The resistance towards racial discrimination by the main character in Maya Angelou`s The Heart of Woman
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THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S
THE HEART OF A WOMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DORETHY ALBERTA
Student Number: 094214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S
THE HEART OF A WOMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DORETHY ALBERTA
Student Number: 094214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain
the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations
and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, September 5th, 2013
The writer,
Dorethy ALberta
094214036
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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
: Dorethy Alberta
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 094214036
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yan berjudul
THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION BY THE
MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S THE HEART OF A WOMAN
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebernarnya
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 5 September 2013
Yang menyatakan,
Dorethy Alberta
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Words can be Weapons
against Injustice
(Richard Wright)
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for
my beloved parents
francis and linda, who
always be my motivation
to do the best
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank my Almighty God, Jesus Christ, who helps
me during the hardest time and blesses me in the process of making this thesis. I
am sure that my thesis is finally done because of Him. He gives me the ability and
strength to finish it.
I would like to express my gratitude to Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M. Hum. as
my advisor. She has given me time and advice, lent me a lot of useful books, and
supported me to finish my thesis well. I am really grateful that she always gives
me solution in times of confusion. I would also like to thank Dr. F.X. Siswadi,
M.A., my co-advisor, who has given time to revise my thesis.
I would like to dedicate my thesis to my beloved parents, Francis and
Linda as my gratitude for their love, support, and attention. I am grateful to have
parents like them. For my siblings, my sister and my brother, I am really thankful
for their encouragement and prayer.
Finally, I want to thank all my friends who have given me your support,
help, and care. I am really grateful to have great friends who I can always count
on. I will always cherish all the experiences that we share.
Dorethy Alberta.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGE……………………………………………………..... ii
ACCEPTABLE PAGE…………………………………………………… iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY…...………………………………… iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI.……………... v
MOTTO PAGE…………………………………………………………… vi
DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………. vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………… viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………….... ix
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………….…. x
ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………….…... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………... 1
a. Background of the Study…………………………………………... 1
b. Problem Formulation………………………………….……...……. 6
c. Objectives of the Study…………………………………...…….….. 6
d. Definition of Terms……………………………………………...….6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…...………………………... 8
A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………..... 8
B. Review of Related Theories…………………………………...…… 11
1. Theory of Character and Characterization………………………... 11
2. Theory of Relation between Literature and Society……………… 12
3. Theory of Race and Racism…………………………………….... 13
4. Historical Background of Racism in America in the 1900s……… 14
5. Theory of Resistance of African American towards Racial
Discrimination…………………………………………………..... 17
C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………. 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………...…………..…...... 22
A. Object of the Study………………………………………………… 22
B. Approach of the Study……………………………..……………..... 23
C. Method of the Study………………………………..……………… 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………… 27
A. Characteristics of Maya Angelou………………………………….. 27
B. Practices of Racism Experienced by Maya Angelou…………….... 36
C. Maya Angelou’s Resistance towards the Practices of Racism…….. 44
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………….. 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….……...59
APPENDIX…..………………………………………………………..…... 62
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ABSTRACT
DORETHY ALBERTA. The Resistance towards Racial Discrimination by the
Main Character in Maya Angelou’s The Heart of a Woman. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,
2013.
This thesis examines one of Maya Angelou’s works entitled The Heart of
a Woman. The novel tells about the life Maya Angelou, an African American
woman, in the 1950s. Angelou is discriminated because of the color of her skin.
She and her people get unequal treatments from the whites. The practices of
racism that she and her people experience trigger Angelou to fight against them.
By analyzing The Heart of a Woman, the unequal treatment towards black people
and how Angelou resist racism are going to be explored in this thesis.
In this research, there are three objectives presented in this thesis. The first
objective is to find out the characteristics of the main character named Maya
Angelou, the second is to find out the practices of racial discrimination
experienced by the main character, and the last problem is to find out Maya
Angelou’s resistance towards the racial discrimination.
In this study, the writer uses the Sociocultural-Historical approach to know
further about the society and its history as the background of the story. The writer
also uses the theory of character and characterization, theory of race and racism,
and review history of the African American to support the analysis.
In short, the writer concludes that Maya Angelou is described as a tough,
rebellious, optimistic, brave, and smart woman. Angelou experiences many
practices of racial discrimination in her life. She is discriminated by her society
because of her skin color. She experiences the practices of racial discrimination in
public facility, housing, and job. She realizes that she cannot live in this situation
her entire life. This condition leads her to do resistance to defend her rights as
human being who deserves to be treated equally. Towards the practices of racial
discrimination, Angelou shows her resistance in two ways, individual and
collective. Individual resistance is the resistance that she does by herself. She uses
this resistance in handling the practices of racial discrimination that she gets in
public facility, housing, and job. Collective resistance is the resistance that she
does together with other people. She applies this resistance when she joins black
organization (SCLC and CAWAH) and when she makes performances to
influence the audience to stop racism.
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ABSTRAK
DORETHY ALBERTA. The Resistance towards Racial Discrimination by the
Main Character in maya Angelou’s The heart of a Woman. Yogyakarta:
Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini membahas salah satu karya Maya Angelou yang berjudul The
Heart of a Woman. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Maya Angelou
seorang Afrika America di tahun 1950an. Angelou didiskriminasi karena warna
kulitnya. Ia dan orang-orang sebangsanya menerima perlakuan tidak adil oleh
orang-orang kulit putih. Praktek-praktek diskriminasi yang dialami Angelou dan
orang-orang sebangsanya memicunya untuk melawan rasism. Dengan
menganalisis The Heart of a Woman, perlakuan tidak adil terhadap orang kulit
hitam dan bagaimana Angelou menentang rasism akan dibahas dalam skripsi ini.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada tiga rumusan masalah yang akan dibahas.
Rumusan masalah yang pertama adalah untuk mencari tahu sifat-sifat dari tokoh
utama yang bernama Maya Angelou. Masalah yang kedua adalah untuk
mengungkap praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras yang dialami oleh tokoh utama.
Dan masalah yang terakhir adalah untuk mengungkap perlawanan Maya Angelou
terhadap diskriminasi ras.
Dalam studi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan Sosiokultural-historikal
untuk mengetahui lebih jauh tentang masyarakat dan sejarah sebagai latar
belakang ceritanya. Penulis juga menggunakan beberapa teori yaitu teori tokoh
and penokohan, teori ras dan rasisme, dan sejarah Afrika Amerika yang
diterapkan untuk mendukung analisa.
Pendeknya, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa Maya Angelou digambarkan
sebagai wanita yang kuat, pemberontak, optimis, berani, dan pintar. Angelou
mengalami banyak praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras dalam hidupnya. Ia
disiskriminasi oleh masyarakat karena warna kulitnya. Angelou mengalami
praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras dalam fasilitas publik, penyewaan tempat tinggal,
dan perkerjaan. Ia menyadari bahwa ia tidak bisa hidup dalam situasi seperti itu
untuk selamanya. Kondisi ini membuatnya melakukan perlawanan untuk
melindungi haknya sebagai manusia yang pantas untuk diperlakukan secara adil.
Terhadap semua praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras yang dialaminya, Angelou
menunjukan perlawanannya dalam dua cara yaitu perlawanan individu dan
kolektif. Perlawanan individu adalah perlawanan yang dilakukan Angelou sendiri.
Ia menggunakan tipe perlawanan ini dalam menangani praktek-praktek
diskriminasi ras yang dialaminya dalam fasilitas publik, penyewaan tempat
tinggal, dan perkerjaan. Perlawanan kolektif adalah perlawanan yang Angelou
lakukan bersama orang lain. Ia mengaplikasikan tipe perlawanan ini ketika
bergabung dalam organisasi kulit hitam (SCLC and CAWAH) dan saat membuat
pertunjukan-pertunjukan untuk mempengaruhi penonton supaya menghentikan
rasism.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.
Background of the Study
For a long period, African American people had experienced
discriminations from the white people. They were oppressed by the white people
who thought that they were superior. The whites had treated them unfairly
because they considered that the black people had lower status than them. They
were treated that way just because of the color of their skin. The whites even
made laws that gave them the highest profits while the blacks became the target of
the whites’ rules. The whites made the blacks felt difficult in getting a better life
because of the restricted rights and they were also not free to express their
opinion, thoughts, and responses. This situation made the blacks could not just
stand still. They tried little by little to rise and defend their rights to be treated
equally. This is supported by George Brown and David Emory in America, A
Narrative History that say, “The society went beyond the issue of emancipation
that blacks should share equality with the whites, of civil and religious privileges”
(1997: 449). This means that the blacks should get the same rights and freedom as
the whites.
