THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MINOR CHARACTERS IN DEVELOPING THE PLOT AS SEEN IN DAN BROWN’S DA VINCI CODE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MINOR CHARACTERS IN

DEVELOPING THE PLOT AS SEEN IN DAN BROWN’S DA

  

VINCI CODE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

  

By

CITA PARAMITA WIJAYA

  

Student Number: 054214052

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  

2010

  

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF MINOR CHARACTERS IN

DEVELOPING THE PLOT AS SEEN IN DAN BROWN’S DA

  

VINCI CODE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

  

By

CITA PARAMITA WIJAYA

  

Student Number: 054214052

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  

2010

  Dre Live eam as if e as if yo you wil ou will d ll live fo die tomo orever orrow

  

This is f T for

Ama ak and d Papa

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, I would like to thank my awesome lecturer, Dewi Widyastuti, S. Pd., M.

  

Hum and my co-advisor, Elisa Wardani, S.S., M. Hum., This thesis will not be

complete without your guidance and advice.

  I would like to thank Amak, and Papa. If my gratitude were symbolized as people then it would be the citizen of People Republic of China.

  I would also like to thank these people who happens to come out of the same

womb as me or I would like to call them “my siblings”: Andri a.k.a. Tua Hia, Benny

a.k.a. Dji Hia, Debby a.k.a. Babi.

  Next gratitude is for my friends in Pondok Melati: Artis, Etul Setiatul, Ci Vindot,

Dotul, Carlita Dada, Nyonya Hong, Ci Nora (Cina Norak), Ci Her a.k.a. Cebol, Awa,

and the legendary Tuyul (Magic Mini Devil).

  My friends around campus: Pispot, Oriwati, Irone, Dimas, Debor, Poetry, DP,

Jimbo, Butet, Weni, Nani, Priska, Acoy, The Underpanters, people in String Movie

Maniacs, Earnest and the Gang, the Greasers and others kids that I can not remember

because there are too many of them, but they are always be in my memory.

  I will be sorry if I do not mention these people: Kim “Kimbo” Beazley (the

Wizard of Oz), Pak Baik, Neng Ce. My gratitude also goes to my late best friends:

Kuki, and Nicky.

  At last, I want to thank God for creating such things as human brain.

  Cita Wijaya

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

  

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

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

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

DEDICATION

  PAGE ............................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ................................................................................... vi

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ................................ vii

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

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. ix

ABSTRAK

  ............................................................................................................... x

  

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

A. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1 B. Problem Formulation .................................................................................... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................. 3 D. Definition of Terms ....................................................................................... 4

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ......................................................... 5

A. Review of Related Study .............................................................................. 5 B. Review of Related Theories .......................................................................... 7 1. Theory of Character and Characterization .......................................... 7 2. Theory of plot ..................................................................................... 12 C. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................... 20 A. Object of the Study ....................................................................................... 20 B. Approach of the Study .................................................................................. 21 C. Method of the Study ...................................................................................... 22

  CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 24 A.

  The Characterization of the Minor Characters .............................................. 24 B. The Development of the Plot ........................................................................ 40 C. The Contribution of Minor Characters in Developing the Plot .................... 46

  CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 58

  

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 61

  

ABSTRACT

CITA PARAMITA WIJAYA. The Contribution of Minor Characters in

Yogyakarta: Developing the Plot as Seen in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

  Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.

  There are many aspects that help building a literary work. Even to the

smallest aspect like minor characters can help in constructing the plot in the story.

These two aspects, minor characters and plot, are related to each other because

without the presence of each aspect, the story will not be perfect. The novel, The Da

Vinci Code shows a good example of how minor characters can help developing the

plot of the story.

  The main purpose of this study is done in three steps. The first is by finding

the characterization of the minor characters by using the facts given in the story. The

next step is by finding how the plot of the story develops. The last step is by

discovering the contribution of the characterization of the minor characters to the

development of the plot. The last step is obtained by relating the finding in the first

step to the second step.

  In order to find the answer to the problem formulation, the writer uses library

research method. Several books about related theories and related studies are used.

The approach that is used the New Criticism approach because this study is analyzing

the intrinsic elements of the story.

  The result of this analysis is the minor characters are playing an important

role in developing the plot. After the characterization of each minor characters and

how the plot is developed are obtained, the final step is taken by using the facts taken

from previous answer of the problem formulation. Each of the minor characters with

their own characteristics is proven to be playing their part in constructing the plot.

