The Fancy of the Child in
”Knight Errant” Short Story
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER
I
INTRODUCTION
I. Background of
choosing the Story....................................................... 1
II. Theoretical Approach.......................................................................... 2
III. Method of the Study......................................................................... 2
CHAPTER II
CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE MAIN CHARACTER
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION………………….. 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
I.
Background
of Choosing the Story
Nowadays, most parents teach their children through
many kinds of story. Parents expect their children can take moral value from
the story. Story as one of resources automatically influences childrens’
personality, appearance or behavior. They will imitate even dream to be like
the characters of the story. Some of them even fancy doing some extraordinary
things that occur in the story. We know that children have high imagination in
understanding information they get. That will influence the way they think,
whereas child is an innocent creature who does not need any strange information
potentially changing their point of view about life. The “Knight Errant” by
David Gardiner has something unique to be analyzed. That story tells about a
child that has a high imagination about a knight and his adventure. The child
is the author itself. David Gardiner tells imagination he has about having
great adventure with a knight errant whom his father has told about through a
legend. In that story, the author who was still child was influenced by a
legend that caused his incarceration. His parents sent him to a mad house
because of his high imagination.
2.
The
Characteristic of the main character in the story has consequence that is very
uncommon in the real life. In the real life, the child is only a child who has a
dream, hope, imagination that is normal in his or her childhood. Whereas in
that
story, the child’s
characteristic caused his uncommon childhood by spending his entire life in a
mad house.
II.
Theoretical Approach
Analyzing literary work, we need an approach. Many
approaches that we can use in figuring out anything related to the literary
work. I use an objective approach that there
is intrinsic analysis inside. I am going to analyze the element of intrinsic of
the short story.
III.
Method of the study
The descriptive
analysis method is used in making this paper. I explain the facts from the
story that is followed by the analysis.
3.
CHAPTER 2
CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE MAIN CHARACTER
I focus on the characteristic of the main character of
the “Knight Errant”. He is a child whose father always told him a legend about
Sir Lancelot and all the rest of him. His father told about how sir Lancelot
helped everyone in distress especially maidens. Sir Lancelot was described as a strong brave man. That
legend had influenced the child’s life. He was sent to
the mad house because of his Characteristics.
1.
Stubborn
The
evidence from story:
a. Paragraph
2
“Well, you can imagine how I felt about that! I could not wait! I said I wanted to go and have an
adventure right away.”
That
is very common for children having a stubborn character. They always want to do
many things especially adventure as soon as possible. They think their
childhood is the time to know everything outside their house. That kind of
exciting legend also stimulates their instinct of having adventure.
Children
4.
normally
have the same feeling of adventure; but the strong feeling that potentially causes
the high fancy is not really shown.
2. Having high
imagination.
The evidences are shown in almost all parts of story,
from the first until the last paragraph. It began after the main character’s
father told him a legend of a knight. Every night he had fancy that the knight
whose name Lancelot visited him in his bedroom by his stallion. Sir Lancelot
wore the armor, a helmet that had visor down so no one could see his face even
the main character and brought a lance. Sir Lancelot said to him that he would
help him and many maidens who were in distress. He invited the main character
to come along with him on some of his adventure. They went to a castle, met
some maidens who had been rescued, watched practicing sword-fighting and
jousting, went riding, rescued a maiden from a horrible one-eyed giant about
ten feet tall, killed a big dragon, and burnt a bad witch at the stake. The
main character also had fancy that Sir Lancelot killed his mother’s boyfriend
by his sword to rescue his mother from the man’s bad treating to his mom. In a
mad house, the main character also had fancy that the knight would rescue him
from that scary place that had a torture chamber for everyone crying. The
knight asked him to spy everything that occurred in that place before he was
rescued. He noticed almost all doctors and nurses whom he assumed as the cruel
people and prepared everything that the knight needed to killed all of them. He
thought he could save a girl whom he assumed as a princess being tied up and
chained in the torture chamber every time she
5.
cried. He had fancy that Sir Lancelot came by his
stallion that was down in the car park, and the knight was waiting for him
outside on the stairs.
That character is too strange for a child who is being
in blooming. He is actually not able to have that kind of high imagination
although some legends that his parents have ever told excite him. Child has a
kind of limitation of having fancy about something that he is really curious
about. The normal child will not imagine extremely. In the story, it is really
exaggerated description about the characteristic of a child who wants to have
adventure outside house. That kind of characteristic that potentially
influences the psychological condition of the child is almost impossible happen
to the child. He may has fancy like that, but it should not be transmitted from
the imagination to the extreme action. That just a dream, although they believe
in that dream is a real thing. They should realize the real life rather than a
legend that he never know before. I think it is more appropriate that the main
character is just told as a hopeful child. A child who expects the good things
always happen to his life.
3. Having
sympathy with everyone beside him
The evidence from the story:
a.
Paragraph 6
“I noticed that
he used to hold her quite tightly by the shoulder, and once I saw him throw her
down on the sofa very roughly. Dad was never rough with mum
6.
like that. He
knew how you were supposed to treat maidens. I was worried about Larry. I did
not like him.”
b.
Paragraph 7
“The next day I
saw Sir Lancelot, I asked him about my mum and Larry. I reminded him that he
had said he would help me if ever I needed help, or if ever I came across a
maiden in distress, and this seemed to fit both
descriptions.
Sir Lancelot said that it did not matter and it was definitely a case for
putting to the sword.”.
c.
Paragraph 8
“My mum did not
see Sir Lancelot putting Larry to the
sword because it was so dark, and she just ran out screaming and screaming.”
d.
Paragraph 9
“My mum and I
went to visit dad in prison about once a month. I sometimes managed to get a
few minutes on my own with him while she went to the toilet or something, and
when I did I tried to explain to him about Sir Lancelot.”
e.
Paragraph 15
“I have told
Judith that if she does not cry then maybe they won’t give her electric
shocks.”
f.
Paragraph 18
“He will rescue Princess
Judith of course. After she has rescued, Princess Judith won’t have to cry
anymore.”
7.
That characteristic is really important for a child
being in that bad condition of family, but his sympathy is should not in rough
way. That rough way occurs based on what he is thinking about the knight. That
characteristic is followed by the rough action, so it is not appropriate in
characterizing the main character. Having bad fancy about killing somebody else
is really not the child’s characteristic.
4. Flirtatious
The evidences from the story:
a.
Paragraph 2
“I said they
could hug me instead, but they did not seem very interested in that.”
b.
Paragraph 3
“Speaking for
myself, I would have been content with one or two of the maidens.”
c.
Paragraph 15
“Maybe that is
why she will not let me kiss her. I have tried and she does not like it.”
The
characteristic is not really a child has. It does not seem to characterize the
main character. I do not think a child in an imagination of the adventure that
the
8.
knight
has in a legend has a desire to be in touch with an opposite sex in his or her
imagination. For the reason that most of the knight adventures are just about a
rescuing, war, jousting, and practicing sword-fighting.
9.
CHAPTER 3
CONCLUSION
Most of the characteristics of the main character in
the “Knight Errant” short story are not really appropriate to the real child’s
characteristics. The bad fancy that the main character being a child has, is
not like a common child has. In the “Knight Errant”, the child that is actually
a hopeful child is characterized as a child with a scary fancy of killing
somebody else who he assumes as an evil. The child in the story can be
characterized as a child who expects the good things always occur in his life.
10.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ratna,
Nyoman Kutha. Teori, Metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta:
Pustaka Pelajar, 2004
“Knight
Errant” short story by David Gardiner
