An Analysis of the Main Character of Jane Austen’s Pride and prejudice Novel

A. Introduction

Nowadays, some people are most interested in technology and science. In their

daily activities, they learn to develop science by using modern technology to support

their activity. They are not interested in literature. They just think about how to build

the world and make their life more comfortable. People talk only about something

concerning their daily needs that have practical values. They think that literature

cannot help them meet their daily demands. Like sophisticated and practical

equipment. What about literature? Can novels make them arrive faster in their office?

Those statements above are true that literature cannot make our life easier. But

however, technology cannot help them human being share their feelings with other.

So, in life we need technology and other people because we cannot life without other

people. We need other people to develop our personality, to fulfill our needs, to

express our feelings, etc.

Literature is a reflection of reality, so that we can learn something about life in

general from literature. Reading literature enables us to enrich our personality and

knowledge about human beings in order to understand or to learn about ourselves.

Therefore, through literature, the readers can widen and deepen their knowledge of

the nature of the world.

In this analysis, the writer chooses a novel as the object of study. A novel is a

work of prose or fiction. A novel has many advantages to the readers unlike the other

literary works.

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Novel

Novel is very important for people as the reference of our live. Novel is able to give

us knowledge and experience about the turth of live. By reading novel, we have a sensible

behaviour and character. In addition characterization showed in the novel sewres from all

ofour activities. According to Robertson (1983-223, as a cited in Suwandi thesis), novel is a

fictious porse table dealing with adventures of feeling of imaginary persons so as portary

varieties of human life and characters by describtion of action and thought. Tew ( 1983-61,

as a cited in Suwandi thesis) literary work is a world in words that has a concertric instrinsic

meaning. The meaning can only be reached from the literary work it self.

B. Objective Approach

To understand the literary work, we have to analyze it. It means that we

analyze the literary work to know the contents of the story and its elements of literary

work. There are four approach to identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and writing

literature they are mimetic approach, pragmatic, expressive, and objective approach.

The writer choose the objectives approach to analyze novel Woman at Point Zero.

The objective approach view that literary work is an independent, unique unity

separated from external aspects. When analyzing a work, we have to focus on the

aspects or elements of literary work. Those elements are plot, theme, setting,

characters, tone, atmosphere, and setting. The analysis is more on the relationship

between the intrinsic elements of a literary work.

The writer applies the objective approach in this study since objective

approach on the work it self by reveals the intrinsic elements of the novel. In this

study, the writer focuses on the analysis o the psychological aspects of main

characters. Through this approach, the writer tries to explain and to explore the

personality of the main characters of the novel Woman at Point Zero.

a) Key Form

- Character

Character is figure in literature work. In literature work usually there are any

characters but usually there is one key character. Key character is character that is

very important in take a role in literature work. Two kinds of character are flash

character and round character.

Flash character is character that only point at one side, example just fine or

just bad. Since beginning until last the story, bad character will be bad. Round

character is character that points at any side his fine and bad, his excess and

weakness. So there is happened progress in this character. From spiritual side is

known there are introvert and extrovert character. Introvert character is the

personal character is determined by his unconscious. Extrovert character is the

personal character is determined by his conscious. In literature work knows

protagonist and antagonist character. Protagonist is character who is liked by

reader because his characteristics. Antagonist is character who is not liked by

reader because his characteristic.

- Characterization

Characterization is technical or methods to bring up figure. There are any

methods to bring up figure. Analytic method is appearance figure method

according straight past analysis’ author. So author release the figure

characteristics according straight. Dramatic method is appearance figure method

according not straight but past utterance description, action, and comment or

evaluation figure or figure in a story.

C. Elements of Novel

A novel always consist some intrinsic elements. According to Wellek and

Werren (1956), the intrinsic elements of a novel are theme, plot, setting, characters

and characterization and language style. The explanations are as follows:

1. Theme

A theme is the controlling, central idea or central insight of a study and it is the

generation about life implied by the story. It can be said that the theme of a novel

is what the author intends to tell the readers. The author sometimes uses themes

to the basic issue, problem, or subject with which the work concerned. Some

novels have explicit themes that can be seen through the title or subtitle of the

novel.

2. Plot

A plot may be as the vents or problems concerning with what happens in the

story. According to Kennedy (1983:9), a plot is the structure of events that arise

out of a conflict. Based on this view, it can be seen that a plot is the events of the

story experienced by the characters both main and minor characters in the whole

story.

