【正文】 or pl at it ude li ke “Beaut y i s onl y ski n deep. ” If one crams every new experi ence i nt o an ol d f or mul a, he l oses the oppor t uni ty of new per cepti on provi ded by r eadi ng novels. I V. Where t o Look f or t he Them e The noveli st m ay st ate or im ply t he t heme. He uses ever y possi bl e m et hod t o convey t he t hem e. Though t he t hem e is based upon t he whole novel , practi cal y, we can specif y som e im por t ant areas in whi ch t o look f or t he t heme. H ow t he novel i s enti tl ed. The ti tl e i s the nam e of t he novel and i n m any cases ( al most al l cases) t he noveli st i nt ends i t to t el som et hi ng i mport 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 pr i de and El izabet h Ben ’s pr ej udice. Mai n St ret is about t he li f e of m i ddl e cl as peopl e i n a Mi dwest ern t own.. Thi nk what t he t it l e of For Whom t he Bel l Toll s tel s about it s t hem e, and As I l ay Dyi ng. H ow t he novel ist shows hi s i nt erest. I f t he novel i st i s i nter est ed i n som ethi ng, he woul d al l ow m or e space to i t, descr ibi ng or nar rati ng i n gr eat det ai l. Yet, som etim es he em phasi zes it by l eavi ng it out, as i n the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The point concer ned here i s t hat why t he noveli st gi ves m or e at ent i on t o t hi s part icular char act er , si nce or event but not ot hers. H ow t he novel ist deal s wi t h a mon subj ect. Oft en t he novel ist has t o i ncl ude i n hi s work some m on subj ects, but i f he tr eat s t he m on subj ects i n an un mon way, it shows t hat he is t r yi ng to convey som et hi ng new or im por t ant i n the novel . Maybe it i s the t hem e that dem ands him t o do so. Im port ant sym bols. Sym bol s are l oaded wi t h im por tant m eani ngs. So if a sym bol appear s r epeat edl y or at i mport ant m om ent s, i t m ay poi nt to t he t heme of t he novel. A good exam pl e is t he let er “A” i n The Scarlet Let er . Im port ant speeches. Char act ers t al k and i n their t al k ar e reveal ed their j udgm ent s of t he other char act er s or event. The charact ers ’ j udgm ent s may gi ve i m port ant cl ues t o t he t hem e. V. Obvi ous and unobvi ous t hem e O bvi ous t hem e: The theme 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 stor 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 decide who wil l bel t he cat , the t hem e i s stat ed i n t he m oral at he end: “It i s easi er t o pr opose a t hi ng than t o car r y i t out . ” In some novel s, t he ti tl e may of fer a suggest i on about the m ai n t heme. For exampl e, Jane Aust en’ s Pri de and Prej udi ce is named aft er it s them e, and t he whole st or y unf ol ds i t self ar ound t hat t hem e. I n som e novel s, t he t it l e i s not so nam ed but t he pl ot exi st s pr im aril y t o il l ustr at e t he them e and it i s not ver y dif fi cul t for us t o i nf er what it i s. For exam pl e, Uncl e Tom ’s Cabi n by H. B. St owe and The Grapes of Wrat h by John St ei nbeck voi ce t he t hemes of sl aver y and mi gr ator y l abor respecti vel y. The t it l e of The Grapes of Wrath es f rom a li ne in an extr emel y famous Ci vi l War song, “The Bat tl e Hym n of t he Republ ic.” The l i ne i s, “He i s t r am pl i ng out t he vi ntage where t he Gr apes of wr at h are st or ed, ” whi ch m eans “an unj ust or oppr essi ve sit uat ion, acti on or pol i cy t hat m ay infl ame desi r e f or vengeance: an expl osi ve condit i on. ” The song was writ t en by a fam ous and i nf l uenti al soci al acti vist, Juli a War d Howe. Unobvi ous t hem e: But i n most l it erar y wor ks of f icti on, t he theme 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, nei t her is i t cl ear l y conveyed i n t he ti tl e. When we fi nish r eadi ng a fi nel y wr ought st or y, i t is easi er t o sum up t he pl ot —t o say what happens—t han t o descr i be t he mai n idea. To say of Jam es Joyce’ s “Araby” t hat it i s about a boy who goes t o a bazaar to buy a gi ft f or a young wom an but ar ri ves t oo l at e is t o sum mari ze pl ot, not t heme. I n m any fi ne short st or i es, them e i s the cent er, t he m ovi ng f or ce, t he pri nci pl e of unit y. Cl ear l y, s uch a them e i s som et hi ng m or e t han t he char act er s and events of t he st or y. Most of the shor t st ori es chal enge an easy e t hem e. I n Hem i ngway’ s “A Cl ean, Wel Li ghted Pl ace,” as obser ved by Kennedy and Gi oi a, t he events ar e rat her sim pl e—a young wait er m anages to get ri d of t he ol d man f r om t he caf233。 and t he ol der wai t er st ops at a cof f e bar on his way hom e—but whi l e t he event s them sel ves seem r elati vel y sli ght , the stor y as a whole i s f ul l of m eani ng. For a deep understanding of t he m eani ng, we have t o look t o ot her el em ent s of the st or y besi des what happens i n 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 m or e at tenti on to t he t hought s and f eli ngs of t he older wait er , the char act er whose wor ds echo t he aut hor’ s voi ce. One t r y on the t hem e m ay be: “The ol der wait er underst ands t he ol d man and sym pat hizes wit h his need f or a cl ean, wel l ight ed pl ace.” But her e we are sti l t al ki ng about what happens i n the st or y, t hough we ar e not summ i ng up t he plot. A t heme i s usual y stat ed i n gener al words. Anot her t r y sounds l i ke t his: “Sol it ar y peopl e need a orderl y pl ace where t hey