Analysis of Social Conflicts of the Protagonist in Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini, penulis menganalisis sebuah karya sastra dari Paulo
Coelho yang berjudul the Witch of Portobello. Novel ini menggambarkan tentang
seseorang yang berjuang untuk mencapai suatu misi dalam hidup, yang bersikeras
dan senantiasa mempunyai keberanian untuk berjuang dan jujur terhadap diri
sendiri. Dalam perjuangannya, tokoh utama novel ini banyak menghadapi konflikkonflik dengan orang-orang di sekitarnya. Melalui konflik-konflik tersebut, penulis
mengetahui bahwa tidak mudah bagi seseorang untuk mencapai sesuatu, terutama
jika dalam proses pencapaian tersebut, banyak orang yang menentangnya. Pendapat
yang berbeda antara tokoh utama dan masyarakat menjadi pemicu konflik social
dalam novel ini, tetapi ia berhasil menyelesainya misinya karena ia berpegang
teguh pada pendiriannya
Penulis juga menyimpulkan bahwa melalui karya tersebut, pengarang
berhasil memberikan gambaran mengenai seseorang yang mendapatkan kesulitan
dalam mencapai suatu tujuan karena ditentang oleh masyarakat, tetapi karena ia
bersikeras dan berjuang, pada akhirnya ia dapat mencapai apa yang diinginkannya.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................. 3
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................3
Method of Research .......................................................................................... 3
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CONFLICTS OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN PAULO COELHO’S THE WITCH OF THE
PORTOBELLO ................................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ......................................................................15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................18
APPENDICES
Synopsis of the Witch of Portobello .................................................................20
Biography of Paulo Coelho ..............................................................................21
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Paulo Coelho is a famous writer whose works have been translated into 63
languages and over 85 million copies have been sold worldwide. With that
achievement, he is named as the most translated living author and is compared
with Shakespeare as the most translated of the time (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Coelho’s writings are said to be able to enrich the lives of many people, as stated
in Times magazine; “‘His books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of
people.’” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Among all his novels, I am interested in The Witch of Portobello. Paulo
Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello is a unique novel because it is written in the
form of an interview and it has an unusual protagonist: “He has written it as a
series of accounts of individuals, and their first-person interactions with the
unusual protagonist Athena, the witch of Portobello” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
In this novel Coelho presents the life of a woman who is called a witch by people
1
Maranatha Christian University
around her, as indicated by the title The Witch of Portobello. In this novel, Paulo
Coelho also delivers a question to his readers: “How do we find the courage to
always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of whom we are?” (“The
Witch of Portobello”). Besides, this novel contains a topic that has occurred many
times in Coelho’s previous works and is praised as an interesting book; “‘Filled
with Coelho’s recurring themes – spirituality, destiny, freedom – this is a riveting
and inspiring read.’ Belfast Telegraph” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Athena, the protagonist of this novel faces many conflicts in the story,
such as with her family, with the church, and society. I believe that those conflicts
show that the author wants his readers to understand that there is a person who
finds the courage to be different and is persistent to get her true aim of life, even
though the society is against her. At the end of the novel, Athena is said to
manage to get everything that she wants in order to fulfil her true aim of life,
which is to know her true self.
Since conflict is the most prominent element in the story, I am going to
analyse the conflict in connection with the issue Coelho brings up in the novel.
Conflict is “the opposition of person or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction.” (Shaw 91-92). Conflict is divided into three, i.e. social,
psychological & physical conflict (Shaw 91-92). In my thesis, I will specifically
discuss the social conflicts found in the story. Social conflict is a “protagonist’s
struggle against society” (Shaw 91-92). In this novel, the social conflicts become
clearer because the novel is written in a collection of interviews with the people
who are directly or indirectly related to Athena. Moreover, those people give their
2
Maranatha Christian University
opinions about her through their points of view and narrate their experiences with
her, so that the readers will be able to look at Athena’s conflicts more closely.
Statement of the Problems
There are three problems that I am going to analyse:
1. What kind of conflicts can be found in the novel?
2. What is the cause of each conflict?
3. Are the conflicts resolved?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is as follows:
1. To show what kind of conflicts can be found in the novels
2. To show what the cause of each conflict is
3. To show whether the conflicts are resolved
Method of Research
The method I use is library research. I start by reading the novel, The
Witch of Portobello. Then I analyse the novel by using formalism. I take some
references and resources from the Internet and theory books to support my
analysis in writing the thesis. Finally, I draw the conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
I divide the thesis into three chapters. In Chapter One, I present the
3
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Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the
Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization
of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the Analysis of Social Conflicts of the
Protagonist in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. Chapter Three is the
Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which
include the Biography of the Author and the Synopsis of the Novel.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analysed the social conflicts in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of
Portobello I would like to draw some conclusions.
