T1_112007105_Full text

A PSYCHOANALYSIS STUDY OF THE REASON BEHIND MAIN
CHARACTER’S CHANGING ATTITUDE IN AHMAD TOHARI’S
‘BEKISAR MERAH’
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Niken Krismaninggar
112007105
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
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Niken Krismaninggar
Lany Kristono, M.Hum.
Thesis
19 May 2013
A Psychoanalysis Study of The Reason Behind Main Character’s Changing
Attitude in Ahmad Tohari’s ‘Bekisar Merah’
Abstract
Changes are inseparable with people, it seems that everyone will experience a change within
their lives. Everybody changes so that the changes one experiences are often unnoticed.
However, some people change a lot so that the changes attract attention, and people question
what may be behind those changes. Bekisar Merah by Ahmad Tohari is one of literary works
which picture big changes its main character experiences. Therefore, it was interesting to find out
what changes take place and what were behind them. Since literature is closely related to reality,
including its problems and people’s behavioral changes, psychological approach is used to
investigate the reason behind main character’s changing. Freud’s psychoanalysis theory is the
most appropriate theory to understand behavior patterns for it focuses on conscious and
unconscious influences in one’s behavior. The analysis revealed that Lasi’s behavioral big
changes were mainly influenced by her repressed feelings of disappointment to her husband, her
surrounding and her mother. The findings are expected to increase readers’ awareness and
understanding about human behaviors and their changes.
Key words: behavioral changes, the unconscious, the id, the superego, the ego, repression,
motivation, defense mechanisms.
Introduction
To change is a nature of human being because everyone experiences a change within
themselves in their lives. As children grow, they experience changes in physical features as well
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as appearance, attitude and behavior. Even the changes are still going on as they reach adolescent
and adult stage. In short, no humans can avoid dealing with changes in other people or
themselves since culture, tradition, place, beliefs and people around them may influence the way
they are, no matter who and how old they are.
One may experience slight or big changes, depending on the factors behind them. A
change may require an adjustment to one’s life. A change cannot be merely considered as a
simple matter because it can lead to a conflict either with themselves or others. That’s why it
needs to be examined more deeply. Learning about what the change is about and gathering
information about one’s change may help one know the reasons behind their changes in order to
understand others as well as their self.
To gather information related to an individual change, one may turn to literary works
because literature itself is an imitation of what happen in real life (Abrams 6-7). This idea is also
strengthened by Paris as she states that “literature is a portrayal of what happen in real life, the
idea of literary characters can be analyzed in ways similar to those in which we analyze real
people is urged”(1). As life does, literary works also describe conflict. Even conflict becomes the
essence to please the reader and to succeed as a story. As a result, character may behave very
differently in the beginning, middle, or end of the story.
Bekisar Merah a novel by Ahmad Tohari, which won S.E.A Write Award in 1995
(Riyadi 2), is one of the literary works depicting a big change in one of its characters’ attitude.
Lasi, the central character of this novel, is depicted as one whose attitudes change greatly. At the
beginning of the story, Lasi is portrayed as a modest and obedient wife. However, in the middle
of the story, Lasi is portrayed to decide to move out of her hometown, Karangsoga, a small
village where traditional customs and norms were still preserved and held up by its residents.
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Since then, she experienced lots of changes in her life, including in her attitude. The way Lasi
experiences a big change may also trigger a big question about motivated her to move and
change. Therefore, it would be interesting to find out the cause behind her change and may as
well help the readers to understand more about Lasi’s characteristics.
To find out the main reasons behind Lasi’s changing attitudes, the novel would be
examined from the perspective of psychoanalysis. This method is proposed as a change is closely
related to psychological aspects. Psychoanalysis is a kind of treatment to heal mental illness by
examining the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements of the mind (Barry 96). It is
believed to help describe one’s actions and discover the unconscious influences that motivate
them because it deals with human beings in conflict with themselves and each other (Eagleton
138). In literature, psychoanalysis can be used to analyze the author, the characters, the audience,
and the text. Related to characters, psychoanalysis is act as a helping tool to deeply analyze
human behavior patterns (Tyson 11). The major elements in psychoanalysis are the unconscious,
repression, sublimation, the id, the superego, and the ego.
