Friendship as a means of the main character`s self-actualization process in Katherine Paterson`s bridge terabithia - USD Repository
FRIENDSHIP AS A MEANS OF THE MAIN CHARACTER’S
SELF-ACTUALIZATION PROCESS IN KATHERINE PATERSON’S
BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillments of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
FRANSISKA WIWIN SUSIANI
Student Number: 004214107
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
This thesis is dedicated to: My beloved father in heaven My dearest mother And my two crazy sisters
“Your life is your choices…”
- Oprah –
Finally……
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thanked Jesus, my Lord, for giving me His guidance and graces so I can finally finish my undergraduate thesis. Without Him, I am nothing.
For my late Poppa, F.X Ngadikir, finally I made it, Pop. I am sorry that I already disappointed you for so long. As well as, for my Mom, Yustine Sukorini, I thanked you for your patience and enormous supports. I also thanked my two naughty sisters, Nana and Chimi, who always interrupted me with their craziness.
Behind it, I know they support me a lot.
In particular, I would like to give my sincere gratitude to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum, my Advisor, who patiently guided me in writing process.
Thank you for the sharing and the contemplation I had. I would also like to gratitude Romo Harry and Ms. Novita Dewi, the entire lecturers and the staffs of English Letter Department of Sanata Dharma University, for their generosity.
For all my best friends, Angel, Titin, Rita, nCil, Siti, Andri, Novi, Retno and Lia, thank you for the laughter and tears we share together; and to Mita, Ajeng, Aga, and Daning plus Bang Na’ip, thank you for the help, support and for lending me the computer. Not forgotten, to Andaru, for everything he done for my goodness. Thank you for always by my side, Hun.
I also thanked those who are not mentioned here, both friends and foes. God Bless You all.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ i APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................. iv DEDICATION PAGE................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................. vii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................. viii ABSTRAK .................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER I INTROCUCTION............................................................... 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 Studies ..........................................................
5 B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................
6 1. Theory of Friendship.......................................................
7 2. Children’s Friendship......................................................
9 3. Theory of Character and Characterization ......................
10 4. Theory of Personality Development ...............................
14 5. Theory of Self-Actualization...........................................
16 C. Theoretical Framework ...............................................................
26 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .......................................................... 29 A. Object of the Study .....................................................................
29 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................
31 C. Method of the Study....................................................................
32 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 34 A. Jesse, Leslie and their Friendship ...............................................
34 1. Jesse Oliver Aaron , Jr ....................................................
35
a. Lonesome .................................................................. 36
b. Artistic....................................................................... 36
c. Introvert..................................................................... 37 d. Fearful of Doing Courageous Things........................
38 2. Leslie Burke ....................................................................
38 a. Extrovert....................................................................
39 b. Fearless......................................................................
40 c. Imaginative................................................................
40
a. The Beginning of the Friendship...............................
41 b. Terabithia as the Bond of the Friendship ..................
45 c. Self-Esteem Growth ..................................................
46 d. The Feeling of Obsession in Friendship....................
47 e. Leslie Death as the End of the Friendship...............
49 f. Jesse’s Reaction to Leslie’s Death............................
51 i. Denial and Isolation .....................................
51 ii. Anger and Acceptance .................................
51 g. Being Mature.............................................................
53 B. The Process of Jesse’s Self –Actualization Seen in His Friendship.................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION .................................................................. 68
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... 70APPENDIX .................................................................................................. 73
ABSTRACT
FRANSISKA WIWIN SUSIANI (2008). Friendship as a Means of the Main
Character’s Self-Actualization Process in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to
Terabithia. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of English
Letters, Sanata Dharma University.Friendship is something, which is needed by human being to actualize their selves. It is experienced by anyone and has many values for some one’s life. Friendship is one of the mean for someone to fulfill his or her needs in their life.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is one of children novels presenting
the idea of friendship. The novel depicts the life of a young boy, named Jesse Aaron. This thesis will discuss about the value of friendship as the means of the main character’s self actualization process. The novel is about the life of Jesse Arron and his friendship with Leslie. Jesse himself represents a boy who develops his personality and finding his self-actualization through his friendship.