In the first conflict that Athena experiences, she wants to get married and
have a baby at a young age. Her parents, her husband’s parents, and her priest are
against her decision because in their opinion, she is still young and has a long
journey. Athena finally manages to solve the conflict. She persistently makes a
decision to finish her mission in her life, namely to get married and become a
mother and she manages to do that.
In the second conflict, Athena also has a different opinion about getting a
sacrament for a divorcee. While the church keeps the rules not to give divorced
people the sacrament, Athena thinks that she has the right to get the sacrament.
The church is against her, so that she decides to leave the church and find another
god in her own way. At the end of the conflict, Athena manages to find her new
spiritual quest.
15
Maranatha Christian University
In the third social conflict, Athena’s mother has difficulty to accept
Athena’s behaviour to continue her mission. When her mother asks her to live a
normal life, she persistently prefers to lead her own life. In the end, however,
Athena gets what she wants, namely to fulfil her mission to open the way for The
Mother.
The last social conflict in the story is when Athena has a conflict with the
society in Portobello Road, which is partly used as the title of this novel. The
society is against her; everybody tries to stop her in doing her activity. Even
though Athena is not against the law when she praises the Great Mother, she is
against the tradition in the society. Most of the people living in Portobello road are
Christian and they believe that Athena raises what they call satanic cult. They feel
very much disturbed not only by the noise but also by the ceremony and belief
which are against Christianity. Although the conflict remains unsolved because
both she and the society she lives in are determined to keep their own beliefs,
once again by being persistent, Athena manages to get what she wants. Athena
hides herself and fakes her death to save her mission.
After analysing all the social conflicts experienced by Athena, I come to
the conclusion that Athena, who has social conflicts with her family, people
around her, and the society in Portobello Road, is persistent and has the courage to
remain true to herself in reaching her mission in life, and in the end she manages
to get what she wants even though it is hard at the beginning because other people
are against her.
Coelho makes the readers see the conflicts closely through several
16
Maranatha Christian University
different points of view. By creating the social conflicts between Athena and
society, Coelho wants to depict the problems that really exist in modern society,
and I think he succeeds in making a question in the readers’ minds, namely “how
do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves – even if we are unsure of
whom we are?” (“The Witch of Portobello”). Athena, who has to face a lot of
conflicts, bravely sticks to what she believes in and to what she wants until the
very end.
After reading the novel, I learn about a person who faces obstacles in
reaching her mission but always has the courage to finish her mission no matter
what people say and do to her. I believe that she can solve her conflicts and get
what she wants because she is persistent. From Athena’s life, I learn that I have to
fight for the things I believe. I learn that there is nothing impossible for me to
achieve as long as I keep being persistent. I also learn that I have to remain true to
myself in order to get what I want.
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text:
Coelho, Paulo. The Witch of Portobello. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.
References:
“Biography”. Official Site Paulo Coelho. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
“Biography of Paulo Coelho (1947-)”. Gradesaver. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
Coelho, Paulo. “The Witch of Portobello”. Goodreads. 2010. Web. 13 May 2010.
Paulo Coelho. Wikipedia. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
“Paulo Coelho answers questions on The Witch of Portobello”. Paulo Coelho
Q&A. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
“Reviews The Witch of Portobello”. Sant Jordi Asociados. 2010. Web. 22 Apr.
2010.
Rosenbaum, Danny. “Paulo Coelho's Biography”. Biogs.Com. 2010. Web. 22
Apr. 2010.
Rufle, Lisa. “Review: The Witch of Portobello”. Suite101.com. 2011. Web. 7
Mar. 2011.
Shaw, Harry. “Dictionary of Literary Terms”. USA: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1972.
18
Maranatha Christian University
Print.
“The Witch of Portobello”. HarperCollinsPublishers. 2007. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.
