THE DESCRIPTION OF FOUND IN GILLIAN FLYNNS’S NOVEL GONE GIRL

A PAPER

BY

NAME : EMRYA GRACELIA A PURBA

REG NO :132202091

DIPLOMA-III ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM

FACULTY OF CULTURE STUDY

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA

MEDAN

JUNI 2016

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Approved by Supervisor,

Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum NIP. 19630216198903 1 003

Submitted to Faculty of Culture Study, University of Sumatera Utara

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Diploma-III in English Study Program

Approved by Head of EnglishDiploma Study Program,

Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. NIP. 19521126198112 1 001

Approved by the Diploma III of English Study Program Faculty of Culture Study, University of Sumatra Utara As a Paper for the Diploma-III Examination

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the D-III Examination of the Diploma-III of English Study Program, Faculty of Culture Study, University of Sumatera Utara.

The examination is held on May 15th, 2014 Faculty of Culture Study, University of Sumatera Utara

Dean,

Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S.

NIP. 19600805198703 1 001

Board of Examiners/Readers: Signature

1. Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. (Head of ESP) ( …………….. )

2. Drs.Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum. (Supervisor) ( ...... )

3. Drs. Siamir Marulafau , M.Hum (Reader) ( ...... )

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AUTHOR'S DECLARATION

I am, EMRYA GRACELIA A PURBA , declare that I am the sole author of this paper. Except where the 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 : th,

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

Name : EMRYA GRACELIA A PURBA

Tittle of paper : The Description of plot found in Gillian Flynns’s Novel Gone

Girl

Qualification : D-III / Ahli Madya

Study Program : English

I am writing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discrection of the Librarian of the Diploma III Department Faculty of Culture Studies USU on the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation under law of the Republic of Indonesia.

Signed

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRACT

This paper is entitled The Description of Plot Found in Gillian Flynn’s Novel Gone Girl. Plot is the literary element that contains the events in a story where the event has cause and effect relation. A occurs because of B and the result is C. The plot itself has a structure which consists of exposition, rising , , falling action, and resolution. Each structure parts are closely related; exposition is the beginning to introduce the characters and places, rising action is the marker of that binding up to the climax, contemplation (falling action) and ending (resolution). In this novel tell psychopath in a marriage and many trouble in finance. In this research the writer uses qualitative description method to describe the plot which is presented in the novel.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ABSTRAK

Kertaskaryainiberjudul The Description of Plot Found in Gillian Flynn’s Novel Gone Girl.Plot adalah unsur sastra yang memuat kejadian kejadian dalam sebuah cerita dimana kejadian tersebut memiliki hubungan sebab akibat.Terjadi karena dan mengakibatkan . Plot itu sendiri memiliki struktur yang terdiri dari exposition, rising action, climax, falling cation, resolution.Masing-masing bagian dari struktur itu terkait erat; exposition adalah awal memperkenalkan karakter dan tempat, rising action penanda konflik yang mengikat hingga sampai pada klimaks (climax), perenungan (falling action) dan akhir (resolution). Dalam novel ini di ceritakan tentang penyakit psikopat dalam sebuah pernikahan dan masalah keuangan yang terjadi dalam pernikahan. Dalam penelitian ini penulis menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif untuk menggambarkan plot yang sudah tersaji dalam novel tersebut.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank and praise to the Almighty, Allah SWT for blessing and giving me health,strenght, and case to accomplish this paper.This paper is accomplished in order to fulfill one of the requirements to get Diploma III certifate from English Study Progtam in Faculty of Culture Study,Unuversity of Sumatera Utara.

I realize that, without helps and guidance from many people, since I have been studying in this program until this time I accomplish this paper, it is so hard for me to accomplish this paper. Because of that, I would like to express my deep gratitude, love, and appreciation to :

Dr. Budi Agustono, M.S. as the dean of faculty of culture Study,University of Sumatera Utara.

Dr. Matius C.A Sembiring, M.A, as the Head of English Diploma Study Program.

Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum. as my supervisor. Thank you for the time giving advice,suggestions,guidance, and help to write this paper.

Thank youu very much Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M.Hum as my readder for your time and advice.

All lecturers un English Study Program for giving me advice and knowledge. My beloved parents, Perimsa Purba and Darta Ulina Tarigan, my handsome brother, Amsal Theopilus Purba and also my beautiful sister Angelita Aprida Beatrix Purba who have given me the motivation, advice, pray, love, and support. I present this paper for you all. I also say thank you so much to my grandparents and all of my family who always support me.

My best friends Kikuks, The Mind Kingdom, and my cousin Sonya Misrani Manik who have helped me a lot in accomplishing this paper. And all my friends in English Diploma III class A and B. Thank you very much for your support.

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Thank you for everybody who has helped the writer and that all for you will be remembered forever.

And finally, I hope the Almight God is plessed to replay all the kindness from all people who helped me. Hopefully this paper can be useful to develop our knowledge.

Medan, 2016

The writer,

Emrya Gracelia A Purba

Reg. No. 132202091

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ………………………………… i ABSTRACT …………………………………………………….. ii ABSTRAK………………………………………………………. iii ACKNOWLEDGEGEMENTS………………………………... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………. vi

1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………… 1 1.1 The Background of Study…………………………………. 1 1.2 The Problem of Study……………………………………… 3 1.3 The Scope of Study………………………………………… 4 1.4 The Purpose of Study……………………………………… 4 1.5 The Significance of Study…………………………………. 4 1.6 The Method of Study………………………………………. 4 2. REVIEW OF RELATED …………………. 6 2.1 Definition of Novel…………………………………...... 6 2.2 What is Plot?...... 9 2.2.1 Exposition ………………………………………………… 14 2.2.2 Rising Action……………………………………………… 14 2.2.3 Climax…………………………………………………….. 15 2.2.4 Falling Action…………………………………………….. 15 2.2.5 Resolution………………………………………………… 15 3. THE ANALYSIS of PLOT in THE NOVEL……………… 18 3.1 Exposition ………………………………………………... 18 3.2 Climax……………………………………………………. 20 3.3Resolution………………………………………………… 23 4. CONCLUSION AND SUGESTION………………………… 27 4.1 Conclusion………………………………………………….. 27 4.2 Sugestion……………………………………………………. 27 REFERENCES…………………………………………………… 28 APPENDICES…………………………………………………..... 29 A. Biography of Gillian Flynn…………………………………... 29 B. Summary of the Novel……………………………………….. 31

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Literature is a kind of art, usually written to offer pleasure and illumination. Wellek and Warren (1971:3) say, “literature is the mirror of human life that portrays human feeling, thought, imagination and perception which can be viewed based on personal judgement”. It happens because the literary writer is also an individual and social being. The literary writer plays his imaginative power to describe social phenomena. It can be about economic matters, social problems, suicides. In short, literature constitutes the imaginative act from the human’s imagination and interpreting life-experience.

