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Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 6 (2), 2022, 100-109
Available Online: https://jurnal.ustjogja.ac.id/index.php/JELLT/index
AN ANALYSIS OF ZACH SOBIECH’S PERSONALITY AS THE MAIN

CHARACTER IN CLOUDS MOVIE
Kayla Gabriela Bit*; Adria Vitalya Gemilang; Afria Dian Prastanti
Universitas Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa. Jl. Batikan UH-III/1043 Yogyakarta, 55167, Indonesia.
kaylagabby11@gmail.com; adria.vitalya@ustjogja.ac.id; afria.prasasti@ustjogja.ac.id
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: The purpose of this analysis is to find out the main character, Zach Sobiech,
personality in Clouds movie. The researcher discussed the personality and nature of the
main character in the Clouds movie directed by Justin Baldoni and distributed by
Disney+, which was released on October 16, 2020. This study contains the personality of
Zach Sobiech in Clouds movie. The types of personality and its factors of Zach Sobiech
are analyzed using the theory of Paul Costa and Robert McCrae. The analytical method
used is the descriptive qualitative method. Data collection is done by repeatedly
watching and analyzing the evidence from the dialogues and his actions in the movie and
the analytical theory here is obtained from books from library research and the internet
in the form of electronic books. The results of the analysis in this study indicate that
Zach has 11 personalities and, four personality traits from Zach, namely, openness,
conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeable.
Keywords: movie, main character, personality