“The Witch of Portobello”. Shvoong.com. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam tugas akhir ini, penulis menganalisis sebuah karya sastra dari Paulo
Coelho yang berjudul the Witch of Portobello. Novel ini menggambarkan tentang
seseorang yang berjuang untuk mencapai suatu misi dalam hidup, yang bersikeras
dan senantiasa mempunyai keberanian untuk berjuang dan jujur terhadap diri
sendiri. Dalam perjuangannya, tokoh utama novel ini banyak menghadapi konflikkonflik dengan orang-orang di sekitarnya. Melalui konflik-konflik tersebut, penulis
mengetahui bahwa tidak mudah bagi seseorang untuk mencapai sesuatu, terutama
jika dalam proses pencapaian tersebut, banyak orang yang menentangnya. Pendapat
yang berbeda antara tokoh utama dan masyarakat menjadi pemicu konflik social
dalam novel ini, tetapi ia berhasil menyelesainya misinya karena ia berpegang
teguh pada pendiriannya
Penulis juga menyimpulkan bahwa melalui karya tersebut, pengarang
berhasil memberikan gambaran mengenai seseorang yang mendapatkan kesulitan
dalam mencapai suatu tujuan karena ditentang oleh masyarakat, tetapi karena ia
bersikeras dan berjuang, pada akhirnya ia dapat mencapai apa yang diinginkannya.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................. 3
Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................3
Method of Research .......................................................................................... 3
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL CONFLICTS OF THE
PROTAGONIST IN PAULO COELHO’S THE WITCH OF THE
PORTOBELLO ................................................................................................ 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ......................................................................15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................18
APPENDICES
Synopsis of the Witch of Portobello .................................................................20
Biography of Paulo Coelho ..............................................................................21
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Paulo Coelho is a famous writer whose works have been translated into 63
languages and over 85 million copies have been sold worldwide. With that
achievement, he is named as the most translated living author and is compared
with Shakespeare as the most translated of the time (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Coelho’s writings are said to be able to enrich the lives of many people, as stated
in Times magazine; “‘His books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of
people.’” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Among all his novels, I am interested in The Witch of Portobello. Paulo
Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello is a unique novel because it is written in the
form of an interview and it has an unusual protagonist: “He has written it as a
series of accounts of individuals, and their first-person interactions with the
unusual protagonist Athena, the witch of Portobello” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
In this novel Coelho presents the life of a woman who is called a witch by people
1
Maranatha Christian University
around her, as indicated by the title The Witch of Portobello. In this novel, Paulo
Coelho also delivers a question to his readers: “How do we find the courage to
always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of whom we are?” (“The
Witch of Portobello”). Besides, this novel contains a topic that has occurred many
times in Coelho’s previous works and is praised as an interesting book; “‘Filled
with Coelho’s recurring themes – spirituality, destiny, freedom – this is a riveting
and inspiring read.’ Belfast Telegraph” (“The Witch of Portobello”).
Athena, the protagonist of this novel faces many conflicts in the story,
such as with her family, with the church, and society. I believe that those conflicts
show that the author wants his readers to understand that there is a person who
finds the courage to be different and is persistent to get her true aim of life, even
though the society is against her. At the end of the novel, Athena is said to
manage to get everything that she wants in order to fulfil her true aim of life,
which is to know her true self.
Since conflict is the most prominent element in the story, I am going to
analyse the conflict in connection with the issue Coelho brings up in the novel.
Conflict is “the opposition of person or forces upon which the action depends in
drama and fiction.” (Shaw 91-92). Conflict is divided into three, i.e. social,
psychological & physical conflict (Shaw 91-92). In my thesis, I will specifically
discuss the social conflicts found in the story. Social conflict is a “protagonist’s
struggle against society” (Shaw 91-92). In this novel, the social conflicts become
clearer because the novel is written in a collection of interviews with the people
who are directly or indirectly related to Athena. Moreover, those people give their
2
Maranatha Christian University
opinions about her through their points of view and narrate their experiences with
her, so that the readers will be able to look at Athena’s conflicts more closely.
Statement of the Problems
There are three problems that I am going to analyse:
1. What kind of conflicts can be found in the novel?
2. What is the cause of each conflict?
3. Are the conflicts resolved?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is as follows:
1. To show what kind of conflicts can be found in the novels
2. To show what the cause of each conflict is
3. To show whether the conflicts are resolved
Method of Research
The method I use is library research. I start by reading the novel, The
Witch of Portobello. Then I analyse the novel by using formalism. I take some
references and resources from the Internet and theory books to support my
analysis in writing the thesis. Finally, I draw the conclusion from my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
I divide the thesis into three chapters. In Chapter One, I present the
3
Maranatha Christian University
Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the
Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization
of the Thesis. Chapter Two contains the Analysis of Social Conflicts of the
Protagonist in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of Portobello. Chapter Three is the
Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which
include the Biography of the Author and the Synopsis of the Novel.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
Having analysed the social conflicts in Paulo Coelho’s The Witch of
Portobello I would like to draw some conclusions.
