Hi, this is Mr. Sato. Let's talk about theme. OK, you have to find the theme in some book you
read for school? Well, I think that, with a few exceptions, theme is the most important element
in a work of literature, because the theme is the literary work's primary purpose. And by
literary work, I mean any written work of art, like a novel, play, short story, poem, or even
screenplay. The theme (and here's your definition) is the central idea of a work of literature.
I often over-simplify this term for students by saying it's kind of like the moral of the story,
the life lesson the author wants you to take away from the book. It's the message
or meaning. And that meaning isn't just about the characters; it s more abstract than that;
it applies to you and me, and everyone. The theme is usually universal, but at the very
least it's an idea that's bigger than just these characters and this fictional world.
Don t tell me that the theme is that, in the Lion King, Simba had to go back to rule his kingdom.
The theme is bigger than just that one individual. The theme is that people should live up to their
responsibilities because they are needed by the other people around them. You see?
That s a theme. Also, theme is not the same as a "topic." The topic of a work can usually be
expressed in a word or two: family, courage, the nature of love. Right? That's the topic. However,
the theme is the idea the writer wishes to express about that topic. It's an opinion, not a fact.
If you tell me the theme is love, I'll say that's wrong, and ask you,
what ABOUT love? The theme isn't a thing; it must be an opinion about that thing.
That's why I tell students not to merely Google what is the theme of this book? Because you'll
often get things like, "one of themes of this book is love" or "social justice." The way I define it in
my classes, those are topics, not themes. Love isn't a theme. Love stinks is a theme.
Get it?
And it would be best if the opinion you came up with wasn't too obvious, like,
"it's good to be fair." That's pretty obvious and almost no one would disagree with that, so it
isn't very interesting. And if that's all you need for the assignment you're currently working on,
you can stop watching now. But theme is actually a little more complicated than that.
You know how in life, we notice things and have experiences,
we put things together in our minds and we gain insight or understanding about the world?
We develop generalizations about how the world works, or what people are like. For example,
after several instances of having people pop up unexpectedly to help you reach some
important goal, if you're an optimistic sort of person, you might say to yourself:
"Well, I guess that s how life is. When you're trying to reach a difficult goal worth reaching,
help will become available—even in the unlikeliest of situations." It's a nugget of wisdom you earned
through observation and experience. You do this. Everyone does this. Chimpanzees can do this.
Chimps learn that every year about this time, food can be found in this particular area. They make a
generalization based on their experiences. That's a similar process as detecting a theme in a work
of literature. When you read a work of literature, that book is a model of the real world. It's like
a map or a globe. The author who created that model wants you to see the world through their
eyes, and probably hopes you'll come to similar conclusions about it. But she usually doesn't put
it on a plate and just say it outright because it wouldn't really mean anything to you that way. So
she shows you what some slice of the world looks like and expects you to put things together in
your mind, just like you do in real life, making generalizations about the world based on these
imagined experiences. We gain insight and understanding about the world that way.
This is something that chimps can't do.
If you show a chimpanzee a map of a room and show them
that the banana is behind this door on the map the chimpanzee can't apply that understanding to
find the actual banana in the actual room. This process of making abstract meaning from a model
is one of the things that makes us human. And just like in real life,
a good work of literature is complex and could contain many themes, some large and obvious,
some small and less obvious. If you're writing a theme essay for the first time, it might be a good
idea to go with the big, obvious theme. That's completely fine. Actually, I recommend it. But if
you want a more interesting challenge, you could write about some smaller, more original theme.
Either essay could earn you a good grade, as long as it was well written and well supported.
In some cases, a book could even contain contradictory themes. A play or novel could
present two opposing themes and leave the choice to the reader. Or two separate readers could come
to opposite conclusions. You might read a book and say the theme was that "hard work pays off."
Your friend might read the same book and say the theme was that "hard work is meaningless. It's
luck that matters." So, just like in real life, two people with similar experiences
can come to very different conclusions. And as long as each person can back up their theme
with evidence from the literary work, then their opinion is legitimate.
Now this might sound strange,
but you can even come up with a theme that the author did not intend or even
flatly rejects. The author of a poem might say in an interview that he did not intend for readers to
conclude that the strong should conquer the weak, but you might see that theme in his poem anyway,
regardless of what he says. And if you can back that up with evidence from the text,
then, for you, that's a theme in that poem. The reader owns the meaning, not the author.
One of the best ways to find a good theme is A. to see what happens to the main character.
Readers usually identify with the main character, especially if they're a protagonist, a sympathetic
character with whom we identify. I say this because some main characters are unsympathetic,
like the main character of Crime and Punishment, a very bad guy, and not all readers will identify
with him. In either case, if the main character changes over the course of the book in a good way,
then a theme could be that readers should do whatever they did.
So if a character is heroic in some way, the theme could be that those qualities are admirable and
that we should be that way in our own lives. If the main character changes in a bad way,
then the theme might be to avoid making that character's choices.
For example, in Arthur C. Clarke s science-fiction story, "If I Forget Thee, O Earth...,"
we learn that the main characters are stranded on the moon because the human race has made the Earth
uninhabitable because of nuclear war. Because we see that the characters' situation has changed in a
very negative way, the theme is to avoid doing what they did. A theme of this story could be
that mankind should learn to solve its conflicts without war or violence. And if you're interested
in symbolism, here's a key to theme that served me well in college. Ask yourself: if the main
character is a symbol for all mankind, what is the author saying about mankind?
The answer to that could be your theme.
B. Sometimes, authors have a character just state the theme, often near
the end of the book. It's often some meaningful conclusion about mankind or some aspect of life.
A character might say something like, "Well, Bob, love is like that, isn't it? Sometimes
it's sweet and sometimes it's sour. But you know, I'll take my chances." So the theme could
be exactly that: that love can be pleasurable and it can be painful, but it's worth the risk. Not
all books contain a statement like that, but some do, and it's worth keeping an eye out for one.
C. Another way to find a clue is to look at the title. That won't help with titles like Animal Farm
or Romeo and Juliet, which are merely descriptive, but a lot of the time, authors
put hints in the title. After you read Maya Angelou's memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
think about who is like a caged bird in the book. In what way does she metaphorically sing?
Why does she do that? Why does this caged bird sing? That will point you towards a main theme.
Finally, D. Look at the main conflict. What forces are pitted against one another in this story,
and who wins? I don t mean what specific characters; I mean step back and look at
what big group or idea is struggling against some other big group or idea. Let's say it's a ship
captain and his crew struggling against a massive, uncontrollable white whale, like in Moby Dick.
Look at that in an abstract way. That's mankind vs. nature. So maybe the theme has something
to do with man's conflict with the massive, uncontrollable forces of the natural world.
So, let's review quickly. And I'll put in some time indexes, so if you want, you can re-hear those
particular sections.1) Theme is kind of like the moral of the story. It's the message or meaning.
2) Theme is bigger than just these characters and this story. 3) Theme and topic are not the same thing.
Theme is a debatable opinion about a topic, communicated by a literary work.
4) The abstract meaning in the book applies to the real world we live in.
The ability to do this is uniquely human. 5) Literary works can contain many themes.
Any theme is legitimate if you can back it up. 6) The meaning belongs to you, not the author.
7) Ways to find the theme include: A) Looking for changes in the main character
B) Watching for clear statements of theme C) Examining the title D) Look at the conflict.
Making meaning from literature--finding a theme-- is one of the best things you can learn. Because it
s a real-world skill that will allow you to learn from experiences that someone else has had, that
you haven't actually experienced yourself and in turn, you can apply that wisdom to your own life,
to be a smarter and happier person. And what is more important than happiness?