The objectives of the thesis are: first, to depicting the friendship between Jesse and Leslie, to analyze the main character characterization in order to understand his changes. Second, to analyze the process of self-actualization he made through his friendship.
The psychological approach will be used in this thesis. This approach considers to be the most appropriate because it explores individual’s self- actualization. The method of the study is library research. The main data came from Katherine Paterson’s novel, Bridge to Terabithia and it is supported by other references from books, criticism and theories which may useful.
First analysis will show the characterization of the main characters in the novel, depicts the friendship between Jesse and Leslie. The second analysis will show Jesse characteristic as a self-actualized person in the story. This result is drawn from answering the problem formulations. Jesse who is first insecure, lonesome, afraid to show his talent in art and afraid to do courageous things become in contrast through his friendship.
ABSTRAK
FRANSISKA WIWIN SUSIANI (2008). Friendship as a Means of the Main
Character’s Self-Actualization Process in Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to
Terabithia. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas
Sanata Dharma.Pertemanan atau persahabatan adalah sesuatu yang diperlukan oleh manusia untuk mengaktualisasikan dirinya. Ini adalah sesuatu yang dialami oleh semua orang dan memiliki banyak arti bagi kehidupan seseorang. Pertemanan merupakan suatu sarana bagi seseorang untuk memenuhi kebutuhan hidup mereka. Brigde to Terabithia karya Katherine Paterson merupakan salah satu novel bagi anak-anak yang menampilkan gambaran tentang pertemanan. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan seorang anak yang bernama Jesse Aaron. Skripsi ini akan mendiskusikan arti pertemanan sebagai sarana bagi proses aktualisasi dir si tokoh utama. Novel tersebut menggambarkan kehidupan Jesse Arron dan pertemanannya dengan Leslie. Jesse sendiri digambarkan sebagai seorang anak yang mengembangkan kepribadiannya dan menemukan aktualisasi dirinya melalui pertemanannya
Tujuan skripsi ini adalah, pertama, menggambarkan pertemanan antara Jesse dan Leslie, untuk menganalisa karakter tokoh utama untuk memahami perubahan pada karakternya. Kedua, untuk menganalisa proses aktualisasi diri yang diraihnya melalui pertemanannya.
Pendekatan psikologi akan dipergunakan dalam menganalisa permasalahan. Pendekatan ini dipilih karena merupakan pendekatan yang paling sesuai karena berkaitan dengan pengungkapan aktualisasi diri seseorang. Metode penelitian yang dipergunakan adalah studi pustaka. Data utama dari skripsi ini berasal dari novel Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia dan didukung dengan referensi-referensi penunjang lainnya, seperti buku-buku, kritik-kritik, dan teori- teori yang menunjang.
Analisa pertama akan memperlihatkan karakterisasi tokoh-tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut dan akan menggambarkan bagaimana persahabatan yang terjalin di antara mereka. Analisa kedua akan memperlihatkan karakter Jesse sebagai seorang yang teraktualisasi dirinya. Kesimpulan ini diperoleh melalui ulasan dari permasalahan pokok. Jesse yang semula tidak percaya diri, kesepian, takut memperlihatkan bakatnya, dan takut melakukan hal-hal yang memerlukan keberanian mengalami perubahan melalui hubungan pertemanannya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Perhaps not many people know about Katherine Patterson. In her life, she already writes a number of texts and articles mostly related to the children’s life. Most of the books share the reality that children may have confronted. For
example about the alienation; loneliness; racism; gender issue; poverty; the loss of the loving one; etc. Almost all the books tell us about the social issue that we may see in our reality society. One of my favorite books from Paterson is Bridge of Terabithia .
