Definition of Characters Types of Characters

10 to know the character development of human being.

2. Theories of Character

To analyse a literary work, a character has an important role to be discussed. As stated by Stanton 1965 in his book An Introduction to Fiction, “through our knowledge of the characters, we understand their actions, we u nderstand the characters” p. 18. The theories of character used in this study are proposed by Henkle, Abrams, Roberts and Jacobs, and Holman and Harmon.

a. Definition of Characters

Abrams 1981 defines a character as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who is interpreted by the reader as being endowed with a moral and disposition qualities, that are expressed in what they say-the dialogues-and by what they do-the action p. 20. Another definition of character is given by Roberts and Jacobs in his book Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Roberts and Jacobs 1989 define that a character is an extended verbal representation of a human being, the inner self that determines thoughts, speech and behaviour p. 143. Based on those theories, it can be concluded that character is a person in a dramatic or narrative work who is also a representative of a human being.

b. Types of Characters

Henkle 1977 in his book, Reading the Novel, states that there are two kinds of characters based on the importance: major and minor characters p. 86. A major character is a centre of the story. It has an important role in a story. The 11 reader will pay more attention to major character rather than minor character. In order to understand the story, we need to give more attention to the major character. On the other hand, minor character has less important point in a story than major character. It has limited role of action in a story. Minor character has a role as a supporter in the development of major character. Roberts and Jacobs 1989 divide two types of characters in fiction, namely “round” and “flat” p. 145. Round character is relatively fully developed by the author. The round character is considered as dynamic as they posses many individual and unpredictable human traits. They demonstrate their capacity to change or grow. As contrasted with round character, flat character is usually minor character, although not all minor characters are flat. Usually they stay the same; they are static, and not dynamic like round characters. They are not developed, and because they are not central to the plot they do not change or grow. Another theory on round dynamic and flat static character is taken from Holman and Harmon‟s A Handbook to Literature. Holman and Harmon 1986 classify the type of characters into static and dynamic characters p. 83. A static character is one who changes little if at all. The pattern of action reveals the character rather than showing how the character changes in response to the actions. On the other hand, a dynamic character is a character who is modified by actions and experiences, and one objectives of the work in which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions. 12

3. Theories of Characterization a. Definition of Characterization