some readers to be written in this study. This criticism showed that this novel was worth to be analyzed and that Coelho was a master in his field.
The fourth step was analyzing the character traits and the motivation of the narrator, as stated in the problem formulations, by applying the theories of
characters and motivation and also the psychological approach. The last step, after exploring all the steps above, the writer wrote a
conclusion of the analysis. The writer also enclosed suggestions for the further analysis and the implementation in teaching learning activities.
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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS
This chapter discusses the answers to the problems stated in the first chapter. The analysis is divided into three parts. The first and second parts are the
character analysis. The first part points out the character of the narrator. The second part deals with the character of the narrator’s wife, Esther. The third part
discusses the motivation of the narrator in finding and bringing his wife back.
4.1 The Character of the Narrator
In this part, the writer points out the character of the narrator in the novel, The Zahir. The character may be explored through the dialogue and the action of
the narrator, as mentioned in chapter 2 Abrams 23. Holman and Harmon categorize character into two types; major character and minor character 82. A
major character is a character that plays the most important role in a story. A major character becomes the focus of the story. He or she is the most frequently
appeared character in the story from the beginning until the end. According to this theory, in Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir, the narrator is categorized as the major
character because he plays the most important role in a story. He becomes the focus of the story as well.
In revealing the real characteristics of the narrators, Murphy has proposed nine ways to characterize the characteristics of a person in a story Murphy 161-
173. They are personal description, characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comments, thoughts, and mannerism.
However, in this novel, Coelho does not use all of the nine methods. There are eight methods used; personal description, character as seen by another, speech,
past life, reaction, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms. Using these methods, the author describes the narrator as:
4.1.1 Critical
The narrator is a successful novelist. He often states something in his mind and questions some conditions that happen around him. He does not accept things
directly. He questions why people speak in the name of freedom if they are still bound by their own promises; to their marriage vow, to their diet, to half-finished
project. While I was fighting, I heard other people speaking in the name of
freedom, and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved they seemed to be their parents’ wishes, to a marriage in which they had
promised to stay with the other person “for the rest of their lives”, to the bathroom scale, to their diet, to half-finished project … And so their
identical days and night passed, … and whenever a door opened, they would say:
“I am not interested. I’m not in the mood.” How could they possibly know if they were in the mood or not if they had
ever tried? 10.
He questions why people can say to other people if they are not interested in something if they have not tried. This narrator’s curiosity is proved through the
narrator’s thought Murphy 171.
When his wife, Esther, disappears, he wonders where she is and why she leaves him. He tries to find some possibilities why Esther leaves. His curiosity
forces him to find out what happens to his wife. In a café, he picks up a napkin PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
and writes down some facts and the possibilities, including being kidnapped. He lists all the possibilities that may happen, including the facts that should be met
for every possibility and its conclusion. The narrator admits that of all the hypotheses, this is the reasonable one, but still he cannot accept it. He questions
the reason why she leaves him 14. But Esther had disappeared and left clues that were visible only to me, as
if it were a secret message: I’m leaving. Why?
Is that question worth answering? 14
Moreover, his curiosity leads him to get closer to Mikhail, a man who is presumed to be the one with whom Esther leaves. One day, when he has to sign
books of his successful novel, he meets Mikhail. He realizes that he can get the answer of why his wife disappears from him and that he must not lose him. He
wants to know about Esther from him. I must not lose him-a word, a sentence, a sudden movement might cause
him to leave and never come back. In a fraction of a second, I understand that he and only he can save me from the blessing-or the curse-of the
Zahir, because he is the only one who knows where to find it, and I will finally be able to ask the questions I have been repeating to myself for so
long 61.
That is why after the book signing session is over he invites Mikhail to join him for supper. He expects that Mikhail will tell him everything about Esther.
In fact, Mikhail does not want to tell anything that will satisfy the narrator’s curiosity, except that Esther is fine. Unsatisfied with Mikhail’s response, the
narrator states what he wants directly. He wants Mikhail to give him any information about his wife, Esther. At this moment, the narrator’s curiosity is
shown through his speech Murphy 164. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