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is one of children novels
presenting the idea of friendship. The novel depicts the life of a young boy, named Jesse Aaron. The novel first appearance was in 1976 and soon it became a famous book for children, after. It is famous because of its power to hypnotize the readers to keep reading the story. The story was so true that the reader can also have the same feeling and empathize to what happens to the character in the story.
Friendship is something, which is needed by human being to actualize their selves. It is experienced by anyone and has many values for some one’s life.
According to Steve Duck in the Friends for Life: the Psychology of Personal
Relationship, there are some apparent reasons why everybody needs any friend in their life, at least one or more. First of all, we need friend to endure our loneliness. realize the existence of a bond that is trustworthy to be there for us not only in the time of happiness, but also in the time of trouble. Third, trough friendship we can develop our own sets of shared concerns, common interest, collective problems, shared meanings, our perception of life, and communal emotions.
Friendship is one of the means for someone to fulfill his or her needs in their life. Following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, if one of someone’s needs is already fulfilled, a person will try to fulfill his or her other needs. In addition, on the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization becomes the highest achievement of the needs fulfillment. When friendship is needed by someone to fulfill his or her needs, it means that friendship is also used to fulfill self- actualization. In this case, friendship is only a way for the character in finding his self-actualization.
The meaning of friendship for someone’s life is the main reason why I choose the novel as the object of the thesis. The simple story that touch the reader’s heart, how the friendship leads the character to have and find his self- actualization, have come to my interest to explore furthermore. In this thesis, first of all, I will find out how the friendship begins between Jesse (the main character in the novel) and Leslie (the supporting character who becomes his best friend later on); and how it grows. Secondly, the writer will find out whether friendship will lead the character to have his self-actualization or not. If it is, the writer will find out the process of self-actualization that the main character have in the story.
There is lack attention for children literature in Department of English plays the important role in a human life. Since it has the relation with the future of someone, as Dunn said in his book -that ‘early childhood’ relationship are associated with the quality of later relationships in adolescence and adulthood-, it is a good deal for us to know better something that come from our root, our childhood. Through the thesis, the writer expects that there will be more research on children literature in this Department.
B. Problem Formulation
To guide the analysis, the writer should have some problem formulation to answer. Here some question related to the analysis.
1. How is the friendship between Jesse and Leslie presented in the novel?
2. What are the processes of Jesse’s self-actualization seen in his friendship?
C. Objectives of the Study
The first problem formulation will be depicting the friendship between Jesse and Leslie in the novel. To understand the main character and the second main character in the novel, it is important to know their characterization first.
After that, I will explore how Jesse and Leslie friendship presented in the novel.
The second problem formulation will represent Jesse’s self-actualization process that he made through the friendship with Leslie.
D. Definition of Terms 1. Friendship
Steve Duck in his book Friends For Life thinks that friendship is a skill of making a relationship that will not be totally and perfectly built in a sudden because it is a process that can be improved, refined, polished like any other skill, and made for fluent (1991:4).
2. Self-Actualization
International Encyclopedia of Psychology states that self-actualization
is “a constructive process of functioning optimally and fulfilling one’s potential…a process of growing and fulfilling one’s potential, of being self- directed and integrated, of moving toward full humanness.” (1996:1484)
Maslow in Toward Psychology of Being defines it as an episode in which he is more integrated and less spilt, more open for experience, more idiosyncratic, more perfectly expressive or spontaneous, or fully functioning, more creative, more humorous, more ego-trancending, more independent of his lower needs, etc. he becomes in these episodes more truly himself, more perfectly actualizing his potentialities, closer to the core of his Being, more fully human. (1968:97)
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies When a work of literature is published and read by the public, comments, suggestion, or even criticizes often arise. This section will review some of them. As said by Eric Petersen, Bridge to Terabithia is a timeless story that will
remind us to the gift of friendship. That is why; the book has attracted a large audience of young and old readers since its publication in 1977. For him, the book is absolutely beautiful. He says as the following:
This timeless story serves to remind us that the gift of friendship is precious, fragile, and too often taken for granted. It is no wonder that such a rich and poignant story has attracted a large audience of young and old readers since its initial publication in 1977. Today, more than 20 years later, the book continues to find new audiences, and despite the controversy surrounding its censorship by certain states' school boards, it has become traditionally required reading for young students. ) It is also strengthen by the commentary from . Bridge to Terabithia is depicted as a sensitive, emotionally honest novel about the two characters who rise above their weaknesses through emotional strength and generosity. From this comment it implies that the idea of friendship has flourished in the novel.
