THE ROLE OF MARIA’S CHARACTERISTICS IN SHAPING
HER UNDERSTANDING OF LOVE IN PAULO COELHO’S
ELEVEN MINUTES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
IREDA HENINGTYASTUTI
Student Number: 06 4214 090
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE ROLE OF MARIA’S CHARACTERISTICS IN SHAPING
HER UNDERSTANDING OF LOVE IN PAULO COELHO’S
ELEVEN MINUTES
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
IREDA HENINGTYASTUTI
Student Number: 06 4214 090
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Love is patient and is kind; love does not envy. Love does not brag, is not proud, does not behave itself inappropriately, does not seek its own way,
is not provoked, takes no account of evil; does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails …. But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Ireda Heningtyastuti
Nomor Mahasiswa : 06 4214 090
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE ROLE OF MARIA’S CHARACTERISTICS IN SHAPING HER UNDERSTANDING OF LOVE IN PAULO COELHO’S ELEVEN
MINUTES
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 31 Januari 2012
Yang menyatakan
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Made in : Yogyakarta
Date : February 29th, 2012
The writer
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
My beloved parents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank to Jesus Christ for making all this
happen. I thank Him for His endless blessing and guidance to finish my thesis—a
rich moment of my lifetime.
I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Adventina Putranti,
S.S., M.Hum. for being so understanding, motivating, and inspiring as I prepared
this thesis. I could not have finished this without her. I would also like to thank
my co-advisor Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. and my examiner Ni Luh Putu
Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. for being so helpful and patient.
My deep thanks go to my beloved parents for their greatest love: Agnes
Nursihati and Agustinus Mudjiardi. I am so lucky to have parents like them. I also
thank my brother Gabriel Reza Kukuh W.
I would like to thank all my friends in English Letters Sanata Dharma
University: Bila, Danas, Puput, Dewi, Fika, Vero, Elsa, Asti, Kiki, Wahyu, Hasan,
Dima, Ira, Sita, Dea, and all of 2006 folks. I thank for the friendship they have
given to me. I also thank to Nia for her time to check this thesis, Towi and Anis
for their printer, mbak Nina and mbak Ajeng for their books. I would like to thank
Nusantara Danang Saputra for his support to finish this thesis. I really thank for
suggestion, motivation, and patience for me.
Last, but certainly not least, I thank all English Letters’ lectures and USD
staff, relatives, and all friends that I cannot mention one by one whose help is very
significant in the process of this undergraduate thesis writing.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ………... i
APPROVAL PAGE ………... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……….. iii
MOTTO PAGE ………... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ………. v
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ……….. vi
DEDICATION PAGE ………... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………... ix
ABSTRACT ………... xi
ABSTRAK ……… xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………... 1
A. Background of the Study ……… 1
B. Problem Formulation ……….. 4
C. Objectives of the Study ………... 4
D. Definition of Terms ……… 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……….. 6
A. Review of Related Studies ……….. 6
B. Review of Related Theories ……… 8
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ……… 8
2. Theory of Love ……….. 10
B. The Role of Maria’s Characteristics in Shaping Her Understanding of Love ……… 39
1. The Role of Attractiveness in Understanding Love ………... 39
3. The Role of High Motivation in Understanding Love
……… 53
4. The Role of Religiosity in Understanding Love
……….. 59
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………... 72
ABSTRACT
IREDA HENINGTYASTUTI. The Role of Maria’s Characteristics in Shaping Her Understanding of Love in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.
Eleven Minutes is a novel by Paulo Coelho. This novel is different from other his works. Coelho tries to lift up the prostitution’s life and her love. Love is God’s gift, every person has it. Some people think love is a simple thing but for Maria, love is a difficult thing to understand. The writer tries to discuss the main character in the novel, who wants to find the real meaning of love. She cannot differentiate both love and sex because of her bad experiences of love since her childhood.
This study is aimed to solve two problems. The first problem is finding the characteristics of major character, Maria. The second problem is the role of Maria’s characteristics in understanding of love.
The writer collected many data to support the research. There are three steps to analyze this study. The first step is to read and reread the novel until getting better understanding in order to gain the point of the story. Second step, the writer gathered the main data of this research is Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled
Eleven Minutes. Other sources which are closely to the study such as are books, articles, magazines are really helpful. Moral-philosophical approach is used in analyzing this study. The third step was analyzing about character as the intrinsic element. Maria is examined by using moral-philosophical approach because it teaches her in understanding meaning of love and also as the basic position of such critics is that the larger function of literature is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues.
ABSTRAK
IREDA HENINGTYASTUTI. The Role of Maria’s Characteristics in Shaping Her Understanding of Love in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes. Yogyakarta:
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.
Eleven Minutes adalah novel yang dikarang oleh Paulo Coelho. Novel ini berbeda dari novel-novel lain karangannya. Coelho mencoba untuk mengangkat kisah hidup dan percintaan seorang prostitusi. Cinta adalah pemberian Tuhan, masing-masing orang memiliki cinta. Sebagian orang berpikir jika cinta adalah sesuatu yang sederhana namun bagi Maria, cinta adalah sesuatu yang sulit untuk dipahami maknanya. Penulis mencoba untuk mendiskusikan tokoh utama di dalam novel tersebut yang mempunyai keinginan untuk menemukan arti cinta yang sesungguhnya. Dia tidak mampu membedakan antara cinta dan seks karena dia memiliki pengalaman yang buruk mengenai cinta semenjak dia masih kecil.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memecahkan dua permasalahan. Permasalahan pertama yaitu berkaitan dengan perwatakan Maria sebagai tokoh utama dalam novel. Permasalahan kedua yaitu berkaitan mengenai peran dari perwatakan tokoh utama dalam memahami cinta.
