AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCES OF PARENTS’ DIVORCE ON LYDIA’S, CHRISTOPHER’S, AND NATALIE’S BEHAVIORS
AS SEEN IN ANNE FINE’S ALIAS MADAME DOUBTFIRE
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Rr. Suryani Cahyaningrum S.
Student Number: 011214134
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2007
PAGE OF DEDICATION
CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE WITH
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves. If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealously, they learn to feel envy. If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence. If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation. If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal. If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness. If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect. If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
Dorothy Low Nolte
Dedicated with gratitude to my beloved Jesus Christ,
My dearest family and to all children in this world
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ... ii
BOARDS OF EXAMINERS ... iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... iv
PAGE OF DEDICATION ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vi
ABSTRACT ... ix
ABSTRAK ... xi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 6
C. Objectives of the Study ... 6
D. Benefits of the Study ... 6
E. Definition of Terms ... 7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 9
A. Review of Related Theories ... 9
1. Character and Characterization ... 9
a. Character ... 9
b. Characterization ... 10
2. Critical Approaches ... 12
3. Marriage ... 13
4. Divorce ... 14
5. Parents’ Role ... 15
6. Behavior and Child Development ... 16
B. Criticism ... 16
C. Theoretical Framework ... 17
C. The Influences of the Divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s and Natalie’s Behavior ... 44
a. The Influence of Divorce on Lydia’s Behaviors ... 46
b. The Influence of Divorce on Christopher’s Behaviors ... 48
c. The Influence of Divorce on Natalie’s Behaviors ... 50
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 52
A. Conclusions ... 53
B. Suggestions ... 54
1. Suggestions for the Future Researchers ... 54
2. Suggestions of Using Literature for Teaching Learning Processes 55 a. The Role of Literature in Teaching English ... 55
b. The Implementation of Teaching Reading II Using Alias Madame Doubtfire ... 56
REFERENCES ... 60
APPENDICES ... 62
APPENDIX 1. The Summary ... 62
APPENDIX 2. Biography of Anne Fine ... 65
APPENDIX 3. Lesson Plan of Extensive Reading I ... 69
APPENDIX 4. The Material for Extensive Reading I ... 70
APPENDIX 5. List of Errata ... 74
ABSTRACT
Setjadiningrat, Rr. Suryani Cahyaningrum. (2007). An Analysis of the Influences of Parents’ Divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s Behaviors as Seen in Anne Fine’s Alias Madame Doubtfire. Yogyakarta: English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University. Anne Fine is a British author best known for her children's books, of which she has written more than fifty. Alias Madame Doubtfire is one of her famous teenage novels. This novel gives a lot of good moral values for the readers, not only the children but also the parents. Recently, divorce becomes the biggest family issue in many countries. Seeing this phenomenon Twentieth Century Fox filmed her novel Alias Madame Doubtfire as Mrs Doubtfire. The movie has been able to attract many people’s attention, through its story and the actors and actresses who play in this movie.
Through her novel, Anne Fine tries to make people especially parents realize that divorce can give several bad influences, not only to the couple themselves but also the children. There are three problems to analyze in this study namely, (1) How Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are characterized in Anne Fine’s Alias Madame Doubtfire, (2) Why their parents get divorced, and (3) How the divorce influences Lydia’s, Christopher’s and Natalie’s behaviors.
The method I employed in conducting this study was a library research. The sources that I used were found in the library and some other places. There were two kinds of sources. The primary source was obtained from the novel Alias Madame Doubtfire written by Anne Fine and the secondary source was obtained from books on literary works. Because the study concerned behavior changing, I used psychological approach in analyzing the novel. In analyzing the novel, I employed theories of character and characterization, theory of marriage, theory of divorce, theory of behavior and theory of psychology.
Based on the analysis, Lydia is the oldest child in the family. She is an independent, responsible, spontaneous, and brave girl. After her parents get divorced she must take care of her brother and little sister. The second child is Christopher. He is absolutely different from his sister. He is a sensitive, dependent, and rebellious child. He is not as brave as her sister. He is not strong enough to accept the reality that he should live separately from their father. The last one is Natalie. Natalie is the youngest daughter of this family. She does not really understand about her parents divorce. She is only a little girl with an innocent thought, cheerful girl, and she is also a tearful girl.
The life marriage of Daniel and Miranda does not last long enough. Since the marriage, Miranda feels unhappy. Miranda keeps on trying to save the marriage until she has three adorable children. Finally, Miranda decides to get divorced from Daniel. There are three factors that strengthen Miranda’s decision, firstly, her growing financial independence (she receives better salary than her husband), secondly, the growing difference in their personality background, and thirdly, the difference in their educational background.
The divorce influences Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior. From the analysis, there are two factors influencing the children’s behaviors. The first factor is age and the second is children’s sex. Lydia becomes brave and spontaneous to state her opinion, her dislike and her disappointment. She never shouts to her father or mother but after the divorce she dares to shout and yell at her parents. Christopher becomes sensitive, dependent and rebellious. The last one is Natalie. Divorce does not give her many behaviors changing.
Finally, besides giving suggestions to future researchers concerning possible future research on Alias Madame Doubtfire, I also suggest the implementation of the novel in teaching English, especially in teaching reading by using novel Alias Madame Doubtfireas the source.
ABSTRAK
Setjadiningrat, Rr. Suryani Cahyaningrum. (2007). An Analysis of The Influences of Parents’ Divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s Behaviors as Seen in Anne Fine’s Alias Madame Doubtfire. Yogyakarta: English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University. Anne Fine adalah seorang penulis Inggris yang terkenal dengan buku anak-anak, dimana dia telah menulis lebih dari lima puluh buku. Alias Madame Doubtfire adalah salah satu novel remaja yang terkenal. Novel ini memiliki nilai-nilai moral yang baik untuk pembacanya, tidak hanya untuk anak-anak tetapi juga untuk orang tua. Akhir-akhir ini perceraian menjadi permasalahan keluarga yang terbesar di banyak Negara. Melihat fenomena ini Twentieth Century Fox membuat film berdasarkan novel ini. Film tersebut mampu menarik perhatian banyak orang, melalui cerita itu sendiri serta pemeran pria dan pemeran wanitanya yang bermain dalam film tersebut.
Melalui novelnya, Anne Fine mencoba untuk membuat orang-orang terlebih para orang tua menyadari bahwa perceraian dapat membawa dampak buruk, tidak hanya pasangan itu sendiri tetapi juga anak-anak. Ada tiga permasalahan yang dianalisa dalam skripsi ini yaitu: (1) Bagaimana karakteristik Lydia, Christopher dan Natalie digambarkan dalam novel Anne Fine, Alias Madame Doubtfire, (2) Mengapa orang tua Lydia, Christopher dan Natalie bercerai, (3) Bagaimana dampak dari perceraian tersebut pada Lydia, Christopher dan Natalie.
