12 all events in the story; usually they cause the conversation either in him or in the
readers’ attitude toward him. According to Ferster in Arguing through Literature 2005:81, there are
two kinds of characters; those are flat character and rounded character. Flat characters tend to be simpler; they are defined by one or two traits, say the same
thing repeatedly, or embody an ethnic, gender, or some other stereotype. Rounded characters, which are more complex, tend to have a fuller range of thoughts,
feelings, or actions, perhaps even in conflict with each other, and might grow, change, or learn something. This is not to say that real people can be one-sided,
but it is possible to know only one side of a person Rohrberger and Woods 1971: 20 in Reading and Writing about Literature. Rohrberger and Woods also stated
that characters must be credible, that is, readers must accept them as believable people. Characters have particular personalities and physical attributes that
distinguish them from other characters.
b. Theory of Characterization
According to Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature
1971: 20, the process by which an author creates a character is called characterization. There are two principal ways an author can characterize, those
are direct means to describe physical appearance and dramatic means and place one character in situation to show the way to speak and behavior.
This paper will analyze the characterizations of two of the characters in Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Phoebe and David Henry.
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13 According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook of Literature 1986:81,
characterization is the ways the author reveals the characters of imaginary person in the story. It shows that characterization is the way the author presents the
character. The character we encounter through literature are defined by what they think and say, what other characters and the narrator say about them, what they
do, and what they look like Ferster, 2005:80 in Arguing Through Literature. Murphy’s
Understanding Unseen: an introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for overseas Student
gives more detail techniques of characterization. It mentions nine techniques of characterization used by author to
describe the characters of story 1972:161-173. The techniques are: 1
Personal description An author uses this method particularly to give the description of character
face, body, and the other physical appearances. 2
Character as seen by another Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe a character
through the eyes and opinions of others. 3
Speech The author gives the readers an insight into the character of one of the person
in the book through what the person says. 4
Past life By letting the readers learn about a character’s past life, the author can give
the clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done
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14 by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his
conversation, or through the medium of another person. 5
Conversation of others The author can also give the readers clues to a persons’ character through the
conversation of other people and the things they say about her him. 6
Reaction The author can give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting the
readers know how that person reacts to various situations and events. 7
Direct comment The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly.
8 Thoughts
The author can give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this aspect, he or she is able to do what we cannot do in real
life. The reader then is in privileged position: he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged into the inmost thoughts of a person in his or her novel.
9 Mannerism
An author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his her character.
Characterization, therefore, is central to the fictional experience and the principle objective of the creation of characters in novel is to enable us to
understand, and to experience, people Henkle, 1977:86.
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15
c. Juxtaposition
