BEING RATIONAL REFLECTED IN CECELIA AHERN P.S. I LOVE YOU NOVEL (2004): AN INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH PUBLICATION ARTICLE

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1 BEING RATIONAL REFLECTED IN CECELIA AHERN P.S. I LOVE YOU NOVEL (2004): AN INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH PUBLICATION ARTICLE Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for Bachelor Degree of Department of English Education By: EVA HASTUTI A FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA 2014 Page1

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4 BEING RATIONAL REFLECTED IN CECELIA AHERN P.S. I LOVE YOU NOVEL (2004): AN INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH Eva Hastuti A hastutieva@gmail.com Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta ABSTRACT The objective of the research is to analyze the novel based on individual psychological proposed by Alfred Adler. This research paper belongs to qualitative research. The method to analyze of this data is descriptive analysis. The researcher comes to the conclusion as follows. Based on the individual psychological analysis, Cecelia Ahern illustrates a psychological phenomenon in which an individual was too emotional and influenced by the past life, particularly by the mental life. In this novel the author suggests people should be rational to facereality of life.the author portrays thestrengthof Holly Kennedy to copewith her problem after her husband died. She uses her creativity to heal herself. She also arranges her striving for superiority to provide her inferiority feeling to create fictional finalism. Keywords: Being rational, Rationality, Individual psychological. Page1

5 A. Introduction PS, I Love You is Irish writer Cecelia Ahern's first novel, published in The book reached No. 1 best-seller status in Ireland (for 19 weeks), the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands. Cecelia Ahern was born on September 30, 1981 in Dublin, Ireland. She is the daughter of the former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. On 14th December 2009 it was announced that Cecelia had given birth to her first child with partner David Keoghan, a girl named Robin. She was secretly married on 11 June 2010 in County Kildare, Ireland. Her older sister, Georgina Ahern is married to Nicky Byrne of Irish pop group Westlife. Cecelia was a member of the Irish pop group Shimma who finished third in the Irish national for the Eurovision Song Contest in She attended Griffith College Dublin and obtained a degree in Journalism and Media Communications. Cecelia Ahern wrote her first novel, PS. I Love You when she was twenty-one. It was published in P.S. I Love You tellsabout Holly Kennedy who is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life - a passionate, funny and impetuous Irishman named Gerry. So when Gerry's life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. The only one who can help her is the person who is no longer there. Nobody knows Holly better than Gerry, so it's a good thing he planned ahead. Before he died, Gerry wrote Holly a series of 10 letters that will guide her, not only through her grief but in rediscovering herself. The messages are Gerry's way of informing Holly life goes on. The messages include various tasks and treats Gerry has left for Holly. This is his way of letting her know he will always be there for her. Each letter sends her on a new adventure which slowly moulds her into a new person, each signs off in the same way: "P.S. I Love You." Holly's mother and best friends, Sharon and Denise, begin to worry that Gerry's letters are keeping Holly tied to the past, but, in fact, each letter is pushing her further into a new future, making her stronger and helping her to move on into a bright future. Thereare three reasons why the researcher is interested in studying this novel. The researcher is interested in studying this novel firstly because it Page2

6 is a realistic novel. The author does not use a difficult words and languange so easy to understand. The second, P.S. I Love Youshownsa good moral message that the person must be rational to cope with problem and find the way to be a strong woman and also try to be a brave woman. The third, the novel is one of a popular novel in the Ireland.Thus, the novel was adapted into movie in The novel shows about howthe person must be rational to cope with problem. So the writer conducted this researchentitled: BEING RATIONAL REFLECTED CECELIA AHERN P.S. I LOVE YOU NOVEL(2004): AN INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH Thereis no literature review related to P.S. I Love You (2004) novel written by Cecelia Ahern. The writer searched at UNS, UMS, UNY, etc. So, writer cannot compare this research with another research. B. Research Method Research method is significant to organize a research. To make it easier for the writer to analyze the data and to arrange a research paper. The writer elaborates five main points concerning how to conduct the research. They are: (1) type of study, the researcher applied qualitative research. The data sources are library and literary data. Its purpose is to analyze using Individual psychologicalapproach. (2) object of thestudy is the way of being rational reflected inp.s. I Love You novel (2004) written by Cecelia Ahern. It is analyzed by using an Individual Psychological Approach. In this novel, the researcher downloaded from en.bookfi, the novel has not acknowledgements and copyright but this novel has complete pages and chapters. (3) There are two types of data sources that are used in this research, the primary data sources is P.S. I Love You novel (2004) written by Cecelia Ahern. The secondary data sources is literary Page3

