Exploring character delineation: A transitivity analysis of O. Henry’s “A Retrieved Reformation”

Abstract

This paper attempts to show how language works in literature in order to explore character delineation by using the transitivity system, which was initially proposed by Halliday (1985) and Halliday and Matthiessen (2004, 2014). Specifically, it aims to construe the linguistic choices in O. Henry’s “A Retrieved Reformation,” which highlights the protagonist’s life reformation brought by love, family, and social acceptance. Results show that the text has 309 transitivity processes, with material as the dominant process type which emphasizes much of the character’s actions and events. Among the participant roles, the actor role is the most dominant, which means that the role of the character is to bring changes in his current situations, leading to reformation. Meanwhile, location is the most dominant type of circumstances. An in-depth analysis using the transitivity system unveils the writer’s perspective in manipulating story elements, especially character. The paper further proves that literature can be taught using linguistic approaches.

Keywords

• "a retrieved reformation"
• o. henry
• stylistic analysis
• systemic functional linguistics
• transitivity analysis