In "Feminist Philosophy" class with Mrs. gadis Arivia, I failed my 1st paper and i was told to make the revision. This is the revision of my paper. i don't know the mark i get, but it is indeed quite hard for me inmaking this papre since I'm not used to write paper on philosophy. However, I love this class! I really enjoy every part of it!

The Feminine Mystique:
American Dreams Bukan Mimpi Yang Sempurna

Setelah perang dunia ke-2 di Amerika Serikat, muncul sebuah fenomena budaya dimana anggapan masyarakat tentang kehidupan yang sempurna adalah ketika seorang perempuan dan laki-laki hidup berkeluarga dan tinggal di daerah suburban kota, dengan satu atau dua anak. Kebahagian seorang perempuan seolah ditentukan dengan adanya pernikahan dan adanya anak, bagi mereka yang tidak memiliki anak atau belum menikah dianggap sebagai perempuan yang ‘tidak lengkap’. Perempuan jadi mempunyai tujuan hidup yang sudah ditentukan oleh masyarakat lewat sebuah konstruksi sosial, yaitu menikah lalu menjadi istri dan ibu yang baik. Fenomena seperti ini disebut dengan ‘The American Dreams’ yaitu mimpi, harapan, dan pandangan masyarakat Amerika tentang apa yang dianggap kehidupan yang sempurna. Mimpi tentang kesempurnaan kehidupan berkeluarga yang muncul di Amerika ini kemudian dikritik oleh Betty Friedan lewat bukunya The Feminine Mystique, yang mana istilah Feminine Mystique mengacu pada ideologi perempuan-perempuan Amerika yang merasa satu-satunya cara mencapai kebahagiaan adalah dengan menikah dan mempunyai anak[1].

Kehidupan sempurna seperti yang diimpikan dalam American Dreams tidak hanya ditemui di Amerika pada masa setelah perang dunia ke-2, tetapi saat ini nyaris di semua belahan dunia negara-negara berkembang, termasuk Indonesia. Banyak dari perempuan Indonesia pun masih mengganggap pernikahan sebagai sebuah tujuan hidup, bahkan dalam Islam diajarkan bahwa menikah adalah suatu ibadah dan kewajiban. Ada nilai-nilai yang diciptakan masyarakat lewat kebudayaan dan cara pandang yang dibangun dalam sebuah kebudayaan yang bertahan selama berabad-abad yang dihidupkan oleh ajaran-ajaran agama. Termasuk di Indonesia, perempuan dinyatakan mempunyai ‘kodrat’ untuk menjadi seorang istri dan ibu yang baik, seolah-olah tidak ada pilihan lain bagi perempuan dalam hidupnya. Terlebih lagi, seolah-olah menikah dan mempunyai anak adalah satu-satunya jalan kebahagiaan bagi perempuan.

Namun muncul pertanyaan-pertanyaan sebagai berikut; apakah perempuan tidak mempunyai pilihan lain dalam hidupnya selain menjadi seorang ibu dalam keluarga kecil yang bahagia? Apakah kebahagian seorang perempuan dapat ditentukan oleh masyarakat lewat hal-hal yang dinyatakan kodrati? Apakah identitas seorang perempuan cukup hanya seagai seorang istri dan atau ibu? Betty Friedan berusaha menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini lewat The Feminine Mystique dan menggugat konsep kesempurnaan di balik American Dream dengan sangat kritis. Friedan mengkritik American Dreams lewat dua aspek utama: sosial dan psikologis.

Dalam permasalah sosial American Dreams, Friedan menganggap adanya American Dreams yang dipopulerkan lewat majalah, pendidikan, iklan-iklan televisi, dan lain-lain adalah alat untuk mencuci otak perempuan atas peran-peran sosial yang harus dijalankan perempuan. Yang pertama adalah mengembalikan perempuan pada tempatnya bekerja ‘di dapur’ setelah semasa perang dunia ke-2 perempuan menguasai pekerjaan-pekerjaan pabrik agar laki-laki dapat kembali memiliki lahan pekerjaan setelah perang. Kedua, perempuan sebagai alat (konsumen) untuk mendukung kemajuan produk-produk rumah tangga di Amerika, sehingga memajukan perekonomian Amerika Serikat pasca perang.[2] Seperti apa yang dikemukakan Friedan; “In the fifteen years after World War II, this mystique of feminine fulfillment became the cherished and self-perpetuating core of contemporary American culture”[3] Dengan kembalinya perempuan bekerja ‘di dapur’ dan sebagai konsumen utama produk-produk rumah tangga baru yang populer di Amerika, maka perempuan sudah membantu melancarkan peranan-peranan sosial yang berlaku dalam masyarakat Amerika pada masa itu.

Selain kritik Friedan bahwa perempuan sudah diperalat sebagai alat untuk melengkapi pakem-pakem peranan sosial di Amerika, Friedan juga menekankan permasalahan prikologis perempuan lewat Feminine Mystique. Dikemukakan oleh Friedan bahwa banyak perempuan Amerika kehilangan arti hidupnya setelah menikah dan mengalami depresi berat. Hal ini dikarenakan, menurut Friedan, bahwa perempuan setelah menikah tidak lagi mempunyai obsesi dan tujuan hidup. Perempuan tidak lagi ‘mengejar’ suatu cita-cita karena ‘cita-cita’ yang ada dalam American Dream sudah tercapai, yaitu menjadi seorang istri dan ibu. Namun, Friedan mengemukakan bahwa rutinitas yang dihadapi oleh perempuan-perempuan itu membawa mereka pada kekosongan, sehingga ada kecenderungan untuk melarikan diri dari rutinitas atau berdiam diri di rumah dan mengalami depresi. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa cita-cita atau tujuan perempuan yang hanya sebagai istri atau orang tua tidaklah cukup untuk membahagiakan perempuan.

Perempuan telah menjadi alat kebahagian, bukan mencapai kebahagiaan yang sesungguhnya diimpikan mereka, tetapi memberikan kelengkapan kebahagian bagi anak-anak dan suaminya. Hal ini ditunjukkan seorang perempuan dengan menjaga rumah agar tetap bersih dan indah, sementara anak-anaknya sekolah dan suaminya bekerja. Seorang perempuan dalam peranannya sebagai istri menurut American Dreams adalah menyiapkan dan memberikan segala sesuatu yang dibutuhkan oleh suami dan anak-anaknya, seperti pakaian, bekal makanan, vitamin, dan lain-lain. Dengan catatan, untuk menjaga kelangsungan kebahagiaan keluarganya. Namun hal ini menjadikan perempuan melupakan kebahagiaannya sendiri. Hal ini disebut Friedan sebagai ‘masalah tanpa nama’ (the problem that has no name)[4]
Masalah identitas juga dikemukakan Friedan sebagai masalah psikologis perempuan; identitas perempuan sebagai seorang istri dan ibu adalah identitas perempuan sebagai pelengkap kebahagiaan, namun perempuan pada pada masa itu mengalami kekosongan dan eksistensinya sebagai seorang individu yang berarti tidaklah ada. Setelah menikah, seorang perempuan kehilangan identitasnya sebagai seorang pribadi, namun identitasnya beralih menjadi pelengkap keluarga, pendamping suami, dan ibu dari seorang anak. Perempuan kehilangan identitasnya sebagai seorang pribadi yang apa adanya, utuh tanpa pelengkap, dan idependen.

Selain menyalahkan media karena telah mencuci-otak perempuan-prempuan Amerika pada masa itu, Friedan juga melihat adanya peranan pendidikan dalam membiarkan ideologi ini tambah subur. Pendidikan dalam universitas lebih banyak menekankan agar perempuan siap untuk hidup di areal wilayah domestik tanpa memperdulikan kepandaian atau keahlian perempuan di bidang-bidang tertentu[5]. Film Monalisa Smile adalah contoh sebuah karya fiksi yang menunjukkan bagaimana perempuan pada masa itu diarahkan oleh pendidikan untuk berpikiran bahwa yang paling utama dalam kehidupan adalah mengejar American Dreams, dan bagaimana seorang guru yang berjiwa feminis berusaha mematahkan konvensi-konvensi tersebut yang ada dalam masyarakatnya.

Friedan prihatin dengan anggapan masyarakat pada masa itu yang melihat perempuan yang memberontak dari konstruksi ini sebagai korban dari pendidikan sehingga pendidikan dianggap sebagai penghancur feminitas perempuan:
It is not a matter of loss of feminity or too much education, or the demands of domesticity, It is far more important than anyone recognizes. It is the key to these other new and old problems which have been torturing women and their husbandand children for years. It may well be the key to our future as a nation and a culture.[6]

Melainkan, Friedan melihat bahwa hal ini merupakan permasalahan budaya yang tidak boleh ditinggalkan, karena bila permasalahan ini lebih diperhatikan, maka akan membawa Amerika ke arah yang lebih baik.

