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  JIRO OSARAGI’S CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE IMPACT OF THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION TOWARD THE JAPANESE SOCIETY IN THE JOURNEY AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

  By

NIKODEMUS WURI KURNIAWAN

  Student Number: 034214109

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2008

  

JIRO OSARAGI’S CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE IMPACT OF

THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION TOWARD THE JAPANESE

SOCIETY IN THE JOURNEY

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

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

  By

NIKODEMUS WURI KURNIAWAN

  Student Number: 034214109

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2008

  i ii

iii

  

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are

heavy laden and I will give you rest.

  

(Matthew 11.28)

Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera

(God helps those who help themselves)

  Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute- What you can do, or dream you can, begin it, Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

  Only engage, and then the minds grows heated- Begin it, and the work will be completed!

  (Goethe/Faust “Vorspiel auf dem Theater”) Ryo-ni Yande yume-wa kareno-o kakemeguru (Bashoo)

  (‘Fallen ill on a journey/In my dream I run about/Over the barren fields.’) iv

  T his thesis is dedicated to:

M y Beloved Parents, I gn. Samun

v

  Susilo & Fransiska Siti N gaisah, B.A M y Sister, Lusia K artika Dewi v

  N ew Little H appy Family, v

K ristianus Agus. S, Veronika Susi. H

& Gregorius K evin. H

  v vi

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, let me express my highest gratitude to Jesus Christ, God Almighty for all blessings during the years I spent in finishing my study. I also would like to thank my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A. for all of the criticisms, suggestions, and patience which have been helping me in the process of writing my thesis. I thank my co-advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. for precise correction and suggestion to my written report. Also, I thank Adventina Putranti, S. S., M. Hum., my thesis examiner, whose questions and comments helped clarify many points.

  I would like to utter my thankful expression to Mbak Nik at the secretariat of the Faculty of Letters of Sanata Dharma University for helping me doing the administrations. All of the lecturers of the Department of English Letters of Sanata Dharma University deserve my thankful expression since they have always been one of my best sources of knowledge from the time I got myself involved in this institution. Thanks to the library of Sanata Dharma University for the books which helped me find the appropriate theories.

  Particularly, I must also record my great gratitude to Fransiska Chandra Leonita who always supported me in finishing my thesis. She has been a big help for me and my thesis. I would never forget the help given by Wahyu Adi Putra Ginting who lent me such an enlightening book about Japan, the source of my data. I thank him, he saved me in the right time.

  I thank friends in UKMK, Jarum UKMK, Sastra Mungil, KB 6, Noah, KKN Dondong, and Media Sastra for giving me space for my restiveness. Also, Simbie, Armando, Wahmuji, Yusak, Leni, Bigar, Yaco, Sondang, Ike, Mei, Abit, Nani, Ketut, Dean, Dewi, Sisil, Agnes, Maya, Daud, Intan, Theo, Arum, Nila, Kamel, Maria who always accompanied me killing the loneliness during the process of my thesis writing.

  Lastly, my deepest thanks and gratitude are due to my parents: Ign. Samun Susilo and Fransiska Siti Ngaisah, B.A; sisters: Veronika Susi. H and Lusia Kartika Dewi; brother- in- law: Kristianus Agus. S; nephew: Gregorius Kevin. H, to whom this thesis is dedicated.

  NIKODEMUS WURI KURNIAWAN vii

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

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

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

MOTO PAGE…………………………………………………………………... iv

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

Lembar Pernyataan Persetujuan Publikasi Karya Ilmiah………………….. vi

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

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

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………….............. x

ABSTRAK………………………………………………………………............ xi

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

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

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

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

  6 D. Definition of Terms………………………………………………..

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

  8 A. Review of Re lated Studies………………………………………....

  8 B. Review of Related Theories………………………………………..

  10 1. Theory on Character………………………………………….

  10 2. Theory on Characterization…………………………………..

  12 3. Theories of Setting…………………………………………...

  14 4. Literature, Society, and an Author…………………………...

  15 C. Review of Japanese Society in the Aftermath of the American Occupation…………………………………………………………

  16 1. Economic Condition………………………………………….

  19 2. Social Condition……………………………………………...

  20 a. The Group…………………………………………………...

