THE IDEA OF BEAUTY IN THE LATE 20
THCENTURY IN
BRITAIN PORTRAYED IN JENEFER SHUTE’S LIFE-SIZE AND
HELEN FIELDING’S BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
LUSIA AJENG IKININGTYAS
Student Number: 024214048
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE IDEA OF BEAUTY IN THE LATE 20TH
CENTURY IN BRITAIN PORTRAYED IN JENEFER SHUTE’S LIFE-SIZE AND HELEN FIELDING’S
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
By
LUSIA AJENG IKININGTYAS
Student Number: 024214048
Approved by
Agatha Bernadetha Sri Mulyani, Dra., M.A. May 18, 2007 Advisor
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. May 18, 2007
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE IDEA OF BEAUTY IN THE LATE 20TH
CENTURY IN BRITAIN PORTRAYED IN JENEFER SHUTE’S LIFE-SIZE AND HELEN FIELDING’S
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
By
LUSIA AJENG IKININGTYAS
Student Number: 024214048
Defended before the Board of Examiners on May 25, 2007
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A.
Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum.
Member : Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.
Member : Agatha Bernadetha Sri Mulyani, Dra., M.A.
Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum.
Yogyakarta, May 31, 2007 Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University
Dean
Our Greatest Glory is Not in Never Falling,
but Rising in Every Time We Fall
-Confusius-This Undergraduate Thesis is
Dedicated to
My Beloved Parents,
My Brother,
My Sister,
My Grand Parents,
My Nephews,
My Beloved Mate,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank Jesus Christ for His blessings in every single
day of my life.
I would like to thank Dra. Agatha Bernadetha Sri Mulyani, M.A. for sparing
her time for me even in her busiest days especially for the last few weeks. I thank her
very much for guiding and encouraging me in finishing my thesis writing. I would
also thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. for being my co-advisor. I really
appreciate his suggestions because they really have improved my thesis. Furthermore,
I thank him for reading my thesis quickly.
I would thank my parents, my brother, and my sister for continuously
supporting and praying for me. I would like to give my very special thanks to my
beloved mate Wurry for his patience, love, and support all this time. I also want to
say thanks to Ria for being a good driver to me for more or less three years. I would
like to say thanks to Danang for checking my tenses; Mia, Septa, David, Dimas,
Parjo, Steva, Nina, Diah, Shela, for their friendships. I thank them for being there for
me. I would like to thank mbak Ninik for helping me finish all the matters so that I
could have my thesis defense on May. I would also thank all my friends in English
Letters 2002.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone whom I forgot to name who has helped
Lusia Ajeng Ikiningtyas
3. Theory of Personality Development and Psychology Related to the Society in the Novel …...……….. 15
A. The Characterization of Josie and Bridget in Terms of Beauty ……. 29
1. Josie’s Characterization ……….. 29
2. Bridget’s Characterization ……….. 39 B. The Influences of Other Characters and the Society toward Josie’s
and Bridget’s Characters ……….………. 46
the Society in Life-Size to Josie’s Character Development …… 46
2. The Influences of Other Characters and the Society in Bridget Jones’s Diary to Bridget’s Character Development ………… 50
C. The Idea of Beauty in the Late 20th Century in Britain Portrayed through Josie’s and Bridget’s Characterizations ……….………..… 56
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………. 61
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………. 64
APPENDICES ……….... 67
Appendix 1: Summary of Life Size……… 67
ABSTRACT
LUSIA AJENG IKININGTYAS (2007). The Idea of Beauty in the Late 20th
Cen-tury in Britain Portrayed in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Brid-get Jones’s Diary. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary are two novels which reflect the fact that society plays a big role on someone’s psychological development. The novels portray the truth about women and life style, which is sometimes horrifying, especially in relation with food and physical appearance.
The study is concerned with the idea of beauty in the late 20th century in
Britain portrays through the characterizations of Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary. In this study, there are three objectives to guide the analysis. The first is to observe and analyze the characterizations of Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary, which can be seen in the novels from the beginning until the end. The second is to analyze what causes the character developments of Josie and Bridget related to theirobsession of food, weight and appearance. The third is to observe and analyze the idea of beauty in the late 20th century portray in the novels
through the characterizations of Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary.
In order to accomplish the objectives, the library research is used since many data and theories are collected from books. The psychological approach is applied in this study. The approach is applied because the paper is going to analyze the psychological factors that influence the personality of the characters that develop in the novels because of the character’s interaction with other characters in their surroundings. The study also concerns with the characters’ satisfaction of being accepted by others, especially by people with different sex.
ABSTRAK
LUSIA AJENG IKININGTYAS (2007). The Idea of Beauty in the Late 20th
Cen-tury in Britain Portrayed in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Brid-get Jones’s Diary. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Life-Size karya Jenefer Shute dan Bridget Jones’s Diary karya Helen Fielding adalah dua novel yang menggambarkan kenyataan bahwa masyarakat memegang peranan penting dalam perkembangan psikologis seseorang. Kedua novel tersebut menggambarkan fakta tentang wanita dan gaya hidup yang terkadang menakutkan terutama dalam kaitannya dengan makanan dan penampilan.
Studi ini merujuk pada bagaimana kecantikan pada akhir abad 20 yang ditunjukkan oleh karakterisasi josie dalam novel Life-Size karya Jenefer Shute dan Bridget dalam Bridget Jones’s Diary karya Helen Fielding. Dalam studi ini, terdapat tiga pertanyaan yang dirumuskan untuk memandu analisis. Yang pertama adalah melihat dan menganalisa karakterisasi dari Josie dan Bridget yang dapat dilihat dari awal hingga akhir cerita. Yang kedua adalah meneliti dan menganalisa hal-hal yang mempengaruhi perkembangan karakter keduanya dan apa yang menyebabkan mereka melakukan apa yang mereka lakukan, yaitu terobsesi dengan makanan, berat badan, dan penampilan yang dapat dilihat di dalam novel-novel tersebut. Yang ketiga adalah untuk menggambarkan bagaimana penggambaran kecantikan pada akhir abad 20 yang ditunjukkan oleh kedua novel tersebut melalui penggambaran watak dari Josie dan Bridget.
