Kennedy and Gioia, 2005:78. Flat character is easy to understand or to remember because they have steady character from the beginning until the end of
the story. Therefore, some critics called as static character. Flat character is usually a minor character, although not all minor character in the story is flat. The
second type of character is round character. Round character is also called dynamic character.
To the degree that round characters have many individual and unpredictable human traits, and because they undergo change or growth as a result of their
experiences, they may considered dynamic Roberts and Jacob, 1989: 145.
Round character is more complex than flat character. The character in a story or novel can change because of their experiences in their life. It can change
or develop. “Round character, however, present us with more facets-that is, their authors portray them in greater depth and in more generous detail” Kennedy and
Gioia, 2005:78. The process by which an author creates a character is called characterization
Rohrberger and Woods, 1971:20. Authors present their character either directly or indirectly. In direct presentation, they tell us straight out, by exposition or
analysis, what the characters are like, or they have another character in the story
that describes them. For example the authors describe the physical appearance of
the character and how the character looks like. In indirect presentation, the author shows us the characters through their actions, the readers will determine what
characters are like by what they are do or say.
According to Murphy in Understanding Unseens 1972, there are nine ways this is used by the author to make their character understandable by the reader:
a. Personal description
In this way, the author uses a person‟s appearance and clothes to describe their character. For example: the author describes how their character looks like,
the color of their hair, clothes, skin, and eyes.
b. Characters as seen by another
The author of the novel may use a character to describe the other character in the story. The author does not need to describe the character directly, they can
describe them from the eyes and opinions from other character.
c. Speech
“The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what
the person says” Murphy, 1972:164. The other character describes the character directly. If the character is a kind person, the other
character will say that he is a kind person directly.
d. Past life
By letting the readers learn something about a person‟s past life, the author can give them a clue to the event that has shaped a person‟s personality. This can
be done by direct comment by the author, thro ugh the person‟s thoughts, the
conversation or the medium of another person Murphy, 1972:166.
e. Conversation of others
The author can also give us clues to a person‟s character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People do talk
about other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the person spoken about Murphy, 1972:167.
f. Reactions
The author can also use how a person reacts to the certain situations or experiences to describe a pe
rson‟s character.
g. Direct comment
The author can describe or comment on a person‟s character directly Murphy, 1972:170.
h. Thoughts
The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect he is able to do what people cannot do in real life. He can tell us
what different people are thinking. In the novel people accept this. The reader then is in a privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged in
to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel Murphy, 1972:171.
i. Mannerisms
The author can describe a person‟s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his character Murphy, 1972:173.
2. Theory of Behavior
According to Schwartz, behavior is something which can be readily observed and measured 1978:4. “People are reasoning, thoughtful, remembering
creatures. They are changed as a result of their experiences in a way that falling stones, for example, are not
. People carry in part as a result of those experiences” Schwartz, 1978:3.
People‟s change is the result of their experiences. “Experience certainly changes people” Schwartz, 1978:3. It means that if people
experiences good events, their behavior can change to the better. But if they experience bad events, their behavior is also worse than before. “Behavior theory
emphasizes environmental events as playing the key role in determining human behavior. The source of action lies not inside the person, but i
n the environment” Schwartz, 1978:4.
Environments really influence someone‟s behavior. For example, if a student has a friend in school. Herhis friend is a diligent and smart
student, naturally that student will try to be the same as hisher friend. They will start to study hard too. “More specifically, behavior theorist expect that the major
burden of explanation of human action will be carried by a small set of environmental events, events which we typically call rewards and punishment”
Schwartz, 1978:5. Rewards and punishments are common things in human life. Rewards and punishments are used to induce people to act in certain ways.
“Though we may not recognized it, individuals and institutions have always depended upon the use of reward and punishment to manipulate
our behavior” Schwartz, 1978:11. For example, teacher always induce students to do their
