THE ROLE OF SECONDARY CHARACTERS IN THE FINDING OF THE PERSONAL IDENTITY OF THE MAJOR CHARACTER IN TONI MORRISON’S SONG OF SOLOMON
THE ROLE OF SECONDARY CHARACTERS IN THE
FINDING OF THE PERSONAL IDENTITY OF THE MAJOR
CHARACTER IN TONI MORRISON’S SONG OF SOLOMON
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DANNY YULYANTO
Student Number: 044214071
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
THE ROLE OF SECONDARY CHARACTERS IN THE
FINDING OF THE PERSONAL IDENTITY OF THE MAJOR
CHARACTER IN TONI MORRISON’S SONG OF SOLOMON
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
DANNY YULYANTO
Student Number: 044214071
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I am so grateful to Allah for his love. He has given me all wonderful years in my life. He always walks besides me through the good and bad times.
With the charity, I have experienced a wonderful life.
I would like to express my gratitude to my major sponsor Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M. Hum. for his guidance in accomplishing this paper. I thank all the lectures of English Letters Study Program of Sanata Dharma University for sharing their knowledge during my study. To all of the secretariat staff, I thank them so much for helping me in everything to finish this paper.
My ultimate gratitude is expressed to my dearest parents, Sukirno and Monica Listiani, my mother in-law, Cici Sucati. I thank them for their endless love. I thank to my father, who always gives me support, jokes when I sad, and million advices. To my beloved brothers, I thank them being good models for me.
To all my friends of English Letters, I thank them for being my friends during my study. I really appreciate every precious moment that we have shared together in this university.
I am also grateful to every people who always support me when I am down and have been there for me. I dedicate this thesis to them to express my thanks.
Finally, I would like to express my special gratitude to Amalia Wahyu Arumsari, my beloved wife, who always accompanies me wherever I go. I thank her for accepting me as what I am.
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE .......................................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ..................................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................... iii APPROVAL PRONOUNCEMENT PAGE OF THESIS PUBLICATION FOR ACADEMIC CONCERN ..................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................. vii ABSTRAK ................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1 A. Background of Study ..............................................................
1 B. Problem Formulation ...............................................................
3 C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................
4 D. Definition Terms ......................................................................
4 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ..............................................
6 A. Review of Related Studies ........................................................
6 B. Review of Related Theories .....................................................
7 1. The Theory of Character and Characterization ....................
8 a. The Meaning of Character ...............................................
8 b. The Types of Character ...................................................
9 c. The Meaning of Characterization ....................................
11 d. Ways to Create Character Based on Characterization .....
12 2. Theory of Psychology ..........................................................
15 a. Theory of Personality ......................................................
16 b. Theory of Personality Development ...............................
17 c. Theory of Personality Identity .........................................
19 C. Theoretical Framework ............................................................
22 CHAPTER III: METODHOLOGY .......................................................... 24 A. Objects of the Study .................................................................
24 B. Approach of the Study ..............................................................
24 C. Method of the Study ..................................................................
28 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ........................................................................ 26
A. The Description of the Secondary Characters and the Major Character...................................................................
28 B. The Role of the Secondary Characters in the Finding of Major Character’s Personal Identity ...................................................
57 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION .................................................................. 74
ABSTRACT
Danny Yulyanto (2011). The Role of Secondary Characters in the Finding of
the Personal Identity of the Major Character In Toni Morrison’s Song Of
Solomon. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University.
This thesis is concerned with Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. It is an interesting novel since it presents the process of a Negro to find his personal identity. The writer finds out that the major character is a complex character that has confusion in determining his life purpose and identity. He has been enlightened from some people around him that make him understand how to find his true self identity.
There are two problems related to the topic of the thesis. The first one is how does Toni Morrison describe the secondary characters, Pilate Dead and Guitar Bains, Macon Dead and the major character, Milkman Dead? The second one is what is the role of secondary characters in the finding of major character’s personal identity?
In order to answer the problems, the writer adopt the theory of character, the theory of characterization and the theory of psychology, especially theory of personality development by Pikunas and theory of personal identity by Erikson.
