part of the reader.
The theme performs a unifying function. It is clearly seen in The Oval Portrait
by E.A. Poe the theme of each part of the tale is the power of beauty and art to stir
emotions. Despite the differences in the described events and the style, both the parts
reveal the storm of emotions which beauty stirs up in man. The two episodes develop
the same theme. Hence, they both express it and thus bind the two parts into an
organic whole. The effect that the artistic unity produces is brilliant, vivid and
enduring.
The theme of the story implies the problem, which the writer raises. His view
and attitude to this problem is revealed in the way he develops the theme of the story.
The most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the
theme is the message of the story. The theme is therefore organically connected with
the author’s message.
The message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. indirectly, and has a
complex analytical character, being created by the interaction of numerous
implications which the different elements of the literary work have. It is only by
analysis of those implications that one may reveal the message of a literary work.
227
Implication
is the suggestion that is not expressed directly but understood.
Implication may be conveyed by different techniques, such as parallelism, contrast,
recurrence of events or situations, artistic details, symbols, arrangement of plot
structure, etc.
Thus parallelism may be deeply suggestive. For example, in The Roads We
Take by O'Henry there is deep implication in the parallel actions of the dream and
reality (in the dream Shark Dodson murders his companion «with cold ferocity» to get
the booty; in the event that presents reality Dodson, the businessman, ruins his friend
«with cold ferocity» again in order to increase his profits). Parallelism here invites the
reader to compare these actions. It is suggestive not only of the ugly nature of the
protagonist, but also of the immoral means, he uses to make money.
Events, which begin and end a story sometimes parallel. This circling of the
action back to its beginning implies that nothing has changed and this may be the
whole point. The story of the firm Twigg and Dersingham in Priestley’s Angel
Pavement begins with Dersingham's talk with Smeeth about the sad affairs of the
firm and the necessity to dismiss one of the clerks. At the end of the novel
Dersingham has a similar talk, with Smeeth again, about the bankruptcy of the firm.
It returns the reader to the opening scene. This circling of actions suggests and
emphasizes that nothing has improved, none of the characters have managed to avoid
ruin and poverty.
Implication may be conveyed by contrast on different levels: linguistic and
extra linguistic. In the story Arrangement in Black and White, which is an attack on
racial prejudices and hypocrisy among the middle classes in the USA, the implication
is mainly conveyed by the contrast between the impression that the protagonist tries
to produce and the impression she actually produces. The contrast is reinforced by the
antithetical thematic planes of the vocabulary: “the colored people”, “nigger” versus
“the white people”; “broad-minded” versus “narrow-minded”; “awfully fond of”,
“love”, “crazy about some of them” versus “wouldn't sit at the table with one for a
228
million dollars”, “keep their place”. Moreover, this implication is also suggested by
the antithesis in the title Arrangement in Black and White.
Recurrence (or repetition) is another means of conveying implication. Among
the repeated linguistic elements there may be stylistic devices, or emotionally colored
words, or even neutral words, but when repeated the latter may acquire special
semantic relevance. The semantically relevant word need not be the most frequent one
in the story. It is a well-known fact that functional words, such as “a”, “the”, “to”,
“be”, generally recur most often, but they are not necessarily the most important
words in the text. However, once a word or any element of the story is felt to be
especially significant for the understanding of the whole, its recurrence acquires
relevance in the context of the story. The repeated word (or phrase), even if it is a
neutral one, may acquire emotional charge and become a key word, important for the
understanding of the message of the story. There often occurs semantic repetition,
when one and the same idea is repeated, though every time it is formulated differently.
It should be emphasized that the recurrent elements do not contain in themselves
indications of what in particular their implications are. They acquire relevance and
suggest implication only in the context of the story in which they occur.
Recurrence may be traced in the plot of any story. Though the events in the plot
generally vary among themselves, they have a similarity in, function – each of them
recalls the reader to the central problem. For instance, no matter how different the
events in the story The Lady’s Maid may seem to be, each of them returns the reader
to the main problem – the inequality between the rich and those who serve them. In
this sense writers fulfil contradictory demands: the demand for variation and the
demand for recurrence. If a writer fails to fulfil the former, his story will be
monotonous and uninteresting. If he fails to fulfil the latter, it will seem aimless and
not directed at any definite message.
Implication is often suggested by the similar features in the varying scenes and
by the varying features in the similar scenes. The Pawnbroker's Wife affords a good
229
illustration of that. No matter how different the scenes in the story might seem to be,
they reveal similar aspects of Mrs.Cloote’s character: her immorality, her covetous,
deceitful and wicked nature.
Fiction provides many examples of recurrence with implication. Among them
one often finds details. For instance, in J.Cheever’s story The Pleasures of Solitude
the “coldness” of the wind, the rain, the weather, the boys who came “shaking with
cold” are artistic details. The neutral word “cold” acquires expressive force in the
context of the story and conveys deep implication. It suggests the world that Ellen was
afraid of and was eager to isolate and shelter herself from.
When an artistic detail is-repeated several times and is associated with a broader
concept than the original, it develops into a symbol.
A
symbol
is a word (or an object the word stands for), which represents a
concept broader than the literal sense of the word. It is therefore something concrete
and material standing for something else that is immaterial and has a more significant
sense. A symbol is a metaphoric expression of the concept it stands for. Like the
metaphor, it is based on the use of a word in its transferred meaning and suggests some
likeness between two different objects or concepts.
Symbols may be traditional or personal. An example of a traditional symbol is
a rose. The rose is a traditional symbol of beauty.
A writer establishes personal symbols by means of repetition and repeated
association with a broader concept. For example, in Rain by S. Maugham the rain is a
symbol of the primitive powers of nature before which man is powerless and all his
efforts are useless and hopeless. The association of rain with this broad concept is
established in the following passage: “...it (rain) was unmerciless and somehow
terrible; you felt in it the malignancy of the primitive powers of nature. It did not pour,
it flowed. ... it seemed to have a fury of its own. And sometimes you felt that you must
scream if it did not stop, and then suddenly you felt powerless, as though your bones
230
had suddenly become soft: and you were miserable and hopeless”. Rain, therefore,
symbolizes the powers of nature which proved irresistible for Mr.Davidson.
To use a symbol is to represent an idea by suggestion rather than by direct
expression. The symbol is generally recognized only after the story is read. The so-
called “shock of recognition” intensifies the effect.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |