THEME: The S ory's Meaning and Roots
A writing teacher once read a
student's story that was full of
action-a pair of mountain
climbers were about to plunge
down a ravine, a skier was
schussing into peril, and a killer
was waiting in the valley below._
Despite all this action and in­
trigue, the story was boring to
read because it was impossible
to tell what the student writer
meant by it. As it turned out,
the student didn't know either.
The story had no theme.
A story's characters and
events take on significance only
when we recognize what they
mean to us. In other words,
all the elements of a good
story must add up to a
theme-some idea or insight
about human life and human
nature that gives meaning to
the story.
The Writer's Worldview
Theme can also reveal the
writer's whole view of life, of
how the world works-or fails
to work.
Suppose, for example, that a
writer has a heroine work dili­
gently at her job in the fish
cannery and be rewarded by a
two-dollar-an-hour raise and a
trip to Vancouver. We recog-
We do not have to accept
nize this writer's world as de­
every theme. But we should
manding but fair, a place where
not simply condemn or dismiss
human beings have some con­
a story because we disagree
trol over their destiny. But
with its theme. A writer's view
suppose another writer takes
of the world or of human na­
this same heroine and has her
ture may be different from our
fired for her pains. As she
'
own, but it may be worthwhile
leaves for home, she even finds
to explore that viewpoint any­
that her bicycle has been
way. It is always interesting to
stolen. We recognize in this
learn how other people see
story another kind of world­
a barren world swept by cold
the world.
and indifferent winds.
What Do We Mean by
Theme?
The story's theme is really its
roots. Theme is unseen and
usually unstated, yet it is vital.
It gives meaning to the story's
characters and events, and at
the same time it reveals the
writer's own personal attitude
toward the world, toward
how people should behave and
how they actually do behave.
If we like the writer's view of
the world, we may well come
back for more; we may even
adopt the writer's attitude as
our own. But if that view of
the world is one we don't ac­
cept as "true:' we probably
will stop reading that writer
altogether.
182 THE SHORT-STORY COLLECTIONS
ttJeme is unseen
and usually unstated,
yet it is vital.
Theme is neither the story's
plot (what happens) nor the
story's subject (which might be
boxing or prospecting for
gold). Rather, theme is an idea;
it is what the writer means by
everything he or she has set
down. A story's theme may
give us insight into some as­
pect of life that we have never
really thought about before, or
it may make us understand
something we always knew but
never realized we knew.
by John Leggett
Discovering a Story's
Theme
Often a writer's theme cannot
be stated easily or completely.
(Remember that the writer
has had to write the whole
story to get that theme across
to us.) After we have read a
story, we may feel that we
understand what it is about,
and yet for some reason we
cannot put our feeling into
words. The story has struck us
as true-it has touched our
emotions on some profound,
wordless level-but still we
cannot state the truth it has
revealed to us.
The attempt to put a story's
theme into words can often
help us understand the story
more fully-it can reveal aspects of the story that we may
have ignored. It is one thing to
understand what has happened
in a story, but it is quite another thing to understand what
those events mean. Here are
some general guidelines for
discovering a story's theme:
I . A theme may be stated in a
single sentence, or a full
essay may be required to do
it justice. But we must use
at least one complete sen-
tence to state a theme. In
other words, a theme must
be a statement about the
subject of the story, rather
than a phrase such as "the
rewards of old age:' (Sometimes you can reword this
type of phrase to form a
sentence: "Old age can be a
time of great satisfaction.")
(at least a serious writer's
theme) to a familiar saying
or cliche, such as "Crime
doesn't pay" or "The
course of true love never
runs smoothly:' A theme is
usually a much more complex and original revelation
about life.
3. One of the best ways to
discover a story's theme is
to ask how the protagonist
has changed during the
course of the story. Often,
what this character has
learned about life is the
truth the writer also wants
to reveal to the reader.
It is one thing to
understand what
has happened in a
story, but it is
quite another thing
to understand what
4. There is no one correct
those events mean.
2. A theme is not the same as
a moral, which is a rule of
conduct. A work of serious
fiction is not a sermon intended to teach us how to
live better or more successful lives. One critic has
said that, in getting at a
story's theme, we should
ask ourselves "What does
this story reveal?" rather
than "What does this story
teach?" Thus, it is usually a
mistake to reduce a theme
way to state the theme of a
story. If there are twentyfive students in your English
class, for instance, you will
have twenty-five distinct
ways of putting a story's
central insight into words.
You may also have several
different ideas about what
the story's major theme is.
"To produce a mighty book,
you must choose a mighty
theme."
-Herman Melville
ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE: THEME
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