THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON LILY’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By BENEDICTA NOVENA SHEILA PUTRI Student Number: 064214057
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010
THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON LILY’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By BENEDICTA NOVENA SHEILA PUTRI Student Number: 064214057
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 i
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama
: Benedicta Novena Sheila Putri
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 064214057
Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya berjudul: THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON LILY’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUE MONK KIDD’S THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya ke internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 2 September 2010 Yang menyatakan
Benedicta Novena Sheila Putri
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank my Lord Jesus for all His blessings in every single moment in my life. The precious thing that I have in my life is my Lord that always leads me to find the way to be followed. My sweetest gratitude goes to my beloved parents. My father, Fransiscus Johny Effendhy and my mother Theresia Maryana for their love, prayers and patience to guide me. I would like to thank my beloved brother, Yulianus Andre Effendhy for his support and help. I also thank my beloved friend for his support to face the hardest time in my life. My greatest gratitude goes to my advisor Adventina Putranti S.S, M.Hum. for her advice, ideas, support and patience in reading and guiding my undergraduate thesis writing. I thank my co-advisor Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M. Hum. for her carefulness in reading and checking my mistakes. I also would like to thank my academic advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S, M.Hum. for her guidance along my study in English Letters Department. I also would like to give my appreciation to all lecturers in English Letters Department at Sanata Dharma University, to mbak Ninik at the secretariat and also library staff for their assistance along my study. Last but not least, I would like to thank all of my friends for their understanding and motivation to do everything as well as I could.
Benedicta Novena Sheila Putri v
TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………… APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………. ACCEPTANCE PAGE....................................................................... LEMBAT PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS.......................... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………… TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………… ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………. ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………..
1
A. B. C. D.
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Background of the Study…………………………………….. Problem Formulation…………………………………………. Objectives of the Study………………………………………. Definition of Terms…………………………………………...
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CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……………………….
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A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………… B. Review of Related Theories………………………………….. 1. Theory on Character and Characterization………………. 2. Theory on Psychology…………………………………… C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………….
6 8 8 10 15
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY………………………………..
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A. Object of the Study…………………………………………... B. Approach of the Study……………………………………….. C. Method of the Study………………………………………….
17 20 21
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………………………………………..
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A. The Characteristics of Lily Melissa Owens…………………. 23 B. The Characteristics of Minor Characters……………………. 29 C. Lily’s Personality Development as the Result of Minor Characters’ Influences……………………………………………………. 41 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………
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BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….
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APPENDIX........................................................................................
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ABSTRACT
BENEDICTA NOVENA SHEILA PUTRI. The Influence of Environment on Lily’s Personality Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2010. This undergraduate thesis discusses Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. This novel tells about the life of Lily Melissa Owens that is full of struggles to find the answer about her memory in the past and about her mother. Through Lily’s life, the writer wants to study about Lily’s personality development that is influenced by minor characters in the way she faces her problems. There are three problems concerning Lily’s personality development. The first problem is about the characteristics of Lily Melissa Owens. The second problem is about the characteristics of minor characters. Lily’s characteristics and the minor characters’ characteristics are analyzed to get close description of their characters. The third problem is about Lily’s personality development that is influenced by minor characters. Lily’s personality development is analyzed to show Lily’s personality that develops after she got influences from minor characters. In analyzing the data, the writer used library research to collect data related to the topic of the study. The writer applied theory on character, theory on characterization and also theory on psychology. Those relevant theories are used to analyze the novel. The approach that is used in this study is psychological approach because this is an appropriate approach to analyze personality. In the analysis it is found that Lily is a curious, smart, and critical person. She is also a good observer. In the story, there are several minor characters, such as T. Ray, Rosaleen, August, May, and Zach. T. Ray is Lily’s father. He is an abusive and a harsh person to Lily. His behavior shaped Lily’s first personality. While Rosaleen is a caring but sturbborn person. August is a wise and intelligent person. Next is May. She is a sensitive person to face life. The last is Zach. He is a hard worker, cheerful and supportive person. Finally it can be seen that Lily’s personality develops as the result of minor characters’ influences. The minor characters’ influence Lily’s personality from their behavior, speech and habit. The minor characters influence Lily’s personality to develop from an introverted person into an extroverted person. Lily also changes from lack of confident person into a confident person and calm to face her problems.
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ABSTRAK
BENEDICTA NOVENA SHEILA PUTRI. The Influence of Environment on Lily’s Personality Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2010. Skripsi ini mendiskusikan novel berjudul The Secret Life of Bees karya Sue Monk Kidd. Novel ini bercerita tentang kehidupan Lily Melissa Owens yang penuh dengan perjuangan untuk menemukan jawaban tentang kenangan di masa lalunya dan tentang ibunya. Melalui kehidupan Lily, penulis ingin mempelajari tentang perkembangan kepribadian Lily yang dipengaruhi oleh karakter minor dalam menghadapi permasalahannya. Dalam skripsi ini terdapat tiga permasalahan yang berkaitan dengan perkembangan kepribadian Lily. Masalah yang pertama yaitu tentang karakteristik Lily Melissa Owens. Permasalahan yang kedua yaitu tentang karakteristik dari karakter minor. Karakteristik Lily dan karakteristik karakter minor dianalisa untuk mendapatkan gambaran yang lebih jelas tentang karakter mereka. Permasalahan yang ketiga yaitu tentang perkembangan kepribadian Lily yang dipengaruhi oleh karakter minor. Perkembangan kepribadian Lily dianalisa untuk menunjukkan kepribadian Lily yang berkembang setelah dia mendapatkan pengaruh dari karakter minor. Dalam menganalisis data, penulis menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka untuk mengumpulkan data yang berkaitan dengan topik dari penelitian ini. Penulis mengaplikasikan teori karakter, teori karakteristik dan juga teori psikologi. Teoriteori yang sesuai tersebut digunakan untuk menganalisa novel. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan psikologi karena pendekatan ini sesuai untuk menganalisa tentang kepribadian. Di dalam analisa, ditemukan bahwa Lily adalah orang yang memiliki keingintahuan yang tinggi, cerdas dan kritis. Dia juga pengamat yang baik. Di dalam cerita, terdapat beberapa karakter minor, seperti T. Ray, Rosaleen, August, May, dan Zach. T. Ray adalah ayah Lily. T. Ray adalah orang yang kejam dan kasar terhadap Lily. Perilakunya membentuk karakter awal Lily. Sementara Rosaleen orang yang penyayang namun keras kepala. August adalah orang yang bijak dan pintar. Kemudian May, dia orang yang sensitif dalam menghadapi kehidupan. Terakhir adalah Zach. Dia adalah seorang pekerja keras, periang, dan orang yang memberikan dukungan. Pada akhirnya dapat dilihat perkembangan kepribadian Lily setelah mendapat pengaruh dari karakter minor. Karakter minor mempengaruhi kepribadian Lily melalui tingkah laku, kata-kata dan kebiasaan mereka. Karakter minor mempengaruhi kepribadian Lily sehingga berkembang dari orang yang introvert menjadi orang yang extrovert. Lily juga berkembang dari orang yang kurang percaya diri menjadi orang yang percaya diri dan tenang dalam menghadapi permasalahannya.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of four parts. Those are the background of the study, the problem formulation, the objective of the study and the definition of term. The first part is the background of the study. In this part, the writer will explain about the topic of the study and the reason in using the novel. In the problem formulation, the writer presents three problems to be discussed in this study. The objective of the study is presented after this to know the purpose of this study. The last part is the definition of terms which presents some words that are needed to be explained further.
A. Background of the Study Reading a literary work can entertain the readers. The readers can get pleasure by reading the literary work. A literary work may present a new kind of life which has many new values. It can enrich the readers with new experience and knowledge that they never experience in real life through the literary work. A literary work may present a real life since according to Rene Wellek and Austin Warren; a literary work is the imitation of life. But, furthermore, literature ‘represents’ ‘life’; and ‘life’ is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary ‘imitation’. (Wellek and Warren, 1956:94) If the literary work is a representation of the reality, it can be said that the character in the literary work represents human in nature.
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The literary work that becomes the object to be discussed in this study is novel. According to Van De Laar and Schoonderwoerd (1957:163), a novel is a work of art that introduces us to a living world. It resembles with the world we live in where we are as human in nature live in it. The novel that the writer uses in this study also represents human life. Human in nature experiences development. There are two kinds of development. The first is physical development and the second is psychological development. Since the character in a literary work represents human in nature, it means that the character in a literary work also experiences development. The development of someone’s psychological side or someone’s personality development is influenced by many aspects or factors in his surrounding or his life. The character in the novel that the writer uses in this study also experiences development. The focus on this study is on the development in the psychological side. The writer wants to analyze the main character’s personality development. There are many factors that can influence someone’s personality to develop. The reason why the writer chooses this topic about personality development is the writer wants to reveal the main character’s personality development that is influenced by minor characters. The novel that will be analyzed in this study entitled The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Sue Monk Kidd is an American writer. She writes spiritual memoirs and novels. Most of her novels tell about human life. It is enjoyable to be read but has a deep meaning. She has a desire to become a writer since she was a kid. From her childhood, her life was surrounded by many Black
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people in South America that later inspired her to write this novel. This novel tells about a fourteen years old white girl named Lily Melissa Owens who searches the answers about her memory in the past and about her mother. When she was four years old, she accidentally killed her mother. With the guidance of a black Mary picture with handwriting of Tiburon S. C. behind it, Lily goes to Tiburon and meets the Boatwright. In Tiburon, she finds all the answers that she is looking for. This novel describes the personality on the characters in an interesting way. This novel does not only describe Lily’s personality as the main character. It also describes the personality of the other minor characters to support this study. The readers can learn various personalities of human being through literary work. The interesting point from this study is the development of the main character’s personality to face her problems in the past as the result of minor characters’ influences. The topic about personality development is interesting to be discussed because the readers may learn that someone’s personality development may be influenced by minor characters. In order to analyze the topic, the writer has formulated three problems to be discussed.
B. Problem Formulation There are three problems that will be discussed in this study. They are formulated as follows: 1. How is Lily Melissa Owens, in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, characterized?
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2. How are minor characters, in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, characterized? 3. How does Lily’s personality develop as the result of minor character’s influences?
C. Objectives of the Study The objective of this study is to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation above. The first objective is to reveal the characteristics of Lily in the story. The writer will go deeper to discuss how Lily’s characteristics are described in the story. The second objective of this study is to reveal the characteristics of the minor characters. There are several minor characters’ characteristics that will be revealed to support this study. The third objective is to see Lily’s personality development as the result of minor characters’ influences.
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D. Definition of Terms There are several terms in this topic that need to be defined specifically in order to support the analysis. 1. Influence Hornby stated that influence is the power to affect somebody’s action, character of beliefs, especially by providing an example for them to follow, winning their admiration or making them afraid to disagree (1995:611). 2. Personality According to Kalish, personality can be defined as the dynamic organization of characteristics that lead to behavior where his or her behavior makes one person different from others. (1973:52) 3. Development Pikunas defined development as all processes of change which included process of growth, maturation, learning and achievement. It is a function of genetic and environment stimulation. (1976:22-23) 4. Personality Development Allport, in Elizabeth B. Hurlock’s Personality Development, defines personality development as a stage in growth of constantly changing and evoking processes within an individual. It determines his or her uniqueness in speech, in relation to people and things, in mannerism, in fantasy and in other ways directed toward the specific goal to adjust to his or her environment. (1974:7)
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter consists of three parts. Those are review of related studies, review of related theories and theoretical framework. Review of related studies is presented in order to show the comment on the novel by other people and the analysis of the same topic but different work. Review of related theories presents the theories that will be used to analyze the novel. Theoretical framework provides the usage of the theories that are presented in the review of related theories.
A. Review of Related Studies There are many people that give their comments, suggestions and criticisms when this novel was published and read by them. Those comments, suggestions or criticism are from articles and from sources in the internet. Marian Powell said that this is a beautiful little reading that well worth to be read. In her review, she put her opinion that Lily learns the truth more than she ever wanted to know about her parents. She said that the story is interesting because it does not stop here. The story moves on with Lily learns the truth of her own heart. She learns to decide between a life of bitterness and anger or a life of love,
compassion
and
forgiveness
for
the
adults
http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=2274
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in
her
world.
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Marina Shemesh said that The Secret Life of Bees is about fourteen years old Lily who is struggling with the thought that she may have killed her mother. She said that this is a story of how a motherless Lily grows up with the vague impression that she killed her mother is very sad. But after all, in the end, she grows
into
a
strong
person
to
deal
with
her
past
life.
http://www.helium.com/items/1369184-book-reviews-thepsecret-life-of-bees-bysue-monk-kidd From two comments above, it is shown that this story is about Lily who struggles to face her memory in the past that she might have killed her mother. They also state that this story is interesting because it continues with Lily learns many things to face her past. She finally grows into a stronger person. Esteti Nilakandi (2009) in her undergraduate thesis analyzes Jamal Hick’s personality development in Walter Dean Myers’ Scorpion. Her study has a similar topic with the writer’s but she does it in different object of study. She states that Jamal experiences unpleasant treatment and oppression from the people around him during his young age. Finally he experiences personality development because of adult’s influences in his surrounding. In this study, the writer focuses on the characteristics of Lily as the main character. The writer will also analyze the minor characters’ characteristics that later influence Lily’s personality to develop.
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B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory on Character and Characterization In this review, the writer presents theory on character and characterization. The theory on character gives explanation on how the characters are described in the story and the type of the characters. The theory on the characterization gives explanation on the ways to understand the characteristics of the character.
a. Theory on Character A novel contains many elements. One of it is characters. There are many characters in the novel that are presented by the author by describing their physical or psychological appearances. The characters are described through their behavior, their dialogue, and thought. Abrams (1981:20) defines that characters are the persons presented on a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and disposition quality that are expressed in what they say (through dialogue), and by what they do (through action). A novel is written to reveal characters. It means that in a novel, characters are projected and described through the story by describing their physical and psychological appearances. Milligan (1983:155) states that not all characters play an important role. At least one character appears to be the center of the story. There are two types of character based on their importance. The first is the main/major character. The main character is the center of the story and the most important character in the story. On the other hand, minor character appears only one or twice in the story and their role is less important than the major character.
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b. Theory on Characterization M. J. Murphy (1972:161-173) in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novels for Overseas Students describes nine ways in an author’s attempt to make his characters understandable to, and come alive for, his reader. First is personal description. Personal description means that the author tries to describe the character through his physical appearances. The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes such as his skin-color, his hair or his face. Second is character as seen by another. In this way, the author tries to describe the character through the eyes and opinions of the others. Their comments and opinions about the character can help the reader to understand the character. Third is speech. The author can give the reader insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what the character says. Whenever a person is speaking, he is giving the reader some clue to his character. (Murphy, 1972:162) Fourth way is past life. The author can give the reader a clue that has helped to shape a person’s character by learning about a person’s past life. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through the conversation or through the medium of another person. Fifth is conversation of others. In this way, the writer gives the reader clues to a person’s character through conversations and things they say about him.
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Sixth is reaction. The readers will know a person’s character by seeing how he reacts to various situations or events. Seventh is direct comment. The author can describe or comment on a character directly. Eighth is thought. The author give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to do what we cannot do in the real life. He can tell the reader what different people are thinking. In the novel we accept this. The reader then is in privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel. (Murphy, 1972:171) The last way is mannerism. The author may describe a person’s mannerism or habits that may also tell the reader something about his character. These are nine ways of the author’s attempt to describe the characteristics of the character. The writer will use several of the ways to describe the characteristics of the characters in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.
2. Theory on Psychology There are two theories concerning about personality development. Those are theory on personality development and theory on social interaction. Theory on personality development is used to see the definition of personality. This theory also explains about the factors that influence someone’s personality development, such as the influence of the family and the influence of environment. The second
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theory is theory of social interaction. This theory describes the importance of individual interaction with social environment in shaping personality.
a. Theory on Personality Development According to Hurlock in her book Personality Development, she stated that personality comes from Latin word, persona, which means “mask”. Among Greeks, actors used mask to hide their identity on stage. This dramatic technique was later adopted by the Romans to whom persona denoted ‘as one appears to others’, not as one actually is (Hurlock, 1974:6). Hurlock (1974:234-352) in Personality Development stated that human life consists of two aspects, which are individual and social aspect. For the individual aspect, it is concern with physical changes and human’s personality development. Human personality development itself is influenced by two factors. First is human’s early experience within family. The second factor is the environment.
i. The Influence of Family If we talk about family, we may directly think about father, mother (parents) and children. Hurlock (1974:352-359) states that children get their early experiences in the family. From these experiences, children acquire their attitudes, values, and patterns of social behavior. The relationship between parents and children has the influence on the personality of the children. When the children are loved by the parents, they become extroverted, warm, composed and happy.
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But when the parents reject the children, in various situations, the children will become suspicious, insecure, anxious, introverted and tense. Hurlock also states that lack of emotional warmth will affect someone’s view toward other people. Lack of warmth in family relationship is interpreted by most family member to mean lack of interest and affection. It will break down respect for those in the authority. Kalish (1973:55) states that parents and other significant figures probably have the greatest influence on the formation of values and attitude because first, parents have the authority in estimating the children’s attitudes. They may give reward for the attitudes they like or give punishment for the unacceptable attitudes. Second, parents provide models that their children consciously and unconsciously copy. Third, parents live in such a way that the children internalize their values regarding education, God, humanity, and work. Moreover, parents and other significant figures are the closest people who have interaction with children and it is easier to take their values rather than other people’s values. Furthermore, they say that the pattern of personality is composed of traits which show the individual’s uniqueness as shown in his behaviors and thought. The development of human’s personality is the most remarkable during the childhood years and is determined largely by the parent – child relationship. Therefore, parents are regarded as the most influential figures in shaping child’s first personality and also in child’s personality development.
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ii. The Influence of Environment Someone’s personality can also be influenced by the environment where the individual lives. Someone’s behavior and social attitudes may be influenced by people they associate in their environment. Carver and Scheier (1996:146) state that adults outside the home may influence young children’s behavior and social attitudes when children associate with them. They will strive to keep up with them, and by doing so, they develop more mature patterns of behavior than their mates of their age. They also state that peers also have an important influence on children. The differences in peer group may cause people to become different. If that happens, it is an environmental influence that is not shared by siblings.
b. Theory on Social Interaction Erikson as quoted by Worchel and Shebilske (1989:341-342) emphasizes the importance of individual’s interaction with social environment in shaping personality. He divides it into eight stages as follows: (1) Stage I (0 - 1 years old) During this year a baby spends most of the time eating, sleeping, and depending on his or her mother. The ability to do all these things may develop a sense of basic trust. (2) Stage II (2 - 3 years old) During these years of life, the crisis of autonomy against a tendency to feel ashamed and doubtful of one’s own power occurs. The child learns to control
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himself. If he succeeds, he will feel proud but if he fails, he will feel ashamed and doubtful, which lead the child to leave this stage with a sense of insecurity. (3) Stage III (4 -5 years old) The ego quality of initiative enables the child to plan and set about tasks. He begins to master skills and tries hard to perform well. The danger of this stage is development of guilt. The child has already begun to learn what is forbidden. However, his ambitions are unlimited and he may become aggressive and manipulative in trying to achieve his goal. (4) Stage IV (6 – 12 years old) Child interest in laying is surpassed by a concern to produce and to learn how to use the tools of work. The danger in this stage is that if the child fails to master the tasks of school and home, this may develop a lasting sense of inferiority. (5) Stage V (13 – 19 years old) This stage is just the beginning to form an identity. Adolescent begin to sense individuality. They become aware that they have the strength to control their own destiny and to define themselves and their goals. (6) Stage VI (20 – 30 years old) Young adults are ready and eager to unite their identities with those of others. They seek relationship of intimacy – friendship and work relationship as well as loving. They are ready to develop the strengths. They will need to fulfill
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commitments to others even though commitment needs some sacrifice and compromise. (7) Stage VII (31 – 65 years old) This is the stage of the development of generativist. It concerns with establishing and guiding the next generation. In general, this means that adults want to have children to whom they can transmit their values. More broadly, generativist, one risks stagnation, in which personality becomes impoverished and regresses into self concern. (8) Stage VIII (66 years – on) People in this stage perceive that others have lived differently and they are prepared to defend the dignity of their own life styles. One creates one’s own life style within the culture or civilization in which one lives.
C. Theoretical Framework In this study, the writer uses four theories to analyze the topic about personality development. The first is theory on character by M. H. Abrams. This theory may help the writer to understand the characteristics of Lily and the other minor characters. The second theory of characterization by M. J. Murphy is used to get better understanding about the characters’ personality in the novel. The third theory is theory on personality development by Elizabeth B. Hurlock. This theory will help the writer to see the factors that influence Lily’s personality development. There are two factors that are presented in this review. First is family where in this case is parents and other significant figures. Second is
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environment where specifically is the people who live in it. The last theory is theory on social interaction by Erik Erikson. This theory is used to see individual’s interaction with social interaction in shaping personality and on making decision in Lily’s life.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of three parts. Those are object of the study, approach of the study and method of the study. Object of the study contains the explanation about the identity of the novel. In the approach of the study, it discusses about the approach that is appropriate to analyze the topic. In this study, the approach that is used is psychological approach. Methodology of the study contains the method that the writer uses to analyze the topic.
A. Object of the Study This novel is written by Sue Monk Kidd entitled The Secret Life of Bees. It consists of 14 chapters. In the novel, the author presents the story on 357 pages. It was published in 2005 by Headline Book Publishing. The Secret Life of Bees is a novel of dramatic life of fourteen years old girl named Lily that searches the answers about her memory in the past and about her mother. The author, Sue Monk Kidd, was born and raised in the small town of Sylvester, Georgia, a place that deeply influenced the writing of The Secret Life of Bees. She wrote many novels and also memoirs. The Secret Life of Bees is a bestseller novel in many countries. It has been sold more than 5 million copies. It also spent over two years in The New York Times bestseller list and it has been published in 35 countries. http://www.suemonkkidd.com/Author.aspx This novel won SEBA Book of the Year in 2003. It is also nominated in several awards such
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as International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (Dublin, Ireland) in 2004 and Orange Prize in England 2002. This novel is already made into a movie in America with the casts such as Queen Latifa and Dakota Fanning. This novel tells about a fourteen years old white girl named Lily Melissa Owens who tries to find the answers about her memory in the past and about her mother, Deborah Fontanel Owens. When Lily was four years old, she accidentally killed her mother. She feels very guilty because of that memory. Lily lives with her father that she called T. Ray in Sylvan, South Carolina. T. Ray owns peach farm in Sylvan. Since the death of Deborah, T. Ray becomes an abusive person especially to Lily. He often makes Lily kneels on the grits for hours and he also uses mean and harsh words for his fourteen years old daughter. His behavior to Lily makes Lily feels guiltier and she turns into an introverted person. T. Ray also cares less to Lily whether to her physical appearance up to her education. Lily becomes a lack of confidence person because she does not get support from her only parent like the other children do. Since the death of her mother, Lily is taken care of by Rosaleen. Rosaleen is Owens’ black servant that used to work in T. Ray’s peach farm. Lily lives with her mother’s belongings. One of them is a black Mary picture, mother of Jesus, with handwriting of Tiburon S. C. behind it. Lily keeps learning about the handwriting behind the picture. She finally finds out that it is a name of a place. She thinks that one day she will go there like her mother did. One day she asks Rosaleen to take her out with her to town as the gift of her fourteen birthdays. Rosaleen wants to go to town to vote for her right. In the
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journey, they meet three Niger haters that insult Rosaleen. Rosaleen defends herself and pours juice on one of the mens’ shoes. He becomes very angry and then he calls the police. So Lily and Rosaleen put in jail. Soon, Lily is released by T. Ray. When they arrive at home, they get into an argument. Finally T. Ray tells Lily that the day her mother died, she actually wanted to leave Lily. Lily does not believe that because she loves her mother very much. She cannot think anything else than saves Rosaleen, the only one person who cares about her, from jail. Lily goes back to town and saves Rosaleen. Then both of them run away to Tiburon, the only place that Lily can remember in a hard situation. With the guidance of black Mary picture, Lily and Rosaleen arrives in August Boatwright’s house. Lily feels that August is the key to her mother’s world. August lives with her sisters, June and May. August is a black woman who owns bee farms in the county. Lily and Rosaleen stay in her house. Lily works to help August in the bee farm. In Tiburon Lily also meets Zach, a black boy in Lily’s age. He is August’s main worker. Along living in Tiburon, Lily does not only learn how to keep bees but also she finds all the answers about her memory in the past and also her mother. She finds many painful fact about her past but finally she can face it calmly. She turns into an extroverted person that can express her feeling. She also can open herself to other people in her surrounding. She also becomes a confident person to face her life after she can accept her memory in the past.
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B. Approach of the Study In this novel, Lily experienced development in her personality. The development of her personality is caused by the influences of minor characters. In order to analyze Lily’s personality development, the writer applied psychological approach. David Daiches (1981:329-344) in his book entitled Critical Approaches to Literature stated that psychology relates to a discussion of the stated of mind out of which literary creation arises. It comes onto a criticism in two ways, in the investigation of the act of creation and in the psychological study of the authors to show the relation between their attitudes and states of mind and the special qualities of their work. Psychological approach can be used to interpret a work of literature such as the behavior of the characters in a novel or a play by applying psychology theories. Dryden stated that psychology is appropriate to be used to analyze literature because the function of literature is to provide “a just and lively image of human nature”. Therefore, psychology is a study of certain aspects of human character. It is stated above that psychological approach is an approach that is used to analyze the characters in a literary work. In this study, the writer used psychological approach because the writer wanted to reveal the main character’s personality development by applying some psychology theories.
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C. Method of the Study In order to achieve the objective of the analysis, the valid data is needed. Therefore, the writer employed library research to collect data related to the topic of the study. The data that the writer used was Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. The writer also used some books as references. Those books are M. H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Terms. Ian Milligan’s The Novel in English: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students. Lawrence Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense. M. J. Murphy’s Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Students, Elizabeth B. Hurlock’s Personality Development. Richard A. Kalish’s The Psychological of Human Behavior. Charles S. Carver and Michael F. Scheier’s Perspective on Personality. Stephen Worchel and Shebilske’s Psychology: Principle and Application. The writer also browsed some information in the internet in the relation with Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees. In analyzing the novel, there were several steps that were applied. The first step was to read the novel several times in order to understand the story, by focusing on the main and minor character’s characteristics and also on the influence that later caused the personality development of the main character. The second step was that the writer tried to formulate three problems to analyze the topic about personality development. The next step was the writer tried to find some relevant theories. In order to analyze the personality
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development of the main character that is influenced by minor characters, the writer applied theories on character and characterization. Theory on character and characterization was applied to reveal the charateristics of the main character and the minor characters. After revealed the characteristics of each character, the writer applied Hurlock’s and Erikson’s theories to analyze the personality development of the main character. In this study, the writer used psychological approach because the focus of this study is related to someone’s personality. The last step was making the conclusion of the study. After answering the questions in the problem formulation, the writer made the conclusion of the study. The conclusion was the findings of the analysis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter will be divided into three parts. The first part, the writer will analyze the characteristics of Lily Melissa Owens that are described in the story. The second part, the writer will analyze the characteristics of the minor characters in the story. The last part, the writer will analyze Lily’s personality development as the result of minor character’s influences.
A. The Characteristics of Lily Melissa Owens One of important elements in a story such as novel is the character. The characters are described through the story by describing their physical and psychological appearance. Not all of the characters in a story play an important role. It means that there are a main character and the minor character. At least there is one character that plays an important role as the center of the story. In this study, the main character that will be discussed is Lily Melissa Owens. Lily Melissa Owens is a fourteen years old white girl. She lives with her father that she calls T. Ray, a peach farm owner, in Sylvan South Carolina. Her mother name is Deborah. (p.15) She died when Lily was four years old. Lily is accidentally shot her mother when her parents got into a fight. She feels very guilty because of that. It is shown in the quotation below. This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away. (p.9)
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Since the death of her mother, Lily is taken care of by Rosaleen. Rosaleen is Owens’ Black servant that used to work in T. Ray’s peach farm. (p.2-9) Physically, Lily is described through her thought that she is more or less like her mother. She is described as a thin girl with nice eyes in the next quotation. My hair was black like my mother’s but basically a nest of cowlicks, and it worried me that I didn’t have much of a chin. I kept thinking I’d grow one the same time my breasts came in, but it didn’t work out that way. I had nice eyes, though, what you would call Sophia Loren eyes, but still, even the boys who wore their hair in ducktails dripping with Vitalis and carried combs in their shirt pockets didn’t seem attracted to me, and they were considered hard up. (p.10-11) From the quotation above, it can be seen that Lily feels that she has many similarities with her mother’s physical appearance since she adores her very much. The way she adores her mother can be seen in the quotation below where she feels that her future appearance will be fine because she has physical similarities with her mother. I laid the photograph beside my eight-grade picture and examined every possible similarity. She was more or less missing a chin, too, but even so, she was above-average pretty, which offered me genuine hope for my future. (p.16) Lily is a curious person. She feels curious about her mother since her mother died when she was only four years old. She does not have much time to get to know her mother and she does not have many memories about her mother. Her curiosity is shown when she asked many questions about her mother to T. Ray like one that is stated in the quotation below. Once when I asked him when her birthday was and what cake icing she preferred, he told me to shut up, and when I asked him a second time, he picked up a jar of blackberry jelly and threw it against the kitchen cabinet. We have blue stains to this day.
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I did manage to get a few scraps of information from him, though, such as my mother was buried in Virginia where her people came from. I got worked up at that, thinking I’d found a grandmother. (p.15) The next quotation shows that she is not only a curious person but she is also a determined person. One of her little memory about her mother is her mother’s scent. She feels really curious to find out what kind of perfume that her mother used to have. Her curiosity is shown from her act where she often goes to perfume shop to find perfume that has similar scent with her mother’s. The scent got laid down in me in a permanent way and had all the precision of cinnamon. I used to go regularly into the Sylvan Mercantile and smell every perfume bottle they had, trying to identify it. Every time I showed up, the perfume lady acted surprised, saying, ‘My goodness, look who’s here.’ Like I hadn’t just been there the week before and gone down the entire row of bottles. Shalimar, Chanel No. 5, White Shoulders. I’d say, ‘You got anything new?’ She never did. So it was a shock when I came upon the scent on my fifth-grade teacher, who said it was nothing but plain ordinary Ponds Cold Cream. (p.7) Her curiosity is also shown when she found handwriting of Tiburon S. C. behind a picture of black Mary in one of her mother’s belongings. She keeps asking every possibility about Tiburon that is related with her mother. She tries to analyze the relation between her mother and a place named Tiburon in South Carolina. Her curiosity also shows that she is a critical person. I would study ‘Tiburon, S.C.’ on the back of the black Mary picture, the funny slant of the lettering, and wonder what sort of place it was. I’d looked it up on the map once, and it wasn’t more than two hours away. Had my mother been there and bought this picture? I always promised myself one day, when I was grown-up enough, I would take the bus over there. I wanted to go every place she had ever been. (p.18) Her critical side is also shown when she is attracted to a picture of black Mary. She tries to analyze the picture with her knowledge on religion to
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understand how come her mother owned this kind of picture. After she analyzed it with what she knew about Mary, mother of Jesus, she comes to a conclusion that her mother was probably a Catholic like stated in the quotation below. The only Mary story we talked about was the wedding story – the time she persuaded her son, practically against his will, to manufacture wine in the kitchen out of plain water. This had been a shock to me, since our church didn’t believe in wine or, for that matter, in women having a lot of say about things. All I could really figure was my mother had been mixed up with the Catholics somehow and – I have to say – this secretly thrilled me. (p.73) Lily also feels curious about her memory in the past, especially about her memory the day her mother died. She does not have a clear memory the day her mother died because she was only four years old. She always wants to know the fact whether she is the one who killed her mother or not. The way she tries to find the answer is by reminding the sequences of events that cause the death of her mother. She often comes to a conclusion that she is the one who killed her mother. The way she tries to analyze with the memory that she has shows that she is a critical person in the next quotation. I knew that the explosion I’d heard that day had killed her. The sound still sneaked into my head once in a while and surprised me. Sometimes it seemed that when I’d held the gun there hadn’t been any noise at all, that it had come later, but other times, sitting alone on the back steps, bored and wishing for something to do, or pent up in my room on a rainy day, I felt l had caused it, that when I’d lifted the gun, the sound had torn through the room and gouged out our hearts. (p.21) Lily always tries to find the fact that happened in the past about the death of her mother. One time her father told her about the truth that happened. He said that the day her mother died she actually just came back for her things. He said that her mother actually wanted to leave Lily. (p.49-50) But she does not take
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what her father told her for granted. Instead she tries to think of every possible intention why her father told her that statement that shows she is a critical person. How could she have left me? I stood there several minutes looking out on the world, trying to understand. Little birds were singing, so perfect. That’s when it came to me: What if my mother leaving wasn’t true? What if T. Ray had made it up to punish me? (p.51) In this story, Lily is also a good observer. It is shown in many of her reactions, speeches and thoughts. She is not only good in observing the situation but also people around her. It is shown in several quotations below. Lily lives with T. Ray for almost in the entire of her life. She knew how to react to T. Ray because she has observed his habit. One time, T. Ray and Lily were arguing about the name of the famous writers. Lily knew how to react to T. Ray’s statement when he stated the wrong name. She said a scholarship was my only hope for a future and lent me her private books for the summer. Whenever I opened one, T. Ray said, ‘Who do you think you are, Julius Shakespeare?’ The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare’s first name, and if you think I should have corrected him, you are ignorant the art of survival. He also referred to me as Miss Brown-Nose-in-a-Book and occasionally as Miss Emily-Big-HeadDiction. He meant Dickinson, but again, there are things you let go by. (p.20) From the quotation above, it is shown that Lily knows how to react to T. Ray. She remains silent because she knows if she does not, T. Ray will punish her. The other evidence that she is a good observer is shown when she goes to the hospital to save Rosaleen from further punishment in jail. In her journey, she meets Brother Gerald who is sent to press charges against Rosaleen for stealing church property. ‘Rosaleen would never steal a thing.’ ‘They said she’d assaulted some men at the Esso station.’
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‘It wasn’t like that,’ I said. ‘See, she was singing her favorite hymn, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” I don’t believe those men are Christians, Brother Gerald, because they yelled at her to shut up with the blankety-blank Jesus tune. Rosaleen said, “You can curse me, but don’t blaspheme the Lord Jesus.” But they kept right on. So she poured the juice from her snuff cup on their shoes. Maybe she was wrong, but in her mind she was standing up for Jesus.’ I was sweating through my top and all along the backs of my thighs. Brother Gerald dragged his teeth back and forth across his lip. I could tell he was actually weighing what I’d said. (p.56-57) The quotation above shows that Lily knows with whom she is talking to. She knows that she is talking to a priest. So, she directly makes that kind of story to make Brother Gerald cancel his charges to Rosaleen. Lily actually lies to Brother Gerald. But it does not mean that she is a liar. In the contrary, it shows that Lily is a smart person. She can think very fast to arrange a convincing story to make Brother Gerald believe and cancel his charges that Rosaleen stole church properties. The other way to see that Lily is a smart person is from her reaction. She reacts quickly to get Rosaleen out from hospital with policeman outside Rosaleen’s room without his knowing. The quotation below shows that Lily thinks quickly and she knows what she needs to do. Over on the white side of the hospital I found a pay phone next to a waiting area. I got the hospital number from Information and dialed it up, asking for the nurses’ station in the colored wing. I cleared my throat. ‘This is the jailer’s wife over at the police station,’ I said to the girl who answered. ‘Mr Gaston wants you to send the policeman that we’ve got over there back to the station. Tell him the preacher is on his way in to sign some papers, and Mr Gaston can’t be here ‘cause he had to leave just now. So if you could tell him to get over here right away…. She repeated it all back to me, making sure she had it straight. Her sigh passed over the receiver. ‘I’ll tell him.’ She’ll tell him. I couldn’t believe it. (p.60)
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In sum, Lily is a curious person because she wants to know many things that happened in her life. She is also a critical person in the way she always analyze everything before believe on what other people told her to do. She is also a good observer. It can be seen from the way she reacts and talks to other people. From the way she can think fast to face many situations, it can be seen that she is a smart person. It means that problem formulation number one about Lily’s characteristics is already answered.
B. The Characteristics of Minor Characters 1. Terrence Ray / T. Ray Terrence Ray is Lily’s father. He and Lily live in Sylvan, South Carolina. Lily preferred to call him T. Ray than Daddy because Lily feels that he cannot give a good father figure for her. My daddy – who I called T. Ray because ‘Daddy’ never fit him – had pulled her out of the peach orchard, where she’d worked as one of his pickers. (p.2) T. Ray is an abusive person. He becomes an abusive person to his daughter, Lily, after the death of his beloved wife, Deborah Owens. He often makes Lily kneel on the grit since she was a kid. It is a form of punishment for Lily if Lily did something that T. Ray does not like or if he considers Lily did something wrong with his own judgment. (p.6) He is not only abusive to Lily physically, but also orally by using mean words to his fourteen years old daughter. It can be seen in the quotation below when T. Ray finds Lily outside the house at night. He judges Lily goes out with a boy without having any evidence.
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He didn’t speak till we reached the kitchen and he pulled the Martha White grits from the pantry. ‘I expect this out of boys, lily – you can’s blame them – but I expect more out of you. You act no better than a slut.’ He poured a mound of grits the size of an anthill onto the pine floor. ‘Get over here and kneel down.’ I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but still I never got used to that powdered-glass feeling beneath my skin. I walked toward them with those tiny feather steps you expect of a girl in Japan, and lowered myself to the floor, determined not to cry, but the sting was already gathering in my eyes. (p.30) He often takes out his anger for the death of his wife to Lily, because when Lily was four she accidentally killed her mother. When he knows that Lily is in a trouble and she is put in jail, T.Ray gets really angry to Lily. He is mad because Lily makes him feels embarrass in front of his neighbors. Then he releases Lily from jail. At home, both of them get into a fight. The argument leads them to talk about Deborah. Finally T. Ray tells Lily the fact that happened when the day Lily accidentally killed her mother as in the quotation below. I ran for the bed and scrambled onto the middle of it, breathing hard. ‘My mother will never let you touch me again!’ I shouted. ‘Your mother?’ His face was bright red. ‘You think that goddamn woman gave a shit about you?’ ‘My mother loved me!’ I cried. He threw back his head and let out a forced, bitter laugh. ‘It’s – it’s not funny,’ I said. ‘Not funny?’ he yelled. ‘Not funny? Why, it’s the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you thinking your mother is your guardian angel.’ He laughed again. ‘The woman could have cared less about you.’ ‘I hate you!’ I screamed. That stopped his smiling instantly. He stiffed. ‘Why, you little bitch,’ he said. The color faded from his lips. ‘You listen to me,’ he said, his voice deadly calm. ‘The truth is, your sorry mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she’d come back to get her things, that’s all. You can hate me all you want, but she’s the one who left you.’ (p.49-50)
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T. Ray in the quotation above states that the day Deborah died, she actually wanted to leave Lily. His statement becomes a trigger for Lily to find out the truth that happened in her memory in the past and about her mother. T. Ray owns peach farm in Sylvan. He makes Lily sells his peaches after school and in the summer holiday. Lily likes to read and write. But T. Ray does not allow her to bring books in the peach stall or to read books in her spare time. It is because he thinks that it will lead her to the idea of college where for T. Ray, it wastes money for girl. It shows that T. Ray is a care less person, even for Lily’s education and positive hobbies. It shows that he does not support Lily. Instead if he knows that Lily reads book in her spare time, he will make her kneels on the grits. T. Ray refused to let me bring books out here and read, and if I smuggled one out, say, Lost Horizon, stuck under my shirt, somebody, like Mrs Watson from the next farm, would see him at church say, ‘Saw your girl in the peach stand reading up a storm. You must be proud.’ And he would half kill me. What kind of person is against reading? I think her believed it would stir up ideas of college, which he thought a waste of money for girls, even if they did, like me, score the highest number a human being can get on their verbal aptitude test. Math aptitude is another thing, but people aren’t meant to be overly bright in everything. (p.18-19) He does not only care less about Lily’s education, he also does not support Lily’s goal to become a writer. Instead he often underestimates and makes a joke on her favorite writer to show that he does not care about it at all. She said a scholarship was my only hope for a future and lent me her private books for the summer. Whenever I opened one, T. Ray said, ‘Who do you think you are, Julius Shakespeare?’ The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare’s first name, and if you think I should have corrected him, you are ignorant about the art of survival. He also referred to me as Miss Brown-Nose-in-a-Book and occasionally as Miss Emily-Big-Head-
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Diction. He meant Dickinson, but again, there are things you let go by. (p.20) From the analysis above on T. Ray’s characteristics, it can be concluded that T. Ray is an abusive person. He is also a harsh and care less person. As a parent, he does not give a positive support to his daughter. His characteristics are shown from his behaviors and his speeches.
2. Rosaleen Daise Rosaleen is Owens’ black servant. She used to work in T. Ray’s peach farm, but after the death of Deborah, T. Ray employs Rosaleen to take care of Lily and the household. (p.2) Rosaleen is a caring person although she does not show it directly. It can be seen in the quotation below where she acts that she does not care about Lily. She often shows her care in the opposite manner. She stared at the bee and shook her head. ‘If you get stung, don’t come whining to me,’ she said, ‘’cause I ain’t gonna care.’ That was lie. I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason. I hadn’t known this until I was eight and he bought me an Easter-dyed biddy from the mercantile. I found it trembling in a corner of its pen, the color of purple grapes, with sad little eyes that cast around for its mother. Rosaleen let me bring it home, right into the living room, where I strewed a box of Quaker Oats on the floor for it to eat and she didn’t raise a word of protest. (p.13-14) The way that Rosaleen is a caring person is also shown when she makes friend with the Boatwright, especially with May Boatwright. She knew that May is different from other people especially to face a sensitive subject in life. She
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often helps May with housework. The way that she cares to May is shown when she willing to move and sleeps with May to accompany her. (p.160-161) Rosaleen is also a determined person, especially on something that she really wants. It can be seen from Lily’s opinion on her reaction. In this story, Rosaleen wants to vote for her right. The way she gives all her effort to find the news about the President who signed the Civil Right Act shows that she is a determined person. It is shown in the quotation below. It was after 6:00 P.M. when I wandered back to house from the peach stand, having sold nothing, not one peach, and found Rosaleen in the living room. Usually she would’ve gone home by now, but she was wrestling with the rabbit ears on top of the TV, trying to fix the snow on the screen. President Johnson faded in and out, lost in the blizzard. I’d never seen Rosaleen so interested in a TV show that she would exert physical energy over it. (p.24) The next quotation also shows that she is a determined person. The way she gives all of her effort is not only seen from the way she tries to fix the television to get the news. It also can be seen from the way she prepares everything. She already practices to write her name many times to vote. Her name, Rosaleen Daise, was written twenty-five times at least down the page in large, careful cursive, like the first paper you turn in when school starts. ‘This is my practice sheet,’ she said. ‘For the Fourth of July they’re holding a voters’ rally at the colored church. I’m registered myself to vote.’ (p.33) The other evidence that she is a determined person is shown in the final of this story. She already experiences many hard events because she wants to vote. She experiences life in jail, gets beaten by three men in jail and becomes a fugitive from justice. But those events do not change her goal to vote. After she is
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getting better in Tiburon, she continues what she has started which is to vote for her right. It can be seen in the quotation below. ‘You going somewhere?’ I said. ‘She sure is,’ said August, stepping into the room, smiling at Rosaleen. ‘I’m gonna finish what I have started,’ Rosaleen said, lifting her chin. ‘I’m gonna register to vote.’ (p.348) In this story, Rosaleen also considered as a quite naïve and stubborn person. In the journey to the city to vote, Rosaleen and Lily meets three Niger haters that insulted her appearance for being so black. Lily already told her to ignore them, but instead Rosaleen defends herself like stated in the next quotation. ‘Hit me,’ one of them said, and the dealer, who wore a Seed and Feed cap, slapped a card down in front of him. He looked up and saw us, Rosaleen fanning and shuffling, swaying side to side. ‘Well, look what we got coming here,’ he called out. ‘Where’re you going, nigger?’ Firecrackers made a spattering sound in the distance. ‘Keep walking,’ I whispered. ‘Don’t pay any attention.’ But Rosaleen, who had less sense than I’d dreamed, said in this tone like she was explaining something real hard to a kindergarten student, ‘I’m going to register my name so I can vote, that’s what.’ (p.38-9) The other evidence that she is a stubborn person is shown when Rosaleen is in jail. Those three Niger haters ask her to apologize for what she did. She knows that if she apologizes, they will not hurt her. But instead, she keeps silent and says nothing although they hit her so many times. It can be seen from Lily’s thoughts about Rosaleen in the quotation below. When her tear glands were finally exhausted, I said, ‘What happened to you?’ ‘After you left, that policeman called Shoe let those men come in for their apology.’ ‘They hit you again?’ ‘Two of them held me by the arms while the other one hit me – the one with the flashlight. He said “Nigger, you say you’re sorry.” When I didn’t, he came at me. He hit me till the policeman said that was enough. They didn’t get no apology, though.’
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I wanted those men to die in hell begging for ice water, but I felt mad at Rosaleen, too. Why could you just apologize? Then maybe Franklin Posey would let you off with just a beating. All what she’s done was guarantee they’d come back. (p.58) It can be concluded that Rosaleen is a caring person from the way she cares to Lily. She is also a determined and stubborn person. It can be seen from her reactions and also from other character’s thoughts about her.
3. August Boatwright Physhically, August is described as black person who owns bee farms in the county. She is the owner of Black Madonna Honey Company with the picture of black Mary, mother of Jesus. (p.114) August lives with her sisters June and May in Tiburon, South Carolina. August used to work for Fontanel family. She used to take care of Lily’s mother before she runs her own business. (p.304) August is a caring and loving person. It is shown from the way she behaves and speaks to other people. It can be seen in the quotation below when she meets Lily and Rosaleen for the first time. She allows them to stay in her house because she feels that she cannot let people in a trouble to stay in the roadside. ‘I’m Lily, and that’s Rosaleen,’….. ‘We ran away from home and don’t have any place to go,’ I told her…. ‘Well, you can stay here till you figure out what to do. We can’t have you living on the side of the road,’ said August. The intake of June’s breath nearly sucked the air from the room. ‘But August –‘ ‘They’ll stay here,’ she repeated in a way that let me know who the big sister was and who the little sister was. ‘It’ll be all right. We’ve got the cots in the honey house.’ June flounced out, her red skirt flashing around the door. ‘Thank you,’ I said.
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‘You’re welcome. Now sit down. I’ll get some orangeade.’ (p.89-90) The other evidence that she is a caring and loving person can be seen from the way she gives Lily spirit. It can also be seen from the way she cares and loves bees as if they are human. It shows that she does not only care and love other people but every living thing. In this story, August is also an intelligent person. It can be seen from Lily’s thought where she surprises that there is a black woman who is intelligent and cultured like August. T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That’s what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me. (p.97) Through the story, it can be seen that August is a person who likes to read. She reads many books and she knew what lies behind the story. It makes Lily thinks that she is an intelligent person. She likes to tell story that she has read or story that she heard from her ancient to other people that can give them inspiration to face their problems. The way that August is an intelligent person can be seen when August told Lily the story of Nun Beatrix who runs away because she is tired of her chores. She tells Lily that Mary standing in for Nun Beatrix when she runs away so that if she comes back she will not feel regret. (p.111-113) She told this story to Lily in order to give Lily inspiration and spirit to face her problem. From her hobby to read, she has a wide knowledge. She likes to share her knowledge to anyone. It can be seen in the next quotation when Lily and August have a conversation. August told Lily that people are so limited to express their
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feelings with words. This conversation teaches Lily to learn how to express her feelings. ‘Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?’ August said. ‘And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving a Coke with peanuts. Isn’t that a shame we don’t have more ways to say it?’ I nodded, wondering where was the limit of her knowing things. Probably one of those books she’d read after bedtime during the month of August had been about Eskimo. (p.174) This story also shows that August is a wise person. It is shown in many of her reaction towards situations in her life. One of the examples is when she knew that Lily is lying about her identity so that she is allowed to stay in August’s house. She does not directly mad and yell at Lily. Instead she tries to understand Lily’s situation and gives Lily time to prepare herself. It can be seen in the quotation below. ‘You know she’s lying,’ said June. ‘I know,’ August told her. ‘But they’re in some kind of trouble and need a place to stay. Who’s gonna take them if we don’t – a white girl and a Negro woman? Nobody around here.’…. ‘What about this aunt she mentioned?’ ‘There’s no aunt and you know it,’ said August. June’s voice sounded exasperated. ‘What if her father didn’t die in this socalled tractor accident? Won’t he be looking for her?’ A pause followed. I crept closer to the edge of the porch. ‘I just have a feeling about this, June. Something tells me not to send her back to some place she does not want to be. Not yet, at least. She has some reason for leaving. Maybe he mistreated her. I believe we can help her.’ ‘Why don’t you just ask her point-blank what kind of trouble she’s in?’ ‘Everything in time,’ August said. ‘The last thing I want is to scare her off with a lot of questions. She’ll tell us when she’s ready. Let’s be patient.’ (p.106-07) In sum, it can be concluded that August is a caring and loving person. She is also an intelligent and wise person. It can be seen from her behavior and her
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speeches. Her characteristics also can be seen from other character’s opinion about her.
4. May Boatwright May Boatwright is the youngest sister in the Boatwright. May is different from other people, especially to face her sadness. She is a very sensitive person. She cannot face a sad situation. She even cannot imagine the pain of the suffering bugs. Every time she feels sad, she will hum ‘Oh! Susanna’. It was Rosaleen who figured out the mystery of ‘Oh! Susanna.’ She said if you kept things on a happy note, May did fine, but bring up an unpleasant subject – like Rosaleen’s head full of stitches or the tomatoes having rotbottom – and May would start humming ‘Oh! Susanna.’ It seemed to be her personal way of warding off crying. It worked for things like tomato rot, but not for much else. (p.104-5) She becomes a very sensitive person because of her past. May had a twin sister named April. They cannot be separated since they were a baby. May can feel everything that April feels. When April was thirteen, she experienced a great depression. She cannot hold her depression any more so she killed herself. The death of April changes May’s life. She cannot overcome her sadness. She feels other people sadness more than them. She feels that the misery in the world is her burden. It can be seen in the quotation below. I hadn’t expected that. I sucked in my breath, then left my hand go up and over my mouth. ‘I know,’ said August. ‘It’s terrible to hear something like that.’ She paused a moment. ‘When April died, something in May died, too. She never was normal after that. It seemed like the world itself became May’s twin sister.’ (p.120)
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Because of her sensitivity, May becomes a caring person. She loves and cares everyone in her surrounding. She does not only care to other people, but to all creatures. It is shown in her reaction every time she finds bugs inside her house. She has a unique habit to carry insects out of the house by using dustpan. So she can put them out alive as in the next quotation. May didn’t allow rat traps in the house, as she couldn’t even bear the thought of a suffering rat. But what really drove Rosaleen crazy was May catching spiders and carrying them out of the house in the dustpan. I liked this about May, since it reminded me of my bug-loving mother. I went around helping May catch granddady longlegs, not just because a smashed bug could send her over the edge but because I felt I was being loyal to my mother’s wishes. (p.105) Her life ends when she knows that Zach, August’s worker, is in jail. She cannot stand her sadness because she cares to Zach very much like her own brother. Finally she drowned herself in the river until she died. (p.237-239) From the analysis above, it can be concluded that May is a very sensitive person. She is a caring person. It can be seen from her behavior and unique habit to save bugs.
5. Zachary Lincoln Taylor / Zach Zach is a Black boy in Lily’s age. He lived in Tiburon, South Carolina. Physically, Zach is described as a handsome boy. He has a built body as a result of physical exercise. He has one-sided dimple that Lily likes. He is a cheerful person. It can be seen in the quotation below when Lily meets Zach at the first time. ‘I’m Zachary Taylor,’ he said. ‘Zachary Taylor was a president,’ I told him.
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‘Yeah, so I’ve heard.’ He fished out of dogtag suspended on a chain under his shirt and held it up to my nose. ‘See right there. Zachary Lincoln Taylor.’ He smiled then, and I saw he had a one-sided dimple. It’s a feature that has always gotten to me….. There was nothing white about Zachary Lincoln Taylor. Even the whites of his eyes weren’t exactly white. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist and short-cropped hair like most of the Negro boys wore, but it was his face I couldn’t help staring at. If he was shocked over me being white, I was shocked over him being handsome. (p.144) Zach works for August as her assistant in bee farms. He also works to deliver honey to the customers. His behavior, especially the way he works for August shows that he is a hard worker. It is shown in the next quotation where he shows Lily his car that he bought with his money. ‘How long have you worked here?’ I asked, happy to change the subject. ‘All through high school. I come after school when it’s not football season, every Saturday and all summer. I bought a car with the money I made last year.’ ‘That Ford out there?’ ‘Yeah, it’s a ’59 Ford Fairlane,’ he said. (p.146) Zach is a smart and determined person. It can be seen in the next quotation where Lily and Zach have a conversation. He states to Lily that he wants to become lawyer although it is hard because he is black. I felt embarrassed. ‘Well, you could play football for a college team and then be a professional player.’ ‘Why is it sports is the only thing white people see us being successful at? I don’t want to play football,’ he said. ‘I wanna be a lawyer.’ (p.150) Zach is not only a cheerful person. He is also a nice person. He shows it from his reaction when he knows that Lily wants to become a writer. He supports Lily by giving her a note book. It can be seen in the quotation below. Two days later, after we had run ourselves into the ground harvesting the rest of the honey, Zach showed up with the prettiest notebook – green with rosebuds on the cover. He met me coming out of the pink house. ‘This is for you,’ he said. ‘So you can get a head start on your writing.’
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That’s when I knew I would never find a better friend than Zachary Taylor. I threw my arms around him and leaned into his chest. He made a sound like Whoa, but after a second his arms folded around me, and we stayed like that, in a true embrace. He moved his hands up and down my back, till I was almost dizzy. (p.167-8) In this story, Zach is a hard worker. He is also a cheerful, smart and nice person who supports others. It can be seen from his reactions and speeches.
C. Lily’s Personality Development as the Result of Minor Characters’ Influences After analyzing the characteristics of Lily Melissa Owens and minor characters, the writer may analyze Lily’s personality development. According to Hurlock (1974:8), character implies a moral standard and involves a judgment of value. She also states that personality is a part of character which relates to behavior that is regulated by personal effort, will, and conscience to adjust with the society. This study focuses on Lily’s personality development. In problem formulation one, the writer has analyzed Lily’s characteristics. From Lily’s characteristics, the writer can analyze Lily’s personality through her behavior that finally she can adjust with the society and face her problems. The society in this study is the minor characters that influence her personality to develop as follows.
