“Drought, Famine and other natural disasters have been killing livestock, the sole life line of Maasai people and this has prompted most youths
from the pastoralist communities, to flee to urban areas in search of alternative way of survival.Education then becomes a stumbing block, as
most of us are hardly past class seven, which is normally not enough for one to get a proper job. Maybe it is high time that Maasai youths stop
relying on cattle and start getting proper education. We appeal to those who
are already
educated, to
assist who
aren ’t”
http:www.arushatimes.co.tz200433street_talk.htm The writer comes to realize how important education is for Saseka,
though its not enough to get a job from just passing elementary school. He wants Maasai youth to stop relying on cattle which they consider a main priority but get
a proper education in order for them to survive in the urban areas. By focusing on the modernity and the characterization of the main
characters, the writer aims to reveal the means of education which in this sense is modernity. This discussion is about the influence of western education towards
the characteristics and the conflicts of the main characters. There are some changes about the characterization of the main characters after realizing the
importance of education. Moreover, the writer wants to reveal the role of modernity by the main characters in the novel.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Characterization
Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction states that the important evidence of all is the character’s own dialogue and behavior. Every speech or
action is not only a step in the plot, but also a manifestation of character Stanton,1964: 18.
In A Glossary of Literary Terms character is identified as “the person
presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities by inferences
from what they say-dialogue and by what they do- the action” Abrams, 1993: 23.
Based on the definition, we can say that character is one element of novel, which guides the reader to know and understand the story and to get many values from
it. Hugh Holman and William Harmon introduced two types of
characterization. The first type is static. A static character is one who changes little if at all. Things happen to such a character without things happening within.
Some times a static character gives the appearance of changing simply because our picture of the character is slowly reveal as we read the novel. The second type
is dynamic, which is quite different the characters show changes by actions and experiences, and objective of the work in which the character appears is to reveal
the consequences of these actions. Holman, 1986:82 Hugh Holman and William Harmon also described characterization as
the author presenting the characters of actual persons and revealing the characters of imaginary person. There are three fundamental methods of characterization;
first, the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition; second, the presentation of the character in action; third, the
representation from within a character without comment on the character by the author.
Barnet in his book Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry and Drama Barnet, 1988:712 explain the way to understand the characteristic
through: a. What the character says
How the character says will help the readers interpret his or her characteristic. b. What the character does
The readers or audience can learn the attitudes or behaviors of a character and they may guess how actually the author creates the characters.
c. What the other characters says about the character A character interacts with other characters. They share their opinion and gives
comments about the character. Such opinion and comments may reflect the characteristic of the character drawn.
Based on the way of author’s characterization, the reader or the audience can know the characters by looking at the behavior of the characters or others who
tells what the character is like. The author may present the characters by showing character’s action, or describe the characters by telling what they are like.
Here the writer will use both these thories of characterization to analyze the novel.
2. Theory of Modernity
According to Arvanitakis’s article understanding modernity there are some dimensions of modernity, they are important to understand because
modernity transformed both the structure and relationships of the world. Modernity
focuses on
the forces
that shape
life
