9 minor character becomes the background of the main character. He or she is less
sophisticated and responses to the experiences in the story are less complex. Therefore, he or she comes only in certain event.
According to Foster 2002, there are two kinds of character. He defines the character as a flat character and a round character pp. 46 - 47. A flat
character is built around a single idea or quality or is presented without much individualizing detail. A round character is a complex character. It is presented
with subtle particularity. Thus, the character is difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like real person.
Character has personality and physical distinguishing to the other characters. Stanton 1965, p. 17 defines that character designates the individuals
who appear in the story or the mixture of the interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles that make up each of individuals. Therefore, character gives
certain situation in certain event of the story because he or she shows the emotions.
3. Theory of Characterization
To understand deeper the character, characterization is needed for the playwright and also the readers. The characterization is a process which the
playwright creates the character. In the other words, Rohrberger Woods 1971 says that characterization is a device to make the readers believe that the character
is the particular type of person p. 20. For the readers, it helps them to understand each character of the story. In the book Understanding Unseen, Murphy 1972
10 states that there are nine ways which the playwright characterizes the character
pp. 161 - 167. Those nine ways are discussed below. The first is through personal description. The playwright may describe the
character’s appearances and clothes. The appearances deal with the character’s face, eyes, skin color, head, hairs, hands, even the small detail, the scar. The
clothes deal with how the character dresses or the style of his or her clothes. The playwright does not only describe the character trough those ways, but also
through the sense of smelling, sense of hearing, and sense of touching. Therefore, the character can be presented by his or her smell and also sound.
The second is from the character as seen by the others. Character is not always described directly; the playwright can also describe the character through
the eyes and opinions of others. The readers will get the reflected image. The opinion from the character will affect what the readers think about the particular
character. The third is character speech. The playwright gives the readers the insight
into the character through the speech or conversation the character does to the others. From the conversation or dialogue or monologue the character does, it will
give the clue to know the characterization. From the character says, the readers can infer the character’s background. Through this way, the readers cannot only
infer the background, but the readers can also infer the way of thinking of the character, what the character likes, and also the emotion of the character.
The fourth is past life. By letting the readers learn something about a person’s past life, the playwright can give the readers a clue to events that have
11 helped to shape one’s character. It may be in the form of a direct comment by the
playwright, through the person’s thought through the conversation or through the medium of another.
The fifth is conversation. The playwright can take clues to one’s character through the conversation of the other people and the things they say about him or
her. When people think about the others, they often give clues about one’s character that they are talking about.
The sixth is reaction. The playwright may give the readers clue to one’s character through how she or he reacts to various situations and events. Through
the way a character reacts to situations and events, the readers can understand the characteristic within him or her.
The seventh is direct comment. This is the simplest way because the playwright describes or comments a one’s character directly. The reader can also
understand easily by reading the story. The eighth is thought. The playwright gives the readers knowledge of what
one character is thinking about. In reality, people cannot do this because people cannot know what the others are thinking about. However in reading the story, the
readers can know everything what the character is thinking about. The ninth is mannerism. The playwright can describe one’s mannerism and
habits which may also tell the readers something about the one’s character. Thus, the readers can infer one’s character from what and how he or she behaves.
4. Theory of Absurdity