While John Simmons, Professor of English Education at Florida State University, says that the novel offers a sensitive, imaginative, and eminently teachable story of the lives of two kids who come from different background.
My overall assessment is that Bridge to Terabithia, winner of the 1978 Newbery Medal, offers a sensitive, imaginative, and eminently teachable story of the lives of two innocent ten-year-olds who come from vastly different walks of life but whose friendship is credible, delightful — and ultimately tragic. When I first read the novel, I found myself taken over by a great desire to share the text with a middle school or junior high class. Simmon added his own idea about the novel with the surprisingly fact.
Even the book is welcomed in most of the society, perplexingly the books is banned by PFAW (People For American Way) together with some prominent books such as Lois Lowry’s quite recent novel The Giver, or Maya Angelou’s long-time shocker, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
More over, Simmons gives his support for the novel. He said, the appearance of Katherine’s Bridge to Terabithia on the list of the banned book is puzzling him. He said, on a more serious note, causing Bridge to Terabithia to be excluded from the literary bill of fare for young adults would do much more than simply allow the censors to ban a high-quality novel. In addition, it may sound a frighteningly clear clarion call for a full-scale attack on imaginative literature throughout U.S.
B. Review of Related Theories
When people discuss and analyze the work of literature, they need the theory or reference to make the best analysis. The section below will discuss some theories used in analyzing the novel.
1. Theory of Friendship
When approaching the notion of friendship, our first problem is, as Graham Allan in his book Kinship and Friendship in Modern Britain (1996:85) has commented, that there is a lack of firmly agreed and socially acknowledged criteria for what makes a person a friend. In one setting we may describe someone as friend; in another the label may seem less appropriate. Furthermore, as cited from Graham Allan’s Friendship: Developing a sociological perspective (1989), ted as voluntary, informal and personal still operate within the constraints of class, gender, age, ethnicity and geography - and this place a considerable question against the idea that friendship is a matter of choice.
However, as written in a friendship between two people can emerge only with their paths cross in the first place: they will have to ‘meet’ before they can ever ‘mate’. That they actually meet is likely if there is opportunity, by sharing, for example, the same living, school, or work environment, or if their social network overlap. (Fehr, 1996).
Steve Duck in his book Friends For Life thinks that friendship is a skill of making a relationship will not be totally and perfectly built in a sudden because it is a process that can be improved, refined, polished like any other skill, and made for fluent (1991:4). He also clearly mentions some vital conditions that are needed to develop a closer interpersonal relationship as well as the friendship itself with the one, who at first is totally stranger to us. These vital conditions are assessing communication; indicating liking and interest by minute bodily activities, like eye movements and postural shifts; finding out how to satisfy mutual personality needs; adjusting our behavior to the relationship with the other person; selecting and revealing the right sorts of information or opinion in an inviting, encouraging way in the appropriates style and circumstances; building up commitment (Duck, 1991:3).
There are some factors which increase the chance of making friends including:
1. Similarity It is has a relation with how much we have in common with them
(‘birds of a feather’). Similar friends provide social validation for our beliefs, characteristics, etc. In practice, opposites seldom attract.