Based on this condition, the topic is chosen to show the importance of the
struggle of African American people to get equality. The heroic struggle of black
people in getting their freedom from discrimination interested the writer to
undergo the research of their movements.
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The study of black people’s struggle against racial discrimination can be
observed through history. As Maulana Karenga says in Introduction to Black
Studies that “History is the struggle and record of humans in the process of
humanizing the world, i.e., shaping it in their own image and interests” (1993:
70). It means that history reflects events that happened to human. It tells about
human’s development and struggles for humanity in different societies and
condition. So, from studying the history of black people, the life condition that the
black people experienced can be seen, for example their suffering from the
practices of racial discrimination by the whites and also the process of their
struggle in getting race equality to make the world a better place for them to live
in.
One way to learn history is by reading an autobiography. Autobiography is
the story of a person’s life written by that person. The content is about the
experience that represents the author’s culture and tradition. It helps the readers to
connect with the cultural context and helps them to learn about human dreams and
struggles in different societies and condition. As Stephanie Demetrakspoulos says
in Women’s Autobiography in America, “Certain kinds of autobiographies have
flourished and clustered around specific historical events” (1983: 181). It means
that some autobiographies tell about what happened to the author in the past in the
particular period.
The example of autobiography that is considered as work of literature is
the autobiography by Maya Angelou. Angelou is a very famous writer. She has
written five autobiographical volumes that tell about her experiences through her
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life. All of them are great contributions for the American literature. This is
supported by Joanne M. Braxton in Maya Angelou: a Casebook that
There is something uniquely literary about Angelou's autobiography, but
certainly part of what this autobiography is about is the power and utility
of literature and its own genesis and existence as a protest against racism.
By her work she has not only contributed to but also expanded the
American literary tradition and the perspective from which this literature
views—and serves—the world (1999: 92)
Braxton says that Angelou’s work is special because she writes her autobiography
using the language of literature. She uses that skill in writing to tell about her
disapproval of racism. Her amazing work can add the richness of American
literary tradition.
Since Angelou uses the language of literature in writing her
autobiographies, they can be included as works of literature according to Terry
Eagleton. In Literary Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition, he says that,
“Literature is definable not according to whether it is fictional or ‘imaginative’,
but because it uses language in peculiar ways” (1996: 2). Eagleton wants to say
that the definition of literature as imaginative writing is not so appropriate. He
defines literature as an art of using language in unusual ways. Literature
transforms ordinary language so it is different from everyday speech. The works
of literature is the art form that uses the human ability to create language. R. J.
Ress agrees with Eagleton’s statement. In English Literature: An Introduction for
Foreign Readers, he states that, “Literature is a permanent expression in words of
some thoughts or feelings in ideas about life and the world” (1973: 157). It means
that the author of literary works has the skill to show his or her emotion and idea
through language.
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Maya Angelou, from the beginning, intends to make her autobiographies
as literature. This is stated by Pierre A. Walker in Bloom’s Modern Critical views:
Maya Angelou that
Maya Angelou has told in interviews how Robert Loomis, her eventual
Random House editor, goaded her into writing autobiography, teasing her
with the challenge of writing literary autobiography. Considering herself a
poet and playwright, she had repeatedly refused Loomis’s requests that she
write an autobiography until he told her that it was just as well: “He said
that to write an autobiography—as literature—is almost impossible. I said
right then I’d do it”. Angelou often admits that she cannot resist a
challenge; however, it was not the challenge of writing autobiography that
Angelou could not resist, but the challenge implied in Loomis’s remark
about the difficulty of writing autobiography “as literature” (2009: 17).
He says that Angelou’s reason to write autobiography because Loomis’s statement
about the impossibility of writing an autobiography as literature. She refuses to
accept that opinion and looks it as a challenge. So, she writes her life story into
autobiographies using techniques to write literature.
All of Angelou’s autobiographies are considered as great works of
literature. This is stated by Carolyn Wedin in How to Write about Maya Angelou
that
Angelou’s pervasive sense that what is oldest and best in her own spirit
derives from a lost, black fullness of being is one of the strongest
manifestations in African-American literature. I think that this is part of
the secret of Angelou’s enormous appeal to American readers, whether
white or black, because her remarkable literary voice speaks to something
in the universal American. Most Americans, of whatever race or ethnic
origin, share the sense that experience, however terrible, can be endured
because their deepest self is beyond experience and so cannot be
destroyed. (2011: 7)
She says that Angelou’s work is a powerful contribution to African American
literature. The charm of Angelou’s writing is her literary voice. Readers can enjoy
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her book because her skill in writing that makes them get the sense of her life
experience.
Harold Bloom states that he agrees that Angelou’s fourth volume, The
Heart of a Woman is work of literature. In Bloom’s Modern Critical views: Maya
Angelou, he says that
The Heart of A Woman (1981). This book is alive. It breathes as it pilots,
pivots, taxis, and flies the lucky reader through a journey from San
Francisco through New York to Egypt, landing in Accra, West Africa. Its
motion wakes to literary resonance one of the many under-represented
ascensions in the evolving aesthetics of African American and related
creative productions which Heart of A Woman re-presents (2009: 91).
He states that The Heart of a woman invites the readers to join the journey of
Angelou’s experiences. The book presents the quality of literature to shows the
beautiful experiences of black people.
This study examines one of Angelou’s autobiographies entitled The Heart
of a Woman by Maya Angelou. As an African American woman, her story deals
with racism. Her book’s aim is to show and illustrate what happened to black
people in the society. She presents the realistic illustration of black people’s world
and the situation they face.
The Heart of a Woman is a good book for the research to understand the
struggle of African American people because it explains how it feels for an
African American living in the white societies, what kinds of racial discrimination
that she and her people experience, the resistance of black people to racism and
their way in getting a better equal life with white people. As Eva Lennox Birch
states in Black American Women’s Writing that, “The Heart of a Woman recounts
her involvement in the movement for civil rights: a demand for equality” (1994:
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136). It shows the struggle of Maya Angelou, an African American woman who
represents her people to fight for freedom and justice. Therefore, this novel is the
perfect example to research the topic on the struggle of African America people.
B.
Problem Formulation
1. How is the main character described in the autobiography?
2. What are the practices of racial discrimination experienced by Maya Angelou
as seen in the autobiography?
3. What are Maya Angelou’s resistances against racial discrimination as seen in
the autobiography?
C.
Objectives of the Research
This research aim is to find about the struggle of Maya Angelou, an
African American woman, against the practices of racial discrimination. This
research has three main objectives. The first objective is to see the characteristics
of the main character, Maya Angelou. The second objective is to explore the
practices of racial discrimination experienced by the major character, Maya
Angelou. The last objective of this research is to show Maya Angelou’s resistance
as the response towards racial discrimination.
D.
Definition of Terms
The word resistance comes from the word resist. According to Webster’s
New World Dictionary,
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Resist means to stand against, or withstand, to oppose, to fend off, and to
withstand the action of. The other meaning is to oppose actively, to fight,
argue, or work against, to endeavor, to counteract, and to be disagreeable.
Resistance means a resisting, an opposing, and opposition of some force to
others (1976: 1541).
It shows that resist means to refuse to be changed by something or someone and
resistance is an action to stop the progress of something or someone from doing
something.
Based on Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms, “Race is usually
implying a distinct physical type with certain unchanging characteristics (as a
particular color of skin or shape of skull)” (1984: 658). It means that it is a
category of human that distinguished by certain distinctive physical traits.
In Africans in America, Richard Worth and Robert Asher define
discrimination as “Targeting a particular group of people with laws or actions
often because of their race” (1997: 92). It means that it is an action of treating a
particular person or group differently, in a worse way from the way to treat other
people.
According to Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson in Cultural Anthropology,
Seventh Edition, racism refers to “the belief that the cultural and intellectual
characteristics of a population are linked to its biological racial character, with the
notion that some races are inherently superior to other” (2007: 216). It means that
the quality of certain group of people is determined by their race and there is one
race that feels that they are superior to the other that resulting the unfair treatment
towards the inferior race.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A.
