THE
FINAL PROJECT
Intoduction
to Literature
Title :
The Case of the Crushed Petunias
Author : Tennessee William
Analysis :
The work entitled “The Case of The
Crushed Petunias” written by Tennessee William seems to shows us more about
life, the case of life. Using formalistic approach becomes to make the reader
close to the message which is delivered in the work. I am so interesting in
learning the value that I can catch from the work. The work uses many symbols which
can represent us the meaning of the purpose such as petunias, eleven D and so
on. Here I am going to analyze not only all the symbols in the work but I am
also going to analyze from the characters that represent of the existence of a
person in the work.
From the beginning of the play, the
message has been delivered to the reader what the meaning is the word. The
title of the work indirectly has shown the reader that the work is going to
tell about. The word title like “Case” means that the work or the message in
the work is going to show the reader something important happen. “The Case and
The Crushed” is the phrase that represents the whole content of the work. Why I
should explore the words in the work because one of the devices used to analyze
a work in formalistic approach is by looking at the phrase.
It has been mentioned above that
"According to the Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature "
when all the words, phrases, metaphors, images, and symbols are examined in
terms of each other and of the whole, any literary text worth our efforts will
display its own internal logic" (Guerin 75)." The phrases in
analyzing the work are also very important to know the meaning or the hidden
meaning in the words.
I try to analyze first for the
characters in the work. There are only four characters. They are Miss Dorothy
Simple, also called as Dorothy, Officer, Young Man, Mrs. Dull. Here I am
just going to analyze the main characters of the story, Miss Dorothy Simple and
Young Man.
1.
CHARACTERIZATION ANALYSIS
- Miss Dorothy Simple.
The story
tells that she is a New England maiden of twenty-six who is physically very
attractive but has barricaded her house and heart behind a double row of
petunias. The statement above seems to be wonderful for Dorothy but there is a
statement which can be related to the value of our life, it is barricaded
her house and heart…. This one statement will be more discussed in
symbolism. The analysis from the text “Well, well, well is not going to catch
the culprit!” (Page 12) shows that Dorothy is an impatient person. She has been
in emotional situation and she can not control herself because she has
indirectly been barricaded by petunias. She has a good name, Simple;
however, it can not represent the beauty of her personality to be a good person
as well as she has a good last name, Simple. All of us know that an
officer is commanded to do his job as a servant of public but in this case,
Dorothy also seems to be like a commandant of the officer. The word of
“barricaded” shows her as a limited person for everything. She just thinks
about her importance and she does not think widely how everything can happen in
our life. What I mean is the petunias, the crushed petunias. She is so
protective, not protective in positive ways but she as if wants to prioritize
what she looks the best for herself and not for others.
- Young Man
Young Man is
a person who did it. What does actually this Young Man do? The Young Man
crushed petunias. He crushed the petunias which make everybody’s eyes can not
be opened. What is the relationship between petunias and everybody’s eyes?
This statement shows us how we can be better than what we are thinking of
ourselves. This Young Man is a person who knows the future. He is a person who
can see the importance of others. He is an honest and helpful person. It not
only he crushed petunias to break something but it is also how this Young Man
understands the value of life that everyone, anyone must be helped by others to
open their eyes. This is related to the message in the text “Barricaded? My house
– my heart…” (Page 14). The word of “Petunias” is a symbol.
Those
characters show us how they are and how they look like in the play. Below, I
would like to explore or analyze the symbolism in the story that represents the
meaning, hidden meaning in “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”.
2.
SYMBOLISM IN THE CASE OF THE CRUSHED
Symbolism is going to represent what
message can be got from the work and it needs a critical thought to understand
the meaning in the work. I like analyzing a work when looking at the symbolism.
In this case, I found some symbols to be interpreted according the content of
the text itself. Here are the symbols which can be interpreted from “The Case
of The Crushed Petunias”.
- Petunias
What does Petunias symbolize?
Petunias are a kind of flowers. Petunias have many colors like green, pink,
lavender, red and so on. Petunias will beautify our house when those are put
surrounding the house. However, can we say that petunias also beautify our
heart? The description of petunias has been described above as a beautiful
flower which can beautify our house. In this case, the symbol of petunias is
not also defined as a flower but it will also give us the real meaning what
petunias is really defined. According to the Online Book of Symbol,
petunias are defined as an anger or resentment. We can believe that what we
believe will belong to us and we will be like what we believe. The main
character, Dorothy, does like petunias as a beautiful flower surrounding
her house. This statement shows us the existence of Dorothy so that the Young
Man told her “…because you’d barricaded your house – and also your heart” (Page
14). This statement clarifies the meaning of petunias as a barricade to
Dorothy, as a barricade for our life. The action of the Young Man, I suppose,
can make Dorothy aware about something in her worth life.
- Eleven D
This symbol shows us the size of
shoes. This also shows us who we really are. From the footprint of the Young
Man who put the shoes sized Eleven D on can be known by Dorothy. From the Yahoo
Answer, D is the width of the shoe. D width is average or medium width for
men's shoes. So if your new shoes are size 11D, that means they are size 11,
medium width in men. This statement also gives us the meaning of the symbol
Eleven D which is described as men doer.
Those
symbolisms have given us the meaning. In this story, I just give or analyze two
symbolisms because I am a beginner in analyzing the text or the work by using
formalistic approach.
CONCLUSION
The analysis of formalistic approach
makes the reader very close to the work and the meaning through the message in
it. The analysis of characterization and symbolism will clarify and give
understanding of the message delivered in the work.
Every analysis, we can find the
value of life like the analysis in “The Case of The Crushed Petunias”. The
moral value in the work is how someone can be helpful for others in terms of
helping and opening something to show the best for others even though it seems
“not worth” but it actually gives us the important things to be better in our
daily life./Wr. Immer
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