CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the background of the study, identification of the

problem, limitation of the problem, formulation of the problem, objectives of the

study, and significance of the study.

A. Background of the Study

One of the genres studied in literature is prose. There are several types of

prose, and prose fiction is one of it. The term fiction, mostly in narrative forms

of literature, is derived from imagination or fantasy. According to Altenbernd

and Lewis (1966:14), fiction can be interpreted as imaginative narrative prose,

but the story does commonly make sense and contains the truth which

dramatizes human interactions. As one of art works, fiction offers an

imaginative model of life and has a dominant aesthetic element in it.

However, fiction is a literary work formed in a narrative story that is

supposed to entertain the reader. In the other words, to read a fictional work

means enjoying the story, and to gain entertainment from it. However the

experiences and life problems it offers, a work of fiction must remains as an

interesting story, remains as a coherent structure building, and still has an

aesthetic purpose (Wellek & Warren, 1956:212).

Novel as one of literary works consists of some elements of fiction. The

elements are generally divided into two major categories, which are the

intrinsic and extrinsic elements. According to Nurgiyantoro (2010:23),

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intrinsic element is the elements that directly build the literary work itself.

These elements will be found by a reader in reading a literary work, such as

novel. The intrinsic elements, among the others, consist of plot, character,

theme, background, point of view, and figurative language.

Character, as one of the intrinsic elements, has an important role in

building a fictional story. At this point, character will be able to answer the

questions about “who” in the plot. In fact, according to Nurgiyantoro

(2010:164), a discussion about the character along with its characterization is

more interesting for people than one about the plot. In case of fiction,

character is a representation of human being, or occasionally another creature,

is represented in a form of text. The character directly supports and creates the

story as the player in the story itself.

Character can be divided into some categories such as main character,

supporting character, protagonist and antagonist character, typical character,

neutral character, etc. These categories can be classified based on the role and

the importance of each character. The differences between each character also

can be considered based on the intensity of its appearance in the story.

In reading a fictional story, such as novel, reader will choose some

characters they like to put sympathy and empathy onto. These characters

usually represent same interests, hopes, and ideas with the reader. In other

words, these characters represent the readers. These characters are called

protagonist characters. A protagonist character is commonly the one that face

a conflict in the story.

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 In other way, there may be some characters that the role is to have conflict

with the protagonist characters. These characters are known as antagonist

characters. The antagonist characters commonly, in a fictional story, are the

opposition characters for the protagonists. The antagonists will be the ones

that create a conflict of the story. However, there are some cases that the

conflict is not created by an antagonist character individually, but by other

factors such as accident, natural disaster, moral value, etc. These conflict

causes that are not caused individually by a character are called antagonistic

force (Altenbernd & Lewis, 1966:59).

Herbert George Wells was a great science fiction writer during the
Victorian era. He was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and
produced works in many different genres, including contemporary novels,
history, and social commentary. He was also an outspoken socialist. His later
works become increasingly political and didactic, and only his early science
fiction novels are widely read today. He was referred to as the Father of
Science Fiction. Many of his works “are still practically household names
today” (Keller). He was also a well-known socialist and humanitarian as is
stated by Charles Keller in his article “H. G. Wells Sees It Through”: “The
man H. G. Wells was as remarkable as his literature. He believed the keys to
mankind’s long-term survival were education and a disciplined application of
science to matters that benefited everyone. He was a life-long Socialist who
despised Marxism, a devoted humanitarian and a tireless champion of
women's rights.” One of his great works, The Invisible Man, is one of his
longest living works, which has been made into many serials and even modern
day movies.

The main conflict of the novel can be considered as right from the beginning
of The Invisible Man, written by H. G. Wells, The story contains both external

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 and internal conflict. In either case, both the protagonist and the antagonist is
Griffin himself as he has made himself his own worst enemy. The external
conflicts that Griffin causes are between Griffin and various members of the
town as his invisibility is gradually discovered. People react with fear and then
with terror as Griffin aggravates the situation by lashing out against people as
soon as they figure him out. The people accept his existence with surprising
lack of suspicion about the possibility of such an occurrence, which may be a
lack on the author's part. Once they believe that he exists, the primary goal is
to apprehend and imprison him. Although motives are not elaborated upon, it
would seem that different people in the town have different notions of what
they might do when and if they could capture the man. Griffin also ultimately
sees Kemp as an enemy although he had at first believed that Kemp would be
both sympathetic and cooperative.

