DECISION MAKING IN PAULO COELHO’S “THE ALCHEMIST” A THESIS Lily Hasanah St N 120410627 ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY 2008 i DECISION MAKING IN PAULO COELHO’S “THE ALCHEMIST” A THESIS Submitted As Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For the Sarjana Degree of English Department Faculty of Humanities Airlangga University Lily Hasanah St N 120410627 ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY 2008 ii DECLARATION This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. And to the best of this candidate’s knowledge and belief, it contains no material which has been previously published or written by other person except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Surabaya, 10th June 2008 Lily Hasanah iii To everyone whom I love... Especially to Mama and papa for your endless love Mas Irul for your love and your patience Mbah Kakung for showing me a meaningful life Kiky, Andi, and Ani iv v vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alhamdulillahirobbil’alamiin. My biggest gratitude to Allah for giving me high spirit to finish my thesis. My deepest gratefulness is also addressed to my thesis advisor, Lina Puryanti, S.S., M.Hum, for your times to guide me writing this thesis. I also thank you for sharing me your idea especially about the theory applied in this thesis. I would like to thank Diah Ariani Arimbi, S.S., M.A., Ph.D., for guiding me to formulate my statement of problems. I also would like to thank Listyono Santoso, S.S, M.Hum, for his times to discuss about existentialism theory, particularly Søren Kierkegaard’s existentialism. I would like to thank to Moses Glorino R. Pandin, S.S., M.Si, for the discussion about decision making. This thesis is tribute to all of my family. My gratitude goes to Mama and Papa for your endless love. Thank you to Mas Irul for understanding me during my difficult times, including the process of writing this thesis. Thank you for Ibu, Bapak, and my family in Pangkalan (especially Mbah Kakung, Mbah Uti, Budhe Mardhiyah, Mbak Ros). Thanks also to my little brothers, Kiky and Andi, and my little sister, Ani. Thanks to all of my friends in the English Department class of 2004, especially to PMDK class, especially to narsist: Bubyu lebai, Listy Miss stress, Uwik, Ulik, Niak, Grestonk, Bom-Bomz, Keltz, Annoying Naya, Rini (mail_to_rhini), Apnek, Ayumz, thank you for your friendship. Thanks to Irene for your time being together with me to discuss Kierkegaard’s existentialism in doing our thesis. Thanks also to Lidya for going with me to the Petra’s and vii Ubaya’s library, and also for your time to discuss one statement of Kierkegaard’s existentialism. Thank you for Vivin for the discussion about Santiago in the novel The Alchemist. Thank you also for Linda and Lady, I will miss the time when we wait for Mrs. Lina. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Inside Cover Page ................................................................................................. i Inside Title Page ................................................................................................... ii Declaration Page ................................................................................................... iii Dedication Page .................................................................................................... iv Advisor’s Approval Page ...................................................................................... v Examiner’s Approval Page .................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................... vii Table of Contents .................................................................................................. ix Abstract ................................................................................................................ xi Epigraph ............................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 1.1. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1 1.2. Statement of the Problems ............................................................................ 5 1.3. Objective of the Study ................................................................................. 5 1.4. Significance of the Study ............................................................................. 5 1.5. Scope and Limitation ................................................................................... 6 1.6. Theoretical Background ............................................................................... 6 1.7. Method of the Study .................................................................................... 7 1.8. Definition of Key Terms .............................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 10 2.1. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 10 2.1.1. Existentialism ............................................................................................ 10 2.1.1.1. Freedom ................................................................................................. 11 2.1.1.2. Dread ...................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1.3. ‘Truth is Subjectivity’ ............................................................................. 12 2.1.1.4. ‘The Crowd is Untruth’ ........................................................................... 12 2.1.1.5. The Community ...................................................................................... 13 2.2. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 15 ix CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 17 3.1. Santiago’s Dilemmas ................................................................................... 17 3.1.1. Being a Shepherd ....................................................................................... 17 3.1.2. Looking for the Hidden Treasure in Africa ................................................ 20 3.1.3. Staying in Africa ....................................................................................... 24 3.1.4. Working at the Crystal Merchant’s Shop ................................................... 26 3.1.5. Continuing the Journey to the Pyramids ..................................................... 30 3.1.6. Leaving Al-Fayoum Oasis ......................................................................... 35 3.2. Santiago’s Decision Making Seen from Søren Kierkegaard’s Existentialism .............................................................................................. 39 3.2.1. Freedom .................................................................................................... 39 3.2.2. Dread ....................................................................................................... 45 3.2.3. ‘Truth is Subjectivity’ and ‘the Crowd is Untruth’ ..................................... 47 3.2.4. The Community ......................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 56 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................... 58 SYNOPSIS ........................................................................................................... 60 APPENDIX .......................................................................................................... 61 x