Psychological Condition Of The Main Character As The Main Factor In Dealing Withconflict In Henry’s The Gift Of The Magi
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ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 17.1 Oktober 2016: 134 - 139
Psychological Condition Of The Main Character As The Main Factor In Dealing Withconflict In Henry’s The Gift Of The Magi
Ida Ayu Sri Purnami1*, I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati2, I Made Sena Darmasetiyawan3
123English Department Faculty Of Arts, Udayana University 1[dsdayusri@gmail.com] 2[sosiowati@yahoo.com] 3[sena.darmasetiyawan@gmail.com]
Corresponding Author
Abstrak
Studi ini di buat dengan tujuan untuk menjelaskan kondisi psikologi dari tokoh utama dan untuk mengetahui kondisi psikologis tokoh utama yang mempengaruhi cara dia memecahkan konflik dalam prosa The Gift of The Magi. Data studi ini diperoleh dengan menggunakan metode kepustakaan dan dianalisa dengan metode kualitatif. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori yang dikeluarkan oleh Kenney dan Benhardt. Hasil dari analisis studi ini memperlihatkan bahwa Della adalah tokoh utama dalam cerita ini. Dia memiliki sifat yang hangat dan merelakan segalanya demi seseorang yang dia cintai. Selain itu, dia harus menghadapi internal konflik yang membuatnya harus melepaskan sesuatu yang berharga dalam dirinya.
Kata kunci: karakter, kondisi psikologi, konflik
Character is one of the important aspects of a novel because it carries the messages that bring various values in human life such as emotion, ambition, morality, education, etc. Each character has many special characteristics that distinguish one character to another. Psychological conditions are considered to be one important influence every character and these conditions are different from one character to another. The psychological condition is able to influence the way of dealing with the conflict that the characters face. Conflict occurs because of differences in thought or ideas and it makes stories interesting to read.
The problems that appear according to the background above are as follows:
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1. How is the psychological condition of the main character in Henry’s The Gift of the Magi?
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2. How does the psychological condition of the main character affect the way she solves the conflict in Henry’s The Gift of the Magi?
The aims of this study are:
General:
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1. The aims of the study are fulfil the requirements to obtain the S1 degree in English Department, Faculty of Arts, Udayana University.
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2. To adding the knowledge about literature and to identify psychological condition of the main character in The Gift of the Magi.
Specific
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1. To describe the psychological condition of the main character in Henry’s The Gift of The Magi.
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2. To find out the psychological condition of the main character that affects the way she solves the conflict in Henry’s The Gift of The Magi.
The data in this study was taken from a prose entitled The Gift of the Magi by Henry (1905). This story tells about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money.
The data was collected by means of documentation method through the following steps the data was collected systematically: Taking note of the selected items
based on the related the problem, Finding out the psychological condition of the main character, then finding out how the main character deals with conflict that she faces.
The data in this study was analyzed by using qualitative descriptive method. They were described in detail based on theories to the topic of discussion.
Some theories of literature and psychology were used in analyzing the main character in The Gift of the Magi. Firstly, type of character and conflict were identified using Kenney’s theory. Then, the psychological condition of the main character was analyzed using Benhardt’s theory about attitude and human motivation.
The gift of the magi is a story about a poor couple. Della is Jim Dillingham Young's wife. She wants to give her husband a gift for Christmas Eve. However, she does not have money to buy Jim a gift. She only has one dollar and eighty seven cents. She does not have anything but her precious long hair. Finally for her husband, she decides to sell her hair so that she gets some money and she can buy a gift for her husband.
Character of Della in the prose belongs to simple or flat character because the author only describes character of Della struggle to make money for buy her husband's gift.
The psychological condition of the main character could be analyzed through the nature of human being such as her attitude and human motivation.
Mrs. Sofronie, large, too white, cold-eyed, looked at her. “Will you buy my hair?” asked Della. “I buy hair,” said Mrs. Sofronie. “Take your hat off and let me look at it.” Down fell the brown waterfall. “Twenty dollars,” said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to feel its weight. “Give it to me quick,” said Della. Oh, and the next two hours seemed to fly. She was going from one shop to another, to find a gift for Jim. (The Gift of the Magi,1905)
From the quotation above, Della should lose her beautiful hair to buy a gift for her husband, Jim. Della had good personality, she would do anything for someone that she loved include she should lost her long beautiful hair. As the bold quotation above, Della had attitude which she sold her hair to Mrs Sofronie to buy her husband’s gift. Della got twenty dollar after she sold her hair. Then, with her short hair, she visited many shops to found a gift for her husband.
Della finished her crying and cleaned the marks of it from her face. She stood by the window and looked out with no interest. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a gift. She had put aside as much as she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week is not much. Everything had cost more than she had expected. It always happened like that.(The Gift of the Magi, 1905)
From the bold quotation above describes that Della wanted to buy something for her husband on Christmas day. She wanted to give a special gift for her husband but she had no enough money to buy something for her husband. She only had $1.87, she could not bought anything with that money. She had put aside as much as she could for months, but that was not much. She was very sad because she thought that she could not buy a gift for her husband because her money was not enough.
In this prose, there is a conflict that influences the psychological condition the main character as follows:
Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not understand. It filled her with fear. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor anything she had been ready for. He simply looked at her with that strange expression on his face. Della went to him. .(The Gift of the Magi, 1905)
From the bold quotation is the internal conflict that Della felt in her heart. Jim, Della’s husband looked at her with strange expression when he saw her with short hair. That expression made Della felt afraid. Della worried if her husband would be angry because she cut and sold her hair without her husband’s permission. His expression made Della confused and afraid. However, she was willing to sell for her husband.
The conflict from this prose has a resolution which happiness is not about gifts or money but about love and affection. We should accept people that we love sincerely and being wise as the quotation below:
They were the first to give Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones. And here I have told you the story of two children who were not wise. (The Gift of the Magi, 1905)
From the quotation above describes that Della and Jim were not wise. Della was forcing herself to makes her husband be happy and Jim also did it. He sold his watch for gave Della gift. The writer describes the morality of this story. This story describes that they should be wise for everything. Happiness is not about money or gift but happiness is wise, love and affection.
Based on the analysis of the prose The Gift of the Magi it can be included that:
The main character in this prose is Della. She had good personality who would do anything for someone that she loves. She wanted to give a gift for her husband however, she had not enough money. Her psychological condition in this prose was she felt sad because she had no money to give a Christmas gift for her husband. Finally she decided to sold her hair for made money. Then Della should face internal conflict. Jim looked at her wife strangely because her hair was short. Because of Jim’s expression, Della was afraid if her husband would be angry with her decision cut her hair for a gift. Della had sold her precious hair and actually Jim also sold his treasure. That was his watch that important for him for Della. A morality of this story is not about money or gift but happiness is wise, love and affection.
Bernhardt, S Karl. 1953. Practical Psychology. New York: The McGraw Hill Companies
Kenney, William. 1966. How to Analyze Fiction. New York: Monarch Press
Henry.O. 1905. The Gift of the Magi. New York. Available:
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