(A Semiotic Approach)
Submitted To The Faculty Of Letters Hasanuddin University
In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Acquisition To Obtain
Sarjana Degree
menerima dan menyetujui skripsi yang berjudul Symbolized Hysteria in Edgar
Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” untuk dirumuskan ke
Panitia Ujian Skripsi Jurusan Sastra Inggris Fakultas Sastra Universitas
Hasanuddin.
Dr. Fathu Rahman, M.Hum Drs. R.S.M.Assagaf, M.Ed
NIP: 1960 1231 1987 03 1025 NIP: 1962 1109 1987 03 1002
Menyetujui:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
AlhamdulillahiRabbil „Alamin. The writer would like to firstly express her
utmost gratitude to the Almighty God, Allah SWT for the opportunity, strength,
courage, mercy, unconditional love and affection He had bestowed upon her that
she could successfully survive her tough years as a student of the English
Department at Hasanuddin University. Not to forget the one and only Nabiullah
Muhammad SAW whom the writer sincerely express her shalawat and taslim to,
the man whom she respects most for all the sacrifices he had done in order to be
able to bring light to the lives of human beings.
This thesis would have never been completed without the help of others
who stood by the writer and watched over her throughout the whole process. The
writer would like to dearly express her gratitude and appreciation to the woman
who has been and always will be the first in her heart and her life, her beloved
mother Dra. Nasmilah, M.Hum.,Ph.D for the endless love, never-ending
support, countless advices and guidance throughout the worst times not only as a
mother, but also an inspirational mentor. The same saying goes to the writers
endearing father Ir. Imran Musa, M.Sc whom she truly loves and respects. A
simple thank you will never be enough to show how she feels for having the best
silent supporter anyone could ever have.
Tremendous appreciation and regards goes to Dr. Fathu Rahman,
M.Hum as the writers first consultant and Drs. R.S.M.Assagaf, M.Ed as her
second consultant who had guided her patiently. She will forever cherish the
valuable lessons and advices given to her. She would also like to personally thank
her lovely academic supervisor, Sitti Sahraeny, for being the nicest supervisor
anyone would ever dream of having. She feels forever grateful to have someone
who never fails to encourage her mentally and academically.
Lastly, the writer would also like to specially thank her dear friends who
always stood by her through the toughest times –who never seize to give her
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mood-boosting support, unconditional love, and prayers; Yuha, Cholidah, Nurul,
Aat, Enggie, Ani, Ayu, Winda, Dija, Ulfa, Darma, Ray, Dwi, Lia, Irga, Anna,
Sylvia, Mir’ah and others whose names cannot be mentioned one by one. Simply,
thank you.
ADRINA RAMADHANI IMRAN. Symbolized Hysteria in Edgar Allan Poes
“The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Dibimbing oleh Fathu Rahman
dan R.S.M Assagaf)
The Black Cat dan The Tell-Tale Heart adalah dua cerita pendek
fenomenal karya Edgar Allan Poe. Tujuan penulisan skripsi ini adalah untuk
mengidentifikasi simbol-simbol yang merepresentasikan histeria yang diderita
oleh kedua tokoh utama dalam kedua cerita pendek tersebut, dan untuk
menjelaskan bagaimana simbol-simbol histeria tersebut berkaitan satu sama lain
untuk mengungkapkan pesan yang terkandung dalam kedua cerita pendek
tersebut.
Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan semiotik. Data diperoleh dari
cerita pendek The Black Cat dan The Tell-Tale Heart dengan cara membaca kedua
cerita pendek tersebut berulang kali secara seksama. Analisis data menggunakan
metode analisis deskriptif untuk mengidentifikasi simbol-simbol penyakit histeria
yang terkandung di dalam kedua cerita pendek tersebut.
Setelah melakukan analisis terhadap cerita pendek The Black Cat dan
The Tell-Tale Heart, terdapat dua jenis simbol yang terkandung dalam kedua
cerita pendek tersebut. Yang pertama adalah simbol ketakutan, dan yang kedua
adalah simbol kemarahan. Kedua simbol tersebut sangat mempengaruhi satu sama
lain, dan keduanya merupakan penyebab munculnya penyakit Histeria yang
diderita oleh kedua tokoh utama dalam kedua cerita pendek tersebut. Simbol-
simbol ini dicerminkan melalui penggunaan kata-kata yang digunakan oleh kedua
tokoh utama dalam cerita, yang meliputi kata-kata kasar, kata-kata yang merujuk
pada benda, binatang, warna, dan fenomena alam. Fakta lain yang berhasil
terungkap adalah bahwa kedua tokoh utama dalam kedua cerita pendek tersebut
menunjukkan ciri-ciri seorang psikopat, yang merasa senang ketika melihat
korbannya menderita dan masih bisa tenang walaupun telah melakukan
pembunuhan. Sedangkan pesan yang dapat dipetik dari kedua cerita tersebut ialah
bahwa sudah menjadi sesuatu yang wajar bila seseorang merasa takut akan
kejahatan yang ia lakukan, terlebih lagi jika kejahatan tersebut menyebabkan
nyawa orang lain melayang.
