i
MARIA’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AS SEEN IN PAULO COELHO’S
ELEVEN MINUTES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ANASTASIA TRIYUNI ANGGRAINI Student Number: 044214128
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
iv
Our Father in heaven,
thy name be hallowed;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as in heaven,
Give us today our daily bread,
Forgive us the wrong we have done,
as we have forgiven those who have
wronged us.
And do not bring us to the rest,
but save us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9-13
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
v
This undergraduate thesis is
dedicated to
My beloved parents,
brother, and sisters.
vi
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
viii
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
Praise the Lord! My deepest gratitude goes to God for giving me grace, blessings, guidance, and courage during the process to finish this thesis so that I finally could accomplish this thesis.
I would like to express my gratitude for my great advisor Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum in giving me advice and suggestions. I thank her for her patience in facing my laziness and understanding me. I thank her for her smile and laugh during her guidance so that I could face my problem easily. I am very proud of being student. I would like to express my gratitude for Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. as my co-advisor. I really appreciate his suggestion because it has improved my thesis. Furthermore, I thank him for reading my thesis quickly.
I also would like to express my gratitude to all of my lecturers in English Letters Department who have taught me during my study in Sanata Dharma University. Thank to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum who gave me advice and support. Thanks to Pak Sarwoto and Pak Fajar as my advisor in doing BRS and for all staff of Sanata Dharma University especially staff of English Letters Department.
I would like to express my gratitude to my beloved mom and dad who always give me support and advice. Meme Ho Ho, Opung Hewy Ho Ho, Inang Goestin Ho Ho, Tulang Wawan Ho Ho thanks for supporting, helping, discussing and disturbing me during my life. My special love goes to MiMi-YeYe (†) thank for it faithfulness until God sent it an angel to bring it back to heaven. I will never forget our sweet memories. I love you so much honey. My “daughters” MiMi Ho
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ix good behavior honey. Keep on fooling guys!
My gratitude also goes to my best friends: Kharisma Dhita Retnosari, Martina Rosetti, Sumehong, Maulia Dwiyani (Mak Pirrip Pip), Bertha, Ibu Yustina Siti Arini, Maria Simanjuntak, Anggia Natalia, Mas Iudie, Mbak Ivonne, Anag Sulunk Wur, Mbak Poppy, Lina, Bety, Ayiech, Nora, Mbak Ratna, Mbak Yiyin, Scholastica Ardy, Tuti, Pak Pri, Pak Parkir Perpus, Mas Bayu and so on. Thanks for supporting me. Thanks for the discussion during studying in English Letters Department. Thanks for the craziness and happiness.
My endless gratitude goes to Mas Mbong, Mbak Prima, Mbak Liia, Mbak Citra, Budi and Cantus Firmus. Thanks for the sweet memories we have made. Thanks for great experiences in my life.
May God grant His endless blessings, grace, and peace to us.
x
A. Background of the Study ...1
B. Problem Formulation ...4
C. Objective of the Study ...4
D. Definition of Terms ...4
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW ...6
A. Review of Related Studies ...6
B. Review of Related Theories ...12
1. Theory on Character and Characterization ...12
2. Theory on Character Development...18
C. Theoretical Framework ...18
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ...20
A. Object of the Study...20
B. Approach of the Study ...21
C. Method of the Study ...22
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ...24
A. The character of Maria ...24
B. The character of Ralf Hart...34
C. The influence of Ralf Hart’s character toward Maria’s character development ...38
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ...50
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...52
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
xi
Anastasia Triyuni Anggraini (2011). The Influence of Ralf Hart’s character toward Maria’s Character Development as in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes.
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta.
This thesis disscusses Maria’s character development influenced by Ralf Hart’s character in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. There are three questions formulated in the problem formulations. First, it is about the description of Maria’s characater. Second, it is about the description of Ralf Hart’s character. Finally, how Ralf Hart’s character influences Maria’s character development.
This study used the library research method to gain the data. The primary reference was taken from Paulo Coelho’s novel Eleven Minutes. The secondary references were some criticisms from other writers about Coelho’s work, Eleven Minutes. Other references were the theories of character and characterization from some writers and theories on character development. The other books containing the definition of terms were also used in this study. In this thesis, the formalistic approach was used to analyze the character of Maria and Ralf. It was also used to analyze the change of Maria’s character influenced by Ralf Hart’s character.
xii ABSTRAK
Anastasia Triyuni Anggraini (2011). The Influence of Ralf Hart’s Character toward Maria’s Character Development as in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes.
Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.
Skripsi ini membahas tentang perkembangan penokohan Maria yang dipengaruhi oleh karakter Ralf Hart pada novel Eleven Minutes karya Paulo Coelho. Pada skripsi ini terdapat tiga permasalahan pokok yang tercantum pada pokok permasalahan. Permaslahan tersebut adalah pertama, bagaimanakah penokohan Maria. Kedua, bagaimanakah penokohan Ralf Hart. Terakhir apa saja penokohan Ralf Hart yang mempengaruhi perkembangan penokohan Maria.
Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mendapatkan data-data yang diperlukan. Referensi utama berasal dari novel Eleven Minutes karya Paulo Coelho. Referensi-referensi kedua adalah beberapa kritik dari pengarang-pengarang lain tentang novel Eleven Minutes karya Paulo Coelho. Referensi-referensi lainnya adalah teori-teori tentang tokoh dan penokohan dari beberapa pengarang dan teori-teori perkembangan karakter. Buku-buku lain mengenai definisi istilah-istilah juga digunakan dalam studi ini. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan formalistik untuk menganalisa penokohan Maria dan Ralf Hart dan menganalisa perubahan penokohan Maria yang dipengaruhi oleh penokohan Ralf Hart pada novel Eleven Minutes karya Paulo Coelho.
Studi ini menghasilkan: pertama, kita dapat mengetahui karakter Maria yaitu pada awal mulanya maria adalah seorang yang lugu, pemimpi sehingga mudah dipengaruhi oleh orang lain karena mimpi-mimpinya. Dia juga seorang yang idealis akan pandangan hidup yaitu hanya karena pengalaman buruk di masa lalu dia memutuskan untuk tidak jatuh cinta lagi. Kedua kita dapat mengetahui karakter Ralf Hart yaitu sebagai seniman muda yang terkenal dan kaya raya. Dia adalah laki-laki yang memiliki masalah dalam kehidupan seksualitasnya. Ketiga, kita dapat mempelajari pengaruh karakter Ralf terhadap perubahan karakter Maria. Maria mengalamai perubahan karakter dalam dirinya secara tidak langsung yang dipengaruhi oleh faktor yang berasal dari luar dirinya, yakni pertemuannya dengan Ralf Hart yang merupakan salah satu dari kliennya di Copacabana Cafe. Ralf Hart secara tidak langsung memberikan inspirasi-inspirasi kepada Maria sehingga dia menemukan beberapa pandangan hidup baru. Pertama, Maria menyadari bahwa hidup adalah realita yang harus dijalani bukanlah mimpi-mimpi semata. Kedua Maria menyadari bahwa dalam hidupnya dia membutuhkan cinta sejati dalam hidupnya.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of three sub chapters. First is background of the study, which covers the reasons for choosing novel and topic. Second is problem formulation, which gives the problem on what discussed in this thesis. Third is the objective of the study, which attained in this study. And the last is definition of terms, which explains the meaning of the special terms that are used in the discussion in this thesis.
A. Background of the Study
Reading a novel will bring the readers to a thought about what the story is. Not only telling inside the story, a good novel also serves beyond the story. A good novel also gives the readers knowledge or new ideas, and even sometimes, the result of a novel reading may provoke readers to be more aware of the situations around them. We may see most novel story as a representation of reality, in which the writer tries to reveal the conflict that happens in the real life.
Each person was born with some heredity. It means that some characters of people come from parent’s inheritance. Those characters include physical (including the body structure, the colour of the skin, and hair style) and psychological aspect (including emotion, intelligent, and talent).
2
person, that advice can encourage the other person in deciding a change. Another way is from the critics from someone. People will change their idealism if this given critics is inspiring and indirectly able to reassure a person to change. Someone can indirectly change his or her character by an inspiration. Inspiration usually comes accidentally to someone. It happens when someone watches, listens or experiences something. However, usually this process will take a long time, meaning cannot happen instantly.
Eleven Minutes is a novel written by Paulo Coelho. It is a novel about the personal experience of the main character, Maria, who has a hard struggle to survive from her difficulties. Her life is too hard to be faced but she has some ways to face her difficulties by herself. With many problems in her life, she tries to be herself to endure her life in a foreign country that she does not know before, Switzerland.
Through the novel, Coelho tries to show the readers about the struggle of Maria to survive her life since she decides to get additional income to leave that country and go back to her own country, Brazil, and pay her life. In the novel, indirectly, the readers can see the development of Maria’s characters before and after she endures her new life in Switzerland. It can be seen how desperate she is when she lives by herself without her family or friends beside her. Being a sex worker, she can get more money. Her decision to become a sex worker seems that a person can change her life to survive herself, without thinking the result of her act.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
By reading the novel, the readers will get another perspective and new understanding about the situation that Maria has to face as a sex worker. The readers can understand one of the reasons why a woman decides to be a sex worker by understanding Maria’s inner problems.
This thesis discusses Maria’s new character after her meeting with a painter, Ralf Hart, a rich, single, young artist who gives her big influence in her life unintentionally in a luxirious bar. At that first meeting, he asks Maria to be his model. Slowly, that moment marks the begining process of Ralf Hart’s contribution on the changing of Maria’s view about life.
By paying attention to Maria, Ralf changes Maria’s point of view of her life. He also shares his experience in reaching his succees, for sometimes Ralf makes some discussions with Maria about Plato’s point of view. From their meetings and their discussions, Maria changes her point of view indirectly.
Coming from this point, the writer feels those issues are worth studying. The struggle that is revealed by the main character in the novel and the influence of Ralf Hart encourages the writer to raise the issues and to discus them deeper in this undergraduate thesis.
4
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, the writer presents the problem formulations as follows:
1. How is Maria’s character in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes
described?
2. How is Ralf Hart’s character described?
3. How does Ralf Hart’s character influence Maria’s character development?
C. Objective of the Study
Based on the problem formulation above, this thesis has three objectives. First, the writer wants to find out the characters of Maria as the main character. In this objective, the writer also wants to analyze her deeper. Second, the writer wants to know Ralf Hart’s characters. Third, the writer wants to analyze how Ralf Hart’s character influenced Maria’s character development.
D. Definition of Terms
There are some terms in this study which are used by the writer: 1. Character
According to A Glossary of Literary Terms, “characters are the person described in a literary work that have the moral and natural qualities, which can be identified by seeing what they say as in the dialogue and what they do as in the action”. Characters may remain essentially “stable”, or unchanged in outlook and
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
disposition, from beginning to end of a work, or may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual process of motivation and development, or as the result of the crisis (Abrams, 1993: 23).
2. Development
According to Lemme in Development in Adulthood, development is defined as a systematic changes in behaviour over time that result from interaction between the individual and the internal and external environment (1995: 8).
From the meaning of the two terms above, the writer concludes
Character Development as a result of a changing behaviour by a person presented in a literary work.
6 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter contains three sub-chapters. First is review of related studies. This sub-chapter tells the readers about other studies of Eleven Minutes
written by other people. Second is review of related theories. This sub-chapter tell the readers about theories which are used to analyze the problem formulation. And the last is theoretical frmework. It tells the readers about the uses of the theories.
A. Review of Related Studies
In analyzing the topic, the writer looked for some theories which affect and help the writer in developing the idea. The criticism would be very important to get more information about the topic of the analysis. John Louie Ramos in his article in Helium: International Writers and Literature Book Review said that Eleven Minutes is an emotion-filled story of self-discovery, personal enlightenment and awakening, written by no other than the masterful storyteller himself, Paulo Coelho. In this book, Coelho delicately depicts the sensitive issues of sexuality, prostitution and morality. It's about Maria, a Brazilian woman who, all her life ironically seeks for something unknown to her. Because of an unfortunate experience with a boy whom she fell in love whit when she was still a child, Maria developed a man-hater sort of attitude (in http://www.helium.com/items/1836134-book-review-eleven-minutes)
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
At an early age, Maria already inflicted the idea that there is not such a thing as true love. Maria left Brazil in order to pursue her dreams of vast riches and abysmal fame. However, success seems to evade Maria, she ends up working at a cabaret on Rue De Berne in Switzerland. There, Maria learns life's hardships. Coelho introduces a character which succumbs to reality's cruel nature, a perfect representation of each one of us. Clearly, Coelho is a master of touching and connecting with his readers.
Beyond doubt, the character of Maria lies within the readers all. The readers are all just like her, the readers dream of fame and fortune yet the readers do not really know how hard it is to achieve it. The readers know what the readers want but then again we rarely know how to get it. During her stay in the cabaret, Maria learns the trade of prostitution. In some way, she develops a fascination for sex. Maria longs not for love but for the gratification brought by her various sexual experiences. However, all of Maria's ideals are put into halt when she meets a man whom she falls in love with, Ralf Hart, was a 29-year old painter. Maria becomes confused she begins to question her self.
8
sex. He creates a story which all of us can relate. The "Coelho touch" once again weave its prowess in this classic work, a genuine love story of two lonely hunters who happened to change each others views just in the nick of time.
Another review is from John Sutherland in New York Times Book Review (in http://www.comlete-review.com/reviews/abek/elevenminutes.htm.#summaries). He said that Eleven Minutes departed somewhat from the Coelho formula. He apologized to his devoted readers in a chatty foreword. This was a novel, the readers were warned, and that will deal with "a subject that is harsh, difficult, shocking": the international crime of "people trafficking". The heroine, Maria, was a surpassingly beautiful virgin from the Brazilian back-country. She run off to Rio where she was tricked into going as a "dancer" to Geneva. There she descended into prostitution.
Thus outlined, Eleven Minutes might seem to promise an expose of white slavery. It did not. Maria's experience with the dour punters of Switzerland was as much a voyage of wonderful discovery as Santiago's treasure hunt in The Alchemist. Through the sex industry, Maria uncovered the core truths of the human condition. In the process, she saved her "soul"; she also saved a useful bank balance. Her rate for 11 minutes (life was not the only thing that moves very fast) was 1,000 Swiss francs. After a year she was able to retire, healthy, wealthy and wise.
Maria started on the road to enlightenment by reading a truly amazing book by an un-named Brazilian sage - something to do with an Andalusian
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
shepherd boy's treasure hunt. Her research crystallized in a dilemma, embodied in two of her customers. Ralf, a brilliant artist, worshiped from a distance the sanctified "light" she exuded. Terence, by contrast, was a rich sadist with an "icy glint" in his eye. He pleasured Maria to the point of ecstatic orgasm with the whip.
Another review comes from Ashmita Saha. In her review in Circle Book Review (in http://www.book-review-circle.com/Eleven-Minutes-Paulo-Coelho.html), she divided her review into four parts. The first is summary, in her summary she said that Eleven Minutes was the story of a prostitute- Maria, a Brazilian small towner who setted out on the path of prostitution in search of adventure and money. Coelho used Maria to write a saga of sex and love-making, explored the difference between the two and in the process questions various precincts of societal codes of morality and righteous living. Maria setted out as a cabaret dancer in Switzerland and gradually turned to prostitution by choice, rather than by compulsion. At one point she analysed her situation thus, she was doing this because she wanted to experience something new and she was doing it because she had nothing to lose. She decided that none of the above was true and that it was best to forget all about it and simply deal with whatever lay on her particular path.
10
humiliation and total submission, I was free”. Her disillusionment with sexuality grows. She wrote “I need to write about love- otherwise my soul won’t survive”.
Finally, she found her love in an equally disillusioned painter. Maria was left to choose between her existing life of mindless lust, the life of mundane ordinariness that awaits her back home or an odyssey of sacred sex along with her lover.
The second was social/historical context. In this part she said that wwritten towards the later half of the 20th century, Coelho focused on the various prejudices associated with love making in both the genders. He traced a brief history of such prejudices in the book but elaborates more on present day illusions about the nature of sex and love-making.
The third part was writing style. In this part, she said that Coelho wrote a language of evocative imagery- vividly describing the soul of a prostitute, her sexual encounters and her professional and personal frustrations. Coelho used simple and direct prose to wield a very sensitive subject, converting it into a gripping drama on the quest for true love.
And the last part was her opinion. In her opinion, she tried to compare a Hindi Movie with Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. She said that in Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bansali, Chandramukhi, the prostitute, exclaims at one point in the movie: ‘Kya ek tawaef ko pyar karne ka haq nehin hai?”(Does a prostitute not have the right to love?) This book by Caelho, elaborates on just that. The right was to love of a prostitute and her quest for it. And such was the genius of Coelho, that he was able to trace the deepest cravings of a woman’s mind in the process.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Another review comes from Andrew Steward (Anu), a journalist who made reviews of many books. In his article Scribbles of Soul (in http://www.scribblesofsoul.com/eleven-minutes-by-paulo-coelho/-), he said that
Eleven Minutes struck the readers as a title and the excitement increased manifold. The author’s preface made it clear that this book was slightly different from his previous works and was going to change his reputation among his cult admirers of
The Alchemist.
The story was a gripping tale of a young girl, who got involved in the flesh trade, voluntarily to make quick money and to fulfil her own and her family’s long-cherished dreams. However, as the story progressed, the purity of the girl’s nature came as a pleasant surprise. Despite being a part of one of the most ancient and yet the dirtiest job, she possessed a unique virginity, with a holier than thou heart, the impurity of her body never affecting her mind, her soul.
12
Paulo totally impressed her with his unbiased characterization of one of the most complex characters- highlighting the womanly qualities of a prostitute who was more often than not treated as a mere body, a tool to satiate carnal desires, without any regard for her existence as a girl. Her feminine side which cherishes thoughts of having a life partner, craving for someone special with whom she was able to share her moments of joy and grief, her dreams and fantasies and been free in her thoughts and action is often neglected.
Paulo Coelho had definitely treated the character of his novel in a most wonderful manner. Without any bias, he had tried to create a real woman. And, she had to say, he had succeeded in his mission. The Eleven Minutes of her trade related activity nowhere blemishes her character and she came across as a strong independent woman, craving for love inside and putting up a brave face to the world. She might be called Westernized version of Umrao Jaan, without excessive melodrama about her victimization.
B. Review of Related Theories
There are some theories which are useful to answer the problem formulation. Those theories are Theory on Character and Characterization and Theory on Character Development.
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
In their book An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, X.J. Kennedy and Dana Giola stated that a character is presumably an imagined person who inhabits a story although that simple definition may admit to a few exceptions.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
But usually in the main characters of a story, human personalities become familiar to us. If the story seems “true of life,” we generally find that its character acts in a reasonably consistent manner, and that the author has provided them with motivation (1998: 60)
Character may seem flat or round, depending on whether a writer sketch or sculpture them. A flat character has only one outstanding trait of feature or at most a few distinguishing marks. Round characters present us with more facets; their authors portray them in greater depth and in more generous detail. A round character may appear ton us only as he appears to the other characters in the story. In short, flat characters tend to stay the same throughout a story, but round character often change-learn or become enlightened, grow or deteriorate (1998: 61)
Abrams says that:
Characters are the persons presented in the dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral disposition qualities express in what way they say (the dialogue) and what they do (the action) (1981: 20)
Based on Abram’s definition, it is obvious that what the character say and do are very important in analyzing the character. By the character’s action and speech, the readers can see the interaction of the character to other character in a literary work that determines what kind of person he or she is.
