Simple ways of understanding the novel
K S SIVAKUMARAN
Most students entering higher studies of literature consider the
novels and short story collections as mere 'Story Books'. But as we know
these imaginative stories, even if they are written realistically, are
categorized under fiction.
Take for instance the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. They
expect the teacher to give the notes summarizing each chapter so that
they can remember the 'facts', memorise and answer stock questions.
A scene from Pride and Prejudice. Darcy represents pride and
Elizabeth, prejudice. |
Seldom do students realize that understanding fiction is made
successful through a different approach to literature that includes
poetry, fiction, drama and prose.
The different approach is basically critical analysis. That means
they should know something about 'literary criticism'. To know this they
must first learn specific meanings of 'literary terms'.
Further, the word 'criticism' immediately gives them the impression
of dictionary meaning 'condemnation' and 'censure'.
Consequently, if you ask them to write a critical appreciation of
Jane Austen's style of writing, they would write a one word answer: 'I
don't like her writing because she uses words that I don't understand'
or 'She writes boring stuff'. In such a situation what can the teacher
do?
The teacher is in the precarious situation of having to teach them
afresh the basics of understanding literature.
While the teachers in the primary and secondary schools are doing a
wonderful job in imparting grammar successfully to a great extent, our
education system is such that little attention is paid to literary
appreciation.
The origin of the word 'criticism' comes from Greek from Aristotle's
times. What it means in present times according to dictionaries is: 'the
practice of analyzing, classifying, interpreting or evaluating literary
or other artistic works'.
It is never finding only facts. With the above preamble let us talk
about in the first instance plots in novels. As we know the first task
of the novelist is to arouse our interest to read his or her novel.
The novelist does this through characters, situations, settings or
atmosphere.
The development of the plot maintains that interest through
portraying characters and their relationships.
A plot really as in the drama is basically involves conflict. This
conflict or problems have to be solved. There is struggle in the process
and finally there is a discovery- all these help to maintain interest.
The order in which the story is told is important for creating
suspense.
Through the structure of the plots different points of view are
shown. The reader too develops his or her views about characters and
events.
Next we move on to characters in novels. We learn about characters
directly from their speech and actions and indirectly from their
appearances, dress, surroundings and the opinion of others.
The inner life of the characters is revealed through the thoughts and
feelings of the characters by the novelist's exploration on these
aspects. As the famous writer and critic E M Forster said, there are
round and flat characters. A flat character is seldom given prominence
but the main characters should be rounded in having a strong or unique
personality.
Development of a character depends on the function of the plot.
The characters relationships reveal the theme of the novel. In Pride
and Prejudice, as we all know, Darcy represents Pride from the point of
view of Elizabeth in the early stages, and Elizabeth herself is
prejudiced over Darcy only to change her attitude later. The way the
characters are presented and the language used to describe them shows
the novelist's attitudes to the characters. At this point let's observe
a few points to know the function of language used in the prose form as
opposed to the poetic form. It is undeniable that prose writers use
comparisons and associations in the same ways, but usually not to the
same extent as poets.
Unlike in poetry which is concise, precise and brief, in prose
contrast and repetitions are used to emphasize for better registration
of the traits in a character. The differences in style depend on the
kind of words used, the kind of sentences, and the amount and kind of
dialogue found in the text.
Let us now look at how we can read a novel to understand it better.
Very interesting novels are usually written in the first person. But it
has some limitations in covering the whole scene or canvas of the novel.
So, most novels are written the third person and seldom in the second
person.
This is why the story is told in different ways. The type of narrator
alters the way the story is told. Some students mistake the writer as
the main character in the novel even if the writer writes in the third
person.
As found above the first person narration gives an impression of
intimacy to the reader, but they can only be told from one person's
point of view.
Third person narratives allow the author to know everything about all
the character. They can present several points of view.
On the other hand if there is an imaginary person to whom the story
is told, then it also affects the way it is told. Novels have several
strands linked by a common theme.
So the students should read the novel closely to understand the
significances of the different layers in the novel.
There are few more observations one could make to understand the
novel in simple ways.
|