The Conflicts of the Main Character in “” Karissa Mitha Harijanto 1213009010

Abstract Most people enjoy watching films. One of the films that teaches a lot of life lessons is The Sound of Music, a legendary musical film that was made in 1965. In this thesis, the writer analyzes the main character in the film, Maria von , as the focus of the study. The objective of the study is to find out the conflicts that happen to Maria, the possible causes of the conflicts, how Maria manages the conflicts, and the effects of Maria’s presence in the von . The analysis found that Maria faced two internal and four external conflicts. The possible causes of the conflicts came from both outside and inside Maria herself. However, Maria managed the conflict quite well with a little help from the Reverend Mother. Maria brought significant changes to the von Trapp family. She made the von Trapp family, who had been so stiff and gloomy since the death of the mother, happy and warm again.

Keywords: conflict, main character, The Sound of Music

Introduction According to Roberts & Jacobs (1989), literature helps audience to grow personally and intellectually. Literature mostly tells about the reflection of human life. It tells about many kinds of people, how they live their lives, the ups and downs of their lives, and how they face the problem in their live. The aim of literature is to enable audience to learn something from their works by referring to how the characters in the story face their problems. Despite all the benefits of literature, not everybody can understand it well especially the written literature, which is found to be more difficult to understand. Some readers find it difficult to digest “heavy stuffs” without any helps from images and sounds. Fortunately, there are several kinds of oral literature that might help people to understand literature easier. Those literatures belong to spoken literature, such as plays and dramas that now have its more modern version that is called film. The writer focuses the study on a film because she believes that people nowadays watch films more frequently rather than plays or dramas. However, not every film is worth watching. There is a bunch of films that does not reflect human life nor teach the audience about life. Those films do not help the audience to grow both personally and intellectually. For example, there are films which even give negative influences on young people because they show violence, hedonism, rebellion, etc. Among the films the writer has watched so far, she found one musical film she watched in her childhood entitled “The Sound of Music”. The film is not only beautiful but also extraordinary valuable because it really teaches the audience the value of life and helps them to grow personally and intellectually. It won a total of five Academy Awards, and in 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry as it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The main character of the film is Maria. She is a nun candidate who unexpectedly falls in love with the man for whom she works as governess. She has to choose a very difficult path in her life, being a nun or a wife. Maria’s journey to achieve what she is destined in life is very interesting. Her journey is full of conflicts from which the audience can take many lessons.

Conflict Conflict is a clash of action, ideas, desires, or wills (Perrine, 1966). The center conflict in this film itself is about choosing two paths of life that are completely different. One path is the path that is easier to take because it is not too risky and do not trigger people to condemn that choice, while the other path is the path that is rarely taken and it needs a lot of courage to take it. The clash of wills happens inside the character. The conflicts happen in the story are divided into two major types: Internal and External Conflicts. Internal conflict is a conflict that happens within a character’s mind. The conflict happens between a character with his own wills and desires. External conflict is a conflict that happens between a character and other things outside of him.

Parenting Style One of the most important things that has a significant influence on a child development is the way parents treat their children, parenting style. Children grow up in various kinds of family. The way parents nurture their children also varies. The development of children strongly depends on their parents’ parenting style. A good parenting style will produce a well-educated child, and vice versa. There are four main types of parenting styles according to Baumrind (1971, 1996). They are authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, neglectful parenting, and indulgent parenting. Authoritarian Parenting is a parenting style that is full of restriction and punishment. Authoritarian parents always have their children follow their directions and respect them. They do not want to have any argument with their children. Unlike authoritarian parents, authoritative parents do not punish their children; they prefer talking from heart-to-heart with their children to solve problems. The communication in authoritative environment happens in both ways. Meanwhile, neglectful parents tend to neglect their children. They are not involved in their children’s lives. They set no limits for their children and do not care of their children’s needs. The last type, indulgent parents, are highly involved in children’s live but set a very few limits for their children. They tend to avoid confrontation with their children and choose to grant all their children’s wishes.

