A STUDY OF INTRAPERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL CONFLICTS OF DARBY SHAW IN JOHN GRISHAM’S
THE PELICAN BRIEF
A THESIS
Presented as partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
To obtain the
Sarjana Pendidikan
Degree
in English Language Education.
By
Dodik Prianggo Dono Saliro Student Number: 01 1214 103
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2008
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank God for blessing me through my life. I have finally finished this study.
My deepest gratitude is expressed to my major sponsor, Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y, M.Hum, for giving his valuable time during his busy days to correct and discuss my paper. I thank him for his patience, support, suggestion, and valuable criticism in guiding me to complete this study.
I would also like to thank all the lecturers of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University for sharing their knowledge during my study. I also thank the secretary and library staffs for their good services and friendliness.
With lots of love, I dedicate this paper to my wonderful family. I am sincerely grateful to my beloved parents Bapak Ignatius Sudradjad and Ibu Iswanti Wiryo Suprapto, for their endless love, prayers, and supports in my life, especially in my study. I am sorry for taking a long time to finish my study. I also thank my lovely brothers and sister, Irwan Febriantoro, Kunanti, and Androeigo
Mardhotilla for their support, and love. For My Beloved Grandpa and Grandma,
Alm. S. Wiryo Suprapto and Partinah Wiryo Suprapto, The big family of
Wiryo Suprapto, Yohanes Daryanta and Family, Atmo Martono’s Family.
My special thanks so to my beloved girlfriend, the one and only, Martina Asri Sasongko Irmawati for always being there for me, for her love, support and patience and for all the beautiful and sad times we have spent together.
My best next gratitude goes to my best friends Bobby “Adipati Magelang”,
Puput “Tumenggung Temanggung”, Nyot “HamengkubuwoNyot”, Bayu
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“Coly”, Rismanto ‘Texex’, Lintang, Nanda, ‘Lambhe, Tommy, Bonchu, Doni,
Gowest, Bebe Belgiano, The Bangirejoez, Heineken F.C. I thank them for their
endless, happiest and craziest friendship. My appreciation also goes to my friends in PBI: ‘Memex’, Noo-chie , Reny, Rara, Ukhe, Nophie, Ratri, Ale, Catur, Henry, Kris and etc. I am honored to have such friends as them. I am so blessed to have friends like them. Knowing them makes my life more colorful.
I would like to thank my SPD’s team, The Incredibles, my Play Performance’s group, AVANTASIA, and also my PPL 2 and KKN’s friends for sharing experiences and time with me.
Last but not least, I would like to thank those whose names are not mentioned on this page. I thank them for their contribution, support and prayer to me.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... i
PAGES OF APPROVAL ... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii
ABSTRACT ... ix
ABSTRAK ... x
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Problem Formulation... 4
1.3 Objectives of the Study... 4
1.4 Benefits of the Study ... 4
1.5 Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 6
2.1Review on Related Theories ... 6
2.1.1 Character and Characterization ... 6
2.1.1.1 Definitions of Character ... 6
2.1.1.1. Types of Characters ... 7
2.1.1.2 Characterization ... 8
2.1.2 Critical Approach ... 11
2.1.3 Conflict ... 12
2.1.3.1 Psychological Theories of Conflict ... 12
2.1.3.2 Kinds of Conflict ... 13
2.1.3.3 Conflict Resolution ... 14
2.1.3.3.1 Private Decision Making by Parties... 14
2.1.3.3.2 Private Third-Party Decision Making ... 16
2.1.3.3.3 Legal Authoritative Third-Party Decision Making ... 16
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2.1.3.3.3 Extralegal Approach... 16
2.2 Theoretical Framework ... 17
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ... 19
3.1Subject Matter ... 19
3.2Approach ... 20
3.3 Methods of the study ... 21
CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS ... 23
4.1Darby Shaw’s Characterization... 23
4.1.1 Beautiful ... 23
4.1.2 Clever ... 25
4.1.3 Brave ... 27
4.1.4 Diligent ... 28
4.1.1 Caring ... 30
4.2 Darby Shaw’s Conflicts and Resolutions... 32
4.2.1 Intra-personal Conflicts ... 32
4.2.1.1 Conflict on Thomas Callahan’s Death ... 33
4.2.1.2 On the car Explosion ... 35
4.2.1.3 Believing in Grantham ... 37
4.2.1.4 In Solving the Case ... 39
4.2.2 Interpersonal Conflicts ... 41
4.2.2.1 Against Callahan ... 41
4.2.2.2 Against the Killer ... 43
4.2.2.3 Against FBI ... 45
4.2.2.1 Against Grantham ... 46
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 48
A. Conclusion ... 48
B. Suggestion ... 50
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2. Suggestion for Teaching English Using Literature ... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 53
APPENDICES ... 54
APPENDIX 1. Lesson Plan for Teaching Speaking Using The Pelican Brief. 55 APPENDIX 2. Material for Teaching Speaking Using The Pelican Brief... 57
APPENDIX 3. The Summary of The Pelican Brief... 60
APPENDIX 4. Biography of John Grisham ... 62
APPENDIX 5 John Grisham’s Booklists... 65
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ABSTRACT
Prianggo, Dodik. 2008. A Study of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal conflicts of
Darby Shaw in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief. Yogyakarta: English Language
Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis analyzes a twenty four-year-old beautiful and diligent woman named Darby Shaw, who is the main character of John Grisham’s novel entitled The Pelican Brief. She faces both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts and tries hard to solve them. In the beginning of the story two Supreme Court Justices, Rosenberg and Jensen, are murdered. Darby Shaw, who is clever, starts an investigation in different libraries for some days and opens file about her theory why Rosenberg and Jensen are killed. Her theory is completely true.
This thesis aims (1) to describe Darby Shaw’s characteristics, and (2) Darby Shaw’s solve both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts she faces. There were two kinds of sources used, namely, primary and secondary sources. The primary source was the novel, The Pelican Brief. Some relevant references such as psychological theories, literary theories and theory of critical approach were the secondary sources. Those theories were used to analyze the novel. The psychological approach was applied, because it was the most appropriate one to observe the main character’s personality in this novel.
Based on the analysis of this study, Darby Shaw is described as beautiful, clever, brave and diligent woman. She wants to prove to everybody that the president of FBI, named Mattiece, is the actor behind the all tragedy. Darby Shaw is experiences various intra-personal conflicts. The conflicts are on believing in Thomas Callahan’s death, on the car explosion, believing Grantham and in solving the case. Darby Shaw experiences many interpersonal conflicts. They are conflict between Darby Shaw and outside powers such as Callahan, the killer, FBI, and Grantham. She can solve them all. She mostly uses negotiation method to solve her intra-personal conflict.
x
ABSTRAK
Prianggo, Dodik. 2008. A Study of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal conflicts of
Darby Shaw in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief. Yogyakarta: Program Studi
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Universitas Sanata Dharma. Yogyakarta.