Peneliti mengumpulkan banyak data supaya mendapatkan penelitian yang dapat dimengerti. Terdapat tiga langkah untuk menganalisis penelitian ini. Langkah pertama yaitu membaca dan membaca ulang novel tersebut sampai pemahaman tentang cerita dapat dicapai. Pada langkah kedua, peneliti mengumpulkan data utama penelitian ini yaitu novel Paulo Coelho yang berjudul
Eleven Minutes. Sumber lain yang mendukung penelitian ini seperti buku, artikel, majalah yang sangat berguna dalam penelitian ini. Pendekatan moral-filosofikal digunakan untuk menganalisis penelitian ini. Langkah ketiga yaitu menganalisis mengenai tokoh utama sebagai elemen yang intrinsik. Tokoh utama Maria dianalisis menggunakan pendekatan moral-filosofikal karena secara keseluruhan pendekatan ini mengajarkan dia dalam pemahaman arti cinta dan juga sebagai kritik mendasar yang memiliki fungsi literatur yang besar untuk mengajarkan moralitas dan menyelidiki isu filosofi.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Reading is an important activity for many people. Reading can be one of
daily activities and it can be also the way to fulfill people’s needs. By reading
people find many advantages such as knowledge, new information, and
imagination. It helps people to develop their character and behavior so they can
make many relation with others not isolated. There are two versions in reading,
they are reading non-fiction book and reading fiction book. In An Introduction to
Fiction, Stanton (1965) gives the reason why serious fiction is more difficult than
a popular fiction.
“A popular fiction is easy to read because it merely ‘tells a story’ whereas a serious fiction is more difficult because it contains two additional elements: a theme or central idea which the reader is expected to dig cut and certain artistic device which the reader expected to recognize and admire.” (Stanton, 1965:2)
A serious fiction is more difficult because it contains two additional elements.
First central idea or theme where the reader is expected to understand. Second is a
certain artistic device which the reader expected to recognize and admire.
Furthermore Stanton explains that reading a popular fiction is more enjoyable,
while a serious fiction is better than popular fiction because it teaches people
something. A serious fiction will make people have capability to understand and
God creates the creatures in the world; such as human, animals, and plants.
However, the highest status creatures are the human persons. People are the
perfect creature with the physical and mental abilities are senses to feel their
surroundings. The most common feeling that never ends to discuss is the love. For
everyone love is something essential because love is a gift from God. Not only
teenagers who discuss about this thing but also children up to adults. We can say
if without love we are nothing. God sends His son to the world to save human
being because He loves us.
Love is never ending to discuss in whatever situation. Sometimes love is
called as the causes of the damage in the world. However, that statement is wrong
because love is really important in every side of people’s life. Because of love,
people can create happy family, have long ancestry, and live in society. There is
statement although you can move a mountain, have high intelligence but if you do
not have love, it’s nothing. In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the
love itself has many meanings one of them is ‘a strong feeling of caring for and
liking someone, combined with sexual attraction, an expression of deep heart so
will be stated ‘I love you’, high enthusiasm’(Summers, 2001:1081).
Other words to express people’s feeling about love are amorous (in Latin
amore), affection, smite, until adoration. In history of human it is true that step of
human’s life was begin from love in process of pregnancy, born, and then become
children, teenager, and adult till the end.
Some people think love is difficult to express. It is an abstract concept, it is
love that already we have. According to Fromm there are four terms to form love;
knowledge, responsibility, caring, and respect. They are a syndrome of behavior
which is to be found in the mature person. Everyone has own definition to give
meaning of love. Each individual will be different to give explanation ‘what is
love?’ According some people, falling in love is a private experience which is
interesting and unique. However, it is better for someone loving his love with
regard moral ethics, aesthetic, and wholehearted. It is important to pay attention
for those four things (knowledge, responsibility, caring, and respect) because love
without it will be ended with regretfully (Fromm, 1956:24).
Feeling to love cannot deny inspiring art worker to produce their works in
song, prose or in novel. In this case make Paulo Coelho a Brazilian writer, write a
novel entitled Eleven Minutes. In this novel, the most important point that we
have to pay attention is about the main character Maria, who tried to find the
meaning of love after many experiences which she has already experienced, even
though it needs high struggle to find it.
Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho is a different novel from other Coelho’s
works which uses transparent and vulgar language to explain content of the story.
This novel is very bravery to tell a sensitive story about prostitute life to find the
meaning of love. In eastern culture, sex is something taboo to discuss, but in this
novel it becomes an interesting topic. Vulgar language is used by the writer to
give detail content of the story in order to make the readers understand. In this
case, sex becomes part in the process of finding the love. Love is an important
In this study the writer decides to make title The Role of Maria’s
Characteristics in Shaping Her Understanding of Love in Paulo Coelho’s Eleven
Minutes because the writer wants to see Maria’s perspective toward love in
Christian love perspective.
B. Problem Formulation
The writer has formulated problem formulation in order to have thorough
analysis. This study will be focused on the problems stated below:
1. How is Maria characterized in Coelho’s Eleven Minutes?
2. What is the role of Maria’s characteristics in shaping her understanding of
love?
C. Objectives of the Study
Considering the problems formulation above, there are two objectives in
this study. The first objective is to find out Maria’s characteristics as the main
character in this novel. The second objective is to know the role of Maria’s
characteristics in shaping her understanding of love.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to make the same perception and avoid misunderstanding about
1. Character
According to M.H Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is the name
of a literary genre; it is a short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive
type of person (Abrams, 1971:23).
2. Represent
In the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, represent (in past
represented) has the meaning to describe someone in a particular way, so that
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The first reason why the writer chooses Eleven Minutes to analyze because
Paulo Coelho is actually a quite bestseller-producer, with 50 million books sold
worldwide. In some ways my impression from Eleven Minutes is similar to The
Alchemist. The book is written very well, it’s readable and flows quickly. It talks
about certain life philosophies, with the main theme being the search of the main
character for the meaning of life. It is not surprising that Coelho’s books are such
bestsellers. They read and tie you down like a soap-opera, and leave you with a
certain imprint of profoundness (Ely Bendersky, accessed on August 26th, 2010).
As a good writer Coelho tries to tell about certain life philosophies. His language
style and imagination bring us to imagine all his stories.
In Marleni’s thesis, written that Maria is beautiful and has high curiosity
on sexuality to have orgasm through sexual intercourse. In her journey to answer
her curiosity, she works as a prostitute. However, she just gets orgasm twice. In
Marleni’s research, she says “Maria has a sexual disorder called Female Orgasmic
Disorder (FOD), when a woman cannot reach orgasm through sexual intercourse.
She is unable orgasm because since she is at very young age always uses
masturbation to reach orgasm” (Marleni, 2010:72). Maria is described as a young
behavior. In her adult, she becomes an enthusiasm young woman to reach orgasm
by doing sexual intercourse.
Eleven Minutes tells a story of a young girl who falls in love at the age of
eleven and discovers that sex actually only takes eleven minutes.