Namun yang menjadi pertanyaan adalah; apakah benar Femninine Mystique berhasil membebaskan pikiran sepenuhnya dari belenggu patriarki? Untuk membebaskan diri dari konstruksi sosial yang patriarkhis tidak cukup hanya dengan The Feminine Mystique. Namun The Feminine Mystique pada masa itu dapat dikategorikan sebagai salah satu buku kontroversial yang berhasil mengupas permasalahan ibu rumah tangga yang sebelumnya tidak pernah dilihat sebagai masalah yang serius. Hingga saat ini, The Feminine Mystique berhasil menyuarakan feminisme dalam bentuk permasalahan mendasar kehidupan, bahwa identitas dan obsesi hidup perempuan tidak hanya sekedar menjadi happy homemaker. Perempuan harus dapat bangkit dan mencari jati dirinya bukan hanya sebagai pelengkap hidup orang lain, tetapi juga melengkapi dirinya sendiri dengan cita-cita dan obsesi yang terbebas dari kewajiban-kewajiban rumah tangga yang terbentuk dari konstruksi sosial yang patriarkhis. Lewat The Feminine Mystique, Friedan juga berhasil mengupas permasalahan yang tidak pernah dilihat oleh orang lain sebelumnya. Friedan berhasil menunjukkan bahwa perempuan mempunyai banyak pilihan-pilihan lain selain menikah. Feminine Mystique merupakan langkah awal yang tepat untuk memulai pergerakan feminisme, yaitu dengan menggugat konstruksi sosial kesempurnaan American Dreams. Friedan berhasil menunjukkan bahwa American Dreams bukanlah suatu hal yang sempurna dan kodrati, melainkan sebagai suatu konstruksi yang diciptakan oleh masyarakat.

Daftar Pustaka

Arivia, Gadis. Filsafat Berperspektif Feminis. Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan, Jakarta, 2003.

Barker, Clive. Cultural Studies: Teori dan Praktek. Kreasi Wacana, Yogyakarya, 2004.

“Betty Friedan”. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Friedan, Betty. “The Feminine Mystique” Bahan Ajar Paradigma Feminis S1” Disusun oleh Gadis Arivia.

Tong, Rosemary Putnam. Feminist Thought. Terj. Aquarini Priatna Prabasmoro. Jalasutra, Yogyakarta,1998.

“Women Rights Movement”. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

[1] “The Feminine Mystique”. Bahan Ajar Paradikma Feminis S1. Disusun oleh Gadis Arivia. Hlm. 48-49.
[2] Ibid. Hlm 49.
[3] Ibid. Hlm 53.
[4] Ibid. Hlm 54.
[5] Ibid. Hlm 58.
[6] Ibid. Hlm 67.

Hi... it's been a long time! This is my mid term paper for "Film Sastra" class... I got 80 for this, which is an "A" already, yet there are some notes from the lecturer that I actually should rewrite in some part. So please consider this as an unperfect "A". Butr if u really interested in Anthony Kubrick's visualisation of Burgess' A Clockwork Orange... you should read this essay. I made in in a hurry, so the language is a little bit messy, so sorry about that.. :)



A Clockwork Orange:
Interpretasi Visual Yang Memperindah Kekerasan


Kekerasan juga bisa disajikan secara indah, hal inilah yang ingin ditunjukkan dalam film A Clockwork Orange yang diangkat dari novel karya penulis Inggris Anthony Burgess. Meskipun bukan karya favoritnya, A Clockwork Orange adalah novel Antony Burgess yang paling melambungkan namanya. Diterbitkan pertama kali tahun 1962, A Clockwork Orange bercerita tentang Alex yang terobsesi dengan ultra-violence[1], aksi pemerkosaan, dan Beethoven the ninth symphony. Dalam melakukan segala aksi amoralnya demi memuaskan diri sendiri, Alex sebagai pemimpin ditemani oleh Dim, Pete, dan Georgie. Alex kemudian dikhianati oleh ketiga temannya dan dijebak hingga tertangkap oleh polisi dan dijadikan kelinci percobaan oleh pemerintah, ia harus menjalani serangkaian cuci otak untuk menghapus semua ketertarikannya pada hal-hal amoral dan lagu Beethoven yang ia sukai. Percobaan ini membuat Alex menjadi sangat menderita setiap mendengarkan lagu Beethoven, tidak berdaya untuk melakukan kekerasan, dan tidak bisa menyentuh tubuh wanita lagi. Alex kehilangan haknya atas kehendak bebasnya sebagai seorang manusia. Karena sangat menderita dari hasil cuci otak, ia mencoba untuk bunuh diri namun gagal. Aksi bunuh diri ini menjatuhkan nama pemerintah, Alex menjadi kelinci percobaan yang dikasihani oleh masyarakat, hingga akhirnya pemerintah ‘menyuap’ Alex untuk bekerja sama membantu mengembalikan nama baik pemerintah. Dalam versi novel, pengaruh cuci otak Alex menghilang setelah percobaan bunuh diri, Alex kembali menjadi seseorang yang amoral dan kembali mendengarkan Beethoven The Ninth Symphony. Namun, setelah Alex bertemu dengan Pete, teman lamanya yang sudah menikah dan hidup bahagia, Alex menyadari kedewasaannya dan juga memutuskan untuk menikah dan punya anak. Pesan terakhir yang diberikan Alex dalam novel adalah bahwa bila ia mempunyai anak yang nantinya juga akan bersikap amoral seperti dirinya, ia tidak akan pernah bisa menghentikannya karena anaknya pun juga seorang manusia yang memiliki kehendak bebasnya. Nama Alex sendiri diambil dari nama Anglo-Russo-American yang berarti tidak mengenal hukum (A: tidak atau tanpa, lex: hukum)[2]

Novel ini mengambil setting masa depan tanpa tahun yang jelas dan melibatkan sains dalam plot, sehingga dapat dikategorikan ke dalam genre fiksi ilmiah (science fiction)[3]. Judul A Clockwork Orange diambil dari istilah asli London “as queer as a clockwork orange” yang artinya sesuatu yang ajaib dari ‘dalam’ seseorang namun dapat terlihat seperti manusia normal. Clockwork sendiri berarti sesuatu yang berjalan secara mekanik seperti robot, dan orange merupakan simbolisasi dari manusia yang tampak ranum dan segar[4]. Kata Orange sengaja dipakai oleh penulis karena kemiripannya dengan kata ‘orang’ dalam bahasa Malay[5], sehingga A Clockwork Orange juga berarti manusia (orang) yang bersifat mekanis seperti mesin.

A Clockwork Orange menurut majalah Times adalah salah satu dari 100 novel terbaik di abad 20. Ada empat hal yang menjadikan novel ini istimewa. Pertama, Anthony Burgess berhasil menciptakan serangkaian bahasa slang baru yang disebut nadsat untuk menggambarkan kehidupan anak muda yang dinamis, yaitu campuran dari bahasa Inggris (British) dan Rusia. Kedua, novel ini mengangkat tema pertentangan antara kehendak bebas manusia dengan moralitas yang merupakan kritik sosial masyarakat yang penuh dengan kekerasan. Ketiga, cara penulisan novel yang sangat terstuktur dan terencana[6]. Keempat, kelugasan penggambaran ultra-violence yang berhasil menjadi terobosan pada masa itu.

Pada tahun 1971, Stanley Kubricks, salah satu sutradara yang paling diakui Hollywood akan kemampuannya dalam memvisualisasi adegan kekerasan sebagai sarana kritik sosial, mengangkat novel kontroversial ini ke layar lebar. Film A Clockwork Orange pada akhirnya tidak hanya mengangkat popularitas Anthony Burgess dan Stanley Kubricks, tetapi juga mendapatkan banyak penghargaan dan nominasi Academy Awards.

A Clockwork Orange adalah sebuah karya yang dikenal dengan banyaknya adegan kekerasan. Dengan membandingkan novel dan filmnya, kita dapat menemukan satu keunikan dari hubungan film dan novel A Clockwork Orange, yaitu visualisasi ultra-violence. Ada dua hal penting dalam visualisasi ultra-violence ala Kubrick yaitu: (1) menggambarkan adegan ultra-violence dari novel ke layar lebar secara teaterikal lewat keindahan gerak dan bahasa, tanpa mengurangi “kerasnya” adegan ultra-violence sehingga lewat film ini kekerasan ditunjukkan sebagai suatu adegan yang mempunyai nilai estetika, (2) dan perbedaan ending pada novel dan film yang memberi kesan akhir yang sama sekali berbeda.

Pertama-tama, mari kita lihat sifat teaterikal yang dapat ditemukan dalam film A Clockwork Orange. Teaterikal, menurut The Little Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press, sixth edition, 1987) adalah sebuah bentuk yang berhubungan dengan teater dan akting, atau sebuah pertunjukan yang mengalami dramatisasi. Maka pengertian dari visualisasi kekerasan secara teaterikal yang saya maksud adalah penampilan adegan kekerasan yang mengalami dramatisasi lewat keindahan gerak dan keindahan bahasa.

Dari banyak adegan kekerasan yang ditampilkan secara teaterikal oleh Kubrick, ada empat adegan yang gaya teraterikalnya paling jelas ditampilkan terutama dari segi keindahan gerak, yaitu: adegan pemerkosaan seorang perempuan oleh sebuah kelompok saingan Alex (Billyboy), adegan kelompok Alex berkelahi dengan kelompok Billyboy, adegan Alex menendang Mr. Alexander, dan adegan Alex berkelahi dengan ketiga temannya.

Adegan pemerkosaan dibuka dengan suara biola yang memainkan lagu klasik bertempo cepat, kemudian kamera mengambil long shot yang bergerak panning mengekspos setting gedung teater yang terbengkalai, menyorot bagian panggung. Di atas panggung terdapat seseorang perempuan yang berusaha menyelamatkan diri dari kelompok saingan Alex yang dipimpin oleh Billyboy yang sedang berusaha melakukan pemerkosaan atas dirinya. Gerakan seorang perempuan yang berayun kesana-kemari diikuti oleh sekelompok laki-laki di atas sebuah panggung teater diiringi lagu klasik yang relatif bernuansa lucu tidak membuat adegan ini terlihat seperti adegan pemerkosaan, melainkan seolah seperti tarian atau pertunjukkan teater musikal. Hal ini menunjukkan adanya dramatisasi ke dalam bentuk yang sangat teaterikal dari perubahan-perubahan yang dilakukan oleh Kubrick dengan nenonjolkan keindahan gerak tari pada adegan ini. Pada novel yang ditulis oleh Burgess, setting adegan ini bukanlah di panggung teater melainkan di tempat yang bernama Municipal Power Plant[7]. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa Kubrick ingin menempatkan unsur-unsur teaterikal dengan memasukkan setting panggung teater, musik klasik, dan gerakan-gerakan yang menyerupai tarian ke dalam visualisasi kekerasan dalam interpretasinya terhadap A Clockwork Orange.

Adegan ini dilanjukan dengan bentrokan antara kelompok Billyboy dengan kelompok Alex. Dalam novel, digambarkan sebuah perkelahian selayaknya sebuah perkelahian antar geng dimana mereka saling berkelahi dengan senjata yang mereka pegang masing-masing. Namun Kubrick menambahkan keindahan adegan perkelahian ini dengan diiringi musik klasik, dan adegan perkelahian dibuat slapstick dengan adanya adegan orang yang beterbangan di udara, dengan gerakan slow-motion. Hal ini merupakan sebuah dramatisasi dari apa yang ditulis di novel sehingga film tampak lebih tidak realistis, namun hal ini juga yang menjadikan adegan ini tampak istimewa, sama dengan adegan sebelumnya, yaitu dengan memadukan kekerasan dengan musik klasik.

Adegan berikutnya yang juga mengandung unsur teraterikal adalah adegan ketika Alex menendang Mr. Alexander sambil menyanyikan lagu Singing in The Rain. Alex menendang Mr. Alexander sambil melakukan semacam tarian yang secara ritmik dengan lagu yang ia nyanyikan diikuti tendangan demi tendangan ke tubuh Mr.Alexander. Lagu Singing in The Rain yang dinyanyikan Alex pada film tidak ada dalam novel. Ini juga merupakan sebuah dramatisasi dari interpretasi yang dilakukan Kubrick untuk menambahkan nuansa slapstick dengan gerak tari dan lagu yang dinyanyikan oleh Alex.

Adegan lain yang juga menunjukan unsur teaterikal adalah adegan ketika Alex berkelahi dengan ketiga temannya di samping sebuah kolam. Adegan ini lagi-lagi dimulai dengan musik klasik yang mengalun mengiringi gerakan slow-motion Alex memukul Georgie dan mendorongnya ke dalam kolam. Alex kemudian juga mendorong Dim ke dalam kolam dan menggores tangannya dengan belati. Sepanjang adegan ini diiringi dengan musik klasik dan slow-motion untuk menekankan pentingnya adegan ini dan memberikan keindahan gerak dalam sebuah adegan kekerasan.

Selain adegan-adegan kekerasan yang diwarnai dengan keindahan gerak, keindahan bahasa yang ada dalam novel dan film juga bersifat teaterikal. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari perpaduan bahasa Nadsat dan gaya berbicara yang menyerupai drama. Gaya berbicara yang menyerupai gaya bahasa dalam drama ditunjukkan dengan bagaimana Alex, sebagai narator dengan sudut pandang orang pertama, menyebut dirinya sendiri dengan sebutan “Your Humble Narrator” dan memberi kesan kedekatan kepada para pembaca atau penonton dengan memanggil “O’ my brothers”. Hal ini menjadikan posisi Alex seolah sebagai seorang narator dalam sebuah pementasan drama yang menceritakan bagaimana jalan kisahnya. Contoh lain adalah bahasa yang digunakan dalam film yang sangat bernuansa teaterikal, seperti ketika Alex mengagumi keindahan lagu Beethoven:
Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!” – Alex (Listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony)

Dalam novel juga bagian ini bergaya bahasa selayaknya sebuah drama, hanya saja versi film lebih sederhana dari pada versi novel berikut:
Oh, bliss, bliss and heaven. I lay all nagoy to the ceiling, my gooliver on my rookers on the pillow, glazzies closed, rot open in bliss, slooshying the sluice of sounds. Oh, it was gorgeousness and gergeosity made flesh […] Oh, it was wonder of wonders […] I was in such bliss, my brothers [Hlm. 26]

Di dalam novel, penggunaan bahasa nadsat lebih banyak dari pada dalam film. Misalnya kata gooliver (head), rookers (hand), glazzies (eyes), slooshy (to hear), dan lain-lain. Hal ini merupakan salah satu kelebihan novel bila dibandingkan dengan film, bahwa novel lebih kaya secara linguistik. Namun hal ini dapat dikatakan wajar, mengingat hal utama yang harus dimiliki sebagai kekuatan sebuah film adalah visualisasi dari apa yang ditulis di novel. Dalam film adegan ini digambarkan dengan voice over narration oleh Alex sambil merebahkan tubuhnya di atas ranjang.

Alex menggambarkan keindahan lagu Beethoven dengan penuh gaya bahasa, selayaknya gaya bahasa yang dapat ditemukan dalam drama. Hal ini menunjukkan kemiripan gaya bahasa yang digunakan dalam drama dengan A Clockwork Orange. Bahasa menjadi kekuatan dan salah satu kelebihan A Clockwork Orange, yang melengkapi adegan-adegan kekerasan yang ada di dalamnya dengan keindahan bahasa. Hal ini merupakan upaya jelas dari pengarang dan sutradara dalam memberikan warna yang indah dalam sebuah film yang penuh kekerasan lewat unsur-unsur teaterikal.

Hal lain yang juga dilakukan oleh Kubrick dalam menginterpretasi novel A Clockwork Orange ke dalam film adalah perbedaan ending dari novelnya. Kubrick memutuskan untuk tidak memasukan bab terakhir dari novel, yaitu bab 21 ke dalam film yang bercerita tentang optimisme Alex yang pada akhirnya memiliki niat untuk menjadi dewasa dan berubah. Dalam film, ending cukup sampai adegan dimana Alex memutuskan untuk bekerja sama dengan pemerintah. Kalimat yang terakhir diucapkan Alex adalah voice over narration “I was cured all right” yang meninggalkan kesan ironi yang dalam. Ironi dibangun karena adegan terakhir yang ditampilkan adalah adegan Alex yang sedang ‘berandai-andai’ kembali dapat melakukan aksi pemerkosaan terhadap seorang perempuan, kemudian terdapat narasi dari dirinya yang menyatakan bahwa ia benar-benar sudah sudah sembuh. Berbeda dengan novel yang meninggalkan kesan optimis di akhir cerita, Kubrick memutuskan untuk membiarkan penonton dengan akhir yang ironis, seolah-olah Alex tidak akan pernah bias sembuh, tentu saja hal ini kembali sebagai sebuah dramatisasi cerita sehingga mendukung keseluruhan konsep ironi keindahan dalam visualisasi kekerasan yang ditampilkan Kubrick.

