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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background of Study
Literature is as old as human language, and as new as tomorrow’s sunrise.
And literature is everywhere, not only in books, but in videos, television, radio, CDs,
computer, newspaper, in all the media of communication where a story is told or an
image created.
Roberts and Jacobs (1993:1) say, “Literature refers to compositions that tell
stories, dramatize situations, express emotions, and analyze and advocate ideas.”
Before the invention of writing, literary works were necessarily spoken or sung, and
were retained only as literature still exists, with many poems and stories designed
exclusively for spoken delivery. Even in our modern age of writing and printing,
much literature is still heard aloud rather than read silently.
Literature may be classified into four categories or genres: 1. Prose fiction,
2. Poetry, 3. Drama, 4. Nonfiction prose. Usually the first three are classed as
imaginative literature. The genres of imaginative literature have much in common,
but they also have distinguishing characteristics. Prose fiction, or narrative fiction,
includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
The word novel has been derived from an Italian word novella, which means a new
story or a new thing. A number of critics have defined the word novel in a different
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narrative in prose of at least, say, 20,000 words.”W.E Williams defines it as “A long
narrative in prose detailing the actions of fictitious people.”
Sumardjo (1998:29) says that novel is a story with the prose form in long
shape, this long shape means the story including the complex plot, many character
and various setting. The elements of a novel are the same elements as that of the short
story like plot, theme, setting, point of view, character, except that there may be more than one of each of these elements. That is, within the main plot of a novel
there may be several subplots, there may be more than one theme, and point of view
can certainly change as well.
Stanton (1965:20) and Kenny (1966:88) say that theme is the meaning
contained by a story. But there are many meanings conceived and offered by the story
(the novel), then the problem is a special meaning which can be expressed as the
theme. Theme is the main idea that the writer expresses. Theme can also be defined
as the underlying meaning of the story.
Basically, there are two themes in a novels, major theme or main theme and
minor theme or sub-theme. Major theme is a main idea of the novels from start to the
end of the story, whereas minor theme is an inserted theme along the story.
The writer has chosen James Dashner’s novel as the object of this paper
because the writer is interested in describing the theme in this novel. This novel tells
about the story of Mark’s struggle to survive begins 13 years before Thomas wakes
up in a big box. Sun Flares have nearly destroyed the Earth. The tale begins with
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Mountains of western North Carolina. He does not yet know that this is a day that
will change everything. He simply muses on the fact that being chilled is a sensation
he hasn’t felt in a very long time. His gruff ex-soldier friend Alec snores on the other
cot in their shared hut. Mark was once intimidated by Alec, but has fought to survive
alongside the older man for more than a year. In that time, they’ve formed a
comfortable bond, which Mark demonstrates by tossing a shoe at him. Alec treats
Mark with the usual tolerant good humor, which begins Mark’s day in a pleasant
manner. He’s determined to add to his great mood by finding Trina, the love of his
life. This is the background as well as the reason why this paper focused on the
describing the major and minor theme in that novels.
1.2 The Scope of Study
There are so many aspects in this novel that can be described, but the writer
becomes more interested in describing the theme in the novel. So, the description of
this paper is limited to major theme and minor theme in the novel The Kill Order by
James Dashner.
1.3The Problem of Study
The problem of this study can be defined as below:
1) What is the major theme of the novel?
2) What are the minor themes of the novel?
3) What are the messages sent?
1.4The Objective of Study
4 1) To describe the major theme of the novel.
2) To describe the minor themes of the novel.
3) To find the messages sent by author to readers.
1.5The Significance of Study
The significance of study is divide into two sections, they are:
1) Theoretical Significance, the study can be used to enrich the literary study,
especially in theme.
2) Practical Significance, the reader will understand about theme in a novel and the
reader will know the story in the The Kill Order novel.
1.6The Method of Study
The writer uses library research by qualitative description in writing this
paper. The data sources divide into two kinds they are; the Primary data, which is the
novel as the source and the Secondary data, which are the reference books, the