In her odyssey of self-discovery, the girl has to choose between pursuing a part of
darkness, sexual pleasure for its own sake, or risking everything to find her own
'inner light' and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
In this gripping and daring novel, Coelho sensitively explores the sacred nature of
sex and love. (Mavrky, accessed on August 28th, 2010)
Maria is described as a beautiful, young, ambitious, touch and smart girl of
age 23. She is a girl with a simple dream which is to love and be loved. Love and
sexuality is Maria’s biggest concern. She is a smart girl who wants to know
everything bothering her mind. In her journey she suffers sexual dysfunction
because of the absence of love in many her love stories (Antono, 2006:52-54). As
a young smart woman who has many talents she can arrange her time to study
anything. However, she prefers to learn about love-sex and tries to differentiate
both of them. The cause of Maria’s sexual dysfunction is the absence of love.
In this thesis, the writer tries to analyze Eleven Minutes. The important
focus is the role of Maria’s characteristics in shaping Maria’s understanding of
love. This thesis will be different from Marleni’s analysis which focuses on the
process of contribution Maria’s characterization and past sexual experiences in
shaping Maria’s adult sexual behavior. This thesis is also will be different from
because of the absence of love. This thesis has own characteristic, the writer wants
to analyze the character of Maria which has contribution in her journey to find the
meaning of love. In the process of finding her purpose, there are many events that
have relation one another. The important point will be related with the meaning of
love in Maria’s perspective by seeing from moral-philosophical approach which
relevant to Christian love’s perspective.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character is one of the main intrinsic elements in a literary work. A character
gives the readers explanation about how the story flows thus the readers can
imagine what the story tells about. Furthermore, this theory applied to see how the
character is presented in this novel.
“A character is the name of literary genre; it is short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of distinctive type of person. It might be defined as a person that present in a dramatic or narrative work” (Abrams, 1971:23)
Abrams says character is the name in the literary work. It is describe in a clever
and amusing way. It is as the sketch in literary work which having a special
quality, appearance that is different and easy to recognize.
Barnett and Berman stated in In Literature for Composition that in writing
about the characters we have to focus on personality, traits, and characteristics
(Barnet and Berman, 1988:77). We know the author’s description of the
character’s physical appearance (face, physique, gestures, and clothing) then try to
the character does, the other characters (including the narrator of the story) do and
say. The other characters support the character to do something that makes her or
his shows her or his character. That is why; other characters may help the readers
to understand what kind of character she or he is.
Some ways of classifying characters, the following are some ways in
which readers sometimes classify characters. First, round vs. flat, “round
characters are characters that are complex and realistic; they represent a depth of
personality which is imitative of life” (Kennedy and Gioia, 1999:60-61). They
frequently possess both good and bad traits, and they may react unexpectedly or
become entangled in their own interior conflicts. These characters have been fully
developed by an author, physically, mentally, and emotionally are detailed enough
to seem real. A round character is usually a main character, and is developed over
the course of the story. Flat characters tend to stay the same throughout a story;
round characters often change, become enlightened, grow or go down.
Second, dynamic vs. static, “a dynamic character is the one change
significantly during the course of the story. Change considered to qualify a
character as dynamic includes changes in sight or understanding, changes in
commitment, and changes in values”. In contrast, a static does not undergo
significant change. “A static character is a literary character that remains basically
unchanged throughout a work” Whether round or flat, their personalities remain
essentially stable throughout the course of the story. This is commonly done with
In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, characterization is a
representation of a person in narrative and dramatic works which can be seen from
the action, speech, and appearance of the character (Baldick, 1991:34). Therefore,
the readers will consider the character as a person who might really exist; to
describe the character it can be seen from what the character does, says, feels and
what other characters say about the character.
There are two principle ways by which an author can characterize a
character. First, a direct way which is describing the physical appearance,
intellectual, moral attributes, and the degree of sensitivity of the character.
Second, a dramatic means placing the character in certain conditions to show what
the character is, by seeing the way she or he behaves (Rohrberger and Woods,
1971:20). Each of the principles shows the readers the qualities of character, both
physically and psychologically. An image of a charactering a story that has been
created by the author can be concluded perfectly by seeing those qualities. Thus,
the reader will have a figure of a character based on the author creation.
2. Theory of Love
Everyone has feeling of love inside her or his heart, but society and the
experience give effects for people understanding love. According to Fromm “love
is union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality.
Love is an active power in man; a power which breaks through the walls which
separate man from his fellow men, which unites him with others; love makes him
to retain his integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one yet
remain two” (Fromm, 1956:19). Love is sometimes energy inside human person
that makes falling down. It is a union which has meaning although two humans in
one to keep integrity, individuality. Love is a union which has meaning although
two humans but in one.
Hatfield and Rapson differentiate love into two. The first passionate love
is a ‘hot’ intense emotion, sometimes called a crush, obsessive love, lovesickness,
and head-over-heels in love, infatuation, or being in love. Passionate love and
sexual desire almost interchangeably, passionate defines as a ‘longing for union’.
On the other hand, sexual desire has been defined as a ‘longing for sexual union’.
In passionate love, it relates to sexual desire. By contrast, companionate love
(sometimes called true love or marital love) is a ‘warm’ far less intense emotion.
It combines feelings of deep attachment, commitment, and intimacy (Hatfield and
Rapson, 1993:5-9). In passionate love is a ‘hot’ intense emotion while in
companionate love is a ‘warm’ far less emotion.
Sternberg says love consists of three elements that can draw the intimacy
between two people or in interpersonal relation. They are intimacy, passion, and
commitment. Intimacy is the experience of warmth toward another person that
arises from feelings of closeness, bondedness, and connectedness to the other. It
also involves the desire to give and receive emotional support and to share one’s
innermost thoughts with the other. Intimacy signs in trust feeling, opening, and
self-acceptance. Passion is an intense romantic or sexual desire for another
that feels inside human. It is closer to the physics interesting, fantasy, and
sexuality. In the first sight, someone looks in physics before understanding the
behavior. Commitment, this element is a component of love that involves
commitment to maintain the relationship through good times and bad times. It
shapes a commitment to be tied each other a commitment to accept and keep each
other (Sternberg, 1988:215). Three elements in love there are intimacy which
focuses on the warmth experience that arises from closeness feeling, in passion is
dominated with sexual desire that closer to physics interesting, fantasy, and
sexuality. The last element is commitment in this element teaches how to keep
relationship, accept and keep each other to make serious commitment.
