Alice Childres’s Wine In The Wilderness: The Black’s reactions toward class division and racial discrimination in America - USD Repository

  

ALICE CHILDRESS’ S WINE IN THE WILDERNESS:

THE BLACK’S REACTIONS TOWARD

CLASS DIVISION AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

  

IN AMERICA

AN UNDERGRADUATED THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

  In English Letters By

GRETHA CELIA

  Student Number: 054214104

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009

  

Guard well your spare moments.

  

They are like uncut diamonds.

  

Discard them and value will never be known.

  Improve them and they will become the

brightest gems in a useful life.

  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

  

This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to

My Beloved Father and Mother My Wonderful Brother and Sister And

  My lovely Daka

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : Gretha Celia Nomor Mahasiswa : 054214104

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :

  “ ALICE CHILDRESS’ S WINE IN THE WILDERNESS: THE BLACK’S REACTIONS TOWARD CLASS DIVISION AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN AMERICA”

  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 yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 24 Agustus 2009 Yang menyatakan Gretha Celia

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I thank to the God for His blessing. That I can study in this University is His great blessing for me. I know that I am lucky for having this opportunity. That I can complete the thesis is His other great blessing for me because without His help I will not be able to finish it. He never stops helping me through the people around me. I realize that I am nothing without His guidance.

  I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Ni luh Putu

  

Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum., for having spent countless hours reading this thesis

  and also for her valuable counsel and support. Her dedication has unable me to finish this thesis. I also would like to thank my co-advisor Adventina Putranti,

  

.S.S., M. Hum., for giving me her help, encouragement, and willingness to assist

  me in preparing this thesis. Without their help, this thesis would not have been completed.

  My gratitude also goes to all the teaching staff in the English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University for the Guidance given to me during my study there.

  I dedicated this thesis to my beloved father (Rachmad Hadi Mulyono), and mother (Yetty Kustanty .S.) especially my father who pray me in Heaven.

  He always inspires me and makes me realize that I have to struggle to achieve what I always dream of. I thank my father and my mother for their precious love, prays, facilities, and supports to finish this thesis. I also thank for my brother (Eka

  

Brianic Firmansyah) and sister (Dian Triwahyuni) who shared their love,

happiness, and encouragement for me.

  I also address my gratitude to my lovely Daka who has been so patient supporting and encouraging me during finishing this thesis. He always stays beside me whenever I need him to share my sadness and happiness.

  Last, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my dear great friends:

  Citra Kerina Tarigan, Naris Eka Setyawati, Nanda Wahyu Sari, Catharina Trihastuti, Rusmiyati, and Oktavia Tripungkasi for the support and nice

  friendship. I thank to them for the discussion and all the moments that we have shared together. I realize that I cannot have these fun and forgettable times without them. I do hope we can continue our enjoyable moment in the future. I also would like to thank to all friends in English Letters '05 for being my friends during my study in Sanata Dharma University.

  Last but not least, for many people whose names I cannot say one by one, I am thankful for the help and support during my study and thesis writing.

  Gretha Celia

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………….. i APROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………... ii

ACCEPTION PAGE ………………………………………………….. iii

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

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

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………... vii

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

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………… ix

ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………….. x

  C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………

  48 C. The Reactions of Five Black Characters toward Class Division and Racial Discrimination as Revealed in the Play …………... 62

  B. Racial Discrimination in America Revealed through the Five Black Characters in the Play………………………………….

  2. Black Lower Class ………………………………………… 41

  1. Black Middle Class ………………………………………... 33

  A. The Five Black Characters Characterizations Reveal African American Class Division in America…………………………. 32

  30 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………………………………………….. 32

  27 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………

  26 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………….

  24 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………. 26 A. Object of the Study …………………………………………..

  6. Review on Historical Background………………………….. 19

  

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

A. Background of the Study …………………………………….

  5. Theory between Literature and Society ……………………. 18

  4. Theory of Racial Discrimination …………………………… 17

  13

  2. Theories on Characterization ………………………………. 10 3. Theory of African American Class Division ……………….

  1. Theories on Character ……………………………………… 9

  6 B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………. 9

  

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………………………… 6

A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………..