  20 b. Individuality……………………………...............................

  21 c. Women…………………………………...............................

  22

  d. The Class Distinction of Japanese People………………………………………………………...

  22 D. Theoretical Framework…………………………………….............

  23 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………………………………...

  25 A. Object of the Study………………………………………………...

  25 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………..

  26 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………..

  28 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………………

  30 A. The Description of the Japanese Society in the Aftermath of the American Occupation in The Journey.............................................

  30

  1. The Description of the Japanese Society: Time and Place………………………………………………………….

  31 viii

  2. The Description of the Japanese Society in the Aftermath of the American Occupation: The Social Setting……………………………………………………….

  33 B. The Description of Main Characters………………………………

  41 1. The Description of Taeko Okamoto………………………..

  42 2. The Description of Soroku Okamoto………………….........

  47 3. The Description of Ryosuke Tsugawa……………………...

  51 C. The Novel’s Critical Comments on the Impact of the American Occupation toward the Japanese Society………………………….

  56

  1. The Rise of Postwar Materialism……………………………

  57

  2. The Implementation of Superficial Notion of American Ideal………………………………………………………….

  66 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………...

  77 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………

  80 APPENDIX: Summary of the Jiro Osaragi’s The Journey…………………..

  82 ix

  ABSTRACT

  NIKODEMUS WURI KURNIAWAN. Jiro Osaragi’s Critical Comments on the

Impact of the American Occupation toward the Japanese Society in The Journey.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.

  This undergraduate thesis focuses on the novel The Journey written by Jiro Osaragi. This novel stands out as excellent description of Japan at its nadir. It is worth studying for it examines and criticizes the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society.

  The aims of doing this thesis are to understand the description of Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation in The Journey, to understand the description of the main characters, and to find the novel’s critical comments on the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society through the presentation of setting and characters.

  This undergraduate thesis was conducted through library research. The theories of setting, characters, characterization and review of the Japanese society in postwar era were the means to do the analysis. The socio-cultural historical approach, explaining that the only way to locate the real work is in the reference to the civilization that produced it, was used in this thesis, for the proximity to the social, cultural, and historical context the novel had.

  The story of the novel is set in the 1950s postwar Japan as its setting of time and place. The American occupation had just ended. The analysis of the social setting of the novel revealed the impact of the American occupation in social circumstances. People tended to follow the American way of life that consumed much money. This situation raised the materialistic manner among the people. Postwar Japan, as the people thought, was the right time to implement the freedom taught by the conqueror. Although it was considered as hard time and people were forced to struggle to survive, there were still people who took advantages from other. This was stirred by the wrong idea of individual freedom. In the analysis, Taeko Okamoto was described as an independent woman with her independent finance. This gave her strength and freedom in her life. Then Soroku Okamoto revived from his previously gloomy life affected by money, while Ryosuke Tsugawa used his freedom to get money and advantages from other. The critical comments of this were, first, the rise of postwar materialism in the Japanese society. Secondly, it commented critically the implementation of superficial notion of the American ideal. The first comment brought issues of money-oriented life, marriage for financial security, extravagant life style, and poverty. It was sensitive portrait of society blinded by the need of money in all aspects. The second one made the Japanese misguided and brought some issues to appear, namely the rise of the so- called freedom and individualism, the craze to imitate American culture, the failure to connect freedom with responsibility, and the rise of women status. Here, the nove l comme nts the impact that makes the society only values appearance, a sort of Western etiquette without any spirit behind. x

  ABSTRAK

  NIKODEMUS WURI KURNIAWAN. Jiro Osaragi’s Critical Comments on the

Impact of the American Occupa tion toward the Japanese Society in The Journey.

Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.

  Skripsi ini berfokus pada novel The Journey yang ditulis oleh Jiro Osaragi. Karya ini sangat menonjol sebagai suatu deskripsi yang akurat dalam pengga mbaran Jepang pada masa nadir. Hal ini menjadi sangat berharga untuk diteliti karena novel ini mampu menjelaskan dan mengkritik tentang dampak pendudukan Amerika terhadap masyarakat Jepang.

