The influence of settings toward the major character in Cormac McCarthy`s The Road - USD Repository
THE INFLUENCE OF SETTINGS TOWARD THE MAJOR CHARACTER IN CORMAC McCARTHY’S THE ROAD AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
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Student Number: 054214100
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FUJA RIANDY
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
THE INFLUENCE OF SETTINGS TOWARD THE MAJOR CHARACTER IN CORMAC McCARTHY’S THE ROAD AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Student Number: 054214100
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
FUJA RIANDY
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI
KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Fuja Riandy Nomor Mahasiswa : 054214100 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah yang berjudul:THE INFLUENCE OF SETTINGS TOWARD THE MAJOR CHARACTER
IN CORMAC MACCARTHY’S THE ROAD
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada
Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak unuk 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 royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan
nama saya sebagai penulis.Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 30 November 2011 Yang menyatakan
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJITABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE OF TITLE ………………………………………………………………………… i
APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………………………….... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE …………………………………………………………………... iii
DEDICATION PAGE ……………………………………… iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK v
KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS…………………………………………………………….ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………. vii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………. x
ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………………………….. xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………….
1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………………………
1 B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………………………
5 C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………………………
5 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………………………..
6 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW …………………………………………….
8 A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………………………..
8 B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………………………
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1. Theory on Setting ……………………………………………………………….
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2. Theory of Character and Characterization ……………………………………
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3. Character and Setting ………………………………………………………….
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4. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………………..
16 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………………….
18 A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………………………….
18 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………………………
19 C. Method of the Study ………………………………………………………………
20 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………..
23 A. The Setting of The Road ………………………………………………………….
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1. The Setting of Time in The Road ……………………………………………..
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2. The Setting of Place in The Road ……………………………………………..
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3. The Setting of Atmosphere ……………………………………………………
31 B. Characterization of the Major Character ………………………………………..
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1. Caring ………………………………………………………………………….
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2. Consistent ………………………………………………………………………
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3. Religious ……………………………………………………………………….
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4. Informative ……………………………………………………………………
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5. Sagacious ………………………………………………………………………
44 C. The Influence of Settings toward the Major Character ……………………………
45 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………. 53 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………………… 56 APPENDIX I: The Summary of The Road …………………………………………….
58 APPENDIX II: The Bigraphy of Cormac MacArthy ………………………………….
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Writing a long narrative, such as an epic and a novel, is a matter of not only
evoking imagination and feeling but also conveying them to the readers. It is the art of minds revealed so everybody that reads it is involved in the world created by the novelists. Through a creative, reflective, and deep exploration of sense and imagination which somehow involve his or her own experiences, a novelist will be able convey his or her depiction he or she got in order to construct a new imagined world in the written form. As stated by Anderson that no one can write intelligibly unless he lets his own mind do the writings (Guth, 1966: 1).
As stated by McNamee, Cronin and Rogers: The novel’s length and multiplicity of episodes give the author room enough to explore in some details the complexities of human nature, and the reader is given an opportunity to follow the development and change in the characters of the story through the successive episodes which motivate their action (1962: 283). A novel provides a spacious room for the exploration, reflection and narration of the idea. It is in the hand of novelist to make it the room momentous.
Transporting the readers to that room via literal and figurative language somehow is a challenging one. The setting which is embodies in place and time makes the world inside the novel live through the atmosphere created. It is the general feeling that is conveyed to the readers later influences the readers’ opinions PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The setting plays a significant role in a novel for it colors and shapes the story. It refers to both time and place where the action takes place. It includes all of the forces and institutions acting on the characters. Furthermore, it includes the geographical location, social climate, the historical period, and the cultural mores
- – any and all factors that influence the characters and against which the characters act and against which their actions are measured.
The setting of the novel is the background against which the characters live out their lives (Murphy, 1972: 141). It concerns with the place in which the characters live and also the time where they live. The setting is also able to establish mood or gives atmosphere to the action, so that it makes the action possible, believable, or meaningful (Beaty and Hunter, 1989: 109). These have a great effect upon the personalities, actions, and way of thinking of the characters.
The similar idea is also affirmed by Rohrberger and Woods that setting can contribute to the atmosphere or predominate in the moods. It can be active in foreshadowing and it can be symbolic (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 22). As a consequence, the setting offers the readers a living situation and picture of certain place and time to either foreshadow or symbolize meaning which means that there is the something that will be revealed by the novelist by using the social circumstances on the story. Despite the fact that the novel has privileged as a “window” opening onto the characters of nations and peoples, it is more than a reflection of the social history happening outside its confines (Lynch and Warner, PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Many novelists prefer to give long and detailed description of the scenery like often found in nineteenth century novels (Laar and Schoonderwoerd, 1963: 172). Frequently, the place and time chosen by a novelist refer to the real one; nevertheless some create the fictional one. Though the novelist has determined the time and place which finally arrives at the atmosphere creation, he or she still has a limitation to run the narratives. As a result, some use images to identify the places they refer to, mentioning some physical typical features such as the custom of its natives or the significant events occurred in that place on a certain time.
One of the novelists who use brilliant image of the setting is Cormac McCarthy in his brilliant and outstanding novel, The Road. The Road was a novel by American writer which was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Additionally, he also won some awards such as the finalist 2007 National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Winner 2007 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and also the winner 2007 Quill Book Award (http://www.randomhouse.com/book/110490/the-road-by-cormac- mccarthy/9780307265432/?view=praise#awards). The novel was released by Alfred A. Knopf on September 26, 2006.
The Road follows an unnamed father and son who go on a journey
together toward the sea across the cold, wretched, wet, corpse-strewn, ashen landscape. The setting is atrocious and extremely miserable. It is described that the sun is obscured by a layer of ash so thick that the unnamed father and son PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
flora. The surviving remnants of civilization have been largely reduced to cannibalistic tribalism and nomadic scavenging of urban detritus that is almost entirely depleted. Using the unnamed father as the major character, McCarthy has served not only a clear identification of the lost world but also providing the reader with more and more clues about what destroyed it. The identification specified by McCarthy is viewing the characteristics of the setting in the story. By referring to those characteristics, the influence from the setting toward the major character can be revealed.
The Road is worth dealing for it proposes various attention-grabbing
things. One of them is the ruined setting of The Road which is strewn with terrible and revealing artifacts. Its artistic atmosphere finally guides the readers to the new and precise experience. In this case, Janet Maslin states her argument on the expressions on McCarthy’s The Road as follows.
Since the cataclysm has presumably incinerated all dictionaries, Mr. McCarthy’s affinity for words like rachitic and crozzled has as much visceral, atmospheric power as precise meaning. His use of language is as exultant as his imaginings are hellish, a hint that “The Road” will ultimately be more radiant than it is punishing. Somehow Mr. McCarthy is able to hold firm to his pessimism while allowing the reader to see beyond it. This is art that both frightens and inspires (2006).
Although the narrative in The Road is entirely unsentimental, McCarthy’s capabilities to build the atmosphere through elegant language enables everyone dealing with this novel feels entering a natural world exists only in effigy where the remaining humans have mostly sacrificed their humanity as the price of survival. He is succeeding in conveying the existences of a moral structure – the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
raising a child in a world without hope, The Road offers nothing in the way of escape or comfort, yet, its fearless wisdom is more indelible than reassurance could ever be.
This thesis attempts to reveal the setting of The Road in which considered as unique. The writer is enthusiastic to analyze and discuss this topic further since it offers something challenging, setting influencing. Many people infer that it is in the United States of America because in his interview by Oprah Winfrey, McCarthy indicated that the inspiration for The Road came during a 2003 visit to El Paso, Texas, with his young son. It does not take a great deal to infer that the story told in The Road might be located elsewhere. Nevertheless, there are things in the story putting into limitations on the kind of places it might be set, and these are the things which the writer is attempting to observe.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study explained above, three problems can be formulated as follows.
1. How is the setting of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road depicted?
2. How is the major character described in the novel?
3. How do the settings influence the major character in the novel? C.
Objectives of the Study Based on the problem formulation, there are three objectives to achieve. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Identifying the setting in this novel is considered essential since it has “intimate” relations with the characters and situation. Moreover, the setting contributes to the atmosphere and predominant mood of the situation and the characters appear as a representation of the reader to get him or her involved. The setting sometimes is used to foreshadow the events in the novel. The relations between both will lead the writer to answer the second question.
Second, this thesis will try to analyze, comprehend, and describe the major character in the novel. Understanding the character, especially the major character, functions to understand the whole narration, conflict and resolution. Therefore, the characteristics, and characterization will assist in comprehending the character. As a result, the description of it will be deeper and analytical.
Lastly, after finding the setting and character description, this thesis will attempt to reveal the influence of the settings toward the major character pictured in the novel. The influence in a narrative is symbolized through the setting. The interpretations of setting are explored deepen and enlarged by the readers’ association towards the existing situation they sense. In The Road, the settings are evoked much by any experience of the senses. Therefore, to reveal the problem formulation in The Road, the writer will try to analyze the setting and the character first, before he analyzes the third question.
D. Definition of Terms
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1. Setting Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms states that the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs (Abrams, 1981: 192). It has two senses: limited and large one.
2. Major Character According to M. H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, major character is defined as the most important person in the story. It can be the center of the story. Usually the acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning to ending parts (Abrams, 1981: 20). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the review of related
studies and criticisms related to the writer’s work and topic. The second part is the reviews of the related theories on the writer’s work and topic. Lastly, there is a theoretical framework to show the contribution of the studies and theories to the writer’s work and study.
A. Review of Related Studies
In order to support the analysis, the writer includes some criticism on
The Road. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road with its excellence has risen many
comments and critics. John C. Snider criticizes on the language used in which he considers it as limited and repetitive.
McCarthy's language is, for the most part, stripped down, and so spare it could have been written by Ernest Hemingway. This limited use of vocabulary leads to stretches of prose that are Biblical in cadence, but also . sometimes frustratingly repetitive (http://www.scifidimensions.com/May07/theroad.htm)
He states that McCarthy’s language is stripped down since the limited use of vocabulary. It leads to stretches of prose that are biblical in cadence. Occasionally, McCarthy emerges from repetitive minimalism to indulge in the kind of baroque descriptions that tend to impress other writers.
The second criticism comes from the study from a student of Sheffield University named Anthony Warde. He said:
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I addressed spatial concern that are specific to McCarthy’s novel 2006 novel,
The Road , demonstrating how the protagonist’ desire for positional and
directionally is both heightened and hampered by an apocalypse that has reduced the world to dust and ashes. (http://www.pdf-
freedownload.com/search/view/view.php?urllink=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.llc.ed.ac. uk%2Fcurrent_issue%2F10%2FWarde.pdf&searchx=the%20road%20Cormac%20 McCarthy)
He states that the changing of the world in the novel has totally gives a significant motivation for the both protagonist to survive. The novel uses the setting of future in the sense of “no time, no place.” It gives a chance for the writer in portraying the intend of disastrous culmination as the projection of what happened in the personality from the major character after he got some influences from the setting.
The literary critic Mark Mordue acclaimed McCarthy’s The Road as the father’s storyline.
An end-of-the-world misery causes him to reflect that “each memory recalled must do some violence to its origins”. (http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/the- road/2006/10/06/1159641513176.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1).
He declares that the narration in the novel is the father-centered stories. This is the story of an unnamed father who lives in the world where everything is destroyed.
The life at that time which is described by the author as unpredictable, full of cannibalism and sub-human madness finally triggers the memory of the unnamed father that the world is basically full of violence.
The end-of-the-world misery forces the unnamed father to reflect the reality that the situation in the world is totally different. He can no longer believe that there is good human left in the era of apocalyptic. The unnamed father becomes more realistic that the situation faced by them is possible to create violence.
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This study is trying to offer something new by seeing the work from the setting point of view. The writer will see some aspects of the setting that are the time, place, and atmosphere. Not only revealing the unnamed place, but also examining the characters and their life. Then, those elements will be connected to the influences of the setting toward the major character in the novel.
B. Review of Related Theories
In this study there will be two theories used, they are theory on setting and theory of character and characterization. These theories are used to understand the setting and story, and also to analyze how the authors build settings in the stories that influence the major character which will end up in sacrifice of a father to the son as the ultimate point of the story.
1. Theory on Setting
Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms states that the overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs (1981: 192). The setting can be noticed in a limited sense and in a 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.”
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Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and
the English Novels for Overseas Students classifies setting into three
classifications, that is setting of time, setting of place, and setting of atmosphere.a. Setting of Time is classified into four: present time, future time, past time, and no specific time. They are differed by the time the story took place, except the setting of no specific time which there is no specific time for the story.
b. Setting of Place is classified into three: familiar place, unfamiliar place, and imaginary place. These types are differed by the reader’s familiarity to the place where the story takes place.
c. Setting of Atmosphere. The word “atmosphere” is used in the same way as it would be used in everyday speech. The illustration can be seen through the meeting of a worker and the management which is conducted in a genial atmosphere. The genial atmosphere created is reflected in the speeches among the characters and also from the narration of the setting. Thus, we can discuss of the atmosphere of a novel or of part of it as being: gloomy, somber, terrifying, evil, cheerful, happy, sordid, pessimistic, optimistic, and so on (Murphy, 1972: 141-148).
Many books which discuss the theories on setting can become the reference.
th
One of them is A Handbook to Literature (5 ed.) which is written by Holman and Harmon. In that book, they define setting as the physical and sometimes spiritual background against which the action of a narrative takes place (Holman and
12 In How to Analyze Fiction, Kenney proposes four elements of which setting is composed. They are listed under four headings: a. The actual geographical location. This element includes topography, scenery, and even the details of a room’s interior. This element is the basic element commonly found in every novel.
b. The occupation and modes of day to day existence of the characters. Both help the atmosphere building which tries to “invite” the readers to the world of the narrative.
c. The time in which the actions take place. This element comprises historical period, or season of the year. A more specific time is somehow possible to be mentioned, such as the hour and the minute.
d. The religious moral intellectual, social, and emotional environment of the characters (Kenney, 1966: 38-39).
Furthermore, Kenney’s How to Analyze Fiction also emphasises that setting has at least five functions. First, setting functions as a metaphor. It means that setting is the projection of the internal states of the characters. It reflects the novelist’s imagination indirectly so the readers are “trapped comfortably” in the narratives built. Second, setting functions as the atmosphere. Setting arouses a kind of mood or emotional aura. A suggestion of mystery or foreboding may be established. For example by a description of shapes dimly seen in the darkness, a stormy night carries with it one’s emotional aura. Third, setting functions as the dominant element. Like character, setting is also the important element in literary
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conveyed by the novelists. Fourth, setting of time functions as the dominant element. In many literary works, the time in which the action occurs is the most important element. For example, the customs and moral conventions in a particular time may also be the important elements even in a fiction which is not really a historical one. Lastly, setting of place functions as the dominant element. When setting of place becomes the dominant element in a story, especially when it presents the manners and customs of locality, the writing is called local colour writing of regionalism. The regionalist tries to investigate the effects on characters of a particular geographical setting (Kenney, 1966: 39-44).
The interpretation of setting that is said to have relation with character is also stated in another book. In Guth’s The Literary Heritage, he wrote: Setting is the time and place of the events of a story. Often the setting helps shape the characters and events. Village or city, north or south, poor or wealthy neighbourhood, mountain country or coast—all these help decide how people live. They help decide what the people will be like and what is most important in their lives (Guth, 1981: 729).
2. The Theory of Character and Characterization
Characters in the novel must be alive like human beings in real life which means that characters in the novel have to be in human being’s situation and act like human. The novelist can present their characters wholly from all aspects of the characters. The characters that are presented in all aspects of themselves are called round characters. It is complex in temperament and motivation. However, characters are also presented in one single aspect only and in some way without much individualizing detail. These kinds of characters are called flat characters.
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surprise. Characters, whether they are round or flat, should develop as the respond of the actions in the novel and the plot of the novel (Laar and Schoonderwoerd, 1969: 170-171).
Abrams in his book entitled A Glossary of Literary Terms defines character as follows.
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the action (Abrams, 1981: 23).
Characters do not only refer to the persons in a literary work. They are more than a fictional creature for they bring a moral value with them. Both major and minor characters play significant role in the novel. They are presented by the author to deliver “something” to the readers. Here, the readers will try to interpret what “something” is.
McCrimmon in his book Writing with A Purpose writes characterization is the author’s method in creating, revealing and developing the changes of the characters. He also points out that:
An author may describe character directly, telling the reader what people look like, how they behave and what they think; or an author may reveals characters indirectly, suggesting their appearance, personality, and values trough theirs words and deeds of other (McCrimmon, 1984: 335).
In Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the
English Novels for Overseas Students Murphy writes some ways which an author
attempts to make his characters understandable to, and come alive for his readers:
a. Personal Description. The author can describe a person’s appearance and
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b. Character as Seen by Another. Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image.
c. Speech. The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says.
d. Past Life. By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, though of the person’s though, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of Others. The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.
f. Reaction. The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct Comment. The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly.
h. Thoughts. The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what we cannot do in real life.
He can tell us what different people are thinking i. Mannerisms. The author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character
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3. Character and Setting
The setting points out that the setting never exists by itself and it explains the characters and the situation and it influences the atmosphere (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 22). Meanwhile, Larr says that the characters and the setting cannot be separated and they need to fulfil each other (Larr, 1963: 173).
The setting of the story is also important in affecting action of the character. It can influence the way of acting, the way of speaking, or even the way of thinking, as Murphy said in his book, “Setting of the novel has a great effect upon the personalities, action, and way of thinking of the characters” (Murphy, 1972: 41).
C. Theoretical Framework
The review of related studies is used as additional information for the writer to find out more the characteristics of the novel and to acknowledge deeper understanding about other elements that have not been revealed by the writer. Critics and comments from other writer will be very helpful to explore the work objectively.
