The Collapse of American Dream as Seen In Stephen King's The Long Walk

GUNTORO SAPUTRA, Rahmawan Jatmiko, S.S., M.A.

2021 | Skripsi | S1 SASTRA INGGRIS

Artikel berikut membahas konsep Impian Amerika yang terkandung dalam The Long Walk, novel horror dystopia karangan Stephen King. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendkatan ekspresif untuk menganalisa novel berdasarkan pengalaman hidup Stephen King, yang berpendapat bahwa gagasan untuk mengejar Impian Amerika merupakan hal nirfaedah yang berdampak negative terhadap hidup manusia. Novel tersebut mengandung banyak elemen Impian Amerika termasuk diantaranya pencarian kebahagiaan, kerja keras, contoh kesuksesan, dan aktivitas pengisi waktu luang. Namun elemen-elemen tersebut pada akhirnya memiliki dampak negative terhadap karakter dalam novel tersebut dalam bentuk rusaknya tubuh dan pikiran mereka, harapan palsu, kontrol kuasa, rasisme, dan hiburan yang mematikan. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa novel tersebut menampilkan gugurnya Impian Amerika dan tercemarnya gagasan tersebut oleh institusi yang ingin memanfaatkan rakyat. Penggambaran tersebut merupakan hasil dari pandangan King akan Impian Amerika.

This paper discusses the concept of American Dream in the The Long Walk, a dystopian-horror novel written by Stephen King. This research employs the expressive approach to analyze the novel based on the real-life experiences of Stephen King, who views the idea of chasing The American Dream as a futile effort which has negative causes on human life. The novel contains many elements of American Dreams such as the pursuits of happiness, hardwork, an example of success and leisure time activities. However such elements are then twisted which caused negative impacts on the characters in the story such as causing deterioration on their mental and physical state, false hope, control of institution, racism, and a deadly entertainment. It can be concluded that the novel depicts the collapse of the American Dream and how the idea is twisted by an institution to exploit the common people. This depiction is a result of King's own view on the American Dream.

Kata Kunci : dystopian novel; popular literature; horror; dysfunctional society