The Monomania of the main character, Dr.William Chester Minor, in Simon Winchester’s The Professor and The Madman

ABSTRACT

This research discusses the main character Dr. William Chester Minor with monomania in Simon Winchester’s The Professor and The Madman. The existence of being rich, excellent, clever, prior, etc, is described as trivial-changes in the novel. For instant, it is told that Dr. William Chester Minor who is a glorious and successful man that finally finds his fate as a monomaniac man lived in the lunatic asylum of Broodmoar, London. On the contrary, the novel also narrates that monomania as a kind of mental disorders is not only the great obstacle the doctor faces, but being monomaniac also becomes the miracle of the doctor’s success in volunteering in the making of Oxford English dictionary.

Based on the research problems in this research, the researcher has two objectives in analyzing the novel. The first is to understand the causes of the main character Dr. William Chester Minor’s monomania who used to be the most victorious man of the Church Congregationalist of America. Besides, he is the most protégé surgeon doctor graduated from the Yale University. The second is to understand what motivates the doctor to join the making of Oxford English dictionary although in his hard condition of monomania.

To perform the research systematically, the researcher uses the qualitative research method in which at most enrolled many techniques of interpretation. Furthermore, this research is a research on a literary work. Thus, the researcher proves the validity of the research through approaching the problems appearing in the novel with an appropiate literary criticism. It is Freudian psychoanalysis which emphasizes on the influence of human aggression as the agent of pleasure. The discussion of the main character Dr. William Chester Minor’s psyche apparatuses becomes the basic step of interpretation in this research. Moreover, the concept of life instinctual spirit by Sigmund Freud contributes many views in discovering the second objective in this research.

As the conclusion, this research formulates two results. The first result is Dr. William Chester Minor’s monomania is caused by his anxiety. The anxiety here is basically supported by the doctor’s feeling of desire, coercion, and fear which mixed haphazardly in his mind. The second result is Dr. Minor is motivated by his life instinctual spirit which rises up his constructive meaning of life applied in his joining of the making of Oxford English dictionary. The other motive which also influences the doctor in joining the making of Oxford English dictionary is the doctor’s break-period of madness type which he suffers.