ADRINA RAMADHANI IMRAN. Symbolized Hysteria in Edgar Allan Poes
“The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Supervised by Fathu Rahman and
R.S.M Assagaf)
The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart are two phenomenal short
stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. The objectives of this writing are to identify
the types of symbols that represent hysteria in both short stories, and to explain
how these symbols of hysteria link together to convey the message of the two
stories.
This research uses the semiotic approach. The data are obtained from
The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart by carefully reading both stories
repeatedly. The data are analyzed using the descriptive method to identify the
symbols of hysteria that are contained in both stories.
After analyzing The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart, it is
discovered that there are two types of symbols that are contained in the two short
stories. The first symbol is the symbol of anger, and the second symbol is the
symbol of fear. These two symbols greatly affect one another, and both symbols
are the main cause of Hysteria suffered by the two main characters in both short
stories. These symbols are reflected through the use of words that are utilized by
the two main characters in the two short stories, which cover curses, and words
that refer to objects, animals, colors, and natural phenomena. Another fact
successfully discovered is that the two main characters of the two short stories
show the characteristics of a psychopath, who feels happy seeing their victims
suffer from their torture and could keep calm even after committing murder.
While, the message conveyed through both stories is that it is a nature for a
human being to feel afraid of the crime that he commits, moreover, if that crime
causes the loss of others lives.
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C. Research Questions ............................................................................. 5
Chapter II Literary Review........................................................................... 7
4. Fear .............................................................................................. 12
1. Characters ................................................................................... 13
a. Objective Point of View ................................................ 15
b. Third Person Point of View ........................................... 15
c. First Person Point of View ............................................. 15
d. Omniscient ..................................................................... 16
1. The Black Cat (1843) .................................................................. 16
2. The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) ......................................................... 18
E. Biography of the Author .................................................................... 19
F. Conceptual Framework ...................................................................... 21
Chapter IV Analysis ....................................................................................... 24
A. Types of symbols of hysteria and the construction of the related
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1. Anger ...................................................................................... 24
2. Fear ......................................................................................... 36
B. The development of hysteria in the two stories: Fear to Anger .......... 41
C. Message of the story ............................................................................ 46
Chapter V Conclusion and Suggestion ......................................................... 48
A. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 48
B. Suggestion ............................................................................................ 49
A. Background
People today recognize literature as a medium where creative writings are
poured and kept. The ideas of these writings do not come in an instant; instead
they go through various types of phases and are filtered before they are directly
written down on a piece of paper. The sources of these ideas are also varied; it
could either be derived from the writers personal experiences, or it could also be
pure outcome of their imagination. Little (1978) conveyed something rather
similar in the following quotation:
“Literature of a people is the element of its culture. It contains the
record of peoples values, their thoughts, their problems and
conflicts –in short, their whole way of life. Whether transmitted
through the spoken or the written word, literature may fairly be
regarded as the chief art of mankind.” (Little, 1978:1)
What Little (1978) stated above strengthens the proof that the authors personal
encounter with their surroundings plays a partly important role in gaining
inspirations and ideas for their work. All in all, despite the different origins, these
ideas are gathered and organized neatly and come out in what is then called a
piece of literary work or a piece of art.
Literary works ever created have each of their own characteristics and
uniqueness in which are all basically reflections of the writers behaviors. In fact,
literary works are often considered the soul of its writers. Relevant to the
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statement, Minderop (2010) mentions that literature does not solely portray the
soul of its writer, but also the souls of other people, which make it interesting. The
firm connection between the writers personality and their work of art can be
reflected through symbols and signs mostly viewed from semiotic point of view.
In general, semiotics is the study of signs and how they are interpreted.
This theory believes that every single thing found in everyday life is represented
through signs and symbols that have each of their own meaning. Pradopo (2009)
stated something rather similar in the following quotation:
“Semiotik (semiotika) adalah ilmu tentang tanda-tanda. Ilmu ini
menganggap bahwa fenomena sosial/masyarakat dan kebudayaan itu
merupakan tanda-tanda. Semiotik itu mempelajari sistem-sistem,
aturan-aturan, dan konvensi-konvensi yang memungkinkan tanda-
tanda tersebut mempunyai arti.” (Pradopo, 2009:119)
Signs and symbols could also be found in literature and are often
associated with the authors background and experiences from their past.
