A STUDY OF TOMMY WILHELM’S FAILURES IN HIS CAREERS AS PORTRAYED IN SAUL BELLOW’S SEIZE THE DAY A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  A STUDY OF TOMMY WILHELM’S FAILURES IN HIS CAREERS AS PORTRAYED IN SAUL BELLOW’S SEIZE THE DAY A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements Sarjana Pendidikan Degree to Obtain the in English Language Education By Alexsander Irfan Bramasto Student Number: 061214062 ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I praise Jesus Christ for His mercy and blessing. He has always given me strength to cope with my hard days. Finally, after few months I could finish this thesis. I do realize that I would have never been able to finish this thesis without the help of others. Here, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Drs. L.

  Bambang Hendarto Y., M.Hum. who has guided me in completing this thesis and has given good advice in order to make this thesis better. I would like to thank all the lecturers of ELESP for their guidance, patience, and time. I also thank all the staff of Sanata Dharma University for helping me in the administrative matters.

  I would like to thank my parents for their supports, love, and prayer. My deepest thankfulness goes to my beloved mother for always strengthening me to finish my thesis and for each prayer she sends to Jesus Christ for me. My thankfulness is also for my beloved brother and sister who always support me.

  I would like to express my special gratitude to my beloved girlfriend, Maria Putri Sari Utami, who has encouraged me to finish this thesis. She has changed me in a way I cannot forget. I do love her now and forever.

  My grateful also goes to Satrio, Anneis, Tata, Ria and Oda for being delightful friends in these few months. Last but not least, I thank my friends at Jalan Legi no.11, Mutiara Futsal, mbah Ro, UKM Tarung Derajat, Kanjeng Sinuwun Band and ELESP 2006 for the time they spent with me.

  Finally, I thank those whose names cannot be mentioned one by one, for their help and support.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE

  …………………………………………............................... i

  PAGES OF APPROVAL

  …………………………................................... ii

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY …………….................... iv

PAGE OF DEDICATION

  ……………………......................................... v

  LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  ……………… vi

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ………………………………....................... vii

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  ………………………………........................... viii

  ABSTRACT

  ……………............................................................................ xi

  ABSTRAK

  ……………….………............................................................... xii

  CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

  ………….…………….......................... 1

  1.1. Background of the Study ……..……………………............................. 1

  1.2. Problem Formulation ………………………………............................. 4

  1.3. Objectives of the Study …………………………………...................... 4

  1.4. Benefits of the Study ………………………………………................. 4

  1.5. Definition of Terms ……………………………………….................... 5

  1.5.1. Failure …………………………………………………..………… 5

  1.5.2 . Motivation ………………………………………………..………. 5

  CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

  …..………….. 6

  2.1. Theoretical Review ………………………………................................ 6

  2.1.1.Cr itical Approach ……………………………................................ 6

  2.1.2. Character ……………………...…………………………............. 7

  2.1.3. Characterization ……………….………........................................ 9

  2.1.4. Motivation ...………………………............................................... 11

  2.1.5. Goals in Somebody Life ..……...................................................... 13

  2.1.6. Career ..…….................................................................................. 13

  2.1.7. Failure ..…….................................................................................... 14 2.2. Theoretical Framework ..........................................................................

  16

  CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..............................................................

  4.2.1.3 As an Investor ….……………………………………….......... 35

  ……………………….............. 49 APPENDIX 2 Biography of Saul Bellow

  …………………………….................................................. 48 APPENDIX 1 Summary of the Novel .

  APPENDICES

  ………………………………............................................ 46

  REFERENCES

  5.2.2 Suggestion for Teaching-Learning Activities ……...………..… 44

  5.2.1 Suggestions for Future Researchers …………………………… 44

  5.2. Suggestions ………………………......................................................... 44

  5 .1. Conclusions ………………………........................................................ 41

  

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ............................ 42

  4.2.2.3 The Defense Against a Loss in a Social Value ………..……… 39

  4.2.2.2 The Defense Against Punishment …………………….……… 38

  4.2.2.1 Avoiding a Loss In Self- Estimate …………………….……… 37

  4.2.2. The Characteristics of a Failed Person Found in Wilhelm ............... 36

  4.2.1.2 As an Employee ….………………….………………….......... 32

  18

  4.2.1.1 As an Actor …….……………………….……………….......... 30

  4.2.1. A Failure in Wilhelm’s Careers …….……………………............... 29

  4.2. The Characteristics of a Failed Person Reflected in Wilhelm…………... 29

  4.1.5. Cowardly ..…………….................................................................... 28

  4.1.4. Lonely ..……………....................................................................... 27

  4.1.3. Dishonest ..……………................................................................... 25

  4.1.2. Stubborn ..…………….................................................................... 24

  4.1.1. Attractive ..…………...................................................................... 23

  4.1. The Description of Wilhelm’s Character ..………………..................... 23

  …..………………............................................. 22

  CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

  3.3. Method of the Study …..……..……….................................................. 20

  3.2. Approaches of the Study ….…………………….................................. 19

  3.1. Object of the Study ..……………………….......................................... 18

  .………………………........ 51

  APPENDIX 3 Picture of Saul Bellow …………………………..……. 54 APPENDIX 4 Lesson Plan

  …............................................................... 55 APPENDIX 5 Answer Key

  …............................................................... 60

  

ABSTRACT

Bramasto, Alexsander Irfan. 2011.

  A Study of Tommy Wilhelm’s Failures in His Careers as Portrayed in Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day. Yogyakarta: English

  Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.

  This thesis analyses Saul Bellow’s novel entitled Seize the Day. The novel tells about the life of Tommy Wilhelm, the major character of the novel, who has to deal with failures in his life. One of the major issues described in the novel is Wilhelm’s failures in his careers. His failures in his careers are the root of other failures in his life. This study analyses the major character’s characteristics and the failures he faces in his careers.

  There are two main problems which are formulated in this study related to the major character: (1) How is Tommy Wilhelm as the main character described in the novel? (2) How are the characteristics of a failed person reflected in Tommy Wilhelm?

  The method employed in this study was a library study. There were two kinds of data sources used in this study namely primary and secondary source. The primary source was the novel itself, Seize the Day. The secondary sources were some books and some sources from the internet which provided information related to the study. This thesis applied the psychological approach to describe the characteristics of Wilhelm, to find out the failures in Wilhelm

  ’s careers, and to find out the characteristics of failed person in Wilhelm ’s personality.

  From the analysis, it can be concluded that Wilhelm is characterized as a handsome, stubborn, dishonest, lonely and cowardly man. Further, the analysis shows that Wilhelm tries to make his career at his early age. He wants to prove to other people that he can be a successful person without help from his father. He wants to be an independent person. However, his plan does not go well. He faces failures in his careers. He fails in every job he gets. First, he fails to be an actor. He fails to be an actor due to his lack of acting skill. Second, he fails to be an employee. He is kicked out from his job because he has an affair with his workmate. Third, he fails to be an investor. He takes a short way to change his condition by investing his last dollars. He gives his money to Dr. Tamkin, a person who persuades Wilhelm to invest his money. However, what Dr. Tamkin predicts before is not accurate. Wilhelm loses all of his money. Now, Wilhelm totally runs out of money and jobless. From the analysis, it is also revealed that there are characteristics of failed person in Wilhelm’s personality namely avoiding a loss in self-estimate, the defense against punishment, and the defense against a loss in social value.

  This thesis also provides some suggestions for future researchers who will conduct studies on other topics in Seize the Day. This thesis also provides suggestions for English teaching-learning activities. In addition, this thesis provides lesson plan in teaching vocabulary using literary work.

  

ABSTRAK

Bramasto, Alexsander Irfan. 2011.

  A Study of Tommy Wilhelm’s Failures in His Careers as Portrayed in Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day. Yogyakarta: Program Studi

  Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Skripsi ini menganalisa Seize the Day, novel yang ditulis oleh Saul Bellow. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Tommy Wilhelm, tokoh utama dalam novel ini, yang harus berhadapan dengan kegagalan di sepanjang hidupnya. Salah satu tema utama dalam novel ini adalah kegagalan Wilhelm dalam karirnya. Kegagalannya dalam karir adalah penyebab dari semua kegagalan dalam hidupnya. Skripsi ini menganalisa karakteristik tokoh utama, Wilhelm, dan kegagalan- kegagalan yang dia alami dalam karirnya.

  Ada dua pertanyaan yang dibuat dalam skripsi ini yang berhubungan dengan tokoh utama: (1) Bagaimana Tommy Wilhelm sebagai tokoh utama digambarkan dalam novel? (2) Bagaimana karakteristik orang yang gagal tercermin di dalam diri Tommy Wilhelm? Metode yang digunakan dalam penulisan skripsi ini adalah studi pustaka. Ada dua sumber data yang digunakan dalam penulisan skripsi ini yaitu sumber utama dan sumber lain-lain. Sumber utama dalam skripsi ini adalah novel itu sendiri,

  

Seize the Day. Sumber-sumber lain yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini diperoleh dari

  buku-buku dan dari internet yang mengandung informasi yang berhubungan dengan penulisan skripsi ini.

  Skripsi ini menerapkan pendekatan psikologis untuk menggambarkan karakter Wilhelm, untuk menemukan kegagalan-kegagalan Wilhelm dalam karirnya, dan untuk menemukan sifat-sifat orang gagal yang ada dalam diri Wilhelm.

  Berdasarkan analisis, dapat disimpulkan bahwa Wilhelm digambarkan sebagai seorang yang rupawan, keras kepala, tidak jujur, kesepian dan pengecut. Wilhelm ingin membuktikan kepada orang-orang disekitarnya bahwa dia dapat menjadi orang yang berhasil, tanpa bantuan dari ayahnya. Tetapi, apa yang dia rencanakan tidak sesuai dengan kenyataan. Dia selalu gagal disetiap pekerjaan yang dia dapatkan. Pertama, dia gagal menjadi seorang aktor karena dia tidak memiliki kemampuan berakting. Kedua, dia gagal menjadi seorang pekerja. Dia dikeluarkan dari pekerjaannya karena ketahuan berselingkuh dengan rekan kerjanya. Terakhir, Wilhelm juga gagal sebagai seorang pemasok modal. Dia tertarik dengan rayuan Dr. Tamkin yang mengatakan bahwa Wilhelm dapat keluar dari semua masalahnya bila ia mau menginvestasikan uangnya. Ternyata, apa yang diprediksikan Dr. Tamkin salah. Wilhelm kehilangan semua uangnya. Sekarang, dia pengangguran dan tidak punya uang sama sekali. Dalam analisis juga dipaparkan bahwa ciri-ciri orang gagal juga ditemukan dalam diri Wilhelm seperti menghindari kehilangan harga diri, menghindari hukuman dan menghindari pengucilan dari masyarakat.

  Skripsi ini juga memberikan saran bagi peneliti di masa yang akan datang yang menggunakan novel Seize the Day sebagai bahan skripsi. Selain itu, skripsi ini juga memberikan saran bagi kegiatan belajar-mengajar kelas Vocabulary I menggunakan karya sastra.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of background of the study, problem formulation,

  objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the study gives the explanation about the topic of this study. The objectives of the study state the purpose of the writer in writing this thesis. The problem formulation describes the problems that will be analyzed. The benefits of the study give the explanation of who may get benefits from the study. The definition of terms gives some explanations about several terms that are related to the study to avoid misunderstanding about it.

1.1 Background of the Study

  Everybody in this world experiences failure. No body can say that he has never tasted failure in his life. Failure in one‟s life happens in many kinds of aspects.

  For the example, a student experiences failure when he cannot pass the exam, an adult experiences a failure when he cannot get a job to support his life, and a parent experiences failure when he cannot educate his children.

  Someone who quits when facing failure, he has allowed failure to dominate him. But, when someone who learns from failure and gets stronger, he has used failure to refine himself. Failure may be a fear that a person should overcome to be motivated to learn new things. Actually, failure is not a bad thing if a person always keeps trying after they fail. It can be a guidance for a person to discover something new. In order to discover something new and learn from failure, a person should have a motivation within him. A person tries to struggle for something new when his goals/needs are not achieved. He will motivate himself to do and try harder to achieve his goals. According to Petri (3), motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces acting on or within an organism to initiate and direct behavior. The concept of motivation is also used to explain differences in the intensity of behavior. In the other word, motivation makes someone wants to do something.

  They become a reason for doing something or behaving in a certain way.

  Works of literature may portray human life experiences as described above. Literature is said to have a close relationship with human‟s life. One of literature work like novel reflects human life and it contains many messages about every aspect of human life namely failure, love, ideal, and so on. According to Bressler (10), a novel as a work of literature is a text whose certain qualities contain some elements, such as plot, character, tone, symbol, conflict, that often represents the author‟s life and has major action to teach good values and clearly to entertain the readers. is one example of work of literature that portrays the issues

  Seize the Day

  about the internal life of human being, especially about failure that may happen in someone‟s life. Seize the Day tells about the life of an American man named Tommy Wilhelm who finds himself of being stuck in depressing situations. He feels so tired because he has to deal with failure in whole of his life.

  Wilhelm ‟s first failure happens when he discontinues his study at the college and chooses to start his career as an actor. Wilhelm meets with Maurice Venice, a person who works as a talent seeker for Kaskaskia films. Maurice tells Wilhelm that he sees a talent in Wilhelm and asks him to take casting as a prerequisite to be an

  Sometimes he told people, “I was too mature for college. I was a big boy, you see. Well, I thought, when d o you start to become a man?” After he had driven a panted flivver and had won a yellow slicker with slogan on it, and played illegal poker, and gone out on Coke dates, he had had college. He wanted to try something new and quarreled with his parents about his career.

  And then a letter came from Maurice Venice. (Bellow 19) Wilhelm tells his parents about his plans to move to California, trying to realize his dream of being an actor. But, his plan is rejected by his parents because at that time Wilhelm is still a student. Wilhelm prefers to drop out from his college education and moves to California, against his parent warning. His decision makes his parents disappointed. From that time, Wilhelm has a strain relationship with his parents, especially with his father.

  In California, Wilhelm finds nothing but a failure. Maurice rejects Wilhelm because Maurice thinks that Wilhelm does not have talent in acting. It forces Wilhelm to find another job. After he takes decision to stop acting, Wilhelm continues his life by doing different jobs. But, anytime he gets a new job, soon he decides to leave it. Finally, Wilhelm has a steady job at Rojax Corporation as a sales representative. But, his success in his career at Rojax Corporation is followed by another interruption. Wilhelm has to share his position with the son-in-law of the owner of the company. It makes Wilhelm upset and takes a decision to quit from his job.

  His decision to leave his job at Rojax Company is one of mistakes he makes in his career. Wilhelm finds himself jobless and gets a financial problem since he has to support his children and wife. Then, Wilhelm meets with Dr. Tamkin, a person who lives in the same hotel with him. Dr. Tamkin persuades him to invest his last dollar. Tamkin told Wilhelm about his optimistic expectation that Wilhelm will be rich. But, the fact is Wilhelm lose all of his last money. Dr. Tamkin disappears, leaving Wilhelm alone when he knows that Wilhelm has lost all of his money. Here, Wilhelm ‟s failure in his career is the root of his others failure.

