CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of Choosing the
Topics
Literature is imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized
artistic value; literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of
the findings into a unity (Rebecca West). Much has been written about
literature, Jonee Jr. (1969: 1), for instance, stated that literature includes
all written material divided into two different groups. Literature of knowledge
functions in teaching and learning process, as scientific articles, dictionaries,
directories, school textbooks, history books, etc. Another group is literature
of power functioning in movement as short stories, novels, poems, plays,
magazines, etc. Short story is one of literary works which has both intrinsic
and extrinsic unsure. This paper focuses on intrinsic unsure, specifically on
character and characterization of the story. Due to the illustration above, the
writer conducts an analysis on Indian Education by Sherman Alexie.
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a poet, writer,
filmmaker, and occasionally comedian. He lives in Seattle, Washington. He tends
to irreverence and provocation. It is often playful and ironic; it can be both
poignant and humorous (Diyanni, 2004). The story of the school years of a boy
on an Indian Reservation, from the first grade to post graduation and the
cruelty his deals with both from students and teachers, during this time
period.
1.2. Objective of the Study
The primary objective of this analysis is to reveals the character and characterization
in the short story titled Indian Education. The objectives of this study are to
dig out the more information about character and characterization through
literary work of Sherman Alexie.
1.3. Statement of Problem
Based on the previous background of the choosing the topic, the statement
of problem can be formulated as follows:
1. What category do the characters belong to?
1.4. Scope of Study
This paper focuses on intrinsic unsure of Sherman Alexie's short story,
Indian Education, especially on its character and characterization. In this
paper, the writer analyzes the type of the characters and the characterization
of the story.
1.5. Method of Study
This study is included into library research since it
focuses on the content of short story as the primary data sources. Another data
sources such as literary books, criticism, and electric internet data which are
relevant to the topic of the study as secondary sources. The writer uses the
descriptive analysis method in analyzing the data due to trying to give the
better understanding and elaboration of it.
1.6. Presentation
This paper is presented in four chapter. The first chapter containing
introduction consists of the background of choosing the topic, objective of the
study, statement of problem, scope of study, theoritical approach, method of
study and presentation. The second chapter tries to present to give a brief
explanation about character and characterization. The third chapter summarizes
the previous chapter. Also, this paper attaches the appendix consisting of the
full text of the story.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
2.1. Character
According to Abrams, the meaning of character are the persons presented
in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being
endowed with moral and distortional qualities that are expressed in what the
say -the dialogue- and what they do -the action- (1981: 2). Therefore,
characters are important element in a story.
Types of character are divided into five types (Nurgiyantoro, 2005) as
follows:
a) Main and Supporting Character
Based on the characters' role, character is divided
into two; main and supporting character. Main character is the character that
has a big role in developing a story, whereas supporting character is a
character that supports the main character to develop the story.
In Indian Education, the main character named Victor
as he appears the most in the story. The supporting character, moreover, is
numorous. From the first grade to the twelfth grade, Victor tells the different
people he deals with. As in the forth grade, for instance, he deals with Mr.
Schluter who suggested him to be a doctor.
b) Protagonist and Antagonist Character
Based on characters presentation function, character
is divided into two; protagonist and antagonist. Protagonist is a character we
adore or hero, whereas antagonist is the character having a conflict against
the protagonist.
The protagonist in this story is Victor himself as he
shows up the most -he has the biggest role- in the story. The antagonist,
however, is different in each grade. In the first grade, French Sijohn is the
antagonist. As in the following sentences:
“Then it was a Friday
morning recess and Frenchy St. John threw snowballs at me while the rest of the
Indian boys tortured some other top-yogh-yaught
kid, another weakling. But Frenchy was confident enough to torment me all by
himself, and most days I would have let him. “
In the second grade, Betty Towle, a missionary teacher
is the antagonist.
c) Flat and Round Character
Based on the characters' characteristic, character is
divided into two; round and flat character. These characters are also called as
simple and complex character. Flat character has only a certain characteristic,
whereas round character has several formulated characteristic, yet they might
have various characteristics.
