status, education through dialogue and action by which the readers understand their thought, feeling, intentions and motives.
The character in the narrative work, such as novel it self can be major or minor characters, protagonist or antagonist characters, flat or round characters and
static or dynamic characters.
1. Major and Minor Characters.
Major or main character is a character that holds an important role, very dominant and always appears in each conflict. On the contrary, the character which
appears only few times and takes the short portion is called minor character.
2. Protagonist and Antagonist Character.
The protagonist is the main character of the novel, the one who deals with truth and being conflicted by other characters. The opponent of protagonist is known
as the antagonist or in the event that opposing force is not person, we speak of the antagonist force.
15
He she forces the protagonist character and often gives any trouble or even conflict to the protagonist character.
Besides, the antagonist character need not be a person, it can be animal, a superstition, a misconception, fate or any abstraction or force placed in dramatic
conflict with protagonist.
15
Ibid., p. 35
3. Flat and Round Characters
According to Aspects of the Novel 1927, E. M. Forster defines two basic types of characters, their qualities, functions, and importance for the development of a
novel; they are flat character and round character.
16
Flat character is constructed round a single idea or quality.
17
It means that he she undergoes no change or development and tends to stay the same throughout a
story. He she is not psychological complex characters and therefore readily accessible to readers.
While round character is character encompass many idea and qualities. He she undergoes change and development, as well as entertaining different ideas and
characteristic. It presents us with more facets.
4. Static and Dynamic Character
Static character is usually a flat character. It means that character who remain stable in his attitude throughout a work. While dynamic character is like to be a
round character, because a character undergoes personal development and change as he story progresses. In most fiction-even, the greatest-minor character tends to be flat
instead of round.
18
16
E. M. Forster, “Flat and Round Characters,” Essentials of the Theory of fiction, ed. Michael Hoffman and Patrick Murphy Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1988, p. 40.
17
Ibid.
18
X. J. Kennedy, Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991, 5
th
ed., p. 48.
B. The Concept of Cultural Identity
