A theme is an integral part of storytelling. It creates memorable stories, giving them deeper meaning. You’ve probably already come across theme, likely in your high school English class, but that may be the last time you seriously considered theme. So, in this blog, we’ll look at what theme is, some examples, and, finally, how you can use theme to elevate your language.
What Is a Literary Theme?
Theme is essentially the main idea or meaning of a story. It’s a question or aspect of life that the story explores. When a writer chooses a theme, they want the reader to think about that human experience. But, rather than stating this theme explicitly (because readers don’t appreciate the writer talking at them), you should explore theme through characters, plot, settings, conflict, word choice and literary devices. You can use any combination of these aspects to portray your theme.
Every novel has (or should have) a theme, so it should come as no surprise that many books share themes. You may be concerned that you can’t write a unique novel if all the themes have been covered so many times, but the way you cover the theme is what will make your novel stand out, so it is worth taking some time to work out how your theme will unfold through your novel.
10 Common Themes
1. Coming of age: A coming-of-age story follows a child or teenager into adulthood and explores how the character’s experiences shape their journey. This is especially popular in YA fiction.
2. Justice and revenge: Justice and revenge often go hand in hand. Justice analyses what makes society fair, while revenge looks at how a character avenges a wrong done to them. Sometimes, authors discuss whether you can have justice if you take revenge.
3. War: We have been fighting each other since time immemorial, so it’s no surprise that war is a theme in many novels. War often encompasses other themes such as grief or hopelessness.
4. Love: Love lies at the heart of many novels, even if it isn’t the main theme. Love doesn’t have to be romantic love; it can be love between family members or friends.
5. Good v Evil: This sees a morally good character fight a morally bad character. You could analyse what makes something ‘good’ or ‘evil’.
6. Loneliness: Loneliness explores where humans are innately independent beings and whether society champions or criticises this.
7. Identity: Everyone questions who they are at some stage in their lives, which makes this theme very relatable. It covers what makes us unique.
8. Power: We have all heard the horror stories (and sometimes experienced): people who have gone mad with power. Novels that have power as a theme explore who has power, who doesn’t, and the dynamics between the two.
9. Survival: Survival stories often take place in the wilderness or post-apocalyptic worlds and explore the lengths to which humans will go to survive.
10. Friendship: Common in YA and later life fiction, friendships can be as complex as any other relationship.
How To Use Theme in Your Writing
Incorporating theme into your story doesn’t have to be difficult. First, ask yourself: what message do I want my readers to walk away with? When you sit down to look at your theme, think about how the conflict in your novel can underpin this message. Most themes centre on an idea that brings humans into conflict. This conflict will allow you to explore your theme through characters and plot. You could also reinforce your theme using motifs or symbolism. A motif is a recurring image that highlights the central ideas in a story (e.g. the green light on Daisy’s dock in The Great Gatsby); a symbol is the use of words or imagery to specific concepts, people, objects or events (e.g. Aslan is a symbol of Christ in The Chronicles of Narnia).
Be careful not to go overboard with your theme though. It’s easy to put off readers if you are too heavy-handed with your theme. The most successful handlings of theme are ones that are so subtle that they leave the reader thinking and questioning their own experiences.
Where Should I Start?
You can start with theme if you have a strong desire to write a novel on a particular theme. If you don’t, you can start with characters, plot, time period or anything else you fancy. That’s the beauty of theme: it’s so versatile.
Conclusion
Theme is the main idea of a story. There are many themes, including love, war, power and survival, that overlap and interconnect. Themes pose questions that the narrative then explores. You can explore your theme through conflict, characters, plot and literary devices. Aim to be subtle; readers hate being lectured by an author. You can start with your theme, or you can work on it after you have developed your characters or plot, but you should have a theme in mind before you start writing.
Comments