Metode yang saya gunakan dalam mengerjakan skripsi ini adalah penelitian perpustakaan. Sumber-sumber yang saya gunakan dapat ditemukan di perpustakaan dan beberapa tempat lainnya. Saya menggunakan dua macam sumber. Sumber utama adalah novel Alias Madame Doubtfire yang ditulis oleh Anne Fine dan sumber kedua didapatkan dari buku-buku tentang literatur. Karena skripsi ini berkaitan dengan perubahan sikap, saya menggunakan pendekatan psikologi dalam menganalisa permasalahan-permasalahan. Dalam menanalisa novel, saya juga menggunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori pernikahan, teori perceraian, teori sikap dan teori psikologi.
Berdasarkan pada analisa Lydia adalah anak tertua dalam keluarga ini. Dia adalah seorang anak yang mandiri, bertanggungjawab, spontan dan berani. Setelah perceraian orang tuanya dia harus menjaga adik laki-lakinya dan adik perempuannya. Anak kedua adalah Christopher. Dia benar-benar berbeda dari kakaknya. Dia adalah anak yang sensitif, tidak mandiri dan pemberontak. Dia tidak seberani kakaknya. Dia juga tidak cukup kuat untuk menerima kenyataan bahwa dia harus tinggal terpisah dengan ayahnya. Yang terakhir adalah Natalie. Natalie adalah anak termuda dalam keluarga ini. Dia belum mengerti tentang perceraian orang tuanya. Dia hanya seorang anak kecil yang polos, periang dan juga cengeng.
Kehidupan pernikahan Daniel dan Miranda tidak berlangsung lama. Sejak penikahannya, Miranda merasa tidak bahagia. Miranda terus berusaha untuk
menyelamatkan pernikahannya sampai dia mendapatkan tiga orang anak yang mempesona. Pada akhirnya, Miranda memutuskan untuk bercerai dengan Daniel. Ada tiga faktor yang memperkuat keputusan Miranda, pertama peningkatan pendapatannya (dia menerima gaji lebih baik daripada suaminya), kedua perbedaan latar belakang kepribadian mereka yang semakin bertambah, dan yang ketiga perbedaan latar belakang pendidikan.
Perceraian tersebut mempengaruhi sikap Lydia, Christopher, dan Natalie. Dari hasil analisa ada dua faktor yang mempengaruhi anak-anak. Faktor pertama adalah umur dan yang kedua adalah jenis kelamin anak. Lydia menjadi berani dan spontan untuk mengutarakan pendapatnya, ketidaksukaannya dan kekecewaannya. Dia tidak pernah berteriak kepada ayah dan ibunya tapi setelah perceraian terjadi dia berani berteriak dan membentak orang tuanya. Christopher dia menjadi sensitif, tidak mandiri dan memberontak. Yang terakhir adalah Natalie. Perceraian tidak membawa dampak banyak pada perubahan sikapnya, dilihat dari usianya yang masih muda.
Akhirnya, disamping memberikan saran-saran untuk penelitian yang akan datang mengenai Alias Madame Doubtfire, penulis juga memberikan saran-saran mengenai penerapan novel ini dalam pengajaran Bahasa Inggris, terutama dalam mata kuliah membaca dengan menggunakan novel Alias Madame Doubtfire sebagai sumbernya.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my praise to Jesus Christ who gives me wonderful life and also for His everlasting love, blessing, and guidance during my study at Sanata Dharma University. He has blessed me with his love through people around me in mysterious ways, so that finally I was able to finish my thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to my major sponsor, Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y., M.Hum and my co-sponsor, C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd, who have willingly devoted their time to read, correct, and improve my thesis. I am deeply grateful for their significant suggestions (and advice) during the completion of this thesis. Their invaluable generous assistance and criticism from time to time in every part of my study have enabled me to finish this thesis without encountering serious obstacles. I am also deeply thankful to all of the members of lecturing staff of the English Department of Sanata Dharma University, who have guided and taught me during my study in Sanata Dharma University, and to the secretariat staff, Mbak Dani and Mbak Tari, and the librarians of Sanata Dharma University, who have given their kind service to me.
My sincere appreciation are mostly addressed to my dearest father. R. Tedja Irry Puspa S. and mother, Annie Maryani H. S. for their support morally and financially, everlasting love, attention, pray, and also their valuable help. Special appreciation is also given to my beloved brother, Koh Candra and his wife, Cik Yulys and my beloved sisters, Cik Lia and her husband Mas Miko and my little sister Dewi, for their affection and care. Thank you for always being there for me and never letting me down so that I can keep standing tall.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Dra. Lany Anggawati and Dra Wena Cintiawati for their kindness in giving me time and chance to learn more in CEC. My gratitude also go to Cik Endang, for her kindness, patience, support and prayers, all English teachers, Kakak Retno, Widhi, Santi, Woro, Cecil, Ima, Seevi, Dame, Upix and Putra Bangsa Kindergarteen and Elementary School Teachers , Bu Ari, Pak Eko, Bu Kaka, Bu Lidya, Bu Sisca, Bu Dwi, Bu
Tri, Bu Haryanti, Bu Nia, Bu Eva, Bu Tika, Bu Vero, Pak Adi, Pak Yadi for his kindness.
My Appreciation also go to my beloved best friends, Loise Yolanda Susanto, Kak Dimas, John and family, Budi Suryana, and Albert Setyawan for always staying around me. I thank them for giving me support, inputs, ideas, and comments on my thesis, their love and the unforgettable moments, either joys or sorrows, we have had together. They are the ones who always shared my ups and downs. I realize I might not have taken right decision on my confusing difficulty and dilemmas of my thesis and other things without their being my side. I never regret to have friends like them.
My special appreciation also goes to the late Simak Nyoo Kiem Tjoe, Cik
Hyang and all of Jakarta families, Singku Anton and family, and Singku Hin and family, Cik Djing and family who have taught me many useful things, and encouraged me to finish my study successfully and do my best in whatever I do.
I also thank to my friends who made this work possible, particularly Widuri, Swanti, Septi, Handi, Victor, Lia, Widi, Dik Uni, Shinta, Shanti, and Woro for providing me their advices, companion and generous technical help. I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to all friends at Sanata Dharma University, especially my classmates of 2001, class e and f, who have been nice companions and encouraged me to finish this work.