  Tujuan analisis ini adalah (1) untuk memahami deskripsi masyarakat Jepang setelah berakhirnya pendudukan Amerika dalam novel The Journey. (2) Untuk memahami deskripsi karakter-karakter utama. (3) Untuk mengungkapkan kritikan- kritikan dari novel tentang dampak pendudukan Amerika terhadap masyarakat Jepang melalui penggambaran latar cerita dan karakter-karakternya.

  Skripsi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Teori tentang latar, karakter dan penokohan serta ulasan mengenai kondisi masyarakat Jepang pasca perang digunakan untuk mengerjakan analisis. Pendekatan sosio-kultural dan sejarah, yang menjelaskan tentang penemuan suatu karya yang nyata dengan menghubungkannya dengan peradaban yang membuatnya, digunakan dalam analisis dipilih atas dasar keterikatan unsur-unsur dalam novel dengan masalah sosial, budaya, dan sejarah.

  Cerita dalam novel ini mengambil latar belakang Jepang pasca perang pada tahun 1950an sebagai latar tempat dan waktu. Pendudukan Amerika sudah berakhir. Analisis tentang latar sosial masyarakat pada novel ini menjelaskan tentang dampak pendudukan Amerika pada ranah sosial masyarakat. Masyarakat cenderung mengik uti gaya hidup ala Amerika yang pada akhirnya menyebabkan timbulnya gaya hidup materialistis dalam masyarakat Jepang. Era pasca-perang dianggap sebagai waktu yang tepat untuk mempraktekkan kebebasan ya ng telah diberikan oleh tentara pendudukan. Walaupun masa ini adalah masa yang sulit, tetap saja ada orang-orang yang memanfaatkan orang lain hanya untuk memperoleh keuntungan pribadi. Hal ini merupakan efek dari praktek-praktek kebebasan individu yang salah. Dalam analisis, Taeko Okamoto dideskripsikan sebagai wanita mandiri yang juga mampu menghidupi dirinya sendiri. Bekerja adalah sesuatu yang memberikan kekuatan dan kebebasan pada hidupnya. Lalu, Soroku Okamoto digambarkan sebagai orang yang kembali bangkit dari kehidupan suramnya yang dipengaruhi oleh uang, sedangkan Ryosuke Tsugawa menggunakan kebebasannya untuk mengambil keuntungan dan untuk mendapatkan uang dari orang lain. Novel ini mengkritik, yang pertama, tentang kemunculan gaya hidup materialistis di Jepang pasca-perang. Yang kedua, novel ini ingin mengkritik pelaksanaan konsep hidup ideal Amerika yang dipraktekkan secara dangkal. Kritikan yang pertama berhubungan dengan hal- hal yang menimbulkan masalah, seperti hidup yang hanya berorientasi pada uang, pernikahan untuk memperoleh jaminan hidup dalam sisi keuangan, gaya hidup mewah, dan kemiskinan. Kondisi ini merupakan potret dari sebuah masyarakat yang dibutakan oleh uang dalam segala aspek. Sedangkan kritikan yang kedua berhubungan dengan hal- hal yang membuat masyarakat menjadi salah arah dan menyebabkan masalah- masalah muncul, seperti kebebasan dan sifat individualisme yang menyimpang, fanatisme untuk meniru budaya Amerika, kegagalan untuk menyeimbangkan antara kebebasan dan tanggung xi jawab, dan peningkatan status wanita. Novel ini ingin mengkritik dampak pendudukan yang membuat masyarakat hanya menilai penampilan, etiket dari bangsa barat yang dipraktekkan tanp a adanya pemahaman yang tepat - tidak mencerminkan jiwa masyarakat Jepang. xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The end of World War II was a brand new history for Japanese people. Being

  defeated by other countries in WW II, Japan was forced to accept all of the consequences of war. The occupation was only the answer for the situation. Reischauer and Craig note that it was an essential thing to know that the occupiers were the Americans. The U.S. was known for its democracy while Japan was known as a country with its deeply tradition of authoritarian and militaristic go vernment, though in some points they have applied democracy in their system. From this point, a red line can be dragged, as a preliminary assumption, about what may happen due to the systems that are in the different position. The occupation was managed by General Douglas MacArthur who was given the title of Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) and the whole administration under him, which also came to be known as SCAP (1989: 278).