The Conscious, The Preconscious, and The Unconscious
Freud’s first model of human personality, the topographic model, divides mental
processes into “conscious”, “preconscious” and “unconscious” (Bressler 150). Conscious plays
a relatively minor role in psychoanalytic theory because it is the only level of mental life directly
available to us (Feist and Feist 25). In addition, Freud believes that everything we are aware of is
stored in one’s conscious. However, at any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of
what makes up our personality; most of what we are is buried and inaccessible (Heffner,
“psychology 101”).
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The preconscious refers to all those elements that are not conscious but can become
conscious at a particular time. The contents of the preconscious come from two sources, which
are conscious and unconscious. Conscious happens when the consciousness is only a temporary
period, while unconscious happens when things that someone perceives never become conscious
(Feist and Feist 25).
The unconscious contains all those drives, urges, or instincts that are beyond our
awareness but that nevertheless motivate most of our words, feelings, and actions (Feist and Feist
24). The unconscious is the storage place for our unwanted painful experiences and feelings,
unpleasant memories, wounds, frights, guilty desires and unresolved conflicts. It strongly affects
our actions and is connected to the concept of repression (Barry 96). Repression itself refers to
the explanation of the meaning behind dreams, slips of the tongue, and certain kinds of
forgetting. Unconscious develops gradually at a very young age through the act of repression
(Tyson 12).
The Id, The Superego, and The Ego
In 1923, Freud proposed a new hypothesis of human personality, which is known as
tripartite. Tripartite divides human psyche into three components; they are the id, the ego, and
the superego (Bressler 150). Freud explicates that “the id has the quality of being unconscious
and contains everything that is inherited, everything that is present at birth, and the instincts” (in
Beystehner, “Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Revolutionary Approach to Human Personality.”). The id
recognizes nothing about values, good and bad things, and even morality (Guerin et al. 130). It
has no understanding of reality which is make it difficult to differentiate between reality and
fantasy (Glassman and Hadad 213). The id operates according to the urges of pleasure principle,
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which is a demand to satisfy all desires right away (Boeree 5). For adults, the demands of id
ordinarily take place beyond conscious awareness which means we may feel the tension, but
incapable to discover the root (Glassman and Hadad 213). The id is often labeled as unlawful,
asocial, and immoral as it works to satisfy our instincts of pleasure and have no consideration of
social rule (Guerin et al. 130).
The super ego represents the moral censor and the storage of conscience and pride
(Guerin et al. 130). Brenner states that “it consists of the moral understandings of our minds and
our ideal urges” (qtd. in Berger 85). In this way, the superego is able to create an unconscious
guilty feeling and fright (Bressler 151).
The ego is defined as “the rational, logical waking part of the mind, although much of its
activities remain in the unconscious” (Bressler 150). Freud claims that the ego has the quality of
being conscious and is responsible for many actions, such as controlling the demands of the id
and the instincts, becoming aware of stimuli, and serving as a link between the id and the
external world. It is also responsible for the limitation of satisfactions and represents the
influence of others (qtd. in Feist and Feist 26). In short, the ego is the component of the mind
which mediates between the demands of the id and the superego, and also the outer world
(Glassman and Hadad 213). The ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the
appropriate time and place (Rohr and Berns 3). The ego'
s role is to manage the id and superego
in a rational way. Because of its role, the ego often faces anxiety, therefore it needs defense
mechanism to cope with anxiety.
Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms are applied by the ego to manage instincts and prevent anxieties
(Berger 89). Further, Glassman and Hadad find out “most defense mechanisms work by letting
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pleasure in some indirect ways” (244). Some principal of defense mechanisms has been
identified by Freud, including displacement, repression, fixation, reaction formation, projection,
denial and introjections.
