THE INFLUENCE OF WESTERN EDUCATION TOWARD THE MAIN CHARACTER’S CHARACTERISTICS AND CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN CHINUA ACHEBE’S NO LONGER AT EASE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By LUCIANA MARLIN SORITON Student Number: 064214012 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 Impossible is not a word It’s just a reason for someone not to try You will find your way if you keep believing (KUTLESS, “What Faith can Do”) Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want to be tomorrow. ~Fernanda Miramontes-Landeros Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4: 12) Have a FAITH, and you will reach your dreams!!!! v For those who always give me the biggest love, sacrifice, and support My Great Lord and Mother, JESUS CHRIST & St. MARY My Beloved Parents, Max Soriton & Natalia Idawati My Beloved Brothers, Martin Yopie, Paulus Yansen, Boby Ruben vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for blessing me and giving me the strength to pass all problems in my life. He guides me when I cannot find the way and He always opens my mind to write this thesis. I also thank St. Mary for praying for me every time. I would like to give my appreciation to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum as my advisor for being patient in answering all my questions, for guiding me to finish this thesis, and for everything. I thank Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum as my co advisor for guiding me in revising this thesis. I also thank all lecturers and staffs of English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University for their help and support during my study. My deepest gratitude is for my family, my father, Max Soriton, my mother, Natalia Idawati; and my brothers, Martin, Yansen, Boby.I thank them for their support, prayers, and most of all, thanks for their big sacrifice that makes me promise to do my best and make them smile and proud of me. And, I would like to thank my big family for their support and help. I really thank God for giving me the best friend in my life, Rhurhu, who always supports and prays for me and she never feels bored to remind me about our promise to show to the world how amazing Jesus works in our life. I thank my best “PAL”, Siska, Magda, Hanna, and Santi. I am very blessed to have them. I thank them for every moment we laugh and cry together and for their support when I want to give up. I thank Sefia, Loliek, Yuli, Sumi, Yona, Chica, Wara, vii Thingthing, Sasa, and others for giving me so many beautiful moments in Puri Agung Lestari. My big appreciation is to Mba Marsih, Pak’e, Tole, Hudha because they make me feel like in my home and thanks for being my family when I stay there. I thank Nana for her support and advices on my problems, and give thanks for accompanying me when I feel bored and sad. I am so glad to have Yuniar in my difficult times and thank her for the advices when I do the mistakes. I am also really thankful to stay close to Sansan since we were in Junior High School. Hopefully, we can still support each other for the next struggle. I am sincerely grateful to my best classmates, “BFI”, and “After 20”, Vina, Via, Esther, Juli, Elok, Marcel, Sella, Meme, Damay, Arum, Fin, Atom, Dhika, Handoko, Sammy, Ryo, Andry, Adit “Aconk”, Adit “Fat Brother”, Helfi, Denal, Sanam, and others. I thank them for giving me support and making me enjoy studying here. I also thank De Anna, Ko Vincent, Edwin, Didin, Kathrine, and Rani for praying and supporting me in finishing this thesis. I never forget to thank my friends in “PD Yohanes” and “BPM Yogyakarta”, Lia, Samuel, Fanny, Sisi, Ci Lina and others, for their prayers and our shared experiences that always strengthen my faith. And for all people who have supported me in finishing this thesis, I would like to thank them and hope it can make them all happy. Luciana Marlin Soriton viii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………….. i APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………….... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE .............................................................................. iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI .................. iv MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………... v DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………………… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………... ix ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………….........xi ASBSTRAK ……………………………………………………………….xii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study ………………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………… 3 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………….4 D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………….......5 CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……………………………. 7 A. Review of Related Studies …………………………………………7 B. Review of Related Theories ………………………………………..10 1. Theories of Character and Characterization …………………....10 2. Theories of Conflict …………………………………………... 13 3. Theories of Western Education ………………………………...16 C. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………….20 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY…………………………………….. 22 A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………….. 22 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………. 23 C. Method of the Study ………………………………………………. 24 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS …………………………………………….. 25 A. Characterization of the Main Character ……………………………25 B. Conflicts of the Main Character ……………………………………35 1. Internal Conflicts ……………………………………………… 36 2. External Conflicts ……………………………………………... 40 a. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Clara ………………..41 b. The Main Character’s Conflicts with His Father …………..44 c. The Main Character’s Conflicts with His Mother ………… 46 d. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Joseph ………………47 e. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Christopher …………48 f. The Main Character’s Conflicts with the Interviewer …….. 49 g. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Umuofia Progressive Union ………………………………………… 49 ix h. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Ibo Society ………… 50 C. The Influence of Western Education toward the Main Character’s Characteristics and Conflicts ………………………….52 1. The Influence toward the Main Character’s Characteristics ………………………………………………….53 2. The Influence toward the Main Character’s Conflicts …………55 a. The Conflicts about the Marriage …………………………. 56 b. The Conflicts about the Bribes ……………………………. 61 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………. 65 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………….. 68 APENDICES ……………………………………………………………... 71 Appendix 1 …………………………………………………………….72 Appendix 2 …………………………………………………………… 74 x ABSTRACT LUCIANA MARLIN SORITON. The Influence of Western Education toward the Main Character’s Characteristics And Conflicts As Seen In Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University. No Longer at Ease talks about a man who is an Ibo and gets a scholarship in London for four years. After coming back to his country, Nigeria, he becomes a person who has changed following the western perception. Mostly, the story is about the marriage and the bribes related to western and African perception. There are some objectives that the writer wants to achieve through this thesis. The first is to describe the characterization of the main character in No Longer at Ease in order to understand which the characteristics of the main character that are influenced by western education and which one that are not influenced by western education. The second is to describe the conflicts that happen to the main character whether it is internal or external conflicts. The last objective is to see the influence of western education toward the main character’s characteristics and conflicts. This undergraduate thesis is a library research. The main data were taken from the novel No Longer at Ease written by Chinua Achebe. The secondary data were taken from some supporting books and articles from the internet. In order to analyze the problems, the writer applied socio-cultural approach. Socio-cultural approach is considered appropriate to be applied to this topic because the discussion in this work is about the life of the main character as an Ibo who has been in England for four years. The writer’s conclusion is the main character in the story is Obi Okonkwo who has the characteristics of being smart, educated, nationalistic, loving and caring, temperamental, and idealistic. Besides, as the main character, he experiences conflicts with himself and other characters in this story. He becomes educated and idealistic after he gets education in London. He thinks that all people are same while his society still holds the caste system that an osu is outcast. The conflicts he gets related to the marriage and bribes. He opposes the caste system because he wants to marry Clara, an osu, but other people around him do not accept it. He also has promised not to take the bribe although he is in civil service because he studies law and he knows that giving or taking a bribe is prohibited. Although in the end of the story he does not marry Clara because she leaves him, and he takes the bribes that force him to the court as what the author shows in the beginning of the story, the western education makes him change and experience the conflicts. xi ABSTRAK LUCIANA MARLIN SORITON. The Influence of Western Education toward the Main Character’s Characteristics And Conflicts As Seen In Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. No Longer at Ease adalah sebuah novel yang menceritakan seorang pria dari suku Ibo dan kuliah di London selama empat tahun. Setelah kembali ke negaranya, Nigeria, ia telah berubah mengikuti persepsi budaya barat. Sebagian besar, novel ini berkisah tentang perbedaan persepsi barat dan Afrika mengenai pernikahan dan penyuapan. Ada beberapa tujuan yang ingin dicapai penulis dalam menyusun karya tulis ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk mendeskripsikan penggambaran karakter tokoh utama pada novel No Longer at Ease dengan tujuan untuk memahami karakteristik yang dipengaruhi oleh pendidikan barat.