THE MORAL VALUES REFLECTED IN DOC’S CHARACTERISTICS IN
JOHN STEINBECK’S CANNERY ROW
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
B
YN
AOMIE
LIZABETHS.
S
TUDENTN
UMBER:
044214135
ENGLISH
LETTERS
STUDY
PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT
OF
ENGLISH
LETTERS
FACULTY
OF
LETTERS
SANATA
DHARMA
UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
i
THE MORAL VALUES REFLECTED IN DOC’S CHARACTERISTICS IN
JOHN STEINBECK’S
CANNERY ROW
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
BY
NAOMI ELIZABETH S.
STUDENT NUMBER: 044214135
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2010
ii
A
Sarjana Sastra
Undergraduate Thesis
THE MORAL VALUES REFLECTED IN DOC’S CHARACTERISTICS IN
JOHN STEINBECK’S
CANNERY ROW
By
NAOMI ELIZABETH SEMBIRING
Student number: 044214135
Approved by
Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum.
Advisor
November 15, 2010
Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum.
Co-Advisor
November
15,
2010
iii
A
Sarjana Sastra
Undergraduate Thesis
THE MORAL VALUES REFLECTED IN DOC’S CHARACTERISTICS IN
JOHN STEINBECK’S
CANNERY ROW
By
NAOMI ELIZABETH SEMBIRING
Student Number: 044214135
Defended before the Board of Examiners
On
And Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name
Signature
Chairman
: Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd,MA
Secretary
:
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum
Member
:
Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum
Member
:
Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum
Member
:
Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum
Yogyakarta, 16 November 2010
Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University
Dean
Dr. Praptomo Baryadi Isodarus, M.Hum.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
iv
Be Anxious for Nothing, but in
Everything by Prayer and
Supplication, with Thanks giving, Let
your Requests be made Known to
GOD
~Philippians 4:6~
Especially dedicate my thesis to:
* My beloved superhero father and
mother
* My dearest brother and sisters
v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALTY
I declare that the thesis I have written does not contain any works or parts of the
works of other people, except those cited in the quotations as any academic paper
should.
Yogyakarta, November 16, 2010
Naomi Elizabeth Sembiring
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma :
Nama
: Naomi Elizabeth Sembiring
Nomor Mahasiswa
: 044214135
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma Karya Ilmiah yang berjudul:
THE MORAL VALUES REFLECTED IN DOC’S CHARACTERISTICS IN
JOHN STEINBECK’S CANNERY ROW
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan ( bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam
bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan
secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk
kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan
royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 16 November 2010
Yang menyatakan,
(Naomi Elizabeth Sembiring)
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my savior, my father
and my best friend, Jesus Christ, for this life and every little thing He blessed me.
Thanks to The Heavenly Father for always being at my side and restoring my
heart with love and kindness, through all the people who have helped me through
my sweet and bitter times.
To Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. I owe a special debt of thanks for all
the valuable ideas, advice, arguments and discussions, solutions to problems,
comments, criticism, and for all the time she has devoted to my thesis. She is
indeed a critical, kind and very smart mentor. I am very grateful to have her as my
advisor. Next appreciation goes to all lecturers of English Letters Department for
the knowledge, time and guidance they have shared me for the years of my study.
To my co-advisor, Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S, M.Hum. thank for her
guidance and correction in helping me to complete this thesis. From the very
bottom of my heart, I give my deepest gratitude to my beloved parents for always
pouring me the endless love since the day I was born. Thanks for guiding me to
grow up and showing me the strength to face this life. My deepest thanks also go
to my angels on earth, dearest brother and sisters, for their understanding and
remarkable support when I was on the way to finish my thesis. They are the best
partners I have grown up with. I am so proud of them and I could not find the
right word in the dictionary to express my deep love for them.
viii
The following grattitude I refer to all my friends. Our togetherness and
craziness, all the laugh and tears have engraved magnificent experiences in my
life. Meeting them all is such a great blessing. My special thanks go to my lovely
buddies: Ella, Paulina, Laras, Cei, Dyah for their caring and sharing. They are
special companion, thanks for the things their have given to me. To my big boss,
kak Pipit, thanks for your understanding and caring to me. To Iin, Nisa, Ninda,
Nanda and Bella thanks for being my good listeners and the cooperation in
Mimooi Boutique. To my church mate Ratih, Arya, mbak Nining, mas Mixon,
mbak Vevi, mas Jembri, mbak Yani, pak Anez, Elizabeth, Rachel, ibu Ruth, pak
Markus dan ibu thanks for the support and advice. I have special thanks to Pak
Freddy dan Ibu Melly for their kindness and support in finishing my study.
Thanks for being with me and caring me. To all my friends who unfortunately
cannot be mentioned one by one, I thank them all for the times we shared.
Nothing compares to them all!
I keep the best thanks to my beloved man, Markus Roberto, part of my
days and heart. Thanks for your never-ending understanding, patience, grumbling,
support, faith, fight, and love. Your sincere heart has brightened up my life.
The last but not least, I would like to thank to all priests in Successful
Bethany Families for helping me to be what i am now.
Naomi
Elizabeth
Sembiring
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
…..…….……….
i
APPROVAL
PAGE
……….……….
ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE
………
iii
DEDICATION PAGE
……….. iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
……… v
SURAT PENGESAHAN PERPUSTAKAAN
……… vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
……….
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
……….….... ix
ABSTRACT
………...……… x
ABSTRAK
……….………..…..…….
xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study ……….……….………
1
B. Problems Formulation ………..…….……
2
C. Objective of the Study …..…….……….
3
D. Definition of Terms ……….…………..
3
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies ..………..
5
B. Review of Related Theories ..………
7
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ……….
8
2. Theory of Morals and Morality ……….
11
3. Theory of Moral Values ……….
12
4. The Relation of Literature and Moral Values ……….
19
C. Theoretical Framework …..…….……….
20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study …..…….……….
22
B. Approach of the Study …..…….……….
23
C. Method of the Study …..…….……….
23
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
A. The Character and Characterization of Doc …..…….……….
25
B. The Moral Values reflected trough Doc’ characteristics and
his character development …..…….……… 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
…..…….……….
50
x
ABSTRACT
Naomi Elizabeth Sembiring. 2004. The Moral Values Reflected Through Doc’s
Characteristics in John Steinbeck’s
Cannery Row
. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Cannery Row
is John Steinbeck’s novel which conveys social issues of a
society living in a cannery district of Monterey, California; the district known as
Cannery Row. Since the style of
Cannery Row
is easy to read, The writer was
interested in analyzing the novel. The characters are mostly lower class citizens,
heavily made-up women, and the main character is Doc, a scientist. He is a source
of philosophies, art, and science for the inhabitants of Cannery Row.
