1. Summary of the Short Story
There is Papa who was telling a story, on Christmas morning, to his little girl (daughter) about turkey ghosts which were haunted a family. Papa began the story with telling the background why these turkey ghosts haunted that family. As the tradition in Christmas and Thanksgiving days, every family is get together in a gathering event and enjoyed the main menu which is turkey. Year by year, a lot of turkeys have been killed and were eaten by humans. Then all the turkeys which have been killed and eaten by the humans were become ghost and planned to avenge their revenge to the humans. One day there was an extended family which consist of grandfather, grandmother, aunties or mamas, papas the aunties husbands, little girls, and little boys, who where gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving day. The grandmother and aunties were bought a first premium turkey at the county fair which the weigh is about twenty pounds. Then they cooked and prepared the turkey to the dining table as a main menu to be eaten together for the Thanksgiving peak ritual event. After everybody finished the dinner they were fast asleep, but there was one little girl who almost fall asleep but didn’t sleep yet. Then vaguely she saw a large bronze-colored shadow which was turkey gobbler’s ghost. This turkey wear a red pasteboard placard round its neck with FIRST PREMIUM printed on it. The little girl quickly realized that this turkey ghost was a ghost of the turkey which had been eaten by her and her family at the dinner few hours ago. Suddenly her cousins, the other little girls and one little boy who was her brother, awakened from their sleep because they also aware of the arrival of the first premium ghost. When they were decided to run out from their room together, the first premium ghost was gained, gained, and gained and changed become turkey chicks or chick-chickledren, blockaded their way. Then the turkeys said that they will avenge their revenge to the humans because the humans like to eat them all this time. Now they will eat the humans. Then the little girl made a promise to the turkeys that they (the humans) will not have the turkeys to eat again especially at the Christmas and Thanksgiving days. Then after the ghosts gone, the children said to adult people that they should not have eat turkeys again especially at the Christmas and Thanksgiving. They will have oyster soup, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Hubbard squash, celery, turnip, cauliflower, mince-pie, pandowdy, plum-pudding, fruits, and frosted cakes to eat instead. The adult people thought that there was fair enough and after that, every Christmas and Thanksgiving days, they changed turkey with the menus above.
2. Character
This short story has twelve characters. They are Papa, little girl, grandfather in the story, grandmother in the story, aunties or mamas in the story, papas in the story, little girls in the story, little boy in the story, the turkey gobbler’s ghost or first premium, and chick-chickledren. First character is Papa. Papa is an assertive person but always loving his daughter, the little girl. He patiently did the story telling for the little girl. The assertiveness is proved when Papa told to his little girl not to interrupt his story. Second character is little girl. She is quite talkative and has a high curiosity. Sometimes she interrupted her Papa’s story with some detail questions or statements. Third character is grandfather in the story. He is a good story teller. He told a story about turkey gobbler and made his sons, the papas, very excited to hear the story more completely. Fourth character is grandmother in the story. She is a good mother for his children and good wife for his husband. She always doing all the housework perfectly to make her children, grandchildren, and relatives comfort to stay in her and her husband house. Fifth character is aunties or mamas in the story. They are also good mothers for their children, good wife for their husbands, and good children for their parents, but they have more mature behavior than papas. It proved when they are always ready to help the grandmother to prepare the Thanksgiving dinner and said to papas that they acted like silly boys when papas persuade grandfather to tell them a story about turkey gobbler. Sixth character is papas. They were little bit childish when they gathered together with their father. That seemed like they felt flashback to a moment when they were child. Seventh character is little girls in the story. Some of them were brave, but the rest were sissy. Eighth character is little boy in the story. He is a brave boy because he bravely persuaded the little girls to run out from the bedroom when the turkey gobbler’s ghost came. Ninth character is the turkey gobbler’s ghost or first premium. He is a wise turkey because he chose to make a deal with the little girl in the story that the humans are prohibited to eat turkey again instead of continued the turkey’s clan revenge to the human. Tenth character is the turkey chicks or chick-chickledren. They were all spoiled, egoist, and mean. They were hate become ghosts and really want to eat the humans for their revenge.
3. Characterization
In this short story the writer, William D. Howells, use indirect way of characterization in describing each character. It means that Howells describes each character through the other characters like through the dialogue, comment, what is done by the character, and the like. For the example, Howells describe the characterization of the little girl through the dialogues which were she said. When the little girl asked her Papa, “Is it going to be a dream? How can it be a dream than?”, it shows or describe that this little girl has a big curiosity about what was happened with the people in the story which her Papa was telling to her. She wanted to make sure if her Papa didn’t make any mistake in telling the story.
4. Setting
There are three kinds of setting; physical, social, and spiritual. Physical setting is divided in two which are place and time. In this short story the setting of place was in a house, a family house. The setting of time was on Christmas morning. The social setting in the story that Papa told to his little girl is there was a good relationship between the extended family with their neighbors in the neighborhood around their house. In the beginning of the Papa’s story, Papa told that all the relations in the neighborhood of that extended family had come to dinner in the Thanksgiving. It showed that the extended family is open to their social environment. The spiritual setting was available in the story when the little girls and boy in the Papa’s story feel frightened when they met the turkey ghosts. There was a struggle in the children’s self between face the truth and search the solution or consider that thing as a dream and then forget it. Finally they can face the truth that they were facing ghosts which would have revenge to them and found the solution to make peace with the ghosts.
5. Point of view
According to me, this short story has an objective point of view because the writer is unnamed or unidentified (a detached observer). The writer does not assume character's perspective and is not a character in the story. The writer just reports on events and lets the reader supply the meaning.
6. Figurative Language
There are two figurative languages in this short story; hyperbole and irony. First is hyperbole. The little girl used this figurative language to complain her Papa when he mentioned a lot of kinds of food in his story. The dialogue is: “Don’t mix them all up so!” pleaded the little girl. “It’s perfectly confusing. I can’t hardly tell what they had now.” The hyperbole is contained in the words ‘perfectly confusing’. Second is irony. The turkey chicks or chick-chickledren ghosts used this figurative language when they talk and act imitated the children’s behavior when they started to eat turkey. The part of story is: They acted perfectly ridiculous, and one little brat of a spiteful little chick piped out, “I speak for a drumstick, ma!” and then they all began, “I want a wing, ma!” and “I’m going to have the wish-bone!” This part is irony because the turkey chicks or chick-chickledren show off a moment when they were eaten by the humans. This is very sad.
7. Trait
Trait is divided into four. There are biological trait, physical trait, natural trait, emotional trait, and deliberative trait. Papa; the biological trait is a man, the natural traits are patient and assertive, the emotional trait is low-temper, and the deliberative trait is wise. Papa’s natural, emotional, and deliberative traits are proved when he advice the little girl not to interrupt his story and when he accepted the little girl idea to equalize the little girl appearance in Papa’s story with her appearance. The papa’s physical trait is not mentioned in the short story. Little girl; the biological trait is a girl, the physical traits are pretty, had red eyes, blue cheeks, and straight hair, the natural trait is impatient, the emotional trait is high temper, and the deliberative trait is communicative. All the little girl’s trait are mentioned through Papa’s story when he equalize the little girl appearance in Papa’s story with her appearance, when few times she interrupt Papa’s story, when she cried in the end of the story, and when few times she told her perspective about Papa’s story. Grandparents in the story; the biological traits are men and woman, the physical trait is old, the natural trait is mature, the emotional trait is patient, and the deliberative trait is wise. Their natural, emotional, and deliberative traits are indescribable in how they really exited and happy accept their neighbors and children come to their house to celebrate the Thanksgiving. Papas and mamas in the story; the biological traits are men and woman, the natural trait is amiable, the emotional trait is low-temper, and the deliberative trait is good listeners. Their natural, emotional, and deliberative traits are showed in the story when they are very cheerful to celebrate the Thanksgiving in their parents’ house with their children and when they looked exited in listening their father’s story about the turkey. The papas and mamas physical traits are not mentioned in the short story. Little children in the story; the biological traits are male and female, the physical trait is young, the natural and emotional trait is labile, and the deliberative trait is wise. They were labile because they still easily getting panic in facing some situation, but they were wise enough in make the problem solving for the problem between the turkeys and humans. Turkeys; the biological traits are male and female, the physical traits are large or small with bronze-colored, the natural trait is mean, and the emotional trait is easily getting angry. They were mean because they planned to eat the humans for avenge their revenge to the humans and they were easily getting angry because they kept their hatred to the humans for a long time.
8. Plot
Papa told a story to his little girl about turkey ghosts. The ghosts were haunted a family which was held a Thanksgiving gathering party in the grandparents’ house, but just the little children who saw the turkey ghosts. The ghosts wanted to avenge their revenge to the human with eat them because from long time ago the humans continuously consume or eat them. Fortunately their scheming can be thwarted because on of the children, a little girl help them to make an agreement with another humans to change the turkey’s menu especially in Christmas and Thanksgiving with some seafood, fruits, vegetables, and cakes. Actually, that little girl wasn’t met the turkey ghosts, but she was trance by the turkey ghosts. After that, every Christmas and Thanksgiving, people didn’t eat turkey’s meal again and changed with some substitute menus above.
9. Atmosphere
According to me, atmosphere of this short story is thriller because there are a lot of frightened parts in this story. The most frightened part of this short story is the ending when Papa said to the little girl that actually the little girl in the story was not dream, but she was trance by the turkey ghosts.
10. Theme
According to me, the theme of this short story is keep the preservation of all the God’s creature to keep the balancing of the life in this earth. This theme is obviously contained in the part when the turkey ghosts wanted to eat the little children for avenge their revenge to the human, because the human make them as their food. This short story also tried to deliver a message for the people to use and consume the natural resources wisely, so that their off spring in the future could know, use, and consume the natural resources too.
(Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 05:43 am)
