SYMBOLISM IN ALEXANDER PUSHKIN’S THE QUEEN OF SPADES …

e-ISSN 2549-7715 | Volume 4 | Nomor 4 | Oktober 2020 | Hal: 674-690

Terakreditasi Sinta 4

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SYMBOLISMINALEXANDERPUSHKIN’STHEQUEENOFSPADESSHORTSTORY

DinaFriskaliana,SinggihDaruKuncara,AnjarDwiAstutiEnglishLiteratureDepartment,FacultyofCulturalSciences,

MulawarmanUniversityEmail:[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Thisstudyexaminesthesymbolsthatused,themeaningsofsymbol,andtherolesof symbol in The Queen of Spades short story. To identify the symbol, theresearcherusedthetheorybyGriffith;publicsymbolandprivatesymbol.Torevealthemeaningsofsymbol,theresearcherusedthetheoryof‘symbolicreference’byWhitehead. Then, to find out the roles of symbol in building the story, theresearcheranalyzed throughplot, character, setting, and theme in thestory.Themethodofthisstudyuseddescriptivequalitativemethodandthedataofthisstudybasedonwords,sentences,andnarrationwhichreflectedsymbolsthroughoutthestory.Furthermore, theresultof theresearchshowedcardsof three, seven,acescategorized as public symbol and the queen of spades categorized as privatesymbol. The number three reflected to love triangle which happened betweenHermann,Lizaveta, andLizaveta’ahusband.Then, seven reflectedHermannwhoobsessed to know the secret of lucky card. At last, aces reflected to karma thatmustbeacceptedbyHermannandtheCountess.Meanwhile,thequeenofspadesasprivatesymbolreflectedtotheCountessAnnaFedotovnaandasasymbolofthekey issue on the secret of lucky cards in the story. Then, the roles of symbolsreflectedthroughplotthatshowedtoexpressthedisquietingeffect,characterthatshowed to express the strength qualities, setting that showed to express thestrengthatmosphere,andthemethatshowedtoexpressthewisdomlessons.

Keywords:Symbols,TheQueenofSpades

ABSTRAK

Penelitianinimengkajisimbolyangdigunakan,arti-artisimbol,danperansimboldicerita pendek The Queen of Spades. Untuk mengidentifikasi simbol, penelitimenggunakan teori Grifiith; simbol publik dan simbol pribadi. Untukmengungkaparti-artisimbol,penelitimenggunakanteoridari‘Referensisimbolis’olehWhitehead.Kemudian, untuk menemukan peran simbol dalam membangun cerita, penelitimenganalisa melalui alur cerita, perwatakan, latar, dan tema dalam cerita ini.Metodedaripenelitian inimenggunakanmetodekualitatifdeskriptifdandatadaripenelitian ini berdasarkan kata, kalimat, dan narasi yang direfleksikan simbol-



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simbolmelaluicerita.Selanjutnyahasildaripenelitian inimenunjukkankartudariangka tigahati, tujuh,danasdikategorikansebagaisimbolpublikdankarturatusekop dikategorikan sebagai simbol pribadi. Angka tiga direfleksikan untuk cintasegitiga yang terjadi antara Hermann, Lizaveta, dan suami Lizaveta. Kemudian,tujuh direfleksikan Hermann yang terobsesi untukmengetahui rahasia dari kartukeberuntungan. Terakhir, as direfleksikan untuk karma yang harus diterima olehHermanndanbangsawanwanitatersebut.Sementaraitu,karturatusekopsebagaisimbol pribadi direfleksikan untuk bangsawan wanita yang bernama AnnaFedotovna dan sebagai sebuah simbol dari kunci utama dari rahasia kartukeberuntungan dalam cerita. Kemudian, peran simbol direfleksikan melalui alurcerita yang diperlihatkan untuk mengeskpresikan efek yang menggelisahkan,perwatakan yang diperlihatkan untuk mengeskpresikan kualitas kekuatan, lataryang diperlihatkan untuk mengekspresikan suasana kekuatan, dan tema yangdiperlihatkanuntukmengeskpresikanpelajarankebijaksanaan.KataKunci:Simbol-simbol,TheQueenofSpadesA. INTRODUCTION

Languageisoneofwaysthatconveyaboutwhatpeoplewantedtosay,think,feel,anddevelopidea.Initssubmission,Sirbuclaimsthat“Languageisessentiallya means of communication among the members of society, and communicationtakesplacesnotonlyorally,butalsoinwriting”(405).Itmeantthatlanguagecouldbetoolsascommunicationwhichisnotonlybelongstoorally,butalsoinwriting,such as in literary works. Theoretically, literary works divided into two ways,namelynonfiction(thepersonalessay,biography,newspaper,magazine,etc)andfiction(fairytales,novels,shortstory,etc).

Shortstoryandnovelhadthesamecharacteristicasprosefiction,butshortstory is shorter in length thananovel.AsAbrams states that “A short story is abrief work of prose fiction, and most of terms for analyzing the componentelements, the types, and the various narrative techniques of the novel areapplicable” (331).Then, in short story, itpresented in specificwayandcouldbeanalyzedmore with other elements, such as symbol. Moreover, symbol derivedfromtheGreekverbsymballein,‘toshowtogether’,anditsnounsymbolon,‘mark’,‘emblem’, ‘token’or ‘sign’(Cuddon699).Meanwhile,Sandamalistatesthatoneofadvantage in analyze symbol, “Among the major literary devices, symbols grabattentionof the readers, because its ability tobroad the thinking capacityof thepeople”(125).

Frommanyshortstories,theresearcherisinterestedinashortstoryentitledTheQueenofSpadesthatwrittenbyAlexanderPushkinwhichpublishedinRussia,1834.AlexanderPushkinwasdescribedaRussianpoet,dramatist,novelist,tallestand one of the greatest playwrights in the era. Then,TheQueen of Spades shortstorywastoldaboutgamblingandtriedtoemphasizetheactionthatillustratedinobtainthesecretofluckycards.



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Basedonthebackgroundabove,theaimsofthisresearchare:(1)ToidentifythesymbolsthatusedinAlexanderPushkin’sTheQueenofSpadesshortstory;(2)TorevealthemeaningsofsymbolthatpresentedinAlexanderPushkin’sTheQueenofSpadesshortstory;and(3)TofindouttherolesofsymbolinbuildingthestoryofAlexanderPushkin’sTheQueenofSpadesshortstory.

B. LITERATUREREVIEW

1. ConceptofSymbolThe word is full of symbols even many things called as symbol.

AccordingFrommstatedthatpointsoutthedefinitionofsymbolas‘somethingthat stands for something else’ requires and inquiry into the correlationbetween the symbol and what is symbolized (qtd. in Amesta 7). Further,Griffithalsoclaims that, “In literature,asymbol isanobject thathasmeaningbeyonditself.Theobjectisconcreteandthemeaningsareabstract”(76).Then,Wangalsoexplainmorethat,“Asymbolissomethingconcretethatrepresentsor stands for something else” (95). Here, they agreed that symbol reflectedsomething concrete in the form of object and the meanings are abstract asGriffithalsostatesthat,“Themeaningofsymbolisdifficulttopindownalsothemoreinexhaustibletheirpotentialmeanings,therichertheyare“(77).

Perrine stated inYoel that “A literary symbol is something that, earnsmorethenwhatitis,itisanobject,aperson,situation,anaction,orsomeotheritem that have a literary meaning in the story” (18). Then, Wang explainedmore about the categories of symbolic object; he/shementions that “Symbolusuallyintangibleandtangible(real)conceptidea.Itcanbeaction,asound,athing,amovement.Itmustbeseen,heard,felt,tasted,ortouched…”(95).

Meanwhile,BourdininSettineri,Merloetalstatesthat“ThethoughtofPierce,whoproposesaproject inwhichthestudyofmeaninghasontologicalvalue,whichallowstoconnecticon,index,andsymbol”(3).a. Icon

“An icon is a sign that refers to the object that it denotes merely byvirtueofhischaracteristic,thatitowninanycase,independentlyifitexistsornot.Onethingwhateverisaqualityoranexistingindividual,oralaw,isaniconof something, if it is similar to thing and it is used as a sign of it” (Settineri,Merloetal3-4).b. Index

Comparedtotheicon,“TheIndexisasignthatreferstotheobjectthatitdonatesbyvirtuethatitisactuallydeterminedbythatobject(…)iftheobjectactsontheindex,theindexhasnecessarilysomequalitiesincommonwiththeobject and is compared to thesequalities that the index refers to theobject”.Forexample:smokeisanindicationoffire(Settineri,Merloetal4).c. Symbol

“Asymbolisasignwhichreferstotheobjectthatitdenotesbyvirtueofa law, usually an association of general ideas, which operates so that thesymbol is interpretedas referring to thatobject”.Thus,Bourdin claimed that



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the symbol is the construction of a replica that is of a different nature andwhoserelationshipwiththeobjectisnotdirectbutmediate(Settineri,Merloetal4).

Inotherways,peopleassumedthatsymbolandsignarethesame,butinfact,both—symbolandsignweredifferent.AsChaerstatedinAmesta,“Symbolisalsosignbutsymbol isdifferent fromsign”(8).Then,Morreldescribedtheconceptofdifferentbetweensignandsymbol,shedefines“Asignisgenerallyconcerned to be a stand-in; for example, one says ‘cow’, for instance, ratherthangoingtothefield,tryingaroperoundacow’sneck,andleadingitintotheroom”. She also mentions, “A symbol represents something deeper—theexperienceoflargerandmorecomplexconceptswhicharehardertoreducetosigns”(26).

Based on these explanations above, the researcher focused on thedefinitionsbyGriffithwhoclaimed that symbol is anobject concreteand themeaningsareabstract,andtheresearcheralsorelatedwithMoragthatsymbolisdifferentfromsign.Then,itfollowedbyPerrinewhomentionedtheformanobjectofliterarysymbolclearly,suchas:aperson,aplace,asituation,anevent,anactioninastorywhichhadtheimpliedmeaning.Thus,tobespecificmore,the researcher used the symbolic object who explained by Wang whocategorized the symbolic object into two ways, namely: tangible (visible orreal)andintangible(invisible).

