CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of Analysis

Literature is the expression of feeling, passion and emotion caused by a

sensation of the interestingness of life. It grows from the imaginative mind of the

writer. According to Wellek and Waren in Theory of Literature (1956:94),

Literature represent ‘life’ and ‘life’, in a large measure, is social reality, even

though the natural world and the inner subjective world of individual have also

been object of the literary imitation. It means that literature expresses life reality

without ignoring the environment which influences the writing.

Literature has been widely known of its three genres, they are novel,

poetry and drama. Novel is narrative kinds of fictions writing; poetry is written

down in lyrics with rhythm is dominant and so is the rhyme scheme, and; drama is

aimed at presenting on the stage. As one of an imaginative creation, a novel also

reflects human’s life. Novel is frequently focused on the tension between

individuals and society in which they live, presenting characters that are odds with

the society. A novel consists of some elements, which are divided into two

major’s categories, the intrinsic and extrinsic elements.

The novel which discussed in the thesis is To Kill a Mockingbird written

by Harper Lee (1960). As one of the most successful novel of American

Literature, the novel entitled To Kill A Mockingbird by Lee which published in

1960 becomes one of world literature. It was instantly successful and has become

a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based

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on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event

that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with

serious issues of racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served

as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One

critic explained the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a

Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America,

and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial

heroism."

Lee's novel was initially reviewed by at least 30 newspapers and

magazines, whose critics varied widely in their assessments. More recently,

British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should

read before they die". The book was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1962

by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote. Since 1990, a

play based on the novel has been performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown

of Monroeville, Alabama. To date, it is Lee's only published novel, and although

she continues to respond to the book's impact, she has refused any personal

publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.

In the novel, it found many things related to racism issues in America. As

it generally known, the black people is the second race after white people. Harper

Lee described the situation of it intelligently. The racism issues portrayed in the

novel is one of the reason caused the writer chose this noel to be analyzed further.

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 In order to understand whole of the story perfectly, it is necessary to

understand further the intrinsic element of the novel itself. As we know, there are

two approaches in analyzing the literary work. They are intrinsic and extrinsic

approach. Intrinsic approach is a kind of approach which analyze literary works

based on the text and the structural points of literary works; character, plot,

setting, style and point of view. Extrinsic approach is a kind of approach which

analysis the relationship between the content and other disciplines of knowledge

such as history, religion, psychology, biography, etc. So, if we want to understand

about literary works, the intrinsic elements should be understood well.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the writer found racism

is one of the dominant theme of the novel. This dominant theme is very interesting

for the writer to choose the novel to be analyzed. As racism is one of big problem

which occurs in American society until present time, the writer decides to make

further analysis upon the racism and supported by the other intrinsic elements

such as character, plot, setting, style and point of view.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Through this novel, the writer has some problems which need to find out.

The problem that the writer find out as having relation to:

1. How are the intrinsic elements (character, plot, setting, style and point of

view) of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mocking Bird?

2. What are the characteristics of racism reflected in Harper Lee’s To Kill A

Mocking Bird?

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1.3 Objective of Analysis

Every analysis has certain purposes to obtain, reach and avoid deviation

from what has been planned. The purposes of this study are:

1. To describe the intrinsic elements intrinsic elements (character, plot,

setting, style and point of view) of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mocking Bird.

2. To describe the characteristics of racism reflected in Harper Lee’s To Kill

A Mocking Bird.

1.4 The Scope of Analysis

In doing an analysis, it is necessary to limit the fields that are going to

analyze in order to make sure that the analysis is not out of the context. In this

thesis, the writer focuses only on the intrinsic elements in the novel To Kill a

Mockingbird (1960) writen by Harper Lee as one of the famous American novel

in American Literature. The discussion includes of intrinsic element (character,

plot, setting, theme, point of view, style) and also the characteristic of racism in

the novel To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. .

1.5 The Significance of Analysis

The analysis of this thesis is expected to be able to give significance for

the readers. The significance is: firstly, this thesis will give information to the

readers about analysis of novel To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee based on

the intrinsic elements. Secondly, this thesis hope will enrich the knowledge of

English Department Students in studying about the intrinsic elements and other

literary study so that they interesting to analyze the other side that contain the

novel To Kill A Mockingbird.

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