In the first conflict that Athena experiences, she wants to get married and
have a baby at a young age. Her parents, her husband’s parents, and her priest are
against her decision because in their opinion, she is still young and has a long
journey. Athena finally manages to solve the conflict. She persistently makes a
decision to finish her mission in her life, namely to get married and become a
mother and she manages to do that.
In the second conflict, Athena also has a different opinion about getting a
sacrament for a divorcee. While the church keeps the rules not to give divorced
people the sacrament, Athena thinks that she has the right to get the sacrament.
The church is against her, so that she decides to leave the church and find another
god in her own way. At the end of the conflict, Athena manages to find her new
spiritual quest.
15
Maranatha Christian University
In the third social conflict, Athena’s mother has difficulty to accept
Athena’s behaviour to continue her mission. When her mother asks her to live a
normal life, she persistently prefers to lead her own life. In the end, however,
Athena gets what she wants, namely to fulfil her mission to open the way for The
Mother.
The last social conflict in the story is when Athena has a conflict with the
society in Portobello Road, which is partly used as the title of this novel. The
society is against her; everybody tries to stop her in doing her activity. Even
though Athena is not against the law when she praises the Great Mother, she is
against the tradition in the society. Most of the people living in Portobello road are
Christian and they believe that Athena raises what they call satanic cult. They feel
very much disturbed not only by the noise but also by the ceremony and belief
which are against Christianity. Although the conflict remains unsolved because
both she and the society she lives in are determined to keep their own beliefs,
once again by being persistent, Athena manages to get what she wants. Athena
hides herself and fakes her death to save her mission.
After analysing all the social conflicts experienced by Athena, I come to
the conclusion that Athena, who has social conflicts with her family, people
around her, and the society in Portobello Road, is persistent and has the courage to
remain true to herself in reaching her mission in life, and in the end she manages
to get what she wants even though it is hard at the beginning because other people
are against her.
Coelho makes the readers see the conflicts closely through several
16
Maranatha Christian University
different points of view. By creating the social conflicts between Athena and
society, Coelho wants to depict the problems that really exist in modern society,
and I think he succeeds in making a question in the readers’ minds, namely “how
do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves – even if we are unsure of
whom we are?” (“The Witch of Portobello”). Athena, who has to face a lot of
conflicts, bravely sticks to what she believes in and to what she wants until the
very end.
After reading the novel, I learn about a person who faces obstacles in
reaching her mission but always has the courage to finish her mission no matter
what people say and do to her. I believe that she can solve her conflicts and get
what she wants because she is persistent. From Athena’s life, I learn that I have to
fight for the things I believe. I learn that there is nothing impossible for me to
achieve as long as I keep being persistent. I also learn that I have to remain true to
myself in order to get what I want.
17
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text:
Coelho, Paulo. The Witch of Portobello. New York: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.
References:
“Biography”. Official Site Paulo Coelho. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
“Biography of Paulo Coelho (1947-)”. Gradesaver. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
Coelho, Paulo. “The Witch of Portobello”. Goodreads. 2010. Web. 13 May 2010.
Paulo Coelho. Wikipedia. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
“Paulo Coelho answers questions on The Witch of Portobello”. Paulo Coelho
Q&A. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
“Reviews The Witch of Portobello”. Sant Jordi Asociados. 2010. Web. 22 Apr.
2010.
Rosenbaum, Danny. “Paulo Coelho's Biography”. Biogs.Com. 2010. Web. 22
Apr. 2010.
Rufle, Lisa. “Review: The Witch of Portobello”. Suite101.com. 2011. Web. 7
Mar. 2011.
Shaw, Harry. “Dictionary of Literary Terms”. USA: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1972.
18
Maranatha Christian University
Print.
“The Witch of Portobello”. HarperCollinsPublishers. 2007. Web. 23 Sept. 2013.
“The Witch of Portobello”. Shvoong.com. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
19
Maranatha Christian University