2. TypesofSymbolCertainty of something concrete, symbol were meant to be more

mysterious, ambiguous suggestions of meaning because the meanings ofsymbolareinexhaustibleofinterpretsomethingelse(Griffith76).Here,Griffithcategorizedthemajortypesofsymbol,theseare:a. PublicSymbol

Griffith states that “Public symbols are conventional, those that mostpeople in a particular culture or community would recognize as meaningsomething fairly definite” (77). This type carried the similar meaning whichcouldbeunderstoodandinterpretedbycommonpeopleinmanysituationandcondition.Forexample,aredoctagonsymbolizedforstop,onamap,abluelinereflectedariver,andtheredrosesymbolizedofloveandcompassion.b. PrivateSymbol

Private symbols are unique to an individual or to a singlework. Onlyfrom clues in the work itself can we learn the symbolic value of the object.There are many examples of private symbols in literature. In F. ScottFitzgerald’sTheGreatGatsby(1925), there isanareabetweentheposhLongIslandsuburbsandNewYorkCitythroughwhichthemajorcharactersdriveatvarious times andwhich Fitzgerald calls a “valley of ashes.” It is a desolate,gray, sterile place, and over it all broods a partly obliterated billboardadvertisement that features the enormous eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, anoptometrist.Fitzgeraldinveststhisareawithsymbolicmeaning(Griffith77).



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3. SymbolsinLiteraryWorks

When a symbol exists, then themeaning also exists. Voice intonation,facial expression, words, pictures were symbols that reflected a meaning.AccordingtoYoel,hestatesthat“Inliterarywork,ameaningisverysignificantto have in a literary work because the meaning is to state under what theconditionanutterancecanbeusedbyonepersontosaysomethinginliterarywork(23).Furthermore,itappearedinallowingandunderstandingsymbolsinliteraryworks,suchasthevisiononsymbolbasedonAlfredNorthWhitehead.Whiteheadstatesthat“Theformersetofthesecomponentsarethe"symbols".Therewas a transition from the symbol to themeaning thatwouldbe called"symbolicreference".Forinstance,thedoveusuallysymbolizedpeace.Thus,thedovewas thesymbol,andpeacewas thesymbolic reference” (qtd. inYamina17).

Authorsusedsymbolsinordertoneedinaspecialeffecttoconveytheirmessagewhichmadethereadersunderstandtheirworksdeeply.Then,italsohelp the readers visualize of their works because sometimes, authorspresented their works more colorful and forceful. According to Zohdi, heclaimed that symbolsareused toaddbeauty toworkanddecorateawork—symbol is among stylistic devices andusedbecause symbolshave adifferentvalue then itmake the storymore richness inmeaning for readers and helpthemrelatethemselvesinunderstandingliteraryworks(314).

4. TheRolesofSymbol

To illustrate this study, Bates &Harvey explained that one influentialsource defined a role as ‘a particular set of norms that is organized about afunction’. (qtd. in Biddle 69). It meant that ‘role’ is directed to the functionwhich had purpose something that beholds in building the story. Then, itcombinedtoshowmorethedetailthroughanalyzedthisstudy,namelysymbol.

Then, there is a statement from Neginsky who claimed about therelationsymbolandfictionthatcalled‘thesymbolistfictional’—“Thesymbolistfictionalworld isbuilt onelements suchasdescriptions, characters, dialoguebetween them, actions and the narrator’s or character’s reflection” (qtd inBerroukeche 14). Furthermore, Habermas also claimed that symbols arepowerful,inthatconnectedimplicitlytocultureandculturalpracticessuchasart,myths,stories,andrituals.Symbolsstandsforsomethingotherthantheirliteralformandcanexpressabstractqualitiessuchastruth,strength,wisdom,andcourage(qtd.inCrick&Grushka448).

Based on statements above, it could be known that ‘the role’ had themeaningoffunctionwhichmeanscouldinterpretineveryfunctionofsymbols.Then,thesymbolistfictionalshowedtherelationbetweensymbolandliteraryworks(fiction) thatcouldbeanalyzed through thesesymbolist fictional, suchas the description, character, dialogue, action, narrator’s or character’sreflection.Thus,tobethebenchmark,theresearcherpointedonthestatement



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thatsymbolstandsforsomethingelseratherthantheirliteralformandcouldexpresstheirabstractqualitiessuchastruth,strength,wisdom,andcourage.

5. IntrinsicElementReturning the explanation of Neginsky, the symbolist fictional

categorizeswithoneofelementfiction,namely:intrinsicelement.Itisbecauseboth—thesymbolistfictionalandintrinsicelementhadinterrelatedrelationinanalyzed the roles of symbol in the study. Moreover, in its comprehension,intrinsicelementispartofelementwhichisalwaysinliterarywork.Withoutit,a literarywork couldnotbe formedproperlybecause inotherwords, it alsocouldbesaidasthebasicfoundationinliterarywork.Thus,Griffithcategorizedseventypesthatcouldbeusedinanalyzedtheintrinsicelement,buthere,theresearcheronlyusedfourtypesbecausethefourthtypeswereclosestwiththeaims of this study and accordance with the characteristics the symbolistfictional.a. Plot

Plot are things that happen in a narrative—actions, statements,thoughts, and feelings. In a general sense, the word plot means events of anarrative.Whensomeoneasksyoutotellthemtheplotofawork,theyusuallywantyoutosaywhathappened(Griffith50).‘Plot’answersthequestionaboutevent that happened in a story, such as; what is the story about? Whathappenedinthestory?Whendidithappen?Whydidithappen?Inwhatdidithappen?Meanwhile, ‘the plot’ comprises a series of set eventwhich createdproblemsandsolutionsforcharactersinastory.b. Character

Character is the people in narratives, and characterization is theauthor’s presentationwhich development of the traits of characters (Griffith60). According to Amesta, she also claims that “The plot of the story isdevelopedbycharacters”(19).Frombothstatements,itcouldbesaidthattheiractions, their dialogues, their point of views, their interaction which coulddeveloped plot in a story. It could be determined the characteristic and thedevelopmentofthecharacters.c. Setting

Setting of a narrative dramatic work is the general locale, historicaltime, and social circumstances in which its action occurs (Abrams 330). Itmeant that ‘setting’ is directed to the description of place and time, it alsoincludedsocialenvironmentthatgiverealisticimpressiontothereaders.Thus,itishelpfulthereaderstocreatetheirimaginationaboutastory.d. Theme

Themesareideasaboutlifeoutsidethework—abouttherealworld,ourworld—thatwedrawfromworksofliterature—notjustfromfictionbutfromliteratureinallgenres(Griffith40).Itmeantthat‘thetheme’isthecentralideainastory.Throughthisway,theauthortriedtotellaboutwhattheywantedto



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conveytothereaders.Then,astorycouldbeonlyfocusestoaroundorspecificsequencethemethatisrelatedfromonetoanother.

C. RESEARCHMETHOD

In this research, the researcher used qualitativemethod.According toCreswell, he confirms that “Qualitative is the approach to data collection,analysis, and reportwriting” (qtd. inWilliam65). The typeof thismethod isdescriptive such as Kothari states that “The major purpose of descriptive isdescriptionofthestateofaffairsasitexistsatpresent”(2),thenhealsoaddsthat “The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has nocontrol over the variables; he canonly reportwhathashappenedorwhat ishappening(3).

Basedon thesestatements, thisstudyattempts toanalyzesymbol thatcouldbe found inTheQueenofSpadesshortstoryandtheresearcherdidtheanalysisbyobservingandcollectingdatawhichpresentedintheformoftext,suchas;words,sentences,ornarrationtoidentifythesymbolsinTheQueenofSpadesshortstory.Inaddition,theresearcheralsousedanobjectiveapproachthatfocusedtoanalyzetheliteraryworkonthetextsitself.1. DataandDataSource

Thedataofthisresearcharethequotationsofthetext,suchas;words,sentences, or narration that identified the symbols, themeanings of symbol,andtherolesofsymbolinbuildingtheshortstory.Theprimarydatasourceofthis research is the short story entitled The Queen of Spades by AlexanderPushkin which published by Penguin Classics in 2016 and translated byRosemary Edmonds. To support the primary data, this research took somereferencesfromreviewthepreviousstudies,suchas;journals,articles,essays,dictionariesofsymbol,andtheoriesbysomeexperts.

2. DataCollection

In collecting the data of this research, the researcher did some step.First, the researcher read The Queen of Spades short story. Second, theresearcher read and understandsmore based on some previous studies thathadsimilaronanalyzedsymbols.Third,theresearcheridentifiedthesymbols,themeaningsofsymbol,andtherolesofsymbolintheshortstoryaccordingtotheories that the researcher chose. Fourth, the researcher found the data asevidences. The last, the researcher checked the appropriate data with sometheoriestoaccomplishinthisstudy.

3. DataAnalysis

After collecting the data, the researcher did some analysis activitiesusingaflowmodelinanalyzedataaccordingtoMilesandHuberman(10-11).(1)DataReduction,here,theresearchercollectedthedatafromthetext,suchas;words,sentences,ornarrationintheshortstory.Thosedatawereidentifiedand classified to be specific data to answer research problems in this study



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usedtheoriesthattheresearcherchose;(2)DataAnalysis, inthisactivity,theresearcher written-up and showed the data that had been selected andidentified before. The data consisted of words, sentences, or narration thatansweredresearchproblemsinthestudy;thesymbolsthatused,themeaningsofsymbol,andtherolesofsymbolinbuildingthestory;(3)Conclusiondrawingandverification, the lastactivity, theresearchermadetheconclusionfromallthe data that had been eliminated and reduced before. The conclusionconsisted of the valid data and related explanation to answer the researchproblemsinthisstudy.

4. Triangulation

The researcher only used 2 (two) types of triangulation. First, theresearcherusedthetheoryoftriangulationtoaccomplishresearchproblemsinthestudy,namely;thesymbolsthatused,themeaningsofsymbol,andtherolesof symbol in building the short story of Alexander Pushkin’s The Queen ofSpades. Further as second, the researcher used the data triangulation,whichfrom the symbols as the focus of review previous studies, such as; journals,articles,essays,dictionariesofsymbol,andtheoriesbysomeexperts.

D. FINDINGSANDDISCUSSION1. Findings

In this part, the researcher divided into two parts; the first partcombined about identified the types of symbols that used in the story andstraighttorevealthemeaningsofsymbolthathadbeenfound,thenthesecondpartaboutthefindingstofindouttherolesofsymbolinbuildingthestory.1.1 TypesofSymbol

Inthispart,theresearcherusedtheorybyGriffithinclassifiedintotwomajortypes,namely;publicsymbolandprivatesymbol.Torevealthemeaning,the researcher obtained based on dictionaries of symbol by J.E. Cirlot andMichaelFerber,alsoabookaboutthemeaningofcardsinplayingcardbyHailMorag.a. PublicSymbol

