Smart Description about the Characterization of Avalon Coldmoon
degree. Due to this rarity it can be seen why having doctorate degree can be seen as a prestigious status and Coldmoon is worthed to get that status for his own. Goldfields
seeing it as a chance for them to increase their status if Coldmoon can marry their daughter in case Coldmoon really receive his doctorate.
...Coldmoon started writing his thesis. What about that? Since in his own quaint way Coldmoon has a fairly elevated opinion of himself, I wouldnt have
expected him to engage in such a mundane, tasteless chore as getting a thesis actually written, but it appears that he, too, is tainted with worldly ambition. ...
Soseki,2002: 145-146
In the quotation above, Waverhouse tells Mr. Sneaze that Coldmoon started writing his thesis. In Waverhouses opinion, Coldmoon realizes well his position and has high
opinion upon himself. Waverhouse also does not have any expectation that Coldmoon will waste his time writing thesis to get a senior degree. Waverhouse implying that
Coldmoon is actually quite an ambitious one, trying to get a higher status by receiving senior degree and this is proven when they know that Coldmoon also have an intention
to marry Goldfields daughter. They know that by marrying Goldfields daughter, Coldmoon himself will gain a high status, power and public recognition since
Goldfields is a businessman who also has a power in government. ...In short, my master, Waverhouse, and Coldmoon are all like hermits in a
peaceful reign. Though they adopt a nonchalant attitude, keeping themselves aloof from the crowd, segregated like so many snake-gourds swayed lightly by
the wind, in reality they, too, are shaken by just the same greed and worldly ambition as their fellow men. Soseki,2002: 66
From the quotation above, the feline narrator recognize that those three scholars despite of their upbringing as nonchalant they actually also have a worldly ambition
and greed like any other man. The feline narrator describes them as hermits because of their way being nonchalant and segregated themselves from the crowd in outside world.
In the end it is merely only a facade that they put on in order to hide their greed and ambition. It is also applied to Coldmoon. Despite of his humble upbringing and
intellect, he proves to be ambitious in his own way. It can be seen from his effort in order to receives doctorate and also from the way he is speaking with his fellows.
Since he is a Bachelor of Science thatt majors in physics, he often explaining theories and other things related to physics in which the others cannot understand perfectly like
he do. In which implied that he is boasting to his fellows about his knowledge. In this way, Coldmoon is no different than his friends.
According to Murphys theory, there are nine ways to understand a character. From the analysis above, the most common ways that the writer found are from the
direct comment, speech, reactions, past life, and conversation of others. These five ways are commonly used in the story to show the interaction of the characters in this
novel. The feline narrator involved himself in this story by directly observes his master and his friends. This novel mainly consists of the interactio
n between Mr. Sneaze‟s and his friends also the society around him. The story revolves around these particular
scholars shared their ideas to each other. That is why five ways from nine ways mentioned before are commonly shown in this novel.
These five ways mainly found in the analysis since this novel itself mainly use the narrators point of view. That is why the author gives direct comments from the
narrators point of view on his observation to the characters in the story. The next is from the way of speech. Coldmoon himself often make conversation with his
colleagues and from the way he talks the writer can observe his character. The reaction also explained in the analysis clearly when Coldmoon gives his reaction to a certain
idea that can give the writer the idea about his character. From the way of past life, the writer can see how his experience in the past gives a shape to his character.
Sometimes Coldmoon does not present at some point, but the from the other characters conversation the writer can observes that sometimes they are talk about him
and gives some hints about his character that can be observed by writer. From the analysis that conducted above, the writer concludes that Coldmoon is
a progressive character. Marcus Testman in his article of Wariness of Gracious Blessings: Images of Power in I Am a Cat gives a clear mention on how all the
characters in this novel actually concern about power. Since it mentions all character, it means that Coldmoon himself is not an exception. The feline narrator in the analysis
above also mentions how the scholars that he observes are concerned about this thing and how the means to get power. From this, the writer wants to emphasize that this
personal quality cannot be separated from the other qualities that the writer finds in the analysis above. His ambitious quality can be described to be more like that he believes
that he can achieve something more that he already had instead of a mere desire for power blindly.
B. The Representation of Intellectuals in the Meiji Period through the Characterization of Avalon Coldmoon
In this last part of the analysis, the writer will explain about why Avalon Coldmoon is chosen as a character that can become the representation of intellectuals
during Meiji period through his characterization. In the previous part of this fourth chapter, the writer already give some explanation about the characterization of Avalon
Coldmoon as described in the novel. Coldmoon who is a part of this particular society becomes the best example which is exposed n the novel.
From the description of Codmoons character in the novel, there are some main ideas about the intellectuals in Meiji era that can be pointed out. Here, the writer will
explains some aspects that can be revealed through the description of Coldmoon.