Dalam tujuan untuk menyelesaikan analisis, metode kepustakaan digunakan karena banyak data dan teori didapat dari beberapa buku. Pendekatan Psikologi digunakan dalam studi ini. Pendekatan tersebut digunakan karena tugas akhir ini menganalisa faktor-faktor psikologis yang mempengaruhi perkembangan kepribadian karakter-karakter tersebut dalam hubungannya dengan karakter-karakter lain dalam novel dan lingkungan sekitarnya. Studi ini berhubungan dengan kepuasan kedua karakter untuk diterima oleh orang lain terutama yang berbeda jenis kelamin.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The reflection of human life and the conflict that human has as a part of the
society can be seen in literature. Literature shares ideas, feelings, and even criticism
in what happen in life, yet, the characters and characterization in a work of literature
is also influenced by the real life. Literature gives a picture of life from the author’s
point of view (Brooks and Warren, 1952: 8).
An author characterizes the character in his or her novel based on what he or
she saw, how human behave and what make them behave that way. It can also be
seen the picture of the society and how a society influence people in many ways.
Society plays a big role in human’s behaviors especially in order to be accepted by
other people and the society. People, especially women, are concerned of societies’
idea about beauty. Literature describes society as a social reality. An author does not
express the whole life or the whole life of a certain time even if he shares all his
experiences in his writing. An author should express age and society in his writing
(Wellek and Warren, 1956: 95).
Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary reflects
the fact that society plays a big role on someone’s psychological development. In the
beauty, cause the uncomfortable feeling the main characters have with their
appearance. The modern society in where both of the characters live seems always
demanding the perfectness in body image. This issue concerns with the satisfaction of
being accepted by other, especially by people from different sex.
The contributors to the current issue point to a number of factors. Some are broad societal issues, like the pressure applied by the ‘appearance industry’ to be thin. This puts women from cultures where food plays a prominent role in a position of particular conflict.
(http://www.eatingdisordersabc.com/anorexia.htm)
Traditionally, the idea of beautiful women is taken from the perspective of
men that assumes a perfect woman is skinny. The societies’ opinion influences
women to have those characteristics even in extreme ways, in order to be accepted in
the society. Men give important effects on women’s behavior and motivation to do
something because women want to be perfect in front of men, so that men’s opinion
gave a great influence on women’s self-concept. Women are forced to face the reality
that ideal women are like those models on the magazine.
It’s clear that many adult women are guilty of passing on mixed messages about food to younger generations. But on top of that, we now live in a very ‘beautiful people’ kind of world where television, magazines and newspapers continually bombard us with images of extremely slim people. This is undoubtedly a bad thing, but the fact is that most of us, deep down, equate slimness with success (http://www.newagebd.com/2005/apr/04/pulse.html).
In Jenefer Shute’s novel Life-Size, the character of Josie decided to do a diet
because of the influence of a boy’s comment on her when she was thirteen years old.
Her strict diet then became an eating disorder and made her an anorexic. On the other
do a diet because of her state of being single in her age of 30s. She assumed that
every guy wanted a woman, who is skinny. From the novels can be drawn a
conclusion that some women really care about what men think about their
appearance. The men in this case can be included as the part of the society, which
gave opinion and perception toward woman’s physical appearance. This kind of
condition in the society make women feel insecure, for example, when women want
to eat something in public places, or shopping for new clothes, and so on.
Jenefer Shute’s novel Life-Size and Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary are
chosen because they reveal the truth about women and life style, which is sometimes
horrifying, especially in relation with food and physical appearance. The topic is
chosen in order to show the truth about women that many people do not know, which
are revealed in the novels. Josie, the central character of the novel Life-Size dedicated
her life to make herself as thin as possible, on the other hand, Bridget on the novel
Bridget Jones’s Diary also wanted to be thin. It interests the writer to reveal the
reasons why a woman has a will to work on perfection of her appearance and even
become the bare bones. The characterizations show the psychological condition of
both of the characters in the novels.
What makes the novel Life-Size interesting is the fact that many comments on
the novel appeared. The comments are shown in the cover of the novel, which was
published by mandarin Paperbacks in 1993.
‘The first novel I’ve read that accurately renders the slice of half-life that is anorexic experience’ –Naomi Wolf- (Shute:1993)
‘A compulsive as a good thriller, as strongly angry as a feminist manifesto and as beautiful as a work of art’ –Zoë Fairbairns- (Shute:1993)
‘A stunning book: compulsory reading for compulsive eaters and non-eaters’ –Time Out- (Shute:1993)
‘Shute exposes horrifying truths about women and food’ – Cosmopolitan-
(Shute:1993)
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding is also interesting to be discussed
and compared to Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size because basically the two novels talk about
the same issue concerning about women’s physical appearance and the idea of beauty
in the novels. The fact that both of the novels was written in the late 20th century
interest the writer to observe whether or not both of the novels have similarities and
can reveal the same idea. The topic was simple and presenting the fact, which
sometimes is denied and even rejected by many people.
In both novels, other characters also played a big and serious role on the
development of the main character on the novels. Other characters could give positive
or negative influence on the way the characters think or feel about something. The
two characters seem very irritated with what other characters think about them. Josie
and Bridget also portray the idea of beauty in Britain in the late 20th century. It shows
the fact that they are obsessed with food, weight and body image, which make them
Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary was first published in 1996 and reprinted in
2001. The novel tells the story about Bridget Jones, a slightly large woman, who has
a desire to be thin. The story shows the reader Bridget’s struggle to live her social life
and how she tries to lose her weight and become thinner. Similar to Fielding’s
Bridget Jones’s Diary, Jenefer Shute’s novel Life-Size, which was first published in
1992 and reprinted in 1993, tells the story of a twenty-five years old woman named
Josie, who has anorexic nervosa or obsessed with food and body image. At first, she
did a diet but then she had an eating disorder, which made her an anorexic. The story
portrays Josie’s life when she is hospitalized for threatening her life with
self-starvation and she replays what happened before that.
Since both of the novels were written in British in the late 20th century, the
writer is interested to reveal the idea of beauty in British in the late 20th century
through Josie and Bridget, their characterizations and also through the stories. The
writer focuses on the lifestyle, which especially concerns with food and body
appearance. The readers may experience the emotional events when facing the reality
of how important a perfect appearance is for some women. This is also the
psychological experience that Josie and Bridget should undergo in order to achieve
B. Problem Formulations
Based on the background of the study stated and discussed previously, the
problems formulated in the research are as followings:
1. In terms of beauty, how are the main character presented in Jenefer Shute’s
Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary?
2. How do other characters and the society in the novels affect the characters’
devel-opment?
3. How does the idea of beauty in the late 20th century in Britain portray through the
characterizations?
C. Objectives of the Study
The study is concerned with the idea of beauty in the late 20th century in
Britain that will be observed through the characters and characterization, Josie in
Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s
Diary. The purposes of the study are first, to observe and analyze the characters and
characterizations of Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s
novel Bridget Jones’s Diary, which can be seen in the novels from the beginning until
the end of the stories, and analyze the similarities and differences between the two
characters.
Second, to analyze the character developments of Josie, in Jenefer Shute’s
Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary related to their
The third is to analyze the idea of beauty in the late 20th century in Britain
portrayed in the novels through the characters and characterizations of Josie in
Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s
Diary.
D. Definitions of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding in judging the analysis of The Idea of
Beauty in The Late 20th Century in Britain Portrayed in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and
Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, the writer may provide the definition of
terms that are used in analyzing the novels, Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Helen
Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary.
1. In A Handbook to Literature Hugh Holman and William Harmon describes
char-acterization as the presentation of the character in action, with the little or no
ex-plicit comment by author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce
the attributes of the actor from the actions (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81).
2. In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, beauty is described as a combination
of qualities that give pleasure to the senses (esp. to the eye or ear) or to the mind
(Hornby, 1995: 92). In the study, beauty is portrayed as the quality of slenderness
or slim images of female body, which is unrealistically presented in the media
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Many critics often use the term anorexia nervosa. The term is stated in the
research because Jenefer Shute’s novel, Life-Size, exposes the condition what is
so-called as anorexia nervosa, which happen to the main character Josie. Thus, the
definition of anorexia nervosa by some critics is needed. The first is the definition of
anorexia nervosa by Sarah Grogan in her book Body Image. Grogan stated that people
with anorexia nervosa believe that they are much heavier than they really are
(Grogan, 1999:2).
On the other hand, Orbach and Rosen defined anorexia nervosa as the state of
having an eating disorder where the person’s eating pattern is fell outside the normal
range, and it usually involving severe restriction of food intake. Rosen also stated that
‘eating disorders’ usually begins with an episode of dieting. This statement can also
be proven in the story. The fact is that the main character, Josie, was started her
eating disorder (anorexia) by did a diet when she was thirteen years old. However,
there is some disagreement in the literature on ‘eating disorder’ whether the people
with some problematic relationships with food should be seen as a specific clinical
group of people or not.
Another author, Lasque stated that anorexia is an exclusively female
unstable nature (Wilkinson and Kitzinger, 1995:70). Those definitions and
descriptions of anorexia nervosa, which states above, are reflected on the character of
Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life–Size.
There is also additional information that Shute has done a research on
anorexia nervosa before she made the novel. It was stated that Shute has researched
the topic and reveals many of the traits, which characterize the anorexia nervosa.
Shute’s narrative technique aptly conveys the preoccupations of the protagonist
obsessive thinking is well delineated and gives a strong sense of how challenging it
must be for caregivers to treat such patients
(http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/shute117-des-.html).
The study related to anorexia nervosa is really appropriate and needed in this
research to understand more information about the illness. According to Anna
Krugovoy Silver, in the Victorian Literature and the Anorexic Body published in
Cambridge and New York by Cambridge UP in 2002 that forthcoming,
Nineteenth-Century Contexts, Anorexia has long fascinated feminist theorists. "Reading the
slender body" (as Susan Bordo puts it), or reflecting on the "tyranny of slenderness"
(as Kim Chernin puts it), has allowed feminist critics to describe in relentless, riveting
detail the political, cultural, and ideological dimensions of modern Western culture's
oppressive what is so called as "beauty myth" by Naomi Wolf (http://www.
erinconnor.org/reviews.anorexiareview.shtml).
Shute's first book, Life-Size, told by a woman starving herself to death, and is
herself in an interview about Life-Size stated that for Life-Size, she did an enormous
amount of research on anorexia. She has never been a clinical anorexic but like many
women and some men, she has also had issues with food. So she gave Josie’s
character the obsession and the experience she had, and take the character to the brink
of a precipice.
When Shute started writing Life-Size it was pre-Naomi Wolf's Beauty Myth.
Shute said that at that time, there wasn't a general awareness of anorexia as a
cultural/political disease. But by the time she finished writing, the topic was trendy:
great, if accidental, timing. She also stated ‘I never quite believed anyone would read
Life-Size’ (http://www.citypaper.net/articles/112196/article012.shtml).
In finding the related studies on Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size, the writer find
difficulties since there were only a very small amount of study on the novel.
However, the writer try to gain as many information as possible about the issue that is
revealed in the novel that is the issue about anorexia nervosa so that the lack of
studies on the novel will not be an obstacle on the study.
On the other hand, there were also some study, critics and comments on Helen
Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, which also uses as the research object. Bridget
Jones’s Diary, another example of story, which takes on the singles scene, and from
yet another British writer. The journalist Helen Fielding began her weekly column
"Bridget Jones's Diary" in the British daily newspaper The Independent in 1995. The
following year, she turned her column into a book and Bridget Jones became an
had invented seems to be one with which a lot of women can (partly) identify - the
single female in her 30s (http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo18/bridget_jones_
diary).
A columnist from the New Yorker, Daphne Merkin said that the novel is the
sort of cultural artifact that is recognizably larger than itself and it sits so lightly on
the reader that it is easy to overlook the skill with which it has been assembled
(http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=326).
Bridget Jones's Diary is a chronicle of the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty
something single woman living in London. Surrounded by a 'surrogate family' of
friends Sharon (Shazzer), Jude, and Tom. Bridget tries to make sense of life and love
in the 1990s.
