【正文】 wn i n the novel . Most heroes are round charact ers who gr ow em oti onal l y or spir it ual l y. Chapt er Three Them e Ari st otl e i n Poeti cs li st s six basic el em ent s of t r agedy. M el ody (song) and di ct ion ( language) f al i n t he gener al cat egor y of st yl e, and spect acl e i s rel evant t o set ti ng i n our di scussi on of fi ct i on. The other t hr ee aspect s are m yt hos or pl ot, ethos or char act er , and di anoi a, whi ch we gener al l y tr ansl at e i nt o “thought ” i n Engl ish. Accor di ng t o Ari stotl e, pl ot i s t he “soul” or shapi ng pri nci pl e or fi cti on, and char act ers exist prim ari ly as f unct ions of the pl ot . In m ost of t he st or i es, pl ot pl ays the r ol e of pri nci pal st ructur e of t he stor y. But, as Nor t hr op Frye poi nt s out , besi des t he i nter nal f icti on of the charact er and hi s/ her societ y, t her e is an ext er nal f icti on consi st ing of a r el ati on bet ween the wr it er and t he wr it er ’ s societ y. We indeed have li t er ary wor ks by t he l i kes of Shakespear e and Hom er in whi ch art istr y i s pl et ely absor bed i n their i nt ernal char act er s and we can har dl y per cei ve the existence of t he author. However, as soon as t he aut hor ’ s per sonali ty appear s on t he hor izon, a rel at ion wi t h the r eader is establi shed, and someti mes t her e sems no st or y at al l apar t fr om what t he aut hor i s conveyi ng t o his/ her r eader . I n this case, t he prim ary i nter est i n di anoi a, t he i dea or t hought t hat r eader get s fr om t he wr it er , which i n m oder n cr it icism we gener al l y cal l “t hem e”. I. What Is Them e? One of the safest m ent s to m ake about novels i s on t he t hem e. Ever yone i s ent itl ed t o ext ract a t heme based upon hi s under st andi ng of t he novel. Theme m ay be the m ost dem ocr at i c el em ent s i n lit erat ur e, because i ts defi ni ti on i s the l east rest ri cti ve. The t hem e of a novel is i ts cont r ol li ng i dea or it s cent ral i nsi ght. Bei ng an i dea or an i nsi ght, t he t hem e shoul d be abstr act and i t should generali ze about li fe. Label ed as contr oll ing or cent ral, t he t heme shoul d be capabl e of uni fyi ng t he whole novel. So t he t hem e of a st or y, t hen, is what ever gener al 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 Com m on as i t i s, t hem e suf f er s som e mi sunder standi ngs. One m isconcept i on about t hem e i s t hat each novel has a t heme or t hem es, or t hem e i s i m port ant t o al novel s. I n f act , some novels, int er esti ng ones t hough, do not provide any i nsi ght i nt o li f e. For exam pl e, m any novels of r at i oci nati on and novel s of hor r or. These novel s ar e aim ed at entert ai ni ng the r eader, not at im pr ovi ng hi s under st andi ng of li fe. They m ay som et im es t ouch upon t he hum an nat ur e or social problems, but t hese i sues ar e only used t o push t he plot f or war d and t hey ar e not m enti oned f or t heir own val ue. Them e exi sts onl y i n t he novel t hat ser i ousl y at em pts t o r ef l ect li fe f ait hfull y or i nt ends t o r eveal t r ut h about l if e, or i n t he novel s t hat ar e based on i deas or t heor i es of li f e. ( f or exam pl e, novels of i deas). Anot her mi sconcepti on about t hem e is t hat t he them e i s lar gel y what t he novel i s. Som e peopl e discar d t he novel when t hey t hi nk t hat t hey have got t he t heme. It shoul d be m ade cl ear t hat t he novel i s not wri t en to convey an idea but t o convey an i dea ar ti st i cal y. The novel is a wor k of art wher eas t he them e i s onl y an abst r act idea. An anal ogy fr om dail y li f e m ay hel p cl ar if y t hi s questi on. People al l need vit am i ns and get them f r om vari ous ki nds of veget abl es and fr ui t s. Onl y those wit h defi ci ency of one ki nd or anot her have t o t ake vi tami n pil ls t o get t he r equir ed am ount . The di f er ence bet ween the t hem e and t he novel i s m uch li ke that bet ween t he vit am i ns and t he veget ables. The r eader som et im es f i nds t hat t he t hem e of a novel i s sim il ar to or even the sam e as what he has alr eady known about l if e and t hat he is sti l f asci nat ed by t he novel . Them e appeal s sol ely t o t he i nt el ect ual l evel of r eading whi le t he novel as a whole m ai nly appeal s t o t he emoti onal l evel. Anot her pit fal concer ning t he them e i s to conf use a t hem e wit h m or al or l esson. Usual l y, a m or al or a l eson i s t he advi ce st at ed or im pl i ed i n a par abl e or f abl e. It is somet hi ng of a r ul e by whi ch one can r egul at e hi s behavi or . For exam ple , “Be kind t o your nei ghbors, ” or “Honest y i s the best poli cy. ” But a theme i s mor e pl icated 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 l him how t o behave. A novel i s a pl i cated m at ter and di f fer ent r eader s m ay have dif f er ent i nt erpr et at i ons of t he same novel , so it i s i ncor r ec t t o pr esum e that one novel has onl y one t hem e. I n som e cases, t here ar e several subt hem es t o t he m ai n t hem e. I n r eali t y, som e novel s ar e appr eci ated f or t hei r t hem ati c ambi gui ty. For exam ple, Moby Di ck can be i nter pr eted i n mor e ways t han one. Fi nal y, t he t hem e i s not t o be confused wit h t he subject. The t hem e i s an i dea whi le t he subj ect i s a m at er or an af air . “Love i s i nvincibl e” m ay be a t heme, but “l(fā) ove” i s onl y a subj ect . A subj ect m ay be uni ver sal . The subj ects 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 icul ar t o it s novel, t hough t her e ar e m any si mil