The American values of work ethics as revealed by Mr. Vandergelder`s characterization in Thornton Wilder`s The Matchmaker - USD Repository
THE AMERICAN VALUES OF WORK ETHICS AS REVEALED BY MR. VANDERGELDER’S CHARACTERIZATION
IN THORNTON WILDER’S THE MATCHMAKER AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
YACINTA YUYUN PRASTIWI
Student Number: 024214090
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE AMERICAN VALUES OF WORK ETHICS AS REVEALED BY MR. VANDERGELDER’S CHARACTERIZATION
IN THORNTON WILDER’S THE MATCHMAKER AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
YACINTA YUYUN PRASTIWI
Student Number: 024214090
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Success is a journey; not a destination.
(Ben Sweetland) This Undergraduate Thesis is dedicated to My beloved parents and my late aunt for their love, supports, and prayers
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Yacinta Yuyun Prastiwi
Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214090 Demi Pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul : THE AMERICAN VALUES OF WORK ETHICS AS REVEALED BY MR.
VANDERGELDER’S CHARACTERIZATION IN THORNTON WILDER’S
THE MATCHMAKER
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu minta ijin dari 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 Februari 2011 Yang menyatakan (Yacinta Yuyun Prastiwi)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amien.First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Jesus my Savior for everything granted to me so that I could accomplish this thesis.
I am grateful to my beloved parents, for the support, patience, and encouragement they have given to me. Thanks for your patient and your love.
I owe a great debt to Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum., my advisor and Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum, my reader. I thank them for the advice, the knowledge, and also the guidance they have given to me during the making of the thesis. I also thank all the lecturers in the English Letters for their valuable knowledge that I got during my study in Sanata Dharma University. I do not forget to thank Mbak Ninik for her valuable information and service during my study in the campus.
I express my gratitude for my beloved aunt and uncle who always support me and make me feel confident to accomplish my thesis. For my grandma, I’m sorry that I visit you rarely.
I thank Mbak Anik, Nene, and Pendex, for your kindness to allow me to use your computer while mine was broken. Also to all genius person who have helped me to fix my computer.
For all my friends in Sanata Dharma University who will always make me laugh with your jokes. Nene, Diah, Tina, Fina, sheila, and Sigid, you are wonderful fellows.
I should also like to thank Ari, Gita, Kaka’ Dika, Andien, and Dek Oyènk for releasing me from boredom. For the girls of The Angels Voice; Danik, Wulan, Ririn, Weta, Jatik, Dewik, Putri, and Gita, I’m sorry for being rude to you, girls.
I would like to thanks Bédèz, Nyimoet, Tata, Ènyènk, wawonk ‘Raiz’, Gèpènk, and Éndut for always being there when I need someone to share.
Last but not the least; I would like to say thanks for everyone, whom I cannot mention one by one, who has given me help and support during the making of this thesis. So many people have been involved by giving their advice, critique, information, and help. May God Bless you all for the help and contributions you have given to me.
Yacinta Yuyun Prastiwi
TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE…………………………................................................. APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………... ACCEPTANCE PAGE………………………………………………. MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………….. DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………...
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN............................................................. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………….. TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………….. ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………… ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………..
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………... A. Background of the Study……………………………………… B. Problem Formulations………………………………………... C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………. D. Definition of Terms……………………………………………. CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……………………….. A. Review of Related Studies……………………………………..
1. Arditianto S, Johanes, Thornton Wilder’s Criticism to the
Middle Class People behind the Nineteenth Century Theatres in His Farce ‘The Matchmaker’, 2000………….
2. Maynard, Nicholas, The Motive of Courtship of Mrs. Levi
and Cornelius as Seen in Thornton Wilder’s ‘The Matchmaker’, 2008………………………………………..
B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………
2. Theory of Value
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C. Theoretical Framework………………………………………… CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY………………………………...
