The meaning of three kinds of the life journeys as experienced by Firdaus, the major character of Nawal El Saadawi`s Woman at Point Zero
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Nita Tifani Manulang
Student Number: 081214087
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Nita Tifani Manulang
Student Number: 081214087
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost like a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you‘re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself
before you can win the prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
to the stronger or faster man,
but sooner or later the man who wins
is the man who thinks he can.
Adapted from Author Unknown
Submitted by Wrae Duncan State of Mind
dedicated to those daring to dream the impossible dream, to those daring to fight the unbeatable foe,
and to those daring to reach the unreachable star.
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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, February 5, 2013
The Writer
Nita Tifani Manulang
081214087
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dhatma :
Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa
: Nita Tifani Manulang
: 081214087
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
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 untuli kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dan saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 23 Januari 2013
Yang menyatakan
Nita Tifani Manulang
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ABSTRACT
Manulang, Nita Tifani. (2013). The Meaning of Three Kinds of the Life Journeys
as Experienced by Firdaus, the Major Character of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program,
Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and
Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This is a study on a novel written by Nawal El Saadawi, a well-known
novelist in Egypt, doctor and militant writer on Arab women’s problem and their
struggle for liberation. The novel entitled Woman at Point Zero deals with a
research about a life journey of an Egyptian woman from the beginning until she
is in the Qanatir prison. This novel was written in 1975.
The objective of the study is to analyze the most possible meaning of the
three life journeys experienced by Firdaus, the main character in Saadawi’s
Woman at Point Zero. There are two problems to answer in this thesis. First,
“How are the characteristics of Firdaus described in this novel?” Second, “How
does Firdaus regard the three major events as seen in the novel?”
The theory of character, characterization and personality are applied to
answer the first question while psychological approach is used to answer the
second question. In order to complete the analysis, this study employs library
research, whereby the data are obtained from both the primary and secondary
ones. Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero becomes the basis of analysis,
while the supporting references are mostly taken from relevant books and the
internet. Dealing with the study, the researcher uses psychological approach as a
tool to analyze the case as it concerns with human's psychological aspect of life
especially in finding out the life journey of someone.
Having applied Murphy's theory of characterization, the analysis finding
describes the characteristics of Firdaus as smart, obedient, selective, silent, sexualpleasure seeking, brave and tough. By identifying the charactersistics of Firdaus,
it can be found that there are three kinds of the life journeys experienced by
Firdaus. They are, first, life journey as an ordinary person. It means the life at
point zero because Firdaus brings nothing when she comes to this world; Second,
life journey as a prostitute. It means Firdaus wants to be treated as equal as men.
She wants to be respected and take control over men; Third, life journey as a
prisoner. It means everything that Firdaus has done in her life and the life at point
zero.
The researcher suggests that the further researchers conduct analysis on
other characters' roles or other interesting problem like the reason why the role of
mother does not really appear in this novel. The researcher also suggests that the
novel can be used as the learning material. The English teachers can use this novel
to teach adverb of manner, time, place, and frequency which focus on writing skill
for tenth grade of Senior High School students.
Keywords: ordinary, prostitute, prisoner
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ABSTRAK
Manulang, Nita Tifani. (2013). The Meaning of Three Kinds of the Life Journeys
as Experienced by Firdaus, the Major Character of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan
Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan,
Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini merupakan suatu studi mengenai sebuah novel fiksi karya
Nawal El Saadawi, seorang novelis terkenal dari Mesir, dokter dan penulis
militan tentang persoalan wanita-wanita Arab dan perjuangan mereka untuk
mencapai pembebasan. Buku yang berjudul Woman at Point Zero ini
mengisahkan tentang perjalanan hidup seorang wanita Mesir hingga ia berada
di penjara Qanatir. Novel ini ditulis pada tahun 1975.
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah untuk melihat kemungkinan arti dari tiga
macam perjalanan hidup yang dialami oleh Firdaus, tokoh utama pada novel
Woman at Point Zero karya Nawal El Saadawi. Skripsi ini merumuskan dua
pokok permasalahan. Pertama,” Bagaimanakah sifat-sifat Firdaus digambarkan
dalam novel ini.” Kedua, “Bagaimana Firdaus memandang tiga peristiwa besar
seperti yang terlihat pada novel?”
Teori mengenai tokoh, penokohan serta kepribadian digunakan untuk
menjawab pertanyaan pertama sedangkan pendekatan psikologis digunakan
untuk menjawab pertanyaan kedua.Untuk menyempurnakan analisis tersebut,
studi ini menerapkan metode penelitian pustaka, di mana data-data yang ada
diperoleh dari sumber primer dan sekunder. Novel Woman at Point Zero karya
Nawal El Saadawi menjadi dasar dari analisis, sedangkan referensi-referensi
pendukung lain yang relevan banyak diambil dari buku dan internet. Dalam studi
ini, periset menggunakan pendekatan psikologis sebagai sarana untuk
menganalisa masalah karena menyangkut aspek kehidupan psikologis terutama
dalam mengetahui perjalanan hidup seseorang.
Dengan diterapkannya teori karakterisasi Murphy, hasil analisis studi ini
secara jelas menyimpulkan bahwa sifat Firdaus adalah cerdas, taat, pemilih,
pendiam, pencari kesenangan seksual, pemberani dan tegar. Dengan mengenali
sifat-sifat Firdaus, dapat ditemukan ada tiga macam perjalanan hidup yang ia
alami. Perjalanan hidup itu adalah: pertama, perjalanan hidup sebagai orang
pada umumnya. Artinya, perjalanan hidup yang berada di titik nol karena
Firdaus tidak membawa apapun ketika ia lahir ke dunia ini; Kedua, perjalanan
hidup sebagai seorang pelacur. Dalam hal ini, Firdaus ingin diperlakukan sama
dengan seorang pria. Dia ingin dihargai dan menguasai pria; Ketiga, perjalanan
hidup sebagai seorang tawanan. Artinya segala sesuatu yang telah Firdaus
lakukan selama dia hidup dan kehidupan pada titik nol.
Disarankan kepada para peneliti yang akan mengadakan penelitian lebih
lanjut untuk mengadakan analisis terhadap peran dari tokoh-tokon lain seperti
alasan dari tidak terlihatnya peranan seorang ibu di novel ini. Penggunaan novel
ini juga disarankan untuk materi mengajar. Guru Bahasa Inggris dapat
menggunakan novel ini untuk mengajar materi tentang keterangan cara, waktu,
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tempat, dan frekwensi, yang fokus pada kemampuan menulis untuk siswa-siswi
SMA kelas X.
Kata Kunci: ordinary, prostitute, prisoner
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Primarily, my deepest gratitude goes to God, who gives me power in going
through this life. I really rely on God when I am in a difficulty and He will give
me the way out. I thank God for everything. I am blessed for everything He has
done in my life.
I am profoundly thankful to my mother, Dra. Dahlia Ginting, who gave
everything that she had for me. She is the best woman I have ever known. She
always supports me whenever I need her support. She always gives me strength
when I am in difficulty. I also want to express my greatest gratitude to my father,
S.P. Manullang, who has shaped me the way I am now. He supported my
education so that I can go to university although it was hard in the beginning. My
special gratitude goes to my beloved brothers, Omri Stevanus and Wowon
Asriel, whose endless support and prayers have kept me going on.
I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto,
M.A., for his guidance, assistance and useful feedback during the completion of
this thesis. I thank him so much for the great sharing. I always think better after
meeting him. He always opens up my mind when I share my difficulties in doing
this thesis. I also express my sincere appreciation to all PBI’s lecturers and staff
who guided me these past four year and helped me to be able to speak, read, listen
to and write in English.
I would like to thank to my friends, especially Ela and Memey, for the
support, help, togetherness and fresh jokes during my study in PBI. I also thank to
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my friends, Esther, Vinsen and Mbak Disrekia who always support me to finish
my thesis as soon as possible. My gratitude also goes to Kak May, Romo Anton,
and Sister Margareth for their willingness to be the proofreader of my thesis.
Last but not least, I thank to everyone who helps me and those who fills
my life that I cannot mention here one by one but surely I cannot complete this
thesis without their help and support. What they have done for me is meaningful. I
love them all.
Nita Tifani Manulang
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLEPAGE ................................................................................................
i
APPROVAL PAGES ...................................................................................
ii
DEDICATION PAGE .................................................................................
iv
STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY ...............................................
v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI................................................
vi
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................
vii
ABSTRAK ..........................................................................................................
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................
xii
LIST OF APPENDICES................................................................................
xvi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Study ......................................................
1
1.2
Objective of the Study ..........................................................