  It was not easy for the Japanese to deal with a new chapter in the ir life. It was because of a competition between two cultures - Western and Japanese cultures.

  However, since the Western people came as the ones who took the lead of the occupation, slowly but surely the reformation in all aspects of the Japanese life came into a simple conclusion, the Western people tended to dominate the culture in Japan due to the power they had in Japan. Moreover, Lu explains that there is an understanding from the Western people to think that the East culture is not good and this cond ition guides them to a certain idealism that it is good for the Japanese, representing as the Eastern, to behave as the American which by definition is good

  2 culture (1997: 459). It provides certain understanding that the American also has a mission to reshape the Japanese culture.

  According to William Chapman in his book Inventing Japan: The Making of a

  Postwar Civilization

  The occupation lasted for six years, seven months, and eighty-eight days. It was not neatly ordered process of orders dispatched and automatically obeyed. It was a mixing bowl process in which plans, pressures, counter pressures, and sheer happenstance were swirled together. The Occupation ordered, the Japanese maneuvered to temper. The order bargains were struck, original intention cha nged, move bargains struck. But when it finally ended, the old Japanese was hardly recognizable (1991: 19). From that quoted paragraph, we could notice what actually happened to Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation. The condition of Japan was in alteration into something new, unable to be recognized, that was different from the condition of pre-war Japan or from the so-called normal Japan condition before the occupation. In this case, indirectly the influence of American culture had been absorbed into a certain form of culture applied in the way of life of Japanese people that even produced a new kind of culture which was different from the old one.

  This literary analysis deals with one form of the literary genre, novel. According to Abrams, the term “novel” is “applied to a great variety of writings that have the attribute of being extended works of fiction written in prose.” As an extended narrative, indeed, the magnitude of the novel does matter. It will distinguish nove l from other literary genres. Its magnitude allows complex characters to appear in the story, complication of plot, ampler development of milieu, and more sustained character and motives (1985: 130). The novel, among other literary genres, in the people’s point of view reaches its popularity. This is supported by Kennedy, in

  

Literature an introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, who says that “among the

  forms of imaginative literature, novel has been the favorite of both the writers and

  3 readers for more than two hundred years.” The authors as the creator of the story create the sense of actuality, portraying real life, and bring it to the readers. Therefore, the readers can experience actual life (1990: 266).

  Furthermore, the discussion of literary work cannot be separated from its position in our life. Literary work is very essential. Van de Laar and Scoonderwoerd say that reading a literary work is not merely an activity of enjoying something but at the same time it exercises our mind, feeling, and thought in order to understand what happens in the work of art that sometimes is considered to be the imitation of the reality. The author directly or indirectly also takes part in delivering a certain view of the problem of life (1957: 174). Moreover, some authors also use literary text to share ideas or issue corresponding to human problem, as said by Guerin in A Handbook of

  

Critical Approaches to Literature : “the literature as an art does not exist in vacuum. It

  is a creation by someone at some time in history and it is intended to speak to other human beings about some idea or issue that has human relevance” (2000:18). For example, the authors provide some critical comments on what happens in the society they live in. It is not really hard for them to deliver certain critical comments since they are also part of the reality, society they belong to, which gives them already an experience or background knowledge related to some events happening in the real life, as explicitly stated by Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism, “authors are in the history of their societies, shaping and shaped by that history and their social experience in the different measure. Culture and the aesthetic form it contains derive from historical experience” (1993: xxii).

  Moreover, besides considering the author’s motive in creating literary work - sharing the issues of human relevance - it is important to know how literary work is created. One common idea to answer this question is that literary work is a creation of

  4 author’s imagination. A novel, as one of the literary works, also fulfills that characteristic. In this case, the author uses imagination to portray things that happen in human life. The author can make a work of art based on real life of the people, or in other words, novel is a reflection of the reality. The Journey, a novel written by Jiro Osaragi about Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation, fulfills this characteristic of the literary work that has already been explained before. The

  

Journey is created by the author by using imagination, and takes the setting of time and

  place in the Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation. In addition,

  

The Journey is not merely a story about Japanese society. It is also used by the author

  to criticize the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society and to put implicitly some critical comments through the depiction of character and setting.

