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1.5 Definitions of Terms
There is term that needs to be explained in this thesis. It is position. 1.5.1
Position The first term is position. The novel is a story about women’s life which is
related to women’s position. According to Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus, position means 1 a place occupied by a person or thing 2 a person
situation in relation to others 3 rank or status: high social standing 1161. Related to this study, a position means an individual status and social
standing that is given by the society, in this case the individual status and social standing of women in Iran.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter explains some theories that are related to this study. It consists of three main parts. The first is review of related theories, followed by the
socio-cultural reviews as the second part and the third part is theoretical framework. In the theoretical review, I give a brief explanation of the theories that
support my study. Socio-Cultural reviews explain about women’s role in Iran in the late 20
th
century. Theoretical framework gives a brief summary about the theories that is used in my study.
2.1. Review of Related Theories
This part consists of two main theories that are used in this study. The first one is theory of character and characterization which becomes the basis of the
study to portray the major characters in this study. The second theory is theory of approach that is used to reveal the society perceive women on their surroundings.
2.1.1. Character and Characterization
Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms defines characters as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the
readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say dialog and what they do action. Meanwhile, the main
character is the most important person in the story. It can be the center of the
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story. Usually the acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning to the ending parts 20.
Furthermore, Abrams states that as people presented in the story, characters have the same characteristics as real human beings. They have
temperament and moral nature. Their temperament will be the basis of their speeches and actions. In the story, characters may remain constant or stable or
may undergo a radical change through its development or as result of an extreme crisis in the story itself 20.
In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton states 23 that characters are the individuals who appear in the story and these individuals are resulted from
mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles. He also divides a character into two: central character and minor character. A central character is a
character who dominates the whole story and is presented frequently to develop. The minor character is presented to explain and to help other characters,
especially the major character. While, Jacobs, in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing 501, states that character is an extended verbal
representation of human being, the inner self that determines thought, speech and behavior. A character is then a person in the literary work.
Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen points out nine ways in which an author attempts to present the character in the story understandable and feel
like the characters are alive for the readers 161-173. They are from the personal description, the way in which the character is seen by others, the character’s
speech, his past life, the conversation of others, the figure’s reactions, direct
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