The influence of Savannah`s characteristics and conditions in her motivation to marry him as seen in Nicholas Sparks` Dear John.

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THE INFLUENCE OF

SAVANNAH’S

CHARACTERISTICS

AND CONDITIONS IN HER MOTIVATION TO MARRY TIM

AS SEEN IN NICHOLAS SPARKS’

DEAR JOHN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

B y

DONAT A LUK E SIW I P. St udent Nu mber: 08421403 5

ENGL ISH L ET TERS S TUDY PROGR A M M E DEPAR TM ENT O F ENG LISH L ET TE R S

FAC UL TY OF L ET TE RS SANAT A DHARM A UN IVE RSI TY

YOGYAK ARTA 2012

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Donata Luke Siwi P.

Nim : 084214035

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

The Influence of Savannah’s Characteristics and Conditions in Her Motivation to Marry Tim as Seen in Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media yang lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta

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MOTTO PAGE

“Everything is valuable when you value everything.” (unknown)

FROG : I can’t jump high

but… I never jump backwards

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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to: My Beloved Father and Mother My Dearest Sister

My Family My Love My Friends

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my God the Almighty, Jesus Christ, and Saint Mary for their everlasting love and blessing in my life. They give me strength for my day, comfort for my tears, and light for my way. I am nothing without Them. I praise Them in every second of my life.

I express my greatest gratitude to my father who always supports and encourages me. I thank for his patience and financial support to finish my study. I would like to thank my beloved mother who always loves, cares, and prays for me. I also thank my sister who always supports me and my family who will always walk with me throughout my life.

My gratitude goes to my advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka M.Hum. and Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., my co-advisor, for all the guidance, advice, and patience that helped me in finishing this thesis. I would like to thank all my lecturers in English Letters Department, the secretariat staff, and to the library staff who have helped me during my study.

My specials thank goes to my love for his love, support and understanding. You are the golden rays of sunshine that brighten my heart on the cloudy day. I would like to thank my friends who always support and let me lean on when life gets messy. Thank for moments that we have shared together and for being a beautiful part of my life. I also want to thank my friends in Grinjing 333 boardinghouse, Mbak Ayu, Grace, and Rahma for the beautiful moments for my

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day in the boarding house. Thank you for always making the atmosphere become alive in our boardinghouse. I hope this friendship will never end.

I would like to thank my KKN friends, the memories of our KKN will remain deep inside of my heart. Deepest thank goes to all of staffs and my friends in Columbia English Course Klaten, Mbak Yoan, Mbak Intan, Mbak Widdy, Mbak Nita, Mbak Dewi, Mbak Aji, Mbak Tim-Tim, Mbak Anis, Lia, Mbak Agnes, and Mbak Indi who always support and help me. All of you are the good partner in the place where I can work happily.

Last but not least, I thank all people that I cannot mention the names here that have helped and supported me. I could not make these happens without you. Thank you and God bless you all.

Love,

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ... i

APPROVAL PAGE ... ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iii

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI………….. iv

MOTTO PAGE ... v

DEDICATION PAGE ... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix

ABSTRACT ... x

ABSTRAK ... xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the study ... 1

B. Problem Formulation ... 4

C. Objectives of the Study ... 4

D. Definition of Terms ... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 6

A. Review of Related Studies ... 6

B. Review of Related Theories ... 8

C. Theoretical Framework... 14

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 15

A. Object of the Study ... 15

B. Approach of the Study ... 17

C. Method of the Study ... 17

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS... 19

A. The Description of Savannah ... 19

B. The Conditions that Savannah Faced ... 34

C. Savannah’s Motivation to Marry Tim ……….. 43

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 55

x ABSTRACT

DONATA LUKE SIWI P. The Influence of Savannah’s Characteristics and Conditions in Her Motivation to Marry Tim as Seen in Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.

This thesis discusses Nicholas Sparks’ well known novel entitled Dear John through the perspective of psychology. This novel is a story of a young girl, Savannah, has a goal to get a man to be her husband. In this study the writer discusses her motivation to marry Tim.

There are three objectives of this study. First is to find out the main character’s description. Second is to find out the conditions that the main character faces. Third is to find out the influence of the main character’s characteristics and conditions in her motivation to marry Tim in the story Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John.

The writer conducted library research method in working in this study by using the novel as the primary data, books of literature, and articles from internet. The theories used in this study are theory of character and characterization and theory of motivation. The writer uses the psychological approach in this study.

From the analysis in this study, the writer finds out that the main character, Savannah is friendly, kind-hearted, caring, dependent, and loving girl. The writer also finds three conditions that Savannah faced. Her characteristics and conditions influence Savannah’s motivation to marry Tim.

The result of the study shows that Savannah’s characteristics and conditions influence her motivation to marry Tim. Savannah is a friendly girl. Therefore, she can be closed with John. Savannah is also described as a loving girl. It can be shown in her behavior toward John. She loves John very much. Savannah is also a kind-hearted girl; it gives John good impression about Savannah. In the first condition, Savannah feels lonely because of Savannah and John long distance relationship. She cannot get physical contact from John. Savannah is a dependent girl. Therefore, she finds someone who can be next to her. Based on the second condition, Savannah needs to be loved by someone. By getting closer with Tim, Savannah can get what she needs. From the third condition, Savannah needs to be needed by someone. Her pity over Alan shows that she is caring girl. She wants to help Tim to take care of Alan. Choosing Tim as her husband is based on her motivations. Her motivations are also influenced by her characteristics and conditions.

xi ABSTRAK

DONATA LUKE SIWI P. The Influence of Savannah’s Characteristics and Conditions in Her Motivation to Marry Tim as Seen in Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2012.

Skripsi ini membahas novel terkenal karya Nicholas Sparks yang berjudul Dear John melalui sudut pandang psikologi. Novel ini menceritakan tentang seorang pemudi, Savannah, yang mempunyai tujuan untuk mendapatkan seorang pria untuk menjadi suaminya. Di skripsi ini penulis berbicara tentang motivasinya untuk menikahi Tim.

Terdapat tiga tujuan dalam penelitian ini. Pertama yaitu untuk mengetahui deskripsi dari tokoh utama. Kedua yaitu untuk mengetahui kondisi-kondisi yang dihadapi oleh tokoh utama. Ketiga yaitu untuk mengetahui pengaruh sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisi tokoh utama dalam motivasinya untuk menikah dengan Tim di novel karya Nicholas Sparks yang berjudul Dear John.

Penulis melakukan studi pustaka untuk menganalisa isi dari novel dengan menggunakan novel sebagai data utama, buku-buku tentang karya sastra serta bacaan-bacaan dari internet. Teori-teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori karakter dan penokohan dan teori motivasi. Dalam studi ini, penulis menerapkan pendekatan psikologi.

Berdasarkan hasil analisa studi ini, diketahui bahwa tokoh utama, Savannah adalah seorang yang ramah, baik hati, peduli, bergantung kepada orang lain, dan gadis yang penuh cinta. Penulis juga menemukan tiga kondisi yang dihadapi Savannah. Sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisinya mempengaruhi motivasi Savannah untuk menikah dengan Tim.

