METHAPOR IN NOVEL “THE GREAT GATSBY”
A THESIS
Submitted to the English Department of UNIMED Medan
In Partial as Fulfillment of the Requirement for
The Degree of Sarjana Sastra
BY
ADRIAN RASYKI
Registration Number 2103220002
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all the praise to ALLAH SWT for the blessing, mercy, and guidance in giving the
writer full strength and patience to complete this Thesis. This Thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the
requirements to obtain the S1 degree of Sarjana Sastra at English Department in Faculty of
Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
In accomplishing this Thesis, the writer has been helped by a lot of beloved people
especially for the loyal supporters. Therefore, the writer would like to express her sincere and
greatest gratitude to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State Universityof Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts for her
leadership and administrative assistance during the process of writing this thesis.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Rika S.Pd, M.Hum.,
Secretary of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, M.A., the Head of English Literature
Department, and Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., the Head of English Education
Department.
Dra. Sortha Silitonga, M.Pd, his Thesis Adviser. Dr. Sri Minda Murni M.S, as Academic Adviser.
All beloved Lecturers in English and Literature Department
Mam Eis for her kind help in providing academic administrations to the writer.
The best family of writer, his beloved Mother and father, Dra. Ratna Tanjung M.Pd.,
Soeprapto, his sisters Dewi Sartika Sari S.Pd., his brother M. Jody Setiawan, for their
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writer’s life. He loves them so much. Also his great family for the support during the
completion of this thesis.
The writer`s best colleagues : Jaka Sampoerna, Boediman Sitohang, Novilianah
Hasanah Siregar, Hafizh Satria, Fanny Aulia Putri, Ulan tri Lestari and Huzaifah
Tanjung for the friendship, love, helps, laugh and tears, and for all the sweet and happy
memories shared. And all the of ELITE (English Literature) A and B 2010 : David,
Fathur, Afdi, Leo, Johanri, Pulungan, Hatoropan, Feri, Quin, Oki, Audra, Luthfi,
Eko for all the togetherness in fun, futsal and unforgotten memories.
All Students of English Department in Applied Linguistics A and B Reg’10, that could
not be mentioned one by one. Thanks for their support, info, assistance, and best moment
ever during the academic years.
Everyone who has been involved directly or indirectly in the writing of this thesis that
cannot be mentioned one by one.
Without their deep and sympathetic understanding, this thesis could not complete, may
all the assistance can be their charity.
Medan, August 2014
The writer,
Adrian Rasyki
i ABSTRACT
Adrian Rasyki. 2014. Metaphor in Novel “The Great Gatsby”. A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Medan.
This research was focused on metaphor used in novel “The Great Gatsby”. The research was conducted by using descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected from the sentences that contain metaphor in the novel.The findings of the research show that there are 125 lines of metaphors which are classified into seven types metaphor such as active metaphor (29), inactive metaphor (12), subjective metaphor (11), mimetic metaphor (32), phenomenalistic metaphor (11), symbolism metaphor (2), and approximate metaphor (27) and there was no Precision metaphor (0). The most dominant type of metaphor used in the novel wasmimetic metaphor (32). It means that the point of the novel was a description of the imaginary art work of the author as if the events in the novel was literally true and really happening. In addition, the novel itself was a metaphor that providing structures and analogy to the real world
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List of Table
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LIST OF APPENDIX
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
The difficulties of understanding and recognizing metaphor in many
different forms of literary works especially in this study, novel, has encouraged
the writer to do the study in making better understanding of the topic and make
clear understanding about metaphor. Also to see the application of metaphor in the
literary work. The metaphor itself has a unique meaning, when it comes to
metaphor, it means the use of language to refer to something other than what it
was originally applied to, or what it „literally‟ means, in order to suggest some
resemblance or make a connection between the two things. Unfortunately It‟s
quite easy for native people to recognize or understanding this kind of language.
The frequency of using metaphor in the novel also encouraged the study to
elaborate, explore and to see the line between metaphor and novel, to find what
the purposes in applying those languages in the novel besides presenting the real
meaning through the words in the text of the novel. This is a way to make an
imagery for the reader so that the reader can flow through the language.
The novel “The Great Gatsby” is a novel that really interesting to study
because it is rich of imagery that Fitzgerald implies and it has encouraged to see
the characteristics of metaphors in each type of metaphor according to Goatly
(1997) resulting the data of some types of metaphor that applied and draw the
an example “A single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the
end of a dock” is the most famous metaphor in the novel that conveys a huge idea
conception. it means hope. In the first chapter of the book Nick mentions the first
time he sees Gatsby which was when Gatsby was reaching for this green light in
the darkness. The green light was a light of Daisy‟s dock. The fact that Gatsby
was anxious and nervous at his meeting with Daisy shows that he had been hoping
for their meeting all along. To Gatsby the green light was his future desire to meet
Daisy. The green light there must be something presented or added through the
metaphors.
