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direct comment, thought, and mannerism. Below are the descriptions for the methods of characterization by Murphy 1972.
1 Personal Description
The personal description means that the author can describe the character’s appearance and clothes. The characters’ impression of personality is
affected by their appearance. By understanding the physical description of the characters, the readers can imagine what kind of people the character is
p. 161. 2
Character as Seen by Another
In this method, the author describes the character from the point of view of other people in the novel. The other characters have their own judgment to
a character. Their judgment can help the readers to know the personality of the character p. 162.
3 Speech
Speech is the way in which the author can give insight into one of the characters in the novel. This is done through what the character says. The
characters are directly presenting the clues of their character to the readers. What is said by the character in any situation in a novel shows what kind of
person the character is to the readers p. 164.
4 Past Life
Through this method, the author describes the character by letting the readers to learn something about the person’s past life. The author can give
the readers a clue to the events which are helped to shape a person’s
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character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts, their conversations with others and the medium of
another person p. 166.
5 Conversation between Others
Conversation between other people and the things people say about the character in the novel are used by the author to give the readers a clue about
the person’s character. In understanding a character’s personality, the readers can also pay attention to what other characters in a novel utter. It is
important because the characters’ utterance can help the readers to know a character better p. 167.
6 Reaction
The author gives the readers a clue to the person’s character by letting the readers to know how the character reacts to various situations and events.
The ways a character solves his or her problems will reveal their personality. A character’s reactions show his or her characteristic in facing problems or
a situation p. 168.
7 Direct Comment
Through this method, the author tries to describe or comment on the person’s character directly. The author tells the readers about a character’s
personality by himself or herself without using other media p. 170.
8 Thoughts
In this method, the author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. The author is able to do what the readers cannot
