Representation of social oppression during the mid 19th century england society in Charles Dickens` oliver twist - USD Repository

  

REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL OPPRESSION

DURING THE MID 19 th CENTURY ENGLAND SOCIETY

  

IN CHARLES DICKENS’ OLIVER TWIST

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

  

For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

By

BAYU MURHANASWAN

  Student Number : 044214122

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

In English Letters

  

I can do all things

through Christ which

strengthened me

  

(Philippians 4:13)

  

This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:

My Lord, Jesus Christ

My beloved father, Marhaenis Budi S.

  

My beloved mother, Dasanti M.

My dearest brothers, Ganesha and Armega

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty God and my Savior, Jesus Christ who always shows His mercy and love for the entire of my life. It is only by His amazing grace that this undergraduate thesis is finally finished. Whenever I face many barriers to finish this thesis, He becomes my strength, my refuge and my hope. My deepest love is also given to my beloved parents who always pray for me all the time and give their support and love along my life. I also give thanks to my two young brothers who always care and support me.

  My deepest gratitude and respect are due to my advisor, Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum., who has spent his time to help and to guide me in finishing this thesis. I thank him for his kindness and patience to correct my thesis writing. My deepest thank is also due to my co-advisor, Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum., who has helped me to check my thesis. I would like to give special thank to all the lecturers who have taught me and guided me along the years of my study. I also thank to all the administrative staffs of English Letters Department and SAC staffs for their helps and kindness through the years of my study.

  My special thank is also for my 2004 best friends of PMK Efata: Pikal, Christo, Asih, Silvi, Vivi, Tyas, and also for all my lovely young brothers and sisters in Efata, who always pray and support me. I would like to give my special gratitude also to Mas Bayu Elang and Mbak Ike, who always pray for me and help me to grow in Christ and to find my purpose in the journey for a lifetime. I thank work and to serve God. I would like to thank to all friends in Grinjing 9c boarding house who has became my friends for my years living with them.

  For all my 2004 best friends in English Letters Depertment: Adit, Cyllas, Galih, Wawan, Roni, Toni, Taufik, I really thank for the friendship since the first year of my study. I thank to "A Doll's House" team for the togetherness during the preparation of play performance, and also to my close friend Karisma who has spent his time to support me during the end of my thesis writing.

  My special thanks and love go to someone who always prays for me all the time and supports me to finish my thesis. Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone whose name cannot be mentioned one by one. Thanks for all who have been a blessing in my life.

  Bayu Murhanaswan

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

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

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

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

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

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. vi

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

  viii

  

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... x

ABSTRAK ........................................................................................................ xi

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN ............................................... xii

PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA ..........................................................

  xiii

  

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

A. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1 B. Problems Formulation .................................................................................. 4 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................ 4 D. Definition of Terms ...................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .................................................. 7

A. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 7 B. Review of Related Theories ......................................................................... 10 1. Theory of Setting .................................................................................... 10 2. Theory of Representation ....................................................................... 13 3. The Relation between Literature and Society ........................................ 14 th C.

  Century ............................... 16 Review on England Condition in the mid 19 D.

  Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 21

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 22

A. Object of the Study ....................................................................................... 22 B. Approach of the Study ................................................................................. 23 C. Method of the Study ..................................................................................... 25

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 27

A. The Setting of Oliver Twist .......................................................................... th B.

  Century The Representation of Social Oppression during the mid 19

  England Society in Oliver Twist .................................................................. 36 C. The Idea behind the Representation of Social Oppression during the

  th

  mid 19 Century England Society ............................................................... 45

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 56

APPENDIX ....................................................................................................... 59

  

ABSTRACT

  BAYU MURHANASWAN (2009). Representation of Social Oppression

  th

during the mid 19 Century England Society in Charles Dickens’ Oliver

Twist. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata

Dharma University.

  Literature is a social institution that represents life. It is the imitation of social reality that is unintentionally constructed. It deals with human experiences, problems, feeling and attitudes toward life. This thesis analyzes these issues in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist to represent the social oppression that happened in

  th England society during the mid 19 century.

  The objective of this study is to find out the representation of social

  th

  oppression during the mid 19 century England society. Based on the problems, this study is conducted into three objectives. The first objective is to identify the setting in the novel. The second objective is to portray how the setting represents

  th

  the social oppression towards the society during the mid 19 century. The last objective is to reveal the idea that is represented through social oppression during

  th the mid 19 century England society.

