8 particular attribute or quality. Taylor 1981: 78 also stated that there are two
kinds of character. The first include those fictional creations who have complex many-faceted personalities and an independent inner life which invites the
reader’s interest, while flat characters are those who exhibit only one character trait or motivation and whose main claim to the reader’s interest is in the actions
they perform or the quality they represent. Both round and flat characters are equally capable of changing their
natures, depending on what happens to them, but no one of these types is required to undergo such a development in order to be considered a successful creation.
The more fully developed characters will always draw attention to inner conflict and psychological complexities, while the flatter creations will direct attention
away from themselves towards the ideas and forces at work in that particular fiction.
2.3 Character
Characters are the persons presented in works of narrative such as a novel, drama, or film who convey their personal qualities through dialogues and
actions by which the reader or audience understand their thoughts, feelings, intentions and motives.
Abram 1981:76 says that character is people who are appeared in a narrative prose or novel and it is interpreted by the readers as a person who has
moral quality and certain tendency such as being expressed in what they say and what they do.
9 Novelists try to create fictional people whose situations affect the reader as
the situation of real people. Authors describe the more simple characters in novels with no more than few phrases that identify the character’s most important traits.
In their book An Introduction to Reading and Writing about Literature, Roberts and Jacobs describe that in analyzing a literary character, the writer begins to
determine the character’s outstanding traits. A trait is a quality of mind or habitual mode behavior, such as never repaying borrowed money, avoiding eye contact, or
always thinking oneself the center of attention. Sometimes, of course, the traits we encounter are minor and therefore negligible. But often a trait may be a person’s
primary characteristic not only in fiction but also in life. Thus, characters may be ambitious, lazy, serene or anxious, aggressive or fearful, thoughtful or
inconsiderate, open or secretive, confident or self-doubting, kind or cruel, quiet or noisy, visionary or practical, careful or careless, impartial or biased,
straightforward or underhanded, “winner or loser”, and so on 1995: 132. Foster 1927 says, “There are two basic types of characters “round
character” and “flat character.”
Round character is a major character in a work of fiction that encounters
conflict and is changed by it. Round characters tend to be more fully developed and described than flat, or static, characters. If you think of the characters you
most love in fiction, they probably seem as real to you as people you know in real life. This is a good sign that they are round characters. A writer employs a number
of tools or elements to develop a character, making him or her round, including description and dialogue.
10
Flat character is a minor character in a work of fiction that does not
undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Also referred to as two-dimensional characters or static characters, flat characters play a
supporting role to the main character, which as a rule should be round. Though we dont generally strive to write flat characters, they are often necessary in a story,
along with round characters.
2.4 Plot
