Analysis of Theme Through The Portrayal of The Protagonist in Paulo Coelho's 'Brida'.

(1)

iii Maranatha Christian University ABSTRACT

Dalam tesis ini, pertama-tama saya akan membahas beberapa karakteristik yang dimiliki oleh tokoh utama di dalam sebuah novel yang berjudul Brida karya Paulo Coelho. Berdasarkan karakteristik yang saya bahas, saya akan mengangkat tema dari cerita novel ini.

Karakteristik yang dibahas dalam tugas akhir ini menyangkut tokoh utama yang bernama Brida, seorang gadis berusia 21 tahun yang ingin mencapai impiannya menjadi seorang penyihir wanita. Brida digambarkan sebagai seorang gadis yang berani, memiliki pemikiran yang luas, dan tekad yang kuat untuk mendapatkan apa yang ia inginkan. Ia juga memiliki ambisi untuk mencapai keinginan akhirnya yaitu untuk menjadi seorang penyihir.

Masing-masing dari karakterisitik tersebut di atas telah membantu Brida untuk mendapatkan apa yang ia inginkan. Pada akhir novel ini, Brida berhasil menjadi seorang penyihir wanita setelah melewati ujian-ujian dari kedua gurunya yang bernama Magus dan Wicca.

Berdasarkan karakteristik yang dimiliki protagonis novel ini, saya menarik kesimpulan bahwa tema dari novel ini adalah “seseorang dapat berhasil untuk

(2)

ii Maranatha Christian University

APPENDICES

Synopsis of Brida

This is the story of Brida, a young Irish girl, and her quest for knowledge. She has long been interested in various aspects of magic, but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom, who begin to teach her about the world. Her teachers sense that Brida has a gift, but cannot tell what it is. In the story, Brida has great characteristics. She is a brave girl and never gives up seeking for her destiny. The author describes that Brida pursues her course even deeper into the mysteries of life in order to find answers to questions about who she is.

Later she meets a wise man named Magus, who dwells in a forest and teaches her how to overcome her fear and to trust the goodness of the world. Later, Brida meets a woman, Wicca, who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world and how to pray to the moon. She finally finds her destiny after struggling to find a balance between her relationship and her desire to become a witch.

(4)

(5)

21 Maranatha Christian University Biography of the author

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His own life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his universally read novels. Like them, he has followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment. His own dream, to be a writer, met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he worked at various professions and some of them materially rewarding. He was 38 when he published his first book, Hell Archives in 1982. His masterpiece, The Alchemist has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 41 languages. In addition to The Pilgrimage (1987) and The Alchemist (1988), Paulo Coelho has written luminous novels about the different streams of our lives, including By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept (1994), The Valkyries (1992), The Fifth Mountain (1996), and Veronika Decides to Die (1998).

In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. In 1980, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. In 1999, he received a Crystal Award for Artistic Achievement at the Davos Economic Forum Conference. He now lives in Rio de Janeiro.

Source: “Biography.” bookbrowse.com. 2009. 6 Nov. 2009

(6)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In this thesis, I would like to analyse the theme of Paulo Coelho’s novel

entitled Brida through the portrayal of the protagonist. I have chosen Paulo Coelho because he is a great Brazilian writer nowadays. He has been widely known for his spiritual novels and many messages which can give great impacts on the reader’s lives, which makes him such a great writer. One of Paulo Coelho’s

novels is The Alchemist (1988), in which he states that people should follow their dreams and that human beings’ mission on earth is to find God, the meaning of

happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose of the creation. “The Alchemist

was one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century, which reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 74 countries, and so far has sold 35 million copies” (Coelho “Biography”). This novel has a great impact on the readers’ life because it delivers a great spirit in the reader’s life to explore the

(7)

2 Maranatha Christian University In this thesis, I am interested in analysing Paulo Coelho’s Brida (1990),

which was launched to great success in Brazil after the publication of The Alchemist. Brida “is a moving tale of love, mystery and courage, of the spiritual side of eros and the erotic side of spirituality” (Coelho “Biography”). From this statement, I can see that spirituality has shaped the protagonist’s characteristics.

Her belief in God has given her the power to undergo a successful progress in her life, and has formed some good characteristics such as determination and optimistic thinking.

To understand the message that the writer is going to convey, it is necessary for me to analyse the theme through the protagonist, as “Theme is most visible in the protagonist’s greatest choice in a story” (Cagil “Theme”). The

protagonist of the novel, Brida, has shown the readers how to face the reality in this world. Brida’s characteristics in chasing her dream and transforming herself

shows how people should be like her. The protagonist plays an important role in revealing the theme which “... enriches and inspires the reader while saying

something substantial about the human condition” (Cagil “Theme”). For that reason, theme becomes an important element which controls the idea of the book and enables the readers to understand the meaning of the book more easily.

By analysing the characteristics of the protagonist, I hope to reveal the good theme and get some useful information to be applied in daily life.

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1. What is the theme of the novel?

(8)

3 Maranatha Christian University III. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Based in the statement of the problem, the purposes of the study are: 1. To show the theme of the novel.

2. To show how the portrayal of the protagonist helps to reveal the theme.

IV. METHODS OF RESEARCH

In my analysis, I use library research. I read Paulo Coelho’s novel, Brida,

as the primary text. Then I read some information from several sources in order to support my analysis. Finally, I analyse the theme of the novel and draw some conclusion based on my analysis.

V. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

This thesis will be organized into three chapters, which are preceded by the Acknowledgements, the Table of Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of 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. Chapter Two contains the analysis of theme through the portrayal of the protagonist in Paulo Coelho’s novel, Brida. Chapter Three is

(9)

CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion of the analysis presented in the previous chapter. The analysis is of the theme of Paulo Coelho’s Brida

through the portrayal of the protagonist. In this novel, there are various characteristics that belong to Brida, a young, ambitious and open minded girl who has bravery and tenacity. This analysis reveals that such characteristics can help people to reach their dreams. Brida’s characteristics have helped her to find her own path to become a witch. She never surrenders to any circumtance that she is facing because she believes that at the end of her journey she can get what she wants, which is becoming a witch.

Through my analysis, I can make a conclusion that determination and optimistic characteristics in the story become an important thing to reveal the success of Brida’s journey. As a tenacious and brave girl, Brida has

(10)

16 Maranatha Christian University journey and from the beginning of the story, she has a strong desire to become a witch because she knows that she can fulfill her dreams.

Brida has tenacity which is clearly shown when she struggles to get what she wants. She never gives up to any circumstance that she faces especially when she feels down and desperate. This characteristic is clearly shown when Brida is tested by Wicca. Brida must perform a dance according to the sound of the world, and she must come to the sacred woods twice a week to learn more about herbs and plants. In fact, she succeeds in passing the test. Another example is when she is learning about tarot cards. Although the task is not easy and takes up a lot of time, she never gives up and tries her best to understand the messages which are revealed by the tarot cards. She does everything that she thinks might be helpful in revealing her dreams because she has great determination.

Brida’s determined characteristic is shown by her bravery. She comes to

the dark forest and meets Magus. She does not know any danger that she might face in the dark forest. She does not give up when she is tested to stay in the dark forest alone. She has great determination to pass her first lesson although she is feeling nervous and uncomfortable when being alone in the dark forest. But finally, she can overcome her fears and she can pass this test because she has great bravery.

Brida’s optimistic characteristic is shown by her open mindedness. She is

willing to accept others’ suggestions which might help her to find her path. She is

(11)

17 Maranatha Christian University her perceptions about herself because finally she realizes that she has a gift and that she is an extraordinary person. She is willing to learn about Tradition of the Moon and do the tests given by Wicca and Magus.

Being an optimistic person, Brida has strong desire to become a witch. She is ambitious to learn things and do some tests given by her teachers. She never gives up in doing her best to learn about Tradition of the Sun. Brida is willing to do a test such as to wear each pieces of her clothes in her wardrobe although she exactly does not know the purpose of doing that. But with her ambitiuos charcteristic, she does the test and finally she can find the next step or test which shows the continuity of her journey untill she becomes a witch.

(12)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text:

Coelho, Paulo. Brida. New York: Harpercollins Publishers, 2008 References:

Hornby, AS. Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary. New York, Oxford University Press,1983.

Internet websites:

“Biography.” bookbrowse.com. 2009. 6 Nov. 2009

<http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=98 7>

Cagil, Joy "Brida by Paulo Coelho.” ezinearticles.com. 2009. 28 Nov. 2009 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Brida-by-Paulo-Coelho&id=1370324>.

Cagil, Joy "Theme In Fiction: So Different From Non-fiction." ezineArticles.com. 2009. 29 Nov. 2009

<http://ezinearticles.com/?Theme-In-Fiction:-So-Different-From-Non--fiction&id=473840>.

Coelho, Paulo “Biography.” paulocoelho.com. 2009. 27 Nov. 2009 <http://www.paulocoelho.com/engl/>.