The major characters` conflicts and their inability to deal with the conflicts as seen in Williams` The Glass Menagerie - USD Repository

   

THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ CONFLICTS AND THEIR INABILITY TO DEAL WITH THE CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN

WILLIAMS’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

Irene Sulistyo Utami

Student Number: 044214050

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

2011

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THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ CONFLICTS AND THEIR INABILITY TO DEAL WITH THE CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN

WILLIAMS’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

Irene Sulistyo Utami

Student Number: 044214050

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

 

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Even a happy life, cannot be without a measure

of “darkness”,

and the word happiness would lose its meaning if

it were not balanced by ”sadness”

(Carl Jung)

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For my parents,

My loyal Sister

My loving husband

And my dear son,

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Irene Sulistyo Utami

Nomor mahasiswa : 044214050

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

THE MAJOR CHARACTERS’ CONFLICTS AND THEIR INABILITY TO DEAL WITH THE CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN

WILLIAMS’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Bersama perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal: 20 Oktober 2011

Yang menyatakan,

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would thank God for his blessed in my life and his chance to

make this work accomplish. He works a lot in my life, my savior.

I send my gratitude to my beloved parents, my husband, Robertus Troy,

and my son, Nicolaas Vincenc, for all their support, faith and their hope. For my

sister, Gabriela Niken Pratiwi, who always helps me whenever I need her. Their

love really gives me strength.

My gratitude is also directed to Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd.,M.Hum as my

advisor for her time, advice, guidance, and patience. She really encourages me

during the writing, and it means a lot. I would also like to say thank you to

Adventina Putranti S.S., M.Hum. as my co- advisor. Your advice, time and

encouragement are very valuable for me.

I thank all my friends in English Letters Department 2004 class for all the

experience they gave into my life. For Troy, Eka Shanti, Bendot, Minto, Deva,

Danny, Wawan, Adit, I’d like to say, finally we won the battle! It is really an

honor to know you all sincerely. For Bayu King, I would say thank you for his

time and help through the writing in the difficult times. I really appreciate your

kindness.

Irene Sulistyo Utami

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ………i

APPROVAL PAGE ………. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………iii

MOTTO PAGE ……… iv

DEDICATION PAGE ………. v

APPROVAL PRONOUNCEMENT PAGE OF THESIS PUBLICATION FOR ACADEMIC CONCERN………..………… vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….……… viii

ABSTRACT ………. x

ABSTRAK ……… xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……….. 1

A. Background of the Study ………. 1

B. Problem Formulation ……… 3

C. Objectives of the Study ……… 3

D. Definition of Terms ………. 4

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………. 5

A. Review of Related Studies ……… 5

B. Review of Related Theories ………. 6

1. Theories of Character and Characterization ………. 6

2. Theory of Conflict……… 11

C. Theoretical Framework ……… 17

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CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……….. 18

A. Object of the Study ………... 18

B. Approach of the Study ……… 18

C. Method of the Study ………. 20

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………..……… 21

A. The Analysis of Major’s Character 1. The Characterization of Amanda Wingfield……… 21

2. The Characterization of Laura Wingfield……… 24

3. The Characterization of Tom Wingfield……… 27

4. The Characterization of Jim O’Connor ……… 29

B. The Conflicts That Experienced by the Characters’ in the Play……… 30

C. The Characters Analysis of Their Inability to Deals with the Conflicts……… 38

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……….. 51

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………. 53

 

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ABSTRACT

IRENE SULISTYO UTAMI (2011). The Major Character’s Conflicts and Their Inability To Deal With The Conflicts As Seen In William’s The Glass MenagerieYogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

The Glass Menagerie that was written by Tennessee Williams is one among famous works of literature. Reading a literary work does not only give the reader amusement and enjoyment, but it also gives reader information and knowledge. After reading the play, the writer is interested in analyzing the major character’s conflicts and their inability to deal with the conflicts in their life.

To do the analysis, the writer formulates three problems. The first problem formulation deals with the characterization of each character, on their behavior in daily life. The second problem formulation deals with the conflict that experienced by the character in the play. The last problem formulation deals with each character’s inability to deal with the conflicts in their life. The objective of the study is to find out how the conflict that the characters experience in the play works on their inability to deal with the conflicts in their life.

In analyzing the play, the writer uses the library research method. In order to find the answers of the problem formulated the writer uses new criticisms approach because the focus of the writer’s analysis is the text without involving other extrinsic elements.

The result of the analysis is that all the characters are having their own characteristics that are shown in their attitude and behavior. The different characteristics of each person resulted in conflicts among them. Their poor living condition also becomes an important key, the financial problems make their life so miserable and live in desperation. The conflicts that they experiences in the play will give a clearer image about the difficulties they face in their life, because of the stress and tension in life, the characters are having their own way to deal with the conflicts, Laura with her glass menagerie, Tom with his movie routine, Amanda with his Blue Mountain stories, and Jim with his illusion of future.

 

 

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ABSTRAK

IRENE SULISTYO UTAMI (2011). The Major Character’s Conflicts and Their Inability To Deal With The Conflicts As Seen In William’s The Glass MenagerieYogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

The Glass Menagerie yang ditulis oleh Tennessee Williams adalah salah satu karya sastra yang terkenal. Menbaca sebuah karya sastra tidak hanya memberikan kesenangan dan kenikmatan, tetapi juga informasi dan pengetahuan. Setelah membaca The Glass Menagerie, penulis merasa tertarik untuk menganalisa konflik yang dialami oleh karakter tokoh utama dan juga ketidakmampuan mereka untuk mengatasi berbagai konflik dalam hidup mereka.

Untuk melakukan analisis, penulis mempunyai tiga permasalahan. Permasalahan pertama berhubungan dengan menganalisa karakteristik dari masing- masing karakter, pada perilaku mereka sehari-hari. Permasalahan kedua berhubungan dengan konflik yang dialami oleh masing- masing karakter dalam drama ini. Permasalahan terakhir berhubungan dengan ketidakmampuan para karakter dalam mengatasi berbagai konflik dalam hidup. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan bahwa konflik-konflik yang dialami oleh para karakter dalam drama ini berhubungan dengan ketidakmampuan mereka dalam mengatasi berbagai konflik.

Dalam menganalisis drama ini, penulis menggunakan metode penelitian pustaka untuk menjawab semua permasalahan dan menggunakan pendekatan New Criticsm karena fokus dari penelitian penulis adalah hanya dari teks, tanpa melibatkan unsuk ekstrinsik lainnya.

