2.1.1 Division of Character Main character and peripheral character
Main Character is the individual who contributes the most to the story or who is the most important of the story. You can decide who the main character is
by thinking about if the story would be the same if a specific character was not in it. Nurgiyantoro 2005:176-177 says, “Tokoh utama adalah tokoh yang
diutamakan penceritaannya dalam novel yang bersangkutan. Ia merupakan tokoh yang paling banyak diceritakan, baik sebagai pelaku kejadian maupun yang
dikenal kejadian.” Peripheral character is the character that appears once or sometime in a
novel, and may be relatively in short portion. It called peripheral character often provide, support, illuminated the protagonist.
Protagonist and Antagonist Characters
There are two order important terms to keep in mind of description people: protagonist and antagonist. Protagonist is the major character with whom we
generally sympathize. A protagonist is considered to be the main character or lead figure in a novel, play, story, or poem. A protagonist, meaning one who plays the
first part, chief actor is the main character the central or primary personal figure of a literary, theatrical, cinematic or musical narrative, who enters conflict
because of the antagonist. The basic sense of protagonist, as originally used in connection with ancient Greek drama, is ‘the main character in a play’. Some
traditionalists object to the looser use to refer to a number of characters rather than just the main one in a play, film, etc.
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An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution that represents the opposition against which the protagonist or protagonists must
contend. In other words, an antagonist is a person or a group of people who oppose the main characters. In the classic style of stories wherein the action
consists of a hero fighting a villainenemy, the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist, respectively. Of course, some narratives cast the villain the
protagonist role, with the opposing hero as the antagonist. The antagonist may also represent a major threat or obstacle to the main character by their very
existence, without necessarily deliberately targeting him or her. Sometimes, antagonists and protagonists may overlap, depending on what
their ultimate objectives are considered to be. Often, the protagonist in a narrative is also the same person as the focal character, though the two terms are distinct.
Excitement and intrigue alone is what the audience feels toward a focal character, while a sense of empathy about the characters objectives and emotions is what the
audience feels toward the protagonist. Although the protagonist is often referred to as the good guy, it is entirely possible for a storys protagonist to be the clear
villain, or antihero, of the piece.
2.1.2 Types of Characters