14
From all those definitions above, it can be said that the moral principle is represented by the character. Moral quality emphasizes the value about “good or bad characteristic” of which presented by the character and the consequences of the character’s action.
The quality of the moral construction can be identified by observing how the character interacts with other characters and his/her problems. It is difficult to determine the characteristic of a character, because the character may change his or her behaviour. The readers can identify the character by interpreting the character’s behaviour, way of thinking, and way of solving problems.
The characters in the literary work are divided into two parts. The first is the major characters or the main characters. The second is the minor characters or the secondary characters. Roger B. Henkle in his book Reading the Novel (1977: 97) explains that the major characters are the most important and the complex character in the novel. They can be identified from their characterization, the attention of the author and the readers, the attitudes of the other characters to them and the transmitting process of their characters intensity. The major characters also build opinion that can establish the readers’ virtue. While the secondary characters are the characters in which their performance are limited. Therefore, their responses to the experiences in the story are also less complex.
According to M.J. Murphy (1972: 161-173) in Understanding unseen: an Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students, there are some ways through which an author may reveal the character’ personalities and traits to the readers.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
a. Personal description
The author describes a person’s appearance and clothes. From the descriptions, the readers are given the image how the character looks like: her build, her skin colour, her hair, her outer coat, her hands, and so on.
b. Character as seen by another
The author describes her through the eyes and opinions of another, instead of describing a character directly. The readers can get, as it were, a reflected image.
c. Speech
The author gives the readers an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in a conversation with another, whenever she puts forward an opinion, she is giving us clues to her character.
d. Past life
By letting the readers learn something about a person’s past life, the author gives the readers a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, though the person’s thoughts, through her conversation or through the medium of another person. e. Conversation of others
16
f. Reactions
The author also gives the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting them know how that person reacts to various situations and events. Like when she reacts to someone’s words, someone’s touch, or to people or things around her, and so on. From her reaction, the readers can know her characteristics further, whether he is angry, jealous, happy, etc.
g. Direct comment
The author describes or comments on a person’s character directly, such as: she is a nice person or she is a very lazy woman so that, the readers can know her characteristics directly.
h. Thought
The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, she is able to do what we cannot do in real life. She can tell the readers what different people are thinking. The readers are in privileged position; she has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel.
i. Mannerism
The author describes a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the readers something about her character. Such as: she likes hitting her child brutally. From that sentence, the readers can know that she is not a lovely person.
In his book An Introduction to Fiction, Robert Stanton said that character is commonly used in two ways: it designates the individuals who appear in the
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
story and it refers to the mixture of interest, desire, emotions, and moral principles that makes up each of these individuals. Most stories contain a central character, who is relevant to every event in the story; usually the events cause some change either in him or in our attitude toward him (1965: 17).
A character’s reason for behaving as he does is his motivation. His specific motivation is his immediate reason, perhaps unconscious, for any particular speech or act. His basic motivation is an aspect of his general character. It is continuing desire or attention that governs him throughout the story, the direction toward which almost all that his specific motivations tend (165: 17)
Hugh Holman explains characterization in three ways. The first is the explicit presentation, which means that the author gives direct exposition of the characters so that the readers can grasp directly the characteristics of the character that are already certain. The second is the presentation of character in action, which means there is no explicit comment by the author, and the readers examine the character’s characteristic by seeing the action of the character. The last is the representation from within a character, “without comment on the character by the author, the impact of actions and emotions on the character inner self” (Holman, 1986: 83). It has a purpose that the readers can understand the attitude of each character clearly.
18
by the actions and experiences. He experiences a conversation in himself as the result of the actions and experiences (Holman, 1986:83)
While according to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Wood (1971: 20) in
Reading and Writing about Literature, characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that distinguish them from other character, and the process which an author creates a character is called characterizations.
2. Theory on Character Development
Forster in Aspect of the Novel said that character development is the changing of a character from the beginning until the end of the story. A character is developed if she or he experiences a change in some aspects of disposition, personality, or outlook. He is not the same person as he was at the beginning of the story. He changes into a new character. The changing depends on the condition and experiences as it is in the story (1974: 54)
Laurence Perrine in her Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense states that all of fictional characters can be classified as static or developing or dynamic. The developing or dynamic character undergoes a permanent change in some aspects of his or her character personality or outlook. It can be a small change or a big change; and it can be better or worse (1972: 71). Moreover, Perrine stated that the character in the story does not change in a sudden way, but changes step by step. The character must begin the change with smaller change that is carefully prepared for. The changes of the character should be sufficiently motivated by circumstances. One cannot change his or her characteristics so suddenly without
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
any reasons, but it must follow sufficiently time and reason of the changes (1972: 71).
C. Theoretical Framework
In this part, the writer tries to see the contribution of the theories explained above in solving problems in this research. The reviews which explain about Maria’s experience in Switzerland, which is about her proffession as a sex worker, most frequently applied by Paulo Coelho give the writer knowledge and information which are considered important in helping to percieve his work.
20 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is one of Paulo Coelho novels entitled Eleven Minutes. This novel was published in 2003 by Editora Rocco in Brazil. Eleven Minutes was originally written in Portuguese and published as Onze Minutos. It has been translated to 40 foreign languages and two of them are English and Indonesian. In 2004 Margaret Jull Costa translated it into English. Then its copyright was published in April 2004 by HarperCollins (hardcover printing) and in June 2004 by HarperTorch (international printing).
Eleven Minutes was the third best seller by Coelho after The Alchemist and The Pilgrimage. In Powell’s Book, Coelho said that Eleven Minutes did not set out to be a manual or a treatise about a man and a woman confronted by the unknown world of sexual relationships. It was an analysis of his trajectory. It took him a long time to learn that the coming together of two bodies is more than a response to certain physical stimuli or to the survival instinct. Sex was a manifestation of a spiritual energy called love.
Generally, the novel tells about Maria, from the interior of to seek her fortune i expected and she ends up working in a brothel sexuality, such as
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
its graphic descriptions, the novel has been described as an erotic novel. Maria is on journey to find what true love is but ends up letting her own life guide her. She enters a life that leads her down the path of sexual awakenings and almost leads to her self-destruction when she is introduced to all sides of sexual experience. When she has given up hope to find true love she meets a painter with whom she falls in love. And she must now choose where she is to take her life. Either to let it lead her or finally take control of her life and end this subtle self-destructive life she is leading.
