been mentioned before. This study is related with characterization and religion, so first there will be some theories on character and characterization and then
the theory on religion to follow.
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
Character has an important part in a literary work. Therefore, many experts in the world of literature have their own opinion and theory about
character in the literary works. One expert that has a theory about character is E.M. Foster. According to him there are two types of character, flat
character and round character. His explanation can be found in Abrams‟ Glossary of Literary Terms as quoted in the following
A flat character also called a type or “two dimensional” is built around “a single idea or quality” and is presented without much
individualizing detail and therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single phrase or sentence. A round character is complex in
temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity: such a character therefore is as difficult to describe with
any adequacy as a person in real life and like real person, is capable of surprising us. Abrams, 1981: 101
In his explanation Foster stated that the one who will build the story with its complexity is called the round character. In other words, the round
character could be the one that give directions to where the story goes. Meanwhile, the flat character will only give addition to the story. There
would be not much of effects or change to the story made by the flat character.
Furthermore, Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction gives two possible definitions of a character. First is the person and second is the personality. It
can be seen in the following quotation Character can be defined in two ways. First, this term defines a person
or an individual that appears or is created by an author in a story. Second, it refers to a mixture of all the mental or moral qualities such
as principles, values, emotions, interests, etc that build each of an
individual‟s personality. Stanton, 1965: 17 To sum up, according to Stanton, what so called as a character could
mean two ways, the first, a person that is inside the story is called a character. Secondly, the personality of that person itself is also called a
character. Moreover, Abrams in Glossary of Literary Terms stated that character
is “the person presented in narrative work, which is interpreted by the reader as being endowed by moved and dispositions qualities that are expressed in
their dialogue and their action” 1981: 20. Here Abrams stated that character could be interpreted by readers by looking and understanding their
dialogue and actions throughout the whole story. Meanwhile, still talking about character, M. J. Murphy in his book
entitled Understanding Unseens explained that there are several ways to describe the characters 1972: 161-172. There are nine ways characters
could be described as seen in the following quotation a.
Personal Description The author describes a character by analyzing his or her physical
appearance. For example, the author can describe the details of the
characters appearance, such as: the skin, face, eyes, hair, body, or his or her clothes. By analyzing physical appearance of the character, the author
can describe the personalities of the character. b.
Characters as seen by another character The description is gain from the eyes and opinions of other character. the
author gives description of the character by showing other characters opinion toward the character, which the author wants to describe.
c. Speech
The author describes the character through what the character says. the readers can observe the characters personality by observing his or her
speech. d.
Past Life The author describes the characters personality through the events in past
life. The readers can analyze by paying attention on the direct comments, the characters thoughts, and his or her conversation.
e. Conversation of Others
To find the personality of a character, the author can give the readers a clue to a persons character through the conversations with other
characters and the things they say about the character. f.
Reactions The author can describe a character by letting the readers know the
person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct Comment
The author also can describe the characters personality directly. h.
Thoughts The author describes the characters personality through the characters
inner mind or thoughts, or the way they think. i.
Mannerism By identifying the characters manners or behavior, the readers can
identify their characteristics. Beside character, characterization also plays an important role in the
works of art. In the work of art, characterization not just described as a personality of all characters inside the story but it is more on the way
characters are presented by the author. The reader need to know the characterization of every character in order to understand the character and
its personalities. Furthermore, personalities will lead to the development of the character itself and also the development of the story. That is the reason
that understanding the characterization of characters is very important. Perrine in his book, Literature: Structure, Sounds, and Sense 1974:
68 explain that there are two ways character can be described by the author. First is called direct presentation. In this method, the character is described
directly throughout the story. The description of what is the character looks like, the attitude, and behavior are told clearly by the author in the story so
that the reader will be able to understand the characterization very easily. The direct presentation will give all readers the same perception and
understanding of the character inside a story. Second is indirect presentation. In this method, there will be no clear explanation about the
character in the story as the direct presentation. The reader should be able to conclude and understand the character through its actions in the whole story;
what they say, thinks, or does. The reader will have to read the story very carefully in order to understand the characterization. Thus indirect
presentation of characters will lead to different perception of the character by different reader.
2. Theory on Religion