  In analyzing this thesis, the writer applies library research method. The sources are taken from the books and some sites in internet to collect the theories, approach, and some related studies that give significant ideas and opinion of other studies toward this novel. The writer also uses the socio-cultural historical approach to give a strong and significant idea as the novel represents the social condition at the time.

  In this analysis, the writer answers the three problems. First, the setting of the story that includes the actual geographical location, the occupation and daily manner of living of the characters, the time or period in which the action takes place, and the general environment of the characters. The description of the setting shows the social gap between the upper and the middle class whose life is prosperous and the lower class whose life is very poor. Second, the setting

  th

  represents social oppression during the mid 19 century England society which is examined through the similarities between the setting in the novel and the condition of the society at the time. It is represented through the poverty, high rite of crimes and the humiliating and degrading society. Third, the characteristics of the setting reveal the idea behind the representation of social oppression during

  th

  the mid 19 century England society. It reveals the idea of hypocrisy represented mostly through the social class stratification, among the upper class, middle class and lower class.

  

ABSTRAK

  BAYU MURHANASWAN (2009). Representation of Social Oppression

  th

during the mid 19 Century England Society in Charles Dickens’ Oliver

Twist. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata

Dharma.

  Karya sastra merupakan sebuah institusi sosial yang merepresentasikan sebuah kehidupan. Karya sastra juga merupakan tiruan dari sebuah realita sosial yang dibentuk secara tidak sengaja. Karya sastra memiliki hubungan dengan pengalaman, masalah, perasaan dan sikap manusia terhadap kehidupan. Skripsi ini menganalisa masalah-masalah tersebut dalam novel Oliver Twist yang ditulis oleh Charles Dickens untuk merepresentasikan tekanan sosial yang terjadi dalam masyarakat Inggris selama pertengahan abad ke-19.

  Tujuan utama dalam studi ini adalah menemukan representasi dari tekanan sosial dalam masyarakat Inggris selama pertengahan abad ke-19. Berdasarkan rumusan masalah, studi ini di lakukan dalam tiga tujuan. Tujuan pertama adalah mengidentifikasi latar belakang cerita dalam novel. Tujuan kedua adalah memberikan gambaran tentang bagaimana latar belakang cerita merepresentasikan tekanan sosial terhadap masyarakat selama pertengahan abad ke-19. Tujuan terakhir studi ini mengungkap sebuah pemikiran yang direpresentasikan melalui tekanan sosial di dalam masyarakat Inggris selama pertengahan abad ke-19.

  Dalam menganalisisa, penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Sumber-sumbernya di ambil dari buku-buku dan beberapa situs di internet untuk mengumpulkan teori-teori, pendekatan dan beberapa tinjauan studi yang memberikan pendapat dan pemikiran yang penting dari studi lain tentang novel ini. Penulis juga menggunakan pendekatan sosiokultural historikal untuk memberikan sebuah pemikiran yang penting dan kuat untuk merepresentasikan kondisi sosial dalam novel pada masa itu.

  Dalam analisa, penulis menjawab tiga rumusan masalah. Pertama, latar belakang cerita meliputi keadaan geografis, jenis pekerjaan dan kebiasaan tokoh- tokohnya, waktu terjadinya peristiwa dalam cerita dan kondisi umum tokoh- tokohnya. Gambaran dari latar belakang cerita menunjukkan adanya jurang pemisah antara masyarakat kelas atas dan menengah yang hidupnya makmur dengan masyarakat kelas bawah yang hidupnya sangat miskin. Kedua, latar belakang cerita merepresentasikan tekanan sosial dalam masyarakat Inggris selama abad ke-19 yang di lihat melalui kesamaan antara latar belakang cerita dalam novel dengan kondisi masyarakat pada masa itu. Hal itu digambarkan melalui kemiskinan, tingginya tingkat kriminalitas, dan masyarakat yang cenderung untuk merendahkan dan menghina orang lain. Ketiga, karakteristik dari latar belakang cerita mengungkap pemikiran tentang kemunafikan yang

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : BAYU MURHANASWAN Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214122

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

  

REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL OPPRESSION

TH

DURING THE MID 19 CENTURY ENGLAND SOCIETY

  

IN CHARLES DICKENS’ OLIVER TWIST

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

  Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 30 Mei 2009 Yang menyatakan (BAYU MURHANASWAN)

PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA

  Saya menyatakan dengan sesungguhnya bahwa skripsi yang saya tulis ini tidak memuat karya atau bagian yang lain kecuali yang telah disebutkan dalam kutipan dan daftar pustaka sebagai mana layaknya karya ilmiah.