How to Cite: Bit, K.G., Gemilang, A.V., Prastanti, A.F. (2022). An Analysis of Zach Sobiech’s Personality as
the Main Character in Clouds Movie. Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 6 (2), 100-109.
https://doi.org/10.36597/jellt.v6i2.13042
INTRODUCTION
Literary works generally contain problems that complement human life. Literary
works have a world that is the result of observations of life created by the author in the
form of novels, poems, dramas, or movies that are useful to be enjoyed, understood, and
utilized by the community (Wellek & Warren, 1989).
What makes a movie really close to literature is that a film must have a script
because a script is supposed to be in written form just like a literary work. The film
script is rarely an autonomous literary product. Due to that closeness, a movie can be
analyzed in a similar way to a literary work, as both have similarities in both aesthetic
values and elements (Giannetti, 1987). What we always find when watching a movie are
the characters. Character is an important element in a story because sometimes a
character really guides the reader to the plot or main idea of a story.
Characters are individuals depicted in a dramatic or narrative literary work, who
have moral and emotional qualities that they will talk about in dialogue and when they
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10.36597/jellt.v6i2.13042 This is an open-access article under the CC–BY-SA license.
Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 6 (2), 2022, 100-109.
Kayla Gabriela Bit; Adria Vitalya Gemilang; Afria Dian Prastanti
move with the action. Characters are one of the important elements of a movie because
without characters there would be no movie (Abrams, 1981). There are two types of
characters namely the main characters (major characters) and the supporting
characters (minor characters). The main character is a character who appears in a story
while supporting characters appear only occasionally in the story. The main character is
the one in the most scenes or the one with the most lines (Henderson and Mason, 2006).
The main character is the leading male (female) character who generally exhibits
superior qualities or who simply is the main character. It means the main character is
the leader in the story (Shaffer, 2008). Character refers to the people authors create to
inhabit their stories. Characters need to be believable and consistent. Being believable
means not that all characters be like people we have regarded but they are plausible in
the context of the story. Consistently requires not that the characters remain exactly the
same, but that any changes in character be sufficient by what happens to them in a story
(Henderson and Mason, 2006).
In the character itself, there is a personality that builds the character. Personality
is a habit, attitude, or trait that a person has that develops when a person relates to
other people (Koswara, 2005). Personality is the general pattern of all abilities, actions,
and habits of a person, both physical and mental, spiritual, emotional, and social
(Heuken, 1989). Personality is the combination of all personal characteristics into a
single unit that affects and is changed by the individual's efforts to adapt to a changing
environment (Crutchfield & Krech, 1969). Personality is a dynamic structure in a person
as a psychophysical system that controls how an individual adapts to his or her
environment in his or her own unique way (Allport, 1951).
There are many theories that can be used to examine a character in a story, one of
which is the big five personality theory. The Five-Factor Theory presents a biological
description of personality traits in which learning, and experience play little or no role in
influencing the Big Five. The currently most widespread trait theory derived from factor
analysis is the “Big Five” theory by Costa and McCrae (1992). This theory proposes five
basic characteristics that can be measured in all people: openness, conscientiousness,
extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
This research is based on the movie Clouds, a movie based on a true story that
was really experienced by Zach Sobiech, his life journey is immortalized in a movie, and
this movie is produced by Justin Baldoni. Clouds is a story about the life journey of a
young man named Zach Sobiech in achieving his dream within his limitations against
bone cancer. However, his life began to change when he turned 17 because cancer that
lodged in Zach's body had spread very widely and the doctor told him that Zach only had
about 6 months to live. Realizing that Zach's time is very limited, Zach and his best
friend Sammy don't want to give up on their situation and they decide to pursue their
dream, which is to make a music album, and the songs that Zach and Sammy created and
performed were successful and became very viral and liked everywhere.
Finally, a song called "Clouds" was created and became very successful at that
time, the song was played everywhere even after Zach died the song Clouds had
occupied the first position on the iTunes charts. In this research, researchers focused on
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Copyright © 2022, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046
analyzing the main character in the Clouds movie, namely Zach Sobiech. To understand
about the main characters in the film, researchers will use the theory of personality
traits commonly known as the "The Big Five" factor.
One of the latest research that is relevant to the problem is "Analysis of the Main
Characters in Bruce's Movie The Almighty Viewed from Personality Theory by Costa and
McCrae by Faisal" This study examines the personality and characterization of the main
character in the film Bruce Almighty, using the Personality Traits Theory by Costa and
McCrae, also known as the Big Five theory, to analyze Bruce's character. Bruce is
classified as the protagonist, or main character, dynamic, and round character.
According to the theory used, Faisal found that Bruce's consciousness was ambitious,
and his neuroticism was irritable, selfish, jealous, complaining, and blaming the person.
The difference between my research and Faisal's research is the difference in the
character of the main character being studied because Zach Sobiech is not a fictional
character but someone who really exists, and his life story is made into this clouds film.
Based on the explanation above, it is interesting to know how the personality of
Zach Sobiech in the film is and what factors are seen from the theory of personality traits
by Costa & McCrae. Therefore, the writer took the film to be analyzed from the theory of
personality traits by Costa & McCrae.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature is written to describe the expression of human beings or the
environment which has meaning and value. Literature also contains many meanings,
which can be enjoyed by many people depending on their respective joys. The story is
written aim to make the reader can easily recognize and relate to the character, the
readers also are inspired to be a part of the characters in the story. Literary means not
only what is written but what is voiced, what is expressed, and what is invented, in
anything form -in which case maps, sermons, comic strips, cartoons, speechless,
photographs, movies, war memorials, and songs all huddle under the literary umbrella
(Krystal, 2009).
Movie
Literature has several forms; they are poetry, novel, comics, soap opera,
electronic literature, graphic novel, movie or film, etc. The movie always records the
reality that developed and distended in society and then projected onto a screen (Sobur,
2013). The movie is not simply a means of entertainment for the public however often
the movie is also our means to learn and perceive the variations in human
characteristics, especially in personality.
Character
A story cannot be separated from its elements, including character. The audience
could have a better knowledge of the approximate movie by analyzing the characters.
The term character is commonly used in ways; to select the individuals who seem in the
story and to refer to the combination of interests, desires, emotions, and moral
standards that make up each of the characters (Stanton, 1965).
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Personality
Personality is a part of the character, personality is the combination of all
personal characteristics into a single unit that affects and is changed by the individual's
efforts to adapt to a changing environment (Crutchfield & Krech, 1969). Character and
personality are the same; Personality is a style or characteristic of a person that comes
from the reformation received by the environment of the parent and also from birth.
Characters from language are a habit. Then from the technical term, the character is a
belief system and habit that aim at someone to action (Koesoema, 2010).
Theory of Personality
The most widely used system of traits is called the five-factor model. This system
includes 5 broad traits that can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: Openness,
Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of the major
traits from the Big 5 can be divided into aspects to offer an extra analysis of someone's
personality, the researcher adopted the theories formulated by McCrae and Costa. It’s an
explanatory account of the role of the Big Five factors in personality.
a. Openness to Experience (O)
Openness to experience is the degree to which a person actively seeks and values
experience for its own sake.
b. Conscientiousness (C)
Conscientiousness is the degree of organization, self-control, and persistence that a
person displays in pursuing goals.
c. Introversion/Extraversion (E)
Introversion/extraversion determines where a person has a choice to do things, either
alone or together with another.
d. Agreeableness (A)
Agreeableness is a tendency. The trait reflects individual differences in overall concern
for social harmony. Very pleasant people tend to be liked, respected, and sensitive to the
needs of others.
e. Neuroticism (N)
Neuroticism is often associated with emotional stability. People high in Neuroticism are
easily distracted.
METHOD
To analyze Clouds movie, the researcher used the descriptive qualitative method.
Qualitative research is descriptive; the data collected is in the form of words or pictures
rather than a number (Bogdan and Biklen, 2006). Qualitative research is the process of
collecting and analyzing data that is not numerical, such as Language (Creswell and Poth,
2017). Qualitative research focuses on multiple methods, which implies an interpretive
and naturalistic approach to their subject (Denzin and Lincoln, 2012). This means that
qualitative researchers study things in their natural environment and try to understand
or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people give them. Using a descriptive
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qualitative conceptual methodology, the personality of the main character in the Clouds
movie is described using scientific explanations to answer questions on the topic. In this
research, the instrument used is the researcher herself. The researcher has the main
task of collecting, analyzing, and observing the data. This case is known as a human
instrument. This research also uses supporting tools such as laptops, headphones, notes,
and pens as tools to collect all the data obtained from watching the results of the movie.
Based on the research method, the researcher analyzed the data by using some
procedures: (1) The researcher tried to find Zach Sobiech’s personality and the factor of
the big-five theory. (2) The researcher coded the data in order to label the data analysis
directly from the main character’s said or action in the movie and placed it in quotation
marks. (4) The writer made a discussion. (5) Making conclusions and suggestions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The researcher adopted the theories of personality traits formulated by Robert
(Jeff) McCrae and Paul Costa (1992), which included openness, conscientiousness,
extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. From these Big Five factors of personality
traits, the researcher found four factors in Zach Sobiech as the main character of the
film: openness, conscientious, extraversion, agreeableness, like creative, curiosity, hard
worker, diligence, reliable, sociable, fun-loving, talk active, friendly, romantic, sweet
person, kind, helper, and warm person.
This is the data for openness:
1. Creative
Zach : “I’m broke up with Amy”
Zach’s mom : “What? Oh honey I’m sorry, you okay?”
Zach : “Not really, I think I really messed up and I miss her. Feel like she had this
rope. Kept me from falling down a dark hole. I'm sorry. Do you have a pen?”
Zach’s Mom : “What? Excuse me. I'm sorry.”
Zach : “No, I h... Sorry. I...”
Zach’s Mom : “Yes, here. What's up? You okay?”
Zach : “Yeah. I'm fine, I just... I need to write this down before I forget.”
The dialogue above shows that Zach was creative and full of ideas even though under
any circumstances he could create the song "clouds" that became famous at the time, so
he immediately recorded the lyrics of the song.
2. Curiosity
Zach : “Now, look, I know it probably seems weird for me to write a college
essay when, most likely, I won't make it there. But I wasn't about to let a
little thing like cancer earn me my first F. So, if by some miracle I get the
chance to go to college, I will coax every ounce of experience I Can out of it.
But if I don't, that's okay too.”
From the dialogue above, we can see that even though Zach already knows that it is
impossible for him to go to college because of the terminal cancer he is suffering from,
104
but he does not give up and still wants to continue his life's adventure by not stopping
hoping for a miracle from God. This dialogue explains that Zach is a person who has
great curiosity and is curious about the college world.
This is the data for conscientiousness:
3. Hard worker
Zach : "And while there's a lot I don't know at my age, what I do know is this.
What some people take for granted, others stand for. And believe me, I'm
a fighter."
From the dialogue above Zach who just finished chemotherapy still tries to come to the
school event because he wants to be happy with his friends and supports his best friend
Sammy who wants to appear at the event.
4. Hard worker, diligent
Sammy : “Dude, what happened in France?”
Zach : “Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I guess I just feel like there's this music
in me... and it wants to come out.”
Sammy : “Yeah, I know that feeling.”
Zach : “So, you'll help?”
Sammy : “With what?”
Zach : “Writing more songs. Look, I know we've played other people's music
before, but I was thinking it might be cool if we did something that was just
ours.”
Sammy : “Zachary David Sobiech, I've only waited eight years for you to ask me
that question!”
In this dialogue, Zach invites Sammy to help him compose music, and write songs. It can
be seen from the dialogue above that Zach and Sammy often cover other people's songs,
which indicates that they are diligent and active in working to achieve their dream of
becoming a musician.
5. Reliable
Zach’s Mom : “Mr. Weaver has some exciting news for you.”
Zach’s Dad : “Yes, about your music.”
Zach : “Okay, what about it?”
Mr. Weaver : “Well, I gave your video to BMI.”
Sammy : “BMI, the music company?”
Mr. Weaver : “Yes.”
Zach : “Wait, how?”
Mr. Weaver : “Oh, don't do me like that. I know people.”
Zach’s Dad : “See, they wanna sign you and Sammy as songwriters.”
From the dialogue above, we can see that the big BMI music company gave Zach a golden
opportunity because Zach is talented and can be relied on to become a songwriter.
105
This is the data for extraversion:

