CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter the writer discusses the three problems that are formulated in the first chapter. The first problem is to find out the characteristics of the main
characters. In describing the main characteristic s in the story, Murphy‟s nine ways
in determining their characteristics in his Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Students will be
used. Another theory used is from M. H. Abrams‟s Glossary of Literary Terms of character and characterization. The second problem is to see the relationship of
the main characters ‟ love described in the story. In analyzing their relationship,
Rollo May ‟s theory on love is used from the book of Love and Will. Meanwhile,
the last part of this chapter discusses the main characters‟ personality changes as
the effect of their love. The changes of personality of the main characters will be discussed by using theory on personality of Hurlock‟s Personality Development.
A. The Characteristics of the Characters
1. Eric
Eric is the important character in this story because he has a big influence in the story development. The methods of characterization as suggested by M. H.
Abrams and Murphy 1972: 161-173 is identified used to analyze the characteristics of the character. Eric
‟s characterization will be employed through personal description, manner and other thought or conversation that are described
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in Murphy ‟s nine methods of characterization. The following are Eric‟s
characteristics.
a. Hateful
In the first part of the story, Eric ‟s only lived by himself. He is the
protagonist or main character in this story because he is the character that has a strong influence toward the relationship between Christine and Raoul. Eric is a
very hateful person because he laments the fact that his mother was horrified by his appearance and said to have abandoned him, and that his father, a master
mason, never saw him. Erik was born in a small town to far from Rouen. He was the son of a
master-mason. He ran away at an early age from his father ‟s house, where
his ugliness was a subject of horror and terror to his parents p.259. This evident shows how his parents hate him; they never care about Eric as
their son. This condition also makes Eric to be a hateful person because he thought that nobody cares of him. He hates everybody, including his parents.
Most people reported that he is very horrible. People also knew Eric as the Opera Ghost because he had a terrible face. He had a yellow face, no nose and
black holes for eyes. So he could not socialize because when people saw him, they would run or yell. Not only people in the Opera House who said that Eric was the
ghost. Even Christine also described Eric as what people said. If Eric„s face
looked normal, he could live more happily and he could do something he wanted easily. Because of his poor face, he had to hide all of his life.
“He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two
big black holes, as in a dead man ‟s skull. His skin, which is stretched across
his bones like a drumhead, is not white, but a nasty yellow. His nose is so
little worth talking about that you can ‟t see it side-face; and the absence of
that nose is a horrible thing to look at. All the hair he has is three or four long dark locks on his forehead and behind his ears
”p.9. The evidence shows how horrible the appearance of Eric is. It makes other
people thought that whatever Eric did were horrible things. He also hated everybody because of their action. This condition built Eric
‟s personality as a hateful person.
After falling in love with Christine, Eric wanted to try his new life as normal as everybody else. Eric dreamed to have a wife like other people. He wanted to
have a happy family like other people, too. He realized that people did not like him, so Eric hid his whole life but not for his love, Christine. He wanted to come
out from his cell. Eric dreamed of having such a normal life like other people. He was so poor, because one of his promises was only wanted to have a normal life,
as free as he let Christine go with Raoul and he died in his own cell. “I want to live like everybody else. I want to have a wife like everybody
else and to take her out on Sundays. I have invented a mask that makes me look like anybody. People will not even turn run in the streets. You will be
the happiest of women
”p.215. This quotation showed that he wanted to do everything for Christine, even if
he had to change his appearance. He tried to change everything because he thought that people did not like him and Christine did not like him, either. He had
to change his physical appearance in order to change their life.
b. Selfish
Eric was a selfish person. He only cared about himself, he tried to possess his money and the box five the place to perform in the Opera House. People did
not know much about Eric ‟s life, they only knew that Eric was the Opera ghost.
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