Thefirstpublicsymbolappearedthroughthesentenceatthebeginninginthestory,“Inbleakautumnweatherwhentheymettogether”(Pushkin1).AccordingtoFerber,“Autumn,ofcourse,hastwoaspects:itcompletessummeranditanticipateswinter,itcelebratestheharvestofthesummer’scropsanditmournsthedeathoftheyear”(17).Itmeantthatthewordautumnshowedtheconditionoftheyearthatwassomethingnotgood—thatwasaboutthedeathanditcouldbeaspecialcluehowthewholeofthestorywas.Hence,autumnbecomeasymbolthathadspecialmeaninginthestorywhichwasnotdirectedtheweatherasusual.

b. PrivateSymbol



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Meanwhile, the first private symbol appeared through the title on thestory itself—The Queen of Spades which the whole of the story talked aboutgambling.Meanwhile,Moragintheruleofplayingcardsstatesthatthequeenof spades meant, “The difficult card. A widow, a hardened single woman—lonely and emotionally handicapped. Totally blocked!” and she conveyed that“Particularly it represent the querent. In Italy, it is known has ‘The HouseWitch’” (16). It meant that the queen of spades was explained as not onlyordinarycard,butitmusthavethehiddensecretonit.Asthetitleoftheshortstory,itmeantthattherewassomethingthatcouldnotberevealedeasily,suchasthemysterywhetheritseventsoritscharacterinthestory.

Moreover,therewascharacterthathadindicatedasthemeaningofthequeen of spades above. She named the Countess Anna Fedotovna and hernameshowedfromthesentence,“ButifthereisonepersonIcan’tunderstanditismygrandmother,CountessAnnaFedotovna”(Pushkin2).Inthestory,theCountessbecametheonlycharacterwhoknewaboutthesecretofluckycards.Shedidnotwanttotellanyoneandchosetokeepthesecretaswell.Then,therewasstatementwhichdescribedhowtheCountesswas,

“The Countess was certainly not bad-hearted but she had all thecapricesofawomanspoiledbysociety,shewasstingyandcoldlyselfish, likealloldpeoplewhohavedonewithloveandareoutoftouchwithlifearoundthem.Shetookpartinallthevanitiesofthefashionableworld,draggedherselftoballs,whereshesatincorner,rougedandattiredaftersomebygonemode,….”(Pushkin14).

Basedonthestatementabove, itcouldbeknownhowtheCountessdescribedas an old woman who effete and old-fashioned. She was stingy and coldlyselfish. In the other hand, there was obtruded statement of Hermann to theCountess which could be another statement to describe more about theCountesswas,

“…Reflect–youareold:youhavenotmuchlongertolive,andIamready to take your sin upon my soul. Only tell me your secret.Rememberthataman’shappinessisinyourhands;thatnotonlyI,butmychildrenandmychildren’schildrenwillblessyourmemoryandholditsacred…”(Pushkin32).

It couldbe seen that theCountesswasalsodescribedas ‘thekey’ thatmeantherewhensheknewaboutthesecretofluckycardsingambling.Shekeptthesecretuntilherfamilydidnotknowaboutitatall.Moreover,theCountessalsohadindicatedof‘thequeenofspades’whichshowedfromherpersonalityasahardened single woman, lonely and emotional. Thus, both categorized asprivate symbol because symbolized the mystery of hidden secret whichreflectedinthestory.

1.2 TheRolesofSymbol

Torevealingtherolesofsymbol,theresearcherconductedthesymbolsthat had been collected above then examines them with intrinsic element,



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namely:plot,character,setting,andtheme.Then,tobenchmarkontherolesofsymbols, the researcherused theabstractqualities to express the findingsofanalyzed.1.2.1 Plot

InTheQueenofSpades,Hermanndescribedasthemaincharacterthathadimportantrolesinbuildingthestory.Inanalyzingtheplotinthestory,theresearcherfocusedoneventsthathadbeenthroughofHermann.a. Exposition

Inthispart,itdescribedhowcharactersinthestorylookedlike.First,itshowedinthesentence,"Hermann isaGerman:he’scareful,that’swhatthatis! (Pushkin 2)”. Also, another sentence showed that “…but strength ofcharacterpreservedhimfromthecustomarymistakesofyouth”(Pushkin18).ItcouldbeseenwhereHermanncame fromandhowthecharacterHermanndescribedinthestory.Furthermore,healsodescribedasyouthwhichhadthemeaning as amatureman (Cirlot 381). Then, the great secret of lucky cardswastoldbyHermann’sfriendwhoonlyknowaboutthesecretisTheCountessAnna Fedotovna. Her name pronounced by her grandson—Tomsky in thesentence,“But if there isonepersonIcan’tunderstandit ismygrandmother,CountessAnnaFedotovna”(Pushkin2).

Moreover, in exposition analysis appeared two characters; Hermannand the Countess Anna Fedotovna. There were also showed three symbolswhichtalked,namely;Hermann,youthandtheCountessAnnaFedotovna.Initsexplanation,HermannandtheCountessAnnaFedotovnacategorizedassymbolthathadtheroleinintroducecharactersinthestory.Here,bothcharactersnotonlyintroduceaboutname,butalsoexplainedhowtheirpersonalitydescribedinthestory.Besidesthat,anothersymbolwasyouthwhereitsymbolizedasamature man which explained more about Hermann’s personality who hadstrongpassionstogetwhathewanted.

b. RisingActionIn thispart,Hermannwas told thathadaplan toknow the secret.He

tried to captivateoneof theCountess’smaid—Lizaveta Ivanovnawith sent aletter which contained a declaration of his love. It showed in the sentence,“…shehadrecoveredfromheralarmtheyoungmanhaddisappeared,leavingaletter between her fingers” (Pushkin 21). Then, it also explained throughanotherwordappeared inthesentence, “…sherunuptoherroomanddrewthe letter out of her glove: it was unsealed.” (Pushkin 22). In that situation,LizavetadelightedwithHermann’sletterandshewenttoherpersonalspacetoopenhisletter.