  Yogyakarta, 30 Mei 2009 Bayu Murhanaswan

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature is a social institution that represents life, while life itself is a

  social reality. In other word, literature is the imitation of social reality that is unintentionally constructed. According to Wellek and Warren in Theory of

  

Literature , the literary works are the mirror of society. It is not the reflection of

society, but the essence of the history.

  But furthermore, literature represents life and life is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner of subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary imitation (1956: 94).

  From the quotation above, we can see that literature is an expression of society. It has social function. It is also a reflection of human daily life. It expresses human experiences, problems, feeling and attitudes toward life. Literature with its medium devices and objects is the representation of life itself.

  As we know that everybody has his or her own life problem and the society or the environment can be completely considered as the influence of those problems. Sometimes people can see the reality that happen in their life but they cannot be able to solve the conflict within it all because the conditions and circumstances do not allow a better life happen to them. The society seems oppressive toward them. Sometimes, they surrender to the situation around them. This is the condition that the novel wants to reveal.

  Oliver Twist is a work of social commentary. This is a strong criticism

  novel of the poverty and social stratification of England society at the time. Oliver

  

Twist is also one of the most important novels of the nineteenth century that

  describes poor living conditions. This novel becomes popular because it relies on the reality so that the people reading this novel will know about the reality of life and many circumstances that affect their life. It is stated in Encyclopedia

  Britannica Vol. 7:

  It is true that Oliver Twist consists of a queer mixture of melodrama and realism; but both the realism and the melodrama are deliberately dark and grim 1970: 378).

  Dickens' Oliver Twist is actually a simple story of an innocent boy named Oliver Twist who struggles for survival. It portrays in the story that there are many circumstances in the society that take control or even oppress the people. The situations that happen in the society are used in this novel to make a pointed social commentary, attacking the hypocrisy and mistakes of institutions like workhouse, including the government, its laws and criminal system, and also the ways of dealing with poor. It is also a kind of a fictional novel possessing the western slavery behavior of adults to young youths.

  The middle class reached a point to where they had as much influence as the British aristocrats, and a very class conscious society, the middle class was desperately trying to gain their share in political power which brought about a new voting system. Although Oliver Twist was fiction, it accurately portrayed many parts of society during this time period.

  This novel reveals so many values to readers that can be practiced and can give them a picture of a good morally person. This novel is completely able to bring the reader into the reality through the social condition at the time. By reading this novel, the writer can see so many things happen in this life, revealed through the condition of the society at the time. This novel really amazes the writer so much with its images of social oppression that result in, for instance, poverty, crime and another humiliating society. It concerns on being a citizen to other people who is being oppressed and discriminated. In this novel we can see how the poor is seemingly born for hardships and misfortunes live. They are described as a helpless and hopeless people, lives under the violent situation. It is stated in New Encyclopedia Britannica. Volume 5:

  Though containing much comedy still, Oliver Twist is more centrally concerned with social and moral evil (the workhouse and the criminal world) ― the spectacle of the lost or oppressed child as an occasion for pathos and social criticism (1983: 707).

  Novel Oliver Twist is also one of many representations in literary works.

  th

  It represents the real condition of England during the mid 19 century. The story actually concerns with the situation that happened at the time and tries to criticize this situation that oppresses the society.

  What matters is that it is one of the most successful social satires, which, in great degree, deals not in personalities but in human anonymity, in the ‘crowd’, in ‘society’ (Wilson, 1970: 129).

  The novel shows how the Industrial revolution really brings great impact toward the people’s life and the society as a whole. People from the upper class and develop the social consciousness to overcome social misery. As a result, for instance, the novel reveals bad condition of the poor, the hard life in workhouse and many others wicked situations. These situations then force people to run away from their life reality and some turn into criminality in order to survive.

  The writer tries to find out why the society seems oppressive and to connect the situation in the novel with the social condition at the time. The writer is also interested in the condition of the society in the novel because it represents the social oppression in England society at the time. Moreover, the writer sees that the social oppression will result in what happen toward the society. That is why the writer prefers to choose this topic to be analyzed deeply.