A. Object of the Study……………………………………………..
B. Approach of the Study………………………………………….
C. Method of the Study……………………………………………
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………………………………………… A. The Characteristics of Mr. Vandergelder…………………… B. The American Values of Work Ethics as Revealed by Mr. Vandergelder’ characteristics…….…………………………… CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………….
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ABSTRACT
YACINTA YUYUN PRASTIWI. The Study of American Values of Work
Ethics as Revealed by Mr. Vandergelder’s Characterization in Thornton
Wilder’s The Matchmaker. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty
of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
The American Dreams of success including the ownership of status, material goods, and social acceptance are shown in The Matchmaker. It is a farce written by Thornton Wilder in 1954 and published as the revised edition of The
Merchant of Yonkers (1938). Each of the characters has different dreams and their
own way to achieve their dreams.This study discusses two problems. The first is discussing about the characterization of male character in the play, Mr. Vandergelder. He is the main focus in the analysis. The second point is to find out Mr. Vandergelder’s character that reveals the American Values of Work Ethics.
In this thesis, the writer uses moral-philosophical approach. This approach emphasizes the function of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. The writer finds that this approach fits the purpose of this thesis, which is to reveal the moral value through the study of character’s characterization. Since value is part of the moral itself, therefore it is reasonable to use moral-philosophical approach.
The answer for the first problem can be seen from other characters’ response and opinion toward the analyzed character. Moreover, the character’s own action and thought also helps the writer to reveals his character. From these ways the writer finds that Mr. Vandergelder is sixty years old man. He is an important and influential person. He is capitalist, individualist, practical and rational, and straight-forward one. Moreover, he is ambitious, choleric, vain and sly. Meanwhile, the second problem is answered after the writer observes the way the character performs himself as a hard worker and how it influences the way he treated others. In this case, the values of work ethics revealed by the character of Mr. Vandergelder are hard work through thrifty against waste and extravagance and equal opportunity to get the higher economy level.
ABSTRAK
YACINTA YUYUN PRASTIWI. The Study of American Values of Work
Ethics as Revealed by Mr. Vandergelder’s Characterization in Thornton
Wilder’s The Matchmaker. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
“Impian Amerika” dalam hal kesuksesan meliputi kepemilikan status, harta benda, dan penerimaan masyarakat ditunjukkan dalam The Matchmaker. Objek ini merupakan sebuah drama komedi karangan Thornton Wilder pada tahun 1954 dan diterbitkan sebagai edisi revisi dari The Merchant of Yonkers pada tahun 1938. Masing-masing karakter mempunyai impian yang berbeda dan masing-masing mempunyai cara yang berbeda dalam mencapai mimpi-mimpinya.
Tesis ini membahas dua permasalahan. Masalah yang pertama membahas penokohan salah satu karakter pria dalam drama ini, yakni tuan Vandergelder. Dia menjadi fokus utama dalam pembahasan. Masalah yang kedua adalah menemukan karakter tuan Vandergelder yang menampakkan nilai-nilai Amerika khususnya dalam hal etika kerja.
Dalam tesis ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan filosofi-moral. Pendekatan ini menekankan bahwa fungsi karya sastra adalah untuk mengajar moralitas dan menyelidiki hal – hal filosofis. Penulis menemukan bahwa pendekatan ini sangat cocok dengan tujuan dari tesis ini, yakni untuk mengungkap nilai moral dengan mempelajari penokohan karakter. Karena nilai adalah bagian dari moral itu sendiri, oleh karena itu sangatlah tepat untuk menggunakan pendekatan filosofi-moral dalam tesis ini.