Once again, I thank them very much for everything they all have done for me and given to me in conducting this thesis. I love them all and I will always remember them all for my lifetime.
Rr. Suryani C.S.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents five parts, namely background of the study, problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of study contains some reasons which serve as a basis for writing this thesis and the importance of discussing the topic of the study. The problem formulation states the problems discussed in this study. The objectives of the study state the answer of the problem formulation. The benefits of the study state the expectation of the writer toward the readers. Finally, the definition of terms clarifies some important terms used in this study.
A. Background of the Study
Love is universal concept that everybody is familiar with. Love is a very difficult word to define, but it can be perceived easily through some effects that it creates. The feeling of joy, happiness, and peace is the effects created by love. Love is not restricted to the relation between sexes, but it expands beyond it. Fromm (6) says this universal concept may exist between human being and God, parents and child, brothers, sisters, friends, and even between people and other creatures. By loving someone, we can learn how to care, how to give affection and attention, how to forgive and how to understand one another. Family is the smallest unit of society. It contains a father, a mother, and children. Beebe says that family is a social group having specified roles and status (e.g. husband, wife,
father, mother, son, and daughter) with ties of blood, marriage or adoption, and they usually share a common residence and cooperate economically (376). Thus, family is a place where parents and children share their love, happiness, and sadness. It is a place where children can get a lot of attention and affection from their parents and the most important is that children can get their first education from the family. The first education, such as how to speak, how to behave, how to eat, and how to socialize with other people is very crucial. It will form the children characteristics. Hurlock says:
The child’s attitude and behavior are marked by the family into which he is born and in which he grows up. Because the home is the child’s first environment, it sets the pattern for his attitude towards people, things, and life in general (514).
Family education is crucial because it is the basic education in forming children’s personality. That is why parents’ role is very significant, as children can easily imitate the adult’s behavior. Also, environments where they live and stay give a lot of influences. Saying bad words, smoking, physical harassment, sex abuse, raping and divorce are few examples of situation that can ruin children’s personality, psychology, and behavior.
The children feel upset, and desperation can draw them into personality sickness. Afterwards, people just blame the family as the cause of the matters. In fact it is not easy for a family to bring up children. The condition of family holds the control of children up bringing. Healthy family will bring up healthy children.
To form a family, a man and a woman get married first. Marriage is the beginning of a family life. They accept legal responsibility for supporting and caring children. The success of a marriage depends on what the couples want and how they live. Some people believe that marriage is successful if the husband is a good provider, if the wife is a dutiful keeper, and if the couple has children. The others believe that a successfully married couple must find happiness in their relationship as a husband and wife. They believe that happiness in marriage requires deep understanding and loving companionship between the two persons (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1971: 24).
Marriage is a bridge to build a kind of relationship which has several consequences. Marriage brings together two different attitudes, ideas, ideals and principles. Therefore, marriage is not a simple thing to get through. Each individual must realize that they cannot force their attitudes, ideas, ideals and principles to each other. There must be understanding and maturity. Lack of understanding and maturity in marriage will lead various kinds of conflicts.
conflict, hey may learn to understand each other more. When they have settled it down, they
will find a new way to show their love.
A conflict in marriage may lead to a divorce. When love no longer exists and there is an unsolved problem in a marriage, divorce will be the best decision for the couple, but sometimes they do not realize that the decision can affect other members of the family. Children experience the hardest effect of their parents divorce. Deciding to divorce as the only way to solve conflict in a marriage directly and indirectly brings enormous influences on the children. According to Young (64), the best thing we could do for children is to help their parents. The more we could help a divorcing mother or father work through her or his adjustment problems, the more it seems we are doing the best for the children.
The effects of divorce are age-related in children, they respond differently to parental separation according to their present developmental stage. Thus parents must realize that children have a right to convey their idea. However, good and close understanding and communication between parents and children can help them pass the difficult moment they are experiencing.
Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually, it provides and objectives base for our knowledge and understanding, it helps us to connect ourselves to the cultural context of which we are part, it enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles in different societies that would never otherwise get to know (2)
One type of works of literature is novel. A novel has the capability to give its readers pleasure. It is also able to open our understanding of the truth of life wider as a novel displays complex relationship among the characters, which brings some messages to the readers.
Based on the facts mentioned above, I chose Alias Madame Doubtfireby Anne Fine. The novel is about the power of love of a father on his children. Having divorced with his wife, Daniel cannot live with his children. He only has limited times to meet his children. He does everything to meet his children, including disguises himself as a Lady housekeeper.
I focus on the children, Lydia, Christopher, and Natalie and the influences of divorce on their behaviors. The divorce brings a lot of changes in their relationship. First, the children are separated from their beloved father. Second, nobody takes care of the children because none of their parents is ready to do it as a single parent. Third, the divorce changes their behavior.
fails because their mother chooses another man. Thirdly, by reading and analyzing the novel, one can learn that nobody is perfect.
Therefore, by understanding the characteristics and the behaviors of the three children before and after their parents’ divorce, one may learn that each individual is unique, and that everybody changes and progresses. Besides, it may help the adult to consider every decision that they take.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problems to discuss in this study. They can be formulated as follows:
1. How are Lydia, Christopher, and Natalie characterized in Anne Fine’s Alias Madame Doubtfire?
2. Why do Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s parents divorce?
3. How does the divorce influence Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Benefits of the Study
There are three objectives to gain in this study. Firstly, for I myself, studying and examining this novel specifically in analyzing the main characters can give me broader knowledge about literature, a family life with its conflicts, and psychological lessons. Secondly, it is to introduce Anne Fine’s novel to the readers and help the readers to understand and recognize the characteristics of this novel. Hopefully the readers could grasp the message stated by the author. At last, this study can be used by the English Language Education Study Program student who has the same study on literature and who is interested in studying Anne Fine’s novel as their supporting sources.
E. Definition of Terms
It is necessary to clarify some important terms in order to provide an accurate analysis and a clearer explanation to answer formulated problems. These terms are:
1. Influence
Hornby says influence is a power to affect somebody’s character, beliefs or actions through example, fear, admiration, etc. (437). This means that influence is an ability to make some thoughts, actions and expressions appear on someone, so that they enrich and become the parts of the
2. Divorce
According to Kuper (193) divorce is the legal procedure by which marriage
can be formally ended. Since divorce is the legal ending of marriage, there are some rules that control the process of divorce.
3. Behavior
Schwartz says behavior is human attitude which can be readily observed and measured. The source of the actions lies in the environment (4). In this novel, children’s behavior changing is clearly described after their parents divorced.