5
1.3
Problem Formulations ...........................................................
5
1.4
Benefits of the Study .............................................................
6
1.5
Definition of Terms...............................................................
7
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Theoretical Review ..................................................................
9
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approach.............................................
10
2.1.2 Theory of Character ..........................................................
11
2.1.2.1 Definition of Character .........................................
11
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2.1.2.2 Kinds of Character. ...............................................
12
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization ................................................
13
2.1.3.1 Definition of Characterization .............................
13
2.1.4 Theory of Personality .......................................................
16
2.1.5 Psychological Approach… ...............................................
18
2.1.5.1 Theory of Motivation............................................
18
2.1.5.1.1 Kinds of Motivation..............................
19
2.1.5.1.2 The Basic Needs ...................................
21
2.2 The Egyptian Society ..................................................................
24
2.2.1 The Ninth Century in Egypt. ............................................
24
2.2.2 Women in Egypt ...............................................................
26
2.2.2.1 Women and Education..........................................
26
2.2.2.2 Women and Media................................................
27
2.2.2.3 Women and Job. ...................................................
27
2.2.2.4 Women and Political Participant ..........................
28
2.3
Criticism ..................................................................................
29
2.4
Theoretical Frameworks ..........................................................
30
2.5
The Context of the Novel ........................................................
32
2.5.1 The Social Setting in the Novel ........................................
32
2.5.2 The Political Setting of the Writing of the Novel .............
33
2.5.3 The Economical Setting of the Writing of the Novel. ......
34
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CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
3.1 Object of the Study ....................................................................
35
3.2 Approaches of the Study .............................................................
36
3.3 Data Collection ..........................................................................
38
3.4 Method of the Study....................................................................
39
CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS
4.1 The Characteristics of Firdaus ....................................................
41
4.1.1 Smart ...................................................................................
42
4.1.2 Obedient ..............................................................................
44
4.1.3 Selective ..............................................................................
46
4.1.4 Silent ...................................................................................
48
4.1.5 Sexual – pleasure seeking ...................................................
50
4.1.6 Brave ................................................................................... .
52
4.1.7 Tough ..................................................................................
54
4.2 The Three Major Events Experienced by Firdaus.......................
57
4.2.1 The Life Journey as an Ordinary Person. .........................
57
4.2.2 The Life Journey as a Prostitute. ......................................
60
4.2.3 The Life Journey as a Prisoner. ........................................
71
4.2.3.1 The Life Journey as a Prisoner Means What Firdaus has
Done….. .............................................................
72
4.2.3.2 The Life Journey as a Prisoner Means the Life at Point
Zero ...................................................................
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1. Conclusions..............................................................................
76
5.2. Suggestions ..............................................................................
78
REFERENCES .............................................................................................
81
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A
Biography of Nawal el Saadawi ............................................
85
Appendix B
Summary of Woman at Point Zero .......................................
89
Appendix C
Lesson Plan ............................................................................
90
Appendix D Learning Material ...................................................................
97
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CHAPTER I
I N T R O D U C TI O N
This first chapter consists of five parts, namely, the background of the
study, the objective of the study, the problem formulations, the benefits of the
study, and the definition of terms. The background of the study gives the
description of the topic and the reason why the topic is chosen in this study. The
objective of the study states the researcher’s aim of writing this thesis. The
problem formulations consist of two questions which generally describe the
problem that will be discussed in this thesis. The benefits of the study give the
explanation of who can get the benefits from the study. The last part is the
definition of terms. In this section, the researcher will give explanations of some
terms that are related to the study to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms.
1.1
Background of the study
The researcher is very interested to read Nawal el Saadawi’s Woman at
Point Zero. The researcher has read Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero more than
three times. The researcher found so many things in this novel. Actually, this
novel opened researcher’s mind. Woman at Point Zero taught the researcher about
the life of women in the Middle East, especially in Egypt. The researcher found it
was quite different from women’s life in the researcher’s country (Hatem, 1992).
The researcher also found this novel was very interesting to read. There were so
many things which are talked here, for example about family, prostitute, violence
and moreover about women, men, life, and power. However, the researcher is
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2
very interested in talking about the life which has power and soon will affect the
journey of someone’s life.
Everybody should go through their own life and everybody will have
different journeys of life. God will give the different ways to everyone in how
they begin and end their life. Everybody’s fate is so different. However, the
beginning and the end of life is started and ended at point zero. Why is it zero?
Why is it not one, two, minus one, or minus two? It is because the law of nature.
Zero means neutral or balance (Alpha, 2003). There will be no more burdens, if
human beings are born and die in balance. The burden is only in the journey of
someone’s life. Of course, people have different ways of thinking in how they
enjoy and spend their lives, indeed the men and the women who are so different.
The men and the women are different in many ways. In reality, people can
see that the men are stronger and have a greater authority than the women. The
men are likely to fight other men, whereas the women are said to be closer to each
other. The men are afraid to share their feelings or problems with the women
because it makes them feel mothered, which they equate with being smothered.
The women have gotten courage from feminism, but when the men hear-talk
about feminism and the problems of women in the society they often respond
defensively that the men have their difficulties too (Jung, 1988). Sometimes, this
response is just a way of ignoring the women’s issues and of denying the reality
that the women have suffered terribly in culture. Yet at other times, this response
comes because the men feel that their separate problems also deserve attention.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
3
Montagu says that in many cultures the women are considered lower than
the men, they are creative human beings but not as creative as men (Montagu,
1953: 270). The women in some countries have a better position in society and
equal to the men. Yet, in certain countries like Afghanistan and Egypt, the women
are still considered to have a lower position in society than the men
(Dharmalingam & Morgan, 1996).The women have been shut at home and do the
housework. The patriarchal system does not allow the women do anything outside
the house. Since the men are on the higher rank, the women do not deserve to get
good treatments as the men deserve.
Besides talking about the man and the woman, there are series of events in
this novel which are called plot. All the novelists draw the event with a plot.
Without a plot, there will be no story. A plot is a plan or groundwork of story.
Actually, plot is created based on conflicting human motivations with the actions
resulting from believable and realistic human response. If there is no conflict, the
plot of story will be flat. The readers see the situation that provokes the conflicts,
the development of conflicts from part to part, the continuing of conflicts, the
effect from those conflicts, and then the climax and the last is resolution of the
conflicts.
Conflict in every story is based on human motivation. It is because
everybody has their own motive in what to do or not to do. Petri (1981) says,
"Motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces acting on or within
an organism to initiate and direct behaviour. The concept of motivation is also
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
4
used to explain differences in the diversity of behaviour". It can be said that
everyone has the power in reaching their goal. The more intense the goal, the
higher motivation is needed to achieve the goal.
In this study, the main character which wants to achieve her goal more and
more named Firdaus. Actually in Firdaus' society, it was declared that the
prostitution was contemptible. It means that the woman is not expected to be a
prostitute for any reason. However, Firdaus as the main character in the novel
entitled Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi took place as the best
prostitute who was successful at that time. What made her successful was her
motivation to change her position to be respectable in her life. She had her own
way and goal in achieving it.
Actually, it is so ironic that the prostitution has become the motivation for
a woman to fight against the society and rule; especially in a country which
Moslem is majority. If Firdaus dared to fight the rules, it meant that she even
ignored the power of a society toward its people. She refused to conform to the
society's expectation toward woman and dared to break the society's rule even
though she knew the consequences of refusing it.
In a well-plotted story, everything is related. Each event affects the other
events. It means that a plot shows the causal arrangement of events and actions
within the story. That is why, time is very important in a story not only simply one
thing happens after another but also one thing happens because of another. It is
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
5
response, interaction, opposition, and causation that make a plot out of simple
series of actions.
Writers commonly use established techniques like flashbacks to vary
chronological order in a story. In this case Nawal El Saadawi reversed the readers’
expectation by describing the aftermath of the story in the beginning, then going
back in time to reveal how the characters arrived at that point. Thus, the
researcher will dig up Firdaus’ life journeys from the beginning until the end of
her life as seen in Saadawi’s Woman at point zero.
1.2
Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to analyze the most possible meaning of the
three life journeys as experienced by Firdaus, the main character in Saadawi’s
Woman at Point Zero.
1.3
Problem Formulations
Based on the background, there are two questions which will be discussed
in this study, they are:
1. How are the characteristics of Firdaus described in this novel?
2. How does Firdaus regard the three major events as seen in the novel?
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
6
1.4
Benefits of the Study
All the study of course has benefits. It can be for the researcher, the next
researcher or the reader. By analyzing this novel, the researcher finds out some
benefits there.
First, the benefit of the study is for the researcher. The researcher can take
the benefit like understanding the life journeys experienced by Firdaus and the
meaning of point zero in this novel. By knowing the life journeys, the researcher
develops the understanding of three life journeys experienced by Firdaus.
Meanwhile, by knowing the meaning of point zero, the researcher understands the
meaning of the word zero and the reason of Saadawi used zero from any other
numbers like one, two, minus one, or minus two.
Second, the benefit of the study is for the learning activities. Students need
to be reinforced to write a lot especially for the tenth grade. It is very important in
order to help them to write correctly and creatively. Actually, Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero is a good tool for analyzing grammar because it uses daily language.
The novel can be used as the learning material. The English teachers can use this
novel to teach adverb of manner, time, place, and frequency which focus on
writing skill for the tenth grade of Senior High School students.
Finally, this study is also useful for further researchers who want to
analyze literary study, especially Woman at Point Zero. Hopefully, this study can
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
7
be a source to support the analysis. Of course, there are still a lot of things that can
be discussed in this novel, for example about the life journeys of Firdaus.
1.5
Definition of Terms
In this section, the researcher will give a brief explanation about some
terms that will be used in order to make readers understand and avoid
misconception. Some of those terms are:
1.5.1
Meaning
Every experience must have a meaning. Actually, the term meaning is a
familiar word. According to Oxford Dictionary (2000), the term meaning means
that real importance of a feeling or experience (p. 828). Referring to the story, the
word ‘meaning’ means something which is important that expresses a feeling or
experience of somebody. Here, the researcher will find the meaning of Firdaus’
experience.
1.5.2
Life Journey
The story of the novel talked about the life of a woman in Egypt named
Firdaus from the beginning until the end of her life. There are three life journeys
experienced by Firdaus. Here, the meaning of life journey is a journey of life
experienced by Firdaus in her life. It starts from the beginning of her life until she
was sent to a prison and sentenced to death. She should be responsible for what
she had done.
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8
1.5.3 Firdaus
Firdaus is the main character in this novel because this novel talks about
the story of her life. Actually, Firdaus is a tough woman and never regrets what
she has done. She is also ambitious to be treated as equal as a man. Freeman said
that the feminist perspective starts from the premise that “women and men are
constitutionally equal and share the same human capabilities; observed
differences therefore demand a critical analysis of the social institutions that cause
them” (Freeman, 1984: 553). In this study, the writer presents Firdaus’ efforts to
be equal with men. She decides to be a prostitute to gain respect from the society
and to take control over men.
1.5.4 Woman at Point Zero
Woman at Point Zero is Nawal El Saadawi’s novel which is discussed
here. It talks about a woman named Firdaus. Firdaus is the main character in this
novel because Woman at Point Zero talks about the journeys of Firdaus’ life from
the beginning until the end of her life.
1.5.5 Nawal El Saadawi
Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian novelist, doctor and militant writer on
Arab women’s problems and their struggle for liberation. In this story, she is a
researcher who does a research on the personalities of a group of women prisoners
and detainees convicted or accused of various offences in the Qanatir Prison.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of five main parts namely theoretical review, the
Egyptian society, criticism, theoretical framework, and context of the novel. The
first main part is divided into five parts. The first is theory of critical approach.
Second is theory of character then continue with theory of characterization and
theory of personality. The last is psychological approach includes theory of
motivation. The second main part is the Egyptian society including the ninth
century in Egypt; here the readers will see the situation in the ninth century in
Egypt and women in Egypt which focuses on the status of women in Egypt at that
time. The third main part is criticism from other people what they think about
Nawal el Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. The fourth main part is theoretical
framework that will give some reasons why theories and approach are being used
in this study. The last part is context of the novel which tells about the history at
the time when the novel was written.
2.1
Theoretical Review
This section will review some theories and approach that are considered
relevant to support this study. They are theory of critical approach, theory of
character, theory of characterization, theory of personality and psychological
approach.
9
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10
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approach
Theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientifics to use logical
deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis. In A Handbook of Critical
Approach to Literature, Guerin, W. L., Labor, E., Morgan, L., Reesman, J. C., and
Willingham, J. R. (1999) stated that there are 4 critical approaches that we have to
know to put the reader in a position to receive some of the positive esthetical
values. They are:
The traditional approach or most often called new criticism in honour of
its mid-twentieth-century innovators. The new criticism emerged in the midtwentieth century to approach the text formalistically as a separate entity from
extrinsic considerations; this became the dominant concern of scholars (p. 18).
That is why the new criticism insisted that scholars concentrate on the work itself,
on the text, and examining it as an art. The new critics taught people to look at
individual work of art as an organic form, on the work of art as an object.
The second is the formalist approaches means that the study is closelyrelated to the words and their meanings; almost simultaneously people must also
begin to look for structural relationships and patterns. The formalist critic
abandons historical and biographical information and instead focuses on the text
as a discrete object. In the formalist approach, the assumption is that a given
literary experience takes a shape proper to it, or at the least that the shape and the
experience are functions each other (p. 87).
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The next is the psychological approach. The psychological has been one
of the most controversial in the critical approaches to literature and has been
appreciated for many readers. In Psychological approach is also to provide insight
for the thematic and symbolic mysteries of a work of literature and enhance other
readings. These critics seek the possible motives behind the literary work, reading
‘between the lines’ for author’s and characters’ psychological conflicts.
The last is mythological and archetypal approaches. The mythological
approach seeks out the mysterious elements informing certain works that elicit
dramatic and near universal human reactions. Myth critics try to discover how
certain works become “classics” and works that are similar forgotten, while the
psychology approaches examines underlying motivation of behaviour in the
individual. Myth criticism seeks to define symbols that help in making possible
cultural behaviour. Otherwise, Archetypal has the similar motives and themes
found in multiple mythologies and recurrent pattern of imagery. Common
archetypal are the sun, water, colours, the circle, and so on (p. 250).
2.1.2 Theory of Character
2.1.2.1 Definition of Character
A character is one of the important factors in fiction because as the
introduction given by the researcher for the readers. Besides, character is placed in
human situation and really common in human being. Thus, it makes them behave
like actual human being. It means that each character in the literary work is the
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
12
reflection of people in life. By knowing someone's character, people will think
what kind of person he or she is.
According to Abrams (1980), he defines characters as persons presented in
the dramatic or narrative work interpreted by the reader as being endowed with
moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogue)
and what they do (the action). Of course, characters have an important role in a
novel. It could make the story much meaningful and alive because the author
could convey the message of the story to the readers through the characters.
According to Nurgiyantoro, reading a novel means that the readers are faced with
character (1995: 176). That is why, it is very important for the readers to know the
theories of character so that the readers are involved and they can understand the
story. In this study, the character will be discussed is Firdaus.
2.1.2.2 Kinds of Character
There are two kinds of character according to Milligan in The Novel of
English. They are major character and secondary character. The major characters
are those who appear more often in the story than the other characters, while the
secondary characters are those who appear less often in the story (Milligan, 1983:
195). In this study, the major character is Firdaus because she often appears in
every act of the story.
According to Harvey (1965: 45-47), character is divided into three
categories. The first one is protagonist character that undergoes conflicts leading
someone’s attitude along the story. It means that protagonist has many chances to
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13
appear along the story (p. 45). This character faces various conflicts in the story,
from the beginning until the end of the story. Of course, Firdaus is a protagonist
character because she has many chances to appear along the story.
The second character is background character that can appear individually
or collectively. People usually call it as antagonist character (p. 46). It means that
the character appears just necessarily to become the background for the
protagonist character. Without the antagonist character, there will be no conflicts.
The third is intermediate figure character that appears between the
protagonist and background character. It means that this kind of character is only
needed in certain parts (p. 47). It can be said that figure character sometimes
becomes important only in certain parts, but they become less important in other
parts.
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization
2.1.3.1 Definition of Characterization
Rohrberger and Woods (1971) define characterization as a process an
author uses to create a character (p. 20). According to Holman and Harmon,
(1986) characterization is the creation of imaginary persons in fictions (drama,
novel, short story, or narrative poem), so that they exist for the reader as actual
life. They define three methods of characterization afterwards: firstly, by the
explicit presentation from the author of the character through direct exposition;
secondly, by the presentation of the character in action; and thirdly, by the
representation from within a character (p. 81). The character should be real,
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14
believable, and based on possible variations of human nature so that the readers
are able to identify themselves with the human creatures, to maintain the interest
and concern with the theme of the story (p. 92).
According to Murphy, there are nine ways that are used by an author to
present the characteristics of the character in the novel (Murphy, 1988: 30-38).
Murphy, furthermore, proposed nine ways by which an author is able to make his
characteristics understandable to the readers:
1) Personal description
The author describes someone physical appearance to build the character.
By seeing the physical appearance, the author can describe what the
person looks like.
2) Reactions
It is considering a person's reaction toward some situations or accidents or
events may give the readers some clues to the character. By knowing
someone’s reactions in the certain situation, the reader can recognize what
the characteristic of certain person looks like.
3) Speech
The character is recognized by the readers from what other persons in the
story say. By recognizing the speech of the person in the story, the reader
can guess what the person looks like because it also reflects their
characteristic.
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4) Thoughts
By knowing what the person is thinking about, the readers will be able to
recognize the person's characteristic. The author can also tell the readers
about different people's thoughts. The readers are led to the mental process
of the character that conveys the ideas.
5) Direct comment
The author can also describe or comment on a person's character directly.
This is actually the clearest description of a character where the reader can
directly draw conclusion on someone's character.
6) Conversation of others
What other people say about the character, it can give some clues to
recognize the character talked about. Generally, reader can recognize the
character through the conversation.
7) Past life
Letting the readers know and learning something about a person's past life
surely can give a clue to shape the person's character. It can be done by
direct comment by the author or through a person's thoughts.
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8) Mannerisms
The author can describe a person's traits, habits, and ways of life in order
to tell the readers something about his or her personality. Actually this is
can be considered as the personality of somebody.
9) Presenting the characters as seen by another
The author describes the character through other opinions instead of
describing the character directly.
2.1.4 Theory of Personality
When talking about personality, it refers to the typical ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that make one person different from another. “Personality is
the sum totals of all of the ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that are typical for
that person and make each person different from other individuals” (Lahey, 2009:
405). The second emphasis is the definition of personality is on the term of
difference. Each person’s unique pattern of typical ways of acting, thinking, and
feeling sets him or her apart from another person.
According to Freud’s theory (1945, as cited in Hall and Lindzey, 1965),
the personality is made up of three major systems, the id, the ego, and the
superego. Each of these provinces has its own function, properties, and
components, operating principles, and mechanisms to interact so closely to one
another.
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17
The id is the original system of personality. It is the matrix within which
the ego and the superego are differentiated. The id consists of everything
psychological that is inherited present at birth, including the instincts. The id also
cannot tolerate increases of energy which are experienced as uncomfortable states
of tension. Consequently, when the tension level of the organism is raised, either
as a result of external stimulation or of internally produced excitations, the id
functions in such a manner as to discharge the tension immediately and return the
organism to a comfortably constant and low energy level (p. 32).
The ego comes into the existence because the needs of the organism
require appropriate transactions with the objective world of reality, for example,
the hungry person has to seek, find, and eat food before the tension of hunger can
be eliminated. It means that someone has to learn to differentiate between a
memory image of food and an actual perception of food as exists in the outer
world. Sometimes, the ego is said to be the executive of the personality because it
controls the gateway to action, selects the features of the environment to which it
will respond and decides what instincts will be satisfied and in what manner (p.
33).
The superego is the moral arm of personality. It represents the ideal rather
than the real and strives for perfection rather than pleasure (p. 34). This main
concern is to decide whether something is right or not, so that it can act in
accordance with the moral standards authorized by the agents of society. Actually,
the superego is the internal representative of the traditional values and ideals of
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18
society as interpreted to the child by their parents, and enforced by means of a
system of rewards and punishments imposed upon the child (p. 34).
2.1.5. Psychological Approach
In this part, the study focuses on discussing some aspects of human
psychology which are related to the discussion in understanding Firdaus’
motivation as the main character in this novel. Through the lens of psychology, it
will be seen the motivation of Firdaus in going through her life by discussing
theory of motivation and basic needs.
2.1.5.1 Theory of Motivation
In general, when people speak about motive, it refers to causes or reasons
that underline a given behaviour. Actually, definition of motivation is not simple.
It may include terms that refer to such diverse states as desires, wishes, plans,
goals, intents, impulses, and purposes. Some of these states imply a deliberate and
calculated process involving reason, whereas others convey a flavour of
spontaneity.
Motivation is the intention, goals, desires, and needs that determine human
and animal behaviour. In other words, motivation is the concept that someone
uses to describe the choice of acting and direct behaviour. According to Reaske
(1966: 41) “motivations are the reason why the characters do what they do. It
means that with motivation, people deal with certain determination to make
decisions in directing one’s behaviour and how to preserve the choices”. Of
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19
course, everybody has their own achievement in their life and it is usually
different from each other.
Beck (1978) states that motivation is broadly concerned with the
contemporary determinants of choice (direction), persistence, and vigour of goaldirected behaviour (p. 56). It means that motivation is the base of human’s choice
and goal. It is highly related to one’s power in achieving his or her goal.
2.1.5.1.1 Kinds of Motivation
Motivation rouses with any stimulus. Something which is more than a
simple external stimulus is needed to evoke a goal-directed behaviour. Thus, the
concept of motivation based on the combination of external motivational stimuli,
which is called incentives and internal motivational factor, which is called drives.
In other words, motivations have two components: internal and external
incentives. The internal drive actives and orient being toward some goals, whether
external incentive is the goal itself.
According to Huffman, Vernoy and Very (1997: 377) there are two kinds
of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation means
the desire to perform an act for its own sake, for example, someone reads any
literary book by any author for his or her interest, and pleasure, not for his or her
needs to get a reward. The extrinsic motivation means the desire to perform an
action because of external rewards or avoidance of punishment, for example, a
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
20
student studies hard and does all of home works in order to get a reward and a
good grade from her or his teacher.
Reaske (1966) states that “motivations that usually motivate people to act
are hope for reward, love, fear of failure, religious, revenge, greed and jealousy”
(pp. 41-42). First, someone can be motivated by hope for reward such as
happiness and prosperity to him or her. Actually people do this action because of
the existence of reward or present by doing something, for example, Firdaus
cleans under the animal and loads the ass and takes them to the fields in order to
get a piastre from her father. Second, a person can be motivated by his or her love
through doing the actions that she or he likes and love that she or he wants.
Third, people can be motivated by fear of failure. Actually people are
motivated by this action because they do not want to fail in the future, for
example, a student will study diligently to pass the test because he has
experienced failure in the previous test. So, what comes in his mind is how to
prevent the failure by studying diligently. However, sometimes the fear of failure
becomes the fear of punishment. As seen in the example above, maybe the student
is threatened that his parents will punish him if he does not pass the test.
Fourth, religious can motivate someone in their acts. They act out of deep
feelings and convictions that they are acting as God’s direction. Their motivation
is diminished to the extent that they act as they think they are supposed to act.
Fifth, someone also can be motivated by revenge. Someone is motivated by
revenge because of the death of love from their friend or relative. They usually
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21
lose their own life if necessary, as long as they are able to murder someone who
wronged them.
Sixth, someone can be motivated by greed in their action. It also can be
included in the category hope of reward, for example, Sharifa takes Firdaus as her
child in producing money. The last motivation is jealousy. Jealousy can motivate
person in their action. Jealousy grows human hatred. Of course, jealousy is
defined as human envy which sometime becomes hatred. Actually jealousy really
happens in human life.
2.1.5.1.2 The Basic Needs
Motivation comes from human’s need of something. When people need
something, it becomes their motivation to achieve it whatever the ways they
should take. Maslow says that people conduct an action to fulfil their needs and
develops a motivational theory that emphasizes the striving to reach one’s full
potential as basic to human motivation. He believes that a person should search
for her ultimate goals of behaviour rather than the superficial goals. He said that
man is initially motivated by a series of basic needs. When needs are satisfied, it
moves toward the higher level of the needs (Goble, 1971: 47).
Maslow (1980) proposes a hierarchy of needs to explain the motivational
theory. In his theory, it is called metamotivation which is consisted of
psychological and spiritual needs (metaneeds). The basic of psychological needs
are the needs for security, belongings, and self esteem. Meanwhile the spiritual
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22
needs are the growth of spiritual needs which are related to spiritual growth and
transcendence of the ego.
The hierarchy of needs is divided into the physiological needs, the safety
needs, the belongingness and love needs, the esteem needs, the cognitive needs,
the aesthetic needs, the self-actualization needs and the self-transcendence needs
(Maslow, 1980).
The first is the physiological or physical needs. The physiological needs
are the fundamental or basic need in this life, such as n
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Nita Tifani Manulang
Student Number: 081214087
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
0
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Nita Tifani Manulang
Student Number: 081214087
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2013
i
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
iii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost like a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you‘re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself
before you can win the prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
to the stronger or faster man,
but sooner or later the man who wins
is the man who thinks he can.