B. Approach of the Study
To analyze the novel and answer the problems stated in problem formulation, the writer applies formalistic approach in order to help the writer in analyzing the novel.
According to Rohrberger and Woods in their book Reading and Writing about Literature, formalistic approach is the approach that concern itself with the harmonius involvement of all parts to whole and by poiniting out the meaning that is derived from structure and matters of technique determine structure. They stated that formalistic approach merely tries to examine the literary work without reference to the facts of the author’s life, the genre of the work, the society at the time the novel was written, and the literary history. The formalists believe in the idea of the work itself. (971: 27)
22
formalist approach emphasizes the manner of reading literature that was given its special dimensions and emphases by English and American critics in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. To many sudents of literature, this approach came to be called the New Criticism (2011: 96).
The word formalist needs some small qualifications as well, for here it will be used more or less synonymously with the methodology of the New Critics, and it is not directly concerned with the Russian formalist, though the methodologies share some principles (2011: 96).
The writer uses formalistic approach because this approach just focuses on the literary work itself. In analyzing the problems, the writer also focuses on the work itself, so the writer applies this approach to solve the problems.
C. Method of the Study
In order to analyze this thesis, the writer used both library research and internet research to find the data. In library research the writer used some books references which gave contribution to the study. For example was Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms, which helped the writer in analyzing the characters of Maria and Ralf Hart.
The writer also used internet research to get some reviews of related studies from others. The reviews were used to avoid same study with others. Besides, the writer used those reviews as knowledge and information which are considered important in helping to perceive Paulo Coelho’s work.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
24 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the writer discusses the problems that have been formulated in the previous chapter. This chapter is divided into three sub chapters. The first sub chapter discusses Maria’s characters. The second sub chapter discusses Ralf Hart’s character. The third sub chapter discusses the influence of Ralf Hart toward Maria’s character development. In this chapter, there are some quotations in italic style of font of writing thesis. It means that the quotations come from Maria’s diary.
A. The Character of Maria
Maria is the main character in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. In the beginning of story Coelho described young Maria as an innocent girl in her childhood. It can be seen on the author of the novel’s statement, which is “…she was born both innocent and a virgin…” (p.1)
She lived with her parents, her mother was a seamstress; her father was a travelling salesman in the interior of Brazil. Her hometown only had one cinema, one nightclub and one bank.
Like other girls, she was a dreamer. She often dreamed of her life in the future. She dreamed of better future in her life. She dreamed of having perfect happy family. It can be seen in the author’s statement as follows:
…as an adolescent, she dreamed of meeting the man of her life (rich, handsome, intelligent), of getting married (in wedding dress), having two children (who would grow up to be famous) and living in a lovely house (with a sea view). (p.1)
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
She imagined in her life she would be an experienced woman who had big struggle to get her love. After that, she imagined to live happily with him and her children in a lovely house with sea view. It can be seen in the following statement: She liked to think of herself as an experienced young woman, who had already allowed one grand passion to slip from her grasp and who knew the pain that this caused, and now she was determined to fight with all her might for this man and for marriage, determined that he was the man for marriage, children and the house by the sea. (pp. 7-8)
Maria was an insensitive girl when she was a child. When she was eleven years old, she fell in love for the first time and the boy that she loved gave her a signal that he also loved Maria, but Maria did not understand that. In the other hand, she felt rather irritated by that moment. It can be seen in this following statement:
On the morning, on the way to school, the boy came up to her and asked if he could borrow a pencil. Maria didn’t reply; in fact, she semed rather irritated by this unexpected appoach and even quickened her step. (p.2)
Maria was disturbed with that event. She felt tormented by her own absurd behavior but she knew that the boy noticed her too. She did not understand if the boy wanted to make a conversation with her. It can be seen in the following statement:
For the rest of the day, she couldn’t concentrate on her lessons, tormented by her own absurd behavior, but, at the same time, relieve, because she knew that the boy had notice her too, and that the pencil had just been an excuse to start a conversation, because when he came over to her, she had notice that he already had a pen in his pocket. (pp. 2-3)
26
(p. 15). Another character in the novel also gave direct statement about Maria who was beautiful. It happened when she was in her vacation in Copacabana beach. There was a man who did not speak in Portuguese interested in her beauty. It can be seen in the following statement:
For some time, they kept up this comfortable, meaningless conversation – a smile there - until the man took a small red dictionary out of his pocket and said, in a strange accent: “bonita”-“pretty”. (p. 20)
Because she was beautiful, when she worked in a draper’s shop, her boss promptly fell in love with her and he wanted to marry her, but she did not love him. She just used him to get some profit for her. It can bee seen in the following statement, which is “She never let him touch her, although she was always very coquettish, conscious of the power of her beauty” (p. 17). Her beauty made her boss want to marry her. At first he let her take a vacation but in his mind he had a secret plan to ask her to marry him after she came back. It can be seen in the following statement:
Saddened, her boss resisted at first, but finally accepted her decision, for at the time he was making secret plans to ask her to marry him as soon as she got back, he didn’t want to spoil everything by appearing too pushy. (p. 19)
Maria was a poor young woman. To take a vacation, she had to work for two years. In that two years she also gave her parents some money to help their finance problem. In her vacation, she did not take a luxurious vacation. It can be seen in the following statement:
Maria travelled for forty-eight hours by bus, checked into a cheap hotel in Copacabana (Copacabana! That beach, that sky…) and even before she had unpacked her bags, she grabbed the bikini she had bought, put in on, and despite the cloudy weather, made straight for the beach. (p. 19)
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
When a man in Copacabana invited her to dinner, she did not have a suitable clothes to wear. Then the man sent her an expensive dress and a pair of shoes. It showed that Maria did not have enough money to buy that kind of suit. It can be seen in the statement as follows:
That evening, she received a dress the like of which she had never in her entire life, accompanied by a pair of shoes that must have cost as much as she earned in a year. (p. 22)
Maria was a woman who was easy to influence. The money was the reason. She had decided to accept the offer from the man who offered a job with a big salary without thinking about the consequences before after an interpreter-cum-security officer, Maílson, gave his opinion to her. Without having a deep thinking she accepted the offer from the foreigner to work in Europe. It can be seen in the following statement:
”Works!Dollars!!”
