Analysis of Theme of Laurence Yep's 'Child of The Owl' Through The Major Female Characters.

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ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir dengan judul Analysis of Theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl through the Major Female Characters ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah satu persyaratan kelulusan dari program S-1 Jurusan Sastra Inggris di Fakultas

Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha.

Cinta merupakan salah satu kunci terpenting yang dibutuhkan di dalam

menciptakan suatu hubungan yang harmonis antar manusia. Cinta dapat

ditunjukkan dengan berbagai cara. Kita dapat memulainya dengan saling berbagi,

menunjukkan perhatian dan kepedulian kita terhadap orang lain, juga membantu

orang lain yang membutuhkan pertolongan, dengan syarat kita harus memberikan

pertolongan tersebut secara sukarela. Memaafkan kesalahan orang lain sangatlah

sulit, tetapi hal itu akan menjadi mudah apabila kita mau membuka hati dan

melupakan kesalahan itu dan semua ini menjadi mudah karena cinta. Komponen-

komponen tersebut digambarkan oleh kedua tokoh utama wanita dalam novel

Child of the Owl, Casey dan Paw-Paw.

Child of the Owl mengisahkan hubungan antara seorang nenek dan

cucunya. Casey, gadis berumur dua belas tahun, yang terlahir sebagai keturunan

Cina-Amerika. Casey tinggal bersama Barney, ayahnya yang seorang penjudi.

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yang dihadapi Barney, maka Casey dikirim untuk tinggal bersama neneknya yang

dipanggil Paw-Paw di kawasan Chinatown untuk sementara waktu.

Tinggal di Chinatown, Casey merasa dirinya sebagai orang asing. Ia sama sekali tidak memahami kebudayaan Cina. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey

mulai belajar untuk beradaptasi tinggal di lingkungannya yang baru. Paw-Paw

juga mengajarkan berbagai hal yang tidak dimengerti oleh Casey. Paw-Paw

adalah gambaran seorang nenek yang baik hati dan penuh pengertian. Ia banyak

membantu Casey dalam berbagai hal. Dengan bantuan dari Paw-Paw, Casey dapat

lebih mudah beradaptasi di lingkungannya yang baru dan memahami ayahnya.

Setelah menganalisis novel ini, saya mempunyai kesimpulan bahwa yang

menjadi dasar dari setiap tindakan dan perbuatan kedua tokoh utama wanita di

dalam novel tersebut adalah cinta. Tetapi mereka menunjukkan cinta tersebut

dengan caranya masing-masing.

Dalam menganalisis tema novel, saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsik

dengan menitikberatkan pada kepribadian dan sifat dari kedua tokoh utama wanita

dalam karya tersebut. Saya menyimpulkan bahwa novel tersebut mempunyai tema

yang universal: cinta adalah kunci yang penting dalam suatu hubungan. Cinta

merupakan suatu dasar yang diperlukan dalam menjalin hubungan. Suatu

hubungan tidak akan bisa berjalan dengan harmonis bila cinta tidak menjadi

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of Child of the Owl

This novel tells about Casey, a twelve years old young girl who was born

as a Chinese-American. She lives with Barney, her compulsive gambler father.

Barney is hospitalized when he is beaten up by a bookie. Barney decides to send

Casey to live with Phil, her rich uncle. By living in Phil’s house, Barney hopes

that Casey will get a better life. Casey’s living in her uncle’s house makes her feel

dissatisfied. It happens because their way of life was totally different. So, Phil

decides to send Casey to San Francisco’s Chinatown to stay with Paw-Paw, her

maternal grandmother.

Arriving in Chinatown, Casey feels completely like a stranger because she

only speaks English. She never sees many Chinese in her life before. For Casey,

Chinatown is the same as a new world because she knows nothing about Chinese

culture or language. Paw-Paw welcomes Casey’s arrival in her small apartment

happily. In her new environment, Casey must attend Chinese school, eat strange

Chinese food and live among people who rarely speak English.

Luckily for Casey, she has a good and kind grandmother. Paw-Paw

teaches Casey patiently because she knows that it is difficult for Casey to learn

many new things in her new environment. Slowly Casey learns about her family

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and her friend Casey feels more comfortable living in Chinatown. She no longer

feels like a stranger.

One day, when Paw-Paw and Casey finished watching the movie, there is

a burglar who comes into Paw’s apartment. The burglar not only steals

Paw’s charm but also hurts Paw and makes her send to hospital. While

Paw-Paw take a rest in hospital, Casey and some of her grandmother’s friends go to

search for the man who takes Paw-Paw’s money and the owl charm. Actually,

Paw-Paw recognizes the burglar but she does not tell it to anybody. She keeps it

only in her mind. She does not want to hurt her grandchildren’s feeling.

Casey meets Barney at The Pachinko’s apartment. It was the first time she

feels mad to her father. She is so disappointed because Barney does not tell her

when he comes to Chinatown. Barney admits that he is the burglar who gets into

the apartment. The fact that her father is the burglar makes Casey hates him. She

cannot forgive him.

Different from Casey, Paw-Paw tries to understand Barney’s gambling

habit and his difficulty. She not only forgives Barney’s bad behavior but also has

a longing to help him. She decides to sell her precious charm to the museum.

Although it is hard for her to sell the charm; but for Paw-Paw, helping Barney to

pay all his debt is more important than anything

At the end, Barney realizes all his mistakes and Casey forgives him. He

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Biography of Laurence Yep

Laurence Michael Yep was born on June 14, 1948 in San Francisco,

California. He grows up in an African-American neighborhood where he feels like

a stranger. He lives between two traditions, American and Chinese; as a result,

this situation makes him never feels completely a part of either.

In 1966 Yep attended Marquette University. He was graduated from the

University of California at Santa Cruz in 1970, and he received his PhD in

English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well

as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American studies at the University of

California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

In the novel Child of the Owl, Yep’s grandmother was his inspiration to

the character of Paw-Paw. Moreover, he connects his own feeling and his real life

experience to the character of Casey which experiences her life in Chinatown.

His concerns are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints

dealing with cultural alienation and racial conflict. He has written realistic fiction,

science fiction, and fantasy for children, young adults and adults. Several of his

works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979), The

Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995). Lot of his

works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl which won many

prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library

Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the

Year, Jane Addams Children's Book Award.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

If one intends to understand a story, it is better to read a novel, although it

is usually longer than poetry or drama because in a novel the story is presented

very clearly, and sometimes it has important moral messages to the readers. Novel

is a genre of literature that is defined as ‘…a form of story or prose narrative

containing characters, action and incident, and perhaps, a plot.’ (Cuddon,

1979:430-431). In a novel, a writer can give a more detailed description of the

flow of events, a greater variety of characters and detailed settings of place and

time than in the other genres. Novel sometimes contains several themes, and

multiple narrators. (Http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/genre/ hader1.html.)

For the above reasons, I am interested in analyzing novel.

I am also interested in multicultural issue. So I choose Laurence Yep, a

Chinese-American writer, because he is one of the multicultural writers. He has

written many books based on the issues of Asian-American culture. His concerns

are reflected in his many works by exhibiting viewpoints dealing with cultural

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experience as an outsider. Yep was born and raised in a black neighborhood and

educated in San Francisco’s Chinatown although he does not speak Chinese. He

felt like an outsider at school because he spoke no Chinese like his peers. Several

of his works are: Dragonwings (1975), Child of the Owl (1977), Sea Glass (1979),

The Serpent’s Child (1984), Dragon’s Gate (1993), Thief of Hearts (1995).A lot

of his works won many prizes, and particularly Child of the Owl, which won

many prizes, namely Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction, School Library

Journal's Best Books for Spring, New York Times Outstanding Books of the

Year, Jane Addams Children's Book Award.

Child of the Owl is a story about Casey, a young girl who was born as a

Chinese-American and she moves to live with Paw-Paw, her maternal

grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown. In this novel, the reader can see how

hard it is for Casey to adapt herself to her new environment and how she tries to

make a relationship with her grandmother and handle her gambler father.

Paw-Paw is a very kind grandmother who always helps Casey in adaptation to the new

environment, and she also teaches Casey about Chinese culture. So through this

analysis of the novel, I want to show that love is an important key to a

relationship.

I notice that the theme of the novel is dominant and worth analyzing.

According to Harry Shaw, theme is ‘the central idea and dominating idea in a

literary work and the message or moral implicit in any work of art’ (Shaw,

1972:378). I find that in this novel, the most prominent element used to reveal the

theme is character. I am in agreement with William Kenney that ‘as a major

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(Kenney, 1966:95). Therefore, in discussing the theme of the novel, I am going to

focus my analysis on the major female characters whose roles are significant and

dominant in revealing the idea.

Statement of the Problems

In order to analyze the novel, I state the problem as follows:

1. What is the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl?

2. How do the major female characters help to reveal the theme?

Purpose of the Study

My purposes in studying and analyzing Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl

are:

1. To present the theme of Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl.

2. To discuss how the major female characters help to reveal the theme.

Methods of the Research

In this research I use library research. First of all, I read my primary text

entitled Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep. Next, I decide what topic is going to

be discussed. Then, I read some supporting criticisms and reference books. I

continue my research by gathering other related information from the Internet. In

this thesis, I use the intrinsic approach, namely the portrayal and action of the

major female characters to reveal the theme. Finally, I use the data I have

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Organization of the Thesis

I will present my thesis in preceded first by the Preface and Abstract.

Chapter One, the Introduction, contains the Background of the Study, the

Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, Methods of Research, and the

Organization of the Thesis. Chapter One is followed by Chapter Two, in which I

present the Analysis of the Theme in Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl. After that

comes Chapter Three, which contains the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the

Bibliography, which contains the list of reference books and various sources used

in the analysis, and the Appendices, which present the Synopsis of the Novel and

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having analyzed Laurence Yep’s novel, Child of the Owl, I conclude that

the author is successful in presenting the theme. The theme is clearly revealed

through the major female characters. I come to the opinion that the theme of the

novel is one who wants to attain a harmonious relationship has to prioritize

love in one’s relation. By presenting such a theme, the author means to make the

readers realize that love is a basic foundation in one relationship.

In Child of the Owl, Laurence Yep explores the relationship between a

grandmother and her grandchildren, Paw-Paw and Casey. Casey, a twelve years

old young girl who was born as a Chinese- American, moves to live with

Paw-Paw, her maternal grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown for a while. Living

in Chinatown, Casey feels like a stranger because she knows nothing about

Chinese culture. In this novel, the readers can see how hard it is for Casey to adapt

herself in her new environment. She tries to make a harmonious relationship with

her grandmother she has never known before, her gambler father and with the

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she is a kind hearted and loving girl she can easily understand and is willing to

help others. It is also because of love that she learns how to forgive someone’s

mistake. Because of the love she has, she survives in her new life in Chinatown.

In this novel, the readers can see that Paw-Paw is portrayed as a sample of

a good grandmother. Luckily for Casey, she has a very kind and helpful

grandmother. Paw-Paw always gives her assistance sincerely. She not only helps

Casey in adaptation in her new environment but also teaches Casey about Chinese

culture and many new things that she does not understand before. Paw-Paw also

shows her love to all the members in her family. Moreover, I can see that

Paw-Paw is a typical kind of kind hearted and thoughtful grandmother. She shows her

kindness when Barney has a difficulty to pay his gambling debt. She is not angry

when Barney robs her precious owl charm and hurts her; as a matter of fact she

even helps Barney after what has happened. She not only understands Barney’s

bad habit and forgives him but also pays for Barney’s debt at the end.

After reading the novel, I see that all of Casey and Paw-Paw’s action are

based on love. I conclude that the most important key which makes the

relationship between Casey and Paw-Paw becomes harmonious is love. With love

as their motivation they understand each other, are kind to everyone, show their

attention to everyone and with all sincerity help everyone who need their

assistance. Forgiving someone’s mistake is a very difficult thing, but it will be

very easy with love as the reason because love can open one’s heart and also

forgives. I am of the opinion that these things one can do out of love can tighten

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Having analyzed the theme through the two major female characters in

this novel, I find that the author is successful in presenting the theme through

Casey and Paw-Paw. The author’s description about each character and what they

do in every situation that they have to face is very plausible and obvious, although

I find that the character of Paw-Paw is too good to be true. But Yep’s description

makes the readers easy to relate to the characters and this helps to lead the readers

to a better understanding of the characters and thus discover the very theme of the

novel.

Furthermore, I believe that the message of love which is conveyed through

the two major female characters in this novel is a universal thing in this world

because basically love is the basic foundation in every relationship. One’s

relationship never becomes harmonious if love does not take part in that

relationship. Wherever one is, whoever one is, the relationship one builds needs

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

Cuddon, J.A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: Penguin Books. 1882.

Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press. 1996.

Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw. Hill, Inc. 1972.

Internet Websites

A. Hader, Suzanne. The Bildungsroman Genre: Great Expectation, Aurora Leigh,

and Waterland @ The Victorian Web: Literature, History & Culture in the

Age of Victoria. 5 May. 2005

<http://landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/genre/hader1.html>

Gendell, Adrienne, et al. Young Adult Literature: Learning about Laurence Yep.

3 May. 2005 <http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/yep/html>

Rogers, Frank. A Map Through Chinatown: ethnicity and cultural identity in

Laurence Yep’s Child of the Owl. 17 March. 2006

<http://frankrogers.home.mindspring.com/ Yep.pdf.>

Primary Text