Jawaban atas masalah pertama dapat dilihat dari tanggapan dan pendapat dari karakter lain terhadap karakter yang dianalisa. Di samping itu, tingkah laku dan pikiran si karakter itu sendiri juga membantu penulis untuk mengungkap karakternya. Dengan demikian penulis menemukan bahwa tuan Vandergelder berumur enam puluh tahun. Dia adalah orang penting dan berpengaruh. Dia adalah seorang kapitalis, individualis, praktis dan rasionalis dan suka berterus terang. Di samping itu dia ambisius, pemarah, besar mulut dan licik. Sementara itu, masalah yang kedua dijawab setelah penulis mengamati bagaimana tuan Vandergelder menunjukkan dirinya sebagai pekerja keras dan bagaimana hal tersebut mempengaruhi caranya memperlakaukan orang lain. Dalam hal ini, nilai- nilai Amerika dalam hal etika kerja yang ditunjukkan oleh karakter tuan Vandergelder adalah bekerja keras dengan hemat menentang pemborosan dan kesempatan yang sama untuk naik ke tingkat ekonomi ang lebih tinggi.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Everyone has a dream. Wealth, position, prosperity, and honors are the
dreams people willing to have. However, social aspect is also a determiner towards someone’s success. In other words, someone is considered successful if her/his achievement is acknowledged in society.
America offers liberty and equality for its people to improve their fate. In
A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Guerin also say that “There is a
hope in creating a second paradise, and it is believed that America is the place as a land with unlimited opportunity where people that are poor, corrupt, and suffering could have a second chance” (1999: 186).
This is the basis of the American consciousness to achieve better life. Through the Declaration of Independence, American people believe that they are equal in the sense that they are capable of higher education, better jobs, better salary, and better life.
The idea that everyone can have success in America is called “American Dream”. It is a national ethos of the United States of America in which democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for its people.
In his book, The Record of America, James Truslow Adams states “They wanted to find and build a country in which they could be looked upon for what which the prizes and a good life would go to who could win them and not just to be given to those who happened to be born rich or titled or otherwise privileged” (1935: 4).
In shorts, American believes that someone’s success does not come because she/he inherits money from her/his family but because she/he puts a lot of efforts and energy to attain it, known as “hard work”. Thus, if someone is not success, he does not work hard. This is logical and acceptable because hard work is the means to be success. It is proper.
The American Dream probably has a different meaning to every American. For some, it is the dream of freedom and equality, for others it is the dream of a fulfilled life or even the dream of fame and wealth.
Traditionally, Americans has sought to realize the American dreams of success, fame, and wealth through thrift and hard work. It is known as a protestant work ethic. It is a strong belief that the ideal person is a “hard worker”. It taught that it is a good thing to achieve; to work hard, acquire more material badges of their success and in the process assure a better future for themselves (Althen, 1988: 16).
However, in the industrialization era, people become consumption- oriented. Since the industrialism began, people think more economically and instantly. The Industrial Revolution creates new problems. It has made greater inequality in the distribution of wealth. The economy power was concentrated in the hand of individual or corporation. This fact closes the road to the American find a job. People have lost faith in the American Dream and replacing it with a philosophy of “Get rich quick”, which lead them to the easy way or instant wealth. This condition is nearly the same as the social background inside the story of The Matchmaker.
The object of the study in this thesis is Thornton Wilder’s The
Matchmaker. It is a farce which is written in 1954 and published as the revised
edition from The Merchant of Yonkers (1938). Moreover he stated that his play is about the aspirations of the young (and not only the young) for a fuller, freer participation in life (Wilder, 1964: 281). However, both of the original play and revised edition have farce basic concerns; folly, money, and love.
The action takes place in Yonkers during the 1880s. A wealthy widower and a store owner, Horace Vandergelder, refuse to let her niece marry the poor artist she loves, even though he himself plans to remarry. Dolly Levi, the matchmaker, pretends to make match for Vandergelder with a young, attractive woman (Irene Molloy), but Levi actually scheme to marry him herself for his money. Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, Vandergelder’s clerks, who are longing for excitement, complaining that he never get time off to go out and experience life, without permission he close the store and take off to New York planning to have an adventure. There he meets Irene Molloy, the woman of his dream. The story ends with marriages of three happy couples.
The 1880s were a time of high unemployment as well as the beginning of a great wave of immigration. They came to America with little money and the jobs. Therefore, they were undergoing substantial economic changes; from self- employed agricultural workers into wage earners working for large industry.