Based on the background of the study, the writer chooses a research title

An Analysis of Protagonist and Antagonist Characters in H.G. Wells’ The

Invincible Man.

B. Identification of the Problems

In this study, the research questions are made mainly based on the

background of the study above, and also on the writer’s own interest. The

research questions are as follows:

1. How the characterizationsof the characters are generally described

in The Invincible Man?

2. How the protagonist and antagonist characterizations are described

in The Invincible Man?

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C. Limitation of the Problems

The Invincible Man has many characters; many of those are even can be

categorized as main characters. As for the reason above, the writer limits the

research to be focused on the characterization of five main characters in The

Invincible Man. The protagonist and antagonist characterization will be

analyzed based on those chosen threemain characters.

D. Objectives of the Study

According to the research questions, the writer has purposes that expected

to be gained through this study. The objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To find out how the characterizations of the characters are generally

described in The Invincible Man.

2. To find out how the protagonist and antagonist characterizations are

described in The Invincible Man.

E. Significances of the Study

The result of this study is expected to give benefits to the writer

especially, to the reader, institution, and other further researchers. Through

this study, the writer personally expects to understand about the

characterizations of the protagonist and antagonist characters in H. G. Wells’

The Invincible Man novel, and also for the reader to be able to understand

about protagonist and antagonist characterization after reading this study. In

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addition, the significances of this study can be divided into two major

significances, which are:

a. Academic significance

The results of this study are expected to provide knowledge in the

educational field and in further research on analyzing the character

and its characterization and, especially, about protagonist and

antagonist characterization of a fictional work, especially of The

Invincible Man novel.

b. Practical Significance

The results of this study are expected to provide input and

knowledge for the reader, in order to understand the description of

characterization, especially of the protagonist and antagonist

characterization, of the character in a fictional work. The writer also

hopes that the results of this study can be used for advancement of

literary works in Indonesia.

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 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter deals with novel, kind of novel, element of fiction, character,

characterization, biography of the writer, and synopsis of the novel.

A. Novel

Novel is a work of fiction, and is a form of prose which is one of the

literary genres. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Literature(1970:

413) stated that, “novel is a prose narrative or tale of a fictional character of

greater length than the short story. In the seventeenth and eighteenthcentury,

novel was often considered with romance as being something shorter and

having more relation to real life”.

The word novel comes from Latin; which means a new tale or story. The

word originally comes from Latin adjective novellas or novus that means

“new”. It is adopted in the 16th century by English language from Italian

language Novella, which is used to describe a short tale that portraying

incidents and often amorous intrigues of everyday living. Abrams (1981:119)

said that in literary, novella means “a small brand new thing” and then the

word is intepreted as “a short story in prose form”.

Sumardjo and Saini (1986:29-30) defined novel as a prose in a broad

scale. The word “broad” refers to a story with a complex plot (plot), various

characters, complex theme, various of atmospheres and settings of the story.

However, the range of the "broad" is not absolute, however, perhaps it is only

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 one fictional element, for example the theme, while the characters, settings

and others are only ones.

Novel, as a fiction, is a literary work formed in a narrative story that has

entertainment value as one of its purposes. The story, however it is offered, is

supposed to entertain the reader. In the other words, to read a novel means

enjoying the story, and to gain entertainment from it. However the experiences

and life problems it offers, a work of fiction must remain as an interesting

story, remains as a coherent structure building, and still has an aesthetic

purpose (Wellek& Warren, 1956: 212).

B. Kinds of Novel

1. Serious novel

Kayam (1981:87) said that serious novel is a novel that is not to

make a fool of. A serious novel has a characteristic to provide any

possibility. Therefore, it is rather difficult to understand the story, and it

inquires a comprehension with high concentration from the reader.