Their contribution can be seen from their action, decision and background. The plot

develops through the complications and climax that they make.

  

ABSTRAK

CITA PARAMITA WIJAYA. The Contribution of Minor Characters in

The Da Vinci Code. Yogyakarta: Developing the Plot as Seen in Dan Brown’s Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.

  Terdapat banyak aspek yang dapat membantu membangun suatu karya sastra.

Bahkan ke aspek terkecil seperti tokoh-tokoh minor sekalipun dapat membantu

membangun alur cerita. Dua aspek ini, tokoh-tokoh minor dan alur cerita,

berhubungan satu sama lainnya karena tanpa kehadiran salah satu aspek, cerita tidak

akan menjadi sempurna. Novel, The Da Vinci Code menunjukkan suatu contoh yang

baik bagaimana tokoh-tokoh minor dapat membantu mengembangkan alur cerita.

  Tujuan utama dari skripsi ini dicapai melalui tiga tahap. Pertama dengan

menemukan karateristik dari tokoh-tokoh minor dengan menggunakan bahan-bahan

yang terdapat didalam cerita. Tahap selanjutnya adalah dengan menemukan

bagaimana alur cerita berkembang. Tahap terakhir adalah dengan menemukan

kontribusi dari karakteristik tokoh-tokoh minor terhadap perkembangan alur cerita.

Tahap terakhir dicapai dengan menyambungkan penemuan yang didapat di tahap

pertama dan kedua.

  Untuk menjawab permasalahan, penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka.

Beberapa buku tentang teori dan skripsi yang berkaitan digunakan. Pendekatan yang

dipakai adalah New Criticism karena skripsi ini menganalisa unsur-unsur intrinsik

cerita.

  Hasil dari analisis ini adalah tokoh-tokoh minor memainkan peran penting

dalam mengembangkan alur cerita. Setelah karakteristik dari masing-masing tokoh

minor dan bagaimana alur cerita berkembang didapat, tahap terakhir dilakukan degan

menggunakan bahan-bahan yang didapat dari jawaban atas permasalahan sebelumnya.

Masing-masing tokoh minor dengan karateristik mereka terbukti memainkan peran

mereka dalam membangun alur cerita. Kontribusi mereka dapat dilihat dari tindakan,

keputusan dan latar belakang mereka. Alur cerita berkembang melalui permasalahan

dan klimaks yang mereka ciptakan.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study When a writer begins to create a story, characters are always the most

  important thing in it. No story can ever be built without any characters in it. So many interesting characters exist in literary works, from psychopath like Dr.

  Hannibal Lecter of Thomas Hardy’s book Manhunter to the luckiest yet retarded Forrest Gump of Wiltom Gunter’s book Forrest Gump. Most of the time, people’s biggest concern is in the major characters and sometimes pay a little attention to the minor characters. Without even realizing it, the minor characters also affect the story in their own way, for example, how the minor character Bubba has helped Forrest Gump in changing his life after the war as seen in Forrest Gump. If Bubba never existed, then it would be impossible for Forrest Gump to be success on his shrimp business or even built a shrimp business.

  Minor character also has a certain influence in the story; even to the smallest minor character has their purpose in a story, because if they do not have any function, the author will not put them in the story. Their function can be to help the major character, to affect the major character’s mind or even to be the obstacle for the major character to achieve his goal. The next intrinsic element that will be discussed is the plot of the story. Like the character, plot is also one of the most important thing in a story, because with a great plot comes a great story. Robert Stanton even stated in his book An Introduction to Fiction that “plot is the

  2 backbone of a story. Because it is more self-evident than some of the story’s element” (1965: 15). From the action done by the characters, the writer can find the plot, the main character’s actions developing most of the plot but what is forgotten is the minor characters are also has their contribution in developing the plot. Every action done by main character always involves the minor characters. Considering the facts given above, the writer is interesting in studying the minor characters contribution in developing the plot.

