SOCIAL CRITICISM IN JOHN GRISHAM’S A TIME TO KILL

Renita Pausi Ardila (F21116532). Social Criticism In John Grisham's A Time To Kill, supervised by Burhanuddin Arafah and A. ST. Aldilah Khaerana.
This study aims to analyze social criticism by looking at the social conditions of the United States in the 20th century as reflected in Grisham A Time To Kill.
This research used the genetic structuralism approach which discussed the intrinsic and the extrinsic elements of literary work. The intrinsic element discusses character, setting, theme, and plot. While the extrinsic element reveal the social conditions reflected in the novel A TimeTo Kill.
Based on the analysis result, researcher has found that Grisham criticism of the social conditions that occurred by racism has rooted in the United States, particularly in Mississippi. The impact of these social condition, Grisham described through several figures that criticized acts of discrimination carried out by legal institutions that resulted in legal decisions. The author also criticized the weakness of the court system with the majority of white people in that city. In addition, Grisham also described acts of violence carried out by the Ku Klux Klan, a white racist organization and other acts of racism. The overall analysis show that the social conditions at that time were still shrouded in racial issues that could explode at any time.
Keywords : Racism, Social Criticism, John Grisham, A Time To Kill.