tries to communicate to people. It is also the meaning, thought, or idea that is intended to express

  (Sinclair, 1956 : 490).

  Kenny (1966:89) says that message can be seen as one form of the theme in simple form, but not all themes are considered a message. Message becomes one of the elements that makes or form a theme. The example of message can be informed of valuable of words, advice, and God’s commandment as guidance to give advice and the like.

  Another definition of message comes from Beaty and Hunter in New

  

World of Literature as they said that message is the real meaning or some easy

  conclusion that can be simply stated or summarized inside a work of art (1989:889). In this study the author thinks that the second opinion of messages from Beaty and Hunter is more suitable to the analysis.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW In this chapter the writer focuses on various studies and theories related

  to the literary work discussed. It includes the reviews from many critics and theory of character and characterization, theory of conflict, and theory of message.

A. Review of Related Studies

  The first study comes from In Marta Nelly’s minor thesis, “Symbols that

  

Reflect the Main Character Named Coco in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby” . In her

  thesis, Nelly tries to analyze the symbols that reflect the main character, Coco, in Wei Hui’s Shanghai Baby. There are three objectives of this study, namely to describe how Coco is described as the main character in the novel, to describe how a cat, Coco’s novel, and the yin yang are depicted in the novel, and to identify how the cat, the novel, and the yin yang symbolize Coco.

  In the analysis, she finds out that Coco is described with five main characteristics, namely strong, having both good and wild sides, independent, romantically active, and strongly connected to her loved ones. These descriptions are shown in her life since she was in university until now. As the answer to the last problem formulation, the cat, the novel, and the Yin Yang are depicted as symbols that reveal Coco as the main character.

  The cat is the only animal mentioned constantly, both as a pet cat kept by Tian Tian, Coco's boyfriend, and in Coco's dreams. It symbolizes Coco, because they are both depicted as strong, found unexpectedly by Tian Tian, having a combination of good and wild sides, and independent.

  Novel is an important part of this story because Coco, the main character, is a novel writer. Coco starts writing her novel in the beginning of the story and finishes her novel in the end of the story. The novel symbolizes Coco’s romance life. Coco is not yet satisfied with her previous novel and her previous romance life; Coco writes her novel and lives her romance life with great love and dedication; both Coco’s novel and her romance life contain some problems and obstacles, and both Coco’s novel and her romance life are finally finished at the end of the story.

  Yin and Yang are depicted as black and white or dark and light images in Shanghai in the evening, in some characters’ eyes, in Tian Tian’s pet cat’s fur, in Coco’s dream, and in Shamir's movie. Yin and Yang symbolize Coco’s relationship with her loved ones, namely her family and boyfriend. The contrasting characteristics of Yin and Yang resemble the contrasting characteristics of Coco and her loved ones; both the Yin and Yang as well as Coco and her loved ones are strongly connected and cannot be separated; both the Yin and Yang as well as Coco and her loved ones must be balanced. If they are not balanced, it will result in some problems.

  From Nelly’s study, the writer knows that their studies are related as both use intrinsic element as the main focus of the study. The difference is Nelly explained the symbols as the reflection of the main character in the story, while the writer uses the main character to see the conflicts and the message revealed through them. However, both the studies are viewed through the formalistic approach. Since Nelly’s study used the intrinsice elements of the story to support her analysis, her study helps the writer become more understand about the formalism. Her study is related and important to help the writer analyze and complete his work.

  The second related study is based on a study written by Rendy Yoewono titled “The Messages Revealed through the Main Character’s Ways to Survive in

  

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi” . In his thesis, Yoewono aims to examine the messages

  that are revealed through the main character’s ways to survive in his struggle for life.

  Life of Pi is a novel which depicts the topic of struggle for life and against death in an emergency situation. It tells about the struggle of an Indian boy who spent 227 days with a fierce tiger in the Pacific Ocean as the sole survivor in a shipwreck that killed his family. There are three problems formulation in this study. The first one is about the description of the main character, Pi Patel, in the novel. The second problem examines the ways through which Pi Patel manages to survive. And then the third problem examines the messages revealed through Pi Patel’s ways to survive.

  The analysis of the study shows that Pi Patel has some dominant characteristics: he is intelligent, open-minded, spritual and has srtong determination. Those characteristics are shown throughout the novel through Pi’s past life, speech, thoughts, mannerism, and reactions to the situation arround him. Pi manages to survive through several ways: by recognising and using his strength, which is made possible by his intelligence; by being realistic about the situation which is facilitated by his spirituality and strong determination. The messages that are revealed through Pi’s ways to survive are that the mind is human’s greatest strength that it is essential to adapt to the current situation and that one must not give up easily.