  As for the object of study, the writer chooses The Da Vinci Code because this book has so many important minor characters that exist in the story. They are portrayed with different attitudes, figures and characterizations. They are created to build a story and have their own characteristics that differ from the others. And of course, the most important thing is that they affect the story through their action so much. The writer also notices that when The Da Vinci Code was first published, there are so many strong aspects that can be analyzed from the story but the strongest element that can be caught from the book is the plot. The sequence of events in the book is smartly made and organized well. The Da Vinci

  Code

  is basically a suspense story about Robert Langdon who has to find evidence to prove that he is innocent from a murder where he is the suspect. In his way to prove his innocence, he meets so many characters that will help and also harm his way along the story. For the problems to be answered, by finding the minor characters’ characterizations, and the plot’s development, the final problems about the contributions of minor characters in developing the plot can

  3 be searched. Furthermore, this study can be the vital element that will be useful to enrich the research in the same topic in the future.

B. Problem Formulation

  This study is aimed to find the contribution of the minor characters in developing the plot, therefore the writer has formulated three problem formulations, and they are: 1.

  What are the characteristics of the minor characters in The Da Vinci

  Code

  ? 2. How is the plot of the story developed? 3.

  What are the minor characters’ contributions in developing the plot? C.

   Objectives of the study Based on the problem formulation, there are three objectives of the study.

  The first focus is about finding what the characteristics of the minor characters are. The finding will be done by reading and studying the story.

  Afterward, the second one is about finding how the plot of the story developed and will be done also by reading and analyzing the whole story using the appropriate theory.

  Finally, how the minor characters contribute in developing the plot after finding the result of minor characters’ characteristic and how the plot of the story developed, will be the main focus here.

  4

D. Definition of Terms

  For a clear understanding of the study and to avoid being confused, the writer would like to define the terms that are used in the study. There are some terms that will be explained.

  1. Characters

  Abrams stated in his book, a Glossary of Literary Terms, that ”characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with the moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue— and by what they do—the actions” (1981: 21).

  2. Characterization

  Characterization according to Hugh C. Holman and William Harmon in their book, a Handbook of Literature, is “the way to create of imaginary persons so that they exist for the readers as life like” (1986:81).

  3. Plot

  According to Abrams again in a Glossary of Literary Terms, “plot is the structure of its actions, as these are ordered and rendered toward achieving particular emotion and artistic effects” (1981: 127).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Dan Brown actually has made several well-known books like Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons

  and Deception Point, but it is his book, The Da

  Vinci Code

  that really catches people’s attention because of its controversy. His other book, Angels and Demon that also tells a story about the same character, Robert Langdon then gets popular too but people will always connect Dan Brown with The Da Vinci Code every time they hear his name. Therefore, it is not a strange thing to see there is a big number of people who have studied The Da Vinci Code.

  In this part, the writer will review the related study that have been found, they are the undergraduate thesis made by Martinus Arya Seta and Elisabeth Grace Oktaviani. The first undergraduate thesis made by Martinus Arya Seta (2006) is entitled: a Study of Symbols Presented in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci

  

Code: a Semiotic Analysis and the other from Elisabeth Grace Oktaviani (2006) is

  entitled: Did Jesus Mary Magdalena - a Study on the Functions of Christian Jargon in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code .

  Martinus Arya Seta focuses on how the symbols constitute paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationship. He combines literature and linguistic study and also wants to give a new alternative in studying the book by employing a semiotic method; it can be seen from what he has stated:

  For readers in general, this study provides an alternative in analyzing The Da

  Vinci Code

  by employing a semiotic method. A novel is a novel. Thus it is fictional no matter convincingly the author presents historical scenes. That is why the validly of historical information is not taken into account. In addition, the readers may understand the symbols in depth and comprehensively (Seta, 2006: 4).

  While Elisabeth Grace Oktaviani’s undergraduate thesis is more focus on the linguistics area, sociolinguistics, by analyzing the Christian jargons that can be found in the story. She studies on what the functions of the Christian jargons in the story are. Here she finds that most of the Christian jargon in the novel functions as a neologism that may impress people with quite unintelligible references, meanings, or ideas behind certain words and also to confirm certain ideas that the novel wants to share (the major concern is the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene), with the other function as to show disagreement toward certain idea or group and to identify the member of the supportive group through indirect criticism about the doctrines, the belief and other aspects of Christianity that are connected to the issue of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The last function that she finds is the Christianity jargon is also indirectly used to identify those who are in line with the idea of the novel and those who are not, like for example; the use of the jargon holy Grail and Mary Magdalene and the use of the jargon does not mean to avoid people of knowing the meanings, but more to make them aware of the existence of those new meanings (2006: 83-84).

