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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies In this section, the writer tries to find other studies which have relation with the topic, the book or the author. Hence, the writer needs to find some studies that also analyze Roald Dahls works since it is the same author that the writer has chosen. The source that is used is from Sharon E. Royers study in Roald Dahl and Sociology 101. In this study, Royer has made some points about Roald Dahls works and the relation with his life. There are three major works of Roald Dahl that, according to Royer (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/royer.html), have succeeded in speaking to the young adolescent readers. Those three works are The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), and Matilda (1988). Royer states the success comes from the protagonists who have the same psychosocial development as the readers. The feeling of the same experience as the protagonist characters in his stories has made Dahls works is accepted easier by the readers. She provides another analysis about why the readers like to read his books. According to Erik Erikson, that is quoted by Royer, people between 12 to 18 years old experience a crisis that he calls identity versus role confusion. The task for them is to build themselves to be independent and self-reliant individual. This is important because studies show that people in this age, especially when they are entering middle school or junior high school, have the lowest self-esteem. Through the protagonist characters, Dahl depicts the ability of the young adolescent to accomplish great things and show their

independence. At this moment, the protagonists have shared their feeling with the readers In the next point, Royer talks about Dahls life and his point of view of the world that become the inspiration of his book. In short, Royer describes Dahls background and its connection with his works. Dahls books are the reflection of his childhood. Dahl grew up hearing Norwegian myths and often went to Norway, which was his mothers homeland, and later it become the setting of his book, The Witches. His father passed away when he was a kid. He was sent to an English school which had some physical punishment with which her mother actually did not agree. In his next school, he saw his headmaster punishing the students without mercy. Then, Dahl used those two schools as the part of his Matilda, where the school has the Trunchbull as the headmistress. Royer states the sum of these experiences developed in Dahl cynical view of society that is conveyed in his literature. Through his works, Dahl tries to talk to the young readers who experience oppression or are unfairly disciplined and also to give some values to the adolescent (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98.html). Roald Dahls cynical view of society is shown in his objection toward the authorities and social institutions, which according to him should not be trusted or accepted. It is even clearer when Mark West, who after interviewing Dahl had a research about his works, came to the conclusion, In almost all of Dahl's fiction-whether it be intended for children or for adults--authoritarian figures, social institutions, and societal norms are ridiculed or at least undermined (Royer, http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98.html).

In his works, Dahl represents adults as the authorities to the young people. Whenever the adults dare to cause any trouble, they would deal with the young heroes or heroines. Dahls attitude toward this is reflected from his statement beastly people must be punished. It is also clear that Dahls writing is about the absolute good versus the absolute evil, and the evil will be ended in the horrible situation as what Royer quotes from Children's Literature Review: The morality of his writings is simple, usually a matter of absolute good versus consummate evil--with no shades of gray--and those who fall into the latter category are sure to meet with a swift and horrible end. A different portrait about adults is reflected on how Dahl depicts the figure in family. He sees family as a place of happiness and comfort. Except in Matilda, Dahl describes that the members of the family are willing to support each other. From the differences about the portrayal, Royer sees that through his works Dahl tries to give some illustration on how adolescents sometimes could make the children feel safe, but in the negative way they could make the children feel unfair and suffer. The sociology of Dahl is able to give some positive effects to readers. Royer believes that Dahls view of society actually closely reflects the adolescents perspective. First is about the crude humour in the novel. Second is about the fact that the young adults often experience the feeling of rebellion against the adults while the adults try to socialize them. Those are reflected in his works. The other positive impact from Dahls works is that they encourage the young adults through the positive presentation of the characters to fight against their low-esteem and find their identity. According to Linda Taylor, the main characters of Dahls books are known for their wit, solitariness, independence, tenacity, intelligence and resourcefulness. All of these characteristics have successfully

helped the characters to solve the problem (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ ALAN/fall98.html). Besides the positive effects, some people believe that Dahls works also have some negative sides. Royer quotes an article that was published in Children's Literature in Education written by David Rees that says, The trouble with Dahl's world is that it is black and white--two-dimensional and unreal. Many adult readers disagree with the unreality in his novel because in the real life everything does not always happen according to plans. Further write-up about his works is about his description about the adults figures who can give negative effects to the young readers. The adult characters are often being the victims of revenge. Royer adds that presenting the adults such a view and with the real condition of the young readers who have the conflict about the adults already worsen the point of view about the adults. Other write-up comes because of his treatment about the important issue which is related with his works. The Witches was banned in 1990s. Feminists in England and witches society in the United States accused him of the sexism and his portrayal of the witches. The other is about children issue appearing in Matilda. Child neglect that is encountered by revenge is harmful for the adolescents than beneficial (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/royer.html). In the end of his writing, Royer however states that Dahl has given positive effects on reading. He has encouraged people to enjoy reading. The readers find something in Dahls books that is not found in others. His view of society makes his works popular. Royer adds that Dahl certainly has achieved his goal as an author