  This novel is chosen because it tells about burdens of a modern man. It tells a great lesson about internal life of human being, especially about failure in someone‟s career. The reader can melt into the character of Wilhelm and feel the problems he had in his life. Wilhelm

  ‟s problems are the reflection of problems which can happen in our daily life.

  1.2 Problem Formulation

  There are two major problems formulated in the study. They are as follows: 1. How is Tommy Wilhelm as the main character described in the novel? 2.

  How are the characteristics of a failed person reflected in Tommy Wilhelm?

  1.3 Objectives of the Study

  The study has two objectives. The first objective is to analyze how the author characterizes Tommy Wilhelm as the main character. The second objective is to find out how the characteristics of a failed person are reflected in Tommy Wilhelm

  1.4 Benefits of the Study

  There are some benefits which can be taken by all of the readers who are interested in literary works through this study. The first benefit is to introduce the reader to one of Saul Bellow‟s best novel Seize the Day which can inspire the reader to know and understand deeper about life, especially about failure in life. This study will give the reader a better understanding of that novel from the psychological point of view. The second benefit is the novel that represents human experiences can be the reference if the readers face the same circumstances. The last benefit is those who use novel for teaching and learning can use the novel as the resource of language teaching.

1.5 Definition of Terms

  This part provides the definition of some significant terms frequently used in this study in order to avoid misunderstanding. There are two terms clarified in this part. Those terms are failure and motivation. The explanations are as follows:

  1.5.1 Failure

  Pettijohn, in his book Psychology: A Concise Introduction. Third Edition states that failure frustrates people. Sometimes they fail in achieving something. For example, they fail to pass an exam, to get a good job, or to maintain a good relationship with family. Sometimes, they feel as though they have failed, even when they do better than expected, because they have such high expectation for themselves. Then, their failure may produce guilt (286). In this study, failure means Wilhelm‟s failure in his career and wrong decisions he made in his life.

  1.5.2 Motivation

  According to Murray (7), motivation is related to behaviour because it involves in all kinds of behaviours such as learning, performing, perceiving, attending, remembering, forgetting, thinking, creating and feeling. It affects someone‟s behaviour because motivation may function as incentive for someone to behave in a certain manner. In this study, motivation means Wilhelm‟s reasons for doing something in his life or behaving in a particular way.

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter presents a review of related literature. It is divided into review

  of related theories and theoretical framework. The first part, review of related theories, consists of critical approaches, the theory of character, the theory of characterization, the theory of motivation, the theory of goals in somebody life, theory of career and the theory of failure.

2.1 Theoretical Review

  This part discusses about the theories that are used to answer the problems, those are: critical approaches, theory of character and characterization, motivation, goals in somebody life, career and failure.

2.1.1 Critical Approach

  According to Rohrberger and Woods Jr, there are five approaches which can be used to analyse a work of literature. They are the formalistic approach, the biographical approach, the socio-cultural historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach (6-15).

  The first approach is formalistic approach. This approach concentrates on the total integrity of the literary works. The harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole is seen as a complete harmony to the complete work. This approach does not concern with the facts of the author

  ‟s life, the genre of the literary work, and the social background.

  The second approach is the biographical approach. This approach aims to consider the author‟s life, personality, and ideas for a deep understanding to his writings. The readers could coll ect facts about the author‟s personality and life. It can help the readers to appreciate the author‟s literary work.

  The third is the socio-cultural historical approach. There are two factors which are presented in this approach. Firstly, accuracy in the presentation of historical facts is of value to the historian, but not necessarily to the author. Secondly, a work of literature might have historical significance, but not necessarily literary significance.

  The fourth approach is the mythopoeic approach. The mythopoeic approach is used when a critic is attempted to find particular recurrent pattern of human thought which are consider sharing the same universal belief to certain community mind.

