A study of Christopher`s motivation to investigate the murder of Mrs. Shears` dog as seen in Mark Haddon`s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

A STUDY OF CHRISTOPHER’S MOTIVATION TO INVESTIGATE
THE MURDER OF MRS. SHEARS’ DOG AS SEEN IN MARK HADDON’S
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Fitriyani
Student Number: 051214115

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2012

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

A STUDY OF CHRISTOPHER’S MOTIVATION TO INVESTIGATE
THE MURDER OF MRS. SHEARS’ DOG AS SEEN IN MARK HADDON’S
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Fitriyani
Student Number: 051214115

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA
2012

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“The future belongs to those who
believe in the beauty of their
dreams.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt-

This thesis is dedicated to:
My Savior Jesus Christ
My beloved family
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S 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, December 9, 2011
The Writer

Fitriyani
051214115

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LEMBAR PERYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa

: Fitriyani
: 051214115

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
A STUDY OF CHRISTOPHER’S MOTIVATION TO INVESTIGATE
THE MURDER OF MRS. SHEARS’ DOG AS SEEN IN MARK HADDON’S
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata
Dharma hak untuk menyimpas, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain,

mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mend istribusikannya secara terbatas,
memplubikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis
tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian surat pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta,
Pada tanggal: 9 Desember 2011
Yang menyatakan,

(Fitriyani)

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ABSTRACT
Fitriyani. 2011. A Study of Christopher’s Motivations to Investigate the Murder
of Mrs. Shears’ Dog as Seen in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study
Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers

Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This study analyses a novel by Mark Haddon entitled The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This novel is worth analyzing since it tells
about the motivation of an autistic child to investigate the murder of his
neighbor’s dog. Since Christopher, the major character is autistic, he has unusual
motivation in investigating the murder of the dog. Although he is an autistic child,
he encourages himself to do an investigation.
This study is a library study. It employs psychological approach which is
aimed to describe the character of Christopher, to find out his reason for
conducting his action. This study also uses two kinds of sources, namely primary
and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel, The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night-Time. The secondary sources are taken from books on
psychology and literary theories. The internet sources are also used as supportive
data for this analysis. Theories of character and characterization are applied to
answer the first problem. Theories of motivation, autism, and human basic needs
are used to discuss the second problem. As this study analyses one’s motivation,
then psychological approach is applied as the approach.
From the analysis, there are two main points drawn. First, Christopher is
the main character in the novel and he is an autistic boy. Christopher, as an
autistic, also has certain characteristics. He is temperamental, solitary, and has

difficulties to interact with other people. Nevertheless, he is intelligent. He takes
an A level class of mathematics at his school that makes him able to study in the
college. Second, Christopher’s motivations can be categorized as intrinsic and
extrinsic ones. His intrinsic motivations include his loving of dogs and his loving
of doing puzzle. His extrinsic motivations include his father’s influence,
Siobhan’s influence, and being a witness of the dead dog.
It is suggested for future researcher to conduct analysis of Christopher’s
personality development. This study also provides suggestion for implementation
of teaching Basic Writing using literary work.

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ABSTRAK
Fitriyani. 2011. A Study of Christopher’s Motivations to Investigate the Murder
of Mrs. Shear’s Dog as Seen in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,
Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan,
Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Skripsi ini menganalisa sebuah novel karya Mark Haddon yang berjudul
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Novel ini bermanfaat untuk
dianalisa karena menggambarkan motivasi seorang anak autis untuk menemukan
pembunuh anjing tetangganya. Christopher adalah tokoh utama dalam novel ini,
dia memiliki motivasi yang berbeda dalam menyelidiki pembunuhan seekor
anjing. Walaupun dia autis, dia memberanikan dirinya untuk melakukan sebuah
penyelidikan.
Skripsi ini adalah penelitian perpustakaan. Skripsi ini menerapkan
pendekatan psikologis yang bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan karakter
Christopher, untuk menemukan alasannya dalam melakukan aksinya. Skripsi ini
menggunakan dua macam sumber, sumber utama dan sumber kedua. Sumber
utama adalah The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Sumber kedua
diambil dari buku-buku yang berhubungan dengan teori psikologi dan literatur.
Sumber-sumber dari internet juga digunakan sebagai data pendukung analisa.
Teori tokoh dan penokohan digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan pertama.
Teori motivasi, autisme, dan kebutuhan dasar manusia digunakan untuk
menjawab permasalahan kedua. Karena skripsi ini menganalisa motivasi
seseorang, pendekatan psikologis diterapkan dalam pembahasan pendekatan.
Dari pembahasan, terdapat dua poin utama. Pertama, Christopher adalah
tokoh utama dalam novel dan dia adalah seorang yang autis. Christopher, sebagai