Review of Related Studies
The publication of literary works has often aroused people’s interest to
give their comments about the author or the work itself. It is a common thing
because people who read the work can have different effects and influences that
cause them to give certain opinions according to their thoughts. Maya Angelou’s
The Heart of a Woman is also one of the literary works that arouses comments the
way she presents her work.
The first comment comes from Eva Lennox Birch who states in Black
American Women’s Writing that
Angelou, a century and a half later, can still take racial oppression as her
subject, says much about the placing of her people in white American
society, and reinforces the particular importance of autobiographical
statement in the tradition of black writing, as inspirational and political
(1994: 97).
She says that Maya Angelou uses racism as her subject for her writing. Maya tells
about what happened to black people and their experiences of racism. She makes
her work a contribution for black people writing as something to inspire and
influence the reader.
Another comment comes from Colin A. Palmer who says in Encyclopedia
of African-American, Second Edition that
The Heart of a Woman (1981) presents a mature Angelou who works with
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Active in civil rights
movement, she served as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) (2006: 170).
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She states that the The Heart of a Woman tells about Maya Angelou who becomes
more politically active and joins black organization to defend black people’s
rights. Colin’s statement is related to the story, in which Maya participates in
African American protest rallies because she is inspired by Martin Luther King’s
speech. She produces a successful fundraiser for SCLC and later she is chosen to
be the coordinator of SCLC’s office in New York.
Another critic is Dr. Maria Lauret, a feminist scholar, indicates in
Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America that
The formation of female cultural identity has been woven into Angelou's
narratives. Angelou has presented a role model for African American
women by reconstructing the Black woman's image throughout her
autobiographies, and has used her many roles, incarnations, and identities
to signify multiple layers of oppression and personal history. Angelou's
themes revolved of the individual's strength and ability to overcome (1994:
97).
Dr. Lauret states that in Angelou’s narratives, she creates a role model of an
African-American woman, who faces racial oppression from whites and deals
with difficulties with her skills. Related with the book, Maya Angelou is the main
character of the story that shows an example of a great woman who succeeds and
survives through the whites’ oppression. She is a positive female role model
because she is tough and strong to deal with racial oppression and fight against it.
Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson also give their opinion in A
Shining Thread of Hope. They say that
A tradition that has continued through Maya Angelou’s autobiographical
series was begun in the early nineteenth century as part of battle against
slavery. Among weapons abolitionists used were the true story of slaves
themselves, or rather, former slaves. Abolition group often paid for the
publication of these narratives and helped to distribute them, hoping to raise
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public consciousness and elicit sympathy for those who held in bondage
(1998: 118).
It means that Maya Angelou uses her experience of a person who directly faces
racism to make her life as a story to be read by public. The purpose is to take the
readers’ attention and to gain their support. Her writing is the weapon to fight
racism.
In conclusion, there are many criticisms about Maya Angelou and one of
her autobiographies, The Heart of a Woman. Four of the critics are mentioned
above, they are Eva Lennox Birch in Black American Women’s Writing who says
that Maya uses racism as the subject of her writing and that her work is an
important contribution for black writing, Colin A. Palmer in Encyclopedia of
African-American, second edition says that the book is about Maya Angelou who
was politically active to defend black people’s rights, Dr. Maria Lauret in
Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America states that Angelou presents a
role model of an African American woman, and last are Darlene Clark Hine and
Kathleen Thompson that say Maya Angelou uses her writing as a weapon to fight
racism.
All of those comments are talking about the theme, the book, the
autobiographical writing, and the author that are related to this research about
Maya Angelou’s fourth autobiographical series. In this study, the writer digs
deeper about the racial discrimination that Maya Angelou experienced. As a black
woman, she must know what black people face and how they feel. The writer also
analyzes Maya Angelou’s characteristics that lead her to her resistance towards
racism. It shows her struggle to fight racism and to defend her people’s right.
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B.
Review of Related Theories
1.
Character and Characterization
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A character is an important factor in a story. The character is subject of the
story which means that the story tells about what happened to the character.
According to M. H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham (2009: 42) in the book A
Glossary of Literary Terms stated that
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who
are interpreted by reader 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.
It means that the author created people in the literary work with characteristics
and qualities that can be exposed by the readers by evaluating from the utterances
and behaviors of the characters.
A character must have characteristic. It is a quality that differentiates one
person with another. There are some ways to identify the characteristics of the
character in the story according to Murphy in Understanding Unseens: an
Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students
(1972: 161-171). The first is personal description. The characteristics of the
character can be seen through their appearance and the clothes they wear. Second
is character as seen by others. The characteristics can be identified from the other
characters’ view, opinions, impression and thought. The third is speech. The
characteristics can be analyzed through what the person says. The fourth is past
life. The author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s
character. The fifth is conversation of others. The characteristics of the character
also can be known by seeing the conversation of other people. The sixth is
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reactions. The author describes the character’s characteristics by showing the
person’s face in various situations as their response. The seventh is direct
comment. The reader can know and imagine the characteristics of the person by
seeing the author’s comment about the characters. The eighth is thoughts. The
author can give direct knowledge of what person is thinking about. The ninth is
mannerism. The author describes the character’s habits which may also tell the
reader of something about the character. In conclusion, from the appearance, other
people’s point of view, words from the character, event from the past, other’s
conversation, character’s responses, character’s direct comment, character’s
opinion, and character’s manner, the character’s characteristics can be analyzed to
know what kind of person the character is.
2.
The Relation between Literature and Society
Literature is a media for writer to express their minds. It is a human
creation in certain time to say something or events in certain period or year. It is
intended to share some ideas or issues to other people in forms of information,
experience, or knowledge.
Literature is closely related with society because it shares human
experiences, it describes what happen to human in certain time. According to
Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in Theory of Literature (1956: 94)
Literature is a social institution, using as its medium language, a social
creation. Much of the most common approach to the relations of literature
and society is the study works as social documents, as assumed pictures of
social reality. Nor can it be doubted that some kind of social picture can be
abstracted from literature. Literature can be made to yield the outlines of
social history if it is used as social documents.
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It means that literature can be considered as the study of social information
because it shows the history of human beings. It records the social condition,
social changes, and social development. Since authors are also members of
society, they can be studied as a social being. The authors have been citizens, they
have experienced events that happen in the society and form it as literary works.
Their writings show the issues of their time.
3.
Race and Racism
Race, according to Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson in Cultural
Anthropology, Seventh Edition has two definitions, “Biological races are ethnic
populations in which several genes occur together with distinctive frequencies
over many generations. Social races are assumed to have a biological basis but are
in fact culturally constructed” (2007: 211). So, biological race is a group of people
who share the same characteristics, for example color of the skin, eye color, and
hair form. It usually refers to a certain group of people who live in a particular
area of the world. On the other hand, social race is a distinction made by the
society to differentiate one group of people from other groups.
When people make distinctions and feel that they are different and better
from others, they usually underestimate the others. As the result, prejudice is
formed. In Africans in America, Richard Worth and Robert Asher define prejudice
as “Negative opinion formed without cause” (1997: 92). It means that it is an
unreasonable thought that the society make without enough knowledge. It is
usually caused by feeling of dislike or hatred to certain people. This prejudice
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leads to the thought that one race is superior to the other and as a result racism
appears.
The definition of racism based on Paula S. Rothenberg in Race, Class, and
Gender in the United States is “The belief in the inherent superiority of one races
over all others and thereby the right to dominance” (1998: 534). It means that
certain race feels that they have higher status than other race. As a result, the
superior race treats the inferior race unfairly.
4.
The Historical Background of Racism in America in the 1900s
From the early 1900s, black people in the United States were treated
unequally. They were discriminated because the superior group (the whites)
considered them to have lower status. As stated by Ellis W. Hawley in The Great
War and the Search for a Modern Order that
By 1930, despite continued migration to northern and western cities,
nearly 80 percent of America’s black still lived in the South and remained
subject of discriminatory laws and social codes openly based on claims of
white supremacy. Blacks, southern whites asserted, were by nature
mentally and morally inferior, lacking in ambition, and either childlike or
bestial in their inability to control their passions (1992: 132).
The whites made the blacks became the victim of discrimination. They made the
stereotypes about black people and tried to control the blacks by making rules as
they wanted.
The high tension of discrimination of blacks was clearly seen by the
actions of whites that felt disgusted with blacks. They put a clear segregation of
white and black among the society. It could be seen in public facilities. As it was
stated by Judy L. Hasday in The Civil Rights Act of 1964: An End to Racial
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Discrimination that “Restaurants, theaters, hotels, restrooms, stores, buses, trains,
schools, and other public facilities were delineated based on whether you were
white or black (2007: 35). The public facilities were separated for blacks and
whites. The blacks’ facilities were usually in the bad shape while the whites’ were
good.
