【正文】 erned here is that why the novelist gives more attention to this particular character, since or event but not others.How the novelist deals with a mon subject. Often the novelist has to include in his work some mon subjects, but if he treats the mon subjects in an unmon way, it shows that he is trying to convey something new or important in the novel. Maybe it is the theme that demands him to do so.Important symbols. Symbols are loaded with important meanings. So if a symbol appears repeatedly or at important moments, it may point to the theme of the novel. A good example is the letter “A” in The Scarlet Letter.Important speeches. Characters talk and in their talk are revealed their judgments of the other characters or event. The characters’ judgments may give important clues to the theme.V. Obvious and unobvious themeObvious theme:The theme of a story, since we know, is whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals. In some stories, the theme is rather obvious. For example, in Aesop’s fable about the council of the mice that cannot decide who will bell the cat, the theme is stated in the moral at the end: “It is easier to propose a thing than to carry it out.” In some novels, the title may offer a suggestion about the main theme. For example, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is named after its theme, and the whole story unfolds itself around that theme. In some novels, the title is not so named but the plot exists primarily to illustrate the theme and it is not very difficult for us to infer what it is. For example, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck voice the themes of slavery and migratory labor respectively. The title of The Grapes of Wrath es from a line in an extremely famous Civil War song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The line is, “He is trampling out the vintage where the Grapes of wrath are stored,” which means “an unjust or oppressive situation, action or policy that may inflame desire for vengeance: an explosive condition.” The song was written by a famous and influential social activist, Julia Ward Howe. Unobvious theme: But in most literary works of fiction, the theme is seldom so obvious. That is, generally a theme is not a moral nor a message, neither is it clearly conveyed in the title. When we finish reading a finely wrought story, it is easier to sum up the plot—to say what happens—than to describe the main idea. To say of James Joyce’s “Araby” that it is about a boy who goes to a bazaar to buy a gift for a young woman but arrives too late is to summarize plot, not theme. In many fine short stories, theme is the center, the moving force, the principle of unity. Clearly, such a theme is something more than the characters and events of the story. Most of the short stories challenge an easye theme. In Hemingway’s “A Clean, WellLighted Place,” as observed by Kennedy and Gioia, the events are rather simple—a young waiter manages to get rid of the old man from the caf233。 and the older waiter stops at a coffee bar on his way home—but while the events themselves seem relatively slight, the story as a whole is full of meaning. For a deep understanding of the meaning, we have to look to other elements of the story besides what happens in it: narrative, symbols, tone, the dialogue between the two waiters, the monologue of the older waiter, etc. Evidently the author intends us to pay more attention to the thoughts and feelings of the older waiter, the character whose words echo the author’s voice. One try on the theme may be: “The older waiter understands the old man and sympathizes with his need for a clean, welllighted place.” But here we are still talking about what happens in the story, though we are nottrouble with the hero Jordan, yet he is a main character as his wife Pilar is. Minor characters are those in remote and static relation with the hero. It is wrong to think that minor characters are all unimportant. In some novels, one or some of the minor characters may serve a critical role, structurally or interpretationally.Foil characters are ones that help enhance the intensity of the hero by strengthening or contrasting. They may be main characters or minor characters. In a word, they serve as foils to the hero or heroine. Cohn in The Sun Also Rises is a good example. He is one of the main characters. Like Jake, he is also “l(fā)ost,” trying vainly to escape the past by courting women and drinking. But during their stay in Spain, Cohn displays qualities in contrast to those cherished by Jake, which makes Jake realize his own problems and finally find a solution, though temporarily. Cohn works mainly by contrast. Wilson in The Great Gatsby works by presenting. Gatsby lost his lover to Tom and Wilson lost his wife to Tom. By presenting Wilson’s case the novelist intends to point out the profound cause of Gatsby’s tragedy. Dr. Watson in the stories of Sherlock Holmes serves as a foil to the hero, rendering the detective smarter than he would otherwise appear to the reader.By the degree of their development, characters can be grouped as round characters and flat characters. This division is proposed by Forster. Round characters are fully developed while flat characters are not. Or we can say that round characters grow while flat characters do not. Usually the reader is allowed access to the inner life of the round character and permitted to learn about many sides of the round character. The flat character is a “closed” character to whose inner thoughts the reader is denied access. Usually one side of the flat character is shown in the novel. Most heroes are round characters who grow emotionally or spiritually.Chapter Three ThemeAristotle in Poetics lists six basic elements of tragedy. Melody (song) and diction (language) fall in the general category of style, and spectacle is relevant to setting in our discussion of fiction. The other three aspects are mythos or plot, ethos or character, and dianoia, which we g