  4 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………….. 5

  C. Objectives of the Study ………………………………………

  1 B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………… 3

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……………………………………....... 70

  

BIBLIORAPHY ……………………………………………………...... 73

APPENDIX …………………………………………………………...... 74

  Appendix I Summary of Alice Childress's Wine in the Wilderness …… 74

  

ABSTRACT

  Gretha Celia (2005): Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness: The Black’s Reactions toward Class Division and Racial Discrimination in America. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.

  In this thesis, the writer discusses a play written by Alice Childress entitled Wine in the Wilderness (1969). This play addresses issue of socioeconomic conflict within the African-American community. Wine in the

  

Wilderness tells the underclass, undereducated heroine of "Wine in the

Wilderness" as the true Africentrist, proud of blacks and her blackness. She stands

  in stark relief to bourgeois, intellectual blacks whose white assimilationist and classiest values expose their racial dishonesty.

  This fact motivates the writer to focus on the topics about class division and racial prejudice in America as revealed in the play. Firstly, the writer focus on how the African American characters in Alice Chlildress 'Wine in the Wilderness” are described and later present African American class division. Secondly, the writer focuses on how Alice Childress depicts class racial discrimination in America through her play. And lastly the writer focuses on how Alice Childress conveys her reactions toward class division and racial discrimination through the characters in her play. In analyzing the play, the writer applies the socio-cultural historical approach. This theory is applied in order to find the element of socio, cultural, and historical background of the story. This approach also helps the writer to find the application of class division and racial discrimination in America in Alice Childress’ play. Through this approach, the writer can get a thorough understanding of social stratification and the condition of African American people in America at that time.

  In the first analysis the writer finds that the difference characterizations of the five black characters in the play represent the difference characteristics of African American class division in America. Bill, Cynthia and Sonny-man as general are described as educated, talented, and guarded black people who represents the characteristics of black middle class. They have better opportunity to access some resources such as education, employment, and service. While, Tommy and Oldtimer are described as uneducated, poor, unemployed, and worthless black people. As general they represent the characteristics of black lower class. For the second problem, the writer finds that both black middle class (Bill, Cynthia, and Sonny-man) and black lower class (Tommy and Oldtimer) have to face racial discrimination due to their identity as black. It results on interpersonal conflict and discrimination in housing, education, and employment. Finally, from the last problem it can be seen that there are some different reactions toward class division and racial discrimination that are shown by both black middle class and black lower class characters. Their reactions are influenced by their position in social stratification as revealed in the play.

  

ABSTRAK

  Gretha Celia. Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness: The Black's Reactions toward Class Division and Racial Discrimination in America. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009. Dalam skripsi ini, penulis membahas sebuah drama yang ditulis oleh Alice Childress pada tahun 1969 berjudul Wine in the Wilderness. Drama yang ditulis oleh Alice Childress ini mengangkat permasalahan sosial ekonomi diantara masyarakat kulit hitam. Wine in the Wilderness menceritakan tentang seorang wanita kulit hitam yang pemberani yang disebut "Wine in the Wilderness" yang berasal dari kelas sosial yang rendah, tidak berpendidikan dan bangga terhadap latar belakangnya sebagai orang kulit hitam. Dia bertahan diantara golongan kulit hitam yang berstatus sosial lebih tinggi dan berpendidikan yang kemudian tindakan pengasimilasian mereka terhadap kebudayaan orang-orang kulit putih menunjukkan penolakan terhadap ras mereka sendiri.

  Kenyataan ini memotivasi penulis untuk fokus terhadap topik mengenai pembagian kelas sosial dan diskriminasi ras, seperti tergambar dalam drama ini. Awalnya penulis fokus terhadap bagaimana tokoh-tokoh kulit hitam dalam karya Alice Childress yang berjudul Wine in the Wilderness digambarkan dan kemudian menunjukkan perbedaan ciri-ciri kelas social diantara kulit hitam. Kedua, penulis fokus terhadap bagaimana Alice Childress mengilustrasikan diskriminasi ras yang terjadi di Amerika melalui dramanya. Terakhir penulis fokus pada bagaimana Alice childress mengekspresikan reaksinya terhadap pembagian kelas sosial dan diskriminasi ras di Amerika melalui tokoh-tokoh dalam karyanya. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial, kebudayaan dan sejarah dalam menganalisa drama ini. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk mengetahui aspek-aspek sosial, kebudayaan dan latar belakang sejarah dari cerita tersebut. Pendekatan ini sekaligus membantu penulis untuk mengetahui penerapan pembagian kelas sosial dan diskriminasi ras terhadap kulit hitam dalam drama ini.

  Dalam menganalisa masalah pertama penulis menemukan bahwa perbedaan penokohan kelima tokoh dalam drama ini menggambarkan perbedaan ciri-ciri kelas masyarakat kulit hitam di Amerika. Bill, Cynthia dan Sonny-man secara umum digambarkan sebagai orang kulit hitam yang berpendidikan, berbakat, dan terjamin kehidupannya dan mereka menggambarkan cirri-ciri orang kulit hitam kelas menegah. Sedangkan Tommy dan Oldtimer digambarkan sebagai orang kulit hitam yang bodoh, miskin, pengangguran dan tidak berguna. Secara umum mereka menggambarkan cirri-ciri kulit hitam kelas bawah. Kedua, penulis menemukan bahwa baik orang kulit hitam kelas menegah maupun kelas bawah harus mengalami diskriminasi ras yang disebabkan oleh identitasnya sebagai kulit hitam. Akhirnya, penulis menemukan bahwa kulit hitam kelas menegah dan kulit hitam kelas bawah menunjukkan reaksi yang berbeda terhadap pembagian kelas dan diskriminasi ras seperti tergambar dalam drama ini.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Many people have said that literature give an entertainment toward the

  readers. Deep inside the work of literature lies something essential that we, as the readers, have to consider. Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in their book Theory of state that the work of literature represents life as a reality. They also

  Literature

  said that literature seems like "a mirror" of our real life. It is a reflection of human life because the literary works contain the reality of human situations, problems, feeling, and relationships (1956:96). In other words, reading a work of literature does not only give us pleasure, but also teaches us as human beings. Through literature, we may understand the reality of life.

  Further, reading a literary work will bring people to an aesthetic experience. Besides giving an aesthetic experience, a good literary work will also give readers knowledge or new ideas, and even sometimes, the result of reading a literary work may provoke readers or audiences to be more aware of the situations around them.

  We may see that most of literary works are a representation of reality, in which the writer tries to reveal the conflict that happens in the real life into a critique from his or her literary work. That is why some literary works can be found as criticism toward reality.

  The same thing can also be seen in Alice Childress's Wine in the Wilderness. Childress tries to give critique toward the condition of the society at that time,

  2 particularly in 1964 by making a one-act play. The play was originally made in 1964. Wine in the Wilderness is subtitled "A Comedy-Drama." Throughout the play, Childress utilizes the element of comedy to highlight her central thematic concerns, such as the nature of political and social action, male-female relationships, and class divisions within the African American Community (http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide/title/wilderness/.html).

  According to Gary Vena and Andrea Nouryeah in their book entitled Wine in the Wilderness is a play

  “Drama and Performance”: An Anthology,

  which using the background of Harlem riot as a controlling metaphor for communal and interracial fragmentation, Childress foregrounds the underclass, undereducated heroine of Wine in the Wilderness as the true Africentrist, proud of blacks and her blackness (1996: 895-896). “She stands in stark relief to bourgeois, intellectual blacks whose white assimilationist and classiest values expose their racial dishonesty” (Vena, 1996: 895-896). Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness is also an interesting play to be discussed because as a form of art, it represents the condition and the atmosphere of American society in 1964.

  Gary Vena and Andrea Nouryeah in their book entitled “Drama and

  

Performance”: An Anthology state that Childress’s characters and plots of her

  work of arts emerged from years of impressions she gathered by observing and weaving stories around their lives. She was inspired by the strength of her mother and grandmother, women who stood alone in the face of poverty and earned pennies doing domestic or factory work. Childress maintained her commitment for using theater as a weapon against racial, economic, and gender biased-

  3 inequality an as a tool creating community solidarity (Vena and Nouryeah, 1996: 897-898).

  Alice Childress's play always becomes a play that is interesting to analyze because she presents reality of life through her characters as general, who deals with racial, social, economic, and gender inequality. Wine in the Wilderness expresses and reflects Childress's sensibility toward life around her is another reason why the writer chooses this play to be analyzed.

  The way how society is represented in the play cannot be separated from writer's vision toward situations and social conditions around her, and Childress as a playwright is successful in presenting the situations at that time. Her play brings out consciousness to its audiences and inspires people or the society to do something for the good changes.

  Since the play stresses on black community within American society, the thesis will be focused not only on American black people within class division and racial prejudice as the result of white dominance but also on their reactions toward those situation.

B. Problem Formulation

  Referring to the background stated earlier, there are three questions that will lead the analysis to a profound explanation. These questions can be formulated as follows:

  1. How do the characterizations of the five black characters in the play reveal African American class division in America?

  4

  2. How is racial discrimination in America revealed through the five black characters in the play?

  3. What are five black characters reactions toward class division and racial discrimination in America as revealed in the play?

C. Objectives of the Study

  Due to the problem formulation, there are three objectives that are to be identified in this thesis. Those three questions are trying to determine the focus of the story. Answering question number one, the writer considers identifying the characterizations of the characters that later will represent the characteristics of African America class division as revealed in Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness.

  For the question number two, the writer wants to reveal racial discrimination embedded black people in American society, particularly in 1964 through the experience of five black characters as seen in Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness.

  To identify the reaction of each black character toward class division and racial discrimination in America as revealed in the play is the last focus of the writer. Everyone who writes a critique has right to elaborate his/her point of view according his/her perspectives. Unfortunately, none of criticism above states class division and racial discrimination which embedded black people in American society is reflected in Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness.

  5

D. Definition of Terms

  In this study, the writer wants to define some terms in order to obtain such a deeper understanding on Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness, mainly class, and racial prejudice of blacks in American society.

  1. International Encyclopedia of Ethics , class is formulated Class: In as belief that all societies are divided into social classes based on their relation to the economy and that these clash over the direction of society (Roth, 1995: 161)

  2. Racism: According to The New Encyclopedia Britannica , racism is the theory or idea that there is a casual link between inherited physical traits of personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races are inherently superior to others. The term racism has no necessary relation to biological or anthropological definition of race, a subdivision of a species. Racist ideas are often indiscriminately-extended to apply to such no biological and non racial groupings as religious sects, nations, linguistics groups, and ethics or cultural groups (Benton, 1983:360).

  3. Discrimination: In Racial and Ethnic Relations, discrimination is the “actions carried out by members of dominant groups, which have a differential and harmful impact on members of subordinates groups” (Feagin, 1978: 14-15).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies In this thesis, the writer will analyze one of Alice Childress's plays, Wine

  in the Wilderness . This part consists of the related studies that deal with Alice

  Childress's Wine in the Wilderness. There are many studies that will be presented in order to enrich the writer's knowledge in understanding the play.

  In his review on 19 June, 2002 entitled Alice Childress’s Artistic Optimism Emmanuel Nelson stated that Alice Childress’s works explore the incapacitating effects of racism, classism, and sexism on people of color as they struggle daily to maintain their dignity. Wine in the Wilderness (1969), is one of Alice Childress’s controversial work addresses issues of African American racial, socioeconomic and gender conflict (http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/bios/entries/childress_alice.html).

  Rosemary Curb in her review on October 24, 2003 entitled An

  Unfashionable Tragedy of American Racism said that Alice Childress, a serious

  contemporary playwright whose work has received little scholarly recognition, has been working in American heater for four decades. Childress was, in fact, the first black woman to have a play produced on the professional American stage. She affirmed a deep commitment to social and political causes that promote human rights for black people and women. It shows us that Alice Childress was known

  7 for her realistic stories about lasting optimism of Black Americans (http:/www.yale.edu/curb/americanracism/childress.html).

  Another review comes from Paul P. Reuben in The New Theater J through February 22, 2003 entitled Chapter 8: American Drama -Alice Childress. Quite the same with what have been stated by Rosemary Curb. Reuben states that Childress's legacy will always be her concerned but realistic portrayal of both blacks and whites and their relationships in plays, novels, and shorter prose. It explains that Childress was awarded the Paul Robeson Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts for her continued work in a multitude of literary mediums. Not only is her work critically acclaimed, but it also helped to raise awareness about important issues such as equal rights for minorities, women's opportunities, and the importance of art and storytelling of society (http:/www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/childress.html).

  These two reviews by Rosemary Curb and Paul P. Reuben are the alternative ways which will help the writer in collecting the information about Alice Childress as the writer of the play, about the issues that appears in the play, and about the purpose of the play itself. These reviews will support the writer in answering the problem formulation and analyzing the characters in Wine in the Wilderness and the main topic of this thesis.

  Rosemary Curb has informed that Wine in the Wilderness is made based on the factual event and some aspects in Alice Childress life that may influence his work of art such in producing Wine in the Wilderness. Through this review, the writer thinks that it is important to understand the background with or

  8 knowing the information about the writer before we analyze further his or her work of art. Afterward, Reuben in his review also explained that Childress’s works always raise awareness about important issues such as equal rights for minorities, women's opportunities, and the importance of art and storytelling of society. That kind of information may help the writer in analyzing and understanding his or her work of art.

  Franklin (1965) in the book entitled A Comparative Approach to American states that “the history of the Negro in the United States, in many ways,

  History

  unique in the world history” (Woodward, 1968: 175). This statement point out that in no other country of the world has such distinctive Negro minority persisted for such a long period of time. This information is important to support the analysis since this thesis analyzes Childress’s play which background was in Harlem, New York City, in 1964.

  Davis (1962) in the book entitled A Comparative Approach to American

  

History states that “modern scholars have been so impressed by the long

  submission and degradation of southern Negroes, as well as by the extraordinary prevalence of racial discrimination in the United States” (Woodward, 1968: 175).

  It shows us that blacks in United States cannot be separated from racial discrimination, as well as revealed by Childress’s play entitled Wine in the

  Wilderness .

  The writer will discuss the previous criticism and commentaries on Alice Childress's Wine in the Wilderness that this play shows racial, socioeconomic and

  9 gender conflict within the African-American community. Those reviews and criticisms above have proved that we can learn history from the work of art.

  In this graduated thesis, the writer wants to analyze Alice Childress’s Wine

  

in the Wilderness which focuses mainly on the reactions of black toward class

  division and racial discrimintion in America. This topic will be revealed through the characterizations of characters and their reactions toward class division and racial discrimination in Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness, which have not been analyzed yet.

B. Review of Related Theories

  To support this thesis, the writer uses some theories to be guidance in answering the problems mentioned in the problem formulation.

1. Theories on Character

  According to M.H.Abrams' A Glossary of Literary Terms, characters are the persons described in a literary work, who have the moral and natural qualities that can be identified by seeing what they says in the dialogue and what they do as in the action (1981:23). Based on Abrams's definition of character, it is obvious that what the character say and do are very important in analyzing the character. Through the action and speech, readers can also see the interaction of the character to other character in a literary work that determines what kind of person he or she is.

  10 Meanwhile, Hugh and Holman in his book A Handbook of Literature say character is a brief draft that describes a personage who has definite quality. This quality relates to the idea of moral construction of human personality. Each character has his or her own value, thus represents a sort of human being (1986:81).

  All definitions above try to say that moral principle is represented through the character. Moral quality emphasizes on the value about "good or bad characteristic" of which represented by the character and the consequence of the character's actions. For example, Jack is a huge man.

  The quality of the moral construction can be identified by observing how the character interacts with other characters or to some problems. It is not easy to determine the characteristic of a character, because the character may change his or her behavior and way of thinking. In this case, it depends on how the author characterizes the character.

2. Theories on Characterization

  Character is one of the most important elements in the play. The writer uses theories on character from some experts in this undergraduate thesis. Those theories are needed in order to get clear understanding about the character.

  Theory on characterization is applied to find out the characteristics of Bill Jameson, Tomorrow Marie, Sonny-man, Cynthia, and Oldtimer. The writer mainly uses Murphy's theory on characterization. Moreover, there are two other theories that support Murphy's theory, namely the theory on characterization raised by

  11 Rohrberger and Woods about the two principle ways to show the characterization and theory on characterization by Barnet about some important factors that must be considered when we want to see the character. Those theories function to strengthen Murphy's theory.