3. Setting

A setting is the general local and historical time in which the action accurse in a

narrative or dramatic work, while setting of a scene within a work a work is the

particular physical location in which it takes place (Abrams, 1995:176).

4. Characters and characterization

A character is the most important person that is presented frequently in a story,

both as subjective and objective actors. Based on the definition above, it can be

said that characters are the actor or person that is presented in the whole story,

from the beginning to the end of the story. Characterization is the creation of

image of a person in a drama, narrative, literature, or fictional works. Through the

characterization, they become so credible that they exist for the reader as real

people.

5. Language style

Language style is the manner of linguistics expression in prose or verse. It is

how the speaker or author speaks whatever says. It is clear that the language

style is the way how the authors arrange his words in creation to get readers’

attention (Abram, 1981: 190).

D. Character and Characterization

One of the important elements in novel is character and characterization. It

plays an important role since it functions in making the story alive. Characters and

characterization make the story become more interesting.

1. Character

There are many definitions of characters as seen from many perfectives.

One of them is that character can be viewed from psychological perfective. A

character is any person, persona, identity, or entity that exists in a work of art.

Along with plot, setting, theme, and style, character is considered one of the

fundamental components of fiction. Characters may be entirely fictional or based

upon real entities, contemporary or historical.

According to Staton, (1965: 20), character is commonly used in two ways,

they are individual who appears in the story and it refers to the mixture of

interest, desire, emotional, and moral principles that explain of each of these

individuals.

Character can be divided into major and minor character. The mayor

characters can further be analyzed in to three groups: (1) the protagonist, the very

central character, or the hero, (2) the antagonist or the enemy of the protagonist,

and (3) the companion or the supporter of the protagonist (Subhan, 2003:8-9).

a. The Protagonist

The protagonist is the very character or the leading actor or actress

in a didactic the novel, the protagonist is usually the hero or heroin that

plays an important role in the story.

Subhan (2003:9-10) says: the protagonist in a novel can usually be

identified by:

a) His or her position in the story

If he or she is the protagonist in the novel, all the strings of

relationship will be connected with him or her.

b) His or her frequent appearance in the story

The protagonist is usually discussed much, and appears many times

from the beginning of the story until the end.

c) The title of the novel

If the title of the ovel shows a name a person, we can usually say that

the protagonist is the person shown by the title.

d) Narrative voice

Most of the writers of a novel commonly show a protagonist

characters in narrative voice.

b. The Antagonist

The antagonist in a novel usually refers to the enemy or the

challenger of the protagonist. In the didactic novel or in the novel in

which there is an element of moral teaching, the antagonist character

is usually immoral or evil because the protagonist is usually good and

true. In modern novels, the protagonist may function as a grotesque

and his behavior cannot be approved by the society.

c. The Companion or Partner

In a novel, the protagonist usually has a companion or a

partner in pursuing his duty, career, stuggle, or aspiration. When a

protagonist is oppressed, he is usually helped by a close friend aor by

a reputable person. The companion of a protagonist character may

function as the lover as the protagonist. Companion of the protagonist

also playa an important role in the story so that sometimes the readers

will be difficult to know who the protagonist and who the companion

is (Subhan, 2003: 10-13).

1. Flat Characters

A character in the novel is said to be flat when he or she has

unchanging characteristic from the beginning to the end of the story

(Subhan, 2003: 15).

Suminto A. Sayuti explained that flat characters are the characters that

less mirroring the holistic human personality—it is just protrudes one side

of life. The flat characters are all the type of characters, who are very

ordinary, familiar, or stereotype in the fiction (1988: 40).

2. Round Characters

In contrast to the description of flat characters, round characters are

those which undergo changes in the characterization in the course of the

story (Subhan, 2003: 16).

2. Characterization

Characterization has an important role to present the character’s

attitude. Character is always accompanied by characterization is the

performance of character. Characterization is the process of conveying

information about characters in fiction or conversation.

Characterization is the way of the author in showing the figures. To

shows a character of a story, the author needs characterization to build the

story, its plot, and the development of a story in which the figure will

alive in the fiction. Through characterization, the reader can understand

about the individual character in a novel (Aminuddin, 1991:7)

According to Staton (1965: 17), characters suggest two meaning, the author

presented in a story, and the behavior, emotion and moral principle of the characters.

So, the characters main mean the actors of the story and also the characterization. In

accordance wit Staton’s statement, Holman (1980: 82) defines characterization as

how the writers of a literary work, in this case fiction, characterize the characters. To

characterize means to describe or portray the characters with particulars qualities,

feature, or traits.