Based on the analysis, the writer finds that the finding of Milkman’s personal identity as a generation of legendary Solomon (a negro who flew back to Africa in order to escape the slave plantation life) is greatly helped by the role of secondary characters. First of all, from his aunt, Pilate Dead, he learns about how to be a wise negro. She gives many learning of life that teach Milkman can determine his next step to make his life better. Second, his friends teaches him what it means to be a fanatic negro. He gives many knowledge about negro to Milkman, that Milkman know the culture, problem, and history of negro in his place. The last secondary character is his Father, Macon Dead. The materialistic character of his father, bring Milkman find the roots of his ancestor which later is used by Milkman as a reference in the finding of his personal identity.
ABSTRAK
Danny Yulyanto (2011). The Role of the Secondary Characters in the Finding
of the Personal Identity of The Major Character In Toni Morrison’s Song of
Solomon. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University.
Skripsi ini membahas tentang novel Song Of Solomon yang dikarang oleh Toni Morrison. Novel ini menarik karena menceritakan proses seorang negro dalam menemukan identitas pribadi. Penulis menemukan bahwa tokoh utama adalah tokoh kompleks yang memiliki kebingungan dalam menentukan tujuan hidupnya dan identitasnya. Dia tercerahkan dari beberapa orang di sekelilingnya yang membuat dia memahami bagaimana menemukan identitas pribadi.
Ada dua masalah yang berkaitan dengan topik skripsi. Pertama adalah bagaimana Toni Morrison menggambarkan karakter kedua, Pilate Dead dan Guitar Bains, Macon Dead dan tokoh utama, Milkman Dead? Dan yang kedua adalah apakah peran tokoh - tokoh kedua dalam menemukan identitas pribadi karakter utama?
Untuk menjawab masalah itu, penulis mengambil teori karakter, teori penokohan dan teori psikologi, khususnya teori perkembangan kepribadian Pikunas dan teori identitas pribadi Erikson.
Berdasarkan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa penemuan identitas pribadi Milkman sebagai generasi legenda Solomon (seorang negro yang terbang kembali ke Afrika untuk menghindari kehidupan perbudakan) sangat dibantu oleh peran karakter kedua. Pertama dari bibinya; Pilate Dead, dia mempelajari bagaimana menjadi seorang negro yang bijaksana. Dia memberikan banyak pembelajaran hidup yang membuat Milkman dapat menentukan langkah selanjutnya untuk membuat hidupnya lebih baik. Kedua, peran temannya; Guitar Bains mengajarinya apakah seorang negro fanatik itu. Dia memberikan banyak pengetahuan tentang negro untuk Milkman, yang membawa Milkman mengerti budaya, masalah, dan sejarah negro di tempatnya. Karakter sekunder terakhir adalah ayahnya, Macon Dead. Karakter materialistis ayahnya, membawa Milkman menemukan asal-usul nenek moyangnya yang kemudian digunakan oleh Milkman sebagai acuan dalam menemukan identitas pribadinya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study According to Aristotle in his book, Philosophy of Aristotle, the individual
is a single and independent substance (1963: 231). Since they live in different condition and situation, the independent substance gradually diminishes. Through what they learn from experiences that sometime they find confusing condition, the independent substance reappears and they try to find his or her personal identity.
To find his or her personal identity, they need to develop his or her character according to the environment where he or she lives.
Through environment, the other people have an important role in the finding of someone’s personal identity which is brought by their characters. Most people's characters and personalities can be formed in their families supported by parents, brothers, sisters, and relatives. There are two factors that determine the development of one's personality, namely individual's early experience within family and the important events happening outside home (Hurlock, 1974: 19-20).
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that someone's character is determined by the existence of correlation between family and surroundings role.
According to Roberts and Jacobs (1969: 61), in accordance with the idea of verisimilitude or imitation, therefore, everything in fiction is related in one way or another to the reality of everyday life. Since a novel is often inspired by real life, there are some values that give us lessons about life too. The reader can get the message from the author that he or she puts forward through the story. The reader also can get the good example from a character in the novel. The character usually is created to convey the author's ideas and views through his/her work and actions.
