THE INFLUENCE OF MINOR CHARACTERS ON LILY’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
THE INFLUENCE OF MINOR CHARACTERS ON LILY’S
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By:
Ike Wahyuningsih
Student Number: 021214121
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
THE INFLUENCE OF MINOR CHARACTERS ON LILY’S
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By:
Ike Wahyuningsih
Student Number: 021214121
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
i
Friendship does not just fall out of
the sky in one piece, it has to be
slowly developed and tested, growing
from hate to love, from obligation to
sacrifice, from hostility to
reconciliation, until at last it turns
into an eternal bond which nothing can
ever destroy.
(The White Banyan)
This thesis is dedicated to:
My beloved parents, my grandparent, my uncles, my aunts, my
cousins, and my friends.
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Allah SWT who has given me this wonderful life, love, strength, blessing, and guidance so that I could finish my thesis.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my major sponsor Dr. Wigati Y. Modouw, M.Hum., and my co-sponsor Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., for their support, guidance, suggestions, advice, time, encouragement, patience, careful correction, and constructive criticism. Then, I would also like to thank all lecturers and staff of English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University, especially Ms.
Lany, Mrs. Joeli, Mr. Purba, and Mr. Gunawan.
Next, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my beloved parents and grandparents for their never ending love, prayer, encouragement, attention, and financial support. My thanks also go to Mr. and Mrs. Ketut, Mrs. Indri, Mr. Agus who treat me as their own daughter. My cousins Putu and Kadek who love me like a sister and support me in many ways.
The deepest thank is for my best friends Tika and Esta who become my shoulders to cry on. I thank them for giving me happiness, solution, unique friendship, and a secure place to share, and for being pal and nice sisters. It is also for the following people: Bekti, Wawan, Hastri, Sasha, Ian, Yoga, Rohmat, Ismail, Nana, Beta, Mita, Egy, Erin, Yayan, Heri, Wieda, Dian, Dwi, Naning, Ruli, and Fitri for their contribution on this thesis. Mrs.
Eko, Mr. Edi, and all Inna Garuda’s staff who give me so many chances to experience vi teaching and to learn about life. Mr. Makhturmino, Mr. Hanung, Mr. Nur, Mr. Bekti, and all my students. I thank them for their wonderful friendship and for being my family and my inspirations. I thank mas Yoga Praditya for his everyday supports and encouragements, for his love and time, and for everything that makes me alive.
I thank Enthit for giving me learning and light, for Optimus Prime who inspires me to fight all the troubles in my life, and also Steven and the Coconuttreez for the beautiful music. Last but not least, I thank Lala, Blacky, Kumis and Brino for being amusing mates.
There are other people whom I cannot mention individually, but surely this thesis could not have been completed without their help.
IKE WAHYUNINGSIH vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………..…………………………… i PAGE OF APPROVAL ………………………………………………..…………ii PAGE OF BROAD EXAMINERS ………………………………………………iii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………………...………………. iv PAGE OF DEDICATION ……………………………………………………….. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………...…………..…….….…vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………… ………………………………………viii
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………xi ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………… ……...xiiCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………..1
1.1 Background of the Study ………………………………………...1
1.2 Objectives of Study ………………………………………………3
1.3 Problem Formulation …………………………………………….3
1.4 Benefit of the Study ……………………………………………...4
1.5 Definition of Terms …………………………………………..….4
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ……..………………….6
2.1 Theoretical Review ………………………..……………………..6
2.1.1 Theory of Literature ……………...………………………...6
2.1.1.1 Theories of Character ……………...…………………7
2.1.1.2 Theories of Characterization ……………...………….8 viii
2.1.1.3 Theory of Critical Approach ………….....………….10
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS …………………………..……………………………..20
4.1.1.5 Tough ………………………....…………………….28
4.1.1.4 Realistic ……………….………………………….…26
4.1.1.3 Wise ………………………………………………...25
4.1.1.2 Appreciative ………..…………………………….…24
4.1.1.1 Supportive …………………...…………..………….21
4.1.1 August’s Personalities ……………………...……………..20
4.1 Minor Characters’ Personalities ………………………..……….20
