THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS.

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Kristanti Dwi Putri, 2013

THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS

THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A

NARRATIVE ANALYSIS

A Research Paper

Submitted to Department of English Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

Sarjana Sastra Degree

By:

KRISTANTI DWI PUTRI 0809080

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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The Friendship Construction in Mary and

Max Film Script: a Narrative Analysis

Oleh

Kristanti Dwi Putri

Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni

Desember 2013

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

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PAGE OF APPROVAL

The Friendship Construction in Mary and Max film script: a Narrative Analysis

A Research Paper By

Kristanti Dwi Putri 0809080

Approved by

First Supervisor

Dr. Rd. Safrina Noorman, M. A.

NIP. 196207291987032003

Second Supervisor

Nia Nafisah, M. Pd.

NIP. 197104242006042001

Head of Department of English Education Faculty of Languages and Arts Education

Indonesia University of Education

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS ABSTRACT

Titled The Friendship Construction in Mary and Max film script: a Narrative Analysis, the present research aims to investigate how focalization affects the theme of friendship in Mary and Max film script. This research applied Gerard Genette’s (1980) narratology as a tool to answer the aim of the research by employing qualitative descriptive method. Based on the analysis, the present research found that the theme of friendship in Mary and Max film script is affected by zero focalization and internal focalization. This research concludes that through the use of zero focalization and internal focalization, the story of Mary and Max successfully captures a portrait of sincere friendship which accentuates a disabled person as a good character.

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS ABSTRAK

Berjudul The Friendship Construction in Mary and Max film script: a Narrative Analysis, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana fokalisasi mempengaruhi tema persahabatan dalam naskah film Mary and Max. Penelitian ini mengaplikasikan teori naratologi dari Gerard Genette (1980) sebagai alat untuk menjawab tujuan penelitian dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif deskriptif. Berdasarkan analisis, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa tema persahabatan dalam naskah film Mary and Max dipengaruhi oleh fokalisasi nol dan fokalisasi internal. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa melalui penggunaan fokalisasi nol dan fokalisasi internal, cerita Mary and Max berhasil memberikan gambaran tentang persahabatan yang tulus, yang menekankan seorang penyandang cacat sebagai karakter yang baik.

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS TABLE OF CONTENT

STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION ... i

PREFACE ... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... iii

ABSTRACT ...v

TABLE OF CONTENT ... vi

LIST OF TABLES ... viii

LIST OF FIGURES ... ix

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...1

1.1 Background of the Study ...3

1.2 Research Question ...3

1.3 Aim of the Study ...3

1.4 Scope of the Study ...3

1.5 Significance of the Research ...3

1.6 Research Methodology ...3

1.7 Clarification of Terms ...4

1.8 Organization of Paper ...5

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ...7

2.1 Film Script ...7

2.2 Narratology ...8

2.3 Focalization ...9

2.4 Synopsis of Mary and Max ...14

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3.1 Object of Study ...16

3.2 Research Question ...17

3.3 Research Procedure ...17

3.4 Data Analysis ...17

3.5 Data Presentation ...18

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...22

4.1 Types of Focalization in Mary and Max Film Script ...22

4.1.1 Zero Focalization on Mary...23

4.1.2 Zero Focalization on Max ...29

4.1.3 Zero Focalization on Mary and Max ...35

4.1.4 Internal Focalization on Mary ...39

4.1.5 Internal Focalization on Max ...43

4.2 Focalizations and Theme of Friendship in Mary and Max Film Script ...50

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ...54

5.1 Conclusions ...54

5.2 Suggestions ...55

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...56

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains a brief explanation about background of the study,

research questions, aim of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study,

research methodology, clarification of terms, and organization of the paper.

1.1Background of the Study

Films are now considered as a literary genre since it belongs to the inquiry

fields of literary studies. It is because the features in literary works such as plot,

character, setting, narrative perspective, and theme also emerge in film (Klarer,

1998). In relation with other literary genre, Jahn (2003) considers film as a literary

genre that has close relation with drama because both of them “mainly realized in

the framework of performance” and related to a textual form.

Film is closely related to drama in terms of text and the connection

between text and performance. It is in line with Klarer (1998) who states that text,

transformation, and performance are central aspects that cannot only be applied to

theater production but also to the medium of film. In film, text is manifested in the

form of script, defined by Jahn (2003) as a text containing film‟s action narrative

and dialogue. Film script also contains some elements such as plot, character,

setting, narrative perspective, and theme which form the story. Therefore,

analyzing a film script is similar to textual analysis of literary works in which the

readers can gain deeper understanding of the story through the elements of the

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According to Walsh (n.d), in doing a textual analysis, identifying the

major theme is the general purpose to understand the story. One of the themes

which is often raised in many films is friendship, such as in Mary and Max

(2009). Mary and Max is an animated film tells about a 20-years-penpal

friendship between Mary, a lonely 8 years old girl who lives in a suburb of

Melbourne and has a dysfunctional family, and Max, a 44 years old man who

suffers Asperger syndrome and lives in New York. For 20 years, Max becomes a

true friend for Mary. He always responds to all of Mary‟s letters well, answers her

questions about everything she wants to know and give solutions to all her

problems. Their penpal friendship lasts until Mary grows up and becomes a

famous writer who is well-known from her book about Asperger syndrome

research that uses Max as her case study.

The present research analyzes Mary and Max as a script, not as a film,

within the scope of narratology. The researcher uses Genette‟s (1980) theory of

focalization since Mary and Max film script uses a unique combination of

focalization in the text. Focusing on the use of focalization in the story, this film

script develops an interesting story about the friendship between Mary and Max.

Both the narrator and the main characters in the story play important roles in the

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS 1.2Research Question

The present research is guided by the following question:

1. How does the focalization affect the theme of friendship in Mary and

Max film script?

1.3Aims of the Study

The present study is aimed to answer the research question above, that is

to seek how the theme of friendship is constructed through the focalization.

1.4Scope of the Study

The present study is limited to analyzing how the theme of friendship is

constructed through the focalization using Genette‟s (1972,1980) theory.

1.5Significance of the Research

Since the present research uses film script as its research object and uses

theory of narratology, it is expected that the research could enrich literary

research collection especially in film script analysis and narratology.

1.6Research Methodology

In conducting the present research, the writer uses descriptive qualitative

method since the forms of data in the film script are words, phrases and

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the theme of friendship in the film script. In general, the steps of analysis can

be seen as follow:

1. Reading the film script carefully and repeatedly in order to discover the

major theme in it.

2. Highlighting and classifying the textual evidences based on theoretical

framework.

3. Analyzing the textual evidences as well as presenting and interpreting the

data in order to answer the research question.

4. Discussing the finding of the research and drawing the conclusion.

1.7Clarification of Terms A. Film Script

A text containing film‟s action narrative and dialogue (Jahn, 2003)

B. Focalization

The point of view from which the story is told (Barry, 2002)

C. Narratology

A study of how narratives make meaning. Narratology is the attempt to

study the nature of the story, as a concept and a cultural practice (Barry,

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS D. Narrator

A voice who tells the story. There are two kinds of narrator: one kind

which may registered as an intelligent, recording consciousness, a „telling

medium‟ strives for neutrality and transparency and another kind who is

identified as a character in the story (Barry, 2002)

E. Narrative

A series of events meaningfully connected in a temporal and causal way

(Onega and Landa, as cited in Herman and Vaerveck, 2001)

1.8Organization of Paper

The present research is organized into five chapters:

CHAPTER I : Introduction

This chapter consists of background of the study, research questions, aim

of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, research methodology,

clarification of terms, and organization of the paper.

CHAPTER II: Literature Review

This chapter chapter covers a brief introduction of film script,

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS CHAPTER III: Research Methodology

This chapter discusses the methodology of the present study. It deals

with object of the study, research questions, research design, research procedure,

and data presentation.

CHAPTER IV: Findings and Discussions

This chapter explains the findings of the present study by elaborating the

textual evidences to answer the research question.

CHAPTER V: Conclusion

This chapter presents the conclusions of the present research and the

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology of the present study. It deals with

object of the study, research questions, research design, research procedure, and

data presentation.

3.1 Object of the Study

In this research, the writer conducts an analysis of a film script entitled

Mary and Max (2009). The story presents a penpal friendship between Mary

Daisy Dinkle, a lonely 8 years old girl who lives in Melbourne and Max Jerry

Horowitz, a 44 years old man who lives in New York and suffers mental illness

called Asperger Syndrome.

The story in Mary and Max is narrated through several point of views or

narrative perspectives: Mary‟s point of view and Max‟s point of view. Their point

of views is manifested through the letters they send to each other. Besides Mary

and Max as the main characters who narrates the story, there is also a narrator

who also takes part in narrating the story. Because there are several point of views

in narrating the story, therefore the present research focuses on analyzing how the

story is narrated through the narrative perspective or focalization used in the film

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS 3.2 Research Question

The problem formulation of the present research is:

1. How does the focalization affect the theme of friendship in Mary and

Max film script?

3.3 Research Procedure

This study employs descriptive qualitative method. The film script was

read carefully and the writer took notes from the textual evidences that provide

information relevant to research question. To answer the question, the research

focuses on the story by analyzing the words, phrases, sentences, that related to

how the story is narrated.

3.4 Data analysis

In analyzing the object of the research, the data which is taken from the

film script then categorized into zero focalization and internal focalization. The

data is analyzed using narratology of Gerard Genette (1980). In conducting the

research, the following steps will be taken:

1. Determining the object of the research that is Mary and Max film script.

2. Deciding the phenomenon of the research, that is the friendship

construction between the main characters.

3. Formulating a research question

4. Collecting the relevant theories from textbook, thesis, journal, and internet

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5. Conducting close reading to find the phenomenon then highlighting the

textual evidences.

6. Analyzing the textual evidences according to the relevant theories.

7. Drawing conclusion from the analysis.

3.5 Data Presentation

Table 3.5.1 Examples of focalization in the film script

No

Zero focalization

on Mary

Textual Evidence Explanation

1 Mary as an unattractive character

Mary Dinkle's eyes were the colour of muddy puddles.

Her birthmark, the colour of poo. (p1)

Mary is physically

At university, she shone and took it upon herself

to cure the world of mental illness. She did her thesis

on Asperger's syndrome

and used Max as her case study. Her professors

were thoroughly impressed

and her writing praised far and wide. Soon, publishers queued

to print her unique insight

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS No

Zero focalization

on Max

1 Max as a character who lacks self

confidence

..He was 44 and liked "The Noblets" as they lived in a delineated

and articulated social structure with constant adherent conformity and also because they had

oodles of friends. (p5)

Max‟s lack self confidence can be seen implicitly from his interest in “The Noblets”

with his sudden wealth and had bought a lifetime supply of chocolate and the complete Noblet collection.

Two of his life goals had come true... .. Despite achieving all his life's goals, Max still felt incomplete...

..Mary had given Max a taste of real friendship

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS No

Internal focalization

on Mary

Textual evidence Explanation

1 Mary as the taker of the friendship

Dear Max,

our wedding day was everything I have ever dreamt,

making up for the terrible year I've had.

Although all the guests

were Damian's family and friends, I felt very welcome.

Damian is so perfect.

He even made my wedding dress. And for our honeymoon

he took me to Mykonos

his favourite island in Greece. (p40-41)

It can be seen that Mary emphasizes Damian as the center of her story. It indicates that not talk about their friendship which

1 Max as the giver of the friendship

..I find humans interesting but I have trouble understanding them.

I think, however,

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Through the use of focalization in conducting the study, the writer is able

to find out how focalization affect the theme of friendship in Mary and Max film

script. First, zero focalization is useful to show how the narrator tells the basic

information about the main characters as the preparation to understand the story.

Second, internal focalization is useful to show how the main characters‟ point of

view elaborate the points which have been told in zero focalization. Finally, the

result of analysis of each type of focalization is compared and synthesized to

obtain the answer of the research question, that is the affect of focalization to the

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THE FRIENDSHIP CONSTRUCTION IN MARY AND MAX FILM SCRIPT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions of the study , which are based on the

findings and discussions in the previous chapter. This chapter also presents the

suggestion for further study.

5.1 Conclusions

In conclusion, the present research has answered the research question that

is formulated to discover how the focalization affect the theme of friendship in

Mary and Max film script. Focalization affects the theme of friendship in Mary

and Max film script through zero focalization and internal focalization. In zero

focalization, the narrator has successfully portrayed the touching and unique

friendship between Mary and Max by depicting their state of being marginalized

people and by building a stronger role for Max, who is a disabled person, as the

party who establishes and keeps the friendship better than Mary. Therefore, zero

focalization in Mary and Max film script tends to take side on Max and accentuate

him as the center of the story.

Meanwhile, internal focalization in the film script also indicates a similar

tendency. Internal focalization in Mary and Max film script also accentuates Max

as the center of the story regarding his bigger role in establishing the friendship.

Max’s utterance and way of thinking shows that although he is a disabled person

he possesses some positive traits such as honesty, humour, and wisdom which

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In addition, through the analysis of ideological facet of focalization, Mary

and Max film script also present some ideological messages regarding the state of

being marginal, especially of being disabled. Mary and Max film script shows that

the marginalized people, whether they are physically unattractive or mentally

disabled also have the rights to achieve happiness. Particularly, through Max’s

point of view, he shows that disabled people have to be treated equally because

essentially they are also human being. In conclusion, through the use of several

types of focalization, Mary and Max film script manages to capture a portrait of

sincere friendship which accentuates a disabled person as a good character.

5.2 Suggestions

After conducting the research, there are some suggestions for the other

researchers who interested in analyzing narrative text. The suggestions are as

follows:

1. Regarding the research object, it would be better for the next

researcher to discuss Mary and Max as a film and use film studies as

the tool to analyze it.

2. Regarding the theory of narratology, the next researcher may use the

other analytical categories of narratology such as narrative mood,

narrative levels or narrative time in conducting a research of narrative

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