Victor, the main character of this story is a round
character since his feeling and attitude is within process. Sometimes, he acts
as a silent and kind-hearted person, whereas in another time he becomes a
little bit firms. As what happened in the eighth grade in the following
sentence:
“Give me your lunch if you're just going to throw it
up," I said to one of those girls once.
d) Static and Dynamic Character
Based on the development of characterization,
character is divided into two; static and dynamic character. Static character
is a character that essentially has no change and development towards the
events happened in a story. On the other hand, dynamic character has change and
development towards the events happened in a story.
Victor
is a dynamic character since his characteristic is changing by the time
passing. His characteristics developed over the time regarding the events in
the story.
e) Typical and Neutral Character
Based on the possibility of reflection of a character
to the society, character is divided into two; typical and neutral character.
Typical characters show their occupation and nationality more than their
individuality, whereas neutral character is a character that exists for the
story's sake.
The writer obviously shows that Victor is typical
character. This story tells more about Victor's occupation as a student and his
nationality as American than his individuality.
2.2. Characterization
Characterization or characterization is the art of creating characters
for a narrative, including the process
of conveying information about them. It may be employed in dramatic works of
art or everyday conversation. Characters may be presented by means of
description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts. There are three
methods in characterising characters; direct, indirect, and mixing method.
a) Direct Characterization
The author directly tells the audience what the personality of the
character is (IRA, 2004)
b) Indirect Characterization
The author shows things that reveal the personality of a character.
c) Mixing Characterization
The author uses both direct and indirect method of characterization.
Sherman Alexie uses the Indirect characterization. Knowing the
characteristics of the characters can be known by reading both the comment of
other characters or the event happened in the story.
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
From the elaboration above, it is obviously seen that Vistor as the main
character of the story is a protagonist-round-dynamic typical character.
Sherman Alexie characterizing th characters in the story using the indirect
method where the characteristics of the characters can be known by thought,
comments, and conversation in the story.
REFERENCES
www.freedictionary.com.
Jonee, Jr.,
Edward H. (1968). Outlines of Literature,
Short Stories, Novels, and Poems. New York: The Macmilan Company.
Abrams, M.H.
(1985). A Glossary of Literary Terms.
Orlando: Harcrurt Brace College Publishers.
Nurgiyantoro,
Burhan. (2005). Teori Pengkajian Fiksi. Yogyakarta:
Gajahmada University Press.
Diyanni,
Robert. (2004). Literature: Approaches to
Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York University.
IRA. (2004). Defining Characterization.
Indian Education
(from The Lone
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven)
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie is a poet, fiction writer,
and filmmaker known for witty and frank explorations of the lives of
contemporary Native Americans. A
Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, Alexie was born in 1966 and grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. He spent two years at Gonzaga
University before transferring to Washington State University. In 1991, Alexie published The Business of Fancydancing, a book of poetry that led the New York Times Book Review to call him “one of the major lyric voices
of our time.” Since then Alexie has
published many more books of poetry, including I would Steal Horses (1993) and One Stick Song (2000); the novels Reservation Blues (1995) and Indian Killer (1996); and the story collections The
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
(1993), The Toughest Indian in the World
(2000), and Ten Little Indians
(2003). Alexie also wrote and produced Smoke
Signals, a film that won awards at the
1998 Sundance Film Festival, and he wrote and directed The Business of
Fancydancing (2002). Living in Seattle with his wife and children, Alexie
occasionally performs as a stand-up comic and holds the record for the most
consecutive years as World Heavyweight Poetry Bout Champion.
“Indian
Education” – Alexie attended the tribal
school on the Spokane
reservation through the 7th grade, when he decided to seek a better
education at an off-reservation all-white
high school. As this account of his
schooling makes clear, he was not firmly at home in either setting.
FIRST
GRADE
1. My hair was too short and my U.S.
Government glasses were horn-rimmed, ugly, and all that first winter in school,
the other Indian boys chased me from one corner of the play-ground to the
other. They pushed me down, buried me in the snow until I couldn't breathe,
thought I'd never breathe again.
2. They stole my glasses and threw
them over my head, around my outstretched hands, just beyond my reach, until
someone tripped me and sent me falling again, facedown in the snow.
3. I was always falling down; my
Indian name was Junior Falls Down. Sometimes it was Bloody Nose or
Steal-His-Lunch. Once, it was Cries-Like-a-White-Boy, even though none of us
had seen a white boy cry.
4. Then it was a Friday morning
recess and Frenchy St. John threw snowballs at me while the rest of the Indian boys
tortured some other top-yogh-yaught
kid, another weakling. But Frenchy was confident enough to torment me all by
himself, and most days I would have let him.
5. But the little warrior in me
roared to life that day and knocked Frenchy to the ground, held his head
against the snow, and punched him so hard that my knuckles and the snow made
symmetrical bruises on his face. He almost looked like he was wearing war
paint.
6. But he wasn't the warrior. I was.
And I chanted It's a good day to die,
it's a good day to die, all the way down to the principal's office.
SECOND
GRADE
7. Betty Towle, missionary teacher,
redheaded and so ugly that no one ever had a puppy crush on her, made me stay
in for recess fourteen days straight.
8. "Tell me you're sorry,"
she said.
9. "Sorry for what?" I
asked.
10. "Everything," she said
and made me stand straight for fifteen minutes, eagle-armed with books in each
hand. One was a math book; the other was English. But all I learned was that
gravity can be painful.
11. For Halloween I drew a picture of
her riding a broom with a scrawny cat on the back. She said that her God would
never forgive me for that.
12. Once, she gave the class a
spelling test but set me aside and gave me a test designed for junior high
students. When I spelled all the words right, she crumpled up the paper and
made me eat it.
13. "You’ll learn respect,"
she said.
14. She sent a letter home with me
that told my parents to either cut my braids or keep me home from class. My
parents came
in the next day and dragged their braids across Betty Towle's
desk.
15. "Indians, indians, indians."
She said it without capitalization. She called me "indian, indian, indian."
16. And I said, Yes, I am. I am Indian. Indian, I am.
THIRD
GRADE
17. My traditional Native American
art career began and ended with my very first portrait: Stick Indian Taking a
Piss in My Backyard.
18. As I circulated the original
print around the classroom, Mrs. Schluter intercepted and confiscated my art.
19. Censorship, I might cry now. Freedom of expression, I would write in
editorials to the tribal newspaper.
20. In third grade, though, I stood
alone in the corner, faced the wall, and waited for the punishment to end.
21. I'm still waiting.
FOURTH
GRADE
22. "You should be a doctor when
you grow up," Mr. Schluter told me, even though his wife, the third grade
teacher, thought I was crazy beyond my years. My eyes always looked like I had
just hit-and-run someone.
23. "Guilty," she said.
"You always look guilty."
24. "Why should I be a
doctor?" I asked Mr. Schluter.
25. "So you can come back and
help the tribe. So you can heal people."
26. That was the year my father drank
a gallon of vodka a day and the same year that my mother started two hundred
different quilts but never finished any. They sat in separate, dark places in
our HUD house and wept savagely.
27. I ran home after school, heard
their Indian tears, and looked in the mirror. Doctor Victor, I called myself, invented an education, talked to my
reflection. Doctor Victor to the
emergency room.
FIFTH
GRADE
28. I picked up a basketball for the
first time and made my first shot. No. I missed my first shot, missed the
basket completely, and the ball landed in the dirt and sawdust, sat there just
like I had sat there only minutes before.
29. But it felt good, that ball in my
hands, all those possibilities and angles. It was mathematics, geometry. It was
beautiful.
30. At that same moment, my cousin
Steven Ford sniffed rubber cement from a paper bag and leaned back on the
merry-go-round. His ears rang, his mouth was dry, and everyone seemed so far
away.
31. But it felt good, that buzz in
his head, all those colors and noises. It was chemistry, biology. It was
beautiful.
32. Oh, do you remember those sweet,
almost innocent choices that the Indian boys were forced to make?
SIXTH
GRADE
33. Randy, the new Indian kid from
the white town of Springdale, got into a fight
an hour after he first walked into the reservation school.
34. Stevie Flett called him out,
called him a squawman, called him a pussy, and called him a punk.
35. Randy and Stevie, and the rest of
the Indian boys, walked out into the playground.
36. "Throw the first
punch," Stevie said as they squared off.
37. "No," Randy said.
38. "Throw the first
punch," Stevie said again.
39. "No," Randy said again.