7 books or any information related to the study, such as: website, dictionary, and some books that support the analysis.(4) Method of collectingdataused documentation as the method of collecting data in this research. (5) The writer used documentation as the method of collecting data in this research. C. ResearchFinding 1. Being Rational to cope with problem Individual psychological perspective is the theory by Alferd Adler that views human personality to realize superiority. Individual psychological perspective has six basic concepts namely inferiority feelings, striving for superiority, style of life, social interest, creative self, and fictional finalism. a. Inferiority feelings and Compensation Alfred Adler assumed that every person succumbs to disease in that region of the body which has been less welldeveloped, less successfully functioning, and generally inferior from birth (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992: 141). Based on the story of P.S. I Love You, the researcher concluded that inferiority feelings of Holly Kennedy are: 1) Lack of self confidence The main problem of Holly is lack of self confidence. She feels becomes nothing. She thinks that her life will be difficult without Gerry. She thinks she cannot find another man to change her memory. 2) Guilty After she has read letter from Gerry, Holly feel guilty. Holly thinks that she cannot give the best for Gerry. Sometimesshefeels happy sometimes feels sad. 3) Powerless Page4

8 She is powerless to do anything. Holly sometimes make her life difficult. She makes all hard. b. Striving for superiority Adler in Hjelle and Ziegler (1992: 143) describes striving for superiority is the fundamental law of human life, a something without which life would be unthinkable 1) Trying to be a strong women After Gerry s death, Holly becomes a weak woman. She wants to change to become a strong womanalthoughthat is difficult. But she always tries to being strong woman and she fights with her reality. 2) Trying to be a brave women Holly wants to solve her problems. She tries step by step. Without her husband all changes. She tries to be a brave woman to cope with her problems. c. Style of life According to Adler in Hjelle&Ziegle book s (1992: 144) the style of life encompasses the unique pattern of traits, behaviors, and habits which, when taken together, defines the flavor of a person s existence. Base on the theories above,the researcher find the style of Holly s life is from close to open herself.shefeels doubtful to changeto become better than yesterday. But she always licks wounds. d. Social interest Hjelle& Ziegler (1992 : 147) quoted Adler s theory that we humans are social creatures-that we must consider our relationship to other and to the larger sociocultural context in which we live if we are to fully understand ourselves. Page5

9 1) Introvert She has many friends and also big family but when her husband died sometimes Holly becomes an introvert person. She restrains from socialization. Sometimes she do not care anything. 2) Open-minded Sometimes, Holly is an open-minded person.she accepts realities of her life wisely. 3) Start to believe someone After her husband died, she is afraid of a new person especially a man. But life must go on, Holly starts to believe to another a man. He is Daniel. e. Creative self According to Adler the creative self is the superordinate construct in Adler s theory, his ultimate achievement as a personologist. Once he discovered and blended it into his system, all other concepts were subordinated to it (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992: 150). 1) Try to find her self After gerry died, the problems bring holly to finds her motivation for life. She must tries to find new self. Holly must be realistic to cope with her problems. 2) Try to heal her self Holly tries to heal her self, Holly realizes that the person who can help her problem is herself. f. Fictional finalism Based on Alfred Adler s theory (Cloninger, 2009: 103 ) defines fictional finalism as a subjective experience rather than an object reality. It gives direction to the individual s striving. Because an individual s fundamental motivation is to move toward this fictional finalism, a person cannot be Page6