After that, Hermann entered the Countess’s house according to theinstructions from Lizaveta’s reply letter. But, he stoppedwhen hewas facedbetween twodoors. “A small ironbedstead stood there; to the rightwas thedoor into study, - to the left the other door…” (Pushkin 28). It happenedbecauseHermannwasfacedbetweentwochoiceswhetherLizaveta’sroomor



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the Countess’s room. Moreover, there was the word death appeared in thesentence, “’And I think’ added Hermann, ‘that I am the cause of herdeath’”(Pushkin37).IthappenedwhenHermannenteredtotheCountess’sroomandmadehershocked.HeaskedtotheCountessaboutthesecret,butshedidnottell him until he killed the Countess by his pistol. He panicked and came toLizaveta’s room. He told her that the Countess was dead by him. Lizavetashockedanddidnotbelieveaboutwhathesaid.

Basedon statementabove, the risingactionhappenedwhenHermannsucceededtoenterandmettheCountessinherroom.Moreover,italsocouldbeseenthattherewerefoursymbolsthatappeared,namely;letter,room,door,and death. In its explanations, the symbols letter and room had the roles inbuilding theatmosphere in the story.Then, the symboldoorhad the roles instartingtobuildthemysteryinthestory,andthesymboldeathhadtheroleswhich told the tragic death. Thus, the symbols had been found aboveapparentlyhadtherole tobuildingconflictbecomes firmly inorder torevealthehiddensecretinthestory.

c. ClimaxIn this part was told that Hermann got the secret of lucky cards and

some requirements from the dead of Countess, so that he decided to dogambling. In his play, he followed the instruction that given by the dead ofCountess.Theinstructionsshowedinthesentence,

“Ihavecometoyouagainstmywill,’shesaidinafirmvoice:butIamcommandedtograntyourrequest.Thethree,theseven,andthe acewillwin for you if you play in succession, provided thatyou do not stake more than one card in twenty-four hours andnever play again as long as you live. I forgive youmy death, oncondition that youmarrymyward, Lizaveta Ivanovna.” (Pushkin45).

InthefirstnightHermanndidgambling,hewononthenumbercardof‘Three’.Inthenextday,hewononthenumbercardof‘Seven’insuccessions.Then,inthethirdday,hesubmittedallofhismoneyandbelievedthathewonthegameagain. Otherwise, the third day was told that there was something queerhappenedtoHermannwhenhiscardsturnedoutfrom‘Ace’becamethequeenof spades. It reflected through the storywhen the unexpected card suddenlyappeared and changed Hermann’s gambling card and Hermann’s luck in thethird night he did gambling. However, based on analysis above, it could beknown that the climaxoccurredwhenHermanndid gambling at first, then italsoshowedhowthecardturnedoutfromacebecamethequeenofspadesandcausedanunexpectedconsequencewhichhappenedtoHermann.

d. FallingActionContinuously, the fallingaction in the story continuedclimaxabove. It

showedwhenthequeenofspadescardchangedHermann’s luck ingambling.



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Inthatsituation,Hermannwassureofhiswinningbecausehewouldtakeoutthe card correctly. But, it disappeared when the cards showed the queen ofspades rather than ace. It made him lose and still did not believe with thatincident.Itshowedinthesentence,‘Hermannstarted:indeed,insteadofanacethere lay before him the queen of spades. He could not believe his eyes orthinkhowhecouldhavemadesuchamistake.’(Pushkin52). Basedontheexplanationabove,thefallingactioninthestorywastoldthatHermannlost thegameatthethirdnight.Hedefeatedallhismoney,buthiscardappearedthequeenofspadescardthatchangedhisluckingambling.Here,itcouldbeseenthateventhoughhehadknownaboutthesecretofluckycards,buttheunexpectedcardappearedthencausedhimtolosethegame.

e. ResolutionInthissection, itdescribedhowtheendingofthestoryresolved.After

Hermanndefeatedandlosteverything,intheendofthestorywastoldthathewasoutofhismind.Hewasinhospitalanddidnotansweranyquestionfromanyone.Hejustrepeatedlysaidtheluckynumbersofthreecards.Itshowedinthesentence,“Hermannwentoutofhismind.Heisnowinroomnumber17oftheObuhovHospital.Hereturnsnoanswertoquestionsputtohimbutmattersoverandoveragain,withincrediblerapidity:‘Three,seven,ace!Three,seven,queen!’”(Pushkin53).Thus,resolutionofthestoryshowedthatHermannwasoutofhismind.Hedidanythingtoknowthesecretofluckycards,butthecardofthequeenofspadeschangedhisluckandmadehimfailtobecomewealthysuchastheCountessAnnaFedotovna.

In conclude, based on the analysis above that plot played the roles of

symbol in building The Queen of Spades short story. The roles of symbolreflected through exposition in introduced the name and the personality’scharacters of Hermann, the Countess Anna Fedotovna, and youth. Then, therisingactionwas toldhow theatmospherebuilt on thewordof letter, room,door, anddeath.Next, climaxwas told aboutHermanndid gambling and thesecretofluckycardsrevealedonthecardofthree,seven,acewhichcausedanunexpectedconsequence.Moreover,thefallingactionwastoldthatthecardofaceandthequeenofspadeschangedthecharacter’s luck,andresolutionwastoldthebadrewardthatreceivedbythecharacterwhichreflectedonthecardofthequeenofspades.Thus,itcouldbeconcludedthattheplotanalysisinthestoryrevealedtherolesofsymbolinordertoexpressthedisquietingeffect.

1.2.2 Character

Inthispart,characterdefinedtoshowtherolesofcharacterinthestory.Not only showed the name character, but also there were brings up somestrongstatementstosupportwhathadbeenanalyzed.a. HermannasSymbolofNapoleonandMephistopheles



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At the first, the character named Hermann. He described as a youngofficer of the Engineerwho interested in playing cards. There is a statementthat pronounced by his friend—Tomsky. It showed in the statement, “’ThisHermann’,continuedTomsky,‘isatrulyromanticfigure:hehastheprofileofaNapoleon and the soul of aMephistopheles…” (Pushkin 36). It meant thatHermann described that had the personality of the profile of a Napoleon—whereNapoleondescribedasamilitaryman.Healsodescribedthathehadthesoul of a Mephistopheles—where it had the meaning of “Someone whorepresents the negative, infernal aspect of the psychic function which hasbrokenawayfromtheAlltoacquireindependenceandanindividualcharacterofitsown”(Cirlot207).

Based on statements above, the name of Hermann had the specialdescription by the author himselfwhen he described as the character of theprofileNapoleonandhadthesoulofMephistopheles.Throughthesesymbols,thecharacterHermannnotonlyhadtheappearanceofNapoleonandreflectedthepersonalityofMephistopheles,butalsodescribedabouthowthecharacterHermannlookedlikefromtheviewpointofthereaders.Therefore,thenameofHermanncategorizedassymbolbecausethenameassymbolhadtheroles inordertodescribethecharacterdirectlyandindirectly.

b. TheCountessAnnaFedotovnaasreflectionTheQueenofSpades

The second character named the Countess Anna Fedotovna. She isTomsky’sgrandmotherwhoknowspreciselyaboutthesecretofluckycards.Atthebeginningof the story, theCountessdescribedasanoldwoman thathadbad characteristic through the words which showed in the sentence, “Shedescribed in the blackest colours her husband’s inhumanity and ended bydeclaringthatshelaidallherhopesonhisfriendshipandkindness”(Pushkin5).

Meanwhile, at themoment,whenHermannknewabout the secret,hedidgambling.Unfortunately,hedefeatedbecausehiscardturnedoutfromacebecame the queen of spades. Then, he expected that the queen of spadesreflectedtheCountess.Itshowedinthesentence,“Atthemomentitseemedtohimthatthequeenofspadesopenedandclosedhereye,andmockedhimwithasmile.Hewasstruckbytheextraordinaryresemblance…‘Theoldwoman!’hecriedinterror.”(Pushkin52). However,itcouldbeknownthattheCountessindicatedasreflectedthequeenofspadesbecausehercharacteristicseemedtoeachother.Then, therewas one symbol that could be found; namely the blackest colours whichreflectedbytheCountess’sbadpersonalityatthebeginninginthestory.Thus,in this case, the name of the Countess Anna Fedotovna played the role ofsymbolinordertodescribethecharacterdirectlyandindirectly.1.2.3 Setting



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Setting directed to show another parts in order to know the roles ofsymbolinthestory.Settingdividedintotwoways,namely:settingoftimeandsetting of place. Here, the statement classified as the setting based on thesymbolsthathadbeencollectedabove.a. SettingofTime:“Autumn”

Settingoftimeappearedinthebeginningofthestory.Itshowedinthesentence,“Inbleakautumnweatherwhentheymettogether”(Pushkin1). Inthis case, the word autumn was not only described the weather as usualbecauseithadthemeaningofsymbol‘thedeathoftheyear’(Ferber17).Here,themeaningofautumnbecameoneof cluesabout thedeath fromoneof thecharacter—theCountessAnnaFedotovnainthestory.ShekilledbyHermann’spistol inher room.That iswhy thewordautumnhad the roleswasnotonlytoldabout theweatheras thesettingof time ingeneral,but itdescribedhowunexpectedatmosphereinthestoryhappened,thatwasaboutthetragicdeath.b. SettingofPlace:“House”

SettingofplaceinthestorydescribedoftheCountess’shouse.Itshowedinthestatement,“Musingthus,hefoundhimself inoneofthemainstreetsofPetersburg, in front of a house of old-fashioned architecture” (Pushkin 19).Here, house had the meaning, “As a home arouses strong, spontaneousassociations with the human body and human thought” (Cirlot 153). ThemeaningofhousereflectedbyHermann’sthoughtwhenhesawtheconditionoftheCountess’shouseatfirst.Hethoughtthatitexplainedobviouslythatsheisolated herself from her environment. Her house was always quite eventhoughshedidnotlivealonebecauseshehadmanymaids.However,thewordhouseplayedtherolesofsymbolwhichwasnotonlydescribedthesettingofplaceasusual,but itcouldbeseenmorethewordhousewastoldincreatingthemysteryinthestory.

