2.1.1 Theory of Literature 2.1.1.1 Theory of Character
Theory of character consists of some crucial parts to understand the characters in the novel. It is important to find out the answer to the first problem
of this study. Those parts are definitions of characters and types of character.
2.1.1.1.1 Definitions of Character
Character is one of the most important elements in literary works. Abrams defines character as “a literary genre: a short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of
a distinctive type of person” or “the persons 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—the dialogue—and by what they do—the action” 20. In the other words, characters are the people in
the novel, including their personalities and characteristics. Through the eyes of the characters, the readers can experience not only the characters’ life but also see
what Henkle says as “a vision of a world” 48. The characters show the picture of their world in the story and make the readers able to identify the novel’s world.
Character plays an important role in a novel because character is the foundation of a story. Robert and Jacobs 63 state that “a character is a
reasonable facsimile of a human being, with all the good and bad traits of being human.” The author creates the characters to represent human beings in his or her
novel. Character is just like actual human beings that are placed in real-life situation. Character really lives in the story and affects the flow of the story.
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2.1.1.1.2 Types of Character
According to the role the characters serve in the story, Henkle 1977: 87- 89 mentions that they may divided into major and minor or secondary character.
A major character can be the centre of the story. He or she is the most important character in the story. Usually, the acts of the story focused on this character from
the beginning to the ending part. The core of the story is highlighted to these character’s experiences. Meanwhile, minor or secondary character appears in a
certain setting, just necessarily to become the background for the major characters because the focal experiences of the novel are taken place among the major
characters 1988:23. Based on the frequency of appearance in the novel, Milligan 155 divides
character into two. The first type is the major character. The major character appears more frequently than the other characters in the novel. The readers
usually follow the plot of the novel through this character. In the other words, this character is the main character of the novel. The second type is minor character.
This character appears less often than the main character in the novel. This character only appears in certain setting of the novel. The character is also less
important than the major character. Character also can be divided into protagonist and antagonist. Rohrberger
and Woods, Jr. 1971:20 say that the most important character in a story, the one to whom all the events in the story have relevance is called protagonist. Usually, it
is easy for the readers to identify him and give sympathy. When protagonist is involved in conflict with another character, the other is called the antagonist.
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Antagonist is the character who opposes the protagonist and usually the readers do not admire this kind of character.
Forster 1974: 63-64, 53-54 mentions that characters can be divided into: a. Flat or static character
Static character is the same sort of person at the end of the story as he or she at the beginning. A flat or static character tends to stay the same throughout the story. A
flat character can simultaneously be a stock character. In flat character, some trait of character for some reason is exaggerated, while the other aspects or traits are
hardly paid attention to. Flat character represents a particular person as more simple, or hardly ever, surprises the reader.
b. Round or dynamic character A round character often changes. This the most perfect way for authors to present
the characters in their wholeness and in their different aspects. A round or dynamic character tends to react differently toward different situations and or
person encountered. It is obviously more lifelike than the flat character, because in the real life people are simply embodiments of single behavior, they tend to grow,
develop and change, these characters tend to undergo a permanent change in some aspects of his character, personality, or outlook.
2.1.1.2 Theory of Characterization
Theory of characterization consists of some important parts to help in answering the first problem of this study. Those parts are definition of
characterization and methods of characterization.
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2.1.1.2.1 Definitions of Characterization
In order to know Paulo’s characterization in the novel, the writer uses the theory that is related to characterization. Abcarian and Klotz define
characterization as “the process by which the characters are rendered to make them seem real to the reader” 6. From the definition, characterization means the
way of the author in describing the characters so that the readers are able to differentiate a character from the others and figure out the ideas, thoughts, and
information brought by each character. Meanwhile, Murphy states that characterization is “the technique used by
the author to make the qualities of the character from his likes and dislikes, how he lives, and what he does” 52. It means that characterization is the way that is
used by the author in his literary work to make the readers able to recognize the character and to find out the ideas which are conveyed by the character. This
statement is supported by Holman and Harmon. They say that the term characterization is “the creation of the imaginary persons so that they exist for the
readers as lifelike” 81. In short, characterization is the way the author shows and tries to make his characters alive and understandable for the readers as realistic
ones in his literary work.
2.1.1.2.2 Methods of Characterization