Bridget is a single person employed in the publishing industry. She struggles,
often humorously and endearingly, to make sense of her romantic entanglement with
her boss Daniel Cleaver, and later with the "top-notch human rights barrister" Mark
Darcy. Bridget's family is comprised of an overconfident mother who seems always
to be finding new adventures and projects, a much more down-to-earth father (though
he is sometimes driven into uncharacteristically unstable states of mind by his wife),
and a brother, Jamie, a more peripheral character. Bridget often visits her parents, as
well as her parents' friends (Geoffrey and Una Alconbury first and foremost). In these
situations, Bridget is often plagued with that perennial question "How's your love
life?" and exposed to the eccentricities of mid- to upper class British society,
This novel evolved from Helen Fielding's columns in The Independent and
The Daily Telegraph. As a columnist, Fielding often lampooned society's obsession
with women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan and criticized wider societal trends in
Britain at the time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridget_Jones's_Diary).
Those comments are really interesting, considering the fact that many related
studies shown. This could give a better challenge for the writer to be more fluent in
revealing new ideas. However, the writer not only taken any comments related to the
topic of the study, thus the writer should be more selective in editing the appropriate
information. Her novel reflects a general cultural shift, from the defiant ``Fat Is a
Feminist Issue'' movement kicked off by Susie Orbach in 1978 to a more
looks-conscious brand of feminism (http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/chronic
Le/archieve/2000/08/13/RV59591.DTL).
The studies reviewed above shows that there are some studies on the novels
and the related topic. However, to achieve the originality in writing the undergraduate
thesis, the writer tried to discover new ideas that could develop the previous and next
studies on the same topic. The study is different from the previous studies in the fact
that the writer is doing a comparative study on the two novels, Jenefer Shute’s
Life-Size and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, and trying to find the similarity and
differences between the two novels. The writer also tried to give satisfying answers to
the problem formulation so that it will fulfill the academic requirements and
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character
Abrams in his A Glossary of Literary Terms (1981:20) defined the characters
are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the
reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in
what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action.
Based on the importance, the character can be divided into two categories.
There are main or major character and minor character. A major character usually
appears in the whole of the story. He becomes the focus of the story. The events that
appear in the story always involve him directly or indirectly. On the other hand,
minor character is often said as the supporting character.
M.J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen, points out nine ways, by
which an author attempts to make his character believable and come alive for his
readers. They are the personal description of characters’ speech, character past life,
conversation of other characters reactions, direct comment given by the author,
characters’ thought and characters’ mannerism (Murphy, 1972: 161-173).
In A Glossary of Literary Terms Abrams said that character can be divided
based on the importance. Abrams categorizes characters into major character and
minor character. Major character can be called a central character. It is a character
that is relevant to every event in the story and usually the events cause some changes
either in him in our attitude toward him. Meanwhile minor characters are characters
the major character because they are not fully developed characters and their
functions in the story are only to support the development of the major characters
(Abrams, 1981: 21).
Perrine in his book Literature: Structure. Sounds, Sense, states that an author
may present his characters either directly or indirectly. In direct presentation, or also
called telling method, he tells us straight out, by exposition or analysis, what a
character is like, or has someone else in the story tell us what he is like. The author
describes the character directly by telling the readers what people look like. In
indirect presentation, or showing method, the author shows us the character in action.
The author only simply presents his character talking, acting and the author leaves the
reader to find out what motives and disposition lie behind what they say do (Perrine,
1974: 68-69).
2. Theory of Characterization
Rohrberger and Woods defined characterization as the process by which an
author creates character, the devices by which he makes us believe a character is like
particular type of person he is (Rohrberger, 1971: 20). Perrine was stated that there
are three principles, which characterization must observe. The three principles are:
a. The character must be consistent in their behavior. They must not behave one way
on one occasion and a different way on another unless there is a clearly sufficient for
the change.
b. They should be motivated in whatever they do, especially where there is any
c. They must be lifelike or plausible. They must be neither paragons of virtue nor
monsters of evil, nor an impossible combination of contradictory traits (Perrine,
1974: 68).
3. Theory of Personality Development and Psychology Related to the Society in the Novel
Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in the book Theory of Literature define
literature psychology as the psychological study of the writer as a type of individual,
while the study of psychological types and laws are presented within literary works,
and also the literature effects on the readers, which is called as audience psychology
(1956: 81). They also stated that psychology could illuminate the creative process of
literary work. The creative process covers the entire sequence from the subconscious
origins of a literary work to those last revisions, which becomes the most genuinely
creative part of the whole, for some writers (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 85).
As the result, it can be concluded that the psychological side of a character in
the novel is important. Thus, it is necessary for the author to provide a clear
description of the psychological of the character so that the character in the fiction
will be life-like and able to convey the message of the literary work.In their book
Theories of Personality, Hall and Lindzey state that an adequate understanding of
human behaviors will be improved from the study of the whole person. According to
them, individual personality can be assessed by the effectiveness whether or not an
circumstances. It is assured that personality may be comprehended by examining
individual’s behavior (Hall and Lindzey, 1957: 6).
Horton and Hunt argued that personality development could be influenced by
some factors. The factors that influence personality development are heredity,
physical environment, and culture (1987: 114). Heredity is the parental inherent
factor. Physical environment is the environment around the person such as parents,
friends, and other people. Culture is the society, which presents some experience that
happen to the person. Allport, in Hurlock’s Personality Development, defined
personality development as a stage in growth of constantly changing and involving
process within an individual. The process becomes more complex in the pattern of
someone’s self-concept, habits, attitudes, emotion states, sentiments, and motives.
Allport also said that the personality development will determine his or her
uniqueness in speech, in reaction to people and things, in mannerism, in fantasy and
in other ways directed toward the specific goal to adjust his or her environment
(Hurlock, 1974: 7).
Elizabeth Langland, in her book Society in the Novel, explained the
relationship between literature, society, and author as a writer may, by virtue of being
himself a member of society, include social details and beliefs that are not integral to
a particular novel’s end. Society deliberately created and included by a novelist in
achieving certain artistic ends and society that intrudes itself into a work by virtue of
the novelist’s own social issue (1984:19). In her opinion, society in a novel is not
aim to describe any concrete or existent things (Langland, 1984: 5). According to
Langland, society may also be revealed through human relationships, through
character’s patterned interactions and their common expectations of one another. She
also argued that how a writer uses society depends on both the relationships it has to
the characters and to overall role it plays in a developing action (Langland, 1984:
6-7).
