Theory of Character and Characterization

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter discusses the related literature and the theoretical framework. The first part is review of related literature, in this part I will discuss some theories, sources that are used in writing this thesis. The theories that support my analysis are: theory of character and characterization and the Buddhist Philosophies on life. I use philosophical and history of idea for the approach. In the second part, this chapter provides theoretical framework to explain how the theories and reviews are applied in the study.

2.1. Review of Related Theory

In this theoretical study, I will explain some theories that are related to my thesis. These theories are important to support my analysis on Mitch Albom’s work, they are: theory of character and characterization, History of idea approach and Buddhist philosophies on life.

2.1.1 Theory of Character and Characterization

The novel appears to have deeper knowledge of human life than other literary form. People generally consider a novel as a book that tells a story, and this story is concerned with people. These people as characters play a big role toward the story. We can see people’s life in a novel. A novel puts ideas in a human context. Clearly everything we know in novels depends to our understanding of the character in it. Hugh states that a character is “a complicated term that includes the moral constitution of the human personality, the presence of moral uprightness, and the presence of creatures that is seen like a real human being. The person is described not as an individualized personality but as an example of some vice or virtue of type 81.” From the statement we can conclude that character in the novel is a picture of a real person, with many resemblances in personality. When we analyze a character it means that we should be interested in complex people. We are interested to know what indicates them. Story line and events will produce change in character, and complex people who act from a combination of motives and emotions are likely to experience the most marked changes. According to Henkle there are two types of characters; they are main characters and secondary characters. “To a great extent, main characters are created because only they are given the amplitude and attention to present convincing dramatizations of the human issues of the book. If they fail in this role, the book essentially fails 93.” The failure of a main character to dramatize a novel’s issue occurs when we cannot accept the characterization of the performance of the issue. “The most obvious function of secondary characters is to populate the world of the novel. Since fiction presents human contexts, the secondary characters establish that context 94.” In the mode of the social novel, such life is important, for an objective of social novels is to portray the social culture and its nature. Some secondary characters clash with the main characters in order to bring out into the open crucial elements of the nature or unpleasant situation of those main characters. “Another group of secondary characters acts within the shadow of the main characters, reduplicating, in different ways, the experiences that engross the novel’s principal figures 97.” When a secondary character experiences the same emotional states as a main character, or participates in a situation that parallels that of the main character, then the secondary character functions as an analogue. Henkle states, “Characters functioning analogically often point up facets of aspects of the action of the main characters. The minor characters, being generally less complex, or less intense, and drawn in shallower relief, present what is often only one side of the experience 97.” The main characters are not limited while the secondary is, they must be more complicated than secondary and a lot more complex and interesting. There are many ways to analyze a character in a novel. Murphy 161 explains that a character can be seen through: 1. Personal description The author can describe a character’s appearance and clothes. A character’s character can be recognized from hisher appearance and clothes. 2. Character as seen by another The author can describe a character through the eyes and opinions of others. Other characters help the reader understands the character deeper. 3. Speech Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he makes opinion, in a novel. He is giving us some clue to his character. 4. Past life The past life can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by the author’s direct comment, through the person’s thoughts. 5. Conversation of others People talk about other people and the things. People’s talking about other people and the things they say often give a clue to the character of the person spoken about. 6. Reactions A characters show hisher personality by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events. 7. Direct comment The author’s comment on a character explicitly gives us a clue about the character’s personality. 8. Thoughts The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. The reader then is in a privileged position; he has a secret listening device plugged into the deepest thoughts of a person in a novel. 9. Mannerism The character’s behavior and act towards something shows hisher personality. Holman 82 states that there are three fundamental methods of characterization: 1. The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; 2. The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions; 3. The representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with the expectation that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes of the character.

2.1.2 Theory of Critical Approaches