2. Proximity leads us to like most people we see often.
3. Reciprocity We like people who like us and dislike those who dislike us.
4. Beauty Physical attraction counts, although how it is defined varies around the world
5. Competence We like people who are competent (but they should not be too perfect).
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2. Children’s Friendship
As said before in Chapter 1, early childhood relationship has the relation in the future of someone’s life. Ladd in his Peer Relationship in Child
Development said, it is because peer relationships offer a staging area for a child
to develop a sense of its own competence as well as to learn such skill not only is childhood a place to learn fundamental skills of competency, it is the main area where basic social skill, including the management of conflict, can be developed (1989:131). According to Pullataz and Gottman, in The Development of
Children’s Friendships, the relationship in childhood can affect a child’s
understanding of complex problems and influence the development of its comprehension of relationship between objects, between concepts, and between people as well as having a predictable effect on the child’s happiness. For example, unpopular children perform poorly at school, experience learning difficulties and drop out of school in much greater numbers than their popular peers (1981:196).
There were some facts, as quoted from Dunn’s ‘Relations among relationships’ in S.W. Duck’s. entitled Handbook of Personal Relationship, that conventional wisdom, via the media, tells us that the most famous mass murderers of almost every country have invariably been found to have had abnormal social experiences in childhood. They are usually described as loners, quiet, withdrawn and unsociable people, often dominated by selfish parents or hounded by thoughtless classmates. The implication seems to be that if friend-making had destructive and unusual personalities might have turned out in more rewarding and acceptable form (1991:133).
In general terms, children learn four types of skill from friendships (S. W. Duck, 1989: 156):
a. Social skill It is an ability to socialize with other people.
b. Interpersonal Competence It is the way to handle other people without disruptive conflict.
c. Communication Competence We can call it as the ability to communicate skillfully and persuasively.
d. Relational Competence It is a skill or the ability, specifically within close relationship context, to handle themselves skillfully when dealing with such things as intimacy, privacy and trust.
3. Theory of Character and Characterization
Mario Klarer, in his book An Introduction to Literary Works, defines a character as a figure presented in literary work (1999:133). Since the writer will use the character as the object of the research, it is make sense if the writer put on the theory of character as the supporting aspects that help the writer to understand the characterization of the character.
M. H Abrams, in A Glossary of Literary Terms, states that characters are moral and dispositional quality that are expressed by the means of their actions and their utterances (1993:21) Lyman A. baker, in his article titled Critical Concepts as taken from
e definitions about character. First, character is defined as a fictional individual within a larger imaginary situation. The next definition about character is identifiable individuals with their distinctive way of behaving. Lastly, character is defined as person with more or less stable complex of traits of disposition, attitudes, opinions, and values. Moreover, he also thinks that the main subject in fiction that interests the readers is the variety and workings of characteristics of a character in the form of endowed personality traits as given by the author to the character him or herself.
Characters as found in literary works are created within a process that is called as characterization. Referring to what stated in , characterization means the creation of imaginary persons so that they seem lifelike. It is said that there are three main ways in observing characterization. Firstly, the author explicitly presents the character either in introductory part of the story or in the whole parts of the work and it is clearly observed through his or her action. Next, the character is presented with little comment from the author or even nothing and it is expected that the readers could examine the actor by the means of his or her action. Finally, the character exposes himself altogether with his action and his emotions without any interference from the author in all part of the work including the introductory part.
Character is classified based on the importance of the character and on its characterization. Wellek categorizes character into main character who becomes the central and focus of the story, and the minor character whose function is to support the story and characterization of the main character. From the characterization, character is classified into static character, dynamic character, flat character, and round character. (1956:219).
In this study, it is also important to include theories about the development of a character. The character is influenced by the action and incident, which occur in the story, and it causes a change and development to the character. At the end to the novel, the character would be the same anymore from what it is at the beginning of the novel (De Laar and Schoonderwoed, 1969:171). It means that the character should not be static because there is changes influenced by the plot and the story that have its influence the character.
