CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background of the Study
People may use literature of satisfy their curiosity about others, their selves, or to convey their ideas related to human experiences. Literature not only gives us a fantasy of enjoying reading, but also takes us to understand and to learn about life experiences. Life experiences bring one’s attitudes into the fact of human conditions, feelings, and relationship with other people. Literature covers social aspect such us social relations, social experiences and social values. For some people reading literature has become a part of their lives.
Certainly they have their own reason to read. Connolly (1955) says, as quoted by Koesnosubroto (1988:1) that: People read literature because of hunger of information, or amusement, or solace, or because of an appetite for truth that seems to grow by what it feeds on. They read to discover themselves and their world, to access their special roles on the universe, to learn the meaning of the personal struggles in which they are engaged. In other words, the want to share experiences. By reading literature we can learn many experiences of human life because the material or the subject matter of literature is something very general such as man’s fate, or human life.
It can be said that literature is the basic expression of what people have witnessed in life, what people have experienced about life, what people have contemplated and felt about the aspects of life that attracted them directly and profoundly. In other words, literature is actually the representation of life in their form of language.
From the explanation above I can say that literature has so many functions, such as understanding another culture, entertaining the readers, give an additional knowledge, helps students to express their feelings and so on. Literature itself has several definitions that given by some authors. Rees (1973:1-2) defines literature in broad and narrow senses. Rees mentions literature in broad sense is anything written, such as: newspaper, travel brochures, timetables, catalogues. The readers are given information of fact by this kind of literature. In narrow sense, writing that expresses and communicates thoughts, feeling, attitudes, ideas about life and the word means literature. Novels, short stories, plays, etc are some examples of literature in the narrow sense.
In addition Rees (1973:20) defines literature as a writing that expresses and communicates thoughts, feeling, and attitudes towards life. Through literature people will able to know others’ feelings, thoughts, and attitudes in a written form of language. Barnet, et.al (1963:8) state that “A piece of literature is a performance in words; it strongly holds our attention seems complete in itself; it is not primarily regarded as a source of factual information, it is offer a unique delight satisfaction.
It can be said that literature is a kind of writing that not only give the readers information but also a kind of writing that expresses and communicates thoughts, feeling, attitudes, ideas about life and it can be fact or fiction. Literature in narrow sense has two types. The first type is fiction, novels, short stories, and poems are belonging to the first type. The second is non – fiction, biographies, autobiographies, journals, text books are belong to non – fiction literature.
Biography belongs to a non-fiction, since it is written based on the fact. In this case, the object my study is a biography; so it is important to know the definition of biography. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary biography is the story of person’s life written by somebody else. Another definition of biography as found in The World Book Encyclopedia that biography describes the life of a person.
Biography is one kind of literature of knowledge. Connoly as quoted by Koesnosoebroto (1982:2) differentiates literature based on its functions of the purpose of the writer. He divides literature in to two main divisions, i.e., the literature of knowledge and the literature of imagination. The literature of knowledge presents or interprets fact, ideas or happenings; a description of a person or place; an explanation of scientific process; an account of war and discussion of political issues. It satisfies the need either for factual information or for the understanding of ideas that help man let a full social and intellectual life.
The definition of biography, which found in Encyclopedia of Americana (1986:766), is the record of an actual life. The myriad forms of biography include catalogue of achievement, literary narratives and psychological portraits. Holman (1980:52) states that biography as a sort of literature is a records of life of a person, a presentation of the life history from birth to death of an individual which being secured trough an honest effort to interpret the fact of the life in such a way as to offer unified impression of the character, mind and personality of the subject.
Biography, as a sort of non-fiction literature, more or less give a picture of a certain society condition in gives economic social and political situation. Biography is “a life and time” literature, means that the author is concerned with two points, the life of central figure and the period in which this figure lived (Holman, 1980:53).
Through reading a biography readers can experience the life of a subject’s character, personality, career and achievement that a biographer has written. Reading a biography will give its readers fun and enjoyment, because they will understand an extraordinary person who has certain capability, experience, and achievement that give big contribution in our society.
Furthermore, biography, as one kind of literary work can be studied with other discipline such as linguistics, sociology, anthropology an psychology. We can integrate literary studies with those kinds of discipline. In this study, I want to analyze a biography as a kind of literary work that can be analyzed with other discipline, which is psychology.
1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic
In simple term we examine a biography in order to study the fact of individual’s life including his or her personality, character, career and the problems of the time in which he or she lives.