It was also the time of extreme wealth and poverty. It was agricultural era; when the principal source of wealth in America supplied from agriculture, but that was about to change. There was a shift from agricultural to an industrial era.
The prices were very high at that time and that made difficult for every worker to save money. Jobless people were even more miserable. They found it hard to survive the days, as they had no money to buy things. The American economy was expanding rapidly and the standard of living was rising. The people of the swing generation realize that they have been experiencing different way of life.
As the result, the traditional road to the Dreams has been dashed. The peoples are highly materialistic. Americans are so concerned with the acquiring of possession. They tent to define people by their jobs they have as well as the level of the income. A person is “success” in life, often measured by the amount of money he has acquired. However, for them materialism is natural and proper (Althen, 1988: 16).
As the consequences, many American were preoccupied with money. As the American economy has always had its ups and downs, the economic growth was instable. As the consequences, Americans belief in the possibility of moving up the ladder of social and economic opportunity was enormous. They had a big expectation on better life during the economy crisis.
The Matchmaker shows the different conditions of life, members of
different social classes views the world in many different ways. This allows them to develop different “conceptions of social reality, different aspiration, hopes and fears, different conceptions of the desirable. The way of middle classes in society view wealthy is vary.
It tells about the relation among the characters; the relationship among the middle class. It tells about how those characters do and act in order to get rich quickly. It is clearly depicted on the two women characters in the play; Mrs. Levi and Mrs. Molloy. The money was a key motivation for them to marry with someone. It is abundantly clear that they willing to achieve the American Dream through the quickie marriage.
Prudence with money was habitual. People always play safety toward money. They would be very likely to put their money in the bank rather than to spend the money they have. One of the characters in The Matchmaker also cautious with his money, he is Mr. Vandergelder. He appears as a conservative person and his theory of success that represents the traditional American hopes. His success gave him optimism about the future. He believe that everybody will success if they work hard.
There are broad values, and there are many constraints on achieving them. The values being emphasized in this play is the values of work ethics. However, in this thesis the writer focused on the work ethics of the characters, especially Mr. Vandergelder.
After studying play, it is clear that the character of Mr. Vandergelder represents the American Value of Work Ethics; the old generation who gains his dreams in traditional way; through hard work, disciplines, and self-sacrifice. On the contrary, the young characters (Cornelius, Molloy, Levi) prefer to use the instant way in order to achieve the American Dream.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study above, two research problems have been formulated in the analysis:
1. How is Mr. Vandergelder characterized in The Matchmaker?
2. How do the characteristics of Mr. Vandergelder reveal the American Value of work ethics in the play? C.
Objectives of the Study
Based on the problem formulation above, there are two goals to achieve in this study. The first thing is to find out the character of Mr. Vandergelder; whether it is characterized directly or indirectly by the author. After analyzing the character, the researcher is finding the way he views life of his, especially work ethics, as well as the way he takes to achieve his dream. Therefore, the writer finds the answer of the problem formulated above.
D. Definition of Terms
Certain terms appear in this thesis. Their meanings are made clear in the discussion. It is mean to enables readers to locate the terms and what it signifies in the more general discussion. There are several terms that the researcher wants to explain in this section.
A character is a figure in a literary works and personality which are the mental and moral qualities of the figure itself (Barner, Berman & Burto, 1988:71).
This thesis is mainly focuses on one character, especially the character of Mr. Vandergelder who is more like the antagonist in the story. He is describes as the portrait of the traditional American civilization. The way he thinks and acts toward the other characters reflect the traditional value, which is something he holds on.
Values is about criterion or standards of preference about the qualities that of the greatest interest and importance for explaining human behavior (Althen, 1988:3). American Value is the value which is adapted and become the characteristics of the Americans.