The Main Character’s Conflicts There are six conflicts faced by the main character of the story. The two of them are internal conflicts and four of them are external conflicts. The first conflict that happens is between Maria’s free soul and the abbey rules. Maria was very adventurous. She has a free soul and could not be bounded with strict rules. On the other hand, an abbey is a place where everyone has to obey the rules applied there. Maria often broke the rules in the abbey and most of the nuns there started questioning her qualification as a nun candidate. Here are some quoted lyrics of a song that was sung by the nuns when they were discussing Maria.

“She's always late for chapel But her penitence is real She's always late for everything Except for every meal I hate to have to say it But I very firmly feel Maria's not an asset to the abbey”

Finally the Reverend Mother decided to sent Maria out as a governess for the Von Trapp family who needed one. This family consisted of Captain Von Trapp and his seven children whose mother had passed away for a long time. For the time being, the problem was solved because Maria no longer lived in the abbey. The second conflict that happens is the one between Maria’s adventurous spirit and her fear of the Von Trapp family. When Maria was sent out from the abbey to become a governess for the Von Trapp family, she felt pretty scared. As a young woman who is adventurous, she might like this new experience, but since she had no experience in being a governess and never known the Von Trapp family, Maria felt pretty scared and worried. To drive away her fear, Maria sang a song entitled “I Have Confidence” along the way to the Captain’s house. Some parts of the lyrics, which are encouraging, are quoted below.

“Oh I must stop all these doubts All these worries If I don't I just know I'll turn back I must dream of the things I am seeking I am seeking the courage I lack I have confidence in sunshine I have confidence in rain I have confidence that spring will come again”

The third conflict that happens is between Maria and the Captain. When Maria first came to the house, she already disagreed with the Captain in the way of educating the children. The Captain used military way to treat them. He blew whistles, gave orders, taught his children to march, and obligated them to wear uniform. The conflict was getting worse when Maria brought the children to play outside and did some dangerous activity such as climbing trees. The Captain was very angry that he decided to fire Maria. However, the voice of his children singing surprisingly warmed his heart and made him see that he was wrong all this time and Maria was right. In the end, the Captain asked Maria to stay. Not only with the Captain, Maria also faced a problem with the children at first. The Von Trapp children did not want a governess to take care of them. They had always succeeded in driving away all the governesses that came to their house. It could be an action of protest to their father because he never paid attention to them. As the previous governesses, Maria was their next target. On her first day, the children put a frog on her pocket and at dinner they put a pinecone on her seat. Surprisingly, Maria was not angry and did not take it to her heart. She tried to understand the children and be friends with them. Maria treated them differently from how their father did. Maria was more patient and easy going. She did not treat the children like soldiers. Maria even introduced the children to music and they liked it very much. Just in a day, Maria could win their hearts and made peace with them. She showed them that she cared about them and she was their friend. She understood their situations and feelings. She did not treat them in military way, the way their father did to them. Instead, she taught them how to sing and have fun. Here, there was a quite big difference that could be seen from the way Maria and the Captain treated the children. When they did something inappropriate, Maria did not punish the children right away, but she preferred talking to them and tried to understand them. In the theory of parenting style it is known as Authoritative Parenting (Baumrind, 1971). On the other hand, the way the Captain treated his children is known as Authoritarian Parenting Style (Baumrind, 1971). He forced the children to follow his directions all the time and punished them if they did not obey him. The way Maria treated the children, using Authoritative Parenting Style, successfully solved her problems with them. In this movie, it was also proven that the Authoritative Parenting Style brought better effects on the children. Their behaviors changed to be calmer and nicer. The conflict does not stop there. Later, the main conflict of the story happens when Maria has to choose between her love to the Captain Von Trapp and her vow. It is a very difficult choice because as a nun candidate, Maria should not have a special relationship with a man. Moreover, at the time being, the Captain had already had a girlfriend. In the society, this case was also very sensitive. The society looked at the nuns, priests, and all the religion leaders as a role model. They were always expected to be perfect and flawless. When a nun postulant changed her heart especially because of a man, everyone would look down on her. Maria was also not sure about her feeling. To make a decision to be a nun postulant was not easy. She had had to think about it very seriously. It meant that she must have been sure before that she wanted to be a nun. On the other hand, Maria was not sure that what she felt for the Captain was love. She did not know whether what she felt was real love or just an admiration. It was a very confusing moment for Maria. One day, when Maria and the Captain were dancing, they stared at each other for while and made the situation getting more awkward. It seemed that the Captain also had feelings for her.