Adapted from Author Unknown
Submitted by Wrae Duncan State of Mind
dedicated to those daring to dream the impossible dream, to those daring to fight the unbeatable foe,
and to those daring to reach the unreachable star.
iv
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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, February 5, 2013
The Writer
Nita Tifani Manulang
081214087
v
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dhatma :
Nama
Nomor Mahasiswa
: Nita Tifani Manulang
: 081214087
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
THE MEANING OF THREE KINDS OF THE LIFE JOURNEYS
AS EXPERIENCED BY FIRDAUS, THE MAJOR
CHARACTER OF NAWAL EL SAADAWI’S WOMAN AT
POINT ZERO
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 untuli kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dan saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 23 Januari 2013
Yang menyatakan
Nita Tifani Manulang
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ABSTRACT
Manulang, Nita Tifani. (2013). The Meaning of Three Kinds of the Life Journeys
as Experienced by Firdaus, the Major Character of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program,
Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and
Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This is a study on a novel written by Nawal El Saadawi, a well-known
novelist in Egypt, doctor and militant writer on Arab women’s problem and their
struggle for liberation. The novel entitled Woman at Point Zero deals with a
research about a life journey of an Egyptian woman from the beginning until she
is in the Qanatir prison. This novel was written in 1975.
The objective of the study is to analyze the most possible meaning of the
three life journeys experienced by Firdaus, the main character in Saadawi’s
Woman at Point Zero. There are two problems to answer in this thesis. First,
“How are the characteristics of Firdaus described in this novel?” Second, “How
does Firdaus regard the three major events as seen in the novel?”
The theory of character, characterization and personality are applied to
answer the first question while psychological approach is used to answer the
second question. In order to complete the analysis, this study employs library
research, whereby the data are obtained from both the primary and secondary
ones. Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero becomes the basis of analysis,
while the supporting references are mostly taken from relevant books and the
internet. Dealing with the study, the researcher uses psychological approach as a
tool to analyze the case as it concerns with human's psychological aspect of life
especially in finding out the life journey of someone.
Having applied Murphy's theory of characterization, the analysis finding
describes the characteristics of Firdaus as smart, obedient, selective, silent, sexualpleasure seeking, brave and tough. By identifying the charactersistics of Firdaus,
it can be found that there are three kinds of the life journeys experienced by
Firdaus. They are, first, life journey as an ordinary person. It means the life at
point zero because Firdaus brings nothing when she comes to this world; Second,
life journey as a prostitute. It means Firdaus wants to be treated as equal as men.
She wants to be respected and take control over men; Third, life journey as a
prisoner. It means everything that Firdaus has done in her life and the life at point
zero.
The researcher suggests that the further researchers conduct analysis on
other characters' roles or other interesting problem like the reason why the role of
mother does not really appear in this novel. The researcher also suggests that the
novel can be used as the learning material. The English teachers can use this novel
to teach adverb of manner, time, place, and frequency which focus on writing skill
for tenth grade of Senior High School students.
Keywords: ordinary, prostitute, prisoner
vii
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ABSTRAK
Manulang, Nita Tifani. (2013). The Meaning of Three Kinds of the Life Journeys
as Experienced by Firdaus, the Major Character of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan
Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan,
Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini merupakan suatu studi mengenai sebuah novel fiksi karya
Nawal El Saadawi, seorang novelis terkenal dari Mesir, dokter dan penulis
militan tentang persoalan wanita-wanita Arab dan perjuangan mereka untuk
mencapai pembebasan. Buku yang berjudul Woman at Point Zero ini
mengisahkan tentang perjalanan hidup seorang wanita Mesir hingga ia berada
di penjara Qanatir. Novel ini ditulis pada tahun 1975.
Tujuan dari skripsi ini adalah untuk melihat kemungkinan arti dari tiga
macam perjalanan hidup yang dialami oleh Firdaus, tokoh utama pada novel
Woman at Point Zero karya Nawal El Saadawi. Skripsi ini merumuskan dua
pokok permasalahan. Pertama,” Bagaimanakah sifat-sifat Firdaus digambarkan
dalam novel ini.” Kedua, “Bagaimana Firdaus memandang tiga peristiwa besar
seperti yang terlihat pada novel?”
Teori mengenai tokoh, penokohan serta kepribadian digunakan untuk
menjawab pertanyaan pertama sedangkan pendekatan psikologis digunakan
untuk menjawab pertanyaan kedua.Untuk menyempurnakan analisis tersebut,
studi ini menerapkan metode penelitian pustaka, di mana data-data yang ada
diperoleh dari sumber primer dan sekunder. Novel Woman at Point Zero karya
Nawal El Saadawi menjadi dasar dari analisis, sedangkan referensi-referensi
pendukung lain yang relevan banyak diambil dari buku dan internet. Dalam studi
ini, periset menggunakan pendekatan psikologis sebagai sarana untuk
menganalisa masalah karena menyangkut aspek kehidupan psikologis terutama
dalam mengetahui perjalanan hidup seseorang.
Dengan diterapkannya teori karakterisasi Murphy, hasil analisis studi ini
secara jelas menyimpulkan bahwa sifat Firdaus adalah cerdas, taat, pemilih,
pendiam, pencari kesenangan seksual, pemberani dan tegar. Dengan mengenali
sifat-sifat Firdaus, dapat ditemukan ada tiga macam perjalanan hidup yang ia
alami. Perjalanan hidup itu adalah: pertama, perjalanan hidup sebagai orang
pada umumnya. Artinya, perjalanan hidup yang berada di titik nol karena
Firdaus tidak membawa apapun ketika ia lahir ke dunia ini; Kedua, perjalanan
hidup sebagai seorang pelacur. Dalam hal ini, Firdaus ingin diperlakukan sama
dengan seorang pria. Dia ingin dihargai dan menguasai pria; Ketiga, perjalanan
hidup sebagai seorang tawanan. Artinya segala sesuatu yang telah Firdaus
lakukan selama dia hidup dan kehidupan pada titik nol.
Disarankan kepada para peneliti yang akan mengadakan penelitian lebih
lanjut untuk mengadakan analisis terhadap peran dari tokoh-tokon lain seperti
alasan dari tidak terlihatnya peranan seorang ibu di novel ini. Penggunaan novel
ini juga disarankan untuk materi mengajar. Guru Bahasa Inggris dapat
menggunakan novel ini untuk mengajar materi tentang keterangan cara, waktu,
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
tempat, dan frekwensi, yang fokus pada kemampuan menulis untuk siswa-siswi
SMA kelas X.
Kata Kunci: ordinary, prostitute, prisoner
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Primarily, my deepest gratitude goes to God, who gives me power in going
through this life. I really rely on God when I am in a difficulty and He will give
me the way out. I thank God for everything. I am blessed for everything He has
done in my life.
I am profoundly thankful to my mother, Dra. Dahlia Ginting, who gave
everything that she had for me. She is the best woman I have ever known. She
always supports me whenever I need her support. She always gives me strength
when I am in difficulty. I also want to express my greatest gratitude to my father,
S.P. Manullang, who has shaped me the way I am now. He supported my
education so that I can go to university although it was hard in the beginning. My
special gratitude goes to my beloved brothers, Omri Stevanus and Wowon
Asriel, whose endless support and prayers have kept me going on.
I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Antonius Herujiyanto,
M.A., for his guidance, assistance and useful feedback during the completion of
this thesis. I thank him so much for the great sharing. I always think better after
meeting him. He always opens up my mind when I share my difficulties in doing
this thesis. I also express my sincere appreciation to all PBI’s lecturers and staff
who guided me these past four year and helped me to be able to speak, read, listen
to and write in English.
I would like to thank to my friends, especially Ela and Memey, for the
support, help, togetherness and fresh jokes during my study in PBI. I also thank to
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
my friends, Esther, Vinsen and Mbak Disrekia who always support me to finish
my thesis as soon as possible. My gratitude also goes to Kak May, Romo Anton,
and Sister Margareth for their willingness to be the proofreader of my thesis.
Last but not least, I thank to everyone who helps me and those who fills
my life that I cannot mention here one by one but surely I cannot complete this
thesis without their help and support. What they have done for me is meaningful. I
love them all.
Nita Tifani Manulang
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLEPAGE ................................................................................................
i
APPROVAL PAGES ...................................................................................
ii
DEDICATION PAGE .................................................................................
iv
STATEMENT OF WORK'S ORIGINALITY ...............................................
v
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI................................................
vi
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................
vii
ABSTRAK ..........................................................................................................
