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In dedication to my beloved family My parents, Edi Purwanto and Ratna Yuli Astuti
My lovely sisters, Anyi and Anya and
for everyone who are dear to me
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” – Invictus, William Ernest Henley
“Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection” – Persona, Kirijo Group
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” – Aristotle
“The truth is all around you, but it hides from the unworthy.” – Lanaya, Dota 2
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Allah The Almighty for years
of blessing and lessons on matters seen and unseen, since without His blessing, I would have never finished my thesis. My special gratitude goes to my family, my lecturers, and my friends who have encouraged me to finish this thesis. I am really grateful that they have given me continuous support in the process of writing this
thesis.
It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the support and help from my
supervisors, Pak Sugi Iswalono and Pak Rachmat Nurcahyo, who generously shared their knowledge, guidance, insight, and care during the process of writing. I cannot find words to express my gratitude to my mother Ratna Yuli Astuti, my father Edi Purwanto and my grandmother Hesti Wahyuningsih who always share their loves,
cares, prayers, supports both physically and financially. I also want to thank both my younger sisters, Anyi and Anya who actually have never given me a direct support, but their presences alone have given me a great motivation in writing my thesis. My
gratitude also goes to my beloved cousins, Nindy and Rian who always cheered me up. My thanks also go to all my family, near and far.
TITLE ……… i
APPROVAL SHEET ………... ii
RATIFICATION SHEET ……….... iii
PERNYATAAN………. iv
DEDICATION ………... v
MOTTOS ……….. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……….. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………. ix
LIST OF FIGURES ……….…. xii
ABSTRACT ……….. xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ……….. 1
A. Background of the Study ……….. …… 1
B. Research Focus ……….. 5
C. Research Objectives ………... 6
D. Research Significance ……… 6
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW A. Psychoanalysis and Literature ……… 8
B. Psychosocial Development Theory ……… 10
4. Industry vs. Inferiority ………. 12
5. Identity vs. Identity Diffusion ………. 13
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation ……… 15
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation ………... 15
8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair ……….. 16
C. Previous Research Findings ……… 18
D. Background of the Novel ……… 20
1. The Author ……… 20
2. The Wasp Factory ………. 21
E. Framework of Thinking ……….. 23
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD A. Subject of the Study ……….. 26
B. Data and Sources of the Data ……… 26
C. Research Instrument ……….. 27
D. The Technique of Data Collection ………. 28
E. Data Analysis ………. 30
F. Data Trustworthiness ………. 31
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Frank’s Identity Crisis : The Failure in Handling the Stage of Identity vs. Identity Diffusion ……….. 33
1. Identity Diffusion ……… 34
a. Acute Upset ………... 35
b. Identity Confusion ………. 37
c. Excessive Self-awareness ………... 40
2. Identity Foreclosure ………. 42
a. Excessive Involvement of Parents ………. 43
b. Fluidity of Defenses ……….. 45
1. Intimacy Crisis ……….. 51
2. Isolation ……… 56
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION……… 59
REFERENCES ………. 61
APPENDIX I ………. 63
APPENDIX II ……… 65
Figure 1 : Conceptual Framework ………. 25
TOWARD BANKS’THE WASP FACTORY
By Raditya Maehendra Geni 09211144027
ABSTRACT
This research aims to identify in which stage of psychosocial development the main character of The Wasp Factory fails to overcome, and also to explain the impacts of the failure toward her personality. The theory of psychosocial development stages of identity by Erikson is applied to answer the objectives.
This research is a descriptive-qualitative research with the content analysis method. The main source of this research is a novel entitled The Wasp Factory by Iain Bank. The data are some phrases, clauses, sentences, discourses, and expressions related to the psychosocial development of the main character and also the impacts or the outcome of the development. The researcher is the primary instrument of this research, while the secondary instrument is the data sheets. This research is conducted through several steps: reading and re-reading the materials, noting, identifying the data, classifying and categorizing the data, analyzing and interpreting, making the interrelation between the description of the data and the theory.
The finding of this research shows that the main character is unable to overcome the problems in the fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development theory or the stage of Identity vs. Identity Diffusion. In this stage, the researcher finds out that the main character deals with three major problems, identity foreclosure, identity diffusion and negative identity. Because the problems of the main character are not resolved, the problems continue in her young adult period or the stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation. The impacts then can be seen from her intimacy crisis and the tendency of isolating herself from the society.
Keywords: identity, identity crisis, Erikson’s psychosocial development, The Wasp Factory
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Identity is the strongest trait in the process of shaping human personality.
People tend to ask themselves a question of ‘who they actually are’ or ‘who I am’. These questions are the essence of understanding their own identity. Identity is also important for human beings; they are expected to know who they are and also how society perceives them so that they can stand apart from every individual.
Fearon (1999: 20) states that in order to explain the meaning of ‘identity’, one
is tempted to begin with the understanding of how a person defines himself; self-definition or self-understanding. However, it is apparent that there are many different ways that a person might define who he is or she is. A different person has his own understanding about what identity is. An ‘Irish’ is a term to identify a person whose
nationality is Ireland. While on the other part, a ‘Filipino’ is a term to identify a person whose nationality is Philippines. This is just one aspect of what is identity in the perspective of nationality. Different people might identify themselves in the perspective of gender, such as male or female, and even members of a particular
“The term “identity” expresses such a mutual relation in that it connotes both a persistent sameness within oneself (selfsameness) and a persistent sharing of some
kind of essential character with others” (Erikson, 1980: 109). Identity is the set of characteristics that people believe to be their true nature, despite what others say. That is why some people categorize themselves as special human beings, because they see that they are different from other people in many ways.
While it is important to understand that identity plays an important role in shaping human characteristics, it is also known that identity is not innate. Identity is
not something which established the moment people are born (aside from ethnicity, race and skin color). Identity is affected by the psychological development throughout people’s life. Oswalt (in Erikson, 2010:1) states that “According to Erik Erikson, a prominent developmental theorist of the 1950's, youth must resolve two
life "crises" during adolescence. Unlike many other developmental theorists of his era, Erikson's psychosocial theory of human development covers the entire lifespan, including adulthood.” It can be seen that identity is not something that is developed in
a certain stage of life but throughout people’s lifespan. It is constantly changing or remains the same at some point.
person into a search in obtaining his true nature of identity and if he fails to overcome his crisis of identity, he would likely to develop negative identity. In short, negative
identity is the dark side that hides in the mind of every individual. Negative identity is not something that can be treated lightly as it might lead the individual into having a deviant behavior.
Negative identity is a condition where a single individual fails to “find his identity”, the individual cannot overcome his crisis of identity and in some condition it might lead him into something more serious like committing crime, social isolation,
vandalism, drugs and many other deviant behaviors. One example to describe the issue of negative identity is a criminal gang, where a lot of people with the same belief of identity gather and do nasty stuff which they believe to be the reflection of their identity. A certain research conducted on Puerto Rican gang members has
supported the concept of identity formation as a result of rejection and reputation. This study has discovered that the gang membership is a manifestation of a rejected identity. Huff (2002: 191) concludes that:
“Gang members see themselves as different from their peers. Their association with the gang is a public proclamation of their rejection of the lifestyle which the community expects from them.”
young, 16 years old Frank is really concerned about her true identity, her struggling in finding her true self and her secrets. One of them is that when she is still a child,
she murders 3 of her relatives. She also has a strange behavior in which she routinely kills and dissects small animals and insects then uses the corpses to perform strange and bizarre rituals.
There are many reasons why Frank behaves in such a way. One of the reasons is that she loses her existence in the society; her father never registers Frank in his family register. As a result, Frank never owns a birth certificate and social insurance
card. She is separated and exiled from her own society. Another point to mention is that throughout the story, Frank is mentioned as a boy and not as a girl which is her true gender. From her childhood, her father tries to cover up the fact that she is a girl. Frank also has a terrible accident during her early childhood. She is attacked by a dog
and her father uses that chance to build up a trauma, telling the girl that she is actually a boy and she loses her genital during that time.
The crisis of identity usually occurs during early to middle stage of adolescence. The emergence of identity crisis represents the struggle in finding balance in being a unique individual identity while still being accepted and fitting in
B. Research Focus
This research is conducted using a novel entitled The Wasp Factory written by Iain Banks in 1984. The focus of this research is the identity crisis from which Frank, the main character, suffers. The life of Frank is rather unusual, when she was a
toddler she was attacked by a dog and her father told her that she is actually a boy and she lost her genital during the accident. That accident leads Frank into developing a crisis of identity in which she believes that she is a boy and suffers from negative identity where she is involved in killings and strange rituals.
This research uses Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development theory to
understand Frank’s identity crisis problem. According to Sokol (2009: 140) Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development are a life-span model of human development which includes eight successive psychological stages. Each stage is associated with an inherent conflict or crisis that the individual must encounter and successfully
resolve to proceed with development. In each stage, the person is expected to confront and challenge the problems that arise during his stage of development. It is also expected that the person is able to master the challenges and successfully resolves the problems in each stage. If the problems in certain stages are not
Isolation. Those two stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development are expected to give a decent understanding about the problem of Frank’s identity crisis.
The research focuses on Frank’s identity crisis which causes her to resort in having a negative identity, an inability to adapt her own identity into the society
where she lives, and results in her strange and bizarre behaviors. The objectives of the study are to find out in which stage of psychosocial development Frank fails to handle and the impacts of the failure toward Frank’s personality.
C. Research Objectives
The objectives of this research are:
1. to identify in which stage of psychosocial development Frank fails to overcome, and
2. to analyze the impacts of the failure in overcoming the crisis toward
Frank’s personality.
D. Research Significance
1. Theoretically, the significance of this research is to enrich the research in
2. Practically, it is also hoped that this research can become a further reference and give better understanding on the use and the application of
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Psychoanalysis and Literature
Psychoanalysis is a theory of human mind that originally developed by
Austrian physician Sigmund Fred (1856-1939). The psychoanalysis itself is a theory of individual behavior and experience, what psychoanalysis seeks to explain is the complex relationship between the body and the mind (Farrell, 1981:202). In general, psychoanalysis is a study to understand an individual behavior based on his/her
stability of mind.
Psychoanalysis offers a distinctive way of thinking about the human mind and of responding to mental distress (Bondi, 2007:3). Psychoanalysis is based on the understanding that individuals are unaware of the factors that cause their emotions and behaviors. If by any chance those individuals fail to grasp the relation between
their emotions and behaviors they are likely to feel a sense of insecurity, difficulty in relating to others, depression or even result in suffering from deviant behaviors. That is where psychoanalysis comes in place.
are based on the real world. The characters inside literary works are indeed similar to those people in real life. The character in the literary work also has personality,
emotion, behavior and feeling of those real human.
Even though psychoanalysis and literature can be related in some way, they
are actually different. Literature is a representation of human life in the form of text and language. On the other hand, psychoanalysis is defined as a theory that attempts to understand, describe and predict the human behavior. Although psychoanalysis and literature have different form, it is clear that the focus of both are the same, it is about
‘human being’.
One may use psychoanalysis theory to analyze a particular character within a literary work. The works of literature has been and still continue to be, as long as it exists, as one of the common denominators of human life and experience. Through which human being, may recognize themselves and converse with each other.
By looking into the elements of a literary work, the character and their actions are the imitations and representations of the real word. The characters also have
B. Psychosocial Development Theory
Psychosocial is a term derived from the words ‘psychology’ and ‘social’. Psychosocial is coined by a Germany psychologist Erik Erikson (1902-1994). Just like any other psychologist at his time, Erik Erikson’s theory is greatly influenced by
the famous physician Sigmund Freud and also the famous social scientist Karl Marx. But unlike Freud, Erikson mainly focuses on the psychological development of an individual based on his/her interaction with the social environment.
One of the important points in psychosocial theory is that this theory deals with the developments of ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that
people develop through social interaction. The sense of ego identity is the accrued confidence that one’s ability to maintain inner sameness and continuity toward society and other people. (Erikson, 1980:94)
Ego identity is not stagnant; it is changing from time to time. The ego identity is affected by how a certain individual interacts with each others; his experience will be the cornerstone of how his ego identity will develop. In addition to ego identity,
there is also a sense of competence that motivates behaviors and actions. The developments of ego identity are known better as Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development.
series of eight stages. At each stage, people face a crisis that needs to be successfully resolved in order to develop the psychological quality central to each stage. If by any
chance a certain individual fails to completely resolve a certain stage, he/she would likely to develop a conflict or crisis.
The eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development are:
1. Trust vs. Mistrust
Trust vs. Mistrust is the first phase of Erikson’s psychosocial development. This stage occurs during the first or second year of life and the important point in this stage is trust. Erikson (1980:57) states that trust is an
attitude toward oneself and the world derived from the experiences of the first year of life. Successfully resolving this stage will give a sense of trust, optimism, security and confidence. While the failure in obtaining the sense of trust will result in insecurity and a sense of mistrust.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
The second stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development occurs between 18 month and 3 years. Autonomy is the sense of self-rule while
exploring stage will result in the sense of independence and autonomy. If that certain individual able to resolve his/her independence in this stage, he/she
will certainly become more confident and develop a sense of pride. If the individual fails to understand his sense of independence, he will become overly dependent upon others and feel a sense of shame.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt
Initiative vs. Guilt occurs during age three to five. Around this age, children will begin their activities by playing games and such. In the process, the children will learn the sense of initiative and if they are not given the
chance they also might revert in obtaining a sense of guilt. This stage is also the turning point where children come to realize about their gender curiosity. Erikson (1980:82) states that around this age the child develops the prerequisites for masculine and feminine initiative, that is for the selection of
social goals and perseverance in approaching them.
4. Industry vs. Inferiority
The danger at this stage is the development of a sense of inadequacy
by any chance the children fail to grasp the virtue of competence, the children may doubt their own abilities and result them in having the sense of
inferiority.
5. Identity vs. Identity Diffusion
The fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development occurs during
adolescence stage (12 to 18 years old). This stage is when a certain individual struggling in finding his/her real identity. At this stage, social interactions are the important aspects to determine one’s identity. A certain individual in this adolescence stage will find out about what the society expect him to be and
how he can be accepted and fitting the society. The individual who is able to overcome this stage will stay true to his self-identity and the failure may lead him into role confusion.
This is also the stage of where the youth is given the chance to explore
themselves. The process of finding oneself is called psychosocial moratorium. Erikson explains that psychosocial moratorium is the time when a certain individual can freely explore and finds out about his own sense of identity. Stroud (2011: 1) states that psychosocial moratorium is a certain period in
psychosocial moratorium, those are: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure and negative identity.
Erikson (1968: 170) states that identity diffusion is followed by severe identity confusion accompanied by acute upset, inability to concentrate or a self-destructive preoccupation. Adolescent that is unable to face the need of identity development is likely to confront to the state of identity diffusion. In
other words, identity diffusion is the unreadiness to explore and accept a proper identity. The process of finding or experimentation about oneself is usually skipped by those who are unable to handle identity diffusion. Identity diffusion can cause disruption in the mind of those who are unable to handle
the problem. They are likely to find themselves finding difficulties in concentrating, controlling their emotion and forming relationships with others.
The second phenomenon of psychosocial moratorium is identity foreclosure. Identity foreclosure is the premature establishment of the sense of
identity. In this type of trouble, a certain adolescent is prematurely put himself into a certain role. The role then is considered as his final role. This is likely to lead the adolescent into confusion in identity and the inability to cope with the real and assigned set of roles in the society. This identity foreclosure is
identity. The individual who faces this problem is left with no choice in experimenting and exploring his own sense of identity.
The last aspect of psychosocial moratorium is negative identity. Negative identity is also known as the loss sense of identity. The loss sense of identity then expressed in the sense of hostility towards the appropriate roles. In a sense, the failure of acquiring a proper identity turns out into a hate
toward the appropriate role of identity. The target of the disdain covers a wide range of aspect such as nationality or class membership, masculinity or feminity, race, religion and many more.
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
The young adult stage (around 19 to 40 years old) is what signified the stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation. At this stage, the young adult will certainly seeks out intimacy. The young adult seeks intimacy by building a deep and
long last relationship with others and if going well it will turn into a family. If the young adult fails to find the intimacy, he/she will be faced with isolation instead of intimacy.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation
occurs during middle adulthood (around 40 to 65 years old). At this stage, the adult will try to do something that will benefit the society. The adult will
attempt to leave something for his/her society. The fear at this stage is that when the adult faced with inactivity and stagnation. The success of this stage will lead in the sense of accomplishment, while the failure will lead in the sense of meaningless existence.
8. Ego integrity vs. Despair
The last stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development is the stage of Ego integrity vs. Despair. This stage occurs during late adulthood (around 65
years until the end of life). At this stage, the adult that have resolved all of the seventh stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development will look back at their life and seek the sense of fulfillment. The goal in this stage will lead the adult into the feeling of having knowledge, experience and wisdom while the
Table 1. The chart of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory adapted from www.clevelandconsultinggroup.com/newletters/ccg-news-december-2012.htm
Stages Crisis Favorable
Outcome
Unfavorable Outcome 1st year of
life
Trust vs. Mistrust Faith in the
environment and
future events.
Suspicion, fear of future events.
2nd year of
life
Autonomy vs. Doubt A sense of
self-control and adequacy.
Feelings of shame
and self-doubt.
3rd to 5th years
Initiative vs. Guilt Ability to be a “self-starter,” to initiate one’s own
activities.
A sense of guilt and inadequacy to be on one’s own.
6th year to puberty
Industry vs. Inferiority Ability to learn how things work, to understand and organize.
A sense of inferiority at understanding and organizing.
(12 to 18 years old)
Diffusion unique and
integrated person.
who and what one really is.
Early Adulthood
(19 to 40 years old)
Intimacy vs. Isolation Ability to make commitments to
others, to love.
Inability to form affectionate
relationship.
Middle age (40 to 65 years old)
Generativity vs.
Stagnation
Concern for family and society in general.
Concern only for self-one’s own well-being and
prosperity.
Aging years (65 years until the end of life)
Integrity vs. Despair A sense of integrity and fulfillment; willingness to face death.
Dissatisfaction with life; despair over prospect of death.
C. Previous Research Findings
A research study on Bank’s The Wasp Factory has been done before by Radek Holcepl (2012). The title of the research is “Postmodernism Mentality in The Wasp Factory”. The research is conducted from the postmodernism point of view and
relation between literature, religion and technology in postmodernism era that represented in the characterization of Frank from The Wasp Factory.
The similarity of this research and the research done by Radek Holcepl is the object, the main character from The Wasp Factory. While in general, the difference
from those researches is the theory and perspective used. Holcepl’s research uses postmodernism theory while this research uses Erikson’s psychosocial development. The research objective is also different. This research focuses on the mental development of the main character from the story, while Holcepl’s research focuses
on the postmodernism mentality that reflected in the main character from the story.
Other similar researches are also done by students in English Department of State University of Yogyakarta. Desi Anggi Ayuning Saputri (2012) wrote a thesis entitled “The Failure of Leo Colston’s Adolescence and its Effects Viewed Through his Psychological Development Reflected in The Go Between by L.P. Harley”. The
objective of the research is to explain the factors that influence the failure of Colston’s adolescence identity and to explain its effects on his life. The research is done by looking at the psychological identity development of Colston.
The other research is done by Anestiya Fiddin Rosyada (2013). Rosyada wrote a thesis entitled “Identity Crisis of The Second Generation of Asian-Indian Americans as Reflected in the Lahiri’s The Namesake”. The research aims to identify
the impact of the crisis depicted in the novel entitled The Namesake. The researcher uses the theory of psychosocial development stage of identity by Erikson.
Another research is done by Tri Nurlianingsih (2014). Nurlianingsih wrote a thesis entitled “Esther’s Problems of Personality as an Impact of Her Failure in
Accomplishing Self-Identity: A Psychosocial Analysis to Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar”. The objective of the research is to find out in which stage Esther faced with the problem of identity failure and also to explain the impact of identity failure toward her personality. The research done by Nurlianingsih is based on Erikson’s
psychosocial development theory.
The similarity between this research and those three researches done by Saputri, Rosyada and Nurlianingsih is the theory and perspective used. The focus of those three researches and this research is the psychological development of a certain character and based on the Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. While there
are some researches that based on Erikson’s theory. There is still no research that has been done on Bank’s The Wasp Factory in the English Department of State University of Yogyakarta.
D. Background of the Novel 1. The Author
works are usually science fiction, it was his first work The Wasp Factory that makes him a famous writer. The story of The Wasp Factory is about a teenager with a
serious gender identity problem and it is considered to be one of the most inspiring teenage novels.
Following the success of The Wasp Factory, Banks writes several books in the genre of science fiction such as Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons and many more. Banks is also known for his unique pen name, in all his fiction books he use the name of Iain Banks and as for his science fiction books he
use the name of Iain M. Banks. As a writer, Banks has received a lot of awards in literary field such as British Science Association Fiction Award (1994), Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies (2013) and many more.
2. The Wasp Factory
The Wasp Factory story revolves around the life of a teenage girl named Frank. The story is told in a first person perspective of Frank describing her present life as a wicked teenager and also her gruesome childhood memories. Although Frank
is a girl, in the whole story she is depicted as a boy frantically searching for her self-identity and it is not until the last part of the story that she is revealed to be actually a girl. That gender confusion is the main theme of the story and that problem leads Frank to commit various defiant behaviors such as violence, social withdrawal and
Franks lives in a certain island in Scotland with her father, Angus Cauldhame. Even though Franks is a legitimate daughter of Angus, Frank has no birth certificate
and social insurance card, her father never registers her. Also, as instructed by her father, Frank always answers to people that she is Angus’ nephew and not his daughter. Frank’s father is protective toward Frank, he always do all the cooking and cleaning. He also tells Frank to choose who she interact with. Her father also has a
secret room in their house that is forbidden for Frank. She knows that he is doing some secret experiments because Frank’s father is a scientist before.
Just like her father, Frank also has her own secrets. Frank has been secretly killing small animals and insects in order to perform strange ritual and she is also responsible for the deaths of three children in her family. Frank always performs her strange ritual in the third floor loft of her house. She creates her own device which
she named The Wasp Factory. The device is enclosed in a glass and is similar to a clock with each number represents different torturing tools. Frank routinely catches small insects and puts the insects into The Wasp Factory, the insects then will move
into certain number in the device that lead them into miserable death such as eaten by ants, burned to death, bitten by a poisonous spider and other cruel ends. By doing this Frank believes that each death is an omen that somehow can answer all the questions she has.
that her father is a man full of lies. The lies are all successful and Frank continues to believe that she is actually a boy who loses his genital during a childhood accident.
There are other factors as well. Her father has been secretly puts male hormones into her foods. Frank also has an older brother who is locked in asylum throughout his life, Frank also has a secluded life and her only friend is a dwarf named Jamie who also hides the fact the she is actually a girl. These problems of finding her true
identity really drive her into the corner of her mental stability. With no one to supports her, she continues to live as a fake little boy cursing her own miserable life. It is not until age of 17 she learns that she is actually a girl from her father.
E. Framework of Thinking
The subject of this research is Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory. The story of The Wasp Factory is rather dark and filled with violence, the main issue of this story is the problem of self identity suffered by Frank, the main character. To be specific,
the problem of Frank’s self-identity lies in the confusion of finding her true gender. Frank is a girl who lives believing herself is a boy. She also despises the society where she lives in. As a result of those problems, Frank turns into a devious child with wicked personality.
The focus of the researcher is to find out the factors that causes Frank’s problem in acquiring self-identity and also to identify the impacts of her problems
development which focuses on the problem of acquiring self-identity explained through the series of eight developmental stages of life. The conceptual framework of
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory:
1. Trust vs. Mistrust
2. Autonomy vs Shame and
Doubt
3. Initiative vs. Guilt
4. Industry vs. Inferiority 5. Identity vs. Identity Diffusion
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation 8. Ego Identity vs. Despair
Identity Crisis
Intimacy vs. Isolation
RQ. 1 RQ. 2
Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory (words, phrases,
clauses, sentences, discourse)
Frank’s problem in finding self‐identity Identity vs. Identity
Diffusion
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
A. Subject of the Study
The subject of this study is a novel entitled The Wasp Factory. The novel was written by English writer Iain Banks and first published in 1984. The Wasp Factory was a novel that earned Iain Banks his name as a famous English writer. The theme
of the novel is rather dark and filled with a sense of identity confusion. The main character of the novel is a youngster named Frank Cauldhame who lives avoiding social interaction and also suffering from a serious identity problem. The interesting point of the novel is that the main character, Frank, is depicted as a boy throughout
the story which in reality Frank is a girl. The fact that Frank is a girl is only revealed in the last chapter of the story. It is clear that the main theme of the story is about a loss of gender identity.
B. Data and Sources of the Data
Source of the data in this research was taken from the novel The Wasp Factory and the main data are words, phrases, sentences, clauses, discourses, and expressions. The novel consists of 12 chapters with the total of 198 pages. The theory
words, phrases, clauses and sentences that are related to the psychosocial development theory become the main data and material for this research.
C. Research Instrument
This research is basically a qualitative research. Qualitative research is considered with providing description of phenomena that occurs naturally, without
the intervention, or an experiment. According to Bogdan and Biklen (1997:10), the data collected in qualitative research is in the form of words rather than numbers. The main instrument of this research is the researcher himself. The researcher read, analyzed and interpreted the data using the chosen theory. By doing so, the researcher
outlined the problems from his given perspective and answered the questions and the problems of this research.
The researcher also used table list to ease the work of data processing. Using this method, the data were meant to be identified by giving them certain label and putting them into table lists. The table lists were designed in order to put the quotations of the data based on page, category and meaning.
D. The Technique of Data Collection
In the technique of data collection, the researcher collected the data as follows; first, the researcher read the novel The Wasp Factory in order to get full
researcher searched for the data of the problem that is related to the research focus. Third, the researcher re-checked to find out whether there are errors or mistakes in the
data collection. Lastly, reading and finding, putting the data into the table lists and categorize the data.
The data were categorized in order to answer the objectives of the research. There are two objectives in this research. To answer the first objective the researcher applied the theory of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development by looking through certain stages of development and relates the theory to the object. As for the second
objective, the researcher analyzed the impacts of the identity crisis of the main character also by using the certain stages of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory.
During the process of the data collection, the researcher used a particular form of data sheet to make the progress of the research simpler. The form of the data sheets
Table 1: The Table list of the Data for Frank’s Identity Crisis: the Failure in Handling the Stage of Identity vs. Identity Diffusion
No. Quotation Page Category Sub-Category Meaning
1 I hate having to sit down
in the toilet all the time.
With my unfortunate
disability I usually have
to, as though I was a
bloody woman, but I
hate it. Sometimes in the
Cauldhame Arms I stand
up at the urinal, but most
of it ends up running
down my hands or legs.
8 Identity Foreclosure
Identity Confusion
This is the part of
where Frank’s
identity confusion
is portrayed. It can
be seen from the
lines that Frank
cannot identify her
gender. And she
sees that condition
as a some sort of
disability.
Table 2: The Table list of The Data for the Impacts of The Identity Crisis From Which Frank Suffers.
No. Quotation Page Category Meaning
1 I don’t go giving people
presents of burning dogs, or
frighten the local toddlers with
handfuls of maggots and
mouthfuls of worms. The
people in the town may say
‘Oh, he’s not all there, you
know,’ but that’s just their
little joke (and sometimes, just
to rub it in, they don’t point to
6 Isolation The lines above show that Frank is disregarding the
fact that she is isolating
herself from the society.
She sees it as a normal
thing and does not bother
to even think about it. Even
though it is clear that the
society is not accepting
[image:42.595.107.518.523.721.2]their heads as they say it); I
don’t mind. I’ve learned to
live with my disability, and
learned to live without other
people, so it’s no skin off my
nose.
is Frank’s job to be able to
blend into the society. The
reason why the society is
afraid of Frank is likely
because Frank feels that it
is not important to get
along with the society and
she never take a real action
about it.
E. Data Analysis
Based on the novel entitled The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, the researcher tried to reveal the factors that cause Frank to suffer from identity crisis. The researcher also analyzed the impacts of Frank’s identity crisis toward her personality. The findings then are based on the data that have been analyzed by the researcher.
The data were analyzed in order to accomplish the researcher’s objectives.
The data analysis dealt with the process of data reducing, data display and conclusion drawing. In this research, the step employed is the systemic step. First, all data in the source were included, and then those data were reduced, throwing away all the insignificant and unrelated data. This means that the researcher included the relevant
F. Data Trustworthiness
There are several aspects in order to verify the trustworthiness of the research data. Those aspects are credibility, dependability, transferability, and conformability. In order to gain the credibility of the data, the researcher performed a multiple
checking and re-read the data to avoid errors and mistakes. As for dependability, the researcher read the data frequently to understand the content of the story and reaching out into an independent and credible interpretation.
Transferability refers to the way a researcher transfers his findings to the readers of the study. In order to fulfill the aim of transferability, the researcher
organized the data in detail and in order so that the readers understand the findings of this study. Conformability refers to the to the experts’ judgment about the whole analytical process of the study. It is about the accuracy between the data, the findings and also the interpretation of the data. In this research, conformability was conducted
by discussing the data with the researcher’s consultants to get the conformability of the data.
Lastly, to gain more trustworthiness for this research, the researcher used triangulation. Triangulation is a method to utilize information outside the data to verify the data itself or to compare them. The aspects of triangulation are the sources, methods, researchers and theories. In order to conduct this triangulation, the
also the second consultant of this research, Mr. Rachmat Nurcahyo, SS, M.A. Aside from consulting his research, the researcher also performed triangulation with some
CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter contains the findings of the research and the discussions of those findings. Since this research has two objectives, the findings and discussions are divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the Frank’s identity crisis and the second part focuses on the impacts of Frank’s identity crisis.
A. Frank’s Identity Crisis : The Failure in Handling the Problems in the Stage of Identity vs. Identity Diffusion
In the theory of Erikson’s psychosocial development, to overcome and
successfully resolve the problems in each stages of life is a must. If a certain individual gets stuck and is unable to resolve or handle the problems, those problems are likely to emerge again in the future. The psychosocial development is a fight and that is the reason why Erikson uses the term ‘versus’ in each stage. Those who are
unable to resolve the problems will suffer some consequences. The consequences depend on what stage the certain person fails to resolve, but in most cases it is about identity crisis during adolescence period.
identity and also unable to fit into her society. It can be said that as a teenager Frank is living in a bad condition with an unhealthy mental condition and several problems.
The adolescence period is marked by Erikson as the fifth stage of psychosocial development. In this stage, the important point for the adolescence is to freely explore his/her identity and this process is called psychosocial moratorium. As a result, the individual can obtain a healthy sense of identity and progress toward the next stage
without confronting problems or crisis. Erikson (1968: 134) mentions that adolescence is a vital regenerator in the process of social evolution. The youth can offers a true identity of oneself with a sense of being true and accepted by the social value. As in Frank’s case, she is confronted with a problem of her psychosocial
moratorium; she is unable to identify her own identity. Psychosocial moratorium itself is followed by several problems; those are identity diffusion, identity foreclosure and negative identity. The researcher finds some aspects that point out Frank’s failure in successfully handling the psychosocial moratorium. It can be seen
below:
1. Identity Diffusion
Identity diffusion is a condition where a certain person is unsure about his
occupational identity which disturbs young people. Identity diffusion covers up a wide range of aspects such as identity confusion in family, race, job, education,
gender, sexuality and many more.
Identity diffusion is also known as severe identity confusion. Those who are
facing this identity diffusion are likely to be confronted with several problems concerning their mind. Erikson (1968: 170) mentions that identity diffusion is likely to be accompanied by (a) acute upset, (b) identity confusion and (c) excessive self-awareness. Those problems are originated from an unhealthy social condition. If a
certain individual is living in a family or society that is manifested with a sense of negativity, it will surely affect the individual. The individual will fail to understand his/her role in society and are likely to be confronted with some identity problems or crisis.
a. Acute upset
Acute upset is the tendency of unleashing anger or hatred. A positive mind is a mind filled with positive thought. Those with positive mind will try to diminish the
attempt to overcome her identity crisis. The example of Frank’s acute upset can be seen below.
I blame my father, not to mention whatever stupid bitch it was threw him over for another man. My father must take the blame in part at least because of that nonsense in Eric’s early years, letting him dress as he wanted and giving him the choice of dresses and trousers; Harmsworth and Morag stove were quite right to be worried about the way their nephew was being brought up, and did the proper thing in offering to look after him. Everything might have been different if my father hadn’t had those draft ideas, if my mother hadn’t resented Eric, if the Stoves had taken him away earlier; but it happened the way it did, and as such I hope my father blames himself as much as I blame him.
(Banks, 1987: 114)
Parents are the guidance of their children, but in Frank’s family, the parents are not a role model. Frank’s father is also behaves in a sense out of ordinary. Frank is not directly affected by that strange behavior of his father, but rather she is unable
to develop a healthy personality. The line “..I blame my father, not to mention whatever stupid bitch it was threw him over for another man..” shows Frank’s acute upset toward her parents. She has a tendency to hate something that is disturbing her sense of identity. She also puts the blame on someone else, in this sense, her family.
Although it is clear that her family is not a decent family, Frank is easily getting upset by every little thing that happens in her family.
different from her father, so all in all, Frank’s hatred is pointed heavily toward her family.
I can’t remember my mother, because if I did I’d hate her. As it is, I hate her name, the idea of her. It was she who let the Stoves take Eric away to Belfast, away from the island, away from what he knew. They thought that my father was a bad parent because he dressed Eric in girl’s clothes and let him run wild, and my mother let them take him because she didn’t like children in general and Eric in particular; she thought he was bad for her karma in some way. Probably the same dislike of children led her to desert me immediately after my birth, and also caused her only return on that one, fateful occasion when she was at least partly responsible for my little accident. All in all, I think I have good reason to hate her.
(Banks, 1987: 47)
For Frank, even remembering a tiniest bit memory of her mother is giving her a sense of hatred. It is clearly stated from the line “..I can’t remember my mother, because if I did I’d hate her..” that Frank hates her mother very much. The reason of
Frank’s hatred is that her mother has abandoned her family. Family is the core of everyone’s social life, it is the mark of the beginning in stepping toward society. As for Frank, she treats her family in a negative way. She hates her family and puts the blame on her family. So in a sense, Frank’s family is already deranged from the start,
but instead of finding a solution, Frank’s acute upset causes her to only blame and build up hatred toward the family.
b. Identity Confusion
identity in the aspect of gender. Those with identity confusion are likely to be having a sense of indecisiveness. Frank’s indecisiveness is about her gender confusion.
Those who are having gender confusion are feeling discontent about their own gender. In short, they identify their gender differently from what they are assigned at birth. This is the condition of what Frank suffers from, she fails to grasp and identify her own gender because of her identity diffusion. Frank is deceived by her father
throughout her entire life. She is being fooled by her own father who also secretly mixes male hormones into Frank’s foods. This is one part of identity crisis which deal with the issue of gender and this gender confusion is what Frank suffers as a consequence of her identity diffusion.
Frank identifies her gender identity as a boy. She never truly grasps the truth that she is a girl. That condition is derived from her childhood tragedy where she
believes that she loses her penis during that tragedy. Throughout her life, she is confused about her own gender identity.
I hate having to sit down in the toilet all the time. With my unfortunate disability I usually have to, as though I was a bloody woman, but I hate it. Sometimes in the Cauldhame Arms I stand up at the urinal, but most of it ends up running down my hands or legs.
(Banks, 1987: 8)
is unable to make a proper understanding about her own identity. Frank is an exiled girl who rarely interacts with other people in her society. That is why this strange
condition is hardly ever exposed and Frank never finds out about the truth.
Frank is not satisfied about the condition she has. Because of her gender
confusion, she always wants to look more masculine. She is confused, whether she is truly a boy or a girl, she cannot make a decision about her own gender identity and as a result she is blinded by the sense of false masculinity. She always resents the fact that she loses her symbol of gender and she never finds out that the symbol is not
lost; it has never been there in the first place.
I’m too fat. It isn’t that bad, and it isn’t my fault – but, all the same, I don’t look the way I’d like to look. Chubby, that’s me. Strong and fit, but still too plump.I want to look dark and menacing; the way I ought to look, the way I should look, the way I might have looked if I hadn’t my little accident.
(Banks, 1987: 12)
The lines “..I want to look dark and menacing; the way I ought to look, the way I should look, they way I might have looked if I hadn’t my little accident..” signifies that she wants to be more intimidating. It is because Frank believes that she is a boy with unfortunate condition where she lost her genital as her gender identity.
That is why Frank wants to be more masculine, because she believes that she is a boy.
of all this sexual terminology I am capable of does not discourage me. I can feel it in my bones, in my uncastrated genes.
(Banks, 1987: 91)
The feeling of false masculinity goes on as Frank has not yet realized her true gender identity. The line “..We – I consider myself an honorary man – are the harder sex..” signifies that Frank identifies herself as a proud man, she never get the true
idea because of the falseness she encounters throughout her life. She barely knows that the answer is always there in her own body, she is blinded by the false identity her father brought up to her. Frank’s identity confusion is portrayed in her confusion about her own gender identity. It is her own indecisiveness that complicates her life
as a teenager.
c. Excessive Self-Awareness
Excessive self-awareness is the feeling of inferiority that is suffered by an adolescent with identity crisis. A teenager with excessive self-awareness usually
compares himself with another person. Not in a sense of comparing in competitive manner, the adolescent usually thinks that he is not the same as others. The adolescent is likely to see what is missing from him, what he does not have and what others have. As a result, the adolescent will see himself as more inferior than others
own society; she feels different and thinks that she is a teenager with a cursed disability.
Not that I know all that many people anyway, I suppose; Jamie is my only read friend, though through him I have met a few people of about my own age I regard as acquaintance. Not going to school, and having to pretend I didn’t live on the island all the time, has meant that I didn’t grow up with anybody of my own age (expect Eric, of course, but even he was away for a long time), and about the time I was thinking of venturing further afield and getting to know more people Eric went crazy, and things got a bit uncomfortable in the town for a while.
(Banks, 1978: 35)
The line “..Not that I know all that many people anyway, I suppose; Jamie is my only real friend,..” shows that Frank is a teenager without comrades. In reality, a
teenager in his/her adolescence period is supposed to have persons they call friends. As for Frank, her only friend is a dwarf named Jamie. The reason why Frank only considers Jamie as her only friend is likely because Jamie is a dwarf, a person with a disability. She feels a sort of comfort because she thinks that Jamie shares the same
trait as her. That is because Frank has a sense of excessive self-awareness, she is either afraid or unwillingly to live up a healthy social life as a teenager should.
Frank groups herself as a person with a disability and refuses to interact with other people. Although Frank has a brother around the same age named Eric, her brother is locked up in asylum. As a result, Frank is unable to express or explore her
This is also likely because of her excessive self-awareness. She excludes herself and denies her social life.
It can be seen from findings above that Frank’s identity diffusion is followed by various problems. Those problems are the ones that Frank encounters as she fails
to overcome the stage of identity vs. identity diffusion. This is the part of where Frank’s identity crisis originated from. Frank is unable to conquer the conflict and crisis in her adolescence stage, the failure can be seen from her acute upset, gender confusion and excessive self-awareness. To gain a healthy mind, a certain individual
must be able to successfully handle the crisis in each stages of life. If the individual fails to handle the crisis in certain stage, the crisis will definitely emerge again in the later stage of life until it is resolved. As Frank fails to overcome the crisis in her adolescence stage, the crisis continues to emerge in her later stage of life.
2. Identity Foreclosure
Erikson (1968: 159) states that a proper identification depends on the satisfactory interaction with trustworthy representatives, as in living together in some
form of family. Identity foreclosure is a condition where a certain adolescent adopts some roles that are given by other authoritative figures, such as parents or teachers. Those who are having this identity foreclosure are indicated by (a) the excessive involvement of parents and (b) fluidity of defenses. The researcher finds out there are
a. Excessive involvement of parents
Family is the most important point in the development of a certain person’s morality, background, origin and the behaviors of the family members will determine what kind of person will be. It is the job of the parents to become the guidance for
their children. As stated by Erikson (1968: 121) a form of basic family is needed so that the children can look for a new identification which seems to promise a field of initiative with less of the conflict and guilt. As in Frank’s case, her family is messed up, she only lives with her father. Instead of giving a proper chance for Frank to
explore her youth, her father is blocking Frank’s way in obtaining a proper sense of identity.
I was never registered. I have no birth certificate, no National Insurance number, nothing to say I’m alive or have ever existed. I know this is a crime, and so does my father, and I think that sometimes he regrets the decision he made seventeen years ago, in his hippy-anarchist days, or whatever they were.
(Banks, 1987: 6)
Frank is a person whose existence is being questioned. The lines “..I know this is a crime, and so does my father, and I think that sometimes he regrets the decision he made seventeen years ago,..” signify that Frank’s identity is being
her to be his own daughter. Frank also considers that this is not the right thing to do, as she is always told by her father to keep silent about her identity.
Frank’s father not only covers up Frank’s existence and identity. There is also an unspoken agreement regarding her existence which is never mentioned in the
household where Frank lives in. The unspoken agreement is to remain silent about her existence.
As far as I can tell, we have some sort of unspoken agreement that I keep quiet about not officially existing in return for being able to do more or less as I like on the island and buy more or less what I like in the town. The only thing we had argued about recently was the motorbike, which he said he would buy me when I was a bit older. I think he just wants to keep putting it off; he might be frightened of me gaining too much independence, or he might simple be scared that I’ll kill myself the way a lot of youths seem to when they get a bike.
(Banks, 1987: 35)
Frank has never been able to understand and show her own existence to the society and her surroundings. This condition is originated from the excessive
involvement of the parents, her dad. The lines”..we have some sort of unspoken agreement that I keep quiet about not officially existing in return for being able to do more or less as I like on the island..” show that Frank can do anything she wants as long as she keeps low and denies her existence from the society. Frank understands
Although in a sense, Frank realizes that her sense of individuality is controlled by her father.
b. Fluidity of defenses
Fluidity of defenses is the other negativity that is coming from Frank’s identity foreclosure. As a human being, it is important to understand and secure the
feeling of safety. In some cases, especially for teenagers, they are likely to commit some misbehaviors or even crimes and justify them as a kind of self defense. The probability is higher when a teenager or an adolescent is suffering from some sort of crisis. As in Frank’s case, because of the excessive involvement of her father, she has
a different understanding about what is defense in the normal point of view. It can be seen below.
Not that I want to kill anybody now, but it is all for defence rather than offence, and it does make me feel a lot more secure. Soon I’ll have enough money for a really powerful crossbow, and that I’m certainly looking forward to; it’ll help make up for the fact that I’ve never been able to persuade my father to buy a rifle or a shotgun that I could use sometimes.
(Banks, 1987: 40)
Frank is somewhat used to have an urge of killing somebody. The lines “..Not that I want to kill anybody now, but it is all for defence rather offence, and it does
give her a lot more secure feeling. This also can be seen from the perspective of identity foreclosure. Because she is being strictly controlled by her father, she also
wants some sort of authoritative power. Erikson (1984: 78) states that the children want to be like his/her parents, who to him/her appear very powerful and very beautiful and quite unreasonably dangerous. The child “identifies with them”, he/she plays with the idea of how it would be to be them. In this case, Frank’s father is not a
good role model. That is why Frank is suffering from the fluidity of defenses.
3. Negative Identity
Negative identity is the result of failing to handle the crisis in adolescence
stage or the failure to develop a strong sense of identity. Those who are confused about their identity are likely ended up in having a negative identity. Erikson (1968: 172) states that negative identity is the loss of a sense in identity and often expressed in a scornful and snobbish hostility toward the appropriate roles of identity. Those
who are having negative identity are likely to be negative in their manner of life. As they are suffering from the identity confusion, they will face a difficulty in defining choices about the future and are likely to commit crimes. Their behaviors are also can be considered as more aggressive and hostile toward those who seem to threaten their
search of identity.
In the previous finding, it can be seen that Frank is suffering from gender
believes that she loses her penis. In actualities, Frank is a girl who never has a penis and because of that another problem appears to Frank. Misogyny or an extreme
dislike of females is what Frank suffers from her negative identity. Misogyny is the hatred or dislike toward females, the dislike can be in a form of sexual discrimination or sexual objectification of females.
Frank’s hatred toward female is coming from the consequence of having a negative identity. She fails to grasp that she is a girl and as a result of that she curses her own disability as a girl. It is not only because of that aspect, in her family she
only lives with her father and she knows that her mother leaves her father with no reason, abandons the children in the process. So the hate of females that Frank has is not only coming from her gender confusion but also from the fact that she has been abandoned by her own mother.
My GREATES ENEMIES are women and the Sea. These things I hate. Women because they are weak and stupid and live in the shadow of men and are nothing compared to them, and the Sea because it has always frustrated me, destroying what I have built, washing away what I have left, wiping clean the marks I have made. And I’m not all that sure the Wind is blameless, either.
(Banks, 1987: 29)
The hate towards women that Frank suffers is not something trivial. It is the
believes that women are the inferior beings. It is such an irony because Frank is also a woman who believes that she is a man, the superior gender in her understanding.
Women… well, women are a bit too close for comfort as far as I’m concerned. I don’t even like having them on the island, not even Mrs Clamp, who comes every week on a Saturday to clean the house and deliver
our supplies. She’s ancient, and sexless the way the very old and the very young are, but she’s still _been_ a woman, and I resent that, for my own
good reason.
(Banks, 1987: 29)
From the lines above it can be assumed that Frank hates the presence of
women around her. The line “..I don’t even like having them on the island, not even Mrs. Clamp..” shows that even though the only woman around her is an old lady who does the chores, she never likes her and resents her. This is likely the part of hating the presence of a woman from her misogyny. She never likes the idea that she lives
on the same island with an old woman.
Frankly, I didn’t have much faith in either, Jamie being too small to stop me if I really started to topple, and the girl being a girl. Probably too weak; and, even if she wasn’t, I expected she would let me crack my skull on the pavement because women like to see men helpless.
(Banks, 1987: 58)
From Frank’s point of view, it can be seen that she always assumes that girls
women. It can also be assumed because she thinks that she is a girl and she curses her own live because of that.
Whatever it was that disintegrated in Eric then, it was a weakness, a fundamental flaw that a real man should not have had. Women, I know from watching hundreds – maybe thousands – of films and television programmes, cannot withstand really major things happening to them; they get raped, or their loved one dies, and they go to pieces, go crazy and commit suicide, or just pine away until they die. Of course, I realize that not all of them will react that way, but obviously it’s the rule, and the ones who don’t obey it are in the minority.
(Banks, 1987: 114)
It can be assumed from the lines that Frank has a thought and believes that man is the superior gender without flaws. As the other lines “..Women, I know from watching hundreds – maybe thousands – of films and television programmes, cannot withstand really major things happening to them:..” shows what Frank believes to be
the fate of what women should be. Even thought those understandings come from television, Frank always believes those parts, because that is what she always thinks from the beginning. This condition undeniably comes from her various problems which she encounters throughout her life. This misogyny is likely the continuation of
her gender confusion which she fails to overcome, resulting in her hate towards women. Thus, it can be said that Frank’s misogyny is the consequence of having a negative identity.
diffusion, identity foreclosure and negative identity. The result then shows that Frank is unable to develop a strong and healthy sense of identity. If a certain adolescent
cannot emerge with a strong sense of identity it will later affect the stage of late adolescence or young adult: intimacy vs. isolation.
B. The Stage of Intimacy vs. Isolation
Erikson (1980: 101) states that only a youth with a reasonable sense of identity can establish a real sense of intimacy. Intimacy itself is the ability to form a link or to be close with others, be it a family, friends, lover or as a participant in a certain society. The point of intimacy is to build a good relationship with other people
and a good sense of intimacy can only be obtained by those with a reasonable sense of identity. Although Frank is still in her late adolescence stage, she has several traits that can be related to the problems in the stage of young adult. Therefore, it can be said that if those problems of Frank are not resolved, the problems are likely to
continue in the later stage.
1. Intimacy Crisis
The feeling of intimacy usually happens in the stage of late adolescence or young adult. In Frank’s case, because she is suffering from the confusion of identity,
We were finishing our lunch, sitting in the kitchen, me with my stew, my father with brown rice and seaweed salad. He had his Town Gear on; brown brogues, brown tweed three-piece suit, and on the table sat his brown cap. I checked my watch and saw that it was Thursday. It was very unusual for him to go anywhere on a Thursday, whether Porteneil or any further afield. I wasn’t going to ask him where he was going because he’d only lie.
(Banks, 1987: 15)
The lines above show that Frank is not even building a good relationship with her father. In her late adolescence stage, Frank is supposed to build a strong sense of intimacy with other people of her choice. But in reality, Frank chooses to not gain a
good relationship even with her father. This crisis of intimacy is the effect of Frank’s identity crisis, she fails to develop a good sense of identity and the impact shows up in her tendency of intimacy crisis.
I think he just wants to keep putting it off; he might be frightened of me gaining too much independence, or he might simple be scared that I’ll kill myself the way a lot of youths seem to when they get a bike. I don’t know; I never know how exactly how much he really feels for me. Come to think of it, I never know exactly how much I really feel for him.
(Banks, 1987: 35) The feeling of unnecessary intimacy of Frank continues as she is not aware about the relationship between herself and her father. She never grasps the understanding of love in the family. It is stated in the line “.. Come to think of it, I
Not only that Frank has an intimacy crisis with other people, she also has a strange hobby of torturing and killing animals. It is usual for people to keep some
kind of animals as their pet. As for Frank, with her crisis in intimacy, she conducts some sort of animal cruelty. This animal cruelty is another consequence of having an identity crisis. Frank tortures the animals as a mean to explore and find out her real identit
