Discussion on The Protagonist's Social and Inner Conflicts in Jack Seward's 'Macneils of Tokyo'.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, penulis ingin membahas sebuah novel yang berjudul Macneil of Tokyo, karya dari Jack Seward, seorang penulis pria dari Amerika. Saya menggunakan pendekatan intrinsik dalam pembahasan konflik-konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama novel tersebut.

Jack Seward dalam novel Macneils of Tokyo menunjukan bagaimana kehidupan seorang pria Amerika yang lahir di Jepang dan menghabiskan sebagian besar hidupnya di Jepang, sehingga dia merasa sebagai bagian dari Jepang. Dalam perjalanan hidupnya dia mengalami situasi perang dunia kedua dimana Amerika yang merupakan negara kebangsaannya, berperang dengan Jepang, tempat dimana dia dibesarkan. Ketika dia memutuskan untuk menjadi tentara Amerika, maka timbullah konflik dalam dirinya dan pada akhirnya dia dapat menyelesaikan konflik-konfliknya dengan baik.

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF JACK SEWARD’S MACNEILS OF TOKYO

The story happens during The Second World War in Japan, concerning the

Macneils family who live and run a business in Japan. When the war happens, the

Macneils family try to save their properties out from Japan.

The eldest child of this family is Bill Macneils. He is an American who was

born and spends his lifetime in Japan when the Second World War happens. After his

mother’s death, his father gets married to a Japanese woman. He has one step sister,

Sarah Macneils, and one step brother, Shipton Macneils. When The Second World

War happens, Bill makes a decision to join the Allied army. The decision to join the

Allied army makes Bill suffer from so many social conflicts and inner conflicts.

When Bill Macneil has a duty to lead the team of translator and interpreter,

most of them are Japanese-American. Bill suffers from a social conflict with a

Colonel of the Allied army, because the Colonel does not respect Bill’s team by

assuming that all members of Bill’s team are enemies because most of them have

Japanese faces. Bill was angry with the Colonel’s opinion, so he threatens the

Colonel that his team will not help the Colonel’s work. Finally the Colonel respects

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When Bill meets the President of the United States, the president gives him a

duty to investigate Japan’s atom bomb program . This duty also makes Bill suffer

from a dilemma that he must involve his stepsister to accomplish his duty. That

means, he brings his stepsister into a dangerous situation. Finally, Bill has succeeded

to investigate the Japanese weapon by using his stepsister to gain information about

Japan’s atom bomb program.

The war ends on 2 September 1945 when Japan surrenders after America has

bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Finally, Bill Macneils comes back to Japan, he

continues the family’s business and he gets married to Helma Graff and lives in

Tokyo for four years.

BIOGRAPHY OF JACK SEWARD

For 55 years, Jack Seward lived in Japan as an army officer and CIA agent

during the occupation and has specialized in Japan and its language. He was married

to a Japanese woman, Aiko Morimoto. He is the author of forty four fiction and

nonfiction books. Among of them are The Diplomat, The Darned Nuisances, The

Eurasian Virgin, and The Cave of the Chinese Skeleton. Most of his books about

Japan include textbooks, novels, travel guides, and cultural commentaries. Several are

written in Japanese, and one is a best-seller, of which the title is Hara-kiri. This is a

story about Japanese ritual suicide.

In 1986 the Emperor of Japan awarded Jack Seward the Order of the Sacred

Treasure for a lifetime because of his contributions to Japanese-American friendship

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teaches Japanese culture and language in the United States although he still spends

considerable time in Japan to write regularly for magazines and journals in Japan.

From his marriage, Seward has two sons, Bill Seward and John Seward. Both have

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

I have decided to analyze novel for my thesis because in novel, I can obtain detailed information and description about the events, characters, and conflicts. According to Murphy “novel is the most widely practiced and most widely read form of literature in the world today” (1972: 127) and according to Shaw, novel is “an account of life which involves conflict, plot, characters, action, setting, and theme” (1972: 257).

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makes me interested in analyzing the novel. It is because the protagonist experiences conflicts to live in foreign country. Living in a foreign country, the protagonist automatically deals with Diaspora, which is ‘to refer to any people or ethnic population forced or induced to leave their traditional ethnic homelands, being dispersed throughout other parts of the world, and the ensuing developments in their dispersal and culture’ ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora). Moreover, it is satisfying for me to read Jack Seward’s Macneils of Tokyo as ‘Readers of Jack Seward' s previous books will not be disappointed in this rousing adventurous historical and often erotic romance’ (http://japan.vacationbookreview.com/japan_68.html).

Among the contemporary period writers who produce war novels, I am of the opinion that Jack Seward is a writer who can describe about the Second World War well because ‘He lived in Japan as an army officer and CIA agent during the occupation’(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801000922?v=glance&n=283155). His works and contributions to Japanese-American friendship and mutual understanding get positive reaction from the Japanese government so that ‘The Emperor of Japan awarded Jack Seward the Order of the Sacred Treasure, for a lifetime of contribution to Japanese-American friendship’ (Seward, 2000: -).

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and the physical world, social conflict which is a struggle between man and man, inner or psychological conflict which is a struggle between desires within a person. (Shaw, 1972:92).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In order to analyze the novel, I state the problems as follows:

1. What are the inner and social conflicts in Seward’s Macneils of Tokyo? 2. What causes the conflicts?

3. How are the conflicts resolved?

4. How do Diasporic issues help to develop conflicts?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

My purposes of studying and analyzing the novel are:

1. To show the inner and social conflicts in Seward’s Macneils of Tokyo. 2. To show the causes of the conflicts.

3. To show how the conflicts are resolved.

4. To show how the conflicts are developed through the Diasporic issues.

METHOD OF RESEARCH

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analysis. Finally, I use the data that I collect for analysis from which I can draw the conclusion.

ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having discussed the social and inner conflicts in Seward’s Macneils of

Tokyo, I find some interesting aspects of someone’s life in the novel. I discover that

the social and inner conflicts revealed in this novel deal with Diasporic problems that

are likely to happen in our daily life anywhere and anytime. At this point, we must be

aware that our life is always full of conflicts arising out of different perceptions,

different ways of thinking, and different cultures.

In Macneils of Tokyo, Jack Seward as the author has succeeded in revealing

several conflicts in this novel. I notice that the conflicts can be seen in the title which

is Macneils of Tokyo, and the title wants to show us about an American who lives in

Tokyo during the Second World War, which happens between the Allied and Japan

that makes his daily life full of conflicts.

I see that war itself is a conflict. There are two sides that Bill Macneil has to

face as an American soldier, who has to attack the enemy, Japan, the country in

which he grows up. In this novel, Bill Macneil faces social conflicts with the

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The first Diasporic issue is about the meaning of being an American. This

issue happens in the social conflict between Bill Macneil and his father; while, Bill’s

father has different perception about the meaning of being an American from Bill’s.

The second Diasporic issue is about Patriotism. This issue happens in the

social conflict between Bill Macneil and his Commander, specifically when the

Commander has doubts about Bill’s loyalty to America because Bill Macneil was

born in Japan.

Another Diasporic issue about Patriotism also happens in the social conflict

between Bill Macneil and Colonel Sam Neuhoff, while Colonel Sam Neuhoff

assumes that an American soldier must be white people. Diasporic issue about the

Patriotism also happens in the inner conflict when Bill Macneil must assure the

interviewer that he will dedicate himself to America since the interviewer hesitate

over Bill Macneil’s loyalty. It is because Bill Macneil has spent his life and grown up

in Japan, the country of his enemy.

The third Diasporic issue is about familial interaction. This issue happens in

the social conflict between Bill Macneil and his stepsister Sarah Macneil, particularly

when Bill Macneil as an American does not want to do something against the Eastern

culture. It is because he feels that he is a part of the Eastern culture.

After reading this novel, I am aware that the social and inner conflicts that

Bill Macneil experiences can happen in our daily life. As well, I figure out that the

Diasporic issue is realistic for people that live in foreign country and people who are

of the other cultural descent. When applied to my life, I experience similar kinds of

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me to adjust the Indonesian culture. This adjustment leads me to experience social

and inner conflicts.

I also find that the important point in Macneils of Tokyo is family. Family is

one of the most important things because without family we are nothing.

Furthermore, we must respect other people if we want to earn their respects.

Moreover, we must be tolerant of other people by not troubling them with our

problems so that we can maintain a harmonious relationship with them. On the

whole, because this novel gives me some valuable lessons, I arrive at the conclusion

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc, 1966

Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseens. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1972.

Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York : McGraw. Hill, inc, 1972

Online Personal Sites

Book Description, November 25th.2005

(http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=226564).

(http://japan.vacationbookreview.com/japan_68.html)

Author’s Biography, March 13th.2006

(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804832366/102-1052727-1000922?v=glance&n=283155).

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