anak autis mempunyai karakteristik tertentu. Dia emosional, penyendiri, dan sulit
berinteraksi dengan orang lain. Namun demikian, dia adalah anak yang cerdas.
Dia mengambil kelas matematika level A di sekolahnya yang nantinya membuat
dia bisa melanjutkan di universitas. Kedua, motivasi Christopher dapat
dikategorikan sebagai motivasi yang muncul dari dalam dan luar dirinya. Motivasi
dari dalam dirinya adalah kecintaanya terhadap anjing dan kecintaannya bermain
puzzle. Selain itu, motivasi dari luar dirinya adalah pengaruh ayahnya, pengaruh
Siobhan, dan menjadi saksi dalam peristiwa terbunuhnya anjng tersebut.
Disarankan untuk peneliti yang akan datang untuk mengadakan analisa
tentang perkembagan kepribadiannya Christopher. Skripsi ini juga dilengkapi
dengan saran untuk mengajar Basic Writing menggunakan karya sastra.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to praise and thank my beloved Jesus Christ for
the wonderful blessing, and for giving me strength so I can finish my thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to my major advisor Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto

Y., M. Hum. who always read, re-read my thesis and guided me patiently. I do
believe that without his guidance, I could never have accomplished my thesis. My
gratitude also goes to all the lectures and staffs of English Education Study
Program, especially mbak Dhaniek and mbak Tari for the assistance and patience
in providing information during my study at Sanata Dharma University.
My sincere gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Yuwono and Martina
Anggraeni who always give me supports, prayers, and encouragement. I also
would like to thank to my brother, Andrianus Ariyanto, and my sister in law
Emelia Erlina, for their advice and inspiration. I also thank my lovely Sondlenx
for accompanying me and becoming my motivation. Moreover, I would like to
thank him for his kindness of lending his laptop. My next thankfulness goes to
Angga, Thomas, Leo, Mega, and mbak Sari, who help me accomplish this study. I
thank them for their corrections, suggestions, and comments.
I would like to express my appreciation to my caring best friends, Mbak
Vieka, Jeng Rula, Vega, and Tim-Cong, who always help and make me happy.
What a wonderful family I have with them. I thank them for their loyal and kindhearted. I also thank other PBI students of the year 2005 that I cannot mention one
by one.

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Then, my gratitude goes to my little family in Englishia 47: Ame, Dek
Nan, Mbak Ifa, Mbak Dinar, Lies, Mala, and our father in Englishia, Mas Yohal. I
thank them for their support during my study and the opportunity to be one of the
members of the family in that house.
Last but not least, I thank everyone who has helped me finish my thesis
that I cannot mention here. May God bless them all.

Fitriyani

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ...........................................................................................

ii

APPROVAL PAGES ................................................................................. ii i
DEDICATION PAGE .............................................................................. iviv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ........................................... vv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ........................................... vvi i
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. vvii i
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................ vviiiiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................... ixix
TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................... xxi i
LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................... xxiivii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1 1
1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 1
1.2 Objectives of the Study .......................................................................... 3 3
1.3 Problem Formulation ............................................................................. 4 4
1.4 Benefits of the Study .............................................................................. 4 4
1.5 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………… 5
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE………………

7

2.1 Review of Related Studies………………………………………………..77
2.2 Review of Related Theories…………………………………………......... 9
2.2.1 Critical Approaches ........................................................................ 8 9
2.2.2 Character………….. ...................................................................... 1100
2.2.3 Characterization ............................................................................. 111
2.2.4 Motivation……………………………...........................................