According Murphy, characterization can be classified in nine ways (1972:161-171). Those are:
a. Personal Description The author provides the description explicitly in the work. The writer writes the description about the physical appearance, clothes and other property of the character. b. Character as Seen by Another The author describes the character’s characteristic through other’s eyes or opinion in the novel. The author writes the description through the other character’s p[point of view. In a story, other characters usually talk about the major character for the readers to understand the work better.
c. Speech The author describes the characteristics of each character than the speech or what the person says. It can be a form of the way the person talk.
Speak or the dictions of words that he/she uses.
d. Past Life The author gives the clue about someone’s characters through the past life of his or her. Any events, incidents or action in the past life can be used to describe someone’s character.
e. Conversation of other Another clue that the author tries to convey the character to the reader is the conversation by other characters. The person is being spoken about by the author in a form of conversation given by other characters.
f. Reactions Through the reaction of the person in a certain situation and events, the author tries to presents the character to the reader.
g. Direct Comments The author gives the character of a person directly through the h. Thoughts Trough a thought of a person, the author tries to give the reader directs knowledge. The readers know what is in a person mind. i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits, idiosyncrasies that may also tell something about the character.
4. Theory of Personality Development
Since the study will analyze about an achievement of self-actualization, the theory that related to personality development are needed in order to make the analysis easier.
Personality is a dynamic organization of characteristics attributes leading to behavior or distinguishing one individual from other individuals (Kalish, 1973:51). It is implying that everyone has their own personalities that differentiate them from one another. In addition, to understand the meaning of personality we should also know the meaning of development. Pikunas (1976:23) defines development as a kind of process of growth, maturation, learning and achievement. In broader sense, development refers to all process of change by which an individual’s potentialities unfurl and appear as new qualities, abilities, traits, and related characteristics.
As cited on <ent is the developing a personality cult in general; and more pertinent aspect of such personality is to maintain and prove in a long run.
Other statement about personality development is said by Walter Mischel in his book, Introduction to Personality. It is said that personality development is a continuous process in which learning experiences may accumulate in a variety of sequences, depending on the specific learning opportunity the person exposed to (Mischel, 1981:312)
Pikunas (1976:58-73) states that there are five factors that influence someone’s personality development process. Those factors are: a. Environment It is the place in which a person lives, both physical and social.
Various physical factors; climate, location, size and convenience of home, continually affect thee child in myriad ways b. Family
It is an enduring social group based on marriage and blood relationship. As a primary group, the family with children is bound together by kinship and intimate relations marked by care, affection, support, and companionship; bearing and raising children; teaching and transmitting culture, religion, economics, and moral to the young; developing personalities; dividing and discharging labour within the family and outside. c. Peers as models Peer interactions usually give much gratification are need satisfaction from middle childhood to the years of late adulthood.
Peers modify the child’s thought, feeling, and aspiration as he learns to give and take.
d. Society The community is the large social culture that serves as a framework for socio-economic and cultural life. People create a community by showing a sense of belonging and by contributing to it through labor and money, in both voluntary and mandatory ways.
Traditionally, society is divided into three social-classes; upper, middle, and lower stratum e. Culture
It refers to the total patterns of people’s way of life seen in terms of artifacts and achievement distinguishing large but similar societies. It encompasses the technology and civilization, law and morality, religion, politics, art and recreation, also the training and educational facilities of any specific period of history.
5. Theory of Self-Actualization
According to Kurt Goldstein in his book
organism’s) individual capacities”, in the world. The tendency for self- actualization is “the only drive by which the life of an organism is determined.” Therefore, Goldstein defined self-actualization as a driving life force that will ultimately lead to maximizing one’s abilities and determine the path of one’s life.
In the other hand, another psychologist, Abraham Maslow defines self- actualization as the desire for self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for the individual to become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. Different from Goldstein, Maslow used the term self actualization to describe a desire, not a driving force, that could lead to realizing one’s capabilities. Maslow did not feel that self actualization determined one’s life; rather, he felt that it gave the individual a desire, or motivation to achieve budding ambitions.