Serious novel mostly contains experiences and problems based on the real

life. It invites the reader to be absorbed deeply into the story, in order to

comprehend the problem of the story line. With those contents, this kind of

novel is not only offers entertainment to the readers, but also the worthy

experience and knowledge that can be learned through the problem of the

story.

Mostly, serious novels take the problems of real life as the basic

sample for the idea of the story. The idea then wrapped and presented as in

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 “new world”. A serious novel tries to reveal something new, and also

along with new pronouncing.

2. Popular novel

Popular novel is a novel that has immense popularity in its time,

and has many readers, usually among teenagers. This kind of novel mostly

contains minimum amounts of complexity in the story. Hence, according

to Stanton (1965:2), popular novel is more understandable and easier to be

enjoyed since it is nothing other than deliver the story.

According to Kayam (1981:88), popular novel is a record of life,

and not offers more problems in life with many possibilities. Its purpose is

to retell the records of life events, hoping that the readers will recall those

events in their lives and will be entertained with it. A good popular novel

can invite the readers to identify themselves in the story.

C. Elements of Fiction

A fictional work must consists some elements, which are divided into two

major categories. They are the extrinsic elements and the intrinsic elements.

Intrinsic elements are the ones that build up the story inside directly, some of

them are theme, plot, character, setting, point of views, language, or figure of

speech, etc.

According to Nurgiantoro (2010:23):

Unsur intrinsik adalah unsur-unsur yang membangun karya

sastra itu sendiri. Unsur-unsur inilah yang menyebabkan karya
sastra hadir sebagai karya sastra. Unsur-unsur yang dimaksud
adalah tema, plot, penokohan, latar, sudut pandang penceritaan,

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 bahasa atau gaya bahasa, dan lain-lain.(=Intrinsic elements are
the elements that build the literature itself. these elements caused
why literature presents as a literary work. The elements are the
theme, plot, character, setting, storytelling point of views,
language, or figure of speech, and others).

Extrinsic elements are the elements found outside of the story itself, but it

is indirectly influence the structure of the literary works. part of which

includes extrinsic elements are circumstances of individual subjectivity

authors, psychological state, author of circumstances (economic, social, and

political), view of life of a nation, the various works of art, religion, and so

forth (Wellek & Warren 1956).

D. Character

Character is one of the intrinsic elements in a literary work. It is a person

in a play or story (Duffy & Pettit, 1953:24). Character development involves

both physical description and classification of the mental and spiritual

qualities of the person (Opdhal, 1968:3). Stanton (1965:17) stated that a story

has a major character. Its character, which is related to every event in the

story, usually will show the change both in the character itself orin the act

toward the character.

Abrams (1981:20) said that character is a person presented in dramatics of

narrative work who are interpreted by reader as being endowed with moral

and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say and what they

do in action. Therefore, it can be said that the relation between character and

its personal quality depends on the readers’ acceptation. The readers can get

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the personality of a character through its utterances (verbal) and actions (non

verbal).

Kennedy (1983: 45) stated that a character is presumably an imagined

person who inhabits a story – although that simple definition may admit to a

few exceptions. (In George Stewart’s novel Storm, the protagonist is the wind;

in Richard Adams’s Watership down, the central characters are rabbits). But

usually we recognize it in the main characters of a story: human personalities

that are familiar to us.

Character is distinguished from characterization. Character is any person,

persona, identity, or entity that exists and plays role in the story. In the other

side, characterization is the process of conveying information about the

character itself. A character in a novel may be entirely fictional or based on

real life; it also can be human, supernatural creature, animal, etc. However, in

the way of describing it, Brooks and Warren (1959:168) stated that every

character in fiction must resemble ourselves; it must be recognized as human

as even as we are as human.

Based on its importance and role level, character can be divided into two

categories, namely main character or supporting character.

1. Main character refers to the character that has important role in the

story. The main character can be identified by finding out the character

that is mostly mentioned in the story.

