xii
ABSTRACT
Prawesti, Dian. 2009. The Influence of Benetto’s Intrapersonal Conflicts on his Personal Life as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses Mitch Albom’s novel entitled For One More Day. The novel tells about the life of a son who experiences conflict in his relationship with his parents especially with his father. This study discusses the major character’s characteristics and the intrapersonal conflicts he faces.
There are two main problems which are formulated in this study related to the major character: (1) How is Chick Benetto described in the story? (2) How do Chick Benetto’s intrapersonal conflicts influence his personal life?
This study employs a library research method. There are two kinds of data sources used in this study: primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel For One More Day which becomes the object of the study. The secondary data sources are some books on literature and psychology and some sources from the internet which provide information related to the study.
This study applies the theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of conflict and theory of psychology. Those theories are used to analyze the characteristics of the main character and the intrapersona l conflict experienced by the main character. As the study concerns human behavior, the psychological approach is also applied.
Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that Chick Benetto is an obedient, selfish, ambitious and a wishy-washy person. Further, the analysis shows that Chick Benetto faces five major intrapersonal conflicts. The first is when Chick wants to laugh with his mother but his father does not participate in their action. The second is when his father returns to his life and he appears in Chick’s baseball game. The third is when his father wants to take him to campus. The fourth is when his father asks him to focus in baseball. The fifth is when his father calls in his mother’s birthday to ask him to play in the Old Timers Game. To solve his intrapersonal conflicts, Chick applies some strategies like soothing, avoidance and competition. Chick’s intrapersonal conflicts give bad effects to Chick which later ruins his personal life.
xiii ABSTRAK
Prawesti, Dian. 2009. The Influence of Benetto’s Intrapersonal Conflicts on his Personal Life as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni. Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan. Universitas Sanata Dharma. Yogyakarta.
Studi ini membahas novel karya Mitch Albom yang berjudul For One More Day. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan seorang anak laki- laki yang mengalami konflik dalam hubungannya dengan orangtuanya khususnya ayahnya. Studi ini membahas karakteristik tokoh utama dan intrapersonal konflik yang dihadapinya.
Ada dua permasalahan yang dirumuskan di studi ini berkaitan dengan karakter tokoh utama: (1) Bagaimana Chick Benetto dideskripsikan di dalam cerita? (2) Bagaimana intrapersonal konflik yang dialami oleh Chick Benetto mempengaruhi kehidupan pribadinya?
Studi ini menggunakan studi pustaka. Ada dua macam sumber data yang digunakan di studi ini: sumber primer dan sekunder. Sumber primer adalah novel For One More Day yang menjadi obyek studi. Sumber-sumber data sekunder adalah beberapa buku sastra dan psikologi dan beberapa sumber dari internet yang menyediakan informasi yang berhubungan dengan studi.
Studi ini menerapkan teori tokoh, teori penokohan, teori konflik dan teori psikolo gi. Teori- teori tersebut digunakan untuk menganalisa karakteristik tokoh utama dan intrapersonal konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama. Karena studi ini berkaitan dengan tingkah laku manusia, maka pendekatan psikologi juga diterapkan.
xiv
THE INFLUENCE OF CHICK BENETTO’S INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICTS ON HIS PERSONAL LIFE AS REFLECTED
IN MITCH ALBOM’S FOR ONE MORE DAY
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By: Dian Prawesti
031214062
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
THE INFLUENCE OF CHICK BENETTO’S INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICTS ON HIS PERSONAL LIFE AS REFLECTED
IN MITCH ALBOM’S FOR ONE MORE DAY
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By: Dian Prawesti
031214062
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
ii A Thesis on
THE INFLUENCE OF CHICK BENETTO’S INTRA PERSONAL CONFLICTS ON HIS PERSONAL LIFE AS REFLECTED
IN MITCH ALBOM’S FOR ONE MORE DAY
By Dian Prawesti
Student Number: 031214062
Approved by
Major sponsor
iii A Thesis on
THE INFLUENCE OF CHICK BENETTO’S INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICTS ON HIS PERSONAL LIFE AS REFLECTED
IN MITCH ALBOM’S FOR ONE MORE DAY
By Dian Prawesti
Student Number: 031214062
Defended before the Board of Examiners on 30 January 2009
and Declared Acceptable
Board of Examiners
Chairperson : A. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A. ………
Secretary : Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd. ………....
Member : Drs. Bambang Hendarto Y, M.Hum. ……… Member : P. Kuswandono, S.Pd., M.Ed. ……… Member : Yohana Veniranda, S.Pd., M.Hum. ………
Yogyakarta,30 January 2009 Faculty of Teachers Training and Education
Sanata Dharma University Dean,
iv
T ime is not measured
by the years that you live
but by the deeds that you do
and the joy that you give
and each day as it comes
brings a chance to each one
to love to the fullest,
leaving nothing undone
that would brighten the life
or lighten the load
of some weary traveler
lost on life’s road.
S o, what does it matter
how long we may live.
If as long as we live we unselfishly give
H elen S teiner Rice
v
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I wrote, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, January 15, 2009
The Writer
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In this page, I would like to thank those who have so kindly given me favors in finishing every part of my thesis. First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my Dear God, Allah SWT, who gives me the never-ending blessings of life and love. His grace and guidance enable me to pass through every single moment in my life.
My sincere gratitude goes to my sole sponsor, Drs. L. Bambang Hendarto Yuliwarsono, M. Hum. who has generously spared his precious time to guide me in writing this thesis. I am deeply grateful for his significant suggestion, advice, assistance, and criticism from time to time in every part of my study during the completion of my thesis. I am also deeply indebted to Pak Paulus Kuswandono, S.Pd. M.Ed who has generously supported me through his advices and willingness to listen to my problems in finishing this thesis. I owe a great deal to all members of lecturing staff of the English Department of Sanata Dharma University who have enriched and educated me with their knowledge, and to secretariat staff and librarians of Sanata Dharma University who have given me their service.
vii
shared their spirit, stories, jokes and amusing moments with me. I would like to say that I love them with all my heart.
My special thanks go to my “othie”, Tiyo for giving me his affection and care which always comfort me. I thank him for all of the lessons I have never thought before and for opening my eyes and my mind to be better than I was. It is a God’s plan to meet him in my life and hopefully our dream is also a part of His beautiful plan.