Ethics is a recognized principle of ethics that is always our duty to do what after proper consideration we think we ought to do, but suppose we are mistaken, then we by this principle ought to do something which is wrong and which therefore we ought not to do (Garrett, 1986: 144). Ethics is concerned with two main kinds of question. First, with deciding the general principles on which ethnical terms, such as good, bad, duty; are to be applied to anything. Secondly,
In short, work ethics is concerned primarily with the relationship of goals and methods or techniques to achieve the goals. While American Value of work ethics is value of success through thrift and hard work (Graham, 1957: 132). That is also the essence of American dream for many foreigners. That is to say if you want to be success, hard work is requested. Since the values on work ethics influences a character (especially the character of Mr. Vandergelder), therefore the term work ethics in this thesis is wider; not only refers to the relation between an employer and employee (Mr. Vandergelder and his clerks), but also the relation and attitudes towards the other character.
On the contrary, the other characters ignore the traditional American value of success as well as the philosophical value of thrift and hard work. They want to be rich, but they ignore the very important values during the process. Most of them make a fortune by cheating not by hard working.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies 1. Arditianto S, Johanes, Thornton Wilder’s Criticism to the Middle Class People behind the Nineteenth Century Theatres in His Farce ‘The Matchmaker’, 2000. The thesis is about the conflict between the generations; Mr. Vandergelder
resembles the old generation, while the other characters resembles the young generation. There are three problems formulated; 1) how is the conflict presented? 2) What are the solutions of the conflict? 3) What is Wilder’s criticism to the middle class people behind the nineteenth century theatres?
In the story, there are two different generation. It is told that Mr. Vandergelder resembles the old generation, while the others resembles the young. Conflicts happen among characters, especially between Mr. Vandergelder and the other character. In conclusion, based on this thesis, Mr. Vandergelder is a controversial character.
2. Maynard, Nicholas, The Motive of Courtship of Mrs. Levi and Cornelius as Seen in Thornton Wilder’s ‘The Matchmaker’, 2008.
The aim of this study is to know the motives behind courtship. There are three problems formulated in the thesis; 1) how are Levi and Cornelius Cornelius behave in their courtship as seen in Thornton Wilder’s The
Matchmaker? 3) What are Levi and Cornelius motives of courtship as seen in
Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker? In the study, it is known that the motives of their courtship are money, power to control, and protection. Mrs. Levi wants to be rich, gain power and secure. While Cornelius needs protection and secure in his life.
In conclusion, everyone has individual reason in doing things. In other words everybody has different motive. One’s might be different from another. It might be good for himself, but it is bad for others. In The Matchmaker has different courtship and each has different way in order to attain it. There is someone who uses fare play, and the others use tricks.
Related to this analysis, the two studies above use the same object study. It is a play written by Thornton Wilder entitled The Matchmaker. However, each has different focus. Arditianto in his study focuses on the Thornton Wilder’s criticism
th
to the middle class people behind the 19 century theatres. Maynard focuses on the motive of courtship of Mrs. Levi and Cornelius. Whereas the writer of this thesis focuses on the American values of work ethics as revealed by Mr. Vandergelder’s characterization.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character has two meanings: (1) a figure in a literary work, and (2) Berman & Burto, 1988:71). Character is also defined as an identifiable type of person. (Baldick, 1990: 34).
On the basis of importance, character can be distinguish into two types; main or major character and minor character. Major character is the most important character in the story. Basically, major characters become the focus in the story. However, he can not stand on his own; he needs other characters to make the story more convincing and lifelike. While the minor characters are characters of less important than those of the main.
According to Holman and Harmon, characterization is the creation of the imaginary persons so that they exist for the reader as lifelike. Authors reveal what characters are like in two general ways: directly or indirectly. In the direct- method, the author simply tells the reader what the character is like, through direct exposition, either in an introductory block. In direct presentation, the author tells the readers straight out, by mentioning in the text (1986: 81).
When the method of revealing characters is indirect, however, the author shows us, rather than tells us, what the characters are like through what they say about one another, through the external detail (the author’s description of the characters’ physical appearance such as clothing, gesture, physique, or face expression), and through their thoughts, speech, and deeds.