14

2.2.4.1 Definition …………………………………….……………… 14
2.2.4.2 Kinds of Motivation ……………………………………. ....... 1144
2.2.4.3 Causes of Motivation ……………………………………...... 15
2.2.5 Autism …………………………………………………….....…….. 17
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2.2.5.1 Definition of Autism …………………………….………...... 17
2.2.5.2 Characteristics of Autism……………………….…………… 18
2.2.5.2.1 Lack of Awareness of Others…………………………. 18
2.2.5.2.2 Lack of Social and Emotional Reciprocity……………. 18
2.2.5.2.3 Lack of Social Imitation…………………………........ 19
2.2.5.3 Symptom of Autism………………………………………….. 19
2.2.5.3.1 Communicative Autistic Learning
Disability………………………………………………1189
2.2.5.3.2 Non-Social Autistic Learning Disability……..…… ... 2200
2.3 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………… ... 2201
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY……………………………………… . 2223
3.1 Object of the Study………………………………………………… ..... 2223
3.2 Approach of the Study……………………………………………... ..... 2234
3.3 Method of the Study………………………………………………. ...... 2234
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS……………………………………………… .. 2256
4.1 The Description of Christopher………………………………………. . 2256
4.2 Christopher’s Characteristics…………………..................................... 2267
4.2.1 Intelligent……………………………………………………... ....... 2278
4.2.2 Temperamental……………………………………………….. ....... 2391
4.2.3 Solitary………………………………………………………… ...... 3312
4.3 Christopher’s Motivation in Investigating the Killer of
Mr. Shears’ Dog…………………………………………………… ...... 33243
4.3.1 Internal Factors……………………………………………….. ....... 33344
4.3.1.1 Christopher’s Loving of Dog……………………………. ...... 33344
4.3.1.2 Christopher’s Loving of Doing Puzzle………………….. ...... 333465
4.3.2 External Factors………………………………………………. ....... 333576
4.3.2.1 Being a Witness of the Dead Dog…………………………. ... 335376
4.3.2.2 Siobhan’s Influence……………………………………… ..... 349411
4.3.2.3 His Father’s Influence…………………………………..... ..... 4413
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ........................ 5511
5.1 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 5511
5.2 Suggestions ....................................................................................... 5533
5.2.1 Suggestions for Future Researchers ................................................ 5524
5.2.2 Suggestion for Teaching-Learning Activities .................................. 5524
REFERENCES ....................................................................................... 5536
APPENDICES ....................................................................................... 5548
Appendix 1 Cover of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time .................................................................... 5559
Appendix 2 Summary of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time............................................................. 5660
Appendix 3 The Author’s Biography ......................................................... 5682
Appendix 4 Mark Haddon’s Works............................................................ 6604
Appendix 5 Lesson Plan ............................................................................ 6615
Appendix 6 Sample Material for Teaching Basic Writing .......................... 6637

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of five major parts. Those are background of the
study, objectives of the study, problem formulation, benefits of the study, and
definition of terms. Background of the study explains the reasons for choosing the
topic. Objectives of the study describe the goals to attain in the study. The third
one is the problem formulation, which gives general description of the problems
that will be analyzed in this study. The fourth part states the benefits of the study,
which discuss the importance of the study. Finally, definition of terms explains
meaning of some important terms related to the study.

1.1 Background of the Study
In their daily life, humans must have strong desire which can motivate
their activities. They have strong desire in doing their actions which are showed
by their behavior. Thoughts, feelings, and attitudes can motivate them. For
example, a student who studies hard is motivated by his desire to gain a good
mark. So, motivation is an individual condition which can encourage his strong
desire to do a certain activity to reach the aim.
Motivation is one of important fundamentals insight human beings.
Nevertheless, each person has different motivation from others. People have
different motivation because they have their own need. Worchel and Shebilske
(1989) state that the study of motivation is concerned with how and why people
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behave as they do what energizes and directs their behavior (p. 411). All the
things they have done is the best way to bring their dream into reality, such as
many children who work after going from school are motivated by their needs to
eat and fulfill their family’s financial shortage.
What motivates someone to do something for his better life can be
presented in a literary work because it presents the reality of life. A literary work
such as a novel reflects the reality of life. According to Lynch and Warner (1996)
novels offer a detail and general representation of everyday life (p. 4). The story
of novel more or less illustrates the reality of life.
One of literary works that represent someone’s motivation is a novel by
Mark Haddon entitled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The
novel tells the story of a 15 year-old autistic boy who has motivation to find out
the murderer of the dog. The major character, Christopher, has motivation to
investigate the death of Mrs. Shears’ dog. He tries to search for the murderer of
the dog because he hates a cruel person.
The novel begins with Christopher’s finding of his neighbor’s dead black
poodle, Wellington, which is stabbed with a garden fork. Mrs. Shears,
Wellington's owner, calls the police, and Christopher comes under suspicion. He
is curious to disclose what has happened to the dead dog because he is a pet lover.
According to Christopher a dog is very important, “I think dogs are important…”
(p. 10). Moreover, this love drives him to investigate the murderer of the dog.
Christopher becomes interested in being a detective. He decides to investigate who

