Character

Character is one of the important elements in the story. Character is the people in the fiction to be similar to the people in real life (Kenny, 1966: 24). In a story, the author may tell us directly how characters usually behave, what kind of individual they are, or what they and their surrounding look like. Characters can be classified by the fullness of their personalities. Whatever degree of artifice we are willing to allow in plot, we expect characters to be “natural” or “lifelike”. Kenney says (1966: 25) that the standard of lifelikeness is inadequate for judging character in fiction. At best, the potion of lifelikeness is an oversimplification. A fictional character must be other things besides lifelike.

However, the fictional character is never entirely free. Kenney states in How To Analyze Fiction one of the most delicate tasks of the writer of fiction is to create and maintain the illusion that his character are free, while at the same time making sure they are not really so for a really free character would be free of his duty to the story of which he/she a part (1966: 25). Kenney says there are two kinds of character. The first is flat (simple) character. The flat character is less the representation of a human personality than the embodiment of a single attitude or obsession in a character. This kind of character is flat because we see only one side of him. For the second is round (complex) character. Round character is obviously more lifelike that the simple because in life, people are not simply embodiments of single attitudes.

This kind of character is round because we see all sides of him (1966: 28). According to Kenney, there are four methods that how the author will present character. First of all is discursive method. The author who chooses the discursive method simply tells us about his character. He enumerates their qualities and may even express approval or disapproval of them. The advantages of this method are simplicity and economy. The writer who is content to tell us directly about his characters can quickly finish the job of characterization and go on to other things. The disadvantage of this method is relatively mechanical and discourages the reader’s imaginatively participation (1966: 34).

            The second method is dramatic method. In this method, the author allows his characters to reveal themselves to us through his own words and actions. The advantage of this method is that it should be obvious. This method is more lifelike and invites the reader’s active participation in the story. The disadvantage of this method is less economical than discursive method, since to show takes longer than to tell. Also it increases the possibility of his misjudging the character (1966: 35).

            The third method is the contextual method. By contextual method, we mean the device of suggesting character by the verbal context that surrounds the character. The last method is mixing method. The reader will rarely find a work of fiction in which only one of the methods outlined above is employed. Indeed, the contextual method can be used effectively only in combination with other methods (Kenney, 1966: 36).

     Thus, in evaluating an author’s method of characterization, the reader must keep in mind the appropriateness of the author’s method to the overall design of the story.

2.1.1Types of character

there are two kinds of character. The first is flat (simple) character. The flat character is less the representation of a human personality than the embodiment of a single attitude or obsession in a character. This kind of character is flat because we see only one side of him. For the second is round (complex) character. Round character is obviously more lifelike that the simple because in life, people are not simply embodiments of single attitudes. we can distinguish two types of character based on the rules of the character have in the story ,they are: major or main character and minor character .major character is the most important character in a story .basically ,a story about the major character but he cannot stand by he himself, he need another character to make a story more convincing and alive. Minor character  is a character of less important than these of the major or the main .furthermore, if a character has a large influence on the plot or if the character actions have a significant effect on the outcome of the story ,it is considered as a major (main) character .on the other hand ,if a character has a small influence on the plot or if the character action have little effect on the outcome of the story ,it is considered as a minor character .

2.1.2 Elements of character

Foster in soenaryono B.K.(1988:67) says that flat character is built around a single idea or quality and it is presented in outline without much individualizing detail ,and so can be fairly adequately described is a single phase or sentence .

Furthermore ,flat character also known as a type or two dimensional character /figure ;this character is defined by a single quality without much individualizing detail (Rotherberg,1829:290),its mean that flat character is less the representation of human personality than the embodiment of a single attitude or obsession in a character (William Kenny,1966:28).in this flat character we just look at one side of the character .a flat character is characterized by one trait .round (three-dimensional character /figure)is just an opposites ,it is generally a complex personality a fully realized individual (Rotherberg,1829:290), its mean that round character is many faced and is capable of change .

Another method of classifying character is by the amount of influence they have over the plot, they are ;major (or main) character and minor character (William,1980) character is the most important character in story .major character is called protagonist and an important opponent pitted against him ,called the protagonist who provide opposition .it is usually in fiction. Protagonist is called hero or heroine .it is in the right or good position .but protagonist is represented as the bed one .it is being the opponent of the protagonist .and minor character are character of less important than those of the major character (Soenaryono B.K .1988:61) William Kenny (1966:53)says that the character selected as narrator of viewpoint character need not be the protagonist .minor character viewpoint obviously has many of the same advantage and disadvantage as major character  viewpoint .

Kenny (1983:45)in Koesnosoebroto (1988:65)tries to define character as an imagined person who inhabits a story . usually in the main characters of a story , we recognize human personalities that become familiar to us. Stories may happen not only to people but also to elements of nature such as the wind ,or grass or stone, or events animals.

In order to analyze a characters personality or motivations ,the reader  must search for a pattern  in the characters behavior ,and in order to discover this pattern the reder needs to understand the techniques of characterization ,which is the process by which an creates a character .

2.1.1        A Function of character

Character is one of the important parts in a story. One of the most important things in a novel is character ;it is one of the basic elements of the novel ,without character there would be no plot and no story, in other word ,it can be said that relationship between plot and character is vital and necessary one. The word ‘’character ‘’derives from the Greek verb charassein, meaning to mark with a cut or furrow. In a story ,the writer may tell us directly how character usually behave, what sort individuals they are, or what they and surroundings look like. Character can be classified by the fullness of their personality . if a character has several well-defined traits and a complex personality ,then that character is considered is a round character , if a character has few( if any )defined traits and a shallow personality ,than the character is the character is considered a flat character