The changing of character’s life inside the novel can be brought up by a plot. As the characters are derived from real life, there are actions to define their personalities. Here, plot is a plan of development of the action, in which a personality of the character is built. The art of characterization which reflects the personalities of its character will unify the plot and engage the readers. Song of
Solomon is one of a novel that can give more pleasure, emotionally, to the readers.
It presents Toni Morrison's ideas that are reflected through the characters.
Morrison is one of American novelists who have interesting characters in her novel. She presents the accuracy of the reflection on life and imaginative creation through her novel. It makes every reader identify themselves with the character of the novel. It may lead into an understanding of the ideas in the process of finding personal identity of the major character.
Song of Solomon is about Milkman Dead, a negro and an immature boy at
beginning of the story. He is the major character of the novel. He alienates and estranges himself from his family, his community, and his historical and cultural roots. With the role of his aunt and friend, he embarks on a physical and spiritual journey to find his cultural identity reconnecting him with his past and make him to realize his personal identity. Pilate, Milkman Dead's aunt, one of secondary characters, is a wise nigger. Her wisdom brings Milkman to maturity. Guitar,
Milkman Dead's best friend, another secondary character, is a friend that his life contradicts with Milkman's life. Later, he is a friend who gives a motivation toward Milkman's spiritual growth to reach his freedom and gives knowledge of the other negro types. During the time of Milkman's journey to find his personal identity, there is one interesting feature that focuses the development of Milkman. At first it is shown that he is very dependent upon his wealthy, materialistic father. Then, the role of Pilate and Guitar are shown in the finding of Milkman’s personal identity. They are shown in Milkman's maturation into a more independent and responsible person. Milkman's ability in making his own decision and his willingness to leave his materialism and try to find his personal identity suggests that he has been influenced by the role of Pilate Dead identity as a good negro, the other types of negro in Guitar Bains as fanatic negro and his friend, the materialistic and the oppression of his father.
Seeing the fact above, it is relevant to focus this study on the role of the secondary characters, Pilate,Guitar and Macon Dead, in the finding of personal identity of the major character in Morrison's Song of Solomon.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study above, there are two questions to answer in this study
1. How does Toni Morrison describe the secondary characters, Pilate Dead and Guitar Bains, Macon Dead and the major character, Milkman Dead?
2. What is the role of secondary characters in the finding of major character’s personal identity?
C. Objectives of the Study
Based on the problem formulation stated previously, the first objective is to find out how the Secondary characters and the major characters in the Song of
Solomon are described. It tries to find out detailed description of Pilate Dead,
Milkman's aunt; Guitar Bains, Milkman's best friend; Macon Dead, Milkman’s Father and the major character, Milkman Dead, in Morrison's novel. The second objective is to study the role of the secondary characters in Toni Morrison's Song
of Solomon that lead Milkman to find his personal identity during the course of
the story.D. Definition Terms
There are two terms which must be clarified in this thesis. These terms are:
1. Character Character is “the person in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say -the dialogue- and what they do -the action” (Abrams, 1981: 21). So, the character is the person who is created by an author with certain qualities.
2. Identity Identity may be defined as the distinctive character belonging to any given individual, or shared by all members of a particular social or group. The terms comes from the French word identite which finds its linguistic roots in the Latin noun identitas, -tatis, itself a derivation of the Latin adjective idem meaning “the same”. The term is thus essentially comparative in nature, as it empashizes the sharing a degree of sameness or oneness with others in a particular area or on a given point. “Identity” may be distinguished from “identification” the former is a label whereas the latter refers to the classifying itself. Identity is thus best construed as being both relational and contextual, while the act identification is best viewed as inherently processual (Rummens 1993: 157-159).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter consists of three parts, namely the review of related studies,
review of related theories, and theoretical framework. The second part is review of related theories. It discusses the theory of literature, theory of psychology. The theory of literature involves theory of character and characterization. Theory psychology covers theory of personality, theory of personality development, and theory of personal identity.
