Theme and Message


Theme
- is the central idea of a story. The theme may or may not be directly stated. The theme is recognizable because it is the unifying core around which all other sections are organized. Why have a theme? Or stated another way, how does a theme serve a story? Themes unify the story. Without a central theme the ideas would be chaotic and tend to go in several different directions.

The theme is NOT the central message of the story. Thus, if the author says “pollution is bad,” it is his message not his theme. However, if you can recognize the message it will not be hard to back up to see the theme.

Themes in short stories must be introduced very early in the story. The shorter the story the sooner the theme must be introduced—but the likelihood of the theme being overtly stated does not improve. If you look at Poe’s definition, you see he believes the theme has to be stated from the very first sentence of the story.

How to recognize a theme--- a) look for repetition of events, ideas, phrases
b) pay attention to your reaction to the characters and events
c) look at all events separately—what links to what and how and why

Communicating a theme—When you decorate a room or an entire building, everything looks better if there is a unity of feeling, tone, and purpose. The rooms do not have to be copies of each other, but they cannot be so different people notice instantly and feel the need to pay attention to the difference between rooms. A story is the same way. The characters have to be moving a similar direction and time span. Everyone should be dealing with the same basic issue. Their approaches may be different.

The author uses the other elements of the short story to highlight and push the theme and message(s).

PlotOn its simplest level plot is a list of the events/actions taking place in the story. That definition is out of date because in most short stories the events taking place occur in the mind-- of one or more of the characters. While physical actions occur, those actions are predicated on the meaning and focus chosen by the author. The author uses the thoughts and beliefs of the characters to reinforce the theme and message(s) of the story.

Message--in a short story, as in any piece of literature, is the author’s statement or counter statement of his/her beliefs. The message may be, but does not have to be, profound/unexpected/or something you believe.

Immutability and Change of Theme and Message--The basic question is can the theme and the message change over time? The answer is a qualified yes. The author’s theme is fairly locked, but the message can be lost, changed, or fixed over time depending on how tightly the message (and to some extent) the theme was tied to the current events or societial structure of the author’s life. The closer the message is to things that change the sooner it is lost. Quite often the story itself is lost as well. The message that is tied to universals (life, death, love, etc) is not lost but it may change as our definitions and thinking about the immutable elements change. Suicide is an example--different cultures over different times have changed their beliefs and reactions to suicide. Japan used to see suicide as an honorable way to handle personal failure or dishonorable situations. Today Japan is very concerned about the number of young people committing suicide. They are working to change ancient perceptions.


Let’s take a couple Poe stories for examples on changing theme and messages: Poe wrote a story that almost no one reads now because the story was totally reflective of a very specific vain celebrity. The said celebrity refused to wear glasses and, in the story, falls in love with a beautiful young woman. When he finally puts his glasses on he discovers the woman is in her seventies. Now the theme of vanity is still relevant. However, the message X needs to quit being vain does not apply because X is not a celebrity we currently follow. There are enough stories written and being written about vanity that the entire Poe story is lost. (Most authors will not write as many stories as Poe has ‘lost.’

The next story, The Tell Tale Heart, we still read in high school and college. Most high school teachers give greed and selfishness as the theme. The message according to high school teachers varies between ‘your guilty conscience will find you out’ to ‘you cannot get away with a crime.’ I am not arguing with or putting down high school teachers. They are limited in what they can say by many factors. In college we have a few less limits, therefore we take a somewhat different approach to that story. We add in the historical facts of the horrors of 1800’s mental institutions and the growing popular interest (in the 1800’s) in the psychology. Thus, we see a discussion of a motiveless crime (typical of mental illness) and an intelligent criminal. (Remember crazy does not equal stupid.)

From the beginning Poe has the criminal bragging about his crime and claiming to be sane. We watch the law close in on the criminal and come to realize that everything the criminal tells us is a bit off. He says that he stood still for an hour so that he would make no noise. Yet he cannot stand still for 15 minutes with the police. He says the police believed his story---if so, why did they stay? He says he killed the old man because of his eye---after trying three other reasons and admitting he had no reason. Thus, we have a theme of exploring the mind of a mentally ill criminal and a message that the intelligent (albeit mentally ill) criminal would rather be hung than live the rest of his life in a mental hospital of the 1800’s. At the time the story was first published those would have been the theme and message. But time has passed and mental hospitals are a great deal more humane.

So today, we can see the guilty conscience message, but also the message that the criminal NEEDED to brag about his “cunning murder.” In order to be successful, the murder had to go undecteded. If it goes undetected no one can pat him on the back and tell him what a wonderful job he did. He has to brag--confess. If you think that is not possible think about this scenario: You have the chance to drive a ‘retired’ police car. The car is up to 60 before you even realize it, so the open road beckons. You get the car up to 110 and have a ball. Half your fun comes from the bragging rights. Tell me you would not brag to a single soul.