ALIENATION IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY IN KURT VONNEGUT’S CAT’S CRADLE : An Analysis Of Karl Marx’s Theory Of Alienation.

ALIENATION IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY IN KURT VONNEGUT’S
CAT’S CRADLE
(AN ANALYSIS OF KARL MARX’S THEORY OF ALIENATION)

A Research Paper

Submitted to the English Education Department of FPBS UPI in Partial Fulfillment
of Requirement for Sarjana Degree Assignment

By:
Dian Pranasari H.
056417

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
THE FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
2013

Dian Pranasari, 2013
Alienation In Capitalist Society In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the research paper entitled “Alienation in Capitalist
Society in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle (An Analysis of Karl Marx’s
Theory of Alienation)” is originally my own work. It contains no material
which has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma at
any university except where due reference acknowledgement is made in
text.

Bandung, June 2013

Dian Pranasari H.
056417

Dian Pranasari, 2013
Alienation In Capitalist Society In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

Dian Pranasari, 2013

Alienation In Capitalist Society In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

ABSTRACT

Entitled Alienation in Capitalist Society in Kurt Vonnegut’s Novel Entitled Cat’s
Cradle (An Analysis by using Karl Marx’s Theory of Alienation), the present
study analyzes the novel Cat’s Cradle by using Karl Marx theory of alienation.
The study is aimed to uncover how alienation in capitalist society is reflected in
the novel and the effects of alienation on the main characters. The study uses
qualitative descriptive method with textual analysis approach. The study finds that
as portrayed in Cat’s Cradle, in capitalist society everything is appreciated when it
is profitable. This paradigm then decisively shapes the way the main characters
think and act, and produces a civilization that trapped in alienation. The textual
evidence shows that there are three forms of alienation in capitalist society as
reflected in Cat’s Cradle, which are: religious alienation, technological alienation
(commodity fetishism), and economic alienation. The study also finds that in
order to overcome alienation, instead of coping with the real distress, the main
characters choose to seek solace by practicing egoism or just the opposite,
altruism.

Dian Pranasari, 2013
Alienation In Capitalist Society In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu