A Description of the Leading Character in Haruki Murakami's Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Running a Paper by Yenni

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A DESCRIPTION OF THE LEADING CHARACTER IN HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NOVEL WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING

A PAPER

YENNI TRI ASTUTI

REG.NO: 152202020

DIPLOMA III ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDY

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA

MEDAN

2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I am, YENNI TRI ASTUTI, declare that I am the sole author of this paper. Except where reference is made in the text of this paper, this paper contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a paper by which I have qualified for or awarded another degree. No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of this paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of another degree in any tertiary education.

Signed : Date : 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

Name : YENNI TRI ASTUTI Title of Paper : A DESCRIPTION OF THE LEADING CHARACTER IN HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NOVEL WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING Qualification : D-III / Ahli Madya Study Program : English

I am willing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discretion of the Libertarian of the Diploma III English Faculty of Culture Studies University of North Sumatera on the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation under law of the Republic of Indonesia.

Signed : Date : 2018

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTARCT

Literature is a form of art that depict human life. The novel is one of the artworks. In the novel, the author can tell something different and others. One of the most important elements of novel is characters. The characters of a literary work means talking about their quality of mind, behaviors, or personalities. The writer decided to chose the title "A Description of The Leading Character In Haruki Murakami’s Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Runnning" . The objective of this paper is to describe about character. The method of the writer used in this paper is library method. In order to get the needed result, the data are taken from the story of novel and other books especially about literature. From the study, it is to find out the physical description, behaviour and attitude of the character.

Keyword: Description, character, novel.

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRAK

Sastra merupakan suatu bentuk karya seni yang menggambarkan kehidupan manusia. Novel adalah salah satu dari karya seni tersebut. Di dalam novel penulis dapat menceritakan sesuatu yang berbeda dan lain. Salah satu elemen terpenting dari novel adalah karakter. Karakter dari karya sastra berarti berbicara tentang kualitas pikiran, perilaku, atau kepribadian mereka. Penulis memutuskan untuk memilih judul "A Description of The Leading Character In Haruki Murakami’s Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Runnning”. Tujuan dari kertas karya ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan tentang karakter. Metode yang digunakan penulis didalam paper ini adalah metode pustaka. Untuk mendapatkan hasil, data diambil dari novel dan buku lainnya khususnya tentang sastra. Dari penelitian ini, untuk mengetahui deskripsi fisik, perilaku dan sikap karakter.

Kata kunci: Deskripsi, karakter, novel.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to thank to my God, Allah SWT and the prophet Muhammad

SAW, for all the blessing, divine guidance in my life, gives me health , strength, wisdom, and the chance and power that given to me to finish this paper as one the requirements to get

Diploma III certificate from English Diploma Study Program, University of Sumatera Utara.

I would like to express my deep gratitude, love, appreciation, and thanks to:

 Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S. as the Dean of Faculty of Culture Study, University of Sumatera

Utara.

 Dra. Swesana Mardia Lubis, M.Hum. as the Head of Diploma III English Study Program,

who gives me a lot knowledge.

 Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum. as my Supervisor, who gives the correction, suggestion

and knowledge in completing this paper.

 All of my lecturer in Diploma III English Study Program who have taught me and gives

me advice and knowledge.

 My beloved parents,who always gives prayers, supports, advices, and loves to me so I

could be in this greatest situation and my big family for their support, care and great

love to me for finishing this paper.

 My beloved sister who always be there for me and support me when I was completed

this paper. Thank you very much.

 All of my best friends at campus, who fill my day and support me until this paper has

finished. I want to thank to peoples around me that always support me. Solidas B’15,

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Pejuang TA, Yeppo, Fay, Winda, Anggi, I am sorry I can’t mention all of you guys.

But thanks for your existence being my friend and supporting me.

Finally, I will accept the suggestions and critics that build me up from the readers because I know this paper is far from being perfect. That’s why your critics will fix my fault in the future. Thanks to all readers who read this paper and appreciate it.

Medan, 2018

The Writer,

Yenni Tri Astuti

Reg. No. 152202020

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION...... i COPYRIGHT DECLARATION...... ii ABSTRACT...... iii ABSTRAK...... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... v TABLE OF CONTENTS...... vii

I. INTRODUCTION I.1 Background of Study ...... 1 I.2 Problem of Study ...... 4 I.3 Scope of Study ...... 4 I.4 Method of Study ...... 4 I.5 Objective of the Study ...... 4 I.6 Significance of Study ...... 5 II. REVIEW AND RELATED OF LITERATURE 1.1 Novel ...... 6 1.2 Character ...... 10 2.1.1 Division of Character ...... 14 III. A DESCRIPTIONOF THE LEADING CHARACTER 3.1 Haruki ...... 17 3.1.1 Physical Description...... 17 3.1.2 Behaviour and Attitude...... 22 IV. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 4.1 Conclusion...... 27

4.2 Suggestion ...... 27

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 28 APPENDICES

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UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of Study

Literature represents out various aspects of life is defined as the written expression.

Literature comes from Latin word littera or letter which means the smallest element of

alphabetical writing, it was used to refer to all written words. Literature can be interpreted as

writing that has a certain meaning and beauty through the casting of ideas in the imagination

into text that has ethical and aesthetic values.

Thus, readers who enjoy literary works will feel within the sphere of life created by

the literary works. Not just the experience of personal human expression in the form of

thoughts, feelings and ideas but literature is also something imaginative, creative, fictitious

and nonfictive or based on personal experience. Literary works have function to entertain or

teach some things for readers. The function of this literature can be found in any kind of

literary works. Authors appreciate the problem and then put it into a work of literary fiction.

Richard Taylor in his book Understanding the Elements of Literature (1981:1) says

that literature “like other arts, is essentially an imaginative act, that is, an act of the writer’s

imagination in selecting, ordering and interpreting life-experiance. So, we can see that Taylor

in defining literature focuses on the activity and the process of creating literary works. People

feel pleasure in reading a piece of literature because they find that the literary works reflect

their own joy,

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA happines and sorrow, love and hatred. The readers expect to find in good literature its sencerity to themselves, to their own experiance of life and to the world.

Literature has been classified into novel, fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction prose.

From the classification of literature, the writer decided to discuss a novel. Novel is part of literary work. Novel can we get anywhere, especially in bookstore. Novel tells something which describe the human life, but sometimes novel describe about fairytale like imagination of the author although for something fictitious,but it becomes as something that people may understand with the same principle in daily life, such as psychological truth or holding the mirror up to nature, a consciousness of moral values. In a novel, the author makes every effort to direct with the reader to images of the reality of life through the stories in novel. One of the most important elements of novel is characters. Talking about the characters of a literary work means talking about their quality of mind, behaviors, or personalities.

Roberts (1985:131) says, ―In fiction, a character may be defined as a verbal representation of human being. Through action, speech, description and commentary, author potray characters who are worth caring about, rooting for and even loving, although there are also characters people may laugh at, dislike, or even hate.In studying a literary character, begin by determining the character’s out standing traits. A trait is a quality of mind or habitual mode of behavior.

A character is any person, personal, identity, or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance. A character is a participant in the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA novel, and is usually a person, but may be any person, identity, or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance.

This research is about the leading character in a novel. Leading character is the centered individual very dominant. As an individual, the leading focused personality. Leading character emerged as long side the extraordinary character, a character that might be called a fully rounded.

In this paper, the writer focuses want to portray the character of Haruki as the leading character in Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. This is a novel about the author as well as the runner. Haruki Murakami is an old man. Haruki is an anti-social but after marriage he realized that in our lives we need other people and cant be alone. And at the time, he decided to open a jazz club. Through this business, he tried to help others and work hard to still be able to pay his employees. One day, when he was watched a baseball game at that moment the desire to write just appeared.

He is the author who dedicated himself to be a runner when he was 33 years old in

1982. After dedicating himself to becoming a writer, he began to run hard to keep his body fit. What was the first meant to be a sport turned into an activity that made him obsessed.

Haruki is a rare person who can do work offset by sports. An anti-social and very fond of the challenge.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.2 Problem of the Study

The problem of study is:

1. How is Haruki as leading character portrayed in the novel What I Talk About When I

Talk Abourt Running ?

1.3 Scope of the Study

The scope of study is to describe the leading character in terms of physical, behaviour and attitude of Haruki as leading character in Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About

Running.

1.4 Method of the Study

The writer uses the library method in doing this paper. There are many books must be read to complete this paper especially literature books and novel and also browsing from internet to get other data to support the writer’s idea of the related topic of this paper. The last, the writer summarizes the data and make conclusion.

1.5 Objective of the Study

Objective of this study is to describe the leading character portrayed of Haruki

Murakami’s Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.6 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study are:

a. The readers will understand about a leading character portrayed in Novel What I Talk

About When I Talk About Running

b. It becomes reference of the next writer who wants to continue a research on this topic.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Novel

The novel is one of the works of a literary work. The novel is a genre of fiction, and fiction may be defined as the art or craft of contriving, through the written word, representations of human life that instruct or divert or both. Reeve (1789:106) says, “A novel is a fictitious narrative prose of considerable length in which characters and action representative of real life are portrayed in a plot of more or less complexity. It means that the story of the novel described base on human life.

Novel or often referred to as romance is a fictional prose story in a certain length, which depicts characters, movements and scenes real representative in a plot or a rather chaotic situation or tangled. Nurgiyantoro (2010: 10) suggests that the novel is a work of fiction built by elements. Building elements, namely intrinsic and elemental elements extrinsic. The novel is also interpreted as an essay in the form of prose contains a series of stories of someone's life with others on around it by highlighting the character and nature of the perpetrator. The novel is a type of literary work written in a narrative form contain certain conflicts in the life story of figures inner figure the story. Usually novels are often referred to as works that only tell part of someone's life. This is supported by the opinion of Sumardjo

(1984: 65) that is, while novels are often interpreted as just telling stories about a part of one's life, like the time before marriage after experiencing

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA period of love; or the part of life when someone is a crisis in his soul, and so on. A novel is a prose essay that is a story that tells a story extraordinary events from people's lives people

(story characters; pen.), outside ordinary because of this incident a conflict is born, a dispute, which diverts majoring in their fate.

The novel is a fictional story in the form of writing or words and has intrinsic and extrinsic elements. A novel is usually titled welcoming about human life in interaction with the environment and each other. In a novel, the author demands as much as possible to direct the reader to read the reality of life through the stories contained in the novel. Novel tell the story of the characters and their behavior in everyday life, with heavy dot on the strange sides of the narrative.

The novel is a long composition and prose form and contains a series of stories of one's life with others around him characterizing the nature and nature of each actor. Novel is a form of work in it that contains cultural values, social, moral and educational. Novel is the pouring of thoughts, feelings, and ideas in responding to life around it. Sumardjo (1998: 29) says that novel is a story with the prose form in long shape, this long shape means the story including the complex plot, many character and various setting.

In terms of the length of the novel story is longer than the short story so that novels can express something more, more detailed, more detailed, and more involving a variety of complex problems. The number of words in the novel around the novel the number of words reaches 40,000-100,000 words. The number of pages in the novel reaches 100 pages more.

Novels present more than

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA one emotion and rely on more than one behavior. The parts of novel are related to each other.

Novel also have intrinsic elements and extrinsic elements. Intrinsic elements of novel are theme, plot, character, setting, and point of view. Extrinsic elements are historical background, cultural background, social background and author’s life. Theme is the main idea of a story. Plot is the logical interaction of the various thematic elements of a text which lead to change the situation of the story. Character is a brief descriptive sketch of a personage who typifies quality. Setting is the time and place of the action. Point of view is a technique and strategy that the author used to express ideas and stories. First person point of view uses

“I”, and is told by one of the characters of the story. Third person point of view uses an unnamed narrator who knows what all (or most) of the story‟s characters are thinking.

Richard Taylor (1981:49) says that there are two essential elements of fiction prose they are intrinsic elements and extrinsic elements.It means that literature have two elements that directly build a story it are intrinsic elements and extrinsic elements. Intrinsic elements are theme, plot, characters, conflict, point of view, setting and language style. Extrinsic elements is everything which inspiring the writing of literature namely the background of the writer life, beliefs and point of view, also the customs, politics, historical problems, economics and psychological life.

Intrinsic Elements are the elements that build the literary work itself. Intrinsic elements of a novel (directly) participate and build the story. Extrinsic

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA elements are the elements that are beyond of the works, but indirectly affect the building and system of a novel. Thus, extrinsic elements of a novel must be still seen as something important.

Further, Wallek & Warren (1956: 75-135) stated that as an intrinsic element, the element also comprises a number of extrinsic elements. The extrinsic element includes author biography and psychology. Attitudes, beliefs, and outlook on life of an author will affect the work that he wrote. In short, the author biography determines the pattern works it produces.

While psychology, psychology of the author also forms the reader’s psychology, as well as the application of psychological principles in the works.

According to Nurgiyantoro (2010: 10) novels relating to the intrinsic elements of the work of fiction. This is in accordance with the goal research is to identify one of the intrinsic elements, namely the behavior of figures.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.2 Character

Character is one of the most important things in literary works. By understanding the characters in the sense of literary works, such as novels, we can also cultivate other- literature, such as themes, plots, settings, and so on. It can be said, every element of the literature is always related to character. Character is a person's representation of a story or novel.The result of the novel depends on the nature of the characterization. If his character did not live like that, his novel would have failed, no matter how good the novel was. To produce the illusion of real characters must write the main novel.

