AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
MARTINI ARYANI MAHARDIKA
Student Number: 034214036
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2007
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE CHANGE OF MAIN CHARACTERS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT MARRIAGE AS SEEN IN JULIE GARWOOD’S ONE PINK ROSE
Yogyakarta, 1 June 2007
Yogyakarta, 16 June 2007
By
MARTINI ARYANI MAHARDIKA
Student Number: 034214036
You have the ability;
To attain whatever you seek;
Within you is every potential you can imagine.
Always aim higher than you believe you can reach.
So often, you’ll discover
That when your talents are set free
By your imagination,
You can achieve any goal.
If people offer their help or wisdom
As you go through life,
Accept it gratefully.
You can learn much from those
Who have gone before you.
But never be afraid or hesitant
To step off in your own direction
If your hearts tells you
That it’s the right way for you.
Always believe that you will ultimately succeed
At whatever you do,
And never forget the value
Of persistence, discipline, and determination.
You are meant to be
Whatever you dream of becoming
-Edmund O’ Neill-
Papi, Mami, Nandul, Encos.
The Guardian of My Heart,
Yonathan Yudha Prasanto.
The
Lemoterz;
Grace, Motz, Cha, Ka, and Daq.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
For the endless blessing given to me, for the amazing grace that never stops in my life, I praise My Lord, Jesus Christ. His guidance has enabled me to finish this project at the right time.
I would like to express my best gratitude to my beloved family; papi, mami, nandul, encos, and hunya. I am grateful to have all of you as my family. Thanks for the laughter and tears that we share together.
My gratitude goes to my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M. A, who has been so patient in guiding me with this undergraduate thesis. I thank her great ideas and encouragements from the beginning until the end of this undergraduate thesis’ process. I thank my co-advisor, M. Luluk Artika W., S. S, who has shared her great ideas and given much contribution to this undergraduate thesis. I also thank my academic advisor, Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd., M. A, and all the lecturers, who have guided me during my study in Sanata Dharma University.
I thank my great friends in Lemoterz Club; Grace, Motz, Cha, Ka, and Daq. Thanks for coloring my days in Sanata Dharma University. All of you mean a lot to me. Special for Grace and Motz, double thanks to both of you for sharing me your printer. I also thank Yudi, who has been so helpful to me in repairing my computer.
Martini Aryani Mahardika
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C. The Change of the Main Characters’ Perception about Marriage ... 38
1. Travis Clayborne ... 38
2. Emily Finnegan ... 43
ABSTRACT
MARTINI ARYANI MAHARDIKA. The Change of the Main Characters’s Perception about Marriage. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2007.
The way people perceive something is different between one and another. There are many things that can influence someone’s perception. One of them is personality. Perception is also something that people always learn. Therefore, it is able to change. This thesis discusses One Pink Rose, a novel by Julie Garwood. It tells about two main characters; Travis Clayborne and Emily Finnegan, whose life and personality are different but finally are united with love. The thesis deals with the change of Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage, which is influenced by their needs and personality.
There are three objectives in this thesis. The first objective is to see Travis’ and Emily’s personality. The second objective is to analyze Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage, which is influenced by their personality based on their needs. Last is to see the change of Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage.
To answer the problems, the writer uses the novel itself as the primary source and the books of psychology. Here, the writer used library research method. As an addition, several data were also gained from the internet. Then, the approach used was psychological approach.
The result of the analysis shows that Travis and Emily have different perception about marriage, which is influenced by their personality and based on their needs. Travis, who is stubborn, introvert, and choleric, never thinks that marriage is a part of his life. He considers marriage as a serious thing, which he is not ready yet, since it requires legal commitment. Different from Travis, Emily sees marriage as a way to get her pride back, which is hurt after she is betrayed by her fiancé in. As a sanguine and extrovert person, Emily is easy to change and put her new hope toward something. Therefore, she also sees marriage as a way to have a newborn life in order to forget her bad past. However, at the end, Travis’ and Emily’s perception change, as both of them can satisfy each other’s needs. Travis’ insecure feeling can be satisfied by Emily’s existence. He could feel comfortable with her. On the other hand, Emily also feels the same thing. She is able to get pleasure when she is with Travis. Travis’ existence has made her feel comfortable. Moreover, Travis can be a good listener for her. To conclude, Travis does not consider marriage as something beyond his life anymore. Emily’s needs also lead her to have a new perception that marriage is about love and needs. It is not merely about a way to gain pride and a newborn life.
Cara orang dalam memandang sesuatu tidaklah sama antara satu dengan yang lainnya. Ada banyak hal yang dapat mempengaruhi persepsi seseorang. Salah satunya ialah kepribadian. Persepsi juga merupakan sesuatu yang orang selalu pelajari. Karena itu, persepsi dapat berubah. Tesis ini membahas One Pink Rose, sebuah novel karya Julie Garwood. Novel ini menceritakan dua tokoh utama; Travis Clayborne dan Emily Finnegan, yang hidup dan kepribadiannya berbeda namun akhirnya dipersatukan oleh cinta. Tesis ini membahas perubahan persepsi Travis dan Emily terhadap pernikahan, yang dipengaruhi oleh kebutuhan dan kepribadian mereka.
Ada tiga pokok tujuan dalam tesis ini. Tujuan pertama adalah untuk melihat kepribadian Travis dan Emily. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk membahas persepsi Travis dan Emily tentang pernikahan, yang dipengaruhi oleh kepribadian berdasarkan kebutuhan mereka. Yang terakhir adalah untuk melihat perubahan persepsi Travis dan Emily tentang pernikahan.
Untuk menjawab permasalahan diatas, penulis mengacu pada novel ini dan buku-buku ilmu psikologi. Dalam hal ini, penulis menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka. Sebagai pelengkap, beberapa data diperoleh dari internet. Kemudian, pendekatan yang digunakan ialah pendekatan psikologi.
Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Travis dan Emily memiliki persepsi yang berbeda terhadap pernikahan, yang dipengaruhi oleh kepribadian dan berdasarkan kebutuhan mereka. Travis, yang keras kepala, tertutup, dan koleris, tidak pernah berpikir bahwa pernikahan merupakan bagian dalam hidupnya. Baginya pernikahan adalah hal yang serius, yang ia belum siap untuk hadapi, karena pernikahan menuntut komitmen resmi. Berbeda dengan Travis, Emily memandang pernikahan sebagai sarana untuk mendapatkan kembali harga dirinya yang terluka setelah dikhianati oleh tunangannya. Sebagai orang yang sanguin dan terbuka, Emily mudah berubah dan berharap pada sesuatu hal. Karena itu, ia melihat pernikahan sebagai suatu cara untuk memiliki hidup baru, sehingga ia dapat melupakan masa lalunya yang buruk. Namun, pada akhirnya, persepsi Travis dan Emily berubah, karena mereka dapat saling melengkapi kebutuhan masing-masing. Perasaan tidak aman yang Travis miliki dapat hilang dengan keberadaan Emily. Ia merasa nyaman bersama Emily. Sebaliknya, Emily juga merasakan hal yang sama. Ia dapat merasa senang bersama Travis. Travis membuatnya nyaman. Terlebih, Travis dapat menjadi pendengar yang baik untuknya. Sebagai kesimpulan, Travis tidak lagi menganggap pernikahan sebagai sesuatu diluar jangkauan hidupnya. Kebutuhan Emily juga membawanya pada persepsi baru bahwa pernikahan merupakan cinta dan kebutuhan, bukan hanya suatu cara untuk mendapatkan harga diri dan kehidupan yang baru.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Human beings are created to be unique creatures. Therefore, the personality of each individual is not similar. A mother’s personality might be different from her daughter’s. Twins might also experience this thing, although they are identically the same. Jess Feist and Gregory J. Feist in their book, Theories of Personality, said that “each person, though like others in some way, has a unique personality” (2006:4).
The uniqueness of people’s personality does not happen instantly. There are many things that can influence someone’s personality. Based on Hurlock in her book,
Personality Development, society determines someone’s personality beside other aspects in an individual’s life, such as tradition, norms in the society, educational background, family background, etc (1974:122).
Similar with personality, people’s perception about something is also different from each other. It depends on what they have experienced in their life. According to Floyd L. Ruch in his book, Psychology and Life,
Perception is a process whereby sensory cues and relevant past experience are organized to give us the most structured, meaningful picture possible under the circumstances (1963:300).
Perception is also a personal thing as it is closely related to the way someone sees something. People are accustomed to see something based on what they have
learned in their life and in their environment. Richard A. Kasschau in his book,
Understanding Psychology, says that
Whatever you saw, you saw because of your past experiences and current expectations. People invariably organize their experience into figure and ground (1995:121).
Meaning to say, past experience, which is one way to represent someone’s characteristic, has important role in shaping someone’s perception. For instance, when someone has experienced terrible accident by airplane, he will have bad perception about going by airplane and it directly leads him to avoid using airplane. Then, as perception is closely related to someone’s experience, people may not give judgment that someone’s perception is wrong, especially because perception of each individual is not similar, as everyone has different experience. However, as it is stated in Psychology in Action by Huffman and Vernoy that perception is also influenced by personal needs and motivation, it is able to change (2000:109). It means that when someone has already had perception about something, but then he finds certain personal needs or motivation, his previous perception is able to change.
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the main characters’ perception about marriage. And as it is an interesting element to be analyzed further, the readers will not only enjoy the story, but also get new knowledge in understanding why people have different perception about something and why it is able to change.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How are Travis’ and Emily’s personality depicted?
2. How do Travis’ and Emily’s personality influence their perception about marriage based on their personal needs?
3. How do Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage change?
C. Objective of the Study
The first aim of this study is to find out Travis’ and Emily’s personality. The second aim of this study is to find out how Travis’ and Emily’s personality based on their personal needs influence their perception about marriage. The third aim is to find out how Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage change.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Personality
A pattern of enduring, distinctive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize the way an individual adapts to the world (Santrock, 2005:477).
2. Perception
Based on Psychology and Life by Ruch, perception is a process whereby sensory cues and relevant past experience are organized to give us the most structured, meaningful picture possible under the circumstances (1963:300).
3. Personal needs
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter is divided into three parts. They are Review of Related Studies, Review of Related Theories, and Theoretical Framework. Review of Related Studies is presented in order to give information on some studies and criticism related to the writer’s study. Review of Related Theories is presented in order to explain the theories that the writer will use in analyzing her study. Last, Theoretical Framework is provided to show the contributions of the theories and studies.
A. Review of Related Studies
Talking about someone’s personality and the way he thinks about something is an interesting thing. We are able to know and understand why some people have certain point of view. However, personality is not formed by itself. There are some determinants that will influence one’s personality. Dewi Krisna Ningtyas in her study,
The Influence of Childhood Experiences Upon the Main Characters’ Later Personality as Seen in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss, says that,
There are some determinants that will influence one’s personality. Those determinants include influences from the family and peers. Treatments from the closest person that is received during childhood will give a big influence in building one’s personality (2006:52).
Siane Indriani in her study, The Influences of Family and Its Environment toward Jody’s Personality Development in John Steinbeck’s the red Pony says the similar thing.
The most influential people for a child are his family where he gets his earliest experiences from his or her family, a child can learn how to behave, how to respect others, and how to appreciate life. So, a family really determines what kind of person a child will be (2001:32).
The two studies concern on analyzing the influence of childhood experience toward one’s personality and give focus on the personality development of the main characters. Then, Yulius Yoma Preston in his study The Influences of Peers and Family on Tom Sawyer in his Social Development as depicted in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer also has similar point of view about it, although its focus is not in the personality development, but in the social development of the main character.
Human beings all have been in a child and in the childhood, whether it is realized or not, there are some influences from their environment in the process of socialization. For example, in the society where they directly have a contact with others like in the school, church, neighborhood, even family. Perhaps they don’t know actually a person or group has given some influences to their life and it can be in the behavior, action, personality, and way of thinking. This kind of influences is a result of the socialization during the process of human development (2003:1-2).
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development, because they require the change of the whole personality, while the focus of the writer’s study will be on the perception, which is a part of the personality development’s series.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
According to Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms,
Characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogue) and what they do (the action) (1985:23).
Character has an important role in a literary work. Through character’s dialogue or actions, the readers will be helped in understanding the story easily. Character is also an interesting element, as they make the story more alive.
M. J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English
Poetry and Novel for Overseas Student (1972:161-173) mentions nine ways in representing the characters.
a. Personal description
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes. It means that the author describes character through his physical appearance, such as his hair, his skin-color, or the clothes he wears.
b. Character as seen by another
The author can describe a character through the eyes and opinions of another. Meaning to say, the author describes a character through other characters’ point of view about the character.
c. Speech
This way means that the author can give the readers an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving the readers some clue to his character.
d. Past life
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e. Conversation of others
The author can also give the readers clues to a person’s character through the conversation of other people and the things they say often give the readers clue to the character of the person spoken about.
f. Reactions
This way means that the author can also give the readers clue to a person’s character by letting the readers know how that person reacts to various situations and events. g. Direct comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. In this case, the author directly gives clues or comments on the character’s description.
h. Thought
The author can give the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what the readers can not do in a real life. He can tell us what different people are thinking. In the novel, the readers can accept this.
i. Mannerism
It means that the author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character.
2. Theories on Personality
According to Phares in Psychology: An Introduction by Morris,
Phares also explains that personality refers to those aspects that distinguish one person from everybody else. Personality is a person’s psychological signature: the behaviors, attitudes, motives, tendencies, outlooks, and emotions with which he or she responds to the world. Here, personality is both characteristic of and unique to a particular person (1990:450).
Beverly LaHaye in her book, How to Develop Your Child’s Temperament, explains that there are four types of people’s personality (1977:23-40). They are: a. Sanguine
Sanguine people are easy to be recognized from their friendly and cheerful personality. They are very talkative and active. Their emotion is unstable and they are easy to change. They are easily influenced by their feeling and circumstance.
b. Choleric
Choleric people are very independent. They do not like to depend on others. They like to do everything by themselves. Their will is also very strong. Therefore, Choleric people tend to be stubborn.
c. Melancholic
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d. Phlegmatic
Different from Sanguine, Phlegmatic people are very calm, silent, and peaceful. They tend to be the audience in their life. They are also inexpressive, as they are not able to express their feeling easily.
In Personality and Problems of Adjustment by Young, Hippocrates also explains about four types of personality (1945: 302:303). They are Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. Choleric is characterized by irascible and hot-tempered. Melancholic is marked by a depressed, sad, and gloomy outlook on life. Then, Phlegmatic is indicated by sluggish and apathetic disposition. Last, Sanguine is characterized by the cheerful, hopeful, or even ardent nature.
According to Pavlov, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic are the strong type. The strong type is characterized by formation of positive conditioned reflexes, by efficient cortical organization, and by adaptability. Meanwhile, Melancholic is the weak type which is noted for its slow formation of positive reflexes, its poor adaptation, and the diminished capacity of the cortical cells. Melancholic is considered as the weak type because melancholic people often do a certain psychological weakness, a certain difficulty in adapting themselves to the social and material environment. In contrast, individuals of choleric, sanguine, or phlegmatic disposition seem to manage their way in the world more adequately (Young, 1945: 304-305).
introvert. The extrovert is one whose fundamental orientation is toward the exterior world. His attitudes and values centre in objects outside himself. Individuals of extrovert tend to feel and act according to the demands and expectations of the situation, identify themselves easily with emotions of those around them. They are difficult to describe. They are great successes in social contacts with others, but their skill is rather of an intuitive, spontaneous, almost unconscious sort rather than the result of logical thought. In contrast, the introvert centres his attention in himself, in his inner or subjective world, and his contact with the externalities around him, people or things, is predominantly coloured and changed by his efforts to retreat from the impress of this outside world into his own inner mental sanctum. He finds his chief values and satisfaction within a realm which he has re-created subjectively for himself. The individuals of introvert love within their own internal world of emotions and feelings. They react much more egocentrically rather than the extrovert people. Certain creative artists would fall into this class. They see, hear, and touch the world around them, but almost entirely from the viewpoint of their own inner meanings (1945: 305-308).
3. Theories on Perception
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meaningful picture possible under the circumstances. Perception includes objects, relationships, and points of special focus (1963:300).
Kasschau in his book, Understanding Psychology, said that people saw something based on what they have experienced in the past and their current expectation. Then, they invariably organize them into figure and ground (1995:121). He also said that people’s perception can develop, as perceiving is something that they learn to do (1995:123).
Having seen some definitions above, it can be inferred that past experience has important role in shaping someone’s perception. Therefore, someone’s perception might be different from others’. Ruch said that,
Perception is a very personal thing. It enables the individual to know where he stands in relation to the objects, conditions, and people in his environment and to act accordingly (1963:301).
However, besides of past experience, perception is also influenced by some other factors. Ruch stated that there are four kinds of factor, which can influence people’s perception (1963:307-313).
a. Previous experience
Someone is prepared to see, hear, smell, or feel some particular type of thing because preceding events have aroused certain processes of knowledge or motivation.
b. Organic condition
for very short intervals, they can be recognized more readily by hungry people than people who are not hungry.
c. Personal needs and values
There is a relationship between the individual’s needs and values and his perception of the people and objects in his environment. For example, in the society, money seems to many people the common denominator of success or at least an important and recognizable attribute of the successful person. Therefore, people who feel the greatest need for money and success will have perception that money is the first important thing and they will see everything based on it.
d. Social factors
As human beings are social creatures, many of our perceptions are directly or indirectly shaped by our social experience. The social factors are cultural opportunities and limitations, social taboos, and social suggestion.
4. Hierarchy of Needs by Abraham Maslow
Need is an important thing in human’s life. Being realized it or not, people always try to fulfill what they need in every way. People will try to get any food when they are hungry. People will try to earn more money, when they feel lack of money. In Psychology in Action-4th edition by Huffman, Karen, Mark Vernoy, and Judith Vernoy, Abraham Maslow says that,
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Maslow developed a five-level hierarchy of needs, with basic physiological needs at the bottom and self-actualization at the top. He believed that once human freed from the ‘lower’ needs, they are drawn to satisfy needs that will help them grow and develop (1997:383).
Self-actualization needs: to find self-fulfillment and realize one’s potential Esteem needs: to achieve, be competent, gain approval, and excel Belonging and love needs: to affiliate with others, be accepted, and give and
receive attention
Safety needs: to feel secure and safe, to seek pleasure and avoid pain Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, and maintenance of internal state of the
body
Physiological needs consist of survival and stimulation needs. Survival needs are food, water, air, rest, temperature, elimination, and pain avoidance. These needs should be satisfied as they are matters of life and death. Stimulation needs concern about the appreciation of life, such as sex, exploration, manipulation, activity, and novelty.
The second level is safety needs. People should feel safe in their life, as they have right to feel secure from any violence, losing valuable things and person.
After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level is belonging and love needs. This level relates to have a family, sexual intimacy, and friendship. People want to be accepted and to be loved sexually and non-sexually.
The top level is actualization needs. According to Maslow, self-actualization is the inborn drive to develop all one’s talents and capacities. It involves understanding one’s own potential, accepting one and others as unique individuals, and using a problem-centered approach to situations (1997:463). This level relates to self-fulfillment. People realize their potential and they concern about the way they want to be. Usually, they use their potential to express it.
5. Theories on Marriage
For some people, marriage is a goal, which they want to achieve in their life. Hauck in his book, How to Love and be Loved states that
Marriages are made by two individuals who have made the judgment that they have a higher than average degree of compatibility and can please each other to such an extent that institutionalizing the relationship seems only logical (1983:24).
Different from Hauck, Bowman (1954:2) says a marriage is a legal institution in a social pattern. It consists of attitudes, ideas, ideals, and also legal restriction. It is much more than mating. Furthermore, Kane in his book Marriage and the Family, says that
Fundamentally people marry because such an institution exists in society and the system of values accords prestige to this institution. If the marriage did not exist, no one could marry. The culture however, possesses such institution (1954:99).
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process between two individuals with different sex. It is the process of adjustment between husband and wife in their personalities, whether later on they can achieve fuller expression or just being trapped with a deadly routine activity and are frustrated (Merrill, 1959:310). Here, a success marriage depends largely on the personalities of the spouses. Marriage also can be said as a way to develop the couples’ personality. Therefore, the couple should try to understand each other in this process of developing so that the success of a marriage can be achieved.
C. Theoretical Framework
This chapter is divided into three subchapters. They are Object of the Study, Approach of the Study, and Method of the Study. Object of the Study describes the object or data of the literary work that is analyzed. Approach of the Study explains the approach that is used in analyzing the work. Method of the Study describes the way or steps taken in analyzing the work.
A. Object of the Study
This undergraduate thesis analyzes the novel entitled One Pink Rose written by Julie Garwood. One Pink Rose is published in June 1997. The novel has 128 pages.
One Pink Rose is divided into a prologue and twelve chapters. The first chapter is entitled ‘Rosehill Ranch, Montana Valley, 1880’ while the rest chapters are not given title.
One Pink Rose is one of the successful novels by Julie Garwood. It is one of the series from For the Roses, which was adapted as a Hallmark Hall of Fame television special, “Rose Hill.”
In sum, One Pink Rose is a story about Travis Clayborne, the youngest of the Claybornes, and his sweet love story with a woman named Emily Finnegan. They met when Travis is asked to escort Emily to her mail order groom in Golden Crest. At first, they were not interested to each other, as Emily has already been engaged to Mr.
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O’ Toole, her mail order groom. Besides, Travis was not a marrying kind. Both of them have different perception about marriage. However, the journey across the beautiful land has opened their heart. It also made them realize that they needed each other. At the end, they changed their perception and got married.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that the writer will use in her study is psychological approach. In order to explain the characters’ personality in the novel, there are various theories of psychology that are used by psychological approach. Those theories explain personality, motivation, emotion, and some causes that influence personality, and then influence behavior and attitude.
Lewis Leary in his book, A Study and Research Guide states that,
A psychological approach is an approach that applies principles of modern psychology to characters or situations within a literary work or to the person who wrote that work (1976:57).
C. Method of the Study
In analyzing this study, the writer did the library research as the method of gathering the sources in this study. There are two types of source that are used in this study. The first source was the primary source and the second was the secondary source. The primary source is the novel One Pink Rose written by Julie Garwood. The secondary source is some books, which discussed theories on literature, theories on critical approaches of literature, psychological theories, theories on perception, and theories on marriage. The writer also took some further information from the internet.
For the research, the writer took some steps. The first step was reading and rereading the novel, One Pink Rose. In doing the rereading, the writer gave more attention on the perception of the main characters about marriage, which is influenced by their personality based on their personal needs and on the changing of the main characters’ perception about marriage. The second step was reading some books in order to give additional references in analyzing the problem formulation. In maintaining the theory on character and characterization, the writer used some books. They were A Glossary of Literary Terms by M. H Abrams, Aspect of the Novel by E. M. Forster, Understanding Unseen by M. J. Murphy.
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Feist and Gregory J. Feist; Understanding Psychology by Richard A. Kasschau; How to Develop Your Child’s Temperament by Beverly LaHaye; Psychology: An Introduction by Morris; and Personality and Problems of Adjustment by Kimball Young.
Since the thesis also dealt with marriage, the writer applied the theory of marriage. The books used are Marriage and the Family by John Kane, How to Love and be Loved by Paul Hauck, Marriage for Moderns by Henry A. Bowman,
Courtship and Marriage by Francis E. Merril. These books were chosen since the writer found that their ideas about marriage are appropriate to the main characters’ perception about marriage.
This chapter will be divided into three subchapters. In the first subchapter, the writer will answer the first question stated in the problem formulation. It will discuss the personality of the main characters, Travis Clayborne and Emily Finnegan. The second subchapter will answer the second problem. It will present Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage based on the influence of their personality. Then, the third subchapter will discuss the change of Travis’ and Emily’s perception about marriage.
A. The Personality of the Main Characters
Everyone has different personality with their uniqueness. Based on
Psychology and Life by Ruch,
Personality is all the abilities, tendencies, and other innate or acquired characteristics that are more or less consistent from one day to the next and distinguish him from other people (1963:111).
The main characters that will be discussed in this study, Travis Clayborne and Emily Finnegan, are two very different people. Travis is a man who grew up with all the difficulties in life, while Emily is a Bostonian woman whose life is financially better. They met when Travis was asked to be Emily’s escort to Golden Crest. Emily
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was a mail-order bride who wanted to see her groom there. Here, the writer will try to analyze their personality one by one.
1. The Personality of Travis Clayborne
Physically, Travis is a very handsome man. He has everything, which can make women go crazy with him. In the novel, he is described as a tall and well-built man. His eyes are green and beautiful.
Travis Clayborne was tall, on the thin side, but with muscles galore on his shoulders and arms. She didn’t dare look any lower, or he’d get the notion she was going to try to kick him again, but she was certain his legs were just as well-endowed. No doubt about it, he was an extremely handsome man. Women probably chased after him all the time. Foolish females would be helpless against those beautiful green eyes of his. His smile could cause considerable havoc too (p. 22).
Personally, Travis is a stubborn and hard man. When he has planned and decided something, no one is able to stop his intention, including his brother in law, who is also an attorney.
Harrison refused to bend to the Clayborne way of looking at things. He was appalled by Travis’s decision to go after the culprit who had robbed their mother; he reminded Travis that he had a duty as a future attorney to behave with honor. He also suggested Travis reread Plato’s Republic. Travis wouldn’t be deterred from what he proclaimed was a sacred mission (P. 7).
It comes as he has experienced a hard life in his childhood. Little Travis didn’t experience going to school and playing with his schoolmates. He lived with his three brothers whom he met when he was a boy living on the streets in New York City. United by their similar fate, The Claybornes, which consist of runaway slave Adam, pickpocket Douglas, gunslinger Cole, and con man Travis, as the youngest one, decided to live together as brothers. They grew up in an environment, which can be considered as the low-class society.
In order to survive their life, Travis and his brothers had to protect one another from the older gangs roaming the city. Travis also had to fulfill his daily needs independently. When someone experienced certain condition in his life, his personality was adjusted to that condition. Here, Travis’ personality was supported by his childhood experience. He had learned to be a stubborn man with his strong will in order to survive with his difficult condition. It was obviously different from someone who financially lived well, because he or she did not experience difficulty in getting what he or she wanted.
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everything he could in order to fulfill his daily needs. Then, Cole was a gunslinger. He was known as the best shooter. He often got involved into the troubles, since the other gangs liked to challenge him because of his shooting skill. As the youngest one, Travis got much influenced from his brothers in facing their difficult life hardly. Moreover, his environment has demanded him to be a stubborn, strong-willed, and hard person. Usually, people will try to adjust to their environment where they live if they want to survive.
Travis might grow in the terrible environment; however he was not a criminal. He never got involved in to a serious crime like Douglas and Cole, his two brothers. Then, since he was used to live freely, Travis did not like to be ordered by the law or rules. In his opinion, law was not valid in the wilderness, which was his world.
Perhaps in a perfect world the innocent would always be protected and the guilty would always be punished, but they didn’t happen to live in a perfect world, now did they? They lived in Montana Territory (p. 6-7).
Travis’ life was far from love and affection. The only affection he got was from Mama Rose, Adam’s mother. Rose started to send her guidance through letters to Travis and his brothers after they found an abandoned baby girl in their alley. Then, in order to make a better life, they decided to move west. Eventually, they settled on a piece of land they named Rosehill, deep in the heart of Montana Territory. There, they grew up with the guidance from the letters of Adam’s mother, Rose (p. 1).
them what they had never had before, a mother’s unconditional love and acceptance. In time, each came to know her as his own Mama Rose (p. 2).
Rose’s existence as a mother for Travis and his brothers has been so meaningful, especially because Travis never experienced to feel a mother’s affection before. Although Rose was not his own mother, Travis loved her so much. For Travis, Rose has made him seeing life in a different way. He had seen love and affection, something that he never knew before in his life. Therefore, when someone had dared to take advantage by stealing Rose’s gold case and compass, Travis was very angry.
He’d taken to the notion of doing in the culprit right away. The enemy’s name was Daniel Ryan, and the sin he’d committed wasn’t forgivable by a son’s measure. Ryan had dared to take advantage of a sweet, innocent, genteel old lady with a heart of gold-Travis’s own Mama Rose to be exact-and in Travis’ heart and mind, killing him was almost too good for him (p. 5-6).
It showed that Travis was a homage son. He was willing to do everything for his Mama Rose. However, since in his childhood Travis was accustomed to share his feeling through letters with Rose, he grew up to be an introvert person. He was not easy to share anything to others, especially to the people whom he did not know well. He preferred to keep everything alone.
He’d spent entirely too much time talking about himself and his family. He didn’t understand why he’d told her much, because it wasn’t like him to ever tell an outsider personal facts (p. 39).
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by irascible and hot-tempered (1945:302-303). Travis’ idea to solve Rose’s problem by killing Ryan had shown that he was an irascible and hot-tempered person. He did not think to analyze the problem further, but he directly took the extreme way, which was killing Ryan. He did not care if he was able to be in the jail because of his act. Here, Travis tended to follow his irrational emotion rather than his rational way of thinking. It is also shown when Jack Hanrahan, an ornery who was notorious with his bad behavior spoke with Emily sweetly.
Travis wanted to shoot him. He felt justified too, because Jack had just disgraced every other man in the territory. Come to think of it, shooting was too good for him (p. 62).
2. The Personality of Emily Finnegan
To be described physically, Emily is a beautiful woman. She has hair the color of sable that curled softly around her ears. Her eyes are big and hazel that are brown one minute and gold the next. She has a real nice mouth too.
Her smile was dazzling, and heaven help him for noticing, she had a cute little dimple in her right cheek. If he hadn’t already decided he didn’t like her, he would have thought she was a might better than simply pretty. She was downright lovely (p. 19).
“…If Golden Crest is just a day’s ride away, I’ll probably be doing some of my shopping here. Surely you can understand my reservations, sir. I must keep up appearance” (p. 23).
Personally, Emily is a very talkative woman. She likes to have a debate. And as she is a smart woman, her topic carries weight.
She began to question him about Plato’s work, and they debated justice and the law well into the afternoon. He thoroughly enjoyed sparring with her, so much so, he was sorry when the discussion ended (p. 49).
Besides smart, Emily is also a humorist woman. She likes to have a joke in her conversation.
The little woman had a sense of humor. Travis jumped to that conclusion as soon as she told him she was helpless. She’d said it with a straight face too, and, honest to Pete, it didn’t matter that his shin was still stinging from her wallop of a kick; he still felt like laughing (p. 20).
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he asked Emily to help him to do his research. Since Emily loved him and wanted to please him, she agreed to write lengthy papers for him as his study guide.
However, later Emily found out that Randolph put his name on the top of the first page and handed the papers in to his professors. As a result, Randolph took honors for his last year’s work and was hired by one of the most prestigious bank in Boston. Then he began to make an impressive salary, which was also the time when Emily’s sister became interested in him. The worst thing was when finally Randolph left Emily in the altar of their wedding day.
This bad experience has made Emily to be a suspicious person. She became distrustful toward everyone. Her suspicious act was shown when she met Travis for the first time. Emily tried to shoot him, as he made her surprised by tapping her lightly on her shoulder. Actually, Travis did it because he wanted to get Emily’s attention so that he could tip his hat to her and introduce himself. However, Emily thought that there was someone behind her who would do harm to her. Emily’s suspicious act can be understood as Emily was betrayed by her two close people, her fiancé and her own sister. When people were betrayed, they would be easy to be suspicious. Usually, they were difficult to put their trust again to others.
He probably had broken hundreds of women’s hearts already, and she wasn’t about to be added to his list. She had already learned that painful lesson, thank you very much (p. 22).
Based on Personality and Problems of Adjustment by Young, Emily is categorized as a sanguine person. Sanguine is characterized by the cheerful, hopeful, or even ardent nature (1945: 302:303). In this case, Emily possessed cheerful and hopeful personality. As a cheerful person, Emily was able to recover immediately from her sadness experience. She was not drowned to her sadness in a long time. It also showed that Emily is a hopeful person. Instead of being desperate, Emily quickly put her new hope to correct her life.
“No, I didn’t cry. I spent the entire night thinking about my circumstances, and finally came up with a plan that I believe will change everything. I’ve always been so forthright and honest” (p. 35).
As a sanguine person, Emily is easily to be bored toward something. She was able to change quickly. Moreover, this is also supported by her past experience. In his book, Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Student, Murphy said that a person’s past life can shape his or her character (1972:161-173). Therefore, having experienced the bad events caused by Randolph, Emily decided to correct and change herself. She told about it to Travis in their conversation.
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Besides sanguine, Emily is also an extrovert person. She is able to have social contacts with others easily, including strangers. Jung in Kimball Young’s book,
Personality and Problems of Adjustment said that individuals of extrovert are great successes in social contacts with others, but their skill is rather of an intuitive, spontaneous, almost unconscious sort rather than the result of logical thought (1945:307-308). As an extrovert person, Emily could easily tell everything to Travis. She spontaneously told Travis about her family, her life, and even about her bad love experience with Randolph in the first day they met.
“Don’t you want to know who Randolph Smythe is?” “No, I don’t want to know.”
She told him anyway, “He’s the man I was supposed to marry” (p. 24).
After that, Emily told Travis about her past completely although Travis didn’t ask her. Emily’s ability to have social contacts with others easily is also shown when one day Travis asked Emily to have a bet with him. He asked her to get Jack Hanrahan’s attention. Jack was an ornery, whom everyone called One-Eyed Jack for obvious reasons. He was a fright to look at, with long straggly brown hair that hadn’t been washed in years and a permanent scowl on his face that was mean enough to make a person think Jack was going to tear him apart (p. 55). Travis bet that Emily could not do it. However, Emily had succeeded to get his attention. Moreover, Jack did the most vile, hideous thing. He smiled.
B. The Perception of the Main Characters about Marriage
1. Travis Clayborne
As stated by Ruch in his book, Psychology and Life, previous experience, organic condition, personal needs and values, and social factors are the four kinds of factor that can influence people’s perception about something (1963:307-313). Here, Travis’ perception about marriage is much influenced by his personality and personal needs. In this case, his personality comes from his previous experience.
The writer had discussed in part A that Travis had experienced a bitter life in his childhood. This experience has shaped his personality, which then also gives certain perception about something, including his perception about marriage. In his conversation with Emily he said that,
“A good marriage takes effort, and honesty is a definite prerequisite.” “How would you know? You’ve never been married, have you?” “That isn’t relevant” (p.50).
Meaning to say, marriage is not an easy thing for Travis. He considers that his life had been difficult and thinking about marriage with its special requirements, which are the matters of the inner self and the outer world, will add his difficulty of life. Besides, it requires honesty, which Travis feels difficult to do, since he is an introvert person. He is not able to open his heart and share his feeling to someone easily.
Travis is also a choleric person. According to Beverly LaHaye in her book,
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independent. He tends to feel that he does not need someone else in his life as he is able to do everything alone. Here, Travis attached to this personality. As a man who had grown up with all the difficulty of life, Travis was forced to be independent by his circumstances. It is also supported by his family, who consists of his three brothers. They taught Travis not to be dependent toward others, since their world is hard and also full of crimes. Therefore, when he had grown up to be a man, Travis was accustomed to live his life only with his family. He felt that he did not need someone else in his life, except his family. Moreover, he also feels that getting married means being tied and it is difficult for him to adjust his life to someone, since he used to be free. Here, Travis did not think that he needed to get married with someone.
As a choleric person, who always took everything seriously, Travis also saw a marriage as a thoughtful thing. It is a legal institution, which requires not only the feeling of love between two different sexes, but also the attitudes toward it. Based on Bowman in his book Marriage for Modern, marriage is a legal institution in a social pattern. It consists of attitudes, ideas, ideals, and also legal restriction. It is much more than mating (1954:2). Therefore, Travis considered Emily’s decision to get married with a stranger is a foolish thing to do.
“You’re a contradiction, Emily. You’ve obviously been well educated, and I know you’re smart…”
“But?” she asked.
According to Travis, Emily seems to play with marriage, as it is a big real thing and she should not do it in that way. He gave Emily at least twenty reasons why she should not marry O’ Toole as an advice (p. 49).
In the theory of perception by Ruch, perception enables the individual to know where he stands in relation to the objects, conditions, and people in his environment and to act accordingly (1963:301). Based on his perception, Travis considers that he is not the marrying kind. He stated about it clearly in front of Emily.
He burst out laughing. “You’re a piece of work, Miss Emily Finnegan. If I were the marrying kind, I’d give good old Randolph a run for his money” (p. 54).
When his friend misunderstood about Emily’s status, that she was Travis’ woman, Travis also said the similar thing in a different way.
“Millie, quit twisting your apron and come meet Travis’ woman. Did you go and get yourself hitched?”
“No, John. I didn’t get married” (p.63).
Travis’ perception about marriage and how he acted based on his perception is also seen from Emily and Millie’s conversation.
“Won’t do you any good to argue with me. There were sparks flying between you two, and anyone with half a brain would know what’s going on. Ask him to court you.”
Emily shook her head. “Even if I did want Travis to court me, it wouldn’t matter. He told me he isn’t the marrying kind” (p. 79).
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considered that marriage is relevant to his life, as he did not feel that he needed it. Moreover, he is concentrated to fulfill his safety needs first, because his life always deals with dangerous thing since he was in his childhood. Even, when he had been a man and his life was better financially, he still dealt with his safety needs. It was because of someone named Daniel Ryan, who had robbed his lovely Mama Rose. Travis needed to find and kill him in order to make him secure.
Based on these safety needs fulfillment, Travis never thought about having love relationship or even getting married with someone. In Psychology in Action by Huffman et al, Maslow said that motives differ primarily on the basis of prepotence, or relative strength, and stronger needs (such as hunger and thirst) must be satisfied before one can move on to the higher needs, such as self-esteem (1997:382-383). Meaning to say, Travis could not go to the higher needs, such as love and belonging needs, if his lower level of needs are not fulfilled yet.
2. Emily Finnegan
“I have seven sisters. It’s my hope that one day some of them will come and visit Mr. O’ Toole and me. He has a grand house with a curved staircase. He told me so in one of his letters” (p. 38).
Emily thought that getting married, especially with someone who has good social status and life, is a special pride. Besides, Emily wanted to show to her family that she could still continue her life well, although she had been jilted. According to Kasschau in his book, Understanding Psychology, people saw something based on what they have experienced in the past and their current expectation (1995:121).
Since Emily is a sanguine person, her expectation toward something is big. In the previous part, the writer had explained that sanguine is a hopeful and cheerful person. In this case, Emily put a big expectation toward her marriage with Mr. O’ Toole. Emily believed that he was a good person. She told about it to Travis.
“Mr. O’ Toole and I have corresponded, and I believe I’ve come to know him quite well. He’s an eloquent writer. He’s a poet too.”
“He wrote poems to you?” he asked with a grin. Her chin came up a notch, “Why is that amusing?” “He sounds like a… pansy.”
“I assure you he isn’t. His poems are beautiful. Will you quit grinning at me? They are beautiful, and it’s apparent to me that he’s a very intelligent man” (p. 35).
Based on those letters too, Emily put a big hope toward her marriage with Mr. O’ Toole.
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In the previous part, the writer had also explained that Emily is an extrovert person. She is easy to open herself to others. Based on this extrovert personality too, Emily thought that she did not need to meet Mr. O’ Toole first, because she could learn his personality through process. According to Merrill, marriage is also a kind of human relationship and learning process between two individuals with different sex (1959:310). Emily pictured her marriage with Mr. O’ Toole with this kind of definition. Moreover, it is also supported by her bad experience with Randolph, whom she had known for years, but dared to betray her. Thus Emily felt that it was not important for her to know Mr. O’ Toole before they got married, since they could know each other through process. This led Emily to have a new perception about marriage.
“I tried marrying someone I knew, and look how that turned out.” “You decided on this course of action after you got jilted, didn’t you?” “Let’s just say that it was the last disappointment I was going to suffer” (p. 35).
C. The Change of the Main Characters’ Perception about Marriage
1. Travis Clayborne
People’s perception about something is able to change and develop, as perceiving is something that people learn to do (Kasschau, 1995:123). Travis Clayborne has already had certain perception about marriage, which has been discussed in part B. However since according to Ruch, perception can be influenced by personal needs, Travis’ perception is able to change.
In the novel, Travis never considered marriage as a part of his life. For Travis, working hard and struggling were his world. Therefore, Travis considered that he was not a marrying kind. It is also supported by his childhood experience, which was hard and difficult. In his childhood, Travis was forced to fulfill his daily needs by himself. He also had to protect and take care of his life by himself. This circumstance then influenced him to be a choleric and introvert person. He was accustomed to be independent. He also did not accustom to share his life with someone. Then, since marriage required togetherness, he thought that marriage is not a part of his life. Moreover, marriage needs many efforts, which were not easy for Travis, as he still concentrated to fulfill his safety needs.
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his lovely Mama Rose had been robbed. He did not feel secure before he could find the robber and killed him. According to Maslow as quoted by Huffman in Psychology in Action, people should feel safe in their life, as they have right to feel secure from any violence, losing valuable things and person (1997:463). In this case, Travis felt that he had not completely satisfied the need to feel secure from any violence yet. The violence which Travis felt was caused by Daniel Ryan, who had robbed Travis’ lovely Mama Rose. Because of this, Travis was entrapped to the feeling of insecure. He would never feel safe in his life before he could find Ryan and finish his problem with that man. Here, Travis needed to satisfy his safety needs first before he could move to his higher needs.
In his search of his enemy, Travis met Emily Finnegan. Their meeting did not accidentally happen, since Mama Rose asked Travis to be Emily’s escort. Travis never thought that Emily’s existence would change his perception about marriage and also his life. Travis felt something which he never felt before.
No, he wasn’t concerned about his physical attraction to her. He could easily deal with that. What bothered him was the fact that he was actually beginning to enjoy her company, though why he liked being around a woman with such strange notions was beyond him. Emily made him smile, but only because she said the craziest things (p. 39-40).
pain. Here, Travis’ togetherness with Emily had helped him to avoid his pain, which was caused by Daniel Ryan, a man who had robbed Mama Rose. Travis could feel secure and comfortable beside Emily. His insecure feeling caused by Ryan had been slowly reduced and lost. Moreover, he started to like Emily.
He enjoyed looking at her… He was smiling as he swung up into his saddle. He must be crazy too, he decided, because he was beginning to really like Miss Emily Finnegan (p. 40-41).
Travis found Emily’s personality nice and it suited him. As an introvert person, he needed someone who was not introvert, so that their conversation could be balance. In this case, Emily was an extrovert woman, who was very talkative and active. Moreover, Emily was a smart woman who knew everything and was able to be involved in any discussions. As a choleric person, who has certain beliefs that he is better than anyone else, Travis was amazed by Emily’s intellectual.
She began to question him about Plato’s work, and they debated justice and the law well into the afternoon. He thoroughly enjoyed sparring with her, so much so, he was sorry when the discussion ended (p. 49).
According to Maslow, when people come to the level belonging and love needs, they want to be accepted and to be loved sexually and non-sexually. People want to have sexual intimacy, when they want to be loved sexually (Huffman, 1997:463). Travis also experienced the same thing. He did not only need to be close to Emily and enjoyed her company, but he also needed sexual intimacy.
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passion get the upper hand, however, and as soon as the urge to become more aggressive entered his mind, he pulled away from her (p. 53).
Travis’ feeling about Emily started to be more real when Travis realized that he did not want to separate from her. He felt very jealous when he thought that Emily would be O’ Toole’s bride.
Come to think of it, he liked just about everything about her. She was going to be difficult to leave in Golden Crest, and handling her over to another man was going to be almost impossible. The smile left his eyes as he pictured her in the arms of Clifford O’ Toole (p. 69).
Travis’ feeling toward Emily was also proven by the way he protected her. He was very mad to see some people who dared to do harm to her.
When Jack told him there were two men in the kitchen threatening Emily, Travis became enraged. He got scared too, and that enraged him all the more. His heart felt as if it was going to jump out of his chest as he raced toward the house. When he saw a son-of-a-bitch waving a knife in Emily’s face, something snapped inside of him, and he suddenly wanted to tear her attacker apart limb by limb (p. 88).
Travis’ belonging and love needs toward Emily has pushed his old perception about marriage to change. Based on Ruch in his book, Psychology and Life, when people meet personal needs, their perception is able to change (1963:312). Here, Travis feels the sense of needs. He was no longer thinking that he was not the marrying kind, as he realized that he wanted Emily.
Travis’ feeling toward Emily had gone deeper, as he wanted her so much. Therefore, when finally he and Emily arrived at Golden Crest and found Mr. O’ Toole a villain, he tried to protect her without thinking about his safety. Travis was shot in his back because of this. However he still tried to do the best for her, until he did not have any strength anymore.
Who was keeping her safe? No, no, it was wrong. He should protect her, he knew, and Lord, he didn’t want to sleep; he wanted to take the gun out of her hands and shoot the bastards because they’d made her cry. Then the black waves were suddenly rushing toward him, and he was once again pulled under into the dark (p. 119).
The story then continued with Emily’s struggle to survive until the help came. Travis was unconscious for four days, since he lost much blood. Fortunately, the doctor had done the best to save his life. After four days, Travis wake up and found he was in his friend’s house. He was in panic when he found that Emily had gone after she took care of Travis for three days. Millie, a wife of Travis’ friend, said that Emily went to Pritchard, as she would like to go back to Boston. Travis was angry to know it, because Emily had dared to leave him without saying anything and without giving him a chance to tell his feeling to her.
He cut himself shaving because he wasn’t paying any attention to what he was doing. He was too bust thinking about Emily. He made up his mind on his way down to the kitchen. By God, he was going to go to Pritchard so he could tell the ungrateful woman exactly how he felt (p. 127).
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to be hurt anymore. She chose to stay with her decision to go home. It frustrated Travis, since he did not want to lose her.
Travis threaded his fingers through his hair in frustration. The thought of losing Emily terrified him, and he didn’t know how to make her stay… He was consumed with panic and didn’t like the feeling at all. He couldn’t let her leave him. Didn’t she understand how important she was to him? Without her, life wouldn’t be worth living. He didn’t want to leave without her… “Son of a gun,” he whispered, “I love her.” Emily was sweet and good and loving, and all he wanted to think about now was keeping her by his side for the rest of his life (p. 142-143).
Here, Travis’ personal need, which was belonging and love needs, had changed his perception about marriage. He did not consider marriage as something that he did not need anymore or something beyond his life. Marriage is the love unity of two different sexes, which is wrapped in the legal commitment in order to complete the self fulfillment. At the end, Travis proved it by getting married with Emily.
2. Emily Finnegan
Emily found that she couldn’t stay to her perception since she met Travis and spent her time with him. She felt comfortable with Travis. She could easily tell her bad past to Travis without any burden. Here, Travis’ existence had fulfilled Emily’s safety needs. Emily could get pleasure and feel secure when she was with Travis. As Maslow explained that people will move to their higher level of needs after they have fulfilled their lower needs (1997:382:383), Emily moved to her higher level of need, which was belonging and love needs. As the first sign, Emily started to like Travis physically.
The conversation was doing strange things to her. She couldn’t seem to catch her bread. She knew she was daring the devil, but she couldn’t make herself look away from him. She wasn’t at all interested in staring at the water; she wanted to continue to stare at him. What was the matter with her? (p. 46).
Emily’s belonging and love needs were also supported by her personality. Based on LaHaye, sanguine people are easy influenced by their feeling and circumstance (1977:23). As a sanguine person, Emily was easy to get influenced by her circumstance. She really enjoyed her togetherness with Travis in her journey to Golden Crest. Although Emily had convinced herself that she was going to marry Clifford O’ Toole, she still could not get rid of her belonging and love needs to Travis. Moreover, she needed to have sexual intimacy, which was a part of belonging and love needs.
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Having experienced sexual intimacy with Travis, Emily realized that she loved him. She tried to control her feeling, but she failed to do that. She started to believe that Travis was right about her silly mistake if she still wanted to get married with Mr. O’Toole.
She hated him because he was right. She was never going to be able to forget him, and if she married Clifford O’ Toole, every time he touched her, she would be thinking about Travis (p. 100).
Emily began to think about her pride and its relation to the marriage she would have. She realized that her pride had driven her perception, which finally led her to a plan to marry Mr. O’ Toole.
She wanted to blame Travis for complicating her plans, but she was honest enough to admit it was her own wounded pride that had landed her smack in the middle of this mire. When Randolph left her waiting at the altar, Emily had been so mortified and embarrassed she’d run headlong into another engagement (p. 100-101).
Emily decided to tell Mr. O’ Toole that she could not marry him. As a well-educated person, Emily planned to tell Mr. O’ Toole directly in order to be polite. Therefore, she still needed to come to Golden Crest to meet him. Unfortunately, Emily did not tell her plan to Travis. It made the situation of the journey strange for them.
the center of the dirt yard at the very top of the crest. The fact then turned to be worse when Emily found that Mr. O’ Toole was completely not a gentleman. He was a combination between a villain and an ugly creature. His intention was also as bad as his appearance. He intended to share Emily with his brother, who was also ugly and vile. They insisted on getting Emily as their bride, although Emily had tried to convince them that she was not their bride. When the situation was getting worse, Travis tried to protect Emily. Unfortunately, he was shot in his back when they wanted to run away. Emily was very panic. However, she kept on running their horse in order to save their life. Emily sought a safe place to hide and when she felt the situation was safe enough for her to put her gun down, she bandaged Travis’ wound with her petticoat. Travis was unconscious because of his wound and Emily was very scared that he never woke up anymore.
She began to pray again. She knew their chances of surviving were almost nonexistent, but if God could please send them some help, she would be most appreciative. If He wanted one of them to die, then please let it be her. All of this was her fault, not Travis’, and he was just a good, decent man. He didn’t deserve to die this way (p. 116).
It was clearly shown that Emily loved Travis so much. She was willing to die for him. Emily kept staying in that hiding place with Travis until God sent Jack to help them.
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because she knew that Travis was not a marrying kind and she would only be his burden if she told her feeling to him. Then, when finally Travis found her and told her about what he felt, Emily was very happy. At the end, she cancelled her plan to go home. She married her lovely man.
She married a crazy man. She was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling. She had even laughed out loud several times while she’d been in the bath, for she was filled with such an abundance of joy and love she couldn’t keep it inside (p. 145).
In the novel, physically Travis and Emily have good appearance. Travis is described as a tall, well-built, and handsome man. His eyes are green and beautiful. Similar with Travis, Emily also has good appearance. She is a beautiful woman. She has a cute little dimple in her right cheek, which makes her to be prettier.
Both Travis and Emily might have good appearance. However, personally they are really different. Travis is a stubborn and hard man. When he has a will, no one could stop his intention. He has learned to be stubborn, as his childhood’s life is bitter and difficult. He lives on the streets with three other boys (Adam, Douglas, and Cole), whom he also meets on the streets. They have decided to be brothers. They also vow to protect one another from the older gangs roaming the city. Little Travis has to fulfill his daily needs independently. Here, Travis’ childhood has made him to be independent. Based on the four types of personality, Travis is classified into Choleric type, which is stubborn, irascible, and independent.
Travis is not able to share everything easily. He is accustomed to share his feeling only to Rose, Adam’s mother, whom he has considered as his own mother. Since he is accustomed to share his feeling to Rose through letters, Travis grows to be an introvert person. However, Travis is a very homage son. He loves Rose so much and is able to do everything for her.
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Different from Travis, Emily is a Bostonian girl, whose life is good financially. She lives with her family, consists of father, mother, and seven sisters. Personally, Emily is a smart, talkative and humorist woman. She is also an extrovert person. She is able to talk and be friends with anyone. However, Emily is a suspicious person. She becomes suspicious after she experiences terrible love experience with Randolph. Based on the four types of personality, Emily is categorized as Sanguine. She possesses cheerful, talkative, and hopeful personality that belong to this type. Emily is able to put her new hope to be Mr. Clifford O’ Toole’s mail order bride easily. As a sanguine person, Emily is easy to be bored toward something. She is able to change quickly. She also likes to act and decide something without thinking about it well before.