A. Review of Related Studies
There are many works discussing about the object of this thesis, the work of Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon. The theories and other work discussing the novel studied are very helpful for the writer to do this study.
Reynolds Price in his article (www.nytimes.com) stated that Song of Solomon is a novel which gives the basically realistic mode of most family novels.
It negotiates with fantasy, fable, song and allegory are so organic, continuous and unpredictable as to make any summary of its plot sound absurd; but absurdity is neither Morrison's strategy nor purpose. Morrison's purpose in her work of Song
of Solomon is discovering convictions about the possibility of transcendence
within human life, on the time-scale of a single life.(http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/12/specials/price-morrison.html?_r=1).
Through Song of Solomon, Morrison give many themes and symbolism in the negro culture. Sometimes it can be understood by re- reading the novel to make sense of them. In the website that contains about book review (www.caribousmom), said that the novel is about discovery of one’s roots, and the
painful search for love. And another theme in the novel is that of racism and the struggle of blacks in American to overcome the history of slavery. It is also said that Morrison’s books were often difficult reads with weighty themes, but it writes
beautifully and is a superb storyteller.
( http://www.caribousmom.com/2008/02/26/song-of-solomon-book-review/) Further, Wilentz in African-American review (1992: 61) gave the positive
comment and said that “although Morrison wrote her master’s thesis on Faulkner and has acknowledged influence by Marquez and other Latin American writers, Morrison’s writing are deeply entrenched in her own Black folks roots and the community in which she grew up. Moreover, her text is informed by her mother’s stories, her tribe, and her ancestors – African and African-American.”
From the statement above the writer position in this thesis is to explore
more deeply about Tom Morrison’s works, especially Song of Solomon. The Writer deliberately picks the topic of identity in major character, in which it is rarely discuss in any book or other works.B. Review of Related Theories
In this part, I present some theories related to my study in analyzing the book Song of Solomon by Tom Morrison. Those theories are theory of literature involving the theory of character, theory of characterization, some theories psychology covering theory of personality and theory of influence, and the last theory is the theory of critical approach.
1. The Theory of Character and Characterization
To find the types of character in the novel, it is relevant to state the theory of character and characterization. The theory of character covers three discussions. Those are the meaning of character, the types of character, and the meaning of characterization, and the ways to create character based on characterization.
a. The Meaning of Character
In the writing of a story, a writer has a freedom and authority to determine the problems faced by a character and character's personality. Rohberger and Woods (1971: 20) explain that “characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other characters.” In literature, a character is an important element in a story because it can draw the reader's interest. Rohberger and Woods (1971: 19) state that characters have an important role in a story since they help the readers to participate in the experience or the story by sharing imaginatively the feelings or activities of the characters in the story. In other words, a reader can feel what is felt by a character in a story.
A character in a story can be described by reader's own. Robert and Jacobs (1969: 143) states in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, that
“Character in literature generally and fiction specifically, is an extended verbal representation of human being, the inner self determines thought, speech, and behavior.” Thus the reader can interpret characters as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say or from their dialogue and also their actions.
To understand Tom Morisson's view of the characters in the novel, it is important to pay attention on the theory and meaning of character. According to Abrams (1981: 21) says that characters are the person's, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say -the dialogue and what they do -the action”. In this case, a character can be analyzed through what the character says and does.
b. The Types of Character
Since this study emphasizes on the development of the major character, Macon Dead, in Tom Morrison's Song of Solomon, we need to know types of characters in a novel. Henkle (1977: 87-97) differentiates character into two types, namely major character and secondary character. Major character are the most important and complex characters in a novel used by the authors in order to communicate their human qualities and guide us to an understanding of the themes of the novel. In secondary characters, the readers have to identify some of he secondary character's function if he wants to understand the role of secondary characters. There are some functions of the secondary characters. The first function is to inhabit the world in the novel. Second, the character is said to function as a 'point reference' if he has greater intensity. When he undergoes the emotional state as the major character or takes a part in a situation which parallels to that of the major's one's, his functions as an 'analogue'.