Interpreting these symbols could not be performed without considering the
authors profile beforehand as both elements are strongly related to one another.
In literature, the theory of semiotics is frequently applied in poetry examination,
as it is one type of literature that contains a lot of symbols that could be
interpreted in various ways. However, semiotics could not only be functioned in
poetry study, but it could also be used in examining other types including short
stories.
Edgar Allan Poe is an American author who is well known for his
mysterious character. His famous short stories, including “The Black Cat” and
“The Tell-Tale Heart” are examples of literary works that contain signs and
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symbols that could be examined using the semiotics approach. Both stories have
similar themes and the story plots are almost the same. Using unreliable narrators
as the main characters, The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart tells a story about
homicide. The Black Cat tells a story about a man who killed his own cat. He
admits that he cherished his cat ever since he had it with him, but as years go by
the man had a sudden change in personality due to the influence of his alcohol-
drinking habit and since then he gradually grew hatred towards his cat. This
hatred he had grew more and more each day and eventually led to the murder of
not only the poor cat, but also his dear innocent wife. Meanwhile, The Tell-Tale
Heart tells a story about a man who also murdered an innocent man who he
admits he cherished much. Even though he declares that his doing was because
his victims unusual eyes kept on haunting him, throughout the story he tries to
convince the readers that he is not insane and what he did was to actually protect
himself from his victim.
After reading the two short stories, the writer concludes that the narrators
of both stories are shown to have symptoms of mental illnesses, which are
represented through symbols and signs and suits best to be examined with the use
of semiotics approach. Thus, the writer chooses to take these two short stories as
the main objects of her research.
Several seniors of the English Department are recorded to have previously
conducted a few studies on the same objects. One of the studies emphasized the
mental illnesses suffered by the main characters of both stories. In this study,
which was conducted by a student named Purnamasari (2010), the writer did a
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thorough examination of the main characters and named the types of mental
illnesses that best described the main characters condition. Moreover, she also
used the comparative method to point out the similarities and differences of both
objects. The main focus of this study is different in some ways compared to the
study done by Purnamasari. This study will be focusing exclusively at the
narrators mental condition called hysteria and the writer will point out the signs
and symbols as a representative of this mental condition.
Instead of focusing and analyzing the main characters mental disease
which were mainly discussed in previous studies of the same objects, the writer
will emphasize the symbols or signs of hysteria that emerge in both stories. As
an outcome, the writer will highlight the favorite symbols used by the author in
representing any kinds of hysteria in his stories.
B. Scope of problem
The main purpose of this research is to specifically analyze two short
stories from the same author, Edgar Allan Poe, entitled The Black Cat and The
Tell-Tale Heart. In order to be able to arrange this study neatly and so that the
writer does not get lost in the middle of the research, the writer promptly narrows
down the scope of problem for this study. The writer will be focusing on the
hysteria found in both stories, which is represented through symbols such as
hysteria of fear and hysteria of anger.
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C. Research Questions
As it was stated before in the scope of research, the writer notices two
main problems, which will be the focal point of this study. The main problems are
as follows:
1. What type of symbols used by the narrators in representing hysteria in
both stories?
2. How do these symbols of hysteria link together to convey the message
of the stories viewed from semiotic theory?
D. Objectives of writing
Based on the research questions stated above, the objectives of writing are
as follows:
1. To identify the types of symbols used by the narrators in representing
hysteria in both stories;
2. To explain how these symbols of hysteria link together to convey the
message of both stories viewed from semiotic theory.
E. Significance of writing
This study is expected to be considerably beneficial and can provide a big
hand specifically for people who intend to do similar research, using either the
same objects or approach method as the one used in this study. The writer hopes
that this research will be not only be able to broaden the writers own knowledge
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about the semiotic theory in particular, but also to be able to let people feel closer
and especially familiar with Edgar Allan Poes works; in this context, his short
stories.
F. Sequence of Writing
This thesis is entitled The Symbolized Hysteria in Edgar Allan Poe’s
“The Black Cat” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and consists of five chapters. The
chapters are organized as the following:
1. The first chapter consists of background of research, which contains a
brief explanation of the main reason behind the selection of the object
and title of this research, scope of problem, research questions, the
objectives of writing, and the sequence of writing.
2. The second chapter involves the previous studies of the research,
theoretical background, structure and synopsis of the selected short
stories, and the biography of the author.
3. The third chapter is the research methodology, which consists of
method of collecting data, method of analyzing data, and sequence of
research.
4. The fourth chapter is the analysis, which is most important part of the
research as it contains the results of analysis done by the writer.