Hasil dari analisis adalah semua karater mampunyai karakteristik masing-masing, yang terlihat dari perilaku dan tindakan mereka. Perbedaan karakteristik tersebut menghasilkan konflik diantara mereka. Kehidupan mereka yang miskin juga menjadi kunci, permasalahan keuangan yang membuat hidup mereka menderita dan hidup dalam keputus asaan. Berbagai konflik yang ditemukan di dalam drama ini akan memberikan penggambaran yang lebih jelas akan kesulitan yang mereka alami, akibat tekanan dan stress, tiap karakter mempunyai cara mereka sendiri untuk mengatasi konflik dalam hidup mereka, Laura dengan ornamen kacanya, Tom dengan kegiatan menontonnya, Amanda dengan cerita Blue Mountain, dan Jim dengan ilusi masa depan.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.

Background of the Study

The word drama is derived from the Greek word dran. It means to do or to

act. Drama should be understood as a special way of imitating human’s behavior and

human’s events. Drama is like narrative in that it tells a story but on the other side

drama is unlike narrative in that it requires a performance (Barranger, 1994:5). In his

book The Book of the Play, Harold R. Walley explains that drama is a combination of

a form of literature and the art of theatre (Walley, 1950:3). Most literature is designed

for the printed page and private reading while drama is designed for the stage and

public exhibition. Furthermore, in his book Theory and Analysis of Drama, Manfred

Pfister explains that drama is an imitation of an action in speech, which involves

closed structures of time and space and a particular set of characters (Pfister, 1988:1).

The writer then concludes that drama is different from other works of literature, such

as prose, or poetry because that drama is written in dialogues. Reading drama is not

the same as reading other works of literature, in reading drama, the reader should be

able to create the mental picture of the dialogues and the setting in order to get the

complete meaning of the story.

Drama in America was widespread after prose and poetry. In the middle of

nineteenth century, a lot of prose and poetry were produced but not drama. After this

era the American writers started to write drama, especially after the World War I. The

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

second flowering of American drama was after the World War II. Tennessee William

and Arthur Miller primarily achieved it, they were the heirs of the 1930.

The American, Tennessee Williams, is admired for the theatricality of his

plays and for introducing literary, specifically poetic, devices into the theater. The

writer found in the Glass Menagerie particularly, he relies on the craft of modern

theater on such devices as lighting and sound techniques to enhance the effectiveness

of his themes, themes which are not difficult to recognize. Furthermore, in this play

Williams suggests that the family is the primary motivation for fantasy. Freedom

equals freedom from familial responsibilities; yet since each character either attempts

to achieve conventional family relations or obsessively to deny them, Williams

indicates that such freedom is at best a vain hope.

Conflict happens in our daily life, according to Georg Simmel, a sociologist,

popularized a latin proverb Sivis Vacem Para Belum which means in order to achieve

peace, they have to prepare themselves for a battle. People or society has to face

conflict in their process of development (Simmel, 2009:277). Reading the play, the

writer found that there are many aspects that very interesting in the play The Glass

Menagerie. There are the unique characters and the conflicts that happen every day in

their daily life. In the play, their inability to deal with the conflicts becomes main

focus. The characters in the play are Tom Wingfield, Amanda Wingfield, Laura

Wingfield and Jim O’Connor. Each character has their own problem, mainly their

problem is about their plans, and their dreams. Some of the characters, Amanda and

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is having problem with his life in present time and want to escape from his boring

routine. Laura Wingfield is having another problem, she is too scared with the life

outside her home, so she prefer to live in her world of imaginary.

B.

Problem Formulation

The focus of this study is on the characters and the conflict which are caused

by their inability to accept reality. The problems are formulated as follows:

1.

How are the major characters described in the play?

2.

What are conflicts experienced by the characters in the play?

3.

How do the characters’ inability to deal with the conflicts analyzed in the

play?

C.

Objectives of the study

This research deals with the characters and also conflicts among characters in

the play. Each character is facing conflicts in their life, and they are unable to deal

with the conflicts. This research is intended firstly to find out the description of each

character in the play. Second, the objective of the study is to find out the conflict that

experienced by each character in the play. Third, the objective of the study is to find

D.

Definition of Terms

Before discussing the thesis, the writer will clarify some important terms,

which need to be studied. The definitions below are very important for helping the

writer and the readers to understand the meaning of the title. The definition of conflict

according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary is an emotional state

characterized by indecision, restlessness, uncertainty, and tension resulting from

incompatible inner needs or drives of comparable intensity (Babcock, 1981: 477).

The second term is character which is defined in Webster’s Third New

International Dictionary as personality as represented or realized in fiction or drama

(Gove Babcock, 1981: 376).

The third term is reality. Reality means what actually exist, what has objective

existence, what is not a mere idea, what is not imaginary, fictitious, or pretended.

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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

In his book Irony and Distance inThe Glass Menagerie, Thomas L. King makes an important statement about Tom Wingfield. King examines that Tom is

the only character in this play; the other characters can posses no consciousness

because they are real. Indeed, Amanda, Laura, and the gentleman caller do not

appear in the play at all as separate characters. King states, adding that he does not

see the characters but Tom’s memory of them, Amanda and the rest are merely

aspects of Tom’s consciousness (King, 1987: 86).

In Tennessee Williams: A Portrait in Laughter and Lamentation, Harry Rasky uses extensive interviews with Williams to explore the author’s attention,

through these interviews, Rasky presents a glimpse of the life-world of the author

and the driving force behind the author’s creations. Rasky reports William as

saying:

I have always been more interested in creating a character that contains something crippled. I think nearly all of us have some kind defect, anyway, and I suppose I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge on hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person (Rasky, 1986: 134).

This statement supports the idea that Williams incorporates something

crippled into all major characters-another law positively attached to the play. In

Synthetic Mith, Esther Merle Jackson puts forward the idea that the Glass Menagerie is a schematic explication of modern life (Jackson, 1987: 26).

Wiliams’ uses memory as a reference point around which are clustered the

psychological, sociological, religious, and philosophical symbols he wishes to

present (Jackson, 1987: 27). Jackson states that in this play, the playwright stops

the movement of his progression of suffering and announces that the play, as yet

without a philosophical resolution is over (Jackson, 1987: 35).

