The Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts of The Protagonist in 'I Am Not Esther'.

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ABSTRACT

Di dalam skripsi ini, penulis membahas konflik dari novel berjudul I am not Esther yang ditulis oleh Fleur Beale. Penulis memutuskan untuk membahas konflik karena konflik merupakan aspek yang paling menonjol dalam novel tersebut. Adapun konflik yang muncul dalam novel tersebut adalah konflik sosial dan konflik psikologis. Kirby, sebagai tokoh utama terlibat konflik dengan lingkungan di sekitarnya dan juga dirinya sendiri.

Adanya perbedaan kepercayaan dan pandangan merupakan dasar dari konflik yang dialami oleh Kirby. Konflik antara Kirby dengan lingkungan-nya yang sangat fanatik terhadap agama membuat Kirby tidak dapat hidup bebas dan mandiri sebagaimana Ia biasa menjalani hari-harinya. Konflik sosial Kirby memicu kepada konflik yang paling menonjol dalam novel ini, konflik antara Kirby dengan dirinya sendiri kerena Ia dipaksa untuk menjadi orang lain, sehingga timbul pergumulan dalam dirinya apakah ia ingin hidup sebagai Kirby atau menjadi Esther, karakter yang dibuat oleh pamannya.

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of I am not Esther

Kirby Greenland is a 14 year-old girl who is abandoned by her mother in a strict fundamentalist Christian society. Kirby who always lives freely now has to obey the rules which are set by the strict fundamentalist Christian society. Kirby is left by her mother with unfamiliar relatives who devote themselves to Bible study. As Kirby is living in the society they also force Kirby to devote herself to Bible study. Kirby’s uncle, Caleb, has changed Kirby’s name into Esther without even asking if she likes it or if she agrees. Not only her name is changed, Kirby also has to dress just like the other members of the society. However, as time goes by, Kirby’s old self is weakening. Esther starts to dominate her everyday living. Kirby tries to struggle to cope with the repression of her surroundings and to maintain her own identity.

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Biography of Fleur Beale

Fleur Beale was born in Inglewood, Taranaki, New Zealand on February 22, 1945. She is a former teacher who was inspired to write I am not Esther when a student was beaten up and expelled from his family for going againts their religious beliefs. She has written several novels that have been published in New Zealand, where she lives. Since 1993 she started to write for teenagers. Before writing for teenagers, she was a writer for young children. Now, Fleur Beale is a New Zealand teenage fiction writer who is best known for her novel I am not Esther. This novel has been published worldwide.

In 1998 her novel I am not Esther was short listed for the senior fiction section of the 1999 New Zealand Post Children’s Award. Beale’s other famous works are Ambushed, My story A New Song in the Land. The Writings of Atapo, Pahia, c.1840, Walking Lightyl and many more.

Beale’s achivements were a finalist in the Aim Children’s Book Awards (Junior Fiction) and the finalist for the Junior Fiction section of the 2002 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. In 1999 she received an award of Children’s Writing Fellowship at Dunedin College of Education, and in 2005 she received Notable Book Award.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Losing identity is a problem that most teenagers face. Bad environment, pressure from the society and stress may cause one to lose one’s identity. According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, there are two definitions of identity, “who someone is, somebody’s name,”, and “the qualities and attitudes you have that make you feel you have your own character and are different from other people”.

I always have interest in the issue of identity, and in literature, there are many novels which deal with the issue. That is why I choose to analyse a novel for my thesis. Moreover, novels are more interesting and enjoyable to read. Novels also provide more detailed information than other literary genres, and their narrative form in presenting ideas makes people easy to understand and analyse them. “A novel is a fictional prose work of substantial length”. (Dictionary of Literary Terms)

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many things for the first time, especially things related to their identity, such as, relationship with the opposite sex, beliefs in the greater power, clashes with people around them and disagreement with others’ opinions. The different way every teenager faces and solves his/her problems interest me most. There are many teenage fiction writers who write about teenagers or troubled teenagers, such as, Joy Cowley, Victoria (Vicky) Mary Jones, and Margaret Mahy, but Fleur Beale writes in a different approach. She was a former teacher who was always concerned about her students. Beale writes I am not Esther because she is inspired by one of her students who was beaten up and expelled from his family for going against their religious belief. “Beale shows her understanding of teenagers, male and female, and her ability to motivate even reluctant reader” (Fleur Beale). In I am not Esther, Fleur Beale brings up the topic of a 14-year-old girl’s struggle to deal with her new life in a fundamentalist Christian family.