In Psychology in Action, social psychology is defined as a branch of
psychology that studies how individuals’ behavior (thoughts, feelings, and actions)
are influenced by other people. The society and culture into which people are born
directly influence the person from the moment of birth until the moment of death.
The culture teaches people to believe certain things, feel certain ways, and act in
accordance with these beliefs and feelings. The influences are so strong and dominant
so that people find it difficult to recognize them (Huffman, 1997: 566).
Medinnus and Johnson, in their book Child and Adolescent Psychology, stated
that generally the body image assumed to be closely related to the physical reality,
distortions in it related to psychological disturbance. It is believed as the source of
inexplicable behavior (1969: 563). In Grogan’s book, Body Image, that it is well
established that ‘eating disorders’ usually begin with an episode of dieting (Rosen,
1990). One of the characteristics of people with eating disorder is that they tend to do
an over-exercise. Research has suggested that the frequent exercisers are at risk for
body dissatisfaction, body preoccupation and ‘eating disorders’ (Grogan, 1999: 48).
one that is stated in Grogan book that Bruch suggest the idea that one commonly held
belief about anorexia is that anorexic women overestimate the size of their bodies
(Grogan, 1999: 40).
Sarah Grogan in her book Body Image, stated that the term ‘eating disorder’ is
generally used to describe eating patterns that fall outside the normal range, usually
involving severe restriction food intake (anorexia nervosa). It is believed that
anorexic women overestimate the size of their body. The anorexic women are so
concerned about their body image. Body image is a psychological phenomenon that is
affected by social factors. Body image is conceptualized as subjective and open to
change through the social influence (Grogan, 1999: 2).
a. Motivation
Kalish in his book The Psychology of Human Behavior states that human
motivation or human motivated behavior is behavior that set into motion by a need
which indicates that some type of satisfaction is lacking and implies that the organism
is activated to reduce the dissatisfaction. He argues that sometimes people cannot
really fulfill all his needs. As an example, a woman on a diet, although perhaps she is
satisfying the needs for popularity or self-esteem, maybe she perpetually hungry and
thus the need for food is not fulfilled. It is possible for one need to be fulfilled while
the other not. Many psychologists believe that all human behavior is motivated, even
when the person is not aware of his motives at the time of the behavior (1973: 29-30).
Linda Brannon in her book Gender said that women is more concern with
is different than men. The differences in eating styles may be more than a way to give
impressions that the thinner ideal body image for women forces women to eat less
than men. Women have more fat in their body than men, but the ideal body image for
women demands thinness. This causes women’s belief that they must diet in order to
achieve their desired weight. The extreme concerns of weight and dieting make
women have an abnormal eating habits and severe eating disorders (Brannon, 1999:
365-366).
b. Body Image and the Idea of Beauty
Grogan, in her book Body Image uses the definition of body image as a
person’s perceptions, thoughts and feelings about his or her body, which is defined
by Thomas Pruzinsky and Thomas Cash (1990). Body image is a psychological
phenomenon, which is significantly affected by social factors and thus should be seen
not only from the individual relationship with their body but also at the cultural
milieu in which the individual operates. The distortion of body size caused by the
society is shown in the case that young women with anorexia nervosa believe that
they are much heavier than they really are (Grogan, 1999: 2). Beauty is portrayed as
the quality of slenderness or slim images of female body, which is unrealistically
presented in the media (Grogan, 1999, 95).
In their book Child and Adolescent Psychology, Medinnus and Johnson stated
that generally the body image assumed to be closely related to the physical reality,
distortions in it related to psychological disturbance. It is believed as the source of
influenced by their body-image, meaning to say that body-image is largely a
reflection of how people feel others perceive them. Self-concept is an individual’s
image of himself as he thinks he is while the ideal self is his image of himself, as he
would like to be. However a person tends to be dissatisfied with him and feels that he
has failed to become the sort of person he wants to become (1973: 65-68).
There is an image constitutes nowadays that an attractive female or male body
currently emphasizes thinness in women and muscularity in men. As Kim Chernin
(1978) in her book, which discussed the development of the contemporary ideal body
image for women that emphasis on thinness has developed within the past 100 years,
especially when the thin image arose during the early part of the 20th century. The
changes in ideal boy image have been more extreme for women than men. Research
found that the concern of weight and appearance not only starts early but also persists
throughout life (Brannon: 366-367).
c. Eating Disorders and Dieting
Anorexia nervosa is an example of eating disorders that have received a great
deal of publicity but Polivy and Thomsen (1988) said that dieting is also an eating
disorder with physical and psychological effects. In fact, they argued that dieting is
the beginning of eating disorder that develops into the more serious eating disorders
such as anorexia and bulimia. It begins during the early years of adolescence, when
girls shows and express greater dissatisfaction on their body than boys, and then
decided to do a series of dieting when actually they do not have health-related reasons
gender, social class, occupation, environment, and so on. Anorexia is life threatening,
since anorexic are persisting in their desire to lose weight and refuse to eat (Brannon,
1999: 368-369).
Anorexic women are said to be both rebels and victims in terms of their
attempts to find a satisfactory female identity (Corr, 1994). Hilde Bruch, an expert in
the treatment of eating disorders, has observed that the greatest attention and activity
centers on women concerns about weight. Bruch also said that cultural pressures to be
thin are greatest in affluent societies during the adolescence and young adulthood,
and sometimes a slightly-large women are viewed as unattractive and a sign of self
indulgence. Thus it is not surprising that many adolescents go through brief periods in
which their weight deviates upward and downward from generally accepted norms in
the view of physical and physiological changes. As the growth has stabilized, most
adolescents will correct their weight through diet. Pathologically prolonged and
extreme dieting may lead into a serious and even life-threatening degree of weight
loss, which latter known as anorexia nervosa. This condition is most likely to occur
during female adolescence (Conger, 1977: 613-619).
d. Media Effects
Grogan in Body Image shows that media portrayal of slender body shapes can
actually affect the way women and men feel about their body shape and size. Medias
are indeed mirroring societal values around body image on both female and male. In
media, it can be seen that women are portrayed as abnormally slim (1999: 94). Britain
development of the society. Nowadays, media seems to be one of the important
aspects in British way of life (Storry and Childs, 1997: 177). Through the media,
society is likely to expose more frequently on the idealized images of women’s
bodies (Grogan, 1999: 100). Media figures such as fashion models, actors/actresses
and sportspersons provide body image role models for the society through media
(Grogan, 1999: 107). Beauty is portrayed as the quality of slenderness or slim images
of female body, which is unrealistically presented in the media (Grogan, 1999, 95).
