Chapter Three
Okay, so now that we’ve established the groundwork, we can get down to the nitty-gritty of why you’re actually here: figuring out what theme is
I said at the end of chapter one that people often find it easier to divine the point of non-fiction; this is because it’s often stated clearly and specifically in the text itself. It’s easy to tell the point of a well-written essay, because it’s in the first one or two sentences—it’s the thesis statement. (See chapter two if that’s confusing.)
But what most people don’t realise is that fiction often states its point outright as well!
Have you ever gone to GoodReads or Instagram or Pinterest or somewhere, and seen a quote that someone has pulled out of a book?
Have you ever typed up a quote yourself (whoa, the commitment), or taken a photo of one, or re-posted, repinned, reblogged, or otherwise re-consumed a quote someone else uploaded?
Even if you haven’t, you do get that this is a Thing that people do, right? Saving their favourite quotes from books and movies?
Yes?
Okay, good. Because Imma let you in on a little secret here, right now.
Ready to be blown away?
Chances are really, really high that the quote you saved/saw/pinned/regrammed/reblogged/whatever directly states the theme of the story it came from.
You don’t believe me, do you.
Okay, let’s try some examples.
…Wait. Before we do, I need to say something really, really important here:
The theme is never just one word.
‘Love’ is not a theme. ‘Identity’ is not a theme. These are concepts, topics, ideas—not themes.*
* I mean, you’ll hear people say this all the time, and I’m even guilty of saying it sometimes (okay, class, today let’s discuss the theme of love in Romeo & Juliet!), but it’s shorthand. It’s not accurate. Themes must be a full sentence, because…
These one-word descriptors can’t be a theme, because theme is the point of a text, and the point of something isn’t ‘love’, it’s ‘Love is a magical thing that can transform even the worst situations’; it’s ‘I love you’; it’s ‘Love is worth fighting for’; it’s ‘Love can transcend the barriers of time, space, and/or culture’. Theme is ‘Self-sacrifice is the highest form of love’.
Theme isn’t just ‘love’.
See how all these are statements that say something about love? This is what I meant at the end of the introduction about needing to have an opinion; it’s not that you need to have an opinion about the text itself (unless you’re writing a book report or a movie review, no one cares if you liked the story or if you hated it), but you do need to interpret it.
You need to engage with what the text is talking about, not just at the plot and character level, but at the meaning level. What is this text saying about life, or some aspect of it? (Cunningly, those of you who read chapter two will also note that this is the ‘why’ or ‘who cares’ part of the thesis statement—you can go back and have a look at what I wrote for each of those ‘why’ sections, and you’ll discover that each one of them is a theme.)
So. We know that ‘literary’ novels have themes:
“Terror made me cruel.”
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
What is Bronte saying here? Well, in Wuthering Heights, Bronte suggests that terror has the ability to make a person cruel. (Or, ‘that cruelty is often rooted in fear’.)
“It’s much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it.”
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy, in his novel Anna Karenina, suggests that it is better to perform good acts in such a way that no one else knows anything about them.
“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.”
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
In Jane Eyre, Bronte suggests that there are better uses for our limited time than keeping records of wrongdoing.
“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne cautions that living a duplicitous life ultimately leads to a confused identity; we eventually become that which we pretend to be.
Okay. We get it. Literary novels state their themes outright in quotes.
But look! Popular texts do the same thing:
“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”
Divergent, Veronica Roth
What is Roth suggesting here? In Divergent, Roth suggests that while it is impossible to completely eradicate fear, by learning to control our fears we can be free from them.
“You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world… but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices.”
The Fault In Our Stars, John Green
In The Fault In Our Stars, Green suggests that while pain and heartbreak are inevitable, we have some measure of control in choosing who we allow close enough to hurt us, and that the joy brought by these relationships makes the pain worthwhile.
“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”
The Greatest Showman, directed by Michael Gracey
The Greatest Showman suggests that it is important to embrace what makes us unique if we wish to make a positive impact on the world.
“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
The Empire Strikes Back, directed by George Lucas
Through the character of Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back suggests that life consists only of failure or success, without any grey area in between.
“You say having feelings makes me weak, but you’re weak for hiding from them.”
Bodyguard of Lies (The 100, season two), directed by Uta Briesewitz
Through the character of Clarke, Bodyguard of Lies suggests that true strength lies in acknowledging our feelings, rather than denying them.
“In times of crisis, the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers.”
Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler
Black Panther suggests that it is better to seek connections and partnerships when we are in trouble than it is to shut people out.
See? Pull-quotes from stories are usually thematic. Your subconscious totally knows how to spot theme, even if you can’t consciously articulate that yet. So now we just have to learn how to make all that knowledge conscious.
Relax. It’s going to be so easy.
Introduction
Ch1 The Point Of A Text
Ch2.1 Thesis Statements
Ch2.2 Thesis Statements
Ch3 Quotes Are Usually Themes
Ch4.1 Theme In Fables
Ch4.2 Theme In Fables
Ch5.1 Finding Themes
Ch5.2 Finding Themes
Ch6 Subthemes
Ch7.1 Theme + You
Ch7.2 Theme + You
Ch8 Why Stories? Recognising Patterns
Ch9 Why Stories? Memory Aids
Ch10: Why Stories? Social Cooperation
Ch11: Why Stories? Power Structures
Ch12: Why Stories? Empathy
Conclusion