文學作品的價值，除了作品本身帶給人的美感經驗之外，也包括作者透過人生觀所呈現的「真理」。黃春明的小說在臺灣作家中已建立起「鄉土小說作家」的代表地位，為「小人物」代言的作品，更得到許多好評；可是，評論者對黃春明的小說卻往往有「藝術性」不足的意見。所謂的「藝術性」問題，大抵多從小說的藝術技巧，亦即美感層面著眼；然而，就藝術價值的判斷而言，美感畢竟不是唯一的標準。而且，事實上黃春明小說有些看似簡單、不假雕琢的作品，卻是透過精心的安排，表達了看似單純，實際複雜、深刻的意義問題。本文即從〈蘋果的滋味〉這篇小說，來分析黃春明如何從小說中，傳達他所要表達的深刻意義。
True values of literary works stand upon not only aesthetic experiences they are capable of bringing to readers, but also the ”truth” that is expressed through authors' philosophy of life. A writer like Huang Chung-ming has stated a position as a ”nativist writer” in Taiwan, and his works that ”speak for the anonymous” have especially gained great reputations. However, critics often obtain different viewpoints on Huang's works, claiming that they are poor in ”aesthetic textures”. The problems of such ”aesthetic textures” mostly generate from artificial techniques, also known as the aesthetic levels. Still, when it comes to judging the values of art pieces, aesthetics can never be the only standard. Furthermore, in some of Huang's works, complicated and deep issues on meanings are actually arranged carefully and neatly, so that they are expressed in natural and simple ways without polishing or refining. The thesis shall analyze Huang's measures and attempts in revealing profound meanings through his novels, with the text of ”The Taste of Apples” as the example.
