Wisdom in John Grisham’s The Rainmaker Charsen Watuseke, Elisabeth Z. Oroh, Clara C. Mamentu Universitas Negeri Manado, Tondano, Indonesia Abstract: The purpose of this study is to reveal Wisdom in Rudy Baylor as the main character of the novel and how he uses it. In conducting this research, the writers use descriptive qualitative research. The writers take the novel The Rainmaker as the primary source and supported by other relevant sources such as books, documents, and internet browsing as the secondary source. The objective approach is applied. The writers employ an objective approach as the primary source because the data are taken from the work itself and to see the interrelationship between the elements of the novel. The result shows that Rudy shows the quality to be wise since he is a teenager which means Rudy has wisdom. Rudy uses his wisdom in a way of how he interacts with his Black Family which is the client of Rudy, how he needs to behave and build a relation and compassion with his client according to the situation, and how Rudy as a new-qualify and inexperienced lawyer makes plans, tactics, and movements to defeat the big insurance company Great Benefit’s legendary attorney. Keyword: Wisdom, Power, Family, Company, Insurance, Attorney INTRODUCTION injured persons who are transported at the In this living world, there is a human hospital. It‘s just through this activity Rudy being that has an incredible way of thinking meets a couple, Dot and Buddy Black. or as we know as ‘wise being’. What this They have a son named Donny Ray who being has is called ‘Wisdom’. In Old is suffered from leukemia. The mother of English, Wisdom is “knowledge, learning, Donny decides, to undertake a hard and experience,” from wis which means “learn, complicated lawsuit against the insurance sagacious, cunning; sane; prudent; discreet; company and to entrust the trial to Rudy. experienced; having power of discerning The trial turns out with no exclusion of and judging rightly,” and from dom which strokes because Great Benefit is defended is an abstract suffix of state and also from by smart and skilled lawyers headed by Leo Old English “statute, judgement”. In simple F. Drummond. Rudy faces the trial as a real definition wisdom is the trait of utilizing professional lawyer, by managed to find knowledge and experience with common serious pieces of evidence against the sense and insight. insurance company. In order to win, Rudy The Rainmaker by John Grisham needs to use his wisdom that he gets not just follows the usual style of Grisham’s writing because he is smart and clever but also from and the same topic, namely legal story. But knowing his client and gets into his client’s ‘The Rainmaker’ did still more. It tells us a life, actually he involved himself in his touching story, like the ones everyone client’s life, that is the biggest impact for could live in his own life. The book, about Rudy to get his wisdom. This story simply 500 pages, speaks about a young lawyer tells us about justice and how Rudy uses his Rudy Baylor, who is about to get a law wisdom to decide which one is a better degree, managed to find a job in the most move to take in order to win his client’s influence legal office in Memphis. To get right over The Great Benefit. Mister Gidion his first client, in fact, Rudy has to chase the Maru quotes “The Success of performing JELLT (Journal of English Language and Literature Teaching) Vol. 5 No.01 June 2020 P.ISSN: 2548-7728 E.ISSN: 2599-0373 35 the standardized roles and the Plot characteristics following them define their “Plot is one of the various aspects in status and membership to the society” (p.2). fiction, which is important to be studied. As we know that wisdom is a trait of The word plot is in fact a technical term to utilizing knowledge and experience with say about series of tied events in stories. common sense and insight and wise itself Plot is defined as what happens in a means having or showing experience, narrative. Plot is a pattern of carefully knowledge, and good judgment so, selected, casually related events that basically we wisely use our wisdom to contains conflict. Plot is a story that has a make a good judgment, obviously. Rudy conflict” (Griffith, 43). and his companions and his client are doing hard work in order to win the battle against RESEARCH METHOD his client’s enemy the giant insurance Research Design company The Great Benefit. In order to do This research is classified as qualitative that, Rudy and his team wisely build a plan research according to Bogdan and Biklen, to beat the enemy, and how Rudy slowly that qualitative research is descriptive, they changes his ignorance into a true defender, both stated that: “Qualitative research is