My sweet thanks go to my lovely friends, Melon, Prima and Tiara for sharing all of the stories, laughter and cries in my good time and bad time and who stay the same today, yesterday and forever more. Our friendship is the most precious thing that I have ever had. I would also like to thank Adjie and family for the support and nice memories that we have ever had, my PBI 03 friends and classmates, Ema, Hepi, Eti, Tyas, Lukas, Dudung, Cipok, Ndut, Si Bhe, Puntet, Fendy, Bendot, Ji’I, Tony for the friendship, support and knowledge given to me and for the beaut iful moment that we have during my study, and my Tunggorono 1B family Bapak and Ibu Wasno, Dian, Poppy, Bertin, Detha, Ira, Lia, Avi, Mba Sinta, Mela, Lena, Prima, Desi, Rina for the cheerful jokes and amusing times we passed throughout the days that could release me a bit from my hard days.
viii
Lala, Ms. Eva, Evalia, Mik Yen, Cik Lit, Ditul, Heni, Mbak Indah, Mbak Desi, Mbak Tul, Mbak Ajeng for sharing the beautiful days with me.
At last, I thank everybody who has touched my life or inspired me in some ways whose names I cannot mention here one by one. I love them all and I am grateful to have them in my life. God bless them.
ix
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY……… v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..………. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.……….. vii
ABSTRACT……… xi
ABSTRAK……….………... xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study………. B. Objectives of the Study……… C. Problem Formulation………... D. Benefits of the Study………... E. Definition of Terms……...……….………..
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
x B. Approach of the Study………. C. Method of the Study…………...………..
CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS
A. The Description of Chick Benetto………..
1. Obedient………...………….
2. Selfish………..……….
3. Ambitious……….
4. Wishy-washy………
xi
1. Laughing with his mother………. 2. Accepting his father’s return……… 3. Going back to campus with his father……….. 4. Continuing his study or playing baseball……….
5. Meeting his father……….
C. The Influence of Chick’s Intrapersonal Conflicts on His Personal Life 1. Chick’s personal life before he gets married……… 2. Chick’s personal life after he gets married………...
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions………... B. Suggestions……….……. 1. Suggestion for Future Researchers……….. 2. Suggestion for Teaching- Learning Activity……… The Implementation in Teaching Speaking……….
REFERENCES....………...
APPENDICES
xii
ABSTRACT
Prawesti, Dian. 2009. The Influence of Benetto’s Intrapersonal Conflicts on his Personal Life as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Arts Education, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This study discusses Mitch Albom’s novel entitled For One More Day. The novel tells about the life of a son who experiences conflict in his relationship with his parents especially with his father. This study discusses the major character’s characteristics and the intrapersonal conflicts he faces.
There are two main problems which are formulated in this study related to the major character: (1) How is Chick Benetto described in the story? (2) How do Chick Benetto’s intrapersonal conflicts influence his personal life?
This study employs a library research method. There are two kinds of data sources used in this study: primary and secondary sources. The primary source is the novel For One More Day which becomes the object of the study. The secondary data sources are some books on literature and psychology and some sources from the internet which provide information related to the study.
This study applies the theory of character, theory of characterization, theory of conflict and theory of psychology. Those theories are used to analyze the characteristics of the main character and the intrapersona l conflict experienced by the main character. As the study concerns human behavior, the psychological approach is also applied.
Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that Chick Benetto is an obedient, selfish, ambitious and a wishy-washy person. Further, the analysis shows that Chick Benetto faces five major intrapersonal conflicts. The first is when Chick wants to laugh with his mother but his father does not participate in their action. The second is when his father returns to his life and he appears in Chick’s baseball game. The third is when his father wants to take him to campus. The fourth is when his father asks him to focus in baseball. The fifth is when his father calls in his mother’s birthday to ask him to play in the Old Timers Game. To solve his intrapersonal conflicts, Chick applies some strategies like soothing, avoidance and competition. Chick’s intrapersonal conflicts give bad effects to Chick which later ruins his personal life.
xiii ABSTRAK
Prawesti, Dian. 2009. The Influence of Benetto’s Intrapersonal Conflicts on his Personal Life as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris. Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni. Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan. Universitas Sanata Dharma. Yogyakarta.
Studi ini membahas novel karya Mitch Albom yang berjudul For One More Day. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan seorang anak laki- laki yang mengalami konflik dalam hubungannya dengan orangtuanya khususnya ayahnya. Studi ini membahas karakteristik tokoh utama dan intrapersonal konflik yang dihadapinya.
Ada dua permasalahan yang dirumuskan di studi ini berkaitan dengan karakter tokoh utama: (1) Bagaimana Chick Benetto dideskripsikan di dalam cerita? (2) Bagaimana intrapersonal konflik yang dialami oleh Chick Benetto mempengaruhi kehidupan pribadinya?
Studi ini menggunakan studi pustaka. Ada dua macam sumber data yang digunakan di studi ini: sumber primer dan sekunder. Sumber primer adalah novel For One More Day yang menjadi obyek studi. Sumber-sumber data sekunder adalah beberapa buku sastra dan psikologi dan beberapa sumber dari internet yang menyediakan informasi yang berhubungan dengan studi.
Studi ini menerapkan teori tokoh, teori penokohan, teori konflik dan teori psikolo gi. Teori- teori tersebut digunakan untuk menganalisa karakteristik tokoh utama dan intrapersonal konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama. Karena studi ini berkaitan dengan tingkah laku manusia, maka pendekatan psikologi juga diterapkan.
xiv
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of five parts. The first part is background of the study, the second part describes the objectives of the study, the third part is problem formulation, the fourth part describes the benefits of the study, and the fifth part is definition of terms.
A. Background of the Study
Life is a gift from God which is owned by all living things in this world. In their life people can decide whether they want to be good or bad. When it comes to choices of life, it becomes people’s personal matter or we can say personal life. There are a lot of things which can influence people’s personal life; for instance, their family and the conflicts which they experience in their life. Those two things have a big role in determining someone’s personal life.
Family is a place for children to begin everything in this world. They start to learn, to love, and to be loved in the family. A child can grow up as a wise, mature, affectionate, and loveable person if he lives in an affectionate family. Instead, he can be a rude and cruel person if he grows up in a family in which there is lack of affection or love and no sense of appreciation on others in the family.
2
secure feeling for the family. It builds up images about a father, who is firm, responsible, discipline and tactful. Meanwhile, a mother has the other characteristics, which are caring, loving, and affectionate. Both parents complete each other and a child should have both models to imitate in their personal life.
However, it is common for children to have closer relationship to his mother or his father. They tend to choose the one whom they feel more comfortable with, the one who loves them more than the other one and the one who can still stay by their sides whether they have done the best thing or the worst thing. Somehow, in this case, there is a difference between mother’s love and father’s love.
Pieper says that maternal love does not have to be “earned” and there is nothing anyone can do to lose it (115). A father, on the contrary, tends to set conditions; his love has to be earned. A mother loves her children unconditionally because it relates to her deepest longings of children. The time when the mother is pregnant also makes the relationship between the mother and children even stronger. This makes a mother easy to express her affection to the children, while a father, as a man, tends to be clumsy in expressing his love and emotion even to his children. In Personality Development, Hurlock says that if a man feels that overt expressions of affection for his children, especially his sons, are unmasculine, the children are likely to interpret this to mean lack of interest or love (Hurlock 358). By this kind of condition, family is the first place for children to learn some patterns about love, affection, loyalty in their personal life as well as conflict.
3
be. According to Redman in A Second Book of Play conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces, ideas, or beliefs, which are the basis of the plot (Redman 363). There are two kinds of conflicts, external and internal conflicts. External conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and an outside force, for example conflicts that occur between a person and his family. Meanwhile, internal conflict refers to a struggle within the heart and mind of the protagonist, for example conflict that happen in a son’s heart whether he has to obey his mother’s rule or his father’s rule. The conflict is resolved when one force, usually the protagonist, succeeds or fails in overcoming the opposing force. Conflicts have a significant role in someone’s personal life because s/he can learn something by experiencing conflicts in her/his life.
Novels, poems, and dramas are some examples of literary works that portray such personal life experiences. Novel is one of the literary works that sets up the readers to the situation which might happen in the real life. Novel consists of some elements to build the story, such as plot, character and characterization, setting, theme, and conflicts. Conflicts can make the story of the novel more interesting. Besides, we can gain the moral lessons and life experiences through conflicts.
4
most of his father actions and habits. He follows his father’s decisions for him although sometimes he realizes that his mother’s decisions are much better for him. Even, he sometimes feels that he betrays his father if he does something nicely to his own mother.
As he grows up, his father leaves the family without any reasons that Chick and his sister can understand. While the father is away, Chick’s mother tries hard to fill up the missing parts. She tries to make everything perfect for her beloved children. She tries to complete everything without letting the children know what actually happens and what their father has done to the family. Until one time in Chick’s adulthood when he is almost successful in living without his father’s presence anymore his father comes back into his life. He ruins Chick’s life by giving some difficult choices for Chick to choose. Once, Chick fails to make a good decision and because of it he is depressed. In that time, his father also leaves him and Chick has just realized that he has made a big mistake in his life. Those conflicts and events which happen to Chick influence his personal life.
This novel is interesting to discuss since the conflicts represented in the story are quite fundamental and might happen in everyone’s personal life. The conflicts in this novel also show the examples of parental love and relationship in the family.
B. Objectives of the Study
5
More Day. The second objective is to find out the influence of Chick Benetto’s intra personal conflicts on his personal life.
C. Problem Formulation
To analyze the novel, the study focuses on two problems: 1. How is Chick Benetto described in the story?
2. How do Chick Benetto’s intra-personal conflicts influence his personal life?
D. Benefits of the Study
Some benefits can be obtained from this study. There are three groups of people who can get benefits of this study. They are people in general, the students of English Department and the writer.
For the people in general, hopefully this study can enrich their knowledge on literature. Since the story is closely related to daily life and it can happen in any families, it is hoped that the people in general can gain the moral lessons and apply them in their daily life.
For the students of English Department, this study can be a guidance for those who want to conduct study on literature. It can provide examples of analyzing some aspects in a novel. It can also give them a reference to conduct teaching learning activities using a novel as one of the media.
6
the nove l especially family relationship which are beneficial and valuable in the real life.
E. Definition of Terms
This section deals with the important terms used in this study to avoid any misunderstanding when reading this study. The terms are described as fo llows:
1. Conflict
According to Redman’s A Second Book of Plays, conflict is defined as the struggle between two opposing forces, ideas, or beliefs, which is the basis of the plot. There are two kinds of conflict, external or inter-personal conflict and internal or intra-personal conflict (Redman 363). Conflicts always exist in human life since everyone has his/her own ideas, wants, and idealism.
2. Intra-personal Conflict
According to Redman’s A Second Book of Plays, internal or intra-personal conflict refers to a struggle within the heart and mind of the protagonist (Redman 363). In this study, intra-personal conflict refers to the conflicts faced by Chick Benetto whenever he meets and interacts with his father.
3. Parental Relationship
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, parental means relating to a parent or parents (841). Relationship is described as the state of being related by birth or marriage (986). Parental relationship in this study refers to the parents and son relationship.
7
According to Stanton’s An Introduction to Fiction, characters are individuals who appear in the story and to refer to the mixture of interest, desires, emotions and moral principles that makes up each of individual (Stanton 17). In this study, characters are the persons who play the role in the story.
5. Personal Life
8 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of two main parts. The first part is review of related theories which includes theory of character, characterization, critical approach, conflicts, family and family relationship. The second part is theoretical framework.
A. Review of Related Theories
This part includes the theories applied in conducting the study. The theories are the theory of character, characterization, critical approach, conflicts, family and family relationship.
1. Character
In this part, the definition of character and the kinds of character are discussed.
a. Definition of Character
9
According to Stanton’s in An Introduction to Fiction, characters are individuals who appear in the story and to refer to the mixture of interest, desires, emotions and moral principles that makes up each of individual (Stanton 17). While Forster’s in Aspects of the Novel, defines character as a number of word masses roughly description about himself which includes names and sex, plausible gestures, language and behavior (Forster 31).
b. Kinds of Character
Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, divides the characters into static and dynamic. A static character is a person who does not experience the changes throughout the story although he faces many problems in his life. He only makes little changes during his life. On the other hand, a dynamic character is a person who develops the character a lot through problems in his life (Perrine 71).
Henkle in Reading the Novel, divides character into two, major character and secondary character. A major character is the most important and complex character in the novel. Secondary characters are people in the novel who perform more limited function. Their role in the story is less complex and less interesting (Henkle 89).
10 2. Characterization
a. Meaning of Characterization
In a story, one character has a different personality from another. Even twins are not merely the same. There must be some particular personalities that can differentiate one from another. In a literary work, the way to understand each character better is through characterization. According to Redman’s A Second Book of Plays, characterization is the development of a character through what he says and does and through what other characters say about him (Redman 363). Through characterization, the author of a literary work uses some methods to portray the character in the story.
b. Methods of Characterization
According to Murphy in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students there are nine methods which can describe how an author conveys the characters and the personalities in the story so that the readers can understand them (161-173). They are as follows.
1) Personal Description
The author describes a person’s appearance and clothes. The readers can get the details image, for example the skin, hair, eyes, and face in an accurate description (Murphy 161).
2) Characters as seen by another character
11 3) Speech
The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character (Murphy 164).
4) Past life
By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life the author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person (Murphy 166).
5) Conversation of others
The author gives us clues to a person’s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him (Murphy 167).
6) Reactions
The author gives us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events (Murphy 168).
7) Direct Comment
The author describes or comments on a person’s character directly (Murphy 170).
8) Thought
12 9) Mannerism
The author describes a person’s mannerism, habits and idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character (Murphy 173).
By implementing those methods, it can help the readers to portray the characters in the novel as a real person. Therefore, the readers can have better insight in understanding the novel. In this study, not all of the methods are used to analyze the main character. It is adjusted to the need of the analysis. Since the character in this study mostly shows his characters through his habits and manners therefore only mannerism is used in this study.
3. Critical Approach
Reading and understanding the story of a novel offers some benefits for us. It can give us more knowledge, pleasure and also increase our imagination. Moreover we also have a good understand ing about the symbols and are able to gain the messages from the story. Therefore, to understand the story deeper, we need to analyze it from different point of views or different approaches. According to Rorhberger and Woods Jr in Reading and Writing about Literature (Rorhberger and Woods Jr 3), there are five approaches that can be used to analyze a work of literature.
13
understand the story better (Rorhberger and Woods 8). The third is the socio cultural historical approach, which investigates place, or society that is reflected in the literary work (Rorhberger and Woods 9). The fourth is the mythopoeic approach, which emphasizes the universal patterns of human behavior and thought underlying work (Rorhberger and Woods 11). The last is the psychological approach, which reflects life and representation of human motivation and behavior. This approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrates certain recurrent patterns, and brings us to analyze the novel from human being’s psychological point of view. Psychological approach analyzes a novel based on a theory of psychology. This analysis describes the character not only the appearance but deeper in the personality psychologically (Rorhberger and Woods 13).
This study concerns human motivation and behavior. Therefore, psychological approach is applied since it helps the writer analyze the character in the novel deeper through psychological point of view.
4. Conflicts
Since each person is different from another, conflicts always exist in human life. Each person in this world has a different way of thinking in facing a problem. Hence, in a relationship with others, a person might have some differences which can lead him to a certain conflict.
14
believes, which is the basis of plot. There are two kinds of conflict, external and internal conflict. External conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and an outside force, while internal conflict refers to struggle within the heart and mind of the protagonist (Redman 363). Redman suggests that we have to analyze the character’s attitude toward the problem and the situation in the story so that the conflict between the characters will be clearly identified (Redman viii). The problem in the story is often followed by some actions of the characters. The characters’ reaction toward the problem will indicate that conflicts are happening. Conflicts are resolved when the character succeeds or fails in defeating the opposing force.
In Understanding Social Psychology Worchel and Cooper define conflicts into interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts. Interpersonal conflict is a conflict between two or more persons (Worchel and Cooper 462). While intrapersonal conflict is a conflict experienced by an individual when s/he is making a choice between two or more alternatives (Worchel and Cooper 458). Lewin and Miller states that intrapersonal conflict can be classified into four types. They are approach, avoidance-avoidance, avoidance, and double approach-avoidance conflicts (qtd. in Worchel and Cooper 461).
The approach-approach conflict is the simplest type of intrapersonal conflict. It happens when the individual is motivated to approach two positive goals but can attain only one. For example, a child has to choose between toys or candies. Both of them are his favorite but he can only own one of them.
15
worker who must decide to continue the job that he does not like or loose the income to support his family.
The approach-avoidance conflict is a conflict which involves only one goal which has both attractive and unattractive qualities associa ted with it. The individual’s own desire to both obtain the goal and escape from it traps him in conflict. For example, a boy who has been taught by his parents not to smoke, but his friends are smokers and they influence him to smoke, he experiences the conflict whether to follow his friends or not.
The double approach-avoidance conflict is a conflict which involves a person in choosing between two goals, each of which has positive and negative aspects. For example, a college student has to choose whether to focus on the study or to have a side-job while finishing the study. In this case, the first goal is focusing on the study. The positive aspect is s/he can finish the study in the college on time while the negative aspect is by the time s/he finishes the study, s/he does not have any job experiences. The second goal is having a side-job while finishing the study. The positive aspect is when s/he finishes the study in the college s/he has already got job experiences which can support her/his career later on. The negative aspect is s/he might finish the study late since s/he has to divide the time to work and to study at the same time.
16 5. Family
This part presents the definition of family, kinds of family and conflicts in family.
a. Definition of Family
Family is a very well-known term among people. However, finding the precise definition of family is not easy. According to Cheal’s Sociology of Family Life, family is any group which consists of people in intimate relationships which are believed to endure over time and across generations (Cheal 4). Flandrin states that the definition of family is relative to the social and cultural environments of people who think about families and who talk about families, as they go about their daily lives (qtd. in Cheal 4).
17
this approach, Reiss and Wamboltd define family as a group of intimates who generate a sense of home and group identity, complete with strong ties of loyalty and emotion, and an experience of history and a future (Fitzpatrick and Noller 6).
b. Kinds of Family
The kinds of family can be differentiated into two main divisions, namely nuclear family and extended family. Cheal in Sociology of Family Life, defines nuclear family as a small group consisting of a wife and a husband who live together, as well as the children. While extended family is a large group containing more than one couple or more than one parent-child, whose members are linked by descend ties. Therefore, extended family typically involving three generations of family members (Cheal 159).
Miller in Family Communication, classifies eleven kinds of family structure based on the wide diversity of family structure (Miller 2). They are as follows.
1) The two-parents and natural children
This family consists of father, mother and their natural children. This is the traditional pattern of family which still makes up the greater percentage of family units today.
2) The blended
In this family, children live with two parents but only one of whom is their natural father or mother.
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This family only consists of husband and wife without any children. 4) Grandparents who take care of grandchildren
This family consists of grandparents who live with their grandchildren since the parents are unable to take care of their own children.
5) Single parents
In this family, children only live with the father or the mother. The most common reason of this condition is the death of a spouse.
6) The divorced, custodial parent
In this family, the divorced-parent has the main care of the children. 7) The divorced, non custodial parent
In this family, the divorced-parent has the care of the children only a minimal part of the time.
8) The unmarried mother and child
This family only consists of the unmarried mother and the child.
9) The unmarried, adoptive parent and child
This family consists of unmarried couple and adoptive child. The main reason of this condition is the couple decides not to get married but they want to take care of a child.
10)The widowed
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Since family members have a frequent and intense close contact, which can lead them to annoyance and irritability, conflict cannot be separated from family life. Conflict usually occurs when family members disagree about the events and situations in their family lives. According to Fitzpatrick and Noller in Communication in Family Relationship, there are three main aspects of conflicts in a family. They are kinds of conflict, causes of conflict, and family conflict resolution (Fitzpatrick and Noller 99).
1) Kinds of Conflict in Family
Generally, conflicts in families can be divided into content issues and relationship issues. In Communication in Family Relationship as cited by Fitzpatrick and Noller, it is described that less satisfied couples have more conflicts than the more satisfied couples do. In content issues, the conflicts commonly occur in the areas of finance, family members, concerns about health and fitness, feelings about relationship, religious beliefs, plan for the future, feelings about personal appearances, competences, and things that lead to anger or depression.
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While the nature of the relationship issues is about the relationship itself. It can be in the form of principle about the right in making up decisions for the family, the feeling of being loved more or less than the other members, and the sharing time with other family members. In a brief description, the issues are likely in the field of love, trust, autonomy, and openness (Fitzpatrick and Noller 102).
2) Causes of Conflict in Family
The causes of conflict in family life may be varied. Money, love, friendship, and choices are only some examples of issues which may lead family members into conflicts. Generally, conflicts exist because family members perceive a difference between them. This difference becomes problems and gives impact to some members of the family (Fitzpatrick and Noller 99).
3) Family Conflict Resolution
Blake and Mouton, Pruitt and Rubin, and Rusbult are some experts who have proposed their models of conflicts resolution. In this section, the model of conflicts resolution proposed by Blake and Mouton will be discussed further since they are more applicable in making crisis decisions related to faithfulness and loyalty to the family in every condition.
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concern for relationships above one’s own concerns and perhaps denying or ignoring those concerns in the interests of preventing open conflict and covering up differences. Solving is seen as balancing concerns for relationships with concern about one’s own interests. Schaap states that problem solving involves “the open and direct expression of feelings, exploring the causes of the conflict, clarifying misunderstandings and looking for a solution that is satisfying to both partners” (qtd. in Fitzpatrick and Noller 106).
6. Family Relationship
The quality of the relationship in the family determines the output of the family members. In this case, parents have a big role in leading the relationship, whether it can give good or bad effects to the family members, especially their children. Bishop states the proof from the observation in the personality patterns of college students that when parents reject, their adolescent children are reported to be glum, suspicious, timid, insecure, anxious, introverted and tense. When they are loving, their children become extroverted, warm, conscientious, composed and happy. When they are neglectful, their children become serious, retiring, aloof, and anxious (qtd. in Hurlock 352).
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is an absence of one parent due to divorce, death or any other causes, it can influence the relationship between the family members.
For instance, in Personality Development, Hurlock states that if the father’s absence is due to divorce or desertion, it will be a source of embarrassment. The father’s absence from home can psychologically damage the boys more than the girls, because of the lack of a source of masculine identification for the boys. This condition also brings effect to the mother. Since the leaving of the father creates extra burden of work and responsibility for the mother, she tends to compensate their loneliness by attaching themselves emotionally to their elder sons (Hurlock 377).
B. Theoretical Framework
In conducting the study, the writer uses some theories to analyze the novel. This section explains some theories used in this study and the reasons why those theories are needed in this study.
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24 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three parts namely object of the study, approaches and method of the study. Object of the study contains a brief description about the novel and the story. The approaches explain the approach used in this study. The last part, method of the study, explains the steps in conducting this study.
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is Mitch Albom’s novel entitled For One More Day. It was published in 2006 by Hyperion in American version and by Sphere in British version. It has 197 pages and is divided into 4 main chapters with some sub-chapters. Each sub-chapter conveys its own part as a set of the whole story. For One More Day is the third novel written by Mitch Albom, besides the other two novels.
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11, Chick begins to build his resentment to his father unknowingly. At the same time, his mother takes care of the family bravely. She gives her best to make her children happy. However, for some reasons, Chick remains unsatisfied with all of her efforts. He is even ashamed of his mother and resents his incomplete family. Chick spends much of his life chasing the elusive love of his father. However, decades later when his mother dies, Chick has just realized his big mistakes. His resentment turns to regret and haunts him for the rest of his life. It leads him to depression and alcoholism, which later ruins his life. He leaves his own family and one day he decides to take his own life. In his unconsciousness, he meets his mother and spends a day with her again. It changes everything.
B. Approaches of the Study
This study focuses on Chick’s intrapersonal conflicts which influence his personal life. Conflict is a part of psychological aspects. Thus, the psychological approach is applied in accordance to the topic of the study.
In addition, psychological approach reflects life and represents human motivation and behavior which is suitable to analyze the influence of intra-personal conflicts in someone’s personal life. This approach helps the writer to obtain deeper understanding and description of the character’s thought, motivation and behavior in the story.
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Some steps were employed in conducting this study. The first step was reading the novel For One More Daymany times to gain better understanding about the content of the story. While reading, some important notes of the story were taken for the analysis. The notes included each aspect of the story (setting, character, theme, plot, conflicts, and point of view). Afterward, two problems were formulated to be discussed further to analyze the intra-personal conflicts experienced by the main character.
The second step was trying to collect some references and theories related to the object of the study. Since the object of the study was a literary work, in form of novel, literature theories were applied. In this study, psychological references were also reviewed to gain more knowledge about family relationship. Besides, internet sources were also accessed to obtain some information related to this study.
27 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter presents the discussion of the answers formulated in the problem formulation. The discussion is divided into two parts. The first part is about the description of the main character, Chick Benetto. The second part discusses the intrapersonal conflict experienced by Chick Benetto.
A. The Description of Chick Benetto
According to Henkle in Reading the Novel, there are two kinds of characters; major character and secondary character. A major character is the most important and complex character in the novel, while a secondary character is a person in the novel who performs more limited function (Henkle 89). In Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, Chick Benetto is the major character. He takes an important role in the story. He becomes the center of attention in the story. Thus, we can say that Chick Benetto is the most important character because the whole story tells about his life experiences.
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He experiences some important changes in his lifetime. During his life, Chick is always in the middle of his father’s and his mother’s demand. Furthermore, he is always forced to choose and fulfill one of them. For instance, when he decides to focus on his study in the college based on his mother’s demand, his father comes back into his life and suddenly changes his mind about formal education. He drops out from school and tries to pursue his dream to be a professional baseball player.
Murphy in Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students proposes nine methods which can describe how an author conveys the characters and the personalities in the story so that the readers can understand them. They are personal description, characters as seen by others, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts and mannerism (Murphy 161-173). However, in this study only mannerism is applied since it suits to the need of the character’s analysis. Chick is described as:
1. Obedient
Chick is an obedient person. It can be seen from his manner. There are some evidences that show Chick’s obedience to his parents. Even since he is a kid, he is willing to do some unpleasant things which other kids will prefer not to. It can be seen from Chick’s manner and habits below.
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Generally, kids will prefer to do something which they like to do with their friends and they will choose the activities which may not hurt them. In contrary, Chick chooses to practice baseball although every hardball that his father throws always hurts him. Chick likes baseball just because his father loves baseball. He is also willing to play alone in the storeroom until evening only to wait for his father to ride home together (Albom 21). Common children do not like to play alone. They will be happier if they have a lot of friends to play with. However, although his father is not attentive to him, Chick still always stays in his father’s side. When his father asks him to set his career to be a baseball player, Chick also really wants to make it come true. His desire to accomplish his father’s demand can be seen from this quotation below.
He said I could make the major leagues one day if I had “a plan”, and if I “stuck to the plan.” And so, from the time I was seven years old, I scanned the newspaper for the box scores of my future employers. I kept a glove at my father’s liquor store in case he could steal a few minutes and throw to me in the parking lot. I even wore cleats to Sunday mass sometimes, because we left for American Legion game right after the final hymn. When they referred to the church as “God’s house”, I worried that the Lord did not appreciate my spikes digging into his floors. I tried standing on my toes once but my father whispered, “What the hell are you doing?” and I lowered myself quickly (Albom 31).
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Chick also believes in what his mother says. His mother concerns more to educational things. Since she does not have any good chances to continue her study further, she keeps on supporting Chick to have better education than she has. His mother always tells him that he is smart and being smart is a privilege. Thus, his mother asks him to read one book every week and every week Chick always goes to the library to choose one book that he likes and reads it (Albom 33). Chick always believes in what his parents tell him and he always tries to fulfill what his parents want him to do.
2. Selfish
Chick is a selfish person. It can be seen from his manner. Since he was a child, Chick wants to be a professional baseball player and he tries hard to pursue his dream. He practices hard, joins baseball clubs and competitions. Chick always seeks for opportunities in which he can develop his ability and career in playing baseball. Once he plays for The Pirates to replace the backup catcher and they successfully reach the World Series although they do not win the game (Albom 139).
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At the end, his daughter, Maria, is born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island without his presence to support his wife (Albom 141). This shows how Chick does not attentive enough to his wife. He is too busy with his ambition to chase his career in a baseball field. If he is not a selfish person, he should have thought about his wife’s condition. Moving from one country to other countries must be very tiring, especially for a pregnant woman who needs to have more time to rest.
Chick quits baseball not long after his daughter is born. He tries to find a coaching position but he never gets it. So, he works as a salesman but he cannot work at it. Then, Chick attempts to have his own business. He wants to have a sports bar. When he talks about his plan of having sports bar to his family, actua lly his wife and his mother do not really agree with him. However, Chick really insists on having it. From the quotation below, it can be seen how Chick defends his desire.
“But what do you know about running a restaurant?” my wife says. “It’s a sports bar, I say. We are sitting at our dining room table. My mother is there as well, playing peek-a-boo with little Maria. This is after I’ve quit baseball. A friend wants me to partner in a new business.
“But isn’t it hard to run a bar?” Catherine says. “Aren’t there things you have to know about?”
“He knows that stuff,” I say.
“What do you think, Mom?” Catherine asks.
My mother takes Maria’s hands and flops them up and down. “Would you have to work nights, Charley?”, she asks. “What?”
“Nights. Would you have to work nights?”
32 “It’s a lot of money,” Catherine says.
“If you don’t invest money, you can’t make money,” I say. Isn’t there something besides this?” Catherine says.
I exhale loudly. In truth, I don’t know what there is. When you play sports, you train yourself not to think too much about anything else. I can’t imagine myself behind a desk. This is a bar. I know about bars. I have already begun a reliance on alcohol as part of my daily existence and secretly there is appeal in having it so handy. Plus, the place has the word “sports” in it (Albom 162).
Actually, Chick wants to have his own sports bar because he likes drinking alcohol as it is a part of his daily routine last time and now he wants to have it as a part of his business to finance his life and family. His reasons to own a sports bar is mostly to satisfy his ego. Once Chick has his own plan, he will try to pursue it and ignore everything which is not included in his plan. Even though it is his own wife who is worried and is not certain enough with his plan or his mother who worries if his work later will require a lot of time while Chick still has a little daughter and a wife to take care of.
33 3. Ambitious
Chick is an ambitious person. If he wants something, he will struggle to get it. It can be seen from his manner. When he has finished playing for The Pirates in the World Series, he never stops practicing. Chick really wants to play in the World Series again, and he never stops although he gets an accident in his spring training which injures his knee in anterior, posterior and medial collateral ligaments. This following quotation shows how Chick really misses to have a bright career in baseball.
You see, I was more alive in those six weeks with the Pirates than I ever felt before or since. The spotlight had made me feel immortal. I missed the huge, carpeted locker room. I missed walking through airports with my teammates, feeling the eyes of the fans as we passed. I missed the crowds in those big stadiums, the flashbulbs, the roaring cheers – the majesty of the whole thing. I missed it bitterly… And so I clung to baseball long after I should have quit. I went from minor- league city to minor- league city, still believing, as athletes often do, that I would be the first to defy the aging process (Albom 141).
Chick still keeps his ambition although, as an athlete, he is not in his best condition anymore. He still looks for the opportunities by keeping on playing in some games.
34 4. Wishy-washy
People should have got self determination to achieve the goal in their life. People have to be well-determined once they have certain purpose. However, Chick is a person who has no self determination in his life. His goal always changes based on the one who has stronger influence in his life at that time (Albom 132). This characteristic can be seen from his manner. When his father is leaving, Chick’s mother has bigger influence on him. Chick goes to college and he gets good grades for the subjects. However, when his father suddenly comes back into his life, Chick drops out of college to play minor league baseball.
I dropped out to play minor league baseball, at my father’s suggestion and to my mother’s everlasting disappointment. I had been offered a spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization, to play winter ball and hopefully make their minor league roster. My father felt this was the right time. “You can’t get any better playing against college kids,” he said.
When I first mentioned the idea to my mother, she screamed, “Absolutely not!” It didn’t matter that baseball would pay me. It didn’t matter that the scouts thought I had potential – maybe enough to make it to the major leagues. “Absolutely not!” were her words.
And I absolutely ignored her.
I went to the registrar’s office, told them I was leaving, packed up a duffel bag, and split (Albom 131-132).
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That Chick is a wishy-washy person can be seen when Chick finally decides to go and join the Old Timer Game based on his father’s wish. Whereas, his father has left him after his baseball career fades. Chick also has started his new life by opening sports bar. Considering the things that his father has done to him, Chick can just refuse his father. Yet, he lets his father influence him again.
There are a lot of things I wished I’d asked him. Instead, I said I’d call him back. I hung up the phone. And I let the opportunity my father had “finagled” dance around my head… I tried to focus. I tired to wrap my mother’s birthday party around me. But my father, a thief in many ways, had robbed me of my concentration. Before the paper plates were tossed, I was down in the basement, on the phone, booking the last plane out (Albom 160).
If Chick has his own principal, he will not let his father influence him easily. He would have refused his father’s wish and continued his life peacefully. Moreover, his father never gives him any appreciation and affection to him, even his father has hurt him and family by leaving them. However, in fact, Chick decides to go to fulfill his father’s wish again. His father has succeeded in controlling Chick’s life again.
B. Chick Benetto’s Intrapersonal Conflicts
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character and an outside force and an internal conflict or intrapersonal conflict is a struggle in the heart and mind of major character (Redman 363).
Furthermore, in Understanding Social Psychology, Worchel and Cooper divide conflict into interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts. Interpersonal conflict is a conflict between two or more persons (Worchel and Cooper 462). On the other hand, intrapersonal conflict is a conflict experienced by an individual when making a choice between two or more alternatives (Worchel and Cooper 458).
In Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, the main character in the story, Chick Benetto, experiences conflicts throughout the story. Conflicts that he faces are mostly intrapersonal conflicts. Chick Benetto’s intrapersonal conflicts in the story are interesting to discuss because it represents conflicts that might happen in the real family life. Thus, we can learn the values and reflect them in our own life.
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sides, mother or father. It might cause an intrapersonal conflict when the children are forced to choose one of their parents whether they like it or not.
In Mitch Albom’s For One More Day, Chick Benetto, as the main character in the story, experiences intrapersonal conflict. As a son in a family, Chick longs for having an ideal role fulfillment of their parents. In other words, he needs to have both parents work together, cooperate well without asking him to choose one of them. In fact, the things that have happened in Chick’s family is not as he wishes. His father always forces him to choose whether he wants to be a daddy’s boy or mama’s boy, which means that if he chooses to be a daddy’s boy he has to stay by his daddy’s side and stands up for him every time and on the other way round. Since Chick chooses to be a daddy’s boy, he never has any chance to decide his own choices in his life. His father always haunts him with his ambition to make Chick follow his way as a professional baseball player and dictate Chick’s life whether Chick likes it or not. Considering his own choice to be a daddy’s boy, makes Chick always be under his father’s pressure. Analyzing the intrapersonal conflicts experienced by Chick, it can be concluded that the only categorized cause of his intrapersonal conflicts is because Chick never has his own choice in his life and it makes him depressed under his father’s pressure.
There are some events which show how Chick experiences his intrapersonal conflict when he has to choose to accomplish his father’s will or his own will. The further discussion is as follows.
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Since Chick has chosen to be a “daddy’s boy”, he tries to be consistent with his choice and its consequences. He always tries to make his father happy and proud of him and he always tries to avoid the things that his father does not like. His father and his mother always have different arguments in deciding anyt hing related to the family’s sake and it often puts Chick in conflict whether he has to follow his father’s opinion or his mother’s. Even in a small case like laughing when Chick listens to his mother singing, Chick feels it is like a betrayal to his father since his father does not participate in their actions.
This was when my dad was still in the picture. He’d be reading his newspaper and she would walk over to him and drum on his shoulder, singing “this could be the start of something big”, and, of course, he wouldn’t even look up. Then she’d come over to me and make like she was playing drumstick on my chest as she sang along. I wanted to laugh – especially when she said “fig” – but since my father wasn’t participating, laughter felt like a betrayal (Albom 46).
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wants him to do, even though Chick often does not enjoy it and it often makes him in conflict with his heart(Albom 33). To solve this conflict, Chick applies soothing. Blake and Mouton explain that soothing is putting concern for relationship above one’s own concerns and perhaps denying or ignoring those concerns in the interests of preventing open conflict and covering up differences (qtd. in Fitzpatrick and Noller 106). Here, Chick does not want to betray his father. Chick concerns more to his father. Thus, he tries not to laugh with his mother although he does it at last because he cannot stand when his mother tickles him.
2. Accepting his father’s return
His father leaves Chick without any reasons that he and his sister can understand. He leaves the family when Chick is eleven years old. After his father’s leaving, Chick loses the figure of his role model. He misses his father badly. He tries to swallow and receive the facts that his father has left and he will never come back again. However, after 8 years, his father comes back into his life and Chick can do nothing when he has his father in front of him. Whereas, during his father’s leaving, he always dreams of the situation in which he can meet his father, only both of them, doing the guy’s thing and having the guy’s talk.
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Chick’s imagination shows how he really misses his father’s presence. Even he tries to find his father’s figure by playing baseball because he can picture his father on the baseball field and in every movement that he makes. Until one day, his father comes back for real in Chick’s first college game, watching him playing in the front row of the seats so that he can monitor his form.
I will never forget that day. It was a windy afternoon and the sky was a gunmetal color, threatening rain. I walked to the plate. I don’t usually look at the seats, but for whatever reason, I did. And there he was. His hair was graying at the temples and his shoulders seemed smaller, his waist a bit wider, as if he had sunk down on himself, but otherwise, he looked the same. If he was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. I’m not sure I’d recognize my father’s “uncomfortable” look, anyhow.
He nodded at me. Everything seemed to freeze. Eight years. Eight whole years. I felt my lip tremble. I remember a voice in my head saying, Don’t you
dare, Chick. Don’t you cry, you bastard, don’t cry (Albom113).
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he will disregard his father’s rule that boy should never cry. On the contrary, if he tries to stay strong and tough, his father will never know how he feels to him and he will still have the burden inside his heart. The following quotation shows how he ends the conflict.
I looked at my feet. I forced them to move. I kept my eyes on them all the way into the batter’s box. And I smacked the first pitch over the left- field wall (Albom 113).
Chick chooses not to show his feeling to his father by pretending to stay strong and continue the game. Therefore, it can be concluded that Chick applies avoidance to solve the conflict. According to Blake and Mouton, avoidance is seen as lack of concern for either the self or the relationship and involves physically or emotionally retreating from the situation or being unwilling to talk about the situation (qtd. in Fitzpatrick and Noller 106).
3. Going back to the campus with his father
After Chick’s father leaves the family, Chick, his mother and his sister have to adjust their life with the new family formation. Sometimes the adjustment time causes misery, especially for Chick.
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bothered me more, being the son of this new word, or no longer being the son of the old ones (Albom 67).
Chick has to get accustomed to his new nickname “divorcee kid ” although he never likes to be called that way. Chick also has bigger responsibility to look after his mother and his sister since he is the only man left in the family.
Therefore, the first time Chick meets his father again, he has a mixture of feeling that haunts him since his father’s leaving. Chick misses his father but he also feels disappointed with him. Unfortunately, Chick cannot release his feeling to his father although he has met the father in the baseball field several times. After several games that Chick plays and his father’s presences in the game to watch him, his father finally waits him by the team bus and offers him a ride back to his campus. Chick experiences conflict at that time; it can be seen from this quotation.
These are the first words he says: “Ask your coach if I can drive you back to campus.” I could do anything at this moment. I could spit. I could tell him to go to hell. I could ignore him, the way he ignored us. I could say something about my mother (Albom 119).
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heart while the negative aspect is he cannot release his burden of what he feels about his father’s deed to his family. It means that he also ignores his family’s feeling if he treats his father nicely. The second choice, that is showing his father about what he truly feels, also has positive and negative aspects. The positive aspect is Chick can release his burden and get relieved from what he feels. The negative aspect is his father will ignore him again since he does not regard his father anymore. This following quotation shows how he ends the conflict.
Instead, I do what he asks me to do. I seek permission to skip the bus ride home. He is respecting the authority of my coach, I am respecting the authority of my father, and this is how the world makes sense, all of us behaving like men (Albom 119).
To solve this conflict, Chick applies avoidance as the conflict resolution. Blake and Mouton explain avoidance as lack of concern for either the self or the relationship and involves physically or emotionally retreating from the situation or being unwilling to talk about the situation (qtd. in Fitzpatrick and Noller 106). Thus, Chick chooses to avoid the goal that is revealing what he truly feels when his father leaves the family. Instead, he follows his father’s command and ignores his feeling again. Chick is willing to follow his father command because deep in his heart, he is afraid of loosing his father again, so Chick tries to get his father’s heart on him.
4. Continuing his study or playing baseball
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although he still has the passion to pursue his father’s. Playing baseball is his father’s passion while studying in the college is his mother’s passion. He keeps on changing the focus of his life between them.
So, year after year, I pulled on new team uniform – red socks, gray pants, blue tops, yellow caps – and each one felt like I was dressing for a visit. I split my adolescence between the pulpy smell of books, which was my mother’s passion, and the leathery smell of baseball gloves, which was my father’s (Albom 112).
Chick keeps on playing baseball because when he plays the game he can picture the father and it can cure him from his lost. However, he also wants to follow his mother’s wish because since his father has gone, his mother always tries to fill up the missing part with her love. He always stays between them and it makes him weak. He does not even have his own self-determination. Thus, when his father suddenly comes back into his life and asks him to focus on baseball again, he experiences interna l conflict whether he should continue his study in the college and make his mother proud of him or follow his father’s command.
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I nodded obediently. My mind was racing. “What about school?” He scratched his chin. “What about it?”. I flashed on my mother’s face, walking me through the library. I tried not to think about it. “The St. Louis Caaardinals,” my father drawled, long and slow. He ground his shoe into the grass. Then he actually grinned. I felt so proud I got goose bumps. He asked if I wanted a beer and I said yeah, and we went and had one together, as men do (Albom 123).
At that time, Chick feels that he will be able to obtain his father’s love again with his achievement in baseball, but he also thinks about his mother. Chick still regards his mother, so he calls his mother to tell her about his meeting with his father.
“Dad came to a game.” I was on the pay phone in the dorm. This was well after my father’s first visit, but it had taken me that long to find the courage to tell her. “Oh,” my mother finally said. “By himself,”I quickly added. For some reason, that seemed important. “Did you tell your sister?” “No.” Another long silence. “Don’t let anything affect your studying, Charley.” “I won’t.” “That’s the most important thing.” “I know.” “An education is everything, Charley. An education is how you’ll make something of yourself.” I kept waiting for more. I kept waiting for some horrible story about some horrible thing. I kept waiting the way the children of divorce wait, for evidence to tip my scales, a tilt in the floor that made me choose one side over the other (Albom 124).