  B. Problems Formulation

  1. How is the setting depicted in the novel?

  2. How does the setting in the novel represent social oppression in the society

  th

  during the mid 19 century?

  th

  3. What idea is represented through the social oppression during the mid 19 century England society?

  C. Objectives of the Study

  The objective of this study is to find out the representation of social

  th

  oppression during the mid 19 century England society. Based on the problems above, this study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the setting th

  social oppression towards the society during the mid 19 century. The last objective is to find out the idea that is represented through social oppression

  th during the mid 19 century England society.

D. Definition of Terms 1.

  Representation Gibson in his book Postmodern Theory towards a Postmodern Theory of Narrative states that there two representations; surface and depth.

  The surface representation is a realism of particulars that conceives of language as unproblematically adequate to what it represents and apparently founded in the visual.

  The depth representation is representation of essences, general features, types which depends on and expresses ontological conviction. It also means penetrating the visible (1996: 81-82).

2. Social Oppression

  According to Dictionary of Sociology and Related Sciences (1970: 275), social is having to do with the reciprocal relations of interacting human beings, either as individuals or groups.

  In The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1996: 1010), oppression is the action in order to keep down by a cruel or unjust of power or authority; or to tyrannize over and to weigh heavily on the mind, spirits, Thus, social oppression is an action of authority or power in a cruel or unjust manner that happens in the live of community or human being interaction.

3. Society

  According to Dictionary of Sociology and Related Sciences (1970: 275), society is a group of human beings cooperating in the pursuit of several of their major interest, invariably including self-maintenance and self-perpetuation.

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Charles Dickens is known as one of the greatest English novelist. One of

  his qualified novels is Oliver Twist. This is a very popular novel that has been analyzed and criticized by many critics and experts. The writer found some criticisms and reviews toward this novel in some books, undergraduate thesis and internet. The writer considers that these reviews are very helpful to give any significant ideas of the other studies in conducting this work.

  According to Wilson in his The World of Charles Dickens, the achievement of Dickens is his greatest gifts of strong characterization and dialogue. The story is also done by the use of heavy irony which marks all his novels (1970: 129). He said that the story was a story of routine cruelty that is almost faced in a system of Victorian society. According to Wilson, Dickens’ attack upon the ideas of serious, intelligent, educated and well-intentioned men presented with an intractable social problem is not relevant to modern readers, nor even Dickens in his often reckless attract upon them mostly saw the truth instead of the statistics which obsessed the legislators. However, the story is one of the most successful social satires in the crowd and society, which, in great degree, deals not in personalities but in human anonymity in ‘society’.

  All through his life, Dickens hammered home the point that crime was the result of the terrible Poverty and Ignorance in Victorian society. He worked hard on society’s compassion in order to diminish the poverty and the ignorance (1970: 131).

  Chesterton in his Appreciation and Criticism of the Works of Charles

  

Dickens said that the story of Oliver Twist has about two special principles which

  separate it from all that called realism at the time. First, it has a moral story that means more often a story about immoral people. Second, realism is always associated with some simple view of morals (1911 42). It is stated in the quotation below:

  The real poignancy that there is in this idea is a very good study in that strong school of social criticism which Dickens represented. The whole tragedy of that incident is in the fact that he does expect the universe to be kind to him, that he does believe that he is living in a just world. That is to say, he comes, indeed, with gloomy experiences, but he comes with a happy philosophy (1911 42).

  Indhy Agiviena Putri in her thesis A Study of Characters and Settings to

  

reveal the Victorian Age Social Stratification in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

  said that Dickens’ Oliver Twist is a portrayal of Victorian Age social stratification through the setting and character of the story. She said that the Victorian social stratification that is presented through the setting and characters will make the readers understand about the social structure as Dickens writes on his works with a good style, masterly irony, and strong character that built the story. She also said that Dickens is actually describing the novel without loosing sight of the workhouse in which the story begins and many interesting scenes are depicted in and the settings portray the condition prevailing at the time. She finds the setting begins in the parochial world, criminal world, and the world of the Victorian middle class. The result of the analysis shows that the characters and the settings truly represent the social stratification of the Victorian Age (Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma, 2007).

  Oliver Twist is chosen because the presentation of the characters’

  condition, setting, and social background are very interesting to discuss in such a way that they can make the story more vivid through the description through their attitudes and behavior. The setting created in the story lead to the presence of the characters’ conditions, which later reflect and function to reveal social stratification at Victorian Age (2007: 2-3).

