THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL BULLYING
AS SEEN THROUGH ELSIE EDWARDS
IN BARTHE DECLEMENTS’
NOTHING’S FAIR IN FIFTH GRADE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ARTANTYA KRISPRADIPTA
Student Number: 084214057
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL BULLYING
AS SEEN THROUGH ELSIE EDWARDS
IN BARTHE DECLEMENTS’
NOTHING’S FAIR IN FIFTH GRADE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
ARTANTYA KRISPRADIPTA Student Number: 084214057
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
“It’s better to burn out
than to fade away.”
Kurt Cobain
“When there’s love,
there’s life.”
v
FOR
MY LOVE,
SAFIRA PARAMARTHA.
LOVE THE LIFE,
FOR A SMILE OF
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At first, my gratitude goes to Jesus Christ, My Lord, for His blessings. My
gratitude also goes to Buddha, Goddess Sarasvati, and Kurt Cobain for the
inspirations I could see and feel.
I would also give gratitude to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M.Hum as my
advisor for the helps, comments, ideas, and patience. I would also thank Dra. A. B.
Sri Mulyani, M.A., PhD as my co-advisor, Adventina Putranti, S.S, M.Hum as my
examiner. The gratitude also goes to Hb. Heri Santoso and Dra. Bernardine Ria
Lestari M.S. for the criticisms, comments, and questions.
Then, I would give special gratitude for Soepandiyah and Widyatmi
Yuliani and also Siman Widyatmanta and Soeharto Hadi Soetjipto for value of life
I cannot get from others. The biggest thanks go to my parents Widyabakti Sabatari
and Setyo Watjono for their endless loves and support. I would like to thank my
sister, Ardwitya Tirza Krisantari. Since I am strengthened by my family, I also
thank Tante Nining, Budhe Tyas, Tante Lili, Tante Susi, Nawaw, Om Tomo,
Tante Ais, Tante Enggar, Lik Widi, Om Johny, Pakdhe Partono, Om Ronald, Om
Isti, Tante Eki, Om Koko, Tante Indah, Stella, Sela, Bobby, Diki, Titov, Bingar,
Alle, Damar, Citin, Adel, Kezia, and Dora. After that, my loudest gratitudes go to
my friends: Dedhy, Yoyok, Andri, Damar, Mamet, Demen, Gaplek, Ianno, Pleci,
Ley, Palute, Cella, Ari, Helga, Ana, Pita, Sakha, Adul, Riris, Kenan, Natan, etc. I
would also give my gratefulness to my second family, Teater Seriboe Djendela,
vii
Padmo, Neta, Kribo, Ari, Puput, Nggelong, Sarwedha, Gaplek ‘Tua’, Boncel,
Septian, Aci, and Saskia. For everyone not written and mentioned here, I note you
in my heart.
Last but not least, my hugest and special thank goes to Safira Paramartha,
a love to cherish and keep, since everything with her is easier, lovable, awesome,
and unforgettable. Thank you.
x
1. Theories of Character and Characterization ... 11
2. Theories of Social Bullying and the Impact of Social Bullying ... 12
C. Theoretical Framework ... 18
A. The Descriptions of The Characters ... 26
1. The Description of The Victim of Social Bullying ... 26
a. Elsie Edwards ... 26
2. The Description of The Doers of Social Bullying ... 31
a. Jenifer Sawyer ... 31
b. Diane ... 33
c. Sharon ... 34
B. Social Bullying as Seen through the Doers of Social Bullying 36 1. Direct Verbal Aggression ... 37
xi
C. The Impacts of Social Bullying as Seen Through
the Victim of Social Bullying ... 44
1. Low Self-esteem ... 45
2. Embarrassment ... 48
3. Loss of Self-respect ... 51
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 55
xii ABSTRACT
ARTANTYA KRISPRADIPTA (2013).The Impacts of Social Bullying As Seen Through Elsie Edwards in Barthe DeClements’ Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses the book entitled Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade by Barthe Declements. The objective of this study is to show that social bullying done in the story may give impacts toward the victim of social bullying. There are three problems analyzed. These problems cover the description of the characters, the social bullying done in the story, and also the impact of social bullying that can be seen through the victim.
To answer the problems, the writer uses two theories. The first theory used is theory of character and characterization. This theory is used to describe characters. In this study, the characters analyzed are divided in two parts, the victim and the doers of social bullying. The second theory is theories of social bullying and the impact of social bullying. These theories are used to reveal that social bullying is done in the story and that social bullyings give impact toward the victim. In this study, the writer uses psychological approach to see the text. Psychological approach is chosen by the writer since social bullying and the impacts are mostly discussed as social-psychological problems.
For this study, the writer conducts library research. By taking this method, the writer can be closer to the text. Then the analysis is done by researching the data or theories by finding it in the books or internet.
xiii ABSTRAK
ARTANTYA KRISPRADIPTA (2013).The Impacts of Social Bullying As Seen Through Elsie Edwards in Barthe DeClements’Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Studi ini membahas sebuah buku berjudul Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade yang ditulis oleh Barthe DeClements. Tujuan studi ini adalah menunjukkan social bullying yang ada pada cerita tersebut mengakibatkan dampak yang timbul pada karakter utamanya. Ada tiga masalah yang akan dianalisis dalam studi ini. Yang pertama adalah deskripsi para tokoh. Yang kedua adalah social bullying yang terjadi di dalam cerita. Dan masalah terakhir adalah dampak yang dirasakan oleh tokoh utama dalam cerita tersebut.
Dalam pembahasan masalah- masalah tersebut, penulis menggunakan dua teori untuk mendasari analisisnya. Teori yang pertama adalah teori tokoh dan penokohan. Teori ini digunakan untuk mengetahui deskripsi para tokoh. Para tokoh yang dianalisa dibagi dalam dua bagian, korban dan pelaku social bullying. Teori yang kedua adalah teori social bullying dan dampak dari social bullying. Teori ini digunakan untuk melihat dan membuktikan bahwasocial bullyingterjadi di cerita tersebut dan mengakibatkan dampak dampak yang dirasakan oleh korban social bullying. Dalam studi ini, penulis menggunakan sebuah pendekatan. Pendekatan yang dipakai adalah pendekatan secara psikologi. Pendekatan ini dipilih oleh penulis dengan melihat bahwa social bullying dan akibatnya merupakan masalah yang sering dibahas sebagai masalah sosial-psikologi.
Untuk studi ini, penulis menggunakan riset pustaka. Dengan metode ini penulis dapat menjadi lebih dekat dengan teks. Data dan dan teori yang didapat dari buku dan internet kemudian menjadi dasar analisis studi.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains Background of the Study, Problem Formulation, Objectives of the Study, and Definition of Terms. Background of the Study describes the reason the writer has a study on the object of the study, Barthe DeClements Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade. Problem Formulation provides the problems or questions discussed in this study. Then, Objectives of the Study comes with the purposes this study deals with, and, Definitions of Terms explains the words or terms used in the study then to put misunderstandings away.
A. Background of the Study
Literary work grows as an important part of human life. Written texts are taking a part in every step that can be found easily in times. Not only as a text, it is an art. Literary work must be beautiful. It is not simply a work of art in artistic way that contains aesthetic elements. Literary work brings a new condition by the way it is formed in several ways. It can be formed as an expression created by the witness of a certain experience and event and also can be formed as a document of happening events in particular time. The author of the literary works tries to shows a certain event by recording in a text. In Literature: Reading and Writing The Human Experience, people understands literary work in different ways.
audiences over time. To still others, literature simply refers to what gets taught in schools and colleges, regardless of the reasons for their inclusion in the curriculum. How readers think about literature and assess literary value varies over time and even from person to person (Abcarian, Klotz and Richardson, 1998: 1).
Since the pure meaning of literature is still debatable, people can understand literature as a subjective case. While one can understand one meaning, others can understand other meanings, in this case, the meaning of literature itself. It is like what Charles E. Bressler says in Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. He says that to solve determining the meaning, “others choose to define literature as an art, thereby leaving open the question of its being written or oral. This further narrows its meaning, equating literature to works of the imagination or creative writing” (Bressler, 1998: 9-10).
Literature also can be considered as a tool to communicate with others. The communication form can be varied. It can be in a form of ‘news’, ‘photograph’ of a history, or, even, a criticism to a problem happening in the society around the author of the literary work. One of the situation written in literary work is social and psychological problem. As literary work can come as a tool to show an event on a certain time, literary work can also show the reader the social and psychological problem happening in a certain society and moment. Literary work can show the reader the fact and condition related to social and psychological problems. Many authors write down a story containing social and psychological problems.
happen because there are the doers and the action of the doers results the victim of bullying. Bullying mostly appears in school. In Human Development, bullying is expanding form of aggression. It is stated that “aggression and bullying are related to what features of the social environment they pay attention to, and how they interpret what they perceive” (Papalia, Olds, and Feldman, 2004: 371). These actions result different impacts. The results can be depression and other mental sickness, even physical one. It is like what John W. Santrock writes in Life-Span Development.
What are the outcomes of bullying? A recent study indicated that bullies and their victims in adolescence were more likely to experience depression and engage in suicide ideation and attempt suicide than their counterparts who were not involved in bullying. Another recent study revealed that bullies, victims, or those who were both bullies and victims had more health problems (such as headaches, dizziness, sleep problems, and anxiety) than their counterparts who were not involved in bullying (2009: 338).
Regarding bullying, Pamela Orpmas states that “bullies are a prevalent problem in schools and one of the biggest difficulties for student, teachers, and administrators. There are a lot of discussion about the problem of bullying, but there has been surprisingly little action” (2006: 11). Orpmas’ statement shows the importance to understand and handle bullying since bullying comes as a problem not only for the students. but also for the teachers and their surroundings.
cannot refuse the fact that bullying is dangerous. In their statement, the teachers must be capable to handle this kind of problem.
Teachers have a reasonable knowledge about the nature of school bullying, particularly physical forms. However, even though they recognize it as an issue, they often underestimate the seriousness of relational bullying and its negative impact on the victim. Furthermore, many teachers lack the knowledge, skills and confidence with which to recognize and challenge bullying. (2008: 1)
Experiencing the action of bullying is not a good feeling for the victim. Being bullied can destroy a person’s confidence and self-esteem. Mona O’Moore and Stephen J. Minton state that “bullying may occur in many schools, but it Fabiani, a book reviewer and a psychiatric child counselor, in her blog.
She states that “kids of this age are seeking more privacy and independence, but they still need their parents to be involved and to set boundaries” (http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10623-fifth-grade-social-changes-what-to-expect). She also mentions that children in this grade wants to be with their friends.
They want to be with their friends. They often get upset when their longtime pals form new allegiances or if they feel they are not part of the crowd. Your child’s social life may be constantly changing—today’s best friend is tomorrow’s enemy. (http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10623-fifth-grade-social-changes-what-to-expect). Helen Cowie and Dawn Jennifer state an addition information about the condition of fifth graders. They conclude that children of this age tend to tease each other. They tend to be aggressive toward the others in kinds of manner. On some ways, physical aggression is done to tease and on the other ways, verbal and relational bullying are chosen.
An American study that investigated elementary children’s moral reasoning about physical and relational aggression found that fourth and fifth graders tended to rate physical aggression (e.g. hitting a peer) as more wrong and harmful than relational aggression (e.g. excluding a peer from one’s group of friends). In addition, girls tended to judge aggression in general as more wrong than boys did, and were more likely to believe that relational behaviours were harmful for the victim. (2008: 4)
B. Problem Formulation
To conduct this study, there are three questions formulated to answer. They are:
1. How are the characters in the story described?
2. How is the social bullying revealed through the doers of social bullying (Elsie’s classmates)?
3. What are the impacts of social bullying experienced by the victim of social bullying (Elsie)?
C. Objective of The Study
The aim of this study is to find out the answer of the problem mentioned in problem formulation. The first objective is to find out the way the characters are described in the story. The aim of the first objective is to understand the role of those characters in the story. The second objective is to find out the social bullying happening in the story. The last objective is to identify the impacts of social bullying described in the story as a result of social bullying done.
D. Definition of Term
victim, typically one who is weak, vulnerable, and defenseless (Papalia, Olds, and Feldman, 2004: 372).
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies
The novel Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade is important to be studied. The book is a reflection of experience got by the writer, Barthe DeClements. It happens because she teaches and faces the students directly. In Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade, it is written that she goes not only as a writer or an author.
Barthe DeClements is a school counselor who has also worked as a teacher. While Ms. DeClements was teaching fifth grade, she wanted to make spelling and composition more interesting to her students. She began a story by writing a paragraph on the blackboard each week. Her students got involved in the story, and it eventually became Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade, Ms. DeClements’ first novel (1981: 138).
Though this book has not been an object of study in Sanata Dharma University, there are students who have done studies on bullying. The writer also does not find any study on Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade as an official study. Seeing this point, the writer decides the review or studies of Barthe deClements’
Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade, social bullying, and the impact of social bullying as the material to review to complete the review of related studies. Then, the writer believes that the explanation or comparison given will help the writer to depart any chance of plagiarism.
happened in the novel (Gakko No Sensee by Komatsu Eriko)” (2007:xiv). From the research she has done, she concludes thatijimeor bullying results bad effects.
The results of these researches are: first, ijime/ bullying in Japan is all kind of insults, exclusion, blackmail, and even violence done secretly many times by group to one same object whom weak or ‘different’ from the others in the group. Second, the foundation of ijime’s mental is one of the negative side which is appeared from some cultural values, such as: (a) uniformity and group oriented, (b) shame culture, and (c) family education. Some factors made ijime’s mental developed are: (a) struggle in GNP, (b) academic stressing, (c) career women, and (d) teachers quality. And, third, the effects of ijime often appears in serious way such as: tookookyohi (school refusal), suicide, and murder (Ristiawati, 2007:xiv).
Wahyu Putri has a study on the bullying behaviour on school students and she puts elevent grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 as her subject of the study. This study aims to describe of level of bullying behaviour of eleventh grade SMA BOPKRI 2 in 2008/2009 academic year (2009:viii). From the study she has done, she got points to bring. She concludes that the level of bullying behaviour of eleventh grade SMA BOPKRI 2 in 2008/2009 academic year is low. She also states that this fact means that generally those students do not bully each other. But this problem may cause bigger crack without any control by the school management and the parents of the students (2009: 67).
On the study Senior High School Student’s Perception on Bullying Behaviour in School: A Case Study at “Kolese De Britto” Senior High School and
in school (2007:vii). After the study’s completed, he knows that there is no significant difference between student’s perception on bullying behaviour in school (2007: 55).
Another study of bullying is done by Justinus Parlindungan Sihombing. The study entitled Yogyakarta People Attitude toward School Bullying aims “to assess the attitude of people in Yogyakarta toward school bullying” (2010:viii). This study researches people living in Yogyakarta. The respondents are 14- 64 years old. The writer of this study concludes that the subjects of this study have negative attitudes towards bullying (2010: 63).
Indriyani Sitompul also has a study on bullying. Her study titled Bullying Phenomenon at Boys and Girls Student in 2nd of PIRI I Junior High School
Yogyakarta tries to “study the types of bullying that exist, the places where often be used to bully in school environment, the different of a number of the victim and perpetrator of bullying between boys and girls student, the effect of bullying to the bullies and the victims” (2008:viii). As the result of the study, Indriyani Sitompul shows that bullying oftenly happens in PIRI I Junior High School Yogyakarta (2008: 62).
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
In every story, there must be characters running the story. It can be one be the main character or not. Without any character in the story, it will not be a story anymore. Characters appear in every part of the story bringing their motivation. In drama, a character can be called as actor or actress. Their appearance brings dialogue written in the script. In A Glossary of Literary Terms: Fourth Edition, M.H Abrams states the definition of character.
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. The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and actions constitute his motivation. (Abrams, 1981: 34)
Abrams also states that the characterization is “the process by which the characters are rendered to make them seem real to the reader” (Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz, 1998: 6) and characterization can be “revealed by what characters do, say, and by what other characters say or reveal” (Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz ,1998: 21).
is called characterization. The ability to characterize is a primary attribute of a good writer (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81).
According to Holman and Harmon, there are three fundamental methods of characterization in fiction. The first one is “the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action” (1986: 81). The second one, they state that “the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions; and the last one” (1986: 81). For the last one “the representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with the expectation that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes of the character” (1986: 81) comes as one of the fundamental methods of characterization.
2. Theories of Social Bullying and the Impact of Social Bullying
they are fifth graders. Helen Cowie states in New Perspective On Bullying that “13 to 14-year-old pupils were more likely than 11 to 12-year-old pupils to refer to an imbalance of power” (Cowie, 2008: 5). Relating to some researches related to bullying in social life, she also states that the bully and the victim, suggesting that children did not share adult researchers’ claims that bullying is a social process that extends beyond the bully/victim dyad” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008:5). InLife-Span Development, John W. Santrock mentions the definition of bullying. It is defined as “a verbal or physical behavior intended to disturb someone less powerful (Santrock, 2009: 337)”, “then children who said they were bullied reported more lonely and difficult in making friends’“ (Santrock, 2009: 338). There is another statement of bullying. According to Brunstein Klomek, “bullies and their victims in adolescence were more likely to experience depression and engage suicide ideation and attempt suicide than their counterparts who were not involved in bullying” (Brunstein Klomek & others, 2007: 46, 40-49).
Helen Cowie differs bullying into three parts. The first one is direct physical aggression. She states that “direct physical aggression includes such behaviours as pushing, hitting, punching or kicking” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008: 3). Another form of bullying is direct verbal aggresion. Cowie states that “direct verbal aggression may take the form of yelling abuse at another, name-calling, using insulting expressions or making verbal threats” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008: 3). Cowie also states another form. It is indirect aggresion. For her, “indirect aggression, sometimes referred to as social aggression or relational aggression as the term implies, uses less direct forms of aggressive behaviour such as spreading malicious rumours about another, excluding a person from the group, or disclosing another’s secrets to a third person” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008: 3).
The doers of bullying have many reasons as their background to bully someone else. One of the reasons coming as the object to bully is physical appearance. Mona O’Moore and Stephen J. Minton show that pyhsical appearance can be the object to bully someone else. Physical appearance comes as a differentiation in any relationships, mainly in children’s peer. One can be picked on “because a bully will say that there is something wrong or different about the bullied person’s height (too short, or too tall) or weight (too thin, too heavy)” (O’Moore and Minton, 2004: 74).
Bullying happens when the doers find a focus, in the victim, to bully. Robbins and Parlavecchio state that “in moments of disruption, such as in illness, clumsiness, or exposure to the judgments of other people, the lived body becomes an object of our attention” (Robbins and Parlavecchio, 2006: 322). Children with weaknesses will be the focus or the target of the bullying. Relating the statement by Robbins and Parlavecchio, the condition of being the center of attention makes the child may feel underpressured not to do something stupid. Hersen and Gross state that “socially anxious children often come into treatment believing they “cannot” tolerate their fear in social situations, or with certainty that they will do “something stupid,” peers will laugh at them, and they will feel greatly embarrassed” (Hersen and Gross, 2008: 702). Respect and impression by the others will help a children to grow better. The child may feel that she or he is accepted in that place. Lerner, Easterbrooks, and Mistry state that “a young child’s assertion of self-will is a newly discovered self-conscious sense inspiring
reflection and requiring expression and respect from others” (Lerner, Easterbrooks, and Mistry,2003: 104)
InNothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade, the action of social bullying mainly done
by the girls towards Elsie as the victim. The boys bully Elsie too but the fact
found in the book says that the girls do more. Helen Cowie and Dawn Jennifer
The action of bullying results impact felt by the victim of bullying. The impact comes as the feeling or respond toward many kinds of bullying. Mona O’Moore and Stephen J. Minton state that “being bullied never did anybody any favours –all it does is to destroy a person’s confidence and self-esteem, and to causephysical, emotional and psychological damage of the potentially most serious and long-lasting kind” (O’Moore and Minton, 2004:1).
There are kinds of the impact of social bullying. Helen Cowie states that “bullying has a negative impact on the wider social group with bystanders experiencing fear, embarrassment and inadequacy, resulting in loss of self-respect for not responding or responding ineffectively to a bullying situation” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008: 25). Helen Cowie and Dawn Jennifer also state that the victim of bullying may experience “anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, and physical and psychosomatic complaints” (Cowie and Jennifer, 2008: 25).
According to O’Moore and Minton, bullied students or the victim of bullying have lower confidence and self-esteem. These feelings come as they are stressful by seeing the condition that they are bullied. They have less willingness to try something, moreover something new, and withdraw themselves from the peer. Danuta Bukatko states “boys and girls of elementary and middle school age who are dissatisfied with and keenly concerned about their physical appearance tend to have lower self-esteem” (Bukatko, 2008: 426)
The statement written above shows that bullying is not a simple problem. The impact felt by the victim of bullying places her or him away from her or his surrounding. O’Moore and Minton also state that the victim of bullying usually shows her or his expression such as “upset, sadness, anger; feeling that one has failed to protect one’s child” (O’Moore and Minton, 2004: 53). Low of self-esteem may also resut loss of self-respect. Neil Thompson states that “due to low self-esteem, we do not stand up for ourselves, we will not earn respect, and will not, therefore, have opportunities to boost our self-esteem. In this way we can become trapped in a vicious circle of low self-esteem” (Thompson, 2002: 39), and according to Robbins and Parlavecchio, “the loss of self-esteem model holds that embarrassment results from a loss of self-respect or dignity as a result of the negative evaluations of others (Robbins and Parlavecchio, 2006: 327).
Self-respect sometimes is considered to be similar with self-esteem. For more understanding about self- respect, Ellen J. Langer, Ph. D states that “the person with self-respect simply likes her- or himself” (Langer, www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199911/self-esteem-vs-self-respect, 2011).
This self-respect is not contingent on success because there are always failures to contend with. Neither is it a result of comparing ourselves with others because there is always someone better. These are tactics usually employed to increase self-esteem. Self-respect, however, is a given. We simply like ourselves or we don't. With self-respect, we like ourselves because of who we are and not because of what we can or cannot do. (Langer, www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199911/self-esteem-vs-self-respect, 2011)
positively and hold it in high regard, but evaluation gets us into trouble because while we sometimes win, we also sometimes lose. To respect something, on the other hand, is to accept it” (Langer, www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199911/ self-esteem-vs-self-respect, 2011).
C. Theoretical Framework
In this study, the writer takes some theories to do the analysis. The theories written in Review of the Related Theory are used to answer the problems written in Problem Formulation. In this part, the writer wants to frame the theories to answer those problems.
The the theories of characters are to answer the first problem. By knowing and understand what character and characterization are, the writer can understand how to analyze the characters. The writer will be able to focus on the descriptions of the characters. Knowing the descriptions of the characters will give more determination to see the domination of social bullying and the impact of social bullying experienced by Elsie Edwards.
answer the third problem. Knowing the impact of social bullying gives the writer of the study references to determine the impact of social bullying experienced by Elsie Edwards in the story. The theories of the impact of social bullying helps the writer to finish the last problem after answering the second problem since the questions in Problem Formulation are related to each other questions.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of Study
This study is focused on the novel entitled Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
written by Barthe DeClements. She is a school counselor who has also worked as teacher.Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Gradewas firstly published in 1981, published by Scholactic Inc. Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade contains 137 pages which includes 16 chapters. This story generally tells children problems in making friends when facing any physical differences. That differences, then, come as a problem that makes this story interesting.
This story tells about a new friendship in an elementary school. A new student named Elsie Edwards. She is blonde but fat. It makes everyone closes one eye when seeing at her. Firstly, no one wants to make friend with her, including Jenny, the narator of the story. They even bully Elsie in any kind of terms. Someday, everyone catches Elsie stealing class’ money. It makes them hate her so much. They keep distance from her.
friends with Elsie and and make many stories to remember. They also have their life cheerful with cheerful peer.
Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Gradedelivers the children point of view and also the approach that is felt so close with children’s world since it is written by a school counselor who is close with children too. This novel is also appreciated as a good writing since this book has received three awards. They are Bluebonnet Award, Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award, and Iowa Children’s Choice Award.
B. Approach of the Study
Mainly, a literary work does not contain the detail or particular information about the recent cultural value, belief, condition of the society, customs, wisdom, or events in that time. As a researcher, the writer needs an approach to analyze the literary work well. Rohrberger states the importance of an approach toward a literary work inReading and Writing about Literature.
Approach gives a significant influence and best guide to the appreciation of a particular work of literature. An approach has its proper insight to give, and part of the task of the critic and the reader of literature is to find the approach or approaches that will best lead to a just appreciation of a particular work” (1971: 15).
social-psychological approach can overcome the problems as it is the closest approach for the problems mentioned. In his book A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Wilfred L. Guerin mentions that “psychological interpretation can afford many profound clues toward solving a work’s thematic and symbolic mysteries, but it can seldom account for the beautiful symmetry of a well-wrought poem or of a fictional masterpiece” (2011: 201).
Psychological approach was possibly the most controversial and least appreciated. However, psychological approach can be interesting since its proper purpose to interpret the literary work can improve the writer’s understanding of literature. The approach lets the readers to analyze the characters’ psychology or condition in the literary works” (Guerin, 1979: 125).
According to the statement above, psychological approach focuses on human psychology which helps us to be close with a literary work from the psychological point of view because it is related to human being’s behavior pattern and unconscious mind. Moreover, this approach is used because personality is a subject of psychology where it involves pattern of behavior, thoughts and feelings.
As a conclusion, social-psychological approach can be a proper tool used to be the approach of this study, in this case, a literary work study containing psychological problem, social bullying and the impact of social bullying.
C. Method of Study
The writer uses a library research in writing the analysis. A library research means the data taken for the research is based on book research. The writer takes the data and the quotation from the book that is related to the study the writer is focused on. In this study, the writers also uses primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novelNothing’s Fair in Fifth Gradewritten by Barthe DeClements. For the secondary sources, the writer takes psychology, literature, and also sociology books, essays, journals, texts, and sites.
The first step is that the writer reads the primary source to get closer and understand the problems raised in the story. Reading the primary source carefully makes the writer understanding the significant detail in written in the story. From the first step, the writer is able to see interesting points in the characters, social bullying, and the impact of social bullying.
The next step is formulating questions in problem formulation. This is the step the writer uses to give this study a scope so the explanation or analysis will be focused on the points the writer wants to do a study on.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
This is the chapter where the problems or questions mentioned in the first chapter answered. According to the arrangement of the problem formulation, this chapter will be divided into three parts, then an order to make a tidy arrangement can be covered too.
The first part is focused on how the characters are described in the story. Here, the writer divides this part into two parts, the victim of bullying and the doers of bullying. The victim of bullying is Elsie and the doers examined in this study are Jenny, Diane, and Sharon. The reason of the writer to choose these three characters is based on their existence on the story since they take big part in the story. Dividing the first part into two main points helps the writer of the study to examine the description of those characters. The choice of the characters and the descriptions of the characters analyzed is related to the two next parts, the description of social bullying happening in the story and the impact of social bullying experienced by Elsie.
In the third part, the writer is concerned on the impact of social bullying experienced by Elsie Edwards. This concern means the writer of the study examines Elsie’s actions coming as a sign of experiencing social bullying. This part shows the reader how Elsie experiences social bullying and shows the reader of the story the impact of social bullying.
The analysis in this part is done by considering the theories written in Review of Related Theories. Accrording to M.H Abrams, characters present the dramatic situation in the literary work.
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. The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature for his speech and actions constitute his motivation. (Abrams, 1981: 34)
A. The Description of the Characters
In this part, the writer of this study examines two main points. They are the description of the victim of social bullying and the description of the doers of social bullying.
1. The Description of the Victim of Social Bullying
Since this story shows many characters, the writer decides to divide the characters into the victim and the doers of social bullying. In this part, the writer examines Elsie Edwards, the victim of social bullying. Elsie is bullied by her classmates because she is fat.
a. Elsie Edwards
victim of bullying done by her classmates. She hardly can be accepted by her friends because of her physical appearance. She has bigger body than anyone else, so people close one eyes while seeing at her.
Elsie herself thinks that her physical appearance makes her new classmates staying away from her. She thinks that she is too fat to be seen.
.... To be polite, Marianne asked Elsie what movies she’d seen lately. Elsie said her little sister and her mother had seen a show over the weekend, but she didn’t go.
“How come you didn’t go?” Diane asked.
“Mama has a sports car and it holds only two,” Elsie said. “Then you get to go next time,” Marianne said.
“I don’t think so.” Elsie shook her head slowly. “Why not?” Diane asked.
I watched Elsie separate a yellow curl from the rest of her hair, twirl it around a thick finger, and yank on it. I guess Marianne saw this, too, because she suddenly asked me how my kitten was doing. I told her she had a sleeping box on the back porch. She had to stay outside all the time except when I was playing with her.
“I bet Mama would like to do that with me,” Elsie said. (DeClements, 1981: 14)
In the beginning part of the story, she steals her new classmates’ lunch money so she can buy any meal to overcome her hunger. Her mother places her in a diet and diversed life condition. The diet results bad actions, such as stealing friends’ money, being sad and introvert.
In the story, Elsie is describes as anoncompliantgirl. Being noncomplisnt here means she tends to fail or disobey orders given to her. In the story, because Elsie is fatter than her classmates, her mother pushes to put her on strict diet. She can only eat the meals put in her meal box. However, she breaks her diet by asking other’s meal. This behaviour, breaking the diet, raises effects on her learning process at her new school. Besides being rejected at first by her new classmates, the teachers and the principle of the school keep their eye sharply on her.
Elsie’s mother leaned over her and tried to talk quietly to Mrs. Hanson. We were all staring silently, though, and heard every word. Mrs. Edwards told Mrs. Hanson that Elsie was on a special diet. She was not to eat anything except what was in her lunch box. I thought to myself that it would take some special diet to melt off all that blubber. (DeClements, 1981: 4)
teacher, Mrs. Hanson stands on this request. The way she becomes severe and the part showing that Elsie is noncompliant can be seen in the story.
... Mrs. Hanson asked Elsie what she was eating. Elsie swallowed. “Lunch.”
“Whose lunch?” Mrs. Hanson wanted to know.
“It’s just some cornbread,” Elsie said. Her cheeks had turned red, and the color dripped down her chins. Everyone was watching.
“Elsie, your mother said you were on a strict diet. In this room you eat tries to get more meals to fulfill her willingness to eat. She does not really obey the rule her mother and the teacher make. It is not only about eating cornbread, but more than that, it is about a girl who cannot control her desire. Elsie, as a child, tries to fulfill her needs of eating. This action results a viewpoint of the reader considering Elsie as a noncompliant girl.
... She got up to throw her napkins in the wastebasket. On the way back she stopped at Marianne’s desk. Marianne’s cornbread was on her tray. Marianne was watching Jack cut up milk straws for spit wad shooters.
“Say, are you going to eat your cornbread?” Elsie asked. Marianne continued to watch Jack.
Elsie didn’t know Marianne’s name so she poked her in the arm. “Are you going to eat your cornbread?”
Marianne, surprised, lookep up at Elsie. She shoved the tray forward. “No, take it,” she said. (DeClements, 1985: 6-7) n
willingness do not. The way Elsie is seen as a noncompliant girl does not appear in a single time, but it is repeated. This action also becomes as decisive point to state that Elsie is noncompliant toward her surroundings.
... Sharon was talking to Diane, who was holding her short black hair away from her face while she drank her milk from a straw. Elsie reached out and poked Sharon in the side.
“Are you going to eat you dessert?” she asked.
Yes, I am,” Sharon answered and turned back to Diane. (DeClements, 1981: 6)
This part of the story shows the reader the refusal from Elsie’s classmates.
Here, Elsie faces kinds of personalities of the peoples seeing her. By facing kinds
of personalities, Elsie can understand that, indirectly, there are borders made to
control her desire to eat. The borders come from the people with different
personalities. Those people can be kind persons or mean persons. On one side, she
maybe can get more foods, but on the other side, she maybe cannot.
With noncompliant behaviour and desire to eat, she steals some money so
that she can buy more food such as candy. In this story, some of the students lose
their money twice. After an investigation, the teacher and the principal catch Elsie
as the thief of her classmate’s money.
“I saw Elsie at the 7-Eleven, buying candy. She’s on a diet. She isn’t supposed to be eating candy. She paid with two quarters, and that’s exactly what was stolen from Lester today.” (DeClements, 1981: 31)
2. The Description of the Doers of Social Bullying
After figuring out the description of the victim of social bullying, the writer decides to analyze the description of the doers of social bullying. The doers of social bullying are the stimulation for the impact of social bullying experienced by Elsie. It is importance to have analysis on the doers of social bullying since the analysis is related to how social bullying is reflected through the doers.
Considering the importance of analyzing the doers of social bullying, the writer of this study decides to choose Jenifer Sawyer (Jenny), Diane, and Sharon, as the doers of social bullying discussed since they take bigger part than the other doers.
a. Jenifer Sawyer
Jenifer Sawyer, her nickname is Jenny, is a fifth grade student. She is the narrator of the storyNothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade. She comes as the first person for Elsie to talk to because the other friends do not like Elsie on the first time. She is the one who takes Elsie to go around taking a sight at school and the first person realizing that Elsie is great at aritmethic. In the story, Jenny is described as aunfriendlygirl.
In the beginning, Jenifer Sawyer is described as a unsociable girl toward Elsie. This label refers to the way Jenny behaves toward her friends or classmates. This characteristic changes. In the beginning part of the story, she is depicted as a girl who hates Elsie.
wide her skirt brushed the desks on each side of the aisle. As she walked by Jack’s desk, he shrank back from her in horror. A few kids giggled. ...
Elsie was gross. Her eyes were squished above cheek bubbles of fat. Her chins rippled down her neck. She really didn’t have a waist except where her stomach bulged out below her chest. Her legs looked like two bed pillows with the ends stuffed in shoes. I knew everyone hated having Elsie in our room in our room. (DeClement, 1985: 4-5)
In this part, the author of the book writes down the Jenny’s perception toward her new classmate, Elsie. From the way Jenny thinks and feels, the reader can understand that no one likes Elsie since her first appearance. Then, that thought can be understood as a part showing hatred of Jenny toward Elsie. Thought, here, is kept in her mind but the way she faces Elsie shows that she does not like Elsie. When she is asked to help Elsie going around the school, she rejects it firstly then she asks Diane to do that business.
I tried to agree politely, but I didn’t like having my recess ruined. I always play with Diane and Sharon, so when Mrs. Hanson left, I whispered to Diane that she could help show Elsie around, too. Diane whispered back to forget it. So I was stuck with Elsie. (DeClements, 1981: 5)
Jenny is asked to help Elsie, but because she does not like her, she wants Diane to accompany Elsie to have a look on Elsie’s new school. Then, on the same time, Diane wants Jenny to forget that idea. It means Diane refuses to help Elsie to go around since it is Jenny’s task and because Diane does not like Elsie too.
When Marianne starts to accept Elsie as her friend and chooses her to join her group, Jenny tries to object. Jenny, Marianne, and Sharon are friends, and Jenny wants her friend to join the group. She does not want a person whom she considers not as a friend to work with. Here, trying to refuse Elsie to be in her group shows that Jenny tries to keep Elsie away from her peer. She wants her friend to be in her group but the fact states the opposite. The girl joining her group is the girl who is not depicted as her friend.
b. Diane
Diane is one of Jenny and Elsie’s classmate. When Marianne can be close to Elsie, Diane keeps herself away, even hates Elsie. Further, in the next part, Diane is known as on of the doer the bullying. The writer of the study describes Diane as a hostile girl toward Elsie.
Diane is unfriendly toward Elsie but she becomes verysociablewith the other friends. She hates Elsie for her physical appearance and she tries to keep distant with Elsie, but she is very friendly toward her friends. The way the writers states that kind of behaviour is based on the speeches and acts of Diane. She has friends and she loves to join and play with them. She loves to play tetherball with Jenny and Sharon, but she becomes different when she faces Elsie. She becomes unfriendly only towards Elsie.
“She’s gross,” Diane said softly. (DeClements, 1981: 4)
From this part, Diane shows that she has a specific point of view on Elsie. In the dictionaryOxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Fifth Edition), the word ‘gross’ has many meanings. But by relating it to the text and the condition that Elsie is a fat girl, the writer decides to choose that the word ‘gross’ means “very fat and ugly” (Hornby, 1995: 1056). She also hopes Elsie “isn’t going to be in this room” (DeClements, 1981: 4). In other word, Diane does not want to be in the same class with Elsie.
I tried to agree politely, but I didn’t like having my recess ruined. I always play with Diane and Sharon, so when Mrs. Hanson left, I whispered to Diane that she could help show Elsie around, too. Diane whispered back to forget it. So I was stuck with Elsie. (DeClements, 1981: 5)
In this part of the story, Diane and Jenny have a chance to be a friend or closer while going around the school, but here both of them feels that being with Elsie is not a good idea. Diane whispers back to Jenny so that Jenny forgets the idea of Diane accompanies Elsie to go around seeing the school. There is a denial for Elsie.
c. Sharon
In the story, Sharon shows similar charaterization with Diane. She is nice toward Jenny, Diane, and Marianne, but she becomes unkind when she faces Elsie. This description is shown since the beginning of the story. She does not like Elsie being her new classmate.
I had just started my new paragraph when the classroom door opened and a woman and a fat blond girl walked in. Sharon sits behind me and I heard her say, “Ugh.” Diane sits beside me and she whispered, “I hope she isn’t going to be in this room.”... (DeClements, 1981: 4)
Sharon says ‘Ugh’ when Elsie comes to the class. At that situation, everybody grumbles for Elsie’s appearance. On the same time, Sharon herself shows her unpleasant expression. In onlineslangdictionary.com, ‘Ugh’ means “exclamation of displeasure” (Rader, 2010). This part shows that the first impression toward Elsie is displeasure.
... Sharon was talking to Diane, who was holding her short black hair away from her face while she drank her milk from a straw. Elsie reached out and poked Sharon in the side.
“Are you going to eat you dessert?” she asked.
“Yes, I am,” Sharon answered and turned back to Diane. (DeClements, 1981: 6)
The unpleasant expression shown at the beginning of the story is continued
in this part. She indirectly rejects Elsie by directly turning back to Diane when
Elsie asks her her lunch. By turning back to Diane, it means that Sharon does not
want to see Elsie on a long time. This is like what happens on the time of “pulling
her tray closer to her chest” (DeClements, 1981: 11). Elsie tries to get more meals
by asking her classmate, but here Sharon does not like it at all. She is also keeping
B. Social Bullying as Seen through the Doers of Social Bullying
After describing the characterizations of the characters, the writer tries to examine how the doers of social bullying reflect social bullying to Elsie. Bullying happens since there are social interactions between the children. According to Patti Ghezzi “your child’s social life may be constantly changing—today’s best friend is tomorrow’s enemy”. (http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10623-fifth-grade-social-changes-what-to-expect).
In the context of social bullying, the characters described will be divided into two sides, the doers of social bullying and the victim of social bullying. By reading the text, the writer is able to decide that the doers are Jenifer Sawyer (Jenny), Diane, Sharon, and other classmates such as Roy and Jack. Then the victim is Elsie Edwards. Based on the theories written in Helen Cowie’s book about the type of aggression, the writer divides the bullying into two parts, direct verbal aggression and indirect aggression. The direct physical aggression is not written since there are no proof in the story that the characters do physical bullying.
doers find stimulations to bully in the victim. The way Elsie is fat and she steals the class money stimulates the doers to bully. The bullying done is not based on gender difference but based on the way Elsie’s physical appearance and actions.
1. Direct Verbal Aggression
In this part, the writer analyzes the verbal bullying happening. This part takes a big portion in the story. Direct verbal aggressions are done by Elsie’s new classmate but Marianne. Helen Cowie states that “direct verbal aggression may take the form of yelling abuse at another, name-calling, using insulting expressions or making verbal threats” (2008: 3). The verbal aggressions shown in the story are to show that Elsie’s classmates does not really like Elsie.
After that day the boys started calling Elsie “Scrounge.” And she was the class room reject. (DeClements, 1981: 12)
continued, because it is written in text that “the boy started calling Elsie “Scrounge” (DeClements, 1981: 12). For the result of this term of bullying is Elsie “was the class room reject” (DeClements, 1981: 12).
Almost in the middle part of the story, Elsie is accused as a thief of student’s money. Jenny figures it out by looking at the money Elsie used to buy candies. After that, she tells her friend that Elsie may be the thief of the stolen money. Jenny’s friend accept it as a chance to blame Elsie for the money stolen.
At lunch recess Diane decided she would do something about Elsie’s taking her money. Otherwise, she said, she’d never get it back. She marched up to Elsie with Sharon and me trailing behind.
“So, Elsie,” she said sarcastically, “that licorice whip came in your lunch box.”
Not only saying something sarcastically, Diane shows verbal aggression. This aggression is shown to push Elsie so she confesses that she stole the money. Putting the fact whether Elsie stole the money or not, the use of the physical movement will threat somebody, the target, unproperly.
She certainly could teach better than my mother. Elsie turned my way and offered to help me, too.
“I don’t need a thief helping me,” I told her.
Marianne leaned over toward me. “Jenny, you could forget about that.” “Do you want to forget about it?” I asked. “She owes you a lunch. Elsie, when are you going to pay everyone back?”
“When I get the money,” Elsie replied. “What about your allowance?”
“I don’t get any,” Elsie said. “I bet.”
“You really don’t get an allowance?” Marianne asked. “No, I don’t,” Elsie answered.
“You just sit and stuff your mouth,” I put in. (DeClements, 1981: 44) Here, Jenny restates and says that Elsie is a thief. It is true then that Elsie steal some money, but in this case, Jenny also states verbal bullying towards her friend. According to Helen Cowie, “swearing and using rude words” (2008:9) is one term of verbal bullyings. Stating Elsie as a thief is a rude respond toward Elsie’s offer to teach Jenny in arithmetic. Jenny is not like Marianne who can try to forget what Elsie does. She remembers that Elsie steals the money and exploit that event to bully Elsie and place her as a thief.
doer of social bullying wants to create bad image and ridicule Elsie. That mockery results Elsie as a girl to ridicule and to laugh at. The word hog makes an image showing that Elsie is a pig or a greedy child who wants others’ meals.
I looked to the front of the room and saw Elsie frantically pulling up her skirt over her white underpants. I poked Roy in the back.
“What’s going on? This some kind of striptease?”
Roy could only shake his head. He was laughing so hard tears wobbled in his eyes. I turned to Diane.
“What’s going on?”
“When Elsie stood up, her skirt fell off,” Diane answered me. And then Jack let out a whoop.
(DeClements, 1981: 47-48)
2. Indirect Aggression
Besides verbal bullying or aggression, indirect aggressions are also done in the story. According to Helen Cowie, indirect aggression is also called as relational bullying. The doer of the this bullying is Jenny. For Pamela Orpmas, the relational bully “uses covert or indirect forms of aggressions, such as intentionally isolating another student, excluding peers from a group, threatening to withdraw friendship, or spreading negative rumors or lies about a child” (2006: 20).
I had just started my new paragraph when the classroom door opened and a woman and a fat blond girl walked in. Sharon sits behind me and I heard her say, “Ugh.” Diane sits beside me and she whispered, “I hope she isn’t going to be in this room.”... Elsie’s hips were so wide her skirt brushed the desks on each side of the aisle. As she walked by Jack’s desk, he shrank back from her in horror. A few kids giggled.
“Class,” Mrs. Hanson said, “this is Elsie, our new student.” “You’ve got to be kidding,” Roy muttered.
“She’s gross,” Diane said softly. (DeClements, 1981: 4)
to what John W. Santrock has said, it is verbal disturbance. Students use words, and voice, to let Elsie down.
One day when Elsie had been in our room a few weeks, Mrs. Hanson said we would work in groups for globe study. There were seven globes, so that meant four students would share each globe. Mrs. Hanson called on Marianne to choose the first group. Marianne chose me and Diane. Next she should have chosen Sharon because we’re friends, but she didn’t. She chose Elsie. I opened my mouth to object, but closed it fast when I saw Mrs. Hanson eyeing me (DeClements, 1981: 13).
In this part of the story, Marianne has shown a step of acceptance of her new friend though people do not like her that much, but Jenny, the narrator, tries to object. This shows the refusal of accepting Elsie as a friend. Before she opens her mouth, she thinks Marianne will choose Sharon because they are friends, but the way she wants to object that Elsie is going to come to her group means that she has not thought that Elsie is a friend, but, this term of refusal is detected by her teacher who is eyeing her. Jenny’s refusal shows that Jenny tries to isolate Elsie. She does not want to be close enough with her at that moment.
Once in the story, Elsie steals class money. This case pushes Jenny to point and form Elsie as a thief. Because she does not like Elsie, she guesses and tells everybody that Elsie is a thief. She tries to make everyone believes that Elsie does bad matters. The example of this case can be seen in the book.
... What really mattered was who was taking the money. Diane thought it might be Jack. I didn’t think so because Jack had given Marianne his milk.
“Maybe he figured he owed it to her,” Sharon suggested. “I think it’s Elsie,” I said. .... (De Clements, 1981: 19)
to have a suspicious and bad feelings on Elsie. This intuition comes with no proof. And, the fact that she has not got the proof that Elsie is a thief pushes her to form everybody’s point of view to accept what she thinks and feels.
“Money’s being stolen in our classroom,” I said. “We know,” Mother replied.
I ignored her. “I think I found out who’s taking it.” “How?” Daddy asked me.
“I saw Elsie at the 7-Eleven, buying candy. She’s on a diet. She isn’t supposed to be eating candy. She paid with two quarters, and that’s exactly what was stolen from Lester today.”
...
“Did you see her take the money?” Daddy asked.
“I didn’t see her, but no money’s ever been stolen in our room- until Elsie came.”
“All circumstantial evidence,” Daddy announced importantly. “What’s that?” I asked.
“Just hearsay. You don’t have solid proof. You just have Elsie under suspicion. You can’t arrest her.” (DeClements, 1981: 31-32)
In this part of the story, Jenny tries to persuade everyone, in this case her family, to hate Elsie, or make a bad image of Elsie. She tries to convince her mother dan father that Elsie is a thief of the class money. But, Jenny has no proof to ensure people that Elsie steals the money. Jenny tells everyone about Elsie stealing the money based on her suspicious thought about Elsie.
I got it all mixed up, of course. I dropped the pencil on the floor. “I’ll never get it. It isn’t fair. That thief Elsie always gets a hundred.” “I don’t like to hear you call her that, Jenifer,” Mother said. .... (DeClements, 1981: 39)
...
I pretended to be working while I listened to Elsie explain the problems to Marianne. She certainly could teach better than my mother. Elsie turned my way and offered to help me, too.
“I don’t need a thief helping me,” I told her.
Again, Jenny repeats the word ‘thief’ so the person hearing this word can remember Elsie as a thief. She even denies herself that she needs some help to stay standing on her side, a side that is thought right as Elsie steals and she does not. There is a different condition. The third text in this part shows the condition that Elsie is not yet investigated, but the last text chosen is in context showing that Elsie is a thief. There is an investigation proving Elsie stealing the money. But this condition, repeating the word ‘thief’ for Elsie, happens again. According to Helen Cowie and Pamela Orpmas, it is a kind of spreading negative rumors that may form Jenny as a doer of relational or indirect aggression.
C. The Impacts of Social Bullying as Seen Through the Victim of Social Bullying
of social bullying shows the reader the condition Elsie experience as the victim of social bullying. The three parts are: low self-esteem, embarassment, and loss of self respect.
1. Low Self-esteem
The impact of social bullying felt by Elsie can be seen from the beginning of the story since her new classmates greet her with mockeries and other verbal bullyings. Not only in her new school, the bad self-esteem building is started in her family. Her new classmates and her mother do not show their love and respect to Elsie.
InLife-Span Development, John W. Santrock states that self-esteem is “the global evaluative dimension of the self. Self-esteem is also referred to as self-worth or self image” (2009: 320). Then, low self-esteem means low global evaluative dimension of the self. Still in the same book, Santrock states that “low self-esteem may reflect either an accurate perception of one’s shortcomings or a distorted, even pathological insecurity and inferiority” (2009:320). Danuta Bukatko states “boys and girls of elementary and middle school age who are dissatisfied with and keenly concerned about their physical appearance tend to have lower self-esteem” (2008: 426). According to O’Moore, the victim of bullying tends to withdraw herself or himself from the peer and have “lack of enthusiasm to try (particularly new) things, and a general appearance of either reservation and withdrawal, or of ‘bluffing’ one’s way through” (2004: 52).
mock from the beginning. Elsie tries to pull herself from the peers because she thinks that no one likes her. She wants to keep herself distant from the surrounding.
.... After our trip around the school, I asked her if she wanted to play a tetherball game. She said she’d rather watch, so I left her and went to find Diane and Sharon. Elsie leaned against the school building until the recess bell rang.
In P.E., Elsie told Mrs. Hanson she’d rather watch than play. Mrs. Hanson thought a minute and then said she supposed it would be all right for Elsie’s first day. Elsie sat on the stage steps and watched us bombard each other in a soak ‘em game. (DeClement, 1981: 5)
This event shows the reader that Elsie does not join with the peer. She does not want to play tetherball and a soak ‘em game. She chooses to lean on the wall and watch.. Elsie does not follow Jenny to play with her new classmates, but she stays alone and watches the activities happening. She is not enthusiastic to join the game and the peers.
After lunch it was raining, so we couldn’t go out on the playfield. Elsie stood against the school building again while the rest of us gathered under the covered area talking about her. Sharon said she should be in a circus, and Diane said she should be a garbage collector. I glanced over at Elsie while everyone giggled at the jokes. Elsie stood there silently with the wind flapping her tentlike coat around her. I thought her mouth turned down sadly (DeClements, 1981: 8).
anger; feeling that one has failed to protect one’s child” (2004: 53). Here, Elsie looks
sad by the condition she is away from the peers. She has no friends at that time. Elsie does not try to go in the group of the students. Elsie only stands silently when her new classmates gather under covered area. At the same time, most of her new classmates giggle at her since they think that Elsie is a joke.
Elsie tends to listen rather than reply from the words said by the another person. She keeps her away from the peers and not talking with the person coming to talk with her. When Marianne tries to talk with, Elsie keeps standing without replying Marianne in single word.
... He walked around the room asking kids how they liked their lunches. When he came to Elsie, he said, “And where’s your lunch, young lady?”
“I ate it.” She never really looked at grown-ups, but her face pointing down. (DeClements, 1981: 10)
...
away from Elsie, Marianne comes to her, but, here, Elsie shows that she withdraws herself by not replying Marianne.
According to Mona O’Moore, “self-esteem is built in people from early childhood, and is associated with what can be called ‘positive parenting’ ” (2004: 57). The parents must share love and respect to their children by “verbal and non-verbal demonstrations” (2004: 57).
.... To be polite, Marianne asked Elsie what movies she’d seen lately. Elsie said her little sister and her mother had seen a show over the weekend, but she didn’t go.
“How come you didn’t go?” Diane asked.
“Mama has a sports car and it holds only two,” Elsie said. “Then you get to go next time,” Marianne said.
“I don’t think so.” Elsie shook her head slowly. “Why not?” Diane asked.
“Well, Mama says I’m big enough to stay home alone and my little sister isn’t,” Elsie explained.
...
“I don’t think she wants anyone to know I belong to her. I’m too fat, I guess.” (DeClements, 1981: 14)
The fact faced by Elsie is the opponent of the statements from O’Moore. This part of the story shows that Elsie starts to guess that she is not her mother’s daughter because she is too fat. Elsie feels that her mother tries to decline the fact that she belongs to her mother. She thinks that she has no chance to go to watch movies because she is fat. By stating that she does no think she can go to watch movies, she starts to get her self-esteem lower. She knows she is fat and she considers it as a weakness making her left alone.
2. Embarrassment