Furthermore, a complete description of the characters can be analyzed by considering these points:
1. What character say and think
One way of revealing what people are like is to show what they say. For instance, if a person says “your singing is awful!!” rather than “your singing is unique”. From the sentence, it is clear that the person is a kind of person who is very frankly in a conversation. Besides, the writer may also reveal the character by showing what they think.
2. What the character does Stories show characters in action. Therefore, the most obvious method for revealing character is through what a person does. For instance, if there is a person who likes to drink milk, while the other person is like to drink coffee. These two different habits may refer to the fact that the man who likes to drink milk is not a smoker and less aggressive.
3. What the other characters say about the character Much can be shown about a character by the way others react to him, or by what they say about him. Direct comments give the more obvious example: the clerks, Barnaby and Cornelius, refer to Mr. Vandergelder as “wolftrap”.
4. What the author says about the character A final method of revealing the character is through direct description and explanation by the author. In the direct-method, the author simply tells the reader what the character is like, through direct exposition, either in an introductory block. In direct presentation, the author tells the readers straight out, by mentioning in the text. (Roberts & Jacobs, 1987: 147)
2. Theory of Value
Values need to be learnt. This means that they are developed through some kind of experience; pain and pleasure, success and failure, love and hate. Value is about criterion or standards of preference about the qualities that of the greatest interest and importance for explaining human behavior. As Gary Althen definition, “values are ideas about right and wrong, desirable and undesirable, normal and abnormal, proper and improper (1988:3).
In his book American Culture, Graham notes about values as follows: Values are preferences for certain lines of action, involve an intellectual element, and are reinforced by emotional attachments. They are not the individual goals or individual activities which are undertaken by a people. Rather they are the rules by which goals are selected and activities chosen. Values are the highest level of culture. They are the tops, directing what individual goals shall be sought in a society. At a lesser level are the norms for activity, which are directed at the accomplishment of these goals. Finally, there are the activities themselves. Values are not necessarily mutually consistent. A good many values, which contradict one another, may exist in a society, the means of following its dictates may not (1957:124-125).
Value is a concept which grows in a social life. People are continually regarding things as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, beautiful or ugly, appropriate or inappropriate, true or false. Therefore, values become criteria for judgment, preference and choice.
In addition, Ralph H. Gabriel stated that values are beliefs that idealized ways of living and acting are the best ways for society (1890: 148). Social values stem directly from the dominant beliefs of a culture; they are the generally accepted ideas about what is best for the society. A culture generally respect for virtues are cultural definitions of “ideal” behavior. They give force to social norms by influencing the individual in the formulation of his personal desires and ambition.
A society may place great emphasis on values such as thrift, hard work, and material possessions. On the contrary, large groups within the society may be devoted to the leisurely enjoyment of accumulated wealth.
The values in a society is about what goals individuals work for and what ideas they discuss, what attracts and holds their attention, what they respect and reject, whom they reward and whom they punish. It refers to beliefs that are maintain long time. When someone values something highly, he is strongly motivated by it. For instance, if he places a high value on money or new cars or grades, he will be strongly motivated to gain these goals.
It should be noted, by the way of qualification, that few societies are tightly integrated around one system of belief and closely correlated set of social values. The term “values” also used variously to refer to interest, pleasure, likes, preferences, duties, moral obligations, desires, wants, goals, needs, aversions and attraction. (Rokeach, 1979: 16)
a. The Development of American Values Again, Graham notes in his book, American Culture: To understand the development of values, it is necessary to note the early characteristics of America. To begin with, the physical characteristics of the land were important. America possessed a temperate climate, unlimited land space, excellent natural resources and fertile land, isolation from the older country with one another. Equally important, the land was undeveloped in any of the ways to which Europeans were accustomed. This was because Indians inhabited the country, a people on slightly lower plane of culture, lower in sense that they had not been able to borrow gunpowder and similar technological advantages from other societies, as had the Europeans. Thus, to the Europeans, the land was undeveloped. It had not been exploited agriculturally. The social situation of colonizing a land populated by societies of inferior culture was important in the development of American Values. (1957: 128)
All the potential and characteristics possessed by American societies were undeveloped until the immigrants came and bring the new ethics toward Americans. Many people, from the world over, have migrated to America, in search of employment and have a better life. It is the dream of a land in which life should be better, richer, and fuller for every man with opportunities for each according to his abilities and achievement. It simply means that America is the country where you can turn your dreams into reality.