The moment when Maria and the Captain stared at each

other while dancing.

This situation was smelled by Baroness, Captain’s girlfriend, and that brought a new problem to Maria. This is when the conflict between Maria and Baroness happened. Baroness was jealous and decided to talk to Maria in person. While helping Maria change her dress in the latter’s room, Baroness said, “Surely you've noticed the way he looks into your eyes. And you know, you blushed in his arms when you were dancing just now. Don't take it to heart. He'll get over it soon enough, I think. Men do, you know.” The purpose of Baroness doing that was to make Maria afraid and ran away. As she expected, it worked. Maria ran away to the abbey and locked herself in a room. This dilemma made her very depressed. After a few days, the Reverend Mother decided to call Maria to her office. In her office, Maria told the Reverend Mother what made her depressed and insisted on taking her vow right away because she thought that it was the easiest way out. The Reverend Mother was very helpful in solving this problem. The Reverend Mother had the feeling that this might be Maria’s true destiny. She told Maria that running away was not a solution and taking her vow might not be the right choice. The Reverend Mother said, “Maria, the love of a man and a woman is holy. You have a great capacity to love. You must find out how God wants you to spend your love. My daughter, if you love this man, it doesn't mean you love God less. You must find out. You must go back.” Finally Maria came back to the Captain’s house and what she did was right. Having Maria back to the house made the Captain realize that he loved Maria. That night, he ended his relationship with Baroness and expressed her love to Maria. Maria replied his love and soon they were got married. Automatically, the marriage solved Maria’s problem with Baroness because the Captain already chose Maria.

Conflict Overview Overall, there are six conflicts faced by the main character of the film. The first conflict is Maria’s free soul vs. Abbey Rules. Maria has a free soul. Therefore, she does not like to be bounded by rules. On the other hand, the place she lives, the abbey, has many rules to obey. This makes the situation difficult for Maria and also the nuns in the abbey. The second conflict is Maria’s adventurous spirit vs. her fear of the Von Trapp Family. Maria is happy with the fact that she has been given an opportunity to try something new by being a governess. However, she is also afraid because she has never been a governess. She is also afraid to face the Captain, who must be very discipline. She is afraid he might not like her. The third conflict is Maria vs. the Captain. Maria and the Captain had a disagreement in the way of treating children. The way Maria treats the children is known as Authoritative Parenting (Baumrind, 1971), which focuses on understanding and communication when dealing with children. On the other hand, the way the Captain treats the children is known as Authoritarian Parenting (Baumrind, 1971), which forces children to follow orders. The forth conflict is Maria vs. the children on the first days of her being their governess. The children reject Maria’s presence because they do not like a presence of a governess in their house. They want their own father to take care of them, and that is why, they always treat governesses who want to govern them badly. The fifth conflict is Maria’s love for the captain vs. her vow. This conflict happens because Maria falls in love with the captain, who has already has a girlfriend. Besides, Maria is supposed to be a nun, who cannot get married or fall in love with a man. The last conflict is Maria vs. Baroness. Being the captain’s girlfriend, it is quite natural that Baroness does not want Maria to steal her boyfriend. Therefore, she wants to protect her relationship with the Captain by influencing Maria to withdraw herself. Despite the various conflicts, somehow, Maria is quite good at facing them. Basically, she uses love, patience, and her love for music to overcome the conflicts she faces with the Captain, the children, and her fear of the von Trapp family. Maria got help from the Reverend mother in solving her love conflict with the Captain. As for Baroness, Maria does not fight her, but she accepts what Baroness says to her with humble heart. Those six conflicts can be categorized into two major types, internal and external conflict. There are two conflicts that can be categorized as internal conflict. They are Maria’s adventurous spirit vs. her fear of the Von Trapp family and Maria’s love for the Captain vs. her vow. Meanwhile, there are four conflicts that can be categorized as external conflict. They are Maria vs. abbey rules, Maria vs. the Captain, Maria vs. the children, and Maria vs. Baroness. The conflicts faced by Maria are related one to another. The conflict between Maria and abbey rules is solved at first when Maria is sent out from the abbey to be a governess. However, the conflict finally ends when Maria is married to the Captain and officially moved out from the abbey, which is also the solution for the conflict that happens between Maria’s love for the Captain and her vow. The conflict between Maria’s love for the Captain and her vow is closely related with the conflict between Maria and Baroness. The conflict between Maria and Baroness happens because Maria loves the Captain. It means that the conflict between Maria’s love for the Captain and her vow creates another conflict that is Maria vs. Baroness. Hence, the solutions of the two conflicts are connected one to another. The solution of the conflict between Maria’s love for the Captain and her vow is also the solution for the conflict between Maria and Baroness. When the Captain finally chooses Maria as his love of her life and ends his engagement with Baroness, the conflict between Baroness and Maria is also solved. It means that there are no more things to be fight about between Maria and Baroness. The Captain already chooses Maria.

Maria’s Influence on the Von Trapp family In the table below is described the situation in the Von Trapp family before and after Maria’s presence.

The situation in the von Trapp family before and after Maria’s presence

BEFORE AFTER The children showed challenging behavior. The children were nice. The Captain was cold and stiff. The Captain was warm and nice. The atmosphere in the house was cold as if The atmosphere was happy again. it were in a ship. No music Full of music The children did not play. The children played. The Captain and the children were not The Captain and the children were closer than close to each other. before.

From the parent-children relationship in the von Trapp family before Maria’s presence, it can be identified that the parenting style of the Captain was Authoritarian Parenting. Authoritarian parents always have their children follow their instructions and respect them. They do not want to have any arguments with their children. Children raised in an authoritarian environment may feel trapped and angry but afraid to confront their parents (Parke & Buriel, 1998). This is clearly seen in the von Trapp where the children were afraid to confront their father and to express their feelings about the inconvenient situation. They lived under pressure but they were too afraid to tell their father about their feelings. Being a former navy, it was very reasonable that the Captain wanted his children to follow his directions and respect him as what his ship crew did to him. Authoritarian parenting is similar with how soldiers live. They obey orders, respect their leaders, and do not confront their leaders. Since the Captain was a single parent, there was no one to tell him the right way to treat and educate his children. As a result, he educated his children in the only way he knew, the authoritarian way. No wonder the situation in the von Trapp family was tense and a little bit scary. The children felt the inconvenience but did not have courage to express it to their father. The children did not feel close to their father as they supposed to be. The children did not get enough attention and care from their father. As a result, the children seek attention from others. They also performed challenging behavior such as playing prank with their new governesses. Behind every challenging behavior shown by children, there must be a message that they are not satisfied with something or they do not agree to something. In this case, they did not like the way their father treated them which was like a soldier. Their challenging behavior was also an action of protest that they did not get enough attention. Playing prank was the way they seek for attention. The children did not get the ideal father figure from the Captain. “Often, the gaps between what each family members expects are sources for conflict in families” (Kellet, P.M. & Dalton, D.G., 2001). This situation also happened because the Captain was too sad because of his wife’s death so he forgot that his children also needed him as a father who should always be there for them to support supported them, love them, and to care for them. The Captain forgot that he had to be not only a father but also a mother for his children. He was too busy mourning for himself and forgot to take care of his children. In short, the situation in the von Trapp family was definitely not a healthy and ideal situation for a family. There was something wrong with the family and it was not good for both children and the father. When Maria came, she realized that something was not right with the way the Captain treated his children. She did not agree to the Captain’s parenting and showed her disagreement since the first time she met them. That was why when the captain was away, Maria brought the children to play outside the house. The different situation changed and cheered the children’s mood. When Maria brought the children playing outside, she also prepared them to sing a song for Baroness. Apparently, the children did not know how to sing. Maria saw this as a very big loss. For her, singing was something that could make her feel happy. For Maria, singing could make her days better. That was why Maria decided to teach the children to sing songs. She started with “Do Re Mi”, the easy one, to introduce the children to the notes that are used in songs. After that, she taught the children “The Sound of Music” as a welcome gift for Baroness. Surprisingly, it changed everything in the von Trapp family. The cold situation that has been existing for a long time was starting to change when the Captain heard his children singing “The Sound of Music” for Baroness. The music successfully touched and warmed his heart and step-by-step healed his broken heart. He had avoided music since his wife died because he did not want to be reminded of her. As a matter of fact, the music brought the joyful feeling that she felt with his wife before she died. He had been so wrong before. Music also gave significant effects to the children. Music helped them to express themselves. According to Shipley (1998), music influences children’s development in musical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development. Music tends to reach into children’s deepest feelings and sensibilities. Music touched the socio-emotional aspect in the von Trapp children that made them calm and more controllable. Music is not only able to affect your mood. Listening to particularly happy or sad music can even change the way we perceive the world (ScienceDaily,27April2011.Web.11Nov.2013). This was why not long after this turning point, the situation in the von Trapp family was getting better. The Captain was getting closer to his children. He paid more attention to his children and cared about them more. The children felt very happy about this change. They had been longing to be close to their father and it finally happened. The situation in the von Trapp family was getting better and better. Everyone became more cheerful and excited. Joy had been brought to the family through the sound of music. Conclusion and Suggestions The conclusion of the study is that there are six conflicts faced by the main character of the story, two of them are internal conflicts and four of them are external ones. The internal conflicts are Maria’s adventurous spirit vs. her fear of the Von Trapp family and Maria’s love for the Captain vs. her vow. The external conflicts are Maria’s free soul vs. abbey rules, Maria vs. the Captain, Maria vs. the children, and Maria vs. Baroness. All the conflicts are solved by Maria herself with the help from the Reverend Mother. Maria’s influence on the Von Trapp family is very big. Maria makes the Von Trapp family happy and warm again. Without her, maybe the Captain and the children will not be close anymore. For further research, there are other parts of “The Sound of Music” that are also interesting to be analyzed such as the meaning of the lyrics of the songs used in the film, the moral dilemma faced by the nuns when they have to hide the Von Trapp family who is hiding from Nazi, or historical point of view on the film. There are other films that are also worth analyzing, too such as “Life of Pi”, “The Notebook”, “Hachiko”, and “Titanic.” For parents and teachers who read this, the way Maria handles the children can be used as a role model to treat the children or students. Maria loves the children very much and tries to be friends with them. She also uses music as a media to get along with them. She applies Authoritative Parenting which requires two-way communication.