  As stated above, the writer can find that both of them are combining linguistics and literature element by analyzing the semiotic and the Christianity jargon but still connecting them to the literature element like symbols and the ideas or message of the story. From those studies, the writer hopes that both theses can be guidance in analyzing the work and to help in adding the information that can be used to analyze this study. In this study, the writer is trying to find a new thing that is different from the study above because the writer is focusing on the literature department by finding the contribution of minor characters in developing the plot that is not the same with the studies above that analyzed different aspect from what the writer does.

B. Review of Related Theories

  This part consists of the theories that will be used in analyzing the problem formulations.

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  The first theory that will be discussed is the theory of character and characterization. Character, according to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, is “the persons, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say—the dialogue—and what they do—the action (1981: 20)”. Therefore, the reader can see characters’ moral and dispositional qualities through their dialogues or speech and their actions. While Robert Stanton’s definition have the idea that character is the person with certain emotion and interest who appear in the story and will experience the changing during the story, he stated that the term character is commonly used in two ways.

  It designated the individuals who appear in the story, and it refers to the each of these individuals. Most stories contain a central character, who is relevant to every event in the story; usually the events cause some changes either in him or in out attitude toward him (1965: 17). According to Roger B. Henkle in Reading the Novel: an Introduction to the

  Techniques Interpreting Fiction

  character is divided into two; major and minor character.

  Character can be described as major and secondary characters. Major characters are the most important and complex characters in the novel. They can be identified as such through the complexity of their characterization, the attention given to them (by the author and other characters) who deserve out fullest attention because they perform the key of structural function. Secondary characters are characters who perform more limited functions. They are limited in ways that the major characters are not. They may less sophisticate, so their responses to the experience are less complex and interesting (1965: 60). To conclude, the major characters hold the main role or part in the story, without them the story will be nothing, on the other hand, the secondary characters, even though their role is needed, it is not as important and significant as the major characters. They also characterized not as interesting or sophisticated as major characters so their action or responses toward their problems are not that appealing to the readers. The secondary characters also have limited functions or can be said that they have only little room in the story that focuses on them.

  Koesnosoebroto also stated that “as major characters can not stand on their own, it is the role of the minor ones to support the major characters’ existence in the story. Though they are less important, they function to make the story lifelike and more convincing (1988: 67)”.

  The next thing that will be discussed is the theory of characterization. Holman and Harmon say “the author presents the characters of actual persons; and in fiction (the drama, the novel, the short story, and the narrative poem), the author reveals the characters of imaginary persons. The creation of these imaginary persons so that they exist for the reader as lifelike is called characterization” (1986: 81). while M.J. Murphy in his book, Understanding

  

Unseens: an Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas

Students

  , classifies nine way of how an author presents the characters.

  a. Personal description The author can describe a person’s appearance like skin colour, eyes, hair, clothes, etc. Personal description is used in many literary works by many authors; it is the easiest way to tell directly to the readers the clues to a character with certain feature.

  b. Character as seen by another Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another. The reader gets the clue of a character’s personality or attitude through the other characters’ explanation or opinion about that character.

  c. Speech The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what that person says. For example, whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward a opinion, he is giving some clue to his character. It means that the readers will get some clues about a character through the character’s own words. d. Past life By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life, the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character.

  This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person. A character’s past life can give a clue to the readers about the event that shape a person’s character.

  e. Conversation of others The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People do talk about other people and the things they say often give us a clue to the character of the person spoken about.

  f. Reaction The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.

  g. Direct comment The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. By using direct comments, the author gives the opinion about the character.

  This is one of the most common way that most writer use.

  h. Thoughts The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about.

  In this respect he is able to do what we can not do in real life. He can tell us what different people are thinking. i. Mannerism The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits and also behavior whether positive or negative which tell us something about the reflection of his personality (1971: 161-173).

  There are several ways for an author to characterize the characters and the ways provide the analyst to examine the content of the novel in a proper way to gain a description of a certain character. Perrine (1974: 69) also stated about how characterization can be presented in two ways: a. Direct Presentation

  The author who chooses direct presentation simply tells readers about the characters in the story. He tells the qualify of the characters in exposition or analysis or has someone else in the story who tells us what theya re like so that the readers can understand the character directly. However this method can not be used alone: it needs to be supported by the indirect presentation, so that it will be more convincing.

  b. Indirect presentation The author shows the readers the character in the action and tells the reader what they are like from what they think, say and do. The author presents the characters indirectly through the way they act and talk. From this, the readers may infer their qualities from what they say, think and do.