This thesis proposes two problems to be answered, namely how is Doc as
the main character in the novel
Cannery Row
described and what are the moral
values reflected through Doc’s characteristics.
The approach used in answering the problems is moral-philosophical
approach. This approach leads the writer to analyze the previous problems
formulation. Some theories are also needed to support the analysis namely theory
of character and characterization, theory of moral and morality, theory of moral
values and the relation of literature and moral values. Library research is used as
the method of the study. The primary source is the novel
Cannery Row
, which
written by John Steinbeck. The secondary source is some books that can support
the thesis.
The results of the analysis show that the characters of Doc are friendly,
communicative, smart, patient, caring, helpful,humble and kind person. Doc was a
good character whom everyone in Cannery Row liked and relied on. Doc was
influenced by his friends. They were Lee Chong, Dora, Mack and the boys. Doc’s
character changed when Mack and his friends finally threw a successful party for
him and for the first time in the novel, he relaxed and let himself go while in the
presence of other people. The writer also found there are seven moral values in
this novel that devided into two parts; friendship and love. The moral values in
Doc’s friendship are caring, loyalty, patience and sharing. Then, the moral values
of love are respect, forgive and responsibility. From the main character, it is
revealed that this novel contains moral values about life and living; life is not
about what one gets, not what one becomes, but life is about what one does and
what gives for their life.
xi
ABSTRAK
Naomi Elizabeth Sembiring. 2004. The Moral Values Reflected Through Doc’s
Characteristics in John Steinbeck’s
Cannery Row
. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Cannery Row
adalah sebuah novel yang ditulis oleh John Steinbeck yang
mengemukakan permasalahan-permasalahan sosial dalam kehidupan masyarakat
di wilayah pabrik pengalengan, Cannery Row. Berhubung gaya bahasa dalam
Cannery Row
adalah mudah diikuti, saya tertarik untuk menganalisa novel
tersebut. Hampir seluruh tokohnya merupakan warga negara kelas bawah, para
wanita bergincu tebal, dan tokoh utamanya, Doc, seorang ilmuwan. Dia sumber
filosofi, seni, dan ilmu penegtahuan bagi penduduk Cannery Row.
Ada dua permasalahan utama yang akan di bahas. Permasalahan yang
pertama adalah bagaimana Steinbeck menggambarkan karakter tokoh utama di
dalam cerita. Permasalah yang kedua adalah nilai-nilai moral apa sajakah yang
dicerminkan oleh karakter Doc.
Pendekatan yang digunakan untuk menganalisa masalah-masalah ini
adalah pendekatan filsafat moral. Beberapa teori di butuhkan untuk mendukung
analisa di studi ini. Teori-teori tersebut adalah teori karakter, teori moral dan
moralitas, teori nilai-nilai moral, dan hubungan antara sastra dengan nilai-nilai
moral. Penelitian pustaka merupakan bagian dari metode pembelajaran yang
digunakan dalam studi ini. Ada dua macam sumber. Sumber utama yaitu novel itu
sendiri,
Cannery Row
yang di tulis oleh John Steinbeck. Sumber yang kedua
adalah beberapa buku yang mendukung menganalisa studi ini.
Hasil dari penelitian menunjukan bahwa karakter Doc adalah ramah,
komunikatif, pintar, sabar, perduli, penolong, rendah hati dan baik. Doc adalah
seorang yang disukai dan dipercayai setiap orang di Cannery Row. Doc di
pengaruhi oleh teman-temannya. Mereka adalah Lee Chong, Dora, Mack dan
anak-anak. Karakter Doc berubah ketika akhirnya Mack dan teman-temannya
berhasil membuat suatu pesta untuknya dan untuk pertama kalinya dalam novel
tersebut, dia bersantai dan membiarkan dirinya keluar di antara orang banyak
yang hadir. Penulis juga menemukan tujuh nilai-nilai moral yang terdapat di novel
ini yang terbagi menjadi dua bagian; pertemanan dan cinta. Nilai-nilai moral
dalam pertemanan Doc adalah kepedulian, kesetiaan, kesabaran dan berbagi.
Kemudian, nilai-nilai moral cinta adalah menghargai, memaafkan dan tanggung
jawab. Melalui tokoh utama, nilai-nilai moral yang disampaikan dalam novel ini
adalah mengenai hidup dan kehidupan bahwa hidup bukanlah mengenai apa yang
seseorang dapatkan maupun menjadi apa dia nanti, namun hidup adalah tentang
apa yang seseorang lakukan dan apa yang ia berikan untuk hidupnya.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the study
Literature is an art which expresses ideas and feelings in any written
forms. It has the power to move the reader’s heart or to stir the reader’s emotions.
The most important aim of a literary work is to serve as media for the writer to
move the senses and feelings about facts, help them to make a decision and if
necessary, an action when they face a problem. A good writer will try to get closer
to the meaning of life to make his works meaningfully and to give benefits to
people.
John Steinbeck was one of American novelists who has been considered as
a writer who concerns with a social message in his novels. During his life, he
worked as a manual laborer while writing. Therefore, his depiction of the lives of
the workers in his stories is authentic. He has produced many works and one of
his immediate postwar books is
Cannery Row
(1945). It contained the familiar
elements of his social criticism though it was sentimental in tone and more relaxed
in approach.
Once Steinbeck wrote in the internet about the situational background
before and after he made
Cannery Row
. He wrote
Cannery Row
as his act in
response to the soldier’s request who needed a book for pleasure instead of a book
for raising their spirit of war. On the one hand, he got some warlike criticism, on
the other hand there was not any complaint from the troops.
2
After reading Steinbeck’s
Cannery row
, the writer is interested in
examining Doc, the main character.
Doc in this novel takes an important role in
Cannery Row
seen through the
way he deals with others and vice versa. He is a public figure who becomes the
center of the story by being the recipient of two parties conducted by Mack and
the boys with all residents of
Cannery Row
. Seeing the fact above, the writer
would like to focus this study on the characteristics of Doc. Moreover, the writer
also tries to find out the moral values reflected through his characteristics.
B. Problem Formulation
To guide the discussion, there are two questions formulated as follows:
1.
How is Doc as the main character in the novel
Cannery Row
described?
2.
What are the moral values reflected through Doc’s characteristics?
C. Objectives of the Study
As the problem above has been formulated, there are some objectives to be
achieved. Firstly, the writer finds out and describes the main character
characteristics, which are observed from the action, attitude and behavior of Doc
to know what kind or character he is. Secondly, the analysis tries to explain the
moral values through Doc’s characteristics in
Cannery Row
.
D. Definition of Terms
3
There are several key terms in this study. They are necessary to be defined
and explained in order that the readers have the same interpretation on several
terms, as well as to avoid the readers’ confusion in the further study. Those terms
are:
1. Character and Characterization
According to Abrams, Characters are the person presented in dramatic or
narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral,
dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the
dialogue-and by what they do-the action. The grounds in characters’ temperament,
desire, and moral nature for their speech and action are called their motivation. A
character may undergo a radical change, either through the gradual process of
motivation and development or as the result crisis (Abrams, 1981:20).
According to Roger B. Henkle, characterization is central to the fictional
experience. And the principle objective of the creation of characters in novels is to
enable us to understand, and to experience, people (Henkle, 1977:86).
2. Moral Values
Garnet says that the term “moral” may be defined as reffering to
traditional views of right and wrong (Garnett, 1952:114). Moral is clue how to act
in the society in the right way, Moral is to differ what is good and what is not
good.
Gallagher stated that moral value is a standard by reference to which a
particular action can be judged morally good or bad (Gallagher, 1985:1). Moral
4
values are the important things that can be learnt from human’s actions. It helps us
to differentiate what is good and what is not.
5
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter contains three significant parts. The first part contains certain
criticism about the novel of Cannery Row. The second part is the theories used by
the writer to analyze the novel. These theories are the basic guidance in answering
the problem.
The writer is going to discuss about the main character, in this case is Doc and
his character development that reflected to the moral values. The last part of the
chapter is going to present the theoretical ground to give some clues to the readers
to get description of what will be discussed deeply in the analysis.
A. Review of Related Studies
Criticism could be as the appreciation, comment, judgment, analysis and
suggestion. As Warren and Wellek say in Theory of Literature, criticisms of
literary works are born along with the birth of literary works (1956:336).
In his thesis entitled The Life of American Society in the Post-World War I as
Depicted in John Steinbeck’ Cannery Row, Subagyo analyzed about the social
issues found in the life of the society of Cannery Row as seen from sociological
perspective. The results of the analysis show that setting plays a major role in the
novel. The author describes the setting of place, and social background vividly
whereas the setting of time is not described explicitly.
6
Subagyo also stated that the setting of the narrative is presented in two
ways, general and specific. The narrative takes place in Cannery Row, Monterey.
Monterey is a reputable city in California and Cannery Row is a seaside district of
Monterey that has some contradictory characteristics. In the morning, Cannery
Row describes itself as a ”noisy” district. Cannery Row will return to its real
condition soon after the canneries stop its activities. There are few people living in
Cannery Row and these people are kinds of people who live in the old ways of
living and revere the sense of solidarity. The description of Monterey depicts the
industrial society of American civilization whereas the depiction of the life of
Cannery Row describes a slum area and the life of its people in the American
Civilization of the 1940s.
The writer agrees with what was written by Subagyo. There are some
social aspects found in the novel that reflect the real life of American Society in
the Post World War I. They are urban living pattern, materialism, consumerism,
distinguishable social classes, the sense of solidarity among individuals at a slum
area, and the characteristics of unemployment group in the society.
Biographer Jakson Benson said that Cannery Row is Steinbeck’s war
novel that is not mentioning the war. The novel certainly reveals that life is both
exhilarating-parties, punctuated with good fun, despair-suicides and deaths that
occur in some frequency
(http://www2.sjsu.edu/steinbeck/Biography/Steinbeckhomes.htm).
The novel is not as successfully as John Steinbeck’s other works. There
are only fewer critics given upon Cannery Row, which considered being more
7
likely as the repetition of John Steinbeck’s previous novel, Tortilla Flat
(http://www.ac.wwu.edu~stephan/Steinbeck/row.htm).
In Steinbeck and His Critics, Peter Lisca’s wrote that Cannery Row is one
of Steinbeck’s writings, which is regarded as a failure since some critics did not
take this novel seriously. Readers that are more critical could regard the novel as
further evidence that Steinbeck was no longer an author to be taken seriously
(1957:37).
Frederick J,Hoffman as quoted in Steinbeck and His Critics shared the
same idea with Peter Lisca. He wrote that Cannery Row is one of Steinbeck’s
later fictions besides The Moon is Down and The Wayward Bus which obviously
showing “the poverty of conception which had in greater or less degree hurt his
earlier work” (1957:39).
In the writer’s opinion, the writer does not agree with what was written
there since it was needed as a humorous novel that can give an intermezzo to the
soldiers after the Second World War in 1945. This study will examine
about Doc’s characteristics as the main character, his character development and
the last is about the moral values through Doc’s characteristics.
B. Review on Related Theories
In this part, the writer will give some theories that are relevant to my
thesis. There are theories of characterization, theory of morals and morality
and theory of moral values.
A. Character and Characterization
8
One of the important parts in a novel is character. Without them, there will
be no story at all. The author can express his or her message through the
character in the novel. M.H Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms said that
characters presented in a dramatic or narrative work are “persona who are
interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional
qualities that are expressed in what the say- the dialogue and by what they do-
the action” (Abrams, 1981:20). Abrams mentioned about consistency as the
key word to understand character in a story that also marked a development in
character’s characteristics. He said that a character:
“may remain essentially ‘stable’, or unchanged in his outlook and his dispositions, from beginning to end of a work, or he may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual development or as the result of an extreme crisis. Whether a character remains stable or changes, the reader of a traditional, realistic work requires ‘consistency’- the character should not suddenly break off and act in a way not plausibly grounded in his temperament as we have already come to know it.” (Abrams, 1981:20)
The person is described not as an individualized personality but as an example
of some vice or virtue or type. In “Understanding Unseens:an Introduction to
English Poetry and the English Novel for overseas Students”, Murphy stated there
are nine ways in which an author can present the characterization of characters in
a literary work. Those nine ways are:
a. Personal Description
The author can describe a character by using the appearance and clothes.
The readers will get only a visible look of a character, like parts of the
body of the character and the clothes he or she wears (1972:161).
9
b. Characters as seen by another
The author can describe a character through the view, opinions, attitudes,
and comments of other characters. The readers will get a reflected image
of the characters and other means (1972:162).
c. Speech
The author can describe a character by giving readers an insight into the
characteristics through the way he or she speaks and the language he or
she uses. Here, the reader enables to analyze from the sentences of the
character uses (1972:164).
d. Past life
The author can provide a clue to events that help to shape characteristic by
giving the readers the character’s past life. This is quite helpful to analyze
the motives that a character has when he has a particular characteristic or
does something special (1972:166).
e. Conversation of others
The author can also provide a clue about a character through the
conversation of other people and what they say about him or her. Readers
will learn that what others say about a character may reveal what kind of
characters he or she is (1972:167).
f. Reactions
The author can describe characteristic by showing how a character
responds to various situations and events. The reaction may give a clue to
what characteristics a character has (1972:168).
10
g. Direct comment
The author may give comments and descriptions on the characteristics of
the character directly to readers. This becomes the best way for the readers
to visualize the characteristics because they know what exactly the author
wants to reveal (1972:170).
h. Thoughts
The author gives readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking
about. There, he or she can tell readers what different people are thinking
of. Such thing cannot be seen but can be presented through the speech and
attitudes. The readers then are in a privileged position; they have a secret
listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a character in a novel
(1972:171).
i. Mannerism
The author can characterize a character through the mannerism, habits or
idiosyncrasies. Those things may tell readers something about the
character’s characteristics (1972:172).
About characterization, Roger B. Henkle said that, characterization is
”central to the fictional experience. And the principle objective of the creation of
characters in novels is to enable us to understand, and to experience, people”
(Henkle, 1977:86). In their book “A Handbook to Literature “, Hugh and Harmon
stated that “In the lyric, the essay, and the autobiography, the author reveals
aspects of his or her own character; in the biography and the history, the author
presents the character of actual persons; and in fiction (the drama, the novel, the
11
short story, and the narrative poem), the author reveals the characters of imaginary
persons. The creation of these imaginary persons so that they exist for the reader
as lifelike is called characterization” (1986: 81).
B. Theory of Morals and Morality
Gallagher in The Basis for Christian Ethics said that the term “Ethics” is
explained by reference to the term “Moral”. By “Ethics” it means the study of
moral life or the study of actions or person insofar as they are moral. Ethics is
therfore defined as a general study of moral life. (Gallagher, 1985:1)
Moreover, in his book entitled The Moral Nature of Man, Garnett says that
the term “moral” is best taken as an exact synonym of ‘Ethical’. “moral” may be
defined as reffering to traditional views of right and wrong. (Garnett, 1952:114)
Generally, moral is concerned with many forms of belief about right and wrong in
human’s life. It means that if we do good or right thing it can be said that our
moral is good but if we do evil or wrong things in our life it can be said that our
moral is bad. Moral is a clue how to act in the society in the right way, moral is to
differ what is good and what is not good.
Basically, when we discuss moral, it is not simply about what is good or
bad. It has a deeper sense. Cochrane, Hamm, and Kazepides, in their book entitled
The Domain of Moral Education, state that moral thinking is, also, about the
fundamental values by which we profess to live (1979: 7). They also add that
human actions are never done in a vacuum but in context which directly or
12
indirectly involves other person. It is implied that there is always an influence
from one person to another in every actions that human did.
Morality has a deeper sense than moral. In the moral dimension, we only
differ what is bad or good actions happened in the story or society, but in morality
context, we should be able to understand what reasons that stand behind the good
actions. According to Ervin Staub in his book Positive Social Behavior and
Morality says that morality is a set of rules, customs, or principles that regulate
people’s conduct in relation to other people, conduct that affects human welfare.
(1978: 10) The morality of an act is determined by a person’s perceptions of and
beliefs about the right conduct and by that person’s reasons for acting or not
acting in a particular way. (1999: 12-13) The goodness or bad of the reason
behind the action is what then called as morality.
In philosophy, morality is often regarded as equivalent to values that carry
a sense of obligation. These values usually refer to the effect or consequence of
conduct on individuals or the group. (1999: 11)
C. Theory of Moral Values
He says that moral values and principles or norms of conduct are elements
of morality.
Gallagher explained that a moral value is a standard by reference to which
a particular action can be judged morally good or bad. (Gallagher, 1985:1) We can
say that moral value is a value that differentiates between goodness and badness.
Human being always needs someone else to live side by side in a community or
13
society that is why human being is a social creature. In every society there are
always norms and values, which meant for the goodness of those people who live
in a society.
Moral values are the important things that can be learnt from human’s
actions. We can learn moral from a story or events in this world by knowing
which is wrong action and right action based on the principles of good and evil.
1. Friendship
One of human’s needs in the world is having relationship with other
people. The relationship becomes part in the process of human beings. In the
relationship with other people, there is mutual relationship within them.
Friendship is one kind of the relationship among human beings. Friendship
is very useful activity to make life interesting, full of fun and meaningful. Having
friend in life does not only keep the feeling of lonely away, but also finds partner
to support life. So, to have someone to talk about problems, to share experiences
and to express feelings, is also become one of human needs. The support of
friends make days perfect.
Duck in Friends, For Life: The psychology of Personal Relationship states
that the support of friends, neighbors and relatives is a social support that acts as
an important safeguard against occupational stress, psychological illness, unhappy
life events and the like. The support of our friends are also found out from their
caring, support, loyalty and putting high priority on the other person’s interest.
Having friends is important in our lives because people are parted from
friends become anxious, disoriented, unhappy, and even severely destabilized
14
emotionally. Therefore, friendship is also important for us to have communication
– communication about anything, not just important events but also trivial stuff as
well as personal, intimate details about oneself (Duck, 1991: 16).
Beebe, in his book entitled Interpersonal Communication in Relationships
states that Friendship is a relationship of choice that exists over time between
people who share a coomon history. A friend is someone we like and who likes
us. We trust our friends. We share good and bad times with them. (Beebe,
2005:312)
Besides helping us enjoy a healthy life, friends help us cope with stress
and take care of physical needs, and even contribute to the development of our
personality. Friends significantly contribute to our social support networks,
providing assistance in times of crisis. Friends also help shape our attitudes and
beliefs. Especially during periods of change in our lives, such as adolescence and
retirement, friends help us cope with uncertainty and have a profound influence
on our behavior. (Beebe, 2005:313)
Muriel and Louis in their book entitled The Heart of Friendship mention
five requirements to build a true friendship. The first requirement is patience. A
friendship is described as “a palnt of slow growth”. So patience is needed to
develop a deeper relation, to know and to understand our friendship deeper better
is by a process, and to get through the process, we need to be patient. Muriel and
Louis also state “patience is also a requirement to build a successful friendship”
(1975: 153)
15
The second requirement is being faithful. It is impossible to build a
friendship if we have no faith to our friends. Friends need to be faithful to
themselves and to each other. In friendship, there is no insurance against failure,
pain or disappointment (1975: 165). The third requirement is understanding. The
most used part of best friend is the shoulder you cry on and the shoulder you are
willing to lend. At this point, friends usually will listen to each other, sharing
feeling, ideas, and suggestion. Muriel and Louis state that, “the only one who
truly understand is a true friend” (1975: 165)
The fourth requirement is loyalty. When our best friend is facing troubles,
we have to encourage him and help him to solve his problem. We should not leave
him alone when he has troubles or in difficulties. In other words, our friend and
we should stick together when one is facing troubles (1975: 172). The last
requirement is honesty. Muriel and Louis state, “Pretense is a sign that a
friendship is losing its vitality, perhaps dying. Pretense leads to bigger pretenses.
The overall effect is destructive of true friendship” (1975: 173). Toward our
friend, we should be honest in everyway, though it will bw hurt him.
No friends means living alone in the world. Because no one will help us
when we need it. Having friend moreover best friend mean happiness. Because
there are friends who will be ready top help us when we are in trouble. Having
friends by our side make live complete.
2. Love
Love is the most wonderful thing in human being’s life. Love is a feeling
from the depth of the heart. In the book entitled About Love, Pieper says that love
16
is both something that we practise and do as conscious actors, and also something
that comes over us and happens to us like an enchantment. (Piper, 1974: 18)
Hauck (1983: 16) defines love is that powerful feeling one has for persons,
animals, or things that has satisfied, is satisfying, or will satisfy our depest desires
and needs. So here, love is a kind of relationship between one people towards
onject love. The object it self is not limited only in a person but it is wider, the
cope is also everything in the world.
Understanding is needed in love. We can forgive other’s mistake with
love, and love also can help us in our journey in our life. In our life, we get many
obstacles; problems that make us feel uncomforted. With love, we can get the
power that makes us stronger in our journey in our life. Pieper (1974: 42) adds to
love a person does not mean to wish him to live free of all burdens. It means,
rather, to wish that everything associated with him may truly be good.
Fromm in his popular book entitled The Art of Loving syas that love
‘standing in’, not a ‘falling for’. In the most general way, the active character of
love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving.
Giving means that ‘giving up’ something, being deprived of, sacrificing (Fromm
1956:25).
Giving implies to make the other person a giver also and they both share in
the joy of what they have brought to life. In the act of giving something is born,
and both persons involved are grateful for the life that is born for both of them
(Fromm, 1956: 27). According to From,there are four elements of love. These are
care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. That love implies care is most
17
evident in a mother’s love for her child. No assurance of her love would strike us
as sincere if we saw her lacking in care for the infant, if she neglected to feed it, to
bathe it, to give it physical comfort; and we are impressed by her love if we see
her caring for the child (Fromm, 1956: 28).
Care and concern imply another aspect of love. It is responsibility. Today
responsibility is often meant to denote duty, something imposed upon one from
the outside. However, responsibility, in its true sense, is an entirely voluntary act;
it is my response to the needs, expressed or unexpressed, of another human being.
To be ‘responsible’ means to be able and ready to ‘respond’ (Fromm, 1956: 29).
The third element of love is respect. Respect is the ability to see a person
as he is, to be aware of his unique individuality. Respect means the concern that
the other person should grow and unfold as he is. To respect a person is not
possible without knowing him; care and responsibility would be blind if they were
not guided by knowledge. Knowledge would be empty if it were not motivated by
concern. The knowledge which is an aspect of love is one which does not stay at
periphery, but penetrates to the core (Fromm, 1956: 30).
Love is not only for lover but also for others in the world such as family,
friends, neighbors, animals, plants and others. Fromm categories love into Five
types. Those are:
a. Brotherly Love
Brotherly love is most fundamental kind of love, which underlies all types
of love. It means that the sense of responsibility, care, respect, knowladge
of any other human being, the wish to further his life. Brotherly love is
18
love for all human beings. In brotherly love there is the experience of
union with all men and human solidarity.
b. Motherly Love
Motherly love is unconditional affirmation of the child’s life and his
needs. The relatioship of mother and child is by its very nature one of
inequality, where one needs all the help and the other gives it. It is for this
altruistic, unselfish character that motherly love has been considered the
highest kind of love, and the most sacred of all emotional bonds.
c. Erotic Love
Erotic love is the craving for complex fusion, for union with one other
person. It is by its very nature exclusive and not universal. It is the most
deceptive of love. Erotic love excludes the love for others only in the sense
of erotic fusion, full commitment in all aspect of life, but not in the sense
of deep brotherly love.
d. Self-love
It is assumed that love is the same as selfishness. Selfishness and
self-love, far from being identical, are actually opposites. If an individual is
able to love productively, he loves himself too. If he can love only others,
he cannot love at all. It is true that selfish persons are incapable of loving
others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either.
e. Love of God
This kind of love is the religious form love. Love of God is the same as the
believe in God, in God’s existence, God’s justice and God’s love. The love
19
of God has many different qualities and aspects as the love of man has and
to a large extent we find the same differences.
D. The Relation of Literature and Moral Values
The study of literature or literary works was born from the creation of
human feelings and sense. Literature always connects us with the whole range of
human daily life.
Moody says that literary works always offer moral messages that connect
with human’s noble behavior, struggle for the right and the dignity of human
being. Those human noble behaviors can be displayed through characterization of
attitudes and the behavior of the characters in the novel. Sometimes, the character
will be found to fall into categories of “good” and “bad”, or “sympathetic” and
“unsympathetic”, more often they will seem posses various degrees of “goodness”
and “badness” for most human beings have at least some redeeming features, just
no one is perfect (Moody, 1971:48).
The moral values, which are trying to be said by the author of literary
works, are put inside the story. From the story, the readers will see the various
kinds of attitude and behavior of the characters in various events. Then, the
readers themselves will understand about the good behavior and the bad one.
Through the story, the author gives some clues, advice and messages to make the
readers able to learn ad know about the moral values. Therefore, the readers will
be able to apply them in their daily life.
20
In literary works, the moral things that the author wants to deliver always
deal with the good sense. However in the story, besides the good character, there
is always bad, unworthy, evil, unpleasant behavior manner carried by the
antagonist character. The author creates various characters in order to make the
reader notice about the differences between the good character and the bad one,
and to learn about moral value. There is always a connection between the author
and his works with the reality of life in the real society such as moral value.
Thus, the writer concludes that the existence of the moral value inside a
novel is inevitable aspects, a very important thing and, therefore, useful for
human’s life. This is why the writer chooses a novel as one of literary works to be
analyzed, so she will be able to reveal the moral values and messages including
the interaction between human beings which are represented by the characters in
the novel.
C. Theoretical Framework
Some applicable theories are used in this analysis. They are, basically,
used to help the writer in exploring the answer for the problems formulated. They
are theory of character and characterization, theory of character development,
theory of moral and morality and theory of moral values.
Theories of character and characterization are needed because the story is
closely related to the main character. They used to investigate the characteristics
of Doc, the main character in the story. In analyzing his characteristic, the writer
deeply pays attention on the way the main character behaves as well as how he
gives his acts and reaction. The writer put the theories from Hugh and Harmon,
21
Murphy, and Roger B.Henkle to analyze deeply about character and
characterization
Secondly is the theory of moral and morality. It used to know the
definition of moral and morality because moral values are part of them. The last is
theory of moral values. It is used in order to know the moral values that were
reflected through Doc’s characteristics and his character development.
Furthermore, with four theories above, the writer can formulate the problems.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the study
The object of my study is the novel of
Cannery Row
written by John
Steinbeck. The main source for this novel is taken from a book consists of two
novels. i.e.
of Mice and Men
and
Cannery Row
. This book was published by
Penguin Books in 1945.
Cannery Row
consists of 135 pages and 32 chapters.
There are some characters in
Cannery Row
and the main character is Doc.
In this novel, there are many characters. However I chose only some characters
that are often related with Doc. They are Lee Chong, Dora Flood, Mack and the
boys.
Cannery Row
is one of the most amazing literary achievements of all time.
Cannery Row
is can be both a simple and complex story of all Steinbeck’s novels.
It presents a slice of the lives of people who live and populate a strip of sardine
canneries after the workers go home. They are homeless and poor fishermen.
However, through the people in
Cannery Row
, we can see how they struggle for
live instead of seeking to live off the land and the sea. On that account, this novel
can be analyzed and responded in many levels. Some might respond to the
beautiful but terrible setting ang odd but likeable characters as the simple
response. Others might go deeper in understanding the time, the geography, the
culture, and the rest gather the understanding of the wisdom of life.
23
B. APPROACH OF THE STUDY
It is important to analyze a literary work in order to get deep understanding
of a literary work. Some theorists serve many approaches to help the critic in the
process of analyzing. The approach used in conducting this undergraduate thesis
research is the moral-philosophical approach. A definition of this approach is
stated in the following paragraph.
In
“A Handbook of Critical Approach to Literature”
, Wilfred L.Guerin
states Moral-Philosophical is an approach that insists on finding out and stating
what is exposed and thought. The basic position of Moral-Philosophical approach
is to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues. The important thing is the
moral-philosophical thought. (Guerin, 1979: 29)
Since this study also analyzes about the characteristics of the main
character and uses some theories of character and characterization, theories of
moral and morality and theory of moral values, then the moral philosophical
approach helps the writer to expand the analysis of this thesis.
As stated in the story, there are some moral values that shown through
Doc’s characteristics. So, this approach will lead the writer to answer the previous
problem formulation.
C. Method of the study
The writer use library research to collect the data resources. To support the
study, the writer use two kinds of resources; there are primary source and
secondary sources. The primary source of this thesis is the novel Cannery Row,
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
24
which written by John Steinbeck. The secondary sources are taken from some
books that can support the thesis. The writer gather some books about
characterization and moral-philosophical approach. These books are useful for me
to get deeper understanding about character and characterization, and moral
values. Here the writer also collects some information from some thesis. From this
medium, the writer can find some criticism of the novel and also further
information about how the book is created.
To compose this thesis, there were some steps that the writer took to
answer the thesis problem formulations. Firstly, the writer read the novel many
times to get better understanding of the story. The writer tried to concentrate on
Doc’s characters. By reading the novel carefully, the writer will find the data of
the characterization of Doc. The writer decided to apply moral-philosophical
approach, which considered appropriate to be applied in this study. The first part
of this analysis discussed about the characteristics of the main character, Doc. The
second part the writer analyzed about some moral values that reflected from Doc’s
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter will answer the question based on the problem formulation.
This chapter consists of two parts which discuss the character and characterization
of Doc and his character development then the moral values that reflected Doc’s
character and his character development.
A. Doc’s characteristics and characterization
In this part the writer analyzes Doc’s characters and how his character
develops. To know the characters of Doc, the writer will apply the theory of
character and characterization by Murphy. This theory involves personal
description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others,
reaction, direct comments, thought and mannerism. In order to know the process
of Doc’s character development, the writer will apply theory of character
development that consists of flat character and round character.
Firstly, the writer will describe Doc’s characters by his personal
description. From the introduction of Cannery Row, Doc is described as one of
inhabitants in Cannery Row who stays in Westerns Biological Laboratory. Doc is
the smartest man in Cannery Row. In chapter five, Steinbeck introduces Doc
further starting with the description of Western Biological Laboratory. Doc is
described as “the owner and operator of the Western Biological Laboratory.” (p.
26
Even Doc is the smartest man in Cannery Row, he is a humble person. He
is not arrogant to other people. Many lower people in Cannery Row but Doc never
look their status and material position. He respects all the inhabitants in Cannery
Row. Steinbeck describes Doc’s physical appearance on the same page. He seems
rather thin, but he is strong. He may be thin because he does not care of his own
time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Contradictory, he just keeps consuming beer
without considering his health. Some people say that his face shows both
goodness and badness. Doc has a small body with great strength.
“Doc is rather small, deceptively small, for he is wiry and very strong and when passionate anger comes on him he can be very fierce. He wears a beard and his face is half Christ and half satyr and his face tells the truth.” (p. 108)
Through Steinbeck’s descriptions, the writer can imagine that Doc is a
person who is friendly, communicative, smart, and kind. “He could talk to
children, telling them very profound things so that they understood.” (p. 108)
The same thought is also conveyed by Mack and the boys in chapter
seven. Mack feels Doc’s attention to him is great. Moreover, he is so grateful to
Doc for caring him when Mack hurt himself. Now that the boys share the same
idea with Mack, they will do for him.
“That Doc is a hell of a nice fella.’ he said. ‘He’ll give you a quarter any time. When I cut myself he put on a new bandage everyday. A hell of a nice fella. ‘ The others nodded in profound agreement.
‘I been wondering for a long time,’ Mack continued, ‘what we could do for him – something nice. Something he’d like.’
‘He’d like a dame,’said Hughie.
‘He’s got three dour dames,’said Jones.” (p. 118)
27
Not only once Mack says about Doc’s kindness, but also in chapter
thirteen and fifteen. He repeated that Doc is the nicest friend he ever knew.
Besides, Mack not only admires Doc but also keeps remaining the boys that they
are doing for Doc. Mack was the one who often said Doc was a nice person.
In chapter nine, Doc’s friend named Hazel thought that Doc has good
personality especially in handling his mood. However, he also thought that
sometimes he could not understand what Doc talked about.
“Mack asked: ‘How is Doc feeling?”
‘Fine.’ said Hazel. ‘You can’t understand a word he says. Know what he said about stink bugs? No – I better not tell you.’ ‘He seem in a nice friendly mood?’ Mack asked.
‘Sure,’ said Hazel, ‘We got two three hundred starfish. He’s all right. (p. 123)
When Doc and Hazel were collecting starfish, Hazel started the
conversation with some questions that he ever asked to Doc many times.
However, Doc still answered it patiently. Doc had one mental habit he could not
get over. When anyone asked a question, Doc thought he wanted to know the
answer.
‘I wonder what they do with them, ‘he said. ‘Do with what?’ Doc asked.
‘The starfish,’ said Hazel. ‘You sell ‘em. You’ll send out
a barrel of ‘em. What do the guys do with ‘em? You can’t eat ‘em.’ ‘They study them,’ said Doc patiently and he remembered that he had answered this question for Hazel dozens of times before.’ (p. 111)
Doc is a kind of patient man. He could control his emotion for unimportant
28
words just to the tone of conversation. Hazel asked questions, not to hear the
answers but simply to continue the flow.
In the same time, Hazel also asked about the stink bugs. From Doc’s
answer, we will know one of his characters.
“Hazel turned one of the stink bugs over with the toe of his wet tennis-shoe and the shining black beetle strove madly with floundering legs to get upright again. ‘Well, why do you think they do it?’
‘I think they’re praying,’ said Doc. ‘What!’ Hazel shocked.
‘The remarkable thing,’ said Doc, ‘isn’t that they put their tails up in the air – the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardstick. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we’d probably be praying - so maybe they’re praying.’
‘Let’s get the hell out of here,’ said Hazel.” (p. 114-115)
Another example is when Doc is curious about what Blaisedell said. As a
result, he ordered beer milk-shake in a town where he was not known. Of course
the waitress is not sure with his order and she thinks that Doc was kidding.
‘What’ll it be?’
‘Beer milk-shake,’ said Doc. ‘What?’
‘The blonde asked: ‘Are you kidding?’
‘I’ve got a bladder complaint,’ he said. ‘Bipalychaetsonectomy, the doctors call it. I’m supposed to drink a beer milk-shake. Doctor’s orders.” (p. 162)
From both of the quotations above, we can learn that Doc, sometimes, is
innocent. In hazel’s brain, it is impossible that bugs can pray. It does not make
sense what Doc thinks. It just same in the waitress’ mind, there were no people
that order beer milk-shake.
29
In Frankie’s opinion, Doc’s new friend, Doc is a person who cares to his
friends. He loves Doc so much.
“Doc asked: ‘Why do you come here?’
‘ You don’t hit me or give me a nickel,’said Frankie. ‘ Do they hit you at home?’
‘There’s uncles arround all the time at home. Some of them hit me and tell me to get out and some of them give me a nickel and tell me to get out.
.... .‘I love you,’he said one afternoon. ‘Oh, I love you.’(p. 128)
Doc showed his care to Frankie. He knew that Frankie is a nice, good,
kind boy. Doc clipped Frankie’s hair and got rid of the lice. At Lee Chong’s he
got him a new pair of overalls and a striped sweater and Frankie became his slave.
Not only Frankie, but also people in Cannery thought that Doc is a caring
and helpful person. Although Doc is not a doctor, many people come to him and
ask for his medical advice when the influenza epidemic broke out. He helped
them as far as he can before realizing that he does this and that to take cares them.
“Now Doc of the Western Biological Laboratory had no right to practice medicine. It was not his fault that everyone in the Row came to him for medical advice. Before he knew it he found himself running from shanty to shanty taking temperatures, giving physics, borrowing and delivering blankets, and even taking food from house to house where mothers looked at him with inflamed eyes from their beds, and thanked him and put the full responsibility for their children’s recovery on him.” (p. 156)
Doc is a hardworker. He does his job totally. His job is colecting marine
animals in the Great Tide Pool on the tip of the Peninsula. When Doc gets an
order for three hundred starfish, he can make it successfully. He works hard to
collect all of them. Not only that, sometimes, Doc does not sleep because of his
job. He sacrifices his pleasure for something more important.
30
Steinbeck describes Doc’s loneliness in the beginning of chapter
seventeen. It was strange that Doc actually is a friendly person. Further, he has
many friends around him. Anyway, he feels that he is alone.
“In spite of his friendliness and his friends Doc was a lonely and set-apart man. Mack probably noticed it more than anybody. In a group, Doc seemed always alone. ... He knew Doc had a girl in there, but mack used to get a dreadful feeling of loneliness of it.” (p. 157)
Mack noticed it more than anybody. In a group, Doc seemed alone. When
the lights were on and the curtains drawn, and the Gregorian music played on the
great phonograph, Mack used to look down on the laboratory from the Palace
Flophouse. He knew Doc had a girl in there, but Mack used to get a dreadful
feeling of loneliness out of it. Doc has a habit in treating dogs when he passed by.
‘Doc tips his hat to dogs as he drives by and the dog look up and smile at him.’
(p.108) In other trip, he also did the same thing. ‘Driving up to Lighthouse
Avenue he waved at a dog that looked pound and smiled at him.’ (p. 159) It seems
to me that Doc regards a dog as a human being since he does not have a friend
along his trip. Consequently, he treats a dog like his companion that is not an
animal.
Another thing the writer found in the story about Doc is he is afraid of
getting his head wet. It is an awkward phenomenon which represents Doc’s way
to show his psychological problem. One possible reason is perhaps he has a
traumatic experience in the childhood so that just a droop of water can frighten
him. As a result, Doc feels a shocking stimulation over his body and it makes him
afraid.
31
“He has one great fear – that of getting his head wet, so that summer or winter he ordinarily wears a rain hat. He will wade in a tide pool up to the chest without feeling damp, but a drop of rain water on his head makes him panicky.” (p. 108)
Doc was a night crawler. It can be seen through the lights in the lab which
were on all night. Moreover, he seemed to keep awake also in the daylight. He
played music any time he was in his laboratory. He always do this habit in order
to fill his lonliness.
“And the great shrouds of music came out of the lab at any time of the day or night. Sometimes when it was all dark and when it seemed that sleep had come at last, the diamond-true child voices of the Sistine Choir would come from the windows of the laboratory.” (p. 157-158).
From the beginning of the story, Steinbeck described Doc as one of
inhabitants in Cannery Row who often buys several quarts of beer in Lee Chong’s
grocery.
“Doc strolls from the Western Biological Laboratory and across the street to Lee Chong’s grocery for two quarts of beer.”... “Callers arrive at Western Biological Laboratory to see Doc, and he crosses the street to Lee Chong’s for five quarts of beer.” (p. 92)
Besides, Mack, Jones and other friends think that Doc is drunker. When
they want to plan the party for Doc, they have conversation what they should give
to him.
‘He likes beer,’ said Jones. ‘He’s all the time going over to Lee’s for beer- sometimes in the middle of the night.’ (p. 119)
Doc was also like to buy beer when he had a long trip.
32
“When they got to Ventura it was pretty soon after the heavy dinner, so Doc only stopped for beer.” (p. 161)
After Doc came home from La Jolla, he found out his lab was untidy and so
messy. He got angry to Mack. Then he went out the laboratory and down stairs to
Lee Chong’s. There usual, he buys two quarts of beer again.
From the evidence mentioned above, the writer concludes that Doc is a
bad drunkard. He always consumes beer everyday. The writer thinks Doc’s habit
to drink beer represents his way to escape from his problem and his loneliness.
Besides being described as a skillful, smart, scientific, and friendly, the
writer could say that he was a ‘coward’ owing to the fact that he was afraid of
mixing with people and he often sat in his study alone, drinking beer. Doc did not
like to gather with other people even with his friends. From the beginning until
the end of the story, Steinbeck does not mention that Doc has a family. He used to
be alone in doing everything. The writer learns from this novel, Doc also does not
have a close friend. The writer concludes that Doc is an introverted person. He
kept his feeling and his problems by himself. He never wants to share about his
life, especially, about his private problem to his friends. The writer also concludes
that one of the reasons why he becomes an introvert person is because he does not
like talk too much. Doc has one mental habit he could not get over. He never
asked unless he wanted to know. It means that Doc will not ask the unimportant
things. He thinks there is more important thing that can be done then just gather
with other people. One of the result of it is he did not like a party.
33
In the chapter twenty one, Doc showed his anger to Mack. At the first,
Mack and other friends thought that Doc would be happy if they give him a party.
Mack made a plan with other friends to make Doc feels happy. They prepared all
things for the party. Mack and the boys collected many frogs for Doc’s present.
Eddie, who has some experiences as a cook, baked a cake for Doc. The boys
persuade Lee Chong to bring the frogs to Western Biological to surprise Doc
when he returns. Unfortunately, the party is underway. The laboratory is
completely trashed. After Doc came home from La Jolla, he found out his lab was
untidy and so messy. He got angry to Mack. He hit Mack again and again. Mack
tries to make apologize to Doc.
“ Doc’s small hard fist whipped out and splashed against Mack’s mouth. Doc’s eyes shone with a red animal rage. Mack sat down heavily on the floor. Doc’s fist was hard and sharp. Mack’s lips were split against his teeth and one front tooth bent simply sharply inward.” (p. 178)
Doc is an art lover who likes to enjoy music and poem. He has collection
of some recordings of Gregorian and it quite difficult to enjoy. Further, at the end
of the story, he also read poem entitled Black Marigold. This poem told them
about an isolated experiment that tries to reinvigorate sad writing. Based on the
meaning of the poem, I concluded that Doc was great in art. Therefore, from those
fields, he gets great sympathy from everyone who knows him.
“Everyone who knew him was indebt to him. And everyone who thought of him thought next: ‘I really must do something nice for Doc.” (p. 108)
34
Sometimes Steinbeck uses musical motifs to reveal Doc’s emotions and
states of mind. One example is when Doc sees the drowned girl.
“Music sounded in Doc’s ears, a high thin piercingly sweet flute carrying a melody he could never remember, and against this, a pounding surf-like wood-wind section. The flute went up into regions beyond the hearing range and even there it carried its unbelievable melody.” (p. 165)
By the end of his short conversation with a man who lives there all his life,
he heard the sound of flute and cello mixed with the line of white foam where the
waves broke on the beach. Then Doc reacts by shaking the music, his face, and
the chill of his body.
“The flute climbed again and plucked cellos sounded below and the sea crept in and in toward the beach. Doc shook off the music, shook off his face, shook the chill out of his body.” (p. 165)
The music played again in his mind when he got angry with Mack for the
damage in the lab in the first party Mack and the boys made.
“In Doc’s head the monotonal opening of Monteverdi’s Hor ch’ el Ciel e la Terra began to form, the infinitely sad and resogned mourning of Petrarch for Laura. Doc saw Mack’s broken mouth through the music, the music that was in his head and in the air.” (p. 179)
It was repeated again after he hit Mack. He heard the music again in his
head. Doc likes to listen to Plain Songs and Gregorian music. Furthermore, the
girls from Dora’s heard the Plain Songs and Gregorian music for the first time in
the laboratory. In the conversation of Mack and the boys, Jones said that Doc likes
his music. Besides, he always got his phonograph going at a party.
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‘Well, Doc, he likes his music. He’s always got his phonograph going at a party. Maybe he’d be more happy if we give it over at his place.’ (p. 172)
In this case, music is also being Doc’s companion. Generally, people also use
music as their means in expressing their feeling.
At the laboratory, the day after the second party finished, Doc listened to
the music again while actually it was played in his mind only. They played cool,
soft, soothing music with nothing much to distinguish it. He ate his sandwich and
sipped the beer and listened to the music.
Then after he finished cleaning the kitchen, he unlocked the door of the
back room and then played Paternoster and Agnus Dei. The music filled the
laboratory like an angel voice. They were incredibly pure and sweet.
Not a man that indulges in luxury, he appreciates beer, food and music. He
has done many favors for these people and asks nothing in return. For a group of
local men, Mack and the boys, they decide to thank him and deliver unto him a
party that will be the talk of the town.
At the beginning, Doc is a lonley person. However, Doc’s friends really
care and love him. They were Dora, Lee Chong, Mack and the boys. Doc’s
character was changed by their attention to him through their daily life. <
