【正文】 is as a novel i s t o enhance one’s awar eness of l if e r at her t han si mpl y to t el him how t o behave. A novel i s a pli cat ed m at t er and dif f er ent r eaders m ay have di f er ent i nter pr etati ons of t he sam e novel, so i t i s i ncorr ect t o pr esum e t hat one novel has onl y one t hem e. I n som e cases, t her e are sever al subt hemes t o the m ai n t heme. I n reali ty, som e novels ar e appr eci at ed f or t hei r t hemati c am bi guit y. For exam ple, Moby Di ck can be i nter pr eted i n mor e ways than one. Fi nal y, the t hem e i s not to be conf used wit h t he subj ect. The t hem e is an i dea whil e the subj ect i s a m at er or an af f ai r. “Love i s i nvi nci bl e” may be a t hem e, but “l(fā)ove” is onl y a subj ect. A subj ect m ay be uni ver sal . The subjects of The Scarl et Let ter, The Great Gatsby, and Wom en i n Love ar e al l “l(fā) ove. ” But t hese novels have dif f er ent t hem es. A t hem e is part i cul ar t o it s novel, t hough t her e ar e m any si mi lar t hemes t o be found i n ot her novels. I I. Fi ve Requi rements f or St ati ng a Them e The st atement of a them e m ay be br i ef or l ong. And t her e ar e dif f er ent ways t o expr es one and t he same t hem e. But it shoul d m et t he f oll owing r equi rements. A t hem e m ust be expressed i n t he f orm of a stat em ent wi t h a subject and a predi cat e. For exam ple, “Love of one’ s count r y of t en i nspi res heroi c self sacri fi ce. ” If a t hem e i s expr essed i n t he f orm of a phr ase, t hen t he phr ase m ust be convert ibl e to sent ence f orm . One can say t hat t he t hem e of a novel i s “f uti li ty of envy. ” The phrase can be changed t o “envy i s f ut il e. ” When one chooses t o st ate a t hem e i n the phrase f or m, he must be ver y car ef ul about i ts conver ti bi li t y t o sent ence f orm . For i nst ance ,t he phrase “self l ess mat er nal l ove” does not al ways m ean t hat “mat er nal l ove i s sel fl es.” The t heme i s generali zat i on about li f e based on t he novel , and t he st atement of t hem e shoul d be true also of ot her people or l if e si t uat i ons. Ther ef or e, nam es of char acter s and pl aces shoul d not be m ent i oned, f or they suggest speci fi c t hi ngs and i nvi t e l im it at i ons. So in t hem at i c di scussi on of Wut heri ng H ei ghts, one m ay m ent i on “peopl e’s psychol ogy of r evenge, ” but not “Heat hcl if f ’s.” Though a theme i s a generali zat i on, over general i zati on shoul d be avoi ded. Since a t hem e i s extr act ed fr om a part i cul ar novel ( a part icular event) , it m ay not be appl icable t o al sit uat ions. So wor ds li ke “al ways, ” “never, ” “al l, ” and “every” shoul d be avoi ded. I nst ead, one should use wor ds l i ke “som e,” “som et im es, ” and “m ay. ” When maki ng a generali zat i on, one shoul d st ri ct l y keep t o what i s act ual l y in t he novel and not sm uggle i nto i t asum pti ons suppl i ed f r om hi s past experi ence. Si nce t hem e is t he cent ral and uni fyi ng idea of t he novel, i t m ust account f or all t he maj or det ai l s and must not be cont radi ct ed by an det ai ls i n t he novel. Si nce a t hem e i s dif f erent from a moral or a lesson, one shoul d avoi d reduci ng a t hem e t o a cli ch233。 or pl ati t ude l ike “Beaut y i s onl y ski n deep. ” I f one cr am s ever y new exper ience int o an ol d f orm ul a, he l oses t he opport uni t y of new per cept ion pr ovi ded by readi ng novel s. I V. Where t o Look f or t he Them e The novel ist 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 whol e novel , pract 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 t hem e. H ow t he novel i s ent it l ed. The ti tl e is t he nam e of the novel and i n many cases ( alm ost al cases) the novel ist i nt ends it t o t el l som et hi ng im por t ant about t he novel. Som etim es t he cent r al t hem e of t he novel i s pr esent i n t he ti tl e. For exam ple, Pri de and Prej udi ce is about Dar cy’ s pri de and Eli zabeth Ben’ s pr ejudi ce. Mai n Street i s about the l if 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 s about i ts t hem e, and As I l ay Dyi ng. H ow t he novel ist shows hi s i nt erest. I f the novel ist is i nter ested i n som et hi ng, he would al ow m ore space t o i t, descri bing or nar at i ng i n gr eat det ail . Yet , som eti m es he emphasi zes i t by leavi ng it out, as i n t he case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concer ned her e 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 noveli st deal s wit h a m on subj ect . Oft en t he noveli st has t o i ncl ude i n hi s wor k som e m on subj ect s, but if he t reats t he m on subj ect s in an un mon way, it shows that he i s t ryi ng t o convey somet hi ng new or im por tant in t he novel. Maybe i t is t he theme t hat dem ands hi m t o do so. Im port ant sym bol s. Sym bols ar e loaded wit h im por t ant meani ngs. So i f a sym bol appear s repeat 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 i s t he l et er “A” i n The Scarl et Let ter. Im port ant speeches. Char acter s tal k and i n t hei r t al k ar e r eveal ed t heir j udgm ent s of the 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 them e O bvi ous theme: 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 stor y reveal s. I n som e stori es, t he them e i s rat her obvi ous. For exam pl e, i n Aesop’ s f abl e about the counci l of t he m