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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents some points; they are the background, the statement

of problems, the research objectives, the research significance, and the

clarification of key terms.

1.1 Background

In this modern era, the position of literature in the human civilization is

increasing and more important. Literature not only provides enjoyment and inner

satisfaction, but also delivers a representation of social reality to the community.

One form of literature as an infusion of the author’s creative ideas is novel.

Novels can freely talk about life experienced by human beings with various

regulations and norms in their interaction with the environment so that in the

literary work (novel) there is a certain meaning of life. Novel is fiction that tells

the story of the life of the characters, their problems and values that seek authentic

values in their world (Wardani, 2009:15). Some researches on novels deal with

the characters and characterizations in the literary works that present various

mental qualities and behaviors related to the psychological experiences and

conflicts in the real human life. Analyzing the psychological experiences in the

literary work needs to understand the Psychology of Literature.

The Psychology of Literature is the analysis of texts by considering the

relevance and role of psychological studies, that is, Psychology plays an important

role in analyzing a literary work by working from the point of psychological

works of literature, both the elements of the authors, figures, and readers (Ratna,

2004: 350). In analyzing the psychology of literature, the discussion should not

focus too much on the psychological aspect whereas the essential nature of

literature is often left behind. The analysis of literary text which reflects

characterization of the main character who experiences psychological problem

should be observed in terms of the way the author present the psychological

reflection (Minderop, 2016:3).

The author presents psychological reflection in the characters in such a

way that the readers feel enchanted by psychological problems in the story that

sometimes makes the readers feel involved themselves in the story. Shopie

Kinsella in her novel entitled Finding Audrey also presents psychological

reflection in Audrey as the main character who is portrayed in an interesting way

and makes the researcher choose to study her psychological conflicts. Audrey was

a girl of 14 years old who suffered from anxiety disorders, post-incident of

bullying at school. Audrey shut herself off from the surrounding environment,

including wearing black sunglasses everywhere, even at home to avoid an eye

contact. She quitted school for a while. She was hiding in the dark. Based on the

story in Finding Audrey novel, the researcher would like to know whether Audrey

experiences social anxiety disorder or not by using Psychoanalytic theories.

To avoid any similarities of this study to previous research, the researcher

conducted a search. From the search results and the search on literature reviews,

directly or through the internet, the researcher has not found a common title and

analysis yet. However, there are some previous researches that are relevant to the

research topic. These studies are described as follows:

Dini Indiani (2013) in her undergraduate thesis entitled Character

Disorder in Marry Shelly’s Frankenstein has a similar topic about the social

problem. The thesis focuses on analyzing elements of character disorder reflected

in the main character; there are elements of the character disorder when he does

the research and elements in main character’s anxiety. Eneng Resti Kulsum

(2016) in her undergraduate thesis entitled The Abnormality of Two Main

Characters in Chelsea Cain’s Heartsick has a similar topic about psychology

disorder. The thesis focuses on analyzing two main characters who have

psychiatric problems called sadistic and masochistic. Intan Ismiadita (2014) in

her undergraduate thesis entitled A Pedophile Characterization in Vladimir

Nabokov’s Lolita has a similar topic about psychology disorder. The thesis

focuses on the main character’s behavior who suffers pedophile and the attitudes

of other characters toward the main character. Nessie Agustia (2011) in her

undergraduate thesis entitled The Unconscious Mind of A Psychopath in Patrick

Suskind’s Perfume: The Story of A Murderer discusses the same behavior based

on unconscious mind. The thesis focuses on analyzing a psychopath’s mind and

behavior named Grenouille in his life experience in which he is not accepted in

his family and surroundings as well as the impacts of his unconsciousness in his
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adolescence. Angga Feri Fadillah (2013) in his undergraduate thesis entitled The

Mentality of Henry Townsend’s Character in Constructing His Own Identity in

Edward P. Jones’ The Known World focuses on analyzing the main character as a

representation of a slave to be the master of the other black slaves and the

construction of identity represented by Henry Townsend’s character.

The difference that the researcher will reveal is the aspects of social

anxiety disorder experienced by a girl aged 14 years contained in the novel

Finding Audrey by Shopie Kinsella using Psychoanalytic theories.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The research deals with the main character and characterization in the

literary work that presents various mental qualities and behaviors related to the

psychological experiences and conflicts. The social anxiety disorder is a problem

related to a psychological aspect underlying a person’s behavior or attitude. The

social anxiety disorder that is experienced by a person can be solved by some

proper ways. The method of treating social anxiety disorder improperly may bring

about the opposite result.

Based on the research background, the researcher tries to put it in the right

track through the literary work, and the research problems are formulated in the

following questions:

1. How is the social anxiety disorder suffered by main character

described in the novel Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella?

2. What are the factors causing social anxiety disorder suffered by main

character in the novel Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella?

3. How is the social anxiety disorder suffered by main character resolved

in the novel Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella?

1.3 Research Objective

Based on the research problems that have been formulated in three

questions above, this research has purposes as follows:

1. To describe the social anxiety disorder suffered of the main character

constructed in the novel Finding Audrey by Shopie Kinsella.

2. To find out the causes of the main character’s social anxiety disorder

in the novel Finding Audrey by Shopie Kinsella.

3. To find out the ways to overcome the problem of social anxiety

disorder of the main character in the novel Finding Audrey by Shopie

Kinsella.

1.4 Research Significance

This research is done with the hope that it can be useful for those who are

interested in psychological aspects of human life. The research is expected to give

a contribution to the acquisition of knowledge about the psychological review of

the literature that highlights human life and provide knowledge about the ways of

resolving the problem of social anxiety disorder in our life.

1.5 Clarification of Key Terms

In order to minimize misinterpretation on the key terms used in this

research, the researcher clarified some key points:

1. Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common psychiatric disorder

characterized by a persistent, excessive fear and avoidance of social

and performance situations (Hezel & McNally, 2014: 530)

2. Character

Characters are the persons presented in dramatics of narrative work,

who are interpreted by readers as being endowed with the moral and

dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say and what

they do in action (Roberts & Henry, 1993:20).