10 understood without knowing the unique goal. Once it understood, it explains the consistency of a person s striving.fictional finalism of Holly is show when Holly get some pictures of life from somegerry s letter. From Gerry s letter, she felt happy. With a series of Gerry s letter Holly copes with her problems. She learns to be happy, to be rational and vanish her fear. D. Discussion In the P.S. I Love You novel Cecelia Ahern told the story about Holly Kennedy. The researcher analyzes it using individual psychological perspective by Alfred Adler. Individual psychological perspective has six basics namely inferiority feelings, striving of superiority, style of life, social interest, creative self and fictional finalism. The main problem is some way to being rational to cope with problem of Holly Kennedy as a widow. The inferiority feelings is lack of self confidence, guilty and powerless. Holly is a new widow. Holly Kennedy is beautiful, smart and married to the love of her life - a passionate, funny and impetuous Irishman named Gerry. So when Gerry's life is taken by an illness, it takes the life out of Holly. The main problem of Holly is lack of self confidence. She feels become nothing. She thinks that her life will be difficult without Gerry. She thinks she cannot find another man to change her memory. After she has read letter from Gerry, Holly feel guilty. Holly thinks that she cannot give the best for Gerry. She is powerless to do anything. Striving for superiority is shown by the way of being rational to cope with her problem as a widow. The researcher finds Hollyis striving for superiority are trying to be a strong woman and also trying to be a brave woman. After Gerry s death, Holly becomes a weak woman. She wants to change to become a strong woman althoughthat is difficult. But she always Page7

11 tries to be a strong woman and she fights with her reality.holly wants to solve her problems. She tries step by step. Without her husband all changes. She tries to being a brave woman to cope with her problems. The style of life reflected in P.S. I Love You novel is from closed person to be opened herself. She feels doubtful to change to become better than yesterday.but she always licks wounds. Holly thinks that she cannot happy again like when she was Gerry s wife. The researcher finds social interest in P.S. I Love You. It is shown by Holly who is sometimes introvert, open-minded and starts to believe someone. Holly has many friends and also big family but when her husband died sometimes Holly becomes an introvert person. Sometimes, Holly is an open-minded person. She accepts realities of her life wisely. After her husband died, she is afraid of a new person especially a man. But life must go on, Holly starts to believeto another a man. The creative self of Holly is when she tries to find herself. The problems bring holly to find her motivation for life. Holly tries to be normal people. Holly tries to heal herself. Holly realizes that the person who can solve her problem is herself. Fictional finalism of Holly is show when Holly gets some pictures of life from some Gerry s letter.from Gerry s letter, she felt happy. With a series of Gerry s letter Holly copes with her problems. She learns to be happy, to be rational and vanish her fear. Page8

12 Based on the explanation by the expert, the researcher obtains definition that the rationality-self is capable of rationalization and denials but it is also capable of reasoning correctly and finding solutions to the problem of living (Feist,1985:355). The researcher argues being rational is a process how someone to be a normal life and be able to do rational after he or she get some problems in his or her life and also finding solution. The researcher finds the way to be rational as follows: first, she must be strong. After Gerry s death, Holly becomes a weak woman. She wants to change to become a strong women even though it is difficult. Second, Holly must be brave. Although Gerrywill never be back Holly must get a new future. Third, Holly must be open minded person. She must learn to move from sadness and live more optimistic and rational. Fourth, Holly must heal her self. Holly must enjoy her life. She must get her normal life, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a new world. Based on Rene Wellek and Austin Warren psychology of literature has four meanings: the psychological study of the writer, the study of the creative process, the study of the psychological types and laws present within works of literature, and the effect of literature upon its readers (Wellek and Warren, 1962: 81). This study is included in the study of psychological types and laws present works of literature, Cecelia Ahern creates Holly Kennedy as major character to illustrate psychology of phenomenon as a new widow as an individual who only thinks about her self and her sadness. She must get way to be rational- self even though that is difficult. Page9

13 E. Conclusion In P.S. I Love Younovel the writer analyze by using an Individual Psychological Approach. Second, based on the psychologicalanalysis it can be concluded that P.S. I Love You illustrates a psychological phenomenon in which an individualwastooemotionalandinfluencedbythepastlife, particularlybythe mental life. In this novel suggest people should be rational to face reality of life. Page10

14 F. Bibliography Ahern, Cecelia P.S. I Love You. New York:8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN Cloninger, Susan C Theories of Personality Understanding Person Fifth Edition.London:PearsonPretice Hall. Feist, Jess Theories of Personality. New York: CBS College Publishing. Hjelle, Larry A. and Ziegler, Daniel J Personality theories : Third Edition. Singapore : McGraw Hill. Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. Page11