  By reading this novel, the writer assumes that the readers would have an impression about the situation depicted in the novel which seems to be a representation of the real condition of Japan in the aftermath of the American occupation because of the use of some elements that can also be found in the real world.

  Taking the setting of Japan in the aftermath of the American occupation, Jiro Osaragi is able to portray elaborately the Japanese social condition at that time. He portrays people who struggle with their new morality connected with the setting of postwar Japan. Chapman says that Jiro Osaragi was a more accurate chronicler of time, allowing the readers to journey in the description of Japan at its nadir (1991:59). He uses clear and sophisticated prose to bring us a complex story of Japanese people in the aftermath of the American occupation. Chapman also notes that “Osaragi saw no hope in a period tha t produced the après, corruption, and gross materialism” (1991: 62). Starting from this, what Osaragi thinks about situations of that era can be a preliminary

  5 assumption related to the novel’s critical comments on the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society.

  The way of the author describes the impact of the American occupation in the personal life of each character is so unique. Using omniscient narrator, the author intends to show the impact of the occupation toward individual in the society, in different scale for each. Each character presents his/her own problem and combines it with other characters’, which later form a particular web of relation delivering a unity of complex problem facing by them. The characters actually represent different Japanese people generation which has gap and implicitly shows critical comment s on the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society. This novel is interesting in the way the author describes the Japanese society in the novel as inferior society influenced by Westernization. The fact that the American occupation brings confusing ideas in the people’s life and brings so many changes to the Japanese society becomes the focus of the novel’s critical comment s. For this reason, the writer is interested to analyze this novel.

  It is not deniable that The Journey carries a message by means of its characters in the situation of struggling era in the aftermath of the American occupation. Starting from this, the writer would like to analyze how the condition of Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation is depicted in the novel The Journey, how the main characters are described, and the novel’s critical comments on the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society through the presentation of setting and characters.

  6

B. Problem Formulation

  There are three problems raised in this analysis. They are: 1.

  How is Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation depicted in The Journey?

2. How are the main characters described in Jiro Osaragi’s The Journey? 3.

  How does the presentation of society and characters reveal the novel’s critical comments on the impact of the American occupation?

  C. Objectives of the Study

  The objective here is the goal or aim concerning the problem formulation. The aim of doing this thesis is to obtain a clear and satisfying explanation. The first aim is to understand the depiction of Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation in the novel. The second aim is to understand the description of the main characters in Jiro Osaragi’s The Journey. The third aim is to find the novel’s critical comments on the impact of the American Occupation toward the Japanese society through the presentation of setting and character.

  D. Definition of Terms

  To avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding about the meaning of certain terms, the writer gives the se definitions to help the readers understand the meaning of some terms in the thesis and make this thesis clearer.

1. Society

  Langland states that “society in a literary works does not merely comprehend people and their classes but also to study upon their physical environment, their

  7 customs, culture, conventions, codes, norms, beliefs and values, religious and institution” (1984: 6).

  2. Critical Comment

  Critical Comment consists of two words as the structure, namely ‘critical’ and ‘comment’. According to The New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of the

  

English Language (1973: 202), ‘comment’ means an expression of opinion, an

  observation, or a criticism, remark. While ‘critical’ here means relating to criticism. In another dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (1993: 275), it is found that ‘critical observation or remark’ is the definition of criticism. Since ‘observation’ and ‘remark’ are synonymous to the word ‘comment,’ the phrase ‘critical comment’ means the same, criticism.

  3. Materialism

  According to The New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of the English

  

Language, materialism means any opinion or tendency based on purely material

  interest or devotion to material rather than spiritual objects and considerations (1973: 587).

