【正文】 sum m i ng up the plot . A theme is usual ly stat ed in gener al words. Anot her t ry sounds li ke this: “Sol it ar y peopl e need a orderl y place where t hey can dr ink wi t h dignit y. ” That i s a l it le bet ter. We have i ndi cat ed that Hemingway’s stor y i s more t han merel y about an old m an and two wai ter s. We remember that at t he end the stor y is enti rel y conf ined t o the ol der wai ter’ s thought s and per cept ions. How do we understand his medi ati on on “nada,” nothi ngnes, which bears so m uch emphasi s? No good statement of the theme of t he st ory can l eave i t out . Then we have sti l anot her tr y: “Soli tary people need a pl ace of r ef uge fr om t hei r ter ri bl e awarenes t hat t hei r li fe ( or per haps, hum an li fe) is essenti al y meani ngles.” Neither thi s nor any ot her statement of the stor y’s theme is unar guabl y appr opri at e, but the stat em ent at least t ouches one pr im ar y i dea t hat Hem ingway sems t o be dri ving at . Af ter we read “A Cl ean, Wel Li ghted Place,” we feel that her e i s such a t hem e, a uni fying vi si on, even though we cannot r educe it t o a t ag and we may sti l vary i n our opi nion about, and st atement of , the t heme. Moral i nferences drawn f rom most st ories: Mor al infer ences may be drawn fr om m ost stori es, no doubt, even when an author does not i nt end his /her st ory t o be r ead t his way. In “A Clean, Wel Li ght ed Place”, we f eel t hat Hemi ngway is i ndi rectl y givi ng us advice f or proper ly regarding and sympathizi ng the l onel y, t he uncert ai n, and t he old. But obvi ously the stor y does not set f or t h a lesson tha t we are supposed to put i nt o practi ce. We can say f or sur e that “A Clean, Wel Li ght ed Place” contai ns several themes and ot her st at ement s coul d be made t o take in Hemingway’s vi ew of love, of muni cat ion between peopl e, of digni ty. Great st ori es, li ke great symphonies, f requent ly have mor e than one t heme. When we say t hat t he ti tle of Pr ide and Pr ej udice conveys the t heme of t he novel or that Uncle Tom’ s Cabi n and The Gr apes of Wr ath t reat the t hemes of slavery and mi grator y l abor r espect ively, thi s is t o use t heme in a lar ge r and mor e abstr act sense t han it is in our discussion of Hemi ngway’ s “A Cl ean, Wel Li ght ed Place.” I n thi s larger sense it i s rel at ively easy to say t hat Mar k Twai n’s Huckl eber ry Finn, Updi ke’ s A amp。 P, and Faul kner ’s Bar n Burni ng concern t he theme of “ini ti at ion i nto m at uri ty.” Such gener al descr ipt ions of theme can be usef ul, especial y if we want t o sort a l ar ge number of stor ies and novels into rough cat egor ies, but the f act t hat t hey ar e simi lar i n theme does not m ean t hat t hey m ean the sam e thi ng. The at it ude t owards t he theme may be very dif ferent: t he tone of tr eat ment may be, f or exampl e, eit her i c or tr agi c, str aightf orwar d or ir oni c. The wr i ter’ s vision of l if e is t he special under lying fact of a st or y, and a t hem e, abstr act ly stat ed, is not t he same t hing as a visi on of l if e. And we suggest anyway t hat , i n t he beginni ng, you look f or what ever t rut h or insight you t hink t he wr iter of a stor y int ends t o reveal . Try t o state a theme i n a sent ence. By doing so, we wi l fi nd ourselves looking closely at the st or y. Kennedy and Gioi a make a helpful suggesti on to consider the f ol lowi ng points when we thi nk about the t heme of a st ory: Look back once mor e at t he ti tl e of the stor y. What does it indicate in r elati on to the whole st or y? Does the mai n char act er in any way change i n t he st or y? Does thi s char acter ar ri ve at any event ual reali zat ion or under s tandi ng? Are you l eft wi th any r eal izati on or understanding af ter fi nishing r eadi ng the stor y? Does t he aut hor (t hr ough the nar ator) m ake any gener al observati ons about lif e or human nat ure? Do the char act ers m ake any ( Caut ion: Characters now and again wil l ut ter opinions wi th which the r eader i s not necessar il y supposed to agree.) Does t he st or y contain any especi al ly cur ious object s, m yst er ious f lat char act er s, signi fi cant ani mals, repeat ed nam es, special al usi ons, or what ever , t hat hi nt t owards meanings lar ger t han such thi ngs or dinari ly have? In l it erary st ori es, such symbols or met aphors m ay poi nt to centr al t hem es. When we have wor ked our statement of theme, have we cast our stat em ent int o gener al l anguage, not just gi ven a plot sum mary? Does our stat ement hold tr ue for t he st or y as a whol e, not just par t of i t? Chapt er Four Set ing “Once upon a t ime t here l ived a king named M idas in Phrygia. He l oved gold more t han anythi ng else but hi s li t le daught er. ” This i s the openi ng sent ences of “Gol den Touch”, whi ch intr oduces the t ime, pl ace, and t he usual mentali ty of t he char act er . What i s set ti ng? An event occur s and a char act er exists in a par ticular t ime and pl ace. This part icular ti me and place is refer red t o as set ti ng. A set i ng is t he background agai nst whi ch a char act er i s depi ct ed or an event nar rat ed. It s purpose is t o provide an i maginary li nk bet ween what happens i n the novel a nd what the r eader takes to be r eal it y. Li ke som e other el ement s, set ing i s not peculiar t o the novel. The reader f inds i t servi ng the same purpose in di f erent genr es. The tr adi ti onal way t o tel l a st ory r eveals much about set ti ng. Usual ly, a set ti ng consist s of t im e and pl ace. I t can also m ean cir cumstances such as Midas ’s mental it y. A set ing m ay be det ai led or sket chy. I t depends on t he novel ist’ s pur pose of wr it ing and hi s idea of works of art . A se