  Basically the theories suggested by Murphy and Perrine are just the same, Murphy define the theory in a more detail way while Perrine clarifies only two main idea. Both of them said that a person’s characterization can be seen from outside the character (like other characters) and the inside of the character himself (from his own words).

2. Theory of plot

  Plot is always one of the most important elements in a story. It shows the chain of events in the story that keeps the reader reading the novel. A good plot will make a good story. Koesnosoebroto stated in The Anatomy of Prose Fiction that “plot or the structure of the story is the arrangement of tied-together chronological events which have casual and thematic connections (1988: 29)”. He concluded that after evaluating several definitions from different literary theorists.

  Different theorists propose different explanation or definition of plot; Aristotle’s definition in Koesnosoebroto’s book with his classic concept of plot: “plot has a beginning, a middle and an end.” (1988: 28). Aristotle defines plot based on its arrangement. Another theorist like Connolly (1988: 28) explain plot as “the arrangement of the details and incidents in the story.” Hall (1988: 28) also said that plot as “what happens in a story, the story’s organized development, usually a chain linking cause and effects.” Dietrich and Sundell (1988: 29) moreover write in Koesnosoebroto’s book that “a story has parts that are related to one another by a central action and usually a theme.” For them, plot may be defined partially as the arrangement of events in a story. A more complete definition would include some statements about how events are arranged, about what sort of connection between events there must be. However, E.M. Forster, an English novelist argues that, he stated also in Koesnosoebroto’s book that beside chronological connection between events to make plot, it is necessary to plot to have casual and thematic connection between the events in the story. In his own book, Aspect of

  the Novel

  , E.M. Forster (1974: 67) said that mystery is essential to the plot. Plot, then, is the novel in its intellectual aspects; it requires mystery, but the mysteries are solves later on; the reader may be moving about in world unrealized, but the novelist has no misgivings. The last definition of plot comes from How to Analyze

  Drama

  by Christopher Russell Reaske (1966: 35) who says that plot is basically the term for structure, so when we discuss about plot, we are actually discussing about everything that happens in the story. A story is composed of a series of incidents that follow one another according to some plan of ths author, every incidents is connected to incidents that follow.

  After describing the plot’s definition, the next part is about the plot structure. Koesnosoebroto (1988: 42-43) writes based on Aristotle’s classic pattern that plot must have a beginning, middle and an end. Initiation, complication and resolution are the terms that most clearly indicate the roles traditionally ascribed to the three parts. In a beginning, the problem and the characters are exposed or introduced and it acquaints the reader with the situation in general; usually it will introduce the characters, describe their background, describe the place and time of the events and suggest the basic lines of the conflict. The middle or complication is supposed to describe all troubles in the conflicts: it is here that the incidents of the action are dramatized into scenes, followed by a rising action and moves towards a climax – variously referred to as “the turning point”. This point marking the end of the middle and the beginning of the end. The end, or resolution, is supposed to make clear all the consequences of the action: perhaps it will point out the moral of the story. The literary works nowadays tend to use the beginning-middle-end rule. That is why it is useful to the structure one by one.

a. Beginning

  An author always provides information to the readers at the beginning of the story so that the readers can understand the conflict that follows. There are some requirements needed in the beginning part as stated by Robert C. Meredith in Koesnosoebroto’s book. Robert C. Meredith stated that “the beginning must be placed in time as close to the ending as possible. As the formula story commences either with a full—blown complication or with a minor problem that swiftly leads to a major complication, so that the reader may grasp immediately that something exciting is at issue” (1988: 51). This method exploits the dramatic interest of the story in order to wrap up the reader’s curiosity and to present simply and cogently to him the nature of the dilemma. This means that the beginning must also imply a desired ending. The next is if the complication itself is not immediately presented, a minor problem leading to the complication must be given. Very rapidly must the reader’s interest be brought to flow in a narrow and tightly directed channel, so that it will have an aim and a focus. Then the scene must be set and the principal characters must be introduced with an indication of the approximate ages, and the point of view must be established. Followed by the tone of the prose that must let the reader know what type of story he is reading. The reader must know where he stands. A romance, a mystery, a story of intrigue and all other types of stories have their own moods, styles and peculiar atmosphere. William Kenney stated in his book, How to Analyze Fiction (1966: 15-16) the first thing that the readers note about the beginning is that it provides with a certain amount of information where the readers are introduced to the story’s character. It has the element of instability that it does not imply more than the facts it presents. It gives us the picture of a situation in which there exist sources of instability, which may at the outset be latent or overt.