C. Theoretical Framework
By considering the fact that both of the novels were written in British in the
late 20th century, the writer is interested to reveal the idea of beauty in British in the
late 20th century through Josie and Bridget’s characterizations and how other
characters and the society affect the characters. The writer is focusing on the lifestyle,
which concerns with food and body appearance. The readers may experience the
emotional events when facing the reality of how important a perfect appearance is for
some women. This is also the psychological experience that Josie and Bridget should
undergo in order to achieve the real meaning of being a woman.
In analyzing and answering the problem formulations, the writer used the
theories related to the problems. The first is the character. There is a need to observe
and analyze the characterizations of Josie in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in
Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, in terms of beauty, because the writer try to
Second, is to observe and analyze what causes the character development of
the characters, Josie, in Jenefer Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s
Bridget Jones’s Diary, there is a need to used the psychological theories to see the
motivation or the causes or the reasons why do the two characters do what they did,
that is obsessed with food, weight and appearance, which is shown in the stories.
Third, the aim of the study is to observe and analyze the idea of beauty in the
late 20th century portrayed in the novels through the characters of Josie in Jenefer
Shute’s Life-Size and Bridget in Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, it is
appropriate to use theory of society, because the fact is that the two characters are
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
In the study, the writer uses Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary
and compares it with Jenefer Shute’s novel Life Size. Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget
Jones’s Diary was first published in 1996 and reprinted in 2001 by Picador. The
novel of 310 pages tells the story about Bridget Jones, a slightly large woman, who
has a desire to be thin. The story shows the reader Bridget’s struggle to live her
social life and how she tries to lose her weight and become thinner. Bridget starts to
count her calories and anything that she thinks can make her gained more weight.
Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, published in the UK in fall 1996, unleashed a
battalion of Bridgets, launching one of the biggest tidal waves in publishing history.
Women cried out for more funny, lighthearted novels about "singletons" like Bridget
who were searching for love, job satisfaction and the perfect pair of shoes(http:
//www.readersread.com/romance/).
Bridget Jones’s Diary is the fictional diary of a year in the life of Bridget
Jones, a 30-something single woman working in the media - and on an apparently
doomed quest for self-improvement. She is desperate to find a man who will be truly
committed to her - instead of just using her and leaving her. She lurches from torrid
alsation. She is convinced that if only she could get down to 8st 7lb, stop smoking
and give up Lottery Instants then all would be fine.
Bridget Jones’s Diary was originally a weekly column in the Independent but
now runs in the Daily Telegraph on Saturdays. The book has been published in over
20 countries and has sold over a million copies making it one of a tiny handful of
massive hits (http://www.becal.net/toolkit/damaris/bdiary.html).
Jenefer Shute’s novel Life-Size revealed the truth about women and life style,
which is sometimes horrifying, especially in relation with food and physical
appearance. Josie, the central character of the novel Life-Size dedicated her life to
make herself as thin as possible. The novel Life-Size is portrayed the everyday life
that is easy to read, and portrayed the lifestyle, especially concerning with food and
body appearance. The novel is a harrowing story, told in the first person, of an
obsession with food and body image. "One day I will be thin enough", says Josie, the
25 years old anorectic woman who has been hospitalized for life-threatening
self-starvation. "Just the bones, . . . the pure, clear shape of me." "One day I will be pure
consciousness." The narration spins out in painful detail the pattern of compulsive
behavior, which pervades Josie's existence. Her pitifully barren emotional life is
revealed as well (http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescri
ps/shute117-des-.html).
The novel is Shute’s first book. It was first published in 1992 and reprinted in
1993. The writer uses the novel that was published by Mandarin Paperbacks in 1993.
Shute’s novel Life Size are interesting to compare because basically the two novels
talk about the same issue concerning about woman physical appearance and the idea
of beauty in the novels. The fact that both of the novels was written in the late 20th
century interest the writer to observe whether or not both of the novels have
similarities and reveal the same idea.
B. Approach of the Study
This study applies the psychological approach, an approach which focused on
the psychological interpretation for entrancing the understanding and appreciation of
literature (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 13). Psychological approach is an approach
that involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent pattern in human
being’s life. To be specific, the study refers to Lewis Leary’s definition of
psychological approach in A Study and Research Guide that states Psychological
approach as an approach that applies principles of modern psychology to characters
or situations within a literary work or to the person who wrote that work (Leary,
1976: 57).
The study refers to the principles of modern psychology applied to the
characters within literary works (novels). The approach is applied because the paper
analyzes the psychological factors that influence the personality of the characters that
develops in the novels because of the characters’ interaction with other characters in
their surroundings. The writer is focusing in Josie’s eating disorder and closely
also Bridget’s obsession of weight, food and body shape. The approach is applied
considering the fact that the target study on psychology is two persons and their
characterizations in the novels that showed their psychological conditions and
developments. The research will apply some psychological information from many
sources related to anorexia and dieting.
C. Method of the Study
The methodology that will be used is a library research. The objects of the
study are Helen Fielding’s novel Bridget Jones’s Diary and Jenefer Shute’s novel
Life Size. By comparing the two novels, the writer tried to do a closer look on the
characterization of the novels through examining the intrinsic element of the novels:
character and characterization.
