A Psychological Analysis Of Sydney Carton’s Sacrifice On T He Day Of The Guillotine In Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities

Oleh :
Adystya Imawahyu - C0307008 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

Adystya Imawahyu. C0307008. A Psychological Analysis of Sydney Carton’s Sacrifice on the Day of the Guillotine in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Thesis. English Department. Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. Sebelas Maret University Surakarta. This thesis is an analysis on a novel entitled A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It is purposed to explain the real motivation of Sydney Carton in doing his sacrifice to save Charles Darnay from the horror of guillotine.This research is written as descriptive analysis of which the main data are in the form of the narration, the dialog of Sydney Carton, and the dialog of others’ characters which are related to Sydney Carton’s background, behavior, thought and personality which then would lead to Sydney Carton’s sacrifice on the day of guillotine. The supporting data are taken from other sources such as articles, criticisms, and some psychological books. Since the research is an analysis of the novel’s character, it involves psychology approach as its point of view and some theories which are applied in the analysis. In order to answer the research question, this research applies Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Scott Peck’s theory of self-sacrifice. From the analysis, it can be found that Sydney’s sacrifice is motivated by three factors. The first, according to Abraham Maslow’s theory, Carton has failed in fulfilling his love and belongingness needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. He becomes a lonely, powerless, and unconfident man who is sure that sacrifice will be the precious thing that he can do for his life. The second, Carton’s sacrifice is motivated by his faith. He is sure that his sacrifice will redeem his sin, and he will live peacefully in the afterlife. The third, based on Scott Peck’s theory of sacrifice, Carton’s sacrifice apparently motivated by his feeling to Lucie Manette. By sacrificing himself, he hopes that inside their heart, Lucie and her family will give a place to Carton.