THE INFLUENCE OF FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW IN EMPHASIZING THE RACISM TOWARD CHINESE PEOPLE IN AMERICA, AS DEPICTED IN BRET HARTE’S “THE HEATHEN
THE INFLUENCE OF FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW IN
EMPHASIZING THE RACISM TOWARD CHINESE PEOPLE IN
AMERICA, AS DEPICTED IN BRET HARTE’S “THE HEATHEN
CHINEE”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters
By
HANDAYANI IKA HARTONO
Student Number: 014214045 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Struggle for Your Life
I would like to dedicate
this undergraduate thesis toMy beloved Mom and Dad
up there
My lovely sister, and
My boyfriend
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The very first, I would like to thank and show my gratitude to my kind Jesus
Christ, for all His blessings, cares, and loves for me in writing this thesis. I also want
to thank Him for all the obstacles and mistakes that I made in the writing process of this thesis, so that I would always struggle to fix them. I also would like to thank my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M. Hum., for her help, courage, and advice in writing this thesis. Also to my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna, S.S., M. Hum, for his advice to me.
I would also like to thank my Mom, Kristianawati Prasetyo, and my Dad,
Hartono Suwono, up there, who had given me many memories and valuable
experiences in my life. Those memories had become my power in writing and finishing this thesis. I just wanna say, “No one can take your place in my heart. You are my best parents in my whole life”. Besides, I also would like to thank my
stepfamily, who had supported me in the financial matters. Also to my only one
sister, Natalia Dwi Hartono, I would like to thank her for her help and supports for me in writing and finishing this thesis. I would also like to thank my sweet, lovely, and kind boyfriend, Devit Lumi Ferdinan B. I would like to thank him for his prayers, supports, courage, help, and love for me in writing this thesis. I would also like to thank him very much for his cares, when I felt tired; patience, in
Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends in English Letters
Departments. I cannot mention their names one by one, because each of them does
mean very much for me. For my lovely best sister, Mba Niken Retno, I would like to thank her for all her courage, spirits, and helps for me in finishing this thesis. For Ian, I would like to thank him very much in helping me with my computer problems. Also for my best friends in Jakarta, Byunis and Nico, I would like to thank them for all their supports for me in finishing this thesis.
Handayani Ika Hartono
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………….. i APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………………….. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……………………………………………………….. iii MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………... iv DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………………... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………... viii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………… ix ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………… x
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………
1 A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………
1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………
4 C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………
4 D. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………
4 ……………………………
7 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies ……………………………………
7 B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………
10 1. Theory of Racism …………………………………....
10
2. Theory of Point of View…………………………………………… 11
C. Review on Socio-Historical Background ……………………………
14 D. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………
16 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………
19 A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………
19 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………
20 C. Method of the Study ……………………………………………
21 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………
23 A. Explication of the Poem ……………………………………………
23 B. Analysis of Point of View ……………………………………………
29 C. The Influence of the First Person Point of view to Racism…………... 39
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ……………………………………………
58 ……………………………………………………………
60 BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
HANDAYANI IKA HARTONO. The Influence of First Person Point of View in
Emphasizing the Racism toward Chinese People in America, As Depicted in Bret
Harte’s “The Heathen Chinee”. Yogyakarta: Departement of English Letters,
Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2006.
In literary works, intrinsic elements will give some functions. One of the functions is to help the readers to know some views or thoughts in the works. The intrinsic element which will help the readers to know some views or thoughts is point of view. By knowing the point of view used in literature, the readers will know how the author or the narrator tell the story. In this thesis, the writer will try to analyze the poem in order to find out what kind of point of view is used in the poem. After knowing what kind of point of view used, the writer will try to see how this point of view can emphasize the racism toward Chinese people in America. In addition, the writer also wants to see how this point of view’s influence emphasizes the racism.
In this thesis, there are two problems to answer. The first is what point of view is used in the poem and the second is how the point of view used emphasizes the racism toward Chinese people.
In order to analyze the poem, the writer did a research method, that was desk or library research. This method was done by collecting data and information from books. The data were then divided into two, which were the primary and secondary data. The primary data were taken from the poem, “The Heathen Chinee”, while the secondary one was taken from internet sites and some related books.