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the murderer is because he loves dog and he will find a truth behind the dog’s
d e a t h.
He has a very strong motivation to do his investigation. In spite of his
father’s prohibition of getting other people’s business, he still continues his
investigation. This leads him to a journey he never imagines, both physically and
emotionally. Throughout his adventures, Christopher records his experiences in a
book entitled "Murder Mystery Novel".
Christopher’s motivation to investigate the murderer of Mrs. Shear’s dog
is very interesting to analyze. We can see his perception and emotion about many
things that happen in his life. He is motivated to investigate the murderer of the
dog as if he wants to solve a puzzle and math problem. It is interesting to discuss
motivation since it is rich in life lessons and moral values, such as bravery,
education, integrity, and struggle. It does not only indicate how an autistic child
sees his life through his eyes but also how an autistic child behaves to reach his
goals in spite of his mental defect.

1.2 Objectives of the Study
The first aim of this study is to find out the characteristics of Christopher,
the major character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time as an
autistic child. Second is to find out what Christopher’s reasons to investigate the
murderer of the dog. In order to find the reasons, this study will explore the
possible motivation of the major character in doing his actions. In addition, this

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study tries to convince the readers that sometimes people do something different
from others. It means that they have their own way to reach their goals.

1.3 Problem Formulation
In this section, there are two problems that arise into discussion. The two
problems are formulated as follows:
1. How is Christopher characterized in the novel?
2. Why does Christopher want to investigate the murderer of the dog?

1.4 Benefits of the Study
There are some benefits of this study. The first, after reading the novel I
have gained more information about literature and motivations. I know more
about an autistic brave young boy who struggles for his investigation. He is an
autistic child who has strong desire to reach something. He is clever at
mathematics and he does not like lying. Also, I appreciate his bravery and his
honesty.
The second benefit is for those who are interested in literary works. This
study can help them to understand the major’s character motivation, how the
author characterizes the character, and the author message. The third is for the
readers of English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma
University. They can use this study as a reference in analyzing a literary work.

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1.5 Definition of Terms
In this section, there are some terms to define to avoid misinterpretation.
The terms are described as follows:
1. Motivation
According to Bootzin et al (1983) motivation can be described as the
process
of behaving that is organized and that defines its end states (p. 367). Motivation
leads people to behave in their manner to get some attainment. Motivation in this
study is described as the motive of an autistic young boy in investigating the
murderer of the neighbor’s dog.
2. Character
According to Abrams (1993) characters are the persons presented in a
dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed
with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say (the
dialogue) and by what they do the action (p. 23). In this study, the character refers
to Christopher, the main character in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time.
3. Autism
Acccording to Bryna Siegel (2003) autism is disorder in the capacity for
social understanding. Along with this there comes to be certain ways that the child
with autism also has difficulties with language and how he processes the
information coming from that senses (p. 11). Based on this definition, Autism is
defined as a mental disorder which causes a person to have difficulties to interact

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and to communicate with other people. A person who suffers from autism tends to
withdraw his self from his social environment.
4. Symptom
As defined by Bryna Siegel (2003), in his book Helping Children with
Autism Learn, symptom means a sign of illness and a few different types of
symptoms manifested by certain patterns of behavior (p. 90). It can be concluded
that symptom appears when somebody is suffering from an illness and every
illness has different characteristics in attacks somebody.

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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter discusses some theories used to analyze the topic of this
study. There are two parts that are presented in this chapter. The first part is
review of related studies which includes theory of critical approach, character,
characterization, and motivation. The second part is theoretical framework.
Theoretical framework gives the description of how the theories in review of
related theories are applied to answer the questions in the problem formulation.

2.1 Review of Related Studies
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a novel written by
Mark Haddon. It tells about an autistic young boy who lives in a broken home
family to find the killer of the dog. He lives in his own world and often he stays
out from the society because he has difficulties in delivering language to
everybody he does not know well. Nevertheless, during his investigation to find
the killer of the dead dog, he tries to speak and interact with his neighbors which
make him become close with society.
Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is
interesting to discuss. There are three different studies done on this novel. The
first one was written by Ratna Andayani in 2006. The title of her study is A study
of Autism in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It
mainly discusses about Christopher’s characteristics and the life of Christopher as
an autistic child. In her paper, Andayani concludes that Christopher has his own
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way of doing things in his life. As an autistic child, he is able to behave and solve
problems that he faces.
The second thesis was written by Raditya Wahyu Kumara entitled A Study
of Christopher’s Interpersonal Conflicts as seen in Mark Haddon’s The Curious
Incident of The Dog In the

Night-Time. This thesis was written in 2008. It

discusses about Christopher’s

character and his interpersonal conflict. In

this thesis, Kumara concludes that Christopher faces four major interpersonal
conflicts. To solve his interpersonal conflicts, Christopher applies some strategies
like mediation, avoidance, informal problem-solving discussion, non-violence
approach, and violence approach.
The third thesis was written by Galuh Dwi Ajeng entitled Ed Boone’s
Motives for Killing the Dog in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time. This thesis was written in 2009. It discusses Ed Boone’s
characteristics and Ed Boone’s motives for killing the dog. Ajeng concludes that
Ed Boone is not a bad person though he has killed a dog. He has his own reason
for doing his action.
Considering to those studies, this thesis will analyze Christopher’s
motivation to investigate the killer of the dog. It emphasizes on Christopher’s
efforts to reach his goal. This study covers on the Christopher’s characteristics and
what reason he wants to find the murderer of the dog and how he drives his
motivation through his action to reach the goal.

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2.2 Review of Related Theories
2.2.1

Critical Approaches
In order to help readers in understanding about how literature is shaped

and the meaning of it, Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (1971) state that there are five
kinds of approaches. Those are the formalist approach, the biographical approach,
the sociocultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the
psychological approach. The first approach is formalist approach. It insists on the
total integrity of the literary piece. The esthetic values of the novel shown from
the harmonious invovement of all parts to the whole, and it concerns with the
point out how meaning is derived from structure and how matters of technique
determine structure (p. 6-7).
The second is the biographical approach. It takes us to assert the necessity
for an appreciation of the ideas and the personality of the author to an
understanding of the literary object. This approach derives the literary works as
the reflection of someone’s personality. By reading it, the readers may understand
and get the author’s point of view, ideas, and consciousness (p. 8). The third is the
sociocultural-historical approach. It leads us to an ethical judgment concerning the
truth of an author’s statements. The humanists, for example, take the view that
literature is a criticism of life that affects men in society, and that great literature
should express the values of order, restraint, and human dignity (p. 10). The fourth
is the mythopoeic approach. It seeks to discover certain universally recurrent
patters of human thoughts which they may believe to find the expression in
significant work of art. The universally recurrent patterns are those found first

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10
expression in ancient myths and folk rites and also basic to human thought that
they have meaning for all men (p. 11). The fifth is the psychological approach. It
involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patters. It uses
various theories of psychology to explain the characters, motivation, and behavior
pattern (p. 13).
The psychological approach is used to explain about human motivation,
especially the motivation of the main character, who is Christopher in
investigating the killer of the dog. That’s because the study of psychology deals
with mind, sense, and human behavior. The main character’s motivations can be
seen from his behavior when he focuses on getting his aim. Through this
approach, the character’s motivation can be analyzed deeply.

2.2.2

Character
Character is the significant element in a story. An author uses the

characters to make the story lifelike. According to Abrams (1993), in his book A
Glossary of Literary Terms, characters are “the persons presented in a dramatic or
narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral,
dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say in the
dialogue and by what they do in the action” (p. 23). It means that character is the
person who is presented in a literary work, such a novel. Characters in a novel
have their own characteristic or in another word, each character in a novel has
different characteristics.

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Forster (1974) states that there are two kinds of characters, they are flat
and round characters. A flat character is simple and there is not much
individualizing detail in this character (p. 74). He also says that this kind of
character is flat because the readers see only one side of him. Round character is
more complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle
individuality. Therefore, it is difficult to describe this kind of character. This
character is more or less the same as a person in real life and has capability of
surprising us. According to Forster’s statement about kinds of characters, the
character can be recognized from their complexity. A flat character does not have
a complexity in the sense that there are not much traits or individualizing details
in him. Thus, general readers can recognize this character without any difficulty.
Furthermore, a round character is more complex than a flat character. Readers do
not easily recognize a round character because this character can change his
personality into some one that we do not expect before.
Further, Stanton (1965) divides the characters based on their role in the
story into central and minor character. Central character or major character is a
character that dominates the whole story and it is presented frequently to develop
the main story. The story will never be developed without him or her. A minor
character is presented to explain and to help the major character in the story (p.
17-18).
2.2.3

