GENDERED EXPERIENCES IN INDIAN AND AMERICAN FAMILY AS PORTRAYED IN ANITA DESAI’S FASTING, FEASTING AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By ARFIANA KHAIRUNNISA Student Number: 044214039 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009 i iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : ARFIANA KHAIRUNNISA Nomor Mahasiswa : 044214039 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul: GENDERED EXPERIENCES IN INDIAN AND AMERICAN FAMILY AS PORTRAYED IN ANITA DESAI’S FASTING, FEASTING 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 mem-berikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 31 Januari 2009 Yang menyatakan (ARFIANA KHAIRUNNISA) iv PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA Saya menyatakan dengan sesungguhnya bahwa skripsi yang saya tulis ini tidak memuat karya atau bagian yang lain kecuali yang telah disebutkan dalam kutipan dan daftar pustaka sebagai layaknya karya ilmiah. Yogyakarta, 31 Januari 2009 Arfiana Khairunnisa v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank and express my greatest gratitude to Allah for blessing and giving me opportunity in completing this thesis. I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my mother Sumarti, my father Arifin, and my only sister Bella. Their love gave me the strength to finish this work immediately. My special thank to my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., for her smile, advice, discussion, patience, and guidance in working in this thesis. I thank my co-advisor Harris H. Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum., for so many inputs regarding my writing content. I thank my examiner, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., for the funny defense. Thanks to all the lecturers and all staffs of English Letters Department, especially to my class advisor, Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. Mbak Ninik, despite of all the confusion that I gave her in regards to my schedule every semester, I thank to you. Thanks to my friends Shanti, Acid, Toni ‘Item’, Rani, Lisis, Deva, Ison, Lutfi, Oos for the fun time in class and all my friends in English Letters who I have not mentioned yet. Easynet crews, Putri, Om Sulis, Rini, Dodi, Hari, Bayu and Nylla, I thank for filling my shifts when I have to write this thesis. I thank to Destila and Chietra for the strong ties of friendship. My special thank to Letyzia for borrowing me her books, Eka for the discussion and grammar lessons, Ibu Noeri and Bennet for making me feel at home in Nagan house. The last, I greatly thank Anugerah Wicaksono for guiding me to the better life ☺ Arfiana Khairunnisa vi TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE............................................................................................ i APPROVAL PAGE .................................................................................. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ............................................................................ iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ............................... iv PERNYATAAN KEASLIAN KARYA................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... vii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. ix ABSTRAK ................................................................................................. x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 A. Background of the Study ............................................................. 1 B. Problem Formulation ................................................................... 5 C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................ 5 D. Definition of Terms ...................................................................... 5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ........................................... 7 A. Review of Related Studies........................................................... 7 B. Review of Related Theories......................................................... 8 1. Theory of Characterization ………..…………......................... 8 2. Theory of Gender………..……...……………………………. 11 a. Gender Differences………................................................. 11 b. Gender Inequalities…......................................................... 13 c. Gendered Experiences ………….…..……………………. 15 3. Review on the Family ………………………..…………....… 16 a. Review on the Indian Family……………………….... 16 b. Review on the American Family………………………… 19 C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………… 22 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………. 23 A. Object of the Study....................................................................... 23 B. Approach of the Study................................................................. 24 C. Method of the Study ..................................................................... 25 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………. 27 A. Character and Characterization…. .............................................. 27 1. Female Characters .………………….……………………… 28 a. Uma ……………………………………………………… 28 b. Aruna…… ………..………..……………………………. 31 c. Mama………..……………………………………………. 33 d. Anamika……… ….……………….……………………... 35 e. Mrs. Patton……… ……………………..………………... 37 vii f. Melanie Patton………..…………………………………... 39 2. Male Characters………………...……………………….…… 41 a. Arun ………….……….………….……………………… 41 b. Papa.…… ……….………………………………………. 44 c. Ramu………..………..…………..………………………. 46 d. Mr. Patton…… …………..……….……………………... 48 e. Rod Patton………..…..………..…..……………………... 50 B. Gendered Experiences in Indian and American Family………. 51 1. Gendered Experiences in Indian Family…..………………… 52 a. Domestic Life..…………………………………………… 52 b. Relationship between Men and Women…………………. 58 c. Education and Career………….…………………………. 62 2. Gendered Experiences in American Family.………………… 66 a. Domestic Life..…………………………………………… 66 b. Relationship between Men and Women…………………. 69 c. Education and Career………….…………………………. 73 C. Women’s and Men’s Position in Indian and American Family 74 1. Women’s and Men’s Position in Indian Family…..…….…… 75 2. Women’s and Men’s Position in American Family.……….… 80 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …........................................................... 86 BIBLIOGRAPHY ….................................................................................. 89 viii ABSTRACT ARFIANA KHAIRUNNISA. Gendered Experiences in Indian and American Family as Portrayed in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009. The novel Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai depicts the life journey of a middle-class Indian family throughout the years. The plot alternates between the present and flashbacks to various moments in the past. The novel itself is divided into two parts; India and America. The plot reveals through the perceptions of Uma, in India, and of Arun, in America. Both of them are entrapped, irrespective of the culture and enveloping situation, by oppressive bonds exercised by their own parents, MamaPapa, who are prototypical parents that can be found in middle-class family in India. There are some objectives that the writer wants to achieve through this thesis. The first is to analyze the male and female characters in Fasting, Feasting in order to understand the characters deeply. The second is to classify the gendered experiences that are experienced by the characters in the novel. The last objective is to see the women’s position and men’s position in the family as reflected in both families in the novel. In order to analyze the problem, the writer is employing gender study as an approach. Gender study is considered appropriate to be applied to this topic because the discussion in this work is about men and women and their experiences in gendered experience, how they experienced it, and the result of those experiences. In this study, the approach only focuses to discuss the male and female characters and their problems of the novel. The study has found that each character in the novel experienced different gendered experiences. The female characters are obliged to do things that are regarded as ‘feminine’. They responsible for all domestic chores, take care of children, etc. In opposite, the male characters are obliged to do things that are regarded as ‘masculine’. They work outside home, get good education and career, etc. Those kinds of activities give more advantages to men than women. The gendered experiences always make women in subordinate position. As the result, both Indian and American families are male-centered family system. Moreover, as shown in the characters in Fasting, Feasting, culture has demand differently over sex. Culture determines