  According to Normsan Lebrecht, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist contains such a racism because Dickens uses a character named Fagin to describe 'the Jew'.

  Fagin is from the lower class whose job is to commit himself and many children commit to do crimes. The class of criminal almost invariably is a Jew. It is not once by way of identification, but repeatedly, relentlessly, emphatically, to point out the wicked old receiver of stolen goods like him who is hardly ever mentioned by name and emphasized only by racial and religious origin. There is an unmissable view about Fagin as bad looking and disgusting person, and of the typical Jew who kidnaps Christian boys for their blood. It is stated:

  In the first 38 chapters of Oliver Twist there are 257 references to 'the Jew' against 42 to 'Fagin' or 'the old man'. A more vicious stigmatization of an ethnic community could hardly be imagined and it was not by any means unintended. Dickens, when challenged some years later, said that he had made Fagin Jewish because 'that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew (http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/050929-

  NL-twist.html) However, there is no evidence to support this, even in the London crime statistics of the 1830s to suggest that Jews control gangs of boy pickpockets. As for Fagin, there is no one knows exactly where he comes from. Dickens admits that he knows no Jews at the time. Dickens' repulsive prejudice might be excused as conventional for its time and it not so excessive where Oliver Twist is described so compelling in the novel as one of the most gripping narratives in the English literary works.

  Unlike other thesis discussing the same author of the literary work, this thesis is going to analyze the society in the novel as the representation of the

  th

  social oppression during the mid 19 century England society and the idea behind it.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Setting

  Setting of a story can make the readers understand the situation or environment that the author creates in a story. Setting gives the readers depiction or portray about the environment or society in a story. The setting of time can give the description about when characters live and relates with the year at that time. It is important for the readers to know the setting of a story, because they can decide whether the setting is based on actual event or just a creation (fictional).

  According to Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms, setting can be noticed in a limited sense and in large sense. In a limited sense it refers to "the general place" that is particular physical location in which the story takes place. It also refers to the "historical time" that shows when the story takes place. In a large sense, setting refers to "the social circumstances that are situation or conditions, and environments in which the character live. It is stated:

  The general local and the historical time in which its action occurs, the setting of an episode or scene within a work is the physical location in which it takes place (Abrams, 1981: 175)

  From the definition above, the actual setting consists of not only setting of place and setting of time, but also it is about the social circumstances where the story occurs.

  Abrams’ understanding on setting can be added by Holman and Harmon’s definition. Holman and Harmon in their book A Handbook to Literature describes setting as “the play, and sometimes spiritual background against which the action of a narrative (novel, drama. Short story, poem) takes place” (1986: 465). Moreover, they propose four elements that are making up a setting.

  1. The actual geographical location that includes the topography and scenery, the setting may also be the indoor location like physical arrangements of the furniture or the position of windows and door of a room 2. The occupation and daily manner of living of the characters 3. The time of era in which the action happens, for example: the year, the season, or it might be an epoch in history etc.

  4. such as religious, mental, moral,

  The general environment of the character social, and emotional conditions, through which the people in the narrative move.

  Kennedy and Dana Gioia in their book Literature: An Introduction to

  th

Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 7 Edition (1999: 92-93) describe the definition of

  setting simply, call it place and time. The idea of setting includes: 1.

  Place The setting of place refers to the place where the action of novel occurs.

  It can refer to the actual place or imaginary place created by the author. It also includes the physical environment of a story, such as a house, a street, a city, a landscape, a region. Physical place is actually vital to a regional writer who usually sets the story in one geographic area. Such a writer, who is often a native of the place, tries to bring the story alive to readers who live somewhere else.

2. Time

  The setting may crucially involve the time of the story, such as hour, year, or century. It might matter greatly that a story takes place at dawn, or on the day of the first moon landing Setting may also include the weather which in some stories may be crucial. Setting of time has two meanings. First, it refers to the time when the author wrote the story. Second it refers to the time of the story itself.

  According to Roberts and Jacobs in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading

  

and Writing , setting refers to the natural and artificial scenery or environment in

  which characters in literature live and move (1987:190). Many things can be part of setting, such as the time of day and the amount of light, the trees and animals, the sounds described, the smells and the weather. References to clothing, descriptions of physical appearance, and special relationships among the references to physical and temporal objects and artifacts. There may be several settings in a work, and the term setting refers to all the places mentioned. There are two types of setting (1987:190-191): 1.

