A STUDY OF PLOT, CHARACTER, AND SETTING TO
CONVEY THE THEME AS SEEN IN HEMINGWAY’S
THE GARDEN OF EDEN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
MG. LIA ROSARIA I Student Number: 994214147
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
ACCEPTABLE PAGE... iii
MOTTO PAGE ... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii
ABSTRACT... ix
ABSTRAK ... x
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objective 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 on Character and Characterization... 8
2. Theory on Plot ... 11
3. Theory on Setting ... 14
4. Theory on Theme ... 15
5. The Relationship between Character, Plot, Setting, and Theme... 17
C. Theoretical Framework... 19
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY... 20
A. Object of the Study... 20
B. Approach of the Study ... 21
C. Method of the Study... 22
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS... 23
A. The Analysis of the Plot, the Character, and the Setting ... 23
1. The Plot ... 23 a. Exposition... 23 b. Complication ... 26 c. Crisis... 30 d. Climax ... 37 e. Denouement... 40 2. The Characters ... 41 a. David Bourne ... 41
b. Catherine ... 49
3. The Setting ... 56
B. The Analysis of the Theme ... 62
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION... 69
ABSTRACT
MG. LIA ROSARIA INDAH (2004). A Study of Plot, Character, and Setting to Convey the Theme as seen in Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
This study analyzes one of Hemingway’s novels entitled The Garden of Eden which was first published in 1986. The novel tells the story of young couple, David Bourne and Catherine, who has a honeymoon in French Mediterranean coast. The happy honeymoon has gone because of Catherine’s jealousy toward David’s writing. The whole story is constructed by the plot, character, and setting. This study deals with the plot, character, and setting to convey the theme of the story.
The aim of this study is to find out the theme of the story that is conveyed through the plot, character, and setting. This study discusses 1) the analysis of the plot, character, and setting of the story, 2) the significance of the plot, character, and setting to convey the theme of the story.
In collecting the sources, the writer uses library research. New Criticism will be the appropriate approach to analyze the problem together with the theories. The theories applied are concerned with character and characterization, the plot, the setting, the theme, and the relationship between the plot, character, setting and theme.
The results of the study are 1) in the first analysis, it is found the plot of the story. The exposition introduces the main characters, David Bourne and Catherine, who have happy honeymoon in the French Mediterranean coast. It grows to the complication, David decides to write again. Catherine can not accept the decision and she is jealous of the writing. In the crisis Catherine’s jealousy grows deeper and she acts out of control. She creates an androgyny by cutting and coloring their hair to match and swapping the gender and creates a manage trios by bringing another girl to the marriage. The climax is Catherine and David get into fight because Catherine burns the writing. Then the denouement is Catherine leaves and David stays with his new girl. The main characters of the story are David Bourne and Catherine. David Bourne is passive and unassertive. He always follows his wife’s whim without trying to examine it first. Catherine is a jealous wife. She is jealous of David’s writing. The setting is in French Mediterranean coast. The place is beautiful. The hotel where the couple stays symbolizes the couple’s short married life. The ocean with its lovely place symbolize Catherine’s characteristic that is beautiful, lovely, and unpredictable. It also symbolizes the Garden of Eden, the place of misfortune of romantic love and vanished dream. 2) in the second analysis, the theme of the story is reflected by the mixture of the plot, character and setting. It is found that the main conflict is Catherine’s jealousy of David’s writing. Catherine’s jealousy becomes the main factor that makes the story move on. In the end, it can be found that the jealousy turns the happy marriage into the unhappy one. Therefore, the theme that can be conveyed, as it is reinforced by setting, is “jealousy may lead into the unhappy marriage”.
ABSTRAK
MG. LIA ROSARIA INDAH (2004). A Study of Plot, Character, and Setting to Convey the Theme as seen in Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini menganalisa salah satu novel Hemingway berjudul The Garden of Eden yang pertama kali diterbitkan pada tahun 1986. Novel ini menceritakan kisah pasangan muda yaitu David Bourne dan Catherine. Pasangan ini berbulan madu di pesisir pantai Perancis. Bulan madu yang bahagia hilang karena Catherine cemburu pada buku David. Keseluruhan cerita dibentuk oleh alur, tokoh dan latar cerita. Skripsi ini membahas alur, tokoh dan latar untuk merumuskan tema cerita.
Tujuan skripsi ini adalah untuk menemukan tema yang dirumuskan melalui alur, tokoh dan latar cerita. Skripsi ini membahas: 1)analisa alur, tokoh dan latar cerita, 2)makna penting dari alur, tokoh dan latar dalam merumuskan tema cerita.
Data-data dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan metode riset pustaka. Pendekatan New Criticism dengan menggunakan teori-teori penunjang dianggap cocok untuk menganalisa masalah. Teori-teori yang diterapkan adalah teori tokoh dan penokohan, alur, latar, tema dan hubungan antara alur, tokoh, latar dengan tema.
Hasil dari analisa yang dilakukan adalah: 1)Pada analisa pertama, ditemukan alur cerita. Pembukaannya mengenalkan tokoh utama yaitu David Bourne dan Catherine yang berbulan madu di pesisir pantai Perancis. Cerita ini berkembang pada komplikasi yaitu David memutuskan untuk kembali menulis. Catherine tidak bisa menerima keputusan itu. Dia cemburu pada buku David. Pada krisis, kecemburuan Catherine semakin dalam. Tindakannya menjadi tak terkontrol. Dia menciptakan androgini yaitu memotong dan mewarnai rambut mereka sama persis, berganti jenis kelamin dan menciptakan hubungan segitiga dengan membawa wanita lain ke dalam perkawinannya. Klimaxnya adalah Catherine dan David bertengkar karena Catherine membakar naskah cerita David. Penyelesaiannya yaitu Catherine pergi dan David tinggal bersama kekasih barunya. Tokoh utamanya adalah David Bourne dan Catherine. Sifat David adalah pasif dan tidak tegas. Dia selalu menuruti keinginan Catherine tanpa mempertimbangkannya. Catherine adalah istri yang cemburuan. Dia cemburu pada buku David. Latar cerita ini di pesisir pantai Perancis. Tempatnya indah. Hotel tempat pasangan ini tinggal menyimbolkan kehidupan perkawinan mereka yang singkat. Laut dan tempat yang indah menyimbolkan sifat Catherine yaitu cantik, menarik dan tak dapat ditebak. Tempat ini juga menyimbolkan taman surga, tempat kehilangan cinta dan harapan. 2)Pada analisa kedua tema cerita dimunculkan dengan menggabungkan alur, tokoh dan latar. Permasalahan utama cerita adalah kecemburuan Catherine pada buku David. Kecemburuan Catherine menjadi factor utama yang mengembangkan cerita. Pada akhir cerita, ditemukan bahwa kecemburuan itu mengubah perkawinan mereka menjadi perkawinan yang tidak bahagia. Oleh karena itu, tema yang ditemukan, yang juga diperkuat oleh alur, adalah “kecemburuan bisa menyebabkan perkawinan yang tidak bahagia”.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literary work is a portrait of human’s life. What is pictured there is generally based on the fact and experience which happened in the past or the dreams about future. The mixture of experience and imagination is expressed through the medium of written language that is literary work. As Hudson says in An Introduction to Study of Literature,
Literary is the expression of life through the medium of language. It can be regarded as something essential since it contains about real life, people, thought, and their feeling about life (1958: 10).
