THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANT
ON BILL’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN SEWARD’S THE MACNEILS OF TOKYO
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
HADIARTO KURNIAWAN Student Number: 034214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANT
ON BILL’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
IN SEWARD’S THE MACNEILS OF TOKYO
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
HADIARTO KURNIAWAN Student Number: 034214055
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2008
‘ Be t he best of anyt hing t hat you get int o. If you want t o be a
whore, it ’ s your l if e. Be a damn good one’
(Maya Angelou)
How can one be wise man, if he does not know any better how to live than other man. (Henry David Thoreau)Ne ve r think tha t yo u a lre a d y kno w a ll. Ho we ve r hig hly yo u a re a p p ra ise d ,
Alwa ys ha ve the c o ura g e to sa y to yo urse lf – I a m ig no ra nt (Iva n Pa vlo v)
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
My Lord, Jesus Christ My beloved parents My dearest sister My ‘Kakure Tenshi’
ACKNOLEDGEMENTS
Praise to God that finally I finished my thesis. I would like to thank Jesus Christ for his blessing throughout my life and for guiding me in writing and completing my undergraduate thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M. Hum. for his help, guidance, patience, suggestions and time during the writing of my thesis. I also thank Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum., my co-advisor, for reading my undergraduate thesis and giving me suggestions in order to make it better. Moreover, I thank all my lecturers for their guidance and their time to share their knowledge during years of my study and thanks to all staff of English Letters department, Sanata Dharma University library’s staff for all the help.
My deepest gratitude also goes for my beloved parents, Bapak Sumanto W.H. and Ibu Muryati W.H. Thank you for your love, prayer and patience. Thanks to my beloved sister, Christmastuti Nur who always supports me to finish this thesis. Thanks a lot sis!.
My special thanks goes to Winning Eleven Community and Sastra FC especially Yeri, Cosmas, Lala, Ryan, Hemong, Yabes, Bayu, Thanks for all tricks and joy during the football game. Thank you so much for We Won’t Pay crew, Prita, Susiet, Chubby, Wayan, Boim, Mbendhol, Dodi, Bayang, Tio, Novi, Rensi, Ella, Widhy, and Vallone. Thanks also to Nyot, Danik, Stella and English Letters students of 2003.
Hadiarto Kurniawan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……… 6
A. Review of Related Studies………. 6
B. Review of Related Theories………. 8
1. Theory on Character and Characterization………. 8
2. Theory on Relation between Psychology and Literature…….. 12
3. Theory on Personality and Personality Development…………. 13
C. Theoretical Framework……… 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……… 20
A. Object of the Study……….. 20
B. Approach of the Study……… 21
C. Method of the Study……… 22
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……….. 24
A. Characterization of Bill Macneil………. 24
1. Before Bill Experienced World War II………..……… 24
2. During and After Bill Experienced World War II .………… …. 29
B. Aspects of Environmental Determinants in Bill Macneil’s Personality Development………. 37
1. Culture……….. 37
2. Social class……… 40
3. Family……… 41
4. Peer………. 45
C. The Most Significant Aspect which Influences Bill Macneil’s Personality Development……….. 49
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………. 54
BIBLIOGRAPHY………. 57 APPENDIX………. 59
ABSTRACT
HADIARTO KURNIAWAN. The Influence of Environmental Determinant on Bill’s Personality Development in Seward’s the Macneils of Tokyo.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
In human personality, there is nobody in this world who shares the same personality. The diversity of the personalities can be influenced by heredity and environment. Environment determinants give the biggest contribution in shaping someone’s personality. The environmental determinants can be culture, social class, family and peer environment. Related with the statements above, the analysis will be focused on the influence of environmental determinants on Bill’s personality development. Bill’s traumatic incident in the past which is related to war is revealed after he faces the World War II and those conditions become the trigger of his personality development.
The objectives of the study are to answer three main problems. First, it is meant to identify Bill Macneil’s characteristics described in the novel. Second, it is meant to analyze what aspects of environmental determinant which influence Bill Macneil’s personality development presented in the novel. Third, it is meant to identify the most significant aspect of environmental determinant which influences his personality development.
This study applies library research to collect data relating to the topic of the study. This study also applies some theories to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. They are the theory on character and characterization and the theory on personality and personality development. The writer also uses psychological approach because the focus of the study is analyzing the character’s personality development.
The analysis result shows Bill’s characteristics before and after the World War II. His characteristics before World War II can be described as a smart, humorous, and stubborn person. His characteristics during and after World War II can be described as a high tempered person, full of hatred and vengeance. He is also described as person who is able to read the situation well, a loyal and brave person. Bill Macneil’s personality development is influenced by the environmental determinant. Two aspects which give significant influences on Bill Macneil’s personality development are the family and peer environment, but the most significant aspect is the peer environment.
ABSTRAK
HADIARTO KURNIAWAN. The Influence of Environmental Determinant on Bill’s Personality Development in Seward’s the Macneils of Tokyo.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
Kepribadian manusia tidak ada yang sama didunia ini. Berbagai macam kepribadian dipengaruhi oleh faktor keturunan dan pengaruh dari lingkungan sekitarnya. Pengaruh-pengaruh lingkungan memberikan kontribusi terbesar dalam pembentukan kepribadian seseorang. Pengaruh-pengaruh lingkungan tersebut dapat berupa kebudayaan, strata sosial, keluarga dan teman. Berkaitan dengan pernyataan diatas, analisis ini akan dititikberatkan pada pengaruh lingkungan terhadap perkembangan kepribadian dari tokoh Bill Macneil. Pengalaman traumatis di masa lalu dari tokoh Bill Macneil yang berhubungan dengan perang akhirnya terkuak setelah Bill mengalami Perang Dunia ke 2. Kedua hal tersebut menjadi penyebab dari perkembangan kepribadiannya.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini dimaksudkan untuk menggambarkan tokoh Bill Macneil di novel. Kedua, studi ini dimaksudkan untuk menganalisa aspek-aspek dari pengaruh lingkungan yang mempengaruhi perkembangan kepribadian dari tokoh Bill Macneil seperti yang muncul di novel. Ketiga, studi ini dimaksudkan untuk mengidentifikasi aspek dari pengaruh lingkungan yang paling berpengaruh terhadap perkembangan kepribadian dari tokoh Bill Macneil.
Studi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk menggumpukan data yang berhubungan dengan topik dari studi ini. Studi ini juga menggunakan beberapa teori yang digunakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang ada di rumusan masalah. Teori-teori yang digunakan adalah teori tentang tokoh dan penokohan dan teori tentang kepribadaian dan perkembangan kepribadian. Penulis juga menggunakan pendekatan psikologis karena fokus dari studi ini adalah untuk menganalisa perkembangan kepribadian dari seorang tokoh.