  Since this second study tries to examine the messages that are revealed through the main characters, the writer used this study to help him to develop and enrich his study. If Yoewono examined only the characterization of the main character of the story, the writer will be further explain about the conflicts of the main characters of the play in order to find the message revealed through them. The characterization and message issues and some detail significances of formalistic approach appeared in Yoewono’s study that is why this study is very related with the current study.

   

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  Character and characterization are related and cannot be separated from each other. In the real life, human sense of character varies with their ability of preception and understanding. Character is one of the important elements of a story. It can be considered as a person who has a role in a story. The reader interpret the characters as having certain characteristic in the way they play in their roles that are expressed by what they say or their dialogue and what they do or their action (Abrams, 1981: 20).

  According to A Handbook to Literature by Holman and Harmon (1986: 81), character means a complicated term that includes the idea of the novel constitution of the human personality, the presence of moral uprightness and the simpler notion of the presence of creatures in art that seem to be human beings of sort or another.

  Sylvan Barnet in his book Literature for Composition: Essay, Fiction,

  

Poetry and Drama (1988: 712) explains that there are some ways to understand

  the characteristic of a character, it is through:

  a. What the character/figure says How the character says will help the readers interpret her/his characteristics.

  b. What the character does/acts The readers can learn the attitudes or behaviors of a character and they may guess how actually the author creates the character.

  c. What other characters say about the character A character interacts with other characters. They share their opinion and gives comments about that character. Such opinion and comment may reflect the characteristics of the character drawn.

  In Reading and Writing about Literature by Mary Rohberger and Samuel Woods, when a protagonist is involved in a conflict with other character, the other character is called antagonist. Whereas, conflict is not confined to a struggle between people. The protagonist maybe in conflict with fate or the environment, or his struggle may be an inner one whereby he battles with a part of himself or with conflicting value system or desires, or his inner conflict may be objectified in a conflict with someone or something outside himself (1971: 20-21).

  There are two methods of characterization, they are showing and telling. In showing method, the author only presents his character’s conversation and action and leaves the reader to infer what motives and dispositions lay behind what they say and do. In telling method, the author himself becomes a land of narrator in order to describe and evaluate the motives and dispositional qualities of the character (Abrams, 1981: 21). Perrine in his book Literature: Structure, says:

  Sound and Sense “Characterization must follow three principles in order to be convincing.

  Firstly, the characters in the story must have consistency in the way they behave. This consistency might be broken if only there is a sufficient reason to explain this change of behavior. Secondly, whatever the characters do, they must have clear motivation especially when they break the consistency of their behaviors. Finally, the characters must appear life like or plausible” (1974: 69).

2. Theory of Conflict

  Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, explain that conflict is the struggle that occurs between the protagonist and antagonist, fate or environment, or within the protagonist or with the conflicting value system. It is also called complication. The existence of difficult choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented as conflict (1971: 180).

  Conflict does not only show the struggle of protagonist against someone or something, but also shows some motivations and aim that wants to be achieved

  (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 108). Moreover, this conflict also implies a theme that the author wants to convey. Conflict may also help the readers to know the central idea or the theme of the story.

  To analyze the conflict, certain basic human relationship which is important in the playwright is needed to explore as stated in the book How to

  

Analyze Drama , some of the common themes are the man and nature, man and

society, universal theme of an abstract nature, and family relationship.

  Internal conflict refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind of the protagonist (Redman, 1962: 363). This conflict usually does not show any physical struggle.

  According to Redman in his book A Second Book of Plays, conflict has an important role in literary work because it always deals with the plot. Conflict appears from central character’s action in dealing with other forces. Central character or protagonist has a responsibility to bring the conflict to the end.

  Conflict is resolved when protagonist succeeds or fails in overcoming the other forces. Sometimes the protagonist gives up when the struggle is too difficult or worthless (1964: 363).

  Abrams also mentions that many plots deal with conflict. In addition to the conflict between individual, there may be the conflict of a protagonist against fate, or against the circumstances that stand between him and a goal he has set himself, and in some works, the conflict is between opposing desires or values in a character’s of own mind (1981: 128).

  Holman and Harmon desribes conflict as the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing focus in the plot. They also state that conflicts may occur in the struggle against nature, against another person, against society, and the struggle for mystery. Conflicts may be an argument between opposing forces, like man against man, man against nature, man against fate or perhaps an internal one between the two opposing parts of man’s personality (1986: 107).