Taylor (1981:62) states that character is a more construction of words meant to express an idea or view of experience and must be considered in relation to other features of the composition, such as action and setting, before its full significance can be appreciated.

The term Character according to Roberts Stanton in his book An Introduction to

Fiction (1965: 17) can refer to the individual in the story or in other words character or story also refers to the union of interests, emotions and moral principles that make up the character or in other words describes the behavior or nature of the story. In analyzing the characters,

Stanton says the main thing is dialogue and behavior. In good fiction, every word, action not only determines the groove but also a manifestation of character (1965: 18). It states that dialogue, actions and comments have the most important dominance in literary works to create some interaction of characters and characters.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Roberts and Jacobs (1993:131) states that in fiction, a character may be defined as a verbal representation of human being. Through action, speech, description, and commentary, author portray characters who are worth caring about, rooting for, and even looking, although there are also characters you may laugh at, dislike, or even hate.

According Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs (1995:135), author uses 5 ways to present their character, they are:

1. Action

What characters do is the best way to understand what they are. As with ordinary human beings, fictional characters do not necessarily understand how they be changing or why they do the thing they do. Nevertheless, their actions. Express their characters. Actions may also signal qualities such as weakness, strong inner conflict, or realization or growth of some sort.

2. Description, both personal and environmental

Appearance and environmental reveal much about a character’s social and economic status, of course, but they also tell us about character traits.

3. Dramatic statements and thoughts

Although the speeches of most characters are functional – essential to keep the story moving along – they provide material from which you can draw conclusions. Often, characters used speech to hide their motives, though we as readers should see through such a ploy.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 4. Statement by other characters

By studying what characters say about each other, you can enchance your understanding of the character being discussed. Ironically, the characters doing the talking often indicate something other than what they intend, perhaps because of prejudice, stupidity, or foolishness.

5. Statements by the author speaking as storyteller or observer

What the author speaks with the authorial voice, says about character is usually accurate and the authorial voice can be accepted factually.

Forster (1990: 73-80) says there are two kinds of characters. They are flat character and round character. Flat character is constructed round a single idea or quality, unchanging and static, at the end of the novel he is essentially what he has been throughout, his response is predictable while round character is a character portrayed in the round, profoundly altered by his experiences, he does not embody a single idea or quality but it much more complex, his responses take us by surprise.

Characters is very dominant in a story of literary work called leading character. In studying character, in the view of psychology is focused on the leading character’s mind. It happens so because only character who has mind. Holland (1981:1) that can lead “to a bona- fide method; the other two tend to confusion” (p. 294). I believe that there are two kinds of minds within realistic short storys that can be studied in psychological terms: they are the minds of the implied authors and the minds of the leading character.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Stanton (1965: 33) said that actually character in term of literature consists of two understandings. First, character is human or maybe non human in fiction and the second, character refers to the moral qualities of the human or non human in fiction including its attitude, its emotion, and it’s characteristic. In presenting the characterizations on the short story, the writer uses 2 ways directly and indirectly. Says directly when the writer directly describes the state figures. The writer directly conveys how the outward figure and character owned the character. The subtly of submission of indirect have been done by the writer. For example, by describing how the characters speak, how the characters behave, how the characters respond to the problem, and so that ultimately the reader can imagine and conclude for yourself how these figures.

Characters also distinguish into three subdivisions such as main character, minor character, and also leading character. Main character is the character whose appearance is the most frequently appear in the story and dominant of the story. Minor character can be defined as the supporting character of the main character and the appearance of minor character is usually infrequently while leading character is the centered individual who is very dominant. Leading character is focused personally and it is different with main character which can involve more than one character.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.2.1 Division of Character

There are four kind of character. They are major character, minor character, protagonist character and antagonist character.

Major characters are also known as Round Character. Major or central characters are vital to the development and resolution of the conflict. In other words, the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these characters.The major characters of a story are the protagonist, who is central to the main plot, and the characters around whom the various subplots revolve. These major characters are more complex and conflicted than minor characters, displaying nuanced personalities which evolve over time, rather than the mostly static and stereotypical personalities of minor characters. Major character or also called main character is a character that has a dominant role and that most often appear in the story.According to Nurgiyantoro, major character is the most presented character in thestory.

He or she is the most tellingcharacter, either as subject or objects of the conflict. Even onparticular stories, major character is always present in everyscene and conflict (2002:176-

177). The presence of major character is very dominant becausehe or she is the figure who is always present in the story andalso affects the development ofthe conflict and climax in thestory. Although the major character is not always present in every scene, any conflict will always be associated with him orher.