Americans are willing to grow rich instantly. Fortunately, it has also been the dream which inspired those who have come from foreign lands. They came and brought with them habits and ways of looking things. As the colonist grew in wealth and population, the poorer Americans began to feel themselves pushed out from the old settlement.
This condition emerges as the root of the Declaration of Independence. It was the time of the Americans consciousness about their equal opportunity to live a better life in every day.
As noted above, values develop gradually and are influenced by some factors. The first factor is the characteristics of the people who migrated. They condition, which rewarded those who hard workers and broke those who were not. It shows the migrants helped to create values which still exist in America: one of them is value of hard work.
The second is the circumstances under which the early settler left their homeland. This factor creates the value of freedom and independence. The early migrants came over in group as colonizers organized by sponsorship of companies. The government controlled these companies by granting charters in order to exploit the colonies. The exploitation, then, caused the spirit of rebellion, which sparked the revolution to get their freedom and independence back.
The last factor is the ideological equipment, which the colonizer brought with them. Protestants were the dominant group in early colonies whose values are still held today in America, namely independence of individual, hard work, materialism, and competition.
According to Graham, American held some major values, namely freedom, individualism, equality, competition, progress of the group, hard work, materialism, and the rational approach (1957: 132). Those are the values which emerge in America. Those values are adapted and become the characteristics of the Americans.
Individualism is so vital to understand American society and culture because it is the basic of American’s characteristics. It places a great value of self- reliance, on privacy, and mutual respect. Therefore, individuals must learn to rely on themselves or risk losing freedom.
According to Crandall, most Americans believe that they must be self- reliant in order to keep their freedom. If they rely too much on the support of their families or someone else, they may lose their freedom to do what they want. The need of self-reliance encourages Americans to the spirit of inventiveness. The early settlers provide most of their daily essentials by themselves. They often face new problems and situations that demanded new solution (1997: 69).
Privacy is also important to Americans. The notion of individual privacy may make it difficult to make friends. Because Americans respect one's privacy, they may not go much beyond a friendly "hello." Ironically, it is usually the foreigner who must be more assertive if a friendship is to develop.
Americans believe that every person has equal chance to make every effort to be successful. They pride themselves in having been born poor and, through their own sacrifice and hard work, having climbed the difficult ladder of success to whatever level they have achieved—all by themselves. The American social system has, of course, made it possible for Americans to move, relatively easily, up the social ladder. Americans also believe that everyone has the same opportunity to manage his own life. The concept of an individual's having control over his/her own destiny.
The next value is competition. It means that each individual will be able to compete with others. Crandall said that Americans see much of life as a rare of success. Therefore, a person must run the race in order to success by competition and regards others as rival. If every person has an equal chance to succeed in and intelligence against that of others in a competitive contest for success. People, who like to compete and are more successful than others, are honored by being called winners. Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual. They assert that it challenges or forces each person to produce the very best that is humanly possible (1997: 26).
Americans are materialistic. According to Crandall, placing a high value on material possession is called materialism (1997: 27). Americans tend to measure a person’s success in life by referring the amount of money that person has achieved. In other words, they believe that the material wealth is important to measure of worth. Americans have paid a price for their material wealth, namely hard work.