In order to understand more deeply about characters, Forster (1974: 46-51) divides characters into two kinds. They are flat and round character. A flat character is created around a single idea or quality. It is also characterized only one by one or two traits. The character remains stable and unchanged from the beginning to the end of the story. The advantages of a flat character are, first, he is easily recognized by reader's emotional eye, and second, a flat character is easily remembered by the reader. The character will remain the same and the circumstances are not likely to change the character. In the reader's mind, the character stays unalterable. Meanwhile, a round character is dynamic and complex in temperament and motivation. A round character is hard to classify because the character is always changing and hard to guess. The character changes in some significant ways in facing his or her conflict in a story because the change of a character is also influenced by conflict in a story. The reader can remember him in connection with the great scenes by which he is modified since he passes through them.
Round character can change or develop according to certain actions. Also, the character can keep still, change, or develop in the same manner as human being. It is better to analyze the flatness or roundness of a character physically or psychology to our knowledge or our experience.
In additional, Perrine classifies fictional characters into static and dynamic. Static characters are characters that change little in their outlook or personalities during the course of the story. They remain stable and they are the same sort of persons at the end of story as the beginning. They are described without much detail and they are not changed by circumstances. On the other hand dynamic characters are characters that undergo changes in some aspect of their characters, personalities or outlook from the beginning to the end of the story. The change could be better or worse and may be a larger or small one, but it is something important and basic, and more than a minor change in opinion (Perrine, 1974: 71)
Perrine’s classification clears away the explanation of characters in a story. The analyst might not merely view the character only as static character. A character may have a possibility to have some changes in some ways while the changes may influence the story a lot.
c. The Meaning of Characterization There are many theories of characterization in the literary world.
Characterization is the process that the author takes to create character, the devices by which he makes us believe that a character is the particular type of person he is (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 180). The character will react based on his ability to overcome the difficulty in that situation. The process of characterizing or establishing the distinctive characters of the persons in narrative are through showing and telling (Abrams, 1993: 24). Therefore, there are ways to find out the type of the a character inside the novel.
d. Ways to Create Character Based on Characterization
There are many ways to understand a character based on its characterization. Murphy (1972: 161-173) points out some ways in which an author attempts to make his characters understandable and come alive for his readers. They are as follows:
1. Personal Description In this way, the author introduces and describes a character from outward appearance, including his physical appearance and clothing. The character's build, his skin-color, his hair, and his coat show what sort of person he is.
2. Characters as Seen by Another This method deals with the description of a character through the eyes and opinions of another. Here, the author describes the character indirectly. The author's choice of words delivered by other characters play a significant role.
3. Speech The author gives an insight into the character of the person through what the person says. Whenever person speaks, engages on conversation or gives an opinion, this person gives the readers some clues to his character.
4. Past Life Character's past life sometimes shows the reader some important clues in order to know about his character. This method can be conducted through direct comment from the author, through the person's thought, and through the medium of another person.
5. Conversation of Others The author describes a person's character with the help of the other people's conversation and opinions made about him.
6. Reaction The author describes a person’s character through his particular reaction towards conflicts, occasions, and situations. By knowing the way the character passes through his reactions toward situations and occasions, the reader can gain an understanding of the character’s personality.
7. Direct Comment The author gives comment on the character’s personality directly.
8. Thought The author helps the reader gain an understanding of different people’s thinking in the sense that what the reader might think impossible is very likely to happen on the world of the novel.
9. Mannerism The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits and also behavior either positive or negative which tell us something about the reflection of his personality.
Based on the theory mentioned above, the characteristic of a main or supporting character can be observed and analyzed thoroughly. There are several ways for the writer to characterize the characters and the ways provide the analyst to examine the content of the novel in proper way to gain a description of a certain character.
