THE INFLUEN
OVERCOME HOLLY
Present
ENGL DE
ENCE OF FAMILY AND BEST FRIEN
HOLLY’S DEPRESSION IN CECELI
P.S. I LOVE YOU
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
sented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
HAFSYAH
Student Number: 074214076
GLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME EPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2011
RIENDS TO
ELIA AHERN’S
nts
THE INFLUEN
OVERCOME HOLLY
Present
ENGL DE
i
ENCE OF FAMILY AND BEST FRIEN
HOLLY’S DEPRESSION IN CECELI
P.S. I LOVE YOU
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
sented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By HAFSYAH
Student Number: 074214076
GLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME EPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2011
RIENDS TO
ELIA AHERN’S
nts
iv
Education is the most
powerful weapon to change the
world
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, my greatest gratitude goes to my Almighty Allah SWT for
guiding me through all the things. I thank my mom for everything. I dedicated this
thesis for her. I also thank my brothers and sister for their biggest support so that
finally I can finish this thesis.
I would like to express my huge gratitude to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka,
M.Hum., my advisor, for his kindness, understanding, patience, and advice given
to me during writing this undergraduate thesis. I would also like to express my
honor to Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum., my co-advisor, for her advice and
suggestions.
Then, my deepest gratitude goes to my best and craziest friends ever who
always cheer me up in all condition. To friends I called comrades, The Lebay
Family: Nurvita Wijayanti, Edwin Sugara, Josephine Dewi Utami, and Billy
Talusakata, I would like to express my thanks for their attention and support that
always encourage me to finish this thesis.
Next, my gratitude goes to my love, my Bome, for his care, love,
encouragement, and support to finish this thesis. I realize how blessed and lucky I
am to have you in my life.
Finally, I dedicated my special thanks to all my lecturers and the staff of
Faculty Letters for their helps during my study. To English Letters students of
vii
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objectives of the Study... 4
D. Definition of Terms... 5
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW...6
A. Review on Related Studies ... 6
B. Review on Related Theories ... 8
1. Theories on Characterization ... 8
2. Theories on Relation between Psychology and Literature ... 10
3. Theories on Depression... 11
4. Theories on Family ... 15
C. Theoretical Framework ... 16
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ...18
A. Object of the Study ... 18
B. Approach of the Study ... 19
C. Method of the Study... 20
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ...22
A. The Characteristics of Holly, Holly’s Family and Holly’s Best Friends... 22
1. The Characteristics of Holly ... 22
2. The Characteristics of Holly’s Family and Holly’s Best Friends ... 24
a. Characteristics of Mother ... 24
b. Characteristics of Father... 25
c. Characteristics of Ciara... 26
d. Characteristics of Sharon... 27
e. Characteristics of Denise ... 28
B The Description of Holly’s Depression... 29
viii
1. The Influence of Family... 34
2. The Influence of Best Friends ... 40
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ...46
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...49
ix ABSTRACT
HAFSYAH. The Influence of Family and Best Friends to Overcome Holly’s Depression in Cecelia Ahern’s P.S. I Love You. Yogyakarta: Department Of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
This thesis analyzes one of Cecelia Ahern’s novels entitled P.S. I Love You. It was published in 2004 and became best seller in some countries such as United States, Italy, Japan, Korea, Brazil, and Spain. In this novel, Holly is described as a thirty-year-old-woman who has miserable life after her husband died because of the brain tumor. With the support from her family and best friend, Holly finds the power to overcome her depression.
This undergraduate thesis has three objectives of study. The first is to find out the characteristics of Holly, Holly’s family, and Holly’s best friends. The second is to identify the depression that Holly experienced. Finally, the third is to prove the influence of family and best friends in overcoming Holly’s depression.
In this study the writer applied a library research. The primary source was the novel P.S. I Love You, written by Cecilia Ahern. The secondary sources were various books and websites providing the theories of characterization, depression, and family. Several comments and criticisms from the internet were also used to support this study. This study used Psychological approach because the topic deals on the depression and how to overcome it.
x ABSTRAK
HAFSYAH. The Influence of Family and Best Friends to Overcome Holly’s Depression in Cecelia Ahern’s P.S. I Love You. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Skripsi ini menganalisis salah satu novel Cecelia Ahern berjudul P.S. I Love You. Novel ini diterbitkan pada tahun 2004 dan menjadi salah satu buku terlaris di berbagai negara seperti Amerika Serikat, Italia, Jepang, Korea, Brazil, dan Spanyol. Dalam novel ini Holly digambarkan sebagai seorang wanita berumur 30 tahun yang tenggelam dalam kehidupan yang menyedihkan setelah kehilangan suaminya akibat tumor otak. Dengan bantuan dari keluarga dan teman baiknya, Holly menemukan kekuatan untuk mengatasi depresinya.
Skripsi ini mempunyai tiga tujuan. Tujuan yang pertama adalah untuk menemukan karakteristik Holly, karakteristik kelurga dan teman baik Holly. Tujuan yang kedua adalah untuk mengidentifikasi depresi yang dialami oleh Holly. Ahirnya, Tujuan yang ketiga adalah untuk membuktikan pengaruh keluarga dan teman baik dalam mengatasi depresi yang dialami Holly.
Dalam studi ini, penulis mengaplikasikan studi pustaka. Sumber utamanya adalah novel P.S. I Love You karya Cecilia Ahern. Sementara sumber keduanya adalah berbagai buku yang memuat teori-teori mengenai pelukisan watak, depresi dan keluarga. Beberapa pendapat dan kritik juga digunakan sebagai pendukung studi ini. Studi ini mengunakan pendekatan psikologi karena topic yang diangkat berhubungan dengan depresi dan cara menyembuhkannya.
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
People can learn so many lessons from literature. Literature gives new
perspectives about new things, enriches our knowledge, and presents an
entertainment through the beautiful languages. Therefore, literature is not only
beautiful, but also useful. It helps human to learn something from life through
texts. The biggest purpose of literary works is to give effect on reader’s mind.
Literary work is a portrait of human’s life because it reflects some aspect of
human life, such as moral, society, politic and many more. Literary works become
a media to communicate human’s thought, feeling, and idea about something
based on their life experience or imagination. Some people could not share their
feeling or their thought directly so they use media as a tool. People often use three
kinds of media, such as poetry, drama, and novel to share what they have in their
mind. Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature (1956: 96) state that Literature looks like a real life portrait. It is an illustration of human lives because the
literary works present the reality of human situations, problems, feelings, and
relationship.
P.S. I Love Youis one of the examples that reflects some aspects in human life, such as family, best friends, death, and depression. This novel was written by
Cecelia Ahern, a young talented woman. P. S. I Love You was one of the best-selling debuts novels of 2004 and a number one best seller (Britanny,
In literary works, character is the important part and sometimes becomes the
main focus because if there is no character, the story will be hard to understand
and of course the story is not complete at all. The major and minor characters
usually are represented in complexity through her/his characteristics, problems,
conflict etc. From seeing the character, the story will be understandable. It means
the character guides ones to know what events happen in the story and the
resolution as result of the character succeeds in overcoming his/her problem.
According to Graham Little in his book Approach to Literature: An Introduction to Critical Study of Content and Method in Writing,it is stated that the existence of character is important in literary pieces, particularly prose. An author uses its
complexity and other elements to shape a story (Little, 1981: 93).
Ahern, in this novel described the major character and minor characters
through her own way. The major character named Holly is described as a
sentimental and introverted woman, she is having a hard time after her husband
died. Holly struggles to overcome her depression with some help from her family
and best friends, whom represent as minor characters.
With regard to this novel, which concerns about how the major character
deals with depression, the writer concerns on pscyhological case. It means that the
writer tries to relate literature and psychology. According Wellek and Waren in
Theory of Literature(1956: 81), it is stated that analyzing literary works relating to psychology means studying theory of psychology that may exist within works
of literature. In this case, one of the common term in psychology that the writer
familiar in psychology. Carlson in Pscychology of Behavior (1994: 542) points out that mental disorder including deficient or obsessional thought; inappropiate
emotional response, including depression, delusions and hallucinations. One of
the mental disorder which is very dangerous is depression. According John W.
Santrock in Life-Span Development, Depression is a mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored. The person
does not feel well, loses stamina easily, has a poor appetite, and its listless and
unmotivated (Santrock, 2006: 574).
As human beings, people must have problems and they have the way to
solve it. There are some people who are able in handling their problem without
help from others, but some of them need support and help from others. A big
problem like losing someone we love makes us become so sad and the result can
be so bad when we cannot handle it very well. Depression always becomes a big
problem when we have to face with the death of someone we love and for
overcoming this, we need some help from others. Therefore, depression needs
more attention and extra caring from other people especially close people around.
Family and best friends are the important part of a person’s life. Family are the
people who give a lot of love and care, not only in good condition, but also in bad
condition. Besides the family, best friend is the right person who can find
happiness and share the problem. Having someone in a person’s life as best friend
makes someone’s life colorful and exciting. Family and best friend usually have
topic is chosen to reveal that family and best friends give important role in
overcoming someone’s depression.
Once again for that reason above, Cecilia Ahern’s P.S I Love You was a good example to explore more. In this novel, the influence of family and best
friends are very strong toward the major character, Holly. Therefore, this novel is
a good choice to help explore that topic.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the explanation above, three problems can be formulated as
follows.
1. How are Holly, Holly’s family, and Holly’s best friends characterized?
2. How is Holly’s depression described?
3. How do family and best friends influence Holly to overcome her depression?
C. Objectives of the Study
In the objectives of the study, the writer focuses on three objectives since
the problem formulations divided into three. The first objective is to see how the
major and minor characters are characterized in the story. The second objective is
to identify major character’s depression. The third objective is to find out the
D. Definition of Terms
There is one term that needed to define in order to get clear explanation to
avoid misunderstanding. According to John W. Santrock in Life-Span Development, Depression is a mood disorder in which the individual is deeply unhappy, demoralized, self-derogatory, and bored. The person does not feel well,
loses stamina easily, has a poor appetite, and its listless and unmotivated
6 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Some comments and criticisms about Cecelia Ahern and her work are very
important to help better understanding in doing this analysis. These comments and
criticisms are taken from many sources in internet sites.P. S I love Youis Ahern’s first novel that provides a powerful drama that will leave no one dry-eyed. It tells
about a woman named Holly who got depression after the death of her husband
named Garry. This story tells about Holly’s life change. Britanny S, a president
scholar, points out thatP.S I Love Youis revealing a story on grieving and healing of the main character “Title aside even if it is the solution of each Gerry’s notes
P.S. I Love Youis powerful character study that focuses on grieving and healing”. This story provides us a transform from a weak woman to a brave woman in the
end of the story after her depression and suffering (Britanny, allreaders.com, 2004).
Sindy Crawford points out that this novel is very well written which is
readable and understandable, so it easy for the reader to understand the content.
This novel is about an Irish widow, Holly, who is going through a hard period in
her life. Crawford also states that the dynamic of the characters work well
together and create surprising situation in this novel. The author really makes all
characters alive with their uniquely behaviors. According to her, she describes the
So, it is easy for the reader to feel like within the situation in this novel. This
novel also describes Irish culture, which differentiates it from American literature.
This story and characters will touch the reader’s heart and mind. So the readers
can feel like what Holly feels (Crawford, muhlenbergweekly.com, December 2005).
Moreover, Deborah Donovan points out that Cecelia Ahern is a young
talented woman. She succeeds in writing some good novels in her age. Through
all her works, she has proved that she has a good skill in writing a novel.
Cecilia Ahern was born in Dublin, Ireland. Born in 1981, she is quite young for having such a successful novel, proving her marvelous writing skills! Ahern has written a lot of great novels, including Where Rainbows End and If You Could See Me Now (Donovan,bookpage.com, 2006) On the other hand, according to Magda, the writing style of Cecilia Ahern
is not good enough because she writes too many dialogues in this novel, she does
not maintain the dialogue very well. She states that this novel contains a lot of
dialogue between the individual characters, but the way the dialogue is written, it
is very broken up and it does not flow at all (Magda,dooyoo.com, 2005).
Crimson states that Cecelia Ahern is amateurish writer who writes a novel
for sentimental people. “This debut novel by Cecelia Ahern has won over many sentimental readers, drawing rave reviews; it has also drawn flak from critics who
think that her work is amateurish” (Crimson,ReviewColumn.net, 2008).
This novel also receives a criticism from the experts. Linda L. Richards, as
the editor of January Magazine, states that P.S I Love Youdoes not live up to the advance praise. She points out that this novel is very sentimental and the way the
crafted”. Although this novel does not reveal a great story, she is surprised that
this book has been sold out in so many countries around the world and has been
filmed by Warner Bross
Cecelia Ahern and her first novel PS, I Love You.Her two book deal was negotiated in the United Kingdom, with handsome deals following in the United States, Germany, Italy, Finland, Greece, Japan, Korea, Iceland, Brazil, Spain and others. A film version by Warner Brothers, no less --was in pre-production before the book hit the stores. (Richards, January Magazine.com, May 2005)
B. Review of Related Theories
Since this analysis starts with the intrinsic elements of the literary work,
then it is appropriate to put the literary theories in the first part.
1. Theories on Characterization
To find out how the characters are characterized in the story we need to
know the theories of characterization. According to Holman and Harmon in A
Handbook to Literature, Characterization is the way in which the author reveals or
creates or the characters in his/her work, making them ‘alive’ for the reader (1986:
81). Holman and Harmon (1986:81) also state that there are two fundamental
methods of characterization in fiction. First, the explicit presentation by the
author; second, the character’s own representation from within a character of the
impact of certain events towards the character’s inner self, also without any
interference from the author.
Baldick states that characterization is the presentation of persons in
narrative or dramatic works that may include direct way like the description or
combined to invite readers to decide qualities from the fact of the characters’
action, speech, or physical appearance so the readers are free to interpret their
characterization (Baldick, 1991:34).
Meanwhile M.J. Murphy (1972:161-173) in Understanding Unseen An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students
explaines that there are nine ways of how the author makes his character
understandable for the reader. Sometimes the steps are not all used by the authors
to show their characters’ characteristics, however some of them must exist.
a. Personal Description
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes in details so that the
readers will be able to figure the personality of the character based on his pr her
appearance.
b. Personal as seen by another
Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through the
eyes and opinions of another character in the novel.
c. Speech
The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the characters in the
book trough what the person says.
d. Past Life
By allowing the reader learns something about person’s life the author can give us
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 thoughts, through his
e. Conversation of others
The author can also give clues to a person’s character through the conversations of
other people and the things they say about him.
f. Reactions
The author can give us clue in a person’s character by allowing us to know how
that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct Comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly through the
narration (especially in third-person narrator).
h. Thoughts
The author can give us direct knowledge of what we cannot do in real life. He can
tell us what different people are thinking from the omniscient narrator.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits of idiosyncrasies that may
also tell us something about his character.
2. The Relation between Psychology and Literature
Literature and Psychology are two different subjects that can influence
each other. Psychology can be a good tool to understand literature well.
Characters represent as human representation in the literature and it can be
analyzed through psychology. As psychology is a body of knowledge which
studies human psyche, the most related element of literature to psychology is its
Literature for Composition that character is a figure with specific mental and moral qualities; it is obvious that characters are observable through psychology, in
term that they consist of unique mental qualities (Barnet, 1988: 71).
Furthermore, Bornstein in his book Psychology and its Allied Discipline Humanities volume I states that literature is best at describing the human condition in dramatic form, while psychology has the strength to investigate
human’s character or behavior in systematic ways. The statement means that
literature depicts human condition in dramatic way while psychology studies
human characteristics systematically. Both subjects have one common purpose
that is to depict human condition (Bornstein, 1984: 144).
According to Wellek and Warren, Psychology and literature have a very
close relation in which some literary works talk about psychological cases. They
say that people can learn theory of psychology that may be revealed in works of
literature by analyzing the works. Furthermore, the important part is the
application of the psychological laws within works of literature (Wellek and
Werren, 1956: 81).
3. Theories on Depression
Depression is an illness that can bring bad effect to the human mind and
body. It occurs because of some problems in the people’s life. It makes a person
who got depressed does not have hope and spirit to live. It occurs in human mind
and body. Depression occurs when someone fails to deal with his/her life’s
Schwartz, in his book Depression: Theories & Treatments describes depression as:
An affective, or mood disorder. It is an illness that immerses its sufferers in a world of self-blame, confusion, and hopelessness. It is an illness of the mind and the body. Some could argue depression is a way of coping with life's pressures (Schwartz in Robbins, 1993).
According to Wetzel in his book Clinical Handbook of Depression, men and women may suffer from depression, but women are more potential in dealing
with depression than men. In his study about gender differences in dealing with
depression, he found that women often fail to deal with her depression. He states
that men are less suffer from depression than women “Women are twice more
likely than men to suffer from depression” (Wetzel in Ryan Robbins, 1993).
Lemme in her book Development in Adulthood also states that without having consideration in social class or race women are more often diagnosed with
depression than men. “Around the world, and regardless of social class or race,
women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men”.
Lowry in Major Depression: Prevention & Treatment points out that the cause of depression is the loss of something loved; it might be a person or an
object. “Therapists privy to this view of depression lies in the loss of something
loved, whether it is a person or an object” (Lowry in Ryan Robbins, 1993)
According to Donald.J. Franklin there are five types of depression, mostly
determined by the intensity of the symptoms, the duration of the symptoms, and
the specific cause of the symptoms, if that is known.
a. Major Depression: This is the most serious type of depression, in terms of
individual differences in the symptoms and severity. You do not need to feel
suicidal to have a major depression, and you do not need to have a history of
hospitalizations either, although both of these factors are present in some people
with major depression. There is no official diagnosis of "moderate depression."
b. Dysthymic Disorder: This refers to a low to moderate level of depression that
persists for at least two years, and often longer. While the symptoms are not as
severe as a major depression, they are more enduring and resistant to treatment.
c. Unspecified Depression: This depression is not quite severe to have a
diagnosis of a major depression. It also includes people with chronic, moderate
depression, which has not been presented long enough for a diagnosis of a
Dysthymic disorder.
d. Adjustment Disorder, with Depression: This category describes depression
that occurs in response to a major life stressor or crisis.
e. Bipolar Depression: This type includes both high and low mood swings, as
well as a variety of other significant symptoms not present in other depressions.
Major depression is identified by combination of symptoms that interfere
with normal activities such as eating, sleeping, working, and finding pleasure in
life. These symptoms must be relatively persistent- that is, present for most of that
day, nearly every day for at least two weeks, and must occur together, forming a
syndrome. Not all depressed individuals experience every symptom, and the
severity of the symptoms varies from person to person. In general, depression
According to Lemme in Development in Adulthood there are several symptoms of major depression:
Feeling of hopelessness, pessimism. Feeling of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness. Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that you once enjoyed. Insomnia, early-morning awakening or oversleeping. Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain. Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”. Thoughts of suicide or death, suicide attempts. Restlessness, irritability. Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions (Lemme, 1995: 416).
Lemme states that a diagnosis of major depression is based on the
presence of at least five symptoms of psychological origin occurring together
lasting at least two weeks.
Depression is very dangerous if there are no further treatments to cure it.
That is why some treatments and support are needed to overcome this mental
disorder. Santrock states that depression is treatable condition, not only for young
adults but in older adults as well and good family communication can help reduce
the incidence of depression and suicidal (Santrock, 2006:313).
According to a psychologist Nathan Thompson in his article
“Psychological Treatments: Depression and Anxiety”, relationship-based therapy
is used to overcome the depression. Relationship-based therapy is divided into
two:
1. Interpersonal therapy. People with depression or anxiety are more easily
upset by the comments of others. You may feel criticized when no criticism
2. Family therapy. Family and close friends need to know more about your
depression and anxiety because their support and understanding is very
important
Based on the explanation above, one kind of therapy for overcoming
depression is family therapy. This therapy needs support from close people when
facing a depressed one, especially family and best friend. Marjorie McAtee in her
article “How to Help a Loved one Overcome Depression” states that depression is
a condition that usually improves with treatment. Those with depression need the
support of friends and family to recover (McAtee,suite101.com, 2010).
Moreover, National Institute of Mental Health of United States of America
said as in Ryan Robbins that family and friends of depressives should be a good
listener for their problems. Moreover, family and friends have to give some
support for them and without judging anything.
Family and friends of depressives should be supportive and non-judgmental. A person cannot “snap out of it.” For many depressives, the difference between a good day and bad day is as little as a friend or family member taking a walk with them or listening to their frustration (Robbins, holysmoke.org, 1993).
4. Theories on Family
Family is the important and basic part of our social life; we have started
our life within family. Steven Beebe in his book Interpersonal Communication Relating to Others (1996: 376) states there are three definitions of family. First, traditional definitions of a family focus on the roles of husband, wives, and
specified roles and statuses (example husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter)
with ties of blood, marriage, or adoption who usually share a common residence
and cooperate economically. Third, other definition of family emphasizes upon
interpersonal relationships and personal commitment. He also points out that
family is like a bumper for everyday life stress, they can give some support “A
smoothly function family can be supportive, encouraging sanctuary from
everyday stress” (Beebe, 1996: 398)
Family becomes very important because they are the people that we can
find support, love and caring since we were born. Supporting each family member
in whatever condition is the basic function of family. Olanrewaju Afolabi from
Department of Family Medicine Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital
Nigeria states that the primary function of a family is the provision of nurturance
and support for psychosocial growth and development of its member. He also
states that family provides emotional support to help the depressed one to
overcome her/his depression.
Family support is crucial in the recovery and return to well-being of a depressed individual. The family offers emotional support which involves listening without judging, demonstrating understanding, patience, affection and encouragement(Afolabi,Britannica.com,2007).
D. Theoretical Framework
The major concern of this study is to find out the influence of family and
best friends to overcome the main character’s depression. There are some theories
are used to help the writer to answer the three problem formulations. First, the
the story. After the first problem formulation has been done, the writer focuses in
the second problem formulation. Since the second problem is concerning about
main character’s depression, theories of depression is used to find out the cause
and the symptoms of depression.
Finally, theories in overcoming depression as a part of theory of
depression and theories of family are combined to find out how the main
character’s depression can be cured through the influence of family and best
18 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
P.S I Love You is the main discussion of this study, a Cecilia Ahern’s masterpiece that firstly published in 2004 by HarperCollinsPublisher, Great
Britain. Cecilia Ahern’s first novel,P.S. I Love Youwas one of the biggest-selling debut novels of 2004 and a number one best seller in some countries such as
United States, Germany, Italy, Finland, Greece, Japan, Korea, Iceland, Brazil, and
Spain. It has 519 pages, including acknowledgment, notes and epilogue. It is
divided into fifty-one chapters. (Richards,January Magazine.com, May 2004) A movie was adapted from the novel, P.S. I Love You. The book has filmed by Warner Bros and starring Hillary swank, Gerrad Butter and Lisa
Kudrow. Unfortunately, some of the original scenes from the book are changed,
so some of the readers that have been read this novel argue that the novel is better
that the movie version.
This study focuses on the main character of this novel and her problem,
depression. This novel tells story about a young woman who is having a hard time
after loses her husband because of brain tumor. Holly, thirty-year-old is a happy
woman since she got married with Gerry, her schoolmate. They shared happiness
and sadness together. Gerry’s death has changed everything in her life. Holly
could not accept that her husband has already gone. She pretends that Gerry is still
Everyday seems hard for her to move on, but with some help from her family and
best friends, Holly finds out her happiness, although without Gerry in her life.
After a year full of suffering and tears, finally in the end of the story Holly turns
to her normal life and becomes strong and brave. She is ready for new chapter of
her life.
B. Approach
Since the concern of this study is discussing the influence of family and best
friends to overcome main character’s depression, the psychological approach is
needed to answer the problem formulation. This analysis deals with character,
depression and influence of family and best friends. Therefore, psychological
approach is appropriate since character is one of the subjects of psychology.
According to Lewis Leary (1976: 57) in his book American Literature: A Study and Research Guide, psychological approach is an approach that applies of modern psychology to characters or situation within literary work or to the person
who wrote the work. In connection with this approach, Rohrberger and Woods
(1971: 13) state that psychological approach is focused on psychological
interpretation for entrancing the understanding and appreciation of Literature.
Psychological approach is appropriate in analyzing this topic because some
psychology theories such as theory of depression and theory family were used to
C. Method of the Study
In doing this analysis, the writer used the library research method. There
are two kinds of sources in this study. First, the one of the biggest-selling debut
novel written by Cecilia Ahern P.S. I Love You was used as primary source. Second, some books such as Steven Beebe’s Interpersonal Communication Relating to Others, Neil Carlson’s Psychology of Behaviour, etc were used as secondary source. Some critical reviews and theories obtained from Internet sites
were also used. There were four steps in analyzing this topic.
Firstly, the novel P.S. I Love You written by Cecelia Ahern was read for getting the idea of the novel. Not only read the novel, the writer also watched the
movie. Afterward, the novel once again was reread to get better understanding and
to decide the topic of the analysis. After deciding the topic, the writer tried to find
some criticisms and comments onP.S.I Love You. Realizing it was a new novel so it was hard to find comments from the books in the library, then the writer finally
found the comments and criticism by browsing from the internet. These comments
and criticism were used as further information to analyze the novel.
For the next step, the writer formulated three questions related to the topic.
These three questions were important as the basic problem that needed to be
solved. The first question dealt with the major character in the novel. The second
question dealt with the characteristics of depression that the major character’s
experienced. The third had to do with the question in how the family and best
friends influence to overcome major character’s depression. When the problem
approach of the study. Afterward, the writer focused to seek some theories related
to these three questions.
Thirdly, the writer focused on answering the three problem formulation. In
this step this novel was analyzed based on some theories and references that
related to the analysis. Theories of characterization were used to analyze the first
problem. Theories of depression and theories of family were used to find out the
answer for second and third problem.
The fourth step was drawing the conclusion. The conclusion contained some
important points from the analysis. These important points were made into two or
22 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
A. The Characteristics of Holly, Holly’s Family and Holly’s Best Friends
1. The Characteristics of Holly
The main character in this story is Holly. She is a thirty-year-old-woman
when her husband, Gerry died because of the brain tumor. Holly is described as a
sentimental person because whenever she feels sad or happy, it is easy for her to
cry. When she thinks someone is doing something good for her, she usually says
thank with the tears in her eyes. It happens when Holly feels guilty because she
makes someone sad. She is not ashamed to cry in front of a lot of people because
she thinks that she needs to do it for releasing her pain and expressing happiness
or sadness. As Murphy said, character’s characteristics can be seen from the
character’s reaction of something.
She felt the tears run down her face. ‘Oh, Sharon,’ she wailed, ‘thank you so much. You’ve been so good to me and I’ve been such horrible, horrible bitch of a friend.’ She sat at the table and grabbed Sharon’s hand. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ Sharon sat opposite her in silence, allowing her to continue. This is what Holly had been dreading, breaking down in front of people at every possible occasion. But she didn’t feel embarrassed (p.19).
From the quotation above we can see how Holly reacts when she accepts
Sharon’s kindness. This is also shown when Holly asks Sharon to forgive her for
being so selfish, she feels guilty. She cries because she realizes that Sharon is too
Holly ran into her arms. There, with her best friend hugging her tight, she felt the tears begin again. ‘Oh, Sharon, I’m so sorry. I’m horrible person. I’m so so so so sorry, please forgive me. I never meant to---‘(p. 337).
Holly’s sentimentality often makes her friends feel uncomfortable. It can
be seen when she gets surprise party from Leo. She is surprised that Leo so cares
to her when everybody is busy with their own business. Holly’s sentimentality can
be seen through Leo’s comment. “Well I had to get back after you mortified me,’
he said, shrugging her off, uncomfortable with the sentimentality” (p.59).
Besides being sentimental, Holly is described as an introverted person.
She tries to hide her loneliness and sadness from other people. She thinks people
outside not need to know what happened with her life. Since she was a child,
Holly used to spend a lot of her time alone or with her closest friend. Holly does
not like the noisy place. She has preferred the quite place to calm herself, she
loves the beach near her house as a place where she finds peace and quiet.
She had lived here from the day she was born till the day she moved out to live with Gerry. She had loved waking up to the sound of the lapping against the rock, and the excited call of seagulls (p.27).
Holly always finds that the sea is a better place to share her problem if
there is someone could not understand what she has in her mind. “She had always
found the sea so calming, and even as a child she would run across the road to the
beach if she was upset and needed to think” (p.34).
Holly is childish; she often acts or talks like she is still ten years old. It is
shown through what Leo says about Holly when they have a conversation in
Holly pouted her lip and pretended to sulk
Leo laughed. ‘Thirty years old and you’re still acting like a baby. Where are you off to tonight?’ (p.60)
Holly also acts like a child when she talks to Sharon, her best friend. She
does not realize that sometimes she acts in that way. It is seen from the way she
talks about Richard, her older brother “Sharon laughed at her friend sounding like
a ten-year-old. ‘OK, so he’s an evil monster of a being who deserves to burn in
hell” (p.89).
The characteristics of Holly indicate what kind of person she is. She is
described as sentimental, introverted, and childish person through her speech with
other people and reaction over something. These characteristics are important to
see how she acts to face her depression.
2. The Characteristics of Holly’s Family and Holly’s Best Friends
a. The Characteristics of Mother
The portrait of a mother is almost the same from one to another. Mother is
the right person where we can share a lot of happiness and sadness. Mother
exactly knows when her children need her help. After Gerry died, she knows that
Holly needs a lot of support from closest people around. In this story, Mother is
described as a caring person; she is never tired to call Holly and makes sure that
Holly is all right. Mother always provides her time if Holly wants to share
something with her. It can be seen through this statement ‘well, all right ….give
me a ring if you change your mind. I’m free all day’ (p.5). Mother usually
problem for a while. Fresh air is good for Holly because she spends much of her
time locked in the house. It is proved when mother calls Holly in the morning ‘It’s
lovely day, Holly. It would do you the world of good out for a walk. Get some
fresh air’ (p.4).
Another characteristic of mother is wise. She gives Holly advice about life.
Whenever Holly is confused about something, she comes to her mother and asks
about the right one. It is shown when Holly asks her mother’s opinion about
getting a new job.
You’re right,’ her mother nodded. ‘Take your time and think about what you like or else you’ll end up rushing into a job you hate, like the last time.’ Holly was surprised to hear this (p.29).
These characteristics of mother are mostly found in her conversation with
Holly. As Murphy said, character’s characteristics can be seen from the
character’s speech.
b. The Characteristics of Father
The novel discusses the characteristic of Father in small part. Father is a
wise man. It can be seen when he interrupts the conversation among his children.
He does not force Holly to celebrate her birthday if she does not want to. “No, she
does not have to if she does not want to, her father interrupted, and winked
supportively at Holly” (p.55). Father loves his children so much. It is shown
through his advice to Mathew, Ciara’s boyfriend. He wants Mathew to look after
Ciara. “Look after her now, won’t you? Frank smacked him on the back and
too worried about that. “Don’t go using those rope jumps again, Ciara. They are
far too dangerous,’ Frank said, looking worried” (p.357).
c. The Characteristics of Ciara
Ciara is Holly’s younger sister. She lives far away from her family. She
never stays for a long time in the house. She likes travelling around the world and
finding some challenging experiences. Ciara is different from Holly. If Holly is
happy with her life which has the same routine every day, Ciara finds out that
trying something new is very interesting. In this story, Ciara is described as a
curious person because she likes to find out and to try some new things. When she
visits some new places, she always makes the tattoo and piercings as sign of her
visit.
Ciara was a different kettle of fish altogheter. Jack and Holly were convinced she was from the planet Ciara, population: one. Ciara had the look of their father- long legs and dark hair. She also had various tattoos and piercings on her body as a result of her travels around the world. A tattoo for every country, her dad used to joke. A tattoo for every man, Holly and jack were convinced (p.45).
Brave is another characteristic that Ciara has. She decides to travel around
the world by herself without someone accompanies her. It means that she has a
huge bravery to do something like that. She also likes to try some extreme sports
like bungee jumping, parachuting and snowboarding off cliffs when she visits a
new place. Holly always says that Ciara is a brave person because she can do so
many crazy things that some people do not dare do it. “All those things that you
do like bungee jumping out of aero planes and snowboarding off cliffs, Holly
This story also shows that Ciara is a confident person. It is proved when
Holly compares herself to Ciara who has high confidence than her. Holly believes
that Ciara is nothing like her at all. They are different in many things. “Holly
smiled as she watched her sister nattering away to Daniel. Ciara was nothing like
her at all; she was so carefree and confident, and did not seem to worry about
anything” (p.132).
d. The Characteristics of Sharon
Sharon has been Holly’s best friend since they were children. She is
different from Holly. They are like two opposites of coin. If Holly acts like a
child, Sharon acts as a mature person. She likes to give Holly some advice about
many things. Holly often consults the problem with her, especially about the letter
that Gerry wrote for Holly. It is proved when Holly begins to cry because she
remembers Gerry. Sharon convinces her that everything is all right and she does
not want to see Holly’s tears. “Hold it! There will be no tears today! Just fun and
laughter and general happiness, my dear friend. Now shower, quick” (p.18).
This is also shown when Holly tells Sharon about how angry she is about
the visit of her strict brother in the morning. Holly does not like Richard at all.
While Holly thinks Richard’s visit in negative way, Sharon believes that Richard
just wants to say happy birthday to her younger sister. He does not mean to
disturb Holly. “I really don’t think he does, Holly,’ Sharon said soothingly. ’I
Sharon is a kind person. She always helps her best friends almost all the
time when they need her, not only Holly but also Denise. She always provides a
lot of times for them. It is proved through Holly’s statement, ‘Thanks, Sharon. A
lump formed in Holly’s throat and tears welled in her eyes.
She was being so good to her’ (p.19). When Holly deals with grieving and forgets
to clean up her house, Sharon comes and tidies it up. She knows Holly very well.
She believes that Holly will not care about the messy things in her house if Holly
is busy with her own feeling.
God, it’s stuffy in here. When’s the last time you opened a window?’ Sharon marched around the house, opening windows and picking up empty cups and plates. She brought them into the kitchen where she placed them in the dishwasher and then proceeded to tidy up (p.16).
The story also shows that Sharon is a caring person. It is shown when
Sharon comes to Holly’s house just to see her condition, brings her a lot of food,
and cleans her house. Sharon also motivates Holly to face new days and reminds
her to eat.
We’re all just looking out for you. Ok, see you soon,’ Sharon said, kissing her on the cheek, ‘and EAT!’ she added, poking her in the ribs (p.20).
e. The Characteristics of Denise
Denise is described as an easy going person. If there is a problem, she does
not think it too much. She believes that she can handle her problem well without
worrying it so much. While Holly and Sharon are worried and angry about the
documentary which shows their foolishness when they enter a high-class club
illegally in Holly’s birthday, Denise does not feel worried or angry at all. She
that documentary. Although Holly and Sharon think that the documentary
becomes a big problem, Denise thinks that it is not a big deal. “Oh, honey, I love
it and I love it even more because I am in it” (p.202).
Denise is also an enthusiastic person. She looks happy and full of
enthusiasm every day. It can be seen when she tries to describe her new boyfriend
to Holly. She describes how great he is and she believes that Holly will like him
for the first time.
Anyway I cannot wait for you to meet him. You will absolutely love him. Well, not as much as I do you will certainly really really like him..’ she rambled on about how great he was (p.147).
B. The Description of Holly’s Depression
Holly has to face a miserable life after her husband died. She becomes
depressed. Her life becomes pathetic and unhappy. Everything is going so bad and
uncontrolled. She does not eat regularly and she abandons the works she supposes
to do. Schwartz said as in Ryan Robbins’s article “Depression: What it is,
Theories, Treatment, Hope” (Robbins, Holysmoke.org, 1993), depression is as an affective, or mood disorder. It is an illness that immerses its sufferers in a world of
self-blame, confusion, and hopelessness.
The quotation above shows that Holly’s condition is very bad. She feels
sad and hopeless. Gerry’s death devastates her life. She can feel the pain from her
heart spread to her body. She does not know what is going on around her. She
feels like human without a soul inside her body. She does not know what to do to
get over all these things.
Gerry is very important in Holly’s life. He is not only a husband but also a
best friend. When he is gone, Holly feels there is a hole in heart that cannot be
replaced by anything. Lowry said in Robbins’s article “Depression: What it is,
Theories, Treatment, Hope” (Lowry in Robbins, 1993), the cause of depression is
the loss of something loved; it might be a person or an object “Her best friend was
gone and nobody understood that no amount of make-up, fresh air or shopping
was going to fill the hole in her heart” (p.4).
Holly spends a few weeks with crying because she cannot accept the
reality that her lovely husband died. She does not sleep well and tight. She finds
herself sleep in the early hours of the morning and wakes up in some piece of
furniture in her house with tender and puffy eyes after crying all night. Lemme in
his book Development in Adulthood (1995:416) states that Insomnia, early-morning awakening or oversleeping is one of several syndrome of major
depression.
Beside hopelessness, another depression symptom is the loss of weight.
When Holly looks at her body, she feels something different. She notices that she
has her weight loss. Her tracksuit was sagging at the bum and the waist tie was
pulled to its tightest, yet still drooped to her hips “Holly looked down at her body.
Her tracksuit was sagging at the bum and the waist tie was pulled to its tightest,
yet still drooped to her hips. She had not noticed the weight loss at all” (p.18).
Holly loses her weight because she is completely uninterested in doing something,
except remembering every single thing that he had once with Gerry. She forgets to
do regular activities such as eating and working. The worst thing is she could not
remember the last time she had eaten. “Her stomach grumbled and she realized
she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. Had it been yesterday?” (p.12).
Holly does not realize that she loses her weight until Sharon comes to her
house and gives her advice to eat because she looks very thin. While one day
Holly wakes up in the morning and looking at the mirror, she looks very thin. She
has to use a belt when she wears her favorite jeans that in last couple of months
ago she did not need the belt. The problem is not only about losing her weight, but
also about her pathetic appearance. Holly looks ugly because she does not pay
much attention to her body.
Sharon had been right about her weight: her once-tight jeans were just about staying up with the aid of a belt. She made a face her reflection in the mirror. She looked ugly. She had black circles under her eyes, her lips were chapped and chewed and her hair was a disaster (p.22)
Holly remembers Gerry and their memories every day. She wonders if the
him. She would do everything just to make Gerry happy. She feels guilty because
she thinks that she did not give the best for Gerry when he was still alive.
How she would gladly get out of her cozy bed for him, she would gladly walk on the cold floor for him, and she would gladly bruise herself on the bedpost whilst fumbling in the dark for the bed. But the time was gone (p.43).
Holly often pretends that Gerry is still alive and accompanies her in doing
something. When Gerry in his letter asked her to buy a bedside lamp, in the
moment she and Sharon pick the beautiful lamp, she feels that Gerry is there with
them. She imagines that Gerry picks the suitable lamp for her. ”And although
Gerry had not physically been there with her as she bought it, she felt as though
they had made the purchase together” (p.42). It happens also when Holly reads the
letter from Gerry, she feels that they are playing a game together. Gerry knows
when Holly is cheating and disobeying the rule of the game.
She felt as if they were playing a game together, even though they were in two different worlds. But she could feel him, and he would know if she disobeyed the rules of their game (p.78).
After Gerry’s death, Holly has spent a lot of time in her house. She does
not eat, goes outside and does some interesting activities. Loss of interest or
pleasure in hobbies and activities is one of the depression symptoms. After Gerry
died, Holly forgets to do some activities such as eat and take a bath. Holly looks
like she has never been taken a bath for a long time. She uses the dirty clothes and
her hair looks very messy. “A shower. When was the last time she had even
washed? Sharon was right, she must have looked disguisting, with her greasy hair,
her dark roots and dirty robe” (p.17). Holly also locks herself in home and does
home to her nest and locked herself away from the rest of the world that contained
hundreds of memories of the life she had once had” (p.36).
Holly tries to find some routines that she can enjoy to do, but every single
routine that she had done was uninteresting for her. She does not feel that her soul
belongs to her body. She feels like a zombie who is watching other people’s life.
Holly only thinks the possibility if her life will be end soon.
She tried to find a routine she could fall into so that she felt as though she belonged in her body and her body belonged in this life, instead wandering around like zombie, watching everybody else lives theirs while she waited for hers to end (p.137)
The quotation above proves that Holly feels pessimistic and hopeless, so
there is a thought of death that she thinks it would be right for her life.
From the explanation above, Holly shows the depression symptoms such
as feeling hopelessness, sadness, pessimism, the weight loss, feeling of guilty and
loss of interest in hobbies and activities. These six kinds of symptoms happen for
almost every day in a couple of months after Gerry died. Therefore, these
symptoms indicate that depression experienced by Holly is major depression.
C. The Influence of Family and Best Friends in Overcoming Holly’s
Depression
The influence of family and best friends is very strong to overcome the
major character’s depression. Although Holly does not have any power to return
to the real world and faces the reality that her husband died, she is lucky that she
friends become one thing which makes Holly return to her life. The writer wants
to show that the power of care, love, understanding, encouragement and other
kind of support from family and best friends help the major character overcomes
her depression.
1. The Influence of Family
After Gerry’s death, Holly builds a wall to limit the communication with
the world. She intentionally conceals herself from people outside. She does not
want anyone to disturb her loneliness. Although Holly tries to hide from other
people, she cannot hide from her mother. Based on the characteristic of Mother
which is a caring person, Mother always shows her care toward Holly. Mother
calls Holly every morning just to make sure Holly is still alive in a good
condition.
Oh, sorry, love, did I wake you?’ the concerned voice of Holly’s mother came across the line. Every morning her mother called to see if she had survived the night alone, always afraid of waking her, yet always relieved to her speak; safe in the knowledge her daughter had braved the ghost of the night (p.4).
Mother does not only make Holly wake up in the morning, but also
reminds her to take a walk for a while. She believes that Holly needs some fresh
air for her body and mind. She always convinces her that the world outside can be
good for her, so there is no reason to hide and lock herself in the house. “It’s a
lovely day, Holly. It would do you to world of good to go out for a walk. Get
some fresh air” (p.4). Because mother always calls and reminds her to go outside,
a while to feel the fresh air. This is the first walking outside that Holly does after
Gerry died.
Holly was walking through an entire field of pretty tiger lilies; the wind was blowing gently, causing the silky petals to tickle the tips of her fingers as she pushed long strands of bright green grass...She felt so happy, so free (p.15).
This effort from mother to make Holly goes outside is important for
Holly’s healthy mind. From the quotation above, it is proved that mother’s care
succeeds to make Holly happy after taking a walk for while.
Another mother’s influence is when Holly suddenly calls her because she
does not have any money to buy food. Holly wants to eat in her parent house. Her
mother shows her understanding with convincing Holly that she can visit her all
the time. “Of course you can, love, you are always welcome” (p.103). Holly is
starving when she arrives at her parent home. As usual, mother is welcoming her
“Oh, Mum, you should have told me you were having dinner,’ Holly said, giving
her a hug and a kiss”(p.104). Mom always knows when her daughter really needs
her help. After having a little conversation with her mom and her brother, then
Holly eats with them.
Holly’s birthday is coming. She manages that she will not go to
anywhere, just spending the whole time in her house. She does not want a surprise
party or something for her big day because she does not interested in doing
something “I’m not doing anything big at all,’ she warned everyone. ‘I do not
want any surprise party or anything” (p.55). The family suggests that a party will
be suitable for celebrating birthday. In this moment, father as a wise person, helps
for a while, she agrees to join the party without something mad and wild “Thank
you, Dad. I’m just going to have a girly night out clubbing or something. Nothing
mad, nothing wild (p.56).
According to Afolabi in his article “Pattern of Depression and Family
Support in a Nigerian Family Practice Population” (Afolabi, Britannica.com, 2007), family support is very important for depressed individual. Family should
offer emotional support which involves demonstrating understanding, patience,
affection and encouragement. Therefore, besides understanding, the family also
provides the encouragement for Holly. It is shown through their support while
Holly must follow a singing competition which actually she hates the most. She
has to follow that competition because Gerry asks her to do that. Through the
encouragement, her family believes that Holly will be braver than before. “yes,
added her Mum, and we will be there to support you” (p.107).
Another support comes from Ciara, she is like a new spirit for Holly.
Ciara backs from Australia for giving her sister some support. Holly and Ciara
always help each other when they have a problem. For Holly, her young sister is
the happiest person in the world because she always looks happy and cheerful.
Moreover, Ciara is a brave person that later influences Holly to sing in front of
public. Like her mother, Ciara also provides encouragement as emotional support
for Holly. It is proved Through Ciara’s support for Holly in the singing
competition “There is no way my sister is singing in a competition without me
With a lot of support from the family and later from her best friends,
Holly has the power to sing in front of the people. Although she does not win, she
is happy because she had done something that she never imagined before.
Holly jumped up with excitement and danced around in a hunddle with Denise and Sharon. She had never felt such relief in her life. Richard looked on very confused while the rest of Holly’s family congratulated on her victorious losing” (p.129).
Ciara also influences Holly’s perspective toward something. Holly tends
to feel pessimist toward herself. She thinks that she is weak person. From Ciara
who is very confident in many things, Holly realizes that she is strong woman
because she can through all of her problems. Ciara always insist Holly to believe
that Holly is a strong woman. “Yes, you are, Ciara insisted. Everyone says so.
You have been so strong through everything. If I were you I’d be lying in a ditch
somewhere” (p.197). After making a conversation all day with Ciara, holly feels
happy and thinks that the day is not as depressing as before.
It was eight o’clock when Holly finally drove up her driveway, and it was still bright. She smiled; the world never felt quite so depressing when it was bright. She had spent the day with Ciara, chatting about her adventures in Australia (p.200).
Ciara’s influence also can be seen through Holly’s statement in the airport
when Ciara is going back to Australia. Ciara is always there when Holly needs
her, cheers her up when she thinks the life become worse. “Ciara had been good
company over last few months and had always succeeded in cheering Holly up
After Gerry’s death, finding a job is not really a serious matter for Holly.
The family, especially mother and father play important part in finding a job
decision. When Holly faces the financial problem, her mother and father help her.
She is saved by mother from the librarian humiliation because she can not pay her
internet bill.
Mother comes to pick her up and pays the bill “Ok, Love why don’t you
wait out in the car and I’ll go in and deal with her” (p.299). Then in the home,
Holly talks so many things with her mother about everything that she has in her
mind for a couple of months “Holly stayed up late that night talking to her mother
about everything that had been bubbling up inside her for the past few months”
(p.302). She sleeps in her parent’s house because it is impossible for her to back
home in that time. In the next day, when her father drops her home, he gives her a
cheque. Father, who loves his children so much, believes that Holly needs some
money for taking care of herself “At lunchtime Holly’s dad dropped her home and
squeezed a cheque for five thousand euro into her hand” (p.302). At the moment,
Holly refuses to accept the cheque, but dad convinces her that this is the only way
that the family can do to help her. Therefore, she accepts it “Take it, he said
gently, pushing her hand away. ‘Let us help you, love” (p.302).
Holly realizes that he cannot depend anymore on her parent for financial
problem. They do too much for her. As a result, Holly begins to write her CV
“She sat in the spare room in front of her computer and began to type up her
on Monday, Holly begins her day without wasting the time anymore. She is ready
for finding a new job
On Monday she dressed smartly and drove down to the village in the car she had finally managed to fill with petrol. She parked outside the recruitment office and applied lip-gloss in the rear-view mirror. There was be no more time-wasting (p.304).
Holly finds out that she enjoys her new job. It is more interesting and
challenging than her job before. She feels the atmosphere and the staff in the
office are great.
Oh, I love it Mum, Holly said, and her eyes lit up.’ It’s much more interesting and challenging than any other job I’ve done, and all the stafsf are just so friendly. There’s a great atmosphere in the place (p.359).
From the explanation above, emotional support from family indirectly
influences Holly to face her problems after Gerry’s death. These support help her
to find her routines activities such eating, going outside, and working. Santrock in
his book entitled Life-Span Development (2006: 313) says that good family communication can help reduce the incidence of depression and suicidal. The
support from the family brings significance influence for Holly in dealing with her
depression. In the end of the story, Holly can accept that Gerry is already gone.
She is happy with her life that full of memories. She believes that she has to move
on and open a new chapter of her life, and for sure, she is ready for her bright
future.
2. The Influence of Best Friends
Holly has two best friends, Sharon and Denise. They are Holly’s best
friends since the high school. Holly always shares the happiness and sadness with
Sharon and Denise. They always know how to make Holly laughs. Since Gerry
died, Holly becomes so depressed. Her best friends try to entertain Holly as best
as they can. Sharon and Denise are always available for Holly. They give Holly
their help and support in order to make Holly happy and forget her sorrow. Best
friend’s influence takes the same part as family’s influence. Marjorie McAtee in
his article “How to help a loved one overcome Depression” (McAtee,
suite101.com, 2010), said that those with the depression need the support of friends and family to recover. Sharon is one of Holly’s best friends who bring the
positive energy to Holly’s life. In the previous explanation about the
characteristics of Holly’s best friend shows that Sharon is a mature, kind, and
caring person. These characteristics are important to see the influence of Sharon
toward Holly. Sharon’s kindness and care can be seen to what Sharon has been
done when she comes to visit Holly. She forces Holly to take a bath, cleans
Holly’s house and spends a lot of time making conversation with Holly. She
believes that with this kind of caring and a lot of attention makes Holly feels
better. She knows that Holly needs someone to share with.
vacuumed and plumped. She followed the humming noise she could hear to the kitchen were Sharon was scrubbing the hobs. The counters were gleaming; the chrome taps and draining board sparkling. (p.18).
From the quotation above, what Sharon did for Holly works well because
Holly takes a bath and what she has been done to the house brings good effect for
Holly’s mood. Holly feels almost human after taking a bath. She is surprised
because her house is clean and shiny. She only takes a bath for a half an hour and
Sharon does all these things for her. She realizes that her bad thoughts and fears
are gone because of the fresh air. Sharon does not only clean the house, but also
buys some foods for Holly. What Sharon has been done for Holly is the portrait of
how much Sharon care about Holly’s condition. She cooks for Holly’s dinner and
places the rest of the foods in one place. Sharon just wants to make sure when
Holly needs food, although she is not ready to face the world outside, she has
something to be eaten.
Ok, so I just bought some vegetables and fruit, there’s cheese and yogurts in there, and milk, of course. I don’t know where you keep the pasta and tinned foods so I just put them over there. Oh, and there’s a few microwave dinners in the freezer. That should you do for a while, but the looks of you it’ll last you the year. How much weights have you lost (p.18)
Holly feels what Sharon did for her is too much, she knows that Sharon is
too good to her. Sharon, who has the characteristics as kind and caring person,
always shows her love and care in many ways and Holly happy for that. Holly
cannot imagine if there is no such a good friend like Sharon in her life.