3.3 Procedures ………………………………...…………………….18
2.1.2 Theories of Personality Development …………………….11
3.2 Approaches ………………………………..……………………18
3.1 Subject of the Study …………………...………………………..17
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY …………………...……………………………17
2.3 Theoretical Framework …………………………………………16
2.2 Criticism ………………………………………………………...15
2.1.3.2 The Factors Influencing Adolescent’s Personality Development …………………………...14
2.1.3.1 The Adolescence Year ……………………………...13
2.1.3 Theories of Adolescence ………………………………….13
4.1.2 Zach’s Personalities ……………………………………….29 ix
4.1.2.1 Hard Worker ………………………………………..30
4.1.2.2 Optimistic ………………………...…………………31
4.1.2.3 Attentive …………………….………………………33
4.2 Lily’s Personality Development ………….……………………34
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ……………...…………44
5.1 Conclusions ……………………………………………..………44
5.2 Suggestions …………………………………………..…………45
5.2.1 Suggestions to Future Researchers ………………………45
5.2.2 Suggestion to the Implementation of Teaching English through Literature ………………….....…………………45
5.2.2.1 Teaching Extensive Reading through The Secret
Life of Bees …………………………………………46 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………49 APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Summary of The Secret Life of Bees ……………......…………51 Appendix 2 Biography of Sue Monk Kidd …………………………………54 Appendix 3 Syllabus …………………………………………………..……56 Appendix 4 The Implementation of Teaching Extensive Reading ……....…57 x
ABSTRACT
Wahyuningsih, Ike. 2008. The Influence of Minor Characters on Lily’s Personality
Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta English
Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discusses The Secret Life of Bees, a literary work written by Sue Monk Kidd. The Secret Life of Bees tells about an adolescent named Lily who lived in 1964. This novel is worth studying because the readers can see the significance of an important figure to our personality development in our lives. From this study, the readers can know how past life influences adolescent's personality and how the personality can change as she socializes with others. The aim of this study was to see how Lily's personality develops as a result of minor characters influence. Concerning the objective, there were two problems stated in this thesis. (1) What are the minor characters' personalities? (2) How is Lily's personality development described?
In order to achieve the aim of the study, the method employed in this study was library research. The sources were obtained from the literary work itself, criticism, and other sources related to the literary work. This thesis also used some theories to conduct the analysis. They were the theories of character and characterization, critical approaches, personality development, and adolescence.
The analysis showed that August is a wise mother figure who cares about Lily, supports her, and guides her every time Lily feels insecure. The other character, Zach, is a close friend who is very optimistic and attentive. Lily, the main character of the story, is a smart, shrewd and impulsive adolescent. She is also a bit racist due to her environment. Lily is a flawed girl who always blames herself. She cannot handle her guilty feeling, fears, and frustration. Lily knew few things and had little experiences but August and Zach teach her about love and acceptance. They inspire her to be more introspective, sensitive, optimistic, and to be more hard working.
From the analysis, it can be concluded Lily experiences many things from her socialization with August and Zach. Finally, Lily becomes mature enough to process her guilty feeling, anger, and confusion, as well as the ability to love without guilt or blame. Hopefully, this study will be beneficial to provide a reading material for Extensive Reading Class. xi
ABSTRAK
Wahyuningsih, Ike. 2008. The Influence of Minor Characters on Lily’s Personality
Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta:
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahsa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Kependidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas The Secret Life of Bees, sebuah karya sastra Sue Monk Kidd. The Secret Life of Bees menceritakan tentang Lily, seorang remaja yang tinggal di tahun 1964. Novel ini bermanfaat untuk dipelajari karena pembaca dapat mengetahui pentingnya seseorang dalam perkembangan karakteristik kita. Dari studi ini, pembaca dapat mengetahui bagaimana masa lalu mempengaruhi watak remaja dan bagaimana karakteristik tersebut berkembang ketika dia bersosialisasi. Tujuan studi ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana watak Lily berkembang karena pengaruh dari tokoh pendukung.
Berkaitan dengan tujuan dari studi, skripsi ini membahas dua pokok permasalahan. (1) Apa saja watak tokoh pendukung? (2) Bagaimana perkembangan watak Lily digambarkan?
Untuk mencapai tujuan skripsi ini, metode yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumber-sumber diperoleh dari karya sastra itu sendiri, kritik-kritki, dan sumber lain yang berhubungan dengan karya sastra tersebut. Skripsi ini juga menggunakan beberapa teori untuk menuntun analisis. Teori-teori tersebut adalah teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori tinjauan kritik, perkembangan karakter, dan teori tentang masa remaja.
Analisa menyebutkan bahwa August adalah sosok ibu bijaksana yang memperhatikan Lily, mendukungnya, dan membimbingnya setiap saat Lily merasa tidak nyaman. Karakter yang lainnya, Zach, adalah teman dekat Lily yang sangat optimis dan penuh perhatian. Lily sebagai karakter utama adalah remaja yang pandai dan suka mendengarkan apa kata hatinya. Dia sedikit rasis dikarenakan oleh lingkungannya. Lily adalah gadis yang suka menyalahkan dirinya sendiri. Dia tidak dapat menguasai rasa bersalah, ketakutan, dan tekanan. Dia hanya memiliki sedikit pengalaman dan tidak tahu banyak hal, tetapi August dan Zach mengajar Lily tentang cinta dan menerima. Mereka membuat Lily menjadi orang yang bisa menilik diri sendiri, perasa, percaya diri, dan pekerja keras.
Dari analisis tersebut, dapat disimpulkan bahwa Lily mengalami banyak hal dari pergaulannya dengan August dan Zach. Pada akhirnya, Lily menjadi cukup dewasa untuk mengatasi rasa bersalah, kemarahan, kebingungan, dan kemampuan untuk mencintai tanpa merasa bersalah. Diharapkan studi ini akan berguna untuk penyediaan materi Extensive Reading. xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter deals with five mains parts, those are: the background of the
study, problem formulation, the benefit of the study, and the definition of terms. The background of the study describes the reason why I choose this topic for my literary work. The objective of the study states my aims in answering the questions of the problem formulation. Then, I focus my analysis in the problem formulation. The next is the benefit of the study for the reader. The last one is the definition of terms in which I clarify some terms used in this study in order to avoid misunderstanding.
1.1 Background of the Study We cannot ignore that literature and human life have a close relation.
Literature is the reflection of human being’s life experiences and people can learn about human life through literature. Literature has many forms, such as; novel, drama, plays, short story, and poetry. I choose discussing a novel because it is not only about reading the story and getting pleasure from it but also knowing the portrait of human being’s life experiences.
The Secret Life of Bees (2002) is one of the literary works which reflects
human life through the main character, Lily Melissa Owen, supported by the minor characters, August and Zach. By reading this novel, we can know how past life influences one’s personality and how the personality can change as one socializes by the condition we are living in but it can change when we meet new environment like new school, new neighborhoods, and also new friends. For example, if a smart child grows in a family that never gives him an opportunity to develop his ability, he will not grow into a creative person and he will be a pessimistic person as he never knows how to make his ability develop. However, someday when he meets new friends who support him and appreciate what he does, he can develop his personality into a creative person and the more optimistic one. In this story, Lily is passing her transformation age from childhood into teenage. She lives with guilty feeling because of killing her mother accidentally. Moreover, her father does not give any affection and support as a father should be. Fortunately, she meets people who treat her as their family and she learns many things that develop her personality.
According to Milligan, minor characters are those who appear as the complement of the story. They do not have a major effect on how the story turns out, however, they contribute something toward the main character. In this story, the minor characters are reflected as friends. According to Conger’s Adolescence and
Youth , for adolescents, friendship holds a special place and performs a special
function. It is because friendship offers the more intense feelings. Friendship also helps the adolescent in dealing with his or her own complex feelings and it plays an important role to help them define their identities (1979: 337). What we call as best friend are not only those who have the same age like us but everyone. Having relationship with friends is a kind of learning which can affect our personality. In this novel, the minor characters play a role as best friends.
This novel is worth studying because we can see the significance of an Lily’s personality when she has not involved much with people and after that. We can also learn how she fights her guilty feeling in her transformation age and how the minor characters give major contributions toward her personality development by teaching her how to love and to be loved.
Therefore, related to the description above, the discussion will be on Lily’s personality development and how the minor characters influence her personality development.
1.2 Objective of the Study
This study is aimed to see how one’s characters develop as a result of other people’s influence as seen in Lily, the main character of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret
Life of Bees.
Although every person was born with certain traits, environment can develop those traits. Lily has passed her journey and she gets valuable lessons from it. Her personality develops as she socializes with people whom she meets. The Secret Life
of Bees is very interesting to discuss since we can learn about life through a simple
story. There is an epigraph in the beginning of each chapter that reflects the life of bees and foreshadows the characters’ lives in the story. It is shown by the parallelism between Lily’s life and the bee’s life.
1.3 Problem Formulation
The problems that will be brought into later discussion are formulated as follows:
1. What are the minor characters’ personalities?
2. How is Lily’s personality development described?
1.4 Benefit of the Study
This study is to introduce the readers to Sue Monk Kidd’s first phenomenal novel, which has a lot of things to discuss through a simple story. Then, hopefully, the analysis of this novel can give the readers a description about one’s personality, especially adolescent’s that may change as he or she socializes with others. Finally, I hope this study will be beneficial for Sanata Dharma University students, especially for the English Language Study Program by providing a reading material for Extensive Reading class.
1.5 Definition of Terms
This part is very important as there are some terms used in the discussion that need defining. Therefore, there will be no misunderstanding or misconception about the meaning of some terms. There are some terms used in this study:
a. Personality Development Kalish in the Psychology of Human Behavior described personality as the dynamic organization of characteristic as an indication to distinguish one individual from other individuals (1973: 52). What is meant by dynamic is that the human change constantly and it affects the whole personality.
Organization, then, refers to the personality as a whole, not as separate parts.
Allport cited in Hurlock’s Personality Development (1947: 7) defines that personality development is a stage in growth of a constantly changing and evoking process within an individual. It is stated that every character evolves through time and every character needs other characters to develop.
b. Minor Character According to Milligan in his book The Novel in English: an
Introduction , the minor characters are those who appear as the complement of the
story (1983: 195).c. Influence The word “influence” in Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(2000) is defined as the effect that somebody or something has on the way a person thinks or behaves or on the way that something works or develops.
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Some theories which are used to support my analysis will be presented in this
chapter. The related theories are explained briefly in this part together with the criticism of the novel and the source that I use in my analysis on order to help the reader to have a clear description about the foundation of this study. I divide the
chapter into three parts, namely; the theoretical review, criticism, and theoretical framework.
2.1 Theoretical Review
The theoretical review deals with the theories of literature and the theories of personality development. Therefore it can be analyzed why a character has a certain trait and what makes the character does a certain action. Those theories come from some different sources so that he reader will have an understanding about this study and the terms in it from many theorists.
2.1.1 Theory of Literature
In this part, there are some theories to conduct my study. The first part is the theory of character contributed by E.M Foster and Milligan and Abrams. The second part is the theory of characterization proposed by M.J Murphy. The third part is the theory of critical approaches by Rohrberger and Woods.
2.1.1.1 Theories of Character
The character is a person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story. It is one of the significant elements in a literary work. Therefore, the personality development of Lily will be analyzed in the novel.
Considering some elements of a literary work makes us get the deeper understanding about the work itself. The author creates various characters with the different attitudes, mannerism, and appearances to make the novel beautiful and represent the real life.
Abrams (1971: 23) defines the word character into two kinds. The first one, character is defined as literary genre: a short, usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive type of person. Secondly, he defines characters as the persons, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action.
E.M Foster (1974: 46-51) divides characters into two kinds, those are; flat and round characters. A flat character is built around a single idea or quality and is presented without much individualizing detail. Therefore, he or she can be easily described in a sentence as it is characterized only by one or two traits. On the other hand, a round character is more complex in temperament and motivation.
The other types of character are the major and minor character. According to Milligan (1983: 195), the major character appears more often in the story than the other characters. A major character is the same as the main character, set as the main attention in a story. In this novel, the main character is Lily. While a minor character appears only as the complements of the story. Their rules are less important than the major character. However, minor characters may contribute valuable influence toward the main character’s personality as seen in the story.
2.1.1.2 Theory of Characterization
Characterization is the process by which a writer makes characters seem real to the readers. The way a writer conveys to the readers what sort of people he or she writes about and how he or she makes the readers get to know and understand them are the significant things in writing a novel. We can judge someone by their outward appearance, by the way they dress, walk, look, gesture, and so forth. Characters can also be seen through the eyes and opinions of other people, such as: their family, friends, employees, and acquaintances.
Murphy in his book (1972: 161-173) mentions nine ways in which the author attempts to make the characters understandable to and alive for the readers.
The first one is personal description which deals with physical appearances. The readers are given the clues to capture the characters by their facial expressions and clothes that they wear. For instance: “There was nothing white about Zachary Lincoln Taylor. Even the whites of his eyes weren’t exactly white. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist and short-cropped hair…” (p. 144). From the quotation we know that Zach is an Afro American and from the body build we can conclude that he is a hard worker.
The second is characters as seen by another. Instead of describing characters directly, the author describes him or her through the eyes and opinions of another character.
The third characterization is speech. It is an important way that we use to describe characters. The author gives us a description of the characteristic of one person in the novel through what the person says and the style of his speech. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with others, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character. In this study, an example is given by using T.Ray’s speech when he gets Lily outside at night.
‘Not funny?’ he yelled. ‘Not funny? Why, it’s the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you thinking your mother is your guardian angel….That stopped his smiling instantly. He stiffened. “Why, you little bitch, ‘he said. The color faded from his lips. (P. 49)
The fourth one is past life. By letting the readers 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 shown by a direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his or her conversation or through the medium of another person.
The fifth characterization is conversation of others. We can take clues of a person’s character, through the conversation of the other people, and the things they say about him or her. People talk about other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the person mentioned.
The next is reaction. Different characters will react differently when they are facing problems. Each reaction toward the problem shows the character’s tendency and it gives the reader a clue about the character’s personality.
The seventh is direct comment. The description by direct comment is different from the personal description. In the direct comment, the author directly gives his personal reception and comment to the character that he creates.
The eight one is thoughts. By knowing one’s thought the author can give us direct knowledge of what person is thinking about. In this way, we know character of that person simply by knowing what is in his or her mind.
The last one is mannerism. The author can also describe a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies, which may also tell us something about his character.
2.1.1.3 Theory of Critical Approach
As one of the works of art, literature is said to have values. Reading a novel will be a valuable activity when we really understand the story and the values in it.
To gain the message of the story, we have to analyze a literary work. In analyzing one literary work, we need to consider about what approach to use. Furthermore, this part presents the theory of critical approaches that are used in this study.
Rohrberger and Woods discuss five different approaches that are usually used in literary study. By using these approaches, we can analyze and understand the novel better (1971: 5-15)
The first approach is the formalist approach. This approach tries to examine the work without reference to the facts of the author’s life, genre of the work or its place in the development of the genre in the literary history. This approach concentrates on the work of literature itself. The second is the biographical approach that is used when we intend to judge a literary work based on the importance of acknowledging the author’s personal life for a deep understanding to his writings.
The third approach is the social culture-historical approach. This approach is related in writing a novel. The fourth approach is the mythopoeic approach. It is used to find particular patterns of human thought, which are considered sharing the same universal belief to certain community mind. The last one is the psychological approach. It focuses on the human psychology including thought, behavior, human personality, motivation, and other aspects, which are related to the human psychology.
In analyzing the topic of this study, I use the psychological approach because in my opinion this is the most suitable one to understand Lily’s personality development better. Moreover, according to Rohrberger, psychological approach analyses a novel based on theory of psychology (1971: 13). The study which is conducted to find the answers of some questions, such as: why the characters portrayed in the novel have such kind of personality, what makes the characters do certain actions, and also what sort of things influence their personality.
2.1.2 Theories of Personality Development
In this part, the theories that are used will help me to analyze the character more profoundly. Regarding the title and approaches used in this study, some theories related with personality development are presented in order to help us understand Lily’s personality and its development, especially in her transformation age as adolescent. Moreover, The Secret Life of Bees is considered as a coming-of- age novel. Robert Harris on http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm defines a coming-of-age novel as a type of novel in which the protagonist is initiated into adulthood through knowledge, experience, or both. Some shifts that take place are world to correct view, from idealism to realism, and from immature responses to mature responses.
Many theorists have their own perceptions and present them in various ways to describe the definition of personality. They propose their theories of personality in attempt to explain human behavior. The personality theorists provide the discussion about human behavior, the stages of human behavior, and what sort of things influence human behavior for the reader to study.
Basically, the term “personality” is derived from the Latin word persona, which means “mask”. As the Romans adopt it, persona is denoted as one appears to others (Hurlock, 1974: 6).
The other definition is stated by Kalish in which in which personality is described as the dynamic organization of characteristic as an indication to distinguish one individual from other individuals (1973: 52). What is meant by dynamic is that the human change constantly and it affect the whole personality. Organization then refers to the personality as whole, not as separate parts.
Hurlock tends to use the term “personality” rather than “character”. It is very rare for a person to be completely satisfied with his or her personality, therefore, there is a desire to change it. People will try to strengthen the qualities which they have discovered people like and weaken up or cover up with fronts those which they discovered militate against popularity (1974: 119).
There are three main categories in changes in personality, first of all some people may change for the better and some for the worse. Meaning to say that the character of the person develops into a better one or become worse than previously. of the person’s development or the number of changes that he or she has experienced. Then, some changes occur slowly and some rapidly. There are people who need three years to realize that they have to start to understand others and there are people who only need a couple of weeks to do so. As an addition, those changes are determined by the changing of environment: in this case, including other people around them or which later will be considered as the minor characters (1974: 124).
2.1.3 Theories of Adolescence
The importance of using this theory is that the main character in the novel is a 14-year-old girl. However, this part will help the reader understand the significance of personality development in Lily’s age as adolescent and also what sort of thing influences the development.
2.1.3.1 The Adolescent Years
In what age a person is called as adolescent. According to Fleming, the term adolescent is applied to those within the age group which is developing from childhood to adult status. It refers not only to the years of physiological maturity but also to the periods of social and personal development (1984: 2). The years of adolescence and the beginnings of young adulthood involve more than mere preparation and transition. Maturation results from a dynamic interaction of physical changes, personal changes, social changes, and changes in the environment (1948: 235).
2.1.3.2 The factors Influencing Adolescent’s Personality Development
Hurlock (1974: 234-352) states that one’s personality develops under the influence of people around him or her. Family and environment are the factors which have a big role in forming an adolescent’s personality. Besides that, people whom he or she associates with also influence adolescence’s social attitudes and behavior.
We can also see it from other point of view by Kalish (1973: 55) that parents and other significant figures probably have the greatest influence on the formation of values and attitudes because they have authority in estimating the children’s attitude. It is also because they may give a reward for the attitudes they like or give punishment for the unacceptable attitudes. Moreover, parents and other significant figures provide models that children consciously and unconsciously imitate. They live in such way that children internalize their values regarding education, god, humanity, and work. Those people hold big roles in personality development as they are the closest people who interact with the children and it is easier to take their values rather than other people’s values.