Dengan memasukkan unsur-unsur teaterikal ke dalam interpretasinya, Kubrick menyajikan sebuah film yang penuh dengan adegan kekerasan namun tetap memiliki nilai-nilai keindahan. Keindahan gerak dalam film, alunan musik, dan bahasa yang digunakan adalah unsur-unsur teaterikal yang mampu memberikan keindahan dari adegan-adegan yang vulgar dan penuh kekerasan. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa sadisme kekerasan yang seringkali secara visual mengganggu bagi banyak orang, dapat menjadi suatu adegan yang kaya akan nilai-nilai estetika bila disajikan dengan visualisasi yang indah, yaitu dengan memasukkan unsur-unsur teaterikal ke dalamnya. Melihat keunikan sajian visual dan bahasa yang dimiliki film dan novel A Clockwork Orange, maka tidak heran bila A Clockwork Orange disebut sebagai salah satu karya terbaik di abad 20.

Daftar Pustaka
“A Clockwork Orange” 20/04/06 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/clockworkorange/section22.rhtml

“Aestheticization of violence” 20/04/06 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aestheticization_of_violence&printable=yes

“Anthony Burgess” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft co, 2004

“A Clockwork Orange” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft co, 2004

“A Clockwork Orange” 20/04/06. http://www.filmsite.org/cloc.html

“A Clockwork Orange” 20/04/06 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Clockwork_Orange&printable=yes

A Clockwork Orange, Motion Picture. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Warner Bros, 1971.

Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London: Pinguin Classic, 2000.

Little Oxford Dictionary, The. Oxford University press, sixth edition 1986

Morisson, Blake. Introduction. A Clockwork Orange. London: Pinguin Classic, 2000.

“Science Fiction” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft co, 2004

“Stanley Kubrick” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft co, 2004

“Theater” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Microsoft co, 2004

“Ultra Violence” 20/04/06. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ultra-violence


[1] Ultra-violence adalah istilah yang pertama kali dipopulerkan oleh Anthony Burgess lewat novel ini. Ultra-violence mengacu pada kekerasan yang dilakukan pada orang-orang yang tidak berdaya, seperti ketika Alex menyerang gelandangan tua renta (A Clockwork Orange. Pinguin Classics, 2000. Hlm 12) – “Ultra-Violence” dalam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ultra-violence
[2] Morisson, Blake. Introduction. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess. Pinguin Classics, 2000. Hlm ix.
[3] Science Fiction: Imaginative fiction based on postulated scientific discoveries (The Little Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University press, sixth edition 1986), genre of fiction sets in imaginary time or place (“Science Fiction” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 2004)
[4] http://www.filmsite.org/cloc.html
[5] Anthony Burgess pernah menetap di Malaysia tahun 1954-1959 pada masa kolonialisme Inggris di Malaysia.
[6] Novel A Clockwork Orange versi terbitan Inggris terdiri dari tiga bagian, yang masing-masing terdiri dari tujuh bab. Bagian I dan bagian III bercerita tentang nasib Alex yang saling berbalik satu sama lain, sementara bagian II adalah masa titik balik kehidupan Alex. Keteraturan pembagian plot ini menunjukkan bahwa proses kreatif novel ini melalui perencanaan yang sangat matang. (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/clockworkorange/section22.rhtml)
[7] Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. Pinguin Classics, 2000. Hlm 13.

This one is my favorite, I got an A too for this. Enjoy...

Fifth Semester
Literature Criticism Class
Mid-term test assignment

Jurnalisme Sastrawi:
Sebuah Sanggahan Terhadap Doktrin Obyektifitas Dalam Jurnalistik

Janet Steele, seorang sejarawan asal Amerika Serikat, baru-baru ini menerbitkan bukunya Wars Within: A Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine, in Soeharto’s Indonesia. Dosen University of George Washington ini berbicara Bahasa Indonesia dengan sangat fasih dalam diskusi bukunya Kamis, 20 Oktober 2005 lalu di auditorium Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya Universitas Indonesia. Diskusi yang membahas jurnalisme sastrawi ini berisi bagaimana Janet Steele melakukan penelitian dan bagaimana Ia membangun sebuah tulisan yang bersifat naratif dalam sebuah catatan sejarah faktual bergaya investigative journalism. Ketika sesi tanya-jawab dibuka, mencul pertanyaan-pertanyaan menyangkut fakta dan subyektifitas penulis dalam sebuah jurnalisme naratif. Salah satu penanya yang berasal dari sebuah surat kabar terkemuka bahkan mempermasalahkan penggunaan kata ‘konon’ dan ‘kabarnya’ dalam berita investigasi Janet Steele yang dianggap tidak mendukung fakta.

Fakta. Bertahun-tahun sepanjang sejarah jurnalisme dunia, kata ini diagung-agungkan seperti Tuhan. Kata kedua yang juga sama sakralnya adalah “Obyektifitas”. “Jurnalisme harus menyampaikan informasi yang FAKTUAL secara OBYEKTIF! Selepas dari itu, menyalahi kode etik jurnalisme,” demikianlah jargon yang umum saya temui dalam pelatihan-pelatihan jurnalistik, baik sekedar ekstra kulikuler jurnalistik di sekolah menengah maupun seminar-seminar yang dihadiri oleh para jurnalis pentolan di Indonesia. Sengaja jargon itu saya cetak tebal dan garisbawahi dalam tulisan ini, untuk menekankan betapa hal itu selama bertahun-tahun telah mendoktrin otak saya (dan teman-teman saya yang bercita-cita jadi jurnalis) seperti Hitler mendoktrin pasukan NAZI-nya. “Kalaupun ingin memasukkan subyektifitas, jangan sampai ketahuan. Cukup sedikit saja di akhir untuk memberi bumbu pada artikel,” jelas Akmal Naseri Basral, wartawan majalah Tempo yang dulu pernah menjadi editor saya di majalah Behind The Screen. Saya tidak heran bila Mas Akmal (begitu saya memanggilnya) mempunyai sedikit kelonggaran dalam masalah obyektifitas jurnalisme, karena beliau juga adalah seorang penulis yang baru saja menerbitkan Imperia,novel pertamanya.

Seorang penulis yang umum ‘bermain-main’ dengan sastra melihat subyektifitas sebagai hal yang biasa. Bahkan subyektifitas sangat berperan dalam ‘menghidupkan’ sebuah karya sastra. Misalnya saja dalam membangun karakter tokoh dengan sudut pandang orang pertama, penulis mempunyai kelebihan untuk mengembangkan sifat-sifat tokohnya lewat subyektifitas, sehingga sisi psikologis dalam tokoh tersebut dapat ditunjukkan dengan lebih detail. JD Salinger adalah salah satu penulis yang sudah membuktikan hal ini lewat novelnya Catcher in the Rye.

Melihat sifat-sifat sastra dan tulisan jurnalistik, meskipun sama-sama menggunakan bahasa sebagai media dan bermain dengan kata-kata, jurnalisme dan sastra adalah dua hal yang berbeda. Salah satu fungsi sastra adalah untuk menyampaikan pesan yang ingin disampaikan pengarang dan menggambarkan tentang apa yang ditangkap oleh pengarang tentang kehidupan di sekitarnya (Membaca Sastra. Hlm. 19) sementara tulisan-tulisan jurnalistik fungsi utamanya adalah memberikan informasi. Perbedaan fungsi inilah yang menjadi perbedaan paling signifikan dalam sastra dan jurnalisme, yang dapat dianalisa dalam kadar subyektifitas tulisannya.

Janet Steele melihat gaya menulis naratif yang umum ditemui dalam karya sastra adalah gaya penulisan yang menarik dan tidak membosankan, maka Ia menulis dengan menggunakan teknik penulisan naratif. Pertama dengan menciptakan (menceritakan) kembali adegan demi adegan, agar pembaca dapat membayangkan keadaan yang tengah terjadi. Kedua, memberikan banyak dialog atau kutipan langsung yang panjang dari hasil wawancara sehingga seolah-olah nara sumber yang menceritakan kembali secara langsung. Ketiga, menjelaskan detail-detail baik dengan cara verbal maupun non-verbal. Keempat, dan yang paling menarik, adalah memakai beberapa sudut pandang terutama sudut pandang orang pertama yang kontroversial dalam jurnalistik karena dianggap membangun subyektifitas penulis.

