Figurative Language In Roth’s “Allegiant”
on
ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
2017: Vol 19.1 Mei 2017: 157-164
Figurative Language In Roth’s “Allegiant”
Pikha Nusawan1*, Luh Putu Laksminy2, Ni Luh Nyoman Seri Malini3
English Department – Faculty Of Arts – Udayana University 1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]] 3[[email protected]]
*Corresponding Author
Abstrak
Penelitian ini berjudul Figurative Language in Roth Allegiant. Adapun tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan figurative langauge yang terdapat di dalam novel Allegiant dan untuk menganalisa makna dari figurative language yg ditemukan di dalam novel Allegiant. Di dalam penelitian ini adapun teori yang di gunakan dari buku yang berjudul Interpreting Literature oleh Knickerbocker (1963) dan selain itu juga menggunakan teori yang di kemukan oleh Leech (1974) dengan judul Theori of Semantic. Figurative Language merupakan penggunaan sebuah kata atau ekspresi dengan sebuah makna yang di dalamnya terdapat perbedaan dari penafsiran literal. Di dalam hal ini, terkadang figurative language menggunakan bahasa kiasan agar lebih efektif, persuasif, dan berpengaruh.
Pengumpulan data di dalam penelitian ini di lakukan melalui beberapa cara di antaranya, membaca novel dengan perlahan, menggaris bawahi kalimat yang termasuk jenis dari Figurative Language di dalamnya. Dan semua informasi dari data berhubungan dengan topik.
Di dalam penelitian ini, terdapat tujuh jenis Figurative Language serta makna yang muncul di dalam novel Allegiant. Adapun jenis Figurative Language yang di temukan seperti, simile, hyperbole, metaphor, synecdoche, personification, allusion, dan irony. Di samping itu, terdapat empat jenis makna yang di temukan di dalam novel, yakni makna conceptual, makna connotative, makna affective dan makna reflected. Penggunaan Figurative Language di dalam novel di buat agar lebih menarik untuk di baca.
Kata Kunci: Novel, Figurative Language, Makna
A language is a word which contains a lot of hidden meanings. Each word that we speak or hear sometimes can be very different from what we understand literally.
There are many words and sentences that have a different meaning from the dictionary. According to Leech (1971), a word meaning is complex. Leech divided word meanings into seven types. They are conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, stylistic meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, collocative meaning, and thematic meaning. Language is the system of communication, either spoken or written consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way (Goldstein,2008).
We use language to express inner thoughts and emotions, make sense of complex and abstract thought, to learn to communicate with others, to fulfill our willing and needs, as well as to establish rules and maintain our cultures. We use language to let others know how we feel, what we need, and to ask questions. We can modify our language to each situation. And sometimes, people also use language to convey idea or their message through song lyric, poetry, and many other literary works. Figurative language is the language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretationerary works. Sometimes, figurative language uses a figure of speech to be more effective, persuasive, and impactful.
Based on the background of the study above, there are some problems that can be formulated as follows:
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1. What kinds of figurative language found in the “Allegiant” novel by Veronica Roth?
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2. What are the meanings of figurative language found in the“Allegiant” novel by Veronica Roth?
Based on the problems above, the aims of this study could be formulated as follows:
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1. To find out the figurative language found in the “Allegiant” novel.
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2. To analyze the meaning of figurative language found in the “Allegiant” novel.
The data of this study were taken from the “Allegiant” novel written by Veronica Roth and published on 22, 2013 in United States; it is the third book in the Divergent trilogy and is also written by Veronica Roth. The genre of this novel are science fiction and romance. In addition, this novel consists of 526 pages. These data were chosen because this novel contains some kinds of figurative languages and also conveys the meaning in the novel.
Method and technique of Collecting Data
The data were taken through the following steps : firstly, the data were taken by reading the novel carefully as many as needed in order to understand and get the figurative languages used in the novel. Secondly, underlining the sentences which are considered having figurative languages in it and note-taking the data. After that the data were analyzed into appropriate categories. All information of the data was relevant to the topic.
Method and Technique of Analyzing Data
The data were analyzed using the qualitative method based on the theories applied in this study, the theory proposed by Knickerbocker & Reninger (1963), and also supported by Leech’s Semantics theory (1974). There were several steps taken in analyzing the data. First, identifying the data. Second, the data were classified based on their types of figurative language. Third, the types of figurative language found in the data were analyzed. Then, learning the keywords to find out the meaning of the novel. And finally, the analysis was done with the conclusion of the analysis and became the answer to the problems mentioned before.
Based on the result of the analysis, it was found that the seven types of figurative language in Allegiant novel are simile, metaphor, hyperbole, allusion, personification, synecdoche, and irony.