“I’d accept if I were you. He’s an important impresario looking for new talent to work in Europe. If you like, I can put you in touch with some other people who accepted his invitation, got rich and are now married with children who won’t have to worry about being mugged or unemployed.” (pp. 20-21)
And there is Maria’s reaction:
The next day, together with Maílson, the interpreter – cum-security officer and now, according to him, her agent, she said that she would accept the Swiss man’s offer, as long as she had a document provided by the Swiss consulate. (p. 27)
28
“I know, that isn’t what you agreed. But the truth is that like everyone else, you forgot to ask. If you had been more careful, if you had already read the contract you signed, you would know exactly what you were getting yourself into, because the Swiss don’t lie, they just rely on silence to help them.” (p. 36)
Although she did not take a study in a university she was a clever woman. She had a bravery to force her boss to give her compensation after she had been fired from her work. It can be seen in the following statement:
Maria might be young but she was no fool, especially once her Arab lover had told her that Swiss employment laws were very strict and, since the nightclub kept back a large part of her salary, she could easily allege that she was being used or slave labor. She went back...she left with a few insults and five thousands dollars in compensation – a sum of money beyond her wildest dreams – and all because of that magic word “lawyer”. (p. 44)
In her life as a prostitute, she was known as a clever woman and quick learner woman in her work. It made her work friends at work acted more carefully in facing her. It can be seen in the following statement:
She had tried talking to one or two of two other prostitutes who served the “special clients,” but none of them would tell her anything, because Maria was bright, she learned quickly and had become the great threat in the Copacabana. (p. 191)
Maria was not a young woman who would give up on her problem easily. She was a survival young woman. A man who offered her a work in Switzerland did not give her what he had said before. She thought that she had to survive because she did not have any choice. In the first time she felt bad but later she had a good thought to face her life and to reveal her dreams. What she had to do was earn money to go back to Brazil. It can be seen in the following statement:
Maria chose to be an adventure in search of treasure – she put aside her feelings, she stopped crying every night, and she forgot all about the person she used to be; she discovered that she had enough willpower to
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
pretend that she had just been born and so had no reason to miss anyone. (p. 39)
She made a conclusion to survive in Switzerland. It was when she knew that she had been arrived in there. It can be seen in her conclusion, as follows:
Finally, in the long, tedious hours spent in her small, TV-less room, she concluded:
a) She would never find what she was looking for if she couldn’t express herself. In order to do that, she needed to learn the local language. b) Since all her colleagues were looking for the same thing, she needed
to be different. For that particular problem, she as yet lacked both a solution or a method. (p. 40)
Then she took a French course to do her first conclusion. She did that because she thought that by taking a course she can express herself.
After she did a fault, her boss fired her. Then after she accepted some compensation, she began to find a job. She wanted to go back to her country because her money was not enough to reveal her dream to have a farm in her hometown. Then she applied a job, as a prostitute, in an expensive night club in a luxurious place on Rue de Berne. She was interested to find a job as prostitute after she accompanied a man to drink in a hotel and got much money. It can be seen from the conversation between Maria and Milan, the owner of the night club, as follows:
“Look, it’s very simple, you just have to stick to three basic rules. First: never fall in love with anyone you work with or have sex with. Second: don’t believe any promises and always get paid up front. Third: don’t use drugs. And start now. If you go home tonight without having got your first client, you’ll have second thoughts about it and you won’t have the courage to come back.”
“All right. I’ll start tonight.”(p. 66)
30
There were an explanation about the rules of her job, as following statements: the use of condom was obligatory, although there was no way checking if this rule was or wasn’t being followed.
He continued explaining the ritual: after dancing, they would return to the table, and the customer, as if he were saying something highly original, would invite her to go back to his hotel with him. The normal price was three hundred and fifty francs, of which fifty francs went to Milan, for the hire of the table. (p. 67)
Maria gave Ralf Hart, a young painter she met in a café, two statements of her job as a prostitute in Switzerland directly. It can be seen in the conversation between Maria and Ralf Hart, as follows:
She began to speak loudly.
“Yes, I’m a prostitute! And do you know what? It’s set me free – knowing that I’ll be leaving this godawful place in exactly ninety days’ time, with loads of money, far better educated, capable of choosing a good bottle of wine, with my handbag stuffed with photographs of the snow, and knowing all there is to know about me.” (p. 104)
In her conversation with Ralf, she directly said to him that she worked as a prostitute. It can be seen in the following statement, which is “Do you understand Mr. Hart? I’m a prostitute through and through, from head to toe – and that’s my one great quality, my virtue!” (p. 104)
Maria was an inconsistent person. In her childhood, she fell in love when she was eleven years old. It can be seen in the following statement, which is “She fell in love for the first time when she was eleven, en route from her house to school. (p. 1) Then she fell in love again in her adolescent years with a boy she met in a Holy Week procession. It can be seen in the following statement, which is “When she had jut turned fifteen, she fell in love with a boy she had met in a Holy Week procession.” (p. 7)
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Her feeling in love also can also be seen in her diary she wrote after she met that boy. It can be seen in her diary, as follows:
When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side. I saw this happen today as the sun went down. And yet if something goes wrong, there is nothing left! No herons, no distant music, not even the taste of his lips. How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish so quickly?
Life moves very fast. It rushes us from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds. (p. 9)
But after the boy made her heartache, she decided not to love again. It can be seen in the following statement:
When she arrived home, though, she allowed her universe to crumble; she cried all night, suffered for the next eight months and concluded that love clearly wasn’t made for her and that she wasn’t made for love. (p. 10)
For a while, she forgot her conclusion. She passed her day like usual. And she fell in love again and again. It can be seen in the following statement:
She fell in love a third time and a fourth, she knew how to kiss now, and when she was alone with her boyfriends, she touched them and allowed herself to be touched, but something always went wrong, and the relationship would precisely at the moment when she was sure that this was a person with whom she wanted to spent the rest of her life. (p. 13) As usual after her boyfriends made her heartache she came to her conclusion about love. It can be seen in the following statement:
After long time, he came to her conclusion that men brought only pain, frustration, suffering and sense of dragging. (p. 13)
32
Maria began to think that she must have some unspeakable sexual problem, so she concentrated still more on her studies and, for a while, forgot about that marvelous, murderous thing called Love. (p. 15)
But when she was seventeen, she came to her conclusion. It can be seen in her feeling she felt in her diary, as follows:
But love is a terrible thing: I’ve seen my girlfriends suffer and I don’t want the same thing to happen to me. They used to laugh at me and my innocence, but now they ask me how it is I manage men so well. I smile and say nothing, because I know that the remedy is worse than the pain: I simply don’t fall in love. With each day that passes, I se more clearly how fragile men are, how inconstant, insecure and surprising they are… a few of my girlfriends’ fathers have propositioned me, but I’ve always refused. At first, I was shocked, but now I think it’s just the way men are.