Hasil analisa menunjukan karakteristik dari tokoh Bill sebelum dan sesudah Perang Dunia ke 2. Karakter Bill sebelum Perang Dunia ke 2 dapat didiskripsikan sebagai orang yang cerdik, humoris, dan keras kepala. Karakter tokoh Bill selama dan sesudah Perang Dunia ke 2 dapat didiskripsikan sebagai pemarah, penuh kebencian dan dendam. Dia juga digambarkan sebagai seseorang yang pandai membaca keadaan, setia, dan pemberani. Perkembangan kepribadian dari tokoh Bill Macneil dipengaruhi oleh pengaruh lingkungan. Dua aspek yang memberikan pengaruh yang cukup signifikan terhadap perkembangan kepribadian dari tokoh Bill Macneil yaitu aspek keluarga dan teman, tapi yang paling sigifikan adalah aspek teman.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literature is affecting us in many things such as to entertain us, to please us and to enrich our experiences of life. Literature also reflects the society of certain place and time and it has also the implication of human lives. Novel as a branch of literature also reflects life. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Students states that just
as life is a mixture of joy, disappointment, hope, sorrow, humor, suffering, success, so the greatest novels reflect life (1972: 133). By reading novels, we can learn new things in order to enrich our experiences in life. Moreover, there are many aspects that we can learn, one of them is about the variety of human personalities through the characters in novel.
In human personality, there is nobody in this world who shares the same personality. Each person has his or her own personality, and it will be different from one another. Consequently, an author of a literary work will not create characters with the same personalities. Every character has his or her own personality, and this kind of idea makes each character has his or her uniqueness. The diversity of the personalities may be shaped by several psychological aspects such as heredity and environment. According to Pervin and John in their book Personality Theory and Research 7th edition state that there are two determinants;
they are genetic and environmental determinant. Environmental determinant gives
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the biggest contribution towards someone’s personality. Environmental determinant consists of culture, social class, family and peers (1997: 9).
The Macneils of Tokyo written by Jack Seward, depicts how the
environmental determinant plays an important role in the character’s personality. The setting of the novel is in 1941 until 1945 or during World War II era especially in Tokyo, Japan and the novel tells the story of some Macneil descendants, especially Bill Macneil, the oldest son of Neil Macneil. Bill Macneil is an American who lives in Japan since he was a child and until his adolescence. He has a family which is a mixture of American and Japanese. He has a Japanese step mother, a Japanese American sister and brother. Bill speaks Japanese as fluent as he speaks English. The combination of these two cultures gives significant effects in shaping his personality.
Bill Macneil as one of the dynamic characters in the novel is described as a person with unique personality. Bill is the son and the heir of a successful Family Corporation in Japan. In general, he can be considered as a person who has high social class. Another environmental determinant which influences Bill Macneil’s personality is the family. Each member of the Macneil family gives their contribution in shaping Bill’s personality.
Japanese, Bill’s hatred towards the Japanese starts to grow. In other words, Bill Macneil’s traumatic experience and his experience during World War II have changed his belief and attitude especially towards the Japanese. In the war, Bill sees the cruelty of the Japanese soldier and it only increases his hatred on the Japanese.
By reading Jack Seward’s The Macneils of Tokyo, the reader can learn that the environmental determinant is the main role in shaping someone’s personality. In this thesis, the writer wants to analyze the influence of the environmental determinant towards Bill Macneil’s personality development.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problems raised in this analysis. They are: 1. How is Bill Macneil characterized in the novel?
2. What are the aspects of environmental determinant which influence Bill Macneil’s personality development?
3. What is the most significant aspect of environmental determinant that greatly shapes Bill Macneil’s personality?
C. Objectives of the Study
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Macneil’s personality development presented in the novel. Third, it is meant to identify the most significant aspect of environmental determinant which influences his personality development.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Personality and Personality Development
Personality is somebody’s set of characteristics, the totality of somebody’s attitudes, interests, behavioral patterns, emotional responses, social roles, and other individual traits that endure over long period of time (Webster, 2005:1083). According to International Encyclopedia of Psychology, personality is defined as the unique combination of thought, feelings, and behavior that make the individual distinct from others (1996: 1228).
In Hurlock’s Personality Development, Allport defines that personality development is a stage in growth of constantly changing and evoking processes within an individual. Furthermore, it determines his or her uniqueness in speech, in relations to people and things, in mannerism, in fantasy, and in other ways directed towards the specific goal to adjust to his or her environment (1974:7).
2. Environmental Determinant
According to Pervin and John in their book Personality Theory and Research 7th edition state that there are two determinants, they are genetic and
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
In the absorbing, epic tradition of The Winds of War, the Macneils of Tokyo is novel of war, passion, and divided family loyalties. The Macneil family
is torn apart by the horrors of war, which is consuming Asia as strife, intrigue, and romance inevitably follow. The Macneils of Tokyo is a storytelling gem from a prolific author, a perfect beach read for all lovers of family sagas, historical fiction, and gripping adventure novels.
<http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=TRADE%20PAPER:NEW:97808048323 66:14.95# reviews> (13 March 2008)
The Macneils of Tokyo is a compelling story of the victims caught in the
maelstrom, and a sad testimony of the survivors who have managed to endure and it is about the Macneil family who is torn by war. The Macneils of Tokyo is mostly about the Japanese tradition, culture and society. Furthermore, Seward combines intrigue, romance, and adventure in World War II especially in Japan. (Editor’s Note on The Macneils of Tokyo).
A review about the author can be seen from Raymond G. Wilson. He says that living more than 25 years in Japan, Seward knows it all well and has a lively gift with words. The Macneils of Tokyo sets the stage for this later period and is equally delightful, maybe better. The Macneils of Tokyo will be appreciated especially by those who have walked the streets and alleys of Tokyo; but watch
out for the myth of Japan's atomic bomb. It's an inspiring book and it will be wonderful if young people read it.
<http://www.amazon.ca/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AJ8UX2AWXM45Q/Raymond G. Wilson> (28 January 2008)
Asima Yuliana Hutajulu (2005), in her undergraduate thesis, analyzes about the influence of family towards Button Franzon’s personality development in Thyra Ferre Bjorn’s Papa’s Daughter. Her thesis has similar topic with the writer, but it is on the different novel. She says that personality development especially Button Franzon’s is influenced by her family’s background. Button is described as an introvert and melancholic person, but after she experiences personality development because of her family background, Button becomes an extrovert and sanguine person.
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B. Review on Related Theories
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
In his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams defines that as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who is interpreted by the readers as being endowed with a moral and disposition quality that are expressed in what they say (through dialogue), and by what they do (through actions) (1981:20). From the definition, the writer’s intention is to see the character’s quality through his speech and actions towards the other characters in the novel. The author sometimes do not simply tell the readers what the characters in the work of art really are, but they give the reader chances to observe it by themselves.
According to Little is his book Approach of Literature, states that there are three steps to study character. First is from a person’s basic characteristics. These can be seen from physical condition of the character including a person age, social relationship that means the personal relationship with other characters, and the mental qualities, which is the typical ways of thinking, feeling, and acting (1981: 93).
Second is from a person’s appearance from various points of view. These include how a character sees himself, how various other characters see him, and how a person develops or fails to develop during the course of the story.
treated sympathetically or unsympathetically), a person’s place in the story (a leading character or minor one), and a person’s relationship to theme.
Perrine in his book Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry divides character based on their development or changes. There are some characters that are capable to grow or develop they are called dynamic characters. The developments of these characters include personalities or outlooks from the beginning to the end of the story. The change maybe for better or worse, large or small, but it is something important or basic. There are also some stories in which the characters remain stable and have the same role at the end of the story as the beginning. They are described without any details and they are not changed by circumstances. They are called static characters (1974:71).
While characterization, according to Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature is a character which has particular personalities and physical attributes that differs them from other characters, that is shaped by the process of an author creates a characters themselves (1971:20)
M.J. Murphy, in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Students describes some examples of a
10
a. Personal description.
The author can describe a person’s physical appearance and clothes. Here the readers are given the telling details, for example about the face, skin, eyes, and the clothing, a description of a certain character springs immediately into focus in reader’s mind and eyes.
b. Character as seen by another.
Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him trough the eyes and opinions of another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image.
c. Speech.
The author can give the reader an insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving the reader some clue to his character.
d. Past life.
By letting the reader learn about a person’s past life, the author can give the reader a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or by the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others.
f. Reactions.
The reader also can get the person’s character by knowing how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment.
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. h. Thoughts.
The author can give the reader the direct knowledge of what person is thinking of. In this aspect he is able to do what the reader can not do in real life which is he can tell the reader what different people are thinking. In the novel, we accept this. The reader then is in privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in the novel.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerisms or habits which may also tell us something about his character.
According to Richard M. Eastman in his book entitled A guide to the Novel, characterization is divided into three elements, which are the selective development, the moral stature and the psychology.
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character acquires his own traits that define him as a person. He is in tension, he is also dynamic (1965: 18). The roundness of the character aims to gain the readers’ sympathy because they illustrate the uncertainly, the sufferings, and the needs they face.
Moral stature is the element within the characters that involve the readers’ attentions. The goodness and the badness of the characters are measured by the readers through popular morality as a reference. It depends on the tendency towards such virtues and vices and the powers or the properties that the characters can bring to bear in doing good or evil (1965: 20).
Psychology is the element of the character in which a character must be described to have a mental life from which his choices are generated in some connected way. The traits of the character‘s mental life have much to do with his vitally and authenticity, and it affects the reader’s engagement with him. In analyzing the character’s mental life, the precise questions to rise refer to the main desires or traits that move him and the opposing traits that put him under strain (1965: 23).
2. Theory on the Relation between Psychology and Literature
process of a work of literature. Characters in novels and plays are judged to be ‘physiologically’ true. In other words that the characters need to be depicted as real creatures that have real personalities.
Kalish states in The Psychology of Human Behavior that literature holds the mirror up to the man. This sentence means that an author make the characters seem more life-like than the real people whose behavior the psychologist attempt to describe. The authors can use the understanding provided by psychologist to enrich the characteristics of the characters and psychologist can gain their understanding of human behavior by drawing from the deep sensitivity from good author (1974: 8).
From the statements above, the relationship between literature and psychology is closely related, because the characters in the literature have psychological side. In other words, it can be said that the analysis of literary works may reflect certain psychological aspects. There are many psychological aspects which we can learn from characters in the literature especially in novel, but in this study, the writer only focuses on one psychological aspect which is personality development caused by the environmental determinant.
3. Theory on Personality and Personality Development
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was later adopted by the Romans to whom persona denoted ‘as one appears to others,’ not as one actually is (1974: 6).
As Hall and Lindzey state in Theories of Personality, an adequate understanding of human behaviors will develop from the study of the whole person. An individual personality can be assessed by the effectiveness with which he is able to conduct positive reaction from variety of person under different circumstances. These statements assure us that personality may be comprehended by examining an individual’s behavior (1957: 6).
Medinnus and Johnson state in their book Child and Adolescent Psychology: Behavior and Development, Personality development is ‘the
changing of basic attitudes and beliefs’. When an individual lives in the family and environment, he or she happens to deal with the morals or values in the society. He or she considers the ethics of his community and larger society, the wishes of the family, and the attitudes of his friends to be applied to him or herself. Sometimes the casual opinions of family and society or others greatly disturb this person, and after considering the views of others and trying out roles, this person may change his attitudes or views. This happens to be the development of someone’s personality (1969:550).
Hurlock in Personality Development states that human life consists of two aspects, which are individual and social aspects. For the individual aspects, it is concerned with physical changes and human’s personality development. Human’s personality development itself is influenced by two factors. First is human’s early experience within family. Second is important events happening outside the home (1974: 19-20).
Cole in his book entitled Psychology of Adolescence states that personality is not merely fixed by heredity. Sometimes, it is influenced and supported by the environmental pressures. It is also quickly affected by illness, decease or unusual emotional strain (1956: 156). His opinion about the personality is not merely fixed by the heredity is supported by Pervin and John. They state in their book Personality Theory and Research 7th edition state that there are two determinants;
they are genetic or heredity and environmental determinant. There are difficulties in fundamental scientific study on human heredity since the experiments are barred by our moral code. Environmental determinant gives the biggest contribution towards someone’s personality. Environmental determinant consists of culture, social class, family and peers (1997: 9)
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that a person does is culturally determined. This powerful influence of culture has attained maximum effect. Frustrations and negative feelings often occur as they face cultural rules and expectations. The significance of a culture in determining behavior is seen in the concept of ‘social clocks’. Not only culturally determined behavior become a part of the individual in certain time (Corsini, 1994: 369).