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a. Simile
Example: The explosion is like fire blossoming from a bud ( p.283)
The phrase of “like fire blossoming from a bud” in this data is considered simile. The sentence above is called simile because there is word ‘like’, which shows two objects being compared; they are “explosion” and “fire blossoming from a bud”. The phrase like fire is used to express how the damage from an explosion caused by a big gun. The explosion is portrayed as huge fire that spread to every direction just like blossoming from a bud. The previous paragraph shows that the main character witnesses the wall next to Uriah exploding. So it can be said that the word “fire” means how the fire burning down very intensively that make Uriah get a heavy damage.
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b. Hyperbole
Example: I press the memory away as if stuffing it into a drawer that is too small for it (p.40)
The sentence of“a drawer that is too small for it” is used to show someone’s expression. A drawer is a small place to put some goods that can be opened and closed. Therefore, the word “drawer” in the main sentence portrays a very far place within his mind that he will never remember the past memory anymore. It is categorized as hyperbole because the person used the word “drawer” to represent the most unreachable place within his mind.
Example: They’re in grayscale and look grainy and distorted-they must be very old. (p.312)
The sentence of “grayscale and look grainy” is certainly to be a personification in the figurative language. The words “grayscale” and “grainy” represent the characteristic of an old man. It is considered personification because the words “grayscale” and “grainy” refer to pronoun “they” which is people, and it’s the requirement of the type of personification.
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d. Metaphor
Example: The promise between us was a delicate flower (p.326)
The quotation “ the promise was a delicate flower” belongs to metaphor because it compares two unrelated things which are “the promise” and “ a delicate flower”. Promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. Meanwhile a
delicate flower is the representative of weak commitment. Therefore, the quotation “ the promise was a delicate flower” means that the commitment between two persons which is easily broken.
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e. Allusion
Example: “He was like a real Romeo with the Lady.” (p.201)
Romeo was a character in the story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and was very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet. This portrayal is in accordance with the characteristic of the main male character. The female character uttered that sentence because she wanted to show that the male character resembles to Romeo. Therefore, it makes sense that this sentence is included as allusion, because it shows a referance to a famous character’s name.
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f. Synecdoche
Example: Reggie brings up a photograph with a man in uniform holding a gun (p.273)
It is certainly to be a synecdoche. This sentence is called a synecdoche because of the word “gun”. It shows that the gun is the main thing in the sentence that has the most important role. It is in accordance with the requirement of synecdoche which says that a term denoting a specific thing is used to refer to an object that is mainly significant in the sentence, in this case the significant object is the “gun”.
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g. Irony
Example: 'Well your home is perpetuating the belief that genetically damaged people need to be fixed that they're damaged, period, which they are not. So yes, it's unfortunate that the experiments still exist. I won't apologize for saying so” (p.350)
This sentence is called irony because it mentions the truth about Tris’ home. At first, Tris thought that her home was the only place that was very important to her. While the truth is that her home already became something important for the Bureau. The irony is that Tris tells the opposite between her first thought and the next reality that are not compatible.
Example: “These are the Chicago Family trees”.
The sentence above mentions Chicago Family which explains that there is a family living in Chicago city and it’s to show that they are the main character’s family trees. It includes conceptual meaning because it shows the actual meaning of Chicago which is literally the name of a big city in United States.
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b. Connotative Meaning
Example: But his eyes are like that deer’s eyes (p.244)
This sentence can be categorized as connotative meaning because the female character compares the man’s eyes to the deer’s eyes. The deer’s eyes are large, wary, and curious; therefore, that interpretation is so beautiful that makes the female character consider it beautiful as the man’s eyes.
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c. Affective Meaning
Example: I felt like I was eaten alive by guilt and what I need was your patience and your kindness”. (p.501)
This sentence is considered having affective meaning, because it shows some effect to the character who feels guilty. He has some problem that makes him keep thinking about it over and over again. He thinks that the problem is caused by him and that he should handle and fix it. This situation makes him regret and guilty that he feels like he is eaten alive by guilt.
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d. Reflected Meaning
Example: I drop into my friend’s arms like a stone (p.524)
The sentence is considered as reflected meaning because the main character is using the word “stone” to reflect her own self. The character wants to express her condition when she cannot stand normally and she falls into her friend’s arms just like a falling stone.
This study discussed the analysis of figurative language in the novel Allegiant by Veronica Roth. The Allegiant novel was released in October 22th 2013. The novel itself literally talked about war to maintain a city. The discussion focused on the types
of figurative languages and the meanings in the novel. Based on the result of the analysis and discussion above, the first point that can be drawn as conclusion is the finding of seven types of figurative languages. They are simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, allusion, synecdoche, and irony. Among those figurative languages used in the novel, simile and metaphor seem to be more dominant.
The second point that can be drawn as conclusion is the discovering process of the meanings of the figurative language. There were only four types of meanings used from seven kinds of meaning. The four meanings used are conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, affective meaning, and reflected meaning. All figurative languages and the meanings found in the novel are used to make the language of the novel more beautiful in order to make the reader more interested to read the novel.
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