CIVIL WAR AND IDEOLOGY CONFLICT AS SEEN IN ALEX IRVINE’S TRANSFORMERS: EXODUS

This study discusses the representation of civil war and ideology conflict in Transformers: Exodus by Alex Irvine. This study aims to analyze how ideology conflict contributes toward a civil war that happens in the novel, along with the moral messages that can be obtained from it. This thesis uses Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony to observe the role of ideologies toward the society in the novel, and Terry Eagleton's theory of ideological features to analyze how those ideologies manage to influence so many people. Meanwhile, the moral-philosophical approach is applied to analyze the moral lessons of the civil war. The findings reveal the existence of two conflicting ideologies between the two groups involved in the civil war, the Autobots and the Decepticons. Those ideologies appear as a response to a hierarchical ideology imposed by powerful hegemonic institutions. However, what starts as mutual desires between the leaders of the two groups to abolish said ideology turns into a civil war as the issues of power struggle, class conflict, and identity politics render the groups unable to compromise. Furthermore, this research also finds that the novel contains anti-war messages and moral lessons on the importance of toleration, peace, and diplomacy. Keywords: hegemony, ideology, politics, conflict, mora