【正文】 novel has only one t hem e. I n som e cases, t her e are sever al subthemes to the mai n theme. In reali ty, some novels ar e appr eci at ed for t hei r themati c ambiguit y. For exam pl e, Moby Dick can be i nt erpr et ed in m ore ways t han one. Final y, t he theme i s not t o be conf used wi th the subj ect . The theme i s an idea whil e the subject is a m at ter or an af fai r. “Love is i nvi nci ble” may be a t heme, but “l(fā)ove” is only a subject. A subject may be universal. The subj ect s of The Scarlet Let er, The Great Gat sby, and Women i n Love ar e al “l(fā)ove.” But t hese novel s have di f f erent themes. A theme i s par ti cul ar t o i ts novel , though there ar e many simi lar t hemes t o be f ound i n other novel s. I I . Fi ve Requi rements for Stati ng a Theme The statem ent of a theme m ay be bri ef or l ong. And ther e are di f er ent ways t o expr es one and the same t hem e. But it shoul d meet the f oll owi ng r equi rements. A t hem e must be expressed i n t he form of a st atement wi th a subj ect and a predi cat e. For exam pl e, “Love of one’ s countr y of ten i nspir es her oic self sacr if ice.” I f a t hem e is expressed i n the f orm of a phrase, t hen t he phrase must be conver ti ble t o sent ence f or m. One can say that the t heme of a novel is “fut il it y of envy.” The phr ase can be changed to “envy is f uti le.” When one chooses t o state a theme i n the phr ase f orm, he must be ver y caref ul about i ts conver ti bil ity to sentence for m. For i nst ance , the phrase “sel fl ess mater nal l ove” does not always m ean t hat “mater nal l ove is sel fl es.” The theme i s generali zat ion about li fe based on t he novel , and the st at ement of t heme should be t rue also of other peopl e or li fe si tuat ions. Theref ore, nam es of characters and places shoul d not be m ent i oned, for t hey suggest specif ic things and invit e l imi tati ons. So i n themati c discussion of Wutheri ng Height s, one may m ent ion “peopl e’ s psychology of revenge,” but not “Heat hcl if f’ s. ” Though a t hem e is a general izat ion, overgenerali zati on shoul d be avoi ded. Si nce a theme i s ext racted f rom a part icular novel (a par ti cul ar event) , i t may not be appli cabl e to al l si tuati ons. So wor ds l ike “always,” “never ,” “al ,” and “ever y” should be avoided. Instead, one shoul d use words l ike “some, ” “somet imes,” and “may.” When maki ng a gener alizati on, one shoul d str ictl y keep to what is actual ly i n the novel and not smuggl e int o it assumpt ions suppl ied f rom hi s past exper ience. Si nce t heme i s the central and unif ying i dea of t he novel , it must account for al l the m aj or detai ls and m ust 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 theme t o a cl ich233。 or plat it ude li ke “Beauty i s only skin deep.” I f one cr ams ever y new experi ence int o an old form ula, he loses t he oppor tunit y of new percept ion pr ovided by reading novels. I V. Wher e t o Look for the Theme The novelist may stat e or impl y the t hem e. He uses ever y possibl e method t o convey t he theme. Though t he theme i s based upon the whole novel, practi cal ly, we can specif y some im por tant areas in whi ch to look f or t he theme. How the novel i s enti tl ed. The t itl e i s the name of the novel and i n many cases ( al most al cases) the novelist int ends i t to t el l som et hing i mport ant about t he novel. Someti mes the centr al them e of the novel i s present in the t it le. For example, Pri de and Prej udice is about Dar cy’s pr ide and Eli zabeth Ben’ s prejudice. Mai n Street i s about the l if e of middl e class people i n a Midwestern town.. Thi nk what t he ti tl e of For Whom t he Bel Toll s tel ls about i ts t heme, and As I l ay Dying. How t he novel ist shows hi s int erest. I f the novel ist is i nterested i n som et hing, he would al ow m ore space t o i t, descri bing or nar at ing i n gr eat det ail . Yet , someti mes he emphasizes it by l eavi ng it out, as in the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concer ned her e i s that why the novel ist gives mor e at tenti on to this par ti cul ar character, since or event but not others. How the novelist deal s wi t h a mon subject. Of t en t he novel ist has t o include i n his wor k some mon subjects, but i f he tr eat s the mon subjects i n an unm on way, i t shows t hat he is tr yi ng to convey som et hing new or i mport ant i n the novel. Maybe it i s the t hem e that demands him to do so. Important sym bols. Sym bol s ar e l oaded wi th i mport ant m eanings. So if a symbol appear s r epeatedly or at im por tant moments, it may point t o the t hem e of the novel . A good exampl e is t he let ter “A” in The Scarlet Leter . Im port ant speeches. Char act er s tal k and in t heir tal k are r evealed t hei r judgments of the ot her characters or event . The char acter s’ j udgm ent s may give i mport ant clues to the t heme. V. Obvious and unobvious t heme Obvious theme: The t hem e of a st ory, si nce we know, i s whatever general idea or insight the enti re stor y r eveals. In some stor ies, the theme i s r at her obvious. For exam ple, in Aesop’s f abl e about t he counci l of the mi ce that cannot decide who wil l bel l t he cat , the t heme is stated i n t he moral at the end: “I t i s easi er t o propose a thi ng than to car ry it out.” In some novels, the ti tl e may of fer a suggesti on about t he main t hem e. For exam pl e, Jane Aust en’ s Pride and Prej udice i s named af ter it s theme, and the whole st or y unf ol ds it self ar ound that hem e. I n some novel s, t he ti tl e is not so nam ed but t he pl ot exi st s pri mari ly t o i lustr ate t he theme and i t i s not ver y dif fi cul t for us to infer what it