a catastrophe in which the protagonist is destroyed in some way” Guerin, 1979:8.
2. Theory of the Relation between Plot and Character
According to Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs in
Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and Writing
, a character can be disclosed by considering these factors: “what the character say and think, what the character do, what
other characters say about himher, and what the autho r says about himher”
1989: 147-148. Therefore, what the character do can show the characters ’
attitude and some ideas beyond it. Another study is taken from Abrams. He states
that “characters are persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as
being endowed with moral, dispositional, emotional qualities that expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-
the action” 1993:23. There is a strong relation between the plot and the character. Abrams also states it clearly in
his book that “as a plot progresses it arouses expectations in the audience or
reader about the future course of events and actions and how the characters will respond to them” 1993:160. So, it is possible to find out the attitude from the
characters that is revealed from the plot. In presenting the characters, the technique adopted can be either showing or
telling. In his book, Abrams gives two methods of characterization. He explains that
In showing sometimes called the dramatic method, the author presents the characters talking and acting, and leave the reader to infer what
motives and dispositions lie behind what they say and do. Here a reader has to be accurate in reading the characters’ dialogue and action in order
to guess is the reason behind all they say and do. Therefore a reader has to be critical in seeing and judging the characters’ dialogue and action
Abrams, 1993:24
Another way that can be used to clarify the characters is by indirect presentation. Scott in his book explains that “the author shows us the character in action; we
infer what he is like from what h e thinks or says or does” 1968:5. Those two
methods will be very useful to analyze the characters in the story because Abrams clearly states all theory of character in there. In the lottery the characters attitude
can be revealed from the plot. Plot has connection to the progress from the characters. It contains the actions of the characters which can be seen through
what the characters think and feel. It means that the actions from the characters also conclude to their attitude.
3. Theories on Postmodernism
According to Abrams “the term postmodernism is sometimes applied to the literature after World War II 1939-45, when the effects on Western morale of
the first war were greatly exacerbated by the experience of Nazi totalitarianism and mass extermination, the threat of total destruction by atomic bomb, the
progressive devastation of the natural environment, and ominous fact of overpopulation” 1993:120. Lyotard also states that “since World War II, people
no longer believe in the grand narratives. After all, applying science and reason to the construction of gas chambers and efficient railroad schedules, the Nazis
exterminated millions of human beings” Powell, 1998:40. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Abrams also states that “an undertaking in some postmodernist writings is to
subvert the foundations of our accepted modes of thought and experience so as to reveal the “meaningless”, of existence and the underlying “abyss”, or ”void”, or
“nothingness” on which any supposed security is conceived to be precariously suspended” Abrams, 1993:120.
In other words, many of postmodernism terms are applied to some work of literature after World War II. Besides, the effect of World War II has great impact
to the literature work. It is also said that the foundations of postmodernism thought accepted the meaningless, abyss, void, and nothingness for the study.
According to Waugh and Rite in their book, they clarified the meaning of postmodernism as
a “mood” expressed theoretically across a diverse range of theoretical discourses and involving: a focus on the collapse of grand narratives into
local incommensurable language games or “little narratives; a Foucauldian emphasis on discontinuity an plurality of history as
discursively produced and formulated, and a tendency to view the discourses of Enlightenment reason as complicit with the instrumental
rationalization of modern life 1996:289.
From the quotation above, it is clear that postmodernism tries to focus on the rejection of the grand narratives. Postmodernism believes that the grand narratives
should be changed into little narratives. Another concept of Postmodernism is also being described by Jim Powell on
his book. He described that Postmodernism was a term which was after the Modernism. He writes
Postmodernism as the “post” preface implies, is something that follows modernism. However, people who think about such things as
Postmodernism don’t agree whether Postmodernism is a break from modernism or a continuation of modernism-or bo
th. In fact, they don’t PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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