Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization 1.1. Character
10 symbolically speaking, Gregor’s metamorphosis from man to an insect represents
his “judgment on himself by his defeated humanity” because he cannot find a way to leave his job behind and assert his own needs and identity because of his
loyalty and sense of obligation to his family p. 21. In correlation with the theme of transformation, Nicholas van Vector in
The Transformation of Kafka 2011 says that in The Metamorphosis, the transformation depicts more powerful than any fiction he has read, a
consciousness tortured by the anxiety. The subject of this study is reflexivity or self-consciousness. It is about a character who incapable of action or someone in
the last stages of a terminal illness whose only activity is thinking about himself and remembering his former life p. 2.
Some comments from the experts have been taken previously to understand the topic of the metamorphosis. According to the writer of this thesis
the work of Kafka especially The Metamorphosis is a fabulous story which needs a deep understanding. The story is not only a dream but in fact it describes
someone’s true life and it is Kafka, the writer’s personal life.
2. 2. Review of Related Theories 2. 2. 1. Theory of Character and Characterization
2. 2. 1.1. Character
There are many discussions on the term characters purposed by many writers. On the literal level, character is described as all qualities and features that
make a person or group of people different from others. Robert Santon in An
11 Introduction to Fiction 1965 says that the term character in a novel particularly
used in two ways; firstly, as person or an individual that appears or is created by an author in a story of a novel, play, drama, etc. Secondly, it refers to a mixture of
all the mental or moral qualities such as principles, value, desires, emotions and interests that build each of an individual’s personality. An alternative way to
understand a character in a novel is by interpreting the name of the character himself p.17. From this definition, it can be said that character is not only about
a person but also the personal qualities. Likewise Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms 1981 says “the characters are persons, in a dramatic or narrative
work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say – dialog – and what they do – action.” p. 21.
Basically, character can be divided into two categories, the main and the minor characters. A major character usually appears in the whole story and
become the focus of the story. On the contrary, a minor character is the character which is functioned to support the major character Abrams, p. 20.
In A Handbook to Literature, Holman and Harmon 1986 stated that a character can be either static or dynamic. A static character is one who changes
little. It does not perform in the whole segment. Dynamic character is modified by actions and experiences and one objective of the work in which the character
appears is to reveal the consequences of this action p. 83. Shortly, character can be understood as person or mental quality of the
person in a literary works. It can be main or minor and it can be static or dynamic too.
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2. 2. 1.2. Characterization