What is a Theme?

TOWARDS the EXAMINED LIFE

This is by Thomas Trevenen from his blog TOWARDS the EXAMINED LIFE.  This is so good I decided to post it to my blog for my students to read.  I hope he doesn’t mind. 

What is a Theme?

(Or What is the Story About?)

Objective:  After this lesson, we shall 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 was before.  Regardless of any repair that might be done, the life will never be the same as it once was.  This is what Humpty Dumpty is all about, but notice 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 is the movie Titanic all about? It is about how love can surpass boundaries such as class, time and even death. It is about how love can give meaning and purpose to life. Look at the movie. Isn’t this some of what the movie is about?  Aren’t these ideas put forth through the plot and setting of the movie? And there are more ideas put forth in the movie. Isn’t it also about the nobility of human beings in difficult situations? Isn’t it about strength of character is not determined by social standing? Please note that ideas and not characters or particular situations are being discussed. If any part of a thesis must be proved, then elements of the plot can be taken out to to support the ideas of the theme. 

What makes a piece of literature or film great is often 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 great white whale Ahab seeks or is it the force of creation that wears the mask of the whale. And what does that last sentence mean, anyway? 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 events that may happen in certain circumstances because there is recognition that life is a complex, sophisticated experience with many possibilities. Try this theme of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Life lived alone, friendless and without attachments can sometimes be a painful thing. When one finds 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 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 to 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 could be enjoyable.  The person can actually enjoy war.  The person can even love the war. The person can enjoy the danger and risks of war....and may want to become a part of it.  In...war, everyone is part of a team and gains respect for who each person is....and what each person does.  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 “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 supported by the plot of the story. Now the students’ explorations 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 [the theme] can be supported by the plot of the story.