Minor characters are also known as Flat Character. Minor characters serve to complement the major characters and help move the plot events forward. The minor characters are comprised of all the other characters in the story who are of

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA lesser importance. Minor characters generally serve a purpose as a plot device or as part of the setting, and once that purpose has been served, the reader generally does not expect to encounter them again, whereas the reader always expects to encounter major characters again until the resolution of conflict has been achieved. Minor characters are often stereotypical and two-dimensional because this ensures that they do not stand out or draw too much of the reader‟s attention, making them easily forgettable. Minor character or also called peripheral character is an extra character that just appear several times in the story.According to

Nurgiyantoro, minor character is a character that appearsless often than major character

(2002:177). Minor character is important character in the story after the main character.

Without minor character, major character’s role willnot be perfect. Conflict can not be done only by the main character. It needs other charactersto make the conflict morevaried.

The protagonist is a character whom we admire, that one kind of popularly called a hero-the figure who is the embodiment of the norms, values, and ideal for us (Altenbernd &

Lewis in Nurgiyantoro 2002-178) protagonist figures show something in accordance with our point of view and our expectations of the reader. So we often recognize them as having similarities with us. The protagonist is the central person in a story, and is often referred to as the story‟s main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that must be resolved.

The protagonist also defined as the character whose fate is most closely followed by the reader or audience. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero). Because these characters are usually considered conspicuously contrary to

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA an archetypal hero and sometime anti-hero do the right thing but with the wrong reasons.

The antagonist is a character that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend. Nurgiyantoro (2002-179) stated that the antagonistcharacter, might be called the opposition to the protagonist, directly or indirectly, both physical and mental.

The antagonist is the character(s) (or situation) that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend. In other words, the antagonist is an obstacle that the protagonist must overcome

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER III

A DESCRIPTION OF THE LEADING CHARACTER

3.1 Haruki

3.1.1 Physical Description

Haruki as the leading character in this novel is an anti-social. He is an old man who like a jazz music. He was married when he was 22 years old and at the time he was still officially a student. After graduating from college, he opened a jazz club with his wife eventhough he didn’t have the slightest aptitude for running a bussines.

“It was the fall of 1982,I’d been running a sort of jazz club near Sendagya Station. I didn’t think I had much aptitude for business either, but fortunatelymy wife’s family ran a business, so her natural intuition was a great help. No matter how great a workhorse I might have been, I never would have been able to make it on my way.” (Murakami,2008:25-26)

He is responsible and hard worker. He who was born to a family of office workers made him less familiar with business. Even though doing business is not his expertise, he still strives to advance his club business. Keep trying to be able to hire employees.

“The work itself was hard. I worked from m The work itself was hard. I worked from morning till late at night, until I was exhausted. I had all kinds of painful experiences, things I had to rack my brains about, and

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA plenty of disappointments. But I worked like a crazy, and finally began to make enough profit to hire other people to help out” (Murakami,2008:26)

He is one and only in family. He hasn’t brothers. It made him prefer to be alone, do a lot of things alone than do something with other people. But after getting married, he began to understand the importance of relating to other people.

“I’m not much for team sports. That’s just the way I am. Maybe

it’s because I dont have brothers, but I could never get into the

kind of games you play with others” (Murakami,2008:8)

He feels he has many visible parts of his body that are worse than normal people’s.

He is not too tall. He also felt he had a strange fingernails and too thick eyebrows.

“I made a mental list of all the deficiencies – or what, to me at least,

appeared to be deficiencies. For instance (and these just instance), my

eyebrows were too thick, or my fingernails were shaped funny”

(Murakami,2008:152)

After 3 years ago his club getting advanced, but at the time when he was thirty-three years old, he decided to close his club and began to write a novel and become a runner. He got idea to write a novel after he watched baseball game.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA John Dave Hilton as first batter in Yakult team got a hit down the field line. The crack of bat meeting ball right on the sweet spot echoed through the stadium. Hilton easily rounded first and pulled up to second. And it was at that exact moment that Haruki thought, he could try writing a novel.

“At any rate, I was thirty three years old. Still young enough, though

no longer a young man. That age may be a kind of crossroads in life.