Displacement is the way people redirect their unacceptable urges onto a variety of people
or objects so that the original impulse is disguised or concealed, this can be done in three ways,
sublimation, substitution and compensation (qtd. in Feist and Feist 36). Sublimation is the
repression of the ego by substituting a cultural or social aim as part of all human relationships
and all social pursuits (Gantina et al. 75). It has a positive effect in protecting the ego. It happens
through changing drive energy into a socially acceptable way. Substitution is the act of removal
or compromise in which gratification obtained is similar to the actual satisfaction (Alwisol 25).
Compensation is an attempt to cover up the weakness by pursuing another to avoid low selfesteem (Amin 8)
Repression is the process in which the ego represses everything; i.e. ideas, instinct,
memory, and mind which can cause anxiety (Berger 90). In addition, Berger states that
repression is the hindering of unconscious impulses, memories, and desires from consciousness
(90). Whenever the ego is threatened by undesirable id impulses, it protects itself by repressing
those impulses. Repression acts to keep information out of conscious awareness. For instance, a
troubled adult can’t recall having been abused as a young kid (Glassman and Hadad 228).
However, these memories don'
t just disappear; they continue to influence our behavior (Tyson
12-13).
Fixation happens when the prospect of taking the next step becomes too anxious, as a
result the ego may resort to the strategy of remaining at the present (Feist and Feist 36). Rickman
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explains that fixation could be the underlying cause of the use of regression or other defense
mechanisms. It can cause regression but regression cannot cause fixation (27).
According to Feist and Feist, reaction formation is “one of the ways in which a repressed
impulse may become conscious is through adopting a disguise that is directly opposite its
original form” (35). “Reactive behavior can be identified by its exaggerated character and by its
obsessive and compulsive form” (qtd. in Feist and Feist 36).
Projection can be defined as “seeing in others unacceptable feelings or tendencies that
actually reside in one’s own unconscious” (qtd. in Feist and Feist 37). Further Feist and Feist
assume that projection usually happens “when an internal impulse provokes too much anxiety,
therefore the ego may reduce that anxiety by attributing the unwanted impulse to an external
object, usually another person” (37). Thus a person who hates someone will ‘project’ that hatred
onto another, perceiving that person as being the one who hates” (Berger 90). To conclude,
projection is blaming someone else as the source of one’s fright, problem, or guilty desire, as
well as not admitting what one possesses (Tyson 15).
Denial refers to refusal to accept the reality of something that generates anxiety by
blocking it from consciousness or by becoming involved in a wish-fulfilling fantasy (Berger 90).
Denial often shows up in daydreams and fantasies. Daydreaming about how things might have
been is a common way we cope with anxiety by denying that things happened the way they did
(Wilderdom.com).
Introjection is a defense mechanism whereby people incorporate positive qualities of
another person into their own ego (Feist and Feist 37). In particular, when a person introjects or
goes through the process of introjection, they generally create the superego, the conscience that
helps keeping the id maintain a pleasure feeling of the self (Wisegeek.com).
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To conclude, theory of psychoanalysis consists of two models; topography and tri-partite.
Freud’s topographic model focuses on human mind which later divided it into three: conscious,
preconscious and unconscious. Conscious refers to things that we are aware of, but only remain
temporarily. Preconscious is defined means that are capable of becoming conscious. While,
unconscious is defined as things we are not likely to be aware of but can be explained through
analysis.
Whereas, tri-partite model divides human’s personality into three parts; The Id, The
Superego, and The ego. The Id is entirely unconscious, and the source of all desires, wants, and
needs. If these things are not accomplished, it will result on anxiety and tension. The superego is
the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals; provide
guidelines for making judgments and deciding things. Last but not least is The ego which is the
component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality and prevent anxieties
resulted from disappointment and such. The ego often finds it way to prevent anxieties by
applying defense mechanism.