The writer wants to analyze novels which belong to the literary work. Coates (1983:17) says, "The novel is an impossible history, for history has become impossible. It is powered by negative utopianism: it creates an image of artificial reality, but not of a better one as a prophet would. Modern novel are , the sting in the tail of the earlier to leave this world and so was unable to return to it. This means."

Taylor (1981:1) says that, literature is commonly classified as having two major forms and non-fiction, and two major techniques poetry and prose. Literature may be classified into four categories or genres: (1) prose fiction, (2) poetry, (3) drama, and (4) nonfiction prose. Originally, fiction meant anything made up, crafted, or shaped, but today the word refers to prose stories based in author’s imagination. Prose fiction or narrative fiction; include myth, parables, romances, short stories, and novels.

Terri Eagleton (1983:1) states that “ there have been various attempts to define literarture. You can define it, for example, as “imaginative” writing in the sense of fiction-writing which is not really true. But even the briefest reflection on what people commonly include under the heading of literature suggests that this will do”.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA The literature as imaginative writing not really true because sometimes it lifted up from someone’s imagination or dream. A distinction between ‘fact’ and ‘fiction’, then , seems unlikely to get us very far, not least because the distinction itself is often questionable one

Novel is a length story that narrates the life experience. Novels have extrinsic and intrinsic elements. Intrinsic elements in a novel are , , plot, and . Character is a human being that plays actions in a novel. Setting is the place and time in a novel. Plot is sequence of events that contain conflict in a novel. And theme is central idea in a novel.

There have been various attempts to define what literature is. Literature can be considered as a product of imagination in writing form. It reflects the result as the value of an art work. Taylor (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 experience. The major forms of literature are novel, poem, drama and short story. They have much in common. Poem is focused on lyrics written by stanza; drama related to performance on stage by using dialogue; short story is a short form limited in members of page.

In this paper a novel is used as the material of the discussion, which the novel itself belongs to the literary work. Revee (1985) says that novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the time in which it is written. Based from the quotation above, a novel seems as the portrayal of human life and behaviour in reality. In other words, the novel tends to be the representative of the activity of human real life, which concerns too many things and aspects such as: ambition, feeling, emotion, desire, obstacles in life, problem, etc.

In this paper novel is chosen as the material of analysis in which is also considered in literary work. Reader (1987:6) says that novel is fictitious prose narrative of volume length portraying characters and actions representative of real life in continuous plot. Novel is created by man. In which that, novel doesn’t present documentary picture life. The story is written in certain plot to illustrate actions of the characters.

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Plot is one of the most important elements in making a fiction literary work. Roberts and Jacob (1995:52) say that “Plot is based on the interaction of causes and effects as they develop sequentially or chronologically. In another book, Fananie (2001:93) says that plot is the construction which is made to read on of a sequence of events that are logically and chronologically related, and caused or experienced by actors.

The writer is interested in analyzing in the plot used in the novel because it can show the sequence of conflict in the novel. The story is about Nick and Amy's marriage. The first part of the book talks about two different stories from Amy and Nick Dunne.

As the focus of this paper, the writer will analyze the plot used in the novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This novel tells about a woman named Amy Elliot Dunne who is kid book writer which famous under the title “Amazing Amy?”. Amy had been married for 5 years with her husband named Nick Dunne. On their 5th anniversary, Amy had already prepared some weird plans and clues for her husband. Amy prepared all those things for more than a year and she just want to make Nick feels guilty and regret.

The research of this paper focuses on the plot used in the novel written by Gillian Flynn entitle Gone Girl.

1.2 Problem of the Study

How is the plot portrayed in the novel?

1.3 Scope of the Study

There are so many aspects in this novel only described Exposition,Climax and Resolution. So, the scope of study is limited only describing the plot is pictured based on GONE GIRL novel.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 1.4 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of writing this paper is to explain plot structure portrayed in the novel. Therefore, this paper can be functional for the reader in the order to enrich our knowledge on literature. 1.5 Significance of the Study

The significances in this paper are : 1. Theoritically, the significance of this study is to enrich and develop literary study. 2. Practically, the study can be used as reference for learning and understanding about plot in the novel.

1.6 The Method of the Study

The writer uses library research as the method of study in writing this pap er. As the first step, the writer reads the novel to understand the story. Then, the writer reads literature books and browses data from the internet to support the writer’s idea of the related topic of this paper. The final steps are sorting out the data that have been collected and analyze them.

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Method of Study’s Chart

Data Sources : Researcher  Novel “Gone Girl”  Film  Books  Internet

Data of the novel in terms

of quotation.

s  Selection Conclusion  Description  Analysis

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2. REVIEW AND RELATED LITERATURE

Fiction writing is any kind of writing that is not factual. Fictional writing most often takes the form of a story meant to convey an author’s point of view or simply to entertain. The result of this may be a short story, novel, novella, screenplay, or drama, which are all types (though not the only types) of fictional writing styles.

2.1 The Definition of Novel

Novels and short stories are two forms of literature that once called fiction. Differences between the novel and short stories are a formality in terms of shape, in terms of story length. A long story says hundreds og pages, it cannot be called as a short story, but more appropriately called a novel. Novel is able to present the development of one character, a complicated social situation, relationships that involve many or few characters, and a variety of complicated events occurring in greater detail. The novel is able to creat a complete universe at once complicated. This means that the novel is both easy and more difficult to read when it is compared with the short story.