Hasil penulisan menunjukkan bahwa sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisi Savannah mempengaruhi motivasi untuk menikahi Tim. Savannah adalah seorang gadis yang ramah. Oleh karena itu dia dapat menjadi dekat dengan John. Savannah juga digambarkan sebagai gadis yang penuh cinta. Hal itu dapat dilihat dari tingkah lakunya kepada John. Dia sangat mencintai John. Savannah juga seorang gadis yang baik hati. Hal itu memberikan John pengaruh yang baik tentang Savannah. Di kondisi yang pertama, Savannah merasa kesepian karena hubungan jarak jauh antara Savannah dan John. Savannah tidak mendapatkan kontak fisik dari John. Savannah adalah seorang yang bergantung pada orang lain. Oleh karena itu, dia mencari seseorang yang selalu bisa ada di sampingnya. Berdasarkan kondisi kedua, Savannah membutuhkan untuk dicintai oleh orang lain. Kedekatannya dengan Tim, Savannah dapat memperoleh apa yang dia butuhkan. Dari kondisi ketiga, Savannah membutuhkan untuk dibutuhkan oleh orang lain. Rasa kasihannya terhadap Alan menunjukkan bahwa dia seorang gadis yang peduli. Dia ingin membantu Tim untuk merawat Alan. memilih Tim sebagai suaminya berdasarkan motivasi-motivasinya. Motivasi-motivasinya juga dipengaruhi oleh sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisinya.

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

People have their own needs and purposes in life. They want to fulfill their needs and obtain everything they want. They have to struggle to get their needs and purposes. Everyone, not only man but also woman needs love and both of them have motivation to fulfill it. Many people think that to grow up and live their life without knowing love is possible. They can speculate whether or not love is the ultimate purpose of life. However, it is believed that love is the only one worth to be fought for. Some people regard that love can make them happy. It can be proved if someone finds a good partner in his or her life. Sometimes, people feel sad because of love. Love can ruin everything. Someone feels that feeling if he is broken hearted because of love itself. Love can bring people ecstasy which recovers their sore and sickness. Even if people are afraid to bear all in the searching for love, the rewards outweigh the injuries. Love must not to own. The sacrifice is important to make someone happy although he or she has his or her own relationship with someone else. Finally, we cannot be with him or her.

Marriage is a goal of a relationship between man and woman who want to live together and build a family. Everybody has his or her own reason why they decide to get married. For example, because they need a status of their relationship, or because they really love each other and they want to live together.

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Making choice and decision are always experienced by every person. Every time people are faced with options and choices in many aspects of their life. Nothing is easy when people decide which options and choices they must take.

Literary works are written as a reflection of the writers in observing the facts in the society. Most of the time, writers of the literary works, such as novellas, prose, poems, novels, short story, and, poetry write their work(s) according to the realities that happen to them or happen in their society. Considering that reason literary works can also be a portrait of life. The problems which appear in a novel can be seen as the problems which may appear in our daily life. Therefore, literature has a close relationship with human life. Literature contains the record of the people’s values, thoughts, problems and conflicts in their life.

Literature is a good piece of writing which helps us understand human beings, in all times and places, have much in common; there are good and bad people. Literature is not only an idea or theory that an author makes. It is also a creative work to express an experience of the author which is related to human life; where we can learn many aspects from the written form. According to Wellek and Warren’s Theory of Literature, literature can also be defined as the work of art that represents human life (1956: 94). As one of literary works, a novel consists of many aspects which are interesting to be analyzed.

A novel as an example of literary works can be used by the author to express his or her feeling, emotion, point of view, or everything that he or she wants toward his society or environment where he or she lives in. According to

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Murphy, the greatest novels reflects life and are compounded similarly of many elements, just as life is a mixture of joy, disappointment, hope, sorrow, humor, suffering, and success (1972: 33).

All of those elements have relation with the story of this novel. In this novel, entitled Dear John by Nicholas Sparks, there are much conditions and motivations to choose partner. It is difficult to make decision in choosing between two important people to marry with. Savannah makes a long distance relationship with John. As a woman she becomes motivated to fulfill needs of attention, protection, and affection from her soul mate. However, she does not really get them because John is far away from Savannah. She also needs real love to stay next to her. Savannah who loves John very much has to end their relationship, and then she marries Tim. Actually she still loves John, when she marries Tim. Many conditions are experienced by Savannah. She has to struggle to face her conditions in her life.

The reason in writing this thesis comes from the writer’s curiosity to know more deeply about the character in the novel. This study concerns with the character analysis of Savannah. The novel is interesting to be discussed because it shows how a person has motivation to decide with whom she marries with. This novel is one of romantic novels by Nicholas Sparks. This novel is also popular in many countries.

The writer is interested in choosing this topic because the writer wants to show and analyze the relation between the character, the conditions, and the

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motivations to marry Tim. The writer also tries to explore motivation to marry Tim.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the introduction above, there are three problems that the writer wants to discuss in this study. They are:

1. How is Savannah described in Dear John? 2. What conditions does Savannah face?

3. How do the Savannah’s characteristics and the conditions she faces influence her motivations to marry Tim in Dear John?

C. Objective of the Study

The aim of this study is to find out the answer of the problem formulation in the previous part. There are three objectives of the study. First, the writer tries to find out how Savannah is described in the story. Second, after analyzing the characteristics of Savannah, the writer tries to find out the conditions which are faced by Savannah in the novel. Third, having known the description of Savannah’s characteristics and her conditions, the writer tries to answer and see how Savannah’s characteristics and the conditions influence Savannah’s motivations to marry Tim.

5 D. Definition of Terms

According to the Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English the noun motivation derives from the verb motivate meaning to be the reason for somebody’s action or to cause somebody to want to do something (Hornby, 1995: 758).

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

The existence of a literary work always invites comments or criticisms from some critics. The criticism can be an agreement toward the story. The criticisms are needed to support the analysis of this study. Not many researches on this novel are displayed in the library. However, the writer can obtain some comments on this novel in the internet.

Nanang’s study (2009), a graduate student from English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University uses the psychological approach. He tries to analyze the influence of motivation towards behavior resulted in Griffin’s self-destruction in H. G. Well’s The Invisible Man. He finds Jack Griffin’s five characteristics and his two motivations. His motivations are to achieve glory and fame and to restore his visibility. Then he finds the connection between the motivations of Jack Griffin toward his behavior. His high level of motivation leads him to act aggressive behavior. Finally his behavior leads him to his own death later.

It is most appropriate to use the Psychological approach. The writer tries to answer by analyzing the characteristics of Jack Griffin using theory of character and characterization. Then, the writer tries to reveal the factor that becomes the background of Griffin’s motivation using the theory of human motivation. Last, the writer tries to find the influence of motivation towards behavior. It proves mostly through the dialog analysis. (2009: vii).

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Another study that uses the psychological approach is done by Marchelynow Alfa Christian (2009), a graduate student from English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University too.

To see Elie’s motivation of survival that revealed in the main character’s conflicts in the novel, three questions are formulated to guide the analysis. They are (1) How are the characters described in the Elie Wiesel’s Night? (2) What are Elie Wiesel’s internal and external conflicts that revealed in the story? (3) In what way the internal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of survival? The method applied in this study is library research. The approach used in this study is psychological approach. (2009: xi).

In his thesis, he uses psychological approach to analyze the motivation revealed in the main character’s conflicts in Elie Wiesel’s Night. He uses theory of conflict to analyze what Elie Wiesel’s internal and external conflicts revealed in the story. Then, he analyzes how the internal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of survival in achieving freedom.

From the internet sources, there are several criticisms which provide the research about Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. One of them is from Ababaigalith (www.bookcrossing.com, July 26, 2011). He states that:

This is the story of how an ideal love can falter, despite its purity and strength. Not every romance results in a happy ending, but with a great deal of luck, those who don't survive will find meaning from the experience. Love, loyalty, friendship--all those sentiments are great. He explains that not every romance or every story has a happy ending. It can be in a sad ending, like in the Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John novel. He focuses on love, how true love can lose. The survival and struggle make someone get the meaning of love.

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Those studies give deeper information for the writer in analyzing the story of the novel. In the first studies, Nanang explains about the influence of motivation towards behavior resulted in Griffin’s self-destruction in H. G. Well’s The Invisible Man. He uses psychological approach to analyze it. The second study presenting the analysis also uses psychological approach to analyze the motivation revealed in the main character’s conflicts in Elie Wiesel’s Night. Two of them share the same view about motivation and the use of psychological approach. Different from all the previous studies above, the last focuses on love, how true love can lose. Not every love story ends with happy ending. From the previous studies above this study discusses about the influence of Savannah’s characteristics and conditions in her motivations to marry Tim.