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................
x
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................
xii
LIST OF APPENDICES................................................................................
xvi
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the Study ......................................................
1
1.2
Objective of the Study ..........................................................
5
1.3
Problem Formulations ...........................................................
5
1.4
Benefits of the Study .............................................................
6
1.5
Definition of Terms...............................................................
7
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Theoretical Review ..................................................................
9
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approach.............................................
10
2.1.2 Theory of Character ..........................................................
11
2.1.2.1 Definition of Character .........................................
11
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2.1.2.2 Kinds of Character. ...............................................
12
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization ................................................
13
2.1.3.1 Definition of Characterization .............................
13
2.1.4 Theory of Personality .......................................................
16
2.1.5 Psychological Approach… ...............................................
18
2.1.5.1 Theory of Motivation............................................
18
2.1.5.1.1 Kinds of Motivation..............................
19
2.1.5.1.2 The Basic Needs ...................................
21
2.2 The Egyptian Society ..................................................................
24
2.2.1 The Ninth Century in Egypt. ............................................
24
2.2.2 Women in Egypt ...............................................................
26
2.2.2.1 Women and Education..........................................
26
2.2.2.2 Women and Media................................................
27
2.2.2.3 Women and Job. ...................................................
27
2.2.2.4 Women and Political Participant ..........................
28
2.3
Criticism ..................................................................................
29
2.4
Theoretical Frameworks ..........................................................
30
2.5
The Context of the Novel ........................................................
32
2.5.1 The Social Setting in the Novel ........................................
32
2.5.2 The Political Setting of the Writing of the Novel .............
33
2.5.3 The Economical Setting of the Writing of the Novel. ......
34
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CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
3.1 Object of the Study ....................................................................
35
3.2 Approaches of the Study .............................................................
36
3.3 Data Collection ..........................................................................
38
3.4 Method of the Study....................................................................
39
CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS
4.1 The Characteristics of Firdaus ....................................................
41
4.1.1 Smart ...................................................................................
42
4.1.2 Obedient ..............................................................................
44
4.1.3 Selective ..............................................................................
46
4.1.4 Silent ...................................................................................
48
4.1.5 Sexual – pleasure seeking ...................................................
50
4.1.6 Brave ................................................................................... .
52
4.1.7 Tough ..................................................................................
54
4.2 The Three Major Events Experienced by Firdaus.......................
57
4.2.1 The Life Journey as an Ordinary Person. .........................
57
4.2.2 The Life Journey as a Prostitute. ......................................
60
4.2.3 The Life Journey as a Prisoner. ........................................
71
4.2.3.1 The Life Journey as a Prisoner Means What Firdaus has
Done….. .............................................................
72
4.2.3.2 The Life Journey as a Prisoner Means the Life at Point
Zero ...................................................................
xiv
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1. Conclusions..............................................................................
76
5.2. Suggestions ..............................................................................
78
REFERENCES .............................................................................................
81
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Page
Appendix A
Biography of Nawal el Saadawi ............................................
85
Appendix B
Summary of Woman at Point Zero .......................................
89
Appendix C
Lesson Plan ............................................................................
90
Appendix D Learning Material ...................................................................
97
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CHAPTER I
I N T R O D U C TI O N
This first chapter consists of five parts, namely, the background of the
study, the objective of the study, the problem formulations, the benefits of the
study, and the definition of terms. The background of the study gives the
description of the topic and the reason why the topic is chosen in this study. The
objective of the study states the researcher’s aim of writing this thesis. The
problem formulations consist of two questions which generally describe the
problem that will be discussed in this thesis. The benefits of the study give the
explanation of who can get the benefits from the study. The last part is the
definition of terms. In this section, the researcher will give explanations of some
terms that are related to the study to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms.
1.1
Background of the study
The researcher is very interested to read Nawal el Saadawi’s Woman at
Point Zero. The researcher has read Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero more than
three times. The researcher found so many things in this novel. Actually, this
novel opened researcher’s mind. Woman at Point Zero taught the researcher about
the life of women in the Middle East, especially in Egypt. The researcher found it
was quite different from women’s life in the researcher’s country (Hatem, 1992).
The researcher also found this novel was very interesting to read. There were so
many things which are talked here, for example about family, prostitute, violence
and moreover about women, men, life, and power. However, the researcher is
1
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2
very interested in talking about the life which has power and soon will affect the
journey of someone’s life.
Everybody should go through their own life and everybody will have
different journeys of life. God will give the different ways to everyone in how
they begin and end their life. Everybody’s fate is so different. However, the
beginning and the end of life is started and ended at point zero. Why is it zero?
Why is it not one, two, minus one, or minus two? It is because the law of nature.
Zero means neutral or balance (Alpha, 2003). There will be no more burdens, if
human beings are born and die in balance. The burden is only in the journey of
someone’s life. Of course, people have different ways of thinking in how they
enjoy and spend their lives, indeed the men and the women who are so different.
The men and the women are different in many ways. In reality, people can
see that the men are stronger and have a greater authority than the women. The
men are likely to fight other men, whereas the women are said to be closer to each
other. The men are afraid to share their feelings or problems with the women
because it makes them feel mothered, which they equate with being smothered.
The women have gotten courage from feminism, but when the men hear-talk
about feminism and the problems of women in the society they often respond
defensively that the men have their difficulties too (Jung, 1988). Sometimes, this
response is just a way of ignoring the women’s issues and of denying the reality
that the women have suffered terribly in culture. Yet at other times, this response
comes because the men feel that their separate problems also deserve attention.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
3
Montagu says that in many cultures the women are considered lower than
the men, they are creative human beings but not as creative as men (Montagu,
1953: 270). The women in some countries have a better position in society and
equal to the men. Yet, in certain countries like Afghanistan and Egypt, the women
are still considered to have a lower position in society than the men
(Dharmalingam & Morgan, 1996).The women have been shut at home and do the
housework. The patriarchal system does not allow the women do anything outside
the house. Since the men are on the higher rank, the women do not deserve to get
good treatments as the men deserve.
Besides talking about the man and the woman, there are series of events in
this novel which are called plot. All the novelists draw the event with a plot.
Without a plot, there will be no story. A plot is a plan or groundwork of story.
Actually, plot is created based on conflicting human motivations with the actions
resulting from believable and realistic human response. If there is no conflict, the
plot of story will be flat. The readers see the situation that provokes the conflicts,
the development of conflicts from part to part, the continuing of conflicts, the
effect from those conflicts, and then the climax and the last is resolution of the
conflicts.
Conflict in every story is based on human motivation. It is because
everybody has their own motive in what to do or not to do. Petri (1981) says,
"Motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces acting on or within
an organism to initiate and direct behaviour. The concept of motivation is also
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
4
used to explain differences in the diversity of behaviour". It can be said that
everyone has the power in reaching their goal. The more intense the goal, the
higher motivation is needed to achieve the goal.
In this study, the main character which wants to achieve her goal more and
more named Firdaus. Actually in Firdaus' society, it was declared that the
prostitution was contemptible. It means that the woman is not expected to be a
prostitute for any reason. However, Firdaus as the main character in the novel
entitled Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi took place as the best
prostitute who was successful at that time. What made her successful was her
motivation to change her position to be respectable in her life. She had her own
way and goal in achieving it.
Actually, it is so ironic that the prostitution has become the motivation for
a woman to fight against the society and rule; especially in a country which
Moslem is majority. If Firdaus dared to fight the rules, it meant that she even
ignored the power of a society toward its people. She refused to conform to the
society's expectation toward woman and dared to break the society's rule even
though she knew the consequences of refusing it.
In a well-plotted story, everything is related. Each event affects the other
events. It means that a plot shows the causal arrangement of events and actions
within the story. That is why, time is very important in a story not only simply one
thing happens after another but also one thing happens because of another. It is
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
5
response, interaction, opposition, and causation that make a plot out of simple
series of actions.
Writers commonly use established techniques like flashbacks to vary
chronological order in a story. In this case Nawal El Saadawi reversed the readers’
expectation by describing the aftermath of the story in the beginning, then going
back in time to reveal how the characters arrived at that point. Thus, the
researcher will dig up Firdaus’ life journeys from the beginning until the end of
her life as seen in Saadawi’s Woman at point zero.
1.2
Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to analyze the most possible meaning of the
three life journeys as experienced by Firdaus, the main character in Saadawi’s
Woman at Point Zero.
1.3
Problem Formulations
Based on the background, there are two questions which will be discussed
in this study, they are:
1. How are the characteristics of Firdaus described in this novel?
2. How does Firdaus regard the three major events as seen in the novel?
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
6
1.4
Benefits of the Study
All the study of course has benefits. It can be for the researcher, the next
researcher or the reader. By analyzing this novel, the researcher finds out some
benefits there.