That was the age when I began my life as a runner, and it was my

belated, but real, starting point as a novelist” (Murakami,2008:47)

He never had any ambition to be a novelist. He just had the strong desire to write a novel. No concrete image of what he wanted to write about, just the conviction that if he wrote it now he could come up with something that he would find convincing. Murakami decided to closed his club even though it was had advanced and his decision approved by his wife. After that, the novelist is the main profession for him. He has more time and focuses on his work. However, he felt day by day his body became distended and not fit. Even in the work of his novel Murakami can spend 60 cigarettes in a day. Feeling unwell, he decided to exercise after completing his novel. He thought, if he wanted to have a long life as a novelist, he needed to find a way to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight then he decided to go running.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA “A problem a rose, though, with my decision to become a professional writer: the question of how to keep physically fit. I was smooking too much, too, as i concentrated on my work. Back then I was smooking sixty cigarettes a day. This can’t good for me, i decided. If I wanted to have a long life as a novelist, I needed to find a way to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight. Then I decided to go running.” (Murakami,2008:33)

He is a very enthusiastic record collector. Since he was fifteen, he have bought a huge number of records. Wherever he goes when he sees the record he will definitely buy it, and for him it is not troublesome if he sends the record to his house. No matter how expensive it is, he still wants to have it. He never stopped to bought it. And when he find a better quality recording, something closer to the original, he don’t hesitate to trade in the old record for a new one. So, most people label him obsessed

“I’m a very (or perhaps I should say extremely) enthusiastic record collector. I’m not really sure how many records I have in my home right now. I’ve never counted them. Ever since i was fifteen I’ve bought a huge number of record, and gotten rid of a huge number. But the total number of records is most definitely increasing. If somebody asks me how many records I have, all I can say is, “Seems like I have a whole lot. But still not enough.” (Murakami,2008:143)

Haruki and his wife lived in Narashino after decided to close his club business.

Narashino is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Located in far northwestern Chiba

Prefecture, bordered by Tokyo Bay to the Southwest. The city is located on the Shimosa

Plateau and reclaimed land fill on Tokyo Bay.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA The area was a sparsely populated wetland and swamp along the northern shore of Edo Bay.

“After I closed my bar, I thought I’d change my lifestyle entirely, so we moved out to Narashino, in Chiba Prefecture. At the time it was pretty rural, and there weren’t any decent sports facilities around. But they did have roads. There was a Self-Defense Force base nearby, so they kept the roads well maintained for their vehicles. And luckily there was also a training ground in the neighborhood owned by Nihon University” (Murakami,2008:34)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 3.3.2 Behaviour and Attitude

Haruki Murakami has a good attitude in respecting time. He is able to manage time and has the discipline to keep following the basic rules of his practice. He realized that if he didn't practice a day, his ability would definitely decrease, which is why he was always consistent with his training. Keep abreast of the schedule he has compiled, whenever and wherever he is.

On september 10, Haruki returned to Japan there is lots of work he must to do and also meet people. He felt very busy doing it himself, but he still keep up his running.

“I still keep up my running, but since I haven’t been back in japan for

a while there’s lot’s of work waiting to keep me busy, and people

meet. And I have to take care of each and every job.”

(Murakami,2008:69)

“The total amount of running I’m doing might be going down, but at

least I’m following one of my basic rules for training: I never take

two days off in a row” (Murakami,2008:70)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA He was old but Haruki never give up on something he did eventhough his physical condition wasn’t strong at the time. When he first took part in Chiba, he had difficulty walking, at that time he thought the results would be very bad but he continued until reach the finish line. He realized the cause of his failure was lack of practice and not losing weight. Without realizing the importance of losing weight makes him to be arrogant. But still that is not an excuse to give up. Best to learn from his mistakes and put that lesson into practice the next time around.

“A marathon is a running event not a walking event. But in that one race, even walking was problem. The thought crossed my mind a few times that maybe I should give up. But dropping out was the last thing I wanted to do. I might be reduced to crawling, but I was going to make it to the finish line on my own steam” (Murakami,2008:53)

His failure in the triathlon made him think of revenge someday. When it comes to things like this, he is pretty tenacious. If there’s something he can’t do but want to, he won’t relax until he is able to do it. And he still didn’t give up. As he ran, different parts of his body, one after another, began to hurt. All the parts of his body had their chance to take center stage and scream out their complaints. But Haruki tried to buck his body up. He told that he not a human, he is a piece of machinery. So, that’s how he survived.

“I’m not a human. I’m a piece of machinery. I don’t need to feel a

thing. Just forge on ahead” (Murakami,2008:110)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Haruki is an anti social. He prefers to be alone, do everything by himself. Since he was little he did everything himself. He was used to it because he was the one and only of his family.

Even in team sports he feels uncomfortable. That's why he only likes sports like running, cycling and swimming. Eventhough he still cares about others. He began to change his habits when he married.

On october at MIT there was a public reading for his novel. The university had prepared a classroom that had a 450 person capacity, but about 1.700 people poured in. On top of that the air conditioner wasn’t work. It was as hot as midsummer, and everyone in the room was dripping with sweath. Then Haruki do something to make them laugh.

“Thank you all very much to taking the time to attend my reading,” I began. “If I’d known there would be this many attending I would have booked Fenway park.” Everyone was hot and irritated by the confusion, and I thought it best to try to get them to laugh. I took of my jacket and gave my reading wearing a T-shirt. The audience’s reaction was great most of them were a students and from start to finish I could enjoy my self.” (Murakami,2008:130)

He having a great soul, able to accept defeat and not boast. He realized that he was not the only person who had more abilities and could become a writer and runner. There are also many of them that he cannot defeat, especially in running. And for every failure, he makes it an experience. To be able to grasp something of value, sometimes you have to perform seemingly inefficient acts.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA But even activities tht appear fruitless don’t necessarily end up so. That’s the feeling he have, as someone who’s felt this, who experienced it.

“Compared to them I’m pretty used to losing. There are plenty of

things in this world that are way beyond me, plenty of opponents I

can never beat. Not to brag but these girls probably don’t know as

much as I do about pain” (Murakami,2008:94)

Haruki is a very thorough person. He arranged everything well, prepared the important things he needed when attending several matches. Even in terms of training, if he makes plan A then he also prepares plan B, if plan A doesn't work. He always make notes on his run time. Prepare a list for the running race. And always make plans in his activities.

“Looking back at my running log, I think I’ve been able to prepare for the race at a decent pace: June 156 miles July 186 miles August 217 miles September 186 miles” The log forms a nice pyramid” (Murakami,2008:92)

He was very careful until the match began, he still saw his notes again. And check each list, making sure nothing is left behind

“I go over my mental checklist one more time, just to be certain I haven’t forgotten anything. Computerized ankle

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA bracelet-check. I’ve rubbed Vaseline all over my body so when I finish swimming I can easily get my wetsuit off. I’ve carefully done my stretching. I’ve drunk enough water and used the toilet. Nothing left to do” (Murakami,2008:164)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

4.1 Conclusion

Haruki is an old man. He is a writer and also a runner, he hasn’t brothers. He has a wife. He loves with jazz music. He is a responsible and hard worker. Haruki Murakami has a good attitude in respecting time. He is able to manage time and has the discipline for his job.

He is a responsible for everything he does.

Haruki is an anti-social but after marriage he realized that in this life we need other people, we must socialize.And Novel What I Talk About When I Talk About Runningis an intimate novel look at writing and running based on reality and from the novel we can learn and get knowledge of a thing we have never known before.

4.2 Suggestion

Based on the character of Haruki Murakami as the leading character in Novel What I

Talk About When I Talk About Running in this life we have to socialize, we need a friend, and need their help too. We get nothing without them. And in everything we do, don’t give up quickly, keep trying again as Haruki did.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA BIBLIOGRAPHY

Foster, E.M. 1993. Aspect of Novel. Arnold: Penguin

Holland, Norman. 1981. A Psychological Approach to Fiction: Studies in Thackeray, Stendhal, George Eliot, Doestovsky, and Conrad By Bernard J.Paris. Bloomington & London: Indiana University Press

Murakami, Haruki. 2008. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. New York: Random House, Inc

Nurgiyantoro, Burhan. 1995. Teori Pengkajian Fiksi. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University Press.

Pardede, Martha. 2016. Literature An Introductory Material. Medan: USU Press

Robert, Edgar and Jacobs, Henry. 1995. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Stanton, Roberts. 1965. An Introduction to Fiction. Newyork: Hold, Kinehart, and Winston

Taylor, Richard. 1981. Understanding The Elements of Literature. London and Basingstoke. Macmillan Press Ltd.

Wallek & Warren. 1956. Theory of Literature. Newyork: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA APPENDICES

A. BIOGRAPHY OF HARUKI MURAKAMI

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist and translator. An important asset to the

Japanese literature of the 20th century, Haruki has received several noted awards for his fiction and non-fiction works. He was also referred to as one of the world’s greatest living novelists by The Guardian.

Hear the Wind Sing, Haruki’s first novel was published in 1979 which was a part of

The Trilogy of the Rat. The book received the Gunzou Shinjin Sho (Gunzo New Writer

Award). His next publication also a part of The Trilogy of the Rat, Pinball, 1973 was published in 1980. In 1981, Murakami decided to make writing his ultimate profession and therefore, sold the bar he ran with his wife.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA The third part of the same trilogy named A Wild Sheep Chase was published in 1982. Haruki won the Noma Bungei Shinjin Sho (Noma Literary Award for New Writers) for this book in the same year.

