【正文】 e novel . Most heroes are round charact ers who gr ow emoti onal ly or spir it ual ly. Chapter Three Theme Ari st ot l e i n Poeti cs li st s si x basi c elements of t ragedy. Mel ody ( song) and dicti on (l anguage) f al i n t he gener al cat egor y of st yl e, and spect acl e i s relevant t o set ti ng i n our di scussi on of f i ct ion. The ot her t hr e aspect s ar e m yt hos or pl ot , et hos or char act er, and di anoi a, whi ch we gener al ly t r anslat e i nt o “t hought ” i n Engli sh. Acor di ng to Ari st ot l e, pl ot i s t he “soul ” or shapi ng pri nci ple or f icti on, and characters exi st pri mari l y as f unct i ons of t he pl ot . I n m ost of t he st or i es, pl ot pl ays the r ol e of pri nci pal str uct ure of t he st ory. But, as Nort hr op Fr ye poi nts out, besi des the i nt ernal fi ct i on of t he char act er and his/ her soci et y, t her e i s an ext er nal f i ct ion consi st i ng of a r elati on bet ween t he writ er and t he wr it er ’ s societ y. We indeed have li t er ar y wor ks by t he l ikes of Shakespeare and Hom er i n whi ch ar ti st r y is pl et el y absor bed i n t hei r int er nal char act ers and we can har dl y per cei ve t he exi st ence of t he aut hor. However, as soon as t he aut hor’s per sonali t y appear s on t he hor izon, a rel ati on wi t h t he r eader i s est abl i shed, and som etim es there seem s no stor y at al l apart f r om what he aut hor is conveyi ng t o hi s/ her r eader. I n t hi s case, t he pri mar y int er est i n di anoi a, t he i dea or t hought t hat r eader get s f rom the wr it er , whi ch i n m oder n cr it ici sm we gener al y cal l “t hem e”. I. What Is Them e? One of t he safest m ent s to m ake about novels i s on t he t hem e. Ever yone i s ent it l ed t o extr act a t hem e based upon his under st andi ng of t he novel . Them e may be t he m ost dem ocr at ic el em ent s in l it er at ur e, because it s defi ni ti on is t he l east r est ri ct i ve. The t heme of a novel i s it s cont r ol li ng i dea or it s cent ral i nsi ght. Bei ng an idea or an i nsight, t he them e shoul d be abst ract and i t shoul d gener al ize about l if e. Label ed as cont r ol li ng or centr al , t he t hem e shoul d be capable of unif ying t he whol e novel . So the t hem e of a st ory, t hen, i s whatever general i dea or i nsi ght t he enti r e st ory r eveal s. I . Cl ar if icati on about Them e Comm on as i t is, them e suff er s som e mi sunderst andings. One m isconcepti on about them e i s t hat each novel has a t hem e or t hem es, or t heme i s im por t ant t o al l novel s. I n fact, som e novel s, i nt er esti ng ones t hough, do not pr ovi de any i nsight int o li fe. For exampl e, m any novel s of r at iocinati on and novels of horr or. These novels ar e ai med at ent ert ai ni ng t he r eader , not at im provi ng hi s under st andi ng of l if e. They m ay som et im es t ouch upon t he hum an nat ur e or soci al pr obl em s, but t hese issues ar e onl y used to push t he pl ot f or war d and t hey ar e not m ent i oned f or t hei r own value. Them e exi st s onl y i n t he novel t hat seri ousl y at t em pt s t o refl ect l if e f ai thf ul l y or i ntends t o r eveal tr uth about l if e, or i n t he novels t hat ar e based on i deas or t heor i es of li f e. ( for exam pl e, novels of i deas) . Another m isconcepti on about t heme i s t hat t he t hem e is l ar gel y what t he novel i s. Som e people di scar d t he novel when t hey t hink t hat t hey have got the t hem e. It shoul d be m ade cl ear t hat t he novel i s not wri t en to convey an i dea but t o convey an i dea ar ti st ical y. The novel i s a wor k of ar t whereas the t hem e is onl y an abstr act i dea. An anal ogy fr om dail y l if e may help cl ar if y t hi s questi on. People al l need vit am i ns and get hem f r om vari ous ki nds of veget abl es and f r ui ts. Only t hose wi t h def i ci ency of one ki nd or anot her have t o take vit am in pi l s to get t he r equi red a mount. The dif f er ence bet wen t he t hem e and t he novel i s m uch li ke t hat bet ween t he vi tami ns and t he veget abl es. The reader som etim es fi nds t hat t he t heme of a novel i s simi lar t o or even t he same as what he has al ready known about li f e and t hat he i s st il l fasci nat ed by t he novel. Them e appeals solel y to t he i nt el l ect ual l evel of r eadi ng whil e t he novel as a whol e m ai nl y appeal s t o t he em ot i onal level . Another pi tf al concer ni ng t he t hem e is t o confuse a t heme wit h mor al or l esson. Usual l y, a m or al or a l eson i s the advi ce st ated or im pl i ed i n a par abl e or fable. It i s som et hi ng of a r ul e by whi ch one can r egul at e hi s behavi or. For exam pl e, “Be ki nd t o your nei ghbor s, ” or “Honest y is t he best pol i cy. ” But a t hem e i s m ore pli cat ed t han t his as a novel i s t o enhance one’s awar eness of l if e r at her t han si mpl y to t el him how t o behave. A novel i s a pli cat ed m at t er and dif f er ent r eaders m ay have di f er ent i nter pr etati ons of t he sam e novel, so i t i s i ncorr ect t o pr esum e t hat one novel has onl y one t hem e. I n som e cases, t her e are sever al subt hemes t o the m ai n t heme. I n reali ty, som e novels ar e appr eci at ed f or t hei r t hemati c am bi guit y. For exam ple, Moby Di ck can be i nter pr eted i n mor e ways than one. Fi nal y, the t hem e i s not to be conf used wit h t he subj ect. The t hem e is an i dea whil e the subj ect i s a m at er or an af f ai r. “Love i s i nvi nci bl e” may be a t hem e, but “l(fā)ove” is onl y a subj ect. A subj ect m ay be uni ver sal . The subjects of The Scarl et Let ter, The Great Gatsby, and Wom en i n Love ar e al l “l(fā) ove. ” But t hese novels have dif f er ent t hem es. A t hem e is part i cul ar t o it s novel, t hough t her e ar e m any si mi