Second is social class. Social classes, whether lower class or upper class, working class or professional, also has an important role in shaping our personality. Social class factors help people to determine their own status, the roles they perform, the duties they are bound to, and the privileges they enjoy. These factors influence how individuals see themselves and how they recognize members of other social classes. The same as cultural factors, social factors also influence the way people define situations and the way they respond to them (1997: 11). All known societies have some type of stratification system that represents the hierarchical arrangement of status, prestige, resources, privileges, and power within society. Social classes are the relatively homogenous groupings that share similar levels of status and resources in the stratification system. Each class tends to develop its own ideology and social norms. As a result, social classes may differ on characteristics ranging from parenting style to political ideas.
they selectively reward behavior. Home or family is a person primary environment from the day he was born until the day he dies. While it may change over the years, marriage, divorce, death, and birth of new members, the family unit and pattern of living that meets the needs of its members remain relatively constant. Directly, the family influences come from identification, from unconscious imitation of attitudes, behavior patterns, and from the mirror image of self one develops by viewing oneself through the eyes of family members (1997: 12). According to Kalish in his book The Psychology of Human Behavior states that family’s influence could be observed in these both direct and indirect influences.
(i) Direct influence
The direct influence came from the child training methods which were used by the parents to shape the personality patterns or form communication of interesting attitudes and values between family members. Parents might direct their children to adapt to their new situations and told them to behave well towards people or other living thing around him (1974: 352).
(ii)Indirect influence
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The last environmental determinant is peer environment. Sometimes we find that people from the same family have different personality. It is because they have different experiences outside home (1997: 13). Someone’s experience can be in the past or in the present and the experience itself can be good or bad. The past time experience which can influence someone’s personality can be the traumatic one, such as being a victim of sexual abuse or facing a horrible event like world war. Variety of traumatic experiences may leave their impressions on a child’s future development. Freud in Pervin and John’s Personality Theory and Research 7th edition states that one’s early events in life are important for his personality
development (1997: 104). People might find that the effects of traumatic experiences are different from one to another. It is because those effects depend on personal characteristic.
However, the role of early experiences might also depend on the intensity of particular experiences, their duration, and the level to which contradictory experiences occurred earlier and later. Besides influencing someone’s personality, past experiences are also influencing someone’s behavior. Someone’s present behavior can be influenced by experiences in the remote past or the recent past, and those experiences might have long lasting effects in shaping someone’s personality (1997: 107).
C. Theoretical Framework
In the previous chapter, there are three problems to analyze in order to discuss the personality development of the character Bill Macneil in Jack Seward’s The Macneils of Tokyo. The first problem formulation is about the characteristics of Bill Macneil. In order to answer this question, the theories of character and characterization are used to describe Bill Macneil’s character.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of Study
The novel is written by Jack Seward entitled The Macneils of Tokyo. It consists of 34 chapters and one chapter of prologue and epilogue. In the novel the author presents the story in 247 pages. It was published in 2000 by Tuttle Publishing Boston. The Macneils of Tokyo is a novel of intrigue, romance, and adventure in World War II Japan and China, is a lively continuation of Jack Seward’s acclaimed novel The Macneils of Nagasaki. Treading the fine line between historical fiction and historical interpretation, Seward follows the Macneil family, long established in Japan, through the World War II fires of conflicting loyalties and allegiances, duties and desires, violence and destruction.
In Seward’s biography, the author of the Macneils of Tokyo, Jack Seward an American who lives in Japan for 55 years, has written 44 books, including textbooks, novels, travel guides, and cultural commentaries on Japan. In 1986, the Emperor of Japan awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class, for a lifetime of contribution to Japanese-American friendship.
The story is started when Bill Macneil, an American who is born and spends most his time in Japan, has a terrible incident. The Japanese soldier rapes his childhood’s lover, Ellen Wood. After the incident, Bill thinks only about revenge towards the Japanese. He hates the Japanese although he has born and spends most of his time in Japan. After the United States declares war against
Japan in World War II, Bill joins the US army. He thinks that World War II is the right moment to pay his revenge towards the Japanese who has raped his childhood lover.
B. Approach of the Study
In order to have a profound analysis on personality development of Bill Macneil and what environmental determinant that is influenced, the psychological approach is used by the writer. In Guerin’s A Hand Book of Critical Approaches to Literature, he states that the psychological approach is the most controversial,
the most absurd and the least appreciated. How ever the psychological approach can be fascinating and rewarding since it is a proper application to interpret a literary works can create deeper understanding on the researcher. It is also an excellent tool for reading beneath the lives, which has limitation in psychological interpretation. It can provide many profound clues towards soling a work’s thematic and symbolic mystery (1999:126).
Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature psychological approach is the effort to locate and demonstrate certain
recurrent patterns, but a different body of knowledge that is psychology. This approach uses the psychological theories to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior patterns in literary objects (1971: 65)
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interpret the psychological aspects that the main character has. Therefore, the psychological approach will be very helpful to answer the questions that appear in this study.
C. Method of Study
To achieve the objective of the analysis, the valid data is needed. Therefore, the writer employed library research to collect data relating to the topic of the study. The writer used two sources to support the study. They were the primary data and secondary data.
The primary data that the writer used was Jack Seward’s The Macneils of Tokyo, meanwhile the writer also used the secondary data from various books.
Those books are Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms, Cole’s Psychology of Adolescence, Eastman’s A guide to the Novel, Hurlock’s Personality
Development, Hall and Lindzey’s Theories of Personality, M.J. Murphy’s
Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for
Overseas Students, Little’s Approach of Literature, Pervin and John’s Personality
Theory and Research 7th edition, Wellek and Austin Warren’s Theory of
Literature. The writer was also browsing some information in the internet in relation with the novel Seward’s The Macneils of Tokyo.
Secondly, this study obtained theories on character-characterization, personality and personality development. The theories were used in order to make deeper analysis on how the personality development and what environmental determinant that influenced the character of Bill Macneil.
Thirdly, the writer answered the questions in the problem formulation. In answering the first problem formulation the theories of character and characterization by Murphy in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and Novel for Overseas Students, and Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary
Terms are used. After finding the character and characterization of Bill Macneil,
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
The focus of the study is the influence of the environmental determinant towards Bill Macneil’s personality development. In the first part, the writer wants to analyze the characteristics of Bill Macneil. The second part is to analyze what aspects of environmental determinant that influences Bill Macneil’s personality development. The third part is to analyze what is the most significant aspect of environmental development that plays the important role towards Bill Macneil’s personality development.
A. Characterization of Bill Macneil
In order to understand Bill Macneil’s personality development, the writer wants to give brief description of Bill Macneil’s characterization in order to reveal his personality. Bill can be categorized into dynamic or round character, since his character develops from beginning of the story until the end of the story. His characteristics before and after he experienced World War II are quite different. In this part, the writer firstly wants to analyze Bill Macneil’s characteristics before he experienced World War II, and then his characteristics after he experienced World War II.
1. Characterization of Bill Macneil before He Experienced World War II. From his personal description, Bill Macneil is described as a smart person. This description can be seen from his conversation with his father.
Bill Macneil squared his shoulders. “You want to talk about the coming war, don’t you, Dad?”
The father smiled at his son. He could always rely on Bill to know what was on his father’s mind. (Seward, 2000:2).
The quotation above shows that Bill is a smart person; he knows his father well, Bill recognizes that his father is in difficult situation, Neil wants to say something important to the other members of the family but Neil feels very hard to express it. Bill knows it and then he guesses that his father wants to talk about the coming war. The quotation above also shows that Bill is a person who is aware of his surrounding by reading someone’s gesture.
Bill’s smartness can be seen from the conversation between him and his college’s friend when they are talking about the war.
“Hey, Macneil. You signed up yet?” “Not yet.”
“Better hurry. War will be over.’
Bill didn’t argue. He walked on, knowing the war would be hard and long. He would like to have seen Japan beaten and ground into earth immediately, but he knew the Japanese too well. They would put up a stubborn resistance. (Seward, 2000: 42).
Bill knows the Japanese well, and they will not go easy on this war. So, Bill does not need to hurry in joining the army. He takes his time to study at college and then, when he thinks that the time is right, he will join the army. Instead of debating with his friend, he walks away from his friend because he knows that the war is still far away from over.
Another Bill’s smartness can be seen from the way David Spencer sees Bill Macneil.
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The quotation shows that Bill is very fluent in speaking Japanese, because of his fluency, he can be regarded as a native if his face looks like Japanese. This special ability is very rare, that an American speaks Japanese as fluent as the native. Because of his ability in speaking Japanese, Bill is chosen by Spencer to be the leader of the ATIS.
From Bill Macneil’s conversation with his sister, Sarah, it can be seen that Bill can be characterized as a humorous person.
“Alright, I admit it,” Sarah said, laughing. “I’m in love. Madly, widely in love. Nathan Blum is the most marvelous man. Gentle, intelligent, so dark and….”
“Why do women prefer dark men? Bill asked with mock petulance. He and his father were blond, as was Bill’s long-dead mother, Valerie.”
“Well, let me set you straight, dear brother of mine. His father owns most of the movie theaters in Darien.”
“As well as most of the opium dens, gambling halls, and good-time houses.”
Sarah’s cheeks flushed. (Seward, 2000:5).
From the quotation above, it shows that Bill likes to make joke with his sister. He mocks his sister’s lover as the son of person who owns the gambling halls, good time houses. He also makes joke about Nathan’s skin which is dark.
Bill Macneil is a caring person. It can be seen from the conversation between him and Sarah Macneil.
Bill shifted his attention to his sister. “Speaking of disappearing trading posts, Sarah, Dad’s right. If the war starts, Manchuria is the last place you want to be.” (Seward, 2000: 4).
Bill Macneil’s caring attitude is shown to his lover, Helma Graff. He does not want Helma feels hot during the summer. In Japan, especially in Tokyo the sun in summer season can be as hot as hell.
Bill nodded. “And if a Miss Helma Graf comes looking for me, ask her to wait in my cabin, will you? And turn the fans on in there, please.”
The captain saluted. “I’ll tell the steward to place a block of ice in front of one of the fans, sir.” (Seward, 2000: 16).
Based on the quotation above, it can be seen that Bill cares about Helma. He wants Helma feels comfortable during her visit in his cabin since the weather in summer seems not too friendly for every one in Japan at that time.
Another Bill’s caring attitude is shown towards others although he does not know who they are. When Bill realizes that there is a woman who needs his help, he feels glad to help her.
The problem, Bill Macneil quickly realized, was that her audience did not comprehend what she was trying to get across to them. Helma had the vocabulary, but her grammatical structures were shaky and her pronunciation execrable. (Seward, 2000: 20).
The quotation shows that Bill helps a woman who is having difficulties in communicating with the Japanese. Bill helps that woman by translating her English into good Japanese. Later on, Bill knows her name is Helma Graf and she will be his lover. Helma has Swiss citizenship and she is on a missionary act in Japan.
Bill Macneil can be described as a stubborn person. He insists to join the army although he has a bad ankle injury when Bill is practicing parachuting.
Helma’s expression sobered, alarm in her eyes.
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“No, no! Thee must not go to war! Oh, no.” (Seward, 2000: 27).
From the conversation between Bill Macneil and his lover Helma Graff above, it shows that Bill is a stubborn person. Bill insists to join the army although he has a bad ankle. When Helma begs him to cancel his plan to join the army, but Bill insists on joining the army as soon as the war starts.
In general, Bill Macneil’s characteristics before he experienced World War II can be described as a smart person, has a good sense of humor and caring towards other. Bill is also described as a stubborn person.
2. Characterization of Bill Macneil During and After He Experienced World War II.
Bill Macneil’s characteristics during and after he experienced World War II is quite different with his characteristic before the World War II. Bill Macneil’s characteristics during and after he experienced World War II can be seen as below.
Bill is described as a high tempered man. He can easily lose his temper without any hesitation. It can be seen from his conversation with Captain David Spencer.
He said, “Have you read your mail yet? The letters are from your father and Helma Graf.”
“What the devil! Did you read my mail? You have no Damned right to” Bill was furious. (Seward, 2000: 43)
explains that at the war time like this that kind of action is excusable, to censoring mails from abroad. David also says that he does not read any of that mail.
Another conversation which leads into Bill’s anger is when he is asked a simple question by Major Hutton, a psychologist, during Bill’s psychological test before he enters the army.
“You were born in a foreign country-which whom we are now at war. We have to be careful in deciding where to use you in our war effort.” Major Hutton said.
“Why?”
“I’ll ask the questions, Macneil, You just sit there and answer them.” “Screw that”
“Pardon my language, Major, but fuck that. If I have questions to ask, I’ll damned well ask them.” (Seward, 2000: 71).
Based on quotation above, it can be clearly seen that Bill has a problem dealing with his temper. He often uses dirty words to show his emotions. The Major is just curious about Bill’s position, whether Bill will choose America or Japan. When the Major tries to ask it, suddenly Bill loses his temper.
Another quotation that shows Bill can easily lose his temper can be seen in his conversation between him and an infantry captain.
“Hey, Macneil, I hear you got a little Nip girlfriend on Radio Tokyo.” Stung, Macneil turned on the infantry captain. “Listen, you son of a bitch. The woman you’re talking about is a Caucasian. She’s a Swiss neutral. And she’s not my girlfriend. I had a couple dates with her in the summer of 1941, that’s all. And I’m not even sure this so-called Little Orphan Annie is the same person.” (Seward, 2000: 128).
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pretends not to know her. He feels uncertain about his relationship with Helma and he does not want anyone know about it. The only way to hide it is by denying the rumor and he always loses his temper when anyone talks about it.
Bill Macneil is also described as a person with full of hatred and vengeance. It can be seen through the conversation between him and Captain David Spencer.
“You’ll lead a team of translators and interpreters in the Pacific.”
Macneil brided. “Why go to paratroop school to sit at a desk and translate documents? That’s not how I want to fight the goddamned Japanese.” (Seward, 2000: 48).
Macneil was silent for a moment. I hate them all right-for something that they did in Nanking-“ (Seward, 2000: 49).
The quotation above shows that Bill has a certain amount of dislike towards the Japanese. He decides to join the army in order to kill as many Japanese as he could. Bill starts to hate the Japanese after the Nanking tragedy. Bill has a Christmas vacation with Mark Wood’s sister named Ellen Wood. At that time the Chinese are having a war against Japanese and the Chinese are in the losing side. Chinese soldiers who surrender are being massacred. The Chinese are being lined up by the Japanese on the Yangtze River which is located near the Woods’ house and then the Japanese machine guns open up against the Chinese soldiers. The other Japanese soldiers search for women and rape them. Ellen feels terrified and she thinks that she must get out of Nanking. Ellen leaves the Woods’ house and a few days later she is found bruised and nearly naked. She never speaks again and she has to live in mental institution in New Hampshire (Seward, 2000: 74-75).
Another cause of concern about Ship was that he was becoming more outspoken in his support of the United States in the present conflict. He held an American passport and his brother (Bill) was extremely anti-Japanese, so that was expected, but after all, they were living in Japan, and Ship-unlike his brother Bill-was half-Japanese. (Seward, 2000: 62) From Helma’s point of view, it is clearly seen that Bill is extremely anti-Japanese. At first, Helma does not know the reason between Bill’s hatred towards the Japanese, but after she finds out about the Nanking tragedy, she finally understands the reason why Bill hates the Japanese so much. Helma can not justify that reason, because according to her, every human should love each other and there is not such a thing named hatred.
Another example that shows Bill Macneil’s hatred towards Japanese can be seen from David Spencer’s conversation.
“Honda looks like a good man, Bill,” Spencer told him later.
“He’s tough and he has a good grip of the language and he hates the Japanese as much as you do. I’m going to try to get him appointed to your team. (Seward, 2000: 77).
The quotation illustrates how Bill Macneil hates the Japanese and he is not alone. There is a Japanese American named Slats Honda who hates the Japanese as much as Bill does.
Four months is combat had only increased Macneil’s dislike of the Japanese. Slats Honda seemed to hold even more hatred for the gooks, as he called them, than his superior. They had both witnessed many Japanese atrocities. (Seward, 2000: 113).
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bayonet practice by the Japanese. Then, he sees his compatriot’s head is separated from the body; his head is placed on the man’s lap with his genitalia is stuffed in his compatriot’s mouth. This kind of cruelty is intolerable and makes Bill’s blood rushes in anger (Seward, 2000: 129).
Bill’s hatred and vengeance towards the Japanese is enormous so that when he is trying to sleep, he thinks about what he just did, killed many Japanese until he can not count it anymore. He does not regret it but he feels satisfied of what he just did.
When Bill Macneil lay down, he fully expected to sleep the slumber of the dead. He had never gone through a day like this one. Here he had been in the line since mid-morning. He had killed men beyond counting. His emotions had run the gamut from battle lust through fear to grim satisfaction. (Seward, 2000: 125).
Bill Macneil’s hatred towards Japanese can also be seen through his thought. He is dreaming about the Japanese during his sleep.
His sleep would be, he thought, no more then blank unconsciousness. But that was not to be. Instead, he dreamed of Helma Graf in disconnected segments. He held open his arms to her, but Helma rejected him, turning away to wrap herself in a Rising Sun flag. Ten he dreamed he had just married her, but when she lifted her wedding veil for nuptial kiss, he found himself face to face with the poster of caricature of a Jap soldier’s features, buck teeth, slanted eyes and all. Next, they were on a dance floor, and he wanted to dance the tango with her, but she kept slipping out his arms to dance with Japanese men. (Seward, 2000: 129).
Bill Macneil’s extreme dislike towards the Japanese can also be seen through his thought.
Macneil stood at the window of his second-floor bedroom and cheered the oncoming waves. Come on, you bastards! he thought. Bomb the shit out of them. Never mind of me. One more good pounding and maybe the whole damn country will call quits. But even as he had the thought, Macneil knew in his heart the Japanese would not quit. He hated them and at the same time admired them for that. (Seward, 2000: 129).
Based on the quotation above, it can be seen that Bill’s hatred towards Japanese is enormous so that it is not a problem for him that he will lose his life during the bombing by the US as long as the Japanese will quit from the war.
Bill Macneil is a loyal and brave man. It can be seen from the conversation between him and Helma Graf. Although he has a bad ankle, he insists to join with the army.
“If the wars starts,” Bill went on, “it’s certain I’ll join the army.” “But they won’t take thee with that bad ankle,” she protested. “I won’t tell them.”
“No, no! Thee must not go to war! Oh, no.”
“If my country goes to war, I’ll do my duty. You know that, Helma. We’ve been over this often enough. (Seward, 2000: 27).
The quotation explains that even though Bill is born and spends most of his time in Japan, he still considers United States as his country. He is willing to fight for the United States with his bad ankle. He wants to show that an American who lives in Japan for most of his life is also loyal to his country. Bill’s loyalty towards the United States can not be questioned.
His loyalty is also shown when Bill is in Washington to see the president of the United States. He wants to tell about the information that he got.
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hundred thousand Japanese should be incinerated, Macneil’s decision would not confront him with any ethical dilemma. After all, he was a loyal American. (Seward, 2000: 266).
The quotation shows that Bill is in a doubt whether he has to choose which side who is going to be sacrificed, the Japanese or the Americans. But Bill is a loyal American so he chooses to give the report of his job about the development of the Japanese nuclear bomb.
Bill is also described as a brave man. This description can be seen through the conversation between him and his commander.
“ATIS? What the fuck is that?
“Allied Translator and Interpreter Service, sir. As you requested.” “Yeah, right. You came in yesterday with the bunch of Nips.”
Here we go again, Macneil thought, taking a deep breath. “Colonel, my men are Americans and I’ll ask you to not to call them Nips-or Japs.” “They look like Japs to me, and I’ll call them whatever I fucking well please.”
“You do that, Colonel, and I’ll send a radio today getting me and my team assigned elsewhere.’ (Seward, 2000: 107).
From the quotation, it can be seen that Bill is a brave person. Bill is threatening his commander to get his team out of Pacific if the commander keeps calling Bill’s teammates with the term Japs. Macneil’s thinks that his team consists of American although may of them are half Japanese and half American but still they consider America as their country.
Another Bill’s bravery can be seen from his conversation with his friend Slats Honda before both of them are parachuting.
Bill Macneil and Slats Honda stood up to buckle the two groin straps of their chute harnesses, then secured the third strap across their chest.
“Jesus, Bill,” Honda complained, addressing him without a title for the first time. “I’m scared shitless. Do I really have to do this?”
The quotation shows that Bill remains calm before he jumps from the plane while his friend is scared. As a leader Bill shows his bravery by saying to his compatriot that parachuting is very easy and nothing to worry about.
Bill Macneil’s bravery can be seen also in his conversation with his compatriot after they are landed in the middle of jungle in the midnight.
“Decaying vegetation, Slats. Mount up. We want to be a couple of miles away from here by first light.”
“Walk through this shit at night, Captain? Have you lost your mind?” “Stay here if you like,” Macneil said, starting to push through the vegetation toward the center of the island. He heard the sounds of the sergeant coming along, as he knew he would. (Seward, 2000: 137).
The quotation shows that although his compatriot is scared to walk in the jungle in the middle of the night, Bill remains calm and starts walking through the jungle.
Bill Macneil is described as a person who is smart or quick to read the situation. It can be seen on his action when he knows that the interpreter misinterprets the peace treaty.
He hurried to find Colonel Mashbir. “They’ve got a problem out there, Colonel.”
Mashbir jumped in his feet. “What’s wrong?”
“One of our translators must have used watakushi for chin in the phase, “I, Hirohito, Emperor of Japan…”
“Jesus H. Christ!” Mashbir exploded. (Seward, 2000: 290).
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Another example of Bill’s good ability in reading the situation is when he is in the plane on the way to Washington to meet with United States president Harry Truman. Bill reads the leaflet about the Postdam Declaration.
“Damn!” he grated. “look at this, Admiral. The prime minister used the word ‘mokusatsu’ and some idiot translated that as ‘to reject without silent contempt’”
“Is that wrong?”
“It sure as hell isn’t right, sir. Mokusatsu has a complex meaning, but to me it says the Japanese want more time to ponder their reply to the Postdam terms.” (Seward, 2000: 264).
Bill recognizes that something wrong with the translation, he knows that the interpreter misinterprets the term mokusatsu. This kind of misunderstanding can create new problem for both countries. The United States thinks that the Japanese rejected the Postdam Declaration and as the consequences, the United States will continue the war with full speed. Bill knows about it, that is the reason why Bill is in hurry to go to Washington to inform president Harry Truman about the mistakes in translating the Postdam Declaration.
B. Aspects of Environmental Determinant in Bill Macneil’s Personality Development.
Bill Macneil’s personality development is influenced mostly by environmental determinant. The environmental determinants consist of culture, social class, family and peers or the experiences outside home including the past experiences.
1. Culture
The first environmental determinant is related to culture. Bill’s experiences in the mixture of Japanese and American cultures will make him have a certain personality characteristic. Bill Macneil is an American who is born and spends most of his time in Japan. Bill is a son from Neil and deceased Valerie Macneil. Neil Macneil marries Japanese woman, Umeko. Neil and Umeko have one daughter and one son or in other word, Bill has one step sister and brother, named Sarah Macneil and Shipton Macneil. It makes Bill lives in a family with the mixture of American and Japanese culture.
He and his father were blond, as was Bill’s long-dead mother, Valerie. Neil’s second wife was Japanese, so Sarah and Shipton were Eurasian or, more properly, Amerasian (Seward, 2000: 5).
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In relation with the Japanese, Bill has a strong relation with the Japanese. He shows his caring attitude towards a Japanese’s boy. Bill is injured while he is trying to save Japanese’s boy. His neighbors who are Japanese help him and hide him from the Japanese secret police.
“What I’d like to know is: What are we going to do with him?”
“Whether he’s Swiss or American, we should report him to the police, shouldn’t we?”.
“Don’t you dare. He’s like a member of my family.”
“Then we agreed? We keep him here until he’s better. Then we’ll see what he wants to do.” (Seward, 2000: 252).
Bill Macneil is considered as the member of Japanese family by his neighbors although Bill is an American or foreign. Bill in his childhood has a strong relationship with his neighbors so he is considered as a member of a Japanese family. That is the reason why Bill is not reported to the Japanese secret police or Kempei-tai.
This kind of strong relationship between him and the Japanese, makes Bill is in difficult position when he has to give the report to the United States president about the development of the Japanese Nuclear bomb. If Bill decides to report about the development of Japanese nuclear bomb, the United States will use their nuclear bomb to bomb Japan and Bill will loose many of his friends, his neighbors who have helped him and consider him as their family.
…Macneil’s decision would not confront him with any ethical dilemma. After all, he was loyal American. Nevertheless, he could not forget those five pathetic Japanese housewives futilely running back and forth on their little pails of water to fling on the raging firs. Nor he would ever forget those women who nursed him and protected him at enormous risk to themselves….compassionate little women they are, who had known and loved him when he was a child, ignoring his foreign blood. (Seward, 2000: 266)
However, if he does not give the report about the development of the Japanese Nuclear bomb, the Japanese will use their nuclear bomb to bomb the United States and it will make great loss on his beloved country.
“And if I use this weapon, it will mean just as many. Maybe more.” “Except the causalities would be all Japanese, wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, but I didn’t call you to discuss the ethics of my decision. I want to tell you that we are certain that the Japanese are building a similar weapon. If they have it in time, they’re sure to drop it to our men once they have landed on the Japanese beaches.” (Seward, 2000: 206).
Bill loves Japan as much as his home country America, but when both countries are involved in war, Bill chooses to join the United States rather than Japanese.
“If the wars starts,” Bill went on, “it’s certain I’ll join the army.” “But they won’t take thee with that bad ankle,” she protested. “I won’t tell them.”
“No, no! Thee must not go to war! Oh, no.”
“If my country goes to war, I’ll do my duty. You know that, Helma. We’ve been over this often enough. (Seward, 2000: 27).
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2. Social class
The second aspect which gives the contribution towards Bill Macneil’s personality development is the social class. Bill Macneil is the oldest son of a successful businessman and the owner of Macneil Brothers’ Trading Co., Neil Macneil. In general Bill can be categorized as a rich person or high social status because he is the heir of the Macneils family corporation. As he came from wealthy family, he manages to study in San Francisco (Seward, 2000: 3).
The Macneils is very rich; they own many real estates and many other assets in Japan.
“I intend to shift all our liquid assets out of Japan. In fact, out of Asia entirely. Our main office will move to United States… I’ll sell as much of our real estates as I can as well as our holdings in Japanese corporations.” (Seward, 2000: 2).
In his family, every one of the members of the family has the ability to run the family business. Every year, they held annual meeting to discuss about the condition of the family business.
Her father grinned wryly. “You know we’re not, my dear. I’ve had a summary of our financial condition prepared. Copies will be given to each of you later. As usual, read, digest, and destroy. As you will see, we own les than last year…(Seward, 2000: 2).
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Neil discusses the financial problem with his children to teach them how to run the company in the future.
Bill Macneil’s high social status gives him some privileges. One of them is that he can study in America. Another privilege can be seen through the situation while Bill is in the ship the City of Glasgow.
“I regret we don’t have an owner’s cabin aboard these freighters, sir, but I don’t think we’ve ever had the pleasure of having Macneil aboard. Is your cabin satisfactory? I’d be glad to let you have mine, but it would be tomorrow before I could have it cleaned and ready for you.” (Seward, 2000: 16).
From the quotation above, it can be seen that as a member of Macneils, Bill has a certain privilege. In the ship, Bill is asked by the captain to have the captain’s cabin if the ordinary cabin is not satisfying Bill. Bill rejects it politely because his cabin is quite satisfactory.
The influence of the social class in Bill Macneil’s personality development can be seen in the change on his attitude. He cares about his girlfriend’s condition when they are in the ship City of Glasgow. Bill can show his caring attitude because of he has the privileges as a person who comes from high social status. 3. Family
The next environmental determinant which influences Bill Macneil’s personality development is the family. The influence of the family can be direct way or indirect way. The first influence comes from Neil Macneil, he is the father of Bill Macneil.
Neil Macneil is described as a loyal American, he insists that every member of Macneil has to get out from Japan, but when the war is over he wants to rebuild his company in Japan. He is too old to rebuild his company again; he wants Bill Macneil to rebuild and to continue the existence of the family’s company in Japan.
“We may have to get out of Japan, Bill, but we‘ll be back. May be not me; I’m too old. But my family will.”
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God only knows. If she marries that pianist, no telling where she’ll end up. No, it’s you, Bill, whom I count on to carry on for me. It has to be you.” (Seward, 2000: 24)
From the quotation, it can be seen that Bill Macneil’s father insists him to get out from Japan but when the war is over, Neil will ask him to go back and rebuild the family’s company. But in Bill’s point of view, his father intention is just to stop Bill from joining the war.
Bill hesitates about his father loyalty to America because Neil has lived in Japan for most of his life, he also has a Japanese wife and he gets his wealthy mostly from working in Japan. This kind of reasons makes Bill feels in doubt about his father’s loyalty to America.
Their conflict came down to opposing views about Japan. His father was a loyal Americalife. He was married to a Japanese woman and had two children by her. The wellspring of Neil’s fortune was in Japan, with tributaries flowing in from other Asian countries. (Seward, 2000: 24). Neil Macneil knows about his son’s hatred towards the Japanese. Neil tries to refresh Bill memory in the past that in his youth Bill always stands for the Japanese when he plays fistfight.
“Do you really hate them so much, Son? Why? What has turned you against them so? I remember those summers when you used to have fistfights with the children of our China branch managers about the Chinese and the Japanese. You always stood up for the Japanese.”
“You know very well what happened.” “You mean Nanking.’
“Of course.”
“But Son, you can’t let the single outrage dominate the rest of your life.” (Seward, 2000: 24-25)
since it will only increase Bill’s anger and vengeance towards the Japanese and it will ruin Bill’s life.
The next influence comes from Bill Macneil’s sister, Sarah Macneil. She is described as very attractive woman and she is an example of nearly perfect woman. She is very beautiful and the most important, she has a good personality.
And Sarah: always smiling, ever serene, eager to please, ready to protect, impossible to dislike. Her personality overwhelmed her beauty in a viewer’s eyes, but if one should be so fortunate as to chance upon her sleeping, then it was her beauty-the oval face, exquisite daintiness, hair as black as a crow’s wing, large dark upturned eyes, long lashes, perfect nose and lips-that made a viewer yearn to tarry and drown in her loveliness. (Seward, 2000: 8).
Her beauty and her attractive personality make her able to work with the Japanese Air Force leader General Doihara. Sarah does not want to leave Japan during the war because she wants to fulfill her promise to he late fiancé, Nathan Blum. In order to survive during the World War II, Sarah changes her name into Chinese, Lin Hsao Mai.
The only news of import had been that his sister Sarah was now the protégée of a high-ranking Japanese officer in Shanghai. My God! Macneil thought. What the hell does the protégée mean? Was she a goddamned Japanese officer’s mistress? His sister? Maybe his father had it wrong. (Seward, 2000: 113).
The quotation above explains that Bill is in a sense of disbelieve that her beloved sister has become a Japanese officer’s mistress, he hopes that the news that he heard from his father is wrong.
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“We know that your younger half-brother is training to be a Zero pilot, and Sarah Macneil is the part-time mistress of the man who heads the Japanese Army Air Forces.” (Seward, 2000: 204).
Bill meets Sarah in Tokyo to confirm about the news that Sarah becomes Japanese mistress.
“Not with a sister-“ “Half-sister.”
“-who is the mistress of a Japanese general.”
She is chuckled. “I might turn you in myself. He’d like that.” (Seward, 2000: 216).
He still can not believe that his sister has joined the Japanese who became Bill’s opponent. The news about her sister who becomes the Japanese’s mistress makes Bill hatred towards the Japanese is getting worst.
Another influence towards his personality development comes from Bill Macneil’s brother, Shipton Macneil. Shipton is described as a weak person but he is strong to the things that he really believed in (Seward, 2000: 7). Ship loves his mother very much and it makes him has to stay in Tokyo during World War II to accompany his beloved mother.
“Ship’s too young to think about the carrier. I can’t tell yet what he might become. All he seems to think about now is his mother…”
(Seward, 2000: 24)
Umeko came down with uremic poisoning occasioned by kidney failure. It’s her diabetes of course. The doctors absolutely forbade her to be moved. She is in the Seventh Day of Adventist hospital in Shinjuku, in good hands. Shipton insisted on staying with her. (Seward, 2000: 44).
Shipton insists to stay in Tokyo during the war to accompany his Japanese mother, in order to stay in Tokyo, Shipton changes his name into Wataru Miyoshi and joins the Special Attack Corps.