The first step was the writer read, reread and understand the novels. The next
step was observing and analyzing the characterizations of the character in the study
by applying theories of character and characterizations from the reference books used
in the study. After finding the character and characterizations, the writer was applying
the theories of personality development and psychological disturbance to the
characters in the study. The data, including the theories of character and
characterization, theories of psychological development, personality disturbance, and
society in the novel were collected from the book on the library. As the addition of
the data, the writer collected some information related to the novel and previous
The next step was analyzing the influences of other characters in the novels to
the characters in the study by applying the theories of society and media effects from
the books Society in the Novel and Body Image. The application of the theory in
revealing the influence of the society toward the characters, Josie and Bridget, was
used in order to reveal the idea of beauty portrayed through the characterizations of
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter is divided into three major sections. The first is identifying the
characterizations of the characters in the study. The second is examining the
influences of other characters and the society in the novels. The third is revealing the
idea of beauty portrayed through the characterizations in the novels.
A. The Characterizations of Josie and Bridget in Terms of Beauty
This part will describe the characterizations of two major characters from the
novels Bridget Jones’s Diary and Life-Size in relation with body image and
appearances and how the characters feel and see themselves and other people.
1. Josie’s Characterization
Josie is portrayed as a twenty-five year old woman who has been hospitalized
because of eating disorder or in other word she is an anorexic woman. At the
beginning of the story, it is not stated explicitly that Josie is an anorexic woman.
However, in the first chapter of the story, it is clearly stated that Josie has been
hospitalized for two days.
Since being admitted two days ago, I’ve spent most of my time lying on this bed, arms apart, hands splayed, eyes fixed on the blind bulb above me.
The last time I was in a hospital was when I was nine, for a tonsillectomy (Shute, 1993: 3).
Medinnus and Johnson, in their book Child and Adolescent Psychology, stated
distortions in it related to psychological disturbance. It is believed as the source of
inexplicable behavior (Medinnus and Johnson, 1969: 563).
There are some evidences that show that Josie is an anorexic or having an
eating disorder. The first is the weight and how much Josie concerns about it. Josie
began her eating disorder when she was thirteen years old. It began with her decision
to do a diet. However, this condition perfectly shows the beginning of her state of
being anorexic just like what is stated in Grogan’s book, Body Image, that it is well
established that ‘eating disorders’ usually begin with an episode of dieting (Rosen,
1990). Josie is so obsessed with her weight so that she does not want any calories to
get into her body although it is generally known that people need calories in order to
survive in their life and to be able to do some activities (Grogan, 1999: 42).
The beginning of her ‘eating disorder’ was caused by a boy’s comment on her
waist. The boy accidentally touched her when he tried to help her climb up the bike.
The boy said that her stomach is a bit chubby. She did not expect such reaction from
a boy. She also did not realize that those words could actually change her life.
‘A little chubby there, aren’t we?’ (Shute, 1993:102).
When Josie got home that evening, she tried to see her reflection in the mirror
and started to believe what the boy said. She sees herself just like what the boys said
about her. She could not think about other thing except the way the boy sees her
which finally influenced her and made her saw herself the way the boy saw her.
would see, looking down on me. I even tried to see what I looked like when I wasn’t being looked at. But mainly-obsessively, repeatedly-I placed my own hand on my waist, where he had been.
It was true: above the band of my skirt, even when I was standing, there was a palpable, rubbery bulge (Shute, 1993: 103).
The next day, Josie made a huge decision that changes her life and decided to
do a diet. Her mother was not agree with her decision and kept asking her to forget
the silly thought about that because her mother thought that there is nothing wrong
about her shape, but she was not listened to her mother’s advice. She was a hundred
and twelve pounds at five feet two when she decided to have a strict diet.
‘I’m going on a diet,’ I announced at dinner the next night – after dinner, to be precise, when the dessert appeared, reminding me (Shute, 1993: 104).
Josie’s decision to do a diet justifies Kalish’s statements about someone’s
motivation in doing something. In his book ‘The Psychology of Human Behavior’,
Kalish states that human motivation or human motivated behavior is behavior that set
into motion by a need which indicates that some type of satisfaction is lacking and
implies that the organism is activated to reduce the dissatisfaction. He argues that
sometimes people cannot really fulfill all his needs. As an example, a woman on a
diet, although perhaps she is satisfying the needs for popularity or self-esteem, maybe
she perpetually hungry and thus the need for food is not fulfilled. It is possible for
one need to be fulfilled while the other not. Many psychologists believe that all
human behavior is motivated, even when the person is not aware of his motives at the
Since then she was obsessed with her body image. She did a strict diet and
never satisfied with what her appearances or image. Josie refused to eat breakfast at
the next day and it continued during the days of her life. When she was finally eat
something, she only took a sip or two of the food served to her by her mother, and it
also happens when she is hospitalized.
‘Well, I’m not eating breakfast today. I’m not hungry’
I was, of course but felt light and virtuous, my stomach flatter already (Shute, 1993: 107).
Josie became very worried about her appearance. She was constantly seeing
her reflection in the mirror. She felt that everything on her seemed wrong, the body,
legs, neck, waist, and so on, and she blamed her parent (mother’s genes) for the body
image.
The night before, after my bath, I’d stood naked for a long time in the mirror’s unforgiving gaze. How had this disease crept up on me for so long unremarked? How had I failed to notice deformity’s spread?
What I saw was a squat, stocky body, with short legs, a short neck, and a short waist (thank you, Mother, for this genes). The solid ankles and the wrists betrayed peasant stock, as did the chunky calves. A thick aspic of fat coated everything, especially thighs, which were curdled to boot, and the belly, bulging in three gelatinous rolls. But the breasts were the worst: pneumatic and pendulous as the same time; full, formless, and flaccid (Shute, 1993: 107).
Josie’s behavior is like what is stated by Linda Brannon in her book ‘Gender’.
She said that women is more concern with eating to control weight and more likely to
diet than men. Thus, women eating pattern is different than men. The differences in
image for women forces women to eat less than men. Women have more fat in their
body than men, but the ideal body image for women demands thinness. This causes
women’s belief that they must diet in order to achieve their desired weight. The
extreme concerns of weight and dieting make women have an abnormal eating habits
and severe eating disorders (Brannon, 1999: 365-366).
The writer may conclude that Josie is so thin. This conclusion is considering
that Josie is a British woman with the weight at the stage of sixty-nine and
half-pounds. The idea of body image in body image disturbance like what the anorexics
have is the one that is stated in Grogan book that Bruch suggest the idea that one
commonly held belief about anorexia is that anorexic women overestimate the size of
their bodies (Grogan, 1999). This is proven in Josie’s character in the quotation from
the novel:
With a shock of alarm I see the metal tooth has snagged just above sixty-nine. Sixty-nine and a half pounds! (Shute, 1993: 19).
However, since the aim of she being hospitalized is to gain weight or to get her
normal weight back, her weight is ups and downs inconstantly from the beginning
until the end of the story. Even when she is hospitalized to gain some weight to make
her healthy, she is still feeling afraid of the fact that she has gained weight during her
days in the hospital because she feels that she is forced to eat everything.
She often feels frightened with the idea that she might have to spend the rest
of her life in the hospital and forced to have tubes rammed in her body. When she is
frightened by the fact that it could actually happen to her if she refuses to eat and the
the hospitals to make her healthy again while she assumes that there is nothing wrong
with her and she feels very healthy and please with her condition now. She plans to
gain five pounds so that she will be allowed to leave the hospital. She will try to eat
the food served by the nurse.
Before she is hospitalized, she is always weighing herself because she wants
to control her body so that she will not gain more weight. She has a rule for herself
that after she has been eating one time, for the rest of the day or even more, she will
not eat anything again until she thinks that she have been able to lose the weight
caused by that one time of food consuming. In the hospital, she cannot weigh herself
without the supervision of the doctor because it will ruin the gaining weight
programme.
Josie also cannot see her own reflection on the mirror because in the hospital
it is avoided the chance for the patients to see her reflection so often in order to
preventing the patients’ thought of being fat after seeing the figure of themselves and
exaggerating it.
Josie constantly worries about her weight. It can be seen in her action where
she always counting the calories of every food served to her whenever the nurse
asked her to eat.
A peanut butter sandwich (350 calories), a bowl of soup, a fruit salad, a glass of milk (140 calories) (Shute, 1993: 28).
Then, terrified, I start adding up the calories I’ve consumed. Grand total at least 200. total time: 53 minutes. That’s it: I’m not eating again today. I feel bloated, sickened, miserable, my belly bulging tightly (Shute, 1993: 95).
The quotation above shows how much Josie concerns about the food that she
eats or she should eat in order to get her normal weight. This attitude shown by Josie
in almost from the beginning until the story is nearly to the end. She kept thinking
that she is too fat, so that she needs to stop eating something in order to get what she
called as pure bones.
‘One day I will be thin enough. Just the bones, no disfiguring flesh, just the pure, clear shape of me. Bones’ (Shute, 1993: 9).
I never feel hungry, as I’ve already told her, nor do I ever feel tired, thirsty, or cold (Shute, 1993: 87).
One of the characteristics of people with eating disorder is that they tend to do
an over-exercise. Research has suggested that the frequent exercisers are at risk for
body dissatisfaction, body preoccupation and ‘eating disorders’ (Grogan, 1999). In
order to get what she called as perfect image she was not only selected what she
would eat, but she was also doing some exercise, even when she is in hospital and
that kind of activity is not allowed if it is without the nurse and other employee in the
hospital.
I just did two hundreds sit-ups and she tells me I’m in no condition! (Shute, 1993: 27)
The characters of Josie also can be seen in how she described her physical
appearance through her thought.
The quotation above shows that she was proud of her image, which for her family is
considered as ill, by called her state as being seductive.
However, she often feels insecure whenever she wants to eat something in
front of other people or in public places. She has a thought cross in her mind that
other people will look at her when she is trying to eat something. She was afraid to be
judge as one of the kind of woman who will not growing fat even if she eats a lot,
because she was not one of the kinds.
Perhaps the tubes would be better, because then I would have no choice. She is watching me. I can’t eat with someone else watching me.
‘I can’t eat with someone else watching me.’
‘I’m not watching you – I’m just here. And one of the things you have to relearn, Josie, is how to eat in public.’
I won’t. I can’t. Eating is private; only the body is public (Shute, 1993: 78).
The doughnut was soon gone, untasted: all I could think about was what people watching me would think. Perhaps they would assume I was one of those naturally thin types who could eat anything and therefore did, with complete insouciant (Shute, 1993: 172).
It can also be seen from her suspicious thought in the next quotation:
‘I would have ordered a second one, but I was afraid of what the pimply boy behind the counter would think.’ (Shute, 1993: 173-174)
There were times when she finally lost controls and ate whatever she wants.
This is related with her psychological side. The writer may conclude that this state
happened to Josie after she was having sex. The conclusion draw considering the
evident that can be found in the novel.
After having sex with a med student, he left her in his apartment in the
of Raisin Bran, cereals with milk, a package of Oreos, potato Chips, a jar of peanut
butter). Then, after could not find anything else to eat, she left the man’s apartment to
find something else to eat.
When I left his building (a once beautiful brownstone, ruined now beyond repair) the first thing I noticed is the word DONUTS. Suddenly the world had split into two categories: the edible and everything else…
I found myself walking through the DONUTS DOOR and approaching the counter…
I realized I couldn’t wait until I got home (Shute, 1993: 171).
It also happened when she was having an affair with her professor. She was so
afraid that the professor would loose his interest if she were getting more weight.
Thus, she decided not to eat whenever the professor wants to have sex with her.
However, after the professor left, she became loose control and ate as many as
possible.
In fact I headed straight for the campus coffee-house, where I breakfasted on hot chocolate and cheese-cake, pilling both high with whipped cream. When I had read the entire newspaper, including the classifieds, and had reached the right degree of nausea by ordering a second hot chocolate, I would make my way at last to the library (Shute, 1993: 208).
She also tends to judge people who eat in front of her. She keeps commenting
and amazed on people, who were able to eat anything in front of public while she
cannot do that. She judged people on the way they eat.
I never feel hungry and despise those who do, whose lives are governed by the peristaltic pulse. Never have they learned to ignore that gaping maw: its slightest twinge sends them running to the trough. From the day’s first mouthful to the last night, their lives are one long foraging (Shute, 1993: 7).