In our daily life, sometimes we cannot face problem ourselves. We need people to help us cope with those problems. It will be not easy for adolescent like Lily to handle her problem all alone. It is a time when friends hold an important role to deal with this. This is what Conger (1979: 337) trying to say about friendship for adolescent. Why should friendship? It is because friendship is a kind of relationship in which adolescent may have the more intimate, honest, and open relation and also involves more intense feeling. Usually, friendship can serve a kind of therapy by allowing the freer expression or suppresser feeling of anger and anxiety.
2.2 Criticism
Abrams defines criticism as the whole term for studies in which there are definitions, classification, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation works of literature (1971: 40). When doing the analysis of my study, some criticisms toward Sue Monk Kidd’s work are gathered through the website on the internet. Those are reviewed to help the readers understand more about the story of Lily in this novel.
As it is her first novel, there are some criticisms which point at Lily as the main character. This is a moving first novel that causes the reader to have sympathy for Lily as an authentic and winning character. Moreover, her story is compellingly told. The bees symbolize her journey toward self-acceptance, faith, and freedom that is at the heart of this novel (USA Today). The New York Times Book Review states that Lily is a wonderfully petulant and self-absorbed adolescent. The core of this story is Lily’s search for a mother and she finds one in a place she never expected.
Other criticisms tend to point at the story itself. One of them is published by the Book Magazine. Maybe it is true that there are no perfect books, but here we find perfection. The language is never anything short of crystalline and inspired. The plotting is subtle and careful as well as exquisitely executed (Book Magazine, January 2002). It is also said that The Secret Life of Bees is a story at its finest. The writer adds mix humor and an understanding of human relationship, and the result is something quite extraordinary. This is what we call as a dazzling fictional debut (Bookpage Magazine, February 2002).
2.3 Theoretical Framework
To analyze the influence of secondary characters on Lily’s personality development I gather the sources about character, characterization, and theory of personality as well as theory of adolescent. Those are used to answer the problems formulated in chapter one.
The analysis deals with Lily, August, and Zach who are the main and the minor characters in The Secret Life of Bees. Therefore, the theory of character and characterization are needed to explore those characters. In this case I used the theory from E.M Foster and Milligan and also M.J Murphy. Then, the theory of critical approaches helped me to choose what approaches I was going to use in this study. Here, the most suitable approach to help me analyze this novel was the psychological approach. Therefore, I used the psychological point of view.
The theories of personality development, especially for adolescent, proposed by Kalish, Hurlock, Fleming, and Conger are important to gain the deeper understanding and analysis about Lily’s personality and how the personality develops as a result of her interaction with the people around her.
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the methodology that will be used in this study. There
are three sections; those are the subject of the study, approaches, and procedure. In the first part is the work used in this study and the focus of the analysis. Approaches section deals with the approaches that I use in analyzing the novel. The last part, method of study, is the method of analyzing the work.
3.1 Subject of the Study
It is stated on http://www.suemonkkidd.com/aothor.asp that The Secret Life
of Bees which was written by Sue Monk Kidd consists of 375 pages and it is
published by Viking in 2002. This phenomenal novel has sold more than 4.5 million copies, spent over two years on the New York Time bestseller list. It is awarded the 2004 Book Sense paperback book of the Year, nominated for the Orange Prize in England and chosen as Good Morning America’s Read This! Book Club pick. It has been produced on stage in New York by The American Place Theater and is being adapted into a movie. Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees is a novel about Lily Owens, the protagonist and narrator of the story, who runs away from home with her stand-in mother and has a vague memory of accidentally shooting her mother at the age of four. They escape to Tiburon, South Caroline as Lily finds the clue by the city name on the back of the Black Madonna possessed by her mother. This is a place where Lily’s
In this novel, Kidd wraps a coming-of-age tale around a search for one’s mother; with the setting the racial matters in South Caroline during the civil right movement.
As an addition, Sue Monk Kidd, the author of The Secret Life of Bees was born and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia. She began writing her first novel in 1997 and it took three and a half years to complete the novel.
3.2 Approaches