3. Theory of Message

  Beaty and Hunter in New World of Literature states that message is “the

  

real meaning or some easy conclusion” that can be simply stated or summarized

  inside a work of art (1989: 899). It brings to simplification and gives the illusion that a work of literature exist for its statement that tempts the readers through the story, drama, poem, etc. to get the real meaning.

  Message can also be defined as an idea that someone tries to communicate to people. For example in a play, speech, or the meaning, the thought or idea that is intended to express ( Sinclair, 1988 : 490)

  The form of literary communication is the author implies a message that the readers receive or the author see a great truth that he teaches the readers by example. Message in a work of art usually reflects the way of related author. He wants to convey his opinion about the values of truth.

  Message in a story is considered as a suggestion related to practical moral lesson that can be taken through the story. They are also having a close relation to problems in life, such as attitude, behavior or action. The readers can find them in the real life, in the same manner as they are reflected in the story through its characters.

C. Theoretical Framework

  The topic that the writer wants to discuss and expose by this thesis is the messages that are reflected in characters and conflicts in Family Devotions. To find out or discover the messages, the writer used some theories that considered important to the topic, such as theories on character, theories on characterization, theories on conflict, and theories on messages.

  The writer used the theories on character and characterization because they are essential to help the writer understand the character in the play before we learn more deeply about the messages. Through the characters, the writer wants to say something, such as wisdom, honesty, patiently, knowledge, forgiveness and understanding others, sympathetic, etc.

  Theories on conflict are considered important since the writer takes the messages in the story based on the conflicts and experiences that happens in the story. This story gives a lot of conflict that makes it more interesting. The main characters have the conflict with their little brother.

  To reveal the messages, the writer applies theories on message. Through the dialogue, the description of the characters, including what the character’s experience and conflicts are, what the characters do, say, and respond, are taken as examples or suggestion that are reflected in the messages of the story. Theory of message is used by the writer to obtain better understanding of the messages that the author wants to rise and say.

       

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study In this study the writer analyzes a drama by David Henry Hwang entitled Family Devotions. David Henry Hwang was born in Los Angeles, California in

  1957. He is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S. He was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University. His first play was produced at the Okada House dormitory at Stanford and he studied playwriting with Sam Shepard and María Irene Fornés.

  Hwang's early plays concerned the role of the Chinese American and Asian American in the modern day world. His first play, the Obie Award-winning

  

FOB , depicts the contrasts and conflicts between established Asian Americans and

  "Fresh off the Boat" newcomer immigrants. The play was developed by the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and premiered in 1980 Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. Papp went on to produce four more of Hwang's plays, including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama “The Dance and the Railroad”, which tells the story of a former Chinese opera star working as a coolie laborer in the nineteenth century, and “Family Devotions”, a darkly comic take on the effects of Western religion on a Chinese family. Those three plays added up to a "Trilogy of Chinese America" as the author described.

  Hwang’s third drama Family Devotions was first published in 1989 by Penguin Books Canada Ltd, Canada. This book consists of 51 pages and built of 2 acts. The analysis of the study will be focused on the character development. The analysis searches for the message from the author so that the readers could grasp the meaning of them. The summary of the study is given as follows.

  It is about the main characters Ama and Popo, Chinese women, who emigrated to Philiphines, then to America, and their little brother Di-Gou who is a resident of the People’s Republic of China. The play is set in an idealized house with an enclosed patio and tennis court, representing a shallow, materialistic American Dream. The extended families of Ama and Popo are waiting the arrival of Di-Gou whom they have not seen for thirty years. They really want to hear Di- Gou’s testimony and confession of miracles done by evangelist See-goh-poo. Unfortunately, when he arrives he disavows ever being Christian and it makes his sisters be dissapointed and furious. Hence, the conflict begins to appear in this family.

  The reason of choosing this play as the object of the study because there are some moral reason (message) that can be found inside. The writer decides to focus only on the main character’s description, by their act or attitudes, dialogue, and the conflicts in order to reveal the message.

B. Approach of the Study

  In this research, the writer uses the formalistic approach to analyze the work. The approach would focus on the formal patterns and technical devices of literature (Abrams, 1981: 102). The approach also views literary language as “self-focused”, which functions to “offer the reader a special mode of experience by drawing attention to its own ‘formal’ features—that is, to the qualities and internal relations of the linguistic signs themselves” (1981: 103).

