CHAPTER III
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The writer discusses some theories that are relevant to the topic. Those theories cover intrinsic aspects and extrinsic aspects.
3.1 Intrinsic Elements
This sub-chapter discusses the structural elements of literature, namely character, conflict and setting. Those elements are described according to several modes of assumption by some literary critics which are useful for further analysis.
3.1.1 Character
Character is an important element in literary works for it makes the story happens. “As in real life, we can see what a fictional character is like from his actions, his speech, his physical appearance, and his environment; in addition we can see what he is like from what others say about him and from how the behaving toward him”. The following classifications of character were taken from http://hrsbstaff.andnet.nscarenglamjale/elemts.html.
a. Round and Flat
Round characters are so detailed that they seem real. Protagonists are normally round characters, though notable exceptions exist. Antagonists are often rounding as well, though comedic villains may be almost farcically flat. A flat character is distinguished by its lack of detail. Though the description of a flat character may be detailed, the character itself barely has detail and usually just follows one characteristic. A number of stereotypical, or "stock" characters, has developed throughout the history.
b. Dynamic and Static
A dynamic character is the one who changes significantly during the course of the story. Changes considered qualifying a character as dynamic including changes in insight or understanding, changes in commitment, and changes in values. In contrast, a static character does not undergo significant change. Whether round or flat, their personalities remain essentially stable throughout the course of the story. This is commonly done with secondary characters in order to let them serve as thematic or plot elements. Supporting characters and major characters other than the protagonist are generally static, though exceptions do occur. A non-fictional character is a character that actually exists or existed in history, though their exploits in the story may differ from their historical activities.
3.1.2 Conflict
In literary work, conflict is a application that moves to climax before it reaches the resolution of conflict that to be the ending of the story. Ban and friends (1973: 384) say that conflict is a clash between characters, between a character and his environment, within himself, a clash of forces in the universe, even struggle for meaning on the past of the rider. The following classifications of conflict are taken from http://fiction writing.about.com/odgloosary/g/conflict.htm:
a. Man against Man
It is conflicts that pit one person against another.
b. Man against Circumstances
It is the leading character struggles against fate, or the circumstances of life facing by him/her.
c. Man against Society
The values and customs by which everyone else lives are being challenged. The character may come to an untimely end as a result of his or her own convictions. The character may, on the other hand, bring others around to a sympathetic point of view, or it may be decided that society was right after all.
d. Man against Himself/Herself
It is he who leads character to struggle with himself/herself; with his/her own soul, ideas of right or wrong, physical limitations, choices, etc.
Often, more than one kind of conflict is taking place at the same time. In every case, however, the existence of conflict enhances the reader’s understanding of a character and creates the suspense and interest that make you want to continue reading.
3.1.3 Setting
Setting is not only about place and time, sometimes, in a certain degree; setting colors and shapes the story. Connolly as cited by Koesnobroto (1988: 79) describes setting as a sense “the time, place and which concrete the situation of the narrative, the web of environment in which character and their destinies.” Setting refers to condition or total environment where the characters live and socialize. Setting is also situation not only a place where the action happens but also an image of weather and social condition, so the readers easily image the situation of the fiction where and when the story happen.
The following classifications of setting are taken from http://fiction writing.about.com/odgloosary/g/settingt.htm:
a. Setting of Place
It shows geographical location, where the story takes a place.
b. Setting of Time
It tells when the story takes place, like historical period, time of day, year, etc.
c. Setting of Weather
It describes the conditions of the story, like rainy, sunny, stormy, etc.
d. Setting of Social Conditions
It describes what the daily life of the characters is like. The story contains local color like writing that focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place.
e. Setting of Mood or Atmosphere
It is about feeling is created at the beginning of the story like bright and cheerful or dark and frightening.
3.2 Extrinsic Elements
Extrinsic elements are the outside of literary work, but they influence the construction or organism system of literary work. In other words, it can be stated that the elements influence the story of literary work, but they are not part of them. The extrinsic elements that support the analysis on the next chapter are Marxist theory, capitalist and ideology of capitalist.
3.2.1 Marxist Theories
Marxism is a set of social, economic, cultural understanding of the nature of reality, society and the individual, and political ideas in which its followers believe it will enable them to interpret and, more importantly, change their world. It is direct at social change; Marxist wants to analyze social relation in order to change them, after what they see as the gross injustices and inequalities create by capitalist economic relation. Marxist explains in detail to change the world from a place of bigotry, hatred, and conflict due to class struggle into classless society where wealth, opportunity, and education are accessible for all people. Mandel (2006: Viii) declares that marxism born from unbalanced life consequence economic capitalist system; the rich people are rich progressively and the poor man is poor progressively.
Marxism is both the theory and the political practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. There are many theoretical and practical differences among the various forms of Marxism, the most forms of Marxism taken from http://www.google.com/gwt/n?clientmarxism.attention.ac.id/:
a. an attention to the material conditions of people's lives, and social relations among people
b. belief that people's consciousness of the conditions of their life reflects these material conditions and relations
c. an understanding of class in terms of differing relations of production, and as a particular position within such relations
d. an understanding of material conditions and social relations as historically malleable
e. a view of history according to which class struggle, the evolving conflict between classes with opposing interests, structures each historical period and drives historical change
f. a sympathy for the working class or proletariat
g. and a belief that the ultimate interests of workers best match those of humanity in general.
The main points of contention among Marxists are the degree to which they are committed to a workers' revolution as the means of achieving human emancipation and enlightenment, and the actual mechanism through which such a revolution might occur and succeed. Marxism is correctly but not exhaustively described as a variety of Socialism being by far the variety for which there is the most historical experience (citation needed) both as a revolutionary movement and as the basis of actual governments.
Marxist has two aspects, namely dialectical materialism and historical materialism. The dialectical part of dialectical materialism comes from Greek idea on dialogue which means to argue. The dialectical materialism, the core beliefs of Marxism is developed through Marx’s The German ideology in 1845. In this work, as quoted by Blessler (1999: 212), Marx declares that “consciousness does not determine life: life determines consciousness.” It means that human’s define themselves. They do not shape their consciousness through some spiritual entity or means but through daily living are formed in everyday discourse in the language of real life.
The second aspect is historical materialism. This term refers to the science of history, or the science of the development of societies. Historical materialism shows that history or social change occurs via human’s force, not because of God, destiny, or some unknown non-human forces. Historical materialism is materialist because it deals with the way human have created material culture such as tools, objects, the material things have formed the basis of historical change.
As quoted by Blessler (1999: 212), Marx cites four historical periods that were developed by these forces: feudalism, capitalism, socialism and communism. Under feudalism the ruling class is the nobility, under capitalism is capitalist, under socialism is the proletariat and under the socialism it is a classless society under which the state will wither anyway. Further explained, Marx views capitalism as a mode of production, one that exploits workers.
Marxism’s methodology is dynamic process of a text and culture. It means that a proper critique of a text cannot be separated from the culture in which the text evolved.
As quoted by Useem (1963: 169), culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings. Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action. Culture also generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another. So culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called the way of life for an entire society. As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art.
Marxist also has tight corelation with tradition of the society. as quoted by Olin (1895: 23), a tradition is a practice, custom, or story that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition.
A Marxist theory seeks to expose the dominant class, to demonstrate how the bourgeoisie’s (capitalist) ideology controls and oppresses the working class, and to highlight the elements of society which are affected by such oppressions. Below is the elaboration of capitalist.
3.2.2 Capitalist
Capitalist literally means a person who invests capital in a business. As excerpted by Samekto (2005: 10), Lodge suggests that capitalist is one who has accumulated capital. He provides capital for employment in enterprise. Meanwhile, capitalism is kind of belief that the most wicked of men will do the most wicked of things for the greatest good of everyone. Capitalist is a system which favors the existence of capitalist. While, Samekto (2005:11), gives two definition of capitalism. The first is to mention is that capitalism as the social system which is based upon private ownership of the means of production. The second is that capitalism as the only politic economic system which is based on the doctrine of individual right.
The capitalist (bourgeois), dominates the proletariat which is made up of workers of labors. The dominant class implements their occupying ideology either consciously or unconsciously on the proletariat. The capitalist and their ideology entrap the working classis and oppress them in every area of their lives. Marx (1867: 763) states that the capitalist monopolizing all advantages of the process of transformation causes a mass of misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, and exploitation.
In capitalist society, Marx as quoted by Blessler (1999: 213) declares that such an ideology leads of fragmentation and alienation of the proletariats (workers). Due to the division of labor within the capitalist society, workers do not have contact any longer with the entire process of producing, distributing, and consuming material goods. Individuals are cut off from the full value of their work as well as from each other, each performing discrete functional roles assigned to him or her by the bourgeoisie.
In improving condition of production, the capitalist purchases the worker’s labor. Marx (1867: 557) sates that capitalist production separates labor power from the means of labor. It shows the exploitation of labor and continuously forces the labor to sell his power in order to live, and enables the capitalist to purchase labor power in order to enrich himself. Capitalism involves the advance of capital through the purchase commodities in the form of money, not the change of commodities. Money in the fact is a negative factor that estranges the worker from the result of his labor and prevents people to realize their potentially. Capitalist also transform the purchase into other commodities which can command a higher price, and thus yield a profit. Marx (1867: 197) further states:
The process of production, considered on the hand. The unity of the labor process and the process of creating value is production of commodities; considered other hand, as the unity of labor process of producing surplus value, it is the capitalist process of production of commodities.
The capitalist to whom workers must sell their “labor power”, or ability to do work, in return for wage, own these means. Capitalism is based on the exploitation of the working class by the owner of capital (factories, machinery, and working capital), who’s profits come from difference between the wages of the labor and the value of the product. Marx (1894: 259) states that profit is the motive power of capitalist production. Things are produced only as long they can be product with a profit. Weber, in Samekto (2005: 13), with the same intention, state that capitalism closely deals with the pursuit of profit. Robinson (http://plato.standford.edu/entries/marx/) picks out two aspect of particular note. First, Marx’s opinion is about the disharmony of interest between workers and capitalist. Workers struggle to get better wages and increase the economical condition, while capitalist attempt to take greater profits. Second, Marx’s assumption is about equilibrium in the market. Marx states that there is no any long run tendency to balance in the market, and his description of the mechanisms which underlie the trade cycle of boom and bust. Marx (1849: 220) support this idea by stating that the most favorable situation for the working class does not eliminate the contradiction between their interest and those of bourgeois (capitalist) no matter in the situation may improve the material condition of the worker.
The capitalist (bourgeois) and the worker are significant matters of capitalism that can never be separated. A simpler way to saying this is that if there is a capitalist, there must be worker. These two sides are opposite in the case of the means of production. The capitalist also force their idea or ideology on the workers. This ideology is called ideology of capitalism which is further elaborated below.
3.2.3 Ideology of Capitalist
The ideology is used by community where people live together in pluralism to become a foundation of life. Marxism ideology is related to the economic base (economic production) and superstructure. Capitalism as one of social step in Marxism, the ideology served is called hegemony. According to Gramsci, as quoted by Blessler, the bourgeoisie establish and maintain what he calls hegemony. They control economic base and thereby established all the elements that make up superstructure. Thus, they gain the sponaneous accolades of the working class. As the dominant class, they enjoy the prestige of the masses and control the ideology (a term often used synonymously with hegemony).
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