speech and manners of the white bourgeois society. His aspirations enslave him. Diyaiy, 2009: 14
The statement concerns the same perspective as the writer that Clay’s covers his
Black identity through devices usually worn and used by Whites . Clay’s dilemma
about his identity shows that he wants to have awareness in his society that judges him by the color of skin. He knows that living as a Black Man in America is not
easy, especially in that era where all Black people struggled for their freedom as mankind. This article helps the writer understand the issue of self that Clay
struggled with. From the aforementioned study and review,
Dutchman
becomes a significant work which talks about the situation of African American life in that
time, in the 1960s. Based on the related study above, the writer will use all studies to help the writer to analyze the racial stereotyping towards
Clay’s identity.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Character is one of the most important elements in literary work, in this case in drama or play work. Without the existence of characters, there are no
stories to be written. According to M. H. Abrams
’s about the description about character and characterization. He states that
The person represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral,
intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the person says and their distinctive ways of saying it
– the dialogue – from what they do
– the action. The grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and
moral nature for their speech and actions are called their motivation Abrams, 1999:32.
Furthermore, Abrams explains that character may remain stable in their outlooks and disposition from the beginning until the end of the story, or they may undergo
some radical changes. Another theory of character and characterization comes from Christopher
Russell Reaske. The combination of speeches and actions throughout a play, small asides and jokes, the short angry speeches, the lengthy diatribes help our mind
understand the characters in a drama as people who might really exist Reaske, 1966: 40. Reaske also states there are some devices of characterization made by
the dramatist to help us analyze the characters in a drama.
a. The Appearance of the Character
In the prologue or in the stage directions, playwrights often give description on the characters’ physical sense. We can learn from the stage
directions how they look, how they walk onto the stage and how they are dressed up. For short, from their appearances, we can obtain our first understanding of
certain characters in a drama.
b. Asides and Soliloquies
All of the further characterization is established through dialogue. We learn how they speak, and we understand them specifically when they speak in
short asides or in longer soliloquies. From these, we can tell if the characters are antagonists or protagonists.
c. Dialogue between Characters
The language or diction that the characters use when they talk to other characters throughout the drama also gives contributions in revealing their
personalities.
d. Hidden Narration
The playwrights always implicitly give a clue about the characters through other characters. If often occurs in a drama when a certain character narrates
something about another character.
e. Character in Action
As characters become more engaged in the certain situations, we can gradually learn more about them. When they get involved in the action of the
play, they must perform particular acts which later will slowly reveal their motivations in behaving that way Reaske, 1966: 44-48.
The explanation about character and characterization above helped the writer to anal
yze Clay’s depiction as an African American man in the play.
2. The Relation between Literature and Society
Literary works have been very important for people in this living world. Literature is also one media to express many things in many aspects in the society,
and society makes the story alive. Literary work has been a very close “friend”
with society in years, and they related to one another. From Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, they state that
Literature is a social institution, using as its medium language, a social creation. Such traditional literary devices as symbolism and metre are
social in their very nature. They are conventions and norms which could
