THE STORY OF THUMBELINA
Once upon a time there lived a woman who had no children. She dreamed of having a little girl, but time went by, and her dream never came true.
She then went to visit a witch, who gave her a magic grain of barley. She planted it in a flower pot. And the very next day, the grain had turned into a lovely flower, rather like a tulip. The woman softly kissed its half-shut petals. And as though by magic, the flower opened in full blossom. Inside sat a tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb and the woman called her Thumbelina. For a bed she had a walnut shell, violet petals for her mattress and a rose petal blanket. In the daytime, she played in a tulip petal boat, floating on a plate of water. Using two horse hairs as oars, Thumbelina sailed around her little lake, singing and singing in a gentle sweet voice.
Then one night, as Thumbelina lay fast asleep in her walnut shell, a large frog hopped through a hole in the window pane. As she gazed down at Thumbelina, she said to herself: "How pretty she is! She'd make the perfect bride for my own dear son!"
She picked up Thumbelina, walnut shell and all, and hopped into the garden. Nobody saw her go. Back at the pond, her fat ugly son, who always did as mother told him, was pleased with her choice. But mother frog was afraid that her pretty prisoner might run away. So she carried Thumbellna out to a water lily leaf ln the middle of the pond.
"She can never escape us now," said the frog to her son. "And we have plenty of time to prepare a new home for you and your bride." Thumbelina was left all alone. She felt so desperate. She knew she would never be able to escape the fate that awaited her with the two horrid fat frogs. All she could do was cry her eyes out. However, one or two minnows who had been enjoying the shade below the water lily leaf, had overheard the two frogs talking, and the little girl's bitter sobs. They decided to do something about it. So they nibbled away at the lily stem till it broke and drifted away in the weak current. A dancing butterfly had an idea: "Throw me the end of your belt! I'll help you to move a little faster!" Thumbelina gratefully did so, and the leaf soon floated away from the frog pond.
But other dangers lay ahead. A large beetle snatched Thumbelina with his strong feet and took her away to his home at the top of a leafy tree. "Isn't she pretty?" he said to his friends. But they pointed out that she was far too different. So the beetle took her down the tree and set her free. It was summertime, and Thumbelina wandered all by herself amongst the flowers and through the long grass. She had pollen for her meals and drank the dew. Then the rainy season came, bringing nasty weather. The poor child found it hard to find food and shelter. When winter set in, she suffered from the cold and felt terrible pangs of hunger.
One day, as Thumbelina roamed helplessly over the bare meadows, she met a large spider who promised to help her. He took her to a hollow tree and guarded the door with a stout web. Then he brought her some dried chestnuts and called his friends to come and admire her beauty. But just like the beetles, all the other spiders persuaded Thumbelina's rescuer to let her go. Crying her heart out, and quite certain that nobody wanted her because she was ugly, Thumbelina left the spider's house.
As she wandered, shivering with the cold, suddenly she came across a solid little cottage, made of twigs and dead leaves. Hopefully, she knocked on the door. It was opened by a field mouse. "What are you doing outside in this weather?" he asked. "Come in and warm yourself." Comfortable and cozy, the field mouse's home was stocked with food. For her keep, Thumbelina did the housework and told the mouse stories. One day, the field mouse said a friend was coming to visit them. "He's a very rich mole, and has a lovely house, he wears a splendid black fur coat, but he's dreadfully shortsighted. He needs company and he'd like to marry you!" Thumbelina did not relish the idea. However, when the mole came, she sang sweetly to him and he fell head over heels in love. The mole invited Thumbelina and the field mouse to visit him, but . . . to their surprise and horror, they came upon a swallow in the tunnel. It looked dead. Mole nudged it with his foot, saying: "That'll teach her! She should have come underground instead of darting about the sky all summer!" Thumbelina was so shocked by such cruel words that later, she crept back unseen to the tunnel.
And every day, the little girl went to nurse the swallow and tenderly give it food. In the meantime, the swallow told Thumbelina its tale. Jagged by a thorn, it had been unable to follow its companions to a warmer climate. "It's kind of you to nurse me," it told Thumbelina. But, in spring, the swallow flew away, after offering to take the little girl with it. All summer, Thumbelina did her best to avoid marrying the mole. The little girl thought fearfully of how she'd have to live underground forever.
On the eve of her wedding, she asked to spend a day in the open air. As she gently fingered a flower, she heard a familiar song: "Winter's on its way and I'll be off to warmer lands. Come with me!" Thumbelina quickly clung to her swallow friend, and the bird soared into the sky. They flew over plains and hills till they reached a country of flowers.
