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enemy. Therefore, the readers may get different opinions of the character’s personality.
d. From What Other Characters Do
What other characters do toward a certain character also can determine the analysis of the character. It is very important to know the characterization of the main
character such as whether the main character is a lazy, clever, happy, kind, wicked, or careless person. Other characters’ responses in specific events in the story can be
used as the reflection and can help the readers to understand the character’s personality.
As quoted by Larver and Schiever in their book, Perspective on Personality, Allport says that “The characteristic of a character is related to his or her behavior,
thoughts, and feelings” 5. Here is clear that the way of thinking, feeling, and behavior will influence one’s character. Therefore it is important for the readers to
analyze the characters and the main character’ thought, feelings, and actions to figure out the characters’ personalities.
Meanwhile, characterization is the process of creating and developing characters in a work of fiction. According to Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of
Literature 1995, characterization is also defined as the representation in fictional or drama of human character personality. Characters are usually presented through their
actions, dialects, thoughts, as well as description. Characterization can consider a variety of aspects of characters, such as appearance, age, gender, educational level,
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occupation, financial status, marital status, social status, cultural background, beliefs, ambitions, motivation, personalities, and many more else.
Basically, there are two general ways in identifying information about a character. Those are Direct or Explicit Characterization that the author directly tells
what the character looks like through the narrator, another character, or by the character himself. The second way is Indirect or Implicit Characterization that the
readers have to guess what the character looks like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech, and interactions.
However from the explanation above, this study only chooses five ways that are included in Indirect Characterization to analyze the two main characters of If I
were You, Sophie and Natasha. They are; 1. Characters as Seen by Another: The author of the novel describes the
characters through other characters’ words, views, and opinions. 2. From What the Characters Say: The author can give the readers overview
into the characterization of the character in the novel through what the character says and the way he or she speaks.
3. From What the Characters Do: The author can give clues to the character’s characteristic by letting the readers know how the character
reacts to various situations or events. 4. Thoughts: The author gives the readers information from what a character
thinks. How and what a character thinks of a situation or problems can reflect what he or she actually is.
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