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THE APPRAISAL ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER IN RESOLUTION 
PART OF THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY 

 
Kadek Sonia Piscayanti 

Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha 

Sonia.piscayanti@undiksha.ac.id 

ABSTRACT  

This research aimed to analyze the character of Santiago in resolution part of the novel “The 
Old Man and The Sea” by Ernest Hemingway using SFL Appraisal Theory. From the data 
analysis, it was found that attitude (affect) and graduation (force) dominated the appraisal 
items in the resolution part of “The Old Man and The Sea”. In total there were 34 appraisal 
items found. There were 11 appraisal items on affect found (29.72%), 3 items on judgment 
(8.1%), 1 item on appreciation (2.7%), 5 items on engagement (13.5%) and 17 items on 
graduation (45.94%). Those expressions developed from character revelation through 
dialogue and narration on setting, and those difference marks significant importance of 
character’s development in the resolution part. The character revelations found in the 
resolution part are: reflective, affectionate (caring and loving), humble, wise, realistic, and 
optimistic. This research showed the contribution of appraisal theory, especially attitude and 
graduation to develop a character in fiction, to be more exact, vivid, and naturally convincing. 
In the context of language teaching, the awareness of linguistics expression, language 
evaluations on meanings and values are relevant to be introduced from early to get better 
understanding of the language. 

Keywords : character, character revelations, attitude, affect, judgement, appreciation, 
engagement, graduation 

1. INTRODUCTION 

The Old Man and The Sea (abbreviated as TOMS) is an epic and famous novel written 
by Ernest Hemingway. This novel is a short novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1952, 
which was awarded Pulitzer Price in 1953 and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. This is 
considered as one of the best literature works in the 20th century. It tells a heroic story 
about an old man and his journey to catch a fish in the sea where he had a fight not only 
with a big fish but also with the nature and himself. This novel presented many 
philosophical values that can be learned. The old man showed us much to learn, from the 
strength as a human and as a strength as an old man who fights against the sea, and 
himself. He proved that a journey of an old man does not mean useless, he proved to people 
around that he can still conquer the nature regardless his age and weak physical condition.  

Literature is a device to express meaning and values, through which we can learn from. 
Literature is a verbal work of art that has purpose to educate, to entertain, to educate and 
to inspire. Literature is a powerful tool to value life in a rich, creative, engaging and 
elaborative ways. TOMS is the invention of Ernest Hemingway that deals not only with the 



 

 

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issue on heroism as the theme, but also with humanity as central theme. This work is one of 
the greatest works in literature, as it is born from experience. Josephs (1966: 52 in 
Vitacolonna (1989)) stated that the key method of Hemingway’s writing is inventing from 
experience, in which the author does use his own experience and does invent from it. Once 
Hemingway wrote “If you have a story, it is not hard to tell. Maybe people won’t believe it. 
But you can tell it straight and true. A writer, of course, has to make up stories for them to 
be rounded, and not flat like photographs. But he makes them up out of what he knows.” 
(Baker, ed., 1981: 678 in Vitacolonna (1989)). From the sentence, it is confirmed that a 
story that is born from experience is the best one. From an experience, a writer should 
make up stories to be rounded and not flat. That is the best power of fiction. Fiction 
according to Kennedy (1983) comes from the Latin word “fictio”, a shaping, a 
counterfaiting, is a name for stories not entirely factual, but at least partially shaped, made 
up, imagined.    

Prose fiction is a literary work that focus on the development of character in a made-up 
and convincing chronological arrangement. To make it short, prose fiction is a made up 
story about character. It means that the prose fiction is building character through made up 
events in a made up settings. Novel is one of kinds of literature that is categorized under 
prose fiction. TOMS is categorized as a short novel.  

Short novel has the same elements as novel, namely character, characterization, plot, 
setting, point of view, and moral values. Among those elements, character and plot are the 
two most important elements. Character is the subject of the story while plot is how the 
character runs the story through sequence of events. In this research, character is analyzed 
through resolution part using Appraisal theory. The novelty of this research is that 
appraisal theory used to identify linguistic expressions found in the character development 
of specific part in resolution that gives a significant contribution in strengthening the 
character to be more vivid, emotionally convincing and impressing. Resolution part is one 
of the most significant part in prose fiction that it gives new insights on how linguistic 
expressions in resolution part analyzed through appraisal framework can construct more 
vivid and naturally convincing character. Resolution part is the best part of literature that 
will mark the meaning, the values and the impression of the story. 