The swallow gently laid Thumbelina in a blossom. There she met a tiny, white-winged fairy: the King of the Flower Fairies.
Instantly, he asked her to marry him. Thumbelina eagerly said "yes", and sprouting tiny white wings, she became the Flower Queen!
The Analysis of Thumbelina Story
1. PLOT
A. Exposition
Once upon a time there lived a woman who had no children. She dreamed of having a little girl, but time went by, and her dream never came true.
In this part , there are the introduction of the story’s background , so we choiose this part as the exposition of the text.
- Rising Action
She then went to visit a witch, who gave her a magic grain of barley. She planted it in a flower pot. And the very next day, the grain had turned into a lovely flower, rather like a tulip. The woman softly kissed its half-shut petals. And as though by magic, the flower opened in full blossom. Inside sat a tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb and the woman called her Thumbelina. For a bed she had a walnut shell, violet petals for her mattress and a rose petal blanket. In the daytime, she played in a tulip petal boat, floating on a plate of water. Using two horse hairs as oars, Thumbelina sailed around her little lake, singing and singing in a gentle sweet voice.
Then one night, as Thumbelina lay fast asleep in her walnut shell, a large frog hopped through a hole in the window pane. As she gazed down at Thumbelina, she said to herself: "How pretty she is! She'd make the perfect bride for my own dear son!"
She picked up Thumbelina, walnut shell and all, and hopped into the garden. Nobody saw her go.Back at the pond, her fat ugly son, who always did as mother told him, was pleased with her choice. But mother frog was afraid that her pretty prisoner might run away. So she carried Thumbellna out to a water lily leaf ln the middle of the pond.
"She can never escape us now," said the frog to her son. "And we have plenty of time to prepare a new home for you and your bride." Thumbelina was left all alone. She felt so desperate. She knew she would never be able to escape the fate that awaited her with the two horrid fat frogs. All she could do was cry her eyes out. However, one or two minnows who had been enjoying the shade below the water lily leaf, had overheard the two frogs talking, and the little girl's bitter sobs. They decided to do something about it. So they nibbled away at the lily stem till it broke and drifted away in the weak current. A dancing butterfly had an idea: "Throw me the end of your belt! I'll help you to move a little faster!" Thumbelina gratefully did so, and the leaf soon floated away from the frog pond.
But other dangers lay ahead. A large beetle snatched Thumbelina with his strong feet and took her away to his home at the top of a leafy tree. "Isn't she pretty?" he said to his friends. But they pointed out that she was far too different. So the beetle took her down the tree and set her free. It was summertime, and Thumbelina wandered all by herself amongst the flowers and through the long grass. She had pollen for her meals and drank the dew. Then the rainy season came, bringing nasty weather. The poor child found it hard to find food and shelter. When winter set in, she suffered from the cold and felt terrible pangs of hunger. One day, as Thumbelina roamed helplessly over the bare meadows, she met a large spider who promised to help her. He took her to a hollow tree and guarded the door with a stout web. Then he brought her some dried chestnuts and called his friends to come and admire her beauty. But just like the beetles, all the other spiders persuaded Thumbelina's rescuer to let her go. Crying her heart out, and quite certain that nobody wanted her because she was ugly, Thumbelina left the spider's house. As she wandered, shivering with the cold, suddenly she came across a solid little cottage, made of twigs and dead leaves. Hopefully, she knocked on the door. It was opened by a field mouse. "What are you doing outside in this weather?" he asked. "Come in and warm yourself." Comfortable and cozy, the field mouse's home was stocked with food. For her keep, Thumbelina did the housework and told the mouse stories. One day, the field mouse said a friend was coming to visit them. "He's a very rich mole, and has a lovely house, he wears a splendid black fur coat, but he's dreadfully shortsighted. He needs company and he'd like to marry you!" Thumbelina did not relish the idea. However, when the mole came, she sang sweetly to him and he fell head over heels in love. The mole invited Thumbelina and the field mouse to visit him, but . . . to their surprise and horror, they came upon a swallow in the tunnel. It looked dead. Mole nudged it with his foot, saying: "That'll teach her! She should have come underground instead of darting about the sky all summer!" Thumbelina was so shocked by such cruel words that later, she crept back unseen to the tunnel.
And every day, the little girl went to nurse the swallow and tenderly give it food. In the meantime, the swallow told Thumbelina its tale. Jagged by a thorn, it had been unable to follow its companions to a warmer climate. "It's kind of you to nurse me," it told Thumbelina. But, in spring, the swallow flew away, after offering to take the little girl with it. All summer, Thumbelina did her best to avoid marrying the mole. The little girl thought fearfully of how she'd have to live underground forever.
- Climax
The Climax of Thumbelina Story is on the ninth paragraph “On the eve of her wedding, she asked to spend a day in the open air. As she gently fingered a flower, she heard a familiar song: "Winter's on its way and I'll be off to warmer lands. Come with me!" Thumbelina quickly clung to her swallow friend, and the bird soared into the sky. They flew over plains and hills till they reached a country of flowers.
We choose this as the climax because in this part the main character Thumbelina make a decision to put the wedding off and go with the swallow instead of marrying the rich mole and the decision is impacted the to the how the story going.
- Falling Action
– The falling action of thumbelina story is “The swallow gently laid Thumbelina in a blossom. There she met a tiny, white-winged fairy: the King of the Flower Fairies”.
– We choose this as the falling action because this is the impact of the climax before, when thumbelina chooses to fly with the swallow instead of marrying the rich mole.
- Resolution
The resolution of Thumbelina Story is “Instantly, he asked her to marry him. Thumbelina eagerly said "yes", and sprouting tiny white wings, she became the Flower Queen”
We choose this because this the long-term impact of the falling action which is thumbelina meet the king of the fairies when she was being put on the blossom by the swallow.
2. Characters
In Thumbelina story there are two types of characters which are :
Simple Characters :
– A woman (Thumbelina’s Mom) : Desperate (as she never had her dream to have a child come true)
– A Witch : Kind (As she gives the woman a magic grain of barley which is later become Thumbelina)
– The Beetles : Impolite (as she kidnapped thumbelina)
– Butterfly : love to help others (as she offers a helping hand to Thumbelina )
– The field mouse : Kinmdhearted (as he let Thumbelina to warm herself iand even stay in his house )
– The King of The Flower Fairies : Tiny (physical)
In the Story only one side of these characters are described so they can be considered as a simple characters.
• Complex Characters :
– Thumbelina : tiny, pretty , kindhearted (as she nurses the swallow) , a good singer (whe she sang beautifully to the mole)
– Frog’s Mother : large (physical) , selfish (as she only care about her desire to find a bride for her son )
– Frog’s son : fat and ugly and obedient (the narrator directly reveals the frog’s son character)
– The Minnows : brave and carefree (as they save Thumbelina from the frog’s family )
– The spiders : Kindhearted as he gives Thumbelina chesnut to eat, undependable as he didn’t keep his promise to help thumbelina and let Thumbelina go.
– The Mole : Rich and Harsh (as he said a cruel word to the swallow)
– Swallow : polite , know how to repay someone’s kindness (as he help Thumbelina to escape from her wedding with the mole)
– More than one side of these characters are described in the story so these characters above can be considered as complex characters.
3. Characterization
In the thumbelina story the author is using two ways of characterization , which are:
· Direct Characterization
- Example : Frog’s Son
• at the pond, her fat ugly son, who always did as mother told him, was pleased with her choice. The character of the frog’s son is revealed directly by the author by using descriptive potrtayal and direct comment that refers to the frog’s son.
• Indirect Characterization :
- Example : The Mole
- Mole nudged it with his foot, saying: "That'll teach her! She should have come underground instead of darting about the sky all summer!" Thumbelina was so shocked by such cruel words that later. The author revealed the mole’s character by it’s behaviour or act that using cruel words to the swallow and the reaction of trhe iother characters. So from those evidences we can conclude that the mole is a harsh one.
-
4. Methods of Character Potrayalt
In the Thumbelina Story the author is using Mixing Method as there are more than one method of character potrayalt that can be seen in this story.
Discursive Method
– The author directly tell us about the the characters’ character.
• Example : at the pond, her fat ugly son, who always did as mother told him, was pleased with her choice.
• From the example above we can see that the narrator directly reveals the frog’s son character which are fat , ugly , and obedient.
Dramatic Method
The author Let the character itself reveals its character throughj their own action or words.
. Example : Mole nudged it with his foot, saying: That'll teach her! She should have come underground instead of darting about the sky all summer!" . From this words the mole is revealing his characters which is a harsh mole.
Characters on the other Character
Author let the other character reveals the other characater of the characters.
. Example : In the meantime, the swallow told Thumbelina its tale. Jagged by a thorn, it had been unable to follow its companions to a warmer climate. "It's kind of you to nurse me," it told Thumbelina.