Since literary is the expression of life, it might contain an essential idea about life that can be learned. Therefore, every literary work has a meaning, no matter what the form is. The meaning of it can be gained when the readers read it carefully. Reading literary work can give readers pleasure, excitement, understanding, new perception, knowledge, etc. Literary work helps readers to be more human, because through the written language, literary work shares readers the condition of life such as sadness, happiness, struggle, peace, war, etc. Through the story the readers involve to the situation presented.
In the preface to his book, Making Sense of Literature, John Reichert says, The forms of literature are the forms of life. We make a sense of a character, a dialogue, a plot, as we make a sense of each other and of our lives, and the shapes our experience takes provide the shapes of literature and give them their only value (1977: x).
Based on John Reichert's statement above, a novel as one kind of modern literary genre, mostly takes real life as the inspiration in creating the plot, the characters, the setting and the theme of the story. The plot, the character, the setting, and the theme, as the intrinsic elements are related to each other and cannot be separated in order to make the good unity of the story. There must be something that the author wants to say through the unity of the story. The good creation of those elements will help the author to transfer the thing that he is going to say, to reveal the issue that he wants to share, that is a central idea of the story or a theme.
Ernest Hemingway is one of American great writers. He was born at Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago in July 1899. He is a master of the short story form and a reasonably good novelist. He has written the great works, such as The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), To Have and Have Not (1937), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1939), Across the River and Into the Trees (1950), and The Old Man and the Sea (1953). In 1954 Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in literature “for his powerful, style-forming mastery of the art of narration” (www.books.guardian.co.uk). There are also his works that published after his death, such as A Movable Feast (1964), Island in the Stream (1970), The Dangerous Summer (1985), and The Garden of Eden (1986).
The Garden of Eden, one of his posthumous works is possibly his finest achievement (Http://gutsche.com/burkhold/writing/bookreviews/eden.html). The Garden of Eden is the last uncompleted novel of Hemingway, which he worked on intermittently from 1946 until his death in 1961. The story is generally talking
about the jealousy of young woman, Catherine, toward her husband’s activity, which is writing. The effect of the decision to write again is the unhappy honeymoon. It seems to her that she cannot accept the decision and she starts to act out of control. The story is presented in excellent words. The scenery is pictured clearly and beautifully. The setting where the story takes place is romantic and enchanting. The madness brought by Catherine as one of the main characters, the sexual fantasies, and the cruelty is very interesting. On the other side, David, as a husband who is easily trapped into Catherine’s games that sounds ridiculous, dangerous and nonsense is the other interesting point of the story.
Finding how excellent the story is revealed, the theme will be the next idea that appears in mind. Through the setting that is delivered clearly, the main characters David Bourne and Catherine, who takes the important roles of the story, and the plot as the organized events developed attractively, the theme is found. Those intrinsic elements support each other and cannot be separated. Since there is still no other thesis discussing about this study, the writer comes to the idea to go deeper in analyzing the contribution of the plot, character, and setting in order to find out the theme of the story. The theme of the story is crucial because it gives the story focus, unity, impact, and “point”. Therefore, the theme will not be stated in easy way. It needs more attention to get it. That’s why the intrinsic elements above are needed in this study. Knowing the theme means understanding the main point of the story, the central meaning of the story. It is one of thousand
reasons why people spend their time to read literary work, to catch the insight meaning of the story.
B. Problem formulation
In order to reach the target that is finding the theme of The Garden of Eden, by analyzing the plot, the character, and the setting, the problems are formulated as the following:
1. How are the plot, the main characters, and the setting revealed in the story? 2. What are the significance of the plot, the main characters, and the setting in
conveying the theme of the story?
C. Objective of the Study
This study aims to reveal the organization of the plot, the description of the main characters, and the picture of the setting of the story in order to get a brief explanation about those elements. The brief explanation of those three intrinsic elements is used to convey the theme of the story. Hopefully, by stating the theme, the meaning of the story will be found.
D. Definition of Terms
To get the clear understanding of the content of the study, there are some definitions of terms that need to be clarified. Those are plot, character, setting, and theme.
As stated in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students by M.J. Murphy, plot is carefully
though-out plan in which all the events, all the action and reactions of the characters, contribute towards the forward movement of the story (1972: 134).
A Glossary of Literary Terms by M. H. Abrams defines the word character as the person 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 by what they do — the action (1981: 20).
Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students by M.J. Murphy gives the definition of setting as the background against which the characters live out their lives. The setting can be concerned with the place in which the characters live and also the time in which they live (1972: 141).
According to An Introduction to Fiction by Robert Stanton, theme is a central meaning of the story (1965: 4).
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Study
Through literary criticism, the critics give comments, ideas, and reviews about a particular literary work. Literary criticism can also be the way to understand both an author and the work. In every study, the criticism is needed to support the idea or the topic discussed. There are some criticisms that will be presented to help the writer completing this study.
There are many critics who praise Ernest Hemingway as the most famous American novelist, short-story writer, and the essayist. He is awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. He has written many novels and short stories. According to Magill, Hemingway’s work has theme concerning usually with his obsession of the outdoor pursuit and sport, identification with the primitive, constant confrontation with death, fascination with violence, what he calls “holding the purity of line through the maximum of exposure” (1989: 607-608). The typical Hemingway’s hero, existential in particular American way, faced the sterility and failure and death of his contemporary world with steady-handed courage and a stoical resistance to pain that allows him a fleeting, but essentially human, nobility, and grace.
The Garden of Eden, his last uncompleted novel, which is published posthumously, is also a self-portrait of Hemingway. The honeymoon of the young lovers in the story is derived from the honeymoon that Hemingway has with his second wife.
Hemingway himself honeymooned there with his second wife Pauline and the events in the story are based loosely on his memories of this Mediterranean trip. The Garden of Eden was a labour of love for Hemingway (www.fetchbook.co.uk/search B00006hc/tab Reviews.html). Thomas K. Burkholder in his review says that The Garden of Eden seems to be ruthless self-justification of an unsuccessful serial monogamist. It shows that through the novel, Hemingway wants to share his feeling by telling his love experience. David, the protagonist of the story, reveals the way Hemingway saw himself. This book is his most vulnerable, tender, and humbling portrait of so many of the central struggles of his life.
Yet it is plain why Hemingway may have agonized over this one and held it back from publication, for the man it reveals is not the public persona he cultivated for most of his life. The protagonist in this tale, an avatar of the author (as in most of his work), is here a passive and unassertive sort who is unable to deal effectively with the woman he has married
(www.booksunderreview.com/arts/literature/authors/H/hemingway-Ernest/hemingway’_ernest_5.html).
There is another review written by Anders Hallengren. The review is about Catherine.
“The anti-hero’s wife in The Garden of Eden, Catherine Bourne, is one of the most persuasive and lively heroines in Hemingway’s work. She is a more complex heroine and more fragile and intertwined relationship than are presented in any of Hemingway’s other works” (Http://www.fetchbook.info/search_0684804522/tab_reviews.html).
In the story the character is described as complex and well delivered. The character is worth to be explored deeper because it is well-built, attractive, and arising big curiosity.
The other reviews are found in www.booksunderreviews.com/hemingway.html. The Garden of Eden was published approximately 20 years after Hemingway’s death. Carlos Baker, author of one of the most thorough Hemingway biography, described the manuscript as being lengthy and
not very good. Thus, many were surprised when The Garden of Eden was published in a shortened version, and was quite good. The novel explores themes of sexuality not touch on in Hemingway’s other work. In this book, Hemingway finally takes on some of the painful issues of his life. There’s a great deal of sexual intrigue in The Garden of Eden, especially about gender and identity. David and Catherine, the two main characters, do some fascinating and disturbing play with their genders and their relationship with each other as a man and a woman.
Since the criticisms focus on comparing the novel and the author’s life and discuss about gender, identity and sexuality as the main issues, the writer attempts to see the novel from the different study that is analyzing the intrinsic elements of the work. There are few reviews on the characters, as the important intrinsic element. The studies of the intrinsic elements such as plot, character, and setting to convey the theme, have not existed yet. What makes this study different is that this study tries to answer how the theme of The Garden of Eden as the central meaning can be conveyed through the contribution of the plot, character, and the setting. Therefore this study will concern in finding the relationship between those three intrinsic elements to state the theme, by going deeper beyond the text.
B. Review of Related Theory
1. Theory on the Character and Characterization
In this study, the theory of character and characterization are important to help the writer in analyzing the main characters of The Garden of Eden.
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams defines 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 (1981: 20)
Abrams also stated that basically, based on the importance, the character can be divided into two categories. They are 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. The roles are less important then the main characters because they are not fully developed characters and their roles in a story are just to support the development of the major character (1981: 20).
Here, in this study, the character that will be discussed is the main character. The characteristic of the main character will be the next thing to be analyzed. Therefore the theory of characterization is needed to find out the characteristic of the main character.
According to Baldick, characterization refers to the presentation of persons in narrative or dramatic works by means of the characters’ action, speech, or physical appearance (1991: 34). It means that a character can be differentiated from others because they have their own personality and physical attributes.
An author may present his character either directly or indirectly (Perrine, 1974: 68-69). 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 tells us what he is like. The author describes the character directly by telling the readers what people look like. For example, in this study, Catherine
is described directly by the author. The author gives her physical description directly by giving the statement such as "She has long brown legs". 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 dispositions lay behind what they say and do.
According to Murphy (1972: 161-173), there are nine ways that an author tries to present the characters’ personalities to the reader. They are:
a. Personal description
The author may describe a person’s appearances and clothes. b. Character as seen by another
The author may describe the character through the eyes and opinion of another character.
c. Speech
The author describes a character by giving us insight into the character of the one person in the book. Through what he says, he is giving us a clue to the character.
d. Past life
The author describes the character by giving us a clue to past events that could help to share a person’s character.
e. Conversation to others
The author may describe the character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him.
The author describes the character by letting us know how the character responds to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment
The author describes the character by giving a description or comment on person’s character directly.
h. Thought
The author gives the reader a direct knowledge or what a person is thinking. i. Mannerism
The author describes a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies to tell something about the character.
2. Theory on Plot
This theory is needed in order to analyze the plot that exists in the story. The development of the plot in the study will be based on the pattern of development stated in this theory.
Robert and Jacobs’ Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing stated,
A plot is a plan or groundwork for a story, based in conflicting human motivations, with actions resulting from believable and realistic human response (1987: 9).
It means that a conflict is the basic part that needs to be created in order to establish a set of events in forming the story. A conflict will determine the next action or situation. It will be the determinant factor to create a major structure of the story.
Thus the plot of a story is the establishment of a conflict and the consequences, variations, and developments that stem from it (Robert and Jacobs, 1987: 9). Based on the statement, plot is important in making the arrangement of the story. Plot is the idea that determines how the story will flow. Plot will relate one action to another in order to make a good organization of the story. In well-plotted story, nothing is irrelevant; everything is related. In the story, time is important not simply because one thing happens after another, but because one thing happens because of another.
According to Robert and Jacobs (1987: 10-11) there will be the following aspects that form the backbone, skeleton, or pattern of development.
a. Exposition.
Exposition is the lying out, the putting forth, of the material in the story: the main characters, their backgrounds, their characteristics, goals, limitations, and potentials. It presents everything that is going to be important in the story. b. Complication.
The complication marks the onset of the major conflict in the story. The participants are the protagonist and the antagonist, together with whatever the ideas or values they represent, such as good and evil, individualism and collectivization, childhood and age, love and hate, intelligence and stupidity, knowledge and ignorance, freedom and slavery, desire and resistance, and the like.
c. Crisis.
The crisis is the turning point, the separation between what has gone before and what will come after. In practice, the crisis is usually a decision or
action undertaken in an effort to resolve the conflict. It is important to stress, however, that the crisis, though a result of operating forces and decisions, may not produce the intended results.
d. Climax.
The climax is the high point in the action, in which the conflict and the consequent tension are brought out to the fullest extent. Another way to think of climax is to define it as that point in a story in which all the rest action becomes inevitable.
e. Resolution or denouement.
The resolution (a releasing or untying) or denouement (untying) is the set of action bringing the story to its conclusion. The major actions are completed and the final action, the walking, underscores the note of finality (1987: 9-11).
Furthermore according to Stanton (1965: 16), there are two important elements of plot: conflict and climax. He divides conflict into two parts:
a. Internal conflict
Internal conflict is the conflict between two desires within a character. Here, the conflict happened because the opposing desires or values in the character’s own mind, and he has to choose the best one for him.
b. External conflict
External conflict is the conflict between a character and his environment. There maybe the conflict of character’s against fate and the circumstances that exist between him and a goal of himself. Besides, it happened because the different opinions of characters.
In this study, Stanton’s statement about the theory of conflict and climax is very important. It will be used in analyzing the second problem formulation.
3. Theory on Setting
According to Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing by Robert and Jacobs, setting refers to the natural and artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature live and move (1987: 29). It means that everything related to the environment such as the time of day and the amount of light, the trees and animals, the society, the sounds described, the smells, and the weather are part of setting. The setting of a work is the description of the objects and physical appearance of the place where the story happens.
Rohrberger and Woods state that setting aids in establishing credibility; it can help to explain both characters and situation; it can give contribution to the atmosphere, or predominated mood; it can be active in foreshadowing; it can be symbolic (1971: 22).
In this study the writer will focus on the last statement that the setting can be symbolic. Later in the analysis, it will be found that the setting is used to symbolize the marriage and the main characters. It does not mean that the other uses of setting are not important. They are also important because it also helps the writer to understand about the setting.
Pickering et. al. states that setting refers to a location where an event takes place and time and time when it happens. There are four functions of setting:
setting as background, setting as antagonist, setting as a means of revealing characters, and setting as a means of reinforcing theme (1986: 39).
Therefore, in this study, the theory that will be used is setting as a means of revealing character. Pickering and Hoeper states,
Setting as a means of revealing character is a mirror of the character. An author makes the description of setting similar to the character. Hence, setting is a symbol for the character (1986: 39).
Besides to symbolize the main characters, the setting is also used as a means of reinforcing theme. It means that the setting is considered to have an important role in the story and analysis.
4. Theory on Theme
This theory is very important to help the writer in stating the theme of The Garden of Eden as the final result of the analysis.
According to Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing by Robert and Jacobs, the theme of a story is whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals. In literary fiction, a theme is seldom so obvious. That is, a theme need not be as a moral or a message; it may be what the happenings add up to, what the story is about. For the meaning, we must look to other elements in the story, besides what happens in it (1987: 59). As in Introduction to Fiction, Stanton states,
A central meaning of this sort corresponds to what, in a story, we call the “theme” or “central idea”. Like the central meaning of our experience, the theme of a story is both particular and universal in its value: it lends force and unity to the events described, and it tells us something about life in general. A theme may take the form of a generalization about life, a generalization that may or may not imply a moral judgment.” (1965: 5).
Based on Stanton’s statement previously, it means that the theme is the important element of the story, in case that the theme is the central idea or the main point that the author want to share through the story. It can be any idea about life. The main idea of the story can be gained from the contribution of the events that create the story, since the events of the story can be seen through the mixture of character, setting, and plot, therefore the theme can be found by analyzing those elements.
Perrine in his book Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, states six principle in making up the theme. The first, theme must be in the form of sentence. It must explain something about the subject. The second, theme must draw a general statement about life. The third, theme can be gained only from the context of the story to show the specific purpose of the author in revealing specific problems. The forth, theme must include major details of the story to avoid partial interpretation. It means that theme cannot be in contradictory with the whole content of the story. It must be based on the source of the story itself. The fifth, theme can be states as long as the view of life presented in the story is fulfilled. The last, theme must be different from familiar saying in terms of the main of its statement. It provides a wider knowledge than familiar saying (1974: 107-109).
Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literary, 5th Edition, state that theme is a central or dominating idea in a work. As the central idea of the story, theme unifies the elements of the story and makes them coherent because theme can connect the elements to form a complete and unified story. Theme overlaps
with all other elements of literary work that its existence is closely related to the characters, the setting and the plot. Therefore, to discover theme of the story, a comprehension of numerous elements of the work is needed (1986:502).
5. The Relationship between Character, Plot, Setting and Theme
Rohrberger and Wood reveal that the analysis involves a study of the various elements of the story in an effort to understand the theme of the story (1971: 20). What are meant by the various elements are the important points that stand in the work and they are analyzable. In this study, the writer sees that the character, plot and setting in the novel can contribute to state the theme. The character and the setting have a very close relationship. Usually, the characteristic of a setting in a novel may influence the characters. Even, it can be said that the characteristic pattern of a person will be formed by the condition of his environment. The setting never exists by itself. It explains the characters and the situations and the influences the atmosphere. M.J. Murphy states,
The settings have a great effect upon the characters’ personalities, actions, and ways of thinking. The settings “where” and “when” they live in or at determine the characters in the novel (1972: 141).
The character and setting become the primary means in the making of the plot. The plot of the story is its entire sequence of events that directly cause or result from other events, and cannot be omitted without breaking the line of action. These events may includes not only physically occurrences, like as speech or action, but also a character’s change of attitude, a flash of inside, a decision, complexity of society, nature and the universe (Stanton, 1965:14). From Stanton's
statement, it can be gained that characters and setting give contribution towards the forward movement of the story. The story then moves on, carrying the reader with it up and over a series of crests until the climax of the story is reached and everything is resolve, generally to the readers’ satisfaction. Stanton also states,
The character, setting and plot are the factual structure of the theme of its particular nature. Implicitly, by factual structure of the story, we can get the record of an imaginable occurrence of every detail in the story. What we call the story’s factual structure is simply one way in which its details are organized. Those same details are also organized so as to form patterns that convey the theme (1965: 12).
The statement above shows clearly that the character, setting and plot are the important element to state the theme. It is mentioned that from those elements, as it is called the factual structure, the details of the event in the story are found. It means that the theme can be found by analyzing the character, setting, and plot. It is strengthened by Kresner’s statement that the combination of character, setting, and plot analysis can help the reader to get the theme of literary work (1962: 31).
Based on the explanation above, theme will never exist without the existence of the character, setting, and plot. The character creates conflict in which it shows the interest, desires, emotion, and moral principle. Then, the setting appears to evoke those definite emotion tone or mood that surround the character, and the plot takes role in showing the movement of the story, which designated by the character’s conflict or problem to some extent of having direct influences from the society, setting. Each element can convey some significant point that will lead to find the theme of the work.
C. Theoretical Framework
This study aims to find out the theme revealed by analyzing the characters, plot and setting in Ernest Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden. There are some theories related to this study that are used. They are the theory of character and characterization, and the theory of plot, the theory of setting, the theory of theme and the theory of the relationship of those elements. They are used in order to help the writer in analyzing the problems that have been formulated in the previous chapter. To answer the first problem that is about the description of the characters, setting and plot, the definition of the character and the characterization, the theory of plot, the theory of setting, the theory of theme is needed. The theories are important to reveal what kind of character, setting and plot that are presented in the novel. After finding the brief description of those elements, the writer will go further to answer the second problem that is about the theme conveyed from the contribution of those elements. In this concern, the writer uses the theory of the relationship between the plot, setting, character and theme. This theory is used to get the theme of the story. All theories used will definitely help the writer to analyze the study.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The novel that will be analyzed in the study is The Garden of Eden written by Ernest Hemingway. This novel was published posthumously in 1986, approximately 20 years after his death. The novel that the writer read is published by Simon and Schuster in New York. It consists of 30 chapters and 247 pages.
The Garden of Eden was not in finished form at the time of the author’s death. The novel is the last uncompleted novel of Hemingway, which he worked intermittently from 1946 until his death in 1961. Some cuts in the manuscript and some routine editing corrections have done in preparing the book for publication. Nothing has been added, and it is the entire still author. The Garden of Eden, only the second posthumous novel, just might be Hemingway’s most surprising book of all, and it becomes a sensational bestseller when it appeared in 1986.
The story of The Garden of Eden opens with the honeymoon enjoyed by the young lovers, David Bourne and his beautiful wife, Catherine on the French Mediterranean coast. Everything is going right until David decides it’s time to get back to work again on his next book. Fun-loving Catherine, a bit of rebellious wild child at heart, soon begins to resent her husband’s writing’s solitude. When he shuts himself away alone in his study to work, she starts to go recklessly out of control. She does take delight in being able to control and manipulate him to her will. She involves David in a dangerous erotic game with another woman. In the
top of her jealousy of his work, she does burning the writing. Her madness proves to be damaging to all involved.
B. Approach
There are several approaches that can be used in analyzing literary work. This study will go deeper beyond the text. It will focus on analyzing the theme that can be conveyed through the unity of the intrinsic elements of the novel that are plot, setting, and character. Therefore, the appropriate approach that is used is New Criticism.
As stated by Klarer in An Introduction to Literary Studies,
New Criticism concerns to free literary criticism of extrinsic factors and thereby shift the center of attention to the literary text itself… New Criticism does away with the use of ungrounded subjective emotional responses caused by lyrical texts as an analytical “tool” (1999: 68). It means that New Criticism puts away the extrinsic elements such as the psychological conditions of the author, the biographical data, the historical background, etc. In order to maintain an objective stance, the critic must focus solely on textual idiosyncrasies. In other words, the study that uses New Criticism is only focusing on the analysis of a text, including the element in the text or the intrinsic elements of the text. Meaning to say, it solely will be based on the text’s intrinsic dimension. Furthermore Klarer also states,
A central term often used synonymously with New Criticism is close reading (1999: 68).
It means that the critic has to read and reread the work as many as possible until he feels that he has completely understood about the work. The critic has to master the work in details in order to make the precious analysis.
C. Method of the Study
The study was going to analyze one Ernest Hemingway’s literary works, The Garden of Eden. When the study had found the work, reading it several times was very important to get the understanding of the whole story. Deciding the topic was the most important step to be taken, because it would determine the next step.
After deciding the topic, the study would be implemented into some steps. The first step was doing library research to find some books, criticisms, essays, and also theories, which were needed. Browsing the Internet’s sites to find the reviews and criticisms was very important to collect data as many as possible. Those data would be useful in finishing the study. The data would be divided into two categories: the first was primary data that were taken from the novel itself, The Garden of Eden, and the second was secondary data that consisted of data from the thesis belongs to other researchers, data on criticism, the theory on plot, setting, character, theme, the relationship between those elements, and the theory on approaches. The next step was formulating the problems, which were going to be analyzed in the study. When the problems had been stated, deciding the appropriate approach that was going to be applied would be the next step. Then the study came to the important part that was the analysis. In this step, all problem formulations stated above would be discussed one by one deeply. Finally, the study came to the last part, which was deriving a conclusion. The conclusion was taken from the previous chapter until the latest chapter. It was made by concluding all the explanation above, in order to show the chronological relation between each part of the whole study.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This chapter is going to analyze the problem formulations that have been stated in the first chapter. Based on the two problem formulations, this chapter will be divided into two major parts. The first part will analyze the first problem that is analyzing the plot, character and the setting of the story. The second part will analyze the second problem that is finding the contribution of the plot, the character and the setting to convey the theme of the story.
A. The Analysis of the Plot, the Character, and the Setting 1. The Plot
a. Exposition
The exposition can be found in the opening chapters of the story. The story begins with the introduction of the main characters and the situation of the story. The main character is a couple, Catherine and David Bourne. They have just been married and have their honeymoon on the French Mediterranean coast. The exact time they have married is three weeks. They have come down on the train from Paris to Avignon with their bicycles, a suitcase with their town clothes, and a rucksack and a bag. They will ride to the Pont du Gard. But the mistral is blowing so they ride with mistral down to Nimes and stay there at the Imperator and then have the heavy wind behind them and then on to le Grau du Roi. Then they have been there for a while, before moving to visit the towns that are Hendaye and La Napole.
There is a brief description about a happy honeymoon the couple has. Every day for them is a great lovely day. David Bourne is 28 years old. Catherine is seven years younger. She is beautiful and charming. As a couple who is still burnt in deep love, the happy lovers spend their days for having fun. Their daily activities are breakfast in the fresh morning, wake (sometime wake up late and get breakfast in bed), drink, lunch, and siesta, make love, sleep, wake again, swim, tan and fish. They absolutely enjoy the honeymoon. The honeymoon has been wonderful and they have been truly happy.
There is only happiness and loving each other and then hunger and replenishing and starting over. (P. 14)
It is depicted that David Bourne is really in love with Catherine that he has thought of nothing, but being with his girl whom he loves and is married to. He feels that he is so close to his wife and everything he is thinking is all about happiness and love and thinks that there is no bad thing happens and will happen.
It was a very simple world and he had never been truly happy than any other (p. 14).
In this part, Catherine is introduced as the girl who likes surprise. The first surprise she has is she appears with her hair crops as short as a boy’s. She does it because she wants to be both as a girl and a boy. She likes it because according to her it is a dangerous surprise.
The next day, there is a postman delivering mails for the couple. Catherine got letters from her bank in Paris and David gets mails from his publishers. They are the clippings and the proofs of advertisement. The mails tell him about his book. His books are done very good.
He glanced at the clippings and then read the long letter. It was cheerful and guardedly optimistic. It was too early to tell how the book would do but everything looked good. Most of the reviews were excellent (p. 23). This part of exposition gives information that the protagonist, David Bourne, is a writer. He is a successful writer and doing well for his book. For David, writing is his life; means that writing is not only his occupation, but it is everything. It is part of him that can not be separated from his life. And receiving the excellent reviews is a great thing for him.
On the other side, it is shown that Catherine can not see the writing as David sees it. The success of David's novel is just part of his occupation and she can not understand why David has to consider it more than that. It is shown when Catherine comes and joins him to read the letters, she does not like the reviews because according to her, the reviews are terrible and they can destroy her husband. There is nothing good about the reviews.
“Plenty of people would be happy if their damned husbands had good reviews.”
“I’m not plenty of people and you’re not my damned husband. I know I’m a violent girl and you’re violent too. Please let’s not fight. You read them and if there is anything good you tell me and if they say nothing about the books that’s intelligent that we don’t know you tell me.” (p. 25)
It is the first time she does not like the writing. Because all she likes is enjoying the honeymoon without any interruption, including the writing. According to her, one right thing to enjoy the honeymoon is to get the dark skin by tanning all day on the beach, as it is obsessed by her. She wants to have tanned skin as darker as she can. She really wants to change.
b. Complication
This part is started with David’s decision to write again. The decision is made when they are lying close together in the night by listening to the heavy fall of the surf on the beach.
“We might stay a few days and see.”
“Good. If we do I’d like to start to write.” (p. 37)
As the decision is made, he works on the writing, and Catherine has gone out leaving him to work in the room. After writing, he goes to the hotel bar and meets Catherine there. It seems that she encourages him on his writing by asking him about it. But as the conversation moves, they get to urge about it. It is the first strong argument they get after they are married.
“Why?” she said, leaning toward him and speaking too loudly. “Why should I shut up? Just because you wrote this morning? Do you think I married you because you’re a writer? You and your clippings.” (p. 39) The quotation above shows that the clippings and writing actually make her feed up. Here, her dislike of the writing turns into anger. But Catherine seems to understand that the quarrel is her fault. She is such a fool to debate about the writing. She is sorry about that.
However, while David has to work on his writing, Catherine has to spend the day by her own activity. That morning when they have breakfast she says she will go to Biarritz. Although she knows that her husband has to work, she still tries to ask him to go with her. Again, she talks to him about surprise.
David on the other side is thinking about the writing. He thinks that he makes no progress. He is too slow on working. He does not like to be slow and it, anyway, annoys him.
You didn’t work enough this morning to make your brain that stupid or are you just hung over from yesterday. You didn’t work at all really. And you better soon because everything’s going too fast… (p. 45)
Catherine comes back bringing the surprise. She is very excited. She kisses David again and again. David is confused with what’s going on. After giving him once more kiss, she explains. She actually wants to please her husband.
She came back and stood by the bed with the sun on her through the window. She had dropped the skirt and was barefooted wearing only the sweater and the pearls (p. 45).
She is very excited finding her beautiful body and she wants to surrender herself for her husband. She wants to show it combined with the long dark legs, the straight standing body, the dark face, and the sculptured tawny head to surprise her husband, because that is the way she looks like now. Her husband likes it and says that it is wonderful. He is thinking that she is a new girl. They are full of love and have sexual intercourse through the night. In the morning they have breakfast in bed. Catherine plans them both to stay on the beach tanning there all through noon.
She is also sorry about the quarrel about the clippings. She says that it is because she has drunk too much. She is crying because she has hurt him. David understands that she does not mean it. She assures him that she does not want to do anything to him nor has any bad effect on him. She thinks that she can understand his work. In this part, it seems that she is able to encourage David to work on his writing. It seems that the writing and the honeymoon can go together.
They are befriends again. They have a happy day as they use to. They spend their morning to breakfast at Prado. They eat and drink more of Manzanilla, which is light and nutty tasting. They have nice talking about the food, African wine, and pictures of Castilla. Everything is good, although Catherine is moaning about her inability of painting and writing. She wants herself to go back to her world. She also wants David to back to the honeymoon, means that he has to spend his whole time for the honeymoon, do not work on the writing. All she wants is they come back to their world that is the marriage and enjoy their honeymoon.
She is frustrated because it does not work like what she wants. She acts as a girl all that afternoon. But later, when they are lying quiet for a long time, she starts to be a boy again. David rejects it. When she persists to be a boy, he gives up. Catherine is so excited. After that she has her own plan that she has a wonderful surprise for herself tomorrow. She is going to Prado to see all pictures as a boy.
They have been married three months and two weeks. David is sitting in the café, reading the reviews of his book. The reviews have been the understanding and perceptive reviews and it is a great advantage that this is his second novel. He is still thinking about them, when Colonel John Boyle is coming. They are very happy to meet each other. David tells him that he is in his honeymoon and they talk about Catherine. Colonel congratulates David for his book. He appreciates David’s work.
“Well anyway, have fun. You know, I liked the book. Has it done well?” “It’s done pretty well.”
“It moved me very deeply,” Colonel said. “You’re a deceptive son of a bitch.” (p. 61)
Catherine is coming, and David introduces them to each other. Colonel likes Catherine. He adores her as a beautiful girl and he likes her dark tanned skin. She is very happy. She tells him that she acts as a boy this day. It remains a question in Colonel’s mind. Before leaving Colonel warns David about Catherine. He finds something uncomfortable about the way she tells him about changing as a boy and a girl. Here is what Colonel said to David.
“Remember everything is right until it’s wrong. You’ll know when it’s wrong.”
“You think so?”
“I’m quite sure. If you don’t it doesn’t matter. Nothing will matter then.” (p. 65)
When they lie on the bed for taking rest in the afternoon, he shares her about that matter, the change. But Catherine insists that it is fine. He thinks that there will be no end to change.
Actually David is thinking about “no end to change” of Catherine. It turns him into a bad mood and Catherine does not understand. It brings them into a quarrel. Catherine keeps talking about the change. She irritates him by telling him that she will be back to be a girl, not because she wants it. She did it because David forces her.
“Because I’m a god damned woman. I thought if I’d be a girl and stay a girl I’d have a baby at least. Not even that.” (p. 71)
Then she discusses about the work. Her husband is so sure to start the work now. Although she says that it will be wonderful and she will have her own activities, what exists in her mind was the contrary. She is fed up of the writing.
In this part, David decides to work on his writing again. He spends his time to work. He knows that he should manage his time for the writing and his wife. He writes in the morning, and therefore he still has time to join his wife. On the other side, Catherine is jealous about the writing. She is often mad at David because she misses much time to be with her husband. She has to go everywhere by herself. She spends her days by own activities. She changes her hairs to turn her husband’s attention. She changes her gender to disturb her husband. She does anything nonsense to prevent her husband from writing.
c. Crisis
In this level, the story goes as the way Catherine’s jealousy grows deeper and uncontrolled. David spends much more time on his work. He is in the time of concentrating to the writing.
He had worked very hard for four days. (p. 76)
In achieving to turn David's attention from writing, she makes a lot of plans. She assures David that this time she is not going to start so bad and wild. But the fact, it is still ridiculous. It is about to get her husband’ hair cut as the same style as hers. She wants him to be identical with her. She has planned every thing. She has found the coiffeur who can make it as fair as Scandinavian, the one she likes. It will match with their dark skin. The quotation below shows the way Catherine persuades her husband to follow her plan.
“This would be much fairer. He said he could make it fair as Scandinavian. Think how that would be with our dark skin. And we could make yours lighter too.”
As Catherine is success in persuading David, they go to the coiffeur. The coiffeur, Monsieur Jean, firstly cuts Catherine’s hair. She wants it to be fair. There she lies to the coiffeur that David has given his decision to make the hair as fair as her pearl. She is also the one who makes the decision for David’s haircut. They go back to the hotel with the result of the cropping, the same style hair cut. It pleases her so much. She is very happy and satisfied of the result. David is the one who does not know exactly how he is, what he has done. In the hotel he tries to think about what happens. He tries to see what’s going on toward him actually. He matches himself, and is trying hard to like the way he looks now. He does not get it at all.
He looked at the face that was no longer strange to him at all but his face now and said,” You like it. Remember that. Keep the straight. You know exactly how you look now and how you are.”
Of course he did not know exactly how he was. But he made an effort aided by what he had seen in the mirror. (p. 85)
In the night, when they are in bed, Catherine asks David to be a girl. The reason is that according to her it is not so easy to be a girl.
Another achievement is that she wants her husband to write her down in his writing, no matter it is where she has been bad put in; she wants him to include her in the writing. She demands it and does not want the writing to be copied for sell. She will keep the writing for them. She does not want the writing to success. She is too jealous to let it happen.
“I’m so proud of it already and we won’t have any copies for sale and none for reviews and then there’ll never be clippings and you’ll never be self conscious and we’ll always have it just for us.” (p. 78)
The next day, as to prevent her husband from writing, Catherine has created her other whim. She has brought him a girl. The girl is the one whom they saw yesterday when they sit in the cafe. Catherine is so impressed with the girl’s beauty and she likes the way the girl to blush. It is a surprise that Catherine brings the dark handsome girl. The girl is uncomfortable, because she does not want to disturb David’s day. But David welcomes her. The thing that he does not welcome is that then Catherine invites her to stay with them in the hotel. David does not show his objection in front of the girl. While he is alone with Catherine, he shows his anger and asks Catherine for kind of nonsense surprise she makes right now. Catherine explains that the girl, named Marita, is a nice girl and she likes her. She needs the girl to accompany her while David is working. She wins over her husband.
“Don’t be so violent. She’s a nice girl and I like her. I know it was unforgivable to bring her up without speaking to you. I’m sorry. But I did it and it’s done.” (p. 100)
Starting from that day, three of them are going to any where together. It is because Catherine wants them to always being together. She always asks the girl to join. David is so upset. The existence of the girl is annoying. But he does nothing. He just keeps silent. He shows his anger by giving rude responds to Marita. He is not too enthusiastic to make any conversation with the girl.
“When I drink I want to say things I should never say, “the girl said. “Then don’t say them.”
“Then what’s the use of drinking?” “It isn’t these. You’ve only had one.” “Were you embarrassed when we swam?” “No. Should I have been?” (p. 101)
The girl is nonsense in some points, especially when she says that she loves David. David does not believe her although she has convinced him that she does fall in love with him in the odd way, the way that she does not even know either.
The condition of the relationship is growing bad. Catherine always offers him the ridiculous whims. At the time three of them are together, Catherine makes a rule that Marita is now David’s girl too, so that David should treat her as his girl. It surprises him so much. He does not think that it can grow that way. Catherine gives her the ridiculous relationship and he is in it. Poor David passively accepts the situation after Catherine asks him to kiss Marita. First time David kisses Marita, Marita is crying and he blames Catherine for that thing.
David put his arms around the girl and kissed her and she started to kiss him and turned her head away. Then she was crying with her head down and both hands holding the bar.
“Make a joke now,” David said to Catherine. (p. 103)
Instead of feeling guilty, Catherine is attacking David back as the one who should take a responsibility that he makes Marita crying.
“I tried not to.”
“I egged her on about you. I’ll go out and find her.” “No. Wait a little while. She’s too sure of herself.”
“How can you say that, David? You just broke her all up.” (p. 104)
Catherine does not stop to that point to hurt and undermine David. Catherine creates a scandal. She has kissed Marita when they are going to the town.
“This morning I stopped the car on the long clear stretch and kissed her and she kissed me and on the way back from Nice too and when we got
out of the car now,” Catherine looked at him lovingly but rebelliously and then said, ”It was fun and I liked it. You kiss her too. The boy’s not here.” (p. 110)
For Catherine it is game. It is a kind of fun that she has her own pleasure by playing her husband’s feeling. She wants him to think about the relationship’s problem, in which he will feel disturb to do his writing. It does work. David is so sad that he can say nothing. David can understand whatever she does, but not this part. Catherine is terrible of thinking that David can be leaving her. When David appears, he is shocked at the dead way she looks and at her toneless voice. His appearance relieves her worries. He comes back, hurts, but still stays.
In this part, David starts to have a real conversation with Marita. They talk about his novel. The novel is about East Africa. Marita knows about the book, she ever reads it, she likes it and it gets David’s attention. They discuss it. Marita is crying when reading the story. She understands enough how the story goes. It irritates Catherine so much. She surely does not want Marita to like David's writing. She plans Marita's existence to be one way to separate David and his writing. Catherine becomes rough and sarcastic.
“What I wanted to say when you interrupted,” Catherine said,” was did you think of him as a writer when you kissed him and liked it so much?” “”Wait until you read it,” Catherine said. “It’s a book you had to die to write and you had to be completely destroyed. Don’t ever think I don’t know about his books just because I don’t think he’s a writer when I kiss him.” (p. 112)
The desire to control David comes to her again as soon as she feels better. She asks David to always be kind to Marita, as she is also his girl. In David’s side, he starts to get close with Marita. Marita, who at first she likes David, gives the
nice respond. He recognizes his different feeling toward Marita, he falls in love with her.
She was gone for about ten minutes and he felt of the girl’s drink and decide to drink it before it got warm. He took it in his hand and raised it to his lips and he found as it touched his lips that it gave him pleasure because it was hers. It was clear and undeniable.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said. “And I love you.” (p. 127)
This level reaches the point where David is trapped to his wife’s whim that is a triangle relationship. He makes progress on his writing. Whenever he finishes from working, in his loneliness, Catherine is not the only one he misses like yesterday, but Marita has taken her own place in his heart. Marita is the one who understands about the writing. He lets Marita to read the story when the story about his father has finished. This is the first time he shares what he has written to someone. He discusses it with Marita, the way he never does before. He knows that it is ill manner and stupid. He has never done before with anyone and it is against everything he believes about writing but he does enjoy the moment when he shares it with Marita. He can not help wanting to read it with her and he can not help sharing what he has never shared and what he has believed can not and should not be shared.
Catherine wants to go to Prado and she asks David for that. Marita is opposed her, because David has to work. Marita and Catherine are arguing. Catherine is selfish. She persists to go. Catherine is jealous to Marita.
“Who is the third drink for?” “Marita.”
“Your paramour?” “My what?”
The effect is she attacks Marita and David’s writing when she is joining them. She becomes so rude. When knowing that Marita has read the story, she also wants to read it. The story is about David’s childhood in Africa when he is hunting an elephant with his father. She wants to read it not because she cares about the writing but because Marita has read it. Catherine reads the story. She is very disappointed because according to her the story is bestial. She also mocks David’s handwriting by saying that it is horrible. She can not keep her anger so then she tires the cahier and throws it on the floor. She accuses Marita and David that they both conspire to make her read it. She mocks him as a monster and she hates him. They are in their bedroom. Catherine is still mad at him. David is at her side to calm her down. She asks David whether he is going to write again next morning. It knocks her down when he says yes.
“I’ll sleep then. Are you going to work in the morning?” “Yes. I might as well.”
“You’ll work well,” she said. “I know you will. Good night David. You sleep well too.” (p. 158)
Catherine does not want to lose her power in stirring David. She tries to create another whim to stir David. She asks him to go to Jean’s again. David refuses her. She reminds him that if she wants it so bad, David will do it to please her, like usual. Then, they go to Jean’s and they are back identically like when they are in Grau du Roi.
The crisis of the story goes to the worse part of Catherine’s jealousy. Catherine persuades Marita to read the narrative because it is the story about her and her honeymoon. She wants Marita to be jealous. She tells Marita to read it although David does not allow her. She undermines him by making decisions and
planning things as she wants about the story. She plans to get the book out. She is going to have the manuscript typed up to where it is now and sees about getting illustrations. She has to see the artist and makes the arrangement. David absolutely disagrees with her. Because it is his writing and it must be him the one who makes decision for his writing. She is so uncontrolled. She mocks David by saying that the stories are just David’s way of escaping his duty. When it seems that she does not success to undermine David, she also decides to have an affair with another woman. It shocks David so much.
“But she may decide to have an affair with another woman if she ever takes it up again. There is quite a bit about another woman.”
“Christ I never thought it would go this way.” (p. 191)
She becomes brutal. She talks so rude. She has dumped Marita. Marita is not her type at all. She gives Marita up to him. She calls Marita as “the gamin type”. She is not interested with gamin type. She acknowledges that she does break herself in pieces in Madrid to be a girl. That is the reason that all she wants is for David and Marita to be happy. The thing she needs now is asking them to forget it all and just being friends. It hits David deeply. He is angry to himself and to Catherine. She is very disappointed and hurts. It is found that Catherine is changing fast to be someone else because of the jealousy. And Marita is there with no jealousy of the work. She understands about the writing.
d. Climax
The climax opens with Catherine and David is sitting at the bar. Catherine is reading the Paris Herald and David is drinking. Catherine irritates him about the story of his father as usual. She mocks his father as a “bogus drunken father”.
She accuses his father has defraud his wife and all his friends. She continues to hurt David by telling him that he certainly makes his father despicable by writing about him. David explains that his father is not “bogus drunken father”. David tries to sober himself down, that his anger will not blow out. He feels empty. All Catherine’s works breaks his heart. She undermines him by underestimating the story, but David knows that he has worked well. The writing is meant so much for him. He assures himself that he must stand and go on, faces what he has to face without being irritable or hurt when someone does not understand and appreciates what he wrote.
He feels better after thinking that the writing do good at all. But, then he faces the game made by Catherine again. When he wants to ask the girls swimming, he finds Marita and Catherine are in bed. They are lying on a big bed together side by side; the sheet is pulled up under their chins. Marita is silent and serious. Catherine is laughing to see David shocked. The terrible one, Catherine is so excited and invites David to join them. She challenges him to sleep with them both. She absolutely wants to hurt him.
He opened the door. They were lying in the big bed together side by side; the sheet pulled up under their chin.
“Please come in, David,” Catherine said. “We’ve been waiting for you.” …
Catherine was laughing.
“Won’t you come in too, David?” (p. 212)
Finding how rude Catherine is, he only asks Marita to go swimming with him. But Catherine insists to go with them. Catherine tells him that it is a joke, but David is still angry with her. On the beach, Catherine judges him by telling Marita that he actually has a wonderful life, but he screws it up with all he wrote about
Africa and his drunken father and his press cutting. She tells Marita that the clippings are hundreds and they are all the same pictures. It is horrible. She complains about anything related to his writings and clippings. She murmurs about the wastebasket, the ridiculous child’s notebook and David’s grammar. David’s French is worse. He fakes along well enough in conversation and he is amusing with his slang. The whole business is a fraud really. David and Marita are there listening all what she said. She is also the one who burns the clippings. David feels completely hollow. Catherine is satisfied. She feels win; her face is calm and reasonable.
The top of these happens in the evening when David opens the big Vuitton suitcase. He finds the pile of cahiers that the stories have been written in was gone.
Now there was no danger and no emergency. It was only disaster now… He still could not believe that she had done it but he felt sick inside himself when he close and lock the door (p. 219).
But he knows that it has happened. It is so empty and dead in his heart. He can not stand with the worse possibility that Catherine has done something bad to the writing. He comes to see her and asks her where she puts them. The worse thing truly happens. She does the cruelest thing above all her insanity that is burning the writing. She says that she does it for him and for all of them. She burns them all so that David can concentrate to write only the narrative.
“Where did you burn them, Devil?”
“In the iron drum with holes that Madame uses to burn trash,” Catherine said.