b. Middle

  Complication and development are two terms related to the role of the middle of the story. According Aristotle (1988: 52) in Koesnosoebroto, complication is all from the beginning of the story to the point just before the change of the hero’s fortune. We can see in the evidence in a diagram that related to the pattern of rising and falling actions in a story. The diagram, The Freytag’s Pyramid consists of a exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement.

  Climax Rising action Falling action Exposition Denouement

  Picture 1: Freytag’s Pyramid

  On the line of rising action or complication runs a number of crisis—a crisis being defined as a turn in the action that affects the life of one or more of the major characters in some ways—to find culminating crisis or climax. The climax itself is thought to occur properly at the end of the middle, at the beginning of the end (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 53).

  While Murphy in Koesnosoebroto (1988: 36) also stated another diagram that can be concluded that it starts with the introduction which sets the stage for action that will follow; the point of attack initiates the action, showing the main character in conflict with self, others, nature’s forces, or social forces; the complications make the problem more difficult to solve; the climax presents the opposing forces at the apex of their struggle; the resolution settles the outcome of the conflict; and the conclusion terminates the action. Basically the diagram is just the same with Freytag’s pyramid.

  Climax Complication Complication resolution Introduction conclusion

  

Picture 2: Murphy’s diagram

  Furthermore, Murphy suggested in Koesnosoebroto’s book (1988: 37) that a term that is usually used in the middle part; prize. In a story, all protagonists want something. What they seek or move toward, sometimes unconsciously, is the prize or goal. The prize is so important to the protagonist that he or she will contend against strong opposition, even to kill, to achieve it. Another term used, stronger than exposition, is the point of attack which is the initial complication that introduces the conflict. Once the conflict has advanced through a series of complication it reaches the point of highest emotional intensity, i.e. the climax. At this point, the tension is high, and the protagonist and antagonist are in conflict, and it is the moment of truth for them. Here the reader asks for the last time the question he posed at the point of attack and at various moments of crisis in the story: “Will the protagonist gain the prize?” or “Will he gain the fulfilment he seeks?” or “Will they make it?” Once these questions have been answered, we have the resolution or denouement, which presents the outcome of the conflict.

  After the resolution, what remain moves swiftly to the conclusion or the end of the story.

  Again, Meredith (1988: 54) in Koesnosoebroto proposes some requirements for the middle. The first is the middle must give the background of circumstances that produced the complication. One of the most obvious questions to occur after the presentation of the minor or major complication is what produced the situation in the first place. We normally demand satisfaction in terms of the historical or causative elements of an event. That is, whenever a circumstance occurs that requires some kind of solution, we normally question how this happened. A causal connection, as we mentioned before, is required.

  Meredith’s next requirement (1988: 54) is that the middle must present a series of efforts (usually three) in which the protagonist attempts to solve the complication only to meet with failure. The formula that the protagonist must make three attempts at a solution, rather than two or four, is merely conventional and need not be followed slavishly. At this point, however, we may refer to the nature of human mind which is not easily satisfied with only one attempt. After that, the middle must present, therefore, a situation of anticlimax in which it appears that the protagonist will finally solve the complication, only to meet with such disastrous failure that it leaves the reader convinced that there is no hope of a satisfactory solution.

  Meredith’s final requirement (1988: 55) is the middle must force the protagonist to make an agonizing decision that will point to the solution of the complication. The reader’s sense of surprise also requires the writer to decorate and partly cover the obvious and to show what at first appears startling, even though after the initial wonders wears away, the solution will appear so inevitable that the reader will comment: “Well, I wouldn’t have thought of that, but just so… I could think of no other solutions that would be better.” In the case of a poor story, when the solutions given are stereotyped, the reader can anticipate easily what will happen.

  William Kenney suggests another point about the middle part about the importance of complication in a story: Without adequate complication, the conflict would remain inert, its possibilities never realized. And it is by his control of complication that the writer gradually increases the intensity of his narrative, thus preparing us to receive the full impact of the climax (1966: 18).