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because his books make the young reader read a lot (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ ejournals/ALAN/fall98/royer.html). Those are some studies that have some relation with the study that the writer does in this thesis. It is expected that from these studies the writer can improve the study. With the same author, the writer will focus on Dahls Matilda with the influence of Mr. and Mrs. Wormwoods personality toward Matildas character development as the topic. The topic is different from those that are explained above since it does not discuss the works and its relation with the authors background and his life, or the effect on the readers. The topic focuses on the parent-child relationship and the effect that emerges from the relation. With this study, it is expected that the reader can get more information and also more interpretation about Roald Dahls work which do not only entertain the children readers, but also give some education to the parents.

B. Review of Related Theories In order to analyze the problems that will be discussed, the writer will use some theories that have relation to the topic. They will be explained separately. According to Young, a theory is an abstract and general statement of fundamental principles designed to explain particular events or facts, which we know concretely (1945: 276), and the following are some theories the writer have got from several sources.

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1. Theory on Character and Characterization According to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is a person with distinctive type. In other words a character has different attributes that distinguish one and another. Abrams also provides another definition about characters as the persons who are presented and endowed with moral, dispositional and emotional qualities that are seen from the dialogue and the action. A character may remain unchanged in appearance or the nature from the beginning until the end of the work. However, character may also have radical change whether from a process of development and motivation or as the results of certain condition (1981: 20-23). In English Dictionary for Advance Learners, it is stated that the way an author describes or shows a character is called characterization (2001: 144). An author can tell the reader what is going on with the character and what is in their mind. The author can present the character either directly or indirectly. In direct presentation, as Perrine states, the author will tell about the character straightly in the sentence or by the dialogue of other character. While in indirect presentation, the author will present the characters traits from how the characters act, talk, or how they interact with the others (1974: 68). Similar to Perrine, according to Abrams the author presents characters in two ways from the narration which are showing and telling. Showing means that the characters talk and act, and make the reader identify how the characters are by what he or she does or says. While telling means that the narration will give the description of the character clearly (1981: 24). If the author uses direct or telling method without being supported by the indirect or showing method, the character is believed to be not emotionally convincing. The

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character will be convincing when the author uses the speaking and acting method as in drama. From the presentation of the author, the reader can identify the character. In Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, William Gass says that a character, first of all, is the noise of his name (Kennedy and Gloia, 1998: 61). He believes that a name of one character is chosen artfully. The name can reflect the nature of the character. It can help the reader to indicate the character as well. It often happens that the author gives the good character with a name that symbolizes his or her character. For example, one of Charles Dickens characters, Mr. Jingle, suggests something jingly, light, and superficially pleasant. The writer agrees with Perrines statement that characterization must also observe three principles. First is consistency in behavior. The character cannot change their behavior in one occasion, unless there is a clear sufficient reason for that. Second is that the character must be clearly motivated in what they do. The readers should know and understand what the character does immediately or at least at the end of the story. The third is plausibility or lifelikeness. The character must be neither the paragon of virtue nor monster of evil, nor even the impossible combination of contradictory traits. The character must appear in the normal events of life (1974: 69). It means that the characters trait and characteristics must be as natural as in the real world. In their developments, characters in a story can be flat or round. Flat character is characterized simpler than the round one. Flat character has only few distinguish marks. They are presented without much individualizing and can be summed up into one sentence. Flat character tends to be the same. Round character

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is characterized with more details. They touch many points in their lives. Round character, different from the flat character, often changes. Perrine also states that all fictional characters may be classified into static or developing (dynamic). Static character means that the character remains the same from the beginning of the story until the end. Developing or dynamic character is when there are some changes on the character, outlook, or personality. The change can be small or large, from good into bad, vice versa. The changing must be something important and basic, more than the condition. She adds the changing must meet three conditions, as the following: (1) it must be within the possibilities of the character who makes it, (2) it must be sufficiently motivated by circumstances in which the characters finds himself, and (3) it must be allowed sufficient time for a change of its magnitude believably to take place. (1974: 71) It means that the character can change but must have those three conditions. A character cannot change suddenly without a specific reason, or without any motivation. The fictional work will be a good work whenever it can convince the reader about the story throughout the character as in the real life, as Perrine states as the following: Human life began when God breathed life into a handful of dust and created Adam. Fictional life begins when an author breathes life into his characters and convinces us of their reality. (1974: 71)

