CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
Language is important in life. Life would be nothing without language. As a social
creature, it is essential for human to communicate with one another. Without language it
seems very impossible to do activities not only for specific purposes like business,
education, entertainment but also conversation in daily life. That is why language takes
so many roles in our daily life. So we can say that language is the medium to convey our
ideas, thoughts and also feeling. It is different how one person speaks with another.
In linguistics, the study that relates to meaning is called semantics. Semantics is
one of linguistics branches, which studies about language meaning, or it can be said that
meaning as the main study in semantics term. Saeed (1997:3) states, “Semantics is the
study of meaning communicated through language”. In other hand, Siregar (1992:2)
says, “Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases, or sentences in the
language or semantics is the study of meaning in language, or simply, semantics is the
study of linguistic meaning”
There are two kinds of meaning, they are literal and non- literal meaning. Literal
meaning is when the speaker purely means what he speaks to the listener. But non-literal
meaning is when the speaker has hidden meaning in his words. In this study, the writer
will discuss about non- literal meaning that is figurative style.
Figurative expressions are the use of words that go beyond their ordinary
meanings. It requires the readers to use their imagination to figure out the author's
of the figurative expressions are not found in dictionary just like the other vocabulary
words that usually used in daily conversation. To know the meaning of figurative
expressions, imagination is needed to imagine what the words are meant or what the
words refer to. Writers of prose, novel and poetry like to use figurative language to
picture the emotion in order to help readers form mental images and draw readers into
the work.
There are four main reasons of using figurative language (Perrine, 1982: x). First,
figurative expressions afford readers imaginative pleasure of literary works. Second, it is
a way of bringing additional imagery into verse, making the abstract concrete, making
literary works more sensuous. The third, figurative is a way of adding emotional
intensity to otherwise merely informative statements and conveying attitudes along with
information. And the last, it is a way of saying much in brief compass. In this study, the
writer is interested in analyzing the figurative expressions that are found in novel The
Pearl by John Steinbeck. As we always know that when we read a novel it is happen
most of time that figurative expressions are come up. Those figurative expressions are
not used in daily conversation. It is really important to know the meaning of figurative
expression found in the novel so the story can be imagined and the emotion of the story
can be felt.
Since figurative meaning may bring difficulties in understanding the ideas, it
might be useful to give an explanation about it. This is one of the reasons the
writer chose the topic “Figurative Expressions in John Steinbeck’s The Pearl” of this
thesis. Beside that, the writer wants to dig up and increase her knowledge about
famous talented writer, John Steinbeck.
The Pearl was published in 1947. It is the story of a pearl diver, Kino, and
explores man's nature as well as greed and evil. In 1947, it was adapted into a film
named La Perla. When Coyotito, a very young child, is stung by a scorpion, Kino, his
father, must find a way to pay the town doctor to treat him. The doctor denies Kino out
of racism, which enrages him. Shortly thereafter, Kino discovers an enormous, lucid
pearl which he is ready to sell to pay the doctor. Everyone calls it "the Pearl of the
World," and many people begin to covet it. That very night Kino is attacked in his own
home. Determined to get rid of the pearl, the following morning he takes it to the pearl
buyers auction in town; however, the auction is actually a corrupt sham and always has
been. The buyers normally pretend to auction each pearl and pretend bid against each
other, but in reality they are all paid a salary by a single man, they all turn the pearls
over to him and he resells them outside the village, thus cheating the locals. The corrupt
pearl buyers try to convince Kino that the pearl is the equivalent of ‘fool gold’ and they
refuse to pay any more than incredibly low amounts of money. Kino decides to go over
the mountains to the capital to find a better price. Juana, Kino's wife, sees that the pearl
brings darkness and greed, and sneaks out of the house late at night to throw it back into
the ocean. When Kino catches her, he furiously attacks her and leaves her on the beach.
While returning to his hut with the pearl, Kino is attacked by an unknown man
whom he stabs and kills. Kino thinks the man has taken the pearl, but Juana shows him
that she has it in her possession. When they go back to their hut, they find it has been set
on fire. The family's canoe had also been ruined, an offense that enraged Kino. Kino and
gathering provisions for their trip to the capital city. Kino, Juana, and Coyotito leave in
the dark of the night. After a brief rest on their journey in the morning, Kino spots
trackers he believes are following them. Well aware they will be unable to hide from the
trackers, they begin hiking into the mountains. They find a cave near a natural water
hole where the exhausted family hides and waits for the trackers to catch up to them.
Kino realizes they must get rid of the trackers if they are to survive the trip to the capital.
As he prepares to attack, the men hear a cry like a baby's, though they decide it's more
like a coyote with a litter. One of the men fires his rifle in the direction of the crying,
where Juana and Coyotito lie. Kino kills all three of the trackers. Realizing that
something is wrong, he climbs back up to the cave to discover that Coyotito has been
shot in the head when the tracker fired. In the morning, Kino and Juana return to La Paz
with Coyotito's dead body wrapped in a sling. No longer wanting the pearl, Kino throws
the pearl back into the ocean.
1.2 Problems of the Study
In this study, the writer will discuss the problems of study based on John
Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl. The problems formulated as follows:
1. What types of figurative expressions are used in John Steinbeck’s novel: The
Pearl?
2. Which types of figurative expression dominantly appear in Steinbeck’s novel:
1.3 Objective of the Study
The objectives of the study are described below, they are:
1. To find out the types of figurative expressions used in John Steinbeck’s novel:
The Pearl.
2. To find out the type of figurative expressions which dominantly appears in
Steinbeck’s novel: The Pearl
1.4 Scope of the Study
The scope of the study must be limited in order not too wide that make it
unmanageable. So, the study is used only five kinds of figurative expression:
personification, simile, metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche that appear in John
Steinbeck’s novel: The Pearl.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The theoretical significance of this study is to add the collection about figurative
expressions. By reading this study, the readers especially the students in English
Department of Cultural Studies can learn the type of figurative expressions in literary
work.
The practical significance of this study is to help the readers in using figurative
expression in daily conversation. Figurative expressions are often used not only in