  Here Kenney’s point is that the harder the conflict that the main character gets, the more the intense that the readers will get in the climax part. The control of the conflict is also the key ingredient to make a good climax.

c. End

  Koesnosoebroto writes that “after having spent so long time with the characters, the reader of the novel has become so interested in them, almost fond of them as acquaintance, that he is not adverse to a long passage following the resolution of the complication” (1988: 56). In this part, Meredith only proposes one requirement; the solution to the complication must be satisfactory and believable to the reader.

C. Theoretical Framework

  The contribution of the theory of characterization and the theory of plot is to help the writer in analyzing and finding the answer of the problem formulation that have been stated above. The first theory; theory of characterization will be used in finding how the author characterizes the minor characters. While the next theory; theory of plot will be used in analyzing how the plot of the story developed. In the end, after finding the answer of the first and the second problem formulation, the third that is about the contribution of the minor characters in developing the plot can be found after combining and analyzing those two answers.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The study of the minor characters’ contributions in developing the plot of the

  story takes one of Dan Brown’s novels, The Da Vinci Code as the object of the study. The writer chooses The Da Vinci Code because it has a very good plot with strong minor characters. The Da Vinci Code was first published by Doubleday Group (United States) in 2003 by an American author, Dan Brown. The edition that the writer uses for this study is the second edition that consists of 489 pages and divided into 105 chapters.

  When it was first published, The Da Vinci Code gained so many pros and contras, because many people considered the book as one of the most controversial novel. The contras condemned the book because it exposed the controversial theory of the marriage of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene and ancient Church’s cruel acts. The pros hailed the book for its excellence in combining the history and facts with twist at the end. Disregard the controversy from many people, the novel is a worldwide bestseller and has been translated into 44 languages.

  Another achievement that The Da Vinci Code gets is when the novel won Book Sense’s 2004 Book of the Year Award in the Adult Fiction category. It received positive reviews from The New York Times, People, and the Washington

  

Post. Additionally, The Da Vinci Code has inspired a number of novels with the same story, like Raymond Khoury's The Last Templar and Steve Berry's The

  Templar Legacy

  . Based on a survey in 2008 taken from more than 15,000 Australian readers, the book was in the fourth rank from the list of the 101 best books ever written. Following the success of the novel, Sony’s Columbia Picture adapted the novel into a major motion picture in 2006 starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon with famous movie star sidekicks; Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Sir Ian McKellen and Alfred Molina. An Oscar winning director, Ron Howard directed the movie. The film grossed $217,536,138 in 2006, making it the fifth highest grossing movie of 2006.

  The story in this book is basically about Robert Langdon’s adventure in investigating the murder of Jacques Sauniere, the curator of Lourve Museum. He was helped by Sauniere’s granddaughter, Sophie Neveu. On their way of proving Langdon was innocent, Langdon and Sophie had to face so many obstacles, some of them come from Jacques Sauniere’s puzzles and Opus Dei’s fanatic disciple who keeps chasing them. They also revealed so many secrets about The Church in the past and Holy Grail.

B. Approach of the Study

  This thesis focused on the plot and the minor characters, therefore the writer used New Criticism in analyzing the work. Wilfred L. Guerin writes in his book A

  

Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature that New Criticism only focuses

  on things inside the work and put away all matter outside the work. This can be seen:

  The New Critics sought precision and structural tightness in the literary work; they favored a style and tone that tended toward irony; they insisted on the presence within the work of everything necessary for its analysis; and they called for an end to a concern by critics and teachers of English with matters outside the work itself—the life of the author, the history of his times, or the social and economic implications of the literary work. In short, they turned the attention of teachers, students, critics and readers to the essential matter: what the work says and how it says is as separable issues (1992: 81).

  New Criticism’s most salient considerations are emphasis on form, on the work of art as an object. Since, this study does not touch any of outside matter beside the work itself, the formalistic approach or New Critics is suitable to help to study the literary work.

C. Method of the Study

  Library research was used in this analysis. The primary source in analyzing the work was the novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, the secondary were books and website about the work and the theories, approach and undergraduate thesis as related studies. The books like; a Glossary of Literary Terms, a

  

Handbook of Literature, An Introduction to Fiction , Aspects of the Novels and