【正文】 hem e is m or e pli cat ed than t hi s as a novel i s t o enhance one’s awar enes of l if e r at her t han sim pl y t o t el l him how t o behave. A novel i s a pl i cated m at ter and dif fer ent r eaders m ay have dif f er ent i nt er pr et ati ons of t he same novel, so it i s i ncorr ect t o pr esum e that one novel has onl y one t hem e. I n som e cases, t here ar e several subt hem es t o t he m ai n t hem e. I n r eali t y, som e novel s ar e appre ciated f or their t hem at ic am bi gui ty. For exampl e, Moby Dick can be i nt er pret ed i n m or e ways t han one. Fi nal ly, t he t hem e is not t o be conf used wi t h t he subj ect . The them e i s an idea whil e t he subject is a m at ter or an af ai r. “Love is i nvi nci ble” m ay be a them 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(fā)ove. ” But t hese novel s have dif f er ent t hem es. A t hem e i s par ti cul ar t o it s novel , though there ar e many simi l ar t hem es t o be f ound i n ot her novel s. I I . Fi ve Requi r em ent s for St ati ng a Theme The st at em ent of a t hem e m ay be bri ef or l ong. And t here ar e di f fer ent ways to expr ess one and t he sam e t heme. But it shoul d meet he f ol l owi ng r equir em ent s. A t hem e m ust be expresed i n t he form of a st atem ent wi t h a subj ect and a predi cat e. For exam pl e, “Love of one’ s count ry of ten i nspi res her oi c sel f sacr if ice.” I f a t hem e is expressed i n t he f orm of a phr ase, t hen the phr ase m ust be convert ibl e to sentence form . One can say t hat t he t heme of a novel i s “f ut il it y of envy.” The phr ase can be changed t o “envy i s f ut il e. ” When one chooses t o st at e a t hem e i n the phr ase f or m, he m ust be ver y caref ul about i ts conver ti bil it y t o sent ence f or m. For instance , t he phr ase “sel fl es m at ernal love” does not al ways mean t hat “m ater nal l ove i s sel fl es.” The theme i s generali zat i on about li f e based on t he novel , and t he st atem ent of t hem e shoul d be t rue al so of ot her peopl e or li fe si tuati ons. Theref or e, nam es of char act ers and pl aces shoul d not be m ent ioned, f or they suggest speci fi c t hi ngs and i nvi t e lim it at i ons. So i n them ati c discussion of Wut heri ng Hei ght s, one may m enti on “peopl e’ s psychol ogy of r evenge, ” but not “Heat hcl if f’ s. ” Though a t hem e i s a generali zat i on, over general i zati on shoul d be avoi ded. Si nce a t hem e is extr act ed fr om a par ti cul ar novel ( a par ti cul ar event ), i t may not be appl icabl e t o al l si tuati ons. So wor ds l i ke “al ways,” “never ,” “al ,” and “ever y” 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 m aki ng a gener al izati on, one shoul d st ri ctl y keep t o what is act ual y i n t he novel and not sm uggl e i nt o it assum pt i ons suppl ied f r om his past experi ence. Si nce t hem e i s t he cent ral and uni fyi ng i dea of t he novel, i t m ust account f or al t he m aj or detail s and m ust not be cont radi cted by an det ail s i n t he novel. Si nce a theme 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 plati t ude l i ke “Beauty i s only ski n deep.” I f one crams every new experi ence i nt o an ol d f or mul a, he l oses t he opport uni t y of new per cepti on pr ovi ded by readi ng novel s. I V. Where t o Look f or t he Them e The novel ist may stat e or i mpl y t he t hem e. He uses ever y possi bl e met hod t o convey t he t heme. Though t he t heme i s based upon t he whol e novel , pr act 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 theme. H ow t he novel i s ent it led. The ti tl e is t he nam e of the novel and i n many cases ( alm ost al cases) t he novel i st i nt ends i t to t el l som et hing im port ant about t he novel. Som et im es t he centr al them e of t he novel i s pr esent i n t he t it l e. For exam pl e, Pri de and Prej udi ce i s about Dar cy’ s pri de and El i zabet h Ben ’s pr ej udice. Mai n St ret is about t he li f 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 ls about i ts t hem e, and As I l ay Dyi ng. How t he noveli st shows his i nt erest . If t he noveli st i s i nt er est ed in somet hi ng, he woul d al ow m or e space t o it , descr i bi ng or nar r at ing i n great det ai l. Yet, sometim es he em phasi zes it by l eavi ng it out, as i n the case of Er nest Hemi ngway. The poi nt concerned here 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 novel ist deal s wit h a m on subject. Of t en t he noveli st has t o i ncl ude i n his wor k som e m on subjects, but i f he tr eat s the m on subjects i n an unm on way, i t shows t hat he i s t r yi ng t o convey som et hing new or im port ant i n t he novel. Maybe it i s t he t hem e t hat dem ands him t o do so. Im port ant sym bols. Sym bol s are l oaded wi t h i m port ant m eani ngs. So if a sym bol appears r epeat edl y or at im port ant m om ent s, it m ay poi nt t o t he them e of t he novel. A good exam ple i s t he l et t er “A” i n The Scarl et Let er. Im port ant speeches. Character s t alk and i n t heir t alk ar e r eveal ed t heir j udgm ent s of t he 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 theme O bvi ous t heme: 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 st or y r eveal s. I n som e st or ies, t he t heme i s r at her obvious. For exam pl e, i n Aesop’s f abl e about t h