【正文】 the pl ot f orwar d and they are not menti oned f or their own val ue. Theme exists only in t he novel that ser iously at empts t o r ef lect li fe f ait hf ull y or int ends to reveal t rut h about li fe, or in t he novel s that ar e based on i deas or theori es of l if e. (f or exa mple, novel s of i deas). Anot her mi sconcept ion about t heme is t hat t he theme i s largely what t he novel is. Some peopl e discar d the novel when they thi nk that they have got t he theme. I t shoul d be made clear t hat t he novel is not wr it ten t o convey an i dea but to convey an idea art isti cal ly. The novel is a wor k of art wher eas t he theme i s onl y an abst ract idea. An analogy f rom dai ly li fe m ay hel p clari fy this quest ion. Peopl e al need vi tami ns and get them fr om vari ous ki nds of vegetables and fr uit s. Onl y those wit h defi ci ency of one kind or another have t o take vit amin pil s to get t he requir ed am ount . The di f er ence bet wen t he theme and t he novel is m uch l ike t hat between t he vitami ns and the veget abl es. The r eader somet imes f inds that the t hem e of a novel is sim il ar t o or even t he sam e as what he has alr eady known about l if e and that he is sti l f ascinated by t he novel. Theme appeal s sol el y t o the i ntel ect ual level of r eadi ng whil e the novel as a whol e mai nl y appeals t o t he em otional level. Another pi tf al concerni ng the t hem e is t o conf use a theme wi th moral or lesson. Usual ly, a moral or a lesson is t he advice stat ed or i mpl ied in a par able or f abl e. I t is something of a r ule by whi ch one can regul ate hi s behavior. For exam pl e , “Be ki nd to your neighbor s,” or “Honesty is t he best pol icy.” But a t heme is more pli cat ed than t hi s as a novel is t o enhance one’s awar eness of li fe rather than sim pl y t o tel l hi m how to behave. A novel is a pli cat ed mat er and di f er ent r eader s may have di f erent inter pr etati ons of t he sam e novel, so i t is incorr ect t o presume t hat one novel has onl y one theme. In some cases, there ar e sever al subt hem es to t he main theme. I n r eal it y, some novel s are appreciated f or their t hem at ic ambi gui ty. For exampl e, Moby Di ck can be int er preted i n mor e ways than one. Fi nal ly, the t hem e is not to be confused wi th t he subj ect. The t hem e is an i dea whi le the subj ect i s a mat er or an af fair . “Love i s invincibl e” may be a theme, but “l(fā) ove” i s onl y a subject. A subject m ay be uni ver sal . The subjects of The Scarl et Let ter, The Great Gatsby, and Wom en in Love ar e al l “l(fā)ove. ” But these novels have dif fer ent t hemes. A t heme is part icular to it s novel, t hough t her e are m any si mil ar themes to be f ound in ot her novel s. I I I. Five Requir ement s f or St at ing a Theme The st at ement of a t hem e may be bri ef or l ong. And t her e are di f erent ways to express one and t he same theme. But i t should meet t he fol lowi ng requir em ent s. A theme m ust be expressed in the f orm of a stat ement wit h a subject and a predicate. For example, “Love of one’s count ry of ten i nspi res her oic self sacri fi ce.” If a t hem e is expressed i n the f orm of a phrase, t hen the phrase must be conver ti ble t o sent ence f orm. One can say that the t hem e of a novel is “f ut il it y of envy.” The phr ase can be changed to “envy is futi le.” When one chooses to stat e a theme i n t he phr ase f orm , he m ust be very caref ul about its conver ti bil it y to sentence for m. For inst ance , the phr ase “sel fl ess mat er nal l ove” does not al ways m ean t hat “mat er nal l ove is self les. ” The theme is generali zat ion about l if e based on t he novel , and the st at ement of theme should be true also of other people or l if e si tuat ions. Ther ef ore, nam es of characters 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 i n t hem at ic di scussi on of Wuthering H ei ghts , one m ay ment ion “peopl e’s psychology of r evenge, ” but not “Heat hcl if f ’s.” Though a t heme i s a generali zat ion, over general izati on shoul d be avoided. Since a theme i s ext r acted f r om a part icular novel ( a par ti cular event) , it may not be appl icabl e t o al situat ions. So wor ds li ke “al ways,” “never,” “al l,” and “ever y” shoul d be avoi ded. Instead, one should use words l ike “some,” “som et imes,” and “m ay. ” When m aki ng a gener al izati on, one shoul d str ictl y keep to what is actual y i n the novel and not sm uggl e int o it assumpt ions suppli ed fr om hi s past exper ience. Since t heme i s the central and unif yi ng i dea of t he novel , it must account for al l the m aj or detail s and must not be cont radi cted by an det ail s in t he novel . Since a t hem e is di f erent f rom a m oral or a l esson, one shoul d avoid reducing a t heme t o a cli ch233。troubl 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 t o t hi nk that mi nor characters ar e al unimpor tant. I n som e novels, one or some of t he minor char act ers m ay ser ve a cr it ical rol e, str uct ural y or int er pret at ional y. Foil charact ers are ones that hel p enhance the i ntensi ty of t he hero by strengt heni ng or cont rast ing. They may be m ain charact ers or m inor characters. I n a wor d, they ser ve as foil s to the hero or heroi ne. Cohn i n The Sun Also Ri ses i s a good exampl e. He is one of the mai n charact ers. Like Jake, he is al so “l(fā) ost ,” t rying vai nl y t o escape the past by court ing wom en and dr inking. But dur ing t heir stay i n Spai n, Cohn di spl ays quali ti es i n cont rast to t hose cheri shed by Jake, whi ch makes Jake reali ze hi s own pr obl ems and