40."Throw the first
punch!" Stevie said for the third time, and Randy reared back and pitched
a knuckle fastball that broke Stevie's nose.
41. We all stood there in silence, in
awe.
42. That was Randy, my soon-to-be
first and best friend, who taught me the most valuable lesson about living in
the white world: Always throw the first
punch.
SEVENTH
GRADE
43. I leaned through the basement
window of the HUD house and kissed the white girl who would later be raped by
her foster-parent father, who was also white. They both lived on the
reservation, though, and when the headlines and stories filled the papers later,
not one word was made of their color.
44.Just Indians being Indians,
someone must have said somewhere and they were wrong.
45. But on the day I leaned through
the basement window of the HUD house and kissed the white girl, I felt the goodbyes
I was saying to my entire tribe. I held my lips tight against her lips, a dry,
clumsy, and ultimately stupid kiss.
46.But I was saying goodbye to my
tribe, to all the Indian girls and women I might have loved, to all the Indian
men who might have called me cousin, even brother.
47. I kissed that white girl and when
I opened my eyes, she was gone from the reservation, and when I opened my eyes,
I was gone from the reservation, living in a farm town where a beautiful white
girl asked my name.
48."Junior Polatkin," I
said, and she laughed.
49.After that, no one spoke to me
for another five hundred years.
EIGHTH
GRADE
50. At the farm town junior high, in
the boys' bathroom, I could hear voices from the girls' bathroom, nervous
whispers of anorexia and bulimia. I could hear the white girls' forced vomiting,
a sound so familiar and natural to me after years of listening to my father's
hangovers.
51. "Give me your lunch if
you're just going to throw it up," I said to one of those girls once.
52. I sat back and watched them grow
skinny from self-pity.
53. Back on the reservation, my
mother stood in line to get us commodities. We carried them home, happy to have
food, and opened the canned beef that even the dogs wouldn't eat.
54. But we ate it day after day and
grew skinny from self-pity.
55. There is more than one way to
starve.
NINTH
GRADE
56. At the farm town high school
dance, after a basketball game in an overheated gym where I had scored
twenty-seven points and pulled down thirteen rebounds, I passed out during a
slow song.
57. As my white friends revived me
and prepared to take me to the emergency room where doctors would later
diagnose my diabetes, the Chicano teacher ran up to us.
58. "Hey," he said.
"What's that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They
start drinking real young."
59. Sharing dark skin doesn't
necessarily make two men brothers.
TENTH
GRADE
60.I passed the written test easily
and nearly flunked the driving, but still received my Washington State
driver's license on the same day that Wally Jim killed himself by driving his
car into a pine tree.
61. No traces of alcohol in his
blood, good job, wife and two kids.
62. "Why'd he do it?" asked
a white Washington state trooper.
63. All the Indians shrugged their
shoulders, looked down at the ground.
64."Don't know," we all
said, but when we look in the mirror, see the history of our tribe in our eyes,
taste failure in the tap water, and shake with old tears, we understand
completely.
65. Believe me, everything looks like
a noose if you stare at it long enough.
ELEVENTH
GRADE
66.Last night I missed two free
throws which would have won the game against the best team in the state. The
farm town high school I play for is nicknamed the "Indians," and I'm
probably the only actual Indian ever to play for a team with such a mascot.
67. This morning I pick up the sports
page and read the headline: INDIANS LOSE
AGAIN.
68.Go ahead and tell me none of this
is supposed to hurt me very much.
TWELFTH
GRADE
69.I walk down the aisle,
valedictorian of this farm town high school, and my cap doesn't fit because
I've grown my hair longer than it's ever been. Later, I stand as the school
board chairman recites my awards, accomplishments, and scholarships.
70. I try to remain stoic for the
photographers as I look toward the future.
71. Back home on the reservation, my
former classmates graduate: a few can't read, one or two are just given
attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties. The bright students are
shaken, frightened, because they don't know what comes next.
72. They smile for the photographer
as they look back toward tradition.
73. The tribal newspaper runs my
photograph and the photograph of my former classmates side by side.
POSTSCRIPT:
CLASS REUNION
74. Victor said, "Why should we
organize a reservation high school reunion? My graduating class has a reunion
every weekend at the Powwow Tavern."
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