In education, the Supreme Court made rule to end schools segregation in
Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Supported by David Brody, James A.
Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil who said
Although the Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawed separate
schools, it did nothing to change the educational system in areas where
schools were all-black or all-white because of residential segregation. Not
until 1973 did federal judges begin to extend the desegregation of schools
(1999: 822).
The ending school segregation rule was useless because many schools still did not
want to mix their students. Even though there were some combined-schools for
blacks and whites, the discrimination towards the black students still existed.
In fact, in 1896, segregation was forbidden by U.S. Supreme Court but
until the 1900s, the black people could not feel the effect of it. As David Brody,
James A. Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil stated in America, A Concise History,
volume 2 that
Once the system of legal, or de jure, segregation had fallen, the civil-rights
movement turned to the more difficult task of eliminating the de facto
segregation, enforced by custom, that made blacks second-class citizens
throughout the nation (1999: 822).
It meant that the rule of no discrimination by the laws was not effective because
racism was already stuck in the mind of the society that made blacks could not be
fully free from oppression.
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The proof of the continued segregation could be seen in housing. As Ezra
Palmer stated in Everything You Need to Know about Discrimination that
Unfair housing is one of the areas where discrimination still occurs.
African American people are prevented from moving to certain
neighborhoods. Real estate agents might tell them no houses or apartments
are available in a particular neighborhood. In truth they may be available,
but the agents may only show the property to white people (1995: 31).
It means that black people were forbidden to live side by side with white people.
The black people would be rejected to live in a house or apartment where it was
the area of white residents. The agents would lie if there was a place available so
black people could not buy or rent it.
Segregation could be found in occupations too. As Paula S. Rothenberg
said in Race, Class, and Gender in the United Sates that, “Blacks are
overrepresented at the lower end of the income and occupation hierarchies, and
underrepresented in positions of political and economic power” (1998: 260). It
meant that black people usually got jobs with low income because there was a
system that forbade hiring black in certain occupations. As a result, it was difficult
for black people to raise their living condition. This was supported by David
Brody, James A. Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil in America, A Concise History.
They stated that, “Jobs traditionally held by black were waiters, domestic
servants, elevator operators, and garbage collectors” (1999: 280). The work that
black people got were the low paying jobs such as mentioned above. Those jobs
were the work that white people didn’t want to do. It was really seldom for black
people to get prestigious occupations such as doctors, teachers, and policemen.
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5.
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The Resistance of African American to Racial Discrimination
African American people have been discriminated by the whites for a very
long time. The whites’ unfair treatment evokes the African American people to
fight against the unjust condition. The spirit of blacks for liberating themselves
from the authority of whites grows as they feel that they cannot just keep silent
and follow the rules that the whites make. They feel that this discrimination
should be stopped and that is why they revolt.
Black people resist racism in many ways. Their resistance can be divided
into two types, they are individual and collective resistance. As Amal I. Madibbo
states in Minority within a Minority that, “The numerous strategies of resistance
come from individuals and collectives” (2006: 163). It means that resistance can
be done by a single person or by a group of people. In Invisible Resistance to
Tyranny, How to Lead a Secret Life of Insurgency in an Increasingly Unfree
World, Jefferson Mack explains that individual resistance means
When individuals acting without direction or guidance from any leader –to
resist, obstruct, frustrate, expose, and interfere. Individual involved in
resistance act alone or in cooperation with few trusted friends or others
who also face the same risks (2002: 7).
This shows that individual resistance is the action of a single person or a few
people to refuse to be obedient to something or someone and fight against it. The
action of individual resistance can be done in many ways. Since every individual
is different, they can resist in different ways. One example of individual resistance
is survival. This is supported by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson in A
Shining Thread of Hope. They say that “Resistance was part of black people’s life.
Sometimes it was hidden and never told to anyone. But it was constant. Survival
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itself is a form of resistance” (1998: 70). It means that resistance on some
occasion is not showed to other people because individual keeps it to themselves.
Trying to keep living even in the hard situation is also an example of resistance.
The other type of resistance is collective resistance. As Kristina E.
Thalhammer says in Resistance, the Power of Ordinary People that
Resistance is not solely the province of individuals. Collective resistance
occurs when people choose to challenge injustice together. The nature of
collective resistance requires significant interaction with a large and
potentially expanding group of activists (2007: 104).
She states that collective resistance is the action of group of people who are
working together to resist discrimination. These people are the activists who
gather to become a unity in organization. This is supported by Darlene Clark Hine
and Kathleen Thompson that say that “Black people also channeled their
resistance into the organized abolition movement, joining the struggle for
freedom” (1998: 104). It shows that one of African American people’s ways to
eliminate the discrimination is by making organizations. In addition, Maulana
Karenga also states in Introduction to Black Studies that, “The Civil Rights
struggle was led by major groups such as SNCC, CORE, and SCLC, although
countless smaller groups played fundamental and indeed indispensable roles in the
Civil Rights struggle” (1993: 167). So, SNCC, CORE, SCLC, and other black
organizations are made to free African American people from whites’ unequal
treatment, to end the discrimination, and to give African American people their
rights.
One of big black organizations that has a huge role in getting race equality
is Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). It is an organization led by
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Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who is known as anti-violence black activist. Its aim
is to eradicate any kind of racism. Based on The Black Experience in America
edited by Jeff Wallenfeldt, it is said that
Established by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his followers in 1957
to coordinate and assist local organizations working for the full equality of
African American in all aspects of American life, the SCLC occupies a
prominent place in African American history (2011: 49).
Among a lot of black people organizations, there are black women
organizations whose members are all women. Supported by Darlene Clark Hine
and Kathleen Thompson that
There were ten thousands of women who organized into black women’s
club movement, a truly remarkable phenomenon that became virtually the
sole provider of social services to black communities. The club became
training grounds for political action as their member learned to work
together, organize, raise funds, and garner support from the rest of the
community (1998: 166).
These women organizations are usually called women’s club. They are formed to
fight against racial discrimination and have a big influence for black society. They
have several functions, such as to arrange political actions, collect money, and
gain support from public to oppose racism.
Aside from the struggle through organization, black people also try to
show their fight against racism through art. As Maulana Karenga defines black art
as
It is this struggle of freedom, dignity, and self-definition in a hostile and
challenge-filled world that shaped African American art and gave it its
relevance and reality. Black art, therefore as an expression of Black life
experiences and aspirations, is the conscious and unconscious aesthetic
contribution of Black people to their struggle to rescue and reconstruct
their history and humanity in their own image and interest (1993: 394).
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It means that black art is an art which is made by African American people to
expresses their feelings and opinions about their lives. It can be used as their
weapon to defeat the practices of racial discrimination. Their struggle in art can be
showed through song, play in theatre, dance, sculpture, etc.
One of ways to fight racial discrimination in art is by performing plays in
theater. Black people have used theater as their resistance to racism from the
1800s. Supported by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson that
The real beginning of black theater in America came in 1875 through the
agency of two black women. Anna and Emma Hyers, two sisters, formed a
travelling troupe called the Colored Operatic and Dramatic Company to
produce musical plays about black experience. It was the first time in the
history of black America that plays by black people and about black
people were presented on the stage (1998: 189).
It shows that the Hyers sisters are the first one who make a show about
black people and the play is also performed by black people. The play tells the
story of black people to show it to the audience to make them understand what
black people experienced. Those plays about the life history of black people have
aim to make the public know how bad racism affects the life of black people and
black people’s feelings towards racism. The audiences are expected to support
black people to eliminate the practices of racial discrimination in society.
C.
Theoretical Framework
In analyzing the problems of the study, the writer focuses on Maya
Angelou’s character, her experiences of the practices of discrimination, and her
struggles to fight against racial discrimination as the response of the oppression.