1. From a Lack of Confident Person into a Confident Person Hurlock states that someone’s personality can be influenced by family and environment. She states that family influences in developing someone’s personality. It is because family is the child’s first social environments. Family
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will determine child’s first attitude toward people and social activities. Lack of emotional warmth or bad treatment from the parents will also influence child’s attitude and respect toward other people in authority. In the beginning of the story Lily is a lack of confident person as the result of her father’s influences. But later, she changes into a confident person when she is in Tiburon and meets people there. Lily’s first personality in this story is influenced by her father, T. Ray. T. Ray is an abusive person especially after the death of Deborah, his wife and Lily’s mother. When Lily was four, she accidentally killed her mother. It makes T. Ray becomes a more abusive person to Lily. T. Ray’s abuse can be seen from the way he creates punishment for Lily, called Martha Whites. (p.6) This is a kind of punishment where he makes Lily kneels on the grits for hours until her skin swollen. He is not only physically abusive to Lily, but also orally from the way he uses mean words when he speaks to Lily. It can be seen from the quotation below. He didn’t speak till we reached the kitchen and he pulled the Martha White grits from the pantry. ‘I expect this out of boys, Lily – you can’t blame them – but I expect more out of you. You act no better than a slut.’ He poured a mound of grits the size of an anthill onto the pine floor. ‘Get over here and kneel down.’ I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but still I never got used to that powdered-glass feeling beneath my skin. I walked toward them with those tiny feather steps you expect of a girl in Japan, and lowered myself to the floor, determined not to cry, but the sting was already gathering in my eyes. (p.30) As a critical person, Lily considered T. Ray is not appropriate to become a father or parent by seeing from his behavior, such as the way T. Ray punishes her, the way T. Ray behaves to her and the way T. Ray speaks to her. T. Ray’s bad
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treatment to Lily influences the way Lily respects her father. It is also the reason why Lily called him T. Ray than Daddy like mentioned in the below quotation. My daddy – who I called T. Ray because ‘Daddy’ never fit him – (p.2) Lily considers T. Ray is not appropriate to become a father also because T. Ray does not give Lily enough attention like the other of Lily’s friends’ parents. It makes Lily becomes jealous to the other of her friends who get their parents attention. Her jealousy can be seen when she becomes the only one girl in her school that does not have a silver charm bracelet. She feels jealous because the topic at school is about the bracelet all the time. She often asks T. Ray to buy her one but T. Ray does not care, even when Lily asks the bracelet for her birthday gift. (p.26) Moreover, Lily feels jealous to her friends whose their mother tied up their hair every morning before school. My hair was constantly going off in eleven wrong directions, and T. Ray, naturally, refused to buy me bristle rollers, so all year I’d had to roll it on Welch’s grape juice cans, which had nearly turned me into an insomniac. I was always having to choose between decent hair and a good night’s sleep. (p.3) The quotation above also shows that Lily is a good observer. She does not ask her father anymore for the bristle because she knows that her father will never buy her one like the other of her wishes. She knows that her father will not pay attention on her. Lily likes to read. She stated that she wanted to become a professor and a writer of actual books. (p.19) But her father does not allow her to read in her spare
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time, such as her spare time when she sells T. Ray’s peaches in the peach stand in the quotation below. T. Ray refused to let me bring books out here and read, and if I smuggled one out, say, Lost Horizon, stuck under my shirt, somebody, like Mrs Watson from the next farm, would see him at church say, ‘Saw your girl in the peach stand reading up a storm. You must be proud.’ And he would half kill me. (p.18) Since her father does not allow her to read books in her spare time, she prefers to write poems and keeps it in her writings collection. (p.20) Her father does not only forbid her to read books, but he also likes to make a joke on Lily’s favorite writer. Since she is a good observer, she knew how to deal with her father to avoid the Martha Whites punishment. It is shown from her conversation with her father below. Whenever I opened one, T. Ray said, ‘Who do you think you are, Julius Shakespeare?’ The man sincerely thought that was Shakespeare’s first name, and if you think I should have corrected him, you are ignorant about the art of survival. He also referred to me as Miss Brown-Nose-in-a-Book and occasionally as Miss Emily-Big-Head-Diction. He meant Dickinson, but again, there are things you let go by. (p.20) Overall, T. Ray’s attitude to her shows that he does not support Lily’s goal to become a professor and a writer of actual books. T. Ray does not support her because he thinks that Lily’s future dream will lead to the idea of college. It is shown in the next quotation. What kind of person is against reading? I think he believed it would stir up ideas of college, which he thought a waste of money for girls, even if they did, like me, score the highest number a human being can get on their verbal aptitude test. Math aptitude is another thing, but people aren’t meant to be overly bright in everything. (p.18-19) T. Ray less attention to Lily, such as the way he refuses to buy her bristle so that she can have smooth hair everyday influences the way Lily see herself.
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Then she underestimates herself for not being attractive. It makes her feels that she will never be a popular girl in her school like the other of her friends in the quotation below. He didn’t believe in slumber parties or sock hops, which wasn’t a big concern as I never got invited to them anyway, but he refused to drive me to town for football games, pep rallies, or Beta Club car washes, which were held on Saturdays. He did not care that I wore clothes I made from myself in home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts hanging below my knees, outfits only the Pentecostal girls wore. I might as well have worn a sign on my back: I AM NOT POPULAR AND NEVER WILL BE. I needed all the help that fashion could give me, since no one, not a single person, had ever said, ‘Lily, you are such a pretty child,’ except for Miss Jennings at church, and she was legally blind. (p.10) She does not only feel that she will never be a popular girl at school, but she also feels that because of her physical appearance she is not attractive to boys like mentioned below. I had nice eyes, though, what you would call Sophia Loren eyes, but still, even the boys who wore their hair in ducktails dripping with Vitalis and carried combs in the shirt pockets didn’t seem attracted to me, and they were considered hard up. (p.11) Moreover, the way T. Ray does not support Lily’s future dream also influences her to feel inferior to other people like in Erikson’s theory, fourth stage. It is mentioned that if a child fails to do a certain thing, she will feel inferior. It happens to Lily. She feels jealous to her friends that their parents give enough attention to them, while her parent does not. She also feels that she does not have a better future since her father does not support her to become a writer of actual book. She feels that she cannot make her future dream come true. It makes her underestimates herself. T. Ray’s behavior to Lily influences Lily to become a lack of confident person as her first personality.
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Lily changes into a confident person after she goes to Tiburon and meets people there. Hurlock states that besides the influence of family, one’s personality is also influenced by their environment in which they live. Someone’s attitude and behavior may be influenced by people they associated with. Carver and Scheier state that adults outside the home may also influence young children’s attitude and behavior. Lily’s personality is also influenced by her environment. In this case her environment when she lives in Tiburon. There are two significant figures in Lily’s environment that influence her personality. They are August and Zach. August is a black woman who owns almost all the bee farms in the county. She owns the Black Madonna Honey with the label of Black Mary like one belonged to Lily’s mother. August is a caring and kind person. It is shown when Lily and Rosaleen, two strangers for her, ask to stay in her house. She directly allows them to stay and gives them a place to live in her honey house. (p.90) Her kindness and care is not only shown from the way she allows them to stay, but also from the way she speaks and behaves to Lily and the others. In Tiburon, Lily works as August’s workers. August teaches her many things to keep bees and produce honey. Lily learns to be a bee keeper very fast and well. It makes August praises her like stated from Lily’s thought below. I spent my time in the honey house with August while Rosaleen helped May around the house. I learned how to run a steam-heated knife along the super, slicing the wax cap off the combs, how to load them just so into the spinner. I adjusted the flame under the steam generator and changed the nylon stocking August used to filter the honey in the settling tank. I caught on so fast she said I was a marvel. Those were her very words: Lily, you are a marvel. (p.104)
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August’s complement for Lily makes her feels happy because she never gets it before, not even from her father. It makes Lily feels that she is special. She feels that August pays attention to her as she never gets from her father. The other evidence is when August and Lily have a conversation. In the conversation, August asked Lily about her favorite things. Lily is shocked because there is no one had ever asked her that kind of question. It is shown in the next quotation. ‘What else do you love, Lily?’ No one had ever asked me this before. What did I love? Right off the bat I wanted to say I loved the picture of my mother, how she was leaning against the car with her hair looking just like mine, plus her gloves and her picture of the black Mary with the unpronounceable name, but I had to swallow that back. (p.173) This accidental question from August above makes Lily feels that she gets attention that she never gets before. It makes Lily feels that there is someone that cares about her. From all the attention that Lily gets from August, Lily changes into a confident person. She realizes that there are other people who care about her. She feels confident to appreciate herself and does not underestimate herself anymore. The other figure in Lily’s environment that influences her personality is Zach. Carver and Scheier (1996:146) state, “Peers are important influences on growing children.” The differences in peer group may cause people to become different. Zach is a black boy in Lily’s age. He works for August to earn money for his needs. Zach is a cheerful and nice person. Because of his characteristics, Lily feels comfortable to get near him. Soon, they make a good friend to each other.
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After they get along together so close, Zach said something that makes Lily realizes that she is attractive enough with the way she is. It is shown in the quotation below where Zach said that he likes Lily. Finally he unwound my arms and said, ‘Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.’ (p.168) From the quotation above, Lily realizes that she is not like what she thinks she was. She starts to appreciate herself and becomes a confident person to be herself. Zach is not only nice to Lily but he is also supportive to her. One time they have a conversation. In the conversation below, Zach statement influences Lily to struggle for her future. ‘What’s your favorite subject in school?’ Zach asked. ‘English.’ ‘I bet you like to write themes,’ he said, rolling his eyes. ‘As a matter of fact I do. I was planning on being a writer and an English teacher in my spare time.’ ‘Was planning?’ he said. ‘I don’t think I have much of a future now, being an orphan.’ What I meant was being a fugitive from the law. Considering the state of things, I didn’t know if I’d ever get back to high school. After a while he said, ‘Me either.’ ‘You either what?’ ‘I don’t know if I’ll have much of a future either.’ ‘Why not? You’re not an orphan.’ ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m a Negro.’ I felt embarrassed. (p.149-150) From the quotation above, Lily said that she does not have much for her future because of T. Ray’s influences. T. Ray did not support her; instead he underestimates her and forbids her. But after she hears Zach’s answer about his future, Lily feels embarrassed. She feels embarrassed because she feels that her
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burden to reach her future goal is not as heavy as Zach’s burden for being black in white domination. The way Lily feels embarrass shows that she changes the way she thinks about her future. Although her father does not support her future dream, she realizes that there are other people who support her. It makes Lily becomes confidence to reach her future dream to become a writer. The way Lily feels confidence about her future is also influenced by Zach’s behavior toward Lily. After he knows that Lily wants to become a writer, he gives Lily a notebook like stated in the quotation below. Two days later, after we had run ourselves into the ground harvesting the rest of the honey, Zach showed up with the prettiest notebook – green with rosebuds on the cover. He met me coming out of the pink house. ‘This is for you,’ he said. ‘So you can get a head start on your writing.’ (p.167) The quotation above shows Zach real support to Lily that makes her feels more confidence because she has people around her that care and support her. It is different with what she feels when she lived with T. Ray. Lily feels confidence about her future after she got influences from people around her in Tiburon is shown in the next quotation. For days I carried the notebook everywhere. I wrote constantly. A madeup story about Rosaleen losing eighty-five pounds, looking so sleek nobody could pick her out of a police lineup. One about August driving a honeymobile around, similar to the bookmobile, only she had jars of honey to dispense instead of books. My favorite, though, was one about Zach becoming the ass-busting lawyer and getting his own television show like Perry mason. I read it to him during lunch one day, and he listened better than a child at story hour. (p.168) In sum, Lily’s first personality as a lack of confident person is influenced by her father’s, T. Ray’s, abusive treatments. It is also because of lack of attention, care and support from her only parent. But after she meets August and
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Zach, she changes into a confident person. It is because of August’s care to her that makes her realizes that she should not underestimates herself. She should be proud of herself. She also becomes confident to make her future dream, to become a writer, comes true after she gets support from Zach.