  Natural It is seen as a force that shapes action and therefore directs and redirects lives. Nature is one of the major forces leading the circumstances of characters who attempt facing the conflicts in which the plots of stories depend.

2. Manufactured

  It always reflects the people who make it. Ugly and impoverished surroundings may contribute to the weariness, insensitivity, negligence, or even hostility of the characters living in them.

2. Theory of Representation

  According to Gibson in his book Postmodern Theory towards a

  

Postmodern Theory of Narrative , there are two narrative representations based on

  classical theory (1996: 81). First is surface representation. It is a realism of particulars. Its view of language is innocent. It conceives of language as unproblematically adequate to what it represents. It thinks of representation as a rendering of individual phenomena, as documentation, description or evocation, a movement over or an experience of surfaces. Basically surface representation includes what is seen, heard and felt by the senses. It is apparently founded in the visual. It gives primacy to the visible as it stands as paradigmatic of the representation is just a physical representation. Second is deep representation. It also means penetrating the visible or the unseen from the seen. This is the representation of essences, general features, types which depends on and expresses ontological conviction. Deep representation is even prior to surface or empirical representation (1996: 82). This kind of representation does not only give the same description about the real object that is being represented but it can lead us to discover the facts that stand behind the representation.

  The object produced in representation must be understood as merely a certain position for the existent. Representation is a practice of forcing the existent back into a relation with oneself. The practice determines the existent as present, before and near but also apart from oneself as subject (1996: 83). Since this study discusses the representation of the society through setting in the novel, then it is a surface representation. The depth representation reveals the idea behind it. It reveals the unseen from the seen in the text to get the real meaning and fact in it.

3. The Relation between Literature and Society

  As we know that society influences the author in creating his or her ideas. The author is a part of society since he or she lives in a certain group of people and customs. Concerning to literature, society functions as an element in a structure of the novel. It must be considered that society is a concept and construct in fiction. Society is defined as an imitation of an outside world that tends to obscure the formal variety of social presentation in a novel. Society in the novel customs, setting and locality because society in the novel does not aim at a faithful mirror of existent things (Langland, 1984: 5).

  According to Langland, society comes out from patterned, formal relationships among aspects of our life experiences (1984: 5). He also says that society does not only concern people and their classes but also their customs, conventions, belief values, religion and culture, and their physical environment.

  Society considers everything we have seen to be norms, conventions, background, places, people, and institution. How a writer uses society depends both on the relationship that it has to the characters and on the overall role it plays in a developing action (1984: 6-7).

  Society in a wider sense, comprehending not merely peoples and their classes but also their customs, conventions, beliefs and values, their institutions―legal, religious, and cultural―and their physical environment (1984: 6).

  Henkle in his Reading the Novel said that some novels emphasize and concerns themselves with the nature of a society (1977: 21). It seems realistic, recreating a world resembling ours and with people much like us, that is then called as social novels.

  The social novels present lifelike characters in recognizable, probable social situations. It imparts a strong sense of place through detailed descriptions of rooms, houses, countrysides, town streets and buildings, and characteristic sounds and activities (1977: 22).

  The society involves a variety of people of different occupations, ages, and natures, living together in a way that creates a web of interrelationships. The novels tend to define themselves through their contact with other people in society (1977: 23). Social interaction ―how people behave toward one another ― is one of the crucial activities of the book.

  th C. century Review on England Condition in the mid 19

1. Social Life Condition

  It is necessary for the writer to investigate the nature of the England society; in this case its social structure and social life. It will be helpful to help the writer understands the condition of the England society when the novel was written.

  The rapid growth of the industrial cities did pay attention to sanitation or comfort produced foul slums where the people lived in horrible squalor. The large numbers of women and particularly children ranging in ages from six years up were employed and harshly exploited.

  Children of pauper parents were farmed out to factory owners on terms that amounted to slavery, unprotected even by the “property interest” that mitigated the rigors of true slavery, and were literally worked to death (Littlefield, 1973: 8).

  According to McKay in his A History of Western Society, the English society consists of three big social class structures. There is a great gap between rich and poor endured, in part, because industrial and urban development made society more diverse and less unified.