Tesis ini mendiskusikan tentang wanita cantik dan rajin yang berusia 24 tahun bernama Darby Shaw. Tak lain adalah tokoh utama dalam novel John Grisham yang berjudul The Pelican Brief. Dia menghadapi dua konflik sekaligus yakni intrapersonal dan interpersonal dan berusaha keras untuk menyelesaikannya. Di awal cerita terjadi pembunuhan dua mahkamah agung, Rosenberg dan Jensen. Darby shaw untuk memulai pemeriksaan di perpustakaan yang berbeda untuk beberapa hari dan membuka file tentang mengapa rosenberg dan Jensen dibunuh. Teori yang didapatnya ternyata tepat.
Tujuan dari tesis ini (1) menggambarkan Darby shaw's karakteristik, dan (2) memecahkan kedua konflik, intrapersonal dan interpersonal. Ada dua jenis sumber yang digunakan, Sumber utama dan sumber kedua. Sumber utama novel, "Pelican Brief ". Beberapa referensi seperti teori psikologi, Teori literatur dan Teori “critical approach”. Teori itu digunakan dalam menganalisa novel. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori tentang psikologi karena teori ini yang sangat penting untuk menganalisa kejiwaan dari tokoh utama dalam novel ini.
Berdasarkan analisis ini, Darby Shaw digambarkan sebagai wanita cantik, pintar, berani dan rajin. Dia ingin membuktikan ke setiap orang bahwa presiden FBI, Bernama Mattiece, adalah aktor di belakang semua tragedi pembunuhan. Darby mengalami berbagai macam konflik intrapersonal. Konflik itu adalah kematian Thomas Callaghan dalam ledakan mobil, mempercayai Grantham dalam pemecahan masalah. Darby juga mengalami benyak konflik interpersonal, yaitu konflik dirinya dengan Callahan, the killer, FBI, and Grantham. Dia dapat memecahkan itu semua. Kebanyakan Darby menggunakan cara negosiasi dalam memecahkan semua persoalan itu.
Meskipun Darby Shaw mengalami berbagai macam konflik, dia dapat menyelesaikannya semua karena dia pintar dan cekatan. Dalam pemecahan semua masalah dia menggunakan proses negosiasi dan mediasi.
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of five parts. Those are background of the study, problem
formulation, and objectives of the study, benefits and definition of terms. The first
part is background of the study, which discusses the reasons of why I chose the topic
of this study and the need for analyzing the topic. The second part is problem
formulation, which expresses the general description of the problems that would be
analyzed in this thesis. The third part states the objectives of the study that explains
the goals of the study. The fourth part describes the benefits of the study and the last
part is the definition of terms. In this part, some key words which are related to the
study would be defined based on valid references.
1.1 Background of the Study
Everybody knows that human cannot live alone. Everybody needs to interact
with other people. In order to be able to survive with his or her lives, everybody
needs someone else. However, every condition may lead to the fact that everybody
might encounter problems when building relations with others. As we know, in
social interaction someone is experiencing may cause her to have conflict within
herself and with the other people.
According to Redman (1964, 363), conflicts can be divided into two types;
they are intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts. First, intrapersonal conflict is a
2
arises between someone and the power outside the character. We often have a
conflict that comes from us and outside, because situation creates us with the power
to gain our goal. Even though sometimes we cannot reach that goal, it may create
conflicts.
An intrapersonal conflict usually happens because of the failure of doing
something. So, self evaluation, is needed when we have an intrapersonal conflict.
With self evaluation we can know how to achieve the goals based on our capability
and if we only have motivation but we forget our own potential, the process to
achieve the goals will be not effective.
We live in the world and we always interact with other people who are
unique in personality and have different point of view, reaction, or response in facing
problem. Thus interpersonal conflict may happen when we try to interact or
communicate with people around us because they have their own habits and opinions
that may be against what we have, and the result is we will solve conflicts in our life.
According to Little (1982, 2) a novel as one of the literary works that can reflect
human’s life such as human conflicts. We can assume that literary work is the
expression of reality because it reflects human’s problem. It can describe how people
overcome or solve the problems or their conflicts in their life. Based on that fact, it is
interesting to discuss a novel entitled The Pelican Brief, because we can see many
conflicts that the main character faces; both interpersonal and intrapersonal.
This novel tells about 24 year old beautiful and diligent woman named Darby
Shaw. In the beginning of the story two Supreme Court Justice, Rosenberg and
Jensen, are murdered. Darby Shaw who is clever enough starts an investigation in
different libraries for some days and opens a file about her theory why Rosenberg
and Jensen are killed. Her theory is completely true.
Darby Shaw writes a brief named "Pelican Brief" and shows the document to
Thomas Callahan. The man who can take the "Pelican Brief" brings it to the FBI, the
CIA and of course the White House. The president now has to restructure the Court
because of Rosenberg’s and Jensen's death. Mattiece, the president of FBI, becomes
aware of the "Pelican Brief" and decides to kill everyone who is involved in it to
keep his plans secretly. He hires a killer "Khamel", who also kills the two Supreme
Court Justices, to kill Darby Shaw and Thomas Callahan. Callahan is killed in a car
explosion. Darby is very suspicious because she knows that Thomas murderers
follow her.
Darby Shaw runs away and phones Gray Grantham, a reporter, to help her to
make a list of people who have contributed the President’s campaign three years
before. The situation forces her to be a strong and clever, because if Darby is not
strong and clever the problem cannot be solved as soon as possible. She decides to
ask Gray Grantham for help to go to the office of the Washington Post where Gray
writes his story. After that contact Denton Voyles, Mattiece's lawyers and the White
House. The White House decides to tell everyone what Mattiece has done and denies
any connection between Mattiece and the President. FBI Director helps Darby to
leave the country unknown. Darby and Gray are safe at the island of St.Thomas.
The Pelican Brief is an interesting novel to discuss because there are lots of
conflicts that the main character faces. The way she deals with conflicts which come
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want to analyze her intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts in this novel and how
she deals with the conflicts.
1.2Problem Formulation
The problems of this study are formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character, Darby Shaw, described?
2. How does Darby Shaw solve both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts?
1.3Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are formulated as follows:
1. To find out the characteristics of the main character that described in the novel.
2. To find the conflict that Darby Shaw faces and to analyze how she deals with
the conflicts
1.4Benefits of the Study
The benefits of the study are formulated as follows; First, I hope with this study
can help the readers understand the characters and kind of the conflicts are resolved.