(p. 16)
When she met a painter, Ralf Hart, she did not come to her conclusion. She fell in love with him. It made her focus of her life change to make Ralf Hart happy and to learn how to manage a farm. In her diary, she wrote some sentences as follows:
I’ve met a man and fallen in love with him. I allowed myself to fall in love for one simple reason: I’m not expecting anything to come of it. I know that, in three months’ time, I’ll be far away and he’ll be just a memory, but I couldn’t stand living without love and any longer; I had reached my limit. (p. 138)
She loved Ralf very much until she felt that he was her bridegroom. It can be seen in her statement in her diary:
From Maria’s diary, written the next morning:
Last night, when Ralf Hart looked at me, he opened a door, as if he were a thief; but when he left, he took nothing from me, on the contrary, he left behind him the scent of roses-he wasn’t a thief, he was a bridegroom visiting me. (p. 165)
Maria divided herself into three kinds of faces. She did that since she left Brazil. She used it to face people who talk to her. She divided herself as an
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
innocent girl, femme fatale and an understanding mother. It can be seen in Maria’s statement as follows:
“Well, there are of me, really, depending on who I’m with. There’s the Innocent girl, who gazes admiringly at the man, pretending to be impressed by his tales of power and glory. Then there’s the Femme Fatale, who pounces on the most insecure and, by doing so, takes control of the situation and relieves them of responsibility, because then they don’t have to worry about anything. And finally, there’s the Understanding Mother, who looks after those in need of advice and who listens with an all-comprehending air to stories that go in one ear and out the other. (p. 109)
Maria was different from the other prostitutes in wearing dress. In doing her job as a prostitute, she wore different dress code. Usually as a prostitute, some prostitute wear low-cut dress to make their client interested, but Maria did not like it. She wore a black dress like other women. She thought that a black dress seemed more exciting for a man. It can be seen in the following statement:
She always wore black to work, and she couldn’t understand why the other girl at the Copacabana tried to look provocative in their lo-cut dress and garish color. It seemed to her that it was more exciting for a man if she dressed like nay other woman he might meet at the office, on the train or in the house of one of his wife’s friends. (p. 154)
B. The Character of Ralf Hart
Ralf Hart is a minor character in Coelho’s Eleven Minutes, who gives influence to Maria’s life. He was twenty nine years old. He was a long-haired well-known painter. Maria met Ralf Hart when she spent her time in a café. The waitress of that café told her about him. It can be seen in the following statement:
“He’s a very well-known artist”
34
Ralf Hart accidentally made Maria interested to him and obeyed what he said to her. It can be seen in the following statement:
“Don’t go,” said the painter again. “I’ll be finished in five minutes. Order what you like and put it on my bill.” As if hypnotized, she sat down at the bar, ordered an anisette (she wasn’t used to drinking, and the only thing that occurred to her was to order the same as the Nobel prizewinner), and watched the man working. (p. 97)
Ralf Hart made her follow his direction again. And unquestioningly she obeyed what he said to her. It was a strange moment in Maria’s life because she was not like that before and she was not like that at all. It can be seen in the following statement:
“Turn towards the window.”
Again she obeyed unquestioningly, which was not at all like her. (p. 98) Ralf Hart was an attractive and famous person but he had a problem in his life, he was lost interest in sexual activity. Maria stated it directly in their conversation in their first meeting. It can be seen in the following statement:
”…young, attractive, famous, who should be interested in things like that, and who shouldn’t have to go to Rue de Berne looking for company.”
“Well, I did. I went to bed with a few of your colleagues, but not because I had any problem finding female company. The problem lies with me.” Maria felt a pang of jealousy, and was terrified. She really must leave. “It was my last try. I’ve given up now,” said Ralf, starting to pick up the painting materials scattered on the floor.
“Have you some physical problems?” “No. I’m just not interest.” (p. 106)
Ralf had been married twice and he was not a faithful person. In his marriages, he lost her interest in sex but he still had love. It can be seen in the following statement.
“No, they never hurt me. I was very happy in both my marriages. I was unfaithful and so were they, just like any other normal couple. Then after
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
awhile, I simply lost interest in sex. I still felt in love, still needed company, but sex…but, why are we talking about sex?” (p. 108)
It made Ralf felt that his life was not interesting. It can be seen in his following statement:
“My life isn’t very interesting really. I’m an artist who found success very young, which is rare, and even rarer in the world of painting. I could paint anything now and it would be worth a fortune, which, of course, infuriates the critics because they think they are the only ones who know about ‘art.’ Other people think I’ve got all the answers, and the less I say, the more intelligent they think I am. (p. 108)
Ralf Hart was a rich and single man. Coelho stated it in the novel. It can be seen in this following statement:
Half an hour later, they arrived at a small village near Geneva, called Cologny; there was a church, a bakery, a town hall, everything I its proper place. And he really did live in a two – storey house, not an apartment! First reaction: he really must be rich. Second: if he were married, he wouldn’t dare to do this, because they would be bound to be seen by someone. (p. 123)
Another statement that stated Ralf as a rich person came from the author; it can be seen on these both following statements, which is “so he was rich and single. (p. 123). In other page there was a statement stated him as rich, young, famous, and good looking man, which is He was rich, young, famous, good looking. He loved his work; he had loved women whom he had subsequently married; he had been loved. (p. 160). Ralf was a young successful artist but like an irony, he felt his life was not interesting. He gave a statement when he had a talk with Maria. It can be seen in the following statement:
36
about ‘art’. Other people think I’ve got all the answers, and the less I say, the more intelligent they think I am.” (p. 108)
Although Ralf Hart is a minor character, he gives important influences toward Maria’s point of view about life. He gives Maria new point of view indirectly by sharing a topic. In a day before she had a date with Ralf Hart, she had a client who made her in an underestimate situation, but when she met Ralf in that day she could forget his act after they had a sharing moment about Plato’s point of view about man and woman. It can be seen in the following statement:
Maria was gazing at him, fascinated, and the experience of the previous night had vanished completely. She saw that the man before her was full of the same “light” that he had seen in her, entirely involved in telling her that the strange story, his eyes alight now with desire but with joy. (p.158)
Ralf wanted Maria to fix her problems. He used a unique way to make Maria understand. He forced Maria to do what he did when walk on the ground covered in stones. It can be seen in their conversation as follows:
“We can talk and walk at the same time.” “I can’t here, the ground’s covered in stones.”