The review of related theories will be used as the guideline in the analysis. Each theory that is presented has its own focus and function in assisting the writer to solve the problems formulated. The theory of setting as the basis of this study will be used to identify the time, place, and atmosphere where the story happened. Using these theories, the writer will be able to acknowledge the story
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The theory on Character and Characterization becomes the basis in analyzing the major character created in the novel. Later, the review of setting is mainly needed to get clear description of the influence toward the major character. Since this study is focusing on revealing the influence from the setting in the novel, so by using the relationship between the setting and the character, the writer will be able to make a decision influence between the setting in the novel and the major character while he survive. In short, using those theories, this study will be able to answer the problems formulated. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study Cormac McCarthy’s The Road was released by Alfred A. Knopf on September 26, 2006. The novel was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2007 and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In this study, the
writer will use The Road published by Vintage Books, New York in 2007. This version consists of 287 pages in softcover. The original one was published in black-colored and hardcover.
The Road is a narrative of two main characters, an unnamed father and his
son, who go on a journey together toward the sea across a landscape after a great, unexplained cataclysm which has destroyed human civilization and almost all life on Earth. The setting, which is extremely bleak, is shown through the falling ash, cannibalistic tribalism, and nomadic scavenging of metropolitan that is almost entirely depleted.
In the setting shown through the falling ash, cannibalistic tribalism, and nomadic scavenging of metropolitan detritus the unnamed father keeps maintaining the pretense, while his boy holds on to the real faith that there is a core of ethics left somewhere in humanity. Both repeatedly assure one another that they are “the good guys” who are “carrying the fire.” Despite having succeeded in defending the boy through extreme hardship, the unnamed father has
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leaving the boy entirely alone. The Road offers nothing in the way of escape or comfort. However, its fearless wisdom is more indelible than reassurance could ever be.
B. Approach of the Study
This thesis uses the new criticism approach in analyzing two elements making up a novel, namely character and setting. Butler (2006) said that the theory of new criticism is to investigate the elements and meaning of a work from the inside, from the things that the author himself put into the text, where he put it, and how it related to the elements or pieces surrounding it. The fundamental principle of new criticism is that a work of art is independent in itself, a unified entity.
Meanwhile, Guerin (1999: 80-81) argued new criticism shares and promote ideas in which the literature viewed as an organic tradition, a conservatism related to classical values, and the ideal of a society that encourages order and tradition. It sought precision and structural tightness in the literary work.
In order to relate to this approach, this analysis will be concerned with the work itself. Therefore, the writer only focuses on the intrinsic elements of the novel, particularly the elements of the characters and the setting where the social values occur.
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Method of the Study In making the thesis, the method used by the writer was library research.
This research was conducted in the study by reading and collecting data and information from certain books in order to enrich the writer's knowledge about the work and to find the theories needed. The primary data used in this study was Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. The secondary data were essays and articles taken from books and internet. The sources of information from the internet were also needed and used to elaborate and deepen the analysis of the novel. There were some books used to facilitate the writer getting a comprehensive understanding about the topic discussed. The theories of setting were sum up from the following books. M.H. Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms and Hugh C. Holman and
th
William Harmon’s A Handbook to Literature (5 ed.) were the sources that defined the term setting. In order to understand the elements that built the setting in a novel, the writer found that Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to
English Poetry and the English Novels for Overseas Students by M.J. Murphy
and How to Analyze Fiction by William Kenney were two excellent and qualified-enough books to be references. Meanwhile, Hans P. Guth in his book entitled The Literary Heritage mentioned the relation between setting and characters.
The review of related theories will be used as the guideline in the analysis. Each theory that is presented has its own focus and function in assisting the writer to solve the problems formulated. The theory of setting as the basis of this
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happened. Using these theories, the writer will be able to acknowledge the story more, especially from the time, place, and atmosphere that made up the story.
The theory on Character and Characterization becomes the basis in analyzing the major character created in the novel. Later, the review of setting is mainly needed to get clear description of the influence toward the major character. There were four steps taken in this study. The first step was a meticulous reading to get deep and more comprehensive understanding about the work, so that the writer could comprehend the story well. This activity was done several times in order to create a clear picture of the narration and note-taking was considered essential in this step. As a result, by having a good comprehension of the story, the writer was able to identify the setting and other details that were needed. The setting was identified by examining the environments and the people in the story. Since this study is focusing on revealing the influence from the setting in the novel, so by using the relationship between the setting and the character, the writer will be able to make a decision influence between the setting in the novel and the major character while he survive. In short, using those theories, this study will be able to answer the problems formulated.
After all primary data had been collected, there were two activities conducted in the second step, first examining and dividing problems formulated in problem formulation, and second, collecting secondary data by conducting library and internet research. Afterward, the data gained to answer problem number one were separated from the data to answer problem number two. All the data, though
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