【正文】 or plati t ude l i ke “Beauty i s only ski n deep.” I f one crams every new experi ence i nt o an ol d f or mul a, he l oses t he opport uni t y of new per cepti on pr ovi ded by readi ng novel s. I V. Where t o Look f or t he Them e The novel ist may stat e or i mpl y t he t hem e. He uses ever y possi bl e met hod t o convey t he t heme. Though t he t heme i s based upon t he whol e novel , pr act i cal y, we can speci f y som e im por tant ar eas i n whi ch to l ook f or t he theme. H ow t he novel i s ent it led. The ti tl e is t he nam e of the novel and i n many cases ( alm ost al cases) t he novel i st i nt ends i t to t el l som et hing im port ant about t he novel. Som et im es t he centr al them e of t he novel i s pr esent i n t he t it l e. For exam pl e, Pri de and Prej udi ce i s about Dar cy’ s pri de and El i zabet h Ben ’s pr ej udice. Mai n St ret is about t he li f e of m i ddl e cl as people i n a Midwest er n t own.. Thi nk what t he ti tl e of For Whom t he Bel Toll s t el ls about i ts t hem e, and As I l ay Dyi ng. How t he noveli st shows his i nt erest . If t he noveli st i s i nt er est ed in somet hi ng, he woul d al ow m or e space t o it , descr i bi ng or nar r at ing i n great det ai l. Yet, sometim es he em phasi zes it by l eavi ng it out, as i n the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concerned here i s t hat why t he noveli st gi ves m or e at ent i on t o t hi s par ti cul ar char act er , si nce or event but not ot her s. H ow t he novel ist deal s wit h a m on subject. Of t en t he noveli st has t o i ncl ude i n his wor k som e m on subjects, but i f he tr eat s the m on subjects i n an unm on way, i t shows t hat he i s t r yi ng t o convey som et hing new or im port ant i n t he novel. Maybe it i s t he t hem e t hat dem ands him t o do so. Im port ant sym bols. Sym bol s are l oaded wi t h i m port ant m eani ngs. So if a sym bol appears r epeat edl y or at im port ant m om ent s, it m ay poi nt t o t he them e of t he novel. A good exam ple i s t he l et t er “A” i n The Scarl et Let er. Im port ant speeches. Character s t alk and i n t heir t alk ar e r eveal ed t heir j udgm ent s of t he ot her char act er s or event. The character s’ j udgments m ay gi ve im por tant cl ues to t he t heme. V. Obvi ous and unobvi ous theme O bvi ous t heme: The t heme of a st or y, si nce we know, i s what ever gener al i dea or i nsi ght t he ent ir e st or y r eveal s. I n som e st or ies, t he t heme i s r at her obvious. For exam pl e, i n Aesop’s f abl e about t he counci l of t he mi ce that cannot deci de who wil l bel l t he cat , the t hem e is st at ed i n t he m or al at the end: “I t i s easi er t o pr opose a t hi ng t han t o car r y it out. ” I n som e novels, the t itl e m ay of f er a suggesti on about t he m ai n t hem e. For exam pl e, Jane Aust en’ s Pri de and Prej udice i s nam ed af ter i t s t hem e, and t he whole st or y unfol ds i tself ar ound t hat t hem e. I n som e novel s, t he t it le i s not so named but the pl ot exists pr im ar il y t o il lustr at e t he t hem e and it i s not ver y di f i cult f or us t o i nfer what i t is. For exampl e, Uncle Tom’s Cabi n by H. B. Stowe and The Grapes of Wrat h by John St ei nbeck voi ce the t hem es of slaver y and mi grat or y l abor r espect ively. The ti tl e of The Grapes of Wrat h es f rom a li ne in an extr em ely f am ous Ci vi l War song, “The Bat tl e Hymn of t he Republi c.” The l ine i s, “He i s tr am pli ng out t he vi ntage where t he Gr apes of wr at h are st or ed, ” whi ch m eans “an unjust or oppr essi ve si t uati on, acti on or pol icy t hat m ay i nfl am e desi re f or vengeance: an expl osi ve condit ion.” The song was wr it en by a f am ous and i nfl uenti al soci al act i vi st , Juli a War d Howe. Unobvi ous t heme: But i n m ost lit er ar y wor ks of f icti on, t he t heme i s sel dom so obvi ous. That i s, general y a t hem e is not a m or al nor a m essage, neit her i s it cl ear ly conveyed i n t he t it le. When we fi ni sh reading a f i nel y wr ought st ory, it i s easi er t o sum up t he plot —t o say what happens—t han t o descr i be t he m ai n i dea. To say of Jam es Joyce’ s “Araby” that i t is about a boy who goes t o a bazaar t o buy a gif t for a young woman but ar ri ves too l at e i s t o sum mar ize pl ot, not t heme. I n m any fi ne shor t st ori es, t heme i s t he cent er, t he m ovi ng f or ce, t he pri nci pl e of unit y. Cl ear ly, such a t hem e is somet hi ng mor e than t he character s and event s of t he st or y. Most of t he short st or ies chal l enge an easy e t hem e. I n Hemi ngway’ s “A Cl ean, Wel Li ghted Pl ace,” as obser ved by Kennedy and Gi oi a, t he event s ar e r at her sim ple—a young wai ter manages t o get r i d of t he old m an fr om t he caf 233。 and t he ol der wait er st ops at a coff ee bar on hi s way home—but whil e t he events t hem sel ves seem r el at i vel y sl i ght, t he st or y as a whol e i s full of m eaning. For a deep under st andi ng of t he m eani ng, we have t o l ook t o ot her el em ent s of the stor y besi des what happens in i t: nar ati ve, sym bol s, t one, t he di alogue bet ween the t wo wait ers, the m onol ogue of t he ol der wai ter, et c. Evi dentl y t he aut hor i nt ends us t o pay more at tenti on to the thoughts and f el ings of the older wait er , the char acter whose wor ds echo t he aut hor’ s voi ce. One t ry on the t heme may be: “The older wait er understands the ol d man and sympat hizes wit h his need f or a cl ean, wel l ighted pl ace.” But here we are sti l t al king about what happens in the stor y, t hough we ar e not t r oubl e wi th the hero Jordan, yet he i s a main character as his wi fe Pi lar i s. Minor char acter s are t hose i n remot e and st ati c relat ion wi th the hero. It i s wr ong