At the end of the analysis, the writer found that the point of view used in the poem is the first person point of view. Through the usage of the first person point of view, the racism to the Chinese people is emphasized. In addition, the using of first person point of view will show that the narrator is a participant in the story and that his or her participation will give him or her direct experiences with the situation(s) and the character(s) involved.
ABSTRAK
HANDAYANI IKA HARTONO. The Influence of First Person Point of View in
Emphasizing the Racism toward Chinese People in America, As Depicted in Bret
Harte’s “The Heathen Chinee”. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas
Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2006.
Dalam karya sastra, elemen intrinsik akan memberikan beberapa fungsi. Salah satu fungsinya adalah untuk membantu para pembaca untuk mengetahui sudut-sudut pandang atau pemikiran-pemikiran dalam karya tulis. Elemen intrinsik yang akan membantu para pembaca untuk mengetahui cara-cara pandang atau pemikiran tersebut adalah sudut pandang. Dengan mengetahui jenis sudut pandang yang digunakan dalam literatur, para pembaca akan mengetahui bagaimana sang pengarang atau narator menceritakan kisah tersebut. Dalam skripsi ini, penulis akan mencoba untuk menganalisa puisi yang digunakan, untuk mengetahui jenis sudut pandang yang diguankan dalam puisi tersebut. Setelah mengetahui jenis sudut pandang yang digunakan, penulis akan mencoba untuk melihat apakah sudut pandang tersebut dapat memperkuat rasisme yang terjadi pada orang-orang Cina di Amerika. Selain itu, penulis juga ingin mengetahui bagaimana pengaruh sudut pandang ini dalam memperkuat rasisme tersebut.
Dalam skripsi ini ada dua hal yang akan dijawab. Hal pertama adalah menganalisa puisi untuk mencari tahu jenis sudut pandang yang digunakan dalam puisi tersebut. Hal kedua adalah pengaruh sudut pandang tersebut dalam memperkuat rasisme yang terjadi pada orang Cina di Amerika.
Untuk menganalisis puisi tersebut, penulis menggunakan suatu metode, yang disebut sebagai metode penelitian. Metode ini dilakukan dengan mengumpulkan data dan informasi dari berbagai buku, yang terdapat di perpustakaan. Data tersebut dibagi menjadi dua, yaitu data primer dan data sekunder. Data primer diperoleh dari puisi itu sendiri, yang berjudul, “The Heathen Chinee”, dan data sekunder diperoleh dari situs- situs internet dan buku-buku yang berhubungan dengan pembahasan skripsi ini.
Pada akhir analisis, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa sudut pandang yang digunakan dalam puisi tersebut adalah sudut pandang orang pertama. Dengan menggunakan sudut pandang orang pertama, rasisme yang terjadi pada orang Cina menjadi lebih kuat. Di samping itu, penggunaan sudut pandang orang pertama akan menunjukkan bahwa sang narator adalah partisipan dalam cerita tersebut. Partisipasi narator tersebut akan memberinya pengalaman-pengalaman langsung dengan situasi dan karakter-karakter yang terlibat.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is written in order to fulfill certain functions. Many works of
literature aim as entertainments, though there are also some works of literature, which are written to teach and tell about something and becomes a media for the author to share his or her ideas. The author himself, the work, and the society have a strong relationship. His or her involvement in the society helps his or her writing process so that the content of literature may be a reflection of the author’s life or others’, the author’s surroundings, or experiences.
In literature, intrinsic elements will always play roles, in order to support the work of literature itself. Intrinsic elements will help the readers get a deep understanding of the work. Besides, the readers will also feel the atmosphere, imagine the setting of the time and place, and also know certain ideas or thoughts from the work. Based on those functions, the writer chooses point of view, as one of the intrinsic elements of literature, and relate it to the racism toward Chinese by American people.
Like other intrinsic elements of literature, point of view also plays important roles in understanding the work of literature itself. By knowing the point of These things are not limited only on how deep the author tell the work, but will also develop to the author’s background of life, his or her characteristics, and, deeper, his or her personal life.
Since the writer chooses poem, as a part of poetry and as the object in this thesis, the writer thinks that it is important for the writer to know about what poetry is. In A Handbook of Literary Terms, H.L. Yelland et al. states four ideas about poetry. One of their ideas about poetry is that poetry is “expressed in words finer and more musical than any other form of human utterance, words worth preserving for their own sake apart from the meaning they convey.” (1953: 154). Based on their idea, poetry can be said as a kind of literature, whose word structure is beautiful in order to deliver some ideas or thoughts.
The poem used in this thesis is “The Heathen Chinee”, written by Bret Harte. Through this poem, the writer will try to reveal the point of view in the poem itself and racism toward Chinese people by the Americans. Bret Harte himself is an American author, who had written many works of literature, such as stories, plays, and poems. One of his poems, that is “The Heathen Chinee”, became the most favorable work in the 80s. “The Heathen Chinee” tells about a Chinese character, named Ah Sin, and his interaction with American people.
The point of view used in the poem is hoped to be a way to reveal the the poem really knows about Chinese people. Then, the racism will be identified from the narrator’s “knowledge” and statements about the Chinese character in the poem.
Therefore, at the end of this thesis, the writer will not only know about point of view, but also racism toward Chinese by American people.
Some years ago, Chinese people were considered as an inferior group of people. It seems that all bad characteristics belong to them. In their efforts to get a better life, they faced terrible obstacles, especially from other nation, America for example. America became one of their destinations to seek a more prosperous life.
Since there were many Chinese, who migrated to America, some protests and complaints were soon established from the American government and the society.
They were considered as “different” group of people. It then made the Chinese isolated from the country.
The isolation from the country became the problem known as racism. Racism was not only faced by Chinese, but also many other nations, who became the immigrants in other countries. The Chinese faced racism for a long time. Their efforts to fix the conditions were always resisted by the natives. To attain the prosperity, they had to “crawl”. Still, they tried to gain a better life though racism seems never stops occurring to them, and it needs a long time to overcome it. The racism toward Chinese people happened in many places in the world. Not only in the Western countries, the racism also happened in the writer’s country, Indonesia. racism happened, the Chinese people seemed that they did not have any safe places in their surroundings. What they could do was staying together with the “same”.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the explanation above, the writer would like to state some problems on Bret Harte’s poem “The Heathen Chinee”. The problems are formulated as follows.
1. What point of view is used in the poem?
2. How does the point of view emphasize the racism toward Chinese?
C. Objectives of the Study
This thesis is written in order to analyze the poem, “The Heathen Chinee” by Bret Harte, by answering the problem formulation above. First, the writer wants to know what kind of point of view used by Bret Harte in the poem. By knowing the point of view used in the poem, the writer hopes to know how far the involvement of the narrator is. Second, the writer wants to find out how the point of view used in the poem emphasizes the racism toward Chinese. In this second analysis, the racism will be seen from the narrator’s statements in the poem.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid a misunderstanding in this thesis, the writer would like to clarify two terms, which will be used in this thesis. These terms are point of view and racism.
1. Point of View
As it is stated by Holman in A Handbook to Literature, point of view is A term used in the analysis and criticism of fiction to describe the way in which the reader is presented with the materials of the story or, regarded from another angle, the vantage point from which the author presents the actions of the story. If the author serves as a seemingly all-knowing maker, not restricted to time, place, or character, and free to move and to comment at will, the point of view is usually called omniscient. At the other extreme, a character within the story-major, minor, or marginal-may tell the story as he/she experienced, saw, heard, and understood it. Such character is usually called a first person narrator; if the character does not comprehend the implications of what he/she is telling, the character is called a naïve narrator…(1986: 386)
By knowing some information from the work of literature, readers can define what kind of point of view used in the work. It is called omniscient point of view when the author knows every information in the work. On the other hand, if a character in the work tells the story as his or her experiences, then it is called first person point of view. If the character does not comprehend what he or she is telling, he or she is called a naïve narrator. In short, the writer may say that, point of view is a term to describe the way how the narrator of a literary work state his or her opinion or idea toward certain situations and or character(s) in the work.
2. Racism
In The Psychology and Culture, Lonner and Malpass describes racism as
“usually associated with violent behaviors. Racism includes the attitudes, practices, and policies that result from a belief that skin tone determines attributes or behaviors”. (1994: 30)
When someone or a group of people face racism, they are usually tortured, either physically or mentally. The skin color itself becomes a justification for the “superior” group of people to decide, whether the “inferior” group of people deserves to “join” their place or not. The justification covers the quality of the people in the inferior group. It means that if the skin color of the immigrants is considered different from the natives’, they will be regarded as “bad- behavior-quality person”.
