BEGC-103 Exam Preparation.
A novel is a creative artistic work. It can be defined as a piece of prose fiction, which dramatizes life with the help of characters and situations. A novel is an imaginary work that creates a world or society with imaginary characters and incidences
It has many essential components or aspects. It means a novel must have some important elements to keep the interest of the readers and to make the story more realistic and appealing. In other words, a novel is a combination of different elements or aspects like theme, plot, characterization, point of view, and style.
Following are the aspects of the novel
- Theme
- plot
- characterization
- point of view
- style
Theme
Theme is the central idea of a novel. Every novel is based on a theme or themes. In a novel, usually, there will be more than one theme. Theme can be an argument or an issue. Death, love, friendship, revenge, etc are some common themes in the novels. For example, the novel The Binding Vine is written based on two important themes, rape, and death.
Plot
Plot is the framework or outline of a story. In other words, A plot is a series of events or actions that make up a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The development of a plot is connected with the characters, events, and actions.
In a novel, there will be two types of plots: a main plot and subplots. These two plots are interrelated and connected with the same theme. Let us take an example from the novel The Binding Vine. The main plot is about Urmi’s grief at the death of her little daughter but the sub-plots are about Mira and Kalpana and these are linked by the themes of rape and death
Characterization
Characterization is the representation of persons (human or nonhuman) in narrative and dramatic works. For each character, the writer gives or attributes some qualities. That can be reflected in their actions. In other words, characterization is the description of a character’s physical appearance, personality, point of view, privet thoughts, and actions. Some characters are so powerful and they remain in the memories of the writers and audience. Oliver Twist in Charles Dicken’s novel Oliver Twist, or Hardy’s Tess in Tess of the D’urberville, are memorable characters.
Point-of-View
Point of view is the way how a story is told. In other words, point of view is the way how the story tells or narrates. There are different ways of narrating a story. A story can be told in first person narration or in third person narration.
- first-person narration or first-person point of view
- third-person narration or Third person point of view
First-person narration is one way of telling a story. in first person narration, a character himself tells his story in the first person mode.
The first-person narrator tells the story by using the first person pronoun “i”. This ‘I’ is not the author. He is a character in the story. The author tells the story by using the character. He tells his experiences, placing himself as “I” throughout the narration. Let us have an example from Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.

Here first person point of view, the narrator is the main witness of the incidences and events that happened in the story.
The third-person narrator is another point of view. It can be an omniscient or limited point of view.
In the omniscient point of view, the narrator knows everything about the character and story. He knows everything about the thoughts feelings and motives of the characters in the story. The omniscient narrator is the one who is from the outside of the characters. When a story is told by an observer, by someone who is not an identifiable character in the plot, that is known as a third-person omniscient narrator.
In the third person narrative story a writer uses the third person pronouns “he and she” Let us have a look at an example from the novel by Leo Tolstoy

In a limited omniscient point of view, the narrator has limited knowledge of just one character and he doesn’t know anything about other major and minor characters.
Style
Style means the way how the authors tell their story by using language and expression. Each writer has his/her own style. The style of a novel is determined by the choice of words, sentence structure, syntax, and the use of figurative language. An author has to be more careful about using language in a novel. It must be appropriate and suitable for the characters.
Semi-illiterate characters have to talk the language of illiterate people, they are not supposed to talk a highly refined language. While depicting the rural people like the workers and the farmers, they have to use rural Indian expressions. This gives the characters a realistic touch.
These are the primary components of a novel. The nature of all these aspects changes based on the writers.