  Mary Rohrberger in Reading and Writing about Literature gives a theory of characterization. They say that characterization is the process by which an author creates a character. There are two principle ways that an author can characterize. The first is through a direct way. It describes the physical appearances. The second, he uses a dramatic event. It means that he places in situation where he should react in particular way. His action must be motive in the term that a reader can accept (Mary, 1971:20). In other words, the way to show about characterization can be direct or indirect. In direct ways the author describes the physical appearances. Secondly, is through indirect ways, where the author describes the character by how the character behaves and speaks. We can see the character implicitly.

  In the book Literature for Composition Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and

  

Drama, Barnet stated that the characters are the significant element in the work of

  literature. According to him, there are some important factors that must be considered when we want to see the character (2005:229), they are: a. What the character says What the character says in the story is important to give a clue of how the author describes him or her, for example whether he or she is a god or bad peon, educated or uneducated person.

  12 b. What the character does To see what character does is important to know whether he or she is upper class or lower class, he or she is a good or bad person.

  c. What other characters say about the character What other characters say about the character is needed to get additional information and about clear description about his character in the story.

  d. What others do The action of others may help to indicate what the character could do but he or she not does. It is important to know his character such as lazy, wicked, careless person, and etc.

  According to Murphy (1972: 161-173), there are nine ways on how the author attempts to make his characters understandable, to and come alive for his readers as follow:

  a. Personal Description The author can describe a person's appearances and clothes.

  b. Character as seen by another Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another.

  c. Speech The author can give us an insight into the character of one person in the book through what the person says.

  d. Past Life

  13 By letting the reader learns something about a person's character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.

  e. Conversations of others The author can also give us clues to a person's character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.

  f. Reactions The author can also give us clues to a person's character by letting us know how the person reacts to a various situation and event.

  g. Direct Comments The author can describe or comment on person's character directly.

  h. Thought The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. i. Mannerism The author can describe a person's mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character.

  In brief, a character plays an important role in literary works, because character is a person who made action and to whom the incidents happen.

  Therefore, the existence of a character is essentially needed.

3. Theory on African-American Class Division

  Kitano states that most of the status distinctions within the ethnic community are related to the white community. Variable such as income, occupation, education, and family background are common measures of status in

  14 most cultures. Other conditions of social status include property ownership, organizational affiliation, leadership ability, charisma, and life style and certain distinctions in social status, such as white ancestry, skin color, speech accent, and cultural similarities to the whites, used to be important to the black subculture.

  The growth of black identity and changed views of color and white ancestry have led to reevaluation of these variables especially for the middle classes and the lower classes (1985: 121).

a. The Black Middle Classes

  There is a growing black middle class. The occupational categories cover wide range professionals, independent business persons, clerical and service workers, and laborers. There are many civil service workers, public school teachers, ministers, and social workers.

  Like the white middle class, black middle class families are small, stable, and planned; they want to own their own homes and concerned about the quality of public schools. They usually belong to a number of organizations and social clubs and have perceptions and values similar to those of their white counterparts.

  Life style becomes extremely important. The term “black bourgeois” is used for members of the middle class. He saw many living in a fantasy world and emulating whites’ values and culture. The world of fraternities and sororities is a way of escaping the stigma of color and traditional black culture; the establishment of an American life style without corresponding economic basis is the root to maintain certain standard of living, often without adequate economic means, and this creates great stress (Kitano, 1985:122).

  15

b. The Black Lower Classes The lower class blacks are at the bottom of the community class structure.

  rd

  Billingsley (1974) in the book entitles Race Relations, 3 edition written by Harry .L. Kitano, divided the lower class into three distinct groupings: the working nonpoor, the working poor, and the nonworking poor. The working nonpoor are semiskilled but often well-paid men in industrial jobs: truck driver, construction workers, and auto mechanics (1985:138).

