【正文】 novel . Theme may be the m ost dem ocr ati c el ements i n li terat ur e, because i ts defi nit ion i s the l east restr icti ve. The t heme of a novel is i ts contr ol li ng idea or it s cent ral insight. Bei ng an idea or an insight, the 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 theme shoul d be capable of unif ying t he whole novel. So the t hem e of a st ory, then, is whatever general idea or insight the enti re st or y r eveals. I . Clari f icat ion about Theme Common as it i s, t hem e suf fer s so me misunder st andi ngs. One mi sconcept ion about t heme is t hat each novel has a theme or themes, or t heme is i mport ant t o al novel s. I n fact, some novel s, i nteresti ng ones t hough, do not pr ovi de any insight into li fe. For example, many novel s of rati oci nat ion and novel s of hor r or . These novel s are aim ed at enter taini ng the r eader, not at i mprovi ng hi s under st andi ng of li fe. They may som et im es t ouch upon t he hum an nat ure or soci al pr obl ems, but these issues are onl y used t o push the plot f orwar d and they are not menti oned f or their own val ue. Theme exists only in t he novel that ser iousl y at empts t o r ef lect li fe f ait hf ull y or intends to reveal t ruth about li fe, or in t he novel s that ar e based on i deas or theori es of l if e. ( f or exa mple, novel s of i deas). Another mi sconcept ion about t hem e is t hat t he theme i s largely what t he novel is. Some peopl e discar d the novel when they thi nk that they have got the t hem e. I t should be made cl ear t hat t he novel is not wr it ten to convey an idea but to convey an idea art isti cal ly. The novel is a wor k of art whereas the t heme is onl y an abst ract i dea. An analogy f rom dai ly lif e may help cl ari fy t his quest ion. Peopl e al l need vi tami ns and get them fr om vari ous ki nds of vegetables and fr uits. Only those wit h defi ci ency of one kind or anot her have to take vit am in pi l s to get the r equi red amount. The dif fer ence between t he theme and the novel i s much l ike t hat between the vi tami ns and t he vegetables. The reader someti mes fi nds that he theme of a novel i s simi lar to or even t he same as what he has al ready known about li fe and t hat he i s st il l fasci nat ed by the novel. Them e appeals solely to t he int el lectual level of r eadi ng whil e the novel as a whol e mainl y appeals t o the emot ional evel . Anot her pi tf al l concerning t he theme i s to conf use a t hem e wi th m or al or l eson. Usual y, a m oral or a lesson i s the advice stated or i mpli ed in a par abl e or fable. It i s som et hing of a r ul e by whi ch one can r egul at e his behavi or. For exampl e, “Be kind to your nei ghbor s, ” or “Honesty i s the best pol icy. ” But a t heme is mor e pli cated t han thi s as a novel is t o enhance one’ s awar eness of li fe r ather than simpl y to tel him how t o behave. A novel i s a pli cat ed mat er and dif fer ent r eaders may have di f er ent i nterpr etati ons of t he same novel, so it i s incorr ect t o presume that one novel has onl y one theme. In some cases, ther e ar e sever al subthemes to t he main theme. In r eal it y, some novel s are appreciat ed for their t hem at ic am bi guity. For exampl e, Moby Dick can be int er pret ed in m or e ways than one. Fi nal ly, the t hem e is not to be conf used wi th t he subj ect . The t hem e is an i dea whil e the subj ect i s a mat er or an af fair . “Love i s invinci bl e” may be a t heme, but “l(fā) ove” i s only a subject. A subject may be uni versal . The subjects of The Scarlet Let ter, The Great Gatsby, and Wom en in Love ar e al “l(fā)ove.” But these novels have dif fer ent t hem es. A t hem e is part icular to it s novel, t hough t her e are m any si mil ar themes to be f ound in ot her novels. I I. Five Requir ements f or St ating a Them e The st atement of a t hem e may be br ief or long. And there ar e dif ferent ways to express one and t he same theme. But it should meet t he fol lowi ng requir ement s. A theme must be expressed in the f orm of a st at ement wit h a subj ect and a predicate. For example, “Love of one’s countr y oft en inspi res heroi c sel f sacri f ice. ” I f a t heme i s expr essed in t he for m of a phr ase, then the phr ase must be convert ibl e to sentence for m. One can say t hat t he theme of a novel i s “f uti li ty of envy. ” The phr ase can be changed t o “envy i s fut il e. ” When one chooses to st at e a t hem e in t he phrase for m, he must be very car ef ul about it s convert ibi li ty t o sent ence f orm. For instance ,t he phr ase “self les m aternal love” does not always mean that “m aternal love is self less. ” The t hem e is general izati on about lif e based on the novel, and t he st atem ent of t hem e shoul d be t rue al so of ot her people or lif e sit uati ons. Ther efor e, names of char act er s and places shoul d not be mentioned, for they suggest specif ic t hi ngs and invit e li mit ati ons. So in themati c discussion of Wut hering Heights, one may menti on “people’s psychol ogy of r evenge,” but not “Heathcli f’s.” Though a theme is a general izati on, over generali zat ion should be avoi ded. Since a t hem e is extr act ed fr om a par ti cul ar novel (a part icular event ), i t m ay not be appli cable t o al sit uat ions. So words l ike “al ways, ” “never, ” “al l, ” and “every” shoul d be avoided. I nst ead, one should use wor ds li ke “some,” “someti mes, ” and “m ay. ” When making a general ization, one should st ri ctly keep t o what is actual y in the novel and not smuggle into it asumpti ons suppli ed fr om hi s past experi ence. Since t hem e is t he cent ral and uni fyi ng idea of t he novel, i t must account for all t he maj or det ail s and must not be cont radi ct ed by