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 2. Supporting character, in contrary, refers to the character that has less

important role in the story. Supporting character is supposed to be

supporting, helping, and completing the main character.

According to Forster (1970:75), character can be divided into two types:

flat character and round character.

1. Flat characters are characters only have one personality. In their purest

form, they are constructed round a single idea or quality: when there is

more than one factor in them, we get the beginning of the curve

towards the round. They have no personality or behavior changing to

surprise the reader. Therefore, the flat characters are easy to be

understood or stereotyped.

2. Round characters’ personality is more complex than flat characters.

Round characters are unpredictable; they can show different

personality and behavior along the story. As the contrary to the flat

characters, round characters are capable of surprise, contradiction, and

change; they represent the complexity of human being in reality.

Based on its presentation, characters are generally divided into two

category: protagonist and antagonist.

1. Protagonist is a character which the reader is fond of their personality.

The protagonist is usually has good feelings, thoughts, and usually is

identified as “hero”. Those characteristics represent the mood and

emotion of the reader. Aminuddin (1987:80) said that protagonist is

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 “pelaku yang memiliki watak baik sehingga disenangi oleh pembaca”.

(Protagonist is character that has good characteristics, so that it is liked

by the reader).

According to Altenbernd & Lewis (1966:59), protagonist is a

character that we fond of, generally considered as hero, a character that

represents norms and values that are considered as the ideal ones by

the readers. Nurgiyantoro (2010: 178-179) said that protagonist

character shows some things that suits our views; these characters have

similarity with us, share similar problems that we have, and have

similar way in order to deal with it.

2. Antagonist is a character that makes conflict with the protagonist in the

story. As the opposite of protagonist, antagonist character is usually

has bad personality, which is disliked by the reader. Aminuddin

(1987:80) said that “antagonist adalahpelaku yang tidakdisenangi para

pembaca karena memiliki watak yang tidak sesuai dengan apa yang

diidamkan oleh pembaca”. (Antagonist is a character that is disliked by

the reader because of its characterization that does not meet the

ideology of the reader).

According to Altenbernd & Lewis (1966:59), a conflict can be

caused not only by antagonist personally, but also by thing beyond

personal individuality such as accident, disaster, environment, social,

moral values, authority, etc. These examples of non-personal

antagonists are called antagonistic force.

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 However, in some cases, categorizing characters into protagonist or

antagonist can be complex or, at least, arguable. It is due to the fact that any

reader can be having different opinion about a character’s role or personality in

a fiction. For this complexity, Luxemburg et al (1992:145) said that once there

are two contrary characters, the one that has more chances to show its visions

is tend to get more sympathy, and empathy, from the readers.

E. Characterization

Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters

in a fictional work. The information may be such as personality, appearance,

age, gender, social status, sexual orientation, beliefs, motivation, etc. Through

the characterization, the reader can understand each character and therefore be

able to understand the whole story.

The characterization of character in fictional work can be described either

by implicit or explicit delineation. Abrams (1981:21) stated that characters are

expressed in what they say (the dialogue) and what they do (the action). The

alternative methods available by author in characterizing the persons in a

narrative are showing and telling.

In showing (also called the dramatic method), said Abrams, the

authorsimply presents the characters talking and acting and leaves the reader

to infer the motives and dispositions that lie behind what they say and do. It

means that the author does not describe or convey the character explicitly; the

14
 reader is free to appreciate the characterization of the character based on their

subjectivity.

Meanwhile in telling, the author intervenes authoritatively in order to

describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the

characters. With the telling method, the reader is straightly given the

description of the characterization by the author. In other words, the

description is not implicitly described in the dialogues, but usually is

described explicitly in the narration.

F. Biography of H. G. Wells

Born in England in 1866, H.G. Wells's parents were shopkeepers in Kent,

England. His first novel, The Time Machine was an instant success and Wells

produced a series of science fiction novels which pioneered our ideas of the

future. His later work focused on satire and social criticism. Wells laid out his

socialist views of human history in his Outline of History. He died in 1946.

a. Early Life

Visionary writer H.G. Wells was born Herbert George Wells on

September 21, 1866, in Bromley, England. Wells came from a working

class background. His father played professional cricket and ran a

hardware store for a time. Wells's parents were often worried about his

poor health. They were afraid that he might die young, as his older sister

had. At the age of 7, Wells had an accident that left him bedridden for

15
 several months. During this time, the avid young reader went through

many books, including some by Washington Irving and Charles Dickens.