These elements if combined will be eight different types of love. They are:
non-love, liking, infatuation or first sight love, empty love, romantic love,
companionate love, fatuous love, consummate love. Table 1 below states the
explanation presence of the elements of love.
Table 1
Combination of Three Elements of Love
Eight Kind of Loves Elements of Love
Non-love - - -
Liking or friendship intimacy - -
Infatuation - passion -
Empty love - - commitment
Companionate love intimacy - commitment
Fatuous love - passion commitment
Consummate love intimacy passion commitment
Adapted from Sternberg, 1988.
Complete explanation of three elements of love according to Sternberg are the
following:
1. Non-love
A relationship in which all three components of love are absent. Most of our
personal relationships are of this type-causal interactions or acquaintances that do
not involve any elements of love.
2. Liking
A detail a relationship based on intimacy, but not passion or commitment. The
characteristic of liking is having close, intimate friendships with no long-term
commitment; an example of Liking is developing an intimate friendship with a
neighbor, but because commitment and passion are missing if either neighbor
moves away, the relationship is not maintained.
3. Infatuation
A kind of “love at first sight”. It is a relationship based on passion, with no
intimacy or commitment. Infatuation is characterized by passionate attraction on
sight, and an example of such would be a one night stand.
4. Empty love
A kind of love that a relationship based on commitment, lacking any intimacy or
relationship for the ”sake of the children”. Empty love is characterized by a lack
of emotional warmth or heat of passion where partners tolerate each other because
of a false sense of duty, obligation, or fear of change.
5. Romantic love
A relationship based on passion and intimacy; however, it lacks commitment.
Romantic love is characterized by a couple who are emotionally and physically
drawn to one another without the commitment of a long-term relationship.
Romantic love lovers look at each other through “rose colored glasses” not seeing
each other’s flaws.
6. Companionate love
A kind of love characterized by intimacy and commitment. It often occurs in
long-term relationships in which passionate attraction has waned and has been replaced
by a kind of committed friendship.
7. Fatuous love
This type of love associated with whirlwind romances and “quickie marriage” in
which passion and commitment are present, but intimacy is not.
8. Consummate love
The full or complete measure of love involving the combination of passion,
intimacy, and commitment. Many of us strive for consummate love.
In Western tradition, there are four kinds of love. First, is sex or libido,
second is eros toward higher forms of being and relationship. Third is philia or
friendship, brotherly love. Fourth is agape or caritas as the Latins called it, the
love of God for human. Every human experience of authentic love is a blending,
in varying proportions, of these four (May, 1969:37). Four kinds of love sex or
libido, eros, philia, agape or caritas are famous kinds of love in western.
Hendrick, in his book Positive Psychological Assessment : A Handbook of
Models and Measures, developed a Love Attitude Scale that suggests the
existence of six styles of love. The styles are debt to the Greeks:
1. Romantic love (eros): “My lover fits my ideal.” “My lover and I were attracted
to one another immediately.”
2. Game-playing love (ludus): “I keep my lover up in the air about my
commitment.” “I get over love affairs pretty easily.”
3. Friendship (storge, philia): “The best love grows out of an enduring
friendship.”
4. Logical love (pragma): “I consider a lover’s potential in life before committing
myself.” “I consider whether my lover will be a good parent.”
5. Possessive, excited love (mania): “I get so excited about my love that I cannot
sleep.” “When my lover ignores me, I get sick all over.”
6. Selfless love (agape): “I would do anything I can to help my lover.” “My
lover’s needs and wishes are more important than my own.”
(Hendrick, 2003:235-249)
Schwarz in The Psychology of Sex states that love is the driving and
directing force for the sexual relationship. The executive organ for the sexual
relationship is the sexual impulse, and the spiritual element is the controlling
relationship. On the other hand, sexual impulse is the executive organ to control
the power is spiritual element. It means that there is a closer relationship between
love and sexuality.
Leclerq in Marriage and the Family: A Study in Social Philosophy states
that love is heroine of a play at the beginning of the century put it, the love is in
question is strictly physical love. On other hand, sex has its own definition “a
natural human need like food and drink. It is true that men can survive, whereas
they cannot survive without food and drink, but from psychological standpoint the
desire for sex is precisely analogous to the desire for food and drink” (Leclerq,
1942:175). Love and sex as the human needs it imagines as food and drink. Many
people need both of them to continue their long life lasting, sex with love is
happiness.
Fromm in his book The Art of Loving says "intimacy is established
primarily through sexual contact, an 'intimate' person the experience of falling in
love is exhilarating and intense, and it slowly becomes less and less intense"
(Fromm, 1956:49-50). It means sexual contact is the highest level and the most
loving way we can expressing our love for our partner. Everyone knows that the
sexual experience can be the single most loving, most exciting, most powerful,
most exhilarating, most renewing, most energizing, most affirming, most intimate,
most uniting, most stress-relieving, most recreative physical experience of which
3. Theory of Christian Love
When we are discussing about love, it is actually a general concept which
can be used in various conditions. It refers to many things such as God, people,
animals, and so on. Love becomes important part in many societies and cultures.
It is taught in many religions also. In this study, the writer uses term Christian
love because Coelho’s work focus on the concept of love based on perspective of
Christianity. In Coelho’s work, stated Maria as the main character who has
Christianity background. The important thing in this study is love and the writer
wants to relate the love with Christian perspective. Christian love is discussed
because it is a relevant theory to examine Maria who has Christianity background
in understanding meaning of love as a main character in the novel.
Love is a fundamental concept in Christianity. It is even used as the basic
of the Christian religion. As shown in the Bible, God Himself is as the first source
love in this world “God is love (agape)” (1 John 4:8). In the beginning, there is
the action of His love to human being as shown in the following verses “For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) and “This is how God
showed His love for us: He sent His only Son into the world that we might have
life through him” (John 4:9).
Above verses in “For God so loved the world” and “This is how God showed His
love for us” are clearly indicate love as the reason why God gives humans eternal
life in heaven by sending His only son, Jesus Christ. When we say about
Christianity have strong relation. In another verses in the Holly Bible are clearly
state that God is the source of love “It is the love of God in the love of Jesus that
awakens this love for Jesus.” The reason for the love of the Father is the love for
Jesus: The Father himself loves you because you love me and because you believe
that I have come from God” (John 16:27). Thus, it is clear as the Christ followers
believe that God is the source of love, so as Christian people should be able to
show love.
