Theory of Critical Approaches

Rohrberger and Woods state that a critical approach to literature necessitates an understanding of its natural function, and positive values. They divide the critical approaches into five kinds: the formalist approach, the biographical approach, the socio cultural-historical approach, the mythopoeic approach, and the psychological approach 3-15. The formalist approach to literature, once called New Criticism, is a revolt against the traditional scholarly approach to literature. This approach is concerned with the ideas, personality, and development of the author, the conception, and discrimination of ideas through literary pieces in historical context. The biographical approach to literature shows the necessity for an appreciation of the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary object. The biographical approach also learns about the life and development of the author. The socio cultural-historical approach to literature usually takes as its basis some aspect of the socio cultural frame of the reference, combines it with an interest in the biographical as well as knowledge of an interest in literary history. The mythopoeic approach tries to observe the universally repeated structures of human thought, which they perceive that it can give an important meaning to the work of literature. The psychological approach is an approach that involves the effort to discover and illustrate this approach certain repetitive patterns. This approach involves the theory of psychology to understand literary works. In analyzing the three short stories in the study, the writer uses the psychological approach that focuses on psychological aspect of human being. This approach helps the writer in analyzing the main character and also human behavior.

b. Theory of Character

Abrams states that characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say dialogue and by what they do action 20. The existence of character is important to create a situation and a soul in literary works through the dialogue and the action in one story. If there is not a character in the story, it is impossible to develop that story. Rohrberger and Woods define that the story has the most important character or the central one that they call protagonist. They also say that protagonist is the one to whom all events in the story have relevance 20. Harvey states that protagonist characters are those whose motivation and history are most fully established, who conflict and change as the story progresses, who engage our responses more fully and steadily, in a way more complex though not necessarily more vivid than other characters 54. In a story, there may have more than one characters that has conflicts with protagonist called antagonist. Antagonists are not always people. They can be fate, environment, or something outside themselves. According to Pickering, protagonist is easier to identify than antagonist 19. The attention of the reader is focused in protagonist’s fate. Pickering also says that antagonist is difficult to identify, especially if the character is not human being 20.

c. Theory of Characterization