26 Characterization is an important thing for the readers to understand the
character deeper. Characterization is a process which the character is portrayed like a real person who is living in a real world. In the other words,
characterization can be a device for the readers to believe that character is the particular type of a person Rohrberger Woods, 1971. Murphy explains that
there are nine ways which the playwright characterizes the character; they are personal description, others characters’ opinion, speech, past life, conversation of
others, reaction, direct comment, thought, and mannerism. In order to gain the deeper understanding on the old man’s
characterization, the discussion of the old man’s characterization will be analyzed using Murphy’s theory.
1. Infintile
This The old man is an infantile man. He is ninety five-years old, but he does not do such a wise man who has experienced many things in his life. The old
man’s infantile can be seen when he tells the old woman, his wife, about the old story Then at Last We Arrived, which is told every night since they married. At
the end of the story, the old woman mocks the old man’s job, general factotum. The old man then suddenly weeps while calling his mamma.
OLD WOMAN : Oh My darling, you are so really fine. Oh So really, you know, so really, so really, you could have been
anything in life, a lot more than general factotum. OLD MAN
: Let’s be modest… we should be content with the little. OLD WOMAN : Perhaps you’ve spoiled your career?
27 OLD MAN
: weeping suddenly I’ve spoiled it? I’ve spoiled it? Ah Where are you, mamma, mamma, where are you,
mamma?....hi, hi, hi, I’m an orphan. he moans ….an orphan, dworfan. Act 3: 4
In this case, the old man feels bad after hearing his wife mocks his job. Moreover, she says that the old man can be more than a general factotum. It means that the
old woman is not really proud of her husband’s job. Then, the old man does not like what the old woman says. The old man suddenly weeps and moans as he
cannot think why he can be a general factotum. As a man, he does not say a word first to give the clear clarification to his wife why he chooses a general factotum
as a job. Because the old man does not give clear clarification, the old woman states that the old man spoils his career. Since the old man cannot perceive, he
weeps and moans like a boy. Furthermore, he does not blame himself as a man who has chosen the job;
he then tries to find out his mamma. It means that he is searching for someone who can protect him from the blame of the old woman’s statement. Hence, he
calls mamma. When every man was a boy, mamma was his parent who was very close to him. If something bad comes to him, mamma will care of her boy. When
boy’s toy is broken, mamma will come to ask why and go buying the new one. It seems like the old man. When the old man gets the problem which cannot be
solved by him, he becomes a boy who breaks his toy and asks his mamma to give the newest one. It is childlike.
Furthermore, the other evidence of infantile is that the old man runs from the problem. He says that he has a message and it must be heard by all people.
28 However, he does not deliver the message by himself. He asks the orator to
deliver his message. OLD MAN
: Yes, Colonel, they are not here yet, but theyll be here. And the Orator will speak in my behalf, he will explain
the meaning of my message. ..Take care, Colonel, this Ladys husband may arrive at any moment
. Act 11: 10
OLD MAN : …. Were waiting for the Orator, hell tell you, hell
speak in my behalf, and explain everything that we hold most dear. . . hell explain everything to you. . .when? ..
when the moment has come. . .the moment will come soon. . . Act 19: 19
Those statements show that the old man does not want to deliver the message. Actually, only the old man itself knows what the meaning of the message is.
When the message is ready to deliver, he does not want to tell. Then, he calls the orator to deliver the message. It is indicated that he is infantile because he runs
away from his problem and gives the problem to the other, in this case the orator.
2. Irresponsible