Novel is a length story which tells about life experience of human being. It can be made base on imagination. The imagination is not really life experience, it is impossible in real life. Reeve (1785) says that novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the time in which it is written. Based from the quotation above, a novel seems as the portrayal of human life and behaviour in reality. On the other words, the novel tends to be the representative of the activity of human real life, which concerns too many things and aspects such as: ambition, feeling, emotion, desire, obstacles in life, problem, etc.

Novel is one of many possible pose narrative forms. Richart Gill in his book (1985:78) says that in the writing, here is a recognition that novel is something special made by an author so that a reader will respond to it in a particular way. The good candidate has recognizedthree things about a novel : the events of the novel, the author who has created them, and the reader for whom the novel is written.

Rene (1985) says that novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the time in which it is written. Based from the quotation above, a novel seems as the portrayal of human life and behaviour in reality. On the other words, the novel tends to be the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA representative of the activity of human real life, which concerns too many things and aspects such as: ambition, feeling, emotion, desire, obstacles in life, problem, etc.

Novel is usually written in the past tense because the author tells story that happens in the past, the author imagine the story firstly then interpret it in writing so the imagination first then writing in the past tense. According to George Watson (1979:3) says that novel is the name of a literary kind, and there is a story to tell about how, over the centuries, its substance has widened and its conventions changed. So it means novel is asliterary work, narrate about the life in centuries ago.

In addition novel is written in past tense because it is a heritage of senior novelist, like saying of Watson (1979:6-9) says that why most novels are mainly composed in the past tense? And why is it that when readers or critics recount the plot of a novel, or any part of one, they commonly translate it into the present? The simplest answer to these questions is that we conventionally associate past tense with telling a story, and present tense with analysis. In ordinary conversation, it is worth nothing, anecdotes are usually in the past tense, even when they are offered as fictitious.

Coates (1983:17) says, "The novel is an impossible history, for history has become impossible. It is powered by negative utopianism: it creates an image of artificial reality, but not of a better one as a prophet would.” The novel story tells the story of human life generally in interacting with the environment and each other. Abrams, (1981:119) says that novel is the name of a literary kind and there is a story to tell about how over the centuries, its substance has widened and its conventions changed. In an excited moment, we can call the novel ‘independent, elastic prodigious, and its story is as untidy as some of its masterpieces. If abrams had ever read any novels, he would have needed a far wider canvas than he allowed to tragedy in that surviving fragment of analysis known as the poetics. Novella literally means ‘a small new item’ and then interpreted as ‘a short story in the form of prose’.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA William (1934) says that writings having excellence of form of expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest. Literature is writings in which expression and form in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are charactereristic or essential features as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. Literature in the sense drama, poems, and novel has something different.

Literature is human creation in the form of oral and written language that can make you feel good. Jacobs (1993:1-3) says that literature provides the comparative that basic from which we can see worthiness in the aims of all people, and it helps us to see the beauty of the word around us. It is a kind of art which need a creative writing. It is a writing that can describe the real feeling which related to human interest, characterized, full of imaginations, and artistic. Literature in the sense drama, poems, and novel has something different.

In novel, a character may be defined as a verbal representation of a human being. Through action, speech, description, and commentary, authors portray characters who are worth caring about, rooting for and even loving, although there are also characters you may laugh at, dislike, or even hate, to quote Robert and Jacobs (1995:131). There can be simplified that the character in a novel is a description and a representation of a person qualities. It can be shown by the creation of the characters in a novel from their action, gesture, speech, and behavior, these term can be used by the readers to identify the characters in a novel, because the character in a novel has equal qualities as a person in real life.

Reading a novel can help reader to think the conversation of character, it makes the imagination improved became more criticism. Because the reader thinks what thing is good to support. In the beginning of novel is not interesting in the ending, because it takes the attention the reader to read the whole story. Watson (1979:3-4) says that novel is a way of learning about how things were or arecognitive instrument; and those who distrust stories as evidence should consider how often in conversation we use them to make points or answer questions.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA A novel is a totality, a comprehensiveness that is artistic. As a totality, the novel has passages elements, most related to one another in close and mutually dependent. The elements of a novel-builder that then collectively form a totality that-in addition to the formal elements of language, there are many more kinds. The division of the element in question is the intrinsic and extrinsic elements.

2.2 What is Plot?

Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern or a sequence. The structure of a novel depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story. In most stories, these events arise out of conflict experienced by the main character. The conflict may come from something external, like a dragon or an overbearing mother, or it may stem from an internal issue, such as jealousy, loss of identity, or overconfidence. As the character makes choices and tries to resolve the problem, the story's action is shaped and plot is generated. In some stories, the author structures the entire plot chronologically, with the first event followed by the second, third, and so on, like beads on a string.

Rusyana (1987:67) says “plot is not just the story order from A to Z , but a cause and effect to the events of the other events in the story.” It means the plot is a series of stories in the form of the stage events that weave a story that is presented by actors in a story.

Scoh Virgil (1966 ) defines that the plot was the principle that isensial in the story. While MorjorieBoulton (1975 ) defines plot as the organization of the novel or the determinants of novel structures and Dick Hartoko , ( 1948) states that the plot as the storyline created by the reader that a sequence of events in chronological order , are interrelated and are causality according to what was experienced.It can be concluded that the plot is a story related to each other chronologically to show an intent storyline.

Another kind of plot according to E.M. Forster (1927:94) ‘The queen died, no one knew why, until it was discovered that it was through grief at the death of king.’ This is a plot with a mystery in it, a form capable of high development. It suspends the time- sequence, it moves as far away from the story as its limitations allow. In the case of the

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA story, we say ‘and then? While in the case of the plot, we ask ‘why? The fundamental difference between “these two aspects of the novel” is that story “can only supply curiosity”, whereas plot “demands intelligence and memory also”. In this part, the reader will be able to remember incidents and create connecting threads between them. This allows the novelist to delay explanations and introduce human mystery to the narrative.

Plot develops a series of complications or intensification of the conflict that leads to a moment of great tension. Author uses techniques in writing plot to make the story interesting or to add a twist and turn.