Characterization
Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (1971) say that characterization is a process by

which an author creates a character (p. 20). Characterization is an important

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12
element in a novel. Each character has a particular personality and physical
attributes that show the difference between one character and another. Readers
can understand the way the author describes the character through the
characterization.
According to Murphy (1972), there are nine ways of describing characters
in a story (pp. 161-173). They are:
a. Personal description
The author

describes the

character’s

appearance directly. He

describes the character’s face, skin, body, clothes, and eyes in detail. In
describing the character, the author also uses adjectives, such as strong,
beautiful, fat, and so on, which show the character’s physical appearance.
b. Character as seen by another
The author can describe a certain character through the eyes and
opinions of another. He gives for example, the expressions of shape,
cleanliness, harmless, and smoothness of a certain character.
c. Speech
The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the
persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person
speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts
forward an opinion, he is giving us some clue to his character.
d. Past life
The author describes a certain character’s past life directly. By
learning something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue

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13
to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. The author guides
the reader to know more about past life of the person in order to get some
ideas about the person thoughts, behavior, and action.
e. Conversation of others
The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through
the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. It
means what other people say in the novel will also give good basic idea in
analyzing the character.
f. Reaction
The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting
us know how that person reacts to various situations and events. Many
events in the story can also give views to the reader to understand the
character.
g. Direct comment
The author directly can describe or comment on a person’s
character. Sometimes the author gives brief and clear explanation on the
character.
h. Thoughts
The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is
thinking about. He guides the readers to know what the person thinks, and
what the person feels.

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i. Mannerism
The author may describe a person’s mannerisms and habits which
may also tell us something about his character.

2.2.3

Motivation

2.2.4.1 Definition
Acccording to Bootzin et al. (1983), motivation can be said as the
corresponding process of an energetic behavior which is define its and state (p.
367). In order to make the definition understandable, Worchel and Shebilske
(1989) say that motivations are the reason why an individual plays in a certain
time (p. 373). It may be understood that motivations are a drive that leads people
do something to reach their goals.
2.2.4.2 Kinds of Motivation
Motivation according to Huffman, Vernoy, and Vernoy (1987) in
Psychology in Action refers to “factors within an individual such as needs, desires,
and interest that activate, maintain, and direct behavior toward a goal” (p. 364). It
can be said that motivation defines human action. Further, motivation drives human
action to reach his aim. For example, Christopher becomes a detective because he
wants to find the killer of the dog. In this case, Christopher has a motivation to be
detective because his goal is to find the killer of the dog.

Worchel and Shebilske (1989) divide motivations into two types. They
are extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from the
external factors of an individual. The extrinsic motivation could be based on their
desires to pay, status, grades, promotion and the similar types of rewards. Second

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15
is intrinsic motivation. It involves enjoyment and satisfaction when people do
actions, not from the expected rewards. In addition, Worchel and Shebilske (1989)
state that intrinsic motivation has two bases. They are: the people should control
their behavior and they should have feeling as a capable and a competent person.
Basically, the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is on the
activation of the action. The extrinsic motivation is activated by some rewards
while intrinsic motivation is activated by enjoyment of the performance rather
than expectation of reward (p. 408).
2.2.4.3 Causes of Motivation
Maslow (1970) has developed a theory of motivation that emphasizes on
human needs (p. 35-46). He classifies a hierarchy of human basic needs which
concern with human motivation. He argues that the lowest need on the hierarchy
has to be satisfied first before the higher needs on the hierarchy being satisfied.
The hierarchy starts from the lowest level that is psychological needs, safety and
security needs, love and belongingness needs, self-esteem needs, and selfactualization needs.
The lowest needs in the hierarchy are psychological needs. They consist
the needs for food, water, sex, sleep and activity. They can control thought,
behaviors, and may cause people to feel sickness, discomfort, and pain. Maslow in
Braun’s books says that a person who extremely hungry and thirsty would not
even think of the social acceptance and security. He will become more creative to
achieve the needs (p. 35).