First, the benefit of the study is for the researcher. The researcher can take
the benefit like understanding the life journeys experienced by Firdaus and the
meaning of point zero in this novel. By knowing the life journeys, the researcher
develops the understanding of three life journeys experienced by Firdaus.
Meanwhile, by knowing the meaning of point zero, the researcher understands the
meaning of the word zero and the reason of Saadawi used zero from any other
numbers like one, two, minus one, or minus two.
Second, the benefit of the study is for the learning activities. Students need
to be reinforced to write a lot especially for the tenth grade. It is very important in
order to help them to write correctly and creatively. Actually, Saadawi’s Woman
at Point Zero is a good tool for analyzing grammar because it uses daily language.
The novel can be used as the learning material. The English teachers can use this
novel to teach adverb of manner, time, place, and frequency which focus on
writing skill for the tenth grade of Senior High School students.
Finally, this study is also useful for further researchers who want to
analyze literary study, especially Woman at Point Zero. Hopefully, this study can
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
7
be a source to support the analysis. Of course, there are still a lot of things that can
be discussed in this novel, for example about the life journeys of Firdaus.
1.5
Definition of Terms
In this section, the researcher will give a brief explanation about some
terms that will be used in order to make readers understand and avoid
misconception. Some of those terms are:
1.5.1
Meaning
Every experience must have a meaning. Actually, the term meaning is a
familiar word. According to Oxford Dictionary (2000), the term meaning means
that real importance of a feeling or experience (p. 828). Referring to the story, the
word ‘meaning’ means something which is important that expresses a feeling or
experience of somebody. Here, the researcher will find the meaning of Firdaus’
experience.
1.5.2
Life Journey
The story of the novel talked about the life of a woman in Egypt named
Firdaus from the beginning until the end of her life. There are three life journeys
experienced by Firdaus. Here, the meaning of life journey is a journey of life
experienced by Firdaus in her life. It starts from the beginning of her life until she
was sent to a prison and sentenced to death. She should be responsible for what
she had done.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
8
1.5.3 Firdaus
Firdaus is the main character in this novel because this novel talks about
the story of her life. Actually, Firdaus is a tough woman and never regrets what
she has done. She is also ambitious to be treated as equal as a man. Freeman said
that the feminist perspective starts from the premise that “women and men are
constitutionally equal and share the same human capabilities; observed
differences therefore demand a critical analysis of the social institutions that cause
them” (Freeman, 1984: 553). In this study, the writer presents Firdaus’ efforts to
be equal with men. She decides to be a prostitute to gain respect from the society
and to take control over men.
1.5.4 Woman at Point Zero
Woman at Point Zero is Nawal El Saadawi’s novel which is discussed
here. It talks about a woman named Firdaus. Firdaus is the main character in this
novel because Woman at Point Zero talks about the journeys of Firdaus’ life from
the beginning until the end of her life.
1.5.5 Nawal El Saadawi
Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian novelist, doctor and militant writer on
Arab women’s problems and their struggle for liberation. In this story, she is a
researcher who does a research on the personalities of a group of women prisoners
and detainees convicted or accused of various offences in the Qanatir Prison.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of five main parts namely theoretical review, the
Egyptian society, criticism, theoretical framework, and context of the novel. The
first main part is divided into five parts. The first is theory of critical approach.
Second is theory of character then continue with theory of characterization and
theory of personality. The last is psychological approach includes theory of
motivation. The second main part is the Egyptian society including the ninth
century in Egypt; here the readers will see the situation in the ninth century in
Egypt and women in Egypt which focuses on the status of women in Egypt at that
time. The third main part is criticism from other people what they think about
Nawal el Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero. The fourth main part is theoretical
framework that will give some reasons why theories and approach are being used
in this study. The last part is context of the novel which tells about the history at
the time when the novel was written.
2.1
Theoretical Review
This section will review some theories and approach that are considered
relevant to support this study. They are theory of critical approach, theory of
character, theory of characterization, theory of personality and psychological
approach.
9
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
10
2.1.1 Theory of Critical Approach
Theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientifics to use logical
deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypothesis. In A Handbook of Critical
Approach to Literature, Guerin, W. L., Labor, E., Morgan, L., Reesman, J. C., and
Willingham, J. R. (1999) stated that there are 4 critical approaches that we have to
know to put the reader in a position to receive some of the positive esthetical
values. They are:
The traditional approach or most often called new criticism in honour of
its mid-twentieth-century innovators. The new criticism emerged in the midtwentieth century to approach the text formalistically as a separate entity from
extrinsic considerations; this became the dominant concern of scholars (p. 18).
That is why the new criticism insisted that scholars concentrate on the work itself,
on the text, and examining it as an art. The new critics taught people to look at
individual work of art as an organic form, on the work of art as an object.
The second is the formalist approaches means that the study is closelyrelated to the words and their meanings; almost simultaneously people must also
begin to look for structural relationships and patterns. The formalist critic
abandons historical and biographical information and instead focuses on the text
as a discrete object. In the formalist approach, the assumption is that a given
literary experience takes a shape proper to it, or at the least that the shape and the
experience are functions each other (p. 87).
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
11
The next is the psychological approach. The psychological has been one
of the most controversial in the critical approaches to literature and has been
appreciated for many readers. In Psychological approach is also to provide insight
for the thematic and symbolic mysteries of a work of literature and enhance other
readings. These critics seek the possible motives behind the literary work, reading
‘between the lines’ for author’s and characters’ psychological conflicts.
The last is mythological and archetypal approaches. The mythological
approach seeks out the mysterious elements informing certain works that elicit
dramatic and near universal human reactions. Myth critics try to discover how
certain works become “classics” and works that are similar forgotten, while the
psychology approaches examines underlying motivation of behaviour in the
individual. Myth criticism seeks to define symbols that help in making possible
cultural behaviour. Otherwise, Archetypal has the similar motives and themes
found in multiple mythologies and recurrent pattern of imagery. Common
archetypal are the sun, water, colours, the circle, and so on (p. 250).
2.1.2 Theory of Character
2.1.2.1 Definition of Character
A character is one of the important factors in fiction because as the
introduction given by the researcher for the readers. Besides, character is placed in
human situation and really common in human being. Thus, it makes them behave
like actual human being. It means that each character in the literary work is the
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
12
reflection of people in life. By knowing someone's character, people will think
what kind of person he or she is.
According to Abrams (1980), he defines characters as persons presented in
the dramatic or narrative work interpreted by the reader as being endowed with
moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogue)
and what they do (the action). Of course, characters have an important role in a
novel. It could make the story much meaningful and alive because the author
could convey the message of the story to the readers through the characters.
According to Nurgiyantoro, reading a novel means that the readers are faced with
character (1995: 176). That is why, it is very important for the readers to know the
theories of character so that the readers are involved and they can understand the
story. In this study, the character will be discussed is Firdaus.
2.1.2.2 Kinds of Character
There are two kinds of character according to Milligan in The Novel of
English. They are major character and secondary character. The major characters
are those who appear more often in the story than the other characters, while the
secondary characters are those who appear less often in the story (Milligan, 1983:
195). In this study, the major character is Firdaus because she often appears in
every act of the story.
According to Harvey (1965: 45-47), character is divided into three
categories. The first one is protagonist character that undergoes conflicts leading
someone’s attitude along the story. It means that protagonist has many chances to
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
13
appear along the story (p. 45). This character faces various conflicts in the story,
from the beginning until the end of the story. Of course, Firdaus is a protagonist
character because she has many chances to appear along the story.
The second character is background character that can appear individually
or collectively. People usually call it as antagonist character (p. 46). It means that
the character appears just necessarily to become the background for the
protagonist character. Without the antagonist character, there will be no conflicts.
The third is intermediate figure character that appears between the
protagonist and background character. It means that this kind of character is only
needed in certain parts (p. 47). It can be said that figure character sometimes
becomes important only in certain parts, but they become less important in other
parts.
2.1.3 Theory of Characterization
2.1.3.1 Definition of Characterization
Rohrberger and Woods (1971) define characterization as a process an
author uses to create a character (p. 20). According to Holman and Harmon,
(1986) characterization is the creation of imaginary persons in fictions (drama,
novel, short story, or narrative poem), so that they exist for the reader as actual
life. They define three methods of characterization afterwards: firstly, by the
explicit presentation from the author of the character through direct exposition;
secondly, by the presentation of the character in action; and thirdly, by the
representation from within a character (p. 81). The character should be real,
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14
believable, and based on possible variations of human nature so that the readers
are able to identify themselves with the human creatures, to maintain the interest
and concern with the theme of the story (p. 92).