  The last is the psychological approach. This approach involves theory of psychology to explain the characters personality in the story. This approach tries to locate and demonstrate the recurrent human‟s patterns by using his imagination and creation. In this approach, character is the element of literary work. This approach is applied to discover the character‟s personality, which can be found in symbolic words, thoughts, and actions.

  This study takes the psychological approach as the most appropriate approach in interpreting the novel and analysing the problems of the study. Through this approach, the character of Wilhelm can be observed from his psychological development. In addition, this approach is used to explain human motivation, personality and behavior patterns written in a literary work.

2.1.2 Character

  Abrams (20) provides definition of character. He clarifies that characters are the person presented in a work of literature that are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say and do.

  In addition, Holman and Harmon (81) state that character is the person that reflects people in real life who are described by the author in his literary work. They define characters as descriptive sketch of person‟s type. The person‟s character is not described as individual personality, but as an example of vice or virtue.

  According to Forster in his book Aspect of the Novel, character is divided into two types. They are flat or static characters and round or dynamic characters. “A flat character is built aroun d „a single idea or quality‟ and is presented in outline and without much individualizing detail and it can be so fairly adequately described in a single phrase or sentence. A flat character is characterized by one or two traits because we see only one side of him. There are two advantages of a flat character. The first advantage of a flat character is that he is recognized easily whenever he comes. He is recognized not only by visual eye which merely notes the recurrence of a proper name, but also by the r eader‟s emotional eye. It means that by seeing a part of a person‟s character, the readers can get the description of the whole character. The second advantage is that the readers easily remember a flat character. It is because from the very beginning of the story till the end of it, the character can be summed up into one or two word.

  A round character often changes-learns or becomes enlightened, grows or deteriorates. This is the most perfect way for authors to present the characters since the author are able to represent them in their wholeness and in their different aspects. Meaning that the authors present the characters complete from one side to other and how the characters react differently towards different situation and/or persons encountered. (46-51).

  Further, Holman and Harmon (82) categorize character into two types namely major character and minor character. Major character is the character that plays the most important role in a story. A major character becomes the focus of the story. He or she is the most frequently appearing character in the story from the beginning until the end. Minor character is the character that takes a less important role in the story. He or she does not always appear in the story.

2.1.3 Characterization

  According to Murphy (161-173), there are nine ways of how the author may reveal the character‟s personalities and traits to the readers. Those are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comments, thoughts, and mannerism. The explanation for each way will be given as follows.

  The first method is personal description. It is related with physical appearance for which the author gives knowledge to the readers in understanding the character in a story through his or her facial expression and what clothes he or she wears.

  The second method is character as seen by another. It means that a certain person‟s character can be drawn from another character‟s point of view and opinion.

  The author describes the character through the eyes and opinion of others instead of describing the character directly. He represents the character‟s performance and personality by letting other character in the story convey to their readers what they are like based on the character that they encounter. The readers may gain the description as a reflected image.

  The third method is a speech. Through person‟s way of talking to other people or the way he or she conveys the opinion toward something, we can know the characteristic of that person. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he or she in a conversation with others, whenever he or she puts forward an opinion, the person is giving us some clues to his or her character.

  The fourth method is past life. The readers can find out the character‟s past life by the author‟s direct explanation, conversation with others and also by the others‟ opinion toward the character past life. The author gives some events that have helped to shape a person‟s character by learning something from someone‟s past life in the story.

  The fifth method is conversation of others. By paying attention to the conversation of other characters about him or her, we can know a person‟s character in the novel. People often talk about other people. And the matter of the conversation can give us reference to the person‟s character.

  The sixth method is reactions. It is the way to understand a person‟s character by seeing at his or her reaction if confronted with various situations and events in his or her life. Each reaction toward the problems shows the character‟s tendency and this tendency give the readers a description about the character‟s personality.

  The seventh method is direct comment. It is the author who gives his or her personal reception or comment on a per son‟s characteristics directly.

  The eighth method is thought. The author can give direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. Knowing a person‟s mind is one way to know the character of that person.

  The last method is mannerisms. The author can describe a person ‟s mannerisms, habits which may also tell us something about his personality.

2.1.4 Motivation

  Morris (408) states that motivations is a specific need, desire, or want such as hunger, thirst, or achievement, that energizes and direct goal-oriented behavior.

  According to Kalish (30), motivation can be strong enough to activate goal-seeking behavior that begins with curious feelings and ended with behavior that satisfied his need. It means that motivation is seen as something which activates an act to achieve a certain goal.

  Beck (144) divides motivation into two types namely intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes from within based on personal interests, desires, and need for fulfilment. Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors outside of the performer, such as rewards or punishment. Extrinsic motivation drives the performer to do things for rewards or pressures, rather than the fun of doing it.

  Murray (7) defines motivation as a desire. Motivation is related to behavior because it involves in all kinds of behaviors such as learning, performing, perceiving, attending, remembering, forgetting, thinking, creating and feeling. It affects someone‟s behavior because motivation may function as incentive for someone to behave in a certain manner. Maslow (qtd in Landy 370) classifies motivation into a

  2.1.4.1 Physiological needs Physiological needs are the very basic needs, they are the primary requirements for human survival, such as air, water, sleep food and sexual activity.

  For the example, when a person lacks of food, self-esteem and love, he is going to demand food first. He will ignore the other needs until the need of food is fulfilled.

  2.1.4.2 Safety needs In this level, human is looking for stability and security. It includes personal security, financial security, health and wellbeing and safety against accident or illness. These needs occur after psychological needs may be fully satisfied.

  2.1.4.3 Love needs Love needs are on the third level. They relate with acceptance, affection, giving, and receiving love. Humans have a desire to belong to group such as clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. People need to be loved, accepted, and to be needed by others.

  2.1.4.4 Esteem needs Esteem need presents human desire to be respected and valued by others.

  There are two distinctions of esteem needs, a lower and a higher one. A lower one is the needs for gaining status, fame, prestige, and recognition by others. The higher one is the needs for self-esteem, self-confidence, independence and freedom.

  2.1.4.5 Self-actualization The needs for self-actualization are considered the final needs. It may occur when the lower level of needs have been satisfied. These needs are the identification of the psychological need for growth, development, and utilization of potential.

  2.1.5 Goals in Somebody Life

  The purpose of life represents a truth-seeking question. Yaseen states that there are a lot of answers we will get if we ask about goals in somebody life. People are confused, they do not know what they actually want to achieve in this life. These confusions can be seen through questions such as why are we born? What is the object of our existence? What is the wisdom behind the creation of man and this tremendous universe? People always try to find out the answer of those questions (www.sultan.org/articles/purposeoflife.htm). In order to answer those questions, people make guidance about what they will do in their life. This guidance is commonly called “goals in life”. Goals in somebody life are different between one and others.

  Jess and Gregory (499) state that high personal standards and goals can lead to achievements and self-satisfaction. However, when people set their goals too high, they are likely to fail. Failure frequently leads to depression, and depressed people often undervalue their own accomplishment.

  Having goals in life is very important. It makes our words, attitude and deed on the right track. Goals in life will help somebody use their time and chance as best as possible because they already know what they will do. Without goals in life, somebody tend to waste their time and chance.

  2.1.6 Career

  According to Arthur and Lawrence (qtd in Baruch 3), career is an evolving sequence of a person‟s work experience over time. It means that someone‟s career is achieved through several steps. Further, Baruch (3) states that career takes place in process of progress and development of individuals, which is sometimes described as the life stories of people.

  Baruch (43-44) states that career can be distinguished into three types, namely internal, external and organizational careers. Internal career is the person self perceptions about his or her own career. This perception involves creating his own goals and evaluating his own achievements. This type of carrier is subjective.

  Therefore, the success or failure depends on the feelings and values of the person.

