Analysis on The Ingrate in Paul Laurence Dunbar, Part I

No Gratitude Person: An Analysis Character of Mr. Lecker in Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Ingrate"

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of Choosing the Topic

Mr. Lecker, a white farmer who owns a large plantation in the South with its many fields, buildings, and animals. He believes that he is a man of strong principles, deep and proper beliefs about what is right and wrong. He is one of the two main characters in “The Ingrate.” This short story is written by Paul Laurence Dunbar whose father had been a slave. His father had been owned by a white man in the South. This story is brought from the reality. It is from Dunbar’s life. Dunbar’s father escaped to freedom in the North and fought for the North in the Civil War (1861-1865). So does Josh, a slave of white farmer as plasterer, working on the walls and ceilings of the plantation, who wants to freedom from slavery. The story is interesting. The author does not straightly show who an inagrate, a person who shows no gratitude, gives no thanks for help or kindness shown to him or her. However, it can show by the attitude and personality of the character. Most of people assume that the an ingrate people is the slave, Josh. Mr. Lecker had broken up his high principle not to teach a slave read, write, and figure.  After Josh had been taught and being clever, he run away from the master. So, it makes people conclude that the ingrate is the slave, Josh.

Due to the explanations above, the writer conducts analysis on character of Mr. Lecker as the master.

1.2  Objective of the study

The primary objective of this analysis is analysing the character of Mr. Lecker as the master, while the objectives of this study is to convince who the ingrate in this story by studying deeply on Mr. Lecker’scharacter.

1.3  Statement of Problem

Based on the previous background of the choosing the topic, the statement of problem can be formulated as follows “what is the character of Mr. Lecker in The Ingrate to show whether he is the ingratitude person or not”?

1.4  Scope of the Study

This paper is devoted to the aspect of ingratitude character of Mr. Lecker in slavery which explicitly was showed by the way Paul Laurence Dunbar characterizes Mr. Lecker’s character in The Ingrate. This paper will analyze the aspect of Mr. Lecker’s character from the Lecker’s personality, attitude, habit, and conversation with other character. Through these aspects, it can expose the real manner of white people in slavery. 

1.5  Presentation

This study is presented in three chapters. The first chapter contains introductions, which consists of the background of choosing the subject, objective of the study, statement of problem, scope of the study, and presentation. The second chapter presents the analysis on The Ingrate to explore the aspects of humor in revealing the manner of Southern people. The last chapter tries to sum up the discussion in the previous chapters and some concluding remarks. This paper also includes the appendix which content of the summary of the literary work analyzed; the fight.