SYMBOL AS A MEANS TO REVEAL
THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW TOWARD DEATH
IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S
“
THE TELL TALE HEART
”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Robertus Troi Suryo
Student Number: 044214073
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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SYMBOL AS A MEANS TO REVEAL
THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW TOWARD DEATH
IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S
“
THE TELL TALE HEART
”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Robertus Troi Suryo
Student Number: 044214073
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2011
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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As a Man Sows,
So Shall He
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I dedicate this work
for
those who have
participated in
accomplishing my study
especially M Y PARENTS,
MY WIFE and MY SON
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Robertus Troi Suryo Nomor mahasiswa : 044214073
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
SYMBOL AS A MEANS TO REVEAL THE AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW TOWARD DEATH IN EDGAR ALLAN POE’S “THE TELL TALE
HEART”
Bersama perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my biggest gratitude to Jesus Christ and the Holy Mary whom I always plead for blessing, strength, and ideas, so that I am finally able to accomplish this undergraduate thesis.
Furthermore, I deeply express my gratitude to my beloved parents for their prayers; spiritual, material, and financial support; and good advices.
My gratitude is also directed to Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M.Hum as my advisor for her time, advice, guidance, and patience. I really appreciate all things she has done in the process of writing my thesis. I would also like to say thank to Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum as my co- advisor.
Next, my sincere gratitude belongs to Irene. It is because of her help, support, and understanding. She has done her best to help me while I am dealing with my study especially my thesis.
I thank all my friends in English Letters Department 2004 class that I can not mention one by one. It is nice to have nice friends like them
Robertus Troi Suryo
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TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iii
MOTTO PAGE ... iv
DEDICATION PAGE ... v
APPROVAL PRONOUNCEMENT PAGE OF THESIS PUBLICATION FOR ACADEMIC CONCERN ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... viii
ABSTRACT ... x
ABSTRAK ... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 6
C. Objectives of the Study ... 6
D. Definition of Terms... 6
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 8
A. Review of Related Studies ... 8
B. Review of Related Theories ... 9
1. Theory of Symbol ... 9
2. Relation between Literature and Psychology ... 13
3. Theory of Self Defense Mechanism ... 15
4. Theory of Predicate Thinking ... 16
C. Review of Edgar Allan Poe Biography ... 17
D. Theoretical Framework ... 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 20
A. Object of the Study ... 20
B. Approach of the Study ... 20
C. Method of the Study... 22
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 23
A. Symbols that were used in the short story ... 23
1. Old Man ... 25
2. The Eye ... 26
a. Vulture ... 28
b. Pale ... 29
c. Blue ... 30
d. Film ... 31
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4. Heartbeat ... 32
B. Symbols as a Reflection of the Author’s Point of View toward Death ... 33
1. Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s Life ... 35
2. The Author’s Point of View toward Death as Reflected through Symbol in The Tell Tale Heart ... 39
i. Edgar Allan Poe’s Point of View toward Death ... 38
ii. The Process of Symbol Creation as an Expression of the Point of View toward Death ... 41
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 53
APPENDIX ... 55
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ABSTRACT
ROBERTUS TROI SURYO (2011). Symbol as a Means to Reveal the Author Point of View toward Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
This undergraduate thesis deals with one of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories entitled “The Tell Tale Heart”. It is a horror fiction short story which tells the story of an unnamed narrator that committed murder to an old man. Although the story runs only in a few pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism arise. Such these symbols are tried to be conveyed in this discussion by considering them as the messages that the story is going to reveal.
Therefore, conveying the implied messages in the story, this is how to reveal the author point of view toward death using the symbols in the story is the objective of this study. It will be gained through analyzing the symbol and the biography of the author. Considering this, the discussion will be focused on the description of the symbol and the explanation how the biography of the author can help revealing the author’s point of view toward death.
In this discussion, the writer conducted library research in which there are two types of sources that are primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the short story “The Tell Tale Heart” itself, while the secondary sources are the reference books and the sites from internet. Meanwhile, the theories applied are concerned with the theory of symbol, the theory of self defense mechanism, and the theory of the relation between literature and psychology. Since this study is about the extrinsic elements of the short story, the writer employs psychoanalysis approach.
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ABSTRAK
ROBERTUS TROI SURYO (2011). Symbol as a Means to Reveal the Author Point of View toward Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Tesis ini berhubungan dengan salah satu cerita pendek Edgar Allan Poe yang berjudul “The Tell Tale Heart”. Cerita pendek ini adalah cerita fiksi horror yang bercerita tentang seorang narrator yang tidak diketahui namanya yang melakukan pembunuhan pada seorang orang tua. Walaupun cerita ini hanya terdiri dari beberapa halaman, didalamnya banyak contoh simbolisasi dimunculkan. Simbol-simbol inilah yang akan dicoba untuk diungkap pada pembahasan kali ini dengan pertimbangan bahwa simbol-simbol tersebut adalah sebuah pesan yang ingin disampaikan dalam cerita pendek ini.
Oleh karena itu, penyampaian pesan-pesan yang terkandung pada cerita yaitu bagaimana mengungkap sudut pandang pengarang terhadap kamatian menggunakan simbol-simbol yang ada pada cerita merupakan tujuan studi ini. Hal ini dicapai melalui penganalisaan simbol-simbol, dan biografi pengarang. Atas pertimbangan ini, pembahasan akan difokuskan pada pendeskripsian simbol-simbol, dan penjelasan bagaimana biografi pengarang bias membantu mengungkapkan sudut pandang pengarang terhadap kamatian
Pada pembahasan ini, penulis melakukan penelitian pustaka di mana terdapat dua macam sumber, sumber utama dan tambahan. Sumber utamanya adalah cerita pendek itu sendiri, sedangkan sumber tambahannya adalah buku-buku referensi dan situs-situs. Sementara itu, teori yang diterapkan berkenaan dengan teori simbol, teori pertahanan diri, dan teori tentang hubungan antara literatur dan psikologi. Karena studi ini mengenai elemen-elemen ekstrinsik pada cerita pendek, penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikoanalisis.
Hasil dari studi ini menyatakan bahwa simbolisasi yang ada dalam cerita pendek ini memiliki hubungan dengan latar belakang kehidupan pengarang, terlebih dengan peristiwa-peristiwa buruk tentang kematian. Peristiwa-peristiwa buruk tentang kematian yang merenggut hampir setiap orang terdekat dari pengarang, mulai dari ibunya hingga istri tercintanya, membentuk sudut pandang yang spesifik tentang kematian dalam pikiran pengarang. Sudut pandang pengarang yang dipengaruhi oleh peristiwa-peristiwa buruk tentang kematian membuatnya bertentangan dengan sudut pandang umum dalam masyarakat mengenai kematian. Masyarakat memberikan nilai yang tinggi pada kematian; mereka menganggap kematian sebagai sesuatu yang kuat dan mulia. Sementara itu, sudut pandang pengarang merendahkan keberadaan kematian; pengarang menganggap kematian sebagai sesuatu yang lemah, tidak menyenangkan dan tidak penting. Karena sulit bagi pengarang untuk mengungkapkan pikirannya yang tidak umum secara langsung pada masyarakat saat itu, pengarang menggunakan simbolisasi pada karyanya untuk mengungkapkannya.
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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
There is no single definition can satisfy everyone to answer what literature is. Once a definition has been made, the limits make it inadequate to call other writings as literature. Robert and Jacobs in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing state that technically literature can be defined as anything spoken or
written. This definition is clarified then in order to specify kind of writings that can be called as literature. Therefore, Roberts and Jacobs continue their explanation by arguing that literature is any writings that invite our emotional and intellectual involvement and response (1989:1). This argument disallows us to categorize writing such as shopping list as literature then.
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persons, ideas, and events. Here, the author is not concerned with the actual truth of particular events (1988:2-3).
About the literature of imagination, Roberts and Jacobs say:
“ Imaginative literature, which we call simply literature, refers to written (and also spoken) compositions designed to tell stories, dramatize situations, and reveal thoughts and emotions, and also to interest, entertain, stimulate, broaden, and ennoble readers (1989:1).”
They also add that imaginative literature may be based upon situations that never have and never may occur. It does not mean that literature is not truthful, but rather that the truth of literature is true to life and human nature, not necessarily to the world of historical and scientific facts (1989:3). The same thing is conveyed by Drs. Sunaryo Basuki Koesnosoebroto by saying “It is only necessary to underline that prose fiction has its own standard of truth, which can be only judged using all the information contained in the fiction itself (1988: 9).”
Imaginative literature itself can be classified then into three genres. Those are prose fiction, poetry, and drama. All these genres are dramatic and imaginative in varying degrees (1989:3). Since the discussion is to analyze a short story, let us take a look first that short story is classified into prose fiction. Prose fiction is a kind of literary work that focuses on one or few major characters that undergo some kind of changes as they meet other characters or deal with problems or difficulties in their lives (Roberts and Jacobs, 1989:3).
As a form of literature, a short story also pleases its reader by imitating life, or more precisely, by displaying its writers’ visions of life as it is or as the writers think it should be. Yet, the readers are expected not only to be the
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immature reader, who will be satisfied by reading stories which contain exciting image of the world or some flattering image of himself, but rather to be the mature reader. Unlike the immature reader, the mature reader is more aware and critical with the issues in the story he reads (Koesnosoebroto, 1988:3-4).
This study, therefore, is made by the writer since he would like to point out one of the issues he is aware in the short story he read that is “The Tell Tale Heart”. It is a horror fiction short story which tells the story of an unnamed narrator that committed murder to an old man. Even though this is one of Poe's shortest stories, it is nevertheless a profound and, at times, ambiguous investigation of a man's madness. The story gains its intensity by the manner in which it portrays how the narrator stalks his victim—as though he were a beast of prey; yet, at the same time, elevated by human intelligence to a higher level of human endeavor, Poe's "murderer" is created into a type of grotesque anomaly. In a sense, the narrator is worse than a beast; only a human being could so completely terrorize his victim before finally killing it, as, for example, the narrator deliberately terrorizes the old man before killing him. This story shows the narrator's attempt to rationalize his irrational behavior. <http://www.CliffsNote.com> (10 April 2009)
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which was veiled by a thin white film and "resembled that of a vulture," tormented him, and he had to rid himself of the "Evil Eye" forever.
After again declaring his sanity, the narrator proceeds to recount the details of the crime. Every night for seven nights, he says, he had stolen into the old man's room at midnight holding a closed lantern. Each night he would very slowly unlatch the lantern slightly and shine a single ray of light onto the man's closed eye. As he enters the room on the eighth night, however, the old man stirs, and then calls out, thinking he has heard a sound. The narrator shines the light on the old man's eye as usual, but this time finds it wide open. He begins to hear the beating of a heart and, fearing the sound might be heard by a neighbor, kills the old man by dragging him to the floor and pulling the heavy bed over him. He dismembers the corpse and hides it beneath the floorboards of the old man's room. At four O'clock in the morning, the narrator continues, three policemen come asking to search the premises because cause a neighbor has reported a shriek coming from the house. The narrator invites the officers in, explaining that the noise came from him as he dreamt. The old man, he tells them, is in the country. He brings chairs into the old man's room, placing his own seat on the very planks under which the victim lies buried. The officers are convinced there is no foul play, and sit around chatting amiably, but the narrator becomes increasingly agitated. He soon begins to hear a heart beating, much as he had just before he killed the old man. It grows louder and louder until he becomes convinced the policemen hear it too. They know of his crime, he thinks, and mock him. Unable
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to bear their derision and the sound of the beating heart, he springs up and, screaming, confesses his crime.
In this short story, the author combines vivid symbolism with subtle irony. Although the story runs only four pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism abound. “The Tell Tale Heart”, by using the symbol and irony, the narrator creates feeling of hysteria, and the turmoil resulting from this hysteria is what places “The Tell Tale Heart” in the list of the greatest horror stories of all time. <http://www.zrm.com> (10 April 2009)
Talking further about the use of symbol in this short story, there are possible messages the writer tries to reach. By conveying the messages, the readers are expected not only to become of with the issues revealed in the story but also understand and learn something from this literary work. The literary work, therefore, is not only to entertain its readers then but also to help them grow as Roberts and Jacobs say in their book Fiction: an Introduction to Reading and Writing:
“Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually; it provides an objective base for our knowledge and understanding; it helps us to connect ourselves to the cultural context of which we are a part; it enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles in different societies that we would never otherwise get to know; it helps us to develop mature sensibility and compassion for the condition of all living things- human, animal, and vegetable (1989:2).”
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as one of the alternative ways. The writer determines that the title Symbol as a Means to Reveal the Author’s Point of View toward Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s
the Tell Tale Heart will be appropriate to represent the idea of this study.
B. Problem Formulation
The focus of this study is on how symbolism is used in the short story to reveal the author’s point of view toward death. The problems are formulated as follows:
1. What are the symbols in the story?
2. How do the symbols reflect the author’s point of view of death?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study that are drawn by considering the background and the problem formulation mentioned in the previous part of the thesis. The writer wants to describe how a specific symbol is used to represent death in this short story and to show that specific symbol is used to reveal the author’s point of view toward death.
D. Definition of Terms 1. Symbol
Symbol here is anything that can be taken from the story, such as single object, a real type of object, the pieces of the object, a color, or others that indicate
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the characteristic of human personality, the ambition, or the other interpretation. The fact can be seen in the quotation below:
8 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
E. Arthur Robinson in "Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales, state that in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The
Tell-Tale Heart," the author combines vivid symbolism with subtle irony. Although the story runs only four pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism and irony abound. In short, the symbolism and irony lead to an enormously improved story as compared to a story with the same plot but with these two elements missing (1971:94-102).
Another study was done by Marie Bonaparte in The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe: A Psycho-Analytic Interpretation. Marie Bonaparte sees an
obscure symbolist link between the old man and Poe's adoptive father in real life, John Allan, and between the narrator in the story and Poe. There are several similarities between the old man and Allan. Both men had blue eyes. According to Bonaparte, much like the old man had never wronged the narrator, Allan had never wronged Poe. Similarities abound between Poe and the narrator, as well. Neither had a wish for riches, and they both behaved affectionately to their counterpart's face even though they despised him behind his back. Bonaparte suspects that the story was an outlet for Poe's pent-up aggression toward his adoptive father (1949:497).
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Arthur Hobson Quinn in Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, tells us that Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart", utilizes a plethora of symbolism and irony in order to add worth to the story. Taken by themselves, the plot, theme, characters, and settings are nothing extraordinary. However, Poe masterfully weaves the ingredients of the story together, and as a result the whole greatly exceeds the sum of its parts. The style that Poe uses to relate the story can incorporate the elements of terrors and obsessions and yet symbolize the incomprehensible terrors and obsessions that Poe as the author must have lived through to be able to formulate such an account. Perhaps this is why Poe considered "The Tell-Tale Heart" one of his best works (1941:430).
Learning about the three review studies above, the writer then states that this undergraduate thesis will not be totally similar to the previous studies. This undergraduate thesis will try to convey any possible messages revealed through the analysis of the symbol in the novel under study. Another thing that differentiates the study with the previous is that the writer also relates the extrinsic element with the intrinsic one in revealing the possible message.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Symbol
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narrative (1997:189). Guth and Rico statement imply that a symbol is a detail, a character, or an incident that has a meaning further that its literal meaning.
Studies in the Short Stories states symbolism is the important aspect of
literary work. The use of symbol in the real world is not different from the use of symbol in literature. The purpose of using symbols in literature is to suggest that ideas are not enough to put in abstract words. Perhaps, an object that functions as symbol will reveal a complex idea more effective (Scott and Jaffe, 1968: 188). The statement means that the uses of symbol in the real world and in literature are the same. The objects that state symbolically will convey a complicated idea more effective. Moreover, Scott and Jaffe add the characteristics that are typical of most symbols in fiction. First, each of these is a concrete object, which the author has substituted for abstraction. In fiction, e more commonly have a concrete objects that suggest a certain type of person, a complex emotion, a set of values, or an abstract idea. Secondly, the symbol used in the story stand for abstract concept (1968: 188). Scott and Jaffe’s ideas suggest that a symbol indicates a certain type of person or a character, a complex emotion of the character, or the set of values in the story. The meaning of symbol also can be determined if we have finished reading the entire story.
M.H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms said that symbol is applied only to a word or set of words that signifies an object or event which itself signifies something else; that is, the words refer to something which suggest a range of reference beyond itself (1990: 168). Abrams ideas about symbol imply
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that the words that function as the symbols are the words which express something else and it have other meaning and deeper understanding.
The symbol can also be the imagination of the author that exists in a story to guide the reader’s understanding toward the story. As Myers and Simms said in The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms, the term is divided into three symbols.
The first symbol is the archetypal or cultural symbol, in which a natural object refers to a limited number of interpretations that transcends cultural barriers. The second symbol is the general symbol, which appeals to a smaller audience but which contains more associative meaning. The last symbol is the private symbol or authorial or contextual symbol, which is created in author’s imagination and conveying any number of meaning in the guiding context (1989: 198). Myers and Simms’ opinion indicate that there are three terms of symbol. First, cultural symbol which means the symbol that have a cultural background, for tattoo in Borneo culture. Second is the general symbol which means a symbol that use for the universal context, for example showing thumbs to someone is to praise that person. Third, private symbol which mean the symbol that usually were interpreted in literary works because this symbol was created by the author itself when the author made their works.
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another meaning more than the object itself and it occur in a person, in situation, in an action, or in an object in a story.
Perrine also gives some cautions for the reader to interpret literary work. First, the story itself must furnish a clue that a detail is to be taken symbolically. The symbols always signal their existence through emphasis, repetition, or position. In the absence of such signal, the reader should be reluctant to identify an idea as symbolical (Perrine, 1974: 214)
Second, the meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story. The symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside it (Perrine, 1974: 214)
Third, to be called symbol, an item must suggest a meaning different in kind from its literal meaning or in other words. A symbol is something more than
the representative of class or type (Perrine, 1974: 215).
Fourth, symbol may have more than one meaning. It suggests a cluster of meaning that controlled by the context of the story (Perrine, 1974: 215).
From the cautions, the story must provide the evidence that an object can be called as symbol. The meaning of the symbol itself must support the whole context of the story. An object that is called as a symbol must suggest a different meaning from its literal meaning and it may have more than one meaning.
According to Kennedy and Gioia in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, a symbol generally is not abstract terms like love or truth, but
are likely to be predictable objects. Often the symbols that we meet in fiction are inanimate object, but other thing also may function symbolically (1998: 218).
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Kennedy and Gioia add that such character may also be called symbol. Some characters often are not well rounded and fully known, but are seen fleetingly and remain slightly mysterious (1998: 218). Kennedy and Gioia also give some idea on how the reader can recognize a symbol in fiction. He states that the author often gives the symbol particular emphasis and may be mentioned repeatedly throughout the story or it may even supply the story with the title. At times, an important symbol will open a story or end it. A symbol, an object, act, or character, is given some such special emphasis and importance. It is not a symbol if it points clearly and unmistakably toward some meaning. The object, an act, or a character is surely symbolic if, when the readers finish reading the story, the reader realizes that it was the item which led the reader to the essential meaning of the story (Kennedy and Gioia, 1998: 218). From the statement above, Kennedy and Gaoia suggest that the author commonly gives the symbol particular emphasis and it nay an object, an act, or a character. The important thing is that the symbol must support the context of the story.
2. Relation between Literature and Psychology
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the effect of literature on the reader. Thus, there are some theories of psychology applied in the literary works (1967: 90).
If the Author succeeds in creating his characters and his characters are suitable with the truth of psychology, it is necessary to ask him if the characters created also have artistic value. In certain cases, knowledge of psychology is important to add artistic values because the knowledge supports the coherency and complexity of the work itself. For some artist, a knowledge of psychology helps their sense about reality, improves their ability in observation, and gives chances to explore new plans which have not been explore before.
In Psychology and its Allied Disciplines vol.1 edited by Barnstein, Lindover stated that literature is best at describing the human condition in a dramatic form, while psychology has the strength to investigating human character or behavior in systematic ways (1984:144). Both literature and psychology have one common purpose that is to describe human condition. Literature tries to depict human condition into drama, while psychology studies human characteristic systematically and scientifically.
In The Psychological of Human Behavior, Richard A. Kalish states that
literature also “holds the mirror up to the man”. A good novelist can communicate the feeling of his functional characters and make them seem more life-like than the real people whose behavior the psychologist attempts to describe. Plays and films can produce the same result. Writers can use the understanding provided by psychologist to enrich their stories, and psychologist can gain in their
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understanding of human behavior by drawing from deep sensitivity of good author (1973:8).
3. Theory of Self Defense Mechanism
In An Outline of Psychoanalysis, Freud defines the qualities of the psychical process as being conscious, preconscious, or unconscious (1949:31). Ideas considered to be conscious are those of which we are aware, yet they remain conscious only briefly. Preconscious ideas are defined as those that are capable of becoming conscious. In contrast, unconscious ideas are defined as those that are not easily accessible but can be inferred, recognized, and explained through analysis (Freud, 1949, p. 32). In psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms represent an unconscious mediation by the ego of id impulses which are in conflict with the wishes and needs of the ego and/or superego. By altering and distorting one's awareness of the original impulse, one makes it more tolerable.
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Anxiety is an aversive inner state that people seek to avoid or escape. Humans seek to reduce anxiety through defense mechanisms. Defense Mechanisms can be psychologically healthy or maladaptive, but tension reduction is the overall goal in both cases.
4. Theory of Predicate Thinking
Calvin S. Hall in his book Freudian Psychology state that the reason why people make symbolization on their repressed thought is a result of the distribution and disposal of psychic energy of id. This process happens as a result of id activity that search for instinctual gratification by means of reflex action, like eating the food and emptying the bladder, and wish-fulfillment where the energy is used to produce an image of the instinctual object. The aim of both processes is to expend the instinctual energy in ways that will eliminate the need and bring response to the individual. The investment of energy in the image of an object, or the expenditure of energy in discharge action upon an object that will satisfy an instinct, is called object-choice or object-cathexis. All of the energy of the id is expended in this action, and this energy is very fluid. This means that the energy can be shunted easily from one object to another. This shunting of energy is called displacement. The example of displacement is when a hungry baby doesn’t get the food; they may place a wooden block or its own hand in its mouth. For the baby, before he has learned to discriminate, food, a wooden block, or its own hand is all the same. Objects are regarded as being equivalent when they are specific and concrete resemblances between them. Two objects such as a bottle of milk and a
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block, for example, are perceived as being identical because they can both be taken hold off by hand and brought to mouth. The energy of id is very displaceable because the id is not capable of making fine distinction between objects. The tendency of the id to thread objects as though they were the same, in spite of differences between them, produces a distorted form of thinking which is called predicate thinking. This is the process that makes the symbolization of the repressed thought possible. The example is riding a horse that symbolizes sexual intercourse because the similar movements are performed in reading and copulating. When the directional flow of instinctual energy is blocked by ego or superego, it tries to break through the resistance and discharge itself in fantasy or action (1954:79-81).
C. Review of Edgar Allan Poe’s Biography
Edgar Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. Elizabeth Poe died in 1811, when Edgar was 2 years old. She had separated from her husband and had taken her three kids with her. Edgar was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan.
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waiting to enter West Point, Edgar lived with his grandmother and his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and his young cousin, Virginia.
In 1831, Edgar Allan Poe went to New York City where he had some of his poetry published. He submitted stories to a number of magazines and they were all rejected. Poe had no friends, no job, and was in financial trouble. He sent a letter to John Allan begging for help but none came. John Allan died in 1834 and did not mention Edgar in his will.
In 1835, Edgar finally got a job as an editor of a newspaper because of a contest he won with his story, "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle". Edgar missed Mrs. Clemm and Virginia and brought them to Richmond to live with him. In 1836, Edgar married his cousin, Virginia.
Between 1838 and 1849, the year he died, Poe was at the center of magazine publishing in America, serving as the editor of several journals and writing reviews, critical articles, stories, and miscellaneous pieces which won him admiration for his critical acumen. His most famous work like "The Tell-Tale Heart” was published during this period.
To add to his distress, in 1847 his young wife developed tuberculosis and died. On October 3, Poe was found at Gunner's Hall, a public house at 44 East Lombard Street, and was taken to the hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness but was never able to explain exactly what happened to him. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849. <http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Poe-s-Short-Stories-Edgar-Allan-Poe-Biography.id-145.html> (10 April 2009)
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D. Theoretical Framework
Concerning the analysis of symbol in revealing the author’s point of view, a theory illustrated in the previous section, the theory of symbol and theory of self defense mechanism is going to be the base to answer the problem formulation.
Theory of symbol helps to consider what the symbol that was used in the story is and how the symbols are used in this short story to reveal the author’s point of view toward death. While theory of self defense mechanism will help to reveal how the past events of the author’s life shape the point of view of the author. The third theory, the predicate thinking theory, will help to explain the relation between some symbols and the author’s unconscious mind. This theory also explains why a symbolization of a repressed thought is account of psychoanalytic theory.
20 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is the symbolism that is used in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe which was first published in 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first-person narrative of an unnamed narrator who insists he is sane but suffering from a disease which causes "over-acuteness of the senses." The narrator insists that his careful precision in committing the murder shows that he cannot possibly be insane. The narrator makes certain to hide all signs of the crime. The narrator, however, begins to hear a faint noise. As the noise grows louder, the narrator comes to the conclusion that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. The sound increases, though the officers seem to pay no attention to it. Shocked by the constant beating of the heart and a feeling that the officers must be aware of the sound, the narrator confesses killing the old man and tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the body.
B. Approach of the Study
Charles E. Bressler on his book Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice state that the central of psychoanalytic criticism is Freud’s
assumption that all artists, including authors, are neurotic. Unlike most other neurotic, however, the artist escapes many of the outward manifestation and result
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of neurosis such as madness of self-destruction by finding a pathway back to saneness and wholeness in the act of creating his or her art (1999:159).
Bressler also stated that Freud declares that literary work is therefore the author’s dream or fantasy, and using Freud’s psychoanalytic techniques as they are used in the dream therapy, psychoanalytic critics believe that the hidden meaning contained within the story and housed in the symbol can be unlocked. This method of analysis begins by amassing biographical data of an author through biographies, personal letter, lecturers, and any other document deemed related in some way to the author. Using these documents and the author’s canon, these psychoanalytic critics believe they could theoretically construct the author’s personality with all its idiosyncrasies, internal and external conflicts, and most importantly, neuroses. This technique of analysis known as psychobiography that rises several decades after the introduction of psychoanalysis, this analysis focused mainly on the author (1999:159-161)
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C. Method of the Study
There are some steps that can be applied as the method in composing this thesis. The writer used library research that would supply two sources, primary and secondary sources, to support the analysis of the chosen topic. The primary source was the short story itself, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart. Meanwhile, the secondary sources were some internet sites and some books.
The first step the writer did was reading the short story for several times. After that, the writer formulated the problems that enabled the writer in achieving the main purpose of this study. The next thing done was conducting the library research to collect all the supporting data that were needed such as the theories and the approach.
Doing the analysis was the next step. Here, the writer would pay attention thoroughly to the text. The analysis that was done was the answers for each problem mentioned in the problem formulation. Therefore, the first analysis was to describe the possible meaning in each symbol that is found in the short story. The writer then relates the symbol and the author’s biography using the psychoanalysis approach to reveal how the traumatic past experiences that were experienced by the author can create a symbol that is written in the author’s work, and also reflect the author’s point of view toward death.
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23 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the writer will analyze Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell Tale Heart”. The analysis of this thesis will be divided into two parts. In the first part, the writer will analyze the symbol found in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart”. The symbols that will be analyzed are only the symbols that are related to the author’s point of view toward death. In the second part, the writer will analyze the symbol as a reflection of the author’s point of view toward death.
A. Symbols that were used in the short story
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Either the words or the character that become the symbols have another meaning and deep understanding (Abrams, 1990:169).
Those symbols in “The Tell Tale Heart” are included in the private symbol, and the explanation of those symbols may reveal and describe deeper aspect of the story. Myers and Simms states that “The explanation of the objects and the actions that become the private symbol conveying any number of meaning in the guiding context” (1989:198).
In interpreting the symbols the reader should free their mind from narrow view about the literary meaning or just depending from what is written, because it is possible to have more than one way to interpreting the terms in the story. Perrine states that in interpreting symbols, one should pay attention of the clause of symbol through emphasis, repetition, implication or recurring pattern. He also states that the meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story; it means that the symbol has its meaning in the story not outside it (1974:214). While Guth and Rico states that symbols are images, it might be a detail, a character, or an incident, that have a meaning beyond its role in the narrative (1997:189).
Using those two theories, the writer contends that there are several symbols in this short story. The writer finds that the old man, the eye with its characteristics (an eye that resembles a vulture with a pale blue eye and a film over it), kill, and heartbeat as possible symbols in the story. The reader of this short story may have a different interpretation of the objects, character, or action. In order to have the same interpretation of the story between the readers and the
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writer, the writer of this thesis tries to give the description of the symbols found in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” and the explanation of their special meaning.
1. The Old Man
The Old man is one of the symbols in this short story based on Perrine’s caution to interpret the symbol. The old man is interpreted as a main symbol through emphasis of the word, because of the old man’s role as an object that has direct relation with the main character in this short story.
“It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.” (Bounce, 1946: 87)
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killing an old man. The narrator decided to do that because he feels uncomfortable to live together with the old man. According to the narrator, the old man has an eye that every time he looks at it he feels very uncomfortable and it makes the narrator decided to kill the old man. On the next part of this thesis, it will be discussing that something that very disturbing the author of this short story, and made him wants to get rid of it is death.
2. The Eye
According to L. Perrine, symbol is something that means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an action or some other item that has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other meanings as well (Perrine, 1974: 213). The eye that is characterized as vulture like eyes with a pale blue eye and a film over it is one of the symbols in this short story. The eye becomes the symbols in this short story through emphasis. It is stated in this short story that the narrator becomes very nervous every time he gets close to that eyes.
“I think it was his eye! Yes, that was it! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture. It was a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees –very gradually– I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” (Bounce, 1946: 87-88)
“It was open –wide, wide open– and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness –all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones. I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct precisely upon the damned spot.” (Bounce, 1946: 90)
From the quotations above, it can be seen that the eye has a very big influence on the narrator. It seems that the eye has a power to influence the
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narrator’s behavior and becomes the cause for the main character’s uncomfortable feeling that makes the main character decide to commit a murder. From that point, the writer of this thesis assumes that in this short story the eye symbolizing power.
Other references that also using the eye as a symbol of power is one of the hieroglyph letters in Egypt. In Egyptian tradition, the symbol of eye represents the power of God. The symbol is commonly known as The Wadjet or Ujat, meaning "Whole One". It is a symbol of the user’s powers also known as the "Eye of Horus" and the "all seeing eye". The symbol was frequently used in jeweler made of gold, silver, lapis, wood, porcelain, and carnelian, to ensure the safety and health of the bearer and provide wisdom and prosperity <http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/eyeofhorus>(23 May 2010).
“I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture —a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees —very gradually—I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” (Bounce, 1946: 87-88)
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a. Vulture
The third object that the writer assumes to be the symbol in this short story is a vulture.
“I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture —a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” (Bounce, 1946: 87)
The literal meaning of vulture is a large bird of prey, usually with the head and neck almost bare of feathers, which eats the flesh of the deads or dying animals. Vultures use their large wings to soar in the air for many miles without having to flap. The Vulture skillfully employs already existing air currents against the pull of gravity, symbolizing the distribution of energy so that gravity does not weigh it down. Vultures are is able to their sense of sight or smell to find their food. Vultures symbolize death in literature.
In the short story vulture is used to give the characteristic of eye, it means that the role of vulture is to give specific information about what kind of eye that the old man have. As the writer had already explain that eye becomes one of the symbol in this short story that represents power, the symbolic meaning of vulture here is used to characterize what kind of power that death has.
In this thesis, the writer assumes that the symbolic meaning of vulture is to show something terrifying that usually be avoided by people. It is already known that vulture is a kind of bird that eats ore of dying animal and has a scary looks, this characteristic show the power of a vulture to raise a fear on people that see it. Maybe they can only take advantages from something that already powerless, but even man with enough power usually keep away from making contact with it.
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Vulture is raised in this story as the author effort to deny the description of death that already attached by people in the society as something joyful, a start of a new beginning. For the author, death is something that raises a feeling of fear, as all the people that he loves was taken away from him by death. It raises his feeling of fear toward death.
b. Pale
The literal meaning of pale is having little color or less color than usual. Related with symbol it is not about literal meaning itself, it must be about something beyond its literal meaning. The first impression that came into the mind of some people about pale is the condition of a people that are not fully health, when their faces show less bright than usual. Edgar Allan Poe uses these symbols to show that for him, death is not something bright that can give him enlighten. For him, death is something dark that make his life in sorrow. He lost his entire lovely person because of death and it makes him feel really sad. This moment of losing his lovely person that make him thinks that death is something dark, it is only a moment of sadness, nothing that can make him the feeling of joyful in that moment.
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important rule to give characteristic to something that was symbolized by old man’s eye. Here, it is become clearer now that pale’s important rule is to give characteristic of dark or mournful to the power of death.
c. Blue
Guth and Rico (1997:189) state that symbol is images that have a meaning beyond themselves; it can be a detail, a character, or an incident. Blue becomes the symbol in this short story because blue is one of the detail in this short story and it has a meaning beyond its role in the narrative. Blue becomes the symbol not only because it is appears as one of the characteristic of the old man’s eye, but also because it is supported by the context of this short story that is death. “He had the eye of a vulture, a pale, blue eye, with a film over it.” The literal meaning of blue is having the color of a clear sky or the sea in sunlight. As a symbol, blue suggest a deeper meaning more than just a color of a clear sky or the sea in sunlight. Blue has many symbolical meaning. Related to blue symbolism and personality, people who wear light blue are said to be analytical and have a practical approach to life. People who wear dark blue are intelligent and self-reliant and take on a great deal of responsibility. Blue symbolism also associates blue with freedom, strength and new beginnings. Blue is the colour of loyalty and faith. But the symbolical meaning of blue that match with the context of this short story, which is death, is blue as a symbol of an unpleasant feeling. As it commonly known, the symbolic meaning of blue that means an unpleasant feeling has become a public symbol. Many people say feeling blue when they feel
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unpleasant feeling. In this story, blue has a role to give unpleasant characteristic to death.
d. Film
M.H. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms said that symbol is applied only to a word or set of words that signifies an object or event which itself signifies something else; that is, the word refers to something which suggest a range of reference beyond itself (1990: 168). Film becomes a symbol because it has a criterion that is match with what M.H Abrams means. The literal meaning or the self meaning of film is a thin covering on or over something. Otherwise, film also refers to something else deeper than just that literal meaning. Film gives a characteristic to the death as something that is unimportant. Film gives idea that it is only a thin layer over something that bigger of it can be said that it is unimportant thing, as it can be seen from its literal meaning.
As every single characteristics has been explained, it is reveal the specific characteristic that show how the author of this short story see the power of death in his life. To the author, the power of death that he already felt is death as something weak, mournful, unpleasant and unimportant.
3. The Action of Murder (Kill)
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is surely symbolic if, when the readers finish reading the story, the reader realizes that it was the item which led the reader to the essential meaning of the story (1998: 218).
Killing as a symbol doesn’t refer to the literal meaning that is to cause death or cause somebody or something to die. The murder as a symbol refers to something else that is more essential than its literal meaning. The murder as a symbol means a process of getting rid of something. In this story, the action of murder symbolizes the process of denying the existence of death. This short story tells about the narrator’s attempt to murder an old man because he feels uncomfortable every time he get close with the old man and see his eye. In the short story, the act of relieving the presence of the old man that was done by the narrator portrays the effort that was done by the author of this short story to deny the existence of death.
4. Heartbeat
According to L. Perrine, symbol is something that means more than what it is. It is an object, a person, a situation, an action or some other item that has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other meanings as well (Perrine, 1974: 213). Perrine also gives some cautions for the reader to interpret literary work; the meaning of a literary symbol must be established and supported by the entire context of the story. The symbol has its meaning in the story, not outside it (1974: 214).
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In this short story, heartbeat has a literal meaning in the story but suggests or represents other meanings as well. The literal meaning of heartbeat in this story is the regular movement of the heart or the sound it makes. Beyond that literal meaning, heartbeat reveals something deeper than just its literal meaning. The symbolic meaning of heartbeat in this short story symbolizes existence, and in this case, it is an existence of death. Heartbeat symbolizes existence because heartbeat is used in medical science to detect the existence of an animate creature.
B. Symbols as a Reflection of the Author’s Point of View toward Death In this part the writer will try to explain how Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell Tale Heart” reveals the point of view of the author using psychoanalysis approach. Bressler, in his book Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice stated that Freud declares literary work is therefore the author’s dream or
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personality with all its idiosyncrasies, internal and external conflicts, and most importantly, neuroses. (1999:159-161).
As a man surrounded by death and terrible situation, it is no wonder that almost the entire collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s works is about death. One of his works that have a topic about death is a short story entitles “The Tell Tale Heart”. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe which was first published in 1843. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first-person narrative of an unnamed narrator who insists he is sane but suffering from a disease which causes "over-acuteness of the senses." The narrator insists that his careful precision in committing the murder shows that he cannot possibly be insane. The narrator makes certain to hide all signs of the crime. The narrator, however, begins to hear a faint noise. As the noise grows louder, the narrator comes to the conclusion that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. The sound increases, though the officers seem to pay no attention to it. Shocked by the constant beating of the heart and a feeling that the officers must be aware of the sound, the narrator confesses killing the old man and tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the body.
Robinson, E. Arthur, in "Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales, states that in Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The
Tell-Tale Heart," the author combines vivid symbolism with subtle irony. Although the story runs only four pages, within those few pages many examples of symbolism and irony abound. In short, the symbolism and irony lead to an enormously improved story as compared to a story with the same plot but with
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these two elements missing (94-102). According to the writer of this thesis, the symbols that were used in this short story can lead the reader to understand the author’s idea, in this case the idea about death. In this short story, Edgar Allan Poe wants to deliver some messages that are related to his point of view toward death. His bad experiences with death make him set some points about death.
1. Death in Edgar Allan Poe’s Life
The loss of his mother at the age of two or three is his first experience with death. After being left by his mother, Edgar, then about two years old, was taken into the home of John Allan, a Scotch merchant in fairly prosperous circumstances in Richmond. In his new environment, he grew as a smart young man. His friendship with Rob Stanard makes him meet Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, a woman that gives much influence on young Edgar’s life. Porges (1969) in his book Edgar Allan Poe writes:
“Edgar thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful. But his sensitive mind also immediately felt something else in her- something beneath the lovely face and smile. In some strange way, Edgar understood that with Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, he would find a friendship and a symphaty he had never possessed before. In that moment the two felt some hidden forces pull them together. For Edgar, the feeling came from the spirit and the soul, so deep that it will guide him all his life (24)”
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All that was felt by Edgar soon change, Edgar noticed that something was wrong with Mrs. Stanard. She is quiet and sad. He was assured then that Mrs. Stanard was sick. Knowing that the people he loved had been sick, Edgar felt a sudden fear. He was unwilling to believe that the woman whom he admired very much were severely sick. From Rob, Edgar learned that Mrs. Stanard was becoming mad. As he moved deeper into the suffering of her mental illness, Edgar knew that she was dying. Mrs. Stanard died on April 28, 1824 (Porges, 1969:24-25).
This tragedy affected Edgar very much. Several nights after Mrs. Stanard’s death, he had been sleeping badly, troubled by frightening dreams. There were always the same dreams night after night. He would find himself lost in darkness with unknown creature moving nearer until he could hear it breathing (Porges, 1969:27). The event of Mrs. Stanard death is his second experience with death.
The third death event imposing influence on Poe’s life is the death of Mr. Galt, his foster father’s uncle. His third experience with death started to form his thought of death. The memory of Jane Stanard suffering and death returned to pain him. With Mr. Galt death, it seemed to Edgar that death was a terrible spirit that was always near, waiting to seize the people he loved.
The next experience was the experience of his foster mother, Mrs. Allan. The death of Mrs. Allan seems to influence Edgar’s life more greatly. When he was about seventeen and was in university, he received shocking news that his lovely foster mother was dying. To Edgar, Mrs. Allan was the woman who had
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loved and defended him against the attack of his foster father. Two women whom he loved very much has passed away and brought a deep grief in Poe’s life.
Time during which Poe writes the story was occupied with grief for Poe. All the memories with people that he loves appear again in his mind, and makes him feel the deep sadness because of the loss of them. The most shocking experience with death that Edgar felt is the death of his lovely wife Virginia. The experience of losing his wife also change Edgar’s personality. It has been said that Edgar’s inspiration for his tale may have been a single incident that occurred while he and his wife attending a social gathering with friends at the Coate’s Street house in Philadelphia in January of 1842. As the story is told, while singing at the piano, Virginia had ruptured a blood vessel and apparently coughed blood. In the more dramatic version of this incident, it is said that her pale white frock had been spattered with the crimson color of blood and that Edgar’s reaction was that he became horror stricken. Virginia was in the early stages of tuberculosis.
Virginia illness took Edgar very hard and made everything he could to help her. Every cough from her made him shudder. His marriage to Virginia had meant a lot to Edgar. It managed to keep him calm and kept him from drinking, and living isolated with his closely relatives.
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Red Death, a story about a prince who tries to save his diseased country from the
figure called “The Red Death”.
Virginia condition went up and down, and with it Edgar’s spirit. He tried to help Virginia with all the best effort he could. They moved for a couple of times in search of healthy environment to live. Edgar suffered badly from seeing Virginia so weak, and finally on January 30, 1847, Virginia died. After Virginia died, he turned to drink again. Poe himself said that he was intolerant to alcohol and a single drink intoxicated him, but the truth some people said that he drank huge amounts while others. His habit of drunk cost him a lot of money, money he did not have. His abuse of alcohol made him make a fool of himself; hence he had no success in either getting the job or getting the Stylus, a company owned by him, published. On October third he was found by Dr. James E. Snodgrass, an old friend, in a, horrible condition at a low tavern in Lombard Street. Summoning a relative of Poe, Dr. Snodgrass had the now unconscious and dying poet taken in a carriage to the Washington Hospital and put into the care of Dr. J. J. Moran, the resident physician. Several days of delirium ensued with only a few intervals of partial consciousness. Finally on Sunday morning, October 7, 1849, "He became quiet and seemed to rest for a short time. Then, gently, moving his head, he said, 'Lord helps my poor soul.'" As he had lived so he died—in great misery and tragedy.
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2. The Author’s Point of View toward Death as Reflected through Symbol in
The Tell Tale Heart
In this part, the writer of this thesis will try to explain how the symbols in The Tell Tale Heart can be used to reveal the point of view of Edgar Allan Poe
toward death. To make it clearer, the writer of this thesis will split the discussion into two parts. In the first part, it will discuss about the overall meaning of the symbol that were found in the short story. While in the second part, the writer of this thesis will try to apply the technique of Freud’s defense mechanism to explain about the process of the symbol creation that will make the description of the author point of view toward death reasonable.
a. Edgar Allan Poe’s Point of View toward Death
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over it), the murder, and the heartbeat as possible symbols in the story. Those symbols have been chosen because they have a meaning beyond its role in the narrative (Guth and Rico, 1997: 189). Their existences also supported by the entire context of the story (Perrine, 1974: 214). Based on the writer’s interpretation of the symbol as already mentioned on the previous section, those symbols have deeper meanings beyond their roles in the narrative. The writer found that old man symbolizes death. An eye with its characteristics that resembles a vulture with a pale blue eye and a film over it symbolizes the power of death that according to the author of the story is something fearful, mournful, unpleasant and unimportant. The action of murder (kill) symbolizes the effort of the author to deny the existence of death. While a heartbeat as a symbol symbolizes an existence.
From the explanation above, the writer wants to express that Edgar Allan Poe’s point of view toward death is something contradictory because it opposes the common values of death. Society considers death as something powerful and joyful, while Poe attaches unpleasant thought toward death while considering it as something fearful, mournful, unpleasant, and unimportant and wants to deny its existence.
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b. The Process of Symbol Creation as an Expression of the Point of View toward Death
A work of art sometimes means more than it appears in the surface. It can contain hidden message about something that concern the author. There has been some novel, short stories, or dramas that arouse psychological issue. According to Rene Wellek, psychological literature has four possibilities of understanding one of those is the study of the psychology of the author as a person. In order to do study about the psychology of the author, there are some theories of psychology applied in the literary works (1967: 90).
Charles E. Bressler state that artist escapes many of the outward manifestation and result of neurosis such as madness of self-destruction by finding a pathway back to saneness and wholeness in the act of creating his or her art (1999:159). It means sometimes authors put in the idea about something that concerns them to its work, or in other words the creation of works of art really affected by the author’s psychological condition.
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importantly, neuroses (1999:159-161). In this thesis, the writer uses Edgar Allan Poe’s biography and one of his works entitled “The Tell Tale Heart” as guidance to reveal author’s idea about death.
The writer of this thesis assumes that in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story entitled “The Tell Tale Heart”, he wants to convey his point of view toward death through the symbols that appear in this short story. The disclosure of his point of view toward death through the symbols is a form of his psycologycal process of self defense mechanism.
In psychoanalytic theory, defense mechanisms represent an unconscious mediation by the ego of id impulses which are in conflict with the wishes and needs of the ego and/or superego. By altering and distorting one's awareness of the original impulse, one makes it more tolerable. Id, ego and superego are three major system of total personality as conceived by Freud. To have a better understanding about defense mechanism, it is important to know what is id, ego and superego.
i. The ID
Id is the part of personality that its sole function is to provide for the immediate discharge of quantities of excitation (energy of tension) that are released in the organism by internal or external stimulation. This function of the id fulfills the primordial or initial principle of life which Freud called the pleasure principle. The aim of the pleasure principle is to rid the person of tension, or if this is impossible as it usually is to reduce the amount of tension to a low level and to keep it as constant as possible. Tension is experienced as pain or discomfort while
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relief from tension is experienced as pleasure or satisfaction. The aim of the pleasure principle may be said, then, to consist of avoiding pain and finding pleasure.
In its earliest form the id is a reflex apparatus that discharges immediately by motor pathways any sensory excitations reaching it. Thus when a very bright light falls upon the retina of the eye the eyelid closes and light is prevented from reaching the retina. Consequently the excitations that were produced in the nervous system by the light quiet down and the organism returns to a quiescent state. The organism is equipped with many such reflexes, as they are called, which serve the purpose of automatically discharging any bodily energy that has been released by a trigger, the stimulus, acting upon a sense organ. The typical consequence of the motor discharge is the removal of the stimulus.
In order to reduce tension, the id has mechanism that is called primary process. It is a process which produces a memory image of an object that is needed to reduce a tension. A dream is a succession of images usually visual in quality, whose function it is to reduce tension by reviving memories of past events and objects that are associated in some way with gratification. The hungry sleeper dreams of sexual activities and related events. The formation of an image of a tension reducing object is called wish fulfillment. Freud believed that all dreams are wish fulfillment or attempted wish fulfillment. We dream about what we want.
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compared with the ego and the superego. Its energy is in a mobile state so that it can be readily discharged or displaced from one object to another. The id does not change with the passage of time; it cannot be modified by experience because it is not in contact with the external world. However, it can be controlled and regulated by the ego.
The id is not governed by laws of reason or logic and it does not possess values, ethics, or morality. It is driven by one consideration only, to obtain satisfaction for instinctual needs in accordance with the pleasure principle. There are only two possible issues for any id process. Either it discharges in action or wish fulfillment, or it succumbs to the influence of the ego, in which case the energy becomes bound instead of being immediately discharged.
Not only is the id archaic from the standpoint of racial history, but it is also archaic in the life of the individual. It is the foundation upon which the personality is built. The id retains its infantile character throughout life. It cannot tolerate tension. It wants immediate gratifications. It is demanding, impulsive irrational, asocial, selfish, and pleasure loving. It is the spoiled child of the personality. It is omnipotent because it has the magical power of fulfilling its wishes by imagination, fantasy, hallucinations and dreams. It is said to be oceanic because, like the sea, it contains everything. It recognizes nothing external to itself. The id is the world of subjective reality in which the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the only functions that count.
Freud acknowledges that the id is the obscure and inaccessible part of personality, and that what little is known about it has been learned from the study
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
of dreams and neurotic symptoms. However, we can see the id in action whenever a person does something impulsive. A person, for example, who acts on an impulse to throw a rock through a window or trip someone up or commit rape, is under the domination of the id. Similarly, a person who spends a lot of time day dreaming and building castles in the air is being controlled by his id. The id does not think. It only wishes or acts.
ii. The Ego
The two processes by which the id discharges tension, namely, impulsive motor activity and image formation (wish fulfillment), do not suffice to attain the great evolutionary goals of survival and reproduction. Neither reflexes nor wishes will provide the hungry person with food or the sexually motivated person with a mate. In fact, impulsive behavior may result in an increase of tension (pain) by calling forth punishment from the external world. Unless he has a permane
