describing a character, the author applies some ways in order to make the reader fully understand about the character and his or her characteristics. Related to that,
M.J. Murphy stated that there are several ways in which an author attempts to make his characters or her characters understandable to, and come alive for his readers or
her readers so the readers can know what kind of a person he or she is. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of
others, reaction, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerisms 1972:161-173. However, in this study, the writer only applies some of the ways stated before as
Mitch Albom, the author of The Time Keeper, uses only some of the ways in describing all characters in the novel. Below are the elaboration of ways of
describing a character: a.
Personal description: the author describes physical appearances and clothes of a character through direct explanation.
b. Character as seen by another: the author defines a character from the eyes and
opinions of another. c.
Speech: the author describes a character through what he or she says. d.
Past life: the author describes a character by giving a clue about his or her past life.
e. Conversation of others: the author defines a character from the conversation of
others and what they say about the character. f.
Reactions: the author describes a character by through his or her reactions to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment: the author defines a character through direct comment.
h. Thoughts: the author defines a character by letting the readers know what he or
she is thinking about. i.
Mannerism: the author describes a character by showing his or her mannerisms or behaviors.
2. Theory of Moral and Morality
The term moral is closely related to human manners. It, according to Gonsalves in Right and Reason, is the term used to refer to both good and bad
qualities of manners 1986:53. Moral values, thus, is defined as expression of each one’s unique personality shown in the act of choice 1986:75. As a result, these
values reside in the acts that a person decides to do and in the results of those acts. When a person does a certain act, there will be following judgments on
whether this action is good or bad. The way an act is judged as right or wrong, good and evil is defined as morality Gonsalves, 1986:53. Since every individual has a
power to do both good and evil, judging one’s manner is possible to do. According to Titus and Keeton 1973:90, we call something right and good, in the moral
sense, if it promotes what is good or has a value for persons. Thus, a right or good act will gain people’s affirmation, while wrong or evil deed gains people’s denial
and degradation. Morality judgment on a certain person’s act, Gonsalves adds, is subjective. Hence, there are some grounds need to be encountered to help judging
the morality of human acts—to differentiate the good from the bad ones. Since morality is subjective, in order to judge one’s act, subjective peculiarities must be
taken into account. Those grounds include the doer’s knowledge and consent, background, prejudices, emotional maturity and stability, purpose, and other
personal traits. The circumstance wherein the doer does the action also needs to be considered 1973:53. In morality, some things are also good in nature in the sense
that they are based on natural human needs to be healthy and survive. Hence, some naturally good deeds include sleeping, eating, drinking, and preserving one’s
health, while some naturally evil things include pain, injury, and death. Morality focuses on the rightness or wrongness of the reason behind one’s action.
Related to moral and morality, an example is as follow. We are taught not to tell lies; that lies are not good. This is referred as moral, our guideline to choose an
act. Since lying is not morally good, we are expected not to do it. When we decide not to lie, we have our reason—the morality conscience, which can be either right
or wrong, good or bad. When dealing with morality conscience, some things need to be consider, as
stated by Gonsalves 1986:55. Firstly, that morality conscience does not deal with theoretical questions of right or wrong in general, but with the practical question,
which can be situational. For example, it is not “Why is lying wrong”, but “If I do the thing I am thinking, will I be lying?”
Titus and Keeton add another aspect of morality, the society. It is to say that moral is related closely to society. “An act that is right enriches and strengthens the
life of the group. An act that is wrong is one that has proved to be socially harmful or less beneficial than its alternatives” 1973:93. Thus, morality refers to a
judgment about an individual as a human being.