2. Theory on personality There are so many psychologists that have made the definition about personality and studied about personality. Their definitions are different from one to

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another. Kalish in The Psychology of Human Behavior tries to explain the term of personalities as the following: the changing and interacting organization of typical qualities into a whole that leads a man to behave as he does and that makes him different from other people. (1973: 53) He adds that personality covers total individual like needs, motives, and methods of adjusting, temperament qualities, self-concept, role behaviors, attitudes, values and abilities. From another source, Tasja Klausch defines personality as the collection of emotion, thought, behavior, and interaction patterns of individual, which are consistent over the time and situation (http://web4health.info/en/answers/psypersonality-overview.htm). Discussion upon personality cannot be separated with several theoretical perspectives such as personality traits and behavior. According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of The American Psychiatric Association

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/personality_psychology), personality traits can be illustrated as persons who have certain characteristics which determine their behavior. For example, a friendly person acts friendly in any situation because of the traits in his or her personality while behavior has strong relation with ones personality. Kalish explains behavior is any observable action, for example eating ham or thinking. Ones behavior is different from the others. It is affected by the situations also (1973: 52). Some behavior can be regarded as normal, extreme or as disorder, which depends on the cultural values that exist in certain society. Persons with personality disorder are those who have certain behavior which differ from the majority of the population, such as their perception, thought, emotion and relation to others. Before

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it comes to the personality disorder, there are also personality styles. If the personality style comes in extreme parameter, it becomes a disorder. The following are the differences between the personality style and disorders. Personality Style conscientious, diligent ambitious, self-confident expressive, emotional alert, suspicious erratic, spontaneous affectionate, loyal independent, secretive, chary, lonely self-critical, careful full of foreboding, sensitive adventuresome, likely to take risks Personality Disorder obsessive-compulsive narcissistic histrionic paranoid borderline dependent schizoid anxious, avoidant schizotypal antisocial

Source: http://web4health.info/en/answers/psy-personality-overview.htm

According to Klausch, the personality disorder exists only if the characteristics produce disturbance in society. A person, who has the conspicuous personality but is stable and does not have negative impact in the environment, does not suffer personality overview.htm). Carl Jungs theory (www.personalitypage.com/info.html) talks about the individuals psychological type. In this theory, he discusses the function in human life, they are how person take information and how they make decisions. A person takes information by using either senses or intuition, while making decision is based on either the objective logic or subjective feelings. Each person applies different function. The function which is used most frequently is called dominant disorder (http://web4health.info/en/answers/psy-personality-

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function, followed by an auxiliary as the second function, tertiary as the third function, and inferior as the fourth function. The dominant function of individual can be extroverted or introverted. Jung states the dominant function is important in overshadowing all of the functions in defining personality type. The bases of Jungs theory of personality types are extroverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, and thinking or feeling. Further study has been done by Isabel Briggs Myers (www.personalitypage.com/info.html), who affirms the importance of the auxiliary function working with the dominant function on defining personality type. She adds the fourth category which is judging or perceiving. She states that every individual has primary mode of operation in four categories, they are flow of energy, how a person takes in information, how a person makes decisions, and the basic day-today lifestyle that is preferred. Flow of energy defines about how people receive the essential part of stimulation, whether from himself (introvert) or from external source (extrovert). Taking in information focuses on the method of taking and absorbing information, whether using five senses (sensing), or instincts (intuitive). Making decision deals with humans preference, whether they use logic and objective consideration (thinking) or the personal, subjective values (feeling). The basic day-to-day lifestyle sees person whether he is comfortable with structured environment and schedule (judging) or more comfortable with open and casual environment and more flexible (perceiving). These four categories then lead a person to be either extroverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. From each category, people use one mode more easily than the other (www.personalitypage.com/info.html).

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From the explanation above, it can be seen that personality of individual can be primarily extroverted or introverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. The combination of all the primarily personalities defines the personality type. However, it does not mean that if people receive the stimulation primarily from introvert, the extrovert is not performed. It is only one of each category is performed more and primarily than the other. The primarily personality will signify how the person deals with certain situation in life. From the personality types of a person, it will help to understand about the effective way to communicate with the others (www.personalitypage.com/info.html). The writer then finds another theory that states a different personality is a sign of a mans characteristics. In relation with family, it is the reason for a child to have different characteristics from the parents although an individual might inherits some of their parents characteristics genetically (Kalish, 1973: 55). Rohrberger and Woods quote Freuds statement that says the human personality is developed since a person is an infant until he becomes an adult (1981: 14). The genetic factor and also the environment are two factors that affect the development (Kalish, 1973: 56).

3. Theory on Family and Parent Family is a group of people that have connection between each other from the marriage and blood relation. It is said by Pikunas in Human Developmnet: An Emergent Science as the following: The family is an enduring social group based on marriage and blood relationship, exercising hereditary and environmental influences of prime dimension on the offspring. (1976: 60)

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According to Noller and Fitzpatrick in Communication in Family Relationship, family structure can be seen at least in two ways, (a) when we mean partners and children (family of procreation) and (b) relatives by blood or marriage such as parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins (family of origin) (1993: 2). Family of procreation is usually called nuclear family, who live together in the same house. They also add that the process of family creation may come from choice, or it is usually called as mate-selection. In Western culture, mateselection is generally based on the interpersonal attraction that is affected by some factors such as physical attractiveness and the similarity of attitudes (1993: 3). There is a structure that affects the family life. The structure is generally based on the age and sex. The structure based on the age in family is the relation between the parents and children. Parents are responsible to the children, on the other side, the children are expected to obey the parents. Parents tend to give more freedom to the older child than the younger (1993: 4). It is affirmed by Kalish that parents treat all the children differently based on their needs (1973: 57). The older child will have different needs and desire than the younger child. The structure based on the sex exists in traditional nuclear family, where father becomes the main sources in family including the final decision maker. Although the mother has work fulltime, she still has to do the housekeeping and child rearing since the wife is the co-breadwinner (Noller and Fitzpatrick, 1993: 4). According to Noller and Fitzpatrick the task of the adults in a family is responsible to the children (1993: 5). In 1963, Locke said that parents had a duty to be interested in their childrens up bringing and should keep them nearby as much as possible. Parents should be a good example which is the best type of influence

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(Kalish, 1973: 7). Medinnus and Johnson state parenthood involves a number of demand and behavior. A parent should be willing to sacrifice for their children, willing to let the children to be a child, and have an emotional relation with the children (1969: 344). Stagner in Psychology of Personality Development says: The first social factor influencing the individuals personality is the family situation, the treatment received from the parents, in term affection, authority and discipline. (1984: 344) Socialization in a society is also important for the children to learn about behavior. It is also parents duty to socialize their children as it is stated by Noller and Fitzpatrick as the following: One of the major jobs of parents is to socialize their children or teach them how to become competent members of society. Because socialization is a process that extends over number of years and a great variety of behaviors, socialization behaviors are not very easy to study. (1993: 200) In a study that was held by Symond of four types of parents, it was observed that the parents child-rearing was affected by parents experience in their childhood. Another study about child-rearing states that mother tends to expect the child to be what she wants (Medinnus and Johnson, 1969: 345-346). There are three main variables of parents, namely parent behavior, parent attitudes and parent personalities. These three variables determine the relation between the parents and the children. Medinnus and Johnson state that the personality of parent might be more influential than his child-rearing practices in shaping the personality development of the child (1969: 349). It means that what parents feel is more important than what parents do to shape the childs development, and it affects the atmosphere and emotional feeling in the home (1969: 343). When parents have good personality, they will give a good atmosphere

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at home. The children will feel comfortable in home. From the everyday contact, it can be gained a good quality of the relationship between parents and children. Parents personality will also affect the childs perception about them. Most children choose mother as the preferred parent because mother is considered as gentler parent than father, as it is stated, She is considered friendlier, less strict, less punitive, less threatening, and more nurturing. The father, on the other side, is more powerful, more interfering, more competent and as the major source of punishment (1969: 377). However, children rely on the parents for the basic needs, such as food and shelter, and the need of care and affection as well (Noller and Fitzpatrick, 1993: 7). Although the children tend to be closer to the mother, they still need the fathers attention also. According to Kalish, both parents and children have the same right to express their feeling. Children and parents can learn to respect the emotional expression of each other if they have a good relationship (1973: 215). Good relation may come from a good communication among other. Sieburg (Noller and Fitzpatrick, 1993: 10) in Communication in Family Relationship says as the following: Family communication in family is differ from other human communication only in its emotional intensity. Because of the intimate nature of the relationships involved, any miscommunication in the family is likely to be more painful and the consequences more serious than in other human groups. Through communication, the members of the family send the signal of their intimacy relation that is marked by care affection, support, and also mutual sharing in various activities and concerns. Montgomery describes the quality of communication in four factors. The first factor is openness, where the member of

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family could discover the feeling and attitudes and accept it each other. The second is confirmation. It involves accepting the partners definition of self. In this term, it does not mean that the other should have the same opinion or view or agreeing about something, but it is how the others accept those different things and still love each other. The third is interaction management. It involves the rule that is applied in the family that is workable among the members of the family. The last is situational adaptability which involves the flexible approach in different situation and interaction (1993: 202-203). Noller and Fitzpatrick also add that father, mother, and the children influence each other. In communication, parents words usually consist of several messages. Two of them are support message and control message. Support message will make the children feel comfortable and cared. Support message is very important since it will give more positive behavior to the child and develop a positive relation of parent-child. The control message is more ask for demands of the child toward the parents wishes (1993: 201-202). Communication relationship is also affected by the fathers work condition. Job stress may affect the interaction of father and children. Repetiti examines the relation between the stress at work and interaction with children after work. The result is clear that the work situation affects the family situation, depending on whether the father has short-term stress or long-term stress. The long-term stress results in the negative emotional expression to the children (1993: 204). According to http://ohioline.osu.edu/flm99/pdf/pyra.pdf#search parents should not just tell the children what to do. To build the positive relation between parent and child, there must be positive interaction. It can be considered as the

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authoritarian parents. According to Watson and Lindgren, authoritarian parents try to shape the childs behavior according to some absolute standard. There is no giveand-take in communication, which means that the child should obey parents demand and should not ask it but just accept it (1973: 302). The following pyramid provides a clear explanation on how parents can influence the childs behavior. The base of the childs behavior development is the relation of parent-child. Parents must be able to express what they feel and think as well as the child. If they can build the good base of the relation, then they must have a mutual respect, which not only the child who respects the parents, but so do the parents. Parents action, tone, body language, and words will affect the childs interpretation of the parents. If the parents could have those three things well, then it will be easier to make an agreement about the limitation with the child. All of those things will be also influenced by the childs thoughts and feelings. All of the blocks support each other to shape the childs behavior. It is showed in the following pyramid of parent-child relationship.

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Childs Behavior: Thoughtful, responsible behaviors that are appropriate for the childs age and development.

Parents Words: The actual words a parent chooses. Are they kind or harsh? Encouraging or demeaning?

Childs Thoughts and Feelings: How the child views and feels about what is happening in his or her world.

Childs Behavior
Parents Tone and Body Language: The way we talk to children sends more of the message than do the words.

Childs Thoughts and Feelings

Family Limits and Consequences: Firm limits should be set for childrens behavior. Together, parents and children can agree on fair and enforceable consequences each time the limit is not Mutual Respect: Respect must be earned. If parents wish for their children to respect them, they must treat their children with respect.

Parents Actions: Actions speak louder than words. Do we model the behavior we expect from our children?

Parents Words

Parents Tone and Body Language

Family Limits and Consequences

Parents Action Mutual Respect

Parent-Child Relationship

Parent-Child Relationship: A close caring relationship in which both parties feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings provides a strong base for all other family interaction.

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A negative relation may contribute a bad effect to the parent-child relationship. Because of that negative thing, there might be violence toward the children. The parents who cannot control their emotion in handling their children might be very dangerous for children. They can do violence. The violence is not merely about the physical abuse, but including verbal violence, sex-abuse, and ignoring their needs. According to Jacinta F. Rini, ignoring the children is a passive violence, but the effect is also very bad. Some actions that include the term of violence are: less of care and affection to the children, ignoring the basic needs such as food, shelter, safety, health and so forth, ignoring the children and not having a talk with them, and separating the child from the parents. There are several factors which influence the effect of the violence, such as how bad the violence to the child is, how long it happens, the age of the child, whether or not the child gets normal treatments in a normal situation, and whether or not there is anyone else who loves and cares for the child. All of these matters can give some bad effects, for example feeling lonely, feeling guilty, too responsible or even avoiding it, tending to be alone, feeling depress, keeping a revenge, having negative perception of life, and so on. However, not all children show this indication. They might have different reaction (www.e-psikologi.com/anak/index.htm). From those reviews, the writer tries to analyze the problem by applying the theories.

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C. Theoretical Framework Since the writer will study the character of Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, Matilda, and the influence of the parents toward Matilda, the theories that have been collected will be applied. The theory of character and characterization will be applied when the writer analyzes the character of the parents and Matilda. It is important to apply the theory so that the writer can find the characters traits and characteristics. Theory of personality is also important to be used in order to find the personalities, attitudes, and behavior of the parents and also Matilda. It will discover what kind of persons the characters are. It then will have connection to the third problem. After knowing the personalities and all the characteristics of the characters, the theory of family and parents can be applied. From the personalities and characteristics of Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood and also Matilda, the writer can see the relationship in the family among the parents and children. This theory is also applied when the writer analyzes the influences of the parents character toward Matilda. What the parents do in the family and how their personalities will give the effect to Matilda.