  According to Billingsley the working poor are the majority of poor black. They live “in nuclear families head by men who work hard every day, and are still unable to earn enough money to pull their families out of poverty.” These families are self-supporting and include the unskilled laborers, service workers, domestics, janitors, and porters. There are some standards that are associated with working class people i.e. a hard work, frugality, a college education, and wanting a better life for their children. But this group remains invisible and it is likely to be ignored when in individuals representing the black community is selected. The bottom rung of the lower class ladder holds the nonworking poor, sometimes referred to as underclass. He estimated that as many chronically unemployed, the welfare recipient, and the newcomer from the South. Family disorganization is great and is brought to the attention of the larger public only trough violence acts and political slogans. These individual becomes the stereotype of the urban, disorganized black; they are readily available scapegoats for absorbing some of the frustrations of the taxpayer. Their interaction with the larger society consists mostly of being “client” to social workers, teachers, and other professionals, or of being “problems” to the

  16 police. Needless to say they are “nothings” to the majority, who ignore and forgot their existence (Kitano, 1985:139).

  The overriding characteristics of lower class blacks are hostility. They are powerless; they have little hope for a better future and they lack the education and organization to help alleviate their despair and suffering. They tend to belong to fundamentalist churches and are rejected by blacks of higher status.

  Here, this theory will help the writer to understand the class system especially in American society. Further, it also helps the writer in revealing the class division in Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness.

4. Racial Discrimination

  Racial Discrimination according to Hernan Cruz’s Discrimination

  

American Style is a subtle from of unequal treatment based on race that is

  entrenched in social custom. It may include segregated housing patterns, redlining by financial institutions, and the practice of minority group members being forced continually into low-paying job. The most pernicious acts of discrimination in the United States have been directed against racial minorities. African Americans have operated in a caste like racial structure in the United States that has relegated them to inferior status, relative powerlessness, material deprivation, and socio- psychic resentment. It can be said that discrimination continues to embed in the social, political, and economic fabric of the United States (1977:67).

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4. The Relation between Literature and Society

  Literature as a work of art whose medium is language has a close relation with society. Usually, literature uses certain society which is used as the setting of the play. In the book of The Theory of Literature, Wellek and Warren state that “Literature has usually risen in close connection with particular social institutions and has also a social function, or use, which cannot be purely individual" (1956:94).

  Moreover, Graham Little in his Approach to Literature: an Introduction to

  

Critical Study of Content and Method in Writing (1963:1) mentions that literature

  is the principle of a culture. It contains a record of values, thoughts, problem, and conflict that are transmitted either through written or spoken words. With such acknowledgement, literature stands as the instrument to pass the experience from the generation to the next. Literature then functions as a media that recorded the situation of a society in the past then expose it to the new generation.

  The relations between literature and society are that literature is an expression of the society (Wellek and Waren, 1956:95). Literary work can play its role as document that record social realities, happen in society, which is artistically portrayed by the authors (1956:102). Literature also, can be made for the outlines of social history. For example, literature can be as a social picture of American life (1956:103).

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C. Review on Historical Background

  By learning history, we will be able to know how people struggle for their life, because people are the history maker. Based on the statement above, the writer thinks that history is a very important thing that becomes the basic aspect in our future life. Here, Mia in the book entitled Kelas dan Perjuangan Kelas written by Antonina Yermkove and Valentine Ratnikov says that:

  “We will be given the empiric reference of the past phenomenon that will (2002: ii).

  help us to predict a future live, if we learn a social history.”

  She explains that it is important to learn the social history, because it provides us an empiric reference of the past event in order to know the history.

  Therefore, the writer uses some information related to the discussion and some historical data in supporting the study about class division and racial prejudice within black community in American society. This information is worth fully in knowing the progress of American socio-cultural condition, especially related to unfairness that black people often experienced and their struggle to fight against it.

  Since the setting of Childress’s play entitled Wine in the Wilderness is in Harlem, New York, it is important to know the condition of society in 1964.

  According to Harvard Sitkoff in the book entitled The Struggle for Black Equality, Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City, long known as a major African- American residential, cultural, and business center. Black residents began to arrive en masse in 1904, with numbers fed by the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, the neighborhood was the locus of the "Harlem Renaissance", an expression of artistic and professional works without standard in the American

  19 black community and rates of crime and poverty increased significantly in New York after World War II (1981: 48).

  Harlem Renaissance represented a cultural movement among African Americans roughly between the end of World War I (1918) and the beginning of the Great Depression (1929). The names given to this movement reveal its essential features. Certainly the words "black" and "Negro" mean that this movement centered on African Americans, and the term "renaissance" indicates that something new was born or, more accurately, that a cultural spirit was reawakened in African American cultural life (Sitkoff, 1981: 153).