After Wells's father's shop failed, his family, which included two

older brothers, struggled financially. The boys were apprenticed to a

draper, and his mother went to work on an estate as a housekeeper. At his

mother's workplace, Wells discovered the owner's extensive library. He

read the works of Jonathan Swift and some of the important figures of the

Enlightenment, including Voltaire.

In his early teens, Wells also went to work as a draper's assistant.

He hated the job and eventually quit, much to his mother's dismay.

Turning to teaching, Wells soon found a way to continue his own studies.

He won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science where he learned

about physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology, among other subjects.

Wells also devoted much of his time to becoming a writer. During college,

he published a short story about time travel called "The Chronic

Argonauts," which foreshadowed his future literary success.

b. Literary Success

In 1895, Wells became an overnight literary sensation with the

publication of the novel The Time Machine. The book was about an

English scientist who develops a time travel machine. While entertaining,

the work also explored social and scientific topics, from class conflict to

evolution. These themes recurred in some of his other popular works from

this time.

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 Wells continued to write what some have called scientific

romances, but others consider early examples of science fiction. In quick

succession, he published the The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The

Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). The Island of

Doctor Moreau told the story of a man who encounters a scientist

conducting the gruesome experiments on animals, creating new species of

creatures. In The Invisible Man, Wells explores the life of another scientist

who undergoes a dark personal transformation after turning himself

invisible. The War of the Worlds, a novel about an alien invasion, later

caused a panic when an adaptation of the tale was broadcast on American

radio. On Halloween night of 1938, Orson Welles went on the air with his

version of The War of the Worlds, claiming that aliens had landed in New

Jersey.

In addition to his fiction, Wells wrote many essays, articles and

nonfiction books. He served as a book reviewer for the Saturday

Review for several years, during which time he promoted the careers of

James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. In 1901, Wells published a non-fiction

book called Anticipations. This collection of predictions has proved to be

remarkably accurate. Wells forecasted the rise of major cities and suburbs,

economic globalization, and aspects of future military conflicts.

Remarkably, considering his support for women and women's

rights, Wells did not predict the rise of women in the workplace.

17
 Politically, Wells supported socialist ideals. For a time, he was a

member of the Fabian Society, a group that sought social reform and

believed that the best political system was socialism. Wells explored

issues of social class and economic disparity in a number of his works,

including Kipps (1905). Kipps was one of Wells's favorites of his own

work.

Over the years, he wrote several more comedies, including

1916's Mr. Britling Sees It Through. This wildly popular novel looks at a

writer living in a small English village before, during and after World War

I. Also around this time, Wells again demonstrated his affinity for

predictions. He foresaw the splitting of atom and the creation of atomic

bombs in The World Set Free (1914).

c. Later Works

In 1920, H.G. Wells published The Outline of History, perhaps his

best selling work during his lifetime. This three-volume tome began with

prehistory and followed the world's events up through World War I. Wells

believed there would be another major war to follow, and included his

ideas for the future. Lobbying for a type of global socialism, he suggested

the creation of a single government for the entire world. Around this time,

Wells also tried to advance his political ideas in the real world. He ran for

Parliament as a Labour Party candidate in 1922 and 1923, but both efforts

ended in failure.

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 Wells branched out into film in the 1930s. Traveling to Hollywood,

he adapted his 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come for the big screen.

His 1936 film, called Things to Come, took audiences on a journey from

the next world war into the distant future. Around this same time, Wells

worked on the film version of one of his short stories, "The Man Who

Could Work Miracles."