2. From an Introverted Person into an Extroverted Person Erikson, in third stage, states that in the period of 4 -5 years, the child begins to learn what is allowed and what is forbidden. Child begins to learn what is good and what is bad. The danger of this period is development of guilt if the child did something bad or the child failed on doing something. Lily also experienced this stage. In the beginning of the story, Lily is an introverted person. She becomes an introverted person because of her guilty feeling. She feels guilty because she accidentally killed her mother. She feels that everyone blames her. It makes her cannot express her feeling, especially her sadness. She also cannot open herself to other people. Later she changes into an extroverted person that can express her feelings and share it to other people. In her past life, Lily has a terrible memory about the death of her mother. When Lily was four, she witnessed her parents fight. She wanted to save her parents from the fight, but instead she killed her mother by shot her. Since then until she is fourteen years old, she feels guilty. That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise. I would meet her saying, ‘Mother, forgive. Please forgive,’ and she would kiss my skin till it grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame. She would tell me this for the first ten thousand years. (p.3)
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Since the death of her mother, she is only raised by her abusive father and her black servant, Rosaleen. She gets many bad treatments from her father after the death of her mother. Later, Lily finds out that her father hates her because he loved Lily’s mother, Deborah, very much and Lily killed her. He hates Lily because Lily’s appearance is like Deborah and it reminds him of her all the time. ‘You’re going back with me!’ he yelled. ‘You never should have left me.’ It crossed my mind that he was no longer talking tome but to Deborah. Like his mind had snapped back ten years. ‘T. Ray,’ I said. ‘It’s me – Lily.’ He didn’t hear me, he had a fistful of my hair and wouldn’t let go. ‘Deborah,’ he said… ‘You look like her,’ he said, and him saying that, I knew he’d said everything. (p.365-366) The quotation above shows how T. Ray loved Deborah very much, and every time he looks at Lily, he sees Deborah. T. Ray’s abuse to Lily indirectly reflects that T. Ray blamed Lily for killing his beloved wife. Lily feels aware of this and it makes her fells more guilty. Every time Lily tries to ask T. Ray about her mother, T. Ray always refuses to answer. Or sometimes he answers it with bad treatment to Lily. It is shown in the quotation below. My mother’s name was Deborah. I thought that was the prettiest name I’d heard, even though T. Ray refused to speak it. If I said, he acted like he might go straight to the kitchen and stab something. Once when I asked him when her birthday was and what cake icing she preferred, he told me to shut up, and when I asked him a second time, he picked up a jar of blackberry jelly and threw it against the kitchen cabinet. We have blue stains to this day. (p.15) As a good observer, Lily stops her effort to ask T. Ray about her mother. Instead she keeps everything for herself. Lily feels that she cannot share her burden to other people. She feels that everyone blamed her for the death of her
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mother like her father did. The only way to know about her mother’s death is by memorizing her past when the accident took place. It is shown in the first chapter in the story like in the quotation below. I knew that the explosion I’d heard that day had killed her. The sound still sneaked into my head once in a while and surprised me. Sometimes it seemed that when I’d held the gun there hadn’t been any noise at all, that it had come later, but other times, sitting alone on the back steps, bored and wishing for something to do, or pent up in my room on a rainy day, I felt I had caused it, that when I’d lifted the gun, the sound had torn through the room and gouged out our hearts. (p.21) Lily’s behavior shows that T. Ray’s behavior to her related to the death of her mother has influenced her. Hurlock states that when parents reject the children, they become introverted, anxious or insecure. This situation happens to Lily where her father behaves badly to Lily especially because of the accident that had happened. T. Ray’s bad treatments that show he does not love Lily make her becomes an introverted person. She becomes an introverted person as her other first personality that later changes after she goes to Tiburon. In Tiburon Lily meets the Boatwright. There is August Boatwright. August is not only a caring and kind person. She is an intelligent person. She likes to read and she has wide range of knowledge. (p.174) She often tells Lily many stories and shares her knowledge like stated in the quotation below. ‘Did you know there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?’ August said. ‘And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving a Coke with peanuts. Isn’t that a shame we don’t have more ways to say it?’ I nodded, wondering where was the limit of her knowing things. Probably one of those books she’d read after bedtime during the month of August had been about Eskimo. (p.174)
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The quotation above makes Lily realizes that she is so limited to express her feeling. As a good observer, she also realizes that August is a caring person since she can express her attention to other people. It makes Lily feels comfortable and trusts her. In Tiburon she does not only meet August Boatwright, but also her sister, May Boatwright. May is a very sensitive person because of her past life related to the death of her twin sister. She cannot hold sadness that she feels or other people feel. She can feel the misery of other people as if it is happening to her. It makes her built a Wailing Wall like one in Jerusalem to release her burden. It is shown in the quotation below. ‘A what kind of wall?’ ‘Wailing wall,’ she said again. ‘Like they have in Jerusalem. The Jewish people go there to mourn. It’s a way for them to deal with their suffering. See, they write their prayers on scraps of paper and tuck them in wall.’ (p.120) The way May does this to lighten her burden influences Lily to do the same thing. She goes to the Wailing Wall every time she remembers about her past, about her burden of killing her mother. But she does not feel a total release until finally she decides to talk to August about everything because she trusts her. It can be seen in chapter twelve where Lily finally told her about who she is. She also tells August about her past life and about her parents. She finally can talk to August about everything that happens in her life. She starts to open herself to other people. She finally can express her feeling that is shown from quotation below where she can cry out loud to release her sadness that she has buried for ten years.
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‘T. Ray… he told me my mother…’ The tears rushed up, and my words came out in high-pitched sounds I didn’t recognize. ‘He said she left me, that she left both of us and ran away.’ A wall of glass broke in my chest, a wall I didn’t even know was there. (p.294) From the quotation above it can be seen that Lily finally can express her sadness after she keeps it for ten years by herself. Finally she can open herself to other people and change into an extroverted person from that day. In sum, Lily’s past life where she accidentally killed her mother makes her feels guilty. The way T. Ray’s treats her makes her feels that she is the one to be blamed. It makes her close herself to other people. It makes her becomes an introverted person. But finally when she lives in Tiburon, she meets August and May Boatwright that indirectly teach Lily to express her feeling to lighten her burden. She finally can open herself to other people and she finally changes into an extroverted person.
3. From a Reactive Person into a Calm Person Kalish states that someone’s personality also can be influenced by parents or other significant figures in child’s early life. It is because they are the closest people who have interaction with the child. The other significant figure in Lily’s life is Rosaleen. At first, Lily is described as a reactive person. It is shown from her behavior. But later she changes into a calm person from the way she faces her problems. This story tells about Lily who finally runs away from home to find the real answer about her past life and about her mother. It is started when she got into
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a fight with her father. Her father told Lily about the fact that happened the day her mother died. Lily did not believe it and she wanted to proof that her father was wrong. I ran for the bed and scrambled onto the middle of it, breathing hard. ‘My mother will never let you touch me again!’ I shouted. ‘Your mother?’ His face was bright red. ‘You think that goddamn woman gave a shit about you?’ ‘My mother loved me!’ I cried. He threw back his head and let out a forced, bitter laugh. ‘It’s – it’s not funny,’ I said. ‘Not funny?’ he yelled. ‘Not funny? Why, it’s the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you thinking your mother is your guardian angel.’ He laughed again. ‘The woman could have cared less about you.’ ‘I hate you!’ I screamed. That stopped his smiling instantly. He stiffed. ‘Why, you little bitch,’ he said. The color faded from his lips. ‘You listen to me,’ he said, his voice deadly calm. ‘The truth is, your sorry mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she’d come back to get her things, that’s all. You can hate me all you want, but she’s the one who left you.’ (p.49-50) Her father’s last statement that the day her mother died she actually wanted to leave Lily becomes the trigger for Lily to find the real answer about her past life and about her mother. She wants to proof that her father was wrong. The sequence of events that happened next is started when Lily went to town with Rosaleen because Rosaleen wanted to vote for her right. In the journey to the town, they met three Niger haters that insulted Rosaleen. Rosaleen was angry and she poured juice in his shoes. Right in that moment, both of them were sent to jail. Soon Lily was released by her father but Rosaleen did not. Lily felt that she cannot leave Rosaleen there. She feels that she has to save Rosaleen. Lily has an emotional relationship with Rosaleen. It is because Rosaleen is the one who took care of Lily after the death of her mother. Lily knew
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that Rosaleen loves her more than anything although she did not mention it. It is shown in the quotation below. She stared at the bee and shook her head. ‘If you get stung, don’t come whining to me,’ she said, ‘’cause I ain’t gonna care.’ That was lie. I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason. I hadn’t known this until I was eight and he bought me an Easter-dyed biddy from the mercantile. I found it trembling in a corner of its pen, the color of purple grapes, with sad little eyes that cast around for its mother. Rosaleen let me bring it home, right into the living room, where I strewed a box of Quaker Oats on the floor for it to eat and she didn’t raise a word of protest. (p.13-14) It makes Lily loves Rosaleen very much. She even considers Rosaleen as her standing mother. (p.2) She did not set an exact plan to save Rosaleen and free her from jail. She just directly decides to go back to town. Along in the journey she wants to save Rosaleen, she meets many obstacles. But as a good observer and smart person, she can face it and free Rosaleen from the police. The way finally she arrives in Tiburon in August’s house is because of her mother’s belonging. She finds a bag of her mother’s traces and keeps it. It is shown in the next quotation. Not long after that I found a paper bag in the attic stapled at the top. Inside it I found the last traces of my mother. (p.16) In her mother’s belonging, she finds that there is a small wooden picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus with Tiburon, S. C. handwriting behind it. As a curious child, she keeps asking to herself the possible relation between her mother and Tiburon S. C. It can be seen from the quotation below.
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I would study ‘Tiburon S. C.’ on the back of the black Mary picture, the funny slant of the lettering, and wonder what sort of place it was. I’d looked it up on the map once, and it wasn’t more than two hours away. Had my mother been there and bought this picture? I always promised myself one day, when I was grown-up enough, I would take the bus over there. I wanted to go every place she had ever been. (p.18) Finally her characteristics lead her to a place where she believes as a place she can find the answer about her mother. From the explanation above, it can be seen that Lily is a reactive person. She directly decides to run away to find the real answer about her mother after T. Ray gives the triggering statement about her mother. The way she is reactive is also shown when she directly decides to go back to town to save Rosaleen. The way Rosaleen loves and cares to Lily influence the way Lily sees Rosaleen. She feels that Rosaleen is her standing mother. That is why Lily feels that she has to save Rosaleen from jail although she does not have any solid plan. After she arrives in Tiburon and meets August, she finds all the answers about her mother. August used to take care of Deborah when she was a kid that is why she knew everything about Lily’s mother. Finally August tells Lily everything about her mother after Lily tells her the truth about who she is and how she can arrive in her house. Her first intention she goes to Tiburon, other than to runaway from the police, is to proof that her father’s statement was wrong. But from August explanation she can conclude that her mother did leave her and T. Ray was right. From August explanation and advices, she learns to accept the reality that her mother left her because she was depressed. She learns to understand her mother’s situation calmly.