In my opinion, this novel is good for literary analysis. Second, I expect that the result
of this writing will be useful for teaching literature and this study can be used as a
reference to introduce the students to some of the elements of the novel such as the
characters and their conflicts.
1.5Definitions of Terms
To analyze this novel, there are four terms to define. These are character,
conflict, intrapersonal conflict and interpersonal conflict. To make the discussion
become easier, each will be described.
1.5.1 Character
According to Abrams (1981, 20) characters are persons or characteristics of
the figures that are presented in dramatic or narrative work, which are taken by the
reader of being capable with moral and character qualities and that are expressed in
the dialogue and the action. It means that characteristic of the character is the
important thing in the novel.
1.5.2 Conflict
According to Laurence Perrine (1974, 44) conflict means a clash of action, ideas,
and desires or wills between two characters or among the people in the society. In
this study, the main character is facing many problem both intrapersonal and
interpersonal conflicts.
1.5.3 Intrapersonal Conflict and Interpersonal Conflict
Stephen Worchel and Joel Cooper (1974, 499) define intrapersonal conflict as a
conflict within the individual. The terms in this study refer to the above definition.
While, interpersonal conflict refers to a conflict that can involve a competition
between two or more individuals in reaching a goal or it can involve a disagreement
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents a review of related literature. It consists of the theory of
character and characterization, the theory of conflict and the theory of conflict
resolution.
2.1 Review on related theories
This section is used as a basis to analyze the novel. It consists of the theory of
character and theory of characterization, which help to find out the description of the
main character. The theory of critical approach is also an important element in this
section to make a better understanding on the work of literature.
2.1.1 Character and Characterization 2.1.1.1 Definitions of Character
A novel contains many characters. The characters are presented by the author
with physical or psychological appearances and through their behaviors and ways of
thinking to make them like ordinary human beings. Stanton (1965, 17) states that a
character is a person who does the action in a story. From the character itself the
readers can enjoy the development of the story from beginning to the end. Fictional
character of a story will lead the readers to imagine or may experience the course and
the emotional aspects of the story through their action and their dialogues.
Abrams (1981, 20) defines characters as people established in a literary work
that have “moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say –the
dialogue-and what they do –the action”. He also adds that the character in the novel
has similar disposition with the real human beings that can be found on their moral
and temperaments, which become the base or the reason of their actions and their
discourse. The characters in the literary works are created as living characters in the
fictional world.
2.1.1.1.1 Types of characters
According to Milligan (1983, 155) character can be categorized into two
kinds based on their roles in a story, namely major and minor characters. The story
usually focuses on a major character because she/ he is the center of the story.
Whereas a minor character is character that appears only once or twice in the story
and their roles are less important than the major character. A major character in the
novel performs an important role, so the readers’ expectation depends on it. The
minor characters are those who appear in a certain setting, just necessarily to become
the background of the major characters. Their role is less important (Milligan 1983,
55)
According to Foster in Abrams (1981, 85), there are two types of characters
that can be found in literature. Firstly type is “flat or simple character” that is built
around “a single idea or quality” and presented without much individualizing details.
8
Because they are not central to the plot, they do not change or grow. The term stock
character is used to refer the characters that perform in repeating situations.
Secondly, a round or complex character is the one who is complex in
temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularly. Such a
character is difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life and like
real people. Round characters are more complex, many sided and life like than the
flat characters. Round characters are also complex and difficult to understand as
individual living people. Abrams (1981, 20) states that to some degree a round
characters posses many individual and unpredictable human traits. They may be
considered as dynamic; that is, they demonstrate their capacity to change or to grow.
Furthermore, a major character could be static or dynamic. A static character
is the one who changes little or not at all. Meanwhile, a dynamic character is a
character that undergoes any changes. The circumstance where the character lives
gives significant influences on their personality development.
2.1.1.2 Characterization
Sometimes a character cannot easily be understood if we do not know what
characteristics inside the character are. To help us understand a character in details,
we have to know how the author characterizes them. It is important to understand the
process of revealing the character in order to figure out the description of the main
character. Character and characterization are tightly connected and they cannot be
separated. Characterization is a process by which an author creates a character
(Rohberger and Woods. Jr. 1971, 20). Therefore, to understand the character well,
readers have to read the whole story and draw a conclusion from that. The author
usually just presents a brief description of the character. The rest is given to the
readers to increase their imagination about the character through the story.
According to Perrine, to be convincing, characterization must also observe
three principles (1974, 69). The first principle is consistency in behavior that is
characters must not behave one way on one occasion and a different way on another
unless there is a clearly sufficient reason for the changes. The second is motivation;
characters should be motivated in whatever they do especially when there is any
change in their behavior. Readers must be able to understand the reason for what
they do if not immediately or at least by the end of the story. The last principle is
plausibility; characters must be plausible or lifelike. They must be relevant to the
readers. Characters must have some traits which are the same as those of human
beings in the real world.
According to Murphy (1972, 161-173), there are nine ways of how an author
may reveal the characters’ personality. These methods will give significant
contribution to the readers in understanding the characters through characterization.
Those methods are personal descriptions, character as seen by another, speech, past
life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comments, thoughts, and mannerisms.
The first is personal descriptions in which the author can describe a person’s
character from the appearance and clothes. The description is focused in our mind’s
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The second method is character as seen by another. Using this method the
author describes a person/ character through the eyes and opinions of other
characters in the novel.
The third method is speech. In this method the author can describe the
character through what that person says. Sometimes one’s characteristics can be
clearly seen through their words.
The forth method is past life. The author can give us a clue to describe the
character through their past life events that have helped to shape that person’s
character.
The fifth method is about conversation of others. Using this method the
author describes someone’s character through what they are talking about the person.
The sixth method is the character’s reactions in facing a problem became
people may have various ways to solves. Different people may have different ways.
From their reactions, we will also get some clues to describe a character.
The seventh method is direct comments. In this method; the author describes
or gives comment on a person’s character directly so that it would be very easy for
the reader to get the image of the character.
The eighth method is thoughts. The author lets the readers know the
character’s personality by stating explicitly what is in the character’s mind or what
the character is thinking about. The readers are led to the mental process of the
character that conveys the idea.
The last method is mannerisms. The author can describe the character’s
behavior and also his habits either the positive or the negative ones. From his or her
habits and behavior, the readers can know the reflection of his personality.
2.1.2 Critical approach
According Rohberger and Woods Jr. (1971, 6-15), the theory of critical
approach involves five approaches. The first approach is the formalist approach; this
approach tries to examine the literature work reference to the fact of the author’s life
without reference to the genre of the work or its place in the development of the
genre or literary history, and without reference to its social milieu.
The second approach is the biographical approach; this approach will guide
the readers to tries learning as much as they understand about the author’s life and
the development of the author.
The third approach is the sociocultural-historical approach; it takes us to
analyze a novel based on the civilization that produces the novel. Civilization is
defined as the attitude and actions of a specific group of people. The subject matter
of the novel itself is their attitudes and actions.
The forth is about the mythopoeic approach. Applying this approach the
readers analyze a novel by trying to discover certain universally recurrent patterns or
a human thought, which is found first expression in ancient myth and folk rites and
also basic to human thought that they have meaning for all characters. The last
approach is the psychological approach; the psychological approach brings us to
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2.1.3 Conflict
Conflict is something very common in our life. Almost everyday we experience
conflicts. Perrine (1974, 44) describes conflict as “a clash of action, ideas, desire, or
wills between two individuals or people in the society that can include, physical,
mental, emotional, or moral. “ While Kalish (1973, 450) states that conflict is a type
of stress as a result of two or more different needs. The satisfaction of one need leads
to the non satisfaction of another need, or the satisfaction of one need brings
unpleasant consequences.
A novel as a reflection of human life experiences shows conflict in it. Meredith
and Fitzgerald (1972, 27) states “conflict is something which is unpleasant which has
happened or to be experienced by the character, and if the character has a free choice
to choose, he will not choose it”.
2.1.3.1 Psychological theories of conflict
Atkinson and Hillgard (1983, 424) state that a major source of frustration is
conflict between two opposing motives. When two motives are in conflict, the
satisfaction of one leads to the frustration of the order. There are two kinds of
conflicts which could be happen in our daily life. Atkinson and Hillgard (1983, 424)
also state this in their book:
Sometimes conflicts arise between a motive and a person’s internal standards rather than between two external goals. An individual’s desires may conflict with his or her standards of acceptable social behavior. Achievement motives may conflict with individual standards of helpful and cooperative; to succeed may require competing with – or even undermining collogues and associates (1983, 424)
They also state that conflicts between motives and internal standards often can be
more difficult to resolve than between external goals.
For example, words and sentences which are said by a man can influence
another man’s feeling and mind, whether he is happy or being hurt. If they cause a
conflict and it cannot be solved, third –party (mediator) is needed to help (Lim and
Corneval, 1990, 373). When the bad communications may lead a conflict, a good and
intense communication can be used as the media to resolve the differences among the
people who have the conflicts.
2.1.3.2 Kinds of Conflict
Worchel and Cooper (1979, 460) use different terms in defining kinds of
conflicts. First is intrapersonal conflict. It is a conflict that arises within one
character. Second is interpersonal conflict it is a conflict that arises between the
characters with the power outside the character. They use the term intrapersonal
conflict to mean internal conflict and the term interpersonal conflict to mean external
conflict. Discussing further about intrapersonal conflict, they categorize this conflict
into four types.
The first kind of conflict is approach-approach. This kind of conflict will
happen when someone is motivated to reach two positive goals or ambition but only
can attain one. This is a simple conflict that everyone usually faces, because an
individual only has to choose one goal from many equally attracting things.
The second is avoidance-avoidance. This type of conflict usually happens
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difficult to resolve, since whenever he gets more pay attention to one negative goal
and the force to avoid those goals increases. The best way to resolve this type of
conflict is to get out from situation and refresh.
The third is approach-avoidance. This kind of conflict involves only one goal,
which has both attractive and unattractive aspects associated with it. This conflict is
rather difficult to resolve as the individual’s own desire to both obtain the goal and
escape from it trap human.
The last is double approach-avoidance. This type of conflict can involve
having to choose between two goals, each of which has positive and negative
aspects, or having to choose whether to approach or to avoid a goal that has two
positive and two negative aspects.
2.1.3.3 Conflict Resolution
Everybody that has a conflict can generally resolve their dispute by a variety
of means. Conflict can arise in relationship easily. Every body who has a conflict
does not want to stay inside the conflict in for a long time. They want to solve their
conflicts as soon as possible in order to continue their peaceful life. In this analysis,
there are many ways to resolve the conflict. According to Moore (1999, 23) those
four continuums can be the strategy to resolve the conflict. Those are private
decision-making by parties, private third-party decision-making, legal authoritative
third-party decision making and extralegal coerced decision-making.
2.1.3.3.1 Private Decision Making by Parties
Private decision making by parties is explained into four ways. First is
avoidance, sometimes people prefer to interact with other with certain condition, or
they feel what it has less potential of conflict. They realize that there is something
important beneath it. They have the power to change the situation and believe that
the situation can be improved. Many people are likely to repress emotional reactions,
looking different view, or leave the situation totally.
The second is informal problem-solving discussion. As we know when
avoidance is no longer possible and the pressure of the conflict grows stronger and
the parties have to solve the disagreements immediately. They can use informal
problem solving discussion to resolve their differences between the parties. The
consequence from these discussion is either the conflicts are resolved or less to the
satisfaction of the people that involved or dropped the conflicts immediately because
they are unable and do not have the capacity to make the resolution for it.
The third is negotiation. This way is used by the parties to resolve of their
conflicts by communicating their interest between them. Negotiation is an option
which emotional degree and substantive polarization will make the process lead to a
conflict resolution.
The last is mediation. If the negotiations are hard to initiate, the parties may
need some help from another party external to dispute. Mediation is an extension of
negotiation that involves the intervention of third party who leaves the decision
16
handle the situations and when the way to solve their conflicts is trough third party’s
assistance.
2.1.3.3.2 Private Third-Party Decision Making
Private third-party decision making consists of two ways. Administrative
dispute resolution approach is the need of a third-party who has some distance from
the dispute parties and can provide a decision toward a conflict. The third-party
should be trusted.
Arbitration is a different from administrative dispute resolution approach. It is
a genetic term for a voluntary process in which parties in the conflict request the
assistance of a neutral third party to make a decision and it may be either advisory or
binding. Arbitration is a private process which is not open to public.
2.1.3.3.3 Legal Authoritative Third-Party Decision Making
The third strategy is legal authoritative third party decision making. It
consists of two approaches. They are judicial approach and legislative approach. The
judicial approach will bring to engage the interference of a party is seen as the
institutionalized authority. In this approach, the resolution process on a public area.
The parties who have conflicts usually hire a lawyer to defend their behalf. The result
of this approach is winning-lose, binding and enforceable.
The second is Legislative approach. This is another approach to solve
conflicts under the law. In this approach, the decision regarding the outcome is a
win-lose process and probably usually uses voting. This process might take a long
time.
2.1.3.3.4 Extralegal Approach
The last approach is extralegal approach. This approach consists of two types,
the first is non-violence approach that is involves a party committing acts or
abstaining so the rival is forced to behave in a desired manner and do not involve
physical violence. Generally this approach can be effectively used when the
disputes-parties must rely on each other for their living. It action works if the disputes-parties put
respect each other.
Second, the violence approach uses physical coercion to maintain a party’s
position. In this approach, the party who possesses more power will be able to force
the result of the resolution. It often happens by forcing the decision with physical
coercion.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
To analyze the first problem, I will apply Abram’s theory of character. This
theory helps me understand what kind of character Darby Shaw is. Theories of major
and minor characters by Milligan are used to understand Darby Shaw‘s character and
her personality that is revealed in the interaction with others. I use Abram’s theory in
order to find out Darby Shaw as a round character or a flat character. The theory of
characterization by Murphy helps me to get better understanding. Theory of
character by Holman and Harmon helps me to know whether the main character is
dynamic or static.
To get a better understanding about conflicts that happen in one’s life, I apply
18
Darby Shaw faces in her life as the main character. According to Worchel and
Cooper, there are two kinds of conflicts, interpersonal and intrapersonal conflict. I
will use Moore theory of conflict resolution to find the interpersonal and
intrapersonal conflicts that Darby’s faces. After that I will analyze how she deals
with her conflicts based on the theory.
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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
This chapter contains three sections. The first section is subject matter that
states the work to be discussed with its physical description. The second section is
the approach used. It concerns the approach that is used to analyze the novel. The last
section, the steps of study, deals with the research steps that were taken starting from
reading up to report writing. It also deals with what type of study undertaken, what
aspect of the topic included, and where to gather data.
3.1Subject Matter
The subject of analysis of this thesis is a novel. The title is The Pelican Brief,
written by John Grisham. This novel was published by Century Limited England in
United Kingdom, in 1992. It consists of 421 pages and it is divided into 45 chapters.
This novel tells about twenty-four years old beautiful and diligent woman named
Darby Shaw. In the beginning of the story two Supreme Court Justices, Rosenberg
and Jensen, are murdered. Darby Shaw who is clever enough starts an investigation
in different libraries for some days and opens a file about her theory why Rosenberg
and Jensen are killed. Her theory is completely true.
Darby Shaw writes a brief named "Pelican Brief" and shows the document to
Thomas Callahan. The man who can bring the "Pelican Brief" to the FBI, the CIA
and of course the White House. The president now has to restructure the Court
20
aware of the "Pelican Brief" and decides to kill everyone who is involved in it to
keep his plans secretly. He hires a killer "Khamel", who also kills the two Supreme
Court Justices, to kill Darby Shaw and Thomas Callahan. Callahan is killed in a car
explosion. Darby is very suspicious because she knows that Thomas murderers
follow her.
Darby Shaw runs away and phones Gray Grantham, a reporter, to help her to
make a list of people who have contribute the President’s campaign three years
before. The situation forces her to be a strong and tough woman, because if Darby is
not strong and clever the problem cannot be solved as soon as possible. She decides
to ask Gray Grantham for help to go to the office of the Washington Post where Gray
writes his story. After that they drop the bomb and contact Denton Voyles, Mattiece's
lawyers and the White House. The White House decides to tell everyone what
Mattiece has done and denies any connection between Mattiece and the President.
FBI Director helps Darby to leave the country unknown. Darby and Gray are safe at
the island of St.Thomas.
3.2Approach
In analyzing this novel, I used the characterization approach that is suitable to the
topic. In this thesis, I want to find out how Darby is described in the novel and what
conflict that she faced during her life as the author of a brief.
In this study I will use the theory of conflict by Perrine (1974, 44) that describes
conflict as “a clash of action, ideas, desire, or wills between two individuals or
people in the society that can include, physical, mental, emotional, or moral. That is
appropriate because it explores character and the problem that faces in the story and
this approach help me to understand the resolution toward the conflict. The
character’s conflict includes their social life and relationship with people around
them and resolves the conflict. When we use the approach, the main character was
show up and must be analyze from the personality point of view. The character’s
behavior, the ways of thinking and all the appearances must be noticed. By using
Perrine’s approach, I can understand the conflict that the character faces and the
conflict resolution that she takes.
The psychological approach, therefore, is the most suitable one, as it helps me to
understand the character’s personality, also helps me to find out the conflicts that the
main character faces. The psychological approach gives explanation and descriptions
why the main character has conflicts with the certain people and why she solves
those conflicts in those ways.
3.3 Methods of the study
The research conducted was a library research. It means that the main formula,
which I used to collect the data, by reading and writing notes from the novel that
helped me analyzed the novel easily. The following are the steps of analyzing the
novel and to answer the problems of the study.
First, I chose this novel as the subject to analyze because the conflicts that the
author created were interesting. The work of John Grisham The Pelican Brief was
chosen because the atmosphere was very excited. It concerned the political problem.
Second, I began reading the novel The Pelican Brief. By reading the novel, I
22
Shaw was an interesting character and I was also interested in analyzing her
problems, and how she solved the problem. The first part was ended with some
formulated questions in the chapter 1.
Third, I gathered some related and supporting data about the character of the
story and human psychology. The data were gathered. Some theories related to the
study were reviewed. To complete the study, it required a lot of thoughts, reference
books and notes.
Forth, I analyzed the formulated problems as same as the theoretical framework.
Finally, the study ended with the conclusion. In the last part of this study, I prepared
suggestions related to the teaching-learning activities using literary works.
23
CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS
In this part, I describe the characterization of Darby Shaw and also her internal and external conflicts along with its resolutions.
4.1 Darby Shaw’s Characterization
Darby Shaw is the main character of The Pelican Brief because she is the center of the story and also holds the most important role in the story. She is also a complex character because her character cannot be described easily. Darby Shaw is also a dynamic character because she undergoes some changes in her life.
Based on Murphy’s nine ways of characterization i.e. personal description, character as seen by other, speech, past life, conversation of other, reaction, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism, I will describe Darby Shaw’s characterization in the novel The Pelican Brief. In this novel, she is characterized as a beautiful woman that is very clever and also diligent and brave.
4.1.1 Beautiful
In this novel, Darby Shaw is characterized as a good-looking woman. Her appearance always attracts people to see her. She has beautiful long legs. Darby also has dark red hair. Her beauty is able to make her classmates turn their head to her. It happens when she enters Callahan’s class of Constitutional Law.
24 along the wall to the third row, where she deftly maneuvered between the crowded seats until she came to hers and sat down.
She flashed a quick smile at the guy seated next to her, and for a second Callahan and his Nash questions were forgotten. Her dark red hair fell just to the shoulder. She was that perfect little cheerleader with the perfect teeth and perfect hair that everybody fell in love with at least twice in high school. And maybe at least once in law school (p. 13)
Her law professor also admits that Darby Shaw is beautiful. In fact, he is falling in love with Darby Shaw and often spend the night together in Callahan’s house. The professor, Callahan, often says that Darby Shaw is beautiful. One example is when he talks to Gavin Verheek, he says that “She’s beautiful and brilliant and soft and gentle” (p.73)
The beauty of Darby is able to make Callahan, one of the men who dates lots of women, fall in love with her. Calahan is such a playboy that never gets in deep relationship or love with a woman for a long moment. Callahan never has a girlfriend although he is a handsome and rich a professor. But Darby with her long legs, sexy body, and tight jeans and also her beautiful look is able to trap him in a lover relationship. It can be seen from the following quotation.
“It’s hilarious. The great Thomas Callahan, he of the disposable women, has fallen hard.’
‘I have not.’
‘It must be a record. What, nine, ten months now? You’ve actually maintained a steady relationship for almost a year, haven’t you?’
‘Eight months and three weeks, but don’t tell anyone, Gavin. It’s not easy for me.’
‘Your secret’s safe. Just give me all the details. How tall is she?’
‘Five-eight, hundred and twelve pounds, long legs, tight Levis, independent, unpretentious, your typical Western girl.”(p.97)
From the quotation above it is clear that Callahan is really attracted to this girl. It means that Darby is much more beautiful than any other women who ever get involved in love relationship with Callahan. In fact, Callahan is able to
maintain his relationship for more than eight months despite of his hobby to date to different beautiful women every month. It means that Callahan has a different woman to date with in each month in a year. The fact can be seen from the quotation below that strengthens this argument.
‘Cool Hand Callahan, the man with monthly version of the world’s most gorgeous woman. Tell me, Thomas, and don’t lie to your best friend, just look at me in the eyes and tell me if you have succumbed to a state of monogamy.’
Verheek was leaning halfway across the table, watching and grinning stupidly.
‘Not so loud,’ Callahan said, looking around. ‘answer me.’
‘give me the other names on the list, and I’ll tell you.’
Verheek withdrew. ‘ Nice try. I think the answer is yes. I think you’re in love with this gal, but too cowardly to admit it. I think she’s got your number, pal.’
‘okay, she does. Do you feel better?’ (p. 100)
Based on her personal description, comments of other and conversations above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw is a very beautiful woman. She is young and attractive and able to make her professor fall in love with her.
4.1.2 Clever
26 Finally, slowly, from the fourth seat on the third row, Darby Shaw lifted her hand slightly, and the class breathed a collective sigh of relief. She had saved them again. She could recite the facts and holdings and concurrences and dissent and majority opinions to virtually every case Callahan could spit at them. She missed nothing. The perfect little cheerleader had graduated magna cum laude with a degree in biology, and planned to graduate magna cum laude with a degree in law (p.16) Even her professor that also her lover admits that Darby Shaw is a bright and intelligent student. She is also very an aggressive student.
“I think I told you. She is very bright and intelligent, and a very aggressive student. She writes better than most. Her passion, other than me of course, is constitutional law (p. 101)
Another fact that shows Darby is a clever woman is when she is able to make assumptions on the killer of the two Supreme Court Justices and tries to collect the eleven dockets that may help her in find the answer. She acquires that by assessing the computer in her college library. She studies the eleven dockets she prints from the computer. She tries to find the thin red line between the dockets to strengthen her assumption and helps to solve the murder. Her initiative and the way she finds the information about the murder show her cleverness. It can be seen from the following quotation:
A few minutes after ten, she walked to the computer room on the fourth level of the library and sat before a monitor.
An hour later, the printer stopped, and now she possessed a six-inch-thick summary of the eleven dockets. She hauled it back to her study carrel and placed it in the center of the cluttered desk.
The first assumption was easy—the killings were done by the same group for the same reason. If not, then the search was hopeless. The second assumption was difficult – the motive was not hatred or revenge, but rather manipulation. There was a case or an issue out there on its way to the Supreme Court, and someone wanted different justices. The third assumption was a bit easier – the case or issue involved a great deal of money (p. 63)
From her personal descriptions, comments of others and her thoughts above, I can conclude that Darby Shaw is a clever woman.
4.1.3 Brave
Darby Shaw is also characterized as a brave woman. In order to find information about Callahan’s murder and also to know her chaser, Darby Shaw forces herself to met Gavin Verheek, an agent from FBI. She never meets Gavin before. She realizes that she cannot trust Gavin.
She could not trust Gavin Verheek. He was employed by a law enforcement agency that at times operated by its own rules. He took orders from a man with a history of paranoia and dirty tricks. His boss reported to a president in charge of an Administration run by fools. The President had rich, sleazy friends who gave him lots of money (p. 220) With her bravery, Darby Shaw dares herself to meet Gavin because she needs someone to trust. She needs help and also information about the killing. From the quotation above, it is seen that Darby Shaw does not believe the cops and the authorities. She tries hard to believe in Gavin because she knows that Gavin is Callahan’s friends.
Darby Shaw, actually, is afraid to meet Gavin. So, she sets the place for the meeting and also Gavin’s costumes. She asks him to wear a black sweatshirt, red baseball cap, and also to bring newspaper. Her heart is pounding and the blood tense is rising whenever she sees Gavin approaching.
She expected him at precisely noon, and there he was. Black sweatshirt, red baseball cap, folded newspaper. He was bit thinner than she expected, but he could lose a few pounds. Her heart pounded away. Be cool, she said. Just is cool, dam’mit.
28
All of the quotations prove that Darby Shaw is very brave. She puts her life at stake just to meet Gavin, someone that she never meets before. Therefore, I can conclude that she is a brave woman.
4.1.4 Diligent
Darby Shaw is also a diligent woman. She often goes to the library and study there. In the library, she reads many cases from every state and compares to each other. She can stay in the library for hours, especially if she has works to do. This time, she wants to know the relationship of the murder of two Supreme Court justices. She checks all cases from those two Justices in the library.
In cluttered study carrel on thee fifth level of the law library, between the racks of thick, seldom-used law books, Darby Shaw scanned a printout of the Supreme Court’s docket. She had been through it twice, and though it was loaded with controversy, she found nothing that interested her.
She compiled a neat list of possible suspects, but they would be obvious to everyone. The list was now in the garbage (p. 62).
The way Darby Shaw was looking for information about the murder of two Supreme Court justices shows us that she is very diligent. She is able to read many thick cases and make a list of the suspects of the murder.
Unable to find out what she needs, Darby Shaw goes back again to the library on the same day. Now she is reviewing the cases through computer monitor and prints it. She carefully chooses the file she wants to print and then prints it. After printing the cases, Darby Shaw brings home a six-inch-thick summary of the docket. She is very diligent in reviewing the summary file.
A few minutes after ten, she walked to the computer room on the fourth level of the library and sat before a monitor. The room was empty. She
pecked away at the keyboard, found what she wanted, and soon the printer was spewing forth page after page of appeals pending in the eleven federal appellate courts around the country. And hour later, the printer stopped, and she now possessed a six-inch-thick summary of the eleven dockets. She hauled it back to her study carrel and placed it in the center of the cluttered desk (p. 63)
Not finding what she wants in the library, with her diligence, she goes to the federal building that keeps many kinds of public records, including all trial cases. She finds all cases that involve those two Supreme Justices. In the clerk office, she asks the permission to see the records of the cases by the Supreme Justices. Having the permission to access the file, diligently, she examines the file of the cases for four hours. The way Darby gets the information can be seen from the following quotations.
Darby parked in the near-empty lot of the federal building in Lafayette, and entered the clerk’s office on the first floor.
The clerk scribed the information on a clipboard hanging near the door. ‘How long will you be?’
‘I don’t know. Three or four hours.’
‘We close at five. Find me at the office when you leave.’ She closed the door with a smirk. Darby opened a drawer full of pleading, and began flipping through files and taking notes. The lawsuit was seven years old, with one plaintiff and thirty-eight wealthy corporate defendant who had collectively hired and fired no less than fifteen law firm from all over the country. Big firm, many with hundreds of lawyers in dozens of offices (p. 76)
30 record in the federal building. Therefore, I can conclude that she is a very diligent woman.
4.1.5 Caring
Darby Shaw is a caring woman. She really cares to Callahan. At first, she is his student at the school of law and then she becomes his lover. She loves Callahan very much. She shows her attention and care in any situation, including when they have an argument over a dinner. At that time, they have the dinner at a restaurant. The argument starts whenever Darby Shaw forbids Callahan from drinking too much alcohol. Callahan gets drunk and is not able to walk and drive. Darby Shaw, who cares Callahan, asks him not to drive. She says that she will drive the car. Darby Shaw asks the key from Callahan. Darby Shaw is afraid that Callahan will have an accident if he drives the car with high alcohol level on his blood.
The argument started with dessert, a portion of the meal Callahan preferred to drink. He was drinking too fast and getting sloppy, and by the time she finished rattling off this accounting he was angry. He gulped it and ordered another, and she was furious (p.123)
Darby Shaw forces Callahan to hand the key by stopping on the other side of the road and refuses to go home by car. She insists that she will walk home if Callahan does not hand the key.
The argument turned nasty on the sidewalk as they walked away from the restaurant. He pulled the keys to the Porsche from his pocket, and she said he was too drunk to drive. She said she would walk. Have a nice one, he said. His blood level was at least point-two-zero. He was a law professor, dammit. He would kill someone (p. 123)
Another fact that shows us Darby is a caring woman is when she is thinking about her family. She has a mother and a brother and also a pass away father. In her father’s death in the plane crash, the family lawyer tricks them to get the biggest portion of the insurance payment. The lawyer makes them pay him for two years for his bungling work and stalling. Finally the lawyer gets five hundreds thousand dollars while Darby only gets one hundred thousand dollars. Because of her caring to her family that has been tricked by a dirty lawyer, Darby wants to take revenge to the lawyer’s malpractices. Then, she decided to be a lawyer. Beside taking a revenge, Darby also cares the environment. She also wants to be a lawyer to protect the environment. She wants to sue any party that destroys the environment. The way Darby shows her caring can be seen from the following quotation:
His name was Herschel, and for two years the family suffered as Herschel stalled and lied and bungled the case. They settled a week before trial for half million, after Herschel’s cut, and Darby got a hundred thousand. She decided to be a lawyer. If a clown like Herschel could do it and make a big bucks while wreaking havoc on society, then she certainly could do it for nobler purposes. She thought of Herschel often. When she passed the bar exam, her first lawsuit would be filed against him for malpractice. She wanted to work for an environmental firm. Finding a job, she knew, would not be a problem (p.117)
32 has been tricked by a dirty lawyer who takes the biggest portion of the insurance payment. She also wants to be a lawyer to protect environment.
4.2 Darby Shaw’s Conflicts and Their Resolutions
Perrine (1972: 44) describes conflict as “a clash of action, ideas, desire, or wills between two individual and people in the society that can include, physical, mental, emotional, or moral”. While Kalish (1996: 450) states that “conflict is a type of stress as a result of two or more different needs. The satisfaction of one need leads to the non satisfaction of another need, or the satisfaction of one need brings unpleasant consequences”. Other experts, Worchel and Cooper divide conflict into two kinds, intrapersonal conflict and interpersonal conflict. Intrapersonal conflict is a conflict that arises within one character or by him or herself. Whereas, interpersonal conflict is a conflict that arises between the characters with the power outside the character. In this part, I describe some conflicts which are experienced by Darby Shaw. The explanation will be divided into two parts: her intra-personal conflicts and her interpersonal conflict
4.2.1 Intra-personal conflicts
In this novel, Darby Shaw experiences some intra-personal conflicts. Worchel and Cooper (1979: 460) define intra-personal conflict as a conflict that arises within one character or by him or herself. Next, the conflicts experienced by Darby Shaw. They are conflicts on believing in Thomas Callahan’s death, on
finding the explanation of the car explosion, in believing Grantham and in solving the case. These conflicts are analyzed using Worchel and Cooper’s theory of intra-personal conflict (1979: 460).
4.2.1.1 Believing in Thomas Callahan’s Death
The first intra-personal conflict is when she sees her lover, Professor Callahan, die of a car explosion. Darby Shaw experiences intra-personal conflict because she cannot receive that her lover and also her lecturer, Professor Callahan is dead. At that time, they are eating in a restaurant. After they finish the diner they go home. When Callahan gets into his car and turn the engine on, suddenly the car explodes and burns him alive. The fire burns the car and the explosion makes the car flip and land upside down.
The explosion knocked her to the sidewalk. She landed on all fours, face down, stunned for a second, then immediately aware of the heat and the tinny pieces of fiery debris falling in the street. The Porsche flipped in a perfect violent somersault and landed upside down (p.124)
The explosion also makes Darby fall on the pavement. Her head fall on the bumper of another car and makes her faint. The explosion makes people nearby come up into the street. They want to know what is going on. Somebody helps Darby and drags her to the pavement and gives her a cold cloth on her forehead.
34 Darby started toward it, screaming for him. Debris fell around her and the heat slowed her. Then, a second explosion flipped it again and drove her away. She tripped, and her head fell hard on the bumper of another car. The dive emptied and the drunks were everywhere. They stood along the sidewalk and stared. They drag her by the elbow back to the sidewalk, to the center of the crowd. She was repeating the name of Thomas. A cold cloth came from the dive and was placed on her forehead. Her mouth was dry. ‘Thomas. Thomas,’ she repeated. (p. 124-125)
Professor Thomas Callahan is killed in the accident. Darby Shaw experiences a great loss of the death of Thomas Callahan because this person is her boyfriend and also her lecturer. She cannot believe the incident that has just happened just now.
Darby Shaw experiences intra-personal conflict because she cannot receive that her lover and also her lecturer, Professor Callahan is dead. She keeps looking for him but when she cannot find him, she starts to realize that his lover is killed. This accident brings her a great loss and also alters her way of life. According to Worchel and Cooper’s theory on conflict (1970), this accident brings her an approach- avoidance conflict. This conflict involves only one goal, which has both attractive and unattractive aspects associated with it. This kind of conflict is rather difficult to resolve as the individual’s own desire to both obtain the goal and escape from it.
Darby Shaw really loves Callahan but the accident makes her impossible to get him back alive. She cannot believe that he is dead.
“Where is Thomas?” she asked, looking at the crowd in the sidewalk. “Where is Thomas?” she repeated.
“Miss, who is Thomas?” asked the black man.
“Thomas Callahan,” she said softly, as if everyone knew him “Was he in that car?”
She nodded, then closed her eyes.
She tried to speak, but could not hold the tears. She buried her face in the handkerchief. (p. 126)
From the above quotation, it can be seen that the accident really hurts her and she can do nothing about it and as the release or the resolution for that, she just cries out. It can be concluded that she is using avoidance method in solving her intra-personal conflict, that is, by leaving the situation totally.
From the several quotations above, I can conclude that Callahan’s death brings intrapersonal conflict to Darby Shaw. According to Worchel and Cooper’s theory on conflict, Darby Shaw’s conflict is categorized into approach- avoidance conflict which brings her attractive and unattractive aspects. Darby Shaw resolves her conflict by using avoidance method.
4.2.1.2 In Solving the Mystery of the Car Explosion
The second intra-personal conflict experiences by Darby Shaw is whenever she wants to ask for some helps in solving the mystery around the car explosion. After the car explosion, Darby feels that someone tries to kill her too. She feels that she should have been killed in the car too along with Callahan. She realizes that this thing happens because of her Brief on the murder case of two Supreme Court justices. It is a sensitive case and she gives it to the wrong hand.
36 Her decision of asking helps from Gavin brings a conflict to Darby Shaw. On one side, she cannot trust Gavin Verheek because he is an employee of a law enforcement agency. This kind of man usually takes an order from a man with a history of paranoia and dirty tricks. His boss has reported to a president in charge of an administration run by fools. However, on the other hand, Darby Shaw needs his help badly and she cannot just pick someone to be her helper. She has to make sure that her helper is a clean man.
She could not trust Gavin Verheek. He was employed by a law enforcement agency that at times operated by its own rules. He took orders from a man with a history of paranoia and dirty tricks. His boss reported to a President in charge of an Administration run by fools. The President had rich, sleazy friends who gave him lots of money.
This becomes a conflict inside Darby Shaw’s heart. This conflict, according to Worchel and Cooper’s theory (1970), can be categorized as approach-avoidance conflict because it has good and bad effect. In one side Verheek can be a valuable source for the information about the bomb explosion. On the other side, he can be a dangerous enemy because he works for the government.
To resolve this conflict, she uses negotiation method. Darby Shaw is willing to meet with Verheek. She negotiates the terms and condition of the meeting with Verheek and asks him to follow her order precisely. Darby Shaw insists that Verheek must follow her instructions or they will never meet. The conflict and its resolution can be seen from the following quotation:
She thought for a moment, and her voice was suddenly stronger. ‘Behind your hotel is a place called Riverwalk. It’s a shopping area with restaurants and--‘
‘I spent two hours there this afternoon.’
‘Good. On the second level is a clothing store called Frenchmen’s Bend.’ ‘I saw it.’
‘At precisely noon tomorrow, I want you to stand by the entrance and wait for five minutes.’
‘Come on, Darby. You won’t be alive at noon tomorrow. Enough of this cat and mouse.’
‘Just do as I say, Gavin. We’ve never met, so I have no idea what you look like. Wear a black shirt of some type and a red baseball cap.’ (p.208) It can be seen from the quotation that Darby Shaw is very careful in arranging her meeting with Verheek because she never meets this guy. She realizes that Gavin can be a help but also can be a threat to her life.
I can conclude that she experiences approach-avoidance conflict because she has to choose something that has good and bad effect to her. She resolves the conflict by using negotiation method.
4.2.1.3 Believing in Grantham
On her way to meet Gavin Verheek, Darby meets Grantham, a reporter of
Washington Post. Darby wants to trust him but she is afraid that her experience with Verheek will happen again. She absolutely knows that if she tells the story and Grantham runs it in his newspaper, both of them will be haunted and chased. This is also another conflict because in one side she wants to run the story and reveals who has killed Thomas, but on the other side, she has no guts to do it. It can be seen from the following quotation:
“You’re safe.”
“Maybe for the moment. We’ll both be hunted when this story is published. Assuming it’s published.”
Gray rattled his ice and studied her. “Depends on what you tell me. And it depends on how much can be verified from other sources.”
38
Grantham asks her to move to Washington. Grantham feels that if she moves to Washington, she will be much more secured. Darby rejects it. She says that it will be much safer if she leaves the country and go to another country, but she and Grantham are still having a job to find Gracia, a man that they hope will give a little clue on their case, the Pelican Brief. It can be seen from the following quotation:
He waited a moment. “Are you okay?” “I’m terrific. Never felt better.”
“Are you coming to D.C?”
“I don’t know. I’m safe here, and I’ll be much safer when I get on a plane and leave the country.”
“Sure, but I thought you had this wonderful idea about finding Gracia, then hopefully nailing Mattiece. I thought you were outraged and morally indignant and motivated by revenge. What’s happened to you?”
“Well, for one, I have this burning desire to see my twenty-fifth birthday. I’m not selfish, but perhaps I’d like to see my Thirtieth too. That would be nice.” (p. 275)
This becomes a conflict inside Darby Shaw. This conflict, according to Worchel and Cooper’s theory of conflict, can be categorized as approach-avoidance conflict because the goal that she wants to achieve has attractive and unattractive aspects. The conflict involves two parties, the first party is her will to leave the country and the other party is her curiosity to solve the case. She wants to leave the country to save her life but on the other side, she wants to reveal what motives are behind the murder, although it may hurt and even kill her. And also, Darby Shaw is motivated to take revenge for Callahan’s death. She resolves this conflict by using negotiation. She negotiates the conflict with herself. She decides to reveal what is behind Callahan’s death and risk her life for that.