According to Murphy, there are nine ways that are used by an author to
present the characteristics of the character in the novel (Murphy, 1988: 30-38).
Murphy, furthermore, proposed nine ways by which an author is able to make his
characteristics understandable to the readers:
1) Personal description
The author describes someone physical appearance to build the character.
By seeing the physical appearance, the author can describe what the
person looks like.
2) Reactions
It is considering a person's reaction toward some situations or accidents or
events may give the readers some clues to the character. By knowing
someone’s reactions in the certain situation, the reader can recognize what
the characteristic of certain person looks like.
3) Speech
The character is recognized by the readers from what other persons in the
story say. By recognizing the speech of the person in the story, the reader
can guess what the person looks like because it also reflects their
characteristic.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15
4) Thoughts
By knowing what the person is thinking about, the readers will be able to
recognize the person's characteristic. The author can also tell the readers
about different people's thoughts. The readers are led to the mental process
of the character that conveys the ideas.
5) Direct comment
The author can also describe or comment on a person's character directly.
This is actually the clearest description of a character where the reader can
directly draw conclusion on someone's character.
6) Conversation of others
What other people say about the character, it can give some clues to
recognize the character talked about. Generally, reader can recognize the
character through the conversation.
7) Past life
Letting the readers know and learning something about a person's past life
surely can give a clue to shape the person's character. It can be done by
direct comment by the author or through a person's thoughts.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
16
8) Mannerisms
The author can describe a person's traits, habits, and ways of life in order
to tell the readers something about his or her personality. Actually this is
can be considered as the personality of somebody.
9) Presenting the characters as seen by another
The author describes the character through other opinions instead of
describing the character directly.
2.1.4 Theory of Personality
When talking about personality, it refers to the typical ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that make one person different from another. “Personality is
the sum totals of all of the ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that are typical for
that person and make each person different from other individuals” (Lahey, 2009:
405). The second emphasis is the definition of personality is on the term of
difference. Each person’s unique pattern of typical ways of acting, thinking, and
feeling sets him or her apart from another person.
According to Freud’s theory (1945, as cited in Hall and Lindzey, 1965),
the personality is made up of three major systems, the id, the ego, and the
superego. Each of these provinces has its own function, properties, and
components, operating principles, and mechanisms to interact so closely to one
another.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
17
The id is the original system of personality. It is the matrix within which
the ego and the superego are differentiated. The id consists of everything
psychological that is inherited present at birth, including the instincts. The id also
cannot tolerate increases of energy which are experienced as uncomfortable states
of tension. Consequently, when the tension level of the organism is raised, either
as a result of external stimulation or of internally produced excitations, the id
functions in such a manner as to discharge the tension immediately and return the
organism to a comfortably constant and low energy level (p. 32).
The ego comes into the existence because the needs of the organism
require appropriate transactions with the objective world of reality, for example,
the hungry person has to seek, find, and eat food before the tension of hunger can
be eliminated. It means that someone has to learn to differentiate between a
memory image of food and an actual perception of food as exists in the outer
world. Sometimes, the ego is said to be the executive of the personality because it
controls the gateway to action, selects the features of the environment to which it
will respond and decides what instincts will be satisfied and in what manner (p.
33).
The superego is the moral arm of personality. It represents the ideal rather
than the real and strives for perfection rather than pleasure (p. 34). This main
concern is to decide whether something is right or not, so that it can act in
accordance with the moral standards authorized by the agents of society. Actually,
the superego is the internal representative of the traditional values and ideals of
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society as interpreted to the child by their parents, and enforced by means of a
system of rewards and punishments imposed upon the child (p. 34).
2.1.5. Psychological Approach
In this part, the study focuses on discussing some aspects of human
psychology which are related to the discussion in understanding Firdaus’
motivation as the main character in this novel. Through the lens of psychology, it
will be seen the motivation of Firdaus in going through her life by discussing
theory of motivation and basic needs.
2.1.5.1 Theory of Motivation
In general, when people speak about motive, it refers to causes or reasons
that underline a given behaviour. Actually, definition of motivation is not simple.
It may include terms that refer to such diverse states as desires, wishes, plans,
goals, intents, impulses, and purposes. Some of these states imply a deliberate and
calculated process involving reason, whereas others convey a flavour of
spontaneity.
Motivation is the intention, goals, desires, and needs that determine human
and animal behaviour. In other words, motivation is the concept that someone
uses to describe the choice of acting and direct behaviour. According to Reaske
(1966: 41) “motivations are the reason why the characters do what they do. It
means that with motivation, people deal with certain determination to make
decisions in directing one’s behaviour and how to preserve the choices”. Of
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course, everybody has their own achievement in their life and it is usually
different from each other.
Beck (1978) states that motivation is broadly concerned with the
contemporary determinants of choice (direction), persistence, and vigour of goaldirected behaviour (p. 56). It means that motivation is the base of human’s choice
and goal. It is highly related to one’s power in achieving his or her goal.
2.1.5.1.1 Kinds of Motivation
Motivation rouses with any stimulus. Something which is more than a
simple external stimulus is needed to evoke a goal-directed behaviour. Thus, the
concept of motivation based on the combination of external motivational stimuli,
which is called incentives and internal motivational factor, which is called drives.
In other words, motivations have two components: internal and external
incentives. The internal drive actives and orient being toward some goals, whether
external incentive is the goal itself.
According to Huffman, Vernoy and Very (1997: 377) there are two kinds
of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation means
the desire to perform an act for its own sake, for example, someone reads any
literary book by any author for his or her interest, and pleasure, not for his or her
needs to get a reward. The extrinsic motivation means the desire to perform an
action because of external rewards or avoidance of punishment, for example, a
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student studies hard and does all of home works in order to get a reward and a
good grade from her or his teacher.
Reaske (1966) states that “motivations that usually motivate people to act
are hope for reward, love, fear of failure, religious, revenge, greed and jealousy”
(pp. 41-42). First, someone can be motivated by hope for reward such as
happiness and prosperity to him or her. Actually people do this action because of
the existence of reward or present by doing something, for example, Firdaus
cleans under the animal and loads the ass and takes them to the fields in order to
get a piastre from her father. Second, a person can be motivated by his or her love
through doing the actions that she or he likes and love that she or he wants.
Third, people can be motivated by fear of failure. Actually people are
motivated by this action because they do not want to fail in the future, for
example, a student will study diligently to pass the test because he has
experienced failure in the previous test. So, what comes in his mind is how to
prevent the failure by studying diligently. However, sometimes the fear of failure
becomes the fear of punishment. As seen in the example above, maybe the student
is threatened that his parents will punish him if he does not pass the test.
Fourth, religious can motivate someone in their acts. They act out of deep
feelings and convictions that they are acting as God’s direction. Their motivation
is diminished to the extent that they act as they think they are supposed to act.
Fifth, someone also can be motivated by revenge. Someone is motivated by
revenge because of the death of love from their friend or relative. They usually
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lose their own life if necessary, as long as they are able to murder someone who
wronged them.
Sixth, someone can be motivated by greed in their action. It also can be
included in the category hope of reward, for example, Sharifa takes Firdaus as her
child in producing money. The last motivation is jealousy. Jealousy can motivate
person in their action. Jealousy grows human hatred. Of course, jealousy is
defined as human envy which sometime becomes hatred. Actually jealousy really
happens in human life.
2.1.5.1.2 The Basic Needs
Motivation comes from human’s need of something. When people need
something, it becomes their motivation to achieve it whatever the ways they
should take. Maslow says that people conduct an action to fulfil their needs and
develops a motivational theory that emphasizes the striving to reach one’s full
potential as basic to human motivation. He believes that a person should search
for her ultimate goals of behaviour rather than the superficial goals. He said that
man is initially motivated by a series of basic needs. When needs are satisfied, it
moves toward the higher level of the needs (Goble, 1971: 47).
Maslow (1980) proposes a hierarchy of needs to explain the motivational
theory. In his theory, it is called metamotivation which is consisted of
psychological and spiritual needs (metaneeds). The basic of psychological needs
are the needs for security, belongings, and self esteem. Meanwhile the spiritual
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needs are the growth of spiritual needs which are related to spiritual growth and
transcendence of the ego.
The hierarchy of needs is divided into the physiological needs, the safety
needs, the belongingness and love needs, the esteem needs, the cognitive needs,
the aesthetic needs, the self-actualization needs and the self-transcendence needs
(Maslow, 1980).
The first is the physiological or physical needs. The physiological needs
are the fundamental or basic need in this life, such as n