Jurnalisme telah berkembang dari masa ke masa, hingga tidak sekedar hard news surat kabar yang berisi 5W+1H saja yang dapat kita temui. Media cetak kini memiliki bahasanya masing-masing, visi dan misinya masing-masing, juga jargon kebanggaannya masing-masing. Coba saja tengok majalah Cosmopolitan dengan Fun Fearless Female-nya. Terlihat dengan jelas misi di balik majalah ini adalah membentuk wanita mandiri yang menyenangkan (terlepas dari apakah misi ini tercapai atau tidak). Apakah jargon ini bebas dari subyektifitas? Tentu tidak, karena melibatkan keberpihakkan jender. Bila kita membaca artikel-artikel dalam Cosmopolitan lebih dalam, tidak jarang artikel-artikel di dalamnya menggeneralisasi laki-laki. Hal ini terlihat jelas dalam artikel man manual yang menjadi panduan bagaimana wanita harus bersikap terhadap laki-laki (tentu saja yang sifat-sifatnya sudah digeneralisiasi menurut versi Cosmo). Berbeda dengan majalah Cosmopolitan, tulisan yang tercetak di bawah judul harian umum Suara Karya adalah “Kritis. Obyektif. Proporsional. Independen”. Sekali lagi saya menemukan kata “Obyektif” di surat kabar bersifat hard news. Obyektifitas sudah bertahun-tahun menjadi sebuah keharusan dalam artikel bergaya hard news yang mengutamakan berita 5W+1H, sementara dalam penulisan artikel fitur seperti yang umum ditemui di majalah, subyektifitas sudah menjadi hal yang lazim dewasa ini.

Yang menarik dari Janet Steele dalam diskusi bukunya adalah pendapatnya tentang masalah obyektifitas-subyektifitas jurnalisme. Janet Steele percaya bahwa obyektifitas itu tidak pernah ada. “Dalam jurnalisme, obyektifitas adalah metode yang sebaiknya dipakai dalam penulisan. Tapi secara personal, objectivity is imposible,” tuturnya. Meskipun kontroversial dalam ilmu jurnalistik, namun pendapat ini sangat beralasan. Secara logika, tiap individu-tidak terkecuali jurnalis dan penulis-tumbuh dan berkembang dengan latar belakangnya masing-masing. Karakter tiap individu bergantung pada bagaimana Ia dibesarkan, oleh siapa Ia dibesarkan, dan di lingkungan apa Ia tumbuh. Apakah seseorang yang latarbelakang pendidikannya dalam lingkungan pesantren mau manjadi penulis di majalah lifestyle yang menghalalkan alkohol dan kehidupan malam? Apakah seorang feminis rela menjadi jurnalis di majalah pria FHM yang gemar mempertontonkan dada dan paha para wanita berbikini? Dari pemilihan media tempat bekerja seorang jurnalis pun sudah melibatkan subyektifitas dalam dirinya. Bukan tidak mungkin hal ini ditemui dalam diri seorang jurnalis, seperti dalam orientasi pendekatan kritik sastra ekpresif, yang percaya bahwa sebuah tulisan dapat dianalisa bersangkutan dengan latar belakang pengarang.

Terkecuali dalam media cetak yang bersifat hard news seperti surat kabar harian, garis yang membatasi subyektifitas-obyektifitas dalam jurnalisme terbukti semakin tipis. Hal ini menunjukkan adanya semacam ‘akulturasi’ dalam jurnalisme dan sastra, yang akhirnya menghasilkan sebuah gaya reportase jurnalistik seperti yang ditulis oleh Janet Steele. Lalu, apakah doktrin-doktrin obyektifitas dalam jurnalistik sejalan dengan perkembangan jurnalistik dewasa ini? Masihkan obyektifitas menjadi pakem yang wajib dalam jurnalistik? Saya akan membiarkan pembaca mancari jawaban dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut dengan subyektifitasnya masing-masing.

Mid-term test
Feminist Literary Criticism Class
4th semester

I made this paper because at that moment I'm in love with the book. The feminist literary class was discussing freudian psycoanalisys theory that I found out quite shocking for me. However I relized the connection between "Veronica decides To Die" and the theory. This can be quite confusing for those who don't know about the theory, so enjoy! hehehe...



Paulo Coelho’s Veronika Decides to Die:
When a Sexual Release Means Being Alive

Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer, is best known for mystical fables told in simple yet symbolic language. He has received wide popular acclaim both in Brazil and internationally for his work about spiritual quests of self-discovery. A recurring concept in Coelho’s books is the personal legend, in which his characters follow their dreams and pursue paths of self-discovery. Though they meet hardships along the way, only by staying true to their dreams can they achieve spiritual fulfillment. Coelho uses simple, clear language to blend religious and philosophical concepts in his work. Concerned with his teenage rebelliousness and desire to be a writer, his parents sent him to a mental institution, where he received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a therapy that uses a current of electricity through the forehead. From his experiences during in the mental hospital, he wrote a piece called Veronika Decides to Die, a novel with rich symbolism about a girl who tried to commit suicide because of her mental problem during her youth and how she finds the meaning of life through her sexuality.

Sets in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, Veronika is a twenty-four-year-old that has everything that a young woman ever dream of: beauty, fulfilling job, loving family, and she seems having no problem at all in her love life. Yet she decided to commit suicide by swallowing a large amount of sleeping pills and hoping that she will never wake up. The first reason why she decides to die is her unwillingness of experiencing the same routines in her life, and once her youth is gone she thinks that her life will be nothing but sufferings. The second is her philosophical reason, that she is tired of witnessing what is going on in the world; war, poverty, etc, that makes her feel even more powerless.

She takes sleeping pills and believes that it would end her life, however she does wake up in a mental hospital called Villete where is told she only has days to live because of heart damage by the sleeping pills. In the Villete, she meets two new friends, Zedka and Mari that helps her finding another perspective in seeing her life. Moreover, she meets Eduard, a schizophrenic, and they fall in love. Finally in her last days to live, she realizes the true meaning of life, but maybe it was too late for her to undo the suicide act that shortened her life. As the unique way of Coelho’s story-telling, the end of the novel is sweet, surprising, and left the reader enlightened.

In Veronika Decides to Die, besides the touching story about spiritual self-searching, there are three things that are related to feminism theories that uniquely depict in the writing of a male author. First, the symbolism of the insane that lives inside a cage of the mental hospital. Second, Veronika’s relationship with her parents. Third, sexuality as Veronika’s way in finding the true meaning of her life. All these three points: symbolism, relationships within the family structure, and sexuality, will be discussed with psychoanalytic framework. The last point leads to Veronika’s (and also her friends’) mental and psychological enlightenments that give her the idea of what it means to be alive. Even though Coelho did not show these ideas explicitly, we can see that the enlightenment that Veronika (and other character like Mari and Zedka) gets from the mental hospital creates a more positive and enlightened human being.

Since the beginning of the novel, Coelho already shows the difference nature of femininity and masculinity as shown in this line; “Shooting, jumping off a high building, hanging, none of these options suited her feminine nature. Women, when they kill themselves, choose far more romantic methods_ like slashing their wrists or taking an overdose of sleeping pills” [p. 3]. Based on this quotation, we can see that Veronika is positioned as a feminine (“None of these suited her feminine nature”) The act of taking sleeping pills reflect femininity because it is less daring than shooting, jumping off a high building, hanging, etc. Shooting or jumping involves adrenalin rush, while in the text Coelho writes that slashing their wrists or taking an overdose pills as far more romantic way to kill oneself than shooting, jumping, or hanging, as if woman is less daring than man to attempt suicide by doing an adrenalin rush act. This ‘romantic act’ is associated with woman, and in Veronika Decides to Die; a death because of taking an overdose sleeping pills is described as a feminine act. Therefore we can conclude that there are difference characteristics of femininity and masculinity in the novel, and this difference natural characteristic leads to the patriarchy social assumption that masculinity is more superior than femininity [Rosemary P Tong: Feminist Thought, p.190]