  1. The Aristocracy Class / Upper Class The top class is known as the aristocracy. They belong to the royal family, includes the lords spiritual, the clergy, and nobility who have great power and wealth. The person included to this class is determined by heredity (1983:846). This class was the richest class that had influenced the economic, political, military and intellectual policies. These people are privileged and avoided taxes.

  2. The Middle Class They are separated into three smaller groups. They are the upper-middle class, the middle-middle class, and the lower-middle class (1983:847). The upper- middle class composed mainly of the most successful business families from banking, industry, and large scale commerce. These families were the prime beneficiaries of modern industry and scientific progress. The number of servants was an important indicator of wealth and standing for the middle class, as it had always been for the aristocracy. The middle-middle class was found moderately successful industrialist and merchants, as well as professionals in law and medicine. They are solid and quite comfortable, but lacking great wealth (1983:848). The lower-middle class was independent shopkeepers, small traders, and tiny manufacturers.

  3. The Working Class / Lower Class About four out of five people belonged to the working classes. Many members of the working class were people whose livelihoods depended on class were even less unified and homogeneous that the middle classes. This class are separated into highly skilled (“labor aristocracy” class), semiskilled and unskilled urban workers (1983:851).

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  During the early 19 century, the Poor Law was often heavily criticized for its humanity and was said to discourage the unemployed from seeking work. It was found three main groups of inmates in the parish workhouses; the old and infirm, orphaned and illegitimate children, and unmarried pregnant women, as the last a group that was generally treated harshly (Black, 2000: 185). The working classes in England suffered under many forms of exploitation. They may not have grown. Workers could be hired and fired at will and had to sell their labor for whatever the going rate was. Women and children were absorbed into the work force as well, often preferred because they cost much less than men

  The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) introduced national guidelines, but the workhouse system that it created was not generous to its inmates. The abolition of out-relief for poor led to a harsh institutionalization (2000: 185).

2. Economic Condition

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  In the mid 19 century, England was suffering from economic instability and widespread unemployment. The economic instability was a legacy of the Napoleonic era, which lasted until 1815. During this time, England was at war with France. The English government had imposed heavy taxes to pay for the war.

  Although these did not really affect the wealthy classes, they were a crushing burden on the poor. Prices rose, food became scarce, and inflation rose. Also because of the war, French and European markets for English goods were closed, leading to unemployment among workers .

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  In Black’s A New History of England, it is stated that the 19 century, on the global scale, developed the most important theme in England. Post war depression and demobilization worsened the situation from 1815. The spread of empire, the growth of the economy, the changes in society, and the development of the political system reflected the changes and development that was unprecedented (2000: 177). More generally, the strains of industrialization in the

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  early 19 century caused much social and political tension (2000: 184). Economic change produced social pressure and population growth led to unemployment.

  The 1833 Act established a factory inspectorate to oversee its enforcement, a major step, and prevented the employment of children under 9; but 9-10 year-olds could still work 9 hour days, and 11-17 year olds 12 hours…Nevertheless, working conditions remained harsh, especially for those paid on a low piece-rate basis (2000: 184-185).

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  The condition of England society in the mid 19 century could not be separated from the Industrial Revolution because it had shaped this age. The economic result of industrial revolution was indicated by the expansion of industry and increase of wealth. Old industries began to produce on much larger scale than previously. New industries sprang up offering new goods to satisfy man’s desires. Particularly significant was the rise of the producer’s good industry as distinguished from the consumer’s goods industry. The increasing productiveness of the machine led to an enormous total increase in wealth, but the surplus was at first concentrated in the hands of comparatively few rich men.

  In the long run, the total increase in wealth led to a general rise in standards of living. As production for profit in a free market replaces production for use, and as innovations of method upset the balance in established industries, the phenomena of large scale “booms” and “depression” introduced a new element into economic life (Littlefield, 1973:7).

  The period 1760-1830 was the first phase of the Industrial Revolution. It was characterized by the great invention, by improved transport on roads and canals, a changing organization of production, a greatly increased output, a growth of population, and an expansion of towns. In the period 1830-1850, which marked the second phase of the Industrial Revolution, there were no inventions whose effects on production were so profound as those which transformed the textile industries in the first period (Gregg, 1950: 98).

  As we have seen, economic growth is dependent in the first instance upon the creation of an efficient transportation system and other forms of social capital. During this phase, the government is generally called upon to play a most important part, since projects that do not promise a quick return on investment often find it difficult to obtain financial support (Craig, 1961: 286). Improvement

  

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