 Character development in narrative is revealed by many aspects, firstly by direct 
presentation and secondly by indirect presentation (Basuki, 1988). Direct presentation can 
be delivered through description and or by conversation. Meanwhile indirect presentation 
can be delivered through interior monologue, flow of thoughts and action. It is presented 
through sequences of moments in the story. The common sequence structure in literature 
is beginning, middle, and end. Resolution is the end of the structure. It gives more powerful 
impact towards the story. This research aims at focusing the analysis on the end structure 
because end structure among those three is considered to be the least structure that is 
rarely talked about. Meanwhile the significance of resolution is literature is very important. 
Resolution is a part where the power of literature anchored. This part is the last for the 
writer to explore the power of the words. That is the last that makes an overall impact of a 
story, whether the story is meaningful or not, whether it is valuable or not, and whether it 
is memorable is not depends on the power of resolution. Resolution also is the gate where 



 

 

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meanings happen in the audience’s minds. Impression, emotions, feeling, statement of 
appreciation, come in this stage. The resolution part is the most powerful part of a 
literature. Meaning and values are refocused and reinterpreted here, as it is more 
developed and strongly structured.   

Literature has a very deep meaning. We can analyze literature with many perspective, 
one of those is by analyzing the linguistics expression, through SFL. Systemic Functional 
Linguistics is the tool used to analyze linguistics expression. The analysis used Appraisal 
theory by Martin and White (2005). Appraisal is concerned about the interpersonal 
meaning of a language. In this research particularly we will focus on the aspect of attitude 
and graduation which mostly appear as the appraisal items used to describe character. 
According to Martin and White (2005:35), attitude is a framework of mapping feeling as 
they are construed in English texts. This system involves three semantic regions, namely 
emotion, ethics, and aesthetics. In this framework, they are named as affect, judgement, and 
appreciation. Engagement deals with sourcing attitudes and the play of voices around 
opinions in discourse. Meanwhile graduation attends to grading phenomena whereby 
feelings are amplified  and categories blurred.  

  Attitude and graduations are mostly used here because it is a framework of mapping 
feelings as they are construed in English texts. Character is developed through sequence of 
events that lead to sequence of feelings. The tools to express emotions are linguistic 
expressions to represent emotions, feelings, setting and voice, psychological states of 
minds. In this analysis, we will discuss the aspects of attitude, engagement and graduation 
that are found in resolution part of the novel TOMS by Ernest Hemingway. The novelty of 
this research is that there are some appraisal items that are found in the resolution part of 
the novel build the new insight of how character is built through character revelation and 
setting.   

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 

2.1 Situating Literature in SFL 

Prose fiction is a made up story about character. Character is defined as a subject of a 
story. Meanwhile characterization is the way how character is being represented. There are 
many kinds of character. First, main or major character. Second, minor character. Main 
character is the subject of the story while minor character is the supporting character that 
helps the plot to run logically. There are some ways of revealing character namely direct 
and indirect representation. Direct representation is the way the character is revealed 
through description or narration and dialogue. While indirect representation is the way a 
character being represented through description or narration, interior monologue, flow of 
thoughts, actions, and also dialogue. In this research, we will see how major character of 
Santiago is revealed through dialogue or conversation to present his character. 

Character runs the story through plot. Plot is the arrangement of events in a story. It 
has structure namely beginning, middle and end. According to Basuki in the book Anatomy 
of Prose Fiction (1988), prose fiction has plot structure namely introduction, middle and 



 

 

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end. In introduction, there are some aspects that are build, from the introduction of 
character, introduction of setting, introduction of problem. In the introduction of problem, 
it is introduced the points of attack that will lead to problem. In the middle part, the points 
of attack are developed through some stages namely crises, climax, and finally anticlimax. 
In the end part, the resolution, the points are meanings that are described through 
character, the problem solving, or the moments where character meets his/her final battle 
with the conflicts. 

Literature research on character and character development in the context of SFL are 
many. First is by Khrisna, Djatmika, et.al (2020) found that character is developed through 
stages of orientation, complication, and resolution. In each stage the character is developed 
personally, emotionally, and physically. However, the gap I found is that there is no focus 
on character development in the resolution part. Therefore, this research is aimed at 
exploring the character development in the resolution part to meet the differences from 
orientation and complication stage. The focus of this research is to see how character is 
built through character revelation and setting in the resolution stage by using Appraisal 
theory.  

Second one is by Horarik (2003) on his essay Appraisal and Narrative. In his research 
he found that narrative teaches through two kinds of subjectivity; intersubjectivity (a 
capacity to “feel with” a character) and supersubjectivity (a capacity to stand over a 
character and evaluate his or her action ethically). However in this research, I will try to 
see how character develops from both perspective of intersubjectivity and 
supersubjectivity because the appraisal theory used here needs a comprehensive look on 
the detailed description of character. It will see it as a linguistic expression and evaluated 
from many aspects of appraisal theory - from attitude, engagement and graduation. This is 
important to analyze all the items of appraisal, because their presence can not be ignored 
and because their presence is meaningful in character development.  

This research, then will focus on how character is revealed through resolution part. 
The importance to see this because usually the character develops his manner gradually, 
and at the end the character will be stronger or more powerful than before after series of 
struggle in the story. The character’s growth can be seen from the dialogue, the setting, and 
the narration. These aspects reveal the power of character. In this case, the character 
Santiago becomes stronger emotionally and psychologically after series of battle in his life. 
To see how the character is revealed in the resolution part, I will analyze the character 
through Appraisal Theory, on the aspects of attitude, engagement and graduation.  

2.2 Appraisal Theory   

According to Martin and White (2005), appraisal in SFL is the area of discourse 
semantic, to emphasize the meaning beyond the clause. It can be divided into three 
subsystem namely attitude, engagement and graduation. Attitude is the way feeling is 
expressed, including emotional reactions, judgements of behaviour, and evaluation of 
things. Engagement deals with sourcing attitude and the play of voices around opinion in 



 

 

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discourse. While graduation attends to grading phenomena whereby feelings are amplified 
and categories blurred.  

Attitude can be divided into three categories; namely affect, judgement and 
appreciation. According to Martin and White (2005:42), affect is concerned with 
registering positive and negative feeling; judgement deals with attitude towards behaviour 
which we admire or criticize, praise or condemn; appreciation involves evaluations of 
semiotic and natural phenomena. Engagement deals with sourcing attitudes and the play of 
voices around opinion in discourse. While graduation attends to grading phenomena 
whereby feelings are amplified and categories blurred.   

According to Li and Gao (2013), affect is the core of the attitude system, being either 
negative or positive, reflects the emotional responses and evaluation. Judgement explains 
the values that indicates how the appraiser, by reference to certain social norms and 
conventions or system of values, construct judgement toward human behaviour or 
activities. While appreciation is thing-oriented, involving the resources adopted to assess 
objects, processes and natural phenomena especially in aesthetic level.  

Some appraisal analysis on literature have been widely researched. Some of them are 
by Macken-Horarik (2003) on Appraisal and the special instructiveness of narrative. This 
research considers the role of appraisal system in narrative discourse from the point of 
view writer/reader relations. It reveals the semantic attributes and analytical apparatus 
developed to contribute to creation of a text axiology in ideal readers. The research gives 
insight to explore more about the narrative discourse from the point of view writer/reader 
relations. 

Li and Gao (2013) try to use Appraisal theory to analyze conflict discourse between 
mother and her daughter-in-law in the Novel Double-Sided Adhesive through attitudinal 
meanings. They found that affect and judgement appear mostly in the novel. This research 
gives deep understanding on the analysis of attitudinal meanings through affect and 
judgment. In relation to this research, it can give a comparison on how conflict is analyzed 
especially in the development of character in the story.  

Khrisna, Djatmika, et.al (2018) found that character is developed through stages of 
orientation, complication, and resolution. The evaluation was focused on the character’s 
emotion, personality and physical condition. By using appraisal theory the character can be 
analyzed as developed gradually in each stage. But here in this context, there is lacking of 
specific development of character in the resolution stage. This is where the gap I found, and 
will be analyzed more here.  

  Another appraisal analysis was done by Li (2016) through which attitudinal aspects of 
English song shows the importance of appraisal theory to build interpersonal relation 
between the author and the song. To put in context, it can be learned that interpersonal 
relation also built between author and the novel.  



 

 

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Another research was done on appraisal theory about the commentary of Ernest 
Hemingways’ A Farewell to Arms by using the analytical tool of attitude, engagement and 
graduation system. To put in this context, I also used the analytical tool of attitude, 
engagement and graduation. 

After reviewing some research, I found that the character development viewed from 
appraisal theory is still few especially in the context of resolution. Character is developed 
not only by the character revelation by dialogue but also through setting and narration. The 
analysis of character in novel on appraisal items especially in resolution is the novelty of 
this research.  