When racism happens and occurs to a group of people or to someone, there will be some rules established in the destination country. Those rules, in which are made for the immigrants, mostly expose about what the immigrants may and may not do. In short, racism is a behavior, which the “superiors” like to hurt and even isolate those, who are “inferiors”; and in its practice, racism mainly deals with race.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW In this chapter, the writer will provide some opinions and comments about
the poem, “The Heathen Chinee”, and some reviews related to the study. This chapter will be divided into four parts. The first part is review of related studies, which contains information about the poem, by the experts. Then, the second part is review of related theories, which will expose some theories about the topics of the thesis, which are point of view and racism. The third part is the review on the historical background, which contains some information about Asian American and the life of the Chinese American in Los Angeles. The last part of this chapter is theoretical framework. It will expose some reasons why the theories and reviews written in this chapter are used to analyze the poem.
A. Review of Related Study
In order to support this thesis, the writer also tries to find more information about the literature and the author. It is hoped that the information may help the writing process of this thesis. As the results, there are some reviews that the writer found. In this part, the writer would like to share the information found related to the poem.
The first two sources, which the writer would like to discuss, are taken from and ( The first site states that “The Heathen Chinee” is “a satiric poem”, while the second states that “The Heathen Chinee” was written as a parody. Its sensational popularity, being reprinted and republished, made Harte the most celebrated literary man in America in 1870.”
Both statements above about the poem are a little contradictory. The first opinion states that “The Heathen Chinee” is a satiric poem and the second states that it is written as a parody. Sometimes, satire statements will result in protest and bad relationship, while parody statements will result in entertaining and happy feeling. Whatever it is, a satire or a parody, the existence of the poem, “The Heathen Chinee”, had attracted many people’s attention at that time, which resulted in the reprinting and the republishing of the poem itself.
“The Heathen Chinee” is also said that it is a poem, in which the whites are outsmarted in their own efforts to cheat a Chinese. This poem, which Harte called “the worst I ever wrote”, was popular world wide. However, it initiated racial discord in California against the Orientals. (Written by Victoria Henderson, a student in University of North Carolina at Pembroke). (http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/18661913/lit/harte.htm) Based on Victoria’s statement, the writer can see that “The Heathen Chinee” is a poem, which describes the racism towards the Chinese people, or the Orientals, in California. In the poem, it is also described how the white people would do Another source is from states that …The Heathen Chinee is the source of the most famous depictions of the Chinese in America during the nineteenth century. The poem is not really negative in its depiction of Ah Sin, and Harte probably meant it as much a criticism of the way whites looked on and treated the Chinese as anything else. However, the poem did foster an enduring caricature of the Chinese which lasted for years. Both comments above state that “The Heathen Chinee” describes the arrogance of American people in facing the existence of Chinese people in their country. The American people were said as a superior group of people, who deserved the authority to do anything to the Chinese people there. They were also said that they acted as if they were the smartest people, so that they felt that they had the authority to resist and isolate the Chinese people there. Though Harte said that it was the worst that he ever wrote, the poem had become a description of the racism faced by Chinese people in the nineteenth century. This poem also becomes a criticism of the way how the whites treated and looked on the Chinese.
In his book, China and the Washington Conference, King stated that Harte was a poet, who could describe the history through the poem, The Heathen Chinee, in which it had become a source of representation of who Americans were and who Chinese were. (King, 1965: 28). Based on King’s statement, the writer can see that the poem, The Heathen Chinee, could gave an influence in stating either about American people or Chinese people.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Racism
Racism is a term, which always becomes an “endless” topic to discuss all over the world. Its never-ending existence makes it interesting to talk about. Racism was faced by many people from many countries. Racism becomes a “big” problem for those who are the “new group of people” or called immigrants in other countries. It happens because the natives cannot accept “new” people in their place. Racism always deals with the people’s physical appearance, the skin color, especially.
Chinese is one of those many groups of people, who migrated to some other countries. Their “members” spread in many countries in the world. One of the countries, which becomes the Chinese people’s destination, is America. As it is faced by other group of people who migrated, Chinese people also experienced the same thing. In America, their effort in raising their prosperity of life faced a resistance from the American people.
Many people give comments, suggestions, and arguing about racism and the solutions, though those statements seem never to become real. The Encyclopedia of
Cultural Anthropology Volume 3 defines racism as:
The belief that certain physical attributes, such as skin pigmentation or facial features, are linked to attributes of intellect, morality, or behavior, and thus establish a hierarchy of quality or worth between subgroups of our species (Levinson, 1996: 1055).
Racism has become a belief that certain physical appearances, such as skin color and facial features, determine the intellectuality, morality, and behavior of people. It will then establish a grade of quality between the subgroups of our society.
2. Theory of Point of View
M.H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms sixth edition defines point of view which “signifies the way a story gets told-the mode (or modes) established by an author by means of which the reader is presented with the characters, dialogues, actions, setting, and events which constitute the narrative in a work of fiction.” (1985: 165).
Point of view, according to Abrams, signifies the way of how a story is told, by presenting the readers with the characters, dialogues, actions, setting, and events, which become the characteristics of the narrator of the story, who tells it. Point of view is then divided into two kinds, based on the type of the narrator. They are third-person point of view and first-person point of view. The third-person point of view is then divided into omniscient point of view and limited point of view. It is an
omniscient point of view when “the narrator knows everything that needs to be
known about the agents, actions, and events, and also has privileged access to the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motives; and that the narrator is free to move at
In omniscient point of view, the narrator knows everything about the characters, actions, and events. The narrator will not only know about the characters, actions, and events, but also into their thoughts, feelings, and motives. An omniscient narrator has freedom to tell the story as he or she wants, whether he or she wants to remain at one character or move to another, in order to report what the characters say and do (Abrams, 1985: 166).
Next, the other subclass of the third-person point of view, that is limited
point of view. It is said as a limited point of view when “the narrator tells the story
in the third person, but stays inside the confines of what is experienced, thought, and felt by a single character (or at most by very few characters) within the story” (Abrams, 1985:167).
A limited narrator will also tell the story in the third person as the omniscient narrator. While the omniscient narrator tells the story based on
everything he or she knows, the limited narrator limits his or her knowledge of the
characters, actions, thoughts, and feelings, so that the information, which is needed to know from the story, cannot be reported wholly.
The second kind of point of view is the first-person point of view. First- person point of view “limits the matter of the narrative to what the first-person narrator knows, experiences, infers, or can find out by talking to other characters” (Abrams, 1985:167). narrator has to have a conversation with the characters in the story. Their conversation will then make the narrator able to tell the story.
The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms defines point of view as “the
physical, mental, or personal perspective an author maintains toward the events he recounts” (Simms, 1989: 238). Then, if the story is told in first person point of view (“I” or “we”), the speaker is a participant and has the emotional, subjective power of an involved witness. Second person point of view (“you”) allows more distance, thus more objective freedom, and carries a demanding, sometimes accusatory, tone. Third person point of view offers different kinds of freedom: (1) that of the omniscient point of view, in which the speaker freely roams in and among his characters and their thoughts and actions, either intruding with editorial comments or remaining impersonal and (2) that of the limited point of view, in which the speaker limits himself to the view of one character’s thoughts and actions, sometimes reporting objectively the state of consciousness of that character. (Simms, 1989: 238). Point of view is a way for telling the events in poems, in which the author tells them based on his or her personal perspective. If in the poem the author uses the pronouns “I” or “we”, it is called the first person point of view. In the first person point of view, the speaker of the poem is a participant and has an emotional power in telling about certain character(s) in the poem. When the author uses the pronoun “you”, it is called a second person point of view. Since the second person point of view uses the pronoun “you”, there will be a distance between the narrator and the object and the tone of the poem is sometimes accusatory. The last kind of point of view, according to Simms, is the third person point of view. Here, it offers view. In omniscient point of view, the speaker of the poem will tell about the characters and their thoughts and actions. There will also be one or some perspectives from the author (as an interruption in the poem), which functions to explain, sum up, or add otherwise it cannot be attained by the poem. While in limited point of view, the speaker limits his or her view of one character’s thoughts and actions. Sometimes, the speaker will tell about the conscious statements by that character.
C. Review on the Socio-Historical Background
In his book, Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture, Robert G. Lee discusses much about Asian American. Lee argues that Asians in the West have always been classified as ‘Orientals’, a term so grossly misused that the images of Asian Americans have become ‘the pollutant, the coolie, the deviant, the yellow peril, the model minority, and the gook’ (Lee, 1999: 271).
Those six images of Asians have treated the Asian American as the “consummate outsider and alien body that serve no purpose except to threaten the Anglo-Saxon national family in America.” (Lee, 1999: 271). Therefore, the Asians in America were isolated from the local community. Their existence in America became a threatening factor in ruining the native community.
Besides, the Chinese people in Los Angeles also faced violence from the anti-Chinese violence in the United States during an era of virulent discrimination against the Chinese” () It started by an altercation between Sam Yuen and Yo Hing. This quarrel then brought to the accidental shooting of Robert Thompson. Afterwards, it happened “a head fermenting racial and economic strife within the community and becomes directed toward the Chinese” ( As a result, “a mob of some 500 whites go on an arson and looting spree leaving 19 Chinese dead” It happened in the first Los Angeles Chinatown. This event was known as the Chinese Massacre of Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, the Chinese worked in many fields. For example, they worked as herbalists, dentists, a doctor, a lawyer, interpreters, jewelers, a movie renter and even actors.
From the 1870s, Chinese were the dominant group in agricultural produce as growers, vendors, and market proprietors. They distributed their produce from carts around the Plaza. They also operated laundry business. Later other ran restaurants, meat markets, and sold goods from both Chinese and non-Chinese Based on the condition above, we may assume that Chinese people are hard workers. The oppressions they faced in America had led them to struggle for everything in most of the time. Though many of them had ‘comfortable’ jobs, there were also some amount of Chinese who worked as labors, in which most of them
Thousands of Chinese from the Guangdong Province are recruited by Central Pacific Railroad Co to work on Western portion of transcontinental railroad., in 1865,” “approximately 3000 Chinese laborers are instrumental in completing the San Fernando Tunnel in 1876.”, and “ Chinese labor continues to be used although the construction of the San Gabriel Railroad in clashes between Chinese and white railroad workers, in 1886 ).
Though the Chinese labors were used in many projects, it did not mean that the Chinese’s sufferings were over. They were still faced injustice and violence from the country. In 1877, for example, the
Los Angeles City Council rules that successful bidders for irrigation projects will not be allowed to use Chinese laborers.” Another happened in 1880, “the city excludes all Chinese labor from city contracts”, and also in 1881, “the convention of the American Federation of Labor adopts a resolution calling for Congress to prohibit Chinese immigration ). Based on those conditions above, the writer sees that the American people seemed that they did not want to get the Chinese people involved in any field works in America. It was probably because the Chinese people’s hard work in order to earn money, though they were paid in low wages. Therefore, the Chinese people would not be able to fulfill their daily needs. Then, it would result in their life in America, which might be far from a prosperous life.
D. Theoretical Framework
In this part, the writer will see the reasons why the theories and reviews written above are used to analyze the poem. Besides, the writer will also share how criticisms or opinions of some experts on the work of literature. By paying attention to those theories, reviews, and criticisms, the writer will be able to know how to make a good analysis. Since all of them consist of many kinds of information, they will contribute many important things to the writing process of this thesis. Those theories will become the writer’s basis in doing the analysis on the poem. In other words, those information will become the writer’s references in conducting this thesis.
First, the review of the related theories. The review of the related theory in this thesis is point of view and racism. This review of point of view, which the sources are M.H Abrams and The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms, are hoped to be the basis for the writer, in order to identify what kind of point of view used in “The Heathen Chinee” by Bret Harte. The theory of racism will be used to give a deeper understanding of what racism is and its happening to Chinese people.