into a hero, into the rainmaker for his client. descriptive. The data collected are in the The story will tell us about how a new- form of words or picture rather than graduate lawyer got his wisdom from his numbers. The written result of the research experience and knowledge from his clients contain quotation from the data to illustrate and his companions. and substantiate” (Bogdan and Biklen, 28). Based on the quotation above, qualitative REVIEW OF LITERATURE research is descriptive, the data collected In research ”Experimenting Jeremiadic only form in words and not numbers. The Approach as an Alternative for TEFL in result of the research contains quotations Meeting the Demand of the 2013 from the data to illustrate and substantiate Curriculum” by Mister Gidion Maru, it says the research. The sources of the data are “a literary text provides learners with real from books and formed in words which is a world experiences, relationships between quotation, statement, and definition. society and people where the target language is spoken, even if they are Data Collection fictions” (p.4). According to Griffith: “two kinds of Novel itself comes from the Italian, evidence are relevant for essays about Novella, which means the new staff that literature; evidence from primary sources small. The novel developes in England and and evidence from secondary sources. America. The novel was originally Primary sources are the novel itself and developed in the region from other forms of secondary sources consist of facts and narrative non-fiction, such as letters, opinions outside the work itself” (Griffith, biographies, and history. But with a shift in 30). society and development time, the novel is The writers have classified the sources of not only based on data non-fiction, author the data into two categories which are of novel can change according to the primary sources and secondary sources. desired imagination. “Novel is a picture of Primary sources are data that collected from real life and manners of the time in which it the novel itself, “The Rainmaker” and the is written.” (Wellek, René, and Austin secondary sources is from related books, Waren, 216). Internet browsing, dictionary that related to JELLT (Journal of English Language and Literature Teaching) Vol. 5 No.01 June 2020 P.ISSN: 2548-7728 E.ISSN: 2599-0373 36 this research and information that Wiesje Erna Sekeh, Donal M. Ratu, Ferry supported the writers’ study. H. Mandang say on the research “Character Education Values in the Little Prince by Data Analysis Antoine De Saint-Exupéry” that character The writers use an objective approach to is a set of interrelated personal values and analyze the data. Abrams stated that: virtues that usually guide behavior” (p.69). “which on principles regards the works of art in isolation the external part of Rudy Shows Sign to be a Wise Person reference, analyze it as a self-sufficient In The Rainmaker, John Grisham created entity constituted by its part in their internal an immensely David vs. Goliath story. A relation and sets out to judge it solely by law school graduate prosecutes a civil case criteria intrinsic to its own made of being” against a giant insurance company and (Abrams 26). uncovers a massive insurance fraud Later on, it can be inferred that this study scheme. And this story is not far from is focused on the work itself that is the wisdom itself. novel The Rainmaker by John Grisham as Talk about wisdom in the novel The the primary source of this analysis, with Rainmaker by John Grisham especially in considering some intrinsic elements such as the main character Rudy Baylor, then we plot, character, theme, and setting. In this definitely talk about a wise person which in sense, the analysis is to see the this case was Rudy. To prove and show that interrelationship of the internal elements of Rudy is a wise person, the writers of this the work itself and also the writers use research looks for a few points which are secondary source is from related books, Rudy’s good judgment and decision, documents, Internet browsing, and Rudy’s ability to handle things and dictionary that related to this research to compassion, Rudy’s knowledge and last but support the writers’ study to get not least, Rudy’s Consciousness as an information Wisdom that happened in the identifying mark for a person whether Rudy society on that period. was a wise person or not. ANALYSIS Rudy’s Good Judgment and Decision Description of Wisdom Rudy has a tough and smart personality According to Grossmann, even in the early story of the novel. The plot “Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the of a novel begins with a teenager named ability to think and act using knowledge, Rudy that wants to be a lawyer.