3. RESEARCH METHODS 

The method of this research is descriptive qualitative in which it uses description to 
describe the linguistics expression. The design used is content analysis. Content analysis is 
a systematic research method for analyzing and making inferences from text. The primary 
data is the text of The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway especially on the 
resolution part. The analysis used appraisal theory by Martin and White (2005). 

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

4.1 The result of the analysis can be seen in the following table.  

Table 4.1 Appraisal Analysis of character in The Old Man and The Sea 

Appraisin
g items  

Appraiser  Affect  Judge
ment  

Appreciati
on  

Engagem
ent  

Graduat
ion  

Appraised  

beat me Santiago’’  neg 
+hap 

    Manolin 

truly beat Santiago’’      Force: 
intensific
ation 
(process
) 

Manolin  

Truly  Santiago”     Force: 
intensific
ation 
(quality) 

Manolin  

didn’t beat Manolin    Heteroglo
ss: 
-
disclaim/
deny 

 Santiago  

do you  +des      



 

 

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want  
you want Santiago” +des     Manolin 
I want Manolin” +des     Santiago 
very big Santiago”     Force:qu

antificati
on of 
mass 

sea 

small Santiago”     Force:qu
antificati
on of 
mass 

skiff 

hard to see Santiago”     Force:qu
antificati
on of 
mass 

skiff 

I missed 
you 

Santiago” +hap     Manolin  

very good Santiago”    pos +reac   Manolin 
not lucky Santiago”  -norm    Manolin 
not lucky 
anymore 

Santiago”     Force:int
ensificati
on via 
repetitio
n 

Manolin 

The hell Manolin” neg 
+hap 

    luck 

do not care  Manolin”    Heteroglo
ss:contrac
t -
disclaim-
deny 

 Manolin’s 
family 

much to 
learn 

Manolin”     Force: 
quantific
ation 
mass/pr
esence 

Santiago 

get a good Santiago”  +prop    Manolin  
always 
have 

Santiago”     Force : 
intensific
ation-
modality 

The knife 

heavy brisa Santiago”     Force : 
quantific
ation 
(mass) 

sea 



 

 

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Maybe 
three. 
Maybe 
more 

Manolin”    Heteroglo
ss 
Entertain 
dialogistis
tic 
expansive
ness 

 heavy brisa  

Old man Manolin”  +val    Santiago 
something 
strange 

Santiago” -sec     chest 

was broken Santiago” -sec     chest 
plenty Santiago”     Force: 

intensific
ation 
(mass) 

Manolin 

he was 
crying 

narrator -hap     Santiago 

empty beer 
cans 

narrator     Force : 
intensific
ation 
(mass) 

beach 

dead 
barracudas 

narrator     Force : 
intensific
ation 
(mass) 

water 

a great long  narrator     Force 
:intensifi
cation 
(mass) 

fish 

a huge tail narrator     Force: 
intensific
ation 
(mass) 

fish 

heavy 
steady sea 

narrator     Force 
:intensifi
cation 
(mass) 

sea 

great fish narrator     Force 
:intensifi
cation 
(mass) 

fish 

didn’t 
know 

people    Heteroglo
ss:contrac
t -
disclaim-

 Shark  



 

 

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From the table above we can summarize the result of the appraisal items found as 
follows. 

Table 4.1.1 The Summary Result of Appraisal Items   

Appraisal items Number of items  Percentage 

Affect  11 29.72% 

Judgement  3 8.1% 

Appreciation  1 2.7% 

Engagement  5 13.5% 

Graduation 17 45.94% 

Total  37 100% 

From the table we can see that attitude aspects found are;  

4.2 Discussion  
4.2.1 Discussion on each Appraisal Items  

The discussion on each appraisal items from the table above can be explained as 
follows. Here I used bold to mark the findings on attitude (affect, judgement, and 
appreciation), italics to mark the findings on engagement, and underline to mark the 
findings on graduation. 

[4.2.1] They beat me, Manolin. 
The expression is categorized as affect because it expresses the emotion of Santiago 

who was beaten by the fish. He is the appraiser to the appraised Manolin. This is taken 
from the direct speech of Santiago while he explained about the fight he had with the big 

deny 
Handsome, 
beautifully 
formed  

     Force : 
quantific
ation 
(mass) 

 

didn’t 
know 
either   

    Heteroglo
ss:contrac
t -
disclaim-
deny 

  

was 
dreaming 

narrator +hap     The old 
man 

The lions narrator +hap     The old 
man 

Total items 11 3 1 5 17  



 

 

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fish. The mark using double quotes for the indication that the appraiser was in a speech 
(following Halliday 1994). The emotion that was captured is a bit sad and low. According to 
Martin and White (2005:42) affect is concerned with registering positive and negative 
feeling and the expression above portrayed Santiago’s feeling of a bit sad and unhappy. 
Thus it is categorized as negative +happiness or unhappiness.  