An internationally famous intellectual and author, Wells traveled

widely. He visited Russia in 1920 where he met with Vladimir Lenin and

Leon Trotsky. More than a decade later, Wells had the opportunity to talk

with Josef Stalin and American president Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also

lectured and went on speaking tours, gaining notoriety for his radical

social and political views. Taking a break from war-torn London in 1940,

Wells came to the United States. He delivered a talk entitled "Two

Hemispheres—One World."

G. Synopsis of The Invincible Man

In the story of The Invisible Man, a mysterious man goes to a village

called Iping, which is in the middle of a snowstorm. He then stays in an inn

that is owned and run by the husband and wife George and Janny Hall. They

ask him to not be worried about the storm, so he goes to his room with his

luggage. This man’s name is Griffin, a scientist, who usually spends his time

in his room experimenting with different chemicals and formulas. He is an

19
introverted guy, which becomes a huge problem as he lives in a town where

the there is a lot of gossip.

Griffin goes outside at night; however, be keeps himself completely

bandaged up and wears a fake nose. The villagers think that he is very

peculiar, especially because there are suddenly weird break-ins and a lot of

robberies start happening in the village. But things become worse when the

owner Janny Hall asks him to pay up his overture rent or leave. So, he gets

depressed and frustrated, taking off all his bandages and clothes and manages

to disappear into the night with his invisibility tricks.

Griffin then forces Thomas Marvel, a tramp, or migrant worker by

profession, to become his assistant. But Marvel betrays him and takes him to

the police, so Griffin runs away again. The Invisible Man beats them up and

wreaks some major havoc while leaving.

While he is on the run again, Griffin happens to meet Dr Kemp, his old

acquaintance from medical school. Griffin then tells his friend Kemp about his

experiments with invisibility. He also tells him how he has made plans to

terrorize England by using his discovery of invisibility. Here’s the gist of what

he tells him: he was poor and was desperate to study invisibility, so he steals

money from his father, who later commits suicide (it’s not revealed why he

does that). Finally, Griffin gets a grip of the idea of invisibility and proceeds

to do these things: (1) set his landlord’s building on fire; (2) wander around

London; (3) rob a department store; and (4) wear a ridiculous outfit hired from

a theatrical costume shop and go to Iping for work.

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 But soon Kemp realizes that Griffin has gone berserk, and hands him over

to the police.

But Griffin still breaks through the police line and starts chasing Kemp

into the town. But unfortunately, the locals get hold of Griffin and kill him. At

the end of the story, it is revealed that Marvel has saved all the notes written

by Griffin in his room at the inn, but luckily, he can’t make heads or tails out

of them.

The Invisible Man main characters:

1. Griffin

He is the Invisible Man. Primarily an albino college student, he

changes his area of study from medicine to physics and then becomes

interested in refractive indexes of tissue. While studying, he stumbles

across formulae that would make body tissues invisible. Finally, he

successfully tries the formula on himself and thinks about all the things

he could do if he were invisible. Sadly, the positives are far

outweighed by the disadvantages, so Griffin starts opting for crime as a

means of survival.

2. Mr. Marvel

This is the first character that Griffin makes his assistant and uses

as a partner in crime. Mr. Marvel is a short, fat loner who is the area

tramp. Griffin thinks that he stupid and so trusts him by believing that

he will not be believed even if he tries to tell anyone about his

predicament.

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3. Dr. Kemp

Griffin’s former associate from his college days. As students,

Griffin was aware that even Kemp was keen about strange and

idiosyncratic aspects of science. Griffin actually goes to Kemp’s house

in his final attempt to find an accomplice and start leading a more

normal life. Kemp; however, does not have a sense of loyalty to his

former student and is not willing to be a part of Griffin’s grand

schemes. He is also quite cunning and lands up betraying the invisible

man by pretending to support Griffin’s experiments.

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 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter deals with type of the research, . Data collecting method, data

analyzing method.

A. Type of the Research

For this research, the writer uses qualitative and descriptive approach as

the method. The purpose of qualitative research is not to find generalization,

but instead looking for a comprehending of the meaning of the problem by

collecting and doing the data analysis.

