Essay: Theme and the importance of it
A theme is the underlying sense or argument regarding a subject that contains all
elements of a poems or story refer to. A story with no unifying theme is only a set of
random incidents and characters. Theme serves as an understated but important
component in making a story or poetry meaningful (Smith, Nadine, 2021). A story's
theme is the central idea or meaning. The story's themes are the thoughts, patterns,
and problems that the story keeps coming back to and exploring (Penn, J. 2015).
Themes are often discussed in the interpersonal conflicts and thoughts of a story's
characters. Since it is the story's essence and moral conscience, it is often expressed in
the characters, both in terms of whom they portray and their internal conflicts. For
example; “A man, fueled by an urge for power and control due to his own pride, builds a
supercomputer. That supercomputer then takes over the world, causing chaos and
struggle galore.” (Ashley Pruett. 2016, January 3). Many familiar themes can be found
in this science fiction story. The risks of extreme pride and the perilous relationship
between civilization and emerging technologies are two of the book's themes. Another
example would be “A boy and a girl fall in love. The boy is forced to join the army and
fights to survive in a war-torn country as his beloved waits at home. When he returns
from war, the two are united and married.” (Ashley Pruett. 2016, January 3). The
strength of true love, destiny, which often breaks lovers apart and then puts them back
together, and war are all important themes in love stories. As these examples show,
themes can vary from general topics like love and war to more concrete ones like
humanity's interaction with technology.
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The themes are not always present in a composition or a narrative as much as they are
not always present in life, passions, the pursuit of wisdom or the battle between the soul
and society. Rather, they weave in and out, vanishing altogether or reappearing
suddenly in the middle of a plot. This is attributed to the fact that two kinds of themes
exist: major and minor. (Writing Explained. 2018, October 10). Major themes are the
narrative's most significant and enduring themes, as the name suggests. Major themes
are the story's most important themes, and they are often seen in the part of story. The
major theme of a book on war would be the effects of war on society, while the major
theme of a romantic novel would be love. Minor themes, but at the other side, are less
significant and lasting. They may appear for a portion of the story until being finally
replaced by another minor theme. They offer discussion points for one or two chapters,
but they do not color the whole plot. Minor themes of a war book might include the
response of the home front to the conflict or the political elements of the conflict. Minor
themes such as flirtation, engagement, and commitment can appear in a romance
novel.
Theme is important as it provides context and therefore emotional effects that
distinguishes a modest story of readers from a big story. The theme adds cohesion and
complexity and a clear knowledge of the topics is important for the author to create
stories that would be enjoyed by readers (Flynn Gray. 2016, January 13). An
importance of theme in a story cannot be overstated. The theme is the core idea to be
communicated to the reader by an author. A narrative is not a story if the writer and the
reader do not meet, think and learn from important concepts. And, by default, a story
must have a theme that goes through the story and sometimes many important and
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minor themes. Themes are discussed in depth through ideas from book clubs,
dramatists, poets, literary students, cinematographers, film makers and artistic authors.
They are the deeper motives for writing and sharing the story, as well as the
significance behind the whole story. A theme of a literary work with its subject should
not be confused. The subject is the source of literary work, while the theme is a view on
the topic. For instance, for the story, a writer could choose a war topic and his personal
belief might be that war is a curse for mankind. In general, the theme of literary works
should be discussed by the readers in the study of characters, plots and other literary
architectures (Theme. 2020, September 15).
In Conclusion, Themes are concepts that flow through stories, giving them more depth
and context that can be seen in both literature and real life. The theme tells not only
interesting but emotional stories.. A story's theme is a part that links the story's
numerous fundamental elements. It is frequently a fundamental reality that remains true
for people of all backgrounds. As a result of the theme, readers develop a greater
understanding of the main character's conflicts, interactions, discoveries, and feelings. A
writer uses themes to attempt to explain to his readers how the world works or how he
or she sees human life.
References:
Ashley Pruett. (2016, January 3). What is a theme? prezi.com.
https://prezi.com/nns-rlzv6lz7/what-is-a-theme/
Flynn Gray. (2016, January 13). What is theme, and why is it important?
https://flynngray.wordpress.com/2016/01/13/what-is-theme-and-why-is-it-
important/
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Penn, J. (2015). How to make a living with your writing: Books, blogging and
more. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Smith, Nadine. (2021). Importance of themes in literature. Pen and the Pad.
https://penandthepad.com/importance-themes-literature-8462481.html
Theme. (2020, September 15). Literary Devices.
https://literarydevices.net/theme/
Writing Explained. (2018, October 10). What is theme? Definition, examples of
theme in literature. writingexplained.org. https://writingexplained.org/grammar-
dictionary/theme
