RESUME NOVEL BAHASA INGGRIS

“A LITTLE PRINCESS’
Tugas Remedial Ekstrakurikuler ECC

Oleh:
HIBA SABILARROSYAD
8J - 14

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLUB

❖ Synopsis
Seven-year-old Sara Crewe voyages from India with her father to enroll in Miss
Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies in England. Sara’s mother died when she was
born. Sara was raised in India by her loving father, Captain Ralph Crewe, a wealthy English
military officer. The English considered the Indian climate unhealthy for young British girls,
so the British families who lived there typically sent their children to be educated in England.
Since Sara and her father adore each other, they are both deeply sad when the time comes for
their separation. Captain Crewe impulsively shops with Sara before leaving England,
purchasing a wardrobe for her that is too luxurious and costly for a child. Captain Crewe also
pays extra money to the schoolmistress, Miss Minchin, so that Sara can enjoy a private
bedroom, a sitting room, a personal maid, and a carriage with a pony. Miss Minchin is
outwardly respectable but inwardly greedy and unkind. She flatters Sara, knowing that her
wealth and elegant appearance will enhance the school’s reputation. However, Miss Minchin
secretly resents Sara’s pampered prosperity.
Sara is an extremely intelligent and imaginative child whose privileges do not cause
her to act grand or be self-centered. Sara is generous and kind, possessing a maturity beyond
her years. Conceiving of a person’s circumstances as “an accident” beyond the individual’s
control, Sara is able to imagine herself in another’s position and, therefore, be empathetic.
Sara particularly helps the most downtrodden people in the school: Ermengarde, who is
considered the school “dunce;” Lottie, who is the “baby” of the school; and Becky, who is the
lowest-ranking servant at the school. Sara is repeatedly compared to a princess because of her
luxuriously clothed appearance. However, she decides to secretly pretend that she is a
princess as a way of ensuring that she will behave well, remain courteous and do kind things
for people. Sara believes that being a princess has “nothing to do with what you look like, or
what you have. It has only to do with what you think of, and what you do”.
Sara receives an amazing gift from her father for her 11th birthday: the Last Doll
arrives with an elaborate wardrobe that was custom-designed in Paris. Sara's lavish birthday
party at Miss Minchin's is interrupted by the news that Captain Crewe died suddenly after
losing his fortune by investing in diamond mines. He trusted a dear friend from his school
days who persuaded him to become a partner in his enterprises and then, apparently, betrayed
him. When Miss Minchin learns that Sara is orphaned and impoverished, she is enraged. Miss
Minchin paid for Sara’s doll and the extravagant party, expecting reimbursement from
Captain Crewe. Miss Minchin’s cruelty is revealed after the death, as she removes all Sara's
possessions except some old clothing and Sara’s doll, Emily, and forces her to live in a cold,
dingy attic room. Miss Minchin orders Sara about as if she were a servant, ends her lessons in
the schoolroom, and sends her out on errands during terrible weather.
Over a two-year period, Sara is terribly mistreated by Miss Minchin and the kitchen
staff. Although Miss Minchin's younger sister, Amelia, disagrees with the way that Sara is
treated, she is too timid to object. Sara is often deprived of meals, worked beyond exhaustion,
and clothed in ill-fitting, threadbare clothing, even in the snowy winter. The three girls Sara
befriended during her fortunate circumstances—Ermengarde, Lottie, and Becky—maintain
their devotion to her after her misfortune. Sara relies on her vivid imagination to endure her
hardships, pretending she is a prisoner in the Bastille with Becky or a princess in disguise.
Sara maintains her standard of “inner princess” behavior by continuing to be courteous to
those who insult her and generous to those who are even hungrier than she. One day, she
finds a fourpence coin in the mud and uses it to buy buns at a bakery. Despite her own
hunger, she gives five of her six buns to a girl in the street who is begging and starving.
When the bakery shop’s owner witnesses Sara’s incredible act of selfless compassion, she is
so emotionally moved that she invites the girl who was begging into her shop, giving her a
job and a home.
When Mr. Carrisford, an English gentleman who lived in India, moves into the house
next door to Miss Minchin's school, Sara is reminded of the land of her birth. Unbeknownst
to Sara, Mr. Carrisford was Captain Crewe's friend and partner in the diamond mines. Mr.
Carrisford agonizes that Captain Crewe died believing that he betrayed and ruined him.
However, Mr. Carrisford was ill in the hospital at that time, and the fortune of the diamond
mines was restored later. He is haunted by a dream in which Crewe asks him to find his lost
daughter. Mr. Carrisford’s health is suffering because of his guilt. He sends his lawyer, Mr.
Carmichael, to try to find Crewe’s daughter so he can restore her fortune. He knows only that
Mr. Crewe had a child whose mother was French, so he assumes she was sent to a Paris
school.
Sara encounters Ram Dass, Mr. Carrisford’s Indian servant, when they view the
sunset from neighboring attic windows. Ram Dass is delighted when friendly Sara speaks in
Hindustani to him. When he captures his escaped pet monkey, he observes Sara’s
impoverished living conditions. Ram Dass notices Sara’s unusual compassion for all living
things, and he tells his employer about her situation. Together, the men construct a plan to
carry hot suppers and other comforts across the roof to Sara’s attic room while she sleeps.
Sara's morale and health improve when she realizes that she has a mysterious friend who
sends restorative gifts. When Sara receives two packages addressed to her containing costly,
warm clothing from an anonymous benefactor, Miss Minchin becomes fearful that Sara
might have a wealthy relative and starts to treat her better, allowing her to attend classes
again.
One night, the monkey again escapes to Sara's attic room. When Sara visits Mr.
Carrisford's house the next morning to return the animal, her identity as Captain Crewe’s
daughter is finally discovered. Sara learns that Mr. Carrisford is her father’s school friend and
has looked for her for two years. Sara will now be a wealthy heiress, as Mr. Carrisford
restores her father’s lost fortune from the diamond mines to her. When Miss Minchin
threatens that Sara must return to her school, Mr. Carrisford’s lawyer informs her that Sara
will remain with her guardian, Mr. Carrisford, instead. Sara’s friend Ermengarde receives a
letter from Sara inviting her to visit and relating the marvelous news. Sara does not forget the
scullery maid Becky, inviting her to be her attendant at Mr. Carrisford’s residence. Mr.
Carrisford becomes a father figure to Sara, and he regains his health. Remembering her
hunger, the wealthy Sara returns to the bakery where she bought the buns, arranging to pay
for food to be handed out to needy children.

❖ Character
1. Sarah Crewe
The protagonist of the story, Sara is a wise, imaginative young girl. In spite of her
wealthy background, she reacts with equanimity to the misfortunes and abuses that
befall her after her father's death. Sara's emotional survival depends on her lively
inner life, especially her fantasy of being a princess who helps those in need. She
shares her stories and fantasies with friends, helping them to change their outlook on
reality and to behave more generously. When she recovers her wealth and position of
power, Sara uses her resources to help others.
2. Captain Crewe
Sara's wealthy, indulgent father. He is stationed in India as part of the British military,
but wants his daughter to get an education in England. He dotes on Sara, buying her
extravagant presents and writing her letters in her absence, but dies from a mixture of
disease and mental distress when one of his business ventures appears to fail
miserably.
3. Miss Minchin
Miss Minchin is the novel's primary antagonist. A needlessly cruel headmistress at
Sara's school, Miss Minchin dislikes Sara but originally treats her well because of her
student's wealth. Once Sara's fortunes change, however, Miss Minchin tries her
hardest to harm and humiliate her. Once Sara is again a wealthy and high-status
person, Miss Minchin first tries to benefit from her newfound proximity to wealth,
and then quietly resents her former student.
4. Becky
Becky is a scullery maid working at Miss Minchin's school while Sara is a student.
Sara and Becky become friends in spite of their obvious difference in social rank.
Once Sara is demoted to a life of servitude herself, Becky becomes her close
 companion. She is generous, supportive, and adoring, and when Sara regains her
fortune, Becky becomes a personal servant of Sara's.
5. Amelia Minchin
Amelia is Miss Minchin's kinder but weaker sister. Amelia also works at Miss
Minchin's academy, and often tries to soften her sister's abusive attitudes, but lacks
the bravery necessary to do so. Over the course of the book, after witnessing her
sister's treatment of Sara Crewe, Amelia is emboldened to denounce her cruelty.
6. Ram Dass
Ram Dass is Mr. Carrisford's servant. He accompanies Carrisford from India to
England, and is often described in racialized terms. Ram Dass, who sees Sara through
their adjoining attic windows, takes an interest in Sara and comes up with a plan to
surprise her by leaving presents in her attic bedroom.
7. Mr. Carrisford
Carrisford is Captain Crewe's close friend and business partner. Though a very
wealthy diamond mine operator, he feels immense guilt for the death of his friend
Crewe and as such seeks out his lost daughter, Sara, to alleviate this guilt. Carrisford
is a highly sensitive but very kind man with a love for children, and, as such, is eager
to follow Ram Dass's plan to surprise Sara even before he discovers her identity.
8. Ermengarde
Ermengarde is Sara'a first friend at Miss Minchin's school. She is a somewhat dim-
witted but extremely kind child. She is often laughed at because of her inability to
learn French, and befriends Sara after Sara shows kindness to her in spite of her
academic failures. Though Ermengarde lacks self-esteem, she is immensely loyal, and
does her best to help Sara when she is in need.
9. Lottie
Lottie is the youngest student at Miss Minchin's academy, and is extremely spoiled.
As a result she is given to tantrums, which makes her unpopular with both students
and teachers. Sara takes Lottie under her wing, promising to act as the child's adoptive
mother, especially since both girls are motherless. Lottie is extremely needy, but
devoted to Sara above all else, providing emotional warmth even while she creates
inconvenience.
10. Lavinia Herbert
Lavinia is the oldest student at Miss Minchin's, and has a judgmental, domineering
personality. She dislikes Sara, since she resents Sara's wealth and popularity. Though
 she usually expresses her dislike through petty gossip and snide comments, she does
manage to bring harm to Sara, Becky, and Ermengarde by reporting on their secret
meetings to Miss Minchin.
11. Mr. Carmichael
Mr. Carmichael is Mr. Carrisford's solicitor and the father of the lively, large family
who live near Miss Minchin's school. He is levelheaded and hardworking, and
performs the hard work of finding and protecting Sara while Mr. Carrisford is in a
state of physical weakness and emotional shock.

❖ Setting
➢ Place : London
We don't see much of London, really, but we get the general sense that it's cold, wet,
and unfriendly—especially in contrast to India, where Sara was so happy. When she
drives through the streets with her father, she thinks "what a queer thing it was that at
one time one was in India in the blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and
then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was as dark as
the night".

➢ Time : Late Nineteenth-Century

❖ Moral Value
Sara's story provides many moral lessons for girls and boys that can enable them to
overcome difficult times and gain respect in society. Some main lessons are resilience,
kindness to others, and the power of thought. The power of thought is the most useful and
most durable power we possess.