While the qualities of characters a re known as characteristics, the author’s
method of delivering the characteristic is known as the characterization. The characterization is the process of transforming man into characters in fiction
Greenville, 1990. By characterization, the readers are able to understand the entire characteristic and feel if the characters in the fiction are life-like. Based on
Harmon 2003, there are several methods of characterization: 1 the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct
exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; 2 the presentation of the
character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attributes of the actor from the
actions; and 3 the representation from within a character, without comment by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the
character’s inner self.” Harmon, 2003: 88 Thus, the way of describing the characteristic can be seen directly from the
narrative, from the action of the characters, or from the way the other characters think and act toward the other characters.
2. Theory of Conflict
Conflict is a part of a plot. Pooley 1964 stated that a writer always “build
his story around conflict”. Without the conflict, the story represented in a fiction will be boring and flat Pooley, 1964: 9. The readers are able to get involved
more in the story if the conflict is similar with the conflict that the reader had struggled with before. Thus, conflict is an important part of the plot, and essential
to the story itself. The conflict itself is a sign of problems that happen in a story. Arp in
Perrine’s Literature stated that conflict is “a clash of actions, ideas, desires, or s”
Arp, 2006: 104. As the result, if there are two forces that cooperate with the same idea or goal, the conflict will not occur. Therefore, the conflict may happen
when there are two —or more—different forces that clash with one another.
There are several types of conflicts that might happen in a story. The conflict may be a person-against-person, person-against-fate, person-against-
society or person-against-nature. These are the conflicts involving external forces. However, the conflict may also happe
n with “some elements in their own natures” which means that the person fights with themselves Arp, 2006: 104. This kind of
conflict is an internal conflict. The conflicts may also occur in other forms, such as physical, mental, emotional, or even moral.
The person in a fiction who has a conflict may refer to or reflect the characters role as protagonist or antagonist. Meanwhile, some fiction shows
multiple levels of conflict, which happen all at the same time. So when the characters have a conflict with someone else, they may be also fighting inside of
their mind about what they should say or do. In some cases, the characters may also be involved in a conflict without being aware of it.
The conflict is developed by arranged events in a progressive pattern of action, called the plot. As one of the essential tools for the writer of fiction to
reveal his idea, conflict plays an important role in plot because it leads the characters into the climax and resolution, also termed as denouement. However, it
should be understood that actually plot is different from story. Laar 1969 describes that both story and plot are in an arranged sequence, but the story is
arranged just to flow so that the reader is able to answer their curiosity about what
happens next. On the other hand, the plot requires reader intelligence in understanding the relation between what happened before and what happens next,
so that the reader has better understanding of the cause and effect of the events.
3. Existentialism by Sartre and Camus
