【導讀】troublewiththeheroJordan,yetheisamaincharacterashiswifePilaris.Minorcharactersarethoseinremoteandstaticrelationwiththehero.Itiswrongtothinkthatminorcharactersarealunimportant.Insomenovels,oneorsomeoftheminorcharactersmayserveacriticalrole,structuralyorinterpretationaly.Foilcharactersareonesthathelpenhancetheintensityoftheherobystrengtheningorcontrasting.Theymaybemaincharactersorminorcharacters.Ina

　　

【正文】 hem e is expressed i n t he for m of a phrase, t hen the phrase must be convert ible t o sent ence f orm . One can say that the t hem e of a novel is “f util it y of envy.” The phr ase can be changed to “envy i s fut ile. ” When one chooses to stat e a theme i n t he phr ase f orm , he m ust be very car ef ul about it s convert ibil it y to sentence for m. For instance ,the phr ase “sel fl es m at er nal ove” does not al ways mean that “m at er nal ove is self less. ” The t hem e is general izati on about l if e based on the novel, and the st atement of theme should be true also of other people or l if e sit uat ions. Ther ef ore, names of character s and pl aces shoul d not be m ent ioned, f or they suggest speci fi c thi ngs and i nvi te l im it at ions. So in t hem at ic di scussi on of Wuthering H ei ghts, one m ay mention “people’s psychology of r evenge, ” but not “Heathclif f’s.” Though a theme i s a generali zat ion, over general izat ion shoul d be avoided. Since a theme is extr act ed fr om a par ticular novel ( a part icular event) , it may not be appl icable t o al si t uat i ons. So wor ds li ke “al ways, ” “never, ” “al l, ” and “every” shoul d be avoi ded. I nst ead, one should use wor ds l ike “some,” “som et im es, ” and “m ay.” When making a generali zat ion, one should st ri ct ly keep t o what i s act ual ly in t he novel and not smuggle i nto i t assumpti ons suppl ied f r om his past experi ence. Since theme is t he cent ral and uni fying idea of the novel, it m ust account f or all t he major det ai ls and must not be contradict ed by an detai ls i n the novel. Si nce a theme i s dif ferent from a moral or a leson, one should avoi d reduci ng a them e to 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 f or 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 im pl y t he theme. He uses ever y possi bl e met hod to 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 ent i t l ed. The t it le i s the name of the novel and i n many cases ( al most al l cases) the noveli st i nt ends i t to t el som et hing i mport ant about t he novel. Somet imes t he centr al theme of the novel i s present i n the t it le. For example, Pride and Prej udice is about Darcy’s pr ide and Eli zabeth Ben’ s prejudi ce. Mai n Street i s about the l if e of mi ddl e class people in a Midwester n town. . Thi nk what he ti tl e of For Whom the Bel Toll s tel ls about i ts t hem e, and As I l ay Dying. How t he novel ist shows his i nt erest. I f the novel ist is i nterested i n something, he would al low m ore space t o i t, descri bing or nar ating in gr eat detail . Yet , someti mes he emphasi zes i t by leavi ng it out, as in the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concer ned her e i s that why the novelist gives mor e atenti on 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 . Of t en the novel ist has t o i ncl ude i n his work some mon subjects, but i f he tr eat s the mon subjects i n an unm on way, i t shows t hat he i s t r yi ng t o convey somethi ng new or impor tant in t he novel. Maybe i t is t he theme t hat demands hi m t o do so. Im port ant symbols. Symbols are loaded wi t h im por tant meani ngs. So i f a symbol appears repeat edl y or at i mport ant m om ent s, i t m ay poi nt to t he theme of t he novel. A good example i s the l et ter “A” i n The Scarl et Let er. Important speches. Characters t alk and i n their t alk ar e reveal ed their j udgm ent s of t he other char act er s or event. The char act ers ’ judgments may gi ve impor tant cl ues t o t he theme. V. Obvi ous and unobvi ous t heme Obvious t heme: The theme of a stor y, since we know, is what ever gener al i dea or i nsi ght t he ent ir e st ory r eveal s. I n som e st ori es, the t hem e is r ather obvi ous. For example, i n Aesop’ s fable about the council of t he mice t hat cannot deci de who wi l bel the cat, t he theme i s st at ed in the mor al at the end: “I t is easier to pr opose a t hing t han t o car y it out. ” I n som e novels, the t it le m ay off er a suggesti on about t he main t heme. For exampl e, Jane Aust en’s Pride and Prej udice i s named af ter i t s t heme, and the whol e st ory unf ol ds it sel f ar ound that theme. I n some novel s, t he ti tl e is not so nam ed but t he pl ot exi st s pri mari ly t o i l ust rate t he theme and i t is not ver y dif fi cul t for us to inf er what it i s. For exam pl e, Uncl e Tom’s Cabi n by H. owe and The Grapes of Wrath by John Stei nbeck voice the t hemes of sl avery and m igr at ory l abor r espectively. The ti tl e of The Grapes of Wrath es f rom a l ine in an ext remel y famous Ci vi l War song, “The Batl e Hymn of t he Republ ic.” The l ine i s, “He i s tr ampli ng out t he vintage wher e the Gr apes of wr ath ar e st ored,” whi ch means “an unjust or oppr essive sit uat ion, act ion or poli cy that m ay inf lame desi re for vengeance: an expl osi ve condit ion.” The song was wr it ten by a f amous and infl uent ial soci al acti vi st, Jul ia Ward Howe. Unobvi ous theme: But i n most li ter ar y wor ks of f ict ion, the theme i s sel dom so obvious. That is, general ly a t heme is not a mor al nor a message, nei ther is i t cl ear ly conveyed i n t he ti le. When we fi nish reading a f inely wr ought st ory, it i s easi er to sum up the pl ot —to say what happens—than to descri be the mai n idea. To say of Jam es Joyce’s “Araby” that it i s about a boy who goes to a bazaar t o buy a gif t for a young woman but ar r ives too l at