6. Sociable
Zach’s Mom : “You sure know how to work a crowd. And way to own the shaved head.”
Zach : “There's no use trying to hide it, right?
Zach’s Mom : “Mm-hmm. Gotta say, interesting song choice.”
In the case of the dialogue above, it can be seen that Zach is a pleasant and friendly
person. Zach always has a joke that makes those around him laugh and happy. Zach can
sing while doing funny dances, so Zach's mother is surprised and proud of her very
sociable son.
7. Fun-loving
Zach : “Mom, it was fun.”
Zach’s Mom : “Oh. Fun is great.”
Zach : “I love fun.”
Zach’s Mom : “You love it?”
Zach : “Love it. Love fun. You're cool mom.”
Zach’s Mom : “I am. Thank you.”
From the dialogue it is clear that Zach always likes fun and is happy if he can do
activities and meet with friends or people.
8. Talk active, friendly
Zach : “Hey, Eli. I heard you crushed it against South last week, man.”
Eli : “Zach, sorry you couldn't make it.”
Zach : “Yeah, me too, you know? It's just tough juggling high school with
undercover assassin work.”
Zach : “Uuw.. Tess, I'm digging the new color. Do you mind if I steal that when this
grows back?”
Tess : “You could pull it off.”
Zach : “Sweet.”
Sammy : “Running for office?”
Zach : “You know, just giving the people what they want.”
The dialogue above also shows that Sammy is confused by Zach's condition but still tries
to show his schoolmates that Zach came in good condition and as usual as when he was
not known to have terminal cancer. Because according to Zach praising and talk to them
makes them happy.
9. Sweet person, romantic
Sammy : “Hmm. Zach, what do you suppose all that hullabaloo's about up there?”
Zach : “Gee, I don't know, Sammy. Maybe we should go take a gander.”
Amy : “What did you do?”
Zach : “So, Amy?”
Stranger : “Oh, my gosh. Are you that Amy? Say, "Yes."”
106
Amy : “Well, I would, but it doesn't say who's asking.”

