【正文】 appeals to the emotional level.theme is that each novel has a theme or themes, or theme is important to all novels. In fact, some novels, interesting ones though, do not provide any insight into life. For example, many novels of ratiocination and novels of horror. These novels are aimed at entertaining the reader, not at improving his understanding of life. They may sometimes touch upon the human nature or social problems, but these issues are only used to push the plot forward and they are not mentioned for their own value. Theme exists only in the novel that seriously attempts to reflect life faithfully or intends to reveal truth about life, or in the novels that are based on ideas or theories of life. (for example, novels of ideas).II. Clarification about ThemeOne of the safest ments to make about novels is on the theme. Everyone is entitled to extract a theme based upon his understanding of the novel. Theme may be the most democratic elements in literature, because its definition is the least restrictive. The theme of a novel is its controlling idea or its central insight. Being an idea or an insight, the theme should be abstract and it should generalize about life. Labeled as controlling or central, the theme should be capable of unifying the whole novel. Aristotle 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 generally translate into “thought” in English. According to Aristotle, plot is the “soul” or shaping principle or fiction, and characters exist primarily as functions of the plot. In most of the stories, plot plays the role of principal structure of the story. But, as Northrop Frye points out, besides the internal fiction of the character and his/her society, there is an external fiction consisting of a relation between the writer and the writer’s society. We indeed have literary works by the likes of Shakespeare and Homer in which artistry is pletely absorbed in their internal characters and we can hardly perceive the existence of the author. However, as soon as the author’s personality appears on the horizon, a relation with the reader is established, and sometimes there seems no story at all apart from what the author is conveying to his/her reader. In this case, the primary interest in dianoia, the idea or thought that reader gets from the writer, which in modern criticism we generally call “theme”.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.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. 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 not榆林市榆陽區(qū)恒眾投資發(fā)展有限公司汽車加油站新建項(xiàng)目可行性研究報(bào)告二O一一年一月附件：平面布置方案圖trouble 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. Unobvious theme:Obvious theme: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.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.all cases) the novelist intends it to tell something important about the novel. Sometimes the central theme of the novel is present in the title. For example, Pride and Prejudice is about Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth Bennet’s prejudice. Main Street is about the life of middlecl