Lasi’s Initial Characteristics
Ahmad Tohari’s Bekisar Merah depicts Lasi, the main character, who lives in a small
town called Karangsoga, as one who experiences a big change. In the beginning of the story,
Lasi is depicted as a typical village woman who is loyal, obedient and modest. However, later
she is described as a woman who is not loyal and loves luxury. The fact that Lasi experiences a
big change leads to a question why she behaves differently from what she used to be like.
Although everyone may experience a change because it is people’s nature to change and
develop, if someone undergoes a big change there must be a reason behind it. Therefore the
discussion is going to cover the changes in Lasi and their underlying reasons.
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Lasi is described as a loyal wife who dedicates her life to her husband, Darsa. She got
married at twenty, far above the married age Karangsoga women, which is fourteen. After she
gets married to Darsa she is a loyal wife as reflected in this quotation:
“Bahkan selama hidup bersama Darsa, Lasi pun tidak pernah ingin melarikan diri dari
kegetiran hidup sebagai istri penyadap” (Tohari 204).
(“Even during the times she spent with Darsa, she never thought of running away from
the bitterness of being the wife of a sap tapper”.)
This sentence reflects that Lasi accepts Darsa the way he is. Even tough Darsa’s job may not
give him enough money to fulfill their needs, still Lasi fully supports him and tries her best to be
a faithful company. This shows that Lasi is a modest and submissive woman.
Actually Lasi could marry a better man than Darsa because of her beauty. Take for
example Kanjat, the son of Pak Tir, the richest family in Karangsoga who was attracted to her
(Tohari 14). As Tohari writes:
…Lasi yang berkulit putih dengan mata dan lekuk pipi yang khas itu sesungguhnya lebih
pantas menjadi istri lurah daripada menjadi istri seorang penyadap. Darsa juga pernah
mendengar selentingan yang mengatakan bahwa rumah bambunya yang kecil adalah
kandang bobrok yang tak layak ditempati seorang perempuan secantik Lasi. Lalu, Darsa
sendiri sering melihat bagaimana mata para lelaki tiba-tiba menyala bila mereka
memandang Lasi. (Tohari 14).
(…Lasi whose skin is fair and adorned with beautiful eyes and dimples is actually more
suitable to be the wife of a village leader than just the wife of a sap tapper. Darsa once
heard an insult that his shabby hut doesn’t fit a woman as beautiful as Lasi. Darsa even
witnessed himself how men got their eyes wide open when seeing Lasi)
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This quotation describes how pretty Lasi is that she can have a richer husband than Darsa if she
wants to but she does not. Lasi prefers Darsa, who is only a sap tapper but Lasi finds happiness
being with him. Moreover, she likes him as stated in the following quotation:
“Darsa pendiam dan Lasi menyukainya (Tohari 43).
(“Darsa is a quiet man and Lasi likes it”)
The fact that people in Karangsoga talk behind her about her unclear origin (Tohari 40) may be
the reason why Lasi likes a quiet man like Darsa. Being quiet, Darsa may not join those who
gossip her. So, being with Darsa makes her feel secure and safe. This reflects that Lasi feels
insecure living in Karangsoga, but she represses it because she does not have any proofs to
defend herself or to challenge the rumor that she is an unwanted child, as her mother was only
raped. Her repressed dislike of the Karangsogans drives her to like Darsa. This is in accordance
with what Freud says about repressed feelings that someone redirects their unacceptable urges
onto a variety of people or objects so that the original impulse is disguised or concealed, which is
called displacement (qtd. in Feist and Feist 36). Her interest in Darsa could be a reason why she
is so loyal to Darsa. Even after three years of marriage, Lasi and Darsa still did not had any
children in their family but it does not really matter for them, they still live happily. Lasi is
depicted to be a very special woman that many people want her and it sometimes makes Darsa
worry but it neither make Lasi arrogant nor unfaithful.