In previous discussion it has been mentioned that in Christianity love is an
important thing because God is love. In this work, love will often be discussed
because it is the important topic which has role to answer the problem. Love and
sex cannot deny that both of them have strong relation, but here the writer will
discuss the relation between love and sex according to Christianity perspective.
According to Andrew Landsown in A Biblical Perspective on Prostitution, he says
“the Bible teaches that sex is a good gift from God to any heterosexual couples
who in love and law promise enduring and exclusive fidelity to one another”
(Landsow
July 24, 2011). In Holy Bible, God says sex is good gift for any heterosexual
couples who in love.
In Human Sexuality as Language of Love Caballes stated “sexuality is a
“language” by which man or woman relates himself or herself as a sexual being.
Human sexuality as a language brings to the fore the importance of sex as a gift
one’s identity as a male or as a female, to accept the other according to his or her
respective gender.
Even in Old Testament God has already mentioned “So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them” (Genesis 1:27). Thus, it is very clear that God has arranged good relation
between man and woman in Holy Bible.
Avvento in Sexuality: A Christian View mention “sexuality can be
described as something freely created by God, an aspect of our nature of which
human beings need never be embarrassed or ashamed in any way” (Avvento,
1982:18). The explanation clearly stated that sexuality is freely created by God,
never be ashamed because its nature need for human.
Moreover, in Avvento’s book stated “In the bible, sex is never isolated, but
always seen in the context of the whole person”. It explains in Yahwist tradition
sets the sexual nature of men and women within the framework of our nature as
social and relational beings. Moreover “sex is seen as a gift from God moving
people from loneliness to relationship” (Avvento, 1982:18-19). On the other hand,
it reveals that sexuality is related to procreation, a sharing in God’s activity and
dominion over life.
Philip Sherrard in his book Christianity and Eros, state there are difference
between love of God (agape) and the love of one person to another (eros).
However, in sexualized sacramental there is no a clear difference between two
similar things.
as a rather debasing form of the first and only indulged at the expense of the first. In a sexualized sacramental love there is no such distinction (Sherrard, 1976: 2).
Moreover, Rousseau and Gallagher give explanation that love making and
falling in love is a sacramental moment. Sex is imagined as prayer for couple or
Eucharist for a priest. The activity of sex becomes moment of sacramental sex.
Love-making and falling in love-these are two especially clear moments of sacramental sex. Sex should be to a couple what prayer is to a contemplative religious [person] or the Eucharist is to a priest (Rousseau and Gallagher, 1986: 46, 54).
Although love and sex have their own meaning in Christian way, but not
all Christian’s people have same perspective. Sex also has meaning in attitude of
sex for pleasure only is highlighted by Avvento citing from Peter Whittaker’s
book TheAmerican Way of Sex state
Sex is an evil when it is utilized for a purpose and not pleasure. It is an evil when its single intent is to conceive children. This is deliminating to man. It thwarts, twists, stunts, and destroys him. It is the act of enchaining his strongest instinct and making it a slave to all manners of external demands, while all the while repressing that which must be given release and relief if man is to know himself and maintain his health (Avvento, 1982:5).
In this study, love is a main focus to be discussed; prostitute’s love is
being focus in this case. Paulo Coelho in his novel has his own story about
Maria’s profession “in Egyptian hieroglyphs, in Sumerian writings, in the Old and
New Testament. However, the profession only started to become organized in the
sixth century B.C., when a Greek legislator, Solon, set up state-controlled brothels
and began imposing taxes on ‘the skin trade’. Athenian businessmen were pleased
because what was once prohibited became legal. The prostitutes, on the other
cheapest were the pornai, slaves who belonged to the owners of the establishment.
Next came the peripatetica, who picked up her clients in the street. Lastly, the
most expensive and highest quality, was the hetaera, the female companion, who
accompanied businessmen on their trips, dined in chic restaurants, controlled her
own money, gave advice and meddled in the political life of the city. As you see,
what happened then still happens now” (Coelho, 2004:203). It can be seen from
the history that prostitute has existed since long time ago. They have already
classified into three parts according to how much tax they paid.
New Testament also mention prostitute’s position, Jesus has his own
perspective about prostitute. Pharisees consider prostitute must be thrown stone
because of her sins. Jesus has his own opinion about Law Moses commanded;
only person without sin can throw the stone at her. His opinion make Pharisees
canceling their want. Jesus leaves the prostitute to go and remind her to leave her
life sins, as seen in John 8:3-11. Other verses which support Jesus’s love to
prostitute as seen in Luke 7: 37-47, Jesus is love he forgives woman with many
sins, prostitute’s sins who underestimated by others. He loves Mary Magdalene
without seeing her sins.
Gary T. Panell in his article Jesus Loves Prostitutes, said there are five
reasons for women to choose this profession, but based on the story, the fifth
reason is suitable with the story, “some girls do choose to become prostitutes,
thinking this is the only way they can make a living” (Panell in Jesus Loves
The reason why many women choose prostitute than other jobs, this job is better
job because of demand life is hard.
Scripture says "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for
which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10). No country that
legalized prostitution at this time. Some women see that prostitution is legal,
choose this way of life, hoping to get out from poverty.
In sex discussion, there are many new words which never understood by
common people sometimes. In Coelho’s novel, he provides different words that
other novelist use, such as orgasm, masturbation, and erotic. Rousseau and
Gallagher, citing from psychologist Eric Berne's book Sex and Human Loving, as
Christians who trust in Jesus we must believe in God’s power. Orgasm is part of
sex, orgasm is to divine life. Church considers it as a high point of sexual love.
Sex is a sacramental power; it is God’s power not only human action. God has an
important part in sexual love.
As Catholics we can see a special value, a special reason for the Church to "put so much emphasis on sex." For the "Wow!" of orgasm is a "Wow!" to divine life. Sex is a sacramental power, not just a human action. It is the power to cause God's own life in us, to draw us into the love play of the Trinity. An orgasm as the high point of sexual love is also one of love's most powerful divine moments (Rousseau and Gallagher, citing from psychologist Eric Berne's book Sex and Human Loving, 43-44).
Avvento also gives his own explanation about masturbation “with one
onset of puberty there is curiosity, wonder, fear, and self-discovery, as well as a
tendency to close in on oneself. During this period sexuality is not yet oriented
oneself….. Masturbation simply for pleasure alone” (Avvento, 1982:102-103).
Thus masturbation is one of simply way, to get pleasure than having sex with
partner.
Moreover Avvento in Sexuality : A Christian View writes “The actual
word comes from the Greek porne meaning “whore” and graphein meaning “to
write”. The term literally means “to write to a whore”. In pornography, a human
being uses an object as an object, but as in prostitution, strictly for impersonal,
non-threatening sexual stimulation” (Avvento, 1982:6). The explanation, it can be
concluded that through reading erotic magazine is to satisfy man’s need to sex
than do sexual activities.
C. Theoretical Framework
This part will discuss the contribution theories to answer the problem
formulation which has been formulated. First theory is theory of character and
characterization. It explains how the theory helps the writer finds the definition
and gives a clear description of characteristics of the major character in this story.
The theory also helps the writer to understand the details of Maria’s
characteristics. Second theory is theory of love and theory Christian of love. Both
theories are giving an explanation to answer the meaning of love in Maria’s
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
In this part, the writer will discuss object of the study. The object of this
study is a novel entitled Eleven Minutes written by Paulo Coelho a Brazilian
author. This book consists of 263 pages and is divided into 31 chapters. It is an
English version of Onze Minute, the Portuguese original edition published in
Brazil by Editora Rocco Ltd., copyright in 2004 by Paulo Coelho. This book
reprinted in 39 languages by Harper Collins Publishers after got a great success
during the first publishing in 2003. (Martin and Ballesteros, accessed on
September 7th, 2010)
Coelho expresses his idea in Maria’s character as the main character in this
novel. He tries to transfer the idea of the meaning of love and sacred of love great
fully. Coelho is the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards. The
critics have especially praised his poetic, realistic, and philosophical style, and the
symbolic language that does not speak to our brains, but to our hearts. He is a
member of the prestigious Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2002. (Astropology
Weekly, accessed on September 11st, 2010)
Eleven Minutes tells about Maria’s curiosity about sex from the age of 11
and her experience about love that always fail in her every love relationships until
she thinks that love is a terrible thing that will make her suffers. As an attractive
somebody from Switzerland offer her a job as the dancer. However, the life is
never same as that she thinks. Maria goes to Switzerland and then began her
journey as a prostitute. In urge of earning more money and securing her future,
she never realized when she becomes a prostitute. Finally, she finds her true love
a handsome young painter who teaches her how to find the meaning of love
through not only the body but the soul also.
B. Approach of the Study
In order to have profound analysis on Coelho’s Eleven Minutes,
moral-philosophical approach is used. According to Guerin in his book entitled A
Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature stated that moral-philosophical
approach is as old as classical Greek and Roman critics. It is the basic position of
such critics that the larger function of literature is to teach morality and to probe
philosophical issues. The important thing is the moral or philosophical teaching.
On its highest plane this is not superficially didactic, though it may at first seem
so. The critic who employs the moral-philosophical approach insists on
ascertaining and stating what is taught (Guerin, 1999:25-26).
In this study, the writer chooses moral-philosophical approach because this
study focuses on the character as the intrinsic elements. It is a literary choice of
the writer in building the character of Maria. The moral-philosophical approach is
teaching Maria in understanding the meaning of love. Therefore,
moral-philosophical approach will be very helpful to reveal the issue of this study since
C. Method of the Study
In order to reach the objectives of the study, the study used library
research method to collect data to answer the problems that have been formulated.
The data consisted of primary data that was Paulo Coelho’s novel entitled Eleven
Minutes. The secondary data were taken from the other sources, which were
closely related to the study, such as books, journals, magazines, and web sites
also. There are five steps to analyze this novel.
The first step was finding out the character of the main as the intrinsic
elements being the basic point. The writer tried to make notes of the important
points, quotations, and summarize the story which was used to find the significant
element. Second step was trying to find how character of the main characters that
influences main character’s behavior in society where she lives. Third step was
how main character’s behavior will be judge by the society, was her behavior
right or wrong in society’s view. In this case, it needs standard to judge. Maria has
Christianity background so Christianity’s love perspective uses to see it. The
fourth step was the process to reach the purpose of this research. Maria’s
profession as prostitute is an important part of the process to find the meaning of
love. The last step was drawing a conclusion. In this part, the writer got the
answer from the previous process; her life background supports her purpose to
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
A. The Characteristics of Maria
This chapter discusses the explanation based on the problem formulation.
It is divided into two parts. The first is the analysis on the characteristics of the
major character presents the description of Maria. The characteristics of the major
character are seen in appearance, attitude, and interaction with other characters.
The second part is the analysis on the relation between love and Christian
love in understanding meaning of love. This part contains the explanation of the
role of characteristics as the part of process in understanding the meaning of love.
The combination of Maria’s past experience in love and her life after becoming a
prostitute was really helpful to answer the question. It deals with love theory and
Christian love to analyze the problem.
In literary work, character is an important point to discuss. In this work
Eleven Minutes, the major character is Maria. Coelho tries to describe Maria in
many ways, not only giving description of the main character by his narration but
also using the minor characters to reveal it.
1. Attractiveness
In this novel Maria is described as an attractive Brazilian woman.
Summers in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English explains
“attractiveness is someone who is attractive in good looking, especially in a way
the theory attractiveness is a characteristic which makes someone looked good
looking. It makes other person interested in. As seen on page 15, the narrator
describes major character as the attractive woman. “And so Maria’s adolescent
years passed. She grew prettier and prettier, and her sad, mysterious air brought
her many suitors.” (Coelho, 2004:15)
The narrator describes Maria in her growing into an adult age. According to the
narrator, Maria has good looking appearance and she grows prettier in her
adolescent. Maria’s attractiveness is also supported by other minor characters.
Roger is one of the minor characters who interested in to Maria’s appearance.
Roger is a Switzerland man who Maria met at the beach during her vacation in
Rio de Janeiro. In Portuguese language, he describes Maria’s appearance.
“For some time, they kept up this comfortable, meaningless conversation—a smile here, a smile there—until the man took a small red dictionary out of his pocket and said, in a strange accent: “bonita” – “pretty”.” (Coelho, 2004:20).
Maria has good point in her physic; Barnet and Berman state the author’s
description focus on physical appearance (face, physique, gestures, and clothing)
(Barnet and Berman, 1988:77). Other fact which showing her attractiveness as
shown on page 34
…this lovely dark girl with her pale eyes and hair as black as the wing of the grauna (the Brazilian bird often evoked by local authors to describe black hair) (Coelho, 2004:34).
Another minor character who admires Maria’s attractiveness is an Arab man, but
her attractiveness is only as the sexual purpose for him, as seen on page 52,
“You’re very pretty,” said the man. “If you come up and have a drink with me in
Maria’s character is not only look in her physical appearance. The way to think,
interaction with others, and attitude are the ways to know her character.
Maria’s basic characteristic is physical attractiveness. She reflects her basic
characteristic in her attractiveness. The narrator describes it as seen on page 17
“She knew how attractive she was, and although she rarely listened to her mother there was one thing her mother said that she never forgot: “Beauty, my dear, doesn’t last” (Coelho, 2004:17).
Maria realizes her attractiveness is one of her powers. Her mother also makes a
condition that her physical appearance is an important, she never forget it. She
knows her physical attractiveness as the important thing to get sympathy from
men. Men are easily attracted and fall in love when seeing a good looking woman.
In nineteen years old after finishing her second school, her physical appearance
gives her advantage to get a job. She is very attractive but she understands the
limitation to maintain her attractiveness. Her boss is falling in love with her; she
never lets him touch her. She knows how to use a man without being used by him.
“She turned nineteen, having finished secondary school, and found a job in a draper’s shop, where her boss promptly fell in love with her. By then, however, Maria knew how to use a man, without being used by him. She never let him touch her, although she was always very coquettish, conscious of her beauty.” (Coelho, 2004:17)
On page 23, Maria uses her physical appearance to attract man. When the
man sees her coming out of the water, Maria’s appearance makes the man fall in
love for the first time. He admires Maria, in her way wearing bikini. It supports
Maria’s attractiveness, “…, saying that he had fallen in love with you when he
saw you coming out of the water. He thought your bikini was lovely too.”
In the previous discussion, it has been told Maria’s attractiveness is in her
physical appearance. Meanwhile, Ralf Hart is the only man who can see her
differently; he sees the light in her eyes. He catches the power inside Maria that
other men can not catch.
“You have a glow about you. The light that comes from sheer willpower, the light of someone who has made important sacrifices in the name of things she thinks are important. It’s in your eyes—the light is in your eyes.” (Coelho, 2004:105)
2. High curiosity
Another Maria’s character that influenced by her family condition is
curiosity. According to Summers in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English “curiosity has the meaning the desire to know about something or to
know about a lot of different things” (Summers, 2001: 443). She is rare to share
and talk anything in her growing up. In her young age, her curiosity is getting
higher; it is described on page 7. The first thing which she did was learning many
subjects such as geography and mathematics, and began following the soaps on
TV but the most interesting subject which attract her is sex. She writes anything
that she learned in her diary.
“…she read her first erotic magazine; and she began writing a diary describing her humdrum life and desire to experience firsthand the things they told her about in class--…” (Coelho, 2004:7)
As a child, it is normal when she has high curiosity. Guidance from family
is needed but her parents reject her. Maria is a curios girl, she always asks why
and why? She tries to find the answer by herself. Her curiosities on the problems
are not supported with the satisfying answers from her father; even she gets
violence with no explanation cannot be accepted by Maria. It gives a
psychological mark that influences her life. In her father’s view, sexuality is a
case which is taboo to be discussed with children “She used to do this when she
was a child and she liked the feeling, until, one day, her father saw her and
slapped her hard, without explaining why” (Coelho, 2004:11).
In Maria’s experience on her childhood years, she never satisfied to do
sexual activities. She is so obsessed on sexuality because her curiosity on it. Her
curiosity is why she cannot kiss her boyfriends so well; why she really enjoys the
moment to touch her genital meanwhile she cannot get orgasm through a sexual
intercourse. Therefore, she tries to find her curiosity by herself.
One day, when her boyfriend tries to kiss Maria, he tries to put his tongue
into her lips but Maria just closes her mouth and teeth. Their kissing happened
twice, for the second time, the boy kisses her with less enthusiasm. The boy
considers both of kissing moment as a refusal then he stops kissing her, and
makes Maria wonder why. After that moment she asks her girl friends opinions
about her first kiss and why her boyfriend does not kiss her with full enthusiasm.
She told the details of her first kiss to her girlfriends, but one of them laughed at
her.
“Didn’t you open your mouth?”
Suddenly everything became clear—his question, his disappointment. “What for?”
“To let him put his tongue inside.” “What difference does it make?”
The above passage gives clear explanation how Maria’s understand about her
mistake that she has done; it is occurred because she does not know the kissing
technique. That moment are second thing which giving her new knowledge. She
always learns to give her boyfriends a good kiss by goes date with many boys.
As she knows that love causes suffering, Maria always tries to find other
thing that create pleasure. In her innocent age, it is difficult to understand what
masturbation activity is, nobody gives explanations that masturbation is
forbidden. She does that activity while she is waiting for her mother come ”She
discovered a third thing: masturbation. It happened almost by chance, as she was
touching her genitals while waiting for her mother to come home.” (Coelho, 2004:
11)
Maria never stops trying to answer her curiosity, never satisfied even.
“Anyway, once she had discovered masturbation and used a few of the techniques
suggested by her friends” (Coelho, 2004:13). She always tries to apply techniques
suggested by her friends when she gets masturbation. Other pleasure is when she
used the boy in her date, to know where the pleasure is. She tries to learn to touch
and to be touched by her boyfriends “And when she was alone with her
boyfriends, she touched them and allowed them to be touched, but something
always went wrong” (Coelho, 2004: 13). She also having sex with partner to
understand pleasure is. It was a pleasure activity than masturbation although she is
getting hurt and it is caused a trickle of blood which left a stain on her skirt that
could to understand what pleasure there was in having sex with a partner.”
(Coelho, 2004:15)
She never satisfied although she has used the boy in having sex with her.
She becomes an obsessive young woman who always searches pleasure in sexual
activity, even she used the boy to satisfy what she find is, as stated in the
following line “She made love with the same boy a few more times” (Coelho,
2004: 15).
3. High motivation
Maria is described as a high motivation woman. In Longman Dictionaryof
Contemporary English “motivation has meaning eagerness and willingness to do
something without needing to be told or forced to do it” (Summers, 2001:1182).
The reason makes she becomes a highly motivated woman because in her social
background she lives in poor condition when she was child that unable satisfy and
give her pleasure in materialistic. It is described on page 1 “Her father was a
travelling salesman, her mother a seamstress, and her hometown, in the interior of
Brazil, had only one cinema, one nightclub….” (Coelho, 2004:1)
Being a successful woman is Maria’s dream. Actually, her dream is a
simple dream, she dreams of meeting the man of her life (rich, handsome,
intelligent), getting married, having children, and living in a lovely house. Maria’s
description about the man that she wants is rich because of her mother’s advice.
Maria’s mother also has a role toward her desire getting economically better.
isn’t that important. I didn’t love your father at first, but money buys everything,
even true love.” (Coelho, 2004:32)
That condition makes Maria always hoping to get better life in the future.
She has brave decision enough when Maria has an offer to work as a samba
dancer in Switzerland, although she is not very sure to accept it. However, Maria
is an ambitious girl. She wants to reach her dream although it is full of risks.
“…I’ve realized that sometimes you get no second chance and that it’s best to accept the gifts the world offers you. Of course it’s risky, but is the risk any greater than the chance of the bus took forty-eight hours to bring me here having an accident? ” (Coelho, 2004:15-16)
Other facts that show how Maria is really high motivation woman, when she
worked in draper shop for two years continues without pause. On page 18 is seen
the fact that she is a high motivation woman.
She worked for two years solidly. Paid money each month to her parents for her keep, and at last, she did it. She saved enough money to go and spend a week’s holiday in the city of her dreams, the place where film and TV stars live, the picture postcard image of her country: Rio de Janeiro! (Coelho, 2004:18)
In her journey at Puerto Rico she learns something new that she never did
in her hometown. Maria is a young girl from a Brazilian village who only
finishing her school just in second level. Maria wants to improve her ability. Her
desire to learn is getting higher so she decides to enroll in a French course. She
learns new language that she never known ”The following day, she enrolled in a
French course that was run in the mornings, and there she met people of all
4. Religiosity
Maria has different characteristic than other children in her age; she has
other side in her characteristic that is religiosity, it has the meaning the quality of
being religious, piety, and devoutness. In her first menstruation she complained to
God. It shows that anything happened to her is return to Him as seen on page 4
”Maria complained to God, but, in the end, she got used to menstruating”
(Coelho, 2004:4). She remembers God in happy situation also when her holidays
had finally ended, she thanks to God.
”The following day, she put on her smartest dress, one that her mother had made specially for the occasion, and set off to school, thanking God that the holidays had finally ended.” (Coelho, 2004:4)
In her life, she also faces trouble. When she falls into sadness, she tries to
remember her God. Her experience in love makes she hurts and it leaves painful
on her heart. She thinks that becoming nun is the best decision to reduce her hurt.
Love for Jesus does not make she hurt and leave painful. Loving God is bigger
than loving others that she has ever experienced.
”She considered becoming a nun and devoting the rest of her life to a kind of love that didn’t hurt and didn’t leave painful scars on the heart—love for Jesus.” (Coelho, 2004:10)
In her holiday in Copacabana, she meets Roger a Switzerland man. She
always involves her belief to Virgin Mary, when Roger offers job as samba
dancer. She thinks about making a decision to accept Roger’s invitation to supper
tonight and discussing about Roger’s offering to her.
long as the interpreter came too, for she was already getting tired of smiling and pretending that she could understand what the foreigner was saying” (Coelho, 2004: 21).
Virgin Mary has important position as the place to share about her
problems. She finds a new friend that makes her tough getting her decision. A
silent prayer being a way for Maria to solve her problems, because she felt
protected and comforted. She finds a new figure replaces her mother in moment,
she had never got warm from her mother but by this way she finds it.
”She made a silent prayer and asked the Virgin Mary’s advice, and seconds later, she seemed perfectly at ease with her decision to go ahead, because she felt protected” (Coelho, 2004:29)
Other character also supports her belief to Virgin Mary. The owner of
draper’s shop gives Maria Miraculous Medal and gives a message to pray in
church of Paris. His attitude strengthens her put more trust in Virgin Mary.
“It’s the Miraculous Medal of Our Lady of the Graces. She has a church in Paris, so go there and pray for her protection. Look, there are some words engraved around Virgin.” Maria read: “Hail Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who turn to you. Amen” (Coelho, 2004:33).
Her belief to God and Virgin Mary is getting bigger that makes her always
gives anything to Her. Thanks to Virgin Mary is a way to keep her belief,
Christian : “…., she gave thanks to the Virgin Mary because she had not been
obliged to betray her religion.” (Coelho, 2004:45). Another her gratitude to God is
when she felt Ralf’s hand on her waist, his cheek pressed to hers in their dancing.
Ralf’s attitudes were happiness for her “—thank God—was too loud for them to
talk” (Coelho, 2004: 121). Maria’s focusing in pain makes she scared, she tries
not focusing on it. She says thanks to God when she successfully did that “Maria,
Maria was confused, when an Arab man who will use her in a fashion
show invited her to his hotel room and offered thousand francs. She knew what he
meant was sex. In her confusion to think about job earning much money, she
trusts to Virgin Mary about her fate. It was her opportunity or just test from Her?
She worried to get the best decision; on page 54 clearly stated her feeling “What
was happening here—a great opportunity or a test set her by the Virgin Mary?”
(Coelho, 2004: 54). When she decided to take the job, quickly job just open her
legs, she always involved Virgin Mary figure even though in her imagine, Virgin
Mary still became the best figure for her. Actually she worried about her decision,
but she wanted to find her dream. Prostitute is the best job for her to reach all
dreams.
“She smiled at the invisible woman beside her who looked like the Virgin Mary, Jesus’s mother. The woman smiled back and told her to be careful, things were not as simple as she imagined” (Coelho,2004:58).
Maria’s religiosity also can be seen in her relationship with Ralf Hart. She
realizes there was a big difference between her and Ralf Hart. She was only a
prostitute and he was a respected artist, thinking about different social between
them. When Maria is in worried situation, she talks to God. In her statement to
God, she said how she is really showing strong feelings of love.
She knew that, however romantic the situation, one day Ralf Hart would realize that she was just a prostitute, while he was a respected artist, that she lived in a far-off country that was in a state of permanent crisis… “God, I’m such a romantic” (Coelho, 2004: 135)
Her relation with Ralf Hart is a gift from God, after many months making
love with many men without getting orgasm. However, only with Ralf Hart she