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She does not only get the fact that her mother did leave her, she also finds out that she is actually an unwanted child at first. It is shown in the quotation below. ‘Why?’ I said. ‘If the love had worn off, why did she marry him?’ August cupped her hand on the back of my head and smoothed my hair with her fingers. ‘I’ve thought hard about whether I should tell you, but maybe it’ll help you understand everything that happened a lot better. Honey, Deborah was pregnant, that’s why.’ The instant before she said it, I knew what was coming, but still her words fell like a hammer. ‘She was pregnant with me.’ My voice sounded tired saying the words. My mother’s life was too heavy for me. ‘That’s right, pregnant with you. She and Terrence Ray got married around Christmastime. She called long distance to tell me.’ Unwanted, I thought. I was an unwanted baby. (p.308) It makes Lily feels really sad, but she knows that it does not change the situation. She calmly accepts all the fact in her life. It is because of August’s statement in their conversation above that makes Lily feels stronger to face the problems in her life. She finally can understand and can accept all the facts that happened in her life. She starts to forgive herself. She realizes that everyone makes mistakes. She comes into this realization and becomes a calm person as the influences of August. One of it is mentioned below. ‘Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. We’re all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it.’ ‘Good night,’ I said, and rolled onto my side. ‘There is nothing perfect,’ August said from the doorway. ’There is only life.’ (p.317) Finally her father knows where she is and then he picks her up in Tiburon. It is the first time for her to meet T. Ray after she ran away. When she meets her,
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she totally changes. At first she feels afraid and uncomfortable every time she has to deal with T. Ray. But this time she faces him calmly. It is shown in the quotation below. He said, ‘Well, well, well. Look who’s here.’ I had a sudden, terror-stricken thought he might that second drag me out to his truck and hightail it straight back to the peach farm, where I would never be heard from again. I stepped backward into the hallway, and with a forced politeness that surprised me and seemed to throw him off stride, I said, ‘Won’t you come in?’ (p.359) Moreover, she realizes that she does not want to go home to Sylvan. She feels comfortable to live in Tiburon with people that care and support her. As quoted by Worchel and Shebilske in Erikson’s fifth stage, it is mentioned that in these stage children begin to form an identity. The children begin to sense individuality and aware of their strength to control their destiny and their goals. It also happens to Lily. Lily learns and experiences many things from The Boatwright and Zach. Lily realizes that she deserves to be loved and appreciated. Lily also realizes that in Tiburon there are many people who care and support her. It influences her to be brave to decide what is the best for herself. She finally decides to stay in Tiburon rather than go back home with her father. It is mentioned in the quotation below. ‘We’re going home,’ he said. I didn’t answer him, but walked over to Our Lady where she lay on the floor and lifted her upright. I could feel August and Rosaleen outside the door, could almost hear their breathing. I touched my cheek. It was swelling where he’d hit me. ‘I’m staying here,’ I said. ‘I’m not leaving.’ The words hung there, hard and gleaming. Like pearls I’d been fashioning down inside my belly for weeks. ‘What did you say?’ ‘I said I’m not leaving.’ (p.367)
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Lily realizes that she grown up enough to decide what best for her and what is not. And she decides to live in Tiburon with the Boatwright because she knew that it is the best for her. In sum, Lily faces her problems in a reactive way. The way she wanted to proof that her father was wrong and then she ran away. But after she meets August and the others in Tiburon, she learns that she needs to face and accept her problem, no matter how painful it is. She starts to understand other people, especially her mother that decided to leave her. She changes into a calm person who faces her problem calmly.
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the writer will conclude the problem formulations that are discussed in the previous chapter. This chapter will explain about Lily’s characteristic, the characteristics of the minor characters and also Lily’s personality as the result of minor characters’ influences. The writer applies several theories on character and characterization to reveal the characteristics of the main character and the minor characters. The writer applies Abrams and Murphy’s theory to reveal the main character’s characteristics. It can be concluded that Lily is a critical child to analyze many things in her mind, such as the way she always asks to herself about her past life. She is also a smart person. She is able to react quickly to face many different situations. She is a good observer. Lily knew with whom she is talking to in order to have the right conversation. She is also a curious person. She wanted to know many things especially about her past. Lily’s characteristics can be seen from her reaction, her thoughts and her speeches. The writer also applies the same theory on character and characterization to reveal the characteristics of the minor characters. There are several minor characters in this story, such as T. Ray, Rosaleen, August Boatwright and May Boatwright and Zach. T. Ray is an abusive and harsh person to Lily. It can be seen from his behavior and his speeches to Lily. He often makes Lily kneels on the grits and yells at Lily with a mean words. Rosaleen in this story is a caring person
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although she does not show her care directly. It is shown from her reaction to Lily. She is also a stubborn person from her reaction when she wants to register to vote. August is a caring and loving person. She cares to other people such as to Lily and Rosaleen when she allows them to stay in her house. She is also an intelligent and wise person from many of her speeches. While May is a very sensitive person. She has a unique habit to save bugs in her house with a dust pan. It is because she does not want to hurt others. She is also a caring person to all creatures in this world. The last is Zach. He is a hard worker. He is a nice person who gives support to other people. He supports Lily by giving her a note book to starts writing. The characteristics of the minor characters support to analyze the third problem formulation about Lily’s personality development. In order to analyze Lily’s personality development, the writer uses psychology theories. They are theory on personality development by Hurlock and also theory on social interaction by Erikson. In the beginning of the story, Lily is described as an introverted person. Her father as her only family influences her personality to become an introverted person from his behavior to Lily. She often gets many bad treatments from her abusive father. She also gets lack of attention and support from him. It makes Lily becomes a lack of confident person to face her life. She is also a reactive person when she decides to run away from home because of her father’s statement. Lily’s personality starts to develop when she is in Tiburon. In Tiburon Lily meets many new people that are very different from the place where she came from. In Tiburon she meets many people who care about her. She meets August,
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May and Zach that care to Lily and support her. Their care and support to Lily influences her to become a confident person to face her life. She changes into a confident person to face her future. August’s attention to Lily also influences Lily to put her trust on August. Finally she tells August about her life and she changes into an extroverted person. She can shares many things to other people. Lily also learns from May’s habit to release her burden to herself. She can express her feelings that she buried for ten years. Lily also changes into a calm person to face her problems. She can accept the fact that her mother did leave her calmly. She can understand her mother’s position so that her mother left her. She changes into a stronger and mature person. Learning from Lily’s personality development, it can be seen that other people attitudes toward someone may influence his or her personality. There are many determinants that may influence someone’s personality. The way people treat and give comment on someone may influence the way he or she looks at him or herself. The example is what Lily experiences form her father. Her father often underestimate her in many ways, it influences the way she look at herself. She finally feels lack of confidence and inferior. It can be concluded that someone’s personality development may be influence from they way other people treat and speak to her.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Rine Heart Winston Inc., 1981. Carver, Charles S. and Michael F. Scheier. Perspective on Personality. Third Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1996. Daiches, David. Critical Approaches to Literature. Second Edition. New York: Longman Inc., 1981. Hornby, A. S. Oxfrod Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Hurlock, Elizabeth B. Personality Development. New York: Mc. Graw Hill Book Company, 1974. Kalish, Richard A. The Psychology of Human Behavior. Third Edition. San Francisco: Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc., 1973. Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. London: Headline Book Publishing, 2005. Milligan, Ian. The Novel in English: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1972. Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseen: And Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1972. Nilakandi, Esteti. “The Influence of Surrounding Adult toward Jamal Hicks’ Personality Development in Walter Dean Myers’ Scorpion.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2009. Pikunas, Justin. Human Development. Tokyo: McGraw-Hill Kogakusha Ltd., 1976. Powell, Marian. http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=2274 accessed on 19 September 2009 Shemesh, Marina. http://www.helium.com/items/1369184-book-reviews-thepsecret-life-ofbees-by-sue-monk-kidd accessed on 19 September 2009.
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Van de Laar and Schonderwoerd N. An Approach to English Literature. Rotterdam: L. G. C. Malmberg, 1957. Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature. Third Edition. New York: A harvest Book Harcourt, Brace & World Inc., 1956. Worchel, Stephen and Shebilske. Psychology: Principles and Application. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1989.
APPENDIX
Summary of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd in her novel entitled The Secret Life of Bees shows a story about human life to face their problems. This novel is narrated by the main character named Lily Melissa Owens. The story is started with a fourteen years old white girl named Lily Melissa Owens who tries to find the answers about her memory in the past and about her mother, Deborah Fontanel Owens. When Lily was four years old, she accidentally killed her mother. She feels very guilty because of that memory. Lily is quite pretty girl with nice eyes. She is a good observer. She is a curious, smart and a critical child. Lily lives with her father that she called T. Ray in Sylvan, South Carolina. T. Ray owns peach farm in Sylvan. Since the death of Deborah, T. Ray becomes an abusive person especially to Lily. He often makes Lily kneels on the grits for hours and he also uses mean and harsh words for his fourteen years old daughter. His behavior to Lily makes Lily feels guiltier. She feels that she does not have anyone to share her feelings, especially her guilty feeling because of her past memory, not even her only parent. It makes her becomes an introverted person. T. Ray also cares less to Lily whether to her physical condition up to her education. Lily loves to read books. She wants to become a writer of actual books and an English teacher. But her father, T. Ray, does not support her future dream. Instead he often makes joke to her hobby and her future dream. Lily becomes a
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lack of confidence person because she does not get any support from her only parent like the other children do. She starts to underestimate herself in front of her friends at school. Since the death of her mother, Lily is taken care of by Rosaleen. Rosaleen is Owens’ black servant that used to work in T. Ray’s peach farm. Rosaleen is like Lily’s standing mother. One day, Lily finds her mother belongings. One of the belongings is a black Mary picture, mother of Jesus, with handwriting of Tiburon S. C. behind it. Lily keeps learning about the handwriting behind the picture. She finally finds out that it is a name of a place in South Carolina. She tries to find every possible relation between her mother and a place named Tiburon. She plans that one day she will go there like her mother did. The day Lily turns fourteen; she knows that Rosaleen wants to go to vote for her right at the town. So she asks Rosaleen to bring her with Rosaleen as her birthday gift. In the journey, they meet three Niger haters that insult Rosaleen. Rosaleen defends herself and pours juice on one of the men’ shoes. He becomes very angry and then he calls the police. So Lily and Rosaleen put into jail. Soon, Lily is released by T. Ray. When they arrive at home, they get into an argument that leads to the conversation on the death of Deborah. Finally T. Ray tells Lily that the day her mother died, she actually wanted to leave Lily. Lily does not believe T. Ray’s statement because she loves her mother very much. This statement becomes the trigger for Lily to find the answer about her memory in the past and about her mother, and to prove that T. Ray’s statement does not true.
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She becomes angry. She decides to get back to town to save Rosaleen because Rosaleen is the only one person who cares about her. On her journey to save Rosaleen from jail, she faces many obstacles that prove she is a smart person and a good observer. She finally succeeds saving Rosaleen. Lily decides to run away with Rosaleen to Tiburon, the only place that she can remember in a hard situation. At the same time, she thinks that she might find the answers about her mother there. With the guidance of black Mary picture, Lily and Rosaleen arrives in August Boatwright’s house. The time Lily meets August for the first time; Lily knows that August is the key to her mother’s world. August Boatwright lives with her sisters, June Boatwright and May Boatwright. Lily and Rosaleen stay in their house. Lily works to help August in the bee farm while Rosaleen helps to do the housework. August is a black woman who owns bee farms in the county. She is a caring and intelligent person. Lily also makes friend with May, a unique person who has a unique way to express her feelings. In Tiburon, Lily also meets Zach, a black boy in Lily’s age. Zach is August’s main helper in the bee farm. Along living in Tiburon with the Boatwright, Lily learns many things. August teaches Lily many things about bees. But Lily learns more than keeping bees. From August and May Lily learns to express her feelings. She also learns how to forgive other people. Lily also learns about life from the other members of the Boatwright. Finally she finds all the answers about her memory in the past and also about her mother. She finds many painful fact about her past but finally she can face it calmly. She starts to accept the fact that she killed her mother. She also
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understands why her father hates her after the death of Deborah. She also accepts the fact that her father’s statement was right. She learns to forgive others and also herself. She also turns into an extroverted person that can express her feeling. She starts to share her feelings with other people. She opens herself to other people in her surrounding. With all people surround her and their support; she becomes a confident person to face her life and to reach her future dream to become a writer. In the end of the story, T. Ray can find Lily in Tiburon. He asks Lily to come back home with him, but Lily has another plan. She decides to stay in Tiburon rather than to go back home with T. Ray to Sylvan. Lily feels more comfortable to stay with the Boatwright. She finally realizes that she has a power to control her destiny and to decide what is the best for herself.