Lasi’s loyalty is also shown when Darsa fell down as he was tapping trees. As a result,
Darsa couldn’t climb trees, walk and even his urine kept out, which made him smell bad, but
Lasi kept on taking care of him. She did not leave Darsa as Darsa couldn’t do his job so that she
would not earn a regular income. This is reflected in the following quotation:
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“Aku ikut tanya,” sela Mbok Mus. “Apakah Lasi kelihatan tak suka lagi bersuami
Darsa?” (Tohari 134)
(“I ask you,” said Mbok Mus. “Is Lasi no longer happy being Darsa’s wife?”)
Mbok Wiryaji asked this question to Eyang Mus, a respected figure In Karangsoga, related to
Darsa’s regression after his had accidentally fallen from sap trees when he was trying to tap it
(Tohari 58). This question is intended to assure Lasi if she wants to marry another man due to
Darsa’s physical inability. However, Eyang Mus, on behalf of Lasi answers:
“Tidak juga. Saya kira Lasi tetap setia menemani suaminya yang bau sengak itu.” (Tohari
59).
(“I don’t think so. I think Lasi remains a faithful company of her bad smelling husband”.)
Eyang Mus’ answer strengthens the fact that Lasi is so loyal to her husband that no matter how
bad Darsa’s condition is, she keeps on accepting him the way he is. Her faithfulness to her
husband is out of question. Although Mbok Wiryaji suggested that Lasi marry another man, she
refused. She does always listen to what her mother suggest her but this time Lasi refused because
she feels secure living with Darsa, who accepts her as she is. She never had a thought to leave
Darsa even she tried so hard finding a way out to heal Darsa ( Tohari 49).
Lasi is also obedient. Her marriage to Darsa was actually set by her mother, Mbok
Wiryaji. This happens because Mbok Wiryaji felt pity to Lasi as she hadn’t got any husband at
the age of marriage. Being a beautiful woman should actually have given her a favor because she
can easily get a husband. However, people in Karangsoga seem to be afraid to marry her because
of her unclear family background. Apparently, Lasi’s real father was a Japanese soldier who
lived in Karangsoga during the colonial period named Marjuki. He met Mbok Wiryaji and began
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to fall in love with her. However, the Karangsogans prefer to create the story that Mbok Wiryaji
got raped by Marjuki but actually the story about them was just a lie (Tohari 40):
“Las, mereka tahu apa dan siapa kamu sebenarnya. Tetapi aku tak tahu mengapa mereka
lebih suka cerita palsu…” (Tohari 40).
(“Las, they know who you really are. However, I don’t understand why they prefer
telling lies..”)
The quotation above implies that Mbok Wiryaji tries to convince Lasi that her father is a
responsible man but people made up the story since Marjuki never returned to Karangsoga,
leaving Mbok Wiryaji and Lasi all alone. However, although people in Karangsoga do not want
to get along well with Lasi, Darsa is different. He gives Lasi a chance not to be a spinster.
Therefore, Darsa is like a hero who saves her from pressures she got from her surroundings.
Lasi is also portrayed as a modest woman. Even though she lived in poverty she never
ever complained. It may be because she gets used to live without much money since she was a
kid. Lasi lived with her mother and her step father, who are also sap tappers and palm sugar
makers, the job of most people in Karangsoga. Doing this job means earning a little money
because the tappers had to sell the refined sugar they made to the broker, Pak Tir. Pak Tir always
gave low prices to them so that workers never had big profits (Tohari 71). Knowing that her
parents never have much money, Lasi never asks them anything. She knows she is the prettiest
woman in Karangsoga but it doesn’t make her different from Karangsoga’s women who never
wear good dress. Her bed is also only made from pelupuh, a small piece of bamboo cut which
latter she has to take off the bamboo to be made firewood but again she never complains. (Tohari
17).
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In short, Lasi has the characteristics of a typical good wife who is loyal to her husband
that she dedicates all of her life to him. She is also obedient that always listens to her mother and
also modest that she never demands much to her husband, even though many people thinks that
she is special compared to other women in Karangsoga.
Lasi’s Big Change and its Motives
However, later in the novel, Lasi is pictured to greatly change in appearance and attitude.