The writer, in answering the problem formulation uses some theories that will
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give clear analysis. The theories are the theory of character and characterization
that help to analyze Maya Angelou’s characteristics, the theory of literature and
society explains the relation between literary works with the society, the theory of
race and racism and the historical background of racism in America in the 1900s
are to deepen the understanding about practices of racial discrimination that the
African American people experience, and the theory of black people’s resistance
to show the process of black’s awareness about their oppressed condition and their
way to fight against the injustice condi
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THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S
THE HEART OF A WOMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DORETHY ALBERTA
Student Number: 094214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
BY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S
THE HEART OF A WOMAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
DORETHY ALBERTA
Student Number: 094214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain
the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations
and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, September 5th, 2013
The writer,
Dorethy ALberta
094214036
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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
: Dorethy Alberta
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 094214036
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yan berjudul
THE RESISTANCE TOWARDS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION BY THE
MAIN CHARACTER IN MAYA ANGELOU’S THE HEART OF A WOMAN
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebernarnya
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 5 September 2013
Yang menyatakan,
Dorethy Alberta
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Words can be Weapons
against Injustice
(Richard Wright)
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for
my beloved parents
francis and linda, who
always be my motivation
to do the best
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank my Almighty God, Jesus Christ, who helps
me during the hardest time and blesses me in the process of making this thesis. I
am sure that my thesis is finally done because of Him. He gives me the ability and
strength to finish it.
I would like to express my gratitude to Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M. Hum. as
my advisor. She has given me time and advice, lent me a lot of useful books, and
supported me to finish my thesis well. I am really grateful that she always gives
me solution in times of confusion. I would also like to thank Dr. F.X. Siswadi,
M.A., my co-advisor, who has given time to revise my thesis.
I would like to dedicate my thesis to my beloved parents, Francis and
Linda as my gratitude for their love, support, and attention. I am grateful to have
parents like them. For my siblings, my sister and my brother, I am really thankful
for their encouragement and prayer.
Finally, I want to thank all my friends who have given me your support,
help, and care. I am really grateful to have great friends who I can always count
on. I will always cherish all the experiences that we share.
Dorethy Alberta.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE............................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGE……………………………………………………..... ii
ACCEPTABLE PAGE…………………………………………………… iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY…...………………………………… iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI.……………... v
MOTTO PAGE…………………………………………………………… vi
DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………. vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………… viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………….... ix
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………….…. x
ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………….…... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………... 1
a. Background of the Study…………………………………………... 1
b. Problem Formulation………………………………….……...……. 6
c. Objectives of the Study…………………………………...…….….. 6
d. Definition of Terms……………………………………………...….6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…...………………………... 8
A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………..... 8
B. Review of Related Theories…………………………………...…… 11
1. Theory of Character and Characterization………………………... 11
2. Theory of Relation between Literature and Society……………… 12
3. Theory of Race and Racism…………………………………….... 13
4. Historical Background of Racism in America in the 1900s……… 14
5. Theory of Resistance of African American towards Racial
Discrimination…………………………………………………..... 17
C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………. 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………...…………..…...... 22
A. Object of the Study………………………………………………… 22
B. Approach of the Study……………………………..……………..... 23
C. Method of the Study………………………………..……………… 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………… 27
A. Characteristics of Maya Angelou………………………………….. 27
B. Practices of Racism Experienced by Maya Angelou…………….... 36
C. Maya Angelou’s Resistance towards the Practices of Racism…….. 44
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………….. 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….……...59
APPENDIX…..………………………………………………………..…... 62
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ABSTRACT
DORETHY ALBERTA. The Resistance towards Racial Discrimination by the
Main Character in Maya Angelou’s The Heart of a Woman. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,
2013.
This thesis examines one of Maya Angelou’s works entitled The Heart of
a Woman. The novel tells about the life Maya Angelou, an African American
woman, in the 1950s. Angelou is discriminated because of the color of her skin.
She and her people get unequal treatments from the whites. The practices of
racism that she and her people experience trigger Angelou to fight against them.
By analyzing The Heart of a Woman, the unequal treatment towards black people
and how Angelou resist racism are going to be explored in this thesis.
In this research, there are three objectives presented in this thesis. The first
objective is to find out the characteristics of the main character named Maya
Angelou, the second is to find out the practices of racial discrimination
experienced by the main character, and the last problem is to find out Maya
Angelou’s resistance towards the racial discrimination.
In this study, the writer uses the Sociocultural-Historical approach to know
further about the society and its history as the background of the story. The writer
also uses the theory of character and characterization, theory of race and racism,
and review history of the African American to support the analysis.
In short, the writer concludes that Maya Angelou is described as a tough,
rebellious, optimistic, brave, and smart woman. Angelou experiences many
practices of racial discrimination in her life. She is discriminated by her society
because of her skin color. She experiences the practices of racial discrimination in
public facility, housing, and job. She realizes that she cannot live in this situation
her entire life. This condition leads her to do resistance to defend her rights as
human being who deserves to be treated equally. Towards the practices of racial
discrimination, Angelou shows her resistance in two ways, individual and
collective. Individual resistance is the resistance that she does by herself. She uses
this resistance in handling the practices of racial discrimination that she gets in
public facility, housing, and job. Collective resistance is the resistance that she
does together with other people. She applies this resistance when she joins black
organization (SCLC and CAWAH) and when she makes performances to
influence the audience to stop racism.
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ABSTRAK
DORETHY ALBERTA. The Resistance towards Racial Discrimination by the
Main Character in maya Angelou’s The heart of a Woman. Yogyakarta:
Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini membahas salah satu karya Maya Angelou yang berjudul The
Heart of a Woman. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Maya Angelou
seorang Afrika America di tahun 1950an. Angelou didiskriminasi karena warna
kulitnya. Ia dan orang-orang sebangsanya menerima perlakuan tidak adil oleh
orang-orang kulit putih. Praktek-praktek diskriminasi yang dialami Angelou dan
orang-orang sebangsanya memicunya untuk melawan rasism. Dengan
menganalisis The Heart of a Woman, perlakuan tidak adil terhadap orang kulit
hitam dan bagaimana Angelou menentang rasism akan dibahas dalam skripsi ini.
Dalam penelitian ini, ada tiga rumusan masalah yang akan dibahas.
Rumusan masalah yang pertama adalah untuk mencari tahu sifat-sifat dari tokoh
utama yang bernama Maya Angelou. Masalah yang kedua adalah untuk
mengungkap praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras yang dialami oleh tokoh utama.
Dan masalah yang terakhir adalah untuk mengungkap perlawanan Maya Angelou
terhadap diskriminasi ras.
Dalam studi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan Sosiokultural-historikal
untuk mengetahui lebih jauh tentang masyarakat dan sejarah sebagai latar
belakang ceritanya. Penulis juga menggunakan beberapa teori yaitu teori tokoh
and penokohan, teori ras dan rasisme, dan sejarah Afrika Amerika yang
diterapkan untuk mendukung analisa.
Pendeknya, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa Maya Angelou digambarkan
sebagai wanita yang kuat, pemberontak, optimis, berani, dan pintar. Angelou
mengalami banyak praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras dalam hidupnya. Ia
disiskriminasi oleh masyarakat karena warna kulitnya. Angelou mengalami
praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras dalam fasilitas publik, penyewaan tempat tinggal,
dan perkerjaan. Ia menyadari bahwa ia tidak bisa hidup dalam situasi seperti itu
untuk selamanya. Kondisi ini membuatnya melakukan perlawanan untuk
melindungi haknya sebagai manusia yang pantas untuk diperlakukan secara adil.
Terhadap semua praktek-praktek diskriminasi ras yang dialaminya, Angelou
menunjukan perlawanannya dalam dua cara yaitu perlawanan individu dan
kolektif. Perlawanan individu adalah perlawanan yang dilakukan Angelou sendiri.
Ia menggunakan tipe perlawanan ini dalam menangani praktek-praktek
diskriminasi ras yang dialaminya dalam fasilitas publik, penyewaan tempat
tinggal, dan perkerjaan. Perlawanan kolektif adalah perlawanan yang Angelou
lakukan bersama orang lain. Ia mengaplikasikan tipe perlawanan ini ketika
bergabung dalam organisasi kulit hitam (SCLC and CAWAH) dan saat membuat
pertunjukan-pertunjukan untuk mempengaruhi penonton supaya menghentikan
rasism.
xi
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A.
Background of the Study
For a long period, African American people had experienced
discriminations from the white people. They were oppressed by the white people
who thought that they were superior. The whites had treated them unfairly
because they considered that the black people had lower status than them. They
were treated that way just because of the color of their skin. The whites even
made laws that gave them the highest profits while the blacks became the target of
the whites’ rules. The whites made the blacks felt difficult in getting a better life
because of the restricted rights and they were also not free to express their
opinion, thoughts, and responses. This situation made the blacks could not just
stand still. They tried little by little to rise and defend their rights to be treated
equally. This is supported by George Brown and David Emory in America, A
Narrative History that say, “The society went beyond the issue of emancipation
that blacks should share equality with the whites, of civil and religious privileges”
(1997: 449). This means that the blacks should get the same rights and freedom as
the whites.
