A brief description of Character

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2.2 A brief description of Character

Character is any person, personal, identity, or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance. Character is a participant in the story. In this thesis, the writer focuses on the definition of character, as quoted from Robert and Jacobs 1995:131 “Character may be defined as a verbal representation of a human being. Through action, speech, description, and commentary, authors portray characters who are worth caring about, rooting for, and even loving, although there are also characters you may laugh at, dislike, or even hate.” Character in fiction is the representation of the living creature which takes the role in a story. Roberts Jacobs 1995:52 says,“The character may win, lose, or tie. He or she may learn and be better for the experience or may miss the point and be unchanged.” A character grows and the author should be able to visualize him in the readers’ minds. There will be no plot and setting without character. There are two major classifications of characters: round character and flat character. A round character is a major character in a work of fiction who encounters conflict and is changed by it. Round characters tend to be more fully developed and described than flat. It has various characterizations because it grows, for example, good or bad, happy or sad, cheerful or annoying, etc. The basic trait of round characters is that they recognize, change with, or adjust to circumstance. The round character usually the main figure in a story profits from experience and undergoes a change or alteration, which may be shown in 1 an action or actions, 2 the realization of new Universitas Sumatera Utara 14 strength and therefore the affirmation of previous decisions, 3 the acceptance of a new condition, or 4 the discovery of unrecognized truths. Flat character does not grow, it remains and usually highlight the development of round character. Edgar 1995:134 says, ”Sometimes flat characters are prominent in certain types of literature, such as cowboy, police and detective stories, where the focus is less on character than on performance.” Such characters might be lively and engaging, even though they do not develop or change. Authors use five ways to present their characters. Remember that you must use your own knowledge and experience to make judgements about the qualities of the characters being revealed. 1 Actions. What characters do is our best way to understand what they are. As with ordinary human beings, fictional characters do not necessarily understand how they may be changing or what they do the things they do. 2 Descriptions, both personal and environmental. Appearance and environment reveal much about a character’s social and economic status, of course, but they also tell us more about character traits. 3 Dramatic statements and thoughts. Although the speeches of most characters are functional essential to keep the story moving along, they provide material from which you can draw conclusions. 4 Statements by other characters. By studying what characters say about each other, you can enchance your understanding of the character being discussed. 5 Statements by the author speaking as storyteller or observer. What the author, speaking with the authorial voice, says about a character is usually accurate, and the authorial voice can be accepted factually. The leading character in this novel is Allie, is a beautiful and charming woman. She comes from a privileged family. She likes playing piano and painting. Universitas Sumatera Utara 15 She works at the hospital downtown as a nurse. She gets merried with Noah and gets Alzheimer disease. It makes her difficult to remember anything about her memories.

2.3 A General Concept of Conflict