Lasi, the typical village woman and loyal wife, is then described as a metropolitan lady who
loves luxury. She becomes a metropolitan lady after she had left Karangsoga and moved to
Jakarta (Tohari 240). Her big change provokes question related to what things caused her to do
so.
According to Freud, human’s mind consist of three levels awareness which are the
unconscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious (Bressler 150). From these three levels of
awareness, the unconscious holds an important role in deciding one’s behavior or attitude
(Glassman and Hadad 208-209). This seems to be what happened to Lasi. Driven by her
unconscious, she is transformed into somebody else that even she herself might not realize.
Since Lasi has changed a lot after she moved to Jakarta, the event before her leaving for Jakarta
must be very important to her. Lasi decided to go out of Karangsoga after Darsa had an affair
with Sipah, who later gave him a baby (Tohari 73) Sipah was Bunek’s daughter (Tohari 73).
Bunek helped Darsa get his fast recovery from bad injury caused by his falling from the tree.
Darsa felt indebted to Bunek for her help that he did everything Bunek ordered him, including
making love with Sipah (Tohari 79). Her choice goes to Jakarta as she heard that this city offers
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people with so many jobs and wealth, Lasi believes it and she hopes she will find her luck and
make her fortune there.
To Lasi, Karangsoga must look like the source of her problems after the affair. Knowing
that Darsa, the person she trust the most betrayed her, evoke her actions under unconsciousness.
The unconscious is the storage place which is influenced by unwanted painful experiences and
feelings, unpleasant memories, wounds, frights, guilty desires and unresolved conflicts. The
effect is it strongly affects actions and is connected to the concept of repression (Barry 96).
Darsa’s betrayal to her apparently affects her attitude so much. Lasi preferred to make a rush
decision by leaving her problems, Darsa and Karangsoga. Her moving to Jakarta is a kind of
defense mechanism she builds for herself to manage instincts and prevent anxieties (Berger 89).
Since defense mechanisms work by letting pleasure in some indirect ways (Glassman and Hadad
244), Lasi’s moving to Jakarta seems to be a way for her to look for another pleasure and escape
from the problem she faces.
Lasi’s who is previously portrayed as a simple woman with angelic characteristics turns a
lot into someone who is not her. The most obvious change in Lasi lies in her transformation
from a village woman into a glamorous lady. She moved to Jakarta to escape from her pain she
gets whenever she sees Darsa and meets Karangsogans. She started to change after moving to
Jakarta, especially after her meeting with Bu Lanting and getting married to Handarbeni:
Pada awalnya Lasi merasa malu dan canggung karena tak terbiasa dengan alat-alat
kecantikan itu. Namun karena Bu Lanting terus mendorongnya, dan Lasi sendiri
kemudian merasa senang karena jadi tambah ayu, Lasi melakukannya dengan sepenuh
hati. Bahkan bersemangat. Atau sebenarnya Lasi terpacu oleh pertanyaan Bu Lanting,
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"Tidak menyesal pernah menjadi istri penyadap karena sesungguhnya kamu cantik?"
(Tohari 155).
(At first Lasi felt shy and awkward because she didn’t use to wear make up. But as Bu
Lanting keeps on pressing her, and then finds herself looks prettier she becomes excited
in doing so. Or is it Bu Lanting question that challenge her, “Aren’t you sorry you were
once only the wife of a sap tapper, you’re so beautiful”)
Bu Lanting’s question seems to provoke Lasi so that she visited Karangsoga to show to the
Karangsogans, including Darsa, that she has changed into somebody (Tohari 240). This implies
how much Lasi wants to show Darsa that she has a better life after their separation. Lasi’s new
favorite in wearing make up and dressing up could be the form of displacement which is a way
she redirects her unacceptable urges into a variety of objects or person to cover the original
impulse (qtd. in Feist and Feist 36). As she feels rejected by Darsa, she thinks it is good to show
Darsa her other sides that Darsa never revealed, which is wearing make up. Her intention in
doing so may to get acknowledgment from Darsa that it was a big mistake for him to have
cheated her and to prove more to herself that she can do something and treat herself better
compared to when she was still Darsa’s wife. It can be said that Lasi’s visit to Karangsoga and
Darsa is a kind of revenge. At this stage, her defense mechanism works by doing irrational thing,
it even refers to an exaggerating or rude action which actually against what her heart actually
wants (Feist and Feist 36). Her purpose in taking revenge is make Darsa feels the same pain as
she does.
Her change also shows that she begins to love her new role. As a wife of a rich man,
Lasi’s new roles include attending parties, spending money on shopping and having journeys to
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have fun. Her changed attitude may be because she couldn’t do them when she was the wife of
Darsa who is financially a failure. This is implied in the sentence:
Apa-apa yang dulu hanya terbayang dalam mimpi, Handarbeni mendatangkannya dengan
nyata bagi Lasi. (Tohari 265).
(What once only a dream, Handarbeni makes it real for Lasi)
She might build up this feel this as she put a big disappointment to Darsa, so she begins
comparing those two. By doing this, she assures herself than Handarbeni is financially better
than Darsa and makes her life happier. Because naturally a woman will be happy if she knows
she looks beautiful. Her defense mechanism, substitution, is done by doing something she was
not able to do before, it works by applying compensation to cover up her fragile side by pursuing
another thing (Amin 8). This is not good actually because it is such a form of an escape from the
bitterness of life. Lasi assures herself that it’s better to be Handarbeni’s wife because he can give
anything Lasi wants. She could buy and have everything she wishes to easily, which is contrast
to her previous life as the wife of a sap tapper.
It is obvious that the Karangsogans contribute to Lasi’s change. Since Lasi was a kid they
had always taunted Lasi and her family, mainly because she looked different from most
Karangsoga women. Her friends called her a bastard as she did not have a biological father.
However, Lasi did not say argue against them (Tohari 43). To her, silence seems to be the best
way to respond the humiliation since she doesn’t know what to do to defend herself. She holds
back her feeling, trying to endure the pain and repress it in her mind.
What Lasi does is a defense mechanism she builds for her self, which is called repression
(Berger 90). However, she can’t hide it forever as bad memories don'
t just disappear that later
they continue to influence behavior (Tyson 12-13). The repression of her feelings does affect her
Niken 17
behavior as she begins to imagine taking revenge to Karangsogans to make herself feel quite
relieved. When she was a child, she often imagines herself being a crab which has huge
tweezers, so she can cut Karangsogan’s neck off (Tohari 33). Her wild imagination of being a
crab is formed by her anger she repressed for a long time. Unluckily, Lasi couldn’t even express
it and at the end, it is continuously repressed. It seems that her thought of being a crab is quite
helpful for her dealing with her bad memories, in short her imagination could be an escape from
reality. Related to Freud’s psychoanalysis theory, in this case, her id may operate. The id works
as a satisfaction agent to one’s instincts of pleasure and have no consideration of social rule
(Guerin et al. 130). Therefore, by having this imagination, Lasi can satisfy herself and wash
away her pain for a while.
Apparently, Lasi’s desire to take revenge is continuously growing. However, this time,
she may show it differently as she wants to show that she can be a happy, successful woman who
is loved and spoiled by her husband, and also she can be whatever she wants to be and do
whatever she wants to:
Nanti kamu harus tunjukkan kepada mereka siapa kamu sebenarnya dan apa saja yang
bisa kamu lakukan terhadap mereka." (Tohari 209).
(“You must show them who you really are and what you can do to them.)
She does this, simply to embarrass the Karangsogans who once humiliated her and prove that
now, she can be more than they had ever imagined. Again, her id works as she does this to get
pleasure or secure feelings (Guerin et al. 130).