4. Character
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter will focus on the theories that relate to this study. This chapter will be divided into three main parts, namely review of related theories, criticism, and theoretical framework. Review of related theories consists of theories of critical approaches, theory of character and theory of characterization. Theories of marriage, divorce, and behavior will be discussed in the next section. This chapter also includes the criticism on Alias Madame Doubtfire and the theoretical framework.
A. Review of Related Theories 1. Character and Characterization a. Character
Greedy, arrogant, cruel, kind, and humble are examples of characteristics of a character. That is why a character is a significant element in the work of literature. It can make the story alive. Through a character the author can convey the message he wants to say and the readers can easily understand the story. Character according to Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (20-21), is a person who acts out in a particular time and place some kind of conflict in a pattern of events.
Forster (46-51) however divides characters into two kinds, flat and round characters. A flat character is the easiest character to recognize, because this character has a steady characteristic, which means that the characteristic does not
change from the beginning until the end of the story. A flat character can be described in a single phrase or sentence and also characterized by one or two traits. A round character is difficult to recognize or to remember, it has unsteady characteristic. We can remember this character in connection with the great scenes, different from flat character, round character has many sides.
Henkle (87-97) states that character can be described as major and secondary character. A major character or main character is a character that plays an important role in the story, he is the one to whom all the events in the story have relevance. Major character is always getting the fullest attention from the readers because he performs a key structural function. A secondary character may be less sophisticated, because this character performs limited functions. Although a secondary character gets little attention from the readers, this character is important for building the character of the major character.
b. Characterization
Characterization according to Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (20-21) is the process by which an author creates a character. Murphy mentions nine ways in which an author attempts to make his characters understandable to and come alive for his readers (161-173). They are:
1) Personal description
Personal description means that the author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes in the story.
Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe him through the
eyes and opinions of another. 3) Speech
It is an important way that may be used to describe a character. The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character.
4) Past life
By letting the readers learn something about a person’s past life, the author can give them a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation or through the medium of another person. 5) Conversation of others
We can take clues of a person’s character through the conversations of the other people and the things they say about him. People do talk about other people and the things they say often give us a clue to the character of the person spoken about.
6) Reactions
7) Direct comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. 8) Thoughts
The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell us what different people are thinking.
9) Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism and habits which may also tell us something about his character
2. Critical Approaches
To understand any kind of literary work in more details, readers should use a critical approach. A critical approach provides a method for the readers to gain a higher value of understanding of the work being read. In short we can say that it brings us a better understanding of its nature, function, and positive values.
author’s life, idea and personality are considered to be important elements in studying literary work. Third is the socialcultural – historical approach. This approach asserts the socialcultural – historical back ground in which the literary work is created influences that literary object. Fourth is the mythopoeic approach. When the major interest of critic is the mythopoeic approach, he or she attempts to find particular recurrent patterns of human thought, which are considered sharing the same universal belief to certain community mind. The patterns, generally, involve death and rebirth, guilt and sacrifices, primitive rites, or patterns of behavior basic to Christian theology. The last is the psychological approach. When the analyst employs this approach he or she insists that each character’s behavior could be referred to the psychology of human being. So the characters’ thought and behavior can be traced more profoundly by using this approach. To analyze the novel, the reader response approach is also used. It is used to know the reader’s response and opinion on this novel.
3. Marriage
Marriage is the most significant decision most people make in their lives. When one chooses a spouse partner, one chooses a companion for life whom he can count on, he can trust, he can love and give himself to, someone who will care for him no matter what, and someone whom he can make happy.
of human beings. Marriage is a vital relationship to human beings for the growth and development.
Furthermore, Whitehead states that marriage for a lifetime is constituted by the interaction of the couple’s relationship, the couple’s commitment and lifestyle. It means that marriage for a lifetime demands both stability and responsibility. The mutual love is the core of a marriage, but in a marriage the relationship is more than just their love here and now. It is the commitments that they have made to one another that ground their love. These commitments give them the courage to undertake the risks of creative and procreative activity together. It is these commitments that are expressed in the choices, behavior and attitudes that make up the patterns of the couple’s life style (Whitehead, 32). 4. Divorce
According to Kuper (193) divorce is the legal procedure by which marriage can be formally ended. The process of divorce is based on the law and rules that are applied in the state the couple lives.
Kupper (193) states, many factors in a family can cause a separation. There are four factors that can lead a marriage into divorce. First is diversity on social class. Some people believe that marriage among the working classes is better adjusted, happier, and less prone to divorce among the middle and upper classes. This belief appears to be unfounded. Poverty can be a definite handicap to successful marital interaction, although the relationship may be an involved one.
background. The personality which each spouse brings to marriage is, as we have indicated, a basic consideration in the success of the marital relationship. Fourth is age at marriage. Age at marriage is another factor in divorce. People who get married at a very young age have a pronounced instability of marriage and a high rate of divorce. This is especially true of women who marry before the age of 18. Those are common factors that appear in marriage and if the couple cannot find the problem solving, their marriage will end up with divorce.
Divorce, nowadays, is not only initiated by men but over the last twenty years women have begun to take more initiative in ending intolerable marriages (Young, 7). Young also states, changing role concepts in marriage, altered religious, social and cultural attitudes, and financial independence increasingly have put men and women on an equal footing when it comes to resolving a bad marriage (8).
In conclusion divorce can happen to many people. Divorce does not only happen in poor families or uneducated people but also happen in rich families and educated people. Divorce can give bad effect to children, if they have any, since children in the process of growing up and learning it is necessary for them to have their both parents figure. Loosing one of the figures can ruin their self esteem. Therefore, divorce can be avoided if each spouse can control their self-centeredness.
5. Parents’ Role
Parents become instructors, educators, advisors, supervisors, facilitators, and role models for their children (32-39).
As instructors, parents give the order and information to the children. As educators, parents transfer the knowledge of the things happening around the children. Parents are not only responsible for theis children’s intellectuality but also morality. As advisors, parents give their children some advises on what happens and what will happen in order to make the children able to choose to the appropriate way that leads them to find the best solution. As supervisors, parents watch and control the children. Therefore, the children are under controlled. As facilitators, parents provide some facilities to support the children’s developments. As role models, parents become models in doing something to their children. 6. Behavior and Child Development
According to Schwartz, behavior is something which can be readily observed and measured and behavior theory emphasizes environmental events playing the key role of determining human behavior (4). Schwartz also states that the source of every action lies not inside the person, but in the environment and behavior is influenced by the environmental events. Schwartz adds that if we are able to understand how environmental events influence behavior, we will arrive at a complete understanding of behavior (5).
easily, because his or her suffering events are internal. Internal events can be observed when the subjects express them through their behaviors.