Based on this condition, the topic is chosen to show the importance of the
struggle of African American people to get equality. The heroic struggle of black
people in getting their freedom from discrimination interested the writer to
undergo the research of their movements.
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The study of black people’s struggle against racial discrimination can be
observed through history. As Maulana Karenga says in Introduction to Black
Studies that “History is the struggle and record of humans in the process of
humanizing the world, i.e., shaping it in their own image and interests” (1993:
70). It means that history reflects events that happened to human. It tells about
human’s development and struggles for humanity in different societies and
condition. So, from studying the history of black people, the life condition that the
black people experienced can be seen, for example their suffering from the
practices of racial discrimination by the whites and also the process of their
struggle in getting race equality to make the world a better place for them to live
in.
One way to learn history is by reading an autobiography. Autobiography is
the story of a person’s life written by that person. The content is about the
experience that represents the author’s culture and tradition. It helps the readers to
connect with the cultural context and helps them to learn about human dreams and
struggles in different societies and condition. As Stephanie Demetrakspoulos says
in Women’s Autobiography in America, “Certain kinds of autobiographies have
flourished and clustered around specific historical events” (1983: 181). It means
that some autobiographies tell about what happened to the author in the past in the
particular period.
The example of autobiography that is considered as work of literature is
the autobiography by Maya Angelou. Angelou is a very famous writer. She has
written five autobiographical volumes that tell about her experiences through her
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life. All of them are great contributions for the American literature. This is
supported by Joanne M. Braxton in Maya Angelou: a Casebook that
There is something uniquely literary about Angelou's autobiography, but
certainly part of what this autobiography is about is the power and utility
of literature and its own genesis and existence as a protest against racism.
By her work she has not only contributed to but also expanded the
American literary tradition and the perspective from which this literature
views—and serves—the world (1999: 92)
Braxton says that Angelou’s work is special because she writes her autobiography
using the language of literature. She uses that skill in writing to tell about her
disapproval of racism. Her amazing work can add the richness of American
literary tradition.
Since Angelou uses the language of literature in writing her
autobiographies, they can be included as works of literature according to Terry
Eagleton. In Literary Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition, he says that,
“Literature is definable not according to whether it is fictional or ‘imaginative’,
but because it uses language in peculiar ways” (1996: 2). Eagleton wants to say
that the definition of literature as imaginative writing is not so appropriate. He
defines literature as an art of using language in unusual ways. Literature
transforms ordinary language so it is different from everyday speech. The works
of literature is the art form that uses the human ability to create language. R. J.
Ress agrees with Eagleton’s statement. In English Literature: An Introduction for
Foreign Readers, he states that, “Literature is a permanent expression in words of
some thoughts or feelings in ideas about life and the world” (1973: 157). It means
that the author of literary works has the skill to show his or her emotion and idea
through language.
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Maya Angelou, from the beginning, intends to make her autobiographies
as literature. This is stated by Pierre A. Walker in Bloom’s Modern Critical views:
Maya Angelou that
Maya Angelou has told in interviews how Robert Loomis, her eventual
Random House editor, goaded her into writing autobiography, teasing her
with the challenge of writing literary autobiography. Considering herself a
poet and playwright, she had repeatedly refused Loomis’s requests that she
write an autobiography until he told her that it was just as well: “He said
that to write an autobiography—as literature—is almost impossible. I said
right then I’d do it”. Angelou often admits that she cannot resist a
challenge; however, it was not the challenge of writing autobiography that
Angelou could not resist, but the challenge implied in Loomis’s remark
about the difficulty of writing autobiography “as literature” (2009: 17).
He says that Angelou’s reason to write autobiography because Loomis’s statement
about the impossibility of writing an autobiography as literature. She refuses to
accept that opinion and looks it as a challenge. So, she writes her life story into
autobiographies using techniques to write literature.
All of Angelou’s autobiographies are considered as great works of
literature. This is stated by Carolyn Wedin in How to Write about Maya Angelou
that
Angelou’s pervasive sense that what is oldest and best in her own spirit
derives from a lost, black fullness of being is one of the strongest
manifestations in African-American literature. I think that this is part of
the secret of Angelou’s enormous appeal to American readers, whether
white or black, because her remarkable literary voice speaks to something
in the universal American. Most Americans, of whatever race or ethnic
origin, share the sense that experience, however terrible, can be endured
because their deepest self is beyond experience and so cannot be
destroyed. (2011: 7)
She says that Angelou’s work is a powerful contribution to African American
literature. The charm of Angelou’s writing is her literary voice. Readers can enjoy
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her book because her skill in writing that makes them get the sense of her life
experience.
Harold Bloom states that he agrees that Angelou’s fourth volume, The
Heart of a Woman is work of literature. In Bloom’s Modern Critical views: Maya
Angelou, he says that
The Heart of A Woman (1981). This book is alive. It breathes as it pilots,
pivots, taxis, and flies the lucky reader through a journey from San
Francisco through New York to Egypt, landing in Accra, West Africa. Its
motion wakes to literary resonance one of the many under-represented
ascensions in the evolving aesthetics of African American and related
creative productions which Heart of A Woman re-presents (2009: 91).
He states that The Heart of a woman invites the readers to join the journey of
Angelou’s experiences. The book presents the quality of literature to shows the
beautiful experiences of black people.
This study examines one of Angelou’s autobiographies entitled The Heart
of a Woman by Maya Angelou. As an African American woman, her story deals
with racism. Her book’s aim is to show and illustrate what happened to black
people in the society. She presents the realistic illustration of black people’s world
and the situation they face.
The Heart of a Woman is a good book for the research to understand the
struggle of African American people because it explains how it feels for an
African American living in the white societies, what kinds of racial discrimination
that she and her people experience, the resistance of black people to racism and
their way in getting a better equal life with white people. As Eva Lennox Birch
states in Black American Women’s Writing that, “The Heart of a Woman recounts
her involvement in the movement for civil rights: a demand for equality” (1994:
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136). It shows the struggle of Maya Angelou, an African American woman who
represents her people to fight for freedom and justice. Therefore, this novel is the
perfect example to research the topic on the struggle of African America people.
B.
Problem Formulation
1. How is the main character described in the autobiography?
2. What are the practices of racial discrimination experienced by Maya Angelou
as seen in the autobiography?
3. What are Maya Angelou’s resistances against racial discrimination as seen in
the autobiography?
C.
Objectives of the Research
This research aim is to find about the struggle of Maya Angelou, an
African American woman, against the practices of racial discrimination. This
research has three main objectives. The first objective is to see the characteristics
of the main character, Maya Angelou. The second objective is to explore the
practices of racial discrimination experienced by the major character, Maya
Angelou. The last objective of this research is to show Maya Angelou’s resistance
as the response towards racial discrimination.
D.
Definition of Terms
The word resistance comes from the word resist. According to Webster’s
New World Dictionary,
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Resist means to stand against, or withstand, to oppose, to fend off, and to
withstand the action of. The other meaning is to oppose actively, to fight,
argue, or work against, to endeavor, to counteract, and to be disagreeable.
Resistance means a resisting, an opposing, and opposition of some force to
others (1976: 1541).
It shows that resist means to refuse to be changed by something or someone and
resistance is an action to stop the progress of something or someone from doing
something.
Based on Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms, “Race is usually
implying a distinct physical type with certain unchanging characteristics (as a
particular color of skin or shape of skull)” (1984: 658). It means that it is a
category of human that distinguished by certain distinctive physical traits.
In Africans in America, Richard Worth and Robert Asher define
discrimination as “Targeting a particular group of people with laws or actions
often because of their race” (1997: 92). It means that it is an action of treating a
particular person or group differently, in a worse way from the way to treat other
people.
According to Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson in Cultural Anthropology,
Seventh Edition, racism refers to “the belief that the cultural and intellectual
characteristics of a population are linked to its biological racial character, with the
notion that some races are inherently superior to other” (2007: 216). It means that
the quality of certain group of people is determined by their race and there is one
race that feels that they are superior to the other that resulting the unfair treatment
towards the inferior race.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A.