“Exactly. I want you to feel these stones, I want them to hurt you and bruise you, because, just as I did, you have started to associated suffering with pleasure, I need to tear that out of your soul.” (p.193)
When he had an exhibition in Kumano, Japan, a woodcutter asked if he was happy, he should continue doing his activities but if he was not he should go and spent a few days with him. Then he came to the woodcutter. At woodcutter’s house, he was forced to do very ancient ritual called shu-gen-do. It can be seen in Ralf’s statement as follows:
“He made me walk on stone, just as I am making you do today. He made me feel the cold. He forced me to understand the beauty of pain, except
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
that the pain was imposed by nature, not by man. He called this shu-gen-do, a very ancient practice apparently.” (p. 195)
That experience made her aware that actually she was an invincible woman. It can be seen in the following statement:
Then just when she thought she was about to give up, she was filled by a strange feeling: she had reached her limit, and beyond it was empty space, in which she seemed to float above herself, unaware of what she was feeling. Was this what the penitents had experienced? At the far extremity of pain, she had discovered a door into a different level of consciousness, and there was no room now for anything but implacable nature and her own invincible self. (p.197)
C. The influence of Ralf Hart toward Maria’s character development
As a minor character, Ralf Hart gave some contribution to Maria’s life indirectly. Maria had two developments in her life. First was Maria’s character development from idealistic person, which was she decided not to love a man again after her bad experience in her adolescent, into a realistic person, which was she opened her mind and finally she loved with Ralf Hart. Second was Maria’s character development from dreamer person, which was she wanted to marry a rich man to get better future although she did not love him, into a realistic person, which was she decided to live in a realistic way.
38
Ralf Hart was a calm man. He faced Maria in calm way. When Maria began to be angry, he just stayed in his way. He just said to Maria wisely. It can be seen in his following statement:
“This has nothing to do with you as prostitute, but with you as women.” Ralf ignore the proffered bill and replayed equally slowly, but quietly. “You have a glow about you. The light that comes from Sheer willpower, the light of someone who has made important sacrifices in the name of things she think all important it’s in your eyes-the light is in your eyes.” (p. 105)
Ralf’s statement made Maria disarmed. It showed that Ralf was not a man who liked another man. Usually, a man often used first meeting to pick a woman up but Ralf did not. It can be seen in the following statement:
Maria felt disarmed: he had not taken up her challenge. She had wanted to believe that he was simply trying to pick her up. She was not allowed to think-at least not for the next ninety days-that there were interesting men on the face of the earth. (p. 105)
Ralf was interested to Maria, so he decided to meet Maria in Copacabana café. His action made Maria feel curious about Ralf. It can be seen in the following statement:
“This man, who had seemed so sure of himself that afternoon in the café, who wielded a paintbrush with such skill, met important people, had an agent in Barcelona and doubtless earned a lot of money, was now revealing his fragility; he had entered a world he should not have entered; he was no longer in a romantic café on the road to Santiago. The charm of the afternoon vanished. (p. 115)
After the meeting, Maria felt terrible. She could not control her feelings. She thought about Ralf. She asked herself about Ralf. She wanted to know more about him. It can be seen in the following statement:
She was terrified. She was beginning to realize that after long months of self-control, the pressure, the earthquake, the volcano of her soul was showing signs that it was about to erupt, and the moment that this
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
happened, she would have no way of controlling her feelings. Who was this wretched painter, who might well be lying about his life and with whom she had spent only a few hours, who had not touched her or tried to seduce her-could there be anything worse? (p. 117)
Maria’s feeling was uncontrolled. She asked herself about what Ralf was thinking about. Maria began to guess what Ralf felt, she guessed if Ralf had same feeling like her. It can be seen in the following statement:
Why were alarm bells ringing in her heart? Because she sensed that the same thing was happening to him, but no, she must be wrong. Ralf Hart just wanted to find a woman capable of awakening in him the fire that almost burned out; he wanted to make her into some kind of personal sex goddess, with her “special light” (he was being honest about that), who would take him by the hand and show him the road back life. He couldn’t imagine that Maria felt the same indifference, that she had her own problems (even after so many men, she had never achieved orgasm when having ordinary penetrative sex), that she had been making plans that very morning and was organizing a triumphant return to her homeland. (pp. 117-118)
Then she tried to divert her feeling to make a letter for her father. She wrote a long letter until she slept. But she could not have a good sleep. She slept for a while then she woke up, then she slept and woke up and again and again. It can be seen in the following statement:
She tried to divert her attention to thoughts of how hot it was, or to the supermarket she hadn’t managed to get to yesterday. She wrote a long letter to her father, full of details about the piece of land she would like to buy-that would make her family happy. She did not give a date for her return, but she hinted that it would be soon. She slept, woke up, slept again and woke again. (p.118)
40
When the earthquake had subsided, Maria realized she was partly to blame. Why had she not said to him: “I’m lonely, I’m as miserable as you are, yesterday you saw my ‘light,’ and it was the first nice, honest thing a man has said to m since I got here.” (p. 119)
It was strange for woman who works as a prostitute. In prostitution usually a prostitute has a limitation in making conversation with her clients. Usually what they spoke was about sexuality, not personal problem.
To make a close relationship, Ralf asked Maria to come to his house although he knew that in Copacabana café it was forbidden to meet their clients in their house. It can be seen in the following statement:
“Let’s go back to my house.”
Perhaps that was the best thing to do, she thought. Although it went against all of Milan’s advice, she decided, in this case, to make an exception. Apart from finding out once and for all whether or not he was married, she would also find out how famous painters live, and one day she would be able to write an article for her local newspaper, so that everyone would know that, during her time in Europe, she had moved in intellectual and artistic circles.
“What an absurd excuse!” she thought. (p. 122)
Ralf paid Maria to save him from his sexuality problem. He felt better if she could help him. It can be seen in the following statement:
“You know what I mean, Maria. Teach me. Perhaps that will save me, perhaps it will save you and brings us both back to life. You’re right, I am only six year older than you, and yet I’ve lived enough for several lives. Our experiences have been entirely different, but we are both desperate people; the only thing that brings us any peace is being together.” (p. 126-127)
What Ralf had said to her made Maria think why he said like that. But what made her not understand was they needed each other. It can be seen in the following statement:
Why was he saying these things? It wasn’t possible, and yet it was true. They had only met once before and yet they already needed each other.