  4. Individualism According to Dictionary of Sociology and Related Sciences (1975: 153), individualism means an attitude, doctrine or policy of control which stresses the supremacy or importance of the individual person or personality, - either as means or as ends, and either selfishly (“each man for himself”) or altruistically (“the greatest good for the greatest number”). Individualism as an ideology is linked with doctrines of hedonism, utilitarianism, sell- interest, individual initiative, liberty of exploitation.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies This part consists of the related studies that deal with Jiro Osaragi’s The Journey. The writer uses related studies to get more information about others’ opinions

  in seeing this novel. This functions to enrich the writer’s knowledge in understanding this novel. William Chapman, in his book Inventing Japan: The Making of a Postwar

  

Civilization, notes that “Another writer, Jiro Osaragi, was a more accurate chronicler of

  the times, and his famous novels, Homecoming and The Journey, stand out even today as excellent descriptions of Japan at its nadir” (1991: 59), and, in the next paragraph, he also notes that

  Osaragi’s two postwar novels are rich in detail and nearly journalistic in their precision. The characters are stereotypes, but they are excellent stereotypes that reveal the dishonesty and cynicism of the era. Hustlers, nouveaux riches, intellectual frauds, and those who have abandoned all hope and pretension roam through his pages, and they leave a picture of a society spiritually spent and lacking in all conviction (1991: 59).

  Based on the cited paragraph above Chapman actually tries to ensure the readers that Japanese people were in a confusing era marked by the decline of Japanese people’s morality. Chapman also notes that the major characters in both novels are caught up in the new materialism, for instance, “t here are men who gamble recklessly and sell cars to rich Americans, bar hostesses who offer their bodies to any customer, and women whose charms are purchased by corporate schemers” (1991: 60).

  8

  9 In his two novels, Jiro Osaragi presents a clear prose to depict situation of Japan in the postwar era. Jiro Osaragi, using his works, is very sensitive about the war condition. He disagrees with the war and “he blamed it totally on the military class that had taken the power” (Chapman, 1991: 60).

  A review written by George Och explains that The Journey by Jiro Osaragi is a realistic novel which deals with the themes of love and greed in Japan in the aftermath of the American Occupation. It is believed that the characters of The Journey are able to depict clearly the situations at that time. He also notes that the character development of this novel is ve ry fascinating. In that confusing era, the characters are changing for the better and for the worse (http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Jiro- Osaragi/dp/0804832552> (September 18, 2006).

  Some related studies and reviews mainly focus on the analyses on the themes of love and greed in Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation and some others already show the character on this novel. Since there is no othe r similar work discussing the relation between the setting, character and the impact of the American occupation toward the Japanese society, so the writer proposes a case of study on the relation between the main characters and the setting and how the presentation of those elements is able to give a clear description of the Japanese society in the aftermath of the American occupation. In this study, the writer tries to analyze the fact whether the story represents the true fact of Japanese condition or not, and to find out how the presentation of the setting and the characters reveals the novel’s critical comments of the impact of American occupation toward Japanese society.

  10 B. Review of Related Theories The writer uses several theories which can be useful for further analyses.

1. Theory on Character Character, an intrinsic element of the story, is a very prominent element.

  Without character the story will not go appropriately. According to Stanton, in his book An Introduction to Fiction, there are two ideas of character. The first is the individuals who appear in the story. The n, the second is the combination of moral principle, interest, and desire that will shape each of the individual. It is explained that the way to understand the character can be started by knowing the character’s name. It will distinguish one character to others. Another sort of way is by seeing “the author’s explicit description and comment upon the characters.” Yet, the most important one is the character’s own dialogue and behavior. It is very important to have knowledge about the character, so we can understand their action, and through the action we can understand the character (1956:17). In the novel The Journey, there are many characters, following the first idea about character explained by Stanton, all of them have names, and they are Taeko Okamoto, Soroku Okamoto, Ryosuke Tsugawa, Yoshitaka Segi, Sutekichi, and Mrs. Iwamuro.

  Furthermore, Abrams gives two definitions of character. First, he defines that ‘character is a literary genre: a short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of distinctive type of person.’ This explanation means that character can be said as the inner qualities of the person in the literary work which decide what sort of person he/she is and distinguish one person to another. Second, characters are “the persons, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with the moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say - the dialogue - and what they do - the action.” Moreover, the

  11 character may have stability in his attitude and his qualities of mind from the beginning to the end of a work or the character may have a change through a gradual development or due to the extreme crisis (1985: 21).

  Based on its role, according to Henkle, characters in the novel can be classified into major and secondary cha racter. The terms “major character” and “secondary character” are used to distinguish between those of prominence in the novel and those whose function is largely supportive or projective. The major characters in the novel perform a key structural function meaning that upon them the readers build expectation and desires which shift the readers’ value. The major characters, indeed, are the characters who attract greater attention from the readers. If the readers understand them, probably the focal experience of the novel can be understood (1977: 88-92).

