Melanie Stryder’s Existence in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.
Melanie Stryder’s Existence in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host
Eurike Naftali Alien Christy Bhet Louise
S1 English Literature, Languages and Arts Faculty, State University of Surabaya.
Abstrak
Tesis ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan eksistensialisme dalam karakter utama di novel Stephenie Meyer berjudul The Host, Melanie Stryder. Tesis ini membahas tentang bagaimana Melanie menampilkan eksistensialisme dan apa dampak dari keberadaan Melanie untuk hidupnya, cinta, dan dunia. Melanie yang hidup di era di mana alien menginvasi bumi harus mempertahankan keberadaannya sebagai manusia. Melanie hidup sebagai buronan, bepindah dari satu ke tempat lain untuk bersembunyi dan membuat saudaranya aman. Melanie memilih lebih baik mati daripada ditangkap oleh para pencari. Sebagai manusia dan mempertahankan keberadaannya, Melanie memiliki motif dalam setiap kegerakannya. Berpikir tentang apa dan bagaimana hidup sebagai ada manusia. Menjadi seperti manusia terkahir di bumi membuat Melanie harus siap kabur kapan saja, kesepian tanpa teman dan selalu dilingkupi kecemasan. Sebagai manusia, Melanie juga memiliki kebebasan untuk memilih, dia memiliki kehendak bebas untuk berakhir hidupnya atau tetap hidup bahkan ketika "jiwa" telah dimasukkan ke tubuhnya. Dengan Jamie sebagai satu satunya keluarga yang tersisa, Melanie tumbuh menjadi wanita yang bertanggung jawab penuh untuk memastikan Jamie selalu aman. Melanie juga menunjukkan dari bagaimana dia dalam kesadaran dan ketidaksadaran untuk dirinya sendiri. Konsep existenliasm dan Being dan Nothingness oleh Jean Paul Sartre digunakan untuk mengungkapkan tentang Eksistensialisme Melanie di novel Stephenie Meyer, The Host. Novel Host sebagai data utama akan disertai dengan data tambahan untuk penelitian mendalam dari penerapan teori tersebut. Hasilnya akan menunjukkan bagaimana Melanie sebagai eksistensialis dan dampak terhadap kehidupan, cinta dan dunianya.
Kata kunci: existetialism, existenliast, kesepian, kecemasan, kebebasan, tanggung jawab, mobile, motif.
Abstract
This thesis intends to reveal existentialism in the main character of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, Melanie Stryder. This thesis discussed problem concern in how Melanie represent existentialism and what the impact of Melanie’s existence to her life, love, and world. Melanie that is live in a era where aliens invaded the earth has to maintain her existence as a human. Melanie live as a fugitive, nomadic from one to another place to hide and make her brother safe. Melanie, she rather die than to be caught up by the seeker. As a human and maintain her existence, Melanie has her motif upon her mobile. Thought about what and how to life as exist human being. Seems like the last human being and a fugitive that has to nomad anytime, makes Melanie feels Loneliness and anxiety like common existence character. As a human Melanie also has her freedom to choice, she has free will to end up her life or keep alive even a “soul” has been inserted to her body. Having a litle brother to protect, build up Melanie to be fully responsible woman to make sure her brother save. Melanie also shows off how she is being for herself and in herself. The concept of existenliasm and Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Sartre is used to disclose about Melanie’s Existentialism in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host. The novel The Host as the main data will be accompanied by additional data in order to eleborate deeply from the application of the theory. The result will be shown how Melanie as an existentialist and its impact to her life, love and world.
Keywords: existetialism, existenliast, loneliness, anxiety, freedom, responsibility, mobile, motif.
1
Melanie Stryder’s Existence in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.
Introduction
Stories and fiction are abounding about existence. All 'stories' have a beginning and therein lays the irony and the confusion. Existence is energy in one form or another and The Law of Conservation of Energy states the total amount of energy in the universe must remain constant and energy can be neither created nor destroyed. Therefore the essence of existence is ‘always present' did not come from anywhere/thing/non-thing and not going to anywhere/thing/non-thing (Majors, 2008, p. 56). Putting it into other simpler words, existence is a concept of being, owned by each creature. Thus, the definition of existence above is to make clear that in order to have a good understanding or to do an analysis of existence, it cannot be treated as something completely general.
The existential migration that has told in The Host showed deeper and complex. In the previous novel is about human and vampire world that are switching each other, The Host told about existential migration inside one body of a human. Wanderer had injected into Melanie lying body, and Melanie refuses to disappear. The wonderful existence of wanderer in 7 previous planets has to migrate to Melanie's stubborn body and mind. The existential migration did not only happen to Wanderer but also to Melanie, she has to migrate from a rebel who was always hiding become a rebel who fight altogether with the enemy. Melanie struggle to stay exist in a body that is not any longer herself.
It's may be perfectly safe to say that there is an existential diffusion of Melanie and Wanderer. Diffusion existential is the existence of two fused and formed a new existence without leaving their distinctive style of existence. Melanie as humans has to live with a soul parasite in her body, taking control of the motor, but not in her mind. Together they form the world of new life as a result of a fusion of the human world and the soul parasite.
Differences in existence theme in the novel The Host from other novel lies in the character of Melanie addressing what is happening in her life. The peak where Melanie getting caught by the seeker makes her isolated in her own body altogether with a soul called Wanderer. Melanie had to shut the secret of the existence of other human beings for the sake of human salvation that is left. Much more she had to keep Jamie and Jared from seeker who is search and staying alive in her body that is reigned by the soul. In the Stephenie Meyer's other novels, the existence of the characters is not stated that much compare to what Melanie did in The Host novel. Stephenie Meyer's The Host is the first sequel of The Host Trilogy. As the information above about Melanie's struggle to keep exist as a human being. The different attitude in The Host makes this sequel is interesting to be studied.