Foreigners generally consider Americans much more materialistic than Americans are likely to consider themselves. Americans would like to think that their material objects are just the natural benefits that always result from hard work and serious intent as a reward.
b. American Values in the 1880s
The 1880s were a time of extreme wealth and poverty. It was agricultural era; when the principal source of wealth in America supplied from agriculture, but that was about to change. Immigration supplied the human capital for constructing railroads, building, and operating industries of unprecedented scale. This growth also gave rise to the new middle class, made a few very wealthy while unskilled
It was also the time of high unemployment as well as the beginning of a great wave of immigration. They came to America with little money and the used to lived as a farmer. Unskilled workers filled the growing number of factory jobs. Therefore, they were undergoing substantial economic changes; from self- employed agricultural workers into wage earners working for large industry.
The prices were very high at that time and that made difficult for every worker to save money. Jobless people were even more miserable. They found it hard to survive the days, as they had no money to buy things. Everyone was trying to find a job in order to be able to support their families and themselves. Those who already had a job were trying to find themselves a better one.
c. Values of Work Ethics
Ethics is not the study of morals, whether this word is used to designate the conformity to conventional social rules or the existing moral judgments of human beings. Ethics is the science of judging specifically human ends and the relationship of means to those ends (Garrett, 1986: 2). From this point of view, ethics involves the use of any human knowledge about the relations between people. Thus, ethics should be involved in all human activities. Ethics is a recognized principle of ethics that is always our duty to do what after proper consideration we think we ought to do, but suppose we are mistaken, then we by this principle ought to do something which is wrong and which therefore we ought not to do (Garrett, 1986: 144).
It is sometimes used to signify merely the best means to take to a given end irrespective of whether the end is good or bad. The action that we ought to do is also called our “duty”. Another equivalent of “the action we ought to do” is “the right action”. Ethics is concerned with two main kinds of question. First, with deciding the general principles on which ethnical terms, such as good, bad, duty; are to be applied to anything. Secondly, with deciding precisely what these terms mean. In short, work ethics is concerned primarily with the relationship of goals and methods or techniques to achieve the goals.
During the 1880s, at the start of that particular economic slowdown; businesses closed their doors. On the other hand, everyone is willing to have what they think they equally deserve. They want to move to the higher level of economy ladder. They believe that everyone has the same opportunity to achieve the wealth as long as they work hard.
The immigrants bringing the gospel work which is also known as Protestant Work Ethics. Later, this gospel became rooted in economic reality for all classes. It provided opportunities for men to rise from a lower to a higher economic and social status. It was the time when success was measured in terms of material prosperity.
The way of life which is offered by the Protestant sect, by giving emphasis to against waste, idleness, extravagance, and ostentatious vanities, were conducive to material prosperity and to the development of a capitalistic era in that time. (Boyd and Worcester, 1968: 87)
Therefore if a young man followed the injunctions to work hard, to avoid extravagance, and to use his savings thriftily, he would be successful. Economic success would be achieved to those whom are diligent as a blessing of God. These puritans virtues are suitable for material prosperity in a land where opportunity was great, labor scarce, land plentiful, and the rewards ample.
The immigrants believe that everyone has a chance to succeed in America. However, their hopes and dreams were fulfilled; the lower social class rise to higher class position. Many had found that they did have a better chance to succeed in America. Therefore, Americans came to believe in equality of opportunity. As the consequences, there would be competition; if every person has an equal chance to succeed in America, then it is every person’s duty to try, a person must compete with others.
The majority of them were eventually able to improve upon their former standard of living; the opportunity of a better life. They achieve material succeed; they became very attached to material things. Material wealth had traditionally been a widely accepted measure of social status in America. However, there is a prize to be paid for their possession on material wealth, it is a hard work. It had been both necessary a rewarding for most Americans. Because of this, they came to see material possessions as the natural reward for their hard work.
Values shape behavior in many ways. The individual who places a high value on earning money will behave differently from the person who places a high value on being of service to other man.” (Kalish, 1973: 342) Since the value itself reasonable that if there were difference on their way or thinking, especially for employee and employers.