A biography of John Nash “A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash” written by Sylvia Nasar based on the interview with John Nash himself, his families, his friends, his teachers, and anyone that have relationship with John Nash, so it will easier to be understood. “A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash” is the biography of John Nash. It tells us about the life of John Nash, the mathematical genius, a legend by the age of thirty when he slipped into abnormal behavior called schizophrenia, and who thanks to the selfless devotion of his wife and the continuing patronage of mathematical community – emerged after a crazy life to win a Nobel Prize in 1994 and world acclaim.
I choose “A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash” written by Sylvia Nasar to be analyzed for the following reasons :
(1) Literature has an important role in our community in the the English Department of Semarang States University. Through reading literature, we will be able to understand cultural background which is very essential in learning language.
(2) Through reading biography, we can learn more about human life and their problem which can be very interesting. Furhermore we can improve our language skills such as composition of the sentences, style, diction and also enrich our vocabularies.
(3) It is an interesting biography of John Forbesh Nash, Jr, a brilliant young mathematicians which breakdowns into twenty-five years of schizophrenia and his remarkable recovery in the past decade, and was honoured with a nobel prize. It is also a famous and best seller book, that won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and nomination for Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
(4) This discussion can give benefit for students in English Department of Semarang States University majoring in English Literature who interest in psychological analyzes since this final project discusses literature and psychology.
(5) It helps us to be more optimistic because after reading and analyzing this biography, we can see the struggle of life to become a successful person.
1.3 Statements of the Problem
To achieve a satisfactory study, I limited the discussion of abnormal behavior that are sexual deviant and schizophrenia of John Nash as found in John Nash’s biography by Sylvia Nasar by covering the following problems:
(1) What are the sexual deviation of John Nash as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash"?
(2) What are the causes of schizophrenia of John Nash as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash"?
(3) What are the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia of John Nash as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash"?
(4) What are John Nash’s treatments in the process of recovering from schizophrenia as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash"?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are stated as follows:
(1) To describe the sexual deviation of John Nash as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash".
(2) To describe the causes of schizophrenia of John Nash as found in "A Beautiful Mind: The life of Mathematical genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash".
(3) To describe the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia of John Nash as found in his biography "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash".
(4) To describe John Nash’s treatments in the process or recovering from schizophrenia in "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash".
1.5 Significance of the Study
I hope that the result of the study will be use as references for developing literature and additional knowledge for English Department of Semarang State University and useful for the selection of extensive reading material because it is an appropriate reading material for English students. As a student of the English department are expected to read a lot of qualified books and scientific books such as: novels, biographies and others to broaden our mind and increase our knowledge.
For the students especially for the English Departement’s students of Semarang States University I hope that it will be a reference for a deeper study about literature related to abnormal behavior. While to teachers, I hope that it will become a reference for those who are teaching literature concern in the analyzising of a literary work that related to psychology generally and abnormal behavior specifically.
1.6 Outline of the Report
This study has been divined into four chapters and each chapter explains different matter in line with the topic, which is going to be discussed. Those chapters are:
Chapter I presents the introduction that contains six subchapters. First subchapter is general background of the study. Second subchapter is reason for choosing the topic. Third subchapter is statements of the problem. Forth subchapter is objectives of the study. Fifth is significance of the study. The last is outline of the report.
Chapter II presents the review of the related literature that contains subchapters. First subchapter is psychology. Second subchapter is abnormal behavior. Third subchapter is sexual deviation. Fourth subchapter is schizophrenia. Fifth subchapter is causes of schizophrenia. Sixth subchapter is symptoms of schizophrenia. Seventh subchapter is treatments methods or therapist for abnormal behavior. Eighth subchapter is theoretical framework.
Chapter III presents the methods of investigation that consist of five subchapters. First subchapter is object of the study. Second subchapter is roles of the researcher. Third subchapter is procedures of data collection. Fourth subchapter is procedures of data analysis. The last subchapter is procedures of reporting the result.
Chapter IV presents the result of the analysis that consists four subchapters. First subchapter is the sexual deviation of John Nash. Second subchapter is the causes of schizophrenia. Third subchapter is symptoms of schizophrenia of John Nash. Fourth subchapter is treatments of recovering from schizophrenia of John Nash as found in “A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash”.
Chapter V presents conclusion and suggestion.