Perrine states that characterization could be presented in two ways:
1. Direct Presentation The author who chooses direct presentation simply tells readers about the characters in the story. He tells the quality of the characters in exposition or analysis or has someone else in the story who tells us what they are like so that the readers can understand the character directly. However this method cannot be used alone: it needs to be supported by the indirect presentation, so that it will be more convincing (1974: 69).
2. Indirect Presentation The author shows the readers the character in the action and tells the readers what they are like from what they think, say and do. The author presents the characters indirectly through the way they are acting and talking. From this, the readers may infer their qualities from what they say, think, and do (1974: 69).
The presentations from Perrine help the analyst to have a better understanding toward the characters. The connection to the former theory, also from Perrine about static and dynamic characters, prevents a wrong perception to the analyst about the characters. The changes of the character that may happen in a story can be explained either directly or indirectly by the author.
In Reading and Writing about Literature (1974: 21), Rohrberger and Wood say that there are two principle ways by which an author characterizes their characters:
1. Direct Method An author uses the direct method to describe the characters’ physical appearance and also to describe their intellectual and moral attributes or to explain the degree of the character’s sensibility. This description is based on the author’s point of view.
2. Dramatic Method Instead of describing the character directly, an author uses the dramatic method to describe the character by placing him or her in situations to show what he or she is like from the way he or she behaves or speaks. This description is drawn based on the character’s eyes and opinions.
The methods mentioned by Rohrberger and Woods give more explanation about characterizations. The theory of Rohberger and Woods and the theory of Perrine have a similarity to explain characterizations. However, the theory from Rohrberger and Woods adds another side of view to analyze. The theory that mentions two different points of view which are the author’s point of view and the character’s point of view help a lot in analyzing the characterization.
2. Theory of Psychology Novel reflects life. From it, people can learn something about life itself.
They can also learn about themselves, in every aspect they live. People can also learn the way others behave, act, and what lies under them. It deals with the way people think and presented in the story as a whole. It deals with psychology. Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon also deals with psychology. To understand its deeper meaning, the theory of psychology needs to be considered in this study. Moreover, this study will review psychological aspect on its main character, Milkman Dead. The psychological theory covers three theories. These are theory of personality, theory of personality development, and theory of personal identity.
a. Theory of Personality
Personality is a subject matter of psychology which is about one does, thinks and feels as one goes about his or her everyday life. Each individual personality is unique so that it makes an individual different with others. Mischel (1981: 2) says, personality usually refers to the distinctive patterns of behavior (including thought and emotions) that character each individual’s adaptation to the situation of his or her life.” Not only is one’s personality unique, but also it is changeable, meaning that it changes overtime. Byrne and Kelley (1981: 87) consider one’s personality as a dynamic process for it can change throughout one’s life. Further, they state that personality change can occur when there is a condition that leads to new emotional, informational, or imaginative responses (1981: 533). The earliest years of life are important to form the basis for an adult personality. However, there is no final personality. It is because later experiences can modify the effects of the early experiences. Moreover, Byrne and Kelley (1981: 523) point out that when and individual is faced to new facts, there may be dramatic changes in the info-belief system, new experiences, and perhaps new emotional responses and attitude as well.
According to Hurlock (1974: 19) an individual’s personality pattern is the product of learning during the course of social relationships with people both within and outside his home. Furthermore, she describes that there are three major factors, which determine the development of one’s personality pattern. The first is the individual’s hereditary endowment, the second is early experiences within one’s family, and the third are important events outside one’s home environment.
Thus, one’s personality pattern is not product of learning exclusively or hereditary exclusively. However, it comes from an interaction of the two. In other words, behavior learned in childhood may later be changed by direct training or by altering one’s environment.