Ljubljana is described as a beautiful city where people keep doing the same routines in life. On the contrary, Villete mental hospital described as a prison, where the insane lives in isolation from the outside world and have to face the inhuman electricity shot treatment called electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and all the doctors and nurses are the ruler in the society,
Villete came to symbolize all the worst aspects of capitalism: to be admitted to the hospital, all you needed was money […] Villete was the place from which no one had ever escaped, where genuine lunatics_ sent there by the courts or by other hospitals_ mingled with those merely accused of insanity or those pretending to be insane [p. 12 – 13]

The similarity of a prison and Villete is that the patient that has to be medicated in Villete was ‘accused’ of insanity. The word ‘accused’ is used as if the insane are criminals. The surroundings, the tall strong walls, the routines of the Villete is the similar like a jail, with all the masculine characteristic in the language (capitalism, walls, prison, etc) and the mean electroconvulsive therapy. Yet, the patients that are ‘accused’ of insanity were described as passive, narcistic, masochist, and vain, which according to Sigmund Freud as feminine characteristics. These feminine characteristics can be found in both in female and male characters. Veronika’s act of committing suicide is the act of masochism, and then she become very passive in waiting for her death to come. Zedka and Mari, both are narcistic (self-loving) characters; we can see this from their justification, arguments, and excuses for themselves about their insanity so that they seem right about everything. Eduard, the schizophrenic character is the most passive and vain character. Ever since he became schizophrenic, Eduard lives without interacting and communicating to the others, he lives in his own world where he is very passive and vain. Zedka and Eduard have to do the electroconvulsive therapy, where the divine rights of their own body is taken and forced to do the inhuman electricity shock therapy because there are ‘accused’ as lunatics. These passiveness, vanity, masochism, and narcisticism according to Freud are the ‘marks of womenhood’ [Susan Watkins: Twentieth-Century Women Novelist, p.86. Rosemary P Tong, p. 195] Even though Eduard is a man, he still represents the characteristic of ‘marks of womenhood’, it shows that the insane (no matter they are male or female) are the symbol of women that is oppressed. It also shows how man (in this case, represented by Eduard) is still possible to be trapped in the border. Based on all this characteristic of the setting and character, then we can conclude that the insane are the symbol of women that trapped inside the patriarchy society where everyone inside has to obey all the assumptions and norms of the society and the walls of Villete is the symbol of the border, a masculine superego that oppresses feminine desires that is seen as insanity.

The next point that we can find in the novel is a big role of family structure that shapes Veronika’s character. Veronika was described as a woman that had enough love from such a caring family. However, Veronika hates her mother as in this quotation depict:

Then she started to feel hatred for the person she loved most in the world: her mother. A wonderful wife who worked all day and washed the dishes all night, sacrificing her own life so that her daughter would have good education, know how to play the piano and the violin […] How can I hate someone who only ever gave me love? Thought Veronika, confused, trying to check her feelings. But it was too late; her hatred had been unleashed; she had opened the door to her personal hell. She hated the love she had been given because it had asked nothing in return, wich was absurd, unreal, against the law of nature. That love asking for nothing in return had managed to fill her with guilt, with the desire to fulfill another expectations, even if that meant giving up everything she had ever dreamed of [p.68-69]

We can see that her hatred to her mother explained her disappointments of her life, that she feels her life is ‘shaped’ like her mother wants her to be; a woman that is able to play piano, have good education, getting married someday and having children. In other words, a woman that lives in the symbolic order. Next, it is clear that Veronika experiences Oedipus complex, an attraction of love for the parent of opposite sex, with the corresponding jealousy of the parent of the same sex [Havelock Ellis: Psychology of Sex, p.73] We can see the evidence of this theory in this novel from the description about Veronika’s father and how Veronika loves her father as a man when she was young:

She hated her father too, because, unlike her mother, who worked all the time, he knew how to live; he took her to bars and to the theater, they had fun together; and when he was still young, she had loved him secretly, not the way one loves a father, but as a man. She hated him because he had always been so charming and so open with everyone except her mother, the only person who really deserved such treatment. [p.69]

Based on this quotation, however, there is an ambiguity about the jealousy of the parent of the same sex. It is possible that Veronika unconsciously jealous with her mother, yet she defends her mother by hating her father for abandoning her mother. This confusion then leads to Veronika’s depression and disappointment of her life that finally makes her decided to kill herself.

Another important point in Veronika Decides to Die is how sexuality plays a big role in her self-discovery. All of the Freud’s “marks of womanhood” that are mentioned above is happen when the characters; Veronika, Zedka, Mari, and Eduard have not get the enlightenment yet. One day Mari tells her to masturbate, to see how far she can go before death comes unto her. Veronika agrees and finds Eduard, the mute schizophrenic and masturbate in front of him. She let it all out and finally finds herself with multiple orgasms:

Veronika and Eduard are both standing up, face to face, she naked, he fully clothed. Veronika slid her own hand down to her genitals and started to masturbate; she had done it before, either alone or with certain partners, but never in situation like this, where the men showed no apparent interest in what was happening […] She wanted to die in orgasmic pleasure, thinking about and realizing everything that had always been forbidden to her [p.133]

From this quotation comes a question; what was the things that had been forbidden to her? The answer is clear, the openness to sexuality, more specific: wild desires. When finally Veronika finds her openness to her sexuality, it helps her find herself. As before she tries to find out how far she can go she never really understand herself; “Although she had known many men, she had never experienced the most hidden part of her own desires, and the result was that half of her life had been unknown to her [p.135]” and in “I discovered that I’m a pervert, doctor. I want to know if that played some part in my attempted suicide. There are so many things I didn’t know about myself [p.141]”

As we can see, Veronika identify herself as a pervert after she did this sexual act. Normally, this act is considered as an immoral act by the society. On the contrary, it is actually the release of Veronika’s Id; her unconscious that has no values, her pleasure principal, where all this time it has been oppressed by moral restrictions that involve punishment/reward in the society, the superego. By letting her Id out, it means that she let her unconscious take control of herself. She then relies that she had never explore herself before, and this might be her reason to attempt suicide. In other words, Veronika is breaking the border that oppress her unconscious, letting her Id out of the circle of ego and superego, left her with more question about herself that she has never known before. Finally, this curiosity leads her willingness to be alive and knowing herself better.

After the masturbation as her sexual release, she finds out that Eduard is cured. He is no longer a schizophrenic and he can interact as well as communicate with the society. They planned to get out of Villete and enjoy Veronika’s last days alive. Veronika shares her experience with Mari and Zedka, and finally both Mari and Zedka experience enlightenment too from Veronika that is changed from a passive and depressed person to a woman that more appreciate life.

The enlightenment Veronika and her friends get is from Veronika’s sexual awakening. After they got enlightened and realize how they should live their live, the “marks of womanhood” character in them has transformed into people who appreciate life more than ever that one example can be seen in Mari’s letter for her friends in the Villete about how she changes with the symbolism of an aquarium and fountains as her life:

When I was still a young lawyer, I read some poems by an English poet, and something he said impressed me greatly: ‘Be like the fountain that overflows, not like the cistern that merely contains’. I always thought he was wrong. It was dangerous to overflow, because we might end up flooding areas occupied by our loved ones and drowning them with our love and enthusiasm. All my life I did my best to be a cistern, never going beyond the limits of my inner walls […] We lived together like fish in an aquarium, contented because someone threw us food when we needed it, and we could, whenever we wanted to, see the world outside through the glass […] I learned something important: Life inside is exactly the same outside [p.198]

Before Mari and Zedka knows Veronika, they had a dark past with insanity, Zedka with her depression and Mari with her paranoia. They are trapped in a society that ‘accused’ them as a lunatic people inside the Villete, just like women that are oppressed in the patriarchal society. Both Mari and Zedka finally decide to get out of the Villete too, and they move on with their own plan as an independent, cured, human being. Their ‘walk-away’ from the wall of the Villete for their freedom is a fulfillment of all kind of feminist’s utopian dreams; being liberated from the wall of negative patriarchal social assumption about woman.

At the end, Veronika and Eduard are together in the city center, and Veronika not die. She was secretly become the object of a new kind medicine for her heart damage by her doctor, dr.Igor. She does not even know that she is actually cured, and finds that every day is a miracle for her life.

From the discussion above, Coelho uses sexuality as one important aspect in self-development. Therefore he shows that to be liberated from oppression is to get to know our self as a being. With the symbol of the Villete, the lunatics, the patriarchy society and the utopian feminist dreams of liberty, supported the characters, Veronika Decides to Die reflects how sexual discovering as one powerful way to be released from oppression and a reason to keep alive.