After I read the novel, I found that the most dominant literary element is conflict. Conflict is “the opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in drama and fiction” (Dictionary of Literary Terms). In a novel, conflict is categorized as one of the main keys to an interesting and exciting novel. There are three types of conflicts:

One type of conflict is elemental, … physical: a struggle between man and the physical world. It represents man versus forces of nature; the difficulties and dangers, for example faced by explorers, navigators, astronauts. Rain, cold, heat, wild beasts in the jungle, treacherous tides – these are constant obstacles to mankind.

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Another type of conflict is social: a struggle between man and man. Much popular fiction is based on social thought: two men trying to win the love of a girl: the competition of business men: a girl having difficulties with her parents over her conduct: racial and prejudices, etc.

A third kind of conflict is internal: or psychological: a struggle between desires within a person. External forces may be important and other characters may appear in the narrative, but the focus is always upon the central figure’s inner turmoil.

(Shaw 91)

I choose to analyse the conflicts of the protagonist, particularly social and inner conflicts because the social and inner conflicts of this novel are the most significant elements. The inner and social conflicts of the novel are mostly related to the protagonist’s identity loss.

Statement of the Problem

1. What are the social and inner conflicts in the novel? 2. What causes the social and inner conflicts?

3. How are the social and inner conflicts resolved?

Purpose of the Study

1. To show what the social and inner conflicts in the novel are. 2. To show what causes the social and inner conflicts.

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Method of the Research

In composing my thesis, I read Fleur Beale’s I am not Esther as my primary text and Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms. I also search internet sites to find the information and the data I need in analyzing I am not Esther. After that I draw a conclusion from my analysis.

Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

I discover that in every novel there are always conflicts to make the novel interesting. The conflicts which are likely to occur in most novels are social and inner conflicts. Fleur Beale’s I am not Esther is one of the novels that has social and inner conflicts in it.

In everyday living, people have to communicate and interact with others and may have different opinions with one another which causes conflicts. Conflicts can occur to anyone in any place, can be very simple or complicated. Conflicts do not only happen in adults’ life but also in teenagers’ and children’s life. Conflicts can happen not only because a person is having a different opinion from others’ but also because of his own dilemmas.

Fleur Beale’s I am not Esther deals with a problem that most teenagers face, that is identity loss. The social and inner conflicts of the protagonist are the most dominant aspect in the novel that makes the novel more interesting. The novel also shows how the protagonist solves her social and inner conflicts.

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faith. Kirby’s uncle who is a strict fundamentalist Christian man is very faithful to his belief, that everyone should have a biblical name. Therefore, he changes Kirby’s name into Esther. While Kirby, who always lives freely with her mother, feels that changing her name means being forced to be somebody she is not. Kirby does not want it as it will cause her to lose her identity.

Other social conflict happens between Kirby and her aunt. The conflict occurs because her aunt who is also a strict fundamentalist woman has forced Kirby to dress like the other strict fundamentalist Christian members.

I analyse that the social conflicts lead to Kirby’s inner conflict. As time goes by, the society members nevertheless regard Kirby as Esther and she has to follow all the rules which are set by the strict fundamentalist Christian society. Kirby’s old self is weakening as Esther starts to dominate her everyday living. She is in a dilemma between preserving herself as Kirby or becoming Esther. Finally, Kirby’s inner conflict is resolved, as she chooses to become her old self.

However, her inner conflict is still continuing. Kirby who is left by her mother when she is 14 years old psychologically feels abandoned. She wants to find her mother to get an explanation why she was abandoned. Kirby then finds her mother and she also gets the clarification of her mother leaving her. The opposing force in this inner conflict is whether to live with her mother or to leave her mother. The inner conflict is resolved when Kirby finally decides to live with her mother.

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the protagonist’s conflicts are also caused by her search for identity. Kirby loses her identity when she lives together with her unfamiliar family who hold the rules set by the strict fundamentalist Christian society. She finds her identity when she decides to become Kirby instead of Esther.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

• Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill,

1976.

Internet / Websites:

• Dictionary of Literary Terms. Joel Sommer Littauer. 22 September 2007.

<http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/resources/shakespeare/Literary.Terms. 2.html#novel>

• Fleur Beale. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 22 September 2007.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_Beale>

• New Zealand Book Council, New Zealand Writer. Fleur Beale. 22

September 2007.

<http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/bealefleur.html>

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Eric T. Olson. 22 September 2007.

<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/>

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