In Hjelle’s Personality Theories: Basic Assumptions, Research, and
Applicatio n, according to Maslow, people have lower order needs that in
general must be fulfilled before high order needs can be satisfied. To showing that Maslow made a pyramid which is showing the level of human need that known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.
Picture 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1981: 368)
The first four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs": the individual does not feel anything if they are met, but feel anxious if they are not met. The deficiency needs are: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, and Esteem needs. The following are the explanation about the hierarchy of needs.
a. Physiology Needs or Survival Needs Physiology comes from physiology drives. These are the basic animal needs for such things as food, warmth, sex, water, and other body needs. For example, if a person is hungry or thirsty or his body is chemically unbalanced, all of his energies turn toward remedying these deficiencies, and other needs rema take first precedence. These consist mainly of excretion, drinking eating, and breathing.
If some needs are not fulfilled, a human's physiological needs take the highest priority. Physiological needs can control thoughts and behaviors, and can cause people to feel sickness, pain, and discomfort. (1981:369) b. Safety Needs
When individual physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual’s safety needs take over and dominate his behavior. Safety needs includes personal security from crime, financial security, health and well-being, also safety net against accidents/illness and the adverse impacts. (1981:370) c. Love/Belonging Needs
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. This psychological aspect of Maslow's hierarchy involves emotionally-based relationships in general, such as friendship, intimacy, having a suppor. As we know, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group (such as clubs, office culture, , professional organizations, sports team) or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants).
They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become, . This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure. e.g. an anorexic ignores the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging. (1981:371) d. Esteem Needs
All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self- respect, and to respect others. These needs may be classified into two subsidiary sets. These are, first, the desire for strength, for achievement, for adequacy, for confidence in the face of the world, and for independence and freedom. Secondly, we have what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige (defining it as respect or esteem from other people), recognition, attention, importance or appreciation. (1981:372)
e. Self-Actualization In A.H. Maslov, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological
Review 50 (1943:370-96) , the final stage of psychological development comes when the individual feels assured that his physiological, security, affiliation and affection, self-respect, and recognition needs have been satisfied. As these become dormant, he becomes filled with a desire to realize all of his potential for being an effective, creative, mature human being. "What a man can be, he must be", is the way Maslow expresses it. Further more, Maslow said that self-actualization is reaching one's fullest potential. However, to further clarify “There are certain conditions which are immediate speak, freedom to do what one wishes so long as no harm is done to others, freedom to express one's self, freedom to investigate and seek for information, freedom to defend one's self, justice, fairness, honesty, orderliness in the group are examples of such preconditions for basic need satisfactions.”
Maslow, in his book entitled The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, describe eight ways in which one self-actualizes.
a. Self-actualization means experiencing fully, vividly, selflessly, with full concentration and total absorption. (1971:44).
b. Self-actualization is an ongoing process; it means making each of the many single choices, and to make each of these choices as a growth choice. (1971:44)
c. Self-actualization implies that there is a self to be actualized. (1971:44)
d. When in doubt, be honest rather than not. Looking within oneself for many of the answer implies taking responsibility. That is in itself a great step toward self-actualization. Each time one takes responsibility, this is an actualizing of the self. (1971:45) e. A person who does each of those steps each time the choice point comes will find that they add up to better choices about what is constitutionally right for him. (1971:45). For instance, a person comes to know his destiny, or what his mission in his life will be. He cannot choose wisely for a life unless he dares to listen to himself, his ownself, at each moment in life. nonconformist. In addition, to be courageous rather than afraid is another version about the same thing.
f. Self-actualization is not only an end state but also the process of actualizing one’s potentialities at any time, in any amount. (1971:46). It means working to do well the thing that one wants to do.
g. Experiencing ‘peak experiences’.