Second, the review of socio-historical background. This review is used in order to give the writer more information about what were experienced by Chinese people in America. It is used to reveal the racism toward the Chinese in America through the Chinese character in the poem, that is Ah Sin. Besides, this review is hoped to be a source for the writer to see the real life of Chinese people in America and also the real life of the American people when there were Chinese immigrants in their land. background, the writer will try to see what kind of racist treatments that the Chinese people experienced in America. Then, having found out the answers, the writer will analyze the influence of the point of view used in emphasizing the racism in the poem.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Object of the Study The object of the study in this thesis is the poem “The Heathen Chinee” by Bret Harte, which is also known as “Plain Language from Truthful James”. This
poem was written in 1870 by Bret Harte. It has ten (10) stanzas, six (6) lines in each stanza. The poem, edited by Michael Roberts, is taken from The Faber Book of
Comic Verse page 228, which was published by R. MacLehose and Company
Limited, the University Press Glasgow, in 1974. The Faber Book of Comic Verse itself has 400 pages, which contains poems from different authors.
Since its publication, “The Heathen Chinee” had absorbed many people’s attention. They read, gave comments, and even reprinted and republished it. As the writer found in ( it states that
The Heathen Chinee” is a satiric poem and it was being read on benefit nights at the theatres, and recited in good faith at Sunday-school picnics… pinned up on the walls of gin-ships, and carried furtively in the portemonnaies of Doctors of Divinity.
Besides, the writer also finds other statement from the same source, which states that the poem was “soon being reprinted and republished across the country”.
This amazing progress had shown that “The Heathen Chinee” was a very popular poem in that time.
The scene of the poem is on a time when Ah Sin is playing card with two American gentlemen. At the beginning, Ah Sin is predicted to lose the game. It is because the two gentlemen assume that he does not understand the card game (because he is a Chinese). At the end of the game, Ah Sin proved that he understood the game by beating the two gentlemen. This scene then made the atmosphere of the poem a humorous one.
B. Approach of the Study
Since the topic of this thesis is about racism toward Chinese people, the writer chooses socio-cultural historical approach, to apply on this thesis. Mary Rorhberger and Samuel H. Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature state that socio-cultural historical approach is an approach, whose reference is to the civilization that produce the work of literature itself (1971: 9). In other words, socio-cultural historical approach is an approach, which is based on the milieu, where a work was created (1971: 9). Civilization here means “the attitudes and actions of a specified group of people and point out that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter” (1971: 9). It means that if we want to give comments, opinions, or arguments to a work of literature, we have to see the facts of the environment, where the story is created. It includes the treatment of certain group of people to another group, in which those facts become the source of the literature writing process. For example, you read a work of literature about you to know about the facts of the black people’s life in America and the American people treatments to them. Then, the covering of the facts will become a way to avoid a misunderstanding in reading and appreciating the work of literature.
The socio-cultural historical approach is hoped to help the writer to know about what really happened to the Chinese people in America, by the presentation of some reviews of the Chinese people’s life in America. Through this approach, the writer hopes to be able to analyze the poem, by answering the problem formulation above.
C. Method of the Study
In order to complete this thesis, the writer used a method of study, that was library or desk research. Library or desk research is a method of collecting data or information from books. The data itself was divided into two, which were primary data and secondary data. The primary data of this thesis was taken from the poem itself, that is “The Heathen Chinee”, written by Bret Harte. While the secondary data was taken from some internet sites, some related books, such as Reading and
Writing about Literature by Mary Rorhberger and Samuel H. Woods, A Handbook
to Literature by C. Hugh Holman and William Harmon, A Glossary of Literary
Terms by M.H. Abrams, and Psychology and Culture by Walter J. Lonner and Roy S. Malpass. to know what the poem is generally about. The second step was to formulate some problems, related to the poem, to answer in the analysis. The third step was to search for some related and important data or information about the work and the author. The fourth step was to do the analysis and answered the problems in the problem formulation. Having answered all problems, the writer then drew a conclusion on the thesis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS In this part, the writer will answer the problem formulation through the
analysis of the poem. In this thesis, there are two problems to answer. First, what point of view is used in the poem; and second, how the point of view emphasizes the racism toward Chinese.
This analysis part will begin with the explication of the poem. The explication will help the writer to know what the poem is generally about. After that, the writer will analyze the poem in order to find out what kind of point of view is used in the poem. The last is the analysis on the influence of the point of view.
The writer will analyze how this point of view emphasizes the racism toward Chinese people.
A. Explication of the Poem
Before the writer goes to the analysis of the problem formulation, the writer would like to explicate the poem first. In this thesis, explication is needed in order to know what the poem is generally about.