The other paper is written by Lana Zannettino entitled From “Looking for Alibrandi” To “Does My Head Look Big In This?” The Role of Australian Teenage
Novels In Reconceptualising Racialised gendered Identities. This paper undertakes a comparative analysis of three Australian teenage novels – Melina Marchetta’s
Looking for Alibrandi 1992, Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Does my Head Look Big in This? 2005, and Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Girl Underground’ 2004. Drawing from
feminist post-structural and postcolonial theories, the paper examines how each author has constructed the racialised-gendered identities of their female protagonists,
including the ways in which they struggle to develop an identity in-between minority and dominant cultures. Zannettino also considers how each author inter-weaves race,
gender and class to produce subjects that are positioned differently across minority and dominant cultures http:epress.lib.uts.edu.au.
This thesis is different from Wilson’s and Zannettino’s paper since this thesis examines the life of the main character in Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi.
Meanwhile, the other two papers focus on the Melina Marchetta’s life.
B. Review of Related Theories
It is necessary to include all related theories which are very useful to be used for answering the problems formulated. Because the topic examined in this thesis
focuses on the main character, therefore theories on character, characterization and conflict are very useful to be included in order to get better understanding of the
character. Those theories enable the thesis writer to analyze the changing
characteristics of Josephine Alibrandi into becomes a mature person who is influenced by conflict. Furthermore, theories on maturity are needed to analyze the
main character’s decisions and actions of facing and solving the conflicts that lead her to become a mature person.
1. Theories of Character
Edward Morgan Forster in Aspects of the Novel proposes two famous types of characters that are commonly presented in literary works which are round character
and flat character 1954: 103. Round character is usually the major character in the work and this character undergoes some changes in his or her actions, thoughts and
feelings because of his or her experiences. On the other hands, flat character often becomes the minor character, although not all minor characters are flat. According to
Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, “round characters can be considered dynamic since they undergo changes
and flat characters can be considered static since they do not change or grow” 1987: 145. Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature also add brief
descriptions about static and dynamic character. Static character is a character who does not undergo any kind of changes, in his or her appearance, attitudes, behaviors,
disposition, or the way he or she thinks from the beginning of the story until the end. Different from the static character, a dynamic character is a character who can
undergo changes in appearance, attitudes, behaviors, disposition, or the way he or she thinks from the beginning of the story until the end 1986: 83.
2. Theories of Characterization
According to Holman and Harmon, characterization is “the creation of images of imaginary persons so that they exist for the readers as lifelike” 1986: 81. In other
words, characterization is the creation of imaginative character in the fiction. The thesis writer believes that it is important to know about the methods in doing
characterization in order to enhance the understanding of character. In Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas
Students, M.J Murphy states that characterization is how an author conveys to the reader what sort of people they are, how an author makes the reader get to know and
understand them. According to Murphy, there are nine methods in doing characterization which are personal description, character as seen by another, speech,
past life, conversation by another characters, reactions, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms 1972: 162-173. The writer will use some of those methods to observe
the characteristic of the main character which are the personal description, character seen by another, speech, conversation of other characters, reactions toward various
events or situations, and thoughts. a.
Personal description The author describes a person by giving details of appearance. The author can
tell the readers the details of the color of the skin and of the hair, the shape, or the clothes used, which may keep the readers to visualize the person and to know
characters as well.