[4.2.2] They truly beat me.  
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of force (intensification) as 

process. beat gives an intensification of the process of verb beat which means very 
intensely felt as a hard beat. It shows more on the process of the verb beat instead of only 
beat, but truly beat.  

[4.2.3] Truly  
The expression  gives an intensification of the quality. It is different from the 

intensification of process. Truly here means the quality of the beat is really big. The 
intensity here is more powerful.  This is to show how hard the fish fought Santiago in the 
ocean and that the fish was a strong and powerful enemy to Santiago. 

[4.2.4] He didn’t beat you.  

The expression is categorized as engagement (disclaim) and deny. According to Martin 
and White (2005:97) disclaim is the textual voice which positions itself as at odds with, or 
rejecting, some contrary position. This expression is delivered by Manolin as appraiser to 
Santiago. He denied the fact that Santiago was beaten by the fish because Santiago is his role 
model as a fisherman. He denied the fact that Santiago lost the battle with the huge fish 
because he understood that Santiago is a special man who can conquer the fish and the sea. 

[4.2.5] What do you want done with the head? 

The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). Since the appraiser Santiago 
asked sincerely to Manolin the question. Santiago feels emotionally positive about the head 
of the fish he had fought for. Head is the symbol of the major success in conquering the fish. 
If the fish is done, the head is the biggest price for the winning symbol. But here Santiago 
feels that he gives the power to decide for Manolin to do something with the head.  

[4.2.6] You keep it if you want it. 

The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). This is to show that the 
appraiser Santiago want to give Manolin the best thing as the head of the fish because he 
deserved it. Manolin is a young boy who appraised Santiago as his teacher in the sea. 
Santiago feels positive to give Manolin the best part of the fish.  

 [4.2.7] I want it. 

The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). It shows that Manolin really 
wants the head of the fish. This is to support Santiago’s effort to have such a big battle with 
the fish, and because their relationship is more than just friends, the exchange of positive 
emotion is shared between them. Santiago feels that Manolin is more than just a young boy 
but a best friend.  

[4.2.8] The ocean is very big 
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of intensification (quality). 

Santiago is the appraiser who was trying to convince Manolin (appraised) that he is  



 

 

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amazed at the ocean (the universe) as opposed to his small power as human. The ocean is 
the symbol of how big universe is compared to human.   

[4.2.9] and a skiff is small and hard to see 
The expression is small is categorized as graduation intensification (quality). Santiago 

is the appraiser who was making a comparison between the ocean and the skiff. He said 
that the ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see. Here skiff (a small boat) is 
compared to ocean. Ocean is the symbol of universe while skiff is the symbol of human.  

[4.2.10] hard to see 
The expression hard to see is categorized as graduation intensification (quality). 

Santiago is the appraiser who was making a comparison between ocean (universe) and 
human (skiff) through the intensification of quality, that the ocean is very powerful and 
unlimited while human (skiff) is too small and nothing which is symbolized through 
expression very hard to see. Santiago is humbled by the power of universe as opposed to 
his power.  

[4.2.11] I missed you 
The expression I missed you is categorized as positive affect. Santiago is the appraiser 

to appraise Manolin in a positive emotion. He really missed Manolin in the sea when he had 
a big battle with the huge fish and hoping Manolin was there with him to help.  

[4.2.12] Very good 
The expression is categorized as appreciation. The types of appreciation is reaction on 

quality (Martin and White, 2005:56). This is the reaction by Santiago when Manolin said 
that he caught fish. It is an encouragement and reinforcement by Santiago to support 
Manolin. According to Martin and White (2005:57) reaction is related to affection 
(emotive) which has interpersonal metafunction. To Santiago, Manolin is not only a friend 
but a soulmate in the sea. So his achievement is seen as a big progress and he celebrated it 
by saying appreciation with supporting words.  

[4.2.13] Not lucky 
The expression is categorized as negative judgement on the type of social esteem. 

Martin and White (2005:53) categorized social esteem into three categories namely 
normality, capacity, and tenacity. Unlucky here belongs to negative social esteem (criticise) 
in which Santiago as appraiser thought that he is not a lucky person.  

[4.2.14] Not lucky anymore 
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of intensification via 

repetition. According to Martin (2005:148) the intensification can be realized through 
repetition. It is called semantic infusion in the category of non-figurative.  