Second, the theory behavior emphasizes that environmental events in human life determine their personality. The source of action lies not inside the person, but the environment. Environment motivates human beings to do some actions (4).
B. Criticism
This novel was criticized by some mass media and experts. Schickel, a film critic for TIME magazine, in his article Looking for Mr. Goodfather says:
All cross-dressing comedies are improbable. Most of the fun comes from seeing people fooled by what seems to us, who are in on the joke, a completely penetrable ruse. Curiously enough, what’s really unpersuasive about Mrs. Doubtfire (not to say draggy) is its nondrag sequences. The children are goody-goodies, without mischief or quirks , and their father’s relationship with them is unclouded by even minor impatience, let alone major outrage (1993).
His statement above shows that it is not just a humorous novel but inside of this humorous novel there is a great value about parents and children relationship.
Laidman, a movie critic, says that this novel seems to want to make some sort of message about the painful realities of divorce and the couple end up arguing as bitterly if not more so than before (1993). Ebert the movie reviewer for the Chicago Sun Times says, any review of "Mrs. Doubtfire" must take into account Dustin Hoffman's transvestite comedy, "Tootsie," which remains by far the better film: more believable, more intelligent and funnier. "Tootsie" grew out of real wit and insight; "Mrs. Doubtfire" has the values and depth of a sitcom (1993).
C. Theoretical Framework
To analyze a novel, applying a certain approach is necessary. Therefore, theory of approaches is used to decide which approach is the most suitable in this study. Therefore, I assume the psychological approach is the most appropriate to analyze the influences of family separation on children.
In order to analyze Lydia’s, Christopher’s, Natalie’s, and their parents’
characteristics I employ theory of character and characterization. Through these
may appear in marriage to analyze this problem I employ the theory of divorce. Third is theory of parents’ role. The theory is used to analyze the significant value of parent’s role in growing up the children. The last theory is the theory of behavior. This theory is really needed to analyze the children behavior in facing their parents’ divorce and finding the effects of the divorce on their behavior.
By using those theories, the influences of divorce on children’s behavior are revealed. The detail and explicit explanation about those theories above will be discussed in chapter four.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into four parts namely, subject matter, approaches, data collection and procedures. Subject matter deals with the physical description of a novel. The approaches concern with literary approaches which are used to analyze the novel. Data collection deals with the sources which are used in analyzing the study. Finally, the procedures concern the steps used in completing the study.
A. Subject Matter
The subject matter of this study is a novel entitled Alias Madame Doubtfire,written by Anne Fine. The novel is about a family problem. The novel itself consists of 199 pages and was published by Little, Brown and Company, Inc. in 1988.
The story is about Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s parents who are in the midst of a divorce. Their parents divorce because the mother, Miranda, cannot stand her husband, Daniel Hilliard, who is an unemployed actor. Miranda charges for divorce and gains temporary custody of the children. The judge gives Daniel visitation rights only on Saturdays. As the time goes by, Miranda feels that she needs help. She needs someone to take care of the children and also the house while she is working. She decides to put an advertisement and looks for a housekeeper on a newspaper.
Actually the children refuse to have a housekeeper to watch and take care of them. They prefer to have their father to take care of them. Miranda disagrees with her children’s idea. She does not want her children to have a problem, since Daniel is an irresponsible husband and father, according to Miranda. It makes difficult for Daniel to visit his children. He tries to find an idea to get into the house. Finally he disguises himself as Madame Doubtfire.
B. Approaches
This study focuses on the influences of divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior. I use psychological approach which involves the theory of psychology to understand literary works (Rohrberger and Woods Jr., 6-15). The reason I chose this approach because the influences of divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior only can be revealed by psychological theories. That is why psychological approach is the only appropriate approach in discussing the problem in this study. By using psychological approach the analysis of the influences of divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior could be done effectively. This approach is used to examine the marriage life, the causes of divorce, the reactions and the influences of divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behavior.
C. Data Collection
The sources are basically divided into two parts. They are primary sources and secondary sources. The explanation of each kind of sources will be given as follows:
1. Primary Source
The primary source is the source that becomes the basis of the study. The novel, Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne fine is the primary source that is used in this study.
2. Secondary Sources
The secondary sources are sources that become the supporting sources in giving information in the study. Firstly, the literary sources are those of the theory of character, characterization, and the approaches are: Reading and Writing about Literature written by Rohrberger and Woods Jr., Reading the Novel written by Henkle, and Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and The English Novel for Overseas Students written by Murphy. Secondly, the books that become the supporting sources of the study related to marriage, divorce, and children behavior, such as: Psychology of Learning and Behavior by Schwartz, Child Development written by Elizabeth Hurlock, Divorcing, Believing, Belonging by James J. Young and The Social Science Encyclopedia by Adam Kuper and Jessica Kuper.
D. Procedures
The research that was conducted in gathering data was a library study. It meant that the main procedures that I used to gain data were reading and taking important notes that helped to analyze the novel. Beside that, there were other steps taken during the process of the study. First was finding the novel itself. Second was reading the novel many times. Third was marking the important points of the content to make it easier to analyze. Fourth was making note on some important points in the novel. Fifth was deciding the title and the problems. Sixth was gathering information from other sources. Seventh was compiling the sources. Eight was writing the thesis outline. Ninth was doing the analysis. The last was making the conclusion of the study based on the result of the analysis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter consists of four parts to answer the problems formulated in chapter two. First is character. In the first part the characteristics’ of Lydia, Christopher and Natalie will be discussed. The parents’ marriage life will be discussed in the second part from their marriage until their decision to get divorce. The third part is the influence of the divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s, and Natalie’s behaviors. The last part is parental role.
A. Character
Abrams (20) defines character as the person in a novel or a play whose moral and dispositional qualities can be understood by the readers from the dialogue and action. It is easier for the readers to define and recognize the characters’ characteristics by reading the dialogue or story.
In Alias Madame Doubtfire there are some characters that play the most important role in this novel. They are Daniel Hilliard (the father and Mrs. Doubtfire), Miranda (the mother), Lydia (the eldest daughter), Christopher (the only son), and Natalie (the youngest child).
Henkle (87-97) divides character into major and secondary character. Daniel, Lydia, Christopher, and Natalie are including into major character. The secondary character who performs limited function is Miranda. The analysis will
focus on the main major characters namely, Lydia, Christopher, and Natalie in order to find the influence of divorce on them.
Different from Henkle, Forster (46-51) divides character into flat and round character. Flat character is the easiest character to recognize because the characteristics do not change from the beginning until the end of the story. Therefore, flat character is easily to be forgotten by the reader. Lydia, Christopher, and Natalie are round characters. Round character is difficult to recognize since they have unsteady characteristics. How ever, round character leave deepest impression on the readers.
Rohrberger and Woods Jr. (20-21) says that we can recognize the characters’ characteristics through personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism. By applying some of them, the main characters’ characteristics can be revealed.
1. The Characteristics of Lydia
Lydia’s characteristics can be explored by using Rohrberger’s and Woods Jr.’s theory of character and characterization.
a. Independent
As the eldest child in the family she is forced to be an independent child. In her young age (13) she must suffer from family separation and she must take care of her brother, her little sister and herself. Her parents’ divorce changes Lydia to be an independent child. It can be seen trough her speech.
of my own, and from now on you two had better start thinking of mine.” (p. 188)
The speech above appears when Lydia cannot stand anymore hearing her parents fight about their rights in taking care of the children. She loves both of her parents and she does not want to make one of them feel disappointed. So the fact above can describe one of Lydia’s characteristics, that is independent.
b. Responsible
Since the divorce, Lydia’s parents do not live together anymore. Daniel lives in the apartment while Miranda and the children live in their former house. Miranda is facing a new problem after the divorce. She is worried about the children. She is afraid if she cannot take care of the children while she is working. Thus, Miranda gives the responsibility to Lydia for taking care of Christopher and Natalie while she is working. It is clearly described from the way Lydia protects her little sister, Natalie.
“I mean,” said Lydia, “that we are only here on Tuesday for tea and every other weekend. It isn’t much. So it would be quite nice if Natty didn’t have to spend it listening to unpleasant remarks” (p. 5)
Lydia feels that it must be hard for Natalie to listen unpleasant remarks from their father. Sometimes Lydia scolds her father to stop being silly and makes Natalie cry (p.10).
Christopher’s reaction it can describe Lydia’s characteristics. The quotation above shows one of Lydia’s characteristics, that is responsible. It can be seen from the way she protects Christopher and Natalie.
c. Spontaneous
Another Lydia’s characteristic is spontaneous. If her father starts to say an unpleasant remark about her mother she will spontaneously interrupt her father. Every time there is something that she does not like she will react spontaneously. It happens when her mother picks the children up very early so that the children only have a little time with their father. It makes Daniel angry and he starts to say an unpleasant remark on her mother. Lydia snapped: “It isn’t very easy for her, you know, being a single parent” (p. 9). Lydia suddenly snaps her father’s statement. She cannot accept it, because she knows that her mother also has difficulties in managing her time to take the children to Daniel’s apartment and pick them up.
Another occasion is when Daniel expresses his disagreement on his wife’s decision and Natalie almost cries. He feels that it is unfair for him having a short time with his children. “Oh, do stop being so silly!” Lydia scolded her father impatiently. “You’re almost making Natty cry. You tell us off for it, and then you do exactly the same” (p. 10). Seeing her sister cry, Lydia scolds impatiently his father in order to stop him for being silly. So, both quotations show one of Lydia’s characteristics, that is spontaneous.
She is also brave. She is brave enough to criticize her father’s silly behavior
and sometimes she uses rude words to remind her father. The quotation below is
taken when her father expresses his hatred on his wife’s decision.
“I could murder her. Truly I could! Sometimes I think I could cheerfully slit her throat!”
“No! Daddy! No!” Natalie was off her chair in a moment. Tears scorching her cheeks, she hurled herself across the room, and beat fiercely with her fists.
Lydia was shocked.
“Dad! Really! For God’s sake!” (p.12)
Surprising to see her father’s behavior Lydia bravely shouts to her father to stop it. Lydia tries to protect her sister for being afraid and it happens many times. In the quotation below Lydia does the same thing. She bravely warns her father.
“Oh, do stop being so silly!” Lydia scolded her father impatiently. “You’re almost making Natty cry. You tell us off for it, and then you do exactly the same.” (p. 10)
She is also brave enough to utter her feeling. When she feels tired of her parents’ fighting she can directly say or express her anger in front of her parents. It happens when her mother knows that their father disguises as Mrs. Doubtfire. They start to fight in front of their children. Miranda is very angry. She cannot accept the way Daniel comes into her house. She feels humiliated by her ex husband.
Lydia rose. Her rage lent her an ashen, fierce dignity that neither parent had seen before.
This condition is not easy for Lydia. To have divorced parents in her life is hard. It is hard as she must take care of her brother and sister. Another evidence to show Lydia’s bravery towards her parents is when she tells her father that she yells to her mother. This is the first time for her to shout in front of her mother and she regrets it.
“Yelled. I yelled that … ” She hesitated. Her voice was shaking at the
memory. “I yelled at her that, if she didn’t let me go today, she would regret it!” (p.188)
From the quotations above it can be seen that one of Lydia’s characteristic is brave.
2. The Characteristics of Christopher
Christopher is a twelve-year-old boy. He is the second child and the only son of this family. He also has some characteristics described in the novel.
a. Sensitive
Christopher has a sensitive feeling. There are some quotations that show his sensitive side. The first happens when his mother argues with his father. Daniel asks Miranda to have the children live with him rather than finding a housekeeper to take care of the children. Miranda refuses it and makes Christopher feel disappointed. A glistening tear tracked slowly down Christopher’s cheek, and dropped on the newspaper coupon, flooding and blurring the telephone number (p.49). The tears that fall down on his cheek seem to show his incapacity to stand on his mother’s decision.
emotion to rebel on their fight. Suddenly in tears, Christopher utters his disappointment and anger on his parents’ fight. Christopher rose, too. “So do I,” he told them. He was in tears. “You are disgusting and ugly, both of you!” (p. 176)
That is another proof that Christopher is a sensitive child. He tries hard to utter his disappointment on his parents’ fight but he cannot hold his tears from falling down. Thus, it can be concluded that Christopher has sensitive characteristics.
b. Dependent
Christopher is also a dependent child. He often asks her sister to help him to strengthen his opinions in front of his father or mother. On one occasion Christopher asks her sister for a help when their father feels disappointed and angry about his wife’s decision in looking for a housekeeper. Daniel expects that the children can stay with him while their mother is working. Daniel thinks it is better for the children to live with their own parents rather that with stranger. This condition makes Daniel frustrated. Daniel thinks that Christopher and his sisters never try to ask or force their mother to let them stay in Daniel’s apartment. The quotation below happens when Daniel knows that Miranda is looking for a housekeeper. Knowing the fact, Daniel interrogates Christopher. Seeing Daniel uncontrolled question, Christopher asks his sister to help him.
“But you did want to come?” he pressed his son.
Christopher shook himself irritability, and turned to Lydia for help. She answered for him. (p. 34)
mother tries to keep him away from his father. “You didn’t.” Christopher was surly. “You tried to keep him right out, as usual.” He turned to his sister for support. Didn’t she, Lydia?” (p.70). Whenever he tries to argue on his father’s or mother’s decision, he always asks his sister’s support. The quotations above prove that he is a dependent child, he needs someone to lean on.
c. Rebellious
Having an inconvenient situation, Christopher becomes a rebellious boy. He
cannot accept his parents’ divorce. He often complains whenever her mother tries to put him away from his father. The first example is when his mother picks him up early in his father’s apartment. Christopher shows his dislike through his speech. He protests in a petulant voice (p.51). The word petulant is given by the author to describe Christopher’s characteristics.
The second is when his mother hires a housekeeper to take care of the house and the children.
“Why do we have to have a housekeeper anyway, mother? The house is all right, and so are we! And if you need us to be looked after, why can’t Dad do it?” (p.68)
“But isn’t fair,” he persisted. “I didn’t mean to be rude, and I’m sorry if I was. But I still don’t see why Lydia and Natty and I can’t spend the extra time with Dad.” (p.69-70)
Through Christopher’s speech, the readers can see that Christopher loves his father. Only having a few times with his father changes him into rebellious child.
having short time with his father. “The quail is home,” Christopher muttered with all the insolence of remaindered rebellion. (p. 51). All of those quotations above implicitly describe a rebellion side of Christopher. This is also one of the divorce’s influences on children’s behavior.
3. The Characteristics of Natalie
She is a six-year-old, the youngest children in this family. She is an adorable girl. She knows about her parents’ divorce, but she never stops hoping that her mother forgives her father.
a. Innocent
Natalie is an innocent child. Even though her father some times does ridiculous things she keeps on adoring him. She tries to be a peacemaker between her mother and her father even sometimes she tells untruth. Through Natalie’s speech it can be seen her innocent side. Once, when she visits her father she tells lie in order to make her father happy.
Natalie said:
“Daddy, Mother sent you her love.”
“Did she?” Daniel was astonished. “Did she really?”
“No,” Christopher said, reaching inside the cage to touch his pet.
“Of course not,” said Lydia. “Natalie just made that up, or saw it on television or something.” (p.5)
There is one another occasion when her father asks about the coats that he buys for the children. He wants to know whether the children wear them or not. Nobody answer, until Natalie in a happy voice and innocent face tells:
“I wear mine,” Natalie offered. “I did wear mine on bonfire night, and
When Natalie answers her father’s question, what in her mind is just to make her father happy. She does not realize that actually the fact that she wears her coat makes her father disappointed. Below is Daniel’s response:
“See?” Daniel crowded triumphantly. “See? She only lets you wear my coats when she’s afraid the coat’s she bought will get scorched, or ripped, or filthy, or –“ (thinking of dog doo) “— worse.” (p. 7)
Daniel feels disappointed with his wife. Knowing that Miranda only lets the children wear his coats to play with dirt, hurts him. Natalie is only a little girl with an innocent thought. She loves her father so much and she does not want to see her father sad.
b. Cheerful
Natalie is a cheerful girl. Her actions and every statement that come from her mouth can make people laugh. There is one occasion that shows her cheerful characteristics. When Natalie comes to her father’s apartment with her cheerful voice, she shouts to her father. She is very happy and excited because her mother comes along with Christopher and her to visit their father.
“Dadd—ee!”
Daniel emerged from his freshly gleaming bathroom.
“Surprise, surprise!” he exclaimed. “And is Christopher with you?” “He’s coming up with Mother.” (p. 190)
Another occasion is when her father receives a letter from their mother. Their mother tells that the children will stay on Friday night with her because on Saturday morning they have to go for shopping. Actually, Daniel feels disappointed because that is the time for him to meet the children. Natalie tries to amuse him with a song.
“Dad can buy anything better than her!”
He held his hands out to Natalie, and swung her round in a circle, singing raucously. Natalie reached for her father as she swung past him, and made him join in, too. To Daniel’s astonishment, Lydia join in of her own accord. (p. 15-16)
With her cheerful characteristics, she can break the sad circumstance into a happy one. The quotations above prove that her parents’ divorce does not give enormous influence to Natalie. She is still a cheerful girl with an innocent thought.
c. Tearful
A six-year-old child is easy to cry. She cries when someone tries to tease her
or something bad happens to her (e.g. accident). She cries when her brother teases and mocks her. Once, when they visit their father, on the way to their father apartment’s door they argue about who will give the letter to their father. Lydia and Christopher take the advantage of being tall.
So Christopher tucked the envelope down the top of her pinafore dress, behind the yellow felt ducklings. Natalie’s eyes filled with tears, and by the time Daniel Hilliard opened the door to let his children in, she was weeping gently. (p.3)
Natalie always cries when his father does ridiculous things. She becomes afraid when her father starts to say unpleasant remarks with horrible expressing. It happens when her father feels disappointed with her mother decision for giving him short time with the children.
“I could murder her. Truly I could! Sometimes I think I could cheerfully slit her throat!”
Lydia was shocked.
“Dad! Really! For God’s sake!” (p.12)
On another occasion Natalie cries when her father does not allow the children to go home while their mother is waiting for them inside the car. Natalie is afraid to see her mother angry. “Look at poor Natty! She’s terrified already. Two minutes her mother’s been waiting in the car and Natalie’s nearly in tears.” (p. 38)
Through the author’s description, the readers can see Natalie’s reaction on her parents’ behavior. She begins to cry when her father does weird behaviors. Actually her father is only making a joke but Natalie thinks that her father does it seriously, for example when her father feels angry with her mother and says that he will kill his wife by chocking her neck. Thus, the quotations above implicitly describe Natalie’s characteristics as a tearful child.
B. The Parents’ Divorce
In this section the marriage life of Daniel and Miranda will be discussed, beginning from their wedding day until their decision to get divorced. The influences of divorce on Lydia’s, Christopher’s and Natalie’s will be also discussed in this section. The last is the parental roles, what parents should be for the children.
1. The Marriage
choose a companion for life; someone we can count on; someone we can trust; someone who will care for us no matter what; someone we can love and someone we can make happy (15). Miranda says:
“Anyhow, it would never have occurred to me to back out. I was so happy. I loved him, and I wanted him, and there we were, married at last. We stepped away from the Registrar’s desk, and all our friends surged forward to hug us and kiss us and …” She stopped short. (p.107)
Miranda feels the same thing when she meets Daniel. She thinks that accepting Daniel Hilliard can change her life.
I am a little straitlaced by nature, I’d be the first to admit it. But sometimes it seems to me that Daniel can act any part in the world to perfection except that of a normal, responsible human being!” She sighed. “Maybe that’s what attracted me in the first place. I’m so very serious and careful myself, maybe I thought he made a nice change, maybe I even thought he would change me.” (p.114)
Standford (169) says that marriage is one of human beings’ life phase that
should be passed. Most people believe that marriage is one of the ways to make them more mature. Furthermore, Standford insists that marriage is a kind of relationship of human beings. Marriage is a vital relationship to human beings for the growth and development.
This shows us that marriage is one phase in human life that is not easy to get through. Every individual has different attitudes, ideas, ideals and principles through a media that we call marriage. All of those differences should be tied up by understanding. In this phase Daniel and Miranda fail, because they let their egoism defeats their children’s happiness.
lifestyle. It means that marriage for a lifetime demands both stability and responsibility. The mutual love is the core of the couple’s marriage, but in marriage the relationship of the couple is more than just their love here and now. Marriage is focused by the promises to which they hold themselves. It is the commitments that they make to one another that ground their love and give it duration. These commitments give the courage to undertake the risks of creative and procreative activity together. These commitments are expressed in the choices, behavior and attitudes that make up the patterns of the couple’s life style (32).
It is described in the novel that during her marriage Miranda feels that she cannot live with her husband anymore. She thinks that she could keep her marriage for the children. Seeing her husband with his unusual attitude and behavior, she strengthens her decision to get divorced (p.102). A marriage should be the happiest moment in a person life, a moment to share love and life. However, a happy marriage does not happen in this family since there is no understanding in each partner.
2. The Divorce
Conflict can happen in friendship, social life, and in a family. Conflict
In a family, conflict can cause a divorce. Kupper (193) says divorce is the
legal procedure to end a marriage formally. Many reasons can cause a divorce. According to Corsini, many factors can lead marriage into separation. Traditional reasons for divorce are drunkenness, desertion, brutality, or adultery. Nowadays a divorce can be caused by financial independence of women, relaxation of church proscription, and alterations in the purposes of marriage because of technological advances (432).
In the novel there are three reasons that cause the divorce. They are: a. A growing financial independence of Miranda
The main problem in their marriage is that Daniel is an unemployed actor. Miranda has a good career as a managing director of a large store while Daniel is only an out-of-work actor with extraordinary imitative skills. He cannot earn enough money for the family living cost, Miranda hopes that Daniel can help her manage the house while she is working, but Miranda cannot even count on Daniel in managing the house. Even after their separation Daniel cannot fulfill his obligation to send money for the children according to the regulation.
“ That phone call…” she’d say, in a voice of stony detachment. Daniel would nod, to show he was paying attention. “She says your money came in four days late again this month, and please try to be a bit more punctual in the future.” (p. 19)
Corsini states that financial independence of women is one of the factors that
while Daniel is only an unemployed actor who specializes in dubbing the voices of cartoon characters. This financial matter puts their marriage into and end.
Miranda Hilliard, managing director of Hilliard’s Lighting Emporium, appeared in the doorway. She was dressed smartly from top to toe in glossy black and purest white. (p. 42)
Miranda thinks that as a husband and father he must give a better living condition to the family, but he cannot. She knows that she is able to earn more than her husband. Thus she will be able to manage her life by her own, if she is separated from her husband.
b. The growing difference in their personality background
Kupper says that two different personalities background can lead marriage into a divorce (193). This issue happens in Miranda’s and Daniel’s marriage. Miranda is a typical serious woman meanwhile Daniel likes to make jokes. His life is filled with laughter. Miranda feels unhappy since the beginning of her marriage. As Daniel always does ridiculous things, Miranda feels embarrassed. It happens on their wedding day.
“We were already late. I took his arm and we walk into the Town Hall. Everyone was waiting, and we were married straight away. Your father was in such a state, he dropped the ring twice.” (p.105)
It is getting worse when Daniel leaves the wedding and nobody knows where he is. Miranda tries to be calm and keeps smiling to the guests.
Miranda feels so embarrassed, miserable, humiliated and confused. She thinks that she makes a wrong decision by marrying Daniel.
“Well, maybe there is something wrong with me. Maybe I look at things in the wrong way. All I can tell you is, I stood on the deck of that bus in my grubby and bedraggled wedding dress, traveling at a steady twenty-five miles an hour away from my own wedding party, and I cried my poor eyes out. I realized that I had just made the terrible, terrible mistake of marrying the most irresponsible man in the world.” (p. 109)
Another proof that shows the difference of personality background is their habit. Miranda is a discipline, well organize, tidy, and perfectionist woman. While Daniel, he is a lazy, unorganized, and irresponsible man. When Miranda picks up her children from Daniel’s apartment, she looks around through Daniel’s apartment. It looks messy, a lot of frayed electrical wires trailing across the floors, a pair of garden shears lying, open-jawed, any many others messy things (p. 43). It shows that Daniel is a lazy and untidy man.
“What for? Why does your mother need a cleaning lady? Cleaning things is her hobby. Her house is spotless, flawless, perfect. It actually gleams at people when they walk in. It hurts their eyes. Surfaces keep winking and sparkling. (p. 30)
The quotations above is taken when Daniel disagree with Miranda in hiring the cleaning lady. Thus because of their different background, they are not able to continue their marriage. They choose to separate.
c. The difference in their educational background
smart and intelligent woman. She has a good career and a good job.
Miranda Hilliard, managing director of Hilliard’s Lighting Emporium, appeared in the doorway. She was dressed smartly from top to toe in glossy black and purest white. (p. 42)
It is also told in the novel that Daniel’s ability is only producing different voices and dubbing his voice into a cartoon character. What he gets is not as much as his wife’s. The quotation below happens when the children remind their father about his disgusting job. He works as a nude model and someone paints him naked (p. 24). He thinks that it is not a big problem but for Miranda it is an embarrassing job she ever knows besides it can give enough money.
“In that case,” said Daniel, “your mother is not only a Philistine, but a hypocrite, too. And not very sensible, either, since I will spend the money I earn paying her your child support a little more promptly.”
“Mother says she doubts it. She says you won’t earn very much anyway.” (p. 29)
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are three main problems that cause the divorce first, a growing financial independence of Miranda. Miranda earns more that Daniel. Second is the growing difference in their personality background. Miranda is a serious woman, while Daniel he likes to make jokes. Daniel is an irresponsible man by leaving the wedding ceremony and a foolish man by doing silly things. The last is the difference in their educatioanl background. Miranda is a well educated woman. She can get a good job and get a good position. Daniel is an unemployed actor, because he does not have a higher education as Miranda.
