Analysis of Theme Through Inner and Social Conflicts in 'The Last Days of Dogtown'.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tesis ini, pertama-tama saya akan membahas beberapa konflik yang dialami oleh sejumlah tokoh yang ada di dalam sebuah novel yang berjudul The Last Days of Dogtown karya Anita Diamant. Berdasarkan konflik yang saya bahas, saya akan mengangkat tema dari cerita novel ini.

Konflik yang dibahas dalam tugas akhir ini menyangkut karakter-karakter berikut: Judy Rhines, seorang wanita kulit putih; Cornelius Finson, seorang pria kulit hitam; Oliver Younger, seorang anak muda yang mendapat perlakuan kasar dari bibinya sendiri; dan Ruth, seorang wanita kulit hitam yang bekerja sebagai tukang batu. Masalah utama yang menjadi pemicu terjadinya konflik di antara mereka adalah perbedaan-perbedaan fisik dan sosial yang tidak dapat dielakkan.

Masing-masing tokoh mendapat perlakuan yang tidak adil hanya karena mereka dianggap tidak punya dan tidak pantas untuk mendapatkan apa yang seharusnya mereka peroleh, yaitu hak-hak mereka untuk hidup seperti manusia pada umumnya.

Akhirnya, saya menarik kesimpulan bahwa tema novel ini adalah

“diskriminasi dapat terjadi akibat dari perbedaan warna kulit, usia dan status

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of The Last Days of Dogtown

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant is a novel about a dying village called Dogtown. It begins with the death of an old man of the village, Abraham Wharf. All the residents of Dogtown come to mourn for him. Judy Rhines, a white woman, comes first to Easter Carter’s tavern, which is the biggest

house in the Commons Settlement, the real name of Dogtown. Then there comes Oliver Younger, a twelve-year-old boy, accompanied by his aunt Tammy Younger, who has the habit of torturing him. The next comer is Black Ruth, who works as a stonemason. She does not talk much. After Ruth, there comes Cornelius Finson, a freed black man, whose love to Judy is denied because of their different skin colours. Others in the company are Mrs. Stanley and her grandson, Sammy, and the other residents of Dogtown.

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At the end of the story, Oliver Younger finally leaves his aunt to start a new life of his own, gets married, and has kids. Tammy later dies because of her old age. Black Ruth finally knows the truth behind her mother’s death. Cornelius

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Biography of Anita Diamant

Anita Diamant was born on June 27, 1951, in New York City. She is an American author of fiction and non-fiction books. She spent her childhood in Newark, New Jersey and then moved to Denver, Colorado when she was 12 years old. She attended the University of Colorado for two years but she did not finish her studies there. She was transferred to the Washington University in Missouri, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature in 1973. She

received her Master’s degree in English from Birmingham University in1975.

Diamant starts her writing career as a freelance journalist and has won some awards. Her articles have been published in the Boston Globe Magazine and Parenting Magazines, New England Monthly, and Yankee. She branched out into books with the release of her non-fiction book The New Jewish Wedding in 1985. She started her debut as a novelist in 1997 with The Red Tent, which becomes a best-seller and was awarded Book Sense Book of the Year Award 2001. She then published her second novel Good Harbor, which was not as famous as her first one. The last novel she published is The Last Days of Dogtown. Her other non-fiction books are The New Jewish Baby Book, Living a Jewish Life, and Pitching My Tent.

Diamant is currently married, has one child and lives in Boston.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

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After reading the novel, I am attracted to analyze the theme of The Last Days of Dogtown. According to Perrine, “The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central inside. It is unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story” (112). The analysis is conducted through discussing the conflicts in the novel. Shaw defines conflict as “the opposition of persons or forces, the action of which depends in drama and fiction” (91). There are three types of conflict: (a) elemental or physical conflict, which is about a struggle between man and the physical world; (b) social conflict, which is about a struggle between a man and a man and (c) internal or inner or psychological conflict, which is about a struggle between desires within a person (Shaw 91-92).

I agree that the theme of The Last Days of Dogtown is “discrimination can be caused by skin colour, age and social status.” I analyze the theme through the inner and social conflicts among some of the characters in the story, namely Judy Rhines, Cornelius Finson, Black Ruth and Oliver Younger.

After reading the discussion in the thesis, the readers are expected to realize that the conflicts experienced by the characters in this novel play an important role in conveying the idea of the story. That is why I intend to discuss the theme of The Last Days of Dogtown through the characters’ conflicts.

Statement of the Problem

Based on the background of the study presented previously, the problem in this literary study are formulated as follows:

1. What is the theme of the novel?

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Purpose of the Study

The stated problems lead to the purposes of the study, which are 1. to show the theme of the novel.

2. to show how the inner and social conflicts in the novel help reveal the theme.

Method of Research

In writing this thesis, the method of research I use is library research. First, I read The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant as my primary text. From books and the Internet, I also read and search some other sources and texts which can support my analysis. Then, I analyze the novel and draw some concluding remarks of the result of my analysis.

The Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion from the analysis in the previous chapter. In this novel, there are various conflicts which are faced by Oliver Younger, a young man that has been very frequently tortured by his own aunt; Cornelius Finson, a freed black man; Judy Rhines, a white woman; and Black Ruth, a black woman who works as a stonemason. These people reveal one thing to me that all of them face similar conflicts as they are the victims of the people who have power and privilege. The victims are living in the society where others are treating them unfairly. Treating other people unfairly can also be considered as discrimination. Discrimination here does not only happen to the black people but it also happens to the minority in the society like people of the lower class and children with no power.

Through my analysis, I can make a conclusion that each of the characters experiences conflicts regarding an unfair treatment. Some of them, such as Abraham and Oliver，struggle and defend their living and also fight for their

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are defending those whom they think are getting an unfair treatment in the society. They havegot discriminated because of their skin colour, age, and social status.

Except Oliver Younger was experiencing unfairly treatment directly because of his aunt, Tammy Younger, he experiences both inner and social conflicts. He gets unfair treatments from his aunt and its causes him to be a weak person. But in the end, he can manage himself and leaves Tammy. Oliver is portrayed as a member of the minority people who is controlled by his own aunt, who represents the majority or the one who holds the power. Oliver is oppressed and he gets unfair treatments by his own aunt, Tammy, who wants to have what belongs to him. Oliver is deprived from his right because of his young age.

The inner and social conflicts are also faced by Cornelius Finson. The conflicts are caused by Abraham Wharf, a man who dislikes black people very much. He acts like the superior or the one who has power and privilege because he is white. He oppresses Cornelius, who is the inferior because he is a black man. Ideally, everyone should have his or her right in any condition or situation, regardless their skin colour and social status. The rights should also given to Cornelius, since he is a freed black man, who is no longer a slave. As the resolution, Cornelius race still denies him to get what he wants.

Judy Rhines faces a social conflict because she wants to defend Cornelius’

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Black Ruth’s conflict with Henry Briemfield Jr. is related to her beloved

mother. Ruth wants to know the truth about her mother’s death. She is killed by

her own master just because she is carrying his child. This reveals that her mother gets an unfair treatment from her master, who is a white man, because her master

wants to keep his reputation. Black Ruth’s mother gets an unfair treatment as a

human just because of her social status which is only a slave and also a black. The conflicts that happen in this novel are triggered by the issue of unfair treatments, which are suffered by those who do not have any power or privilege to fight or even survive. They cannot manage to develop themselves because of the existing boundaries which are causing some problems to themselves and even people around them.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text:

Diamant, Anita. The Last Days of Dogtown. New York: Scribner, 2005. Internet Websites:

“Biography of Anita Diamant”. 18 Aug. 2009.

<http://www.popstarplus.com/authors_anitadiamante.htm#Author %20Profile>

“Biography of Anita Diamant”. Wikipedia. 26 Aug. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Diamant>

Heilke, Natalia. “Anita Diamant’s Tale of a Dying Hamlet”. Book review: The Last Days of Dogtown. 2008. 18 Aug. 2009.

<http://americanfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/book_review_the _last_days_of_dogtown>

References:

Longman, Dictionary of Contemporary English. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 1978.

Perrine, Laurence. Literature Structure, Sound and Sense. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1974.