REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM'S THE TIMEKEEPER

83 Pages·2015·1.69 MB·Indonesian

PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM’S
THE TIMEKEEPER

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
RETNO LESTARI SURYA NINGRUM
Student Number: 114214100

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015
PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM’S
THE TIMEKEEPER

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By
RETNO LESTARI SURYA NINGRUM
Student Number: 114214100

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2015

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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM’S
THE TIMEKEEPER

By
RETNO LESTARI SURYA NINGRUM
Student Number: 114214100

Approved by
Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. June 24, 2015
Advisor

A B Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D.
Co-Advisor
June 24, 2015

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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM’S
THE TIMEKEEPER

By
RETNO LESTARI SURYA NINGRUM
Student Number: 114214100

Defended before the Board of Examiners
On 30 June 2015
and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Signature
Chairperson : Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M. A.
Secretary : A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D.
Member 1 : Maria Ananta Tri S, S.S., M.Ed.
Member 2 : Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D.
Member 3 : A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D.

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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been
previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that,
to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material
previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the
text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, 24 June 2015

Retno Lestari Surya Ningrum
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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama : Retno Lestari Surya Ningrum
NomorMahasiswa : 114214100

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul

REASONING AGAINST THE ABSURD IN MITCH ALBOM’S
THE TIMEKEEPER

Berserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya
memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk
menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk
pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di
internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin
kepada saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap
mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta,
Pada tanggal 24 Juni 2015

Yang menyatakan,

Retno Lestari Surya Ningrum

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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII

This is for
my beloved parents,
my little ‘bigger’ brother,
and my late grand father

Thank you for your never ending love...
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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all I would like to say Alhamdulillah as a form of gratitude to
Allah S.W.T who always give light on my way so that I can finish this thesis with
a lot of miracles. I want to thank my parents for their full support during the
process of my study. I also want to thank my brother for keep on being my source
of power to finish this thesis as soon as possible since he is my rival from birth.
My chief debt goes to Paulus Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. as my thesis
advisor who has encouraged and helped me to finish this thesis by spending his
valuable time to read and give me options in correcting the mistakes I made in this
thesis. I would also like to express my gratitude to A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D.
as my co advisor for the consultations and to Erik Hookom who has provided so
many help and second opinions.
I want to say thank you to my beloved friends of English Letters especially
the girls and guys from 2011. Thank you for Monik, Ria, Manda and Patrick who
always try to drag me out of my room so that I won’t get depressed for the hectic
times I have passed. Thank you to Dina, Jeremy, Monik, Opek and Eka who also
lent me their laptops when I had none. Thank you for some men who always give
me surprises from time to time to cheer me up. And thank you for someone who
said that I am always having fun for that your words attached in my mind and it
makes me able to finish this thesis regardless of my schedules. Last, I would also
like to thank those I do not write for their support, prayers, and love.
Retno Lestari Surya Ningrum.
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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................ ii
APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................ iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ....................................................................................... iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................. v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH . vi
DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................ vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... x
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................. xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study .......................................................................... 1
B. Problem Formulation ................................................................................. 4
C. Objectives of the Study ............................................................................. 4
D. Definition of Terms .................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..................................................... 6
A. Review of Related Studies ......................................................................... 6
B. Review of Related Theories ..................................................................... 11
a. Theory of Characters, Characteristics and Characterization .......... 12
b. Theory of Conflict ........................................................................... 13
c. Existentialism by Sartre and Camus ................................................ 15
C. Theoretical Backgrounds .......................................................................... 24

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 25
A. Object of the Study .................................................................................. 25
B. Approach of the Study ............................................................................. 28
C. Method of the Study ................................................................................. 30

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................................ 32
A. Characteristics and Inner Conflicts of the Characters ............................. 33
a. Dor or Father of Time ........................................................................ 33
b. Sarah Lemon ..................................................................................... 40
c. Victor Delamonte ............................................................................... 47
B. The Inner Conflicts and the Theory of Existentialists .............................. 52
a. Dor or Father of Time ........................................................................ 53
b. Sarah Lemon ..................................................................................... 58
c. Victor Delamonte ............................................................................... 62

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 66
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 70

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PPLLAAGGIAIATT M MEERRUUPPAAKKAANN T TININDDAAKKAANN T TIDIDAAKK T TEERRPPUUJJII
ABSTRACT

NINGRUM, RETNO LESTARI SURYA. Reasoning against the Absurd in
Mitch Albom’s The Timekeeper. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters,
Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2015.

The Timekeeper is a novel which portrays the idea of relative concept of
time by Mitch Albom. Since times and the absurd are closely related, this novel
becomes a good medium to analyze existentialists ideas in literary work. With its
unique plotline and fairytale-like story, this novel also explains some moral values
and ideas which are related closely with the reason of human existence. However,
instead of analyzing the novel in the form of formalistic analysis, this novel is
interesting to be critically analyzed in the important examination of the human
struggle with absurdity to find meaning in existence.
There are two main questions to discuss. The first one is to analyze the
characters and their inner conflicts, and the second one is to analyze how the
conflicts are related with existentialists’ ideas about the struggle against the
absurd.
The method used in conducting this research is the library research
method. The writer used both books and internet references to collect the data,
analyze the data and drawing conclusions. The approach used is moral
philosophical approach since this approach is the most suitable one for an
existentialist study.
As the result of the analysis, it is found that each character portrays
different ideas of existentialism. The first character shows that rationalization
helps people to recover from despair. The second character shows that a neglected
sign of the absurd may result to significant elevation of leveling process. This
elevation creates total despair which most likely ends up with suicide. The last
character shows that actually a person who acknowledges the absurd are forever
bound with it, even though they have made rationalization and recover from the
despair.

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