Black American Dream As Seen in Gardner's the Pursuit of Happyness
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BLACK AMERICAN DREAM AS SEEN IN GARDNER’S THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By CITRA KERINA TARIGAN Student Number: 054214115 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009 BLACK AMERICAN DREAM AS SEEN IN GARDNER’S THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By CITRA KERINA TARIGAN Student Number: 054214115 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009 i ii iii “Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am” (Descartes) “Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing, it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it!” (Margaret Thatcher) iv Dedicated to: My beloved Parents, My brothers & My lovely friends v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : CITRA KERINA TARIGAN Nomor Mahasiswa : 054214115 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul : BLACK AMERICAN DREAM AS SEEN IN GARDNER’S THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me- ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Yogyakarta, 11 September 2009 Yang menyatakan (CITRA KERINA TARIGAN) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Deo Gratias ! As I prepared for long journey, I have been blessed to accomplish this writing. Therefore, I would be forever grateful to Jesus Christ for being my Father and my best friend, who always guides my step in happiness and sorrow. I would like to thank my advisor, Ibu Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. for her patience, helps and inspirations. It is my pleasure to have her as my advisor during this thesis writing process. I also thank to Ibu Maria Ananta Tri Suryandari, S.S. M. Ed. for her corretion and suggestion. My deepest gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Mom and Dad, who strengthen me with their eternal love, patience and prayer. I especially dedicate this thesis to both of them. Thanks to my fatherly eldest brother, Bang Wira, who always supports me though only by chatting with your wisest words. My friendly brother, Bang Ivan, thanks for reminding me to finish my thesis in time and for your greatest affection and care while you were in Jogja. I am blessed to have such a great family. My thankfulness also goes to my lovely fellows, Nanda, Naris, Gretha for our friendship in any circumstances. We have passed one step to reach our future even though sometimes with tears and pain. In addition, thanks to the guys in Puri Nugraha, such as Mba Hayu, Mba Mia, Meyra, Ci Merry and Anne who encourage me that I must be able to reach my dreams in every path of my life. I also wish to thank my crazy and loveli buddies Eme Sitepoe, Sister Eve, Bro Thomas, Bro Sony, Bro Wansa, Bro Tinus, Tere, Jojo and Hendra who are vi never getting bored and tired to give their shoulder when I was down and always be there for me. I will always remember every second we have. I also have got to give thanks to Novaria and Cyntia, my old friends. Even though we are separated by miles, I believe our sisterhood will be last forever. I am also very grateful to Sanata Dharma University, the lecturers who have taught me for almost four years, Mba Ninik for the academic services, my close classmates Chris and Icha and all my friends in English Letters USD 2005, for the memorable moments. Lastly, thanks for my friends of PERMATA GBKP Yogyakarta who teach me many valuable things of being the servant of God. Citra Tarigan vii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE. ............................................................................... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE ....................................................................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE ............................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................ viii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................ ix ABSTRAK. ............................................................................................. x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1 A. Background of the Study ............................................................ 1 B. Problem Formulation ................................................................. 4 C. Objectives of the Study .............................................................. 4 D. Definition of Terms .................................................................... 5 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................ 6 A. Review of Related Studies ......................................................... 6 B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................ 8 1. Theory of Character and Characterization ........................... 9 2. Theory of American Dream ................................................. 11 2.1. Theory of Ideal Family for Black People ...................... 14 2.2. Theory of Economic Security ....................................... 16 3. Theory of Relationship between Literature and Society ...... 16 C. Review of Black People in America History in 20th Century .... 18 D. Theoretical Framework ............................................................... 20 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .................................................... 22 A. Object of Study .......................................................................... 22 B. Approach of the Study ............................................................... 24 C. Method of the Study .................................................................. 24 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS .................................................................. 27 A. The Characterization of Chris Gardner ...................................... 27 B. Revealing Black American Dream through the Characterization of Chris Gardner .............................................. 41 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ............................................................. 54 BIBLIOGRAPHY. ................................................................................ 57 viii ABSTRACT Citra Kerina Tarigan, 2009. Black American Dream As Seen in Gardner's The Pursuit of Happyness. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University. The Pursuit of Happyness is an autobiography novel which tells about the struggle of an African- American writer, named Chris Gardner to pursue the black American Dream in The United States. Chris life is marked by poverty, sexual abuse and domestic violence. Therefore, he really wants to get a better life. As a black, he has to struggle hard to reach his dreams because of state of inequality. There are two objectives that are formulated in this study. The first study is finding out the characteristics of Chris Gardner as the major character, and the second one is revealing the Black American Dream through Gardner's characteristics. To analyze the objectives, the writer did several steps. The first was reading the novel thoroughly and re-reading the novel to get better understanding about the story. Then, the writer found the data which was needed in the analysis. After that, the writer applied the theories to analyze the characterization of Chris Gardner. Then, she revealed the black American Dream through the characterization of the major character. The last step was drawing the conclusion about this study. The study finds that Chris Gardner is curious, optimistic, discipline, responsible and smart. Then, Chris is described as a hard worker. As a black person, who is discriminated by white people, Chris struggles very hard to get a better life and to reach the equality. He dreams to reach the ideal family, equality in job opportunity and the economic security. The characterization of Chris Gardner as a responsible person supports his effort to get an ideal family. His responsibilities can be seen from his effort to protect his mother, his iniative to ask his ex-wife to come back to him again for the sake of their children and his commitment to take care of his son. Another Chris' dream is to get the equality in job opportunity. Chris works very hard in order to escape from poverty. Even though discrimination still exists in The United States, Chris has proved that discrimination has nothing to do with success. He believes that if he works hard, he can be successful in