Statement of The Problems:
1. How is existentialism represented in Melanie’s character in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host?
2. What are the impacts of Melanie’s existence to her life, love, and world?
Research Method:
This study uses the novel of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host by Little, Brown Book Group as a data of analysis. Then the data will be taken from the quotations of speech and information in the novel that has relation to the main character’s existence and her behavior in life.
There are several concepts to the study. These are used as tools to analyze the novel according to the quotations. In order to answer the first statement of the problem, this study will use the Mobile and Motif Theory, Theory of Existentialism, and Being and Nothingness, all by Sartre.
Purpose of the Study:
1. To find out how Melanie Stryder represent existentialism vividly.
2. To describe what are the impacts of how Melanie’s existence to her life, love, and world.
Motif and Mobile
Sartre in Flynn had cited formula the view that character traits, or ‘qualities’, are disposition that incline one towards certain types of actions, but which cannot determine one’s behavior. The distinction between inclination and determination, between ‘essence’ and ‘nature’, is central to Sartre’s theory of freedom. (Flynn, 2013:5). The motif is the reason for the act and the ensemble of rational considerations which justify Melanie characteristic and traits as a survival and independent woman are supported by the mobile and motif. Motif and Mobile are the main theory to analyze someone's character in life, the main feature that someone will unconsciously present in their daily life. In short, the motif is the vision when mobile is the mission.
The mobile is the ensemble of the desires, emotions, and passions which urge to accomplish a certain act. In character of Melanie Stryder, her experience lives in the run as a fugitive are the mobile of her act. Mobile arise in a real and visible, appearing explicitly and real actions. Mobile emerged as satisfying the desires of the motif. A mobile is a real form which is realized by the desire of the motif. So it would be easier if the mobile is expressed as a mission when the motif is a vision.
Loneliness and Anxiety or Death
Anxiety, the other characteristic of modern man, even more basic than emptiness and loneliness, means concern and fear especially about what might happen. For being hollow and lonely would not bother, expect it make people prey or victim to that peculiar psychological pain, which is called anxiety. Thus anxiety in greater or lesser degree, tends to destroy their consciousness of their selves and the stronger their consciousness of their selves, the more we can take a stand against and overcome anxiety (May, 1953:38).
Sartre sees anxiety and death as a confrontation with the fact of freedom or our “unmade future”. Anxiety, according to Martin Heidggers, individual’s confrontation has been lead by the continuous awareness of someone’s own future death. Moreover, Sartre says that man must accept the fact of his alienation from the rest of the world (Kaufmann, 1956:292). It is an undeniable fact, since there is always a discrepancy between the reality that exist out there and the reality created by an individual in his mind. What actually happens in everyday life most of the time contradicts and denies one’s wishes and dreams, therefore one always lives a life marked by never ending conflict and finds himself in the middle of this tug of war between two opposing forces.
Freedom of Choice
According to Sartre, choice is point of Human existence, and it is inescapable, even the refusal to choice is a choice. Freedom of choice entails commitment and responsibility, because individuals are free to choose their own path. This is the meaning of Sartre’s pronouncement that we are “condemned to be free”. He to be “free” means to be unconditioned by any moral law or eternal values (Joseph, 1970:55). Moreover Sartre argues that man is simply what he makes of himself, man must choose and must make decision without any authoritative guide to create his own values (Joseph, 1970:55). Basically, freedom of choice is an argue that man is simply what he makes of himself. There is no universal guidelines for every decision, the believe of existentialists, instead even trusting science is often a leap of faith.
Responsibility
Sartre argues human being should have commitment and responsibility. Man is responsible even his passions, because even his feeling are formed by his deeds (Kaufmann, 1956:295). It means that there is nothing to force him, or precise pattern pushing him into the future, because individuals are free to choose their own life, they must accept the risk and responsibility by following their commitment wherever it leads even to death (Wilson, 1972:523). Furthermore the absolute responsible is not resignation; it is simply the logical requirement of the consequences of our freedom (Robert, 1957:169).
According to Sartre, one has to “make” his own existence. In that process, man must choose, without any universal guidance. Man has to follow his own standard, his own “moral”. Once he chooses, he has to responsible for his choices, means he cannot blame anything else but himself.
Being and Nothingness
Sartre in Tong ever cited this parts: Being-for-itself (pour soi) and Being-in-itself (en-soi). Being-in-itself comes for repetitive, material existence humans share with animals, vegetables, and minerals; being-for-itself comes for the moving, consciousness existence humans share only with humans (Tong, 1998:174).
According in Sartre, being is objective, it is what it is, and being is in-itself. Existence refers to the fact that some individual or thing is present in the world. In short, Being-in-itself is non-conscious Being, the being of existing things or objects of consciousness. Being-for-itself is conscious being, being all you can be, which is conscious of what it is not. Nothingness is a state of non-being. Nothingness does not itself have being, but is sustained by being.
Procedure of Analysis
a. Data collection
The first step to understanding the data required to finish the analysis is through the extensive and close reading. Then following the intensive reading to gather the data which come s from character’s expression, thought, and attitude and action which representing the general description of Melanie Stryder’s exixtence and behavior. During the intensive reading, the observation by classifying of expressions, thoughts, and description are must be done to maximize the precise and filtered data which contains the mentioned idea previously.
1
Melanie Stryder’s Existence in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.
b. Data analysis
First step of analyzing will be revealing the existence of Melanie Stryder, then searching what are the impacts. This step is unworkable without the Mobile and Motif Theory, Theory of Existentialism, and Being and Nothingness
1
Melanie Stryder’s Existence in Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.