9 responsibilities to knowledge. Womanism is commonly practiced in black culture,
which fits Celie since she is an Afro-American. For this reason, the research delves further on the aspe
ct of womanism and how it affects Celie‘s life. This research is different from the three mentioned above. Although this
research foc uses on Celie‘s character, it sees the development of Celie‘s character
through the aspect of lesbian feminism. Moreover, this research also focuses on Celie‘s rebellious act, which is one of the pivotal moments in the novel.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character Characterization
a. Theory of Character
Characters and characterizations are two things that are important in a literature work, as a novel revolves around the character. According to Abrams,
characters are the people who are written and represented in the literary work. A character‘s qualities are interpreted by the readers through their actions, words,
and expressions Abrams 1998, p. 20. There are two kinds of characters; major characters and minor characters.
Most of the time, major characters are the characters who are mostly involved in major events that lead to the progress of the story, while minor characters are
characters that appear briefly to sharpen the major characters‘ developments Abrams 1998, p. 20.
As it can be seen, major characters are important aspects of a literary work that should be delved further. It is in accordance to He
nkle‘s opinion of main PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
10 character, that is a main character should be delved further because its
presentation and development can actually shift a person‘s moral values Henkle 1977, p. 87.
b. Theory of Characterization By definition, characterization is how a character is presented in a literary
work through their action, speech, appearance, and others Baldick, 1996 p. 30. Because every character is presented in their unique ways, it is definite that every
character is different. Therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of a character in order to have a deeper understanding about the character.
According to Murphy in Understanding Unseen 1972, there are 9 ways to understand a character through characterizations p. 161
– 173. Six of the ways are presented here. They are character as seen by another, speech, past life,
conversation of others, reactions, and thoughts: 1
Character as seen by another: the character is described through the perspective of another character. The description can be either physical or mental
description p. 162 – 163.
2 Speech:
the character‘s personality is known through his speech and what the character says p. 164
3 Past life: Past life can be used to characterize a character because past life
can be us ed to shape the character‘s personality. The past can be either from the
character himself or other characters p. 166 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