Sugiyono (2009:9) said that:

“Metode penelitian kualitatif adalah metode penelitian yang

berlandaskan pada filsafat postpositivisme, digunakan untuk
meneliti pada kondisi objek yang alamiah, (sebagai lawannya
adalah eksperimen) dimana peneliti adalah sebagai instrumen
kunci, teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan secara triangulasi
(gabungan), analisis data bersifat induktif/kualitatif, dan hasil
penelitian kualitatif lebih menekankan makna dari pada
generalisasi”.(=Qualitative research methodis a research method
based on the postpositivism philosophy, used to examine the
condition of natural objects, (as a contrary of experiment) in
which the researcher is the key instrument, the data collection
technique is conducted by triangulation (combined), the data
analysis is inductive/qualitative, and the resultsemphasize the
meaning rather than the generalization).
As for analyzing the data, the writer uses descriptive method. Descriptive

method is used to describe specific behavior as it occurs in the environment.

The purpose of a descriptive method is to examine a phenomenon that is

occurring at a specific place(s) and time. A descriptive method is concerned

23
with conditions, practices, structures, differences or relationships that exist,

opinions held, processes that are going on or trends that are evident.

According to Maxwell (1992:279), qualitative descriptive method is:

“Qualitative descriptive studies offer a comprehensive summary

of an event in the everyday terms of those events. Researchers
conducting such studies seek descriptive validity, or an accurate
accounting of events that most people (including researchers and
participants) observing the same event would agree is accurate,
and interpretive validity, or an accurate accounting of the
meanings participants attributed to those events that those
participants would agree is accurate.”

Based on the statement of Maxwell above, it can be said that the method

used for this research is qualitative descriptive method. The method describes

the problem or case proposed based on the available fact, the specific ones,

then be investigated to solve the problems and draw the general conclusions.

Qualitative descriptive are typically an eclectic but reasonable and well-

considered combination of sampling, and data collection, analysis, and re-

presentational techniques.

The writer describes his research stages as follows:

1. Reading the theories of character and characterization

2. Classifying the data based on the characterization types

3. Investigating the data based on the theories

4. Explaining the data

5. Formatting the findings

6. Making a conclusion

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 As an addition and in order to support this research, the writer also used

library research. The writer could find material to support his research topic by

developing a research strategy. The writer could acquire a lot of reference

through books from several writers. Beside that, the writer also used the

internet as a supporting media to get some information needed for this

reseacrh, especially about character and characterization.

In collecting the data, the writer read the story, looked for the main

characters, and then underlined the sentences and dialogs pointing to the

characterization of the characters. In analyzing the data, the writer investigated

the underlined sentences and dialogs in order to get the characterization and

meaning of each chosen main characters, and then classified it into protagonist

or antagonist based on the theory explained in Chapter II. In interpreting the

data, the writer explains the data that were analyzed to get conclusions.

B. Data Collecting Method

The writer used six steps in collecting the data for this research. The steps

are:

1. Reading the The Invincible Man novel

The writer read the whole story from the beginning to the end to find out

the characters exist in the story.

2. Selecting the characters that will be analyzed

After finding all of the characters, the writer then selected five main

characters, as explained in the limitation of the study.

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 3. Collecting the description of characterizations of the selected characters

After selected five main characters, the writer underlined and quoted the

sentences and dialogues that describe the characterization of the

characters.

4. Understanding and interpreting the data (sentences and dialogs)

After collecting the data, the writer tried to understand and interpreted the

data.

5. Selecting and categorizing the data to be analyzed

After understanding and interpreting the data, the writer then selected the

data to decide for which are necessary to be analyzed.

6. Analyzing the data

C. Data Analyzing Method

After selecting the data that have been interpreted before, the writer then

analyzed the data to find out the characterization of the characters based on the

presentation of the characters in the story as protagonist or antagonist.

In analyzing the data, the writer firstly determined five main characters in

the story, which would be analyzed. Secondly, the writer generally determined

any possible characterization of the selected characters by analyzing the

description in the narrations or dialogues from the novel. After that, the writer

categorized the data into protagonist and antagonist characterization according

to the previous general description. The analysis would had been explained in

descriptive form.

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