ABSTRACT
Skripsi ini menganalisis teknik narasi dari novel Black Water karya Joyce Carol Oates dan As I Lay Dying karya William Faulkner, karena narasi yang digunakan dalam kedua novel ini sangat unik dan menarik. Isu utama kedua novel ini adalah mengenai kematian, dan yang menarik adalah bahwa kedua pengarang menyampaikan isu tersebut melalui teknik narasi yang berbeda.
Black Water bercerita tentang Kelly dan proses kematiannya di dalam
sebuah mobil yang tenggelam. Penggunaan teknik narasi tertentu, seperti penggunaan sudut pandang orang ketiga dan banyaknya kilas balik membuat pembaca merasakan beragam efek, seperti misalnya kedekatan dengan karakter utama serta keterlibatan pembaca dalam jalan cerita. As I Lay Dying bercerita tentang perjalanan keluarga Bundren membawa jenazah ibu mereka, Addie Bundren, ke tempat peristirahatan terakhirnya. Pemakaian teknik narasi yang unik, seperti penggunaan sudut pandang orang pertama melalui lima belas narator, sukses membawa pembaca ikut serta dalam memahami karakter-karakter utama melalui sudut pandang yang beragam.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... i
ABSTRACT ... ii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Background of the Study ... 1
Statement of the Problem ... 3
Purpose of the Study ... 3
Method of Research ... 3
Organization of the Thesis ... 4
CHAPTER II: NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE: THE THEORIES ... 5
CHAPTER III: ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE IN JOYCE CAROL OATES’ BLACK WATER ... 10
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE TECHNIQUE IN WILLIAM FAULKNER’S AS I LAY DYING ... 24
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 43
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 47
APPENDICES Summary of Joyce Carol Oates’ Black Water ... 48
Summary of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying ... 48
Biography of Joyce Carol Oates ... 50
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Narrative technique is one way novelists convey their ideas to the reader. It deals with point of view, time and tempo, style, and distance (Eastman 31). It tells how a writer chooses particular ways of telling a story to give certain effects to the reader. A writer has a specific way of telling the story to generate a certain understanding from the reader (Bernstein 23). Moreover, authors can use different narrative techniques to convey a similar purpose.
(Andersen). She narrates the story with a profound and sharp style of writing. Nevertheless, this particular writing style can be easily understood by the reader. She makes the reader enjoy the story even though the story itself is dark, depressing and upsetting.
William Faulkner is also an American writer and one of the Southern gothic writers. He is internationally acclaimed for several awards he has obtained. He is considered a model for many modern writers (“William Faulkner”) who follow his gothic or writing style. Faulkner’s writing style is full of sharp and detailed descriptions of characters and scenes. Despite revealing the gothic theme, just like Oates, Faulkner has his own uniqueness. He created an imaginary place, Yoknapatawpha County, which becomes the background setting of many of his works.
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying tells a story about the Bundren’s family on their way to bury the mother. Faulkner uses fifteen different narrators, each of which has their own perspective towards the deceased. They also have their own uniqueness in characteristics and expressions. The reader will become an active party in constructing the story by looking into the story from fifteen different perspectives. This book definitely has a different narrative technique from that of Black Water, but both of them convey the idea of life.
Statement of the Problem
I state the problems as follows:
1. What kind of narrative technique is used in the novels Black Water and As I Lay Dying?
2. What effects are achieved through the use of the narrative technique?
Purpose of the Study
This study has the following purposes:
1. To show the kind of narrative technique used in the novels Black Water and As I Lay Dying.
2. To point out what effects are achieved through the use of the narrative technique.
The method I use is library research. I begin by reading Joyce Carol Oates’ Black Water, then William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, and several books which
are relevant to the topic to be discussed. After that, I analyze the primary texts by using several theories from some references and materials from the Internet which supports the analysis and can help me in writing a thesis on this topic. Finally, I draw some conclusions from what has been discussed.
Organization of the Thesis
The thesis consists of five chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgements, the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I present the theories on narrative technique used in analyzing the novels. Chapter Three is the analysis of narrative technique in Joyce Carol Oates’ Black Water, while Chapter Four is the analysis of narrative technique in William
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is clear that Black Water and As I Lay Dying have some similarities and differences in the use of narrative technique. They are different in the use of point of view, time and tempo, and style of language. Yet both authors achieve the same effect for the reader from the different narrative techniques and also successful in delivering their similar ideas about life and death.
Black Water tells about Kelly Kelleher’s last moments of life before she
story subjective because the author also provides the Senator’s perspective about the accident, making the story become more objective.
As I Lay Dying is told through the first person point of view, in
which the author uses fifteen narrators to tell the whole story. Those fifteen narrators are the Bundrens and their neighbors. Each narrator reports the process of Addie’s death and the journey to take her body to Jefferson. Moreover, it also shows various reactions from people around Addie Bundren about her death. The use of first person point of view can be highly subjective, yet the author manages to keep the story objective by giving a better understanding of the story through fifteen different narrators. The combination of many subjective perspectives results in a more objective view of the event.
The use of time and tempo is also involved. Both novels have different modifications in the use of time and tempo. The tempo of Black Water can be considered slow yet fast. It is slow because it takes 154
pages to present an event that may occur in only five minutes in actual life. Nevertheless, it is also fast, because in those 154 pages, the author manages to convey all the important moments of Kelly’s entire life. Black Water uses many flashbacks in the use of time and tempo, which brings
As I Lay Dying is told chronologically, with only a few flashbacks. The
use of flashbacks as the modification of time shows the characteristics of Addie and how she prepares herself to be ready to face her death. Moreover, the reader will get to know more about the character. The tempo of the story is slow, as the author reveals every detail about the journey to let the reader see how the characters have different perpectives about the mother throughout the journey. It makes the reader understand the story better.
The author of Black Water uses formal and informal registers of language in the story, which helps the reader to get a realistic atmosphere and understand the story better. It also has some sections without punctuation marks. These parts build a tension, give the effect of rush, and make the reader feel the enormous fear that Kelly had. The author also uses some italicized sentences to show Kelly’s inner monologue, proving that the narrator is reliable.
In As I Lay Dying, the author uses different language styles for every important narrator, including the use of some vernacular language and poetic imagery. It helps the reader to get to know every character better. It also makes the reader feel the realistic atmosphere of the countryside area in Southern America. The author also provides some italicized paragraphs to differentiate between Darl’s sanity and insanity. It makes the story believable and the narrator reliable.
to what Faulkner wants to convey in As I Lay Dying, that life needs to be savoured and death is inevitable. Secondly, the distance between the reader and the character or the story in both novels is close. The closeness is built through the use of point of view, time and tempo, and the style of language. These similarities prove that the two authors have successfully brought the reader to understand the message they want to convey.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts:
Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York: Penguin, 1963. Print. Oates, Joyce Carol. Black Water. New York: Plume, 1992. Print.
References:
Bennet, Carla. “Joyce Carol Oates.” American Author, 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Bernstein, Susan Naomi. A Brief Guide to the Novel. London: Longman, 2001.
Print.
Eastman, Richard M. A Guide to the Novel. San Fransisco: Chandler, 1965. Print. “Joyce Carol Oates.” Biography, 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
Mary, Meredith. “Joyce Carol Oates Brings Familiar Theme to New Gothic Thriller.” 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Mayer, Steve. “Award & Honors: 2010 National Humanities Medalist.” 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “What Inspired My Black Water.” Playbill, 1997. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.