Sullivan (1981: 64), an American Psychiatrist, views personality as a verbal and believes that human behavior is determined largely by interpersonal interactions. This means that an individual will learn to behave as a result of interactions with people. He states that personality is not set at early age because it may change at any time as new interpersonal situations arise. Personality manifests when the person interacts, do not need to be present but they can just illusory or nonexistent figures. Sullivan (1981: 64) points out that one’s habits, dreams, hopes, fears, and other psychological processes are interpersonal in character.
b. Theory of Personality Development
Hurlock (1974: 7) states in Personality Development, that personality can change. The development can be done in the individual’s physical and psychological characteristics. And when the process of developing deals with the patterning one’s self concept, habits, attitudes, emotional, states, and motivates; it
Each person’s personality changes and develops into more stable as many experiences they have got. Mischel (1981: 4) states “personality psychologists study how people develop and change, as well as how they remain stable throughout the course of life”. People usually develop in constructive ways to improve their life’s quality. Therefore, a change can be said as turning into better or worse while develop tends to be turning into better. Additionally, Pikunas (1976: 271) mention six factors and experiences appear in adolescence and alter the personality as follows.
1. Acquisition of adult physique
2. Sexual maturation, accompanied by new drives and emotions
3. Greater self-awareness, resulting in a heightened desire for self- direction and reevaluation of standards, goals and ideals.
4. The need companionship, with prime emphasis on heterosexual friendship
5. Treatment by parents and peers
6. Conflict arising from the adolescence’s personality development Furthermore, Erikson as quoted in Mischel’s (1981: 55) claims that there are two assumptions of development. First, human personality development depend on the growing person’s readiness to be driven forward, to be aware of, and to interact with a widening social radius. Second, society tends to be so constituted when it needs and invites this succession of potentialities for interaction. The society also attempts to safeguard and to encourage the proper rate and proper sequence of the enfolding. These assumptions are related with how individuals have come to see themselves and their awareness of what other
c. Theory of Personal Identity
Since the major character starts to be aware of his personal identity in his adolescence, it will be agreeable to use the two of Erik Erikson’s psychological theory of human life cycle. The two theories are adolescence and young adulthood. In both theories, the writer of this paper even adds the suggestion of Hjelle and Ziegler to complete Erikson’s theory.
In Erikson’s theory of adolescence, i.e. identity versus role confusion, it is argued that adolescence is regarded as highly significant in the individual’s psychosocial development. No longer child but not yet an adult (roughly between the age of 12 or 13 to about 20 in our society), the adolescent is confronted with various social demands and role changes that are essential for meeting the challenges of adulthood. Erikson theories that the new psychosocial dimension which appears during adolescence has a sense of ego identity at the positive end and a sense of role confusion at the negative end. “The task confronting adolescents is to consolidate all the knowledge they have gained about themselves and integrate these various self-images into personal identity that shows awareness of both a past and a future that follows logically from it. (Erikson, 1968: 56)
Erikson reveals three elements in the formation of an identity. First, individual must perceive themselves as having “inner sameness and continuity” i.e they must, over time, experience themselves essentially the same persons they have been. Second, the person in one’s social milieu must also perceive a “sameness and continuity” in the individual. This means that adolescents need confidence that the inner unity that they have developed earlier will be recognized in other’s perception on them. Third, individuals must have “accrued confidence” in the correspondence between the internal and external of continuity. It means that their self-perceptions must be validated appropriate feedback from their personal experiences. In so far as adolescents may be uncertain about both their self-concepts and their social images, then feelings of doubt, confusion, and apathy may counteract their emerging sense of identity. Therefore, the development tasks of identity formation is readily recognized in “…the persistent adolescent endeavor to define, over define, and redefine themselves and each other in ruthless comparison, while a search for reliable alignments can be recognized in the restless testing of the newest in the possibilities and the oldest values (Erikson, 1968: 87).”
Further, Erikson considers identity formation in the first place to be a matter of reflexive imagery. In order to come to a clear self-definition, adolescents, like anyone in the capacity of being self-reflecting agent, have to give account of the multitude of self and role images that may apply to the own person.
