【正文】 i etnes and by r eason of a number of pl easant asociati ons we have wi t h the ki nd of l if e l ived there, sti rs a cert ain r eact ion i n us which we do not at ach to any single incident or object, but general y t o the whol e scene. I n t he same way we may say that the set ing of a stor y cont ri but es to def ining i ts at mosphere. For instance, in “The Tel Tal e Heart ,” Poe’s set ing t he act ion i n an old, dar k, lantern li t house greatl y cont ri butes to the r eader’s sense of unease, and so hel ps to buil d t he st ory’s ef fecti venes. Another exampl e is Lawr ence’s “The Horse Dealer’ s Daughter,” t he descri pt ion at the beginning of whi ch contr ibutes much t o the at mosphere of t he st ory. 4. The import ance of atm osphere in creati ng the set ing But i t is a m istake to say t hat t he at mospher e of a piece of f ict ion depends on t he set ing al one. (As il lustr at ed in Shakespeare’s Ham let, t he di alogue at t he ver y begi nni ng of t he pl ay hel ps power f ul l y t o est abl i sh t he at m ospher e of uncer t ai nt y, i n addi t i on t o t he set t i ng—t he col d m i dni ght cast l e. ) The vocabul ar y, t he f i gur es of speech, and t he r hyt hm of t he sent ence al so hel p def i ne t he gener al at m ospher e, f or by t hese f act or s t he wr i t er m anages t o cont r ol t he ki nd of associ at i ons t hat e t o t he r eader’s m i nd. At m osphere al so depends on char act er and act i on. I n shor t , we m ay say t hat t he at m ospher e of f i ct i on i s t he per vasi ve, gener al f eel i ng, gener at ed by a num ber of f act or s ( set t i ng, char act er , act i on, and st yl e) t hat i s opi ni on about, and statement of , the t hem e. Moral i nferences drawn f rom most st ories: Mor al infer ences may be drawn fr om m ost stori es, no doubt, even when an aut hor does not i nt end his /her st ory t o be r ead t his way. In “A Clean, Wel Li ght ed Place”, we f eel t hat Hemi ngway is i ndi rectl y givi ng us advice f or properl y regarding and sympathi zi ng the l onel y, t he uncert ai n, and t he old. But obvi ously the stor y does not set f ort h a lesson that we are supposed to put i nt o pr acti ce. W e can say f or sur e that “A Clean, Wel Li ght ed Place” contai ns several themes and other st at ement s coul d be made t o take in Hemingway’s vi ew of love, of m uni cat ion between peopl e, of digni ty. Great st ori es, li ke great symphonies, f requent ly have mor e t han one t heme. When we say t hat t he ti tle of Pr ide and Pr ej udice conveys the t hem e of the novel or that Uncle Tom’s Cabi n and The Gr apes of Wr ath t reat the t hem es of slavery and mi grat or y l abor r espect ively, thi s is t o use t heme in a lar ge r and mor e abstr act sense t han it is in our discussion of Hemi ngway’s “A Cl ean, Wel Li ght ed Place.” I n thi s larger sense i t i s rel at ively easy to say t hat Mar k Twai n’s Huckl eber ry Fi nn, Updi ke’s A amp。 (2) t he occupat ions and dai ly m anner of li vi ng of the characters。 ( 4) t he general envi r onment of the char acters, for exam ple, reli gious, m ent al , moral , social, and emoti onal condi ti ons t hrough which character s in t he st ory move. ( Holman and Har man, A Handbook t o li terat ure, 1986) But oft en, i n an ef ect ive stor y, set ing may f igur e as more t han mere backgr ound. I t can make t hings happen. It can prompt char act er s t o act , br ing t hem t o r eal izati ons, or cause them to r eveal their i nner most natur es, as we shal l see i n John Cheever’s shor t st or y “The Swi mmer”. Fir st, as we have said, t he idea of set ti ng i ncl udes t he physi cal environment of a st ory: a r egion, a landscape, a cit y, a vi l age, a str et , a house—a par ticular place or a ser ies of places wher e a stor y occur s. ( Wher e a st ory takes pl ace i s som et im es cal ed it s locale.) Pl aces i n fi cti on not only pr ovide a l ocati on f or an acti on or an event of t he story but also pr ovoke f el ings in us. A sight of a green f ield dot ted wi th f lut ter ing daf odi ls af fects us very di f erentl y fr om a si ght of a di ngy al ley, a tr opi cal j ungl e, or a smal house cr owded wit h f ur nit ure. In addit ion t o a sense of beaut y or ugl ines, we usual ly bui ld up cer tain associat ions when we put our sel ves in such a scene. We are depressed by a di ngy al ey, not only because i t is ugly, but because i t may arouse a feeli ng, perhaps som et im es unconsciously, of povert y, m iser y, vi olence, viciousness, and t he st ruggles of human beings who have to l ive under such condi ti ons. A t ropical jungle, for exam pl e, i n Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darknes , might involve a pl i cat ed anal ysi s: t he pleasur e of t he col ours and f or ms of veget ation, the di sf ort of humidi ty, heat, and insect s, a sense of m yst er y, hor ror , et c. The popul ari ty of Si r Walt er Scott ’s “Waverl ey” novels i s due in part t o t hei r evocat ion of a r omanti c mood of Scot land. The Engl ish novel ist Graham Gr eene apparentl y needed t o visit a f resh scene i n order to wri te a fr esh novel. Hi s abi li ty t o encapsul ate t he essence of an exot ic set ing i n a single book i s exempl if ied i n The Heart of the M at ter 。 she loved t he pl ace and was l oved i n t he pl ace. The vale, far fr om the madding crowd of the civi lized cit y, was as serene and pur e as the i nhabi tants. Tess, i mbued deeply wit h the natur al hue of the vale and bound closel y t o thi s worl d of si mpl icit y and seclusion, experi enced her own deli ght and happi ness though her f ami ly was poor. I t was, t o some extent, her depart ure f rom her nati ve place that led t o her t ragedy. I n The Return of t he Nati ve, the at mosphere of Egdon Heath pr evai ls over the whole boo