Lecture 2

How to read a novel ?

(Not simple reading but critical reading.)
 The critical reading of a novel means studying it deeply as a literary
construct. It requires a different approach from simply reading a textbook.
This involves first analyzing the novel to understand how it is constructed.
The careful analysis of the text aims at understanding the different elements
or ingredients that make the novel and their function and the techniques and
literary devices that are used by the novelist.

 But the real purpose of the novelist is not to show mastery of his art. The
ultimate purpose the novelist aims at achieving through constructing his novel
is in fact to deal with some kind of theme or issue, to make a powerful
statement about that issue and to convey this statement or message to the
reader. Therefore, the purpose of our critical reading itself must be to
understand what is the meaning, the statement or the message the author
wants to convey and how.

 The meaning or the message in the novel is not stated directly, but it is
implied. We will not have the author telling us: idea 1 is: ...., idea 2 is: .... and
so on. The meaning or the message is what a receptive reader will understand
from reading the work. This is why different readers may come to different,
sometimes opposite understandings of the same work. There are multiple,
even endless ways of reading and understanding a literary work as there are
multiple readers, separated by their approaches and their situations, their
contexts and so on.

The elements that we need to identify and understand in analyzing a novel are:

1- Setting: means time and place of the action. This is usually in the first page, the
first thing that is established by the author and that is created in our minds as readers.
It means where and when the story takes place. Its importance is that it creates the
context or the background of the whole novel (It can be indoor, outdoor, family
setting, natural setting, historical setting, which country, which period of time, ...)

2- Atmosphere: The mood that is created in the novel. It can be serious or comic,
gloomy and sad or happy and romantic,...

3- Narrator: The person telling the story: is he anonymous (impersonal) or one of the
characters?
4- Tone: The attitude of the narrator in telling the story: (ironic, satirical, humorous,
cold or dramatic)

5- Plot and events: In telling the story, there is a progression of plot and events from
the beginning to the end of the novel. They are important in developing the themes
and the overall meaning.

6- Characterization: How characters are portrayed and developed. Usually there are
major characters and minor characters.

7- Style and diction: The kind of language used needs careful analysis, it informs us
about the style of the writer. The writing style also affects the atmosphere, the tone
and the meaning.

8- Symbolism: Different elements in the novel: (characters, places, colors, sounds,

objects…) can be used to mean something else and are very important in illustrating
the themes and the novel s message in an indirect way. We call them symbols.

9- Themes: The specific matters or issues the story is used to treat. The question of
what are the themes of the novel must be asked by the reader from the beginning and
throughout the novel. The themes can be for example about society or about the
human condition.