REFERENCES

Abrams, M. H. 1953. The Mirror and The Lamp. U. S. A: Oxford University Press, Inc.

Barnet et al. 2007. Aspects of The Drama: A Handbook. The University of Michigan.

Baumrind. 1971. Current Patterns of Parental Authority. Michigan University: American Psychological Association.

Elam, Keir. 1980. The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. Rutledge.

Gardner, Howard. 1983. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books.

Houle, George. 1999. Meter in Music, 1600-1800: Performance, Perception, and Notation. Indiana Press University.

Key, Mary Ritchie. 1980. The Relationship of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication. Walter de Gruyter.

Lamb, Nancy. 2008. The Art And Craft Of Storytelling: A Comprehensive Guide To Classic Writing Techniques. F+W Media, Inc.

McAllister, David P. 1985. Becoming Human Through Music. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc.

Morrell, Jessica Page. 2009. Thanks, But This Isn't for Us: A (Sort Of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing Is Being Rejected. Penguin.

Otten, Kaye, and Tuttle, Jodie. 2010. How to Reach and Teach Children with Challenging Behavior. John Wiley & Sons.

Parke &Buriel. 1998. Personality: Determinants, Dynamics, and Potentials. Cambridge University Press.

Pavlov, I. P. 1927. Conditional Reflexes. New York: Dover Publications

Perrine, Laurence. 1966. Story and Structure. Second Edition. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World Inc.

Roberts, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. 1989. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc. ScienceDaily,27April2011.Web.11Nov.2013

Shipley, Carol Dale. 1998. Empowering Children: Play-Based Curriculum for Lifelong Learning. ITP Nelson.

Simpson, Judith. 2001. Foundations of Fiction. iUniverse.

Skinner, B. F. 1983. A Matter of Consequences. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

The Sound of Music (film) last modified on 1 February 2013 retrieved 20 August 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music_(film)

The Sound of Music lyrics retrieved 16 September 2013 from http://www.metrolyrics.com/

Tiempos et al. 1977. Introduction to Literature. Rex Bookstore, Inc.