Lasi also experiences a change in regard to her mother, Mbok Wiryaji. She used to be
known as an obedient daughter who always did what her mother say and even tough they
sometimes quarelled, Lasi still respected her mother so much. However, after moving to Jakarta,
Niken 18
even Mbok Wiryaji feels that Lasi changes a lot. The most obvious change that Mbok Wiryaji
sees from Lasi is her appearance; the way she dresses up. Apart from that, she also feels that Lasi
respects her less:
Mbok Wiryaji merasa Lasi telah berubah: pakaiannya, tata rambutnya, selopnya, bahkan
gerak-geriknya, pandangan matanya, segalanya. Aneh, di mata Mbok Wiryaji, Lasi sudah
lain, sangat lain. Dingin. Lasi kelihatan seperti seorang nyonya, artinya istri tauke Cina
atau istri priyayi yang makmur dan cantik. Dan di atas segalanya, Lasi seperti tidak
kangen kepada emaknya sendiri meski sudah lama tak bertemu. Dingin. (Tohari 240).
(Mbok Wiryaji feels that Lasi has changed: her dresses, her hairstyle, her shoes even her
behavior, her eyes, everything, strange, for Mbok Wiryaji Lasi has changed, very
different, cold. Lasi looks like a lady, like the wife of a rich Chinese merchant or the wife
of a royal descendant, wealthy and beautiful. But above all, Lasi doesn’t seem to miss her
mother even thought they haven’t met for so long. Cold. )
Later, it can be concluded that Lasi doing this simply because of her deep disappointment
in Mbok Wiryaji, her mother. Since she was a kid, Lasi feels quite resentful to her mother for not
letting her knows who her father really was (Tohari 238). She seems to have a kind of feeling to
blame her mother for every injustice and mock she got her friends because of her odd looking.
Even tough it had happened long time ago and she already got the explanation about her father,
the disappointment to her mother still exists. This is shown by her cold and flat expression as she
meets her mother and Karagsogans when she gets back home a while after her leaving to Jakarta.
She didn’t even look like a daughter who missed her mother even though they haven’t met for
months. The respect for her mother seems had disappeared as she moved to Jakarta. Even tough
Niken 19
she might have kept resentment to her mother during her living in Karangsoga, she can’t bear it
any longer.
Conclusion
Freudian psychology of analysis has helped reveal the reasons behind Lasi’s changed
attitudes. Apparently Darsa’s betrayal , her being fed up with all of the mockery and humiliation
she got from the Karangsogans and also her contempt feeling to her mother were the main
underlying reason for Lasi’s changed attitudes. Her changed attitude toward Darsa, Mbok
Wiryaji and the people of Karangsoga is a form of pain avoidance which has been repressed in
her unconscious which is shown by her sequences actions like showing off her new life. Her
defense mechanism happens as she tries to run away from reality. Most of her defense
mechanism refers to displacement as she tries to replace her bad memories and replace it with the
good ones which could affect her negatively. Thus, Lasi’s big change is controlled by pain and
disappointment which are repressed in her unconscious mind. Later, her unconscious mind
affects her behavior and attitudes which she herself may not be aware of.
Niken 20
Acknowledgement
First of all, I want to show my biggest gratitude to Gusti Alam for grace and blessings
that I finally could complete this study. Later, my big appreciation will be dedicated to my
supervisor Lany Kristono, M.Hum. and my examiner Suzana Maria L.A.F., M.Hum. for giving
me guidance and assisting me in writing my thesis, without them, this study would likely be
impossible to finish. I also would like to give my biggest thank for Bapak, Ibuk yang selalu
makan hati menghadapi anaknya yang sulit ini, percayalah aku menyayangi kalian walaupun
dengan caraku sendiri, for all of my family, especially d’krucils (Hajar Wir!!!). And finally, I
would like to send my special kudos for my hell mate, Helen (Thank for the warm friendship and
the hot chocolate), Heru (Terima kasih,cukup sewindu), Grace and Kiki (for always being there
for me and cheering me up in my hardest time), Ratih, Nidia, Kembar, John, Reda, Biting, Kiting
for always helping and supporting me in writing my thesis from the very beginning. Last but not
least, thank for Ika and Bolep, teman yang selalu ada(maunya). Thank you so much, I truly love
you.
Niken 21
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