In his play The Glass Menagerie, the writer found that Williams created each characters differently, altough they were family. The mother character,

Amanda, has totally different character contrasted with her daughter Laura. The

diference clearly seen from the habits, the attitude, also the the clothes. While the

character of Tom, is very pesimist, contrasted with the optimist character, Jim

O’Connor. Here,Williams want to show the reader about the family life, all the

problems that happens in the family that leads them into conflicting each other.

And the basic of the problem is because they can not accept the reality that makes

their life different from their dream and imagination.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character

When we read a play it means we read every dialogue spoken by each

character. From the dialogue we can identify the characters in a play. The first few

speeches made by the character or made about him give us important clues to his

nature. The dialogue also reveals the relationship of the characters to one another.

Abrams stated that characters are categorized into major character and minor

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she is the focus of the play from the beginning to the ending parts. The core of the

story is highlighted to this character experiences. Minor character is a character

that appears in a certain setting, just necessarily to become the background for the

major characters because they are not fully developed characters and their roles in

a story are just to support the development of the major character (1981: 20).

Characters also can be divided into two, based on the internal complexities

they are described as flat character and round character. A flat character is

presented without much individualizing detail, and therefore can be adequately

described in a single phrase or sentence. It also can be a single idea or quality. A

round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is presented with

subtle particularity. He is as different to describe with any adequacy as a person in

real life is and like most people, he is capable or surprising us (Abrams, 1981: 20).

It makes flat character not fully developed. Round characters are complex and

many sided in their temperament so that the characters have much proportion for

their development.

In a story, a character either may remain stable or undergo changes in his

outlook and disposition through a gradual development. Perrine (1974: 71)

classifies fictional characters into static character and developing characters.

Static character are characters who do not undergo any changes in their outlooks

or personalities during the course of the story. They remain stable and are the

same person at the end of the story as at the beginning. They are described

without much detail and they are not changed by circumstances. In contrast with

static character, developing or dynamic character undergo changes in some aspect

of their characters, personalities or outlooks from the beginning to the end of the

story. The change could be for better or for worse, may be a large or a small one.

2. Theory of Characterization.

Holman and Harmon explain that characterization is the creation of the

imaginary personages who exist for the readers as lifelike (1986: 81). It can be

assume here that both character and characterization are related to each other.

They also explain the method of characterization:

a. the explicit presentation by the author about the character through

direct exposition. The characters can be placed in introductory.

b. The presentation of the character in action can provide a possibility

for the readers to deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions.

c. The presentation from within a character can drive the reader to a

clear understanding of the significance of the character.

Murphy (1972: 161-173), states that there are nine ways in which author

attemps to make his characters understandable and alive for the readers. Those

are:

a. Personal description

The author can describe a characters appearance like the face, body, and

clothes of the character. The personal description is very important

because it give clues to the character.

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Instead of describing a character directly,the author can depict him

through the eyes and opinion of another.

c. Speech

The author can give some clues or insights to the character through what a

person says. Whenever he is in a conversation with another and whenever

he speaks and put forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his

character.

d. Past life

By permiting the readers learn something about people past life, the

author can gives us some clues to the events that have helped to shape a

person character.

e. Conversation of others

The author can also give the reader some clues to the character of a person

through the conversation of other people and the thing they say about him.

f. Reaction

The author can also give the reader some clues to a character by

permitting us to know how that person reacts to various situations and

events.

g. Direct comment

The author can gives the reader direct knowledge of what a person is

thinking about. What is in the person mind and what he feels reflect on his

character.

h. Thought

The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking

about.

i. Mannerism.

The author can depict a person mannerism or habits, which may tell us as

the reader, something about his character.

Character deals with charcterization since characterization is the act , the

process, or the result of characterizing. As stated by Holman and Harmon,

in fiction including drama, short stories, novel, and narrative poem, the author reveals the characters of imagery persons and creation of this imagery person so they exist for the reader as lifelike is called characterization (1986: 81).

In Writing With a Purpose, Trimmer says that the method by which an author creates, reveals and develops changes is called characterization. An author

may describe characters directly, telling the reader what people look like , how

they behave and what they think, or an author may reveal character indirectly ,

suggesting their appearance, personality and values through their words and deeds

of other (1992: 335).

The theories above state that there are two ways in characterizing. Barnet,

Berman and Burton also write that author has two ways in characterizing his

imagery person in a work of literature. The first way is direct. It means that the

author directly tells the reader about the characteristics of the character it could be

the face, physical appearence, gesture, or clothing. The author states or describes

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dramatic. It means that the reader should conclude the character’s characteristics

from what other characters says about the character and what they do (1988: 712).

3. Theory of Conflict

Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, state that conflict is the struggle that occurs between the protagonist and antagonist, fate or

environment, or within the protagonist or with the conflicting value system. It is

also called complication (1971: 180).

In the plot of a story, conflict has become an important element (Stanton,

1965: 16). The conflicts come from two sides, inside and outside the characters.

The internal conflict happens when there are conflicting ideas within the

characters, while the external conflict appears when there is a different action or

idea between the character themselves or between the characters and their

environment such as society, culture, and the physical appearance of place, or

even between the environment themselves.

Robert and Jacobs describe conflict as the opposition between two

characters. It may also exist between larger groups of people, although in fiction

conflicts between individuals are easier to identify and more interesting. Conflict

may also exist between an individual and larger forces such as natural objects,

ideas and modes of behaviour, or public opinion. The existence of difficult

choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented as conflict (1987: 88).

According to Perrine (1974: 44) conflict in a literary work may consist of

one conflict that is stated clearly and the reader can easily identify the conflict. It

may also consist of multi conflicts or more than one conflict that are difficult to be

understood by the reader. To understand multi conflicts the reader should analize

the conflict one by one.

As people in the real world, characters in the imaginary world may also

face conflict. The conflict, that is the clash of two opposing forces, may occur

within the characters themselves or with the characters surrounding such as the

other characters and their society. Alike the living person they should solve the

conflict that will give the reader interesting circumstances. The conflict will give

suspense toward the reader which makes the story more interesting to be read.

a. Causes of Conflict

Conflict situations are rarely clear-cut, or single source events. Usually,

they are a combination of the factors. Here are lists of the factors:

1. Every individual has their own faith and trust.

When someone is put faith and trust to other, and then those things are

broken, it can create an emotional response that leads into conflict.

2. There is unresolved disagreement

Disagreement are normally happens in life. When they are left unresolved,

the feelings and emotions will remain in force. When another situation brings the

disagreement back, these supressed emotions can errupt with force, usually far in

excess of those associated with the original disagreement. Therefore, it is really

important to resolve the disagreements as soon as possible and not let them not

fester.

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The ability to communicate is one of most commonly used skills. Many

times people give instructions to someone who have those instruction

misinterpreted. It happens because the words we use to communicate do not

always clearly state the picture in our minds. When this is happen, the result often

leads to frustation and the error will leads to conflict if there are no one willing to

take the responsibility.

4. Personality clashes

Everybody were all born different to each other. The personalities that one

has are genetically determined resulting in different sets of preffered behaviors.

This natural differences can be the strenghts as individual or team, but also can be

the source of conflict.

5. There are differences in determining values.

From the moment human are born, man begin determining our value

system. the values are the beliefs human hold that help them to make decisions

about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and normal or not normal. the values

come from parents, siblings, friends, mentors, teachers, books, movies, television,

and from other source of life in general. No two people ever have the same life

experience, so there should be different sets of values and beliefs that guide one

decisions and behavior. People struggle over religion, politics, race, humanitarian

issues, ethics and morals, and more. In extreme cases, some people will, literally,

die for their beliefs. So this value system is a strong driver of behavior and a

frequent source of conflict in human lives.

6. There is stress and tension

Life spends lots of people time and energy. But so often, the needs exceed

people capacity to deal with them. So, people have to understand that a person

angered response to someone may have nothing to do with those person at all.

They may simply be reflecting other stresses in their lives. Knowing this makes it

easier to respond in a more tempered, appropriate, and responsible manner. If

people don't understand this important principle, they may react to their anger

with similar anger, elevating the situation to one of conflict.

7.Ego problems

Ego is a strong driver of one behavior and decisions. Ego wants people to be

right and moves into defending the position, sometimes unreasonably.

b. Types of conflict

In literature, conflict is divided into two types. The inner or internal conflict

and external conflict.

1. Internal Conflict.

Internal conflict refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind

of the protagonist (Redman, 1962: 363). This conflict usually does not show any

physical struggle. Inner conflict always confronted the characters’ thought with

his feeling, as stated by Holman and Harmon, inner conflict always puts “tow

elements within the person” (1986: 107). Internal conflict also defines as a

struggle that takes place in a character's mind. For example, a character may have

to decide between right and wrong or between two solutions to a problem.

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2. External Conflict

External conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and a outside

force (Redman, 1964: 363). This conflict usually shows physical struggles

between the protagonist and his opponents. According to the book A Handbook to Literature, external conflict can be divided into four types according to the protagonist’s struggle. The first is a struggle against nature. This conflict presents

the protagonist in dealing with forces, for examples are hurricane, flood,

earthquake, wild beast, etc. The second is a struggle against another person,

usually the antagonist. This conflict involves a struggle between the protagonist

and another character as an antagonist. Usually it occurs when the same

motivation or goal does not exist. They cannot reach the agreement to solve the

problems because each person keeps on their own way. Third is the struggle

against society. In this case, the protagonist may be in conflict with a society

value system. He or she has a personal belief against the group agreement,

therefore, he or she will provide a suspense or tension with the group or society.

When someone does something against the social value where he lives, he will

also lead to conflict with his society. The last is a struggle against fate or destiny.

This conflict presents the protagonist effort in dealing with the greatest force or

his creator. It is often conflicting moral value desire that people can build or

change his own destiny or fate. In a plot sometimes we can find more than one

conflict. For example is the conflict in Hamlet, “Hamlet does not only have a

conflict within his heart and mind, but also has a conflict with his uncle as the

antagonist” (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 108).

c. The Meaning of Conflict

Conflict does not only show the struggle of protagonist against someone or

something, but also shows some motivations and aim that wants to be achieved

(Holman and Harmon, 1986: 108). Moreover, this conflict also implies a theme

that the author wants to convey. Based on the book An Introduction to Fiction , Stanton says that conflict may help the readers to know the central idea or the

theme of the story (1965: 17)

To analyze the conflict, certain basic human relationship which is

important in the playwright is also needed to explore as stated in the book How to Analyzed Drama, some of the common themes are the man and nature, man and society, universal theme of an abstract nature, and family relationship.

The relationship between man and nature are the most commonly explored

in the playwrights. Often the playwrights are considered the nature a hostile or

destructive force and man is seen unable to cope with an oppressive environment.

For example, in the Riders to the Sea, there is a strong accusation of the sea where there are many people have been killed by drowning. And Synge implies that by

living on an island off the coast, man will place himself a position where he can

be ruined by the sea. Many plays address themselves to the nature of the

relationship between man and society. For example man always has, presently

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action. In the eighteenth century play She Stoops to Conquer, Goldsmith’s central attitudes are that his society is presently too absorbed in vanity and affectation.

Goldsmith’s supplements the plot by continuous direct statement against the

social foibles of “the age” making it explicitly a play about man and

contemporary society.

There are many plays that focused at the common human relationship,

particularly those between members of a particular family. However, there are

also some themes which only concern themselves with very special relationships

between the members of the special family, which is not easily discoverable as in

the relationships between the ordinary families. For example in Ibsen’s Ghosts

which is concerned with a very private kind of family relationship, that the sins of

the father are almost literally inherited by the son.

C.Theoretical Framework

This thesis is focused on the characters and conflicts analysis and their

inability to deal with the conflicts in their life. In order to do the analyzing,

some theories, data and information will be needed. Since this thesis deals

with character analysis, the theory of characters is needed to answer the first

question about the major characters description in the Glass Menagerie. Then, the second theory that needed is the theory of conflict, to answer the second

question about the conflict that happen among the character. Then, the last

question will be answered by using the theory of characters, and theory of

conflict.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A.Object of the Study

The object of the study in this thesis is the Glass Menagerie, an American play written by Tennessee Williams. It was published by Penguin Books Ltd. in

1959 with 86 pages in Harmondswooth, Middlesex, England. This play is divided

into two parts. The first part is The Preparation for a Gentleman Callers and the

second part is The Gentleman Calls. There are four character in the play. Amanda

Wingfield, as the mother. Laura Wingfield, as the crippled sister. Tom Wingfield,

as the son, and the Gentleman Caller, Jim O Connor. The Glass Menagerie is the William’s first successful play. It won the New York Critics Circle at the best

play of the 1944-1945 Broadway Season.

B. Approach of the Study

To analyze the play, New Criticism is used. This approach is considered to

be appropriate to apply in analyzing the characters and conflict. Every characters

has their own personalities and their own conflict. To find out the characters and

the conflict that come from their inability to accept reality, New Criticism

approach is applied to reach a deep research upon the play.

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that New Criticism thought that the aesthetic values of the piece is lost in focusing

attention on peripheral matters, they sought to put an emphasis where they believe

it belonged, on the literary object itself and its aesthetic meanings (1971: 70).

Abrams also states that in analyzing and evaluating a particular work, New

Criticism avoids reference to the biography of the author, to the social conditions

at that time of its production, or its physicological and moral effects on the reader,

it also tends to minimize recourse to the place of the work in the history of literary

forms and subject matter. He also says that the emphasis of this critism is on the

organic unity of overall structure and verbal meanings (1971: 247).

The New Criticism is the most appropriate to use in this thesis because

New Criticism only focused on the literary object itself and its aesthetic meanings.

The writer can emphasize and explore the words and verbal meanings of the play

without considering the external world such as the historical background, the

setting or the author’s idea. This approach will only examine the literary work

without reference to the author’s life, to the literary genre, and without reference

to the social environment. By using this approach, the major characters can be

analyzed by viewing their behaviour, life situation, past experience, thoughts, and

words . New Criticism also suitable to use for analyzing the conflicts they face in

their life and their inability in deal with the conflicts.

   

C.Method of the Study

In the methodology of doing the research of the characters and their

conflict in the Glass Menagerie, the data were collected from a primary source and some references. The primary source was the play itself, a play written by

Tennessee William the Glass Menagerie which was published in 1959. For the references, the writer used literary reference books such as Rohrberger’s Reading and Writing about Literature, Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms,

Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense and also some information taken from the internet, or studies about the play. To analyze the data, new criticsm

approach was applied. Therefore some studies on the intrinsic elements mainly the

characters and conflict were also conducted. The writer took certain steps in

analyzing the topic. First, the writer read Williams’ the Glass Menagerie and found to explore the characters and their conflict in this play will be interesting.

Second, the writer formulated problem formulations to establish the topic for

analysis. Third, the writer looked for some literary books to find the data that

applicable in analyzing this thesis. The writer also does some searches in the

internet to find information that supports the analysis. Fourth, the writer

formulated all the data and information that need to be analyzed and answer the

problems the writer has formulated before. Finally, the last step was to write the

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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part presents the character

description. The second part is the discussion on conflicts found in the play and

the last part is to analyze the inability of the characters to deal with the conflicts.

A.The Analysis of The Major Character

The character description will help the writer comprehend their manner,

thought, action, and appearance that this character interact to another character

which may cause conflict. Here the writer will provide the information about the

main character of the play. There are four major characters in the play. The first

one is Amanda Wingfield, the mother. The second is Laura Wingfield, the

daughter. The third is Tom Wingfield, the son. The last one is the Gentleman

Caller, Jim O’Connor.

1. The Characterization of Amanda Wingfield

In Writing with a Purpose, Trimmer says that the method by which an author creates, reveals and develops changes is called characterization. An author

may describe characters directly, telling the reader what people look like, how

they behave and what they think, or an author may reveal character indirectly,

suggesting their appearance, personality and values through their words and deeds

of other (1992: 335).

   

The story begins with the apartment situation in the morning when the

family is about to have breakfast, Amanda calls Tom to come to the table, and

they can not have grace before he joins them. Then when Tom is comes, she tells

Tom how to eat, he should chew and he should not push the meals with his

fingers.

AMANDA. Honey, don’t push with your fingers. If you have to push ith something , the thing to push with is a crust of bread. And chew-chew!(236)

From Amanda’s behaviour and her words to teach Tom the manner of

eating, it can obviously see that Amanda is very dominant in the family, she is a

typicaly woman who always wants someone to do what she wants. She does not

understand why Tom is angry when she tells him to chew the food. Tom then

prefers to rises from the table and he goes outside to smoke, Amanda does not let

him. She does not want her son to smoke. The domination is continuous when

Amanda takes Tom’s book. She does it because she thinks that the book is not

worth to read by her children. For her, what is good for her is also good for her

children, and if she thinks that something is not good, she will not allow her

children to do so.

Amanda is a caring mother, she always takes care of children. She wakes

up every six o’clock in the morning, she makes coffee and cooks for the family.

She really cares about her children’s health, for example when she offers Tom to

drink coffee in the morning, she asks Tom to add cream, to cool the coffee. She

says that drinking liquid that is too hot will make cancer of the stomach. She also

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work in empty stomach will not good to his health, if he eats, she believes that

Tom will be better at work. Another statement that shows her caring is when she

asks Tom to put the muffler before he goes to work, because the season is winter,

she wants her children to keep themselves warm outside. Amanda also cares about

Laura, when she finds out that Laura deceives her that she walks in the park

instead of going to study, she is mad at Laura because Laura only uses a light coat

and Amanda is afraid that her daughter will catch pneumonia if she stays outside

for hours in the cold. Amanda loves her children so much. Amanda is afraid that

Tom will be a drunkard, she is also afraid of Tom’s habit to go to the movies

every night, and comes home in the morning in terrible condition. She does not

want her children, especially Tom to be a drunkard like his father because she

understands that when Tom becomes a drunkard his life will be in danger.

Amanda always takes care of her appearance and also her children’s

appearance. For her the appearance is important, for example: Amanda asks Tom

to comb his hair, she wants him to look neat. She also tells Laura not to do

anything to help her with the domestic work, such as cleaning the dishes, so Laura

can stay fresh and pretty for the gentleman caller that Amanda always expect to

come. When Amanda wants to go to the Daughter of Americans Revolution

meeting she always uses the full dress outfit, one of those cheap or imitation

velvety looking cloth coats with imitation fur collar. Her hat is five or six years

old, one of those dreadful cloche hats that were worn in the late twenties and she

is clasping an enormous black patent leather pocketbook with claps and initials.

   

She cannot afford to buy herself a new dress, so she always wears this outfit to the

meeting.

Amanda is a hard worker. Her husband is left nothing but a phonograph

records and she have to afford her children needs by herself. So she works in

Famous and Barr, and later she works in The Home Maker’s Companion, where

she does lots of campaign through telephone to find subscribers for the magazine.

She does the job from home, so she still can do the domestic work. Sometimes the

one she calls is just ignore her and hung up the phone, but she never give up, she

will call another number.

Amanda is charming. Her charm makes people love her. She knows many

people, once in Blue Mountain when she was young, she was terribly popular, and

now she still communicate with friends, she joins the Daughter of Americans

Revolution and attends every meeting. She knows how to create conversation,

even with someone she just knew like Jim. She can talk, and impress Jim with her

charm. Jim says that Amanda shows him the Southern hospitality, the place where

Amanda was born and grew up. Her charm and hospitality toward people is so

different with her children. Both Laura and Tom seems to exclude themselves

from the world, they both have their own world, Tom with his movies routine and

Laura with her glass menagerie.

2. The Characterization of Laura Wingfield

Barnet, Berman and Burton also write that author has two ways in

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means that the author directly tells the reader about the characteristics of the

character it could be the face, physical appearence, gesture, or clothing. The

author states or describes the characteristics of the character within a sentence.

The second way is the dramatic. It means that the reader should conclude the

character characteristics from what other characters says about the character and

what they do (1988: 712).

Laura is described as an extremely shy person. Her shyness is emphasized

even more by being contrasted with her mother’s gayness. There are many

moments that show Laura shyness. For example, from this conversation between

Amanda and Laura:

AMANDA: Walking? Walking in winter? Deliberately courting pneumonia in that light coat? where did you walk to Laura?

LAURA: all sorts of places- mostly in the park AMANDA: even after you’d started that cold?

LAURA: it was the lesser of two evils, mother. I couldn’t go back up. I threw up-on the floor!

Laura prefers to walk in the park, in the winter, while she just wears a

light coat, rather than goes to her college. She is so shy, that when her teacher

gives a speed test, she is so nervous and cannot hit the right key, and finally throw

up on the floor. She is so ashame with that accident and never attends the school

anymore. She is terribly shy, she does not speak to anyone but Tom and her

mother. Her mother once also takes her to the Young League at the church so

Laura can meet new people and having friends, but it was fail, Laura speaks to

nobody and no one speaks to her.

   

Laura is a perceptive character, noticing things about her mother and

brother that others miss. One day she is crying and her mother ask her what

happens. Laura is crying because she thinks that Tom is not happy living with

them. She believes that Tom goes every night to the movies to run away from

their home, she also hear every fight between her mother and Tom, and she knows

that everyone is not happy.

AMANDA. you know how Laura is. So quiet but still water runs deep! She notices things and I think she- broods about them. A few days ago I came in and she was crying

TOM. what about? AMANDA. you. TOM. me?

AMANDA. she has an idea that you’re not happy here, (Williams, 1959: 259)

Laura has a slight physical defect, but she magnifies this limp until it

affects her entire personality. Laura oversensitive nature makes her think that

everyone notices her limp, and it becomes a huge stumbling block to normal

living for her. She herself that think she cannot live like anyone else because she

is not in the same quality compares to them.

LAURA: …I had that brace on my leg- it clumped so loud! JIM: I never heard any clumping.

LAURA: to me it sounded like-thunder!

JIM: well, well, well, I never even noticed.(Williams, 1959: 294)

Laura’s over sensitiveness about her limp makes her believe that she is so

different from other people, and that other people are annoyed by her defect.

Actually, like what Jim say, Laura is being self conscious, no one ever notices her

defect as something big and bad, but herself. Laura also has a very low of self

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high school, as stated by Jim, she is sort of stuck by herself. She could not makes

friends, or socialize with other people, she is too shy and does not let anyone into

his life. The limp then becomes the symbol of Laura’s inner nature. As Tom says,

it is not just Laura being crippled that makes her different, but she is just different

in the mind. That is the reason why she chooses to live in a world of old

phonograph records and glass animals.

Though Laura seems to be a weak character, at the end she becomes

strong. Jim gives her advises and Laura then realized that she is unique and there

is nothing to shame about his difference. Jim treats her so nicely, even Jim kisses

her and that means so much to Laura. Jim is her crush in high school, and has Jim

says that she is pretty and kisses her, makes her starts to fall in love again, and she

thinks Jim feels the same way too. But then Jim says the truth that he was engaged

with Betty, it is like her heart is breaking to pieces, she is trembling but she does

not want Jim to see it. Even though her heart is in pain, she could handle her

feeling so well. This even shows that Laura now is stronger than she used to be.

3. The characterization of Tom Wingfield

Tom has two double role in The Glass Menagerie, first as a character who retells the audiences about his memories in the play, Tom is also a character who

acts in those memory play. Tom is a stubborn person, if Amanda gives him

advice, he never listens to her

TOM: I’m going to smoke

AMANDA: you smoke too much. A pack a day at fifteen cents a pack. How much would that amount to in a month? Thirty times fifteen is how much Tom? Figure it out and you will be astounded at what you could

   

save. Enough to give you a night school course in accounting at Washington U! just think what a wonderful thing that would be for you, Son!

TOM: I’d rather smoke (Williams, 1959: 264)

Tom loves art, he writes poems when he gets free time in the warehouse,

Jim, his friend at the warehouse knows his habits and calls him Shakespeare.

Later in the story Tom is fired from his job because he writes poem on the lid of

the shoebox.

When Tom is bored with the movies, and he thinks that he should move

from his boring life and start his adventure, he joins the Union of Merchant

Seaman. He uses the light payment to join as a member of the Union of Merchant

Seaman. It is shown his selfishness, because he does not care what will be happen

to his mother and sister if the government cut off the electricity in their house.

Tom statement that his is like his father shown that he does not want to feel guilty,

instead of thinking about his responsibility toward his family, he blame his father

for leaving the family.

TOM: I paid my dues this month, instead of the light bill. JIM: you will regret it when they turn the lights off. TOM: I won’t be here

JIM: how about your mother?

TOM: I’m like my father. The bastard son of a bastard! See how he grins? and he’s been absent going on sixteen years! (Williams, 1959: 283)

He is temperamental, when he is mad or when he quarrells with his

mother, he shouts and he throws the chair, he also breaks Laura’s glass menagerie,

though it is happens incidentally, he does not say sorry to Laura. Tom is impatient

to his mother because his mother always commands everything, from how to eat,

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cream in the coffee. He cannot stand about her mother comment, and refuse to do

her command, so every time they start quarrels, he will go.

Although Tom looks tough, and his temperamental behavior makes him

look strong, deep inside his heart, he is care about his family. So when Amanda

said that Laura cries because of him, he feels guilty. He does what his mother

asking for, a gentleman for Laura, he brings Jim, his friend at the warehouse to

home.

4. The Characterization of Jim O’Connor

Holman and Harmon explain that characterization is the creation of the

imaginary personages who exist for the readers as lifelike (1986: 81). Jim is the

character that represents the world outside the Wingfield world. He is ordinary, a

clerk that earns twenty dollars more than Tom.

Jim is so nice toward Laura and Amanda, he enjoys the way Amanda

treated him as guess. He knows that Amanda has prepares everything, seen from

the dress that Amanda wears, which seems unusual for a woman at her age

looking so girly.

Jim is very communicative. He can have conversation with Laura, since

Laura is too shy, he can make Laura feel comfortable and talk a lot with him. He

also response to Amanda jokes and listen to her when she talk about her youth

days in the Blue mountain.

He has a high self esteem. When in high school, Jim is so popular, it

makes him feel confident in everything. Tom said that he is a star in basketball,

   

captain of debating club, president of the senior class and the glee club and he

sang the male lead in the annual light operas.

Jim is also an optimistic person, he believes his future will be much better.

He knows that his job as a clerk in a shoe warehouse does not suit his personality

and his ability. So he takes a night school in radio engineering and also public

speaking. He said to Laura that his courses are helping him in self improvement.

Another characteristics of Jim is he is a bit conceit. He says all his good

achievement with pride, especially about his glorious past to Laura, he knows

very well that Laura is admire him, so he wants to look good for her. He also says

that a friend of his says that he can analyze people better than doctors that make a

profession on it. It shows that he is likely to be praised, to show his ability.

He is wise, especially when Jim has conversations with Laura, and he tells

her how to be more confident and not to be shame with her slight different.

JIM. People are not so dreadful when you know them. That’s what you have to remember! And everybody has problem, not just you, but practically everybody has got some problems..(Williams: 1959: 295)

From the conversation, Jim stated that Laura is not the only one who got

problem. Jim wisely says that people are not so scary to be friend with. He seems

knows every detail of Laura, about her problem in life and Jim, although he is

younger than Laura, but he can give advice to her.

B. The Conflicts Experienced by The Characters In the Play

Robert and Jacobs describe conflict as the opposition between two

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conflicts between individuals are easier to identify and more interesting. Conflict

may also exist between an individual and larger forces such as natural objects,

ideas and modes of behaviour, or public opinion. The existence of difficult

choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented as conflict (1987: 88).

There are two types of conflict, the external conflict and internal conflict. The

external conflict will be analyzed since there are no internal conflicts found in the

play.

There are many conflicts that happen between Amanda and Tom. The

conflicts sometimes arise from a small thing that becomes big because both

Amanda and Tom are selfish, stubborn and impatient. From the beginning of the

first scene, the play begins with the quarrel of Amanda and Tom when they have

breakfast.

AMANDA: honey, don’t push with your fingers. If you have to push with something, the thing to push with is a crust of bread. And chew-chew! ...so chew your food and give your salivary glands a chance to function!

TOM: I haven’t enjoyed one bite of this dinner because of your constant directions on how to eat it. It’s you that makes me rush through meals with your hawk-like attention to every bite I take. Sickening- spoils my appetite- all this discussion of-animals’ secretion-salivary glands-mastication! (Williams, 1959: 236)

Amanda wants Tom to eat slowly so that he can taste and give

appreciation to the food. She just wants her children not to rush on eating their

food. But for Tom, Amanda spoils his appetite and makes him rush through meals

by her directions on how to eat the food. Then Tom ends his breakfast and goes

outside, Amanda does not excuse him from the table. Tom said that he wants to

smoke, and again Amanda tells Tom that he smokes too much. To make the

situation more relax, Laura wants to bring in the desert but Amanda does not let

   

her. She takes the desert and tells her story in Blue Mountain when she receives

seventeenth gentleman callers. Tom hates the story because Amanda retells that

story for many times.

The next day, there are quarrels in the portiere between Tom and Amanda.

The quarrel is caused by Amanda’s interruption on Tom’s needs of art.

TOM: yesterday you confiscated my books! You had the nerve to-

AMANDA: I took that horrible novel back to the library-yes! That hideous book by that insane Mr. Lawrence. I cannot control the output of diseased minds or people who cater to them- But I won’t such filth brought into my hose! No, no, no, no!( Williams, 1959: 250).

Tom think it is his right to read any book he wants and Amanda instead of

letting him do that, she takes the book back to the library. For Tom, Amanda

interrupts his personal needs and she does not respect art since she calls D.H

Lawrence an insane. The quarrel gets worse because Amanda says that she does

not allow such books to be brought into her house. Tom is mad because the one

who pays the house rent is him, and it is also him who works hard. No one cares

about he has to work every day, works for something he actually dislikes. He

really hates what his mother says and that she shouts at him and asks him not to

go and listens to her.

AMANDA: You’re going to listen, and no more insolence from you! I’m at the end of my patience!

TOM: What do you think I’m at? Aren’t I supposed to have any patience to reach the end of, Mother? I know, I know. It seems unimportant to you, what am I doing- what I want to do-having a little difference between them!...(Williams, 1959: 251).

Amanda is impatient with Tom who does not want to listen to her. On the

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wants. He goes to the movies because he hates being with her mother in the

house. He feels tired of his work, he needs to find the adventure, something that

he cannot find in his job down at the warehouse. Amanda cannot accepts that Tom

goes to the movies every night. According to Amanda, nobody in their right

minds goes to the movies as much as Tom. Every night Tom goes to the movies,

and she knows that Tom goes home at 3 am, has only three hours sleep and goes

back to work every morning. She believes that Tom does not go to the movies, but

he does something else that he does not want her to know.

AMANDA: what right have you got to jeopardize your job? Jeopardize the security of us all? How do you think we’d manage if you were-

TOM: listen! You think I’m crazy about the warehouse? You think I’m in love with the continental shoemakers? You think I want to spend fifty five years down there in that- celotex interior! With fluorescent-tubes! Look! I’d rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains- than go back mornings! (Williams, 1959: 251).

Here Amanda asks Tom why he wants to jeopardize his job at the

warehouse and endanger the security of the family. She knows that Tom hates his

work, but she wants Tom to know that he has responsibility and that his family

depends on his salary to pay rent and afford their daily needs. Tom is so mad at

his mother, because she makes him feels guilty when he exactly knows that the

family depends on him. He really hates his job. Tom says that he rather chooses

someone kills him than goes to work in the morning. It shows his disappointment

turn into depression, and those feeling makes him not only hates the job, but also

hates his mother to push him does the job. He thinks that he sacrifices his freedom

to obey his mother will than follow his own desire.

   

TOM: … for sixty dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever! And you say self-selfs’ all I ever think of. Why, listen, if self is what I thought of Mother, I’d be where he is-GONE! (Williams, 1959: 252)

Tom cannot understand why his mother always says that he is selfish. He

does a job that is very different from what he wants to do. He really loves art, he

writes poem, but he is forced to work for the family, and still his mother think that

he is selfish. He tells Amanda, that if he were selfish as what she always thought,

he will not be there with his family. He will go, as his father. He knows that

Amanda still believes that Tom is doing something instead of go to the movies. So

when he wants to go to the movies and Amanda does not believe him, he says to

his mother that he goes to opium dens, he is a hired assassin, that he runs a double

life, as a simple honest worker by day, and a dynamic tsar of underworld by night.

To make his mother more afraid, he also says that someday his enemy will blow

up their house, and Tom will be very happy. And to show his annoyance, Tom

says that her mother will go up in the sky, with a broomstick, over the Blue

Mountain with seventeenth gentleman callers, because she is an ugly, babbling

old witch. Tom says that because he is angry and he is annoyed by Amanda’s

story of her youth and the gentleman callers, but he does not realize that his words

hurt his mother. Amanda then refuses to speak to Tom before he apologizes.

Amanda is a mother who really cares about her children, but Tom cannot

understand that.

TOM: Mother, I apologize mother, I’m sorry for what I said, for everything that I said. I didn’t mean it.

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Both of them fail to respect each other. Tom, as a son does not understand

why his mother give too much interruptions in his personal life, while his mother,

Amanda, fails to notice that sometimes what she wants for her children, though it

is good for them is not what her children want. The missed perception between

Amanda and Tom will lead to a conflict if they could not control their emotion.

Tom is stubborn and impatient, so does Amanda, and she will easily angry if Tom

does not want to do what she asks him. A very simple different perception can

lead them to conflict, for example:

TOM: just coffee mother

AMANDA: shredded wheat biscuits? TOM: No, No, just coffee mother

AMANDA: You can’t put in a day’s work on an empty stomach. You’ve got ten minutes- don’t gulp! Drinking too hot liquids makes cancer of the stomach…put cream in,

TOM: No, thank you AMANDA: To cool it

TOM: No! No, thank you, I want it black. (Williams, 1959: 258)

It can be seen from the conversation above that Amanda cares about Tom

health. But Tom, refuses to do what Amanda says and stays in his own will. If

Amanda does not want to discuss something with Tom about Laura, she must be

mad that Tom does not do what she says. Then Amanda asks Tom why he is so

restless, that he goes to the movies night after nights. Tom says that he needs

adventure, his work does not offer him adventure, and he can get adventure by

watching movies. Amanda gives Tom idea that in the world, many young men

who work in offices or factories. They still work whether they need adventure or

not, that not every young man has a craze for adventure like Tom. Amanda then

asks Tom to think about Laura, to find her someone from the warehouse. Tom

   

refuses Amanda’s will, but Amanda repeatedly asks Tom and finally he says that

he will bring someone from the warehouse.

The conflict between Amanda and Tom also happens after the arrival of

the gentleman caller. Jim, who is expected to stay longer, says that he should go.

When Jim tells Amanda that he should pick up Betty, his fiancé, Amanda is

totally disappointed. The disappointment then comes into anger, since she has

prepared many things and her hopes soon vanished. She could not be mad at Jim

for telling her the truth, she is really mad at Tom because Tom makes this happen.

Amanda, as a very well planed person, suddenly faces the situation that is totally

different from her expectation that the thing is going not according to the plan.

She thinks that Tom actually knows that Jim is already engaged, and that he plays

jokes on them. She cannot accept Tom’s explanation that he is totally unaware

that Jim is engaged.

AMANDA: you didn’t mention that he was engaged to be married. TOM: Jim? Engaged?

AMANDA: That’s what he just informed us.

TOM: I’ll be jiggered! I didn’t know about that.( Williams, 1959: 311)

Amanda cannot believe that Tom does not know that Jim is engaged to

Betty. She thinks that as his best friend in the warehouse, Tom should know about

that. It is strange for Amanda that they do not inform such big information to their

friend, a very serious relationship must be told to everyone since it is a happy

thing to talk about. She does not aware that her characteristic is in the opposite of

Tom, she loves to tell everyone about her life, while Tom, he is rather keep

everything inside his thought. For Tom, he does not talk about serious thing such

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the only one person in the warehouse who knows very well Jim’s former glory in

the high school when he wins the basketball games and silver cup in debating.

Their friendship is just a friend in those term, they do not know each other’s

personal life. Tom has warned Amanda before that he just asks Jim for dinner, but

Amanda is too excited that this is the first gentleman caller will be introduced to

Laura. She expects too much from Jim and the fail hope makes her mad at Tom.

The conflict in the play also happened between Amanda and Laura. This

happens in scene two, when Amanda is going to meet the D.A.R meeting. On her

way to the meeting, she decides to go to Rubicam’s College and there, finally she

finds out that Laura does not attend the school anymore. Amanda is very

disappointed to know the truth, and this problem is the source of the conflict

between Amanda and her daughter, Laura.

AMANDA. From half past seven till after five every day you mean to tell me you walked around in the park, because you wanted to make me think that you were still going to Rubicam’s Business College?

LAURA. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. I want inside places to get warmed out.( Williams, 1959: 244)

When a breach of trust unleashes the strongest emotions it will frequently

lead to conflict. When Amanda put trust on Laura that her daughter is going to

school every day and then her trust is broken by the fact that Laura never goes to

study, it makes her anger comes out. She cannot accept Laura’s lie,on