1. Theory of Character
In A Glossary of Literary Terms, Abrams and Harpham define characters
as follows Characters are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work,
who are interpreted by the reader as possessing particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the persons
say and their distinctive ways of saying it-the dialogue-and from what they do-the action 2009: 42.
Thus, the characters are the persons in a work whose characteristics are reflected in the dialogue and in the action.
2. Theory of Characterization
In A Handbook to Literature, William Harmon and Hugh Holman define
characterization as the creation of imaginary persons in fictions 2009: 95. According to M. J. Murphy in
Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students 1972: 161-173,
there are nine ways that can be used by an author to show the characteristics of the characters. They are personal description, character as seen by another, speech,
past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerisms.
3. The Relation between Literature and Society
According to Rene Wellek and Austin Warren in Theory of Literature, works
of literature are social documents. They are pictures of social reality 1956: 102. A literary work can represent the social situation when the work is being written.
They also argue that “literature can be made to yield the outlines of social history” 1956: 103. By reading a literary work, a reader may be able to know the social
history. It is because a literary work can represent an era or century, e.g. Elizabethan era, Victorian era, and eighteenth century.
4. Theory of Racism
According to The New Encyclopædia Britannica, one of the manifestations
of the practice of racism is physical segregation 1983: 360. Another manifestation of the practice of racism is racial endogamy that is marrying within
one’s own racial group 1983: 360. The practice of racism can also be in the form of commensality that is rules determining with whom one may or may not eat
1983: 360. Another manifestation of the practice of racism is limitation of the rights of some racial groups to get access to “essential services – housing,
education, employment, and health facilities” Archer, 2000: 3-4. There are two types of racism: individual and institutional racism.
Individual racism is racism that is practiced by individuals. Institutional racism is “when organizational programs or policies work to the benefit of white people and
to the detriment of people of color” http:www.seattle.govrsjiwhy.htm.
C. Review of Racism in the United States of America in the Late Nineteenth Century
Kategori