Theme

(Or What Is the Story About?)

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Objective:

After this lesson, we shall make this vow:

"From this day onward, whenever anyone asks us what a story or movie or TV show or play was about, we will not mention the plot or the characters unless it is to prove what we say is true."

What makes a story true?

Take the story of Humpty-Dumpty. There was no Humpty Dumpty. There was no wall and no horses, no men. It didn't happen. But it is true. How can this be?

It is true because we recognize that sometimes a person can have a crisis that is so devastating that the damage will never be repaired to the point where the life will never be the same as it was once before. This is what Humpty Dumpty is all about, but I have not mentioned the plot of the story.

What is the truth of a story? It is in the theme.

The theme of a work is the central idea behind it. The plot and the characters and the setting and the mood and the tone and all other important parts of the plot are simply vehicles to express the theme.

What was the movie Titanic all about? It was about how love can surpass boundaries such as class, time and even death. It was about how love can give meaning and purpose to life. Look at the movie. Isn't this some of what the movie was about? Weren't these ideas put forth through the plot and setting of the movie? And there were more ideas put forth in the movie. Wasn't it also about the nobility of human beings in difficult situations? Wasn't it about how strength of character is not determined by social standing? Please note that I am discussing ideas and not characters or particular situations in the plot. If I want to prove any of my themes, I can now go to elements of the plot to show that I am not taking ideas out of thin air, but really ideas that are in the movie itself.

What makes a great work great is often on the strength of its theme. The more complex and revealing the ideas are, the more the reader learns about life. The more valuable the lessons, the more enduring the work. Moby Dick is not great for its plot which bogs down in many places but for its themes about the nature of humanity and existence. The search for the great white whale can really be about the search for the meaning of life and the forces that control it. Is it the whale Ahab seeks or is it the force of creation that wears the mask of the whale? And what does that last sentence mean, anyhow? These are a minute fraction of what the novel is about.

Themes should be stated in terms of "may be"s and "could be"s. Themes are not absolute science. The theme does not happen "always" and "every time." Themes are possible things that may happen in certain circumstances because there is recognition that life is a complex, sophisticated experience with many possibilities. Try this theme of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Life lived alone, friendless and without attachments can sometimes be a painful thing. When one finds the companionship of a single human being the quality of life can be improved dramatically. Sometimes, however, there will be forces of society and nature that will place a strain on on the relationship. These forces may attempt to rend the friendship apart. However the value of the friendship may be that it allows for the beginning of dreams of a better future where people will be allowed to grow and live happily. If the opposing forces are too strong the friendship may be destroyed even to the point where one person will be made to sacrifice the dream and destroy the friend he loves in order to protect his friend from even greater harm.

Or try this set of notes from a really interesting group of students who discussed the theme of the "The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" from The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien:

Sometimes a person can become lost in the savagery and excitement of war. If the person doesn't find the fear involved unpleasant, the excitement would be enjoyable. The person can enjoy the war. The person can even love the war. The person can enjoy the danger and risks. The person can become interested in the war and want to become a part of it. In the war everyone is a part of a bigger team and gains respect for who each person is during the war. A person might not want to lose the power by going home. The person might not want to lose what she or he has become.

Notice the things the students did that was really well done. They started out slowly with an attempt to state what the story was about. With each succeeding sentence they delved a little deeper into the reasons why a person might "become lost in the savagery and excitement of war." With each step they took, they made sure that the general thought about becoming lost in the savagery and excitement of war was actually supported by the plot of the story. Now the students' exploration of theme is not a well-written paragraph; it is just notes for a future paragraph, but one can see the progression of thought involved. They did not mention the plot, but in a written assignment each sentence of the plot can be supported by the plot of the story.