The swallow is revealing the character of Thumbelina as a kindhearted girl by saying that bolded word above.
5. Setting
There are two types of setting that we can find in thumbelina story which are :
Neutral Setting
a. Into the garden
b. In a blossom
c. One Night
The setting above, have no further information about it so it can be coinsidered as Neutral setting.
• Spiritual Setting
– In the flower pot
– In her Wallnut Shell
– In the middle of the pond
– The field mouse’s house
– On the eve of her wedding
– All the setting above have further information , so we can considered them as Spritual Setting.
6. Point of View
The Thumbelina Story is told throught the third person point of view as the narrator refers the characters as she, he , it or they.
Evidence :
· Once upon a time there lived a woman who had no children. She dreamed of having a little girl, but time went by, and her dream never came true
· Thumbelina did not relish the idea. However, when the mole came, she sang sweetly to him and he fell head over heels in love. The mole invited Thumbelina and the field mouse to visit him, but . . . to their surprise and horror, they came upon a swallow in the tunnel
The Narrator Types
In this story the narrator can be considered as Omniscient Narrator as the narrator knows everything in the story.
Evidence :
Thumbelina was left all alone. She felt so desperate. She knew she would never be able to escape the fate that awaited her with the two horrid fat frogs
From those part we can tell that the narrator does know everything in the story as he clearly stating how Thumbelina feels.
7. Style
Diction :
a. Denotation
· The authour is mostly using words that has a real meaning such :move a little faster ,tiny,white winged fairy etc.
b. Conotation:
· The author is using some figurative language such as : Crying her heart out its not mean that the heart is out of our body and crying but its means a feeling where someone is in a deep sadness.
· he fell head over heels in love = he is in a situation where he is deep in love.
· Imagery
1. Recurrent image
Then one night, as Thumbelina lay fast asleep in her walnut shell, a large frog hopped through a hole in the window pane. As she gazed down at Thumbelina, she said to herself: "How pretty she is! She'd make the perfect bride for my own dear son!" She picked up Thumbelina, walnut shell and all, and hopped into the garden.
8. Syntax
The author is using various kind of sentences :
a. Simple Sentence
· The swallow gently laid Thumbelina in a blossom
These sentence can be considered as simple sentence because its formed by san independent clause only.
b. Complex Sentence
· She then went to visit a witch, who gave her a magic grain of barley.
These sentence can be considered as complex sentence because there were subordinator “who” that joined the independent clause with the dependent clause.
c. Compound Sentence
She dreamed of having a little girl, but time went by, and her dream never came true.
This sentence can be considered as compound sentence because there were coordinators “but “and “and” that joined the three independent clauses.
9. TONE
The Author of Thumbelina story is using
a. The Middle style
· It can be seen in “The swallow gently laid Thumbelina in a blossom. There she met a tiny, white-winged fairy: the King of the Flower Fairies.”
· the situation that presented there is fair and accurate not tooo much and not less either.
10. Structure and Technique
Description
a. Example of description on the story :
· Description of the setting :
1. a solid little cottage, made of twigs and dead leaves. (field mouse’s house)
· Description of the character :
1. tiny girl, no bigger than a thumb and the women called her Thumbelina.
2. He's a very rich mole, and has a lovely house, he wears a splendid black fur coat, but he's dreadfully shortsighted (the mole)
b. Narative :
· Panoramic :
There is no panoramic technique used in the story. Panoramic technique is a real detail of a space and time in a story and rarely found in a shotr story , it usually found in a novel.
· Schemic :
1. One day, as Thumbelina roamed helplessly over the bare meadows, she met a large spider who promised to help her. He took her to a hollow tree and guarded the door with a stout web. Then he brought her some dried chestnuts and called his friends to come and admire her beauty. But just like the beetles, all the other spiders persuaded Thumbelina's rescuer to let her go. Crying her heart out, and quite certain that nobody wanted her because she was ugly, Thumbelina left the spider's house.
The author is clearly narrated the story scene to scene. That’ why this part is can be considered as a schemic technique.
11. Dialouges
These are some dialouges that occurs in the story :
- “Dancing butterfly : Throw me the end of your belt! I'll help you to move a little faster!"
Thumbelina : gratefully did so, and the leaf soon floated away from the frog pond.
b. The mother’s frog to her son :
· "She can never escape us now," said the frog to her son. "And we have plenty of time to prepare a new home for you and your bride."
