As Emily Roy said in her book: “the character refers to a personage in a
literary work such as in a drama. the term of character also denotes the essential of quality
and personality, the traits of a fictional or real individual. the ability to create compelling and
believable character is one of the hallmarks of the literary artist”.
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B. KINDS OF CHARACTER
The character itself has forms and functions. According to Laughlin Thomas MC, in literature the power of language, the characters are divided into two types;
major central characters and minor characters. Major central character are characters who have a big part role in the story, where as minor characters are not
developed nearly as fully as the major characters and thus they did not demanded our sympathy and curiosity. Minor characters only have small part in the story.
22
Whereas seen from its type, the character is divided into two kinds: flat and round. Flat is character tended to stay the same throughout a story. Meanwhile, round
is character often changes-learns or became enlightened, growth or deteriorate.
23
Moreover, Judith also describes the types of characters as follows: a. Dynamic character is a character who changed in some significant ways
during the course of the work.
21
Emily Roy Sandra Roy, Literature I, New York:Macmillan Publishing, Co. Inc, 1976, p. 134
22
Laughlin Thomas MC, Literature, The Power of Language, Washington DC: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc, 1989, p. 376
23
XJ. Kennedy, Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, New York: Harper Collins Publisher, 1991 5
th
ed, p. 74
b. Round character is a character who showed many different facets; often presented in depth and with great detail.
c. Flat character is a character who usually had only one outstanding trait or feature.
d. Static character is a character who did not change in any significant ways during the course of the work.
e. Protagonist character is the major character with whom we generally sympathize.
f. Antagonist character is the character with whom the protagonist was in conflict, generally not a sympathetic character.
24
And other type of character is stock or stereotyped character. Stock or stereotyped character is a character that has single idea and almost have same trait in
every story. For example, the prince charming of fairy tales, the mad scientist of horror movies, etc.
25
In the novel, drama or film, the character usually experience of a change or growth and can influence the other figure and plot. According to definition character,
or in English, character means the character, role, and letter. Character can mean the people, society, race, mental attitude and moral, quality of natural existence, man of
mark, figure in belles-lettres’, reputation and sign letter.
26
24
Judith A. Stanford, Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays, New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2003, 4
th
ed, p. 38
25
Richard Gill, Op. Cit., p. 130
26
Albertine Minderope, Metode KarakterisasiTelaah Fiksi, Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2005, 2
In order to describe the figure like in a real life into reader’s imagination, the characterization has an important role. Characterization is the way the author
describes and develops the character’s behavior, physical state, traits and personality. Cara pengarang menggambarkan dan
mengembangkan watak tokoh-tokoh dalam cerita itu disebut penokohan.
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Characterization is the way the author describes and develops the character’s
behavior.
This is to say that the author describes the character, behavior, physical state,
traits and the personality of the character. Characterization is the way in which a character is created. The kind of conversations they have, the things they do, their
appearances and so on are the particular ways in which the author has chosen to characterize his or her characters.
28
Characterization is an element of the discourse, a part of the writer’s strategy or plan.
29
Janet Burroway in her book, Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft, states there are five basic methods of character presentation – the indirect method,
which is authorial interpretation, and the direct method, which are appearance, action, speech and though. Direct characterization takes places when the author literally tells
the audience what a character is like. In indirect characterization, the audience must
27
Murtal Esten, Kesusastraan Pengantar Teori dan Sejarah, Bandung: Angkasa, 1984, p. 27
28
Richard Gill, Op. Cit., p. 129
29
Characterization, from http:en. Wikipedia. Orgwikicharacterization
deduce for themselves what the character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech, looks and interaction with other character.
30
C. DEFINITION OF CHARACTERISTICS
