Characters' prejudice in Maugham's "Mr. Know All" (1924)

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Nur, Rahmah Khurniah Putri Novianty (2023) Characters' prejudice in Maugham's "Mr. Know All" (1924). Undergraduate thesis, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya.

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Abstract

This study examines the prejudice of characters in the short story "Mr. Know All" (1924) by William Somerset Maugham. The story tells about the journey of the Narrator and several other characters from San Francisco to Yokohama, which creates prejudice among the characters. Therefore, in this study, the researcher will answer the formulation of the problems this study, namely (1) how are the characters described in Maugham's "Mr. Know All" (2) what types of prejudice influenced by cultural differences are in Maugham's "Mr. Know All" and (3) how are the impacts of prejudice experienced by the characters in Maugham's "Mr. Know All." This research uses a qualitative descriptive method to find characters and characterizations in the story with prejudiced attitudes. This research also uses the New Criticism approach to analyze the story to see the types, reasons, impacts, and effects of prejudice. Data was collected by interpreting the entire content of the story. The interpretation of the story is then classified first and then based on the types of prejudice. After classification, the data was analyzed by looking at the setting and situation that supported the story. The study results show that the four main characters, Narrator Max Kelada, Mr. Ramsay, and Mrs. Ramsay, have different characteristics and support the emergence of prejudice. A narrator, with his characteristics as a difference hater, has four types of prejudice: stereotyping, discrimination, categorization, and social learning. Mr. Ramsay, with his characteristics as a dogmatic person, has two kinds of prejudice: categorization and social learning. Mrs. Ramsay is a beauty and has an affair, and she helps her husband create prejudice towards Mr. Kelada. While Max Kelada, or Mr. Kelada, a chatty person, where becomes a victim of the prejudiced attitude of the Narrator and Mr. Ramsay. This research also found the impact of prejudice received by each character. From the effects obtained by the characters, the researcher concluded seven moral values taken from the story and analysis.