After spending some time moving to Fujisawa and then Sendagaya, Haruki published

Hard boiled Wonderland and the End of the World in 1985. This book was also immensely praised and received the Junichi Tanizaki Award. Haruki then moved to Oiso and travelled to

Rome and Greece before publishing Norwegian Wood (1987), an extremely popular novel among the Japanese youth and abroad. Haruki won the Yomiuri Literary Award for Wind-up

Bird Chronicle in 1996. Some of his more recent novels include The Sputnik Sweetheart

(1999), and Kafka on the Shore (2002). The Elephant Vanishes, A collection of Murakami’s short stories published in 1993 was also liked well by his fans. Underground (2001) is a significant non-fiction work of Haruki Murakami based on the gas attacks by religious extremists in the Tokyo subway in 1995.

In January 1991, Murakami moved to New Jersey and became an Associate

Researcher at Princeton University. A year later he was promoted as an Associate Professor at Princeton University. In 1993, Haruki started teaching at William Howard Taft University in Santa Ana CA.

Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan on January 12, 1949. Haruki probably inherited the passion for writing from his parents who were teachers of Japanese literature. Haruki, however, was never a big fan of Japanese literature and was instead under heavy influence of

Western culture. He has been criticized on being

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA overly westernized by the Japanese on several occasions. In 1968 Haruki attended Waseda

University as a Theater Arts major student. Not very studious by nature, Murakami would spend hours reading film scripts at the Theater Museum at the university. He also met his wife for the first time in Waseda University and they married in 1971. Together they opened a Jazz Bar named Peter Cat in Kokobunji, Tokyo which was later shifted to Sendagaya,

Tokyo, a quite locality.

Haruki Murakami is an iconic figure of postmodern literature known mostly for his unreal, humorous work focusing on the loneliness and empty mindedness of Japan’s work dominated generation. He now resides in The United States and is an enthusiastic marathon runner, a hobby he acquired at the age of 33.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL

This story tells about the journey of Haruki Murakami who decided himself to become a writer and runner.

When Haruki was 33 years old, he considered himself still quite young even though he could no longer be called a young man. At that age, he began his life as a runner. And even though it's too late, that's when the starting point of his being serious about being a novelist. Before that Haruki was managing a jazz club near the Setagaya station. At that time he was still a student, but because he was very busy taking care of the bar, he missed a number of credits to graduate. He does not think he has the ability to manage a business because he himself is a child of an office worker. Luckily he has a wife born in the family of merchants so that the entrepreneurial nature that flows within his wife helps their business.

Haruki felt the work at the bar was heavy. He worked desperately from morning to midnight and suffered various losses. However, he continued to work hard and finally began to make a profit to be able to pay other people as employees.

One day, around 1:30 a.m. Haruki sat alone watching a baseball match. He's a Yakult swallow baseball fanatic fan. At that time the Yakult team won the match against the

Hiroshima team with a blow made by the Yakult team pitcher namely Yasuda with a quick curling throw and managed to get the opposing team to score zero through their punches. In addition, the first batter Yakult team John Dave Hilton was able to produce a hard blow to the left line at the end of the round. The blow produced a crack as the ball collided right in the center of the bat

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA that roared throughout the field. Hilton then immediately stole base I and slid to base II easily. That's when Haruki's momentum decided to think of writing a novel.

He never had the ambition to become a novelist, he only had a strong desire to write novels. And for three years he went through daily activities by managing a jazz club late at night and spending 30 minutes writing at night, he felt the work of managing bars and writing was not easy. Then slowly, he wanted to write a more substantive novel and strong character.

At that time his income from a jazz club was far greater than writing, but for his, it had to be decided without hesitation. Then he asked his wife's approval to close the club and start concentrating on writing. Regarding his decision to live as a professional writer, he has a problem that is how to maintain body fitness, since living from morning to night sitting down to write, his energy has decreased as well as his weight. He became mostly smoking to help concentrate on writing. At that time he smoked sixty cigarettes a day, causing his nails to turn yellow and his body smelled of cigarette smoke. However, if you intend to live a long life as a writer, he must find ways to maintain body fitness and maintain an ideal body weight.

That's when he started running every day and was able to stop smoking during this time.

Among the many sports he can do, he should choose to run or swim because it is the sport that best matches his aloofness.

When he started running, he could not run long distances. He can only last around 20 or 30 minutes. However, after a long time, the body began to be able to hold while running.

Then little by little, he increases his running distance. For

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA him, the main problem is not a matter of speed or distance, but rather how to run without being absent every day. Thus, running activities have become part of their daily lives. Over time, he began to take part in several running competitions.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA