CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter contains of main theories and supporting theories. These include information on elements of fiction (character, characterization, and symbol), and psychoanalysis theories by Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud psychoanalysis theory is chosen as the main theory as it matches with the problem found in Whiplash movie, in example, defense mechanism . Freud believes that defense mechanism is used in order to release a person’s anxiety and determing the self-esteem level. In this paper, Freud’s few basic human defense mechanisms will be discussed as one of the most important element, however the main aim is to determine isolation and obsession issue within the film. In order to support the evidence that will be analyzed in the following chapter, the writer will provide several clips related to the psychoanalysis issues. Before applying the theories, the movie will be analyzed by using three elements of literature: plot, character and characterization, and symbols.

2.1. Plot In order to understand character’s connection with the story of a literary work then the readers have to understand the plot of a movie. According to DiYanni (2000), plot is defined the arrangement of events that make up a story (p.44). Many fictional plots turn on a conflict. In addition, DiYanni stated that typical fiction is often conceived as moving through five distinct sections or stages (p.45). The stages can be diagrammed in Picture 2.1 as follows:

3. Climax

2. Rising Action 4. Falling Action

1. Exposition 5. Resolution

Beginning Middle End

Picture 2.1: Diagram of Plot’s Five-stage Structure Exposition

Most of literary works begin with an exposition. Exposition is the first part of story that provides background information to the reader in order to understanding about the current situation. Furthermore, DiYanni stated that exposition also describes the setting and introduces the major character (p.44).

2.1.1. Rising Action

Complication or rising action is the part where usually the tension of the story is reaching its highest level before the main conflict revealed. It is also known as an intensification of the conflict that leads to a crisis or moment of great tension (p.45).

2.1.2. Conflict The conflict part also known as the climax part. It is the moment at which the plot reaches its greatest point of the main character’s crisis in the movie. It is the turning point of the plot and directly precipitating its resolution (p.45).

2.1.3. Falling Action Falling action is a part of the plot that happens after the climax. Once the climax has been reached, the tension reduced, the action falls off as the conflict’s been resolved. Then, the plot moves toward its appointed conclusion (p.45).

2.2. Resolution The last section of the plot is its resolution. Pickering and Hoeper (1981) stated that resolution records the outcome of the conflict and establishes some new equilibrium or stability. In addition, they also said that resolution is also referred as the conclusion or the denouement, a French word means ‘unknotting’ or ‘untying’ (p.17).

2.2. Character and Characterization

In literary works , the character element is the person, animal, or sometimes even an object in a story (such as tree, mirror, and wand). The action of the story is centered between the characters in the story. One central character usually dominates the story. Kennedy and Gioia (2004:91) stated that basically a character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story. Most of the character appearance is presented as a human being, however it can also be presented as an anomal, things, or an unreal person who inhabits a story. There are two types of characters. The first one is major character, which will be the center of the story in generating plot. Major character’s development will determine the element to the story’s creation. Characters can be either round, or flat, depending on their level of development and the extent to which they change.

characterization is the author’s tool to present and reveal character that inhabits the story. Characterization is basically the representation of character’s personality, in order to develop the characters within a story. In short fiction, there are two ways to emphasize character’s personality; they are direct characterization and indirect characterization. Direct characterization is the method of delivering character’s personality by using narrator’s guidance, another character, or by making the main character reveals his or her identity. Indirect characterization is when the writer reveals the character’s personality through thoughts, feelings, and actions of the character. There are few method use to reveal character’s personality as well. The writer can also use character’s monologue or dialogue the musical element, setting placement, and also the minor character’s thoughts.

Arp and Johnson (2006) said that there are two ways to describe a character, either directly or indirectly. In direct presentation, a character is described directly by the author through exposition or analysis. In indirect presentation, the author shows the character through their actions. Reader or audience determines what the characters are like by what they say and they do (p.104).

2.3. Symbol

According to Arp and Johnson (2006) a literary symbol is something that means more than what it suggests on the surface. It may be an object, a person, a situation, and action, or some other elements that have literal meaning in the story but suggest or represent other meanings as well (p.216). Pickering Hoeper (1981) also added that symbolism thus strengthen the story by holding the value that symbolism is parts of literary which work together in the service of a whole in a such way to helps readers organize and enlarge their experience of the work (p.69). The ability to interpret symbols is essential for a full understanding of literature. However, interpreting symbols in literary works is not an easy things to do. Arp and Johnson (2006) stated that in interpreting symbols, reader must observe some following cautions. First the story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically. Symbol nearly as always signal their existence by emphasis repetition, or position. Secondly, the meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story, The symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside it. Thirdly, to be called, an intern must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning; a symbol is something more than the representative of class or type. Lastly, a symbol must have more than one meaning. It may suggest a cluster of meanings (p.221-223).

2.4. Setting Setting is an essential element in the process. It helps reader to picture the situation and also the atmosphere of an event that is going on in a story. Setting is basically the condition surrounding a story. Stories come to life, are imagined as occurring in a place, rooted in the soil of a write’s memories. According to DiYanni (2001, p.61) in every story there is a series of event that are connected from one another. The continuation of one event to the next is what makes a story. In these events there will be indication of time and place or even just a small detail of the surrounding environment. The time could be in minutes, hours, or even days and months. At times the period of time is also told in seasons and century. The function of telling a time description to a story is so that the readers would have sketch of the certain era that is going on in the story. Then the place of which the story or an even in a story is taken could be told very explicitly, for instance the writer mentioned a name of a place a city, a country, etc). By telling the readers in which place a story is taking place, it helps to picture the ambience of the story.

2.5. Psychoanalysis Criticism

Psychoanalysis criticism derives from psychoanalysis method. Barry (2017) stated that psychoanalysis is a form of therapy which aims to cure mental disorders ‘by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious element in the mind.’ Thus, psychoanalysis criticism is a form of literary criticism which uses some of the techniques of psychoanalysis in the interpretation of literature (p. 96).

2.5.1. Sigmund Freud’s Psychology

Barry (2017) believed that psychoanalysis is a form of therapy which ains to cure mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind (p.96). In order to form ones mind there are three determiner aspects. They are id, ego, and superego. Id basically is people desire, which triggers people’s action. For instance, A person eat because they wanted to eat or hungry. While ego represent the way people satisfy their desire. For instance, people eat because they have to fulfill their desire to satisfy their hunger. Superego is basically people common sense, culture, and conscience. These thee have to be in balance in order to make sane person.

When a person cannot fulfill their desire then it will become anxiety, according to Barry (2017) the anxiety felt by the young man is shown to suffose the mind, in what seems to me a very plausible way, rather than being locked away in some specific compartment; hence it is likely to surface anyway at all. In order to release a person’s anxiety, the mind defense mechanism is playing an important role (p.73). According to Freud there are twelve defense mechanisms. However only few defense mechanisms used in this paper, such as repression, displacement, introjection, apathy, and aggression.

2.5.1.1. Anxiety

Freud as cited in Feist and Fiest (2008), emphasized that it is a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by a physical sensation that warns the person against impending danger (p.33). Anxity can appear from threatening condition such as a presence of a person who cause bad impact. Those cicumtances triggers people mind to create counter defense to release our anxiety it is called defense mechanism.

Anxiety is the mark which shows that the suppressed wish showed itself stronger than the censorship, that it put through its wish-fulfillment despite the censorship, or was about to put it through. It can be represented that when a human ego cannot fulfill their desire, it triggers anxiety as well. For instance, the presence of a worker’s manager anxious them. The workers mind wish the manager to leave immediately, and if the manager does not leave it will leave the workes anxious. There are actually three types of anxiety. They are realistic anxiety, neurotic anxiety, and moral anxiety. However only two will be analyzed in this paper and will be described in two subchapters and they will be neurotic anxiety and realistic anxiety.

2.5.1.1.1. Neurotic Anxiety

According to Feist and Feist (2008), many persons who cannot be termed ill show unconscious tendency to anticipate disaster. We blame them for being over-anxious or pessimistic. A striking amount of expectant fear is characteristic of a nervous condition which named anxiety neurosis (p.348). Neurotic anxiety is basically triggered by people’s bad experiences over something. Yet it is unconscious because people are anticipating the consequences rather than thinking about the real consequences. This anticipating action cannot be solved by people’s mind and become an anxiety.

Human neurotic anxiety can be triggered by the presence of bad news. Such as manager, teacher, instructor, police officer, or bad news. These things could make people mind anticipating about what happened after even if it is still not clear. Some of the fearful objects and situation have something gruesome for normal people too, a relation to danger, and so, though they are exaggrated in intensity, they do not see comprehensible (p.349).

2.5.1.1.2. Realistic Anxiety

Freud as cited in Feist and Feist (2008) stated that realistic anxiety is triggered by real things. The consuqences and the cause are clear to trigger one’s anxiety. The only difference is one’s ego can counteract to solve realistic anxiety because the cause of the fear is real. Thus, fear is also the one factor that cause realistic anxiety. Fear over something real for instance like fear of a dog bite. As a result, human ego will react as a counter of the fear the human faced with. Where there is fear, there must be cause for it (p.351).

2.5.1.1.3. Morality Anxiety

Feist and Feist (2008) believed that moral anxiety is a result from failure to behave consistently with what they regard as morally right, for example, failing to care for aging parents. (p.34). The moral anxiety temrs is basically a conflict between ego and superego. A person’s ego makes a wish that need to be fulfilled, while superego has a role to remind a person’s mind about the moral value that people believe, also about believing what is wrong and what is right to do.

2.5.1.2.Defense Mechanism

According to Feist and Feist (2008), defense mechanism is a technique used to reduce the anxiety in the ego. If there is no establishment of defense mechanism, the anxiety would overwhelm the person’s mind and would threat person’s mental health. Defense mechanism itself has an important role in balancing one’s sanity. One cannot take too much amount of anxiety or people will become insane. Defense mechanism is also part of normal, everyday fucntioning. Used within limits, defenses aid us to manage stress, disappointment, and strong negative emotions Cramer (2008, p.01) There are 12 defense mechanisms according to Freud. They are repression (form of forgetting), denial (form of refusal to accept the reality), displacement (anger is directed towards another person or onject that has no fault and will not crate another stress), projection (combination of denial and displacement), introjections (absorbing the anxiety and release it towards yourself), fantasy (displace your anxious by daydreaming), rationalization (find an acceptable excuses), regression (revert back to safe eralier developmental stage), reaction formation (hostility disguised by kindness), undoing (use certain gestures to cancel unpleasant thoughts), isolation (emotion is disguised by intellectualization), sublimation (transmforming unacceptable impulses into acceptable forms). Those all 12 defense mechanisms found out by Freud, however Freud’s daugther Ana developed these ideas and elaborated on them, adding ten more of her own. This paper will only focus on few defense mechanisms that are highligted in the movie. They are repression, displacement, introjection, apathy, and aggression.

2.5.1.2.1. Repression

According to Barry (2002) repression is linked with forgetting or ignoring (p.70). Repression involves placing uncomfortable toughts in relatively areas of subconscious mind. Thus when things occur that people are unable to express or solve, they push them away and plan to deal with it another time or hoping they will fade away on their memories.

According to Freud as cited in Boag (2006) the essence of repression lies simply in turning something away, and keeping it at a distance, for the conscious. The uncomfortable toughts people experienced are burried very deep on people’s mind. However repressed memories do not vanish. They will reappear as anxiety and a high level of repression can cause repressed memories to appear through subconscious. For instance, a person cannot express his or her feelings when they encounter someone who is ugly but they cannot just express it so they will just burry it deep down on his mind.

2.5.1.2.2. Displacement

Feist and Feist (2008) believed that people can redirect their unacceptable urges onto a variety of people or objects so that the original impulse is disguised or concealed (p.36).

Displacement is basically releasing anxiety towards someone or object that would not cause anymore stress or anxiety to the person because he or she cannot fulfill their desire to get rid the source of the anxiety. This defense mechanism often occured on someone with low self-esteem level. People with low self-esteem level with release their anger to someone or something that they are familiar with.

2.5.1.2.3. Introjection

Feist and Feist (2008) believed that introjection is a defense mechanism whereby people incorporate positive qualites of another person into their own ego. For instance, an adolescent may introject or adopt the mannerism, the values of his manager or teacher (p.37)

Introjection might be caused by someone anxiety because he or she actually awares of his or her self-esteem level. This defense mechanism can also be triggered by jealousy over someone who is better then him or herself. Such introjection gives people an inflated sense of self-worth and keeps feelings of inferiorty to a minimum (p.37)

2.5.1.2.4. Apathy

According Erickson cited in Fiest and Feist, (2008) apathy was an expression of an extreme dependency (p.264) and caused by the huge amount of anxiety a person experienced and those anxieties are not solved yet. Thus, a person will give up to fulfill their desire. The ego will stop counteract and they will pretend to giveup and just let anything happen to them. This often happens on an insane person or might lead to insanity. This mechanism also often happens in the movie when the characters have not reached the resolution.

2.5.1.2.5. Aggression

Feist and Feist (2008) stated some people use aggression to safeguard their exaggerated superiorty complex, that is, to protect their fragile self-esteem (p.82). Commonly there are two types of aggresion. The first one is direct aggression which releasing a person anger to the source of stress or anxiety. The other one is displace aggression which displace their anger to someone or some objects. The differences between aggression and displacement is about the emotion. Displacement existed when someone cannot fulfill their desire and they temporarily displace his or her desire to another person or object. While aggression is when someone released their anger due to overloaded anxiety.

2.6. Isolation

Feist and Feist (2008) believed that competitiveness and the basic hostility it spawns result in feelings of isolation. These feelings of being alone in a potentially hostile world lead to intensified needs for affection, which, in turn, cause people to overvalue love (p.166). Isolation is often caused by competitiveness in order to achieve ones goal. People will start to push away every person in his or her life until the loneliness is reached. Isolation itself is the most highlighted psychoanalysis issue in the movie. As a result many people see love and affection as the solution for all their problems. People self-defeating attempts result in low self-esteem, increased hostility, basic anxiety, more competitiveness and a continuous excessive need for love and affection (167).

Basically, isolation is a state of complete separation from the others, lack of contact between an individual. Individuals who experience isolation in their lives are more vulnerable to experience a mental disorder because he or she has nothing to release their stresses and find a resolution of their problems. Individuals who experience isolation tend to have many anxiety issue and as a result they are also more vulnerable to suicidal. Isolation is a powerful force. Human being always lives in groups and to be separate from the humanity can be though. Human are by nature social animals. As a social being ones cannot deny that human need each other to survive. Isolation stresses detachment from others often involuntarily.

2.7. Obsession

According to Cashmore, (2002) obsession is a condition under which ideas persist unreasonably in the consciousness of a subject (p.186). In other words obsession is the feeling of haunting something or someone because people admiring, liking or loving something too much. This definition however cannot be concluded as the true meaning of obsession. This definition can be concluded as obsessive love. For example, when you are admiring someone too much and you want to be like them, exactly like them the way u dress, the way you eat, talk, and speak. The true meaning of obsession in psychology is a recurring thought related to the idea that something terrible may happen. For example, I did not lock the door properly, now I am afraid someone going to rob me.

Obsession often happen when an individual focus on one thing with little interest in anything else. Obsession also triggered by the awareness of one’s low self esteem. People with low self esteem aware that they are weak and tend to overcome his or her current weakness and follow his or her idol in order to be a better person. Obsession can also be defined as the act of letting an action rule his or her thoughts or actions. Obsession also caused by the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, and desire.