This study focuses on Savannah’s characteristics, her conditions and her motivations to marry Tim. The writer uses a psychological approach. In this study, the writer emphasizes more on Savannah’s characteristics and conditions in her motivations to marry Tim as seen in the Dear John. The writer tries to discover something new about characteristics, conditions, and motivations. The writer hopes that this study can give new understanding about the story of the novel.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory on Character and Characterization

Character is the important thing in a piece of literary work because the character can build the story move more alive and interesting. In A Glossary of

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Literary Terms, Abrams states precisely that a character is the person depicted in a dramatic or narrative work, which is interpreted by the audiences or the readers that is born with the qualities of moral and disposition, which are performed in human action and speech, or it may be said that all of the characters can be seen in what they say (1981: 20). Character can also be defined as the figure in the story. It gives us the description through the professions, statements, dialogues, and minds. Therefore, looking how they face the problems and how they behave in the daily life are the way to notice what kind of person they are.

Abrams also divides the characters into main or major character and minor character. Major character usually becomes the center of the story, the person who acts, and he must handle the attention of the readers. Therefore, he or she is the most important character in the story. The readers usually focus on this character including his or her behavior, attitude, action, and speech from the beginning up to the ending of the story. However, minor character just becomes the background of the major character. The performance of this character is just presented in a certain event. If it is compared to the major character, their roles are less important than the major character. The function of this character is also to strengthen the development of the major character (1981: 20-21).

According to Stanton (1965: 17), the term character is used in two ways. The first one is giving a particular description about the individuals who appear in the story. The second one refers to the combination of interest, desires, emotion, and moral principles that form the individuals. Every story usually has a main

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character that is significant to all events in the story. They usually cause the conversion either in her or him in the readers’ attitude towards her or him.

According to Murphy, in his book titled Understanding Unseens, there are some ways of characterizing the characters (1972: 161-163)

a. Character as Seen by Another

Instead of describing the characters directly, the author describes the characters through the opinion of other characters. The other characters will explain further about the characters based on their own opinions, thinking, or feelings.

b. Speech

Sometimes, the author explains about the characteristics of the characters through what they say. From the way of their speech in conversation with others, it can be understood what the characters will be described.

c. Past Life

The past has a relation with the present world. What happened with the characters in the past can shape a person’s character and the character’s past life is always closely connected to his or her present life.

d. Conversation of Others

The author also gives information about his characters through the conversation of one character to others. The conversation, which discussed the other characters, will explain about what the characteristics of the person. From that conversation, the readers can get the description about characters.

11 e. Reaction

The description of the characters can be seen through their action to various situations and events. The actions of the characters show his or her personality and the actions are related to his or her motives and thought.

f. Thought

This is also given directly by the author about the way of thinking of the character. The author gives directly what the characters are thinking about so that the readers can find out the personality of the characters.

g. Mannerism

The author gives the description about how the character behaves and talks, we can know the personality of character through his or her mannerism.

2. Theory of Motivation

The writer uses some theories of motivation in this study from the psychology. Because of all of these theories are fulfilled each other, then the writer uses these theories. These theories are discussed by the writer because these theories have relationship with the analysis. The writer is helped by these theories to analyze this novel.

According to Robert C. Beck in his book Motivation Theories and Principles,

“Motivation is broadly concerned with the contemporary determinants of choice (direction), persistence, and vigor of goal-directed behavior. When two or more behaviors are equally possible, one is chosen and the

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organism persists in this behavior with more or less vigor until some anticipated goal is either achieved or some other goal becomes more dominant” (1978: 24).

From the quotation above, it shows us that motivation is a choice. When we have two different choices, we will choose one which is considered as our best choice. That will be our motivation to do something. Meanwhile, Jung says that motivation includes terms that refer to such diverse states as desire, wishes, plans, goals, intents, impulses, and purposes. Some of these states imply a deliberate and calculated process involving reason.

Based on David C. Edward’s General Psychology, he stated that motivation is an invented construct which describes certain aspects of behavior (1969: 49). To say that a certain motive is in operation, such as a need to be with others of the same species, directly implies that the behavior of that individual is directed towards satisfaction of this need state rather than others. Thus, if a person seeks out other individuals, we say that he is satisfying the conditions of this particular state of affairs which we call the motive for affiliation, as opposed to describing the behavior in terms of other possible factors (1969: 50).

According to Huffman, Mark Vernoy and Judith Vernoy (2000: 401) there are two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation means the desire to perform an act for its own sake. A motivation comes from our own behavior. We are motivated to do something, not because of external reward, but because the behavior itself is rewarding. While extrinsic motivation means the

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desire to perform an action because of external rewards or avoidance of punishment. Though, the writer only uses intrinsic motivation in this study.

3. The Relationship between Literature and Psychology

A novel is one of the forms of literary work that may deal with the psychological aspects of human needs and problems related to human through some representations of the characters. Rene Wellek and Austin Warren state that psychology of literature means the psychological study of the writer, as type, and as an individual, or the study of the creative process, or the study of the psychological types and laws present within work of literature or finally the effect of literature upon its reader or audience psychology (1956: 93). There is another theory that states literature and psychology, in the book Psychology of the Human Behaviour, Richard A. Kalish states that literature also “holds the mirror up to the man”. A good novelist can communicate the feeling of the characters and can make them more like the real people whose behavior the psychologist attempts to describe (1973: 8)

From the above explanation, there is a close relationship between literature and psychology because both of them emphasize on the study of interpretative process of human behavior through characters in the novel. Since the study of this thesis deals with a character and her motivations, the analysis of this novel also involves the study of psychology.

14 C. Theoretical Framework

In this thesis the writer shows the contribution of the theories to solve the problems stated in the problem formulation. In this section, the writer explains what theories are needed and how the writer applies those theories in the analysis of this study.

The first analysis aims to describe the character of Savannah as one of the major character. To answer first problem formulation, the writer uses theory of character and characterization. These theory are used to observe what characteristics of Savannah revealed in the story is. The writer uses certain dialogues and statements in the novel that explain characteristics of Savannah.

The second analysis aims to find out Savannah’s conditions that she faces as the second question. Some relations between literature and psychology are also added to see how literature and psychology influence each other. In some literary works, such as in Dear John itself, psychological side plays an important role in this novel and its influence can be felt in whole story. It reflects that these two subjects have deep relationship and influence each other.

To answer the last question the writer uses theory of motivation. By understanding the theory of motivation, the writer tries to explore how does the influence of Savannah’s motivation as one of the main characters to marry Tim.

15 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The writer uses Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John as the main object of the study. Dear John is written by Nicholas Sparks and it was published in New York, 2009 by Grand Central publisher. The novel consists of 335 pages and 20 chapters.

Nicholas Sparks was born on December 31, 1965, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Patrick Michael Sparks, a professor, and Jill Emma Marie Sparks, a homemaker and an optometrist's assistant. He was the middle of three children, with an older brother Michael Earl "Micah" Sparks and a younger sister, Danielle "Dana" Sparks (1966–2000), who died at the age of 33.

Nicholas Sparks is an author specialized in love story. Each novel takes a different perspective of love. He always uses romantic words and romantic plot. In writing his novels, Sparks gets love and life as the themes. The themes are too usual to talk today; the readers can find that sense in his novels. The love and life make his novels so touching to the deepest heart of the readers. For examples in other Nicholas Sparks’ novels are The Notebook and The Wedding. (www.nicholas%20biography/id11.html, August 30, 2011).

“"The Notebook" is about unconditional and everlasting love and it is due to this theme that Nicholas Sparks' style of writing for this novel is very loving and when the characters are talking they express a lot of emotions even though they might not mention the emotional words. Another example would be "The Wedding" which is about love and the renewal of

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it. Therefore the novel is very homey and it has a little bit of spirit to it. Its style demonstrates celebration.”

Dear John is about a young man with unresolved father issues who enlists in the army because he wants to get better life. On one of his vacations back home, he meets a girl, Savannah who is spending her college summer vacation building houses for people who need them but cannot afford them. They spend a lot of times together and grow to understand and like each other. Then they spend time on fun activities like surfing, and also just talking to each other.

Finally they fall in love. They communicate with the letter when they are apart. One day the letter from Savannah changes everything. Sadly, Savannah’s long distance relationship with John makes her fall in love with someone else. “Dear John,” the letter read and with those two words, a heart is broken and two lives are changed forever. Returning home, John must come to face that his father died and Savannah is married. What is lasted is John’s true love. He has to face the hardest conditions of his life.

Savannah’s decision to leave John and marry Tim is a difficult decision for her. Tim is her friend who has an autistic brother, named Alan. Tim should take care of Alan. Savannah and Tim talk to each other and spend a lot of times together. Tim has loved Savannah since he was child. As time goes by, love grows between them. Finally, Savannah loves Tim too and they get married.

17 B. Approach of the Study

The writer develops this study by applying the Psychological approach. Rohrberber and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, state that “the psychological approach is an approach that is used to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior pattern written in literary object (1971: 12). A psychological approach outlines a psychology theory in order to help readers in understanding the literary works.

In analyzing the character of Savannah the writer uses the psychological approach through the interpretations are needed in order to get deep understandings the psychological condition of the character. Here the psychological approach becomes the important element. By using psychological approach the writer tries to analyze and search the inner point of view of the major character. Since this thesis deals with the major character’s motivation it is valuable in search the motivation using psychological approach. This approach lets the readers to examine the character’s psychological aspect in the literary works.

C. Method of the Study

In order to fulfill this study, the writer used a library research method. It means that the data were collected from many books and from the internet as well, which have some valuable information to support the study. The writer divided the sources as the primary and the secondary data. The primary data source is taken from Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John. The secondary data are taken from other

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sources and books of literature, which are related to primary data that support the analysis. They are books and internet to get the information. It means that the study is based on books and some sources from the internet. The writer took the data from the Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.

There were four steps of data collecting which the writer took in conducting the study. The first was reading the novel for several times to get more understanding that were going to be analyzed. The second was reading some related references to observe the related theory, data and information. The third was collecting some data of important parts and making notes from the references as the sources to examine the topic. The writer obtained the information from the library and the internet. The fourth was coming to the part of analysis using all theories are in order to answer the problems stated in the problem formulation. By applying all those steps the writer can answer this study.

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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

A. The Description of Savannah

Characters are always found in a story. In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams states that characters in novel are divided into major and minor characters. The major character usually becomes the center of the story, the person who acts, and he must handle the attention of the readers. Therefore, he or she is the most important character in the story. The readers usually focus on this character including his or her behavior, attitude, action, and speech from the beginning up to the ending of the story (1981: 21). According to Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John, there are three main characters, namely John Tyree, Savannah Lynn Curtis, and Tim Wheddon. This study focuses on Savannah Lynn Curtis only. Savannah Lynn Curtis is categorized as the major or main character because she plays in the important role of the story and as the center of the story as well.

In order to find out the characteristics of the character, Murphy’s (1972: 161-173) theories of characterizations in Understanding Unseens are applied. We can understand the characters more deeply through nine methods. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, reaction, conversation of others, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms. However, not all of those methods are observed in the story. They are character as seen by another, speech, past life, reaction, conversation of others, thought, and mannerisms.

20 1. Friendly

Savannah is majoring in Special Education in the University of North Carolina. She is 21 years old and the only child in her family. She is from Lenoir and she grows up on a ranch. She enters the story when she spends her summer coordinating a group from her college to build homes for Habitat for Humanity in John’s hometown.

Savannah in the beginning of the story is described as a friendly girl. Savannah and her friends walk up the pier and meet John as a stranger for them. John greets them and Savannah answers John’s greeting friendly. John also considers Savannah as a friendly person. John feels that the words she says are friendly. The author uses the other character’s thought to describe about Savannah. It is shown in John’s thought after his conversation with Savannah. It can be seen in the quotation below.

“Hey,” I called out when they were close. Not very smooth, and I can’t say I expected anything in response.

“Hiya, stranger,” she answered with a smile. She motioned toward my board. “I’ll bet the waves were great today.”

Her comment caught me off guard, and I heard an unexpected kindness in her words. (p. 29).

Using Murphy’s theory the author uses the description about how Savannah reacts. The readers can know the personality of character through reaction by greeting John in the beach. Savannah’s greeting to John shows that she is friendly. She says “hello” to John too, who is as a stranger she has just met. She also states to John that the waves are great when she looks at John’s board. She can show familiarity at the first time she knows John. Savannah’s behavior can make John thinks that she is a friendly girl.

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Then, Savannah and her friend continue down to the end of the pier. They talk to each other. Savannah does not talk too much, sometimes she just laughs. John just watches them from the distance. At this time, John also has impression toward her as a friendly girl. Her voice can comfort him. From the quotation below, it is clear that Savannah’s characteristic is a friendly girl. It is the same as John’s impression about Savannah through her voice. The author describes Savannah through John’s thought.

Again, I heard something friendly and understanding in her voice, something akin to coming home, which I’ll admit made no sense at all. (p. 30).

While they are talking, one of her friend’s hands hits Savannah’s bag. Suddenly, her bag tumbles over the edge. John who watches that event runs immediately toward the edge of the pier, and then he jumps into the waves to retrieve her bag. John’s reasons why he jumps into the waves are because of Savannah’s smile and warmth of her laugh. Behaving in a pleasant, kind way towards someone is a kind of friendly person. It can be described in the way she smiles and laughs show her characteristic of friendliness, as the way as John’s thought about her. It is also shown at the previous John’s impression of Savannah at the explanation above. Through those things, Savannah can give impact to John.

I suppose is should explain why I jumped into the waves to retrieve her bag. It wasn’t that I thought she would view me as some sort of hero, or because I wanted to impress her, or even because I cared in the slightest how much money she’d lost. It had to do with the genuineness of her smile and the warmth of her laugh. Even as I was plunging into the water, I knew how ridiculous my reaction was. (p. 33).

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After that event, Savannah and John talk to each other. In only one day, they have known each other well. She is seen as a friendly girl, because she can easily associate with other people. Especially is John whom she has just known. She likes to talk and have friendship with other people. This quotation below shows about John’s and Savannah’s friendship. They feel close each other, whereas they have just met.

I felt the same words could be used to describe her, and I wasn’t sure what to say.

“I can’t believe that I only met you yesterday,” she added. “It seems like I’ve known you much longer.”

Her hand felt warm and comfortable in mine. “I was thinking the same thing.” (p. 89).

The relationship between Savannah and John becomes intimate after they know each other. They often have dinner and hang-out together.

From John’s description, it is obvious that Savannah is a friendly girl. John visits Savannah’s house and meets her parents. John thinks that Savannah and her mother have same characteristics as stated in the quotation “Savannah’s mom, Jill, is a lot like Savannah: friendly, open, and a lot sharper than she first came across.” (p. 187). The readers can find that Savannah is a friendly girl from John’s opinion. 2. Kind-hearted

Based on Murphy’s theory, the readers can find that she is kind-hearted girl through Savannah’s behavior. Savannah is a kind-hearted girl because Savannah invites John to eat together with Savannah and her friends after John helps Savannah to take her bag from the ocean. Savannah also accompanies John to grab his board from the pier. After that, Savannah invites John to eat together

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with her friends. These behaviors show that Savannah has sincere heart. It is shown it this quotation below

“Well, I feel like I should do something for you.” (p. 35). “You don’t need to do anything.”

“Have you eaten?” she asked, ignoring my comment.

“We’re getting ready to have a cookout, and there’s plenty to go around. Would you like to join us?” (p. 36).

“Sounds good. Let me go grab my board from the pier and I’ll be there in a bit.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Savannah said, breaking away from the group. “It’s the least I can do.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. (p. 36).

Another proof about Savannah’s characteristic as a kind-hearted girl is while they are in the beach, they are talking together and sharing about their life. At one of the conversation, John asks Savannah’s comment about her friends. Then, John gets his comment about her.

As she answered, I got the feeling she was the kind of person who would never say a bad thing about anyone. Her regard for others struck me as refreshing and mature, and yet, strangely, I wasn’t surprised. It was part of that indefinable quality I’d sensed about her from the beginning, a manner that set her apart. (p. 41).

Through the John’s thought also, the readers can find that she is kind-hearted girl because she never thinks badly to the other people. John also can feel that she has good personality at the first time they meet. It can be concluded that Savannah is really a good person.

Another kindness of Savannah can be seen in the quotation below. It can be seen from her attention and reactions towards John. First, when John has to go home because he is afraid if his father still awakes, John’s father will wonder where John is. Then she offers John to use the phone. Second, she also asks Tim to take John go back home. Knowing that John hitches a ride, Savannah cannot let

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John walks alone and John’s house is too far. Although John refuses Savannah’s offer, she even forces him to go home with Tim.

“Do you want to call him? You can use the phone.” “No, I think I’ll just head out. It’s a long walk.” “You don’t have a car?”

“No. I hitched a ride this morning.”

“Do you want Tim to drive you home? I’m sure he won’t mind.” “No, that’s okay.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You said it was a long walk, right? I’ll have Tim drive you. Let me get him.”

She raced off before I could stop her, and a minute later Tim was following her out of the house. “Tim is happy to take you,” she said, looking way too pleased herself. (pp. 51-52).

This is the time when Savannah shows her kindness to John. Savannah asks John to go to the church with her, but at that time John does not bring any clothes. Immediately, she tells John that she will get John some clothes. She tells Tim to borrow John some clothes. The way of Savannah’s reaction shows how kind she is.

She gave me the once-over. “Good.” She patted my knee, the second time she’d touched me. “I’ll get you some clothes.” (p. 61).

3. Caring

Savannah shows her characteristic as a caring girl. She cares about people and helps build a couple of houses for people who need them. She becomes a volunteer of Habitat for Humanity. She is willing to give a hand and help the others who need help. It is shown in this quotation below at her conversation with John.

“A month, actually - but no, it’s not really a vacation. We’re volunteering. You’ve heard of Habitat for Humanity, right? We’re down here to help build a couple of houses. My family’s been involved with it for years.” (pp. 38).

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Her care for people can also be seen when she builds houses with her church since she was sixteen. According to Murphy’s theory past life can be used to describe Savannah’s characteristics. In that age, Savannah has shown her characteristic as a caring girl. Then, Savannah is off to Chapel Hill, Savannah and Tim make group there. She offers the students to make something different which is in order to build houses. Savannah and her friends do not get the fee from other people of what she does. Through her statements in this quotation below, it shows that she prefers to help people build the houses without fee on her summer holiday to doing useless jobs.

“You’ve done this before?”

“Every summer since I was sixteen. I used to do it with our church, but when off to Chapel Hill, we started a group there. Well, actually, Tim started it. He’s from Lenoir, too. He just graduated and he’ll start on his master’s degree this fall. I’ve known him forever. Instead of spending the summer working odd jobs at home or doing internships, we thought we could offer students a chance to make a difference. Everyone chips in for the house and pays their own expenses for the month, and we don’t charge anything for the labor we do on the houses. That’s why it was so important that I get my bag back. I wouldn’t have been able to eat all month.” (p. 38 -39).

Another example of Savannah as a caring girl happens when Savannah enters the Special Education. From the conversation between Savannah and John, John asks Savannah why she chooses Special Education, because she wants to help autistic kids. From the quotation below of Savannah’s answer through her past life when she was a little, she felt so bad because of Alan’s condition. Moreover, she mentions that she has decided to help kids like Alan. It can be seen that she even cares about the other kids who are autistic like Alan, Tim’s young brother. She has desire to help the autistic kids.

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“There’s this boy in Lenoir named Alan, and I’ve known him all my life. He’s autistic, and for a long time no one knew what to do with him or how to get through to him. And it just got me, you know? I felt so bad for him, even when I was a little.” (p. 49).

“Alan’s not perfect by any stretch - he still lives with his parents, and he’ll be on his own –but he’s not as lost as he was when he was younger, and I just decided that I wanted to be able to help kids like Alan.” (p. 50).

This is another quotation of Savannah as a caring girl. The quotation tells about her interested in curing the autistic kids like Tim does. The author lets the readers recognize Savannah’s kindliness from the way of Savannah thinking. The quotation below is considered to show that Savannah is very concerned about her planning and expectation to help the autistic kids. She wants to apply the way of Alan’s and Tim’s experiences to make a good effort for them. From that event, she actually knows what she should do. She wants to open a riding camp as a facility for autistic kids, where Savannah and Tim can work together with the autistic kids. She prepares a riding camp, so that the other autistic kids can be happy like Alan does. Her future planning through her statements shows that she cares about autistic kids and she concerns to make a better life for them.

“With autistic kids … it’s like they’re locked into their own little worlds, so usually school and therapy are based on routine. But I want to show them experiences that can open new doors for them. I’ve seen it happen. I mean, Alan was terrified of the horses at first, but his brother kept trying, and after a while, Alan got to the point where he would pat them or rub their noses, then later even feed them. After that, he started to ride, and I remember watching his face the first time he was up there … it was just so incredible, you know? I mean, he was smiling, just as happy as a kid could be. And that’s what I want these kids to experience. Just … happiness, even if it’s only for a short while. That’s when I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Maybe open a riding camp for autistic kids, where we can really work with them. So maybe they can feel that same happiness that Alan did.” (p. 50).

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Besides caring about the autistic kids and people who need help, she also cares about pets. She has a gentle old mare named Slocum. Savannah promises her mother that she has to take care of her, feed her, brush her and keep her stall clean. She also has to take care of the rest of pets. She keeps the pets carefully. While she is growing up, her house is like a farm because she likes to take care of the pets. She always has compassion feeling to the stray pets.

“When I was growing up, our house was kind of like a farm. Dogs, cats, even a llama for a while. I was a sucker when it came to strays. My parents got to the point where they wouldn’t even argue with me about it. There were usually four or five at any one time. Sometimes an owner would come, hoping to find a lost pet, and he’d leave with one of our recent additions if he couldn’t find it. We were like the pound.” (p. 84).

The character of Savannah also can be found out from the conversation between Savannah and John. The quotation below is taken from Savannah’s statement. The readers can get the clue of the character of the story in the novel through what the person says. According to Murphy, the way of that characterization is called speech. In this novel, Savannah shows her caring about concern to the poor. She also has desire to help those in need. Savannah tells that she spends her Saturday mornings in Raleigh to serve them. She dedicates herself to the poor without pressure.

“I joined a couple of Christian student groups, I spent Saturday mornings at a shelter in Raleigh serving the poor, and I feel no pressure at all to go to this or that party or date this or that guy.” (p. 87).

From this quotation below, it shows how Savannah really cares and wants to help John in understanding his father. She concerns about John and his father. After meeting his father, she knows that his father might have Asperger’s, a kind

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of mental disorder syndrome. Savannah finds that John’s father always talks about coin and does not have a social interaction. Moreover, John’s father does not look at people when he talks to them. She cares about them. That is why she buys a book about autism and Asperger’s. There are several information in that book, so that John can understand more about his father’s condition and can make good relation toward his father. The readers may find that Savannah is a caring girl through her reactions to John by looking at John’s father condition.

“There’s more to it that just that,” she said. Her voice was quiet. “I want you to read it because of your father. And the way you two get along.” (p. 140).

When she spoke again, her voice trembled. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. But I just wanted you to understand him.” (p. 142).

“I was trying to help,” she said, eyes downcast. “I just wanted you to be able to relate to him.” (p. 143).

Finally, John can understand his father’s condition. He is successful to have a good relationship with his father. All of those things are because of Savannah’s action. Her caring makes good result for them. John thanks Savannah who gives the book to John. “For the book. I think I understand my dad a little better now. We had a good time last night.” (p. 161).

Another thing about Savannah’s characteristic as a caring girl can be seen when she follows Tim’s words to take care of his brother, Alan, and do everything while Tim has got sick. It can be seen in the quotation below. Tim asks Savannah to get Alan a bottle of soda and talk Alan to eat.

“Sweetheart, would you walk with Alan and get him a soda? He hasn’t had anything to drink since earlier this morning. And if you can, maybe you can talk him into eating.” (p. 292).

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Savannah and Tim have their own problem in life. Savannah’s problem is she wants to see John who is on duty in the army, whereas John is far away from Savannah. Tim tries to make her happy and consoles her.

Tim has a problem with his brother. Savannah helps Tim to take care of Alan. From this fact that Savannah behaves, the readers can say that Savannah is kind because she helps Tim and Alan. “I tried to help him, and he tried to help me, and we both tried to help Alan.” (p. 281).

4. Dependent

John is back to the army. Savannah writes first letter to John. In her letter, she says that she wishes she can hold John’s hand and watch his smile. She really wants John to stay near her. Having been separated with John makes Savannah always hopes to have physical contact with John. From her thought, it can be seen that Savannah really needs John and physical contact from John.

All I can think is that I wish I were with you now, holding your hand and watching for your elusive smile. (p. 168).

Savannah always wants John is close to her, but because of the long distance relationship they cannot be close to each other. Savannah is a dependent girl because she cannot live alone. The only thing which can be seen that Savannah cannot live alone is looking at her imagination.

Savannah’s imagination can be seen in her letter for John. The author gives what Savannah is thinking about John’s condition. She writes about John’s condition in the camp, but what she describes is totally wrong. What she thinks is

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something exists or true, although in fact it is not real or true. She thinks that John sits in a tent at a makeshift table, with an oil lamp burning beside him while the wind blows outside. Based on the reality, John is in the condition of the fluorescent-lit, government-issued desk in side his wooden barracks.

I like to imagine the way you looked when you wrote it: what you were wearing, your surroundings, the way you held your pen. I know it’s a cliché and it’s probably off the mark, but I keep thinking of you sitting in a tent at a makeshift table, with an oil lamp burning beside you while the wind blows outside. (p. 175).

After John is far away from her, she always imagines and remembers when she and John have been through together. All those things can make Savannah feel that their soul will be linked together. She remembers all the activities they have done with John. It is shown in this quotation below when Savannah sends John a letter to share about what she feels.

For the past two and a half years, I’ve been staring at every full moon and remembering everything we’ve been through together. I remember how talking to you that first night felt like coming home, and I remember the night we made love. I’ll always be glad that you and I shared ourselves like that. To me, it means that our souls will be linked together forever. (p. 228).

The only thing she can do is just imagining something that is not based on the facts. She likes to think of some unreal events. She just imagines all those things. “When I close my eyes, I see your face; when I walk, it’s almost as if I can feel your hand in mine.” (p. 228).

From all of her imaginations above can be a form that Savannah is a dependent girl. The way she can do is creating imagination about John’s presence

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in her mind. Savannah cannot get John in reality. Therefore, she just plays with her imagination.

The readers may find that Savannah is a dependent girl through her reaction in the situation. When John is apart, Savannah is always with Tim. She needs Tim while John is in the army. Savannah and Tim spend time together. “Anyway, we spent a lot of time together, and he was good at consoling me whenever I got down.” (p. 280). They do activities together too. Here, Savannah tries to replace John’s absence with Tim’s presence. Savannah needs Tim to replace John who is not next to Savannah.

5. Loving

Savannah shows her characteristics as a loving girl. It can be seen in Tim’s statement. Based on the conversation with John before John goes back to the army, Tim tells John that Savannah loves John. He also asks John for does not break her heart. “Don’t break Savannah’s heart, okay? I know she loves you, and I just want her to be happy.” (p. 153).

She loves John very much. She is going to hold John’s promise to marry her. Besides that, she proves her seriousness by marrying John too after he come back. Her love for John can be proven by her statement to John in her first letter below.

“I love you, John Tyree, and I’m going to hold you to promise you once made to me. If you come back, I’ll marry you. If you break your promise, you’ll break my heart.” (p. 169).

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Another part of Savannah’s characteristic as a loving girl can be seen in her loving toward John from the other Savannah’s statements in her letters. The way of her thoughts and memories of John show that she loves him. She loves John forever that is why she dreams that John will take her in his arms. Those proofs are mentioned in the quotation below.

And that’s how I always want to remember my time with you.

I’ll think about you every day. Part of me is scared that there will come a time when you don’t feel the same way, that you’ll somehow forget about what we shared, so this is what I want to do. (p. 168).

I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you’ll take me in your arms again. (p. 178).

The quotations below are Savannah’s letter to John. Her letter can support that Savannah loves John very much. Savannah tells John that he is the best thing that has ever happened to her. Here Savannah is sure that John is her true love. John takes a special place in her heart and no one else can ever replace it. She believes that John is her future.

It reminded me that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. (p. 179).

I fell in love with you, but more than that, meeting you made me realize what true love really means. (p. 228).

I want you to know that you’ll always be a part of me. In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I’ll carry with me forever and that no one can ever replace. You’re the first man I ever truly loved. And no matter what the future brings, you always will be, and I know that my life is better for it. (p. 229).

Savannah tells John how much she loves him and she can feel that John loves her too. It is shown in their conversation when John will go back to the army. She is certain that they can do the long distance relationship.

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“I can feel that. Just like I can feel how much you care for me and how much I love you. I know in my heart that this isn’t over, and that we’ll make it through this. (p. 164).

When John is in the war, she is afraid all the time. She tries to watch the news and newspaper to know that John is in good situation. She tries to find out where he is and what he is going through. Her love for John can be seen in her letter. Savannah tells John that she always prays every night that John will go home safely. (p. 228).

Savannah’s love to John also can be seen when she is very concerned with John’s condition. Moreover, from her feeling to other character, John, the readers will find that she loves John. It can be seen in the following statement, “Leaning over, she grasped my leg. “Does it hurt when I squeeze right here?” (p. 190). She finds out that John hurts when he can barely move. He limps toward the car because he rides horse one day before. Savannah adopts a concerned expression, and then she reaches out to stop him. In addition, through her reaction too, the readers can understand that she is a loving girl. Savannah takes good reaction of John by trying to cure his leg and ask him. By seeing Savannah’s reactions and all of her statements above show how much she loves John describes that she is a loving person.

B. The Conditions that Savannah Faces

The second problem to be discussed is about the conditions that Savannah faces. Savannah, as the main character in the novel, also has some conditions that occurred in her life. The conditions make Savannah has motivations in decision to

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marry. There are also reasons that make Savannah marries Tim. The writer finds out three major conditions that Savannah faces related to her life.

1. Loneliness

The first condition of Savannah is presented from the beginning when Savannah and John have just met. Being a friendly girl, makes John gets closer with Savannah. They often go together. One of Savannah’s behaviors when Savannah invites John to eat together with her friends describes Savannah as a kind-hearted girl. All of those events make Savannah and John love each other. Finally they make a relationship. A few days before John go back to the army; Savannah says to John that she will not fall in love with no one else.

She paused, as if trying to organize her chaotic thoughts. “I didn’t want to fall in love with anyone,” she said. “I wasn’t ready for that. I’ve been through that once, and afterwards I was a mess. I know it’s different, but you’ll be leaving in just a few days and all this will be over . . . and I’ll be a mess again.” (p. 138).

From the quotation above, it is described that Savannah is afraid of her life after John goes back to the army. She feels that she is not ready for the relationship because she has ever fallen in love. Then, her life became a mess when she broke up with her ex-boyfriend. She is afraid that situation will happen again in her life. Although she thinks that her relationship is different from her past relationship, but the situation is the same as Savannah’s and John’s condition. John will leave Savannah because of his duty in the army and her life will be a mess.

Savannah and John have conversations before John goes back to the army. At the beginning of the conversations, she has told her fear to John. In their long

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distance relationship, Savannah knows that during their relationship she can communicate each other by phone and letter. However, it is not the same when John is next to Savannah. Savannah tells John that she cannot see John’s expressions and cannot get in touch with John; for examples she cannot sit across, talk, and share their secrets. She also will not feel John’s arm around her, as stated in the quotation below.

“I know we can write and talk on the phone now and then, and we could see each other when you come home on leave. But it won’t be the same. I won’t be able to see your silly expressions. We won’t be able to lie on the beach together and stare at the stars. We won’t be able to sit across from each other and talk and share secrets. And I won’t feel your arm around me, like I do now.” (p. 138).

From the quotation below, it can be seen that John tells Savannah that he will marry Savannah after he comes back from the army. Then, to convince his promise to Savannah, John promises to come back to her. As a loving girl, she is going to hold John’s promise to marry her. She loves John very much.

“I’m going to marry you one day, you know.” “Is that a promise?”

“If you want it to be.”

“Well, then you have to promise that you’ll come back for me when you get out of the army. I can’t marry you if you’re not around.” (p. 162). At that time, Savannah also knows that their relationship will be hard. However, she realizes that life moves fast and as the time goes by they will meet again. It is shown when she tells John as below:

“That’s because I already cried about it, remember? Besides, it’s not like I’ll never see you again. That’s what I finally realized. Yeah, it’ll be hard, but life moves fast –we’ll see each other again. I know that.” (p. 164). John goes back to the army. Here, Savannah faces a condition that she has a long distance relationship with John. They communicate each other by letters

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and phone when they begin to drift apart. Her loving toward John can be seen in her letter. She says that she will love John forever as stated in this quotation. “I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you’ll take me in your arms again.” (p. 178). Then as time goes by, John leaves the army and goes home immediately to meet Savannah.

In their meeting, Savannah tells John about her feeling during this relationship. Again, in this part Savannah feels broken hearted when John leaves her. That feeling makes Savannah has no desire to do anything, such as works on the houses. She is frustrated because she cannot achieve what she wants. The absence of John in Savannah’s life makes Savannah feels like that. The way how Savannah cries every day and her expectation of John’s presence are the proofs that she really needs John around her.

There are struggles over the time in their long distance relationship. Savannah should hold the desire of yearn and want to get close with him all the times. Savannah’s yearning is proven by the way she looks for someone else whose appearance resembles John, but in fact the man is not John. Inside her heart, she wishes that the man she sees is John. In this case, Savannah can understand about John’s condition in the army, in other hand Savannah cannot understand about her feeling during this relationship.

Refer to the explanation above, the way Savannah describes her feeling proves that Savannah really experiences a hard situation when John is not around her until she tells John how this situation almost kill her. She feels lonely. Savannah is also afraid if she will be mess when John is not around her. To

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overcome Savannah’s bad feeling when John is not around her, Savannah makes

some activities to avoid her heart from turning into a mess. All of that is stated in Savannah’s statement to John below:

“I wasn’t kidding about that. Last summer meant so much to me. More that you can ever imagine, and when you left, I was wreck. I barely worked on the houses. I know I sent you letters that made you think all was well and good, but it wasn’t. I cried every night, and every day I’d sit at the house and keep imagining and hoping and wishing that you’d come strolling up the beach. Every time I saw someone with a crew cut’ I’d feel my heart start beating faster, even though I knew it wasn’t you. But that was the thing. I wanted it to be you. Every time. I know that what you do is important, and I understand that you’re posted overseas, but I don’t think I understood how hard it was going to be once you weren’t around. It seemed like it was almost killing me, and it took a long time to even begin to feel normal again. And on this trip, as much as I wanted to see you, as much I love you, there’s this part of me that’s terrified that I’m going to go to pieces again when our trip is up.” (pp. 207-208).

“So I tried to keep us busy, you know? To keep my heart from being broken again.” (p. 208).

The time when John goes back again to the army comes. They are apart in the airport. Savannah says John that she will be fine and stronger this time. John also tries to convince Savannah that it is going to be okay. Considering all activities happen in Savannah life, she will feel how fast time goes by. John goes only six months. On the plane, John thinks about Savannah. From John’s thought below, it is shown that love is not enough for a relationship. There must be time when they can be together. John can feel what Savannah’s feeling about this relationship. John realizes that they have a power of love when they are together, but when they are apart their relationship becomes weak. In this case, the writer can also see how the presence of the lover is very important for them to make a happy and balance relationship.

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I suddenly understood that even love and caring weren’t always enough. They were the concrete bricks of our relationship, but unstable without the mortar of time spent together, time without the threat of imminent separation hanging over us.

When we were together, we had the power to keep it spinning, and the result was beauty and magic and an almost childlike sense of wonder; when we separated, the spinning began inevitably to slow. We became wobbly and unstable, and I knew I had to find a way to keep us from toppling over. (p. 213).

After several times, John feels that Savannah’s letters begin to change. Where once her letter comes weekly, it starts arriving every ten days, and then as the days begin longer, it comes only every other week. John also starts to realize that the tone of Savannah’s letters has changed. There are no long passages in which she describes the way she imagines their life together.

In John’s leaving from the army, John is supposed to visit Savannah, but John has to visit his father because his father is sick in hospital. Savannah accompanies John in the hospital. Here, John’s relationship with his father is closer than before, but John’s relationship with Savannah is farther. John spends more times in the hospital, so that Savannah’s and John’s relationship becomes bad. They often fight, because Savannah feels that John has lack of time to spend with her. In quotation of John’s thought below, John has opinion that the thing which they need is just time to be together where they can cure their belonging during the long distance relationship.

“Still, what we needed was time together. Time alone. If our relationship was a battery, my time overseas was continually draining it, and we both needed time to recharge.” (p. 219).

After the separation of John and Savannah, for several times later, John is going back to the army and Savannah sends John a letter. In her letter, she says

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 4th ed. New York: Rinehart and Winston, 1981.

Alfa, Marchelynow Christian. “Elie’s Motivation in Achieving Freedom Revealed

in The Main Character’s Conflicts as Seen in Elie Wiesel’s Night.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2009. Beck, Robert C., Motivation Theories and Principles. New Jersey: Englewood

Cliffs, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1978.

Edwards, David. C. General Psychology. London: The Macmillan Co., 1969. Goble, F. The Third Force: The Psychology of Abraham Maslow. New York:

Pocket Books, 1971.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. London: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Huffman, K., Mark Vernoy and Judith Vernoy. Psychology in Action Fifth Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000.

Jung, J. Understanding Human Motivation. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1978.

Kalish, Richard A. Psychology of Human Behavior. Berkeley: Woodsworth Publishing Co. Inc., 1973.

Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseen: Introduction to English Poetry and The English Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allan and Unwin Ltd, 1972.

Prasetyo, Nanang. “The Influence of Motivation towards Behavior Resulted in

Griffin’s Self-Destruction in H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2009. Rohrberger, Marry and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. Reading and Writing about

Literature. New York: Random House, 1971.

Sparks, Nicholas. Dear John. New York: Grand Central Publising, 2009.

Stanton, Robert. An Introduction to Fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1965.

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Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1956.

Online Reference

<http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7277344#12987917> accessed on July 26, 2011

<http://www.nicholas%20biography/id11.html> accessed on August 30, 2011

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57 APPENDIX

SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL

Savannah Lynn Curtis is a student at the University of North Carolina. She majors in special education. She is 21 years old and the only child in her family. She is from Lenoir and grows up on a ranch. She spends her summer becomes volunteer coordinating a group from her college to build homes for families in need at Habitat for Humanity in John’s hometown.

Savannah and her friends build homes for families in need. That location is near a beach. One day, Savannah and her friends walk up the pier and meet John as a stranger for them. John greets them and Savannah answers John’s greeting friendly. Then, Savannah and her friend continue down to the end of the pier. They talk to each other. While they are talking, one of her friend’s hands hits

Savannah’s bag. Suddenly her bag tumbles over the edge. John who watches that event runs immediately toward the edge of the pier then jumps into the waves to retrieve her bag. After that event, Savannah and John often hang-out together and spend time together. By the time, they fall in love.

A few days before John go back to the army; Savannah says to John that she will not fall in love with no one else. She also tells John that actually she is afraid of this long distance relationship. Then John is back to the army to do his duty. During the long distance relationship, they communicate by letters and phones. That long distance relationship makes Savannah feels frustrated. She

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always wants to meet John. She misses John very much. In this situation, she needs someone who can accompany her.

At that time, Tim is always near Savannah. Savannah and Tim share about their life together. Savannah shares about her hard feeling of her long distance relationship with John and Tim shares about her brother, Alan who is an autistic boy. Savannah spends time with Tim. They also do the activities together. In the autistic school, they work in the same place. Besides work in the same place, they also concern in the same thing to take care of Alan. As time goes by, they begin to fall in love.

One day, Savannah sends a letter to John. In that letter, she says that she really loves John. However, she cannot continue their relationship. She always feels hard if they are in separated place. She tells John all of the things that Savannah feels during their long distance relationship.

After that, Savannah and Tim has relationship. They have the same

activities and the same interest of autistic kids. By looking of Tim’s brother, Alan

who is an autistic, she feels pity over Alan. Therefore, Savannah wants to help Tim to take care of Alan. Finally they get married. In Savannah and Tim togetherness, they build a ranch for autistic kids where the autistic kids can learn in it. Building a ranch is Savannah’s dream.

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x ABSTRACT

DONATA LUKE SIWI P. The Influence of Savannah’s Characteristics and Conditions in Her Motivation to Marry Tim as Seen in Nicholas Sparks’

Dear John. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata

Dharma University, 2012.

This thesis discusses Nicholas Sparks’ well known novel entitled Dear John through the perspective of psychology. This novel is a story of a young girl, Savannah, has a goal to get a man to be her husband. In this study the writer discusses her motivation to marry Tim.

There are three objectives of this study. First is to find out the main character’s description. Second is to find out the conditions that the main character faces. Third is to find out the influence of the main character’s characteristics and conditions in her motivation to marry Tim in the story Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John.

The writer conducted library research method in working in this study by using the novel as the primary data, books of literature, and articles from internet. The theories used in this study are theory of character and characterization and theory of motivation. The writer uses the psychological approach in this study.

From the analysis in this study, the writer finds out that the main character, Savannah is friendly, kind-hearted, caring, dependent, and loving girl. The writer also finds three conditions that Savannah faced. Her characteristics and conditions influence Savannah’s motivation to marry Tim.

The result of the study shows that Savannah’s characteristics and conditions influence her motivation to marry Tim. Savannah is a friendly girl. Therefore, she can be closed with John. Savannah is also described as a loving girl. It can be shown in her behavior toward John. She loves John very much. Savannah is also a kind-hearted girl; it gives John good impression about Savannah. In the first condition, Savannah feels lonely because of Savannah and John long distance relationship. She cannot get physical contact from John. Savannah is a dependent girl. Therefore, she finds someone who can be next to her. Based on the second condition, Savannah needs to be loved by someone. By getting closer with Tim, Savannah can get what she needs. From the third condition, Savannah needs to be needed by someone. Her pity over Alan shows that she is caring girl. She wants to help Tim to take care of Alan. Choosing Tim as her husband is based on her motivations. Her motivations are also influenced by her characteristics and conditions.

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xi ABSTRAK

DONATA LUKE SIWI P. The Influence of Savannah’s Characteristics and Conditions in Her Motivation to Marry Tim as Seen in Nicholas Sparks’

Dear John. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas

Sanata Dharma, 2012.

Skripsi ini membahas novel terkenal karya Nicholas Sparks yang berjudul Dear John melalui sudut pandang psikologi. Novel ini menceritakan tentang seorang pemudi, Savannah, yang mempunyai tujuan untuk mendapatkan seorang pria untuk menjadi suaminya. Di skripsi ini penulis berbicara tentang motivasinya untuk menikahi Tim.

Terdapat tiga tujuan dalam penelitian ini. Pertama yaitu untuk mengetahui deskripsi dari tokoh utama. Kedua yaitu untuk mengetahui kondisi-kondisi yang dihadapi oleh tokoh utama. Ketiga yaitu untuk mengetahui pengaruh sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisi tokoh utama dalam motivasinya untuk menikah dengan Tim di novel karya Nicholas Sparks yang berjudul Dear John.

Penulis melakukan studi pustaka untuk menganalisa isi dari novel dengan menggunakan novel sebagai data utama, buku-buku tentang karya sastra serta bacaan-bacaan dari internet. Teori-teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah teori karakter dan penokohan dan teori motivasi. Dalam studi ini, penulis menerapkan pendekatan psikologi.

Berdasarkan hasil analisa studi ini, diketahui bahwa tokoh utama, Savannah adalah seorang yang ramah, baik hati, peduli, bergantung kepada orang lain, dan gadis yang penuh cinta. Penulis juga menemukan tiga kondisi yang dihadapi Savannah. Sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisinya mempengaruhi motivasi Savannah untuk menikah dengan Tim.

Hasil penulisan menunjukkan bahwa sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisi Savannah mempengaruhi motivasi untuk menikahi Tim. Savannah adalah seorang gadis yang ramah. Oleh karena itu dia dapat menjadi dekat dengan John. Savannah juga digambarkan sebagai gadis yang penuh cinta. Hal itu dapat dilihat dari tingkah lakunya kepada John. Dia sangat mencintai John. Savannah juga seorang gadis yang baik hati. Hal itu memberikan John pengaruh yang baik tentang Savannah. Di kondisi yang pertama, Savannah merasa kesepian karena hubungan jarak jauh antara Savannah dan John. Savannah tidak mendapatkan kontak fisik dari John. Savannah adalah seorang yang bergantung pada orang lain. Oleh karena itu, dia mencari seseorang yang selalu bisa ada di sampingnya. Berdasarkan kondisi kedua, Savannah membutuhkan untuk dicintai oleh orang lain. Kedekatannya dengan Tim, Savannah dapat memperoleh apa yang dia butuhkan. Dari kondisi ketiga, Savannah membutuhkan untuk dibutuhkan oleh orang lain. Rasa kasihannya terhadap Alan menunjukkan bahwa dia seorang gadis yang peduli. Dia ingin membantu Tim untuk merawat Alan. memilih Tim sebagai suaminya berdasarkan motivasi-motivasinya. Motivasi-motivasinya juga dipengaruhi oleh sifat-sifat dan kondisi-kondisinya.

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