h. Finding out who one is, what he is, what he likes, what he doesn’t like, what is good for him and what bad, where he is going and what his mission is means identifying defenses, and after defenses have been identified, it means finding the courage to give them up. (1971:47)
Maslow compiled some description about the character of self- actualization people. Those are; i. Realistic
Self-Actualizing person has a more efficient perception of reality, and has comfortable relations with it. This is extended to all areas of life. A self-actualizing person is unthreatened and unfrightened by the unknown. He has a superior ability to reason, to see the truth, and is logical and efficient. ii. Self acceptance Self-actualizing persons are not ashamed or guilty about their human nature, with its shortcoming, imperfections, frailties, and weaknesses.
They can accept their own human shortcomings, without condemnation. iii. Spontaneity, simplicity and naturalness
Self-actualizing people are relatively spontaneous in their behavior, and far more spontaneous than that in their inner life, thoughts and impulses. They are not externally motivated or even goal-directed; rather their motivation is the internal one of growth and development, the actualization of themselves and their potentialities. iv. Problem centering
Self-actualizing people have a problem-solving orientation towards life instead of an orientation centered on self. They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others. v. Detachment and the need for solitude
Self-actualizing people enjoy solitude and privacy. They can be alone and not be lonely, unflappable, and retains dignity amid confusion and personal misfortunes, all the while remaining objective. He is a self starter, is responsible for himself, and owns his behavior. vi. Autonomy, independent of culture and environment Self-actualizing persons are not dependent for their main satisfactions on other people or culture or means-to-ends, or in general, on extrinsic satisfactions. They are dependent for their own development and continued growth upon their own potentialities and latent resources. The meaning of their life is self-decision, self-governing and being an active, responsible, self-disciplined deciding person rather helplessly ruled by others. vii. Continued freshness of appreciation.
Self-actualizing people have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again the basic pleasures of life. viii. Peak experiences
According to Maslow, “feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and valuable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences." ix. Care about humanity Self-actualizing people have deep feelings of identification, sympathy and affection for other people, and a deep feeling of empathy and compassion for human beings in general. This feeling is, in a sense, unconditional in that it exists along with the recognition of the existence in others of negative qualities that may provoke occasional anger, impatience, and disgust. x. Interpersonal relation
Self-actualizing people have deeper and more profound inter-personal relationships than most adults, but not necessarily deeper than children.
They are capable of more closeness, greater love, more perfect identification, more erasing of ego boundaries than other people would consider possible. xi. Democratic values and attitudes
The self-actualizing person is able to learn from anyone, is humble and friendly with anyone regardless of class, education, political belief, race or color. xii. Ethical means towards moral ends Self-actualizing persons are highly ethical. They clearly distinguish between means and ends and subordinate means to ends. Their notions of right and wrong and of good and evil are often not conventional ones. xiii. Philosophical, unhostile sense of humor
Self-actualizing people have a keen, unhostile sense of humor. They don't laugh at jokes that hurt other people or are aimed at others' inferiority. They can make fun of others in general, or of themselves. xiv. Creative
Self-actualizing people are highly imaginative and creative. The creativity involved here is not special-talent creativity. It is creativity potentially inherent in everyone but usually suffocated by acculturation. It is a fresh, naive, direct way of looking at things, rather similar to the naive and universal creativity of unspoiled children.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are some theories used in this study. Those are the theory of friendship, theory of character, theory of personality development, and theory of self-actualization. Those theories will be connected one another in order to make the explanation and the analysis clearer.
To answer the first problem formulation, the writer will used the theory of friendship, theory of children friendship, and the theory of character. Theory of friendship and children friendship theory will be used to connect some references which related to the main character’s friendship. The following theory, which is the theory of character and characterization, will be used in order to support the research. Since the object of the research in this thesis is the main character in the novel, the writer thinks that it is useful to put the theory of character and characterization as the part of supporting theory.