【正文】 as an envir onm ent, i t absor bs some and r epel s ot hers of t he char acter s: t hose who ar e absor bed achieve a som ber i ntegr ati on wi t h i t, but t hose who ar e repel l ed and r ebel suff er di saster. Som eti mes an environment serves as m ore t han a mere place t o set t he st ory. Of t en, it i s i nextr icabl y entangled wi t h the pr ot agoni st, and even car ri es st r ong symboli c meani ngs. Cat hy as an i mage of t he f em i ni ne per sonali ty, f or exam ple, i n Em il y Br ont e’s W ut heri ng Hei ghts , i s not supposed t o possess t he “wil derness” char acteri sti c of m asculi nit y and sym bol ized by t he l ocal es of Heat hcli f f and Wut heri ng H ei ght s. I n som e f icti on, set ing i s cl osel y bound wit h t hem e. I n The Scarl et Let er, even sm al l det ai l s af f or d powerf ul hi nts at t he t hem e of the st or y. At t he st art of t he st ory, the nar at or descri bes a col oni al j ail house: Bef or e t hi s ugly edi fi ce, and bet ween it and t he wheelt r ack of t he st reet, was a gr ass pl ot , m uch over grown wit h bur dock, pigweed, apple per u, and such unsi ghtl y veget ati on, whi ch evi dentl y f ound somet hi ng congenial i n t he soi l t hat had so earl y bor ne t he black fl ower of ci vili zed soci et y, a pr ison. But , on one si de of t he port al , and rooted alm ost at t he t hreshol d, was a wil d r osebush, cover ed, i n t his m ont h of June, wit h i ts deli cat e gem s, whi ch m i ght be im agi ned t o of fer t heir f r agr ance and f ragil e beaut y to t he pri soner as he went i n, and t o t he condem ned cr imi nal as he came f ort h t o hi s doom , in t oken t hat t he deep heart of Nat ur e coul d pit y and be ki nd t o him . Appar ent ly, the aut hor makes a cont rast bet ween t he ugl y j ai l house wit h a t angl ed gr ass pl ot over gr own wi t h bur dock and pi gweed and somet hi ng as beauti ful as a wil d r ose. As t he st ory unf ol ds, he wi l f urt her suggest that secret si n and a pr et t y chi ld m ay go t ogether li ke a pigweed and wil d r oses. I n t hi s art f ul ly cr af t ed novel, set ti ng is i ntim atel y bl ended wi t h char act er s, sym boli sm, and t hem e. I n addi ti on t o pl ace, set ti ng may cr uci al ly i nvol ve t he t im e of the st or y—cent ury, year, or even speci fi c hour. It m ay mat er gr eat l y t hat a st ory t akes pl aces i n t he m or ni ng or at noon. The medieval backgr ound inf or ms us dif f er ent l y fr om t he t wenti eth centur y. Kenned。 his contem por ar y Evelyn Waugh st at ed t hat he West Afr i ca of t hat book r epl aced t he t r ue r em em bered West Af ri ca of hi s own experi ence. Such power i s not un mon: the Yor kshir e m oor s have been r om anti cized because Em il y Br ont e wr ote of t hem i n W utheri ng Hei ghts, and li ter ar y t our ists have visit ed St oke on Tr ent i n nort her n England because i t pri ses t he “Fi ve Towns” of Ar nol d Ben ’s novel s of t he earl y t went iet h cent ur y. Thus, a reader ’s r eact ion t o a pl ace i s not m er el y based upon t he way it l ooks, but upon t he pot enti al it i es of act i on suggest ed by it. Pl aces m at t er greatl y t o m any writ ers. For instance, t he Fr ench noveli st Bal zac, bef or e wr it i ng a st ory set i n a t own, he woul d go and visit t hat t own, select a f ew lanes and houses, and descri bes t hem i n det ai l, down t o t hei r ver y sm el l s. I n his vi ew t he pl ace i n whi ch an event occurs was of equal m om ent wit h t he event i tself, and i t has a part t o pl ay. Another exam pl e is Thomas Har dy, under whom the pr esent ati on of set i ng assum es an unusual im por t ance. Hi s “Wessex” vil lages cast int angi bl y such as spel l upon t he vil lager s t hat once t hey leave their homet owns t hey wil l i nevi t abl y suf fer f rom di sast er s, and t he f art her t hey ar e away f rom their homet owns, the m or e, t er ibl e their disast ers wi l be. For exam ple, i n t he Tes of t he D’ Urbervi l es, t he Val e of Blakem ore was t he pl ace wher e Tess was bor n and her l if e was t o unf ol d. Every contour of the surr oundi ng hi l s was as per sonal t o her as t hat of her r el ati ves’ faces。 ( 3) t he tim e or per i od i n whi ch the acti on takes pl ace, f or exam ple, the l at e eight enth centur y i n hi st or y or wi nter of t he year。 P, and Faul kner ’s Bar n Bur ni ng concer n t he t heme of “i ni ti at i on i nto m at uri ty. ” Such gener al descri pt i ons of t heme can be usef ul, especial y i f we want t o sort a l arge number of st or i es and novel s i nt o r ough categor i es, but t he fact that hey are sim il ar i n t hem e does not m ean that hey mean t he sam e t hi ng. The at ti ude t owar ds t he t hem e m ay be ver y dif f er ent : the t one of t r eatm ent m ay be, f or exam ple, ei t her ic or t ragic, st r ai ght f or ward or i r oni c. The wr it er ’ s vi si on of li fe i s t he speci al underl ying f act of a stor y, and a t hem e, abst ractl y st ated, is not the sam e t hi ng as a visi on of l if e. And we suggest anyway t hat, i n t he begi nni ng, you l ook f or what ever t rut h or i nsi ght you t hink t he wri t er of a stor y i nt ends t o reveal . Try t o stat e a theme i n a sent ence. By doing so, we wi l fi nd ourselves l ooki ng cl osely at t he st or y. Kennedy and Gi oi a make a helpf ul suggesti on t o consi der t he f ol lowi ng poi nts when we t hi nk about t he t heme of a st or y: Look back once m or e at t he t it l e of t he st or y. What does i t indi cate i n r el ati on to t he whole st or y? Does the m ai n char act er i n any way change i n t he st or y? Does thi s char act er ar i ve at any event ual r eali zat ion or under st andi ng? Ar e you l eft wi t h any r eal i zati on or underst andi ng af ter fi nishing r eadi ng the st or y? Does t he aut hor (t hr ough the nar