【正文】 case t he novel i st i nt ends t o point out t he profound cause of Gat sby’s tragedy. Dr. Wat son i n t he st ori es of Sherl ock Holm es serves as a foi l t o t he hero, renderi ng t he det ect i ve smart er than he woul d ot her wi se appear t o t he reader . By t he degree of t heir developm ent, characters can be grouped as round characters and fl at charact ers. This di vi si on i s pr oposed by E. M For st er. Round charact ers ar e f ul ly devel oped whil e fl at charact ers ar e not. Or we can say t hat round charact ers gr ow whi le f l at charact ers do not. Usual y t he r eader is al lowed access t o t he i nner li fe of t he r ound char act er and perm it ted t o l ear n about many si des of t he r ound character. The f lat char act er i s a “cl osed” character t o whose i nner t houghts t he reader i s deni ed aces. Usual ly one si de of t he fl at charact er is shown 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 Poet ics li st s six basic el em ent s of t r agedy. M el ody (song) and di ct ion ( language) fal i n t he general cat egor y of st yle, and spectacle i s r el evant to set ing 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 acter, and di anoi a, whi ch we gener al l y t r anslat e int o “t hought ” in Engl ish. Accor di ng t o Ari st otl e, pl ot i s t he “soul ” or shapi ng pr i nci pl e or fi ct i on, and char act er s exi st pr im ar il y as f uncti ons of t he pl ot. I n m ost of t he st or ies, pl ot pl ays t he r ol e of pri nci pal str uct ure of t he st or y. But, as Nor thr op Frye poi nt s out , besi des t he i nter nal fi cti on of the char act 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 i ndeed have l it erar y wor ks by t he li kes of Shakespear e and Homer i n which art istr y i s pl etel y absor bed i n t heir i nter nal char act er s and we can har dl y per cei ve t he exist ence of t he aut hor. However, as soon as the author’ s personal it y appears on t he hori zon, a r el ati on wit h t he reader i s est abl ished, and som et im es t her e seem s no st or y at al apart f rom what t he aut hor is conveyi ng t o hi s/ her r eader. I n t hi s case, the pr im ar y i nt er est i n dianoia, t he i dea or t hought t hat r eader get s fr om t he wri t er , whi ch i n moder n cr it cism we general y cal “theme”. I. What Is Theme? One of t he saf est m ent s t o make about novel s is on t he t heme. Ever yone i s ent it l ed t o extr act a t hem e based upon hi s under st andi ng of the novel . Them e may be t he m ost dem ocrati c elements i n li t er at ur e, because i t s def init i on i s t he l east r estr i cti ve. The t hem e of a novel i s i t s contr oll ing i dea or i ts cent r al i nsi ght . Bei ng an i dea or an i nsi ght, t he t heme shoul d be abst r act and i t shoul d gener al ize about l if e. Label ed as cont r ol i ng or centr al , the t hem e shoul d be capabl e of uni f yi ng t he whol e novel. So t he t heme of a st or y, t hen, i s what ever gener al i dea or i nsi ght t he ent ir e st or y r eveal s. I I. Cl ari fi cati on about Theme Comm on as it i s, t heme suff ers some m isunder st andi ngs. One mi sconcepti on about t heme 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 novels. I n fact, som e novel s, i nt erest i ng ones t hough, do not pr ovi de any i nsi ght i nto l if e. For exam ple, m any novel s of r ati oci nat ion and novel s of hor r or . These novel s are aim ed at ent er tai ni ng the r eader, not at i mpr ovi ng hi s under st andi ng of li fe. They m ay som eti mes t ouch upon t he hum an nat ur e or soci al pr obl em s, but these i ssues are onl y used t o push t he plot f or war d and t hey ar e not m ent i oned f or t hei r own val ue. Them e exi st s only i n t he novel that seri ousl y a t em pt s t o ref lect l if e f ai t hf ul l y or i ntends to r eveal tr uth about l i fe, or i n t he novels t hat ar e based on i deas or theori es of l if e. ( f or exam pl e, novels of i deas). Anot her mi sconcepti on about t hem e is t hat t he t hem e i s l ar gel y what t he novel is. Som e peopl e di scar d t he novel when t hey thi nk that hey have got t he t hem e. I t shoul d be m ade cl ear t hat t he novel is not wri t en t o convey an i dea 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 t hem e i s onl y an abst ract i dea. An ana l ogy f r om dai l y li fe m ay hel p clari f y this quest i on. Peopl e al need vi tami ns and get t hem fr om vari ous ki nds of vegetables a nd fr uit s. Onl y t hose wit h defi ci ency of one ki nd or anot her have t o t ake vit am i n pil s t o get t he requir ed am ount . The di f erence bet ween the t hem e and t he novel i s m uch li ke t hat bet ween t he vit am ins and t he veget abl es. The r eader som et im es f i nds t hat t he t hem e of a novel i s simi l ar t o or even t he sam e as what he has al r eady known about li f e and t hat he i s stil l f asci nated by t he novel. Them e appeal s sol el y t o the i nt el 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 . An other pi tf al concer ni ng t he t hem e is t o confuse a t heme wi t h m or al or l esson. Usual ly, a m or al or a l eson is t he advi ce st at ed or im pl ied i n a parable or f abl e. I t is somet 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 i s the best poli cy. ” But a t hem e i s m or e pl i cat ed t han thi s as a novel is t o enhance one’ s awar eness of li f e r at her t han sim pl y t o tel him how to behave.