Theory of Characterization Review of Related Theories

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3. Theory of Characterization

In analyzing characters in literary work, it is important to know how the author presents the character. It is called characterization. According to Rohrberger and Wood 20, they define characterization as the process by which an author creates character, the devices by which he makes us believe a character is the particular type of person he is. I use Murphy’s theory of characterization in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students to support my idea in analyzing Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. Murphy points out nine techniques of characterization that can be used to understand characters in a literary work. The first way is from personal description. The author directly describes the characters’ appearance and clothes 161, what the character looks like and what social class they belong to. The readers have the imagination from the descriptions given about how the character looks like. The second way is character as seen by another. Differs from the personal description which tells the readers directly about the character, the author can also describe him through the eyes and opinions of another 162. Thus, the readers get a reflected image of the character through others characters’ thought and perception. The third way is speech. The author can give the readers insight of the character through what the character says, whenever he speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, and whenever he puts toward an opinion 164. 16 The fourth is past life. The author can give the readers a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character by telling his past life. This can be showed by the direct comment of the author, through a person’s thoughts, by his conversation or by a medium of another person 166. The fifth is conversation of others. The author can describe a character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People are talking about other people and the things they say often give us a clue to the character of the person being spoken about 167. The sixth way is reactions. The author also gives a clue to a person’s character by letting the readers know how the character reacts to various situations and events 168. The seventh way is direct comment. The author describes or comments on a person’s character directly 170. The eighth way is thoughts. The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what the person is thinking about 171. The last way of characterization is Mannerism that describes a character’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies that may also tell the readers something about his character 173.

4. Theory of Motivation