Fifth is conversation of other. Conversations with other are employed
when a person’s character can be seen through the conversation to other character. When the character is speaking with another character, there may be implied
meaning that shows the characteristic of the character. Sixth is reaction. Reaction
is the author uses to give the reader clue to know how that person reacts to various situations and events. It is about what the character does to face something that
happen in the story or face the conflict. Then, seventh is a mannerism.
Mannerism in this case is about the person’s habits. In other words, the activity or
the thing that the person always does in various situations. In general, the theories on character and characterization useto help the
writer to analyze about the African American women characteristics in the novel.
2. Theories on Race, Racism and Racial Discrimination
Race can be divided into different meaning. Allan G. Johnson 1986: 353 in his book Human Arrangements: An Introduction to Sociology, defines race into
two meanings. First is as the biological concept, race refers to people who share a genetic
heritage that result in distinct physical features, such as the color of skin, eyes, and hair, or the shape of the nose or eyes. Second is as an ascribed
social status to which they attach values, attitudes, and norms that produce important consequences for the occupants of different racial status.
Race becomes the differentiation in society especially about the differentiation of
physical characteristics that lead some people to make the term race as social status from racial status. In other words, every race has different social status.
Therefore, the term of racism appears because of the differentiations among the races in society. Particularly, racism is the belief of some people that
they are superior and have a right to dominate inferior group or individual. Lois Tyson 2011: 211 in his book Using Critical Theory states
Racism is the oppression of individuals or groups based on the race. Racism can be happen in many aspects include economic, political, social,
or psychological. Racism is the myth or the belief that oppressed race is inferior to the “ dominant” race.
From the explanation above about racism, racism means the treatment where individual treats another individual based on his or her race. Racism limits
people’s perception about the difference in life. Ellis Cashmore in Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic studies says
Racial discrimination is behavioral expression of racism and is aimed at denying members of certain groups equal access to scarce and valued
resource. It holding the negative beliefs of them and makes them into action 2004: 345.
In other words, racial discrimination is the expression that treats people unfairly. The people who get discrimination have limitation to live, to access things, and to
get their rights as human being. When people have the belief of racism among certain group, the term
prejudice emerges. Aguirre and Turner define prejudice, they state that prejudice refers to negative belief, concepts and stereotypes about people 2011: 29.
Another theory comes from E. Franklin Frazier in his book Race and Culture Contacts in The Modern World , he states
Race prejudice is a social attitude with an emotional bias. The object of race prejudice is not only for individual with certain observable
characteristics but an individual who is identified as a member of racial group. It has often been said that race prejudice has resulted from some
unpleasant experience with an individual of a different race 1957: 275.
From those explanations above, prejudice means having bad opinion about some groups. It can be the negative opinion of their attitude, physical, intelligent
etc. Such negative belief not only for one person but also for all members. In this case, the member of African American women.
Racism can develop segregation. Segregation is a process of spatially isolating members of an ethnic subpopulation in areas where they cannot have the
same access to valued resources as do people who are not isolated Jr. Adalberto Aguirre and Jonathan H. Turner, 2011: 7-8. In other words, segregation means
the difference space between minority and dominant groups. The difference space can be happen in occupation, education, and housing, health etc. Frazier also
shows the patterns of racial segregation to be in residential area, in educational,
recreational, and other public institutions, in quasi-public institutions or privately operated institutions under public control, such as railroads,
steamship lines, streetcar and bus system, and hospitals, in private business establishments such as hotels and restaurants under customary or
legal mandate to prevent racial contact on a level implying social equality or permitting social intimacy, in other private commercial and professional
services, such as department stores, undertaking establishments and
doctor’s offices even in church 1957: 281- 283. From the theory above, we can see that segregation makes limit in daily life of
African American women to discover their lives because it happens in every aspect.
3. The Relation between Literature and Society
Literature is work of art, such as novel, poetry and prose etc. Literary works is one media to express and to discuss about many things such as the
cultural or the historical in society. Society makes the story alive. Therefore,