Zach : “I, Zachary David Sobiech, am asking you, Amy Adamle...”
Amy : “Yes, yes, yes!”
Sammy : “That's sweet. Aw.”
The scene informs that time in the crowd Zach is the type of gentle and sweet man who
romantically invites his girlfriend Amy to the prom and Amy accepts Zach's invitation.
This is the data for agreeableness:
10. Kind
Zach’s brother : “It really sucks what's happening to you.”
Zach : “Yeah. Sometimes I wonder why it's happening to me. Like, out of
all the people in the world. What did I do? Did I piss off God
somehow?”
Zach’s brother : “I don't think it works like that. Bad stuff happens to good people all
the time.”
From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Zach's brother said that Zach is a good
person that is why God gave trials because usually good people are exposed to bad
conditions.
Zach's Mom : "How and where do you wanna die?"
Zach : “Skydiving in Florida.”
Zach's Mom : “And if that doesn't work out, is there a plan B?”
Zach : “Gee, I hadn't really thought about a plan B. Mm... I wanna be alert
enough to say a proper goodbye. And I don't wanna be in the hospital. I
just feel really disconnected. Maybe I could just be here. On the couch. So I
can play Xbox.”
Zach's Mom : “Okay. Um... Organ donations?
Zach : “Yeah. Whatever they can use.”
Another scene that supports the statement that Zach is a kind person is the scene below,
Zach is talking to his mother about how funerals are and what are the procedures for
death for cancer patients.
11. Helper
Reporter : “His courage in the face of his terminal cancer is even more inspiring.
And somehow in the middle of all this, you started the Zach Sobiech
Osteosarcoma Fund.”
Zach : “Money from our music, I'd like it to go to research, so that other kids like
me with Osteosarcoma can hopefully have a full childhood. And who knows?
Maybe our music can help find a cure.”
After Zach became famous and became the topic of conversation everywhere his song
topped the charts in America for weeks, Zach decided to use his hard-earned money to
help other less fortunate children who have a similar condition to him. So that they can
find a cure for their disease as soon as possible.
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12. Warm person