There are four types regarding to plot:

1. Suspense - Frequently involves dilemma, for instance: Caught in a bad situation with a choice in a boating accident, you can save either your mother or your husband form drowning.

2. Flashback - The author waits until the story is moving and then flashes back to reveal biographical data or deep psychological reasons why a character acts as s/he does. It focuses more on why things happen, rather than on what happens.

3. Telescoping - It’s a matter of economy. The author cannot describe every motion of the character or event during the time the story covers. S/he has to choose the significant and merely suggest the others by saying they happened, without much description.

4. - The outcome of a conflict is often hinted at or foreshadowed before the climax and dénouement. These clues are usually very subtle which remain foreshadowed until the story ends.

Plot refers to the series of events that give a story its meaning and effect. In most stories, these events arise out of conflict experienced by the main character. The conflict may come from something external. As the character makes choices and tries to resolve the problem, the story’s action is shaped and plot is generated. In some stories, the author structures the entire plot chronologically, with the first event followed by the second, third, and so on, like beads on string. However, many stories are told with flashback techniques in which plot events from earlier times interrupt the story’s current events. To be a plot, the events must be processed and made creatively so that the results of

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA processing and making itself is something beautiful and interesting, particularly in relation to the relevant works of fiction as a whole.

The plot is one of the most important parts of a story and has many different purposes. Firstly, the plot focuses attention on the important characters and their roles in the story. It motivates the characters to affect the story and connect the events in an orderly manner. It creates a desire for the reader to go on reading by absorbing them in the middle of the story, wanting to know what happens next. The plot leads to the climax, but by gradually releases the story in order to maintain the reader’s interest. During the plot of a book, a reader gets emotional and connects with the book, not allowing himself to put the book down. Eventually, the plot reveals the entire story and reached a clonclusion. The plot is what forms a memory in the reader’s mind, allowing them to think about the book even making them want to read it again. By identifying and understanding the plot, the reader is able to understand the message being by the author and the explicit or implicit moral of the story.

The types of grooves which can be divided into three types, the following explanation :

1. Progressive Plot, is a plot in a story when the events are shown chronologically, the first event is followed by the next events. In other word the story starts from the earlier step (situation, introduction, and conflict) then the middle step (rising, conflict, and climax) and finally the last step (solution). 2. Flashback Plot, is the plot in a story when the time order of the event is regressive or not chronologically. It means that the story is not started from the earlier step but from the middle or from the last step and then back to the beginning before reach the final. This plot serve conflict directly, event the conflict that almost reach climax, while the readers have not known the situation and the problem yet. 3. Mixed Plot, is the mixture between progressive plot and flashback plot. Because mixed plots have two kinds of plot, so it is difficult to be done, and almost none novel uses mixed plot.

Nurgiyantoro (1998:152-156) differentiates this plot in three majorities. They are plot of fortune, plot of character, and plot of thought. Plot of fortune characters connects to a story that tells about the luck and the fortune of the main character’s destiny in a novel. He divided this plot in to six kinds, they are: (1) Action plot is the plot which is arranged in conflict and the resolution.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA (2) Platonic plot is the plot which ends with sadness and makes the reader feel empathy. (3) Tragic plot is the plot which makes the reader feel affected because the main character who does not know about the problem that comes and had faced. (4) Punitive plot is the plot which ends with the failure of the main character that cannot attract the reader’s sympathy. (5) Sentimental plot is the plot which the main character gets the victory after facing the problem (6) Admiration plot is the opposite of tragic plot which makes the reader admire because the main character can overcome the problem at the end. Plot of character refers to the importance of the character which becomes the focus of attention. Plot of character is more attentive with the characters condition than the events that related to the plot.

The plots of character are:

(1) Maturing plot is the plot in which the main character grows to be mature. (2) Reform plot is the plot in which the main character takes the responsibility of calamity. (3) Testing plot is the plot in which the main character leaves the failure and denies the dream.

Plot of thought tells something that will become a way for the readers to think about willingness, feelings, kinds of obsession and the other things that can be mentioned as the problems of human life generally. Plot of thoughts is differentiated in to four categories, they are:

(1) Education plot is the plot in which changes of spiritual of the main character does not influence the behavior. (2) Revelation plot is the plot in which the main character does not know the condition and then can find the privation secret. (3) Affective plot is the plot in which the believenes or attitude of the main character changes but the philosophy does not. (4) Disillusionment plot is the plot in which makes the reader feel disappointed because the main character looses the dream and falls into despair valley.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Plot must be effective and it includes a sequence of incidents that bear a significant causal relationship to each other. Causality is an important feature of realistic fictional plot because something happens because of a result something else. In other words, it's what mostly happened in the story or novel or what the story's general theme is based on, such as the , characters, setting, and conflicts occurring in a story. An intricate, complicated plot is known as an imbroglio, but even the simplest statements of plot can have multiple inferences, such as with songs the ballad tradition.

When we talk about plot, it means that we talk about the actions or events which usually resolved at the end of the story. According to Kenny (1966:14) in Wiyatmi (trans.2008:37) says that the plot as the events are displayed in a not simple story, because the author sets the events was based on a causal connection. The plot is basically sequences of events in logical and chronological relations are interrelated and are caused or experienced by the characters. The plot outline is divided into three parts, namely early, middle, and end. The first part contains the exposition that contains instability and conflicts. The middle part contains the climax which is the height of the conflict. The final section contains troubleshooting. Plot is known for having a and is divided into five parts. The five parts are: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

The Diagram of Plot:

Climax

Rising Action Falling Action

Exposition Resolution

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2.2.1 Exposition

The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed. The exposition is the introduction to the characters and setting of the story. The exposition hooks the reader, providing enough interest and information to the intended audience to encourage the reader to continue reading. Every story must have a beginning, the start, or exposition, is where the characters and setting are established. During this part of novel, the conflict or main problem is also introduced.

2.2.2 Rising Action

This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax). The rising action introduces the conflict or problem in the story. This part of the plot tells us what it is that the main character or is facing. During the rising action, the main character struggles with this conflict or problem.

The conflict may be:

a) Character vs. character: the problem the protagonist faces is one involving another character b)Character vs. society: the protagonist faces a problem involving something in the society in which they live (example: racism) c) Character vs. self: the character has some internal struggle inside themselves d) Character vs. nature: the protagonist struggles with some natural force (tornado, harsh climate, etc.)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA 2.3 Climax

The climax is the high point of the story, where a culmination of events creates the peak of the conflict. The climax usually features the most conflict and struggle, and usually reveals any secrets or missing points in the story. Alternatively, an anti-climax may occur, in which an expectedly difficult event is revealed to be incredibly easy or of paltry importance. Critics may also label the falling action as an anti-climax, or anti- climactic. The climax isn't always the most important scene in a story. In many stories, it is the last sentence, with no successive falling action or resolution.

2.2.4 Falling Action

The falling action is the series of events which take place after the climax; it is where the protagonist must react to the changes that occur during the climax of the story. The events and complications begin to resolve them. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).

2.2.5 Resolution

In literature, resolution is simplythe closing chapter or scene. It should be noted that the resolution is different from the climax. Consider how movies are structured. On the other hand, is the short scene after the climax where things get clarified and all the loose ends are tied up.

Typically, a resolution can be used in all forms of storytelling. However, although resolutions are very common, not every single story will have one. This is especially true if a story ends without all questions being answered. This is called an open ending and can possibly lead to a sequel.

The resolution occurs in the final chapter of the novel. It is the part of the story that wraps up all the loose ends. It is the chapter or scene that occurs after the big climax. Most stories will have a resolution, but sometimes if there is an open ending, the story will just conclude with the climax.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA In general, plot can be divided into two types, they are closed and open. This division is based on the way how an author presents the resolution of his story, they are:

1. Closed plot: in this type of the plot the end of the story is clear because the author presents a definite resolution of conflict. Most narrative works use closed plot, because the end of the story is clear, readers do not have to think a lot about it.

2. Open plot: this type of plot has little or no resolution at all. The author, however, creates some clues in the story that will lead his readers to conclude the resolution of the story. “ Crane in his work, The Concept of Plot states that any novel or drama represents a composite of three elements: action, character, and thought. Plot is, thus, the particular synthesis of the three elements.

RazaliKasim (2005:20) divides plot into three kinds :

a) Plot of Action: in this kind of plot the interest lies in “what happens next”, while the character and thought are portrayed minimally. We rarely, if ever, find any serious or intellectual issues.

b) Plot of Character: this kind of plot deals with the process of change in the moral character of the protagonist.

b) Plot of Thought: this kind of plot deals with the process of change in the thought of the protagonist and in his feeling. In a well plotted story, things precede or follow each other not simply because time ticks away, but more importantly because effects follow causes.

In a good story nothing is relevant or accidental; everything is related and causative. The controlling impulse in a connected pattern of causes and effects is conflict which refers generally to people or circumstances that a character (often the protagonist) must face and try to overcome (often the ).

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Conflict brings out the extremes of human energy, causing characters to engage in the decisions, actions, responses, and interactions that make up most stories. Conflict is the major elements of plot because opposing forces arouse curiosity, cause doubt, create tension, and produce interest.

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3. THE ANALYSIS

3.1 Exposition

The exposition of this novel is beginning from amy was the best author in New York. She had writing skill since she was a child. She had a good passion in writing a novel. She could get some good ideas for writing novel quickly and her product will always be best seller. The famous amy created a novel based on her life or experience and her last novel told about her life.

The great amy met nice man in her novel launching. His name is Nick. Amy fallen in love with Nick. Nick has a worm character, Amy could feel comfort and safe when she spent her time with Nick. They had chosen to get married.By the end of the day, cops and news crews have invaded Nick's house, detectives have grilled Nick into exhaustion, and Amy's helicopter parents have swept in from New York to facilitate the search. As the days pass with no sign of Amy—other than the clues for her annual anniversary treasure hunt—the case's widespread media attention and the general public's outrage place the police under extreme pressure to find a suspect. Unfortunately for Nick, they're closing in on him.

“The first time I saw her, it was the back of the had I saw and there was something lovely about it,the angle of it. Like shiny hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the victorian would call a finely shaped head. You could imagion the skull quite easly.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.3)

In the first time everything felt good, looked great and seemed good. Nick felt her wife is a nice woman. She has agood head, smart,diligent and submissive person. Amy is normal for the first. But Nick did not know how is the process inside. How is the way Amy thinking. Life is not easy, people said that. They got the hard condition in their small family. Nick became a jobless. He was doing nothing. Amy lost her job too but Amy still had ainvestation. She still had much money for both of them. Even Amy is the rich girl because he has the rich family but nick still want to keep the distance Amy’s

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA parent. As usual Amy does averything her responsibility as a wife. She will make a breakfast, keep the house clean,does every word from her husband. While, Nick is jobless. He get the bad carrier and has a trouble in economy but, he loves Amy.

“I had a job for eleven years and then I didn’t, it was that so fast. All around the country magazine begin shuttering,succumbing to a sudden infection brought on bythe bus step economy. Writers (my kind of writers: aspiring novelists, ruminative, thinkers, people whose brains don’t work quick enough to blog or link or tweet, basically old, stubborn blow hard) were through. We were like womans hate makers or buggy-whip manufacturers: Our time was done. Three weeks after I got cut loose, Amy lost her job, such as it was.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.5)

Nick’s twin called him. She is Margo. She told to Nick that their lovely mom get a bad health. She got illness. She need both of her son and doughter. Margo asked her brother respon. Nick said he chose to come back to Missouri,their hometown. Margo is hesident that nick’s wife will not agree. Nick said that Amy will follow him anywhere. He give Margo a promise that he will come back to see their mother to their hometown as soon as possible. Nick tried to talk ro her wife. He tried to persuade Amy. For the first, Amy refuse his demand. Then, after Amy see her husband still trying to persuade her Amy agree to go with Nick. As long as Nick love her, she will follow Nick. Amy’s parent has a doubt to let their Amy go. But , Amy still ask their permission. Amy’s parent just agree with her request. They only want to see Amy happy. So Amy and Nick went to Missouri. Amy left every great story in her New York world.

“I’ll come back, Go. We’ll move back home. You should Not have to do this all by yourself. She didn’t believe me. I could hear her breathing on the other end. I am serious, go. Why not ?there is nothing here. A long exhale. What about Amy? That is what I didn’t take long enough to consider. I simply assumed I would

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA bundle up my New York wife with her New York interest, her New York pride, and remove her from her New York Parents- leave the frantic, thirillingfutureland of manhattan Behind- and transplant her to a little town on the river in Missouri, and all woul be fine.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.6)

In Missouri, Nick and Amy had their anniversary. Amy knowed that Nick has found the other girl. Amy still in lov with him. Amy wanted to do their anniversary tradition in their special day. In the other place, Nick knew about that day but did not want to feel it anymore. When Nick got back to home, he was shocked. He could not find his wife. Amy was gone.

“It was our five year anniversary. I walked barefoof to the edge of the steps and stood listening,working my toes into the plush wall-to-wall carpet Amy detested on principle, as I tried to decide whether I was ready to join my wife. Amy was in the kitchen, oblivious to my hesitation. She was humming something melancholy and familiar. I strained to make it out a folk song? A lullabye? And then relized it was the theme to M.A.S.H. Suicide painless. I went downstairs.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.7)

3.2 Climax

Nick was very shock. He tried to find Amy. Nobody knew where Amy were. Nick called the police to find Amy. Amy’s parent went to Missouri. They wanted to know about her doughter. Police tried to collect all the proof. Poor Nick, he was the only onw person that can be blamed. Their neighbors also blamed him. They said that Amy was pregnant and Nick annoy her wife so rude. Amy’s parent also blamed on Nick. They said that Nick did not have a responsibility. He cannot keep his wife safe. Amy’s parent make some conference to find their Amy.Because he's our main character, we want to believe Nick didn't do it. In spite of this, the mounting

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA evidence against him, especially his ongoing affair with a much younger woman and the details he withholds about the morning Amy disappeared, can't be ignored.

“If the police talked any one to who knew me, they’d quickly learn that I rarely went to the beach and that I never sometimes brought my coffee to just enjoy the morning. I have Irishwhite skin and an impatience for navel-gazing a beach boy I am not. I told the police that because it had been Amy’s idea, for me to go sit the spot where i cloud be alone and watch the river I loved and pounder our life together. She’d said this to me this morning : after we’d eaten her crapess. She leaned foward on the table and said i know we are having a tough time. I still love you so much, Nick, and i know I have and I want you you to be my husband and be happy. But you need to decide what you want.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.35)

The one reasonable doubt comes from the treasure hunt, a trail of clues that lead Nick to important places in their relationship before finally arriving at his anniversary present. In spite of their ongoing marital problems, Nick finds himself falling in love with Amy as he reads the love notes she leaves at each location, feeling wooed back to her although it seems too late.

“I didn’t expect her to. I’d tell the police :amy would never the house with the teakettle on. Or the door open. Or anything waiting to be ironed. The woman got shit done, and she was not one to abandon a project, even if she decided she didn’t like it. She’d made a grim figure on the Fijji beach during our two weeks honeymoon, battling her way through a million mysticall pages of the wind The Wind- Up Bird

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Chronicle, casting pissy glances at me ask I devoured after thriller. Since our move back to Missouri The loss of her job, her life had revolved ( devolved?) around the completion of endless tiny, inconsequential project. The dress would have been ironed. And there was the living room, signs pointing to struggle. I already knew Amy wasn’t phoning back. I wanted The next part to start.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.53)

In the other side, Amy made the clue for their anniversary tradition. Nick went to the other village. All the gift has been hidden by Amy in the old house whose Nick’s father house. Amy sold her insurancefor getting much money. She changed her identity andalso her look. From the final clue , nick relized that Amy knew about his mistrees. The clues were her way of secretly telling Nick that Amy was setting him up for her murder.The investigation of her disappearance isn't the only thread in this story, however. Part One is also punctuated with excerpts from Amy's personal diary, giving us a glimpse of her witty—but high-strung—only child personality. Through theseentries, Amy reveals how her and Nick's seemingly charmed romance began to deteriorate.

“I finally get it, what you’ve said year after year, that this treasure hunt should be a time to celebrate us, not a test about whether you remember everything I think or say throughout the year.you’d think that would be something a grown would realize on her own, but… I guess that’s what husband are for. To point out what we can’t see for oueselves , even if thke five years.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.123)

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA Amy met with her old ex-boyfriend. His name is Desi. She made up the bad story about her husband. So the ex-boyfriend wanted to protect her. He let Amy stayed in his home with all the cctv in her room. Amy is a psychopath girl. She got a plan, she made look like she got an accident that is mode by the ex-boyfriend. She made like the ex-boyfriend tried to rape her. Then, she killed him when his body on her body. So cctv can see that why she hurted him.

“I’ve called devoted Desi to my aid (and bed). Desi with whom I’ve never entirely lost touch and who despite whatI’ve told Nick , my parents- doesn’t unnerve me in slightest.Desi another man along the Missisipi. I always knew he might come in handy. It’s good to have at least one man you can use for anything. Desi is a white knight type. He loved trouble women. Overthe years, after Wicshire when we’d talk, I’d ask after his latest girlfriend, and no matter the girl, he would always say: Oh, she’s not doing very well, unfortunately.’ But I know it is fortunate for Desi- the eating disorders, the painkiller addictions, the crippling depressions.”(Gone Girl, 2012 : p.361)

3.3 Resolution

After an accident with Amy ex-boyfriend was done Amy came home. Nick can know the last clue of their annivenersary tradition. Amy was returned to her lovely Nick. Nick asked Amy to tell him what has happened with her.Amy agree to tell him everything but nick must took a bath with her. For the first time, Nick felt afraid with her wife. But, Amy convince him that she just want to make sure that Nick did not bring a tape recorder. “An assertive knock the door. The kind a parent gives right before swinging the door wide: I own this place. I stand i the middle of my room and debate not answering, Bang bang bang. I understand why so many horror

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA movies use that device - the mysterious knock on the door- because it has the weight of a nightmare. You don’t know what’s out there, yet you know you’ll open it. You’ll think what I think : no one bad ever knocks.” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.341)

After all, Nick knew that her wife is crazy and danger. He felt afraid with his wife. But , Amy took the adventage of his situation. She forced Nick to obey all the rules that she made, join the games and do all her request. If Nick does a refusal, Nick knew what will happened. Amy created everything in her plan. She treatedandade everything perfectly so all people knew that have a good and lovely relation. She showed that everything that is happened only a small trouble in their small family. She made Nick insane.

“I finished my evening taping to Amy. I was wearing green shirt she like on me, and I’d been telling her story of how we first met, thr party in Brooklyn, my awful opening line, just one olive, that embrassed me every time Amy mention it. I talk about our exit from the oversteamed apartment out into the crackling cold, with her hand in mine, the kiss in the cloud of sugar, it was one of the view stories we told the same way. I said it all the cadence of a bed tine tale : shooting and familiar and repetitive. Always ending with Come home to me, Amy. (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.412)

Having been robbed of all the money she has in the world, Amy only has one option left: get help from her old high school boyfriend, Desi, who happens to be obsessed with her. After a covert meeting at a casino, Desi takes her home, where he basically holds her hostage for a few weeks. It's only when Amy sees one of Nick's high-profile interviews on television and hears him beg her to come home that she decides it's time to give up the ruse.

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If Nick doesn't cooperate with her kidnapping story, Amy will tell the press that he tried to poison her with antifreeze (something she went so far as to do to herself, so she has vomit saved in the freezer to prove her claim if need be). In spite of this, Amy kind of killed a dude and Nick doesn't like living with that. So, as frustrated writers, they do the only thing they know how to do: they write dueling memoirs.

“All that matters is that Amy is safe. I’d been practicing that line over and over. I hhad to look like the relieved, doting husband until I knew which way things were going to go. Until I was sure the police had sawed through all her sticky cobwebby lies. Until she is arrested – i’d get that far, until she is arrated , and then I could feel my brain expand an deflate simultaneously – my own cerebral hitchcock zoom – and i’d think : My wife murdered a man.” . (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.427)

Amy, though, has yet another surprise for Nick once he finishes his tell-all, Amy insanity book: she's pregnant (for real this time), and demands that he play by her rules if he wants to see his child. Having grown up with an abusive father, Nick knows the horror the kid will be subjected to having Amy as the sole provider, so feels he has no choice but to delete his book and resign himself to being the husband he knows he should have been all along.

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Nick told everything to his twin. Margo just felt like Nick is the bad luck man in the world. How can her best twin got the bad monster who is psychopath as his wife.

“I didn’t move out. I wanted this all to be a surprise to my wife, who is never surprised. I wanted to give her manuscript as I walked out the door to land a book deal. Let her feelthat trickling horror of knowing the world id about to tilt and dump its shit all over you, and you can’t do anything about it. No, she may never go to prison, and it will be always be my word again hers, but my case was convincing. It had an emotional resonance, if not legal one. So let everyone take side. Team Nick, Team amy. Turn it into even more of a game : sell some fucking T-shirts. ” (Gone Girl, 2012 : p.458)

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4.CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

4.1 Conclusion

The plot used in the novel of Gone Girl is progressive plot. Progressive plot means that the plot content is chronologically narrated. It simply contains the beginning , middle, and an ending.

Exposition of the story is Nick come home from outside to find that his wife has gone missing in their fifth anniversary.

Climax of the story is failing to record or find any concrete evidence Amy’s lies, Nick confronts her with his final move. He tells her of his plan to show the worldhis side of the story by publishing a novel revealing the truth behind what happened. She smiles at the written manuscript and notifies hi, that she needs to tell him something.

Resolution of the story is Nick commits to playing the part of the perfect husband so he can be there to protect.

4.2 Suggestion

Plot is the soul of literary work, so it is important to look at the plot first when analyzing literary work. Analyzing the plot can help the reader to understand the entire story of the novel. Plot refers the conflict, so the reader can read a literary work if it is fundamentally related plot.

This novel told psychopath in a marriage. Reading the novel is meant to understand about trouble in a marriage. Thus, readers are asked to deal with this novel for further research.

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REFERENCES

Flynn, Gillian. 2012. Gone Girl. London: Great Britain. Fananie, Zainuddin. 2001. TelaahSastra. Surakarta: Muhammadiyah University Press. Kenney, William. 1966. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press. Nurgiyantoro, Burhan. 1998. TeoriPengkajianFiksi. Yogyakarta: GadjahMada University Press Robert, Edgar V. and Henry E. Jacobs. 1995. Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. New Jersey: Prentince Hall. Sembiring, Matius C.A.2014. BukuPedoman Program D-3 StudiBahasa Inggris.Medan :Universitas Sumatra Utara. Sembiring, MCA. 2014. KompilasiBahanKuliah. Medan. Sudaryanto. 1993. Metodedan Aneka TeknikAnalisisBahasa. Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana University Press. Samsuri. 1982. AnalisaBahasa. Jakarta: Erlangga. Watson, George. 1979. The Story of the Novel. London: THE MACMILLAN PRESS. Wellek, Rene & Austin Warren. 1985. Theory of Literature. New York: Penguin Books.

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APPENDICES

A.Biography of Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn, in full Gillian Schieber Flynn was born on February 27, 1971 in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. American writer known for her darkly entertaining tales of murder and deceit in the Midwest.

Flynn, the younger of two children, was raised in Kansas City, where both of her parents taught. She attended the University of Kansas, graduating (1994) with a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism. Following a two-year stint at a trade magazine in Los Angeles, Flynn attended Northwestern University, graduating (1997) from the Medill School of Journalism with a master’s degree. Though she initially intended to become a crime reporter, Flynn found herself unsuited to the intrusive nature of the job and instead worked as a stringer for the periodical U.S. News & World Report before accepting a position as a staff writer for Entertainment Weekly magazine. For the latter publication she reported from film sets and eventually

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA became a television critic. Austerity cuts in 2008 led to the termination of her position, however, and she turned to fiction writing full-time.

Prior to being laid off, Flynn had already written Sharp Objects (2006) and Dark Places (2009; film 2015), both mysteries set in the Midwest. Sharp Objects concerns a newspaper reporter who returns to her Missouri hometown to investigate a series of murders of young girls. The narrative, threaded with themes of child abuse and self-harm, was noted for its subtle evocation of dread. Dark Places centres on a young woman whose brother was convicted of her family’s brutal murder and on her efforts, decades later, to discern what really happened. Gone Girl (2012) similarly investigated small-town malaise and menace. Its subtly creepy exploration of a fractured marriage in the wake of the wife’s disappearance and the subsequent suspicion cast on her husband won plaudits from many critics, who praised Flynn’s brisk pacing and her brutally unflinching view of human evil. The book became a best seller, and Flynn sold the movie rights for $1.5 million. The film version—penned by Flynn, directed by David Fincher, and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike—was a box-office hit and earned Flynn a 2014 Golden Globe nomination for best adapted screenplay. Though some readers characterized her work as misogynistic, Flynn countered that she was a feminist and that her characters simply demonstrated that malice and violence were not the sole preserve of men.

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA B. Summary of Gone Girl

On the morning of their fifth anniversary, Nick Dunne's wife, Amy, disappears from their North Carthage, Missouri home. A few years before, they moved there from New York to take care of Nick's mother, who was dying of cancer. Amy, a New Yorker by birth, wasn't too thrilled about this and even felt that she was being taken there against her will. Their marriage hasn't exactly been an all-American love story, but as tough as things have been, it's about to get worse.

By the end of the day, cops and news crews have invaded Nick's house, detectives have grilled Nick into exhaustion, and Amy's helicopter parents have swept in from New York to facilitate the search. As the days pass with no sign of Amy— other than the clues for her annual anniversary treasure hunt—the case's widespread media attention and the general public's outrage place the police under extreme pressure to find a suspect. Unfortunately for Nick, they're closing in on him.

Because he's our main character, we want to believe Nick didn't do it. In spite of this, the mounting evidence against him, especially his ongoing affair with a much younger woman and the details he withholds about the morning Amy disappeared, can't be ignored.

The one reasonable doubt comes from the treasure hunt, a trail of clues that lead Nick to important places in their relationship before finally arriving at his anniversary present. In spite of their ongoing marital problems, Nick finds himself falling in love with Amy as he reads the love notes she leaves at each location, feeling wooed back to her although it seems too late.

The investigation of her disappearance isn't the only thread in this story, however. Part One is also punctuated with excerpts from Amy's personal diary, giving us a glimpse of her witty—but high-strung—only child personality. Through these entries, Amy reveals how her and Nick's seemingly charmed romance began to deteriorate.

While they were once magazine writers in New York, both lost their jobs before the allegedly temporary move to Missouri. In spite of Amy's objections, though, they seem to be stuck there permanently, even after his mother's death. Nick has opened a bar with his twin sister, gotten a job at the community college, and is growing distant,

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA possessive, and violent. Amy's diary reveals a woman who is never sure where she stands with her husband and is scared enough to try to buy a gun.

Back in the present day, the evidence against Nick continues to pile. The cops find traces of massive blood loss on the kitchen floor, stacks of maxed out credit card bills, and discrepancies that make the scene in the living room look staged. As the investigation turns against him, Nick continues to deny that he had any involvement with Amy's disappearance, while simultaneously trying to keep the secret of his affair from getting out.

Nick realizes he's in big trouble, though, when the treasure hunt leads to the woodshed behind his sister's house—which is packed to the hilt with the golf clubs and electronics from the credit card bills. Oops.

Hold the phone a minute, though. Amy's got a big surprise for us: She's still alive, hiding out at a cabin in the Ozarks after framing Nick for murder—oh, and she's totally psycho. The whole scene back in North Carthage is of her own invention, including the credit card purchases, the blood on the kitchen floor (don't even ask), and even a gullible neighbor who's broken the news to the cops that Amy's pregnant (not really).

She plans to hide out until she runs out of money, then drown herself and let her body wash to the Gulf of Mexico to be discovered. This plan is foiled, though, when some neighbors at the cabin complex rob her, leaving her penniless. Ha.

Meanwhile, back at the Dunne Ranch, Nick's hired a high-powered New York celebrity attorney and is trying to cover his butt, though it's not going well. The media and the cops have turned against him, and even Amy's parents have declared him persona non grata. Nick attempts a few public relations events, even taping an interview for a prime time network news show, but nothing seems to be working, especially after news of the woodshed's contents leaks; the discovery of Amy's (fake) pregnancy doesn't help either. Eventually Nick is arrested for murder.

Having been robbed of all the money she has in the world, Amy only has one option left: get help from her old high school boyfriend, Desi, who happens to be obsessed with her. After a covert meeting at a casino, Desi takes her home, where he basically holds her hostage for a few weeks. It's only when Amy sees one of Nick's

UNIVERSITAS SUMATERA UTARA high-profile interviews on television and hears him beg her to come home that she decides it's time to give up the ruse.

So she has sex with Desi, kills him, beats herself up, and returns home with a bizarre story about being abused, raped, and held captive in his house. Looks like Nick's off the hook and Desi's name is officially dirt.

Now that Amy's back home, the charges against Nick are dropped, but instead of doing something crazy like, say, getting a divorce, instead Nick and Amy—who totally hate each other's guts—transform their home into a mini, modern day Cold War. If Nick doesn't cooperate with her kidnapping story, Amy will tell the press that he tried to poison her with antifreeze (something she went so far as to do to herself, so she has vomit saved in the freezer to prove her claim if need be). In spite of this, Amy kind of killed a dude and Nick doesn't like living with that. So, as frustrated writers, they do the only thing they know how to do: they write dueling memoirs.

Amy, though, has yet another surprise for Nick once he finishes his tell-all, Amy insanity book: she's pregnant (for real this time), and demands that he play by her rules if he wants to see his child. Having grown up with an abusive father, Nick knows the horror the kid will be subjected to having Amy as the sole provider, so feels he has no choice but to delete his book and resign himself to being the husband he knows he should have been all along.

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