For many people, metaphors are a means of poets or writers, in other
words, creative people. Just a few people are aware of the fact that we actually use
metaphorical expressions every day. It depends on the view everybody has what
someone thinks about it. Metaphors can be the way we soften the languages in
informal situation and making it better. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) “Metaphors
we live by” one of the first that brought the approach of omnipresent metaphors.
They proved that metaphors are omnipresent and indispensable in everyday
language. Metaphors are supposed to be helpful in learning and this for some
reasons. First, they can be a kind of mnemonic aid. Because you have a figurative
image in your mind, it is easier to remember information you have just received.
Secondly, using metaphors can provide ”semantic frameworks from long term
memory. With this, new information can be applied to these frameworks. In social
life, metaphors also can be useful. They lead to a kind of an intimate atmosphere
experiences and interests. Therefore, not everybody gets an access to the
conversation between the two.
Following Lakoff and Johnson (1980 : 57), the criterion was chosen in
order to determine whether a phrase is metaphorical, is how close the word's sense
is to its embodied origins. Embodied origin is the way the concept is grounded in
sensorymotor experience. To analyze and discuss metaphor in any depth, firstly
identify and consider three things: the metaphor; its meaning; and the similarity or
connection between the two. however in order to do further analyze on metaphor
especially in novel or text read the text and applying literal interpretation, and the
second is construing the metaphorical meaning. The first interpretation is grasping
the explicit meaning through the meanings of the constituents of the text
meanwhile the other is deriving intended meaning to help understanding the
contexts of the text. It is not possible to come to an analysis of metaphor if the
background knowledge is not well prepared. The present knowledge is not enough
but the further study will make better understanding of the concept of metaphor.
There were some previous studies conducted on metaphor. Triartha (2012)
analyzed metaphor used in people magazine‟s advertisement. The most dominant
used of lexical metaphor concepts were noun-verb concept with the percentage
44%.
Faizal (2010) conducted metaphor in Gola Gong‟s novel “Bila Waktu
Berjalan”. The main finding of the research was about the use of metaphor in
Gola Gong‟s novel “Bila Waktu Bicara” and there were 59 metaphorical
in Gola Gong‟s novel “Bila WaktuBicara”, there were 22 sentences that showing
the pattern of time is an individual. It showed that the conclusion of Gola Gong‟s
novel “Bila Waktu Bicara” had effectively and creatively used metaphorical
expressions in telling the reader about the importance or the value of our time.
Another work about metaphor was conducted by Sabu (2011). The study
was about metaphor on Barrack Obama‟s speeches. it focused on a specific element of Obama‟s rhetoric skill, the used of metaphor. He tried to apply this theory by
examining 6 types of rhetoric speech. The writer concluded that the function of
metaphor used by Obama in his rhetoric speech was as a tool to clarify meaning, to inspire, and to motivate the audience. Metaphor in Obama‟s speech can be used to
convey emotional meaning which then may attract audience‟s attention.
In addition, this study can symbolize desire and emotion through language
and make better understanding of complex language. So the writer intenses to
make the prove whether with metaphor can be useful in social life, it leads to a
kind of an intimate atmosphere between the speakers and the listeners. This
creates a link based on same similar experiences and interests that communicated
most in literary work but not limited in everyday language. Based on the previous
B. The Problem of the Study
Concerning about the theories and data that used in this study, the
problems that were formulated to be solved were :
1. what types of metaphors are used in “The Great Gatsby” novel?
2. what type of metaphor is mostly used in “The Great Gatsby” novel?
3. why the dominant type of the metaphor imply?
C. The Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study were intended to
1. Find out the types of metaphors that were used in “The Great Gatsby” novel
2. Find out the most dominant type of metaphor in “The Great Gatsby” novel
3. Described the implication of the dominant type of metaphor in “The Great
Gatsby” novel
D. The Scope of the Study
The study focuses only on finding metaphor used in the novel written by
F. Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”. The metaphors which were analyzed
were based on Goatly (1997).
E. The Significance of the Study
1. Readers to recognize and identify metaphors in every literature product
2. Researchers that are going to conduct a further study on literature that
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
After analyzing and determining the types of metaphor in the sentences of
the novel “The Great Gatsby”, the conclusions were presented as follows:
1. The seven types of metaphor were occurred in the novel “The Great
Gatsby”. They were active metaphor (29), inactive metaphor (12),
subjective metaphor (11), mimetic metaphor (32), phenomenalistic
metaphor (11), precision metaphor (0), symbolism metaphor (2) and
approximate metaphor (27).
2. The most dominant type of metaphor was mimetic metaphor written by the
author with 32 occurrences (25,6%) in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
3. The author of the novel wanted to make this novel become more real by
using mimetic metaphor dominantly. There were so many imaginary
words that implied in the novel so that make the novel feel like a real
condition with an intense scheme by using feeling and expression that can
be imagined by visual so the reader can be brought to the world that the
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B. Suggestions
By considering the research finding and the conclusions, there are some
suggestions which are presented as follows:
1. Readers are suggested to enrich their knowledge of metaphor language so
they can become more interested in reading such as literary work and
make the better understanding of language use in novel.
2. Other researchers are suggested to make a more depth analysis of
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