Zach : “So, what is it I plan to do with my one wild and precious life? It's really
simple, actually. I just wanna make people happy. As much as I can, for as
long as I can.”
Zach not only wants himself to enjoy life and be happy, but Zach also wants everyone to
feel what it means to live this precious life. Because he has limitations Zach hopes that
other people can always be happy.
From the data above, Zach is creative as seen when Zach got the idea to write
again while he was thinking about Amy, Zach is also a curious person because in his
lecture essay he wrote that he really wanted to experience campus life. Apart from that,
Zach is also a hardworking and trustworthy person who always tries to make his own
music, can get along well, and is friendly and kind to everyone, which really describes
Zach's personality, especially his lover, Amy Zach, who can also be romantic and warm.
Researchers include that in this study found four factors in Zach’s personality, namely,
openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeable. Neuroticism was not found in
Zach’s personality.
CONCLUSION
Personality is the trait of a person that describes each character. Personality aims
to know humans both the nature and type of human personality itself. General
personality refers to how an individual appears and creates an impression on other
individuals. Zach Sobiech's personality in Clouds movie is the subject of this research.
After doing this research, the researcher found that Zach as the main character in this
film has 4 types of personality, namely, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and
agreeable. This film also shows Zach is a kind and loving person. Zach Sobiech's
personality types are creative, curiosity, hard worker, diligent, reliable, sociable,
funloving, talk active, friendly, romantic, sweet person, kind, helper, and warm person.
Personality also greatly determines the life of every human being through the way he
hangs out. A good personality will produce a good response and a bad personality will
get a bad response also depending on how the person goes through it.
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theories and methods (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. (1992). Personality in Adulthood a Five-Factor Theory Perspective.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Creswell, & Poth. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
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Crutchfield, G. S., & Krech, D. (1969). Elements Of Psychology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Denzin, & Lincoln. (2012). The Research Act: a Theoretical Introduction to Sociological
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Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 6 (2), 2022, 100-109

Available Online: https://jurnal.ustjogja.ac.id/index.php/JELLT/index

AN ANALYSIS OF ZACH SOBIECH’S PERSONALITY AS THE MAIN

Keywords: movie, main character, personality

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This is the data for extraversion:

Amy : “Well, I would, but it doesn't say who's asking.”

12. Warm person

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