Sara Fitzgerald's defence mechanism reflected on illocutionary acts

The study is aimed at investigating the illocutionary acts of Sara Fitzgerald speech in ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ novel (MSK), which shows defence mechanism in the face of reports of allegations of medical coercion against Anna Fitzgerald. There are two problems to be solved in this study, namely: (1) What are illocutionary acts that reflected Sara’s defense mechanism, and (2) How does Sara use the defense mechanism as reflected on the illocutionary acts? This study uses a qualitative approach in relation to the use of a clear and systematic description of the phenomena being studied. A descriptive study in textual analysis was applied in this study to analyze the conversation of Sara Fitzgerald's characters through the narration and dialogue of MSK novel. The data were collected by reading the narration and dialogue in ‘MSK’ novel. The narration and dialogue were then analyzed by identifying the types of illocutionary acts by applying suitable codes in the appropriate text. The analysis was continued by identifying the illocutionary speech acts by the Sara characters in the novel. Finally, reasons why defence mechanism form was identified by looking at the context and content of the plot and setting in the novel.This study reveals that illocutionary acts (assertive, directive, and commissive) are applied by Sara in the novel when she faces a situation that makes her anxious. The use of illocutionary acts indirectly reflects a form of defence mechanism to deal with anxiety. She applied it because she wanted to defend herself from accusations that she thought were untrue and to save Kate from her illness. Moreover, she emphasized the defense mechanism of rationalization to get tolerance from the lawyer and judge. She applied the rationalization defence by including reasons that she deemed rational so that the report would be proven untrue and socially acceptable and she would be saved from the accusation of medical coercion. As the most influential person, Sara's character tends to apply self-interested defense mechanisms.