Bibilography

• Amiruddin, Mariana. ”SEX and TEXT (Sexts): Konsep Pembebasan Seksualitas Perempuan Lewat Sastra”. Jurnal Perempuan No.30: Perempuan dalam Seni Sastra. Jakarta: Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan. 2003
• Arivia, Gadis. Filsafat Berperspektif Feminis. Jakarta: Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan. 2003.
  Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Teori dan Praktik (Terj.) Yogyakarta: Kreasi Wacana. 2004.
• Brooks, Ann. Posfeminisme dan Cultural Studies: Sebuah Pengantar Paling Komprehensif (Terj.). Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.
• Coelho, Paulo. Veronika Decides to Die. NY: Harper Perennial. 2001.
• Ellis, Havelock. Psychology of Sex. NY: The New American Library. 1938.
• Hidayana, Irwan M, dkk. Seksualitas: Teori dan Realitas. Depok: Program Gender dan Seksualitas FISIP UI. 2004.
• Tong, Rosemarie Putnam. Feminist Thought: Pengantar Paling Komprehensif Kepada Arus Utama Pemikiran Feminis (Terj.) Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.
• Watkins, Susan. Twentieth-Century Women Novelists. NY: Palgrave. 2001.
• Wright, Elizabeth. Psichoanalitic Criticism: Theory in Practice. London: Routledge. 1989.

This is my 4th semester paper in Prose II class. Even though I admit the language is too simple for a 4th semester student. However, I spotlight some issues concerning "feminism awakenings" undoubtfully. And I think that's what makes this essay got an A. You should read the book. It tells feminism in a very simple way. I really recommend it. It uses simple words, and the writer really know how to think like a teenage-to-be girl.

Prose II, Mid-Term assignment

4th semester

The Searching of Self-Identity and a Series of Esperanza’s Awakenings
In Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”

Getting through the adolescent phase is an important moment for every person in life. Moreover, adolescent usually develop their own independent thoughts and mind and get several awakenings they have got in this phase of life. Although the society sometimes underestimates the thoughts and mind of an adolescent, they still have the liberty to have their own thoughts and mind from the awakenings they experience in this phase. In Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, Esperanza experiences a series of awakenings in the process of searching her self-identity as she matures in the house on Mango Street that can be seen in the changes of character’s thoughts and mind in seeing life throughout the story.

Since The House on Mango Street uses first person point of view that is narrated by Esperanza herself, then the changes in Esperanza character is strongly supported by the point of view. With the first person point of view, the author let the reader be part of Esperanza. Therefore, readers have the ability to explore the logic of thinking in an innocent mind of an adolescent like Esperanza. Esperanza is a round character for she had a complex personality.

From the beginning of the story, there are some clues that Esperanza is in the period of searching her self-identity. In the first vignette, Esperanza describes the house they just move in as a temporary place to be lived in. From the following quotations in the last paragraph of the first vignette ‘House on a Mango Street’ shows that Esperanza is still looking a place to settle down; “I knew then I have to had a house. A real house. One I could point to. But this isn’t it. The house on Mango Street isn’t it.” As a place to settle down, house means something important to a person or a family. Here, a house is a symbol of settlement and self-identity. She cannot accept the fact that the house of Mango Street as a place to settle down because she is not satisfied with the house. It indicate the willingness of Esperanza to keep searching for a place to settle, in other words, she is looking for her herself as if looking for another place to settle. Having a house of her own (I have to had a house), thus, a metaphor for having a place of her own as an independent woman. Moreover, Esperanza mentioned “The one I could point to” referring of the willing to have a proudness of having such a house that can be shown proudly to other people, which means that she want to have a character and identity of her own, as if it is her own home without intervention. The use of repetition in the quotation; “I have to had a house, a real house […] but this isn’t, Mango Street isn’t” makes it clear that Esperanza is emphasizing on how important is to have a house of her own and how Mango Street is not the place she belongs to. Overall, it is clear that Ezperanza is in a moment of self-searching since the beginning of the story.

Another indication of Esperanza’s self-identity searching is clearly revealed in “My Name”. Esperanza tells the meaning of her name with dissatisfaction and explains the negative meaning of her name in Spanish; “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting […] a muddy color”. The words ‘too many’, ‘sadness’, ‘waiting’ and ‘muddy color’ shows her perspective of her name which is she thinks that her name is very ugly. However, her name has a positive meaning in English: hope. There is a correlation between the meaning of her name with the language that the writer wants to show. In the place of Esperanza’s native spoken language (Spanish) women are not treated well, however Esperanza realize that there is hope in other society like the meaning of her name in the other possibility of language; English. In this vignette, Esperanza also mentions the intention to change her name; “I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. […] Something like Zeze the X will do”. By wanting to change her name it means that she is not yet having a clear definition of her self-identity. We can see this in the use of the word ‘baptize’ which is a Christian’s term for people who are newly become Christian, usually these people also get a new name that referring to Christianity. Even though Esperanza does not refer to the Christianity when saying this, but there is a correlation with having a new name and the ‘newly become’ something else. She wants to have a new name more like the real her, it indicates that she want people to notice her true identity, the one that people do not see. The name that she wanted such as ‘Zeze the X’ is a unique name that she is more likely to have rather than having a name with a sad history about her grandmother that looked out the window all her life as in “I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window”. She feels that the name ‘Esperanza’ does not suit her personality; therefore she believes that her inner-self will suit the name Zeze the X. Here, it is obvious that a name has meant a lot to Esperanza in her self-searching experience.

The first awakening she had experienced during her adolescent life is the feminism awakening. Actually, Esperanza has already become a feminist since the beginning of the story, but the spirit of feminism in Esperanza grew stronger as the story developed. We can see the spirit of feminism of Esperanza from the first vignette ‘House on Mango Street’ on how she would like to be independent and having a house of her own like I have already mentioned before. Moreover, the spirit of feminism within Esperanza has been developed in the vignette ‘My Name’ as this quotation depicts

It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse _ which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re born female _ but I think this is a Chinese lie, because Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’ t like their women strong. [page 12]

Esperanza tells that being born in the Chinese year of the horse bring bad luck if we are female. However, Esperanza then reject this myth and thinks that it is a Chinese lie. Finally Esperanza explicitly tells that the Mexican and Chinese are the same because they do not like their women to be strong. It is obvious that Esperanza have a strong feminism spirit, by rejecting the Chinese myth and related it with how Mexican do not like their woman to be strong. In other words Esperanza is rejecting the patriarchy society, in this case is the Mexican and Chinese patriarchy society that she mentioned in the quotation. Then we can say that Esperanza disagree with the idea of women being weaken by the society.

In the vignette ‘Beautiful and Cruel’, Esperanza starts her quiet war with the patriarchy society; “but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain.” Here, she realizes that she has her own power and she could challenge the patriarchal society. Her mission to create her own identity is manifested by her decision to not laying (her) neck on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain. The example of a woman she wanted to become is; “one with red red lips who is beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drive the men crazy and laugh them all away. Her power is her own. She will not give it away.” This quotation depict the image of a woman she wanted to be, the one that has power over men. In this vignette, Esperanza’s feminism awakening is at the top of the game when she commits to herself to be the woman that she described.

The second awakening that Esperanza experienced is the sexual awakening, which is the transformation from a mere child into a young woman where she realizes the importance of sexual attraction. In ‘Boys and Girls’ Esperanza thinks that boys and girls is a completely different being and lives in a separate world; “The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brother for example. They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house, But outside the house they can’t be seen talking to girls”. This is Esperanza’s point of view about the social life between boys and girls at that stage of age. She thinks that boy and girls as children have their own world where girls cannot enter boys’ world and so does boys cannot enter girls’ world. We can see this when Esperanza said that her brother could not talk to her and Nenny outside of the house. This is usually happen when a child like her brother is ashamed being known to have a close relationship with the opposite sex. However, the shame is gone when they are in their house because nobody sees them. This is commonly children’s character. Therefore, by observing the relationship of Esperanza and her brother we can say that Esperanza in this state is still being a child and have not got a sexual awakening yet.

The first major step in Esperanza’s awareness in sexuality is when she and her friends explore the neighborhood with high-heeled shoes in the vignette ‘The Family of Little Feet’.