[4.2.15] The hell  
The expression is categorized as interjection which according to Jordens 2002 (in 

Martin and White, 2005:69) it is a particular types of swearing and other exclamations that 
maybe associated with particular types of attitude. In this context, I categorized this as 
affect negative +hap, because it represents unhappiness state of Manolin with the so-called 
luck. He did not trust luck as it is as a sign that he is not happy with just being lucky. 
   [4.2.16] do not care     

The expression is categorized as engagement (disclaim) and deny. According to Martin 
and White (2005:97) disclaim is the textual voice which positions itself as at odds with, or 
rejecting, some contrary position. This expression is delivered by Manolin as appraiser to 
react to Santiago on his family. This happened when Santiago asked whether Manolin was 



 

 

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allowed to fish with him. Manolin’s response about his family’s concern on fishing with 
Santiago is a denial. He denied the fact that he must obey his family for not going with 
Santiago.  

[4.2.17] much to learn 

The expression is categorized as graduation type force sub type quantification on 
mass/presence. Much here represents Manolin’s respect to Santiago’s skills from which he 
can learn much from. Much is the quantification of mass. Much means uncountable mass. It 
means a lot. Here Manolin represented that he can learn a lot of knowledge on fishing from 
Santiago. 

[4.2.18] get a good 

The expression is categorized as judgements of propriety in the subtype of propriety of 
positive social sanction (Martin and White, 2005:53). This appraisal is delivered by Santiago 
to Manolin.  This is to show that Santiago cares a lot about Manolin and he demanded 
Manolin to get a good killing lance that will teach Manolin again how to fish in the ocean 
with good preparation. 

[4.2.19] always 

The expression is categorized as graduation within infused intensification. According to 
Martin and White (2005:143) with infused intensification there is no separate lexical form 
conveying the sense of up-scaling or down-scaling. Rather the scaling is conveyed as but one 
aspect of the meaning of a single term. It is under the subtype of modality. To put in context, 
Santiago suggested Manolin to have prepared everything in need for a good fishing such as a 
good killing lance.  

  [4.2.20] heavy brisa 

The expression is categorized as force quantification in the sub-type of mass (presence). 
According to Martin and White (2005:148) quantification involves scaling with respect to 
extent of size, weight, strength, number. Heavy brisa represents the sea winds that strongly 
blew when Santiago was in the ocean. 

[4.2.21] Maybe three. Maybe more. 

The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of heteroglossia within the 
subtype of the dialogistic expansiveness of modality. This is to emphasize that Manolin was 
not sure how many days that brisa happened. Modality here means that it is a possibility of 
uncertainty. According to Martin and White (2005:107) the modality is a sign that the 
appraiser’s knowledge of the matter (brisa) is to some degree limited.  

[4.2.22] old man 
The expression is categorized as appreciation, within type of positive valuation. This is 

to represent that Manolin value and appreciate Santiago as positive role model.  
Manolin considers Santiago as his teacher so keeping Santiago safe is his duty. This is why 
Manolin tries to make Santiago feels secured by appraising him with positive appreciation.  

[4.2.23] Something strange  
The expression is categorized as affect since it produces feeling or emotions. It is a type 

of negative security. In which here Santiago as appraiser feels insecure about his condition. 



 

 

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[4.2.24] was broken  

   The expression is categorized as affect since it produces feeling or emotions. It is a 
type of  negative security. In which Santiago feels insecure about his chest after being 
beaten by the huge fish.  

[4.2.25] Plenty  
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of force under the type of 

subtype of intensification of mass. This means that the appraiser Santiago wants to put 
emphasis that he suffered a lot. Plenty means a lot.  
       [4.2.26] he was crying   

The expression is categorized as affect on the type of negative happiness. This is 
because Manolin feels sad about Santiago and his condition.  

[4.2.27] empty beer cans              
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of intensification (quality).  

The setting with focus on the situation around the beach strengthens the feeling of Santiago 
and his emotions.  

[4.2.28] dead barracudas  
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of intensification (quality). The 

setting represents the atmosphere of silence and sadness.  
[4.2.29] A great long  
The expression is categorized  is categorized as force quantification in the sub-type of 

mass (presence). This is to represent the size which is very long since it is the biggest fish 
ever in the context of Santiago’s journey. 

[4.2.30] A huge tail 
The expression is categorized as force quantification in the sub-type of mass (presence). 

This is to represent that the fish’s tail is very big. It is the biggest fish in the context of the 
story, a shark or called Tiburon. 