Each new moment in life, each new setting, and each new perspective, conveys yet another image of the person, so that construction of an integrated self-view, corresponding with the status of having identity is anything but sinecure. Finally, Erikson claims that foundation for a successful adolescence and the attainment of an integrated identity is originated in early childhood. The failure of the young person to develop a personal identity, because of the unfortunate childhood experiences or present social circumstances, results in what Erikson called “The identity crisis”. The crisis of identity, or role confusion is most of ten characterized by an inability to select a career or pursue further education. Many adolescents in the throes of this age specific experience a profound sense of utility, personal disorganization, and aimlessness (Erikson, 1968: 96).
However, the failure to establish adequate personal identity does not necessarily doom the adolescents to a life of perpetual defeat. Resolving problem at one stage of life is no guarantee against their reappeareance at later stages – or against the discovery of new solutions to them. Ego identity is life long struggle.
As Erikson has pput it that it is often possible to overcome early handicaps i.e inadequateness, or even late to achieve the feelings identity as well as intimacy and integrity characteristics of effective adulthood (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1981: 124- 127).
And the second, the theory of Young Adulthood: Intimacy versus Isolation, Erikson states that in this stage much of person’s sexual behavior is motivated by the search of ego identity. In contrast, the earlier attainment of a sense of a personal identity and the involvement in productive work that marks this period give rise to a new interpersonal dimension with intimacy cannot be attained unless the person has already achieved a consolidated personal identity. When the identity formation lags, even deep attachments and exuberant love are not likely to produce stable long-term relationship needed in marital adjustment and family life (Erikson, 1968: 121 ).
In other words, to be really intimate with another person or oneself, a person must have already developed a firm sense of who and what she or he is. By contrast, adolescent “falling in love” may be nothing more than an attempt to explore one’s own identity through the use of another person. Erikson sees that as a result of the fact that many people, especially woman, marry someone in order to find their own identity in and through that person. In this view, it is not possible to attain intimacy by seeking for one’s identity in this fashion (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1981: 128).
C. Theoretical Framework
The role of others on the finding of one’s true self-identity gives the opportunity to analyze the role of the secondary characters on the finding of the major character’s true self-identity in Song of Solomon. Therefore, theories of character and characterization are used to answer the problems formulated in
Chapter I. The theory of character and characterization is used to answer the first question in the problem formulation about how the major character and secondary character is described. The discussions of character from Abrams, Robert and Jacob, and Rohberger and Woods help me to understand what the meaning of character is. The types of character stated by Henkle, Forster, and Perrine help to classify each character. The meaning of characterization by Abrams and Rohrberger and Woods shows that there are ways to find out the type of character inside a novel. The ways to create character based on characterization presented by Murphy is used to help find their characterization.
The theory of psychology is used to give clearer description about role and true self-identity. It is also used to answer the second problem formulation. The theories of personality taken from Byrne and Kelley, Hurlock, Mischel, and Sullivan are used as the basic of understanding in the character of Major Character. Moreover, theories personality development taken from Hurlock, Mischel and Pikunas are used as the next basic step of understanding in the major character. And the theory of personal identity taken from Erikson, and Hjelle and Ziegler is used as understanding that the true self-identity can be found by knowing someone’s personal identity.
This thesis is using psychological approach. It is because the thesis is analyzing the psychological aspects of the characters inside the novel. By using the theory of character and characterization and theory of psychology, I can find out the answer of the first and second problem formulation.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter is divided into three parts, namely: the object of the study, the
approach of the study, and the method of study. The object the study concerns with the focus of the study. The approach concerns with the approach used in this thesis. The last one, the method of study, discusses the steps employed in analyzing the problems formulation.
A. Object of Study
The object this study is Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. The book was written in 1977 and became the Best Seller in the United States. This book was published by Alfred Knopf Inc., in 1977. It consists of 8 chapters of 337 pages. In her third book, Morrison describes about the life of Milkman Dead, a Nigger. The story begins when he lives in Michigan, United States and his life is dominated by the materialism and the desire to be white of his father. With the role of his friend and his aunt, in the last of story he can find his true self-identity and change absolutely his lifestyle. I learn much about the life of Milkman Dead adulthood.
This book gives me the understanding and some information about Milkman Dead who tries to find his personal identity as a negro.