Hurray! Today we are Cinderella because our feet fit exactly and we laugh at Rachel’s one foot with girl’s grey sock and a lady’s high heel. Do you like these shoes? But the truth is it is scarey to look down at your foot that is no longer yours and see attached a long long leg [page 38]

From this quotation, we can see that this is when Esperanza relates the shoes and sex for the first time, and therefore the shoes symbolized the young woman. Esperanza and her friends admires the shoes so much and feel that the high heel shoes gives them the self confident as something that could make her being attracted by the opposite sex. However, as an adolescent part of her is still a child, as we can see in “[…] we laughed at Rachel’s one foot with girl’s grey sock and a lady’s high heel […] But the truth it is scarey to look down at your foot that is no longer yours and see attached a long long leg.” Here, there is a situation where Rachel wears a high heel lady shoes with a girl’s sock. This indicates the proportion of girl that is symbolized by sock and half woman that is symbolized by shoes within their personality. Also, the misspell of the word ‘scary’ become ‘scarey’ shows that the writer is showing the childlike character in Esperanza and her friends. Esperanza admits that wearing the high heels shoes make them no longer herself that is described as a leg that is ‘attached’ to their body. It is clear that Esperanza has experienced the change in her perspective about boys and girls living in two different world, she finally realizes that there are some connections between boys and girls that could make this two being become closer, that is sexuality. We can see from here that the curiosity to develop the sexual knowledge has begun.

When Lucy decided to take off the socks, Esperanza and her friends have more confident and feels that they are already a young woman. The confident can be seen in this quotation; “Then Lucy screams to take our socks off and yes, it’s true. We have legs. Skinny and spotted with satin scars where scabs were picked, but legs, all our own, good to look at, and long.” It is clear that Esperanza is not longer feels separated with the high heels shoes as the girly socks is taken off. On the contrary, she feels that the long leg that has been created by using the shoes is actually part of herself as a young woman. As they decided to walk down the neighborhood to attract the opposite sex, it is obvious here that the high heels shoes has given them the sexual awakening that makes them realized how important is the attraction of the opposite sex. However, later in the same vignette, Esperanza and her friends experience an assault by a drunkard and then they realized the risk of being beautiful grown woman as described in this quotation;

We are tired of being beautiful. Lucy hides the Lemon shoes and the red shoes and the shoes that used to be white and now pale blue under a powerful bushel basket on the back porch, until one Tuesday her mother who is very clean throws them away. But no one complains. [page 40]

The next awakening Esperanza experienced is the realization of her own writing ability that can be seen in ‘Born Bad’. In this vignette, Esperanza is visiting aunt Lupe, the woman who used to be a beautiful swimmer, wife, and a mother who is suffer from an unexplained illness that left her limps and blind. One day Esperanza read her a poem of her own for her

I want to be
like the waves on the sea,
like the clouds in the wind,
but I’m me
one day I’ll jump
out of my skin.
I’ll shake the sky
like hundred violins
[page 56]

The poem is about Esperanza herself, about her willingness to search her true self identity and her wish to be free from the society that is tied her from expressing herself. We can see this by the simile in the poem on how she compares herself to be the character of the waves on the sea and the clouds in the wind that is have the freedom in following the intuitions what may come and go in life. However, Esperanza also gives the contradictory to what happen by saying “but I’m me” and then expressing her intention to get away from the society that tied her, finding her true self, and do something big in life as in “one day I’ll jump / out of my skin / I’ll shake the sky / like hundred violins.”

Aunt Lupe response positively to the poem Esperanza writes and encourage her to keep writing, as in; “You just remember to keep writing, Esperanza. You must keep writing. It will keep you free, and I said yes, but at that time I didn’t know what she meant.” At first, Esperanza does not realize what Aunt Lupe meant by saying that writing will keep her free. At the end of the vignette when Aunt Lupe died, Esperanza starts to think about the freedom from writing and start dreaming the dreams, as in the quotation; “And then she died, my aunt who listened to my poems. And then we began to dream the dreams.” Here, Esperanza starts thinking of her writing ability. As her aunt telling her that writing could free her, she began to dream about the freedom itself.
The last awakening that Esperanza experiences is the realization and changes from individualism to responsibility toward other women. As the feminism spirit within Esperanza develops, she also become more individualist. We can see this by Esperanza’s intention to leave the neighborhood, leaving all the people behind, and having a life of her own. However, later at the end of the story, Esperanza develops the feeling of responsibility that someday she should go back to the neighborhood for other women.

In the vignette ‘The Three Sisters’, Esperanza got the first warning of not being an individualist. Esperanza is attending the funeral of Lucy’s and Rachel’s sister and meet “Las Comadres” or three strange and mysterious old sisters who have the ability to read mind and sense something that could happen in the future. The fortune they predict for Esperanza is very noteworthy

When you leave you must remember always to come back, she said.
What?
When you leave you must remember to come back for the others. A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t erase what you know. You can’t forget what you are. [page 97-98]

Later on, Esperanza feels ashamed of being an individualist as Esperanza narrated; “I felt ashamed for having made such a selfish wish.” Then the three sister emphasize that she should help other; “You must remember to come back. For the ones who cannot leave as easily as you.” This notify Esperanza to help other women, not to be self-centered. By saying that Esperanza will always be Esperanza, and she cannot run from the fact that she is once lived in Mango Street, it means that she will always be part of it because all the development in her way of seeing life and all the awakenings she has got is actually because of Mango Street. In other words, Mango Street has been an inspiration and involved much on her character building in her adolescent phase of life and therefore she should not abandon other woman in Mango Street.

Beside the three sisters, in the vignette ‘Alicia and I Talking on Edna’s Steps’, Esperanza learns a very important lesson that she cannot deny her own heritage from Alicia. Alicia responses when Esperanza tells her that she have no house; “You live right here, 4006 Mango, Alicia says and points to the house I am ashamed of.” The words ‘house I am ashamed of’ clearly reveals that she does not want to be part of the house. This statement is being strengthened by the next quotation of Esperanza;

No, this isn’t my house I say and shake my head as if shaking could undo the year I’ve lived here. I don’t belong. I don’t ever want to come from here. You have a home, Alicia, and one day you’ll go there, to a little town you remember, but me I never had a house, not even a photograph… only one I dream of.[page 99]

By saying that Esperanza wants to undo the year she spent living in a Mango Street, she is indeed rejecting the belonging of herself and reject to be part of Mango Street. For her, living in a Mango Street is such a shame. Also, there is another symbolization of a house in “I never had a house […] only one I dreamed of”, the house she mentioned is actually the right place for her about the independency she dreamed of as I mentioned in the searching of Esperanza’s self-identity as she searching a home. Then, Alicia responses it naively; “Like it or not you are Mango Street and one day you’ll come back too.” Indeed that Alicia has the same point as the three sisters. When Esperanza mentioned that she will not go back to the Mango Street unless somebody makes it better, the writer leaves this vignette with an irony about who would make Mango Street become better in Alicia’s question; “Who’s going to do it? Not the major.” The question is left unanswered.

Another clear definition of her willingness to have her own independency also implied in ‘A House of My Own’

Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man’s house. Not daddy’s. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes waiting beside the bed. Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after.
Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem. [page 100]

Esperanza describes the place she wanted to be lived in as a house with such a description and self-owned; ‘my porch’, ‘my pillow’, ‘my petunias’, ‘my books and stories’, it shows that Esperanza is longing for the independency and showing the part of her individualism. When she narrated; “Nobody to shake a stick at. Nobody’s garbage to pick up after” indicates the willingness of having no intervention. It is also strengthened by the phrase; “A place for myself to go” that shows the individualism in herself.

In the last vignette ‘Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes’, Esperanza finally made up her mind and completely being awakened from her individualist state into a woman that responsible toward others and that even in time she will embrace it and help the community where she learned so much about human relations. In “She does not hold me with both arms. She sets me free” and “I am too strong for her to keep me here forever”, there is a personification of the House on Mango Street as the use of pronoun ‘she’. Finally Esperanza realized that Mango Street does not tied her forever, she realized that actually she has the ability to get away from Mango Street. However, she intended to come back and help other as described in the last sentence of the last vignette; “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the one I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”

The character of Esperanza in her adolescent experiences a series of awakenings in the process of searching her self-identity as she matures in the house on Mango Street. She experienced four awakenings, which are; feminism awakenings, sexual awakening, the awakening of her ability in writing, and the awakening from being an individualist become a responsible person towards other woman in Mango Street. Throughout the story, the character of Esperanza, included all the psychological changes she has had, has a dominant part that gives the moral lesson in the story and become something that makes the novel “The House on Mango Street” become special.

References:

• Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1988.
• Klarer, Mario. An Introduction to Literary Studies. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Martin, Alex and Robert Hill. Modern Novels. New York: Prentice Hall, 1996.
• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mangostreet/quotes.html
• http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/author/about_sandra_cisneros.html
• http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/ titles/houseonmango/about.html