[4.2.31] Heavy steady  
The expression is categorized as force quantification in the sub-type of mass (presence). 

Heavy steady refers to the sea.  

[4.2.32] Great fish  
 The expression is categorized as force quantification in the sub-type of mass 
(presence). This is to represent the magnificent power of the fish that Santiago fought. It is 
not an ordinary fish but indeed a great fish who faced a great human (Santiago).  

  [4.2.33] didn’t know 
The expression is categorized as engagement (disclaim) and deny. The people in the 

story as appraiser showed their amazed feeling at the huge fish that they never know 
existed before.   

[4.2.34] handsome beautifully formed 
The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of intensification (quality).  

This is to show how beautiful the huge creature is and how amazed they are at seeing the 
handsome animal. 

 
 



 

 

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[4.2.35] didn’t know either  
The expression is categorized as engagement (disclaim) and deny. This is to show that 

no people in the context of the story have noticed or have known the creature before in their 
entire life.  

[4.2.36] Was dreaming  
The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). This represents the peace falls 

upon Santiago who has won a battle of life and death with universe (the sea and the giant 
fish). 

[4.2.37] The lions         
The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). The lions are representation of 

the king of animal which could be the symbol that Santiago has reached his final goal as 
human.  

4.3 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OF SANTIAGO  

To discuss the character development of Santiago, I will describe the character 
development as follows. I will show the analysis of how character Santiago develops 
through resolution part with the discussion of findings above  

4.3.1 Reflective character 

First, Santiago is more reflective. He undergoes series of battles with the nature and 
therefore he becomes more reflective and respective to nature. That he can not beat the 
nature. The phase “ocean is very big” represent Santiago’s respect to nature. It can be seen 
in the discussion above point [4.2.8] on the appraisal item very big which belongs to 
graduation (subtype of quantification-mass). Ocean is symbolized here as universe that 
ocean is capable of doing everything, because it is a nature that owns the power.  However, 
as we can see on the point of [4.2.9] “and a skiff is small and hard to see” belongs to 
graduation on subtype of quantification-mass in which Santiago reflects as if a skiff is a 
human capacity that is not capable to fight the nature. Skiff is a boat that can easily be 
played by the mighty ocean who owns the power. Santiago reflects on the human capacity 
that compares nothing to nature. The graduation of appraisal is used here to compare and 
contrast the quantity of power between the nature and the human. In this resolution, 
Santiago is more reflective due to his battle with the  fish and the ocean. He becomes more 
aware of his own limit as an old man.   

4.3.2 Affectionate, caring and loving character  

Santiago shows more affectionate, caring and loving It can be seen from the clause “I 
missed you.” As can be seen in the discussion of finding above point [4.2.11], I categorized 
this as a positive affect because it raises the positive and warm feeling to other character, 
Manolin. Manolin has been the old man’s best friend, a young man that learns a lot from 
Santiago. This clause is a proof that Santiago respects the young man and that the young 
man deserved to be respected. It can also be seen from the the expression used that shows 
how close they are. In the resolution part, the character reveals even stronger power of 



 

 

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intimacy between Santiago and Manolin. In the beginning and middle part, this relationship 
do not reveal much. But here, in resolution part, it gives us clearer picture of Santiago-
Manolin’s relationship. This shows that Santiago cares about Manolin so much. He showed 
that he supports Manolin in such a way. This is also supported by the expression “very 
good”. In the discussion point of [4.2.12] “Very good” belongs to positive appreciation in 
the form of “reaction”. Reaction category here based on the quality whether the appraiser 
like it or not. Here, Santiago seems to like it very much. When Santiago says “very good”, he 
shows that he likes what Manolin does. He reacts positively towards Manolin. 

Another proof is the point of [4.2.5] and [4.2.6] which show positive affect from 
Santiago to Manolin. The expressions show that Santiago cares about Manolin so much is 
expressed through “what do you want done with the head?” and that he is willing to give 
the best part of the fish for Manolin by saying “You keep it if you want it.”   

4.3.3 Humble character 

Third, Santiago is more humble. It can be seen from the expression, “No, I am not 
lucky.” According to Martin and White (2005:53) it belongs to negative judgement on the 
type of social esteem, on substype of normality (criticise). As can be seen in the point of 
discussion [4.2.13] “I am not lucky” refers to his feeling about his own self-esteem, that he 
is not lucky or he does not have the luck to be able to handle hard situation. He is humbled 
more. This also supported by the next expression “I am not lucky anymore”. In the 
discussion point [4.2.14] shows that it belongs to graduation  on the types of intensification 
via repetition. The power of graduation via repetition here gives more emphasis on how 
Santiago feels more humbled. He feels that he is not as lucky as usual (he used to be lucky) 
so he said “I am not lucky anymore” to intensify his feeling. 

