ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat kelulusan program sarjana di jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen Maranatha. Saya memutuskan untuk membahas penggambaran tokoh utama dalam novel Monica Ali yaitu Brick Lane
Monica Ali adalah seorang penulis fiksi berkebangsaan India yang tinggal di London. Brick Lane adalah karyanya yang pertama yang di publikasikan pada tahun 2001 dan berhasil menjadi novel terlaris pada saat itu dan juga mendapatkan penghargaan sebagai “The man Booker prize.” Monica Ali mengangkat tema cerita yang berhubungan dengan kehidupan para immigran di London berdasarkan pengalamannya selama hidup di London dan juga membahas berbagai permasalahan yang terjadi.
Dalam novel Brick Lane, Monica Ali menceritakan kisah seorang wanita Bangladesh beserta perubahan karakternya selama dia tinggal di London beserta suami dan kedua anaknya. Permasalahan yang dihadapi adalah masalah yang sangat umum terjadi sehingga cerita ini sangat inspiratif khususnya bagi para immigrant.
PREFACE
This thesis is submitted to the English Department of the Faculty of Letters, Maranatha Christian University, as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for taking the ‘Sarjana’ degree.
In this thesis, I would like to analyse the portrayal of the protagonist in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Allah SWT for his unlimited blessing and guidance to me and also for giving me the strength and health to be able to complete this thesis. I also would like to thank both my supervisors, for their precious advice and guidance throughout the process of writing and completing my thesis, and I thank all my lecturers at the Faculty of Letters and all the staff of the English Department. My special thanks are due to my parents, my sisters and my brother, and also to my beloved one, and to all my friends for their prayer, love and support in completing my thesis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TWO: THE PORTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONISTAPPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF BRICK LANE
Brick Lane by Monica Ali, tells about the story of a woman named Nazneen, born in Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age eighteen to enter into an arrange marriage. Obeying the traditions of her culture, then Nazneen marries a man old enough to be her father that her parents has already choose for her and is forced to move to London with him. In London, Nazneen feels out of place and lonely because she can not speak English knowing only two phrases sorry and thank you. For years she keeps house, cares for her husband and bears children, just as a girl from the village is supposed to do.
Her sister Hasina whom we meet through her letters to Nazneen written over the years and get flashback of Nazneen’s life in Bangladesh although the letters written in a broken English.
Nazneen acts as a traditional, dutiful, and useful wife. She questions whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. Gradually, she starts to break free, first with small acts of rebellion and then an affair with a young man named Karim. He enters Nazneen’s life almost everyday, Karim drops off piecework for Nazneen’s new sewing job. Young Karim is full of ideas about the injustice shown Muslims and he seeks to galvanize the local Muslims into action against local white militans.
BIOGRAPHY OF MONICA ALI
Monica Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in England. She is one of the Granta’s best of young British novelist of the decade. Newcomer of the year at the 2004 British book Awards and has been nominated for most of the major literary prizes in Britain. Brick Lane was shortlisted for the booker prize,
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
There are many well-known Asian British novelists and Monica Ali is one of them who have contributed her works to the world of literature. Asian British literature is British literature written by British people of Asian descent who have Asian blood but live in Britain. In publishing her first book she has already received the best young British Novelist 2003 Booker Prize (http://www.highbridgeaudio.com/bricklane.html).
I would like to highlight the protagonist’s characteristics because throughout the story her character changes, mostly caused by the social condition of the place where she lives. The protagonist is ‘the central figure of a story, and often referred to as the story’s main character.’ (http://www.answer.com/ topic/protagonist). In Dictionary of Literary Terms, Harry Shaw states that a protagonist is ‘the leading character in drama, novel, or other literary work.’ (Shaw, 1972: 305). A protagonist plays an important role in a literary work because he or she determines the flow of the events of a story. Without a protagonist, a story will neither be interesting to read nor develop into a good story. Monica Ali created the Bangladeshi characters in her book because she wants to show how the immigrants manage to survive among the diverse community as well as showing the dream of those immigrants who are longing for going back home.
In How To Analyze Fiction, William Kenney says that ‘character is obviously relevant to us and to our experience if he is like ourselves or like others whom we know. Lifelikeness, then, is properly understood as one form of relevance. A character is relevant if there are a lot of people who are like him in the world.’ (Kenney, 1972:27). Ali’s characters in Brick Lane show relevance to the real condition of Bangladeshi people in London, in accordance with Kenney’s definition, therefore I am interested in analyzing the protagonist’s character.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM I would like to state the problem as follows:
1. How does the author portray the protagonist?
2. How do the characteristics of the protagonist develop throughout the story?
3. What are the author’s purposes in creating the protagonist?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1. To analyze the portrayal of the protagonist.
2. To analyze how the character of the protagonist develops throughout the story.
3. To show how the author uses the portrayal of the protagonist characteristics to suit her purposes.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of research in this thesis is library research. First, I read the novel thoroughly to understand the content well. Next, I learn the related theories from some reference books and internet websites. Then, I analyze the portrayal of the protagonist in the novel and what the purposes of the author are in creating such characteristics of the protagonist. Finally, I conclude the result of the analysis and write the thesis.
CONCLUSION
In this chapter I will conclude my analysis. That Monica Ali has very well described the Bangladeshi’s ways of life in London in detail, including the characteristics of Bangladeshi people in London. She has depicted the protagonist of the novel in such a way that the readers can get a glimpse of the lives of immigrant women from Bangladesh in London through this protagonist.
Monica Ali is skillful in presenting her protagonist as she reveals the change of traits in her protagonist’s characteristics. I do not find major difficulties in understanding the novel, for the protagonist’s life described in the novel, represents the condition of Bangladeshi women, which is almost similar to Indonesian women’s traits. Altogether, I think the novel is enjoyable to read and it is worth analyzing.
Nazneen, the protagonist of the novel, is portrayed as a girl from the village who has an arrange married. After her marriage, she goes to London with her husband and lives there. She can not speak English and she acts as a traditional and dutiful wife just as a girl from the village is supposed to do: she keeps house and take good care of her husband and her two daughters. But as the years pass her characteristics change and soon enough she becomes mature, independent and not fatalist anymore or optimistic in facing life although she becomes unfaithful and disobedient because she realizes it is her that can make changes in her life.
becomes disobedient and unfaithful by having an affair. I see that one of Nazneen’s characteristics, which is caring and loving toward her family does not change. It can be seen from the beginning of the story till the end that she acts as a mother and wife who has responsibility to take good care of her family, although she has made a big mistake by having an affair but soon she realizes her own mistake and decides to stay with her family.
This novel uses several characterization techniques to reveal the characteristics of Nazneen, namely thought, speech, direct comment, conversation as seen by another, past life and their reaction. Other characters in the novel who are used to show the qualities of the protagonist are Chanu, Razia, Shahana, Hasina and Karim.
In the novel, Nazneen is described as a round character. Ali starts the story by presenting Nazneen as an obedient, immature, dependent, uneducated and fatalist and pessimistic but as the story continues, Nazneen turns to be mature, independent woman not fatalist and optimistic in facing life and also becomes unfaithful and disobedient. She does not believe in fate anymore because she has a hand in her own destiny. Ali creates such a character as to make the readers get insight about the immigrants’ lives and therefore, the readers can enjoy reading the book.
Through this novel, Monica Ali clearly describes the effects of our environment on one’s behaviour. Ali’s purpose in writing such a story is that she wants to make the immigrants especially women, realize that they have power to change their lives into a better condition and they are responsible for their lives.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References :
Echols, John M. Kamus Inggris Indonesia. Jakarta: PT GRAMEDIA PUSTAKA UTAMA, 1995.
Hornby, A.S, ed. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford university press, 1995.
Kenney, William. How To Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch press, a division of simon and Schuster. Inc, 1966.
Murphy, M.J. Understanding unseen. London: George Allen & unwin Ltd, 1972. Webster, Merriam. Encyclopedia of Literature. Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, inc, 1966.
Internet Websites :
Biography of Monica Ali. 2005. 10 November 2005 <
http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number_935. > Mullan, John. Foreign thought. 10 November 2005
<
http://www.books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0.12084.1226349,00.html > Apte, Poornima. Brick Lane. 10 November 2005
<
http://www.desijournal.com/book.asp?Articled=83 > Sastre, Elizabeth. Brick Lane. 10 November 2005 <
http://www.answer.com/topic/protagonist
Novel view. Monica Ali. 12 November 2005
http://www.anovelview.com/chats/monica-ali_of_brick_lane_htm
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