Theory of Character and Characterization
character brings the readers a description about how the story flows therefore the readers can imagine what the story is about.
Abrams also mentions that there are two types of character, simple or flat character and round or complex character. Flat character is character that
possesses just one certain dispositional quality. He seems less to have trait behavior that can give a surprising effect to the reader. The flat character can be
easily recognized and more familiar whenever they come in and easily be remembered by the readers afterward. A round character is more lifelike rather
than flat character because we may see all sides of this character. He possesses many kinds of traits or various attitudes. The character is also capable of
surprising us 20- 21. Flat character is easy to describe rather than round character because flat character does not make any significant development.
Henkle states in his book Reading a Novel, that characters are categorized into “main or major characters” and “minor characters”. Major
character is the most character in the story. The readers give him her fullest attention because heshe performs the key structural function; upon himher we
build expectation and desires. Minor characters only perform a limited function in the story. They may be less sophisticated, so that their responses to the experience
are less complex and important 22 While according to Horman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature
81, the characterization is the way of the author to reveal the character in the story. There are three methods that can be used in characterization of the
character. Those are:
1.The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal
throughout the word illustrated by the action. 2.The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit
comment by the author, in the expectation that the readers will be able to deduce the attributes of the actions.
3.The presentation from within the character without comment on the character by the author, 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
Murphy, in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Students, mentions some ways to describe
characters. In describing character in a work of art, author can use one of the following ways:
1. Personal Description
In revealing characters, the author can present the physical appearance of the characters. The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes.
By summarizing the author’s description of the character physical appearance, the readers can imagine what kind of person he is 161.
2. Character as Seen by Another
As opposed to describe character directly, the author can describe him through the eyes and opinion of another character. From the opinion of other
characters, the reader can infer the imagination of a character as a reflection.
The others’ point of view about the certain character might be an important point to understand the character well 162.
3. Speech Through the choice of word or what the person says, the author can give us
an insight into the character of one person in the story. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in a conversation with another, whenever he puts
forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to his character. Commonly, we know someone’s insight from his speech because from the speech we
can analyze what kind of person he is 164. 4. Past Life
The author can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character by learning about the person’s past life. This can be done through
the direct comment of the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation or through the medium of another person. What happens to the
character to the present life can be the result of what happened to him in the past life. Therefore learning the person’s past life can help the readers in
analyzing character in the story 166. 5. Conversation of Others
The author can give us clues to a person’s personality through the conversation of others and their opinion about the characters. What the other
characters say in the conversation about the certain character can give us information what a character is like. It is important to pay attention to the
conversation of other characters since it will help us understand the character 167.
6. Reactions The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character by letting us know
how the person reacts to various situation and events. The readers can recognize whether the character is strong or weak, smart or not by analyzing
their actions coping with different situation. The reader can also get the image of the character from their attitudes 168.
7. Direct Comments The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly. Since
the author gives the description and comment on the character directly, it will be easier for the reader to find out the information on the character.
Besides it is easy, misinterpretation can be reduced 170. 8. Thought
The author gives us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. The author is able to know what is going on in the mind of the character. He
can tell us what different people are thinking. He can do what we cannot do in real life. In the novel, we accept this. From the direct description about
the character’s mind, the readers can analyze what kind of person he is exactly. Therefore, the readers can understand the inner life of the character
171.
9. Mannerism The author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habit and idiosyncrasies
which may give the reader some clues about the character. What people always do or habit can reflect their inner side positively and negatively. We
can also infer what a character is like from what he does, thinks or says 173.