  The above statement is strengthened by Guerin, he says in A Handbook of

  

Critical Approach to Literature that what the author did was to make the

  readers see that internal relationships gradually reveal a form, a principle by which all subordinate patterns can be accommodated and accounted for. When all the words, phrases, metaphors, images, and symbols are examined in terms of each other and of the whole, any literary text worth our efforts will display its own internal logic. When that logic has been established, the reader is very close to identifying the overall form of the work (Guerin, 2005: 95).

  From the explanation above, the writer knows and understands the characteristics of the formalistic approach. Using the formalistic approach means to emphasize objective and literal interpretation which is in the internal elements. The readers are not allowed to discuss the elements which are in outside, such as: the political or the historical issue or the opinion of the novel’s author.

  In other words, when we apply formalistic approach, we analyze a literary work and look for elements that contribute to the unique quality of the work, such as structure, shape, interplay, interrelationships, denotations and connotations, contexts, images, symbols, repeated details, climax, denouement, balances and tensions, rhythms and rhymes that catch our attention, sounds that do the same, the speaker's apparent voice, a single line--or even a word--set off all by itself (Guerin, 1999: 75-76).

  According to Rohrberger and Woods, formalistic approach is an approach that assumes “total integrity of the literary piece” and “concentrates almost entirely on its aesthetic value” (1971: 3).

  Since this study will discuss about the message and the conflict that are revealed thorugh the main characters of the play, the formalistic approach is chosen as the suitable approach. With this approach, the writer assumes the autonomy of the work itself and judges it by the intrinsic elements, instead of extrinsic elements like the author's biography, social condition at the time of its production, or its psychological and moral effects (Wellek and Warren, 1956).

  In this study, the intrinsic elements are the characters, the conflicts and the messages which considerably make the work unique. The analysis in this study is completely based on the text itself.

C. Method of the Study

  In completing this thesis, there were some steps that the writer took. The writer conducted library research to carry out this study. Library research means that the research based on the data which were entirely gathered from books on literature, criticism, dictionary, encyclopedia, undergraduate theses, or other writings that maybe helpful.

  There were two kinds of sources that used in this analysis, the primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the play itself, David Henry Hwang’s Family Devotions, while the secondary sources are taken from relevant books, theses, and online references. The secondary sources compromised the books that provided criticism on the play, the approach on the work, the theory of message, conflicts, and characterization which was important for the study, and some critical reviews taken from certain internet sites.

  There were some steps that the writer did in analyzing the novel. Firstly, the writer read the main source that was Family Devotions, then re-read it so that the writer understood what actually the author wanted to say through the drama. Secondly, the writer tried to figure out the interesting things in the drama, which made the drama different from other dramas.

  As it had been achieved, the writer formulated the problems that were to analyze the character and the characterization to get the message from the main characters. To answer the first problem, the writer analyze from the primary book, which related to the characterization of the main characters - Ama, Popo, and Di- Gou from the beginning to the end of the story and then analyze them one by one. To answer the second problem formulation, the writer also analyzes from the primary book, to see the conflicts from the main characters and then analyze one by one.

  After the first and second problems were answered, the writer tried to answer the third question. The writer had different way to answer the third question, because the writer answer it by making conclusion and some message from the main characters based on the writer’s point of view. After the analysis part had been done, finally the writer drew conclusion. In making conclusion, the writer concluded all of the analysis; starting from how the main characters - Ama, Popo, and Di-Gou, are described in the story, what the conflicts founded in the drama, and lastly the messages revealed through the main characters’ characterization and their conflicts.

  This study uses theories of character, characterization, conflict and message in literary work. The theories of character were taken from Abrams’ A

  

Glossary of Literary Terms (1981) and Holman’s A Hand Book to Literature

  (1986). The theories of characterization were taken from Murphy’s

  

Understanding Unseens (1972), Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense

  (1974), and Little’s Approach to Literature (1981). The theories of message in literary work were taken from Beaty and Hunter’s New Worlds of Literature (1989).

  In addition, this study also refers to Rohrberger and Woods’ Reading and

  

Writing about Literature (1971) and Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches

to Literature (1999) regarding formalistic approach employed in this study,

  Dryden’s Selected Criticism (1970), Moody’s books Literary Appreciation (1968) and The Teaching of Literature with Special Reference (1971) regarding the nature and functions of literature. Wellek and Warren’s Theory of Literature (1956) is used as a reference for both formalistic approach and literature.