Review of Related Studies
The publication of literary works has often aroused people’s interest to
give their comments about the author or the work itself. It is a common thing
because people who read the work can have different effects and influences that
cause them to give certain opinions according to their thoughts. Maya Angelou’s
The Heart of a Woman is also one of the literary works that arouses comments the
way she presents her work.
The first comment comes from Eva Lennox Birch who states in Black
American Women’s Writing that
Angelou, a century and a half later, can still take racial oppression as her
subject, says much about the placing of her people in white American
society, and reinforces the particular importance of autobiographical
statement in the tradition of black writing, as inspirational and political
(1994: 97).
She says that Maya Angelou uses racism as her subject for her writing. Maya tells
about what happened to black people and their experiences of racism. She makes
her work a contribution for black people writing as something to inspire and
influence the reader.
Another comment comes from Colin A. Palmer who says in Encyclopedia
of African-American, Second Edition that
The Heart of a Woman (1981) presents a mature Angelou who works with
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Active in civil rights
movement, she served as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) (2006: 170).
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She states that the The Heart of a Woman tells about Maya Angelou who becomes
more politically active and joins black organization to defend black people’s
rights. Colin’s statement is related to the story, in which Maya participates in
African American protest rallies because she is inspired by Martin Luther King’s
speech. She produces a successful fundraiser for SCLC and later she is chosen to
be the coordinator of SCLC’s office in New York.
Another critic is Dr. Maria Lauret, a feminist scholar, indicates in
Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America that
The formation of female cultural identity has been woven into Angelou's
narratives. Angelou has presented a role model for African American
women by reconstructing the Black woman's image throughout her
autobiographies, and has used her many roles, incarnations, and identities
to signify multiple layers of oppression and personal history. Angelou's
themes revolved of the individual's strength and ability to overcome (1994:
97).
Dr. Lauret states that in Angelou’s narratives, she creates a role model of an
African-American woman, who faces racial oppression from whites and deals
with difficulties with her skills. Related with the book, Maya Angelou is the main
character of the story that shows an example of a great woman who succeeds and
survives through the whites’ oppression. She is a positive female role model
because she is tough and strong to deal with racial oppression and fight against it.
Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson also give their opinion in A
Shining Thread of Hope. They say that
A tradition that has continued through Maya Angelou’s autobiographical
series was begun in the early nineteenth century as part of battle against
slavery. Among weapons abolitionists used were the true story of slaves
themselves, or rather, former slaves. Abolition group often paid for the
publication of these narratives and helped to distribute them, hoping to raise
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public consciousness and elicit sympathy for those who held in bondage
(1998: 118).
It means that Maya Angelou uses her experience of a person who directly faces
racism to make her life as a story to be read by public. The purpose is to take the
readers’ attention and to gain their support. Her writing is the weapon to fight
racism.
In conclusion, there are many criticisms about Maya Angelou and one of
her autobiographies, The Heart of a Woman. Four of the critics are mentioned
above, they are Eva Lennox Birch in Black American Women’s Writing who says
that Maya uses racism as the subject of her writing and that her work is an
important contribution for black writing, Colin A. Palmer in Encyclopedia of
African-American, second edition says that the book is about Maya Angelou who
was politically active to defend black people’s rights, Dr. Maria Lauret in
Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America states that Angelou presents a
role model of an African American woman, and last are Darlene Clark Hine and
Kathleen Thompson that say Maya Angelou uses her writing as a weapon to fight
racism.
All of those comments are talking about the theme, the book, the
autobiographical writing, and the author that are related to this research about
Maya Angelou’s fourth autobiographical series. In this study, the writer digs
deeper about the racial discrimination that Maya Angelou experienced. As a black
woman, she must know what black people face and how they feel. The writer also
analyzes Maya Angelou’s characteristics that lead her to her resistance towards
racism. It shows her struggle to fight racism and to defend her people’s right.
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B.
Review of Related Theories
1.
Character and Characterization
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A character is an important factor in a story. The character is subject of the
story which means that the story tells about what happened to the character.
According to M. H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham (2009: 42) in the book A
Glossary of Literary Terms stated that
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who
are interpreted by reader 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.
It means that the author created people in the literary work with characteristics
and qualities that can be exposed by the readers by evaluating from the utterances
and behaviors of the characters.
A character must have characteristic. It is a quality that differentiates one
person with another. There are some ways to identify the characteristics of the
character in the story according to Murphy in Understanding Unseens: an
Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students
(1972: 161-171). The first is personal description. The characteristics of the
character can be seen through their appearance and the clothes they wear. Second
is character as seen by others. The characteristics can be identified from the other
characters’ view, opinions, impression and thought. The third is speech. The
characteristics can be analyzed through what the person says. The fourth is past
life. The author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s
character. The fifth is conversation of others. The characteristics of the character
also can be known by seeing the conversation of other people. The sixth is
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reactions. The author describes the character’s characteristics by showing the
person’s face in various situations as their response. The seventh is direct
comment. The reader can know and imagine the characteristics of the person by
seeing the author’s comment about the characters. The eighth is thoughts. The
author can give direct knowledge of what person is thinking about. The ninth is
mannerism. The author describes the character’s habits which may also tell the
reader of something about the character. In conclusion, from the appearance, other
people’s point of view, words from the character, event from the past, other’s
conversation, character’s responses, character’s direct comment, character’s
opinion, and character’s manner, the character’s characteristics can be analyzed to
know what kind of person the character is.
2.
The Relation between Literature and Society
Literature is a media for writer to express their minds. It is a human
creation in certain time to say something or events in certain period or year. It is
intended to share some ideas or issues to other people in forms of information,
experience, or knowledge.
Literature is closely related with society because it shares human
experiences, it describes what happen to human in certain time. According to
Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in Theory of Literature (1956: 94)
Literature is a social institution, using as its medium language, a social
creation. Much of the most common approach to the relations of literature
and society is the study works as social documents, as assumed pictures of
social reality. Nor can it be doubted that some kind of social picture can be
abstracted from literature. Literature can be made to yield the outlines of
social history if it is used as social documents.
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It means that literature can be considered as the study of social information
because it shows the history of human beings. It records the social condition,
social changes, and social development. Since authors are also members of
society, they can be studied as a social being. The authors have been citizens, they
have experienced events that happen in the society and form it as literary works.
Their writings show the issues of their time.
3.
Race and Racism
Race, according to Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson in Cultural
Anthropology, Seventh Edition has two definitions, “Biological races are ethnic
populations in which several genes occur together with distinctive frequencies
over many generations. Social races are assumed to have a biological basis but are
in fact culturally constructed” (2007: 211). So, biological race is a group of people
who share the same characteristics, for example color of the skin, eye color, and
hair form. It usually refers to a certain group of people who live in a particular
area of the world. On the other hand, social race is a distinction made by the
society to differentiate one group of people from other groups.
When people make distinctions and feel that they are different and better
from others, they usually underestimate the others. As the result, prejudice is
formed. In Africans in America, Richard Worth and Robert Asher define prejudice
as “Negative opinion formed without cause” (1997: 92). It means that it is an
unreasonable thought that the society make without enough knowledge. It is
usually caused by feeling of dislike or hatred to certain people. This prejudice
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leads to the thought that one race is superior to the other and as a result racism
appears.
The definition of racism based on Paula S. Rothenberg in Race, Class, and
Gender in the United States is “The belief in the inherent superiority of one races
over all others and thereby the right to dominance” (1998: 534). It means that
certain race feels that they have higher status than other race. As a result, the
superior race treats the inferior race unfairly.
4.
The Historical Background of Racism in America in the 1900s
From the early 1900s, black people in the United States were treated
unequally. They were discriminated because the superior group (the whites)
considered them to have lower status. As stated by Ellis W. Hawley in The Great
War and the Search for a Modern Order that
By 1930, despite continued migration to northern and western cities,
nearly 80 percent of America’s black still lived in the South and remained
subject of discriminatory laws and social codes openly based on claims of
white supremacy. Blacks, southern whites asserted, were by nature
mentally and morally inferior, lacking in ambition, and either childlike or
bestial in their inability to control their passions (1992: 132).
The whites made the blacks became the victim of discrimination. They made the
stereotypes about black people and tried to control the blacks by making rules as
they wanted.
The high tension of discrimination of blacks was clearly seen by the
actions of whites that felt disgusted with blacks. They put a clear segregation of
white and black among the society. It could be seen in public facilities. As it was
stated by Judy L. Hasday in The Civil Rights Act of 1964: An End to Racial
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Discrimination that “Restaurants, theaters, hotels, restrooms, stores, buses, trains,
schools, and other public facilities were delineated based on whether you were
white or black (2007: 35). The public facilities were separated for blacks and
whites. The blacks’ facilities were usually in the bad shape while the whites’ were
good.