  External career concerns how people and organizations perceive a person career. It means that the success or failure of the career depends on other people assessments. It is more objectives than internal career.

  Organizational career is evaluated by a person achievement in terms of their positions and roles they fill during their working life in an organization or company.

  Career progress can be objective and measurable.

2.1.7 Failure

  According to Pettijohn (286), failure is a state or condition which frustrates people. Sometimes they fail in achieving something. For example, they fail to pass an exam, to get a good job, or to maintain a good relationship with family. Sometimes, they feel as though they have failed, even when they do better than expected, because they have such high expectation for themselves. Then, their failure may produce guilt. Very often, failure leads someone to be unmotivated to sustain his or her life. However, some people consider failure is the bridge to gain success in their life.

  Birney et al (210-222) explain about the characteristics of a failed person. They are described as follows:

  2.1.7.1 Avoiding a Loss in Self Estimate Birney states that one of the characteristics of a failed person is that there is a strong need to find out how good we are, but an opposing desire not to find how poor we are. It means that someone who has the characteristic of a failed person avoids himself to be evaluated thoroughly in fear of knowing his own weaknesses. This kind of person usually prefers to do the easiest or the most difficult assignment. Doing the easiest task means that it can be accomplished easily, while doing the most difficult task means that if the person fails to finish the task, no one will blame him because of the difficulty level of the task. The person may convince himself that the task is beyond anyone‟s ability to finish. Therefore, it is not his weaknesses that he cannot finish the task.

  2.1.7.2 The Defense Against Punishment Birney states that a failed person avoids the punishment. It concerns two types of task. If the person is given a task which provides a chance to be accomplished successfully, the most direct way of avoiding the punishment is through increasing the chances of success through practice and effort. The second type concerns with really difficult task. In this condition, such person usually gives up in order to save the energy of trying because he already that he cannot accomplish the task given.

  2.1.7.3 The Defense Against Loss in a Social Value Birney states that the fearful person cannot afford to point out his nonattainment because of the ever-present possibility of social-value loss. A person who is fearful of losing social value will tend to avoid uncertain achievement situations whenever others can observe his performance, but such a person will also participate. Under such conditions the most common way of avoiding possible loss is the use of excuses. The individual may point out that he is out of condition, unpracticed, or fatigued or is not trying because the skills is not important to him. These defensive behaviors are used to protect the self-estimate, but then the person himself has to believe them. When the primary function of the excuses is to prevent a loss in social value, the problem is to persuade the audience to believe them.

  When someone is facing failure, it‟s easy for them to get discouraged and to give up on their goals in life. People have to learn from failure in order to gain success in life. Rachel states that people have to find benefit in every bad experience. Grasp the positive effects of negative incidents. Every dream that people achieve comes from attention to a process. The process of success comes from repeated failure (www.frumi.com/images/uploads/FailingForward2008.pdf).

2.2 Theoretical Framework

  In analyzing the novel, some theories are applied. The theories are the theory of character, the theory of characterization, the theory of motivation, the theory of goals in somebody life, the theory of career and the theory of failure.

  The theory of character is used to find out whether Wilhelm is a flat or a round character. Meanwhile, the theory of characterization is used to analyse the description of Wilhelm‟s character. The characteristics of Tommy Wilhelm can be identified from his speech, conversation of others, reaction, character as seen by another, direct comments and thoughts.

  The theory of motivation is used to determine the possible motivations behind the act of the main character. Maslow gives description about hierarchy of needs that can be grouped in categories. These theories are used in supporting the answering of the second question in problem formulation.

  The theory of goals in life is used to describe Wilhelm‟s reason in behaving in a certain way namely following his intuition to move to California and try to make his dream to be an actor even he has to drop out from his school and against his parent warning.

  The theory of career is used as the reference in interpreting or analyzing the problems formulated in this study. It is used to analyze whether Wilhelm ‟s character is affecting his failure in his career.