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Analysis of Suspense, Surprise and Plausibility in Robert Ludlum's 'The Bourne Identity'.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya akan membahas sebuah novel thriller yang berjudul The Bourne Identity karya Robert Ludlum, seorang penulis novel fiksi berkebangsaan Amerika. Novel ini menceritakan serangkaian peristiwa pencarian identitas tokoh utama yang menderita amnesia akibat tertembak.

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya memutuskan untuk meneliti elemen alur cerita. Tiga elemen yang dibahas adalah suspense, surprise dan plausibility. Unsur

suspense dalam cerita ini membuat pembaca merasa penasaran dan ingin mengetahui kelanjutan cerita sampai akhir. Selain unsur suspense, Robert Ludlum juga sangat pandai dalam menyajikan surprise yang menjadikan cerita ini yang sangat menarik. Surprise ini bertujuan membuat pembaca tercengang setelah ekspektasi mereka tidak tercapai karena munculnya surprise yang tidak mereka

duga sebelumnya. Surprise dalam novel ini juga disajikan dengan cara-cara yang logis dan sesuai dengan dengan teori plausibility.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ii

ABSTRACT ... iii

CHAPTER ONE: 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 TWO: SUSPENSE AND SURPRISE IN ROBERT LUDLUM’S THE BOURNE IDENTITY Suspense ... 5

Surprise ... 11

Plausibility ... 12

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ... 15

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 18

APPENDICES Synopsis of The Bourne Identity ... 19

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of The Bourne Identity

A man is found by the local fishermen in the Mediterranean Sea barely alive with several gunshot wounds, including a wound on his head, which results in amnesia. When a doctor treats him, he finds that a message is surgically embedded in his hip. The message leads to a bank account in Zurich. When the man goes to Zurich, the man learns that his name is Jason Bourne and he also has four million dollars in his bank account.

In the process of finding his true identity, Jason is forced to defend his life from people who try to kill him, including Illich Ramirez Sanchez a.k.a. Carlos,

the world’s most dangerous professional assassin.

In Zurich, he meets a woman named Marie St. Jacques, who helps him to reveal his identity and becomes his lover. Together with Marie, Jason goes through the good and the bad times just to find out who he really is. He meets various people in Paris, some of whom lead him more closely to the revelation of his true identity.

In the end, it turns out that Jason Bourne is not the man’s real name. His

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special secret agent who has special skills and abilities. He is involved in a secret operation to capture Carlos, a dangerous assasin.

Biography of the Author Robert Ludlum was an American author of 21 thriller novels. There are

more than 210 million copies of his book in print, and they have been translated into 32 languages. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan

Ryder and Michael Shepherd. Some of Ludlum’s novels have been made into

films and mini-series, including The Osterman Weekend, The Holcroft Covenant, The Apocalypse Watch, and The Bourne Trilogy. A non-Ludlum book supposedly inspired by his unused notes, Covert One: The Hades Factor, has been made into a mini-series.

Ludlum was educated at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Prior to becoming an author he had been a theatrical actor and producer. His theatrical experience may have contributed to his understanding of the energy, escapism and action that the public wanted in a novel.

Ludlum died in 2001, reportedly leaving behind several unpublished manuscripts and rough outlines which continue to be dusted off and published with the help of ghostwriters.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In this thesis, I would like to analyze the suspense, surprise and plausibility in Robert Ludlum’s novel entitled The Bourne Identity. I have chosen Robert Ludlum because he is best known for his thriller novels, such as The Apocalypse Watch, The Gemini, The Bourne Trilogy, The Holcroft Covenant and

The Osterman Weekend. The definition of thriller novel is “a genre of fiction in

which tough, resourceful but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains

determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world”

(Bennett, par. 2). Some characteristics of a thriller novel are ”fast-paced plots,

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Ludlum is popular and has the “skill to capture the imagination of his readers from the first pages, and keep them absorbed in the story” (Liukkonen and Pesonen, par. 1). In his Bourne Trilogy, he uses “material from current events

in international politics” (Liukkonen and Pesonen, par 1). which makes the story

more interesting to read.

One of his bestselling novels, The Bourne Identity, is a thriller novel which really catches my interest. It uses everyday language as well as having an

exciting plot. I have chosen the first book of Ludlum’s Bourne Trilogy because of

his ability to make his readers absorbed in the process of reading it. This book has made his readers curious about the story and also made them surprised at the end of it.

I am certain that the main key for this novel to become interesting to read is the elements of suspense, surprise and plausibility in the novel. These three elements have been successfully presented in the novel and have caused millions of readers to feel amazed after reading the novel.

According to Perrine, “suspense is the quality in a story that makes the

reader ask ‘what’s going to happen next?’ and impels him to read on to find the

answer to these questions. Suspense is greatest when the reader’s curiosity is combined with anxiety about the fate of some sympathetic character” (45).

Surprise is said to be “proportional to the unexpectedness of what happens; it

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answered by logical surprise. “To say a story has plausibility is simply to say that

it is convincing on its own term” (Kenney 20).

Statement of the Problem

Based on the Background of the Study, the statement of the problem in my thesis is formulated in the following questions:

1. Which events in the novel contain elements of suspense? 2. Which events in the novel contain elements of surprise? 3. Are suspense and surprise elements in the novel plausible?

Purpose of the Study

The Statement of the Problem leads to the purposes of the study, which are

1. to identify the events in the novel that contain the elements of suspense; 2. to identify the events in the novel that contain the elements of surprise; 3. to show the plausibility of the suspense and surprise elements in the novel.

Method of Research

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Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the elements of suspense, surprise and plausibility in The Bourne Identity, I am going to draw a conclusion of the analysis of suspense and surprise presented in the previous chapter.

Robert Ludlum is a brilliant thriller novelist because in this novel he succeeds not only in producing a good story which makes the reader surprised and satisfied but also in creating the elements of suspense, surprise and plausibility that are legitimate and valuable. So skillful is Robert Ludlum in applying the two elements that The Bourne Identity becomes interesting to read and has become one of the most popular thriller novels until now.

Most of the elements of suspense in Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity

are mysteries, which are intended to make the reader wonder as well as question both the identity of the protagonist and the plot of the story. The suspense keeps the reader guessing and the more the reader reads the novel and gets significant information in it, the more questions he/she will ask.

In this story, the author also creates suspense regarding the mystery of the

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protagonist will find his true identity and whether or not he can survive after a series of murder attempts. Not only does the suspense make the reader curious about what will happen next, but it also creates tension in the reader’s mind. It makes the reader feel that he/she is directly involved in the story and so he/she will keep on reading until the end of the story.

Robert Ludlum also creates elements of surprise which answer the suspense with unexpected answers. The surprise elements also make the reader

”stunned” on the grounds as what he/she formally expects is not the same as what

really happens in the story. The elements of surprise give the reader logical and plausible explanations. As a result, the story has a logical cause and effect relationship.

One of the events which show Robert Ludlum’s skills in applying

suspense and surprise can be seen in the first suspense which is answered by the first surprise. The protagonist is found by the fishermen floating in the Mediterranean Sea with gunshot wounds in several places of his body and he has no identity. The reader will question who the person really is and why the person has been shot in several places of his body. After the reader is made curious, Ludlum eventually gives the reader a surprising answer by revealing that the man who floats in the sea is a CIA special agent who is on a dangerous mission. This fact surprises the reader because he/she expect that the man who floats in the Mediterranean Sea is an ordinary person who becomes the victim of a criminal act.

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organized. Robert Ludlum puts suspense as well as surprise in the right order and interestingly gives the reader unexpected events so that the readers will enjoy the novel. He/she will not feel bored in reading it until the end of the story because he/she gets important information gradually. In other words, the suspense and surprise in The Bourne Identity are related to one another to make the story entertaining and easily understood.

Generally, in a thriller novel, suspense must be the most important element since the purpose of a thriller novel is to make the reader feel the tension and curiosity in his/her mind. I would like to say that the elements of suspense in

Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity are the most prominent aspect of the story

because the genre of the novel is thriller. On the other hand, the elements of surprise in this novel are also important because they answer the elements of suspense and they make the readers feel surprised after they learn the real fact which they have never expected before.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text

Ludlum, Robert. Bourne Identity. New York: Marek Edition Published, 1980. Print.

References

Bennet, Steve. “Brief Definition of the Thriller Fiction Genre.” Web. 22 Sept.

2011.

Kenney, William. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press. 1996. Print.

Liukkonen, Petri and Ari Pesonen. “Robert Ludlum.” 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2009

Meekale. “Biography of Robert Ludlum.” Web. 2007. 6 Nov. 2009

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