CARLA’S QUEST FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE AS SEEN IN CARLA VAN RAAY’S GOD’S CALLGIRL
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Dwi Aryani
Student Number: 041214078
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
CARLA’S QUEST FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE AS SEEN IN CARLA VAN RAAY’S GOD’S CALLGIRL
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
Dwi Aryani
Student Number: 041214078
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
iv
“You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted.
But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much,
And He will show you to escape from your temptations.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13)“Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything.
With thankful hearts offer up your prayers
and requests to God.”
(Philippians 4:6)“Christ
gives me the strength to face anything.”
(Philippians 4:13)I dedicated this thesis to those who love me:
The Almighty God,
My lovely parents and family,
My dearly loved partner,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ
for His great blessing, love and mercy. I thank Him for guiding and giving me
those people around me who always love me and support me so that I am able to
finish this thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Y., M.Hum., as
my major sponsor for his compassion, willingness, guidance, patience, support,
suggestions, and giving me the time to consultation on this thesis until it is done.
My sincere gratitude also goes to Sanata Dharma University for giving me a nice
place to study. I also express my gratitude to all PBI lecturers and staffs who have
devoted their work, valuable knowledge, lessons and experiences during my study
in Sanata Dharma University.
My next thankfulness goes to Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., Theresia Eriska
Oktaviani, S.Pd., Drs. Tri Suko Bambang W., M.Hum, and Sasmoyo, S.Pd., who
kindly offered me to proofread this thesis. I thank them for their corrections and
suggestions for each single page of my thesis. My great thank also goes to V.
Ismoyo Jati, S.S. who shared time with me when I found difficulties. I thank
Patricia Angelina L., S.Pd. for giving me the syllabus of Short Essay 1. I also
thank to Mega Wulandari, S.Pd. for helping me in arranging the teaching material.
My deep gratitude goes to my lovely parents, Giyanto and Budi Lestari,
for their endless loving care, prayer, and support they have given me every single
viii
educate me. My gratitude also goes to my beloved siblings, Ari Yanto, and Budi
Tri Utami for all supports, love, and prayers which have given to me.
My special gratitude is dedicated to my dearly loved partner, Priya
Begawan Yoga S., who always loves, supports, and grants me a space in his heart.
I also thank him for being by my side in my ups and downs and for being there
when I needed at the most.
I would like to express my special thanks to all my PBI friends,
specifically Rita, Silvia, Nina, Tutik, Yuni, Yanu, and Dhion who have been very
supportive to me. It was great to spend the years with them. My great thankfulness
also goes to my lovely cousin Siswanto, S.S whose morning and midnight short
messages had burnt my spirit to complete this thesis. I also thank him for the
remarkable ideas shared to me.
Further, I would like to express my gratitude to Reta, Rina, Indri, Sari,
Aline, Nana, Jati, and Rini for being my friends who had shared in the same
struggle to finish this thesis. It was great to keep asking our thesis progress to each
other. I would also like to thank a parking guard of Sanata Dharma University in
Kota Baru, for telling me whether the lecturer was present or not every time I
would like to have consultation on my thesis. I also thank him for drawing smiles
on my face with his greeting.
There are many other people whom I cannot mention here one by one, but
surely, I cannot complete this thesis without their helps and supports. God bless
them all.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVALPAGES ... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vi
PAGE OF DEDICATION ... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... ix
ABSTRACT ... xiii
ABSTRAK ... xiv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objectives of the Study ... 4
D. Benefit of the Study ... 4
E. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 8
A. Review of Related Studies ... 8
1. Character ... 8
x
b. Kinds of Character ... 9
2. Characterization ... 10
a. Definition of Characterization ... 10
b. Methods of Characterization ... 11
3. Critical Approach ... 13
4. Logotherapy ... 14
a. Base of Logotherapy ... 15
b. Processes of Finding the Meaning of Life ... 17
c. Failures of Finding the Meaning of Life ... 18
5. Success in Finding the Meaning of Life ... 20
B. Theoretical Framework ... 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 22
A. Object of the Study ... 22
B. Approach of the Study ... 24
C. Method of the Study ... 25
CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION ... 27
A. The Description of Carla ... 26
1. Self-reproachful ... 28
2. Naive ... 30
3. Introverted ... 32
xi
5. Open-minded ... 34
B. Carla’s Quest for the Meaning of Life ... 35
1. Carla’s Struggle to Find the Meaning of Life ... 36
a. Being a Good Child for her Parents ... 37
b. Being a Good Nun for God ... 39
c. Being God’s Callgirl ... 41
2. Carla’s Failure to Find the Meaning of Life ... 43
a. The Failure of Being a Good Child for her Parents ... 44
b. The Failure of Being a Good Nun for God ... 45
c. The Failure of Being God’s Callgirl ... 46
3. Carla’s Finding the Meaning of Life ... 48
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 53
A. Conclusions ... 53
B. Suggestions ... 56
1. Suggestion for Future Researchers ... 56
2. Suggestion for Teaching Learning Activities Using Literary Works 57
REFERENCES ... 59
APPENDICES ... 61
A. Summary of the Novel ... 61
xii
C. Lesson Plan for Teaching Short Essay I ... 66
xiii
ABSTRACT
Aryani, Dwi. 2011. Carla’s Quest for the Meaning of Life as Seen in Carla Van
Raay’s God’s Callgirl. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This study analyses God’s Callgirl, a novel written by Carla Van Raay.
The novel pictures the author’s memoir. This novel is worth analyzing since it tells about a human being’s life journey as reflected through a viewpoint of a girl
struggling to find the meaning of life.
The analysis focuses on how Carla, the main character of the novel, quest for the meaning of life. In order to achieve the goal, two problems are discussed in
this study. Firstly, it deals with Carla’s portrayal as revealed in the novel.
Secondly, it deals with her quest for the meaning of life, which is divided into three sections namely her struggle, her failure, and her finding the meaning of her life.
This study employed library research. The primary source was the novel itself. The secondary sources were books on psychology and literary theories, and internet sources which provided supporting data for this analysis. This study used theory of character and characterization to analyze the first problem and employs theory of logotherapy to discuss the second problem. It also applied the psychological approach since it concerns with the study of the mind and it
influences one’s behaviour pattern.
Based on the analysis, Carla is portrayed as self-reproachful, naive, introverted, vengeful, and open minded. Those characteristics are revealed through character as seen by others, her speeches, her reactions, and her thoughts. Furthermore, the analysis shows that there are three ways how Carla shows her will to find the meaning of life. Firstly, it deals with her struggle to be a good child for her parents. Secondly, it deals with her struggle to be a good nun for
God. Thirdly, it deals with her struggle to be God’s Callgirl. Unfortunately, Carla
fails to find the meaning of life through those ways. Therefore, Carla carries out other ways to find the meaning of life. Carla leaves her work as prostitute to be a writer. Moreover, Carla attends to therapy programs for healing herself. In her struggle, Carla finally finds the meaning of life.
It is suggested that for the future researcher(s) to conduct analysis on the
influence of sexual abuse on Carla’s life. It is also possible to analyze the meaning of becoming God’s Callgirl for Carla. The use of this novel as the source for
xiv
ABSTRAK
Aryani, Dwi. 2011. Carla’s Quest for the Meaning of Life as Seen in Carla Van
Raay’s God’s Callgirl. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini menganalisa novel God’s Callgirl yang ditulis oleh Carla Van Raay. Novel ini menggambarkan riwayat hidup sang pengarang. Novel ini bermanfaat untuk dianalisa karena ini bercerita tentang perjalanan hidup seorang manusia, yang tercermin melalui sudut pandang seorang gadis yang berjuang untuk menemukan makna hidupnya.
Analisa berfokus pada bagaimana Carla, tokoh utama dalam novel, mencari makna hidup. Untuk mencapai tujuannya, dua permasalahan dibahas dalam skripsi ini. Pertama, dalam hubungannya dengan gambaran Carla seperti dipaparkan dalam novel. Kedua, dalam hubungannya dengan pencarian Carla untuk menemukan makna hidup, yang dibagi menjadi tiga bagian yaitu perjuangannya, kegagalannya, dan penemuan makna hidup.
Skripsi ini menerapkan penelitian perpustakaan. Sumber utamanya adalah novel itu sendiri. Sumber tambahan berasal dari buku-buku tentang teori psikologi dan literature, serta sumber dari internet yang menyediakan data yang mendukung untuk analisis ini. Skripsi ini menggunakan teori tokoh dan penokohan untuk menganalisa permasalahan pertama dan menggunakan teori logotherapy untuk membahas permasalahan kedua. Skripsi ini juga menggunakan pendekatan psikologi karena ini menyangkut tentang pikiran dan bagaimana hal tersebut mempengaruhi pola tingkah laku seseorang.
Berdasarkan analisa, Carla digambarkan sebagai menyalahkan diri sendiri, naif, tertutup, pendendam, dan berpandangan terbuka. Karakteristik tersebut ditunjukkan melalui karakteristik sebagaimana dilihat oleh orang lain, ucapannya, reaksinya, dan pemikirannya. Selanjutnya, analisa ini juga menunjukkan bahwa ada tiga cara bagaimana Carla memperlihatkan keinginannya untuk menemukan makna hidup. Pertama, usahanya untuk menjadi seorang anak yang baik bagi kedua orangtuanya. Kedua, perjuangannya untuk menjadi seorang biarawati yang baik bagi Tuhan. Ketiga, usahanya menjadi Sang Pelacur Tuhan. Sayangnya, Carla gagal menemukan makna hidup melalui cara-cara tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, Carla melakukan cara-cara lain untuk menemukan makna hidup. Carla meninggalkan pekerjaanya sebagai pelacur menjadi seorang penulis. Selain itu, Carla menghadiri program-program terapi untuk penyembuhan dirinya. Dalam perjuangannya, Carla akhirnya menemukan makna hidup.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the background of the study, problem formulation,
objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The
background of the study explains the information of the topic and the reasons for
investigating this topic. The problem formulation presents the research questions
of this study. The objectives of the study explain the answer of questions stated in
the problem formulation. The benefits of the study describe the advantages of this
study. The definition of terms clarifies the important terms used in the study.
A.Background of the Study
Life is a gift from God for a person and it must be filled up with
meaningful things as his gratitude. The meaning of life can be found by the person
in all conditions and actions, for example in doing works, having conviction of the
values of the truth, loving affection, and having good attitude. By filling his life
with meaning, his life becomes meaningful for him.
Searching a meaning of life directs and motivates a person to do some
actions. According to Frankl (x-xi), people will contend with their difficulties and
problems in their life if they have a will to meaning. He says that meaning is the
most ideal thing that people search for in their life in which people have their own
main activator of one’s personality. This concept becomes one of bases in
logotherapy as Frankl developed.
When one searches for meaning in his life, whether he likes or not, he will
find problems. The experiences of solving the problems can give an important
value to others. The important value also can be found by reading a literary work
because literary works, such as a novel, give a true picture of human life. Novel
can reflect and portray the real human life experiences that will give readers
knowledge or ideas that provoke them to be more aware of the situation around
them since it completely describes life experiences. Stanton (44) states in An
Introduction to Fiction, ‘the peculiar strength of the novel is its ability to render a complex subject fully, to create a complete world’. This study specified in a novel
since novel describes characters, relationship between characters, situations, and
conflicts completely.
Carla Van Raay’s God’s Callgirl is one of novels that portrays human life
experiences and values. It tells us a story of a person who looks for a meaning of
life. Carla, as the main character of the novel, always searches for a meaning of
her life. Her efforts to find the meaning of life are shown from her actions through
her life.
When Carla is a child, she always wants to do the best for her parents but
her parents often hurt her feeling. Once, she promises to her father to keep the
secret of his sexual abuses to her because she is threatened by him not to tell
others but she loves her father. Then, she lives her childhood under a pressure of
Searching for a meaning of life, Carla decides to become a nun at the age
of eighteen as well as becomes a teacher. Unfortunately, she fails and then leaves
the convent at the age of thirty. Next, as an ordinary woman, Carla needs to look
for a job and get married. She breaks her marriage with James although they have
already had a daughter named Caroline. After that, she meets a man named Hal
and gets another daughter named Victoria but they never get married. The failure
in her relations with men makes her feel more meaningless.
The willingness to be meaningful for her daughters forces Carla to earn
money to finance one of her daughters. Then, she decides to be a prostitute. She is
very excited about her job as she finds an inspiration and then she calls herself as
God’s Callgirl, an extraordinary call for it is different from common prostitutes.
Besides getting money, at first, she also finds that being a callgirl can help her
clients solve their problems. At last, she finds that her decision to be a prostitute
is inappropriate to find a meaningful life that it makes her lost her inner peace.
As a person who has a freedom of will, Carla tries to survive in order to
find the meaning of her life again. After leaving her job as a prostitute, she
struggles to find what she really wants to be. By finding and solving the real
problem throughout her life, she finally finds her meaning of life.
Carla’s experience in searching for a meaning of life is an amazing story to
discuss. She shows her willingness to find the meaning in every situation and
event of her life. When she feels that she loses her meaning of life, she does other
actions to find what life means for her. This story provides a valuable lesson that
situations, even in a worst one, and it constantly happens in one’s life. However,
Carla’s quest for the meaning of life always teaches us how people can find the
meaning of life in every condition, even in the bad situation in order to gain what
life means for us. That is why this story is interesting to discuss.
B.Problem Formulation
There are two main questions which the writer formulated to analyze.
Those are:
1. How is Carla, the main character, described in the novel?
2. How does Carla search for the meaning of life?
C.Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is to analyse and to find out Carla’s quest for
the meaning of life as seen in Carla Van Raay’s God’s Callgirl. Therefore, there
are two problems need to be answered in this study. The first is to find out the
characteristics of Carla, the main character, as revealed in the novel. The second is
to find out how Carla finds the meaning of life.
D.Benefits of the Study
This study deals with Carla’s quest for the meaning of life as seen in Carla
Van Raay’s God’s Callgirl. Hopefully, this study can give some benefits for
students of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, for
1. For students of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University
It is hoped that the study gives students additional knowledge how one
struggles to search for the meaning of life and provides information to understand
the novel better.
2. For the future researchers
It is hoped that this study can support future researchers resources for them
in completing their study for it provides important information on Carla Van
Raay’s God’s Callgirl and also offers some beneficial description about the main
character and how she finds the meaning of life.
3. For the readers
It is hoped that the study gives the readers some important values since it
tells about a human life experience. It teaches the readers to find the meaning of
life in all conditions and situations. It encourages them to find their meaning of
life in both good and bad situations.
E.Definition of Terms
This part will provide several terms which are going to be used in this
undergraduate thesis. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, those terms are
needed to be defined and presented as follows:
1. Quest for
According to Hornby, quest for means “a long search for something,
knowledge or truth.” (1235). In this study, quest for refers to a person’s effort to
look for and gain her meaningful life.
2. Meaning of life
According to Frankl (171), meaning of life is the purpose in life. The
meaning of life is found in every moment of living and life itself never ceases to
have meanings, even in suffering and death.
3. Motivation
According to Petri (3) in Motivation Theory and Research, motivation is the concept we use when we describe the forces acting or on within an organism
to initiate and direct behavior. Then, Frankl (154) in Man’s Search for Meaning:
an Introduction to Logotherapy states the will to meaning really becomes the
highest motivation of the people’s life.
4. Character
Abrams (20) in A Glossary of Literary Terms defines the term of character
as a person in a dramatic or narrative work. He is interpreted by the readers as
being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities which stated in
dialogues they say and the actions they do. In this study, character is a person who
presented by the author to build a story through his action and expression.
5. Logotherapy
Logotherapy is developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Emil
Frankl. The word logotherapy comes from the Greek word logos, which literally
means “meaning.” Logotherapy focuses on the future, on the meanings to be
striving to find a meaning in one's life that is the primary. The meaning of life is
the most powerful motivating and driving force in human.
(http://www.nursingplanet.com/pn/logo_therapy.html).
6. God’s Callgirl
God’s Callgirl is a term Carla uses to call herself when she becomes a
prostitute. The term unexpectedly comes from Carla’s inspiration when she is at
an exhibition of ancient Chinese vases. Becoming God’s Callgirl, Carla visualises
herself as someone who serves her customers out of a pure desire to balance their
energy by offering them her services. God’s Callgirl has a vision that Carla and
her customers use the sexual act as an ecstatic meditation on God, and at the same
8
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of a review related to literature which is divided into
two parts. The first part is review of related theories. It presents theory of
character and characterization, theory of critical approach to literature, and theory
of logotherapy. The second part is theoretical framework.
A.Review of Related Theories
This part consists of some important theories to support the analysis in this
study, namely the theory of character and characterization, critical approach to
literature, and logotherapy. The theory of character and characterization help to
find out the description of the main character. The theory of critical approach to
literature is important to understand the work of literature. The theory of
logotherapy helps to find out the actions of finding the meaningful life dealing
with the main character’s searching for a meaning of her life.
1. Character
Characters are very important in a work of literature since they are
necessary to make the story of the work of literature interesting. Characters are
very significant because in order to understand the novel, the readers need to
a. Definition of Character
Definition of character is proposed by Stanton (17) in An Introduction to
Fiction. According to Stanton, the term ‘character’ is used in two ways: firstly, it
gives a particular description about individuals appearing in a story. Secondly, it
refers to the mixture of interests, desires, moral principles which form the
individual. Stanton also states that stories usually have a main character which is
significant to all events in the stories and the main character usually causes
conversion either in him or readers’ attitude toward him.
Another definition of character is proposed by Abrams (20) in A Glossary
of Literature Terms. Abrams explains characters as persons in a dramatic or narrative work that are interpreted by readers. They are endowed with moral,
dispositional, and emotional qualities which stated in dialogues they say and
actions they do. He also adds that the grounds in the characters’ temperament,
desire, and moral nature for their speech and actions are called their motivation.
b. Kinds of Character
In Reading the Novel: An introduction to the Techniques of Interpreting
fiction, Henkle (88-97) points out characters can be categorized as major and secondary ones. Major characters or the main characters are the most important
and complex in a literary work or novel. They can be identified from their
characterizations, the attention of the author and the readers, the attitudes of other
characters to them, and the transmitting process of their character intensity. The
major characters also build opinion that can establish the readers’ virtues. While,
limited. They may be less sophisticated. Therefore, their responses to the
experiences in the story are also less complex.
Besides, Forster (46-54) in Aspects of the Novel and Related Writings
states there are two types of characters in literature. They are flat characters and
round characters. Flat characters are built around a single idea or quality. These
kinds of characters are presented without much individualizing detail, and
therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single phrase of sentence. One
great advantage of flat character is that they are easily recognized whenever they
come in a story. A second advantage is that they are easily remembered by the
readers. They are static and remain stable in a story.
Different from flat characters, round characters are complex in
temperament and motivation. These kinds of characters are represented subtle
particularity so that they are difficult to be described with any adequacy as a
person in real life. They are capable of surprising the readers. They are dynamic
and posses many individual and unpredictable human traits.
2. Characterization
Understanding the theory of characterization is needed in analyzing the
characters that appear in the novel. The analyzing characters are implied by
understanding the definition of characterization and then knowing the methods of
characterization.
a. Definition of Characterization
According to Barnet and Berman (77), characterization is defined by what
setting in which they move. Moreover, Rohberger and Woods, Jr. (20) define
characterization as the processes employed by an author to create character. The
creation of character includes particular personalities and physical attributes.
b. Methods of characterization
Murphy (161-173) in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students proposes a theory referring to the presentation of characters in front of the readers, in order to make readers
comprehend and capable to reveal the character’s personality and traits.
According to him, there are nine ways in which an author attempts to make his
characters understandable and alive to his readers as follows:
1) Personal description
In this way, the author can describe who a character is based on physical
appearance and clothing. The physical appearance such as face, eyes, hair, skin,
body, and the clothing such as how character wears clothes, what kind of clothes
the character wears can make the readers have a better imagination about the
character.
2) Character as seen by other characters
Here, the author also can introduce the character to the reader through the
eyes and opinions of other characters. The author represents the character’s
performance and personality by letting other characters in his story tell what they
3) Speech
The author can give the readers inside into the character’s speech.
Whenever the character speaks, whenever the character is involved in a
conversation with other characters, whenever the character puts forward an
opinion are the readers’ hints of the character.
4) Past Life
The author can give the past life of character in the story in order to make
the readers understand the character well. The past life of the character can build a
clue for the readers about events which catalyze in shaping the character’s
disposition. The narration is through descendant of direct comment from the
author, the character’s thoughts, the character’s conversation, and also through the
medium of another character.
5) Conversation of Others
Through conversations with other characters, the author can give clues to
the readers in order to show the character’s personality. People often talk about
other people and the thing they say may give us reference to the character of the
person spoken about.
6) Reactions
The author may give clues to the character’s personality by letting the
readers to know how the character reacts to various situations and events. The
character often reacts to various situations and events which may reveal the
who might expect to find the quality of the character in dealing with various
situations and events.
7) Direct Comment
The author can bring comments over the character’s disposition which
facilitates the readers to understand the character. By giving comments explicitly
about the character’s disposition and opinion about the character in the story, the
author has possibility to describe or comments on the character’s disposition
directly.
8) Thought
The writer is able to give the readers direct knowledge of what the
character is thinking about. When the character is in deep thoughts, the readers
can get into the character’s mind. In real life, one cannot see into other’s mind but
in literary works, the character’s mind is readable.
9) Mannerism
The author can describe the character’s mannerism, habits, or
idiosyncrasies. Moreover, by knowing how the person behaves and acts in the
novel, the reader will be able to understand the person’s character that the author
reveals the habits of the character both the positive and negative ones.
3. Critical Approach
According to Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. (3) in Reading and Writing about Literature, we need to employ a mean which is called critical approach to have a reasonable judgment of a work of literature. It will help readers to have better
Jr. (6-15) propose five kinds of critical approaches. Those approaches are the
formalist approach, the biographical approach, the socio cultural-historical
approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach.
Every approach has its own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.
That is why we should always consider in choosing the approach applied to a
certain literary work because there is no single approach will suit to all kinds of
literary work. We must consider and be able to choose the most appropriate
approach that will suit to our analysis.
In this study, I use the psychological approach. Rohrberger and Woods
(13) state that the psychological approach helps us to analyze the novel from
psychological points of view of human beings. That is from the organization of
thought and feelings of the character. Moreover, it also explains and
understanding the human motivation.
4. Logotherapy
According to Frankl, who is a professor of psychiatry and neurology, the
highest motivation of people is the will to meaning. It motivates people to do all
actions, such as doing works, so that life becomes useful and worthy. The will to
meaning is not an invention but it is a real spiritual phenomenon that is very
important in the people’s life. As the basic motivation of people, the will to
meaning motivates them to be worthy and useful people who live with the
meaningful actions. Furthermore, Frankl discusses the will to meaning in his
Frankl (154) starts his concept of the will to meaning from his criticism to
the concepts of the pleasure principle by Freud and the will to power by Adler. He
considers that those concepts simplify the existence and the behaviour of human
being. Moreover, pleasure and power are not the main purpose of life but they are
rewards from the actions of self-fulfilment that are based and directed on the will
to meaning.
According to Frankl, meaning is unique and personal because of fact that
people have their own way to find the meaning of life. Besides, it is also
changeable along with the times and conditions in people’s life. It can be found by
them in his works, art works and the worldview, even in the truth and love that
they struggle and undergo personally. It shows that a person cannot give or entrust
another person to create a meaning of life for him. In other words, only the person
himself can feel and experience whether his life is meaningful or not and what the
meaning of life for him is.
a. Base of logotherapy
Frankl (154-173) in Man’s Search for meaning and Introduction to
Logotherapy explains that the will to meaning is the main activator of one’s
personality. Furthermore, the freedom of will, the will to meaning, and the
meaning of life become the base of logotherapy.
1) The freedom of will
Logotherapy explains that every person has a freedom and has to be
responsible for his or her freedom. Freedom for people is the freedom to take a
self-condition but not the freedom from biological, psychological, and
sociological aspects.
Taking a stand on the conditions, people can go out of biological and
psychological dimension and then enter their spiritual dimension, where people
can be as a noble creature different from other creatures. It is appropriate to an
honourable term for a human as a self determining being. It means that, on the
limitations, people have the ability and freedom to change their life condition in
order to gain the more qualified life. The most important thing is that the freedom
must be followed by the responsibility so that it does not become despotism.
2) The will to meaning
Logotherapy explains that people always want to be valuable and useful
persons for themselves, their family, friends, work environment, society, and
being worthy for God. People also want to love and be loved by others because
they will feel worthy and glorious by feeling of love and being loved. For
example, parents always want to love and be loved by their children, and also
want to be able to do their functions in the family as good as possible. On the
other hand, children also want to be loved and to be pride of their parents.
The will to meaning is really the main motivator to people. It can direct
them to do some activities like doing their job and abilities. As the basic motivator
for human being, the will to meaning directs people to be worthy and meaningful
individual that they can find in their activities. If people can gain the will to
meaning, they will feel useful, worthy, and meaningful for themselves and people
3) The meaning of life
The meaning of life is deemed as something important, worthy and giving
a particular value to someone, in which it properly becomes the purpose in life.
People will find their life worthy if they can fulfil the meaning of life. Then, the
meaning of life is apparently in the life itself and able to be found in every
condition either enjoyable or suffering condition, even death. Meaning in
suffering or blessing in disguise shows that people can still find the meaning of
life although they are in suffer. If the will can be fulfilled, the people’s life will be
useful, worthy, and meaningful. On the contrary, if the will cannot be fulfilled, the
people’s life will be meaningless.
b. Processes of Finding the Meaning of Life
Frankl (69-79) in The Will to Meaning Foundation and Applications of
Logotherapy explains that there are valuing processes that will enable someone to find a meaningful life. They are creative values, experiential values, and
attitudinal values.
1) Creative values
Creative values consist of doing work, creating and doing the duty as good
as possible with the responsibility. For example, people can find their meaning of
life and experience their life meaningfully by doing work. They feel more worthy
when they have a work than when they have no work. Thus, the meaning of life is
not determined by the work but it depends on one’s personality, which has
doing works is only means that give a chance to find and develop one’s meaning
of life.
2) Experiential values
Experiential values consist of conviction and experience to the values of
the truth, the good deeds, the beautifulness, the spirit, the religion, and loving
affection. For example, there are many people who can find their meaning of life
in their religion and or in all things they do with arts. They are also able to find
the meaning of life by experiencing of loving affection. They can find their life
full of glorious feeling by feeling love and being loved. It shows that loving
affection is one of the sources of the meaning of someone’s life.
3) Attitudinal values
Attitudinal values consist of sincerity, patience, and courage. The courage
means the bravery of someone who accepts the suffering with his whole heart,
such as the suffering of the incurable diseases and death. For example, people
cannot change the situation while finding the suffering but they can change their
attitude to endure their life. The attitudes determine them to find the meaning of
life. Thus, it means that people can find the meaning in every situation, provided
they can take the correct attitude to endure the situation.
c. Failure of Finding the Meaning of Life
After dealing with the processes in finding the meaning, there are people
who may not be able to fulfil their will to meaning because they have a lack of
consciousness that they potentially can find the meaning from life and all their
sense of meaninglessness, emptiness, lost of the purpose in life, bored feeling, and
apathy. This condition is termed as the existential vacuum that is caused by a
frustration of the will to meaning (the existential frustration). The frustration is a
result of the condition when people cannot find the meaning of life; even they
have no will to meaning.
Nowadays, the existential frustration and existential vacuum have become
a widespread phenomenon. There are people who have experienced a loss of the
feeling that life is meaningful. It is caused by many factors, such as the missing of
traditions and values.
According to Frankl (168), a failure of finding the meaning of life or the
existential frustration is often directed to compensations. There are many kinds of
compensations that people do, which almost all of the compensations are negative.
The compensation can be some overly actions of the will to power, the will to
pleasure, the will to sex, the will to work, and the will to money. On other words,
in those overly actions, there is usually implied the meaningless life experience.
Frankl (159-160) insists that the existential vacuum does not belong to
pathology or sickness, but spiritual distress. Spiritual in logotherapy does not deal
with theology character but anthropologist character. Different from religious
aspect that look at the spiritual as the phenomenon of this world and the next,
logotherapy look at the spiritual from medical aspect. It means that the spiritual
dimension is the source of health that has never been sick even the person has
Although a full life experience without the meaning does not belong to a
sickness, the intensive condition of its experiences can result noogenic neurosis,
total character, and conformist character. The noogenic neurosis is a mood
disorder that can inhibit one’s self-adaptation and achievement. The disorder is
marked by boredom, emptiness, hopeless, lost of interest and initiative, even the
meaningless life.
5. Success in Finding the Meaning of Life
Based on logotherapy, Schultz (115) in Growth psychology: Models of the healthy Personality concludes that people who have the meaning of life are
describes as people who are free to choose their own course of action. They are
personally responsible for the conduct of their lives and the attitude they hold
towards their face. They are not determined by force outside themselves. They
also have found a meaning in life which suits them. They are in conscious control
of their lives. Besides, they are able to manifest creative, experiential, or
attitudinal values. They have transcended the concern with self. They are oriented
toward the future, directed toward future goals and tasks.
B.Theoretical Framework
In relation with the problem formulation, the approach and theories that
have been discussed above are used to analyze the novel. They will be applied to
answer the problems of this study. In this part, it explains which approach and
theories used and how they are applied in the analysis.
The first objective is to find out the description of Carla as the main
Henkle are applied to determine what a sort of character Carla is, and the methods
of characterization by Murphy are also used to obtain the complexity of Carla’s
characters revealed in the novel.
The second objective is to find out the causes of Carla’s quest for the
meaning of life, her motivation, and her actions to find the meaning of life. The
theory used is logotherapy by Frankl. I would like to apply the theory to analyze
what Carla does to find the meaning of her life. Therefore, those theories will help
22
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter contains the methodology of the study, which is divided into
three parts. The first part is object of study. It describes the novel God’s Callgirl
and the focus of the study. The second part is the approach. It states the approach
that is used in the study. The third part is the procedure. It explains the steps
conducted in analyzing the novel.
A.Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel entitled God’s Callgirl. It was written by Carla Van Raay. It was first published by Harper Collins Publisher in Australia
in 2004. Printed in paperback, this novel consists of 441 pages which are divided
into 29 chapters.
The novel God’s Callgirl by Carla Van Raay starts with the story of
Carla’s childhood. Carla is born as a Catholic girl child in Tilburg, a little Dutch
town. In her childhood, Carla always wants to give the best for her parents but
unfortunately she precisely often finds disappointing and hurting responses from
her parents. Her father hurts her when he does sexual abuses to her. She cannot
forget what her father does which makes her feeling pent up through her life.
These experiences make her think that her parents do not really love her.
At the age of twelve, Carla and her family move to Australia. At the age of
only Jesus who loves her. She turns her thoughts to Jesus and transfers her will to
meaning for Jesus. She feels that she has a meaningful life at the beginning of
becoming a nun. But then everything in her life changes when she faces many
conflicts in the convent that bring her in suffer. It causes her to feel meaningless
and apathy that she decides to quit and leave the community at the age of thirty
three.
After leaving the convent, Carla’s life as an ordinary person starts. The
will to meaning directs her to do something. She looks for a job and gets married
with a man. From her marriage, she gets a daughter. Unfortunately, she fails her
marriage so that she gets a divorce from her husband and then just lives with her
daughter Caroline. In no time, she gets a relationship with a man named Hal and
has another daughter named Victoria. Unfortunately, Hal leaves her and then
marries with another woman. Carla continues her life with Victoria because
Caroline wants to live with her father James. She looks for a job to earn money to
finance their needs. It is difficult to find a job with high payment so that Carla
decides to be prostitute for good money and has fun as well, but life is getting
worse when she finds the existential frustration of life that makes her have a
feeling of guilt, meaningless, emptiness, and apathy. Because of having the will to
meaning, Carla always directs herself to do something to find the meaning of life.
Finally, she can find the meaningful life after solving her existential frustration of
life.
Carla Van Raay as the author tries to share her experience in how she finds
meaning so that they find the meaningful life. Moreover, people can find the
meaning of life in all conditions but they can also lose it. It is hoped that the novel
inspires people in general to find the meaning of life in all conditions so that they
finally find the meaningful life.
B.Approach of the Study
A certain approach to analyze a literary work is needed to give a border of
aspects to discuss in a study. The approach gives background of knowledge on the
study and it is very helpful to develop the analysis based on the work to discuss.
In Reading and Writing about Literature, Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. (3) say that a critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its nature and
positive values. One must know what literature is, how to read it, and how to
judge it. In relation to the topic, the writer applies the psychological approach in
analyzing the main character of the story.
The approach for the analysis of this study is the psychological approach.
Since the study is related to the theory of psychology, logotherapy is applied to
dig out the main character’s motivation, personality, and behavior patterns. It is
in line with Rohrberger and Woods, Jr. (13) that the psychological approach
demonstrates effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns, but from
different body of knowledge that is psychological theory as to explain human
motivation, personality, and behavior patterns written in the literary objects. The
psychological approach used in the study is to find out what Carla’s personality is
Furthermore, the psychological approach is used to analyze how Carla, the
main character of this novel, manages to find the meaning of life so that she
finally finds the meaningful life. It is used to discover what ways in psychology
Carla carries out to find the meaning of life. The psychological approach is also
employed to explore what aspect that motivates Carla to find the meaning of life
and how the aspects influence her behavior to find the meaning of life.
C.Method of the Study
Some steps were carried out in order to complete the thesis. This part
explains the steps taken in concluding this study. This study is a library research
since references are mainly found from books. The primary source was taken from
the novel written by Carla Van Raay, God’s Callgirl. Furthermore to analyze the
novel, there are some important books on literature, books on psychology, and
other resources accessed from the internet as secondary sources. To understand
about literary theories, especially theories on Character and Characterization,
some resources from books on literature and psychology are taken to deepen the
analysis.
In answering the problem formulations, I carried some procedures that
concerned the several steps in doing the analysis. The first step was choosing a
novel to discuss. I chose the novel written by Carla Van Raay, God’s callgirl,
because it is very interesting for me. This novel attracted me since it is a true story
of the author that tells about a woman who becomes a callgirl after leaving the
reading the novel for several times, I found a great topic to discuss. I was
interested in how Carla struggles to find the meaning of life. Then, I decided to
analyze Carla’s quest for the meaning of life and to have a deeper understanding
on how she manages to find it.
After deciding the topic, I formulated the problem formulation to discuss.
Then, I search and read books and resources that would help me in analyzing the
novel. I read some books discussing theories that could support my analysis. They
were theory of character and characterization, and theory of logotherapy. Besides,
I also read some articles from the internet related to the novel.
After finding enough data as the basis of the study, I started to analyze the
novel. At first, I analyzed the description of Carla as the main character of the
novel. Then I analyze how Carla searches for the meaning of life.
The last step was drawing conclusions and making suggestions. The
conclusion and suggestions were made based on the analysis. Besides, I tried to
27
CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is the answer of the
description of Carla, the main character of the novel. The second part concerns the
quest of Carla to find the meaning of life.
A.The Description of Carla
According to Stanton (17), the word “character” refers to people who are
in the novel. It has very important position and function in a story. In this novel,
Carla is the most significant character because she is the key of the novel. Based
on the theory proposed by Henkle (88-97), Carla is considered as the major
character since she is the center of the story. Besides, Carla becomes the focus of
any act on the whole story. Based on the theory of character proposed by Foster
(46-54), Carla is considered as a round character since she has complexity in
temperament and motivation. She is built around several ideas or traits of human
nature.
In order to understand the characters fully, Murphy (161-173) proposes
nine methods of characterization. They are personal description, character as seen
by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comments,
thoughts, and mannerism. However, in this analysis there are only some methods
methods is very essential to analyze Carla’s description. Therefore, only some of
them are implemented in this analysis. In this novel, Carla is described as:
1. Self-reproachful
Carla is a self-reproachful person who often blames herself when others
feel disappointed on what Carla has done, eventhough she is not actually wrong.
Besides, Carla prefers accepting people’s blame to quarrelling with those people.
In the novel, it can be seen that Carla feels guilty to God by keeping her father’s
secret. Carla thinks that she makes a sin since she does not have any courage to
admit her mistake to the priest. Carla gradually feels guilty. Moreover, she thinks
that she has hurt Jesus, especially after she listens to story of Jesus’ sacrifice. In
addition, Carla blames herself for causing Jesus’ death as she has made a sin by
not confessing her sin to the priest (Van Raay 21-22).
Concerning her sin, Carla does not want to die early. She is afraid that she
will fall into the hell if she makes any sin in her life. Being anxious, Carla
conspires with the devil to delay her death and to avoid the hell before she
relieves herself for her sin (Raay 30).
My heinous prayer to the devil came out of the deepest desolation and abandonment. After a while, I felt that my prayers had been answered. I survived. But the guilt at my betrayal of God was terrible. It stopped me from breathing and eating, and I started to get things wrong, which in turn meant being derided by my father and the children at school (Van Raay 30-31).
At the age of eighteen, Carla enters a convent to be a nun. Then, she leaves
the convent at the age of thirty one. She knows that leaving the convent makes her
parents sad and disappointed. Her parents realize that their beloved daughter has
betrayed. Her father’s face is a mixture of derisive accusation and genuine
puzzlement. Her mother is also barely breathing, intents on trying to understand
her. Their pain finally hits her and breaks her heart so that makes her feel
self-reproachful (Van Raay 262).
After Carla leaves the convent, she marries James and has a daughter
named Caroline with whom James lives with after the marriage unfortunately
ends. Then, she has a relationship with Hal and has a daughter named Victoria but
unfortunately the relationship is also over. Carla becomes a single parent for her
daughter Victoria. She needs a job to support their life. Carla decides to be a
prostitute because she thinks that she can get money easily. She finds a vision to
inspire her to work as a prostitute by calling herself as God’s Callgirl. She thinks
that God’s Callgirl will be helpful for her clients because she provides them what
they need at the same time. However, there is a guilty feeling in her initial
conviction of becoming God’s Callgirl that her sexual contact with men will give
them spiritual benefit.
I condemned myself for encouraging what I call ‘men’s alienated behaviors’. My guilt was intense. I couldn’t see that my clients’ motivation wasn’t my business. I couldn’t see that I was arrogant to believe that I could understand what they were thinking. What had happened to my initial conviction that my sexual contact with men would benefit them spiritually? Was I allowing myself to be intimidated by society’s mores?
That wouldn’t have been possible unless there was some guilt lurking inside me, waiting to be triggered. But the guilt had been there long before. I started my work. I had chosen a profession that would prove to me that I was guilty (Van Raay 354).
Through her thought and reactions, it is obviously seen that Carla is a
feeling of meaningless. If this condition cannot be stopped, she will not find her
meaning of life.
2. Naive
In the novel, Carla is described as a naive girl. She is lack of experience,
knowledge and ability to judge something, while she believes that what people
have told her is the truth. When Carla studies at Vaucluse, Mother Anthony who
teaches her mathematics tells that ‘Kissing makes you pregnant.’ Because of her
naivety, Carla accepts the statement as the true one. Consequently, it influences
her acts in making relationships with any men. When Carla develops a
relationship with Keith three months before Carla becomes a nun, Keith is sad
because Carla never allows him to kiss her mouth since she is afraid of being
pregnant (Van Raay 92).
Carla’s naivety can also be seen when she is a nun, especially when she
does not get her period. Mother Mary John is really surprised when she hears that.
Mother Mary John responds to the report from the linen mistress that Carla has
not ordered sanitary pads for five months by calling Carla to her office.
‘Where have you been, Sister?’
Been? I had been nowhere special. My interrogators watched me closely. The tension was electric.
Mother Mary John finally became specific.’Did you go to the village at all, Sister?’
‘No, I haven’t gone to the village. Not at all. Why?’ (Van Raay 185)
Carla is known that she is suffering from a shortage of iron. Then, she is
given some tablets. Afterward, her period returns. Carla’s naivety makes herself
misunderstand the reason for Mother Mary John’s and other sisters’ anxiety. They
After leaving the convent, Carla enters an anonymous secular world in
which she feels completely unnerving because she is lack of experience to
socialize with other people outside the convent. Carla’s naivety also can be seen
in her difficulty to adapt to the secular world. She tries to pay attention on how
people around behave. She feels that she is strange in the world of social
intercourse. Even more, she does not know what a post office is for. She also does
not know how modern adult behaves socially. She observes people around her to
give her some ideas and listens to their banter (Van Raay 266-267).
Carla’s naivety is also can be seen when she gets pregnant after getting
married with James. When her pregnancy is six-months old, she and her husband
join a business of Golden Product but they are tricked by this business. They lose
all of their money. She says: ‘James and I lost all of our savings to Golden
Products’ (Van Raay 283).
Carla’s naivety brings her into a trouble when she has a relationship with
Hal after her marriage with James is over. She develops a relationship with a man
named Hal for two whole weeks. When Hal is away for two weeks, he gives her a
condom. Carla does not understand why the condom is given to her because she
has never been unfaithful to him. She asks Hal whether he expects her to go
rampant just because he is going away for a while. Hal does not answer but just
chuckles and shakes his wide shoulders lightly. It is actually such a test for
Carla’s loyalty for their relationship. Unfortunately, Carla is so naive that she uses
the condom to have sex with another man. It hurts Hal and makes him
Was this a test of some kind? At the time, that thought didn’t enter my mind. I took this gift to mean that he did not want me to be lonely while he
was gone…
… I wrote to Hal about the encounter in glowing terms, thanking him for
the condom. It had served its purpose after all!
Hal was deeply hurt. He wrote his disappointment in a terse letter. I was confused, but in hindsight I can see I should not have been surprised. I
determined to be more careful with Hal’s feelings, and to stay out of the
way of other men (Van Raay 315).
From the discussion above, it is obvious that Carla is naive. It can be
observed through her reactions, and her thought. She is lack of knowledge which
makes her believe that people always tell her the truth.
3. Introverted
In Carla’s childhood, she grows up to be an introverted person because of
keeping a secret of which her father has done a sex abuse to her. She is more
interested in concerning her own thoughts and feelings than spending time with
other people. Carla is too anxious if people know what has happened between her
and her father. She cannot share the secret to anyone.
‘She’s growing too fast,’ they all said, ‘maybe that’s why she’s become so skinny, and so shy, as well. ‘They might have added, ‘So shy that is scared
to look at you, and wants no one to even notice her.’
It wasn’t a growth spurt; it was the terrible secret I now carried. I couldn’t
share it with anyone, this dark and sad burden on my soul (Van Raay 26).
Carla does not like spending time with other people but she likes spending
time with her dolls. She can share everything what she feels to her dolls. She
thinks that only her dolls that know her. She relates to them as she will have
preferred to relate to the people around her. She pretends to be some characters
mother, a sister, a child asking for helps, a nurse, and a creative problem-solver
(Van Raay 50).
Through character as seen by others and her thought when Carla is a child,
it can be concluded that she is an introverted girl. She is more interested in
concerning her own thought and feelings than spending time with other people.
She cannot share her feeling with anyone. She is more interested in sharing with
her dolls than sharing with other people.
4. Vengeful
Carla is a vengeful girl. She keeps the feeling of vengeance on what her
father has done to her. Her father has done sexual abuses repeatedly to her when
she is a child and he has threatened Carla not to tell others, even the priest. She
feels painful so that she cannot forget it along her life (Van Raay 26-30).
The most unforgettable moment is a moment once happens in the coal
shed, where her father works to make shoes and create toys for Christmas and
birthdays. Carla’s father calls her there and then he shuts the door quickly without
turning on the light. He threatens her violently in order to his daughter keeps the
secret.
My father’s face was contorted in a terrible in a terrible way and he could
barely get his words out. His hands found their way first around my shoulders, shaking them violently, and then suddenly around my neck as he began to strangle me. His tone was ugly, reminding me of the kind of talking that was not allowed in our house…
‘Don’t talk to anyone about this…’ he panted, poking a finger into my
mouth to indicate what he meant, unable to say what had never been admitted to in daylight. The words came thickly from his twisted mouth,
reverting to the dialect he had learned on the streets. ‘Don’t talk about it! Especially not to the priest! Understand? Nobody!’ the vein in his forehead
unable to answer, pulsing one moment with the hopeless desire to plead, the next with the desire to die, until finally I was overcome by fear of actually dying. (Van Raay 29)
Carla’s desire of vengeance also can be seen in some moments when she
comes to the therapists after Hal urges her to visit them. It is caused by Hal’s
suspect that there is something in her past that seriously needs to be healed. In her
therapy process, Carla often finds glimpses of her father’s body when she is asked
to close her eyes and imagine something. Then, it causes her feeling of vengeance.
She says to herself, ‘there was no love left in me then, and no pleading, no
questions; there was only overwhelming desire to punish him. And with all the
intension I could muster, I cursed him’ (Van Raay 372).
From the discussion above, it is obvious that Carla is vengeful. It can be
analyzed from her thoughts, her speech and her reactions. What her father does
when she is a child leaves a strong feeling of vengeance on her. This feeling
comes up when she grows older. She realizes it while she is having therapists to
heal herself.
5. Open-minded
Carla becomes an open-minded person after she faces many problems in
her career as a prostitute. Carla is not Carla she used to be. She receives Hal’s
suggestion to have therapies because he first suspects that there is something in
her past that seriously needs healing. When a couple of therapist comes to town
that specialized in championing people who have suffered at the hands of adults
when they are children, Hal urges Carla to visit the therapist and offers to pay the
On the therapy programs she attends, she learns to tell and share her
problems. Carla often has conversation with the therapist. There are so many
questions and instructions that have to be answered by Carla. She gets many good
values from the programs until she can find the real healing she really needs (Van
Raay 369-435).
Carla also realizes that she has been locked into a endless conflict
unconsciously. She does not give up when some therapies do not effectively
succeed. She keeps on attending to any therapy programs although she cannot
solve her problems instantly (Van Raay 374)
From the discussion above, through Carla’s thoughts and speeches with
the therapists, it is obvious that Carla is open-minded person when she receives
Hal’s suggestion to go to the therapists. She starts seeing her problem on the other
sides by sharing and telling others about it. She also can find some positive values
by becoming open-minded person.
B.Carla’s Quest for the Meaning of Life
The meaning of life is considered as an important and valuable thing that
gives a specific value to people (Frankl 154). It includes a purpose of life that has
to be reached and to be fulfilled by them. The meaning of life is difficult for
people to find out because it is often hidden or implied in life. If people can find
the meaning of life, they will feel that life is meaningful and valuable. Thus,