  While secondary characters mean the characters that perform more limit functions. To understand the role of secondary characters, some of their functions must be revealed first. Their functions are “the elements of the society that makes up the human context, the average, normal point of reference, the foils to the major characters, the analogues to the main characters, the composite renditions of the human situation, and the symbol of aspects of the governing state of being (1977: 94-100). As we can see, the secondary characters are the elements of the society that makes up the human context. In this function, secondary characters establish the context of the society so that the readers are able to discover about what the time and the society is like by observing the secondary characters on doing their ordinary business (1977: 94).

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2. Theory on Characterization

  There are several theories of characterization from some experts used in this thesis writing. Those are explained as follows:

  

a. Rohrberger explains that characterization is “the process by which the author

  creates a character”. Moreover, there are two ways to characterize. The first one is by using the Direct means to describe physical appearance, e.g. tall, weight or to explain the intellectual or moral attributes or the degree of person’s sensitivity. The second, he can use Dramatic means and place the person in situations to show what he/she is in the way he/she behaves or speaks (1971:20).

  

b. Holman and Harmon explain that characterization is the process of revealing

the imaginary people so that they exist and the readers recognize them as real people.

  Hence, there are three fundamental methods of characterization in fiction according to Holman and Harmon: i. The author gives an explicit presentation of the character through direct exposition illustrated by the action; ii. The presentation of the character in action, with a little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attribute of the author for the action; and iii. The representation from within a character, without comment on character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self.

  

c. In addition, in his Understanding Unseen (1972: 161-173), Murphy mentions

  nine ways to establish a character understandable for the readers: i. . The author describes the appearance of the character

  Personal description

  elaborately. The author also describes the clothes worn by the characters and provides

  13 the detailed description about the appearance that will help the readers to visualize the characters. By noticing the detailed description about the appearance, the readers will know about the characters’ build, skin-color, hair, hands, face, and other personal aspects. ii. Characters as seen by another . The author describes a character through another character’s perception and opinions. Other characters’ perception will provide a reflected image of the character. iii. . The author reveals the person’s character through what that person

  Speech

  says. The character of one person can be understood whenever the person speaks, whenever the person is in conversation with another, or gives an opinion. iv. Past life . The author provides the description about the event in the past life that helps to shape a person’s character. It can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation, and through the medium of another person. v. Conversation of others . The author describes the character of one person through the conversation of other people and the things they say about him. By using these, the reader may get information about the character of the person they speak about. vi. Reactions . The author provides a person’s character through the way the person faces various situation and events. vii. Direct comment . By using the author’s own statement, the author can directly give description on a person’s character.

  14 viii. Thoughts. The author directly elaborates the readers’ knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this case, the readers have a privileged position to know what is in the person’s mind. ix. Mannerism . The readers can understand the character by the author’s description of the person‘s mannerism, habit s, behavior, and idiosyncrasies.

3. Theories of Setting

  Robert Stanton, in his book An Introduction to Fiction, explains that the setting of the story is environment of its events, the immediate world in which they occur. The setting can be explained through a visible background, for example, a café in Paris. It can also be introduced with the time of day or year, the climate or the historical period.

  Considering the setting, indeed, the function of setting may appear in the discussion of the literary work. In this case, the writer supports Stanton’s statement that the setting may directly influence the character, sometimes the setting exemplifies a theme, and the readers also find that it evokes a definite emotional tone or mood that surrounds the character - the atmosphere (1965: 18-19).

  In addition, Abrams says another thing about setting. He says that setting is ‘general locale and the historical time in which its action takes place. The setting of an episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in which it takes place (1985:157). Here, the setting can be noticed by giving more attention to the names of certain area or particular signs which represent certain area and time in which its action takes place.

  Holman and Harmon, in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 465), explain that the setting of the story is “the physical, and sometimes spiritual, background against which

  15 the action of a narrative (novel, drama, short story, and poem) takes place.” Hence, Holman and Harmon explain at least four elements that make up the setting: