CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study Humans
are observers of their environment. They watch over every social event in
society which inspires them to criticize, analyze, and protest against social
condition in society. Those responses can be expressed in various ways.
One of them is by literary work.
We know that literary work cannot be separated from human’s life condition,
because it takes the ideas from every phenomenon in this life. Literary works
are used to give sensitivity toward social condition. Thus, we can say that
literature appears for responding social events in this life. It is not only
about the words, but also about messages or lessons that can be learned by the
readers.
Literature has the major literary
genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and essay (Stanford, 2006: 57). Stanford (2006:
58) also argued that each genre has unique powers and conveys unique pleasures.
They have different characteristics that make diversity in literary world. The
central idea of both the fiction and the play might be similar, but the
patterns which they had are different. In the fiction, the readers learn about
events and actions that are filtered by particular characters.
Therefore, their point of view
and voice with all the details make up the plot.
Stanford (2006: 58) added that
the point of view has important role to decide sequence of story, and how the
story’s conflict and characterizations might be affected by the point of view.
On the other hand, drama is more
likely transform the written action into scenes that play out in the readers’
mind as they might be acted on a stage (Stanford,
2006: 58). Play can make the readers feel a more direct connection with the
characters. Drama lets the readers feel the dialogues and the actions directly,
because they imagine they are experiencing that drama firsthand, not through
the eyes of a narrator. In the play, the actors’ expressions and gestures will
influence the story.
On the other hand, poetry is a literary
work that comes even more fully from the sense of sound. Originally, poetry is
entirely an oral form passes from a speaker to a listener (Stanford, 2006: 59).
Poetry has some elements that should create songs in the readers’ mind, the
rhythms and sound devices (such as rhyme and alliteration) create harmonious or
discordant song. In addition, Stanford (2006: 59) said that the songs are
created to help to emphasize the poem’s themes and ideas. He (2006: 59) also
argued that poetry is distinct from the other genres because of its compact
form. Stanford (2006: 59) added that poets make the usage of rhythms,
figurative language, alliteration, and another device much more often because
they seek to convey feelings, experiences, pleasures, and sorrows in far fewer
words.
Nevertheless, we often cannot
understand the meaningsor messagesof what literary work wants to show, because
they are often hidden among the words.
Therefore, we need a device to
look at the meanings or messages behind the words which are used by an author.
Suwardi Endraswara (2008: iv) said that literary work is like a huge aquarium
that needs clear glasses to watch everything in it. Hence, we will be able to
look at many things to be observed.
There are many glasses to watch
one literary work. Researchers can analyze
from many points of view. If researchers want to analyze a literary work from
internal patterns, they can use glasses such as structuralism or formalism. On the
other hand, psychology of literature, new historicism, and sociology of literature
are examples to analyze the external pattern of literary works, and there are
still many glasses can be used to look at literature. But, in this study, researcher
will concern tosociology of literature, because that theory is used in this
study.
We have to know that sociology
talks about people and their environment.
Literary study talks about the
meanings of human’s life and everything about this life. Hence, sociology and
literary study have the similar object of study, as Endraswara (2008:78) said
that both of them study about human. Despite sociology and literary study have
the different field of study, but they can complete each other (Endraswara,
2008: 78).
In relationship between literary
study and sociology, literary study has reflective characteristic which have
role as the reflection of social condition in real life. We can say as
Endraswara (2008: 77) argued that literary work is born from social life in
reality. In this study, literary work has role as mirror for social life or
social phenomenon. Literary text becomes the witness of social life because it
bounces era from time to time. Therefore, we can see the social life of certain
period from literary work, because once more; sociology of literature focuses
on human’s problems in life (2008: 79).
This study tries to read the
condition of people who becomethe victimsof prejudicefrom the other people
through literary work, Harper Lee’s To Kill a
Mockingbird. Harper Lee uses
Alabama, Southern America as the setting of novel to portray prejudices which
happened in that place. Harper Lee reflects her own experience to make this
novel, because her home was in Alabama. Therefore, researcher tries to use sociology
of literature, because this study analyzesthe problems of people and society
which are reflected by literary work.
The story wasstarted from a
little tomboy girl, Jean Louise Finch or Scout who lived in an old and tired
Maycomb County. She had a father , Atticus Finchas Attorney of Maycomb County
and an elder brother Jeremy Atticus Finch or Jem.
Their mother had passed away when
Scout was two years, and they had a black servant, Calpurnia.
Scout’s adventure began when
Charles Baker Harris or called Dill came to Maycomb County. He was a boy seven
years old who spent his summer times in his aunt’s house, Miss Rachel—Scout’s
neighbor—. The adventure started from Dill’s idea to make a white man, Arthur Radley or Boo came out from his house.
As Maycomb people knew that Boo
never walked out from his house for fifteen years, and people supposed him as a
strange man in society, because his unfamiliar custom in Maycomb County.
The people of Maycomb told Boo’s
story from lips to lips without having accurate information. It made those
three children curios toward Boo, because they wanted to know who Boo is
exactly.During the time, they had accepted many informations about Boo Radley
from their neighbors. They told that Boo Radley was a criminal, because he had
ever some terrors in that coounty. Despite all people knew that Boo Radley was
not the doer, but they still told that Boo was the doer. Besides, the adults also told them
that Boo Radley was horrible man and they said that to not get along with him
if they did not want to be killed.
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