In education, the Supreme Court made rule to end schools segregation in
Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Supported by David Brody, James A.
Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil who said
Although the Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawed separate
schools, it did nothing to change the educational system in areas where
schools were all-black or all-white because of residential segregation. Not
until 1973 did federal judges begin to extend the desegregation of schools
(1999: 822).
The ending school segregation rule was useless because many schools still did not
want to mix their students. Even though there were some combined-schools for
blacks and whites, the discrimination towards the black students still existed.
In fact, in 1896, segregation was forbidden by U.S. Supreme Court but
until the 1900s, the black people could not feel the effect of it. As David Brody,
James A. Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil stated in America, A Concise History,
volume 2 that
Once the system of legal, or de jure, segregation had fallen, the civil-rights
movement turned to the more difficult task of eliminating the de facto
segregation, enforced by custom, that made blacks second-class citizens
throughout the nation (1999: 822).
It meant that the rule of no discrimination by the laws was not effective because
racism was already stuck in the mind of the society that made blacks could not be
fully free from oppression.
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The proof of the continued segregation could be seen in housing. As Ezra
Palmer stated in Everything You Need to Know about Discrimination that
Unfair housing is one of the areas where discrimination still occurs.
African American people are prevented from moving to certain
neighborhoods. Real estate agents might tell them no houses or apartments
are available in a particular neighborhood. In truth they may be available,
but the agents may only show the property to white people (1995: 31).
It means that black people were forbidden to live side by side with white people.
The black people would be rejected to live in a house or apartment where it was
the area of white residents. The agents would lie if there was a place available so
black people could not buy or rent it.
Segregation could be found in occupations too. As Paula S. Rothenberg
said in Race, Class, and Gender in the United Sates that, “Blacks are
overrepresented at the lower end of the income and occupation hierarchies, and
underrepresented in positions of political and economic power” (1998: 260). It
meant that black people usually got jobs with low income because there was a
system that forbade hiring black in certain occupations. As a result, it was difficult
for black people to raise their living condition. This was supported by David
Brody, James A. Henretta, and Lynn Dumenil in America, A Concise History.
They stated that, “Jobs traditionally held by black were waiters, domestic
servants, elevator operators, and garbage collectors” (1999: 280). The work that
black people got were the low paying jobs such as mentioned above. Those jobs
were the work that white people didn’t want to do. It was really seldom for black
people to get prestigious occupations such as doctors, teachers, and policemen.
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The Resistance of African American to Racial Discrimination
African American people have been discriminated by the whites for a very
long time. The whites’ unfair treatment evokes the African American people to
fight against the unjust condition. The spirit of blacks for liberating themselves
from the authority of whites grows as they feel that they cannot just keep silent
and follow the rules that the whites make. They feel that this discrimination
should be stopped and that is why they revolt.
Black people resist racism in many ways. Their resistance can be divided
into two types, they are individual and collective resistance. As Amal I. Madibbo
states in Minority within a Minority that, “The numerous strategies of resistance
come from individuals and collectives” (2006: 163). It means that resistance can
be done by a single person or by a group of people. In Invisible Resistance to
Tyranny, How to Lead a Secret Life of Insurgency in an Increasingly Unfree
World, Jefferson Mack explains that individual resistance means
When individuals acting without direction or guidance from any leader –to
resist, obstruct, frustrate, expose, and interfere. Individual involved in
resistance act alone or in cooperation with few trusted friends or others
who also face the same risks (2002: 7).
This shows that individual resistance is the action of a single person or a few
people to refuse to be obedient to something or someone and fight against it. The
action of individual resistance can be done in many ways. Since every individual
is different, they can resist in different ways. One example of individual resistance
is survival. This is supported by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson in A
Shining Thread of Hope. They say that “Resistance was part of black people’s life.
Sometimes it was hidden and never told to anyone. But it was constant. Survival
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itself is a form of resistance” (1998: 70). It means that resistance on some
occasion is not showed to other people because individual keeps it to themselves.
Trying to keep living even in the hard situation is also an example of resistance.
The other type of resistance is collective resistance. As Kristina E.
Thalhammer says in Resistance, the Power of Ordinary People that
Resistance is not solely the province of individuals. Collective resistance
occurs when people choose to challenge injustice together. The nature of
collective resistance requires significant interaction with a large and
potentially expanding group of activists (2007: 104).
She states that collective resistance is the action of group of people who are
working together to resist discrimination. These people are the activists who
gather to become a unity in organization. This is supported by Darlene Clark Hine
and Kathleen Thompson that say that “Black people also channeled their
resistance into the organized abolition movement, joining the struggle for
freedom” (1998: 104). It shows that one of African American people’s ways to
eliminate the discrimination is by making organizations. In addition, Maulana
Karenga also states in Introduction to Black Studies that, “The Civil Rights
struggle was led by major groups such as SNCC, CORE, and SCLC, although
countless smaller groups played fundamental and indeed indispensable roles in the
Civil Rights struggle” (1993: 167). So, SNCC, CORE, SCLC, and other black
organizations are made to free African American people from whites’ unequal
treatment, to end the discrimination, and to give African American people their
rights.
One of big black organizations that has a huge role in getting race equality
is Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). It is an organization led by
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Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. who is known as anti-violence black activist. Its aim
is to eradicate any kind of racism. Based on The Black Experience in America
edited by Jeff Wallenfeldt, it is said that
Established by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his followers in 1957
to coordinate and assist local organizations working for the full equality of
African American in all aspects of American life, the SCLC occupies a
prominent place in African American history (2011: 49).
Among a lot of black people organizations, there are black women
organizations whose members are all women. Supported by Darlene Clark Hine
and Kathleen Thompson that
There were ten thousands of women who organized into black women’s
club movement, a truly remarkable phenomenon that became virtually the
sole provider of social services to black communities. The club became
training grounds for political action as their member learned to work
together, organize, raise funds, and garner support from the rest of the
community (1998: 166).
These women organizations are usually called women’s club. They are formed to
fight against racial discrimination and have a big influence for black society. They
have several functions, such as to arrange political actions, collect money, and
gain support from public to oppose racism.
Aside from the struggle through organization, black people also try to
show their fight against racism through art. As Maulana Karenga defines black art
as
It is this struggle of freedom, dignity, and self-definition in a hostile and
challenge-filled world that shaped African American art and gave it its
relevance and reality. Black art, therefore as an expression of Black life
experiences and aspirations, is the conscious and unconscious aesthetic
contribution of Black people to their struggle to rescue and reconstruct
their history and humanity in their own image and interest (1993: 394).
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It means that black art is an art which is made by African American people to
expresses their feelings and opinions about their lives. It can be used as their
weapon to defeat the practices of racial discrimination. Their struggle in art can be
showed through song, play in theatre, dance, sculpture, etc.
One of ways to fight racial discrimination in art is by performing plays in
theater. Black people have used theater as their resistance to racism from the
1800s. Supported by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson that
The real beginning of black theater in America came in 1875 through the
agency of two black women. Anna and Emma Hyers, two sisters, formed a
travelling troupe called the Colored Operatic and Dramatic Company to
produce musical plays about black experience. It was the first time in the
history of black America that plays by black people and about black
people were presented on the stage (1998: 189).
It shows that the Hyers sisters are the first one who make a show about
black people and the play is also performed by black people. The play tells the
story of black people to show it to the audience to make them understand what
black people experienced. Those plays about the life history of black people have
aim to make the public know how bad racism affects the life of black people and
black people’s feelings towards racism. The audiences are expected to support
black people to eliminate the practices of racial discrimination in society.
C.
Theoretical Framework
In analyzing the problems of the study, the writer focuses on Maya
Angelou’s character, her experiences of the practices of discrimination, and her
struggles to fight against racial discrimination as the response of the oppression.
The writer, in answering the problem formulation uses some theories that will
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give clear analysis. The theories are the theory of character and characterization
that help to analyze Maya Angelou’s characteristics, the theory of literature and
society explains the relation between literary works with the society, the theory of
race and racism and the historical background of racism in America in the 1900s
are to deepen the understanding about practices of racial discrimination that the
African American people experience, and the theory of black people’s resistance
to show the process of black’s awareness about their oppressed condition and their
way to fight against the injustice condi