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Second, safety and security needs. They come out because the
psychological needs are satisfied. The safety and security needs include safety,
shelter, and freedom from fear and anxiety. The safety needs come out when
people feel threats by others in the sense of law, order, and sense of authority (p.
39).
Third, love and belongingness needs. They emerge when the safety and
security needs are satisfied. They include acceptance, affection, giving and
receiving love. Human needs feeling and sense of belonging and acceptance,
whether it comes from small or large social group, they need to love and to be
loved by others. Human become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and
depression if these needs do not fulfilled (p. 43).
Fourth, self-esteem needs. Maslow divides the self-esteem needs into two
categories. The first one includes the desires of strength, achievement, adequacy,
mastery and competence, confidence, and the independence and freedom. The
second category consists of desires of reputation and prestige, status, fame, glory,
dominance, recognition, dignity or appreciation. Maslow states that the
satisfaction of the self-esteem needs lead to feelings of self-confidence, worth,
strength, capability, and adequacy of being useful and necessary in the world (p.
45).
The last is self-actualization needs. They include self-fulfillment and
realization, and enriching experiences. The self-actualization needs usually
emerge when the psychological needs, the safety and security needs, the love and
belongingness needs, and the self-esteem needs are satisfied. “What a man can be,

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17
he must be. He must be true to his own nature.” People should play their own
actions without imitating others. Being their own and doing what they can do. It is
an example of self-actualization. The lack of self-actualization needs might cause
bad feelings, inferior, and powerlessness (p. 46).
These are Maslow’s theories about the needs. Maslow states that the
higher level of needs cannot be activated until the lower level of needs fulfilled.
Those needs motivate human to conduct actions.

2.2.5

Autism

2.2.5.1 Definition of Autism
According to Hans Asperger (2010) autism (Asperger syndrome) is
described as a kind of mental disease in a human which affects in his lack of
communication, behavioral and social skills. The sufferer of autism is called
autistic person. An autistic person usually lacks in some communication abilities,
because his kind of sickness causes brain damage. On the other hand an estimated
0.5% to 10% of individuals with Asperger syndrome show unusual abilities, such
as the memorization of trivia. Some of them who have a rare talent become an
extraordinary autistic student. It is only a few of Asperger Syndrome who
becomes an extraordinary autistic student. He has capability in remembering of
trivia and he has his own way to do something.
According to Siegel (2003) autism is a disorder in the capacity for
social understanding. Along with this there comes to be certain ways that the child
with autism also has difficulties with language and how he processes the

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information coming from that senses (p. 11). Based on this definition, Autism is
defined as a mental disorder which makes a person has difficulty to interact and to
communicate with other people. A person who suffers from autism tends to
withdraw his self from his social environment.
2.2.5.2 Characteristics of Autism
An autistic child has different characteristic compared with a normal child.
According to Siegel (2003), in his book Helping Children with Autism Learn, an
autistic child has a characteristic of learning disabilities called social autistic
learning disabilities (pp. 91-93). The social autistic learning disabilities are
divided into three points; they are lack of awareness of others, lack of social and
emotional reciprocity, and lack of social imitation. The description of each point
will be explained as follows:
2.2.5.2.1 Lack of Awareness of Others
An autistic child who lack of awareness of others is unaware of others and
what they are doing fails to apprehend a great deal of experience that feeds into
his development of how and why people interact in the ways they do (p. 93). It
means that he doesn’t able to comprehend many things around him. He has social
weakening and often lack the awareness about others that many people take for
granted.
2.2.5.2.2 Lack of Social and Emotional Reciprocity
The second characteristic of social autistic learning disabilities is lack of
social and emotional reciprocity. A child is uninterested in doing things to please
a parent or others. He is uninterested to share experiences, getting noticed, and

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being praised (p. 91). It means, he has low desire to please others and low
response to social praise which makes him fails to develop friendships and seek
enjoyments or achievements with others.
2.2.5.2.3 Lack of Social Imitation
The last characteristic of social autistic learning disabilities is Lack of
Social Imitation. Usually, children learn new things by “automatically” copying
other children and adults because most things that others do are very interesting,
merely because someone else is engaged in that activity. An autistic child does not
seem to be motivated to copy action from other people (p. 92). He tends do or say
something based on his way because he has different opinion and he does not like
to copy others people ideas.
2.2.5.3 Symptoms of Autism
According to Siegel, there are two symptoms of autism. Those are
Communicative Autistic Learning Disabilities and Non-Social Autistic Learning
Disabilities (pp. 94-99). Each of those symptoms will be elaborated as follows;
2.2.5.3.1

