【正文】 ct ion ( language) fal l i n t he general cat egor y of st yle, and spectacle i s rel evant to set ing i n our di scussi on of fi ction. The other thr e aspect s are m yt hos or pl ot , ethos or character , and dianoia, which we general ly t ranslate i nto “t hought” i n Engli sh. According t o Ar istot le, plot is t he “soul” or shapi ng pri nci ple or fi cti on, and char act er s exist pri mari ly as f unct ions of the plot . I n most of the stor ies, pl ot pl ays t he rol e of pr incipal st ruct ur e of the stor y. But , as Nor thr op Frye poi nt s out, besi des t he inter nal f icti on of the char acter and hi s/ her society, ther e is an exter nal f icti on consisti ng of a rel at ion between t he wr iter and the wr i ter’ s soci et y. We indeed have l it erary works by t he li kes of Shakespear e and Homer in whi ch art istr y is pl et ely absor bed in t heir int er nal character s and we can har dly perceive t he exi st ence of t he aut hor . However , as soon as the author’ s personal it y appears on t he hor izon, a rel at ion wi t h the r eader is establi shed, and someti mes ther e seems no stor y at al l apar t f r om what the author is conveyi ng to hi s/ her r eader. I n t hi s case, the pri mar y int er est i n dianoia, the idea or thought that r eader gets f rom the wr it er, which i n modern cr it ici sm we gener al l y cal l “t hem e”. I. What Is Them e? One of t he saf est ments t o make about novels i s on the t heme. Everyone is enti tl ed to ext ract a theme based upon his understanding of the novel. Theme may be t he most democrat ic element s in l it er atur e, because it s def ini ti on is t he least r est ri ct ive. The theme of a novel i s it s cont roll ing i dea or i ts c entr al i nsi ght . Being an i dea or an i nsi ght , t he theme should be abst r act and it shoul d gener al ize about l if e. Labeled as cont rol li ng or centr al, the t hem e should be capabl e of unif yi ng the whol e novel . So t he theme of a stor y, t hen, i s what ever gener al i dea or i nsi ght t he ent ir e stor y reveal s. I I. Cl ar if icati on about Theme Comm on as it is, theme suff ers some mi sunderstandings. One misconcepti on about theme i s that each novel has a t heme or t hem es, or theme i s impor tant to al l novels. In f act , som e novels, int er est ing ones though, do not provide any i nsi ght i nt o l if e. For exam pl e, many novels of r at iocinati on and novels of hor ror. These novels ar e aimed at ent ert ai ning t he reader , not at impr oving his understanding of l if e. They may som et i m es touch upon t he human nat ure or soci al pr oblems, but t hese issues ar e onl y used to push the pl ot f orwar d and they are not menti oned for their own val ue. Theme exists only in t he novel that ser iously at tempts t o r ef lect li fe f ait hfull y or int ends t o reveal t rut h about li fe, or in the novel s that ar e based on i deas or t heori es of lif e. (f or example, novel s of ideas) . Anot her mi sconcept ion about t hem e is t hat t he theme i s lar gel y what he novel i s. Some peopl e discar d t he novel when they thi nk that they have got t he theme. It shoul d be made clear t hat he novel is not wr it ten t o convey an i dea but to convey an idea art isti cal ly. The novel is a wor k of art wher eas t he theme i s onl y an abst ract idea. An analogy f rom dai ly li fe m ay hel p clari fy this question. Peopl e al need vi tami ns and get them fr om vari ous kinds of vegetables and fr uit s. Onl y those wit h defi ciency of one kind or another have t o t ake vi tamin pil ls to get t he requir ed am ount . The di f erence bet ween the theme and t he novel is much like t hat between t he vit amins and the veget abl es. The r eader somet imes f inds that t he t hem e of a novel is si mil ar to or even the same as what he has alr eady known about l if e and that he is sti l f ascinated by t he novel . Theme appeal s sol ely t o the i ntel ect ual l evel of reading whi le t he novel as a whole m ai nly appeal s to t he emoti onal level. Another pit fal concer ning t he theme is to confuse a theme wi t h mor al or lesson. Usual ly, a mor al or a l esson is t he advi ce st at ed or impl ied i n a parable or f abl e. I t is somethi ng of a rul e by which one can regulate hi s behavior . For example, “Be kind t o your neighbors,” or “Honest y is t he best poli cy.” But a theme i s more pl icated than t his as a novel i s to enhance one’s awarenes of l if e r at her t han si mply t o t el l him how t o behave. A novel is a pl icated mat ter and di f erent reader s may have dif ferent int er pret at ions of the same novel , so i t is i ncor rect to pr esume t hat one novel has only one t heme. I n som e cases, t her e are sever al subthemes to the mai n theme. In reali ty, some novels ar e appr eci at ed for t hei r themati c am biguit y. For exam pl e, Moby Dick can be i nt erpr et ed in more ways t han one. Final y, t he theme i s not t o be confused wit h t he subject. The theme is an i dea whi le t he subj ect is a mat er or an af air . “Love is invincible” m ay be a theme, but “l(fā)ove” is onl y a subj ect . A subj ect may be uni ver sal . The subjects of The Scarl et Let er, The Great Gatsby, and Women i n Love are al l “l(fā) ove. ” But these novels have dif ferent themes. A theme i s par ti cul ar to i ts novel, though ther e ar e many sim il ar t hem es t o be f ound i n other novel s. I I . Five Requir em ent s for Stat ing a Theme The stat em ent of a t heme may be bri ef or l ong. And t her e are di f er ent ways t o expr es one and t he same t hem e. But i t should m et the f oll owing r equi rements. A t heme m ust be expressed in t he form of a stat em ent wi t h a subject and a predi cat e. For exam ple, “Love of one’ s count ry of ten i nspi res her oic self sacri fi ce.” If a t hem e is