【正文】 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 mil ar t hemes t o be found i n ot her novels. I I. Fi ve Requi rements f or St ati ng a Them e The st atement of a them e m ay be br ief or l ong. And t her e ar e dif f er ent ways t o expr es one and t he sam e t hem e. But it shoul d m et the f oll owi ng r equi rements. A t hem e m ust be expressed i n t he f orm of a stat em ent wi t h a subject and a predi cat e. For exam ple, “Love of one’ s count r y of t en i nspi res heroi c self sacri fi ce. ” If a t hem e is expr essed i n t he form of a phr ase, t hen the phr ase m ust be converti bl e t o sent ence f orm. One can say t hat t he t hem e of a novel i s “f util it y of envy. ” The phr ase can be changed t o “envy i s f ut il e. ” When one chooses t o st at e a t hem e in t he phrase f orm , he m ust be ver y car eful about i t s converti bil it y t o sent ence f or m. For instance ,t he phr ase “sel fl es m at ernal love” does not al ways mean t hat “m ater nal l ove i s sel fl ess. ” The t hem e i s general i zat ion about li fe based on t he novel , and t he st at em ent of theme should be true also of ot her people or l if e sit uat i ons. Ther efor e, nam es of char act er s and pl aces shoul d not be menti oned, f or t hey suggest specif ic t hings and i nvit e li mi tati ons. So i n t hemati c discussi on of Wut heri ng H ei ght s, one m ay m ent i on “peopl e’s psychol ogy of r evenge, ” but not “Heathcli f ’s.” Though a t hem e i s a general izati on, over generali zat i on shoul d be avoi ded. Si nce a t hem e i s ext racted f r om a part icular novel ( a par ti cul ar event) , i t may not be appl icabl e t o al sit uati ons. So wor ds li ke “al ways, ” “never, ” “al l, ” and “ever y” shoul d be avoided. I nst ead, one shoul d use wor ds li ke “som e, ” “someti mes, ” and “may. ” When m aki ng a gener ali zati on, one shoul d str i ct ly keep t o what i s act ual l y in t he novel and not sm uggle i nt o i t asum pti ons suppli ed fr om hi s past experi ence. Si nce t hem e is t he central and uni f yi ng i dea of t he novel, i t m ust account for all t he m aj or det ail s and m ust not be cont radi ct ed by an det ai l s i n t he novel . Si nce a t hem e is di f erent f rom a m oral or a l esson, one shoul d avoi d reduci ng a t heme t o a cl ich233。 or pl at it ude li ke “Beaut y is only ski n deep. ” If one crams every new experi ence i nto an ol d for mula, he l oses the opport uni ty of new per cepti on provided by r eadi ng novels. IV. Wher e t o Look for t he Theme The noveli st m ay st at e or impl y t he theme. He uses ever y possi bl e met hod t o convey t he theme. Though t he theme i s based upon the whol e novel, pr act icaly, we can speci fy some i mport ant areas in which t o look f or the t heme. How the novel is enti tl ed. The t it le i s the name of t he novel and in many cases ( almost al l cases) t he noveli st i ntends i t to tel something i mport ant about t he novel . Somet imes t he centr al theme of the novel is present i n the t it le. For example, Pride and Prejudice i s about Darcy’s pr ide and El izabeth Ben’ s prej udi ce. Mai n Street i s about t he lif e of mi ddl eclass peopl e in a Midwester n town. . Thi nk what the ti tl e of For Whom the Bel l Tol ls t el l s about i ts t hem e, and As I l ay Dying. How t he novel ist shows his i nterest. I f the novel ist is i nter ested i n something, he would al low more space to i t, descri bing or nar ating in gr eat detail . Yet , somet imes he emphasi zes i t by leavi ng it out, as i n the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concerned her e i s that why the noveli st gives mor e at ent ion t o thi s par ti cul ar character, since or event but not others. How the noveli st deals wi th a mon subj ect . Oft en the novel ist has t o i ncl ude in hi s work some m on subjects, but i f he tr eat s the mon subjects i n an un mon way, i t shows t hat he i s tr ying t o convey something new or i mport ant i n t he novel. Maybe i t i s the t hem e that dem ands him t o do so. Important symbols. Sym bol s are l oaded wi th impor tant meani ngs. So if a symbol appears r epeatedly or at i mport ant moments, it m ay poi nt t o t he theme of the novel. A good exampl e i s the l et ter “A” in The Scarlet Let er . Import ant speeches. Char act ers t al k and in their t al k are reveal ed their j udgments of t he other character s or event. The char act er s ’ j udgment s may gi ve i m port ant clues to the t hem e. V. Obvious and unobvious t heme Obvious t hem e: The t hem e of a st ory, si nce we know, i s whatever general idea or insight the enti re stor y r eveals. In some st or ies, the t heme is r at her obvious. For example, in Aesop’s f abl e about t he council of the mi ce that cannot decide who wil l bel l the cat , the t hem e is stat ed in t he moral at the end: “I t is easi er t o propose a thi ng than t o car ry it out. ” In some novels, the t itl e may of fer a suggesti on about the m ai n theme. For exampl e, Jane Aust en’ s Pri de and Prej udi ce is named aft er its theme, and t he whole stor y unfolds i tself around t hat t heme. I n som e novels, the t it le i s not so named but the plot exists pr im ar il y to il lustr at e the t hem e and it i s not very di f icult f or us to i nfer what i t is. For example, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by . Stowe and The Grapes of Wrat h by John St einbeck voi ce the themes of slaver y and mi grator y labor respect ively. The ti tle of The Grapes of Wrat h es fr om a li ne in an extr emely f amous Civi l War song, “The Bat tle Hymn of the Republi c. ” The li ne is, “He is tr ampl ing out the vi nt age wher e the Gr apes of wr ath ar e stored,” which means “an unj ust or oppr essive sit uat ion, act ion or poli cy that may inf lame desir e for vengeance: an expl osi ve con