1.2.4 Theme

The theme of this short story is about every act has its rewards. ItreflectedbyHermannwhenhegothiskarmaforwhathehaddoneinrevealedthe secret of lucky cards.He did anything to know the secret of lucky cards;such as he lied to Lizaveta, he killed the Countess, and he ignored therequirementstomarryLizaveta.Thatiswhyattheendofthestoryhewastoldthathewasoutofhismindashisreward.Ithappenedwhenhedefeatedallofhismoneybecausehiscard turnedout fromacebecamethequeenofspadesratherthanace.Itcouldbeseeninthesentence,“Hermannstarted,insteadofanacetherelaybeforehimthequeenofspades.Hecouldnotbelievehiseyesorthinkhowhecouldhavemademistake”(Pushkin52).Thus,inthisways,theanalysis of theme had the roles in order to express thewisdom lessons thatcouldbetakeninthestoryingeneralaboutwhatHermannhaddoneandwhathegotashisreward.

2. Discussion



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TheQueen of Spades is a short story that hadmany symbols on it. Toidentifysymbolthatusedinthestory,theresearcherusedthetypesofsymbolby Griffith, namely public symbols and private symbols. The researcher alsorealizedthatthetheoryhadtheadvantagesanddisadvantages,butitcouldnotdeniedthatusedGriffith’stheorymadethisstudydetailedandcompletemoreinanalyzesymbolinTheQueenofSpadesshortstory.Moreover,usingGriffith’stheory in this study, it also resulted thatpublic symbolsdominatemore thanprivatesymbols.

Furthermore,therolesofsymbolinbuildingTheQueenofSpadesshortstory.Theresearcherusedtherolesofeachsymbolthroughintrinsicelement,but the researcher only used four elements, namely; plot, character, setting,and theme because the fourth elements are closestwith the aims this study.Through analysis of intrinsic element, itmade this study became detailed tofindout therolesofsymbol inexplainedhowtheplotanalysissupportedthetitle The Queen of Spades, the character analysis described the charactercompletely,thesettinganalysispresentedtheatmosphereindetail,andthemeanalyzedwhichcouldbetakeningeneral.

Basedonexplanationsabove,itconcludesthattheresearcherdiscussedabouttwomainpointsinthestory.First,theresearcherdiscussedaboutpublicsymbolswhichdominatesmore thanprivatesymbols.Second, theresearcherdiscussedabout two types thatdidnotuse to findout the rolesof symbol inbuildingthestory.Thus,itcouldbeseenthattheorythatusedinthestudywasapplicabletoidentifysymbolsthatusedanditfoundouttherolesofsymbolinTheQueenofSpadesshortstoryaswell.

E. CONCLUSIONBasedonthefindingsanalysis, theresearcherconcludesthatthereare

twotypesofsymbolthatused,namely;publicsymbolandprivatesymbol.Torevealtheeachmeaningofsymbols,theresearcheruseddictionariesofsymboland a bookwhich contained about the rules of playing card. Furthermore, itstartedfrompublicsymbolonthewordofautumn(thedeathoftheyear),theblackest colours (bad or evil), secret (the power of supernatural), dark eyes(though and feeling), youth (a mature), house (isolation), letter (anexpression), room(individuality), thedoor (thehole), the candles (individuallife), the window (consciousness), death (the end of life), three of heart (aromantic triangle), seven(loneliness),andaces (death).Then,privatesymbolstarted fromthequeenof spades thathad themeaningof symbolas the titleand as the reflection of one of the character in the story who named theCountessAnnaFedotovna.Then,oneofcharacterswhonamedHermannalsocategorized as private symbol because it reflected not only a name, but itreflectedabout thepersonality.Thus, themeaningof these symbols revealedand concluded that the storywas told about themystery of hidden secret ofluckycards.



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Moreover, it found out the roles of symbol in building The Queen ofSpades short story which reflected through the intrinsic element on plot,character,setting,andthemeinthestory.Theplotanalysisshowedtoexpressdisquieting effect through the five essential ways—exposition, rising action,climax, falling action, and resolution. Furthermore, the character analysisshowedtoexpressthestrengthqualitiesinordertodescribecharacterdirectlyand indirectly from symbols ofHermann, the Countess Anna Fedotovna, andthe blackest colours. Then, setting analysis showed to express the strengthatmosphereinthestorythatpresentedfromsymbolsofautumnandhouse.Atlast, theme that showed to express the wisdom lessons that could be takenwhichreflectedthroughthetitleofthestory.

Inconclusion,analyzingsymbolinTheQueenofSpadesshortstoryhelpsthe researcher revealed that the short story was told about the mystery oflucky cards which reflected by characters themselves. Then, it was not onlyknownhowmanysymbolthatusedinthestory,butalsoitcouldbeseenhowthe author could relate symbols to each others in revealing the impliedmeaningbehindtheshortstory,suchas: themeaningof three luckycardsonthreeofhearts(romantictriangle),seven(loneliness),andaces(death)whichall of them reflected by characters in the story—Hermann and the CountessAnnaFedotovna.Thus, inanalyzingsymbol intheshortstory, itresultedthatboth had relations with each other and they were not monotonous.Furthermore, the literary elements on analyzing the roles of symbol help tounderstandTheQueenofSpadesshortstory.

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