v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For some reasons, finishing this thesis is unbelievable thing for me. So many
times I have let myself down and I have dropped my dream out of my life. I always
remember the time when I started to blame my environments of my own failure
without considering that my life is my own responsibility. These are few mistakes of
mine which I could not replace with anything in this world. I know that life is hard,
but I still believe that God is with us. Because of that, I would like to express my
deepest gratitude to Allah SWT who is giving me blessing and love in my every
single day.
I realize this thesis could not be done without others’ help, guidance, support,
and also patience. I would like to thank Sanata Dharma University who has granted
me the opportunity to get my academic degree in Literature. I would like to thank
Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A., as the Dean of Faculty of Letters for his understanding in
giving me the opportunity to accomplish this undergraduate thesis. I would like to
thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., as my advisor who has supported,
guided, and helped me in finishing my thesis. I would like to thank Adventina
Putranti, S.S., M. Hum., as my co-advisor who has willingly read my writings and
given valuable corrections and evaluations. To my thesis defense examiner,J. Harris
Hermansyah Setiajid, S.S., M. Hum., thank you for giving me important
suggestion. I would like to thank all my lecturers in the Department of English Letters
vi
thank all secretariat staff of the Faculty of Letters who have helped and given me a lot
of information that I need.
I dedicated this thesis for my beloved daughter Puan Surya Anagarya who
will always be my little star. Thank you for giving me a miracle and strength to keep
moving on this life. I especially thank to my family, Mr. JB. Sudijotoand Mrs. Sri
Kuswanti, my parents, for their endless love, guidance, material and also spiritual
support. I am grateful to my sister Bening Srigatiand my brother in law Ucak Boy
Hotmanfor always reminding me of life’s struggle. I thank my brotherAgung Seno
Aji for his patience in holding on every bad time in my life. This is also dedicated to
my two nephews, Andi Sigit Wicaksono and Dhimas Satria Adhitama, who could
fill my life with joy and happiness. I would like to thank all family members in
Harjosiswoyo and Brodjo Puspito family whom I cannot mention one by one. I
thank them for the encouragements.
I also thank all my friends in the Faculty of Letters who have given me a room
to acknowledge the value of friendship. Last, I would like to thank my close friends,
Cicilia, Mey, Sondang, Intan, Glory, Mbak Nina, Dek Ari, Metha, Olline, Dewi,
Leni, Wahmuji, Jery, Bang Izul, Scholastica, Lia, Jely, Rizky, Putri, Rita, Mbak
Win, Bang Barjo, Aji, Syahraini, Supad who have provided me with love,
attention, patience, encouragement, and sympathy.
vii
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 7
2. Theory of Conflict ... 10
1. Antoinette’s Characterization in the Story... 17
a. Fragile... 17
b. Caring ... 19
c. Loyal... 20
2. The Conflicts Experienced by Antoinette ... 22
a. External Conflict among Characters ... 22
i. Antoinette and Tia... 24
ii. Antoinette and Rochester ... 26
viii
iv. Antoinette and Christophine ... 33
v. Antoinette and the Two Teenagers ... 36
b. Internal Conflict Experienced by Antoinette ... 37
i. Rejection ... 37
ii. Mental Oppression ... 40
iii. Insecurity... 41
3. The Influence of Conflicts toward Antoinette’s Decision to Commit Suicide ... 44
a. Racial Tension... 45
b. Hybrid Identity... 46
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY... 54
ix ABSTRACT
Cita Arti Hayati. The Influence of External and Internal Conflicts toward
Antoinette’s Decision to Commit Suicide in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.
The novel Wide Sargasso Sea talks more about race issues and intricacies of
Jamaica’s social hierarchy. In 1833, in Jamaica, there was an era of Emancipation Act
or slavery abolishment. On that time, slavery is being the hottest issue in the society of Jamaica. Antoinette as the main character, who is the daughter of a white ex-slave owner has to live in a complex situation. It causes many conflicts in her life externally and internally. The writer is interested to analyze this novel in order to acknowledge and reveal the relationship between the main character, Antoinette and her external and internal conflicts which lead her to commit suicide.
In this study the writer has formulated three problems to gain the goal of this thesis writing. First problem is how Antoinette’s character is described on the novel.
The second is the conflicts that are experienced by Antoinette. Here, the writer includes two main conflicts, external and internal conflict as the major problem of her social life force. The third is how the conflicts influence Antoinette’s decision to
commit suicide.
The writer used formalistic approach to answer the three problems formulation. This approach is suitable for the analysis since the conflicts of plurality of race externally and internally that has influenced the cross cultural interaction between two different cultures, European and Carribean, could be examined through the text among the black Carribean, the Creoles, and the English in the novel.
In the analysis’ process of first problem formulation, the writer finds out that Antoinette is a fragile, caring, and loyal person. As a mixed-race Creole, she is differentiated from the whites born in England. Further, the writer reveals the external and internal conflicts that are experienced by Antoinette through the analysis of second problem formulation. External conflict happens between Antoinette and her best friend, Tia, Antoinette and her husband, Rochester, Antoinette and her surrogate mother Christophine, Antoinette and her step brother, Daniel Cosway, and last is Antoinette and two Negro teenagers. Another conflict is internal conflict. Antoinette has experienced rejection, mental and financial oppression, and also insecurity. Further, trough the analysis of third problem formulation, the writer can find out that the role of Antoinette becomes clearer to show the failure in holding onto the chaos in
her life. The two conflicts cause a racial tension that is based on Antoinette’s hybrid
identity. At last she decides to commit suicide. Antoinette’s decision to commit
x ABSTRAK
Cita Arti Hayati. The Influence of External and Internal Conflicts toward
Antoinette’s Decision to Commit Suicide in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2012.
Novel Wide Sargasso Sea banyak membahas tentang masalah- masalah ras dan keruwetan hirarki masyarakat Jamaika. Pada tahun 1833, di Jamaika mengalami masa Emancipation Act atau penghapusan perbudakan. Pada waktu itu, perbudakan menjadi puncak kemarahan dalam masyarakat di Jamaica. Antoinette sebagai tokoh utama cerita adalah seorang anak perempuan dari seorang mantan pemilik budak berkulit putih. Dia harus menjalani hidup dalam situasi yang komplek. Hal ini menyebabkan berbagai konflik dalam hidupnya secara eksternal and internal. Penulis sangat tertarik untuk menganalisa studi ini dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui dan mengungkap hubungan antara sang tokoh utama, Antoinette dengan konflik- konflik eksternal dan internal yang dialaminya yang kemudian memicunya untuk bunuh diri.
Studi ini di jabarkan ke dalam tiga penjabaran masalah untuk mencapai tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini. Jabaran masalah pertama adalah bagaimanakah penokohan Antoinette di dalam novel. Jabaran masalah kedua adalah berbagai masalah yang di alami Antoinette. Jabaran masalah ketiga adalah bagaimanakah konflik- konflik tersebut mempengaruhi keputusan Antoinette untuk bunuh diri.
Penulis menggunakan pendekatan formalistic untuk menjawab ketiga jabaran masalah. Pendekatan ini dapat mendukung proses analisis karena konflik- konflik dalam masyarakat yang jamak akan ras yang telah mempengaruhi interaksi silang budaya antara dua kebudayaan yang berbeda yaitu Eropa dan Karibia, secara eksternal dan internal dapat di telaah melalui teks tertulis diantara orang asli Karibia, orang Creole, dan orang Inggris di dalam cerita novel.
xi
1 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literary work is one medium to give us the information of our daily social life through the intrinsic and extrinsic elements of the story inside. Novel as a form of literary work reveals many problems within that can bring our view, imagination, broad understanding, and analysis. Because of that, a fiction should involve characters who take their roles to create conflicts as the element in lifting up the story.
Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in their book,Theory of Literature, state that the work of literature portrays life as reality. It looks like a real-life portrait. It is an illustration of human lives because the literary works present the reality of human situations, problems, feeling, and relationships (1956: 94). A novel’s theme is always not far away from the everyday life’s problems in the society. Wide Sargasso Seaby Jean Rhys is one of novel which shows social-conflict that places woman character in facing the pressure from her society.
Everything in the society of the novel is questioned: reason, justice, madness, freedom. The overall feeling is one of great sadness and anger, that such things can happen (Rhys, 2001: p.xiii).
and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader, say:
Women, as the biological 'carriers' of the 'race', occupy a primary and complex role in representations of ethnicity, popular and academic, Black and white, and it is women's exercise of their sexuality which is an often unacknowledged major concern underlying such representation (1994: p.17).
As the literature mirrors society in the novel, it is suitable to study the impact of social life force toward Antoinette’s character which shows the depiction of woman inferiority. In this case, the novelWide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is one good example of literary work which is chosen as the object of the study. The topic of this study is the influence of conflict toward Antoinette’s life as seen inWide Sargasso Seaby Jean Rhys. It tells about conflict among different race that is caused by the social condition in one part of West Indian, Jamaica, in 1830s. Many characters get their roles in society life, which is full of complexity. Because of that, the writer is interested to explore the influence of social life force toward Antoinette as the main character in the novel due to her genetically condition as a ‘mixed-race’ woman who gets some discriminations from her
society. She is surrounded by terror and anguish that are based on her position as both colonizer and colonized people.
important role in Wide Sargasso Sea, since the plurality of race in the story has role to influence the racial identity of Antoinette herself, as seen in the line:
………‘‘ But look the black Englishman! Look the white niggers!”, and then they were all yelling. ‘ Look the white niggers!Look the damn white niggers!’’ (Rhys, 2001:21).
Moreover, the novel contains many aspects that contribute elements to be analyzed deeply. The writer is challenged to reveal the social life force which influences the character in shaping her own identity that has the state of being difficult to understand or explain because there are many different aspects involved. Such aspects are; racial-complex, the failure of marriage, inability to stand alone, etc. Furthermore, she has been marked as an exile among her society because of the in heritage condition as a Creole.
B. Problem Formulation
Considering the background above, here, the writer tries to answer three problems which can be seen in the novel, Wide Sargasso Sea. These three problems have relation with the social background that creates the conflict in the society. In order to make a deep analysis, these are the three problems which are formulated as follow:
1. How is Antoinette’s character described on the novel?
2. What are the conflicts that are experienced by Antoinette as the main character on the story?
C. Objectives of the Study
Since, this study based on the problems formulation above the writer focuses on three objectives of the study. First, the writer tries to find out and describe Antoinette personality as the main character on the novel. It is important because the reader can see about the character’s way of thinking and way of living. Second, the writer wants to know about the conflicts both internal and external conflict on the society inWide Sargasso Seathat are experienced by the character. Third, the writer tries to figure out the contribution of conflicts, both self-conflict and social-conflict will bring us to the broad understanding of her last decision to commit suicide.
D. Definition of Terms
Some terms are frequently used in this study. To avoid misunderstanding, clear definitions are provided. Those are:
1. Creole
Descendant of Europeans who have lived in the West Indies for one or more generations or a white person descended from early French or Spanish settlers of The United States Gulf states and preserving their speech and culture (Rhys, 2001: 150).
2. Conflict
Conflict is opposition, difference, or clash of opinion, desires, etc; for example are the conflict between one’s duty and one’s desires, a conflict of
5 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this chapter, the writer is going to explain some criticisms and theories applied in this thesis. It consists of two subchapters, first is review on related studies and the second is review on related theories. Review on related studies will deal with criticisms on Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. Then, some theories applied in this thesis will be discussed in review on review on related theories. In this part, the writer applies theories of character and characterization, and also conflict.
A. Review of Related Studies
In Sistha Oktaviana Pavitrasari’s undergraduate thesis titled Representation
of Racial Barriers between ‘The West’ and ‘The Other’ as seen in Jean Rhys’
Wide Sargasso Sea, it mentions that the text of Wide Sargasso Sea contains of failures in showing the motif of the text which should be focused on the ‘Otherness’ while it seems to explore the domination of ‘Eurocentrism’.
Although the novel is a rewriting the canon as an effort to challenge and to counter the bias representation of Otherness, the writer thinks that text itself contains latent racism and Eurocentrism. Therefore, the counter discursive strategy fails for the text is ineffective in propagating attempts to counter hegemony. It can be found in the development of conflicts among character, their actions, which implies the tone of subjective and covertly internalized eurocentrism of the author (2009 : 68).
From the writer’s different point of view, the text of Wide Sargasso Sea talks more about racial tension that is experienced by the main character of the story, Antoinette, as the ‘Other’. She becomes the victim of the cross road of
culture because she does not have power as a colonizer. It shows the failure of the existence of the ‘Other’ in dealing with complex situation of their relationship with the colonizer or the ‘West’. So, thetext can also reveal external and internal conflicts in the great narration of the relationship between colonizers and colonized. The text comes up to show the author idea of the impact of the racial discrimination and the impact to individuals.
of prophetic vision. It reviews on Antoinette character as victim on cross-cultural interaction of two different cultures; those are Carribean culture and European culture on the novel (Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin, 1995:192).
B. Review of Related Theories
To support this study, the writer uses some theories to be the basic guidance in answering the problem clearly. Those are the theories of characters, and theory of conflict.
1. Theory of Characters and Characterization.
According to Abrams ( 1981:20 ) characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say -the dialogue -and by what they do -the action. It is stated that the grounds in a character’s temperament, desires, and moral nature of the speech and actions
constitute the motivation.
In this case, there are two kinds of method that can be discussed. First, the direct method called telling, which is the author tends to describe, and to evaluate the motives and dispositional qualities of the characters. Second, the dramatic method, which is also called showing, which is the author just presents the characters talking and acting. By this way, the author leaves the reader to infer the motives and dispositions lay behind what they say or do.
character, a static character is one who changes little of at all. Thing happen to such a character without thing happening within. Type pattern of action reveals the character rather than showing the character changing in response to the actions. Sometimes a static character gives the appearance of changing simply because our picture of the character is revealed gradually. A dynamic character, on the other hand, is one who is modified by actions and experiences, and one objective of the work in which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions (1998: 61).
E.M. Foster in Aspect of the Novel (1972:18) distinguishes two kinds of characters, they are, flat character and round character. A flat character is a character that is built around a single idea or quality and is presented without much individualizing detail, and therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single phrase or sentence. A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularly; such a character therefore is as difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like real persons, is capable of surprising us.
Murphy (1972: 161-173) inUnderstanding Unseens, there are nine ways of how characters are presented to the readers:
1. Personal description
The author explains his characters to the readers by describing about the physical appearance and clothes of the character, such as, skin-color, eyes, hair, face, bodybuilding, and clothes.
The author describes his character through another character’s eyes and opinions.
3. Speech
In this way, the author describes his character through the conversation in which the character is involved. It means that the character can be known through what the other characters say.
4. Past life
The author describes hischaracter’s past life to give a clue to the readers about events or experiences in the past that shape the character. It can be explained by the author’s direct comment, through the character’s thought,
through the character conversation, or through the medium of another person. 5. Conversation of others
The author gives clues to the readers about the character through the conversation of other characters and the things they say about him/her.
6. Reactions
The character’s reaction to various situations andevents can give clues to the readers about the character’s personality.
7. Direct comment
The author gives his personal description or comment on the character directly.
8. Thoughts
The author gives the readers understanding about the character’s
and giving them feeling as if they are the characters themselves. 9. Mannerism
The author describes the character’s personality through the character’s
mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies in the novel.
2. Theory of Conflict
Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction mentions that one elements of the plot in the story is conflict. Every work of fiction contains obvious internal conflicts between two desires within a character, or external conflicts between characters and his environment. These specific conflicts are in turn subordinate to the central conflict, which may be internal, external, or both. A central conflict is always between fundamental and contrasting qualities or forces, such as honesty and hypocrisy, innocence and experience, individuality and the pressure to conform. The conflict is the core of the story’s structure, the generating centre out
of which the plot grows. The central conflict of a story has close relation to its theme; the two may even be identical (1965:16).
of culture, values, religion, belief, and norms or moral standards (1955:31-32). Crosby E. Redman in this book,A Second Book of Plays, says that in studying conflict, it is important to trace the problem. He has suggestion of tracing the problem:
As soon as possible, discover what problem has arisen as a result of the situation, what the main character, or characters, decide to do about it and why. This decision leads to a conflict or struggle between two opposing forces. Note especially what the conflict is and who or what is involved in it. Once this has been made clear in the play, nearly everything that happens thereafter is related to the conflict and effects, in some way, how the conflict is resolved and what the outcome will be (Redman, 1964: ix).
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, mentions that conflict is the struggle that occurs between the protagonist and antagonist, fate or environment, or within the protagonist or with the conflicting value system. It is also called complication (1971: 180).
Robert and Jacobs inFiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing Literature define conflict as the opposition between two characters. It may also exist between two characters. It may also exist between larger groups of people, although in fiction conflicts between individuals are more identifiable and therefore more interesting. Conflict may also exist between an individual and larger forces, such as natural objects, ideas, and modes of behavior, public opinion, and so on. The existence of difficult choices within an individual’s mind
may also be presented as conflict, or dilemma. In addition, the conflict may be presented not as direct opposition, but rather as a set of comparative or contrastive ideas or values (1987: 88).
the movement from the initial statement of conflict to the climax is often referred to as complication. The climax is reached when the complication attains its highest point of intensity, from which point the outcome of the story is inevitable (1966: 18).
Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature, explain that conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces. Conflict provides interest, suspense, and tension. At least one of the opposing forces is usually a person, or, if an animal or inanimate object, is treated as though it were a person. This kind of person’s character is usually protagonist, may involve in conflicts of five different kind: a struggle against nature; a struggle against another person; a struggle against society; a struggle for mastery by two elements within the person; a struggle against destiny or fate (1986: 80).
D. Theoretical Framework
The first problem discusses the relation between society and main character, because of that the writer uses theory of character and characterization to resolve the problem. The focus of this study is the development of character. Since the writer tries to figure out the development of Antoinette, as the main character, the evaluation is needed to support the analysis process further. The writer applies these theories to emphasize many aspects in shaping the character that is influenced by the social life force. The theories from Abrams, Murphy, X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia are appropriate to be chosen.
conflict of race intricacies. To resolve the problem the writer uses theory of conflict as the suitable theory to be applied in this study. Meanwhile, the writer also applies theories from Robert Stanton, Elgin F. Hunt, Crosby E. Redman, Rohrberger and Woods, Robert and Jacobs, William Kenney, Holman and Harmon, to evaluate the conflict in the second problem.
14 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
To support the study, the writer uses a novel titled Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys to be the reference. Andre Deutsch first publishes this novel in 1966 then Penguin Books Group, London in 1968, publishes it further. The novel is the result of the character’s controversy in a novel titled Jean Eyre by Charlotte
Bronte. It can be considered that the publication of Wide Sargasso Sea is the impact of the publication of Jean Eyre. In this case, the novel Wide Sargasso Sea talks more about race issues and intricacies of Jamaica’s social hierarchy.
Wide Sargasso Seawas honored with the prestigious W. H. Smith Award and the Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature. The novel was also selected by Random House as one of the best one hundred books of fiction written in the English language during the twentieth century.
The study of the novel is directed to be the work that could reveal the society conflict among the population of black ex-slaves who maintain their own stratification. Further complicating conflict makes the hostility among the characters themselves in improving the characterization.
B. Approach of the Study
It is related to Rohrberg and Woods statement in Reading and Writing About Literature.
The extreme formalist critic examines the literary piece without reference to facts of the author’s life, without reference to the genre of the piece or to its place in the development of the genre or in literary history, and without reference to its social milieu ( 1971 : 7).
Since the problem formulations can be solved by examining the text among the black Carribean, the Creoles, and the English in the novel, the writer prefer to use this approach as the most suitable approach to support the study.
C. Method of the Study
Since the purpose of this study is to show the influence of external and internal conflict toward the main character’s decision to commit suicide, the thesis should be done by methods that support the process of analysis. Because of that, the writer decided to identify the topic firstly, then enlarged the topic into three problem formulations to be analyzed.
Next step, the writer identified the character by paying more attention to read the novel, and used the theory of character and characterizations as the basic guideline of analysis. In this case, the writer took reading process that should be followed by having good interpretation in reading the situation or story; even it was hidden from the readers visually. It means, the writer focused on specific details, and analyzed both the explicit and implicit elements in the story.
self-condition of the character in facing self-conflicts. The writer found out that the novel consists of many aspects in society with its civilization that becomes the background of a literary work.
Then, the writer preceded the study to reveal the influence of external and internal conflicts which is full of complexity that leads the main character’s decision to commit suicide. It is related to the personal problem in dealing with society in her surroundings. Besides, the writer tried to critic the social value inside the literary work itself.
After the writer found out many aspects on the story, the writer analyzed the aspects to get deeper comprehension of analytical literary study. The writer emphasized and explained the problems that have been formulated before.
17 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter the writer tries to analyze the sub chapter of the problem formulation that has been formulated before. Here the first problem formulation from the three of them.
1. Antoinette’s Characterization on the Story.
Antoinette is the main character in the story endures a lot of social life forces from the society around. Mostly, the author uses dramatic method to show the description of Antoinette character through her talking and acting on the text. Based on E.M Foster theory, there are two kinds of characters, flat and round character. Antoinette is a round character, because she is complex in temperament and motivation. She is also capable of surprising the reader by showing her last action at the end of the story.Based on Murphy’s theory, personal character can be done in nine ways, they are, personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism. The writer tries to analyze Antoinette’s character by the
nine ways of Murphy theory. From the comprehension of reading process the writer finds out three significant characters which form the main character personality:
a. Fragile
fair-coloured, dressing on the modest way, acts normally like other girls on her ages. She speaks Black English as her daily language that can be called as ‘non-standard’ English. In the novel, Antoinette is full of fragility inside of her
personality; this can be her weakness because she can easily surrender to her own understanding and belief without considering the change of situation and condition in her reality in life. She is still pondering everything she had in the past, before her father’s death. Most of the time, she is just spending her time
hoping that she is not the part of herself and her surround anymore. Better. Better, better than people.
Watching the red and yellow flowers in the sun thinking of nothing, it was as if a door opened and I was somewhere else, something else. Not myself anylonger.
I knew the time of day when though it is hot and blue and there are no clouds, the sky can have a very black look (p. 11, line 17-22).
Antoinette only companion, Tia, is the only friend that she has. They always go together to the bathing pool until midday. Unexpectedly Tia acts so unfriendly to her because she envies the money. Not only does she take her money but also her clothes. She is so disrespect of Tia’s unfaithful act and shows her hatred to Tia. We can see from the following quotation of the novel.
hatred and animosity.
She is very sensitive when one day a little girl following her and singing a mocking song about her condition as a white nigger. She tries to avoid that moment by keeping herself away and chooses to hide her feeling. As seen in the quotation below.
When I was safely home I sat close to the old wall at the end of the garden. It was covered with green moss soft as velvet and I never wanted to move again. Everything would be worse if I moved. Christophine found me there when it was nearly dark, and I was so stiff she had to help me to get up (p. 7, line 24-28).
The vulnerable side of Antoinette is clearly seen from the way she acts and thinks about the reality in her life. So, I can conclude that she is a fragile woman who cannot keep up with her everyday life.
b. Caring
Antoinette is a caring person. Although she has been left by her father, she does not forget to take care and pay more attention to her mother, Annette, and also to her sickly brother, Pierre. Her mother does not actually care to her because her mother prefers to take care of Pierre, her brother, who has been diagnosed cystic-fibrosis disease by doctor.
Antoinette is in the custody of Aunt Cora after that, but she always comes to Coulibri to see her mother and Pierre. She is so excited every time she comes to Coulibri to see them, as seen in the quotation below.
white woman sitting with her head bent so low that I couldn’t see her face. But I recognized her hair, one plait much shorter than the other. And her dress. I put my arms round her and kissed her ( p. 25, line 22- 28).
She tries to give attention to the people surround. In one evening, there is a family gathering on the glacis of the house. She acts politely to Mr. Mason, her mother’s new husband,by giving him regard before she goes. She still tries to be kind althoughshe doesn’t really like him very much. Her intension to care seems to be a little bit rude because she calls Mr. Mason white pappy, but it doesn’t
make him upset. He just laughes. As seen in the line, “I still called him ’Mr. Mason’ in my head. ‘Goodnight white pappy,’ (p. 15, line 20-21). It shows her manner in respecting her family, in order to keep her mother’s feeling. It can be concluded that she is a caring person without evaluating her own thought.
c. Loyal
Antoinette is a loyal person to her homeland, her husband, her family, and even to her society. She admires her own country very much and describes it as a beautiful place to live. We can see from Antoinette’s flattering statement on this body text line, ‘We were alone in the most beautiful place in the world, it is not possible that there can be anywhere elseso beautiful as Coulibri,’ (p.83, line 5-7). It shows that she loves Jamaica, the place where she and her family live. Coulibri is still her homeland even though there are some terror and anguish on her childhood. Antoinette’s appreciation toward her country brings us to sense that her favorite place is only Jamaica, not another place.
who gets married with her because he is offered money by Richard Mason, Antoinette step brother. She has been engaged to Rochester by her family although it is not what she wants. Yet, she tries to satisfy her family’s expectation, in order to make them happy. Rochester himself is a stranger in a new country. He came from England with nothing but hope for some luck in marrying an heiress. Antoinette has been warned by Christophine, her caring servant, about the hidden motivation of Rochester in proposing her to be his wife. It can be seen in the quotation below.
‘Your husband certainly love money,’ she said. ‘That is no lie. Money have pretty face for everybody, but for that man money pretty like pretty self, he can’t see nothing else.’ (p.71,line 7-9).
Antoinette does not believe Christophine and she moves on marrying Rochester. After their marriage, Rochester insists her to move to England, Rochester’s homeland. Asa good wife, she follows her husband’sorder and lives together there. Unfortunately, she is unhappy of her marriage. She thinks that her marriage is a failure–a mismatch culture between Carribean and English culture. As seen in the quotation below.
I used to think that if everything else went out of my life I would still have this, and now you have spoilt it. It’s just somewhere else where I have been unhappy, and all the other things are nothing to what has happened here. I hate it now like I hate you and before I die I will show you how muchI hate u.’ ( p.95, line 11-16).
which can make Rochester love her again. She pushes Cristophine to give her that potion as seen in this text line, ‘Yes you can, I know you can. That is what I wish and that is why I came here. You can make people love or hate. Or…or die,’ (p. 70, line 6-7). From the situation above I conclude that she is a loyal person because she tries to keep up with her marriage in the middle of hostility from her husband in the new place.
2. The Conflicts Experienced by Antoinette.
According to Robert Stanton, there are two specific conflicts, internal and external conflict, that lead to the central conflict of a story. Those two conflicts are experienced by Antoinette. Since social life forces become the trigger of ruins in Antoinette’s life, the writer firstly focuses on external conflict between Antoinette and her social condition. To approach those conflicts, the writer uses formalistic approach which focuses on the Post- Emancipation racial relationship that can be revealed in the text among the black Carribean, the Creole, and the English. Someone like Antoinette has Carribean culture as the basic of the social structure, which is so different from the European, as a new comer, and has a position as a colonizer. The local people, as the colonized, try to stand up to find their rights to be free from slavery. Racial violence plays important role on this study when two racial groups have interaction in their different ways.
distractions on the country. As a woman who is considered as inferior in the society, Antoinette gets through many unpleasant moments on her life. It starts, not too long before her father, Mr. Cosway, passed away. She asks her mother why so many people seem to avoid their family after they collapse. Her mother answers that the road to Coulibri Estate, the place where they live, is very bad so that visitors can’t reach their place. During the isolation, she contemplates about her past, as seen in the quotation,‘(my father, visitors, horses, feeling safe in bed –all belonged to the past.)’, (p.3, line 9-10).
Antoinette does agree that the world is not a safe place to live in anymore. On the custody of her aunt, Aunt Cora, she has been registered in a school of young Creole girl, where she can get more knowledge through the education system. She can easily befriend to other girls in the school but she is lack of confidence anyway. She tries to understand the nuance of her new environment, and she is still unsafe. It can be seen in the quotation below.
Everything was brightness, or dark. The walls, the blazing colours of the flowers in the garden, the nun’s habits were bright, but their veils, the Crucifix hanging from their waists, the shadow of the tress, were black. That was how it was, light and dark, sun and shadow, Heaven and Hell, for one of the nuns knew all about hell and who does not? ………So I prayed for a long time about that too, but the thought came, so many things are sins, why? Another sin, to think that. However, happily, Sister Marie Augustine says thoughts are not sins, if they are driven away at once. You say Lord save me, I perish. I find it very comforting to know exactly what must be done. All the same, I did not pray so often after that and so on, hardly at all. I felt bolder, happier, more free. But not so safe. (p. 32, line 17-33).
a. External conflict among Characters.
i. Antoinette and Tia
Tia is Antoinette’s only friend on the story. She is a child of black servant in Antoinette’s family. They always play together to the bathing pool until midday. One day Tia makes an argument about the condition of Antoinette’s family – that they become poor. Tia talks more about the absence of prosperity andthe presence of poverty as soon as Antoinette’s father dies. We can see from the quotation below.
That’s not what she hear, she said. She hear all we poor like beggar. We ate salt fish-no money for fresh fish. That old house so leaky, you run with calabash to catch water when it rain. Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people, they got gold money. They didn’t look at us, nobody see them come near us. Old time white people nothing but white nigger now, and black nigger better then white nigger (p. 8, line 27-33).
Tia’s opposing argument makes Antoinette so upset and so ashamed. According to Elgin F. Hunt, conflict can arises through the limit of differences of opinion, perspectives, judgments, and opposing arguments. So, there is a conflict between Tia and Antoinette when Tia gives her argument in judging the condition of Antoinette’s family.Antoinette could not accept it as a kind of support from her childhood-best friend.
sensitive in the society after the passage of Emancipation Act.
One night, people burns Antoinette’s house and the chaos flares so suddenly and unexpectedly. The terrible condition makes her so afraid and remains the hole of tears. Now she has to face the second collapse of her family. It seems to be her nightmare when she stares to the house that was burning and the sky is like a sunset because of the color of fire. She sees Tia, her childhood friend, outside the house. Suddenly she runs to her finding salvation from that chaos. Unexpectedly, Tia does not give her a helping hand but throws her a jagged stone on her fore head until she is bleeding. She never imagines that Tia will do that blind act to her.
Tia has betrayed her trust on best friend relationship. She hopes Tia will be her refugee from that bad situation, but she has a wrong perception about that. It can be seen in the quotation below.
Then, not so far off, I saw Tia and her mother and I ran to her, for she was all that was left of my life as it had been. We had eaten the same food, slept side by side, bathed in the same river. As I ran, I thought, I will live with Tia and I will be like her. Not to leave Coulibri, Not to go. Not. When I was close I saw the jagged stone in her hand but I did not see her throw it. I did not feel it either, only something wet, running down my face. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We stare at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a looking-glass (p. 23, line 25-34).
From the situation above, there is still an emotional burden that is showed by Tia when she throws the rock to Antoinette’s face. Tia’s crying shows her guilty feeling. Meanwhile, Antoinette feels that she has been betrayed by Tia, so that she begins to distrust Tia.
existence of difficult choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented as
conflict, or dilemma. There is another conflict which can be seen clearly when the dilemmatic moment occurs between Antoinette and Tia.
ii. Antoinette and Rochester
Rochester is an Englishman who comes to the West Indies to finds his own fortune. He plans to marry an heiress, so that he can make money in the country. He has been promised a plenty money by Richard Mason, Antoinette’s step brother, if he agrees to marry Antoinette. It is an arranged marriage between two different cultures. It is stated in the quotation below.
‘You are talking about an honourable gentleman, not a rascal,’ Richard said. ‘ I am not in a position tomake conditions, as you know very well. She is damn lucky to get him, all the things considered. Why should I insist on a lawyer’s settlement when I trust him? I would trust him with my life,’ he went on in an affected voice (p. 71, line 26-30).
He agrees to take Richard’s offer for the sake of money reason.They takes a honey moon and then they lives at Granbois house. On the earlier of their marriage, Rochester always calls Antoinette with a nick name Bertha. It is a strange name for Antoinette, because she does not feel she is connected to that name. It alsodisturbs Antoinette’s sensitivity as a woman, because she feels that Rochester does not love her anymore. She asks Christophine an obeah magic, a kind of black magic of traditional culture in Jamaica, as the effort to get Rochester’s attention back. It can be seen in the quotation below.
He has found out it was my mother’s name. “ I hope you will sleep well, Bertha” – it can not be worse, ‘ I said. “That one night he came I might sleep afterwards. I sleep so badly now. And I dream (p. 70, line 24-30). She is feeling disgrace because her own husband calls her a different name. She is being so angry, rough, and mad. The frontal confrontation happens when Antoinette asks her husband to stop calling her that name. It can be seen in the text line, ‘Bertha is not my name. You are trying to make me into someone
else, calling me by another name.’ (p.95,line 5-6).
Antoinette’s struggle to protest her husband shows the existence of
conflict between protagonist, Antoinette, and antagonist, Rochester. It constitutes the explanation on Rohrberger and Jacob theory, that conflict is the struggle that occurs between the protagonist and antagonist, fate or environment, or within the protagonist or with the conflicting value system.
Furthermore, Antoinette does not feel sincere love from her husband every time they have physical touch and intimacy. The relation between them is colder when she finds the chemistry is gone. The conflict is pointed out as soon as Rochester makes a confession that he does not love her since the first time they are engaged to the marriage. He just follows his lust as his instinctive emotion toward Antoinette rather than his conscious choice. It can be seen in the following quotation.
The review of his motivation when he marries Antoinette shows his cruel intention in fulfilling his needs. Rochester’s perspective toward Antoinette is
based on the racial discrimination which is rooted from Antoinette’s heritage condition as a mixed- race Creole. He considers that Antoinette is not like any people from his stratum as a European. He treats her as an outsider although Antoinette is his wife. Rochester point of view of Antoinette is based on his evaluation that she has a different class, a different culture, a different way of thinking, and also different standard of life from him. This situation is parrarel with Elgin F.Hunt theory that conflict happens because group tends to evaluate certain matters based on its own perception or point of view, which is influenced by their aspects of culture, values, religion, belief, and norms or moral standards.
Another conflict between Antoinette and Rochester is the betrayal on their marriage. Rochester has an affair with a black servant, named Amelie An. In one night, at Granbois house, he sleeps with Amelie next toAntoinette’s room, so that she can hear everything that happens on that room. She cannot stand the situation then she drives herself crazy. In the morning Antoinette leaves the house by riding a horse for three days. She is so distressed in facing that reality, then on the third day when she comes back home she acts like a madwoman, raving and crying out inside of the house. It can be seen in the quotation below.
The door of Antoinette’s room opened. When I saw her I was too shocked to speak. Her hair hung uncombed and dull into her eyes which were inflamed and staring, her face was very flushed and looked swollen. Her feet were bare. However when she spoke her voice was low, almost inaudible.
‘I rang the bell because I was thirsty. Didn’t anybody hear?’
‘And what right have you to tell me what I’m to do? Christophine!’ she called again, but her voice broke (p. 94, line 5-15).
From the quotation above, it shows that Antoinette is a fragile woman and she is so lack of self-control because she cannot stand alone on herself and she is so powerless. Furthermore, her sensitivity feeling leads her to be so furious and impulsive in controlling herself. The dominant part of the conflict between Antoinette and her husband, Rochester, is about her displacement on the mismatch culture marriage.
iii. Antoinette and Daniel Cosway
The problem occurs by third-person interruption, Daniel Cosway, who is Antoinette’s step brother – the son of her father and another lady. He is also a Creole just like Antoinette. He is also rejected by his family for his own misfortune. He represents The Cosway’s condition which has been isolated and received unfair treatment from his society due to their inherited mixed race blood. Daniel intervention in Antoinette’s personal life begins with the arrival of his letter to Antoinette’s husband, Rochester. Daniel sends letter twice, in the first
…..but they don’t tell you what sort of people were these Cosways. Wicked and detestable slave- owners since generations – yes everybody hate them in Jamaica and also in this beautiful island where I hope your stay will be long and pleasant in spite of all, for some not worth sorrow. Wickedness is not the worst. There is madness in that family. Old Cosway die raving like his father before him (p. 58, line 2-7).
Daniel’s act to disgrace Antoinette’s family name is triggered by his
jealousy on Antoinette position as a legitimate child of Mr. Cosway, their father. Meanwhile, Daniel is just Mr. Cosway’sillegitimate son, who does not have any rights of Mr. Cosway legacy at all. It can be seen in thetext line, ‘Her father and mine was a shameless man and of all his illegitimates I am the most unfortunate and poverty stricken.’ (p.58, line 10-11).
Daniel takes revenge to Antoinette’s family because he could not accept the reality that he is absolutely not the heir of Cosway family and he is rejected by Mr. Cosway. His misfortune leads him to be a bad person, and then he tries to disturb Antoinette’s personal life. Moreover, Rochesterhas been seduced to leave Antoinette. He trusts Daniel’s letter. Clearly it can be seen in the following text line, ‘I folded the letter carefully and put it into my pocket. I felt no surprise. It was as if I’d expected it, been waiting for it.’ (p. 60, line 23-24). Nonetheless,
Rochester does not reply that letter so that Daniel sends him the second letter. It contains a threat to Rochester: if Rochester does not come to see Daniel, Daniel would come to see him soon to tell the story of Antoinette’s past. We can see from this following quotation.
Actually Rochester is very annoyed by the arrival of Daniel’s letter, but he seems to have no choice to take a certain attitude toward Daniel’s blind act. Finally Rochester is willing to come to see Daniel at his house because Amelie has warned him that a man named Daniel is a bad person. Being forced by the messed up situation, Rochester agrees to meet Daniel and listen to his story about Antoinette. Daniel tells about Antoinette’s love affair with Sandy Cosway when she was young, and evokes Rochester’sanger by accusing Antoinette that her first sexual experience was to be with Sandy. In a short way, the meeting reveals Daniel purpose to press Rochester and asking some money as assurance of the information confidentiality. He asks £ 500 for a bribe, as soon as Rochester leaves his house in a hurry. It can be seen in thisDaniel’s statement about his request.
Don’t waste your anger on me, sir. It’s not I fool you, it’s I wish to open your eyes…. A tall fine English gentleman like you, you don’t want to touch a little yellow rat like me eh? Besides I understand well. You believe me, but you want to do everything quiet like the English can. All right. But if I keep my mouth shut it seems to me you owe me something. What is five hundred pounds toyou? To me it’s my life(p. 79, line 21-27).
‘He has no right to that name,’ she said quickly. ‘His real name,if he has one, is Daniel Boyd. He hates all white people, but he hates me the most. He tells lies about us and he is sure that you will believe him and not listen to the otherside.’ (p.81, line 17-20).
Rochester’s disgust over the situation blinds his view because he refuses to
listen Antoinette’s answer and explanation. However, Antoinette insists upon her innocence, and she blames Daniel as the trouble maker of her marriage crisis. Antoinette gets aftermath of the arrival of Daniel’sletters, because she has to open up her memories which are full of unpleasant moment of her childhood at Coulibri Estate. She describes her mother as a poor widow after Mr. Old Cosway died. She had to keep up with poverty and rejection of their surround. She experienced many tragic moments especially about unfair treatment for her family after they had collapsed and black servants were striving against them. She found no justice for her life. She tries to convince Rochester that all of Daniel’s stories are wrong and all of them are lies, but Rochester does not believe her anyway.
iv. Antoinette and Christophine
Christophine isAntoinette’s surrogate mother after her mother has passed away. She is the one who hates the arranged marriage of Antoinette and Rochester because she thinks that the English man is just taking advantages of Antoinette. From the beginning of the marriage, Christophine has warned her that Rochester is just a money – oriented person. Moreover, Christophine’s animosity is bigger than before when Antoinette comes to see her and tells her that Rochester does not love her anymore. It can be seen in the quotation below.
At last I said, ‘Christophine, he does not love me, I think he hates me. He always sleeps in his dressing-room now and the servants know. If I get angry he is scornful and silent, sometimes he does not speak to me for hours and I cannot endure it any more, I cannot. What shall I do? He was not like that at first,’ I said(p. 67, line19-24).
Because of that situation, Christophine gives an advice to Antoinette to leave her husband because she thinks that Antoinette will be hurt by him. Yet, Antoinette does not follow Christophine’s suggestion. Their argument over Rochester is stated in this following quotation:
‘You ask me a hard thing, I tell you a hard thing, pack up and go.’
‘Go, go where? To some strange place where I shall never see him? No, I will not, then everyone, not only the servants, will laugh at me.’
‘It’s not you they laugh at if you go, they laugh at him.’ ‘I will not do that.’
‘Why you ask me, if when I answer you say no? Why you come up here if when I tell you the truth, you say no?’ (p.67, line 28-36).
The quotation above shows that Antoinette does not want to follow Christophine’s suggestion to leave Rochester. Antoinette’s stubbornness blinds
does not like to be around her and decides to sleep separately in the dressing room, instead of leaving Rochester. Then Antoinette asks potion of love from Christophine. She thinks that Obeah magic can win Rochester’s heart and can make him keep on loving her again. On the other side, Christophine has different thought that it’s useless in persuading man’s love when the love does not exist
anymore.Christophine’s contradiction can beseen in this following quotation. She looked gloomy. ‘When man don’t love you, more you try, more he hate you, man like that. If you love them they treat you bad, if you don’t love them they after you night and day bothering your soul case out. I hear about you and your husband,’ she said(p. 68, line 2-5).
Christophine’s view toward Antoinette’s intention in using the Obeah
magic shows her anxiety of Antoinette mentally condition. She knows Antoinette so well, than anybody else. She gets through a lot of tragic moments from her childhood. Therefore, Christophine wants Antoinette to be happy by leaving Rochester as quickly as she can, because there is no use in expecting Rochester’s love. On the other hand, Antoinette refuses Christophine suggestion and decides to hold on her marriage. It can be seen obviously in this text line, ‘But I cannot go. He is my husband after all.’ (p. 68, line 6). Christophine tries to convince Antoinette over and over that it is better to go from that house then start a new beginning of her life in Martinique Island, Antoinette’s mother hometown.
that England is a very bad place for her. Their quarrel around the plan can be seen in this following quotation.
‘England,’ said christophine, who was watching me. ’You think there is such a place?’
‘How can you ask that? You know there is.’ ‘I never see the damn place, how I know?’
‘You do not believe that there is a country called England?’
She blinked and answered quickly, ‘I don’t say I don’t believe, I say I don’t know, I know what I see with my eyes and I never see it.Besides I ask myself is this place like they tell us? Some say one thing, some different, I hear it cold to freeze your bones and they thief your money, clever like the devil. You have money in your pocket, you look again and bam! No money. Why you want to go to this cold thief place? If there is this place at all, I never see it, that is one thing sure.’ (p.69, line 19-31). From the quotations above, we can see that Christophine’s disagreement
of Antoinette’slife choices makes a different view between them. They stand for their own perceptions and no one will step aside.Christophine’s attitude intaking a different opinion makes Antoinette upset. She does not support Antoinette’s notion, so that Antoinette is becoming so doubt with Christophine. It can be seen in the quotation below.
I stared her, thinking,’but how can she know the best thing for me to do, this ignorant, obstinate old negro woman, who is not certain if there is such a place as England?’ (p.69, line 32-34).
v. Antoinette and Two Teenagers who Bully her on the Road
Antoinette is in the custody of Aunt Cora in Spanish Town after her mother got sick and should take a rest in country. She is signed in a convent school in Spanish Town, called Mount Calvary Convent, which is especially a school for young girls. An incident happens on one morning when she walks to the school alone. There are two Negro teenagers, a boy and a girl, who have frightened her by following her step along the way to the school. She feels terrified and hates them when the girl calls Antoinette a crazy girl who is alike her mother and insults her as a zombie, as seen in this following quotation.
Half-way up they closed in on me and started talking. The girl said, ‘Look the crazy girl, you crazy like your mother. Your aunt frightened to have you in the house. She send you for the nuns to lock up. Your mother walk about with no shoes and stockings on her feet, shesans culottes. She try to kill her husband and she try to kill you too that day you go to see her. She have eyes like zombie and you have eyes like zombie too (p. 26, line 35-36 and p. 27, line1-5).
It is clear seen that the two teenagers are bothering her. The two teenagers’ act is so mean and rude to her. They do not realize that it will hurtAntoinette’s feeling. The word ‘zombie’in the quotation above is related to soulless creature which has no mind and feeling as a human being. At this point, they do not welcome her arrival to the town, and they consider her as a half-death person. Meanwhile, Antoinette just keep silent and does not take any action to defend herself even to look at their face. Antoinette’s ignorant of their deeds makes the girl angry,as seen in this text line, ’You don’t want to look at me, eh, I make you lookat me’ (p.27, line11-12).
physical attack to show their hatred to her.It is stated in this text line, ’When I got to the top of the hill they were jostling me, I could smell the girl’s hair’ (p. 27, line 7-8). Furthermore, Antoinette has been pushed by the girl until the books she brings fall down to the ground. They do not realize that their attitudes toward Antoinette give an uncomfortable feeling to her. As the consequences, Antoinette is just crying to let her suffering out. Then she runs and comes to nun in her school and finds a refugee there.
According Robert and Jacobs’ theory, conflict can also exist between individual and larger forces, such as natural objects, ideas, and modes of behavior, public opinion, and so on. The larger forces here are modes of the twoteenagers’ behavior in bullying Antoinette by jostling and pushing her, and also about their public opinion toward Antoinette’s family condition. Their frontal act makes Antoinette very upset and down. Antoinette cannot take her emotional burden anymore.
b. Internal Conflicts that are Experienced by Antoinette
i. Rejection
Antoinette is a forgotten-daughter because she is ignored by her mother. Based on problem formulation 1, Antoinette is described as a caring person especially to her family. Unfortunately, Antoinette’s mother does not care about her at all. She pays more attention only to her brother and does not give an equal attention to her, as seen in this following quotation.
Nonetheless, Antoinette really cares about her mother, who has got sick after the death ofher little brother, Pierre. She rejects Antoinette’s presence every time Antoinette comes around her with a rude attitude. A part of Antoinette heart is broken and a part of it still concerns on her mother’s unwell condition. She keeps on visiting her mother who has lived separately from her although her mother rejects her harshly, as seen on this following quotation.
She looked at the door, then at me, then at the door again. I could not say, ’He is dead,’ so I shook my head. ‘But I am here, I am here,’ I said, and she said, ‘No’ quietly. Then ‘No no no’ very loudly and flung me from here. I fell against the partition and hurt myself ( p. 25, line30-34).
From the quotation above we can see that Antoinette’s mother could not keep up with the reality of Pierre’s death. Antoinette’s presence to hold her together and to give her support seems to be useless. Her mother’sact in pushing her body down is a proof of her rejection toward Antoinette. It causes a dilemmatic moment when Antoinette is on the way to visit her mother. She is really missing her mother but oppositely she is not in a good mood to see her mother because her mother is always rude to her. We can see it from this text line, ‘I remember the dull feeling as we drove along for I did not expect to see her. She
of fiction contains obvious internal conflicts between two desires within a character.
Another rejection comes from her own husband, Rochester, who thinks that Antoinette is hypocrite for she does not tell him the truth about her previous love affair with Sandy Cosway. Because of that, Rochester seems to avoid her wife fiercely and he feels nothing about her anymore. He does not care with Antoinette and does not give her affection as a kind of his rejection to her, as seen on this following quotation.
‘Then why do you never come near me?’ she said. ‘Or kiss me, or talk to me. Why do you think I can bear it, what reason have you for treating me like that? Have you any reason?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I have a reason,’ and added very softly, ’My God.’ ‘You are always calling on God,’ she said. ‘Do you believe in God?’ ‘Of course, of course I believe in the power and wisdom of my creator.’ She raised her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth turned down in a questioning mocking way (p. 80, line 23-32).
ii. Mental Oppression
Colonial system brings influences inmany aspect of Antoinette’s life.One of the influences is her financial condition. She has to obey a new Law of English Government that describes all asset and legacies are on the name of her husband. Antoinette’s life is getting harder after she marries Rochester. She is not only exhausted physically but also she is exhausted mentally. She could not stand her rights as the consequences of patriarchal system on the colony. She must obey all the regulations that have been made by English Government in every sections of her life. According to English Government Law Antoinette cannot keep and cannot claim all her money and all her legacies to be hers after she marries Rochester. All her belongings are being taken over by her husband as the Law is carried out to the system of the patriarchal society on that time. She comprehends the situation of having no money as her weakness in front of her husband’s authority. She explains it to her loyal servant, Christophine, as her reason why she could not leave Rochester. It can be seen in this following quotation.
‘He will notcome after me. And you must understand I am not rich now, I have no money of my own at all, everything I had belongs to him.’
‘What you tell me there?’ she said sharply. ‘That is English law.’
‘Law! The Mason boy fix it, that boy worse than Satan and he burn in Hell one of these fine nights (p. 68, line 15-21).
disadvantages for her. Furthermore, she cannot take control of the money without her husband’s permission. Unfortunately, her husband is not a kind and wise person because he agrees to marry Antoinette in order to claim all her legacies. Antoinette is being pressured economically because her husband is just keeping the money on his own.
All of her assets are the legacies from her father, but now it is saved by the name of Rochester. She could not help to face her emotional burden toward Rochester then she gets angry and also rage to him. It can be seen in this text line, ‘If my father, my real father, was alive you wouldn’t come back here in a hurry
after he’d finished with you. If he was alive. Do you know what you’ve done to
me?’(p. 95, line 8-9).
iii. Insecurity
her husband because she is afraid if her husband leaves her when he knows about the truth. It can be seen on this following quotation.
‘I have tried,’ I said, ‘but he does not believe me. It is too late for that now’ (it is always too late for truth, I thought).’I will try again if you will do what I ask. Oh Christophine, I am so afraid,’ I said, ‘I do not know why, but so afraid. All the time. Help me.’ (p. 72, line 25-28).
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Antoinette is afraid of being honest to her own husband. She tells Christophine that she is afraid of something from her past but she does not know why she is afraid of the thing. It shows that she is not ready to take a chance for herself to be an open-minded person. Because of that, she just keeps her feeling away and refuses to show it to her husband.
Christophine seems to be Antoinette’s surrogate mother who always comes to rescue her in any situation. Antoinette wants to be with Christophine forever. She comes to Christophine’s home as her refugee from her life trouble. She thinks of being alone without Christophine is not a way to live. It causes a big dependency of Antoinette toward Christophine, as seen in this following quotation.
When she bent her head she looked old and I thought, ‘Oh christophine, do not grow old. You are the only friend I have, do not go away from me in to being old.’ (p. 71, line 4-6).
alone and her big dependency on Christophine. Her wish to keep holding on together with Christophine is like a confession of Antoinette’s vulnerable side.
Furthermore, Antoinette’s insecurity leads her into unhappiness on her
life. She feels that everything she had in the past and has in the present are senseless. She is not happy all the time because she cannot let her past life out of mind. She is not free from her own emotional burden of feeling regretful to her mother. She discusses it on her conversation with her husband around her experience at Coulibri Estate. It can be seen in this following quotation.
‘But you said you were always happy.’
‘No, I said I was always happy in the morning, not always in the afternoon and never after sunset, for after sunset the house was haunted, some places are. Then there was that day when she saw I was growing up like a white nigger and she was ashamed of me, it was after that day that everything changed. Yes, it was my fault, it was my fault that she started to plan and work in a frenzy, in a fever to change our lives. Then people came to see us again and though I still hated them and was afraid of their cool, teasing eyes, I learned to hide it.’ ( p.84, line 8-17).
The quotation above shows Antoinette’s unhappiness for her entire life. She could not stop blaming herself for her mother’s condition. She could not escape from her past life’s reality. It seems that past life is such a nightmare which