4.3.4 Wise character 

The fourth, Santiago is wise. It could be seen from the clause “we must get a good 
killing lance” that belongs to positive judgement on social sanction on the subtype of 
propriety as discussed in point [4.2.18]. It shows that Santiago is wiser to handle the 
situation after the experience he had. He wanted to be more ready and steady for any 
possibilities. It is also supported by the next expression “and always have it on board”. The 
discussion can be found in point [4.219] that belongs to graduation within infused 
intensification on the subtype of modality. This graduation type put bigger power of 
emphasis to show that Santiago is much more anticipating and risk-taking. “Always” refers 
to the readiness on each situation.  

4.3.5 Realistic character 

Santiago is realistic and honest as can be seen in the point [4.2.23] which says in the 
expression “In the night I spat something strange” in which it belongs to negative affect 
insecurity. Here Santiago is realistic and honest about his feeling that he feels insecure 
about his condition. This is also supported by the point [4.2.24] on the expression “was 
broken”.The expression is categorized as affect since it produces feeling or emotions. In 



 

 

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which Santiago feels insecure about his chest after being beaten by the huge fish. He is 
realistic about his physical condition. Another support is shown in the point [4.2.25] 
“Plenty”. The expression is categorized as graduation on the type of force under the type of 
subtype of intensification of mass. He is realistic that he suffered a lot. 

 4.3.6 Optimistic character  

The optimistic character of Santiago can be seen in the last part of the resolution that 
he was dreaming of the lions. It can be found in the point [4.2.36] on the expression “Was 
dreaming” . The expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). This represents the 
peace falls upon Santiago who has won a battle of life and death with universe (the sea and 
the giant fish). It is supported by the point [4.2.37] on the expression of “The lions”. The 
expression is categorized as positive affect (desire). The lions are representation of the 
king of animal which could be the symbol that Santiago has reached his final goal as human. 
Santiago has shown not only to himself but also to other people that he is the strong and 
powerful fisherman as he could fight a shark by himself.  

4.4 THE CONTRIBUTION OF APPRAISAL ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT 

The contribution of Appraisal in the context of character development in literature is 
as follows. 

First, it gives clear and vivid picture of character in terms of physical appearance. By 
the use of narration, dialogue, and description, character can be revealed thoroughly. The 
role of appraisal here especially graduation is to give emphasis on the quality and quantity 
of things that empower the character development. According to Basuki (1988) character 
develops through narration and description to give real picture of character and convincing 
character. 

Second, it gives clear and emotional picture of character in terms of psychological state 
of mind. The role of affect and judgement is very significant to build a strong emotional and 
psychological “picture” of a character. Without attitude aspects such as affect, judgement, 
and appreciation, the emotional state of characters’ mind can not be delivered clearly. It is 
also the power of engagement and to give more emphasis on the real mind state of the 
character. As found by Khrisna, Djatmika, et.al (2020) that character is developed through 
stages of orientation, complication, and resolution. In each stage the character is developed 
personally, emotionally, and physically. Here the contribution of appraisal theory is very 
significant.  

Last but not least, this contribution of appraisal goes along with findings by Macken-
Horarik (2003) which found that character develops from both perspective of 
intersubjectivity and supersubjectivity. In this context, both are used in this analysis 
because the appraisal theory can be found in both ways and contribute significantly in this 
study. Intersubjectivity is the feeling to think from the character’s mind and 
supersubjectivity is the capacity to feel the character from outside as to evaluate it 
objectively. 



 

 

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4.5 THE CONTRIBUTION OF APPRAISAL ON LANGUAGE TEACHING 

The contribution of appraisal theoruy on language teaching are as follows. 

First, it builds stronger awareness of language and the appropriate use of language in 
its context. In language teaching this is significant to train students to apply different 
language in different discourse as to rehearse language sensititivity. 

Second, it builds language confidence and sensitivity as the knowledge on appraisal 
will sharpen, deepen, and widen the perspective of the language.  

5. CONCLUSION  

It can be concluded that the appraisal is significant in literature especially in character 
development because it uses every aspects of appraisal including attitude, engagement and 
graduation to evaluate the language in literature context. This study on appraisal analysis 
on literature can open more discourse and more possibility to stimulate further research 
on similar theme. 

 

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