E. M Forster 1990:73-80 said that, distinguishes two kinds of characters, those are: Flat character is constructed round a single idea or quality, unchanging and
static, at the end of the short story he is essentially what he has been throughout, his response is predictable and Round character is a charcter portrayed in the round,
profoundly altered by his experiences, he does not embody a single or quality but it much more complex, his responses take us by surprise.
Kennedy 1991:47 said that,
It has often been assumed that characters in a literary work can be judged from four levels of characterization. They are helpful for us to see the very basic
description of characters. The four levels are : character is an imagined person who exists in
the story. Moreover, characters in short story have been especially created by the author. Characterization is the author’s way of describing his characters in a literary
work or the author’s means of differentiating one character to another. Characters are closely related to plot because character means action, while action from the plot of
literary work. An author may presents his characters in two general ways, they are: 1 directly, telling his readers the characters’ qualities and 2 through actions,
showing the characters’ deeds by which his characters may be revealed.
a. Physica l: physical level supplies such basic facts, as sex, age, and size. It
is simplest level of characterization because it reveals external traits only.
b. Social: social level of characterization includes economic status,
profession, religion, family and social relationships.
c. Psychological: this level reveals habitual responses, attitudes, desires,
motivation, like and dislike-the inner working of the mind, both emotional and intellectual which lead to action. Since feeling, thought
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and behavior define a character more fully than physical and social traits and since a literary work usually arises from desires in conflict, the
psychological level is the most essential parts of characterization.
d. Moral:
moral decision more clearly differentiate character than any other level of characterization. The choices made by a character when he is
faced with a moral crisis show whether he is selfish, a hypocrite, or he is the one who always acts according to his belief. A moral decision usually
causes a character to examine his own motives and values, and in the process his true nature is revealed both to himself and to the readers.
A characters who stands as a representative of particular class or group of people is known as a type. Some types of characters are: Stereotyped characters do
not represent individuals but a group of people, profession, etc they act according to a set of pattern; Stock characters appeared from dramatic situation such as triangle
love affair; Allegorical characters are usually not given human names but they represent human attitudes and emotions and author uses names taken from the
characters’ role representing their attitudes, behavior, etc; Full-dimension characters usually described at greater length, more detail and capable of greater individuation.
From the above, that the allegorical character types found in the three short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, where a characters name is not given human
names and no clear origins and also overall emotional attitude of the characters are written by the author
.
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2.3 Madness Of The Character
