A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By:
Ike Wahyuningsih Student Number: 021214121
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By:
Ike Wahyuningsih Student Number: 021214121
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
2008
the sky in one piece, it has to be
slowly developed and tested, growing
from hate to love, from obligation to
sacrifice, from hostility to
reconciliation, until at last it turns
into an eternal bond which nothing can
ever destroy.
(The White Banyan)
This thesis is dedicated to:
My beloved parents, my grandparent, my uncles, my aunts, my
cousins, and my friends.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Allah SWT who has given me this wonderful life, love, strength, blessing, and guidance so that I could finish my thesis.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my major sponsor Dr. Wigati Y. Modouw, M.Hum., and my co-sponsor Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., for their support, guidance, suggestions, advice, time, encouragement, patience, careful correction, and constructive criticism. Then, I would also like to thank all lecturers and staff of English Language Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University, especially Ms. Lany, Mrs. Joeli, Mr. Purba, and Mr. Gunawan.
Next, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my beloved parents and grandparents for their never ending love, prayer, encouragement, attention, and financial support. My thanks also go to Mr. and Mrs. Ketut, Mrs. Indri, Mr. Agus who treat me as their own daughter. My cousins Putu and Kadek who love me like a sister and support me in many ways.
The deepest thank is for my best friends Tika and Esta who become my shoulders to cry on. I thank them for giving me happiness, solution, unique friendship, and a secure place to share, and for being pal and nice sisters. It is also for the following people: Bekti, Wawan, Hastri, Sasha, Ian, Yoga, Rohmat, Ismail, Nana, Beta, Mita, Egy, Erin, Yayan, Heri, Wieda, Dian, Dwi, Naning, Ruli, and Fitri for their contribution on this thesis. Mrs. Eko, Mr. Edi, and all Inna Garuda’s staff who give me so many chances to experience
and my inspirations.
I thank mas Yoga Praditya for his everyday supports and encouragements, for his love and time, and for everything that makes me alive.
I thank Enthit for giving me learning and light, for Optimus Prime who inspires me to fight all the troubles in my life, and also Steven and the Coconuttreez for the beautiful music. Last but not least, I thank Lala, Blacky, Kumis and Brino for being amusing mates.
There are other people whom I cannot mention individually, but surely this thesis could not have been completed without their help.
IKE WAHYUNINGSIH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ………..……… i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ………..…………ii
PAGE OF BROAD EXAMINERS ………iii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………...………. iv
PAGE OF DEDICATION ……….. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………...…………..…….….…vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… ………viii
ABSTRACT ………xi
ABSTRAK……… ……...xii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ………..1
1.1 Background of the Study ………...1
1.2 Objectives of Study ………3
1.3 Problem Formulation ……….3
1.4 Benefit of the Study ………...4
1.5 Definition of Terms ………..….4
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ……..……….6
2.1 Theoretical Review ………..………..6
2.1.1 Theory of Literature ………...………...6
2.1.1.1 Theories of Character ………...………7
2.1.1.2 Theories of Characterization ………...………….8
2.1.3 Theories of Adolescence ……….13
2.1.3.1 The Adolescence Year ………...13
2.1.3.2 The Factors Influencing Adolescent’s Personality Development ………...14
2.2 Criticism ………...15
2.3 Theoretical Framework ………16
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ………...………17
3.1 Subject of the Study ………...………..17
3.2 Approaches ………..………18
3.3 Procedures ………...……….18
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS ………..………..20
4.1 Minor Characters’ Personalities ………..……….20
4.1.1 August’s Personalities ………...………..20
4.1.1.1 Supportive ………...…………..………….21
4.1.1.2 Appreciative ………..……….…24
4.1.1.3 Wise ………...25
4.1.1.4 Realistic ……….……….…26
4.1.1.5 Tough ………....……….28
4.1.2 Zach’s Personalities ……….29
4.1.2.3 Attentive ……….………33
4.2 Lily’s Personality Development ………….………34
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ………...…………44
5.1 Conclusions ………..………44
5.2 Suggestions ………..…………45
5.2.1 Suggestions to Future Researchers ………45
5.2.2 Suggestion to the Implementation of Teaching English through Literature ………...………45
5.2.2.1 Teaching Extensive Reading through The Secret Life of Bees ………46
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………49
APPENDICES Appendix 1 Summary of The Secret Life of Bees ………...…………51
Appendix 2 Biography of Sue Monk Kidd ………54
Appendix 3 Syllabus ………..……56
Appendix 4 The Implementation of Teaching Extensive Reading ……....…57
Wahyuningsih, Ike. 2008. The Influence of Minor Characters on Lily’s Personality Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discusses The Secret Life of Bees, a literary work written by Sue Monk Kidd. The Secret Life of Bees tells about an adolescent named Lily who lived in 1964. This novel is worth studying because the readers can see the significance of an important figure to our personality development in our lives. From this study, the readers can know how past life influences adolescent's personality and how the personality can change as she socializes with others. The aim of this study was to see how Lily's personality develops as a result of minor characters influence. Concerning the objective, there were two problems stated in this thesis. (1) What are the minor characters' personalities? (2) How is Lily's personality development described?
In order to achieve the aim of the study, the method employed in this study was library research. The sources were obtained from the literary work itself, criticism, and other sources related to the literary work. This thesis also used some theories to conduct the analysis. They were the theories of character and characterization, critical approaches, personality development, and adolescence.
The analysis showed that August is a wise mother figure who cares about Lily, supports her, and guides her every time Lily feels insecure. The other character, Zach, is a close friend who is very optimistic and attentive. Lily, the main character of the story, is a smart, shrewd and impulsive adolescent. She is also a bit racist due to her environment. Lily is a flawed girl who always blames herself. She cannot handle her guilty feeling, fears, and frustration. Lily knew few things and had little experiences but August and Zach teach her about love and acceptance. They inspire her to be more introspective, sensitive, optimistic, and to be more hard working.
From the analysis, it can be concluded Lily experiences many things from her socialization with August and Zach. Finally, Lily becomes mature enough to process her guilty feeling, anger, and confusion, as well as the ability to love without guilt or blame. Hopefully, this study will be beneficial to provide a reading material for Extensive Reading Class.
Wahyuningsih, Ike. 2008. The Influence of Minor Characters on Lily’s Personality Development in Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahsa dan Seni, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Kependidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas The Secret Life of Bees, sebuah karya sastra Sue Monk Kidd. The Secret Life of Bees menceritakan tentang Lily, seorang remaja yang tinggal di tahun 1964. Novel ini bermanfaat untuk dipelajari karena pembaca dapat mengetahui pentingnya seseorang dalam perkembangan karakteristik kita. Dari studi ini, pembaca dapat mengetahui bagaimana masa lalu mempengaruhi watak remaja dan bagaimana karakteristik tersebut berkembang ketika dia bersosialisasi. Tujuan studi ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana watak Lily berkembang karena pengaruh dari tokoh pendukung. Berkaitan dengan tujuan dari studi, skripsi ini membahas dua pokok permasalahan. (1) Apa saja watak tokoh pendukung? (2) Bagaimana perkembangan watak Lily digambarkan?
Untuk mencapai tujuan skripsi ini, metode yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumber-sumber diperoleh dari karya sastra itu sendiri, kritik-kritki, dan sumber lain yang berhubungan dengan karya sastra tersebut. Skripsi ini juga menggunakan beberapa teori untuk menuntun analisis. Teori-teori tersebut adalah teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori tinjauan kritik, perkembangan karakter, dan teori tentang masa remaja.
Analisa menyebutkan bahwa August adalah sosok ibu bijaksana yang memperhatikan Lily, mendukungnya, dan membimbingnya setiap saat Lily merasa tidak nyaman. Karakter yang lainnya, Zach, adalah teman dekat Lily yang sangat optimis dan penuh perhatian. Lily sebagai karakter utama adalah remaja yang pandai dan suka mendengarkan apa kata hatinya. Dia sedikit rasis dikarenakan oleh lingkungannya. Lily adalah gadis yang suka menyalahkan dirinya sendiri. Dia tidak dapat menguasai rasa bersalah, ketakutan, dan tekanan. Dia hanya memiliki sedikit pengalaman dan tidak tahu banyak hal, tetapi August dan Zach mengajar Lily tentang cinta dan menerima. Mereka membuat Lily menjadi orang yang bisa menilik diri sendiri, perasa, percaya diri, dan pekerja keras.
Dari analisis tersebut, dapat disimpulkan bahwa Lily mengalami banyak hal dari pergaulannya dengan August dan Zach. Pada akhirnya, Lily menjadi cukup dewasa untuk mengatasi rasa bersalah, kemarahan, kebingungan, dan kemampuan untuk mencintai tanpa merasa bersalah. Diharapkan studi ini akan berguna untuk penyediaan materi Extensive Reading.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter deals with five mains parts, those are: the background of the study, problem formulation, the benefit of the study, and the definition of terms. The background of the study describes the reason why I choose this topic for my literary work. The objective of the study states my aims in answering the questions of the problem formulation. Then, I focus my analysis in the problem formulation. The next is the benefit of the study for the reader. The last one is the definition of terms in which I clarify some terms used in this study in order to avoid misunderstanding.
1.1Background of the Study
We cannot ignore that literature and human life have a close relation. Literature is the reflection of human being’s life experiences and people can learn about human life through literature. Literature has many forms, such as; novel, drama, plays, short story, and poetry. I choose discussing a novel because it is not only about reading the story and getting pleasure from it but also knowing the portrait of human being’s life experiences.
by the condition we are living in but it can change when we meet new environment like new school, new neighborhoods, and also new friends. For example, if a smart child grows in a family that never gives him an opportunity to develop his ability, he will not grow into a creative person and he will be a pessimistic person as he never knows how to make his ability develop. However, someday when he meets new friends who support him and appreciate what he does, he can develop his personality into a creative person and the more optimistic one. In this story, Lily is passing her transformation age from childhood into teenage. She lives with guilty feeling because of killing her mother accidentally. Moreover, her father does not give any affection and support as a father should be. Fortunately, she meets people who treat her as their family and she learns many things that develop her personality.
According to Milligan, minor characters are those who appear as the complement of the story. They do not have a major effect on how the story turns out, however, they contribute something toward the main character. In this story, the minor characters are reflected as friends. According to Conger’s Adolescence and Youth, for adolescents, friendship holds a special place and performs a special function. It is because friendship offers the more intense feelings. Friendship also helps the adolescent in dealing with his or her own complex feelings and it plays an important role to help them define their identities (1979: 337). What we call as best friend are not only those who have the same age like us but everyone. Having relationship with friends is a kind of learning which can affect our personality. In this novel, the minor characters play a role as best friends.
Lily’s personality when she has not involved much with people and after that. We can also learn how she fights her guilty feeling in her transformation age and how the minor characters give major contributions toward her personality development by teaching her how to love and to be loved.
Therefore, related to the description above, the discussion will be on Lily’s personality development and how the minor characters influence her personality development.
1.2Objective of the Study
This study is aimed to see how one’s characters develop as a result of other people’s influence as seen in Lily, the main character of Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.
Although every person was born with certain traits, environment can develop those traits. Lily has passed her journey and she gets valuable lessons from it. Her personality develops as she socializes with people whom she meets. The Secret Life of Bees is very interesting to discuss since we can learn about life through a simple story. There is an epigraph in the beginning of each chapter that reflects the life of bees and foreshadows the characters’ lives in the story. It is shown by the parallelism between Lily’s life and the bee’s life.
1.3Problem Formulation
The problems that will be brought into later discussion are formulated as follows:
2. How is Lily’s personality development described?
1.4Benefit of the Study
This study is to introduce the readers to Sue Monk Kidd’s first phenomenal novel, which has a lot of things to discuss through a simple story. Then, hopefully, the analysis of this novel can give the readers a description about one’s personality, especially adolescent’s that may change as he or she socializes with others. Finally, I hope this study will be beneficial for Sanata Dharma University students, especially for the English Language Study Program by providing a reading material for Extensive Reading class.
1.5Definition of Terms
This part is very important as there are some terms used in the discussion that need defining. Therefore, there will be no misunderstanding or misconception about the meaning of some terms. There are some terms used in this study:
a. Personality Development
and evoking process within an individual. It is stated that every character evolves through time and every character needs other characters to develop.
b. Minor Character
According to Milligan in his book The Novel in English: an Introduction, the minor characters are those who appear as the complement of the story (1983: 195).
c. Influence
The word “influence” in Oxford advanced Learner’s Dictionary
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Some theories which are used to support my analysis will be presented in this chapter. The related theories are explained briefly in this part together with the criticism of the novel and the source that I use in my analysis on order to help the reader to have a clear description about the foundation of this study. I divide the chapter into three parts, namely; the theoretical review, criticism, and theoretical framework.
2.1 Theoretical Review
The theoretical review deals with the theories of literature and the theories of personality development. Therefore it can be analyzed why a character has a certain trait and what makes the character does a certain action. Those theories come from some different sources so that he reader will have an understanding about this study and the terms in it from many theorists.
2.1.1 Theory of Literature
2.1.1.1 Theories of Character
The character is a person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story. It is one of the significant elements in a literary work. Therefore, the personality development of Lily will be analyzed in the novel.
Considering some elements of a literary work makes us get the deeper understanding about the work itself. The author creates various characters with the different attitudes, mannerism, and appearances to make the novel beautiful and represent the real life.
Abrams (1971: 23) defines the word character into two kinds. The first one, character is defined as literary genre: a short, usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive type of person. Secondly, he defines characters as the persons, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and what they do-the action.
E.M Foster (1974: 46-51) divides characters into two kinds, those are; flat and round characters. A flat character is built around a single idea or quality and is presented without much individualizing detail. Therefore, he or she can be easily described in a sentence as it is characterized only by one or two traits. On the other hand, a round character is more complex in temperament and motivation.
major character. However, minor characters may contribute valuable influence toward the main character’s personality as seen in the story.
2.1.1.2 Theory of Characterization
Characterization is the process by which a writer makes characters seem real to the readers. The way a writer conveys to the readers what sort of people he or she writes about and how he or she makes the readers get to know and understand them are the significant things in writing a novel. We can judge someone by their outward appearance, by the way they dress, walk, look, gesture, and so forth. Characters can also be seen through the eyes and opinions of other people, such as: their family, friends, employees, and acquaintances.
Murphy in his book (1972: 161-173) mentions nine ways in which the author attempts to make the characters understandable to and alive for the readers.
The first one is personal description which deals with physical appearances. The readers are given the clues to capture the characters by their facial expressions and clothes that they wear. For instance: “There was nothing white about Zachary Lincoln Taylor. Even the whites of his eyes weren’t exactly white. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist and short-cropped hair…” (p. 144). From the quotation we know that Zach is an Afro American and from the body build we can conclude that he is a hard worker.
The third characterization is speech. It is an important way that we use to describe characters. The author gives us a description of the characteristic of one person in the novel through what the person says and the style of his speech. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with others, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character. In this study, an example is given by using T.Ray’s speech when he gets Lily outside at night.
‘Not funny?’ he yelled. ‘Not funny? Why, it’s the funniest goddamn thing I ever heard: you thinking your mother is your guardian angel….That stopped his smiling instantly. He stiffened. “Why, you little bitch, ‘he said. The color faded from his lips. (P. 49)
The fourth one is past life. By letting the readers learn something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be shown by a direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his or her conversation or through the medium of another person.
The fifth characterization is conversation of others. We can take clues of a person’s character, through the conversation of the other people, and the things they say about him or her. People talk about other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the person mentioned.
The next is reaction. Different characters will react differently when they are facing problems. Each reaction toward the problem shows the character’s tendency and it gives the reader a clue about the character’s personality.
The eight one is thoughts. By knowing one’s thought the author can give us direct knowledge of what person is thinking about. In this way, we know character of that person simply by knowing what is in his or her mind.
The last one is mannerism. The author can also describe a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies, which may also tell us something about his character.
2.1.1.3 Theory of Critical Approach
As one of the works of art, literature is said to have values. Reading a novel will be a valuable activity when we really understand the story and the values in it. To gain the message of the story, we have to analyze a literary work. In analyzing one literary work, we need to consider about what approach to use. Furthermore, this part presents the theory of critical approaches that are used in this study.
Rohrberger and Woods discuss five different approaches that are usually used in literary study. By using these approaches, we can analyze and understand the novel better (1971: 5-15)
in writing a novel. The fourth approach is the mythopoeic approach. It is used to find particular patterns of human thought, which are considered sharing the same universal belief to certain community mind. The last one is the psychological approach. It focuses on the human psychology including thought, behavior, human personality, motivation, and other aspects, which are related to the human psychology.
In analyzing the topic of this study, I use the psychological approach because in my opinion this is the most suitable one to understand Lily’s personality development better. Moreover, according to Rohrberger, psychological approach analyses a novel based on theory of psychology (1971: 13). The study which is conducted to find the answers of some questions, such as: why the characters portrayed in the novel have such kind of personality, what makes the characters do certain actions, and also what sort of things influence their personality.
2.1.2 Theories of Personality Development
world to correct view, from idealism to realism, and from immature responses to mature responses.
Many theorists have their own perceptions and present them in various ways to describe the definition of personality. They propose their theories of personality in attempt to explain human behavior. The personality theorists provide the discussion about human behavior, the stages of human behavior, and what sort of things influence human behavior for the reader to study.
Basically, the term “personality” is derived from the Latin word persona, which means “mask”. As the Romans adopt it, persona is denoted as one appears to others (Hurlock, 1974: 6).
The other definition is stated by Kalish in which in which personality is described as the dynamic organization of characteristic as an indication to distinguish one individual from other individuals (1973: 52). What is meant by dynamic is that the human change constantly and it affect the whole personality. Organization then refers to the personality as whole, not as separate parts.
Hurlock tends to use the term “personality” rather than “character”. It is very rare for a person to be completely satisfied with his or her personality, therefore, there is a desire to change it. People will try to strengthen the qualities which they have discovered people like and weaken up or cover up with fronts those which they discovered militate against popularity (1974: 119).
of the person’s development or the number of changes that he or she has experienced. Then, some changes occur slowly and some rapidly. There are people who need three years to realize that they have to start to understand others and there are people who only need a couple of weeks to do so. As an addition, those changes are determined by the changing of environment: in this case, including other people around them or which later will be considered as the minor characters (1974: 124).
2.1.3 Theories of Adolescence
The importance of using this theory is that the main character in the novel is a 14-year-old girl. However, this part will help the reader understand the significance of personality development in Lily’s age as adolescent and also what sort of thing influences the development.
2.1.3.1 The Adolescent Years
2.1.3.2 The factors Influencing Adolescent’s Personality Development
Hurlock (1974: 234-352) states that one’s personality develops under the influence of people around him or her. Family and environment are the factors which have a big role in forming an adolescent’s personality. Besides that, people whom he or she associates with also influence adolescence’s social attitudes and behavior.
We can also see it from other point of view by Kalish (1973: 55) that parents and other significant figures probably have the greatest influence on the formation of values and attitudes because they have authority in estimating the children’s attitude. It is also because they may give a reward for the attitudes they like or give punishment for the unacceptable attitudes. Moreover, parents and other significant figures provide models that children consciously and unconsciously imitate. They live in such way that children internalize their values regarding education, god, humanity, and work. Those people hold big roles in personality development as they are the closest people who interact with the children and it is easier to take their values rather than other people’s values.
2.2 Criticism
Abrams defines criticism as the whole term for studies in which there are definitions, classification, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation works of literature (1971: 40). When doing the analysis of my study, some criticisms toward Sue Monk Kidd’s work are gathered through the website on the internet. Those are reviewed to help the readers understand more about the story of Lily in this novel.
As it is her first novel, there are some criticisms which point at Lily as the main character. This is a moving first novel that causes the reader to have sympathy for Lily as an authentic and winning character. Moreover, her story is compellingly told. The bees symbolize her journey toward self-acceptance, faith, and freedom that is at the heart of this novel (USA Today). The New York Times Book Review states that Lily is a wonderfully petulant and self-absorbed adolescent. The core of this story is Lily’s search for a mother and she finds one in a place she never expected.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
To analyze the influence of secondary characters on Lily’s personality development I gather the sources about character, characterization, and theory of personality as well as theory of adolescent. Those are used to answer the problems formulated in chapter one.
The analysis deals with Lily, August, and Zach who are the main and the minor characters in The Secret Life of Bees. Therefore, the theory of character and characterization are needed to explore those characters. In this case I used the theory from E.M Foster and Milligan and also M.J Murphy. Then, the theory of critical approaches helped me to choose what approaches I was going to use in this study. Here, the most suitable approach to help me analyze this novel was the psychological approach. Therefore, I used the psychological point of view.
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the methodology that will be used in this study. There are three sections; those are the subject of the study, approaches, and procedure. In the first part is the work used in this study and the focus of the analysis. Approaches section deals with the approaches that I use in analyzing the novel. The last part, method of study, is the method of analyzing the work.
3.1 Subject of the Study
It is stated on http://www.suemonkkidd.com/aothor.asp that The Secret Life of Bees which was written by Sue Monk Kidd consists of 375 pages and it is published by Viking in 2002. This phenomenal novel has sold more than 4.5 million copies, spent over two years on the New York Time bestseller list. It is awarded the 2004 Book Sense paperback book of the Year, nominated for the Orange Prize in England and chosen as Good Morning America’s Read This! Book Club pick. It has been produced on stage in New York by The American Place Theater and is being adapted into a movie.
In this novel, Kidd wraps a coming-of-age tale around a search for one’s mother; with the setting the racial matters in South Caroline during the civil right movement.
As an addition, Sue Monk Kidd, the author of The Secret Life of Bees was born and raised in the tiny town of Sylvester, Georgia. She began writing her first novel in 1997 and it took three and a half years to complete the novel.
3.2 Approaches
As it is discussed earlier in chapter 2 under the subheading Theory of Critical Approach, the psychological approach presented by Rohrberger and Woods is applied to analyze this work. This approach focuses on the human psychology including thought, behavior, human personality, motivation, and other aspects, which are related to the human psychology. I choose this approach because it helps me to decide the personality of the main and the secondary characters in the story. It also helps me to study the main character’s personality development influenced by the secondary characters.
3.3 Procedure
The method of study in this thesis was library research. The data used in this study were taken from the books provided in the library.
website and some others which are about The Secret Life of Bees and Sue Mink Kidd herself as well as the criticism about her first novel.
In analyzing the work, I took some steps. The first step was choosing the book and reading it for several times in order to understand the story and to find out the interesting topic to discuss. In this step, I also took note and highlighted some parts which are considered important so that they night become the supporting ideas to analyze the work. The second step was stating the problem formulation. The next was gathering the related sources and reading them to get the references to discuss the work. The fourth one was analyzing the characters and finding the influence of secondary characters toward the main character’s personality development. The last one was drawing conclusion based on the analysis and applying the work into language teaching.
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS
This chapter discusses two questions that are stated in the problem formulation. The discussion helps me to describe minor characters’ traits as well as Lily’s so that it can support the analysis of the influence of minor characters toward Lily’s personality development. The first analysis deals with August and Zach as the minor characters in the work. The second one discusses Lily’s personality development under the influence of the minor characters.
4.1 Minor Character’s Personalities
This part mainly discusses about the minor character’s personalities. Previously, in chapter two, there is a discussion about the definition of minor characters and how they contribute something to a story. A minor or a secondary character appears only as the complements of the story (Milligan, 1983: 195). Their rules are less important than the main character. However, minor characters may contribute valuable influence toward the main character’s personality.
The study is focused on August and Zach as they have the biggest contribution toward Lily’s personality development. Here is the detail description about their traits.
4.1.1 August’s Personality
Murphy, there are nine ways in which an author attempts to make the characters understandable. In this study, August is considered as supportive, appreciative, wise, tough, and realistic through her speech, conversation, thoughts, and also reaction.
4.1.1.1 Supportive
August has a good attitude and as the head and the oldest person of the household, she shows a supportive manner toward other members.
The way we characterized a character in a story can be from his or her speech. The way he or she speaks and gives opinion may be the clues to his or her character. Therefore, we can say that August is supportive from her conversation with Lily. We can find it in the conversation in which August responds what Zach says toward Lily. “When a bee flies, a soul will rise’, he said. I gave him a blank look. ‘It’s an old saying’, August said. ‘It means a person’s soul will be reborn into the next life if bees are around.” (p. 256). She thinks that even if it is a silly old saying at least it will give her some sort of comfort to get her through and to help everyone else get through the pain. This is the part after the death of May. She is in sorrow at that time, however, she still gives a good thing for others to keep in mind. Indirectly, she supports Lily who still feels left out by her beloved person, that is her mother.
and complete understanding, firm guidance, and the ability to gentle criticize. She teaches Lily about the kind of undying, universal, hidden love that exists everywhere in the world; the love of Virgin Mary. According to her, in order to feel the completeness stolen from her when her mother died, Lily must realize that she is loved by this universal mother.
Later on that night, they are all praying around the Black Marry statue. August thinks that it is the right time to give Lily learning. Therefore, after praying on the Rosary, August tells Lily a story about how a nun runs away because she was tired of being a nun. August hopes that Lily will tell her the truth soon because the story is similar to Lily's position at that time. The story is told wisely to teach Lily about the existence of Mary. The content of the story is used to support Lily and to ensure her that Mary watches out for her. Indirectly, August makes Lily aware that if she needs help, she can ask Mary for it. It is also stated that actually Lily realizes what August trying to say. She understands that August tells her to ask Mary for help all the time. “I think she was telling me, I know you've run away-every body gets the urge to do that sometime-but sooner or later you will want to go home. Just ask Mary for help.” (p. 113). The story is aimed to emphasize the importance of having spirituality in one's life. In this case, August successfully entertains and teaches Lily a lesson about leaving and returning home as well as imparts Lily some of her religious faith. Lily never hears such a story which has a message in it. She also never finds somebody who teaches her about faith. As a matter of fact, she gets those things from August. August provides what Lily actually needs.
August whether she can be a true beekeeper or not. Then, she gets August to answer it wisely.
August said, 'Didn't you tell me this past week one of the things you loved was bees and honey? Now, if that's so, you'll be a fine beekeeper. Actually, you can be bad at something, lily, but if you love doing it, that will be enough.' (p. 208)
Although she is still a beginner, August always stands beside her to support and ensure Lily that she can make it.
Telling the truth about her journey, Lily lets August know about her past, that is about killing her mother. Then, again, she keeps on blaming herself and it comes to an uncontrolled feeling. Luckily, August is able to handle the situation.
'Listen to me now', said August, titling my chin to her face. 'That's a terrible thing for you to live with. But you're not unlovable. Even if you did accidentally kill her, you are still the most dear, most lovable girl I know. Why, Rosaleen loves you. May loved you. It doesn't take a wizard to see Zach loves you. (p. 300)
August helps Lily not to blame herself over and over as well as encourages her by mentioning some people who still cares about her. This is aimed to calm Lily down and to show that Lily is not alone in facing her problem. There are still August and the other members of the family who will consider Lily as lovable. She also tells Lily to have a power inside her heart when she is down.
'When you're unsure of yourself, 'she said, 'when you start pulling back into doubt and small living, she's the one inside saying "Get up from there and live like the glorious girl you are". She's the power inside you, you understand? (p. 357)
ahead and die, and when it's time to live, live. Don't sort-of-maybe live, but live like you're going all out, like you're not afraid.” (p. 262). Her advice mainly discusses about Neil and June's marriage plan. She encourages June to avoid her doubt of marrying Neil. We can see August's personality as a supportive person by taking a look at her response toward May's statement that we should be brave to make a decision.
4.1.1.2 Appreciative
August welcomes Lily to spend her time in the honey house. She trains Lily to work on honey and to make a qualified honey. One day, she works assisting August and fortunately she shows her struggle to work well.
'I adjusted the flame under the stem generator and changed the nylon stocking August used to filter the honey in the setting tank. I caught on so fast she said I was a marvel. Those were her very words. Lily, you are a marvel.' (pp. 103 – 104)
4.1.1.3 Wise
We can judge someone's characters by his or her reaction. Each reaction toward the problem shows the character's tendency and it gives the reader a clue about the character's personality. August is a wise person and it is shown when June is talking with her, one night on the back porch.
'You know she 's lying', said June. I know', August told her. 'But they're in some kind of trouble and need a place to stay. Who's gonna take them if we don't- a white girl and a Negro woman? Nobody around here.' (p. 106)
Discussing about lily and Rosaleen, August recognizes a fact that Lily and Rosaleen are lying. However, she still gives them a place to stay and lets them live there without being pressed and punished. She even forgives what they have done and she also cares about who will give them a place to live. According to August, it is not wise to tell Lily about the real story of her mom as it will create the worse condition if Lily is not ready enough to face the truth.
'Because you weren't ready to know about her. I didn't want to risk you running away again. I wanted you to have a chance to get yourself on solid ground, get your heart bolstered up first. There's fullness of time for things, lily. You have to know when to prod and when to be quite, when to let things take their course. That's what I've been trying to do.' (p. 292)
This shows how she really cares about Lily and how she thinks further about Lily's psychology. Here, she guides the frightened Lily to a place from which she confronts her confusing, unfair world. She really cares about Lily and becomes a surrogate mother for her, a trusted friend, and a guiding light.
cope with her depression, she does not let May face her sadness on her own. Whenever May is upset, August tries to help May reduce her pain by letting her go out to the wall.
'Mother was good about taking care of her, but when she died, it feel to me and June. We tried for years to get May some help. She saw doctors, but they didn't have any idea what to do with her except put her away. So June and I came up with this ideas of a wailing wall. (p. 120)
This shows that although it is difficult for May to recover, even seeing the doctor does not work, August does not give up helping her sister. August shoes her attention and affection toward May by building a wailing wall as a way to deal with her suffering. It is a place for May to write down all the heavy feeling she carries around.
This is another occasion when Zach is arrested because of throwing a glass bottle to a man. August and Lily visit Zach in prison. Zach is only her employee but it does not seem that August turns away from his problem. August cares of him as if she is his mother. “I'd worked on lines I wanted to say to him, too, but in the moment I couldn't remember them. I stood by while August asked him question-how was he doing, what did he need?” (p. 229). From those situations we can say that August is the figure of a mother. She cares not only about her own family but also about others who need her affection and attention.
4.1.1.4 Realistic
happens beyond our willingness. However, she cannot ignore it and she has to face it. “There's nothing perfect', August said from the doorway.’There's only life.” (p. 317). The quotation represents the relationship August has with lily, to whom she speaks these lines. August also teaches Lily about bees and life. After Lily tells August the truth about her running away and her role in her mother's death, Lily expects August to provide her with the empty phrases that people usually offer to those who are upset. Instead, August offers such wisdom. Her words are not for the common expression like "It's going to be alright" rather, August prefers to guide Lily into accepting the realities of life. Lily needs to learn how to deal with the good and the bad that come into our life.
August is a woman who is able to accept something that is actually possible to do. One day, August and Lily are talking about marriage. Actually August almost gets married but then she decides not to do that as she is against how marriage is set up. “There were enough restriction in my life without someone expecting me to wait on him hand and foot.” (p. 181). Here, August does not oppose to marriage, but she is against the situation in whish she will be restricted by somebody. The fact does not mean that there is no love in August. “I was in love once, of course I was. Nobody should go through life without falling in love….'. 'I loved him enough', she said, I just loved my freedom more.” (pp. 181-182). August realizes that no one can ignore the existence of love as it is necessary for everyone to live and socialize as well as to have a marriage. However, she needs her freedom above all. That is why she prefers not to marry.
soon after knowing the news. However, August tells him that is the reality, no one kills her, she does it.
Well, now, I guess I could say if I'd told May from the beginning about you getting arrested, instead of keeping it from her, none of this would've happened. Or if I'd stopped May from going out to the wall that night, none of this would've happened. What if I hadn't waited so long before going out there and getting her-'She looked down at May's body. 'It was May who did it, Zach.' (p. 257)
August does not think that suicide should be Zach's responsibility. She can accept the reality that it might happen as May is a pathetic person who cannot handle her own frustration of knowing other's problem.
4.1.1.5 Tough
August is an African American who has overcome many obstacles in her life. We may conclude that she is tough as seen in her conversation with Lily talking about May's wailing wall.
'See, Lily, when you and I hear about some misery out there, it might make us feel bas for a while, but it doesn't wreck our whole world. It's like we have built-in protection around our hearts that keeps the pain from overwhelming us.' (p. 117)
August is not a psychologist but she knows how to handle a difficult situation psychologically. Every time she faces problem, the first important thing is that to never let herself consider misery as an obstacle. She has to be tough enough to have her own protection so that she can cope the problem.
August and also June develop many techniques to help may deal with her depression and they always act sensitively toward her feeling, even, August builds a wailing wall to help May whenever she needs to cry or share her sadness but May is not a healthy person and her depression leads her to death.
Those experiences show us that August does not give up facing a difficult situation, moreover, she is able to have the alternative solution for the problem. Later, this will influence the development of Lily's personality.
4.1.2 Zach's Personality
The only man that is mentioned mostly in the novel, besides T.Ray, is Zach. He is Zachary Taylor, an industrious high school student who works on the Boatwrights' apiary in order to pay his way through college. He is also an African American, however, he has a nice appearance that makes Lily fall in love with him after a few weeks of working with him in Tiburon.
'He smiled then, and I saw he had a one-sided simple. It's a feature that has always gotten to me.'
He had a broad shoulder and a narrow waist and short-cropped hair….if he was shocked over me being white, I was shocked over him being handsome. (pp. 144-145)
In The Secret Life of Bees, Zach is the first man in Lily's life that treats her with respects and love, the things that she never gets from her father.
4.1.2.1 Hard Worker
Previously, I have mentioned that Zach works in apiary to help August run the business. He also works to earn money for college, to buy car, and to be self-reliant. Actually, he has to struggle for his own life, as he lives not in easy condition. That is what Lily remembers about August's information about Zach.
She'd told me plenty about him. I knew she was his godmother, that his daddy had left him when he was small, that his mama worked as a lunchroom lady at the same school where June taught. (p. 145)
Little Zach was left by his father who, actually, should be responsible for his family. Zach's mother does not earn much money by working as a lunchroom lady. Therefore, if Zach wants to enter college and to fulfill his needs, he has to struggle for his own life.
Tiburon, South Carolina, is a place with its daily hot temperature. Living in such condition, Zach does not give up working. He works in the honey house for some jobs like labeling bottles and delivering honey.
'Zach was spending the day delivering honey to her selling places all over town and picking up money from the previous month's sales. 'Honey money' was what Zach called it.’ (p. 170)
Zach works very hard distributing the honey all over the town and he collects his income named honey money. One important thing is that there is no single statement showing his regret for working or giving up. It is also proven in the story that Zach is not a lazy man. He does something without being asked first. If he thinks that there is something to do so, he will do it directly.
The way a person does an activity or his mannerism shows his feeling toward the job. In the quotation, it is described that Zach does the job powerfully. In this case, the proof shows us that he is a hard worker.
4.1.2.2 Optimistic
The Secret Life of Bees set in 1964, the year when racism was a common practice in United States. During the 1950's and 60's, serious problem such as shootings, beatings, and stabbing were common. That was a time of the Civil Right Act which signified a change in the social acceptance of legislative racism in America and a profound increase in the number of opportunities available for Afro American in the United States (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/racism_in_the_us).
The novel portrays Afro American characters. One of them is a young man called Zach. Zach who has a great dream, that is to be lawyer, may find the difficulty to make it true. Having a conversation with Lily, Zach optimistically says that everything can happen even if it has not been imagined yet. “You've got to hear of these things before you can imagine them. Bullshit. You gotta imagine what's never been.” (p. 150). At that time, it is hard for Black people to get a good position at their job. However, the difficulty of being an African American inspires Zach to pursue a better and more productive future for himself. He expects good things to happen despite the fact that they never hear a Negro lawyer. On one occasion, he even gets angry when Lily seems to underestimate his future, although she does not mean to do that.
“No', he said. 'I'm a Negro.'
'Why is it sport is the only thing white people see us being successful at? I don't want to play football', he said. 'I wanna be a lawyer.' (p. 150) Zach loves sports like most African American boys do, however, he does not want to be only a football player but he dreams to be a lawyer. He really understands the difficulties of being black at that time. The optimistic Zach does not see this obstacle. His skin color does not prevent him from dreaming about becoming a lawyer. He does not let his race act as a negative force in his life. In addition, Zach is also very glad when he has to deliver the honey to Mr. Forrest because he is an attorney who always talks about law.
'Look what Mr. Calyton gave me', he said, and honestly, you would heave thought it was a six-pound baby he'd birthed by the proud look of him.
He turned it over so I could read the binding. South Caroline Legal Reports 1889. Zach rubbed his hand across the front, and little flecks of it fell off onto the floor. 'I'm starting my law library.' (p. 200)
Zach does not only dream but he makes efforts to realize it. He learns about law while working. Having a customer like Mr. Clayton, Zach is so lucky that he gets a book and he plans to have a law library.
should not be any racism in their life. Therefore, they should be optimistic that they can encounter the view.
Zach always talks about struggle because according to him every dream will come true if he keeps on fighting for it. At the end of chapter, Lily is on the phone with Zach. She is asking about the latest news and his answer surprises her.
'Well, for starters-I'll be going to the white high school this year'.
I was speechless. I squeezed the phone in my hand. 'Are you sure you wanna do that?' I said, I knew what those places were like.
'Somebody's got to', he said. 'Might as well be me'. (p. 350)
His decision makes Lily worried. However, Zach is too optimistic that he has to make one step closer to his success that is doing that thing. The main point is to always believe and rely on our ability.
4.1.2.3 Attentive
Zach is such an attentive person that he is able to socialize well. In his daily life, he is always helpful and it is shown by his efforts to make sure that people have what they need. Actually, Zach's attention toward Lily is based on love. Zach is the first man in Lily's life that treats her with respect and love. They have a good thing going because it starts out as a friendship and then turns into love. It is shown when he gives Lily a notebook to write as he knows that Lily wants to be a writer.
Lily's response toward his gift shows that Zach really cares about others. Knowing the fact that there is no one who supports Lily's hobby, he tries to help Lily to continue her hobby. Zach forms an attachment to Lily, gives her gifts and positive attention. Such approach is aimed is aimed to support Lily and show her that he loves her.
4.2 Lily's Personality Development
Lily is the daughter of T. Ray and Deborah. Unfortunately, her mother was dead on December 3rd, 1945. Then, Lily lives only with her father and her nanny. She was born on July 4th, the day when the country celebrates its independence.
I had the same birthday as the country, which made it even harder to get noticed. When I was a little, I thought people were sending up rockets and cherry bombs because of me – hurray, Lily was born! Then the reality set in, like it always did. (p. 26)
T.Ray never celebrates and gives attention to Lily's birthday. Therefore, Lily feels happy knowing that there is a celebration it is for the country's.
One can be judged as a smart person when he or she likes to read because reading means opening our mind for knowledge. Reading is learning things and adding information. Lily loves reading although her father does not seem to support her hobby.
T.Ray refused to let me bring books out here and read, and if I smuggled one out, say, Last Horizon, stuck under my shirt, somebody, like Mrs. Watson from the next farm, would see him at church and say, 'Saw your girl in the peach stand reading up a storm. You must be proud.' And he would half kill me. (p. 18)
didn't groan and carry on when Mrs. Henry assigned us another Shakespeare play.” (p. 19). She is very fond of writing and she also keeps her collections which one of them is titled "My Philosophy of Life".
I kept collection of my writings. For a while everything I wrote had a horse in it. After we read Ralph Waldo Emerson in class, I wrote "My Philosophy of Life" which I intended for the start of a book… (p. 19)
Lily's other hobby is writing poems. In addition, Lily spends her summer time in peach stand out on the highway selling peaches. “Without books in the peach stand, I often passed the time making up poems…” (p. 20). Lily is a diligent girl who kills the time by doing a valuable thing. This is what Lily does. While selling peaches, she spends her leisure time by writing poems.
Lily is not only a smart but also shrewd. She has a lot of ideas especially when she has to face a difficult time like when she escapes and tries to free Rosaleen out of the hospital. Lily meets a policeman who catches her in the act walking through the Sylvan memorial Hospital corridor.
When I stepped out into the hall, he jumped up. 'You weren't supposed to be in there!'
'Don't I know it, 'I said. 'I'm looking for my aunt. I could have sworn they told me Room One-oh-two, but there's a colored woman in there. 'I shook my head, trying to look confused. (p. 59)
Rosaleen stays in a hospital with policemen guarding her. Therefore, it is difficult for Lily to free Rosaleen. However, Lily is able to solve it by pretending to be the jailer's wife so that she can free her beloved friend.
Pretending to be somebody else, Lily makes the policeman stay away from Rosaleen. Eventually, Lily's bright idea helps them so that the policeman does not aware of her plan to escape. Lily is an impulsive person who acts suddenly without thinking carefully the future impact that might happen later. Although she has no destination and friends to go with, she prefers to listen to her conscience telling her to leave. “I heard a voice say, Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open. In a matter of seconds I knew exactly what I had to do-leave.” (p. 52).
Lily has an emotional attachment toward Rosaleen, the one who gives her affection. She has nobody who cares for her except for Rosaleen. Hence, Lily plans to free Rosaleen from the jail so that they may leave. Even, Lily does not consider the impact if they are caught in the act during their escaping.
'You've got to get out of here', I said, untying her wrist. 'I can't just leave', she said. 'I'm still in jail'.
'If you stay here, those men are gonna kill you, like those colored people in Mississippi got killed'. (pp. 58-59)
This sudden action demonstrates Lily's determination and willingness to take the risk for the sake of her beloved person.
have a mother figure to rely on. Moreover, her father fails to provide her a safe place to express her fears and frustration.
At first, Lily is a flawed girl because she has a bad memory of accidentally killing her mother with a gun when she is still four years old. Therefore, sometimes she feels that she is the one who has to take the responsibility and the one to blame.
That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise. I would meet her saying, 'Mother, forgive. Please forgive, ' and she would kiss my skin till it grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame. (p. 3)
Lily holds the value that killing is wrong. Even, she knows the fact that it was her who accidentally killed her mother. Therefore, losing her mother makes Lily desperate.
Your sorry mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she'd come back to get her things, that's all.
God and Jesus, you make him take it back.
The memory settled over me. The suitcase on the floor. The way they'd fought. My shoulders began to shake in a strange, uncontrollable way. I held the jar pressed between my breast, hoping it would steady me, but I couldn't stop shaking, couldn't stop crying, and it frightened me, as though I'd been struck by a car I hadn't seen coming and was lying on the side of the road, trying to understand what had happened. (p. 50)
Guilty will be a nightmare haunting at anytime and Lily is unable to cope with it. Moreover, there is a pressure from T.Ray who blames her all the time. Such condition leads her to self destruction. She cries as the memory frightens her. Eventually, what she can do is running away from home.
gives them help and love. For example, August develops a wailing wall to help may deal with her depression. In just a short time, Lily also encourages May to head top the wall when she is upset. However, Lily also has the more complex feeling after telling August the truth about her running away because she finally knows the fact about her mother. Being angry at her mother, Lily reacts violently and her reaction indicates great grief. It is because she thinks Deborah has left her living miserably with T.Ray. In this case, August helps and teaches Lily how to grieve. The point is that it is that it is alright to cry and laugh about the one who has passed. Hurlock says that the attitudes of significant people, especially family members, have more influence on the self-concept of the person and the closer the social relationship between the person and others, the more their attitude toward him will affect his self-concept (Hurlock, 1973: 182).
Furthermore, Lily turns into a stronger person. She tries to love herself by loving and forgiving her father. The idea comes when she accompanies Zach in delivering the honey.
'Last, Mr. Forrest and a small blond-headed girl, standing in the ocean. She was jumping over a wave. The spray made a blue fan behind her, a peacock tail of water, and he was helping her, lifting her up and over with his hand, smiling down on her. I bet he knew her favorite color, what she ate for afternoon snacks, everything she loved.' (p. 197)
you're not angry. You don't have any right to be angry. What you did to your mother is a lot worse than what she did to you.” (p. 321). Here, lily tries to listen to her conscience and ensure herself that it is not a wise thing to get angry at her mother. She has to accept that one can make mistakes and she realizes that blaming her mother is even worse.
'I know then, that no matter how hard you tried, no matter how many jars of honey you threw, no matter how much you thought you could leave your mother behind, she would never disappears from the tender place in you.' (p. 339)
Lily learns that Deborah is not the perfect, magnificent person Lily imagines her to be. Deborah, like all human beings, may make mistakes.
As it is stated before, this is the process for Lily to reach her maturity. At the end of the story Lily is transformed by everything she experiences with the calendar sisters, especially August. She is the one who gives strength and helps her to see her father as he really is. It is also shown that Lily sees how hurt T.Ray is due to Deborah's leaving. Lily realizes that both she and her father have been suffering from Deborah's death. Realizing this similarity allows Lily to develop some paternal affection fro him, even though she is still frightened of him and she does not want to return with him to Sylvan. The maturity is shown by Lily's ability to forgive him for being a flawed man just the way she forgives her mother, for being a flawed woman.
would be the upper limit of my career.” (p. 19). During their socialization, August teaches Lily about making choices. August chooses another life path rather than fall into marriage or motherhood. Therefore, their relationship gives Lily strengths and confidence about taking up a career, that she will be a writer, an English teacher, and a bee keeper. Lily turns into a more optimistic person because of August's support.
The Secret Life of Bees has the setting in 1964 when racism haunted America, particularly in the South. Blacks were still looked at as the lesser minority, slaves to the white population. In the novel, the characters are mostly Afro American except for Lily and T. Ray. Actually, Lily is not a racist in the same way with the group of men who harass Rosaleen. Influenced by the previous society, Lily imagines that all African American are rude and uneducated. But when she encounters the educated and thoughtful August Boatwright, she must change her assumption and encounter her prejudice. At first, Lily was shocked by the fact that Afro American can be as smart, sensitive, and creative as August.
'T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst part, I thought they could be smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, tough, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That's what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me.' (p. 97)
As a product of her environment, Lily believes that as a white girl she will always be better or smarter than the blacks. Nevertheless, Lily respects and feels devoted to August and this begins to release Lily's racism and prejudice.
look at them to see how special they were, like hidden royalty among us.' (p. 260)
Finally, Lily's feeling toward August helps her understand the irrationality of racism and helps her to see beyond skin color to the beauty of individuals. Moreover, August gives Lily an example that color difference actually does not matter. Accepting Lily and taking care of her proves that August sees more than just skin colors.
Zach is the first man in her life that treats her with respects and love. Then, slowly Lily tries to release her prejudice about Afro American.
Here is another quotation which shows Lily's prejudice. Someday, Lily and Zach are having lunch under the pine trees. They have a chat abut their future.
'Why is it sports is the only thing white people see us being successful at? I don't wanna play football. I wanna be a lawyer.
'That's fine with me,' I said, a little annoyed. 'I've just never heard of a Negro lawyer, that's all. You've got to hear of these things before you van imagine them.'
'Bullshit. You gotta imagine what's never been.' (p. 150)
This conversation encapsulates Lily's limited understanding of how people may transcend social roles. Lily believes that people have set roles, which they cannot transcend; black women work as housekeepers and black men do not become lawyers. Lily has never experienced a black man has a high position in the job field. However, Zach helps Lily to have a new way of thinking that is about equality and ambition. Lily is taught that even it seems impossible, she actually can realize her dream. The fact can be seen in Zach who does not let his race acts as a negative force in his life. Therefore, Lily has passed the shift from ignorance to knowledge.
Previously, it has been stated that Lily likes writing but no one seems to support her hobby, even her own father. This makes Lily doubt whether she can be a good writer someday.
'What's your favorite subject in school?' Zach asked. 'English.'
'I bet you like to write themes,' he said, rolling his eyes.
'As a matter of fact I do. I was planning on being a writer and an English teacher in my spare time.' (p. 149)
started by getting ahead writing. The attentive Zach gives Lily a notebook as he knows Lily likes writing. Zach inspires Lily so that she realizes her dream to be a writer. Furthermore, Lily puts her daily activities with Zach in the story and it becomes her favorite part of the story she writes.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter consists of two parts, those are conclusions and suggestions. The conclusions are the answer of the problems. For the next part, suggestion is divided into two parts. The first is the suggestion to future researcher and the second one is the suggestion to English teaching learning activity.
5.1 Conclusions
In this part, some conclusions are drawn based on the analysis in the previous chapter. In this study, we can conclude that family and friends are those who have a big role in forming adolescent's personality.
The minor characters, August and Zach, are the main factors that develop Lily's personality. August is a supportive, appreciative, wise, realistic, and tough mother figure. Zach is a hard worker who is very optimistic and attentive.
5.2 Suggestions
This part contains two sections. The first section is the suggestion to future researchers. The second section is the suggestion to the implementation of this literary work in Extensive Reading class.
5.2.1 Suggestions to Future Researchers
I realize that this study still needs further improvement. It is impossible for me to discuss all about Kidd's work, The Secret Life of Bees, due to the limited time. Therefore, in this study, there is a suggestion about the aspects that can be explored in this literary work.
The Secret Life of Bees reveals themes about the irrationality of racism and the power of female community. This novel also uses epigraphs about bees in each chapter. Hence, researchers may discuss those themes and gain the deeper analysis about them. Hopefully, the suggestion is useful for those who are interested in analyzing Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees.
According to Bright and McGregor, it is in literature that the students are mostly to find words used memorably with force and point. Furthermore, literature sharpens sight and insight, widens sympathies and experience, and provides occasions for the exercise of judgments about a man and his condition (1970: 53).
Thus, literature has a deep relationship with human life. It brings us to realities of human problems, human feelings, human situation and the relationship with other people. By learning through literature, students are supposed to be able to deal with problems in real life. Then, being given a literary work as learning material, students can improve their language skills. Hence, I suggest to educational practitioners to use The Secret Life of Bees as the material to teach English, especially for Extensive Reading class.
5.2.2.1 Teaching Extensive Reading through The Secret Life of Bees
There are four skills that student must posses to master English. The four skills are reading, speaking, listening, and writing. They cannot be separated because they support one another. In additional, reading skill is a fundamental skill among others. Bright and McGregor state that reading is the core of the syllabus because reading material provides students with the situation in which learning takes place. Then, general knowledge depends on reading so that the more the students read, the more background knowledge they acquire of other ways of life, behavior, and thought (1970: 53-53).