Communicative Autistic Learning Disabilities

There are three communicative autistic learning disabilities; they are
“Deficits in Expressive Body Language and Facial Expressiveness”, “Deficits in
Understanding Spoken Language” and “Deficits in Understanding Body
Language and Facial Expression”. The first symptom identifies that an autistic
child does not use a full or subtle range of facial expressiveness or body language
to convey emotion communicatively (p. 94). He does not pay attention or watch

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20
other people’s faces when he communicates. Thus, he has difficulties about
appropriate attitude to show his expressiveness or body language.
The second symptom known as deficits in understanding body language
and facial expression. An autistic child appears to have poor comprehension of
gestures or facial expression such as smile or nods of encouragement, frowning,
shaking head “no” (p. 94). Body language is a form of non-verbal communication,
which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements.
Body language may provide clues to the attitude or state of mind of a person. An
autistic child lacks of those kinds of body language. It makes an autistic child
deficit in understanding body language and facial expression.
The last is deficits in understanding spoken language. An autistic child
also has deficit in understanding spoken language. Most autistic children have
“selective hearing” which means an autistic child responds to something like a
jingle but not to others. For autistic children, words or phrase once heard may not
reappear increasingly or even again. This is why they have difficulties in
understanding spoken language (pp. 94-95). It means that he does not pay
attention to new information comes into his mind.
2.2.5.3.2

Non-Social Autistic Learning Disabilities

There are two kinds of Non-Social autistic learning disabilities; those are
lack of imagination in play and stereotyped and repetitive interest. The first is lack
of imagination in play. An autistic child lacks of imagination in play because he
tends to show little fantasy, limited presentation of social situation and limited
language use as part of play (p. 99). He has difficulties to say something new or

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21
deliver his opinion because he has delay on thinking. Then, he doesn’t know how
to play interactively with other children.
The second is stereotyped and repetitive interest. An autistic child is
stereotyped and repetitive interest, he tends to avoid novel objects and actions. He
prefers familiar actions to new actions. He likes doing hand flapping, making
sounds, head rolling, body rocking, and unchanging menu for breakfast (p. 99). It
can be said that he tends doing repetitive movement.
It can be concluded that children with autism usually show some
indications in their behavioral problems, such as self-injury, hyper aggression
towards others, and so on. Their behavior can be easily recognized especially if
they are placed in a crowd. Autistics do not able to socialize in society and do
activity in a group. Their anxiety with some objects is sometimes shown in public,
and it is disturbing for normal people. They usually like to do strange things such
as moaning, groaning, screaming, and even eating anything when they are upset or
happy about something.
2.3

Theoretical Framework
This study is set to answer the motivations of Christopher in investigating

the killer of the dog, the main character of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-Time. There are some theories applied to analyze the
novel. Those are theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of critical
approach, theory of motivation, and theory of autism. The first, in order to analyze
the first problem in this study, theory of character is applied. It is used to help me
to know how Mark Haddon describes Christopher’s character. Theory of autism is

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22
applied to get better understanding about a different motivation that happen in an
autistic child. I use the theories of flat and round characters to know the character
of Christopher.
Second, the theory of characterization is used to analyze the characteristics
of Christopher. His characteristics can be identified from his personal description,
he as seen by other characters, his speech, his reactions, his thoughts, and his
mannerism. Then, the critical approach which I use is psychological approach
which useful for this study. I choose psychological approach because motivation
is part of psychological theory. I believe that this approach can help me in
understanding the analysis of my problems about motivation.
The last, theory of motivation and human needs are applied to find an
understanding about motivations of Christopher in investigating the killer of the
dog in order to answer the second problem in this study. The motivation and
human needs help me to see every aspect of human behavior in fulfilling their
ne e ds .

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of three parts. Those are object of the study,
approach of the study, and method of the study.

3.1 Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel entitled The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time written by Mark Haddon. This novel consists of 226 pages. It was
first published by Random House, Inc., New York. The novel used in this study was
published in 2003. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been
published in two imprints. This novel is different with other novels because it has no
chapters inside. Mark Haddon only put primary numbers to distinguish every part of
the story. He wrote this novel like a diary